Akimbo review
posted Jun 2nd 2005 5:30AM
So what in the hell is Akimbo? Well, basically it's a new video-on- demand/IPTV service that lets you pick what shows you want to watch and then automatically download them over a broadband connection. We're semi-obsessed with IPTV- we're always looking for new ways to stick it to Time Warner, our local cable monopoly-and so we were more than pleased to check out what Akimbo had to offer.
First thing's first: Akimbo isn't something you can access using your PC (at least not yet), and in fact you sort of don't need to own a computer to use the service (you do have to complete your registration over the web; and besides, it seems unlikely you'd have a broadband connection if you didn't have a computer). The shows themselves are downloaded to a TiVo-esque box (yes, you have to find room next to your TV for yet another box) with a built-in 80GB hard drive that's space enough for up to 200 hours of programming.
PROGRAMMING
Speaking of programming, you might find it a little tough to fill up that hard drive with shows you want to watch. The list of available channels and programs isn't bad, and is growing every month, but anyone expecting Akimbo to duplicate the experience of having 150 channels of digital cable is probably in for some disappointment. The idea is to think of Akimbo as an inexpensive and convenient supplement to what's already out there, and they're targeting niches that traditionally aren't very well served by regular cable and satellite services in hopes that enough people will find something they think is worth paying ten bucks a month to download.
Anyway, Akimbo currently offers 46 channels, including A&E, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, BBC, CNN, the History
Channel, National Geographic, and Turner Classic Movies, a host of specialty channels (like GreenCine, LetGo! Yoga, and
high.tv), foreign language channels (AsiaMovieChannel.com, latelelatina, and AdvenTV, a Turkish language channel), and
four adult video channels (you can probably guess what that's all about; there are parental controls if you're worried
about kids accessing porn). You can also look at the programming organized by category rather than channel.
Sounds impressive, but the amount of actual programming offered by each channel varies widely. Adult Swim offers a ton
of different shows, whereas CNN only has a smattering of specials. Also, not all programs are available with your basic
$9.99 monthly subscription—a lot of shows, especially movies, will set you back at least an extra couple of bucks (yep,
porno costs extra). You can subscribe to channels for an additional monthly fee. Note that some shows have expiration
dates, so you may have somewhere between 2 and 30 days to watch them after they've been downloaded.
SETTING THINGS UP
Getting the Akimbo box set up was easy, it's just a matter of hooking it up to your TV (S Video and connecting it up
to your home network (over Ethernet or via a USB WiFi adapter), turning it on, and then entering the necessary info
online at my.akimbo.com (which means you need to own a computer, something we're gonna guess you already have if you're
rocking broadband at home). We experienced some problems getting our account set up, turns out Akimbo experienced some
sort of network outage that made it impossible to complete our registration, but when we tried again 45 minutes later
everything worked fine. Once your box is registered you can access the service and start downloading shows.
DOWNLOADING SHOWS
Here's the big catch with Akimbo: the service isn't truly on-demand in the sense that you can select a program and
then simply start watching it, you have to think ahead of time about what it is you want to watch and then come back
later on. It's a trade-off: you can use Akimbo to get on-demand TV you might have to wait for, or use a DVR to record
TV that's available on the networks' schedule, not yours.
Sorting through content was a snap. The user interface is remarkably TiVo-like, and if you can figure out how to get
around a TiVo or a
Media Center PC you'll
probably have no problem figuring out how to select and record shows. You use the Akimbo Guide, which lists available
programming, going through your different channel options to find the shows you want, selecting them for download, and
then waiting a few hours...err...until tomorrow for the Akimbo box to pull the shows off of Akimbo's servers (to be fair,
some shows were downloaded in less than half an hour).
You can prioritize the order in which shows are downloaded, but with a few exceptions you generally can't simply
subscribe to a show and have it automatically delivered to you on a regular basis, which is one of the main advantages
of something like Videora, which
uses a combination of RSS and BitTorrent to automatically deliver TV shows to our Media Center PC.
WATCHING SHOWS
Once the shows have been downloaded you're ready to do what you really want: kick back and veg out. We'd only downloaded about 20 hours of programming, so sorting through everything wasn't so rough, but we could imagine it getting a little difficult once the drive was filled with a couple hundred hours of TV. The quality of the video ranged from acceptable to excellent, at best it would be about what you'd get with TiVo shows recorded at the highest settings. We noticed a few hiccups in playback, but we're not sure we'd have even noticed if we hadn't been looking for them. You get all the usual DVR controls—you can pause, rewind, fast-forward, etc. (although rewinding and fast-forwarding were unusually sluggish compared with what we've grown accustomed to).
WHAT COULD THEY DO DIFFERENTLY?
- Open things up. Akimbo already offers a mix of name brand programming with a bunch of stuff we've never heard of, with video podcasting (or whatever you want to call it) just getting off the ground it'd be relatively easy to let pretty much anyone offer their programming through Akimbo. It'd be a little messy without some sort of filtering system, but the quality usually has a way of rising to the top.
