Don't know why the Motorola rumors are flying hot and heavy today, but right on top of that
connected GPS whisper comes word that the struggling device manufacturer is being tapped to build a new version of KDDI's
multifaceted Au Box set-top unit that runs Android instead of the previous custom Linux build. The Au Box, if you'll recall, is a trick little IPTV box with a DVD drive that can rip audio and video and transcode it for transfer or streaming to your cellphone -- kind of like a more flexible Slingbox that costs $3/month for KDDI subscribers. Definitely interesting, especially since Android could make browsing and email extremely easy to implement as well -- hey Moto, maybe you want to ditch your current garbage Stateside cable box lineup and start shipping these things at home?
Update: Turns out there's
no Android here at all, according to Moto. Instead it's running on KreaTV platform. Is it just us or did this thing just lose about 50 megafonzies on the cool-o-meter?
[Via
CNET]
posted April 14th 2009 5:52PM
I hate time warner :-(
I love android speculation, there's still only one phone widely available that runs it, yet people are all like "Oh yeah Cannsoft are planning an Android toilet"
I can see android becoming a word used instead of linux, easier for consumers to say correctly...
(P.S. i know that would be wrong, but i can see it turning into the whole PC thing, yes macs are PCs too etc...)
They already put Linux on everything. It runs on my Mp3 player, my router, my media extender and on my PC. Few companies would go through the trouble of creating their own OS from scratch just to put it on some device. Linux works, its free, constantly updated, well known and tested, and runs on pretty much anything.
I could see Android follow this tradition and be used as a generic graphical OS companies write their custom software on top of before putting it on whatever device they mean to sell.
Are those speakers on the front?
Id rather they focus on putting android where it was intended to be used in the first place. Too much rumours and crap running around, but only one crippled device is currently available =(. If only someone made an omnia/N97 like android phone, I'd be more than happy to switch over from symbian.
omnia HD*
1980 called and wants its VCR back
Spot on. I've seen one of these in person down at the local au shop and I can tell you its almost as big as the original Xbox. For $3/month I get the feeling it might have been a failed project at Motorola and KDDI picked it up on the cheap to try something new with nothing to lose.
Sure. Take it from the garbage dumps in the nether world
"hey Moto, maybe you want to ditch your current garbage Stateside cable box lineup and start shipping these things at home?"
The cable companies hire third party software companies to write the code that runs on the Motorola set top boxes. You're barking up the wrong tree.
That being said, the lack of innovation from Comcast is ridiculous in this day and age. No UI improvements, no whole home DVR, no widgets. It's just pathetic.
The boxes are fine. It's the lousy carrier software that's the suck.
I feel old. I thought that the image was of some weird VCR/soundbar instead of a cable box :(. However, combining Android and cable boxes = WIN. But, as others have said, if Comcast, TWC, and everyone else will even BRING THEM TO THE U.S., they will do everything they can do to cripple them because the last thing that they want is for users to have an open source media outlet.
The real question is : What is Google's positioning of Android (beyond the few phone models) ?
Yes, Moto can make a STB with Android, and someone (anyone) can make an Android router/netbook/washing machine/toothbrush. But what do the parents of this baby expect it to become as it grows up (if it grows up) ? In other words, what's cooking in Google cauldrons for the "living room" experience ? Or how can ad sense add sense in the living room ? Little known facts, theories, conjectures and reliable rumors most welcome.
1) I see no chin on that box.
2) I totally agree. Motorola boxes suck stateside. I absolutely love the green bar on the right side of my HDTV's screen, and the shifted pixels on the left.