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Time Warner Cable will sell a $99 Fan TV box that streams cable TV and internet video
Last summer Fanhattan showed off its Fan TV box that promised to put cable TV on the same level as internet streaming services, but with the odd twist that cable TV providers would be the ones to sell it. After a short test period with Cox Cable last year, Fanhattan has formed a partnership with Time Warner Cable to sell the $99 boxes to its subscribers (available for pre-order now, shipping in the next few months). It doesn't need coax or a visit from the cable guy, but it will have live TV and video on-demand from TWC, plus streaming video from services including Redbox Instant, Target Ticket (coming shortly after launch), Crackle and Rhapsody. Time Warner Cable has been on the forefront of transitioning to internet streaming with its TWC TV apps, and the Fan TV box plays directly into that.
Cox flareWatch beta brings IPTV with 60 HD channels, cloud DVR for $35 monthly
While everyone tries to figure out what the future of TV looks like, Variety reports Cox Cable has crossed over to offering internet TV service to customers in Orange County. flareWatch beta testers can buy a Fanhattan Fan TV set-top box for $99 (up to three per household) and sign up for a TV package that features 90 live TV channels (60 in HD) and includes the usual favorites like ESPN / ESPN2, AMC, CNN, Nickelodeon and TNT, with video on-demand coming soon. DVR recordings take place in the cloud, with 30 hours of storage available for each subscriber. There is one notable limitation however, as with cable company provided TiVo DVRs, streaming services like Hulu and Netflix are not available. Cox already offers cloud-based storage under the MyFlare brand name, and Variety also mentions the company plans to expand it with music and game services. Other providers have hinted at offering IPTV options and Comcast launched an IPTV test at MIT, but this is the first one publicly available from a major company. If you live in the area, demonstrations are available at several locations, check out the site at the link below and a preview video after the break.
Fanhattan plans living room invasion with versatile Fan TV set-top box (video)
Fanhattan, maker of video-streaming tablet and smartphone apps, now has a set-top box to call its own. It's called Fan TV, and combines live web streaming, TV and cloud-based DVR functionality in a single device. The interface is very simple and clean -- you navigate through a TV-based UI, as you'd probably expect, with a tiny multi-touch remote driving the experience. The main device, designed in partnership with Yves Behar of OLPC fame, is also quite compact. Spec details are light, but we do know that the system runs on Android, and features limited connectivity, including Ethernet and HDMI. According to a The Next Web report, Fanhattan is planning to sell Fan TV through cable TV providers, rather than directly to consumers. The company isn't sharing its content and distribution partners yet, but more details will surely become public before the expected US launch later this year. There's also no mention of price. For a closer look, check out the promo video after the break.
