Is DivX working on hardware?

We saw DivX posted looking for beta testers for "super-secret stuff" this week, but only now are we getting a slightly better idea of what's at hand. We have it from a trusted insider that DivX is at work on a connected hardware platform in the connected home devices category (PC-to-TV, see: SlingCatcher, Apple TV, Xbox 360, and countless other media streaming devices). We don't know what this hardware's actually going to be capable of, or what form it will eventually take as it makes its way into consumers' hands, but it stands to reason this is a proactive (and long overdue) approach on DivX's part to make sure more home media devices support that company's format, which is rarely found in US hardware these days.

[andy @ Jun 6th 2007 3:18PM]

XBMC supports DIVX, so I'm good.

[NHAnimator @ Jun 6th 2007 3:21PM]

No truth to the rumor that the hardware will be free for the first 48 hours and $3.25 thereafter.

[Allan @ Jun 6th 2007 3:48PM]

My DVD player supports DivX natively - one of the reasons I bought it... and it was no more expensive than most that didn't. I think it's a Magnavox or something. I forget.

[Carbonize @ Jun 6th 2007 4:28PM]

Possibly they are panicking because avi (be it DivX or XviD) is now outdated and superseded by .h264 and it's ilk.

[Reginald @ Jun 6th 2007 8:49PM]

As I understand it AVI is just a container for the video file and DivX does utilize the MPEG-4 codec, albeit an older format.

But yes, I do agree, they are probably concerned that their DivX format is not doing as well as hoped. I used to have an old Philips DivX DVD player about 2 years ago but, since it did not support these newer H.264 codecs I got rid of it an just ended up using my HTPC instead. I don't even see that DVD player for sale anymore.

[Flying? @ Jun 6th 2007 4:41PM]

Let's hope they'll integrate Stage6 (their excellent video streaming site, far better res than youtube and other) into their new hardware like Apple and Youtube ...

[Otter @ Jun 6th 2007 4:56PM]

If they could make me a nice little USB dongle to plug into my 360 so I could play divx on it, they would make me so happy, and I am sure they would sell thousands of them too.

[DivX_Lady @ Jun 6th 2007 5:50PM]

Last year market penetration in US DVD players that play DivX jumped 4%-19%. Is 375% growth considered " rarely found in US hardware these days"? ;)

[low tech @ Jun 6th 2007 5:58PM]

Why isn't this breaking news?

[Irwin @ Jun 6th 2007 6:00PM]

microsoft paid divx to make this device because they still do not want to add divx spport to the 360.

[DivX_Lady @ Jun 6th 2007 6:38PM]

On that note... Engadget and your trusted source are about 5 months behind PC Mag: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2055708,00.asp

[Ryan Block @ Jun 6th 2007 7:50PM]

DivX Connected and the Connected Certification Program (http://investors.divx.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=210555) are only peripherally related -- this is specifically regarding the company building hardware.

[JohnTitor @ Jun 6th 2007 8:27PM]

What's a good DVD-Recorder with HDMI Upconversion (720P) and DivX support that's not too expensive?
so far I'm looking at the Samsung DVD-R135

[Carbonize @ Jun 6th 2007 8:52PM]

Now thats spooky as I bought a Philips DivX DVD player last December off Ebay. Wonder if it was yours lol.

I personaly use Transcode 360 to stream avi's on my 360.

[ShaleX @ Jun 6th 2007 11:27PM]

Isn't DivX only used for piracy anyway? Most officaly, legal video is h.264 or MPEG-4 nowadays anyway. Since they are both, better and legal codecs

[DAZA @ Jun 7th 2007 1:11AM]

"Isn't DivX only used for piracy anyway?"

That's like saying BitTorrent is only used for illegal file sharing. While it is largely true, there are still some legitimate purposes to it. DivX is also a purely legal codec, and has been for many years now. Once upon a time DivX ;-) 3.11 Alpha was an illegal, hacked version of the Microsoft ASF codec, but that was circa 1998.

[Luke S. Darr @ Jun 7th 2007 1:11AM]

Don't be an idiot. DivX has many legal uses including (but not limited to) backing up your DVDs under fair use. As for piracy, XviD is far more prevalent than DivX, and most HD releases today are in (sic) H.264.

[Chuckles McGee @ Jun 7th 2007 1:22AM]

Divx is really on the way out. Given the improvements in bandwidth availabilty, increased hard drive capacity and proliferation of DVD burners, people are willing to download a few gigs of data to have a perfect DVD rip that they can enjoy on any home theater system without the hassle of conversion or the horrible microblocking that plagues even the best Divx rips from time to time. The proliferation of next-gen HD formats isn't going to help divx, as even DVDs will seem subpar. While divx might have been the bee's knees in 1999, when DVDs were just taking off and you were pretty cool to be grabbing media of this interweb on your company's ISDN connection (like, twice as fast as dialup man!!) with a hard drive with less capacity than today's iPods (and they were much, much bigger than the whole iPod itself, children!), it's old hat now.

[corners @ Jun 7th 2007 8:17AM]

Ryan, still makes no sense this is hardware.

DivX has no HW designers, and its antithecal to their business model anyway. Much more likely they're working closely with an OEM who's incorporating DivX connected and DivX wants Beta testers to give the UI and/or the OEM's hardware a workout.

[Rufus @ Jun 7th 2007 2:31PM]

My guess is actually something like an iTV or the pending SlingCatcher that is specifically tailored to pump all those Divx files on your drive out to your TV with no fuss. It's the logical step for them, making a simple way to get content off the computer drive without the bother of a HTPC etc.

Divx wants to be established as the MP3 format for video. Becoming that standard is all about driving mainstream adoption of the technology rather than impressing the tech-obsessed that read Engadget. Look at that little converter program they put out - drag and drop encoding. That's the direction they want this going.

It's just like the slingbox. Could streaming your own TV over the internet be accomplished without a separate box? sure. Could somebody with no technical skills set it up in 15 minutes? No. Even those who could would prefer not to bother. Same thing here. Something with a sharp, well-done interface that puts all my existing Divx stuff at my fingertips on the couch? Yeah, I'm interested in that. More importantly, it makes me less likely to drop Divx in favor of some new flavor of compression.

[Teetdogs @ Jun 7th 2007 4:06PM]

I would welcome this as rufus said a hardware device that i could use to stream my 2TB worth of divx / xvid files to my tv would make me much less likely to switch formats since that is a whole lot of encoding. I currently use a HTPC for it but that is a pretty expensive solution to playback files that i got for free. Personally if they could come out with a device that played back MP3 DIVX XVID H.264 and MKV for 200-300 bucks I would be sold, heck i could get 5 of em with the cost of my HTPC.

[h.264 addicted @ Jul 10th 2007 11:54PM]

Just received my box :)

It look so good

http://labs.divx.com/files/ConnectedBoxFrontAngle.png
http://labs.divx.com/files/ConnectedBoxBackAngle.png