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Television

Submission + - Neuros Launches New Device, Service for Net TV (neuros.tv)

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "Neuros is offering a limited quantity Gamma Launch today. The Neuros LINK, combined with the free Neuros.TV service, is designed to bring Internet TV to the TV. It's a device designed to not only play downloaded content, but connect directly to video sites like Hulu.com, etc. It makes generous use of open source software from mplayer to a mozilla based browser. The Neuros.TV service aggregates video content from around the net and is intended to support user collaboration too. Like most Neuros products the device is very open and hackable. Information can be found at www.neuros.tv. Community information and a handful of screen shots are here. General product information at www.neuros.tv"
Television

Submission + