Posted: 17th Feb, 2004 By: MarkJ
TV service developer Akimbo is to sell a set-top-box (STB) alongside a monthly fee based service, which allows video content to be downloaded to the box via a broadband connection:
When the video-on-demand system debuts in the second quarter, available programming will consist primarily of niche topics, such as adult education, Arabic news and snowboarding, content seen as underserved by mainstream cable and satellite TV providers, according to Akimbo executive Steve Shannon.
The target users "are people who have some desire for video they can't get on broadcast such as a displaced sports fan, or an immigrant who wants expose their kids to their native culture," he said. "Independent films, music concerts -- things that are not readily available."
Shannon, a former ReplayTV executive who helped introduce the digital video recorder (DVR), said that at launch, the service will have 20,000 hours of video on tap. Popular sports and movies, and other more general content will eventually come in a second phase.We still find the estimated pricing of $10 (£5.25) per month a little steep for such generally poor media. More @
ZDNet.