- Offer Akimbo as a Windows Media Center plug-in. (They actually promise that this in the works). No one really wants to have yet another box in the house, especially when there's a good chance they already have a TiVo or a Media Center PC or the DVR set top box, so figure out how to create a plug-in for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 that let's users access the service without any additional equipment. If you really want to impress us, cut a deal with TiVo.
- Add support for high definition. Yeah, it'll make the downloads take a little longer, but there a plenty of people out there with HDTVs who don't have access to enough HD programming. You're only a firmware update away from adding support for DivX HD or WMV-HD, and it'd be a snap to offer a selection of high definition TV shows and movies (plus we'd pay more for that than for the regular stuff).
- Add USB 2.0 and HDMI and/or DVI ports. 80GB isn't bad, but users should be able to add additional storage via a
USB 2.0 port. And while you're messing around back there, add an HDMI or a DVI out port. We'd be grateful.
- Placeshifting. Steal a page from Orb Networks and make it possible to access shows stored on the Akimbo box from anywhere.
CONCLUSION
Is it worth it? $229.99 for the box and $9.99 a month for the service isn't completely unreasonable, but it's hard to imagine a lot of people signing up for a service that isn't a satisfactory replacement for the cable or satellite TV package they might already have, at least not until Akimbo has a more attractive selection of programming. There's a lot to like, though, and there's a lot of promise here. The service itself is fairly easy to use and the execution is flawless—finding, downloading, and watching shows was about as effortless as it gets—but unless there's something in their current offering that catches your eye (the Adult Swim archives are mighty tempting), we'd suggest you want a few more months to see what other shows, movies, and channels they add to their catalog.
I considered this service, but only briefly. That $229 box is just too much for what it offers. If it weren't locked into its proprietary system, if, for instance, it could be used as a network player for videos on my computer, then we'd be talking. That cost, however, for access to a young and limited service that may well be dead within twelve months is a big stop-sign.
FWIW, they have been running a $99 special on their website with the first 3 months free. It does sound mighty tempting. The one thing I would like though is to preview their channel guide, the current lineup on their website is too vague too commit my $$$ to.
Now if someone could reverse engineer their services and hack them making it possible for anyone to use it on their computer... then it would be good!
Or if they just made it computer based and opened the market up world wide. I live in Australia and have to wait upto a year for the latest ep's. If they released them the same time their released to TV somewhere in the world. Then I wouldn't mind paying $9.99.
I agree.. I wish I could see more of what they actually have to offer. At $99, it's mighty tempting. However, their current lineup just doesn't offer enough to interest me.
I'd be most interested in stuff like Aussie Rules Football or Rugby.. however those sports probably carry hefty licensing fees which put them out of reach to a newcomer like Akimbo.
If Engadget hates Time Warner so much and wants to "stick it" to them so bad, why don't you just get DirecTV or Dish Network?
Other some situations such as covenant restricted housing or residences with no southern exposure, Cable Companies can no longer be considered a "Monopoly" for television services.
Even the increased availability of DSL and Wireless Internet access has limited the number of markets where Cable Operators have a monopoly on High Speed Internet Access.
I can't do satellite because I live in an apartment and have nowhere to mount a satellite dish (I also don't have a southern exposure). Not everyone lives in a house.
They're running a special right now, $99 for the box and 3 months of service free.
Nice review, Peter!
I stopped reading as soon as I read "S-Video."
S-Video output only is the thing hamstringing my Tivo and screwing up my home theater system where EVERYTHING (even the Gamecube) else is component. I'm not going to add another box to screw things up.
Even though that AsianMovieChannel.com offering does sound mighty tempting, they're going to have to move into the year 2000 before I'll look at it.
I agree, nice review. As a person who really doesn't want cable (100s of channels and nothing to watch), I'm anxious to see more on-demand content. The big problem I had with AKIMBO, even with their $99 deal is that the website seems to be hiding the ball--it can't be that hard to really tell people what's on. It's frustrating to think the site will show you, only to find it's the same unilluminating list of channels.
We need input from an Akimbo user...
Step fwd please:)
Does Akimbo serve up the new Doctor Who episodes through its BBC feed?
It's an interesting service, but it seems like it's in a Catch-22 of sorts. Akimbo needs to expand its lineup, but it can't afford the licenses without the cash, and it can't get the cash unless it gets more subscribers, who won't subscribe until Akimbo expands its lineup.
Either way, it probably won't grab a sports junkie like me who MUST have my live ESPN. Whatever happened to USDTV? When are they going to start expanding beyond Albuquerque, Vegas and Salt Lake City?
ONLY S-VIDEO. . . YEACH!!!! What about those of us "technoholics" that use component and like our stuff in HI-DEF!!!
