We hadn't heard from struggling content-delivery service Akimbo in over a year, so it's not really surprising that the latest news isn't exactly cheerful: the company is shutting down, leaving only a "skeleton crew" behind to find a buyer for its remaining assets. Akimbo seemed like it was searching for a viable business model from the start (eventually leading the company to drop its hardware offerings entirely), and like other would-be set-top box vendors, it looks like the economics of content delivery were simply too skewed to wrestle into profitability. Any bets on who's next?

[Via GigaOM]

Although DISH Network's previous quarter wasn't anything to write home about, it sounds like the satcaster (EchoStar, technically) isn't going to allow its set-top line to grow stale in the process. During the recent Team Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, DISH's CEO Charlie Ergen reiterated that it would be beaming out "more than 100 national HD channels" by the end of 2008, and he also made mention that the EchoStar 11 satellite would lift off in July. Most interesting, however, was all the talk about the new STBs. The forthcoming ViP 722 will be the first HD DVR from the outfit with loads of Sling technology built in -- not too shocking considering the recent acquisition. Additionally, the box is said to feature an all new interface and the ability to browse to (select) websites, double as a SlingCatcher and even handle Clip & Sling duties. There's plenty more where this came from, so be sure and hit the read link when you've got some spare time for reading.

[Via GizmoLovers]

Details surrounding Netflix's upcoming set-top box partnership with LG are still scarce, but that hasn't stopped it from announcing similar plans with four other unnamed hardware manufacturers that it expects will sell "millions" of devices per year. Feel free to guess, but the only details available are that the fourth company is a small one likely to launch sooner than Q4, while the other three (including LG) will turn on Netflix functionality in some of their devices in the fourth quarter. It's unlikely to wash away the bad taste of an HD price hike, but we like imagining that all the hardware needed to connect Netflix's all-you-can-eat streaming movie service to our HDTV is already in the living room (Xbox 360 & PS3, we're looking at you).

The Hollywood Reporter is stating in no uncertain terms that Blockbuster is developing a set-top box to stream video into the home. Now the real bombshell: it should be announced "sometime this month." The device is expected to make the most of Blockbuster's access to Movielink's 6,000 strong Movie catalog just as soon as the content is migrated to Blockbuster.com (sometime before June). While delivering movies into the home electronically certainly challenges Blockbuster's brick and mortar business, really, what choice do they have in the relentless face of progress.

Quanta, the OEM behind the OLPC and MacBook, just announced its move into home-based HD video conferencing. Quanta is teaming with OoVoo to produce the Quanta Video Messenger -- a 1,280 x 720 pixel / 30fps, multi-point-capable set-top box that plugs directly into your HDTV and home Internet connection (presumably via Ethernet or 802.11n, they don't say). OoVoo is also looking to integrate its wares in existing set-top boxes. The prototype STB is the size of a hardback book and does not currently include a webcam or mic -- those must be plugged into the device separately. They'd better bundle a webcam then, if they hope to generate mass market appeal across familial generations. Early tests of the H.264 video over an Internet connection capped at 512kbps upstream produced the occasional video sputter (when watching a fast moving object) in quality roughly equivalent to DVDs. Fortunately, Quanta and OoVoo have 9 months to sort out any issues as they don't expect to ship until "later this year" for a price meant to be "affordable to consumers."

[Via MicroHoo News]

Samsung's See'N'Search set-top box that intelligently and automatically pulls content from the internet to match whatever TV show is on sounded nice enough, but we wanted to see it in action. Apparently the good people at Samsung have also perfected their wish-granting technology to match the unit's metadata scrapers, because here's a demo video. Check it out after the break, and be mindful of your thoughts, wouldn't want to distract Samsung's R&D from preparing that sandwich we just telepathically requested.

We know AXIA for the fairly boring Windows Mobile smartphones to which the brand is affixed, so while we trust Fifth Media to stick a radio into a device, we really never saw this coming. The AXIA HSDPA Multimedia STB is a do-it-all box and makes no bones about it. Inside its shiny black exterior is HSDPA, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0, with an embedded Windows OS for running entertainment, VoIP, kiosk and ePayment apps. Says Yogi Babria, Fifth Media Chief Program Officer, "We converge into a single device all the functions and desired applications required for business and home users." We weren't really aware that the market was in dire need of such an oddly converged product, but if you want an HSDPA WiFi router that can simultaneously get you onto Internet Explorer and do the SIP hosting for your VoIP calls, now you know where to turn. No word yet on price or availability, but we'll be seeing more of this one at CeBit next week.

While peer-to-peer sharing certainly gets its fair share of critics, the sharing, caring approach to distributing media definitely has its useful (and legal) benefits, and now NDS has announced "two new product enhancements of Synamedia Metro, the NDS IPTV middleware solution," which looks to bring P2P technology to the DVR. Distributed DVR allows for any hard drive on the home's network to act as the storage device for your DVR, theoretically eliminating the need to even include an HDD in the set-top-box and giving customers the unadulterated ability to scale their storage capacity to fit their needs. Furthermore, the ShareTV system "allows IPTV subscribers to legally share their stored TV content using peer-to-peer technology running in the Jungo Residential Gateway software," essentially opening up a new realm of recorded television to access just in case your forgot to schedule a crucial recording. Of course, all of the files would be laced in DRM, and only users of NDS' system would be able to share and access the recorded content, but having a nearly endless supply of DVR'd shows at your disposal sure sounds appealing. Now, who's game to pick this system up and distribute to the people?

[Via PVRWire]

We've been hearing about Netflix's plans to deliver movies via the web for quite a while now, and it turns out they might be doing it through a proprietary set-top box before the end of this year. During a panel discussion at an Independent Film & Television Alliance meeting, Netflix's VP of original programming, Eric Besner, reportedly revealed plans for a device that will enable customers to add movies to their queue and download them overnight, presumably to an internal hard drive. An official statement from the movie rental powerhouse to the SEC suggests, among other things, that nothing has actually been decided yet, and that if the box is real, it will only be part of a much larger plan to deliver downloaded content. It looks like we'll have to wait a while for details -- like if download-and-burn will become a reality -- but a report is apparently on the way in early 2007, describing what the company has come up with after investing somewhere between five and ten million dollars in research this year alone. So sit tight and enjoy your new Vongo subscription or wait patiently for Steve Jobs to lock down the iTunes movie store and we'll give you a heads up when we have more info.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

There's definitely no shortage of media extender options on the market, but that isn't stopping Digital Deck from releasing a new solution that not only manages the digital content on your PC, but plays nice with TiVo as well for viewing your recorded swag all over the house. Make that a small house, because the Media Connector box (or boxes, if you're doing the multi-room thing) gets its data over an old-fashioned wired Ethernet connection, meaning that there's no place for this system in the sprawling Engadget Mansion. Apartment dwellers, however, may find this setup to be just what they're looking for, as the included Media Center software promises to make controlling your gear a breeze, allowing you to seamlessly stream live and recorded content, plus flickr photos, back and forth among your various pieces of equipment. On the specs tip, the set top box can handle MPEG-2, MP3, WMA, AAC, and AC-3 formats, features component and digital audio hookups along with the obligatory composite and S-Video jacks, and will set you back a cool $500 plus $300 for each additional room you want to connect.

[Via eHomeUpgrade]