I left DirecTV and went back to cable for my HI-DEF - - oh sure, DirecTV offers HI-DeF, but errr for $800 for the box, I DON'T THINK SO!. Comcast offers the box for $4 a month!
If they want my attention, offer some HI-DEF programming.
Hello everyone, just to start I work for Akimbo.
I noticed several posting wondering what exactly is on the Akimbo Service. I have two ways for you to see that information:
1. We post the listing of program titles published to the service every week in the CustomerCare forums; feel free to browse through the listings: http://customercare.akimbo.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=8&sid=4a3e7ebb11588a176a575b176d15438e
2. We have added an RSS feed. You can now get a list to see new content as we make it available: http://content.svc.akimbo.com/guide/recent.rss
- Katherine
They're called videoblogs, not video-podcasts. And yes, a few are available on Rocketboom now. See my post at http://clintsharp.com/archives/2005/05/30/akimbo/. More are coming.
Yes, as a hi-def fanatic myself I also want an Akimbo box with component or hdmi/dvi outputs... we'll get there. For now it has only composite and s-video which looks 'ok' on my hi-def receiver...
As Katherine pointed out, we have an RSS feed available to anyone to show content as we add them, though it won't let you fully explore the complete library of content. We know this is an issue, so our website will soon allow anyone to explore the content libary. Akimbo users get access to my.akimbo.com to explore the library and remotely trigger downloads to their box, and it's a top priority to expose that same library to anyone who wants to see it. Part of a major redesign of the website that's underway right now...
Thanks for your comments...
--josh goldman
Akimbo Systems
p.s. Clint Sharp above says more video blogs are coming "to Rocketboom"... that may be true ;) but I think he meant "to Akimbo"... which is also true!
Don't waste your money. The content is lame, and although they add stuff periodically, it is not nearly fast enough. I returned the box after a couple of weeks. While I think this idea of cable alternatives is a good one, I really believe that the better idea in this space is what companies like TvDrive Network and Brightcove are doing. I don't need another box to see CNN, or BBC, as I already get them over my digital cable. I want a box (or even better, software), that lets me have access to the rest of the video that they world has, and can't broadcast.
I have tried Videora, and like it, although I find that bit torrent is too dirty a system to be trusted, and often get stuff that is misrepresented (thought I was getting a porn video, but ended up getting some shitty infomercial).
I am looking forward to trying TvDrive.net. Not sure if anyone has access to their restricted Alpha product, but if you do, I would love an invitation. email me at stewartcade@yahoo.com
I have not tried Akimbo, but from what I have read, I agree with Stewart. The right way to go is what Videora and TvDrive are doing. I want new, innovative video content, not the same old crap that I see on TV today. I don't have access to the TvDrive Alpha, but have seen their CEO presenting the product. I think that they are a closed network, which could solve a good deal of the dirty content problem, but could be limiting in a number of ways. They seem to have a good vision for the right kind of content to get on the system, so I am anxious to see what they end up launching with.
If anyone has a TvDrive Alpha account, and can invite me, I would love to see it.
jsonofgod@hotmail.com
And by the way, check out my Podcast at http://www.mfjrs.com
Does it support closed captioning? Just wonder...
gwlj
Won't Tivo just open up their box and do the same thing?
You won't have to worry about getting locked into Akimbo propietary format. Tivo is ubiquitous enough.
I just got the akimbo service a couple days ago and I think its great. I don't have cable or dish and don't watch much TV but akimbo has most of the shows I miss (The Adult Swim Lineup, history channel, food network, cnn, and National Geographic all have great lineups) as well as eclectic stuff that you wouldn't find on TV (obscure short films, cult classics, Vblogs, spirtuality/cosmology/philosophy you name it). I wouldn't recomend this as a cable/dish replacement just yet, there isn't nearly as much selection. However, if your like me and only want to watch a few shows when you are bored, without having to dredge through hundred of channels of tripe, this is a great service (and at $9 a month, its MUCH cheaper than cable, which is the biggest draw for me).
Bye bye Akimbo and even TiVo. I'm done with them. All they do is adding more device to my "Home Entertainement Area".
I recently came across http://www.NubaTV.com which offers streaming online at a better quality than DVD!!! They have found the technology, so will others.
Yes, I would rather go with any other competitors who offer a NO box/decoder solution ( and with a DSL connection like mine) than Akimbo or TiVo.
The future is online.
- Florine
Sounded good until I read about the shows expiration dates. With a DVR, I can watch a show forever as long as I dont delete it. Why cant you do that with Akimbo? If that sounds good to you, you can get the system for $99.99 with this promo code: AK008.
Google has started to deliver video blog content to various sources -- like the Current TV channel on DirecTV. This service will be free of charge to all TV or IPTV sources.
I can't see Akimbo lasting very long in the current environment unless it turns to X-Rated video blogs...What do you think?
It's on sale now... $69 for the box. Also, it offers programming for the LGBT community. At $69... it is worth checking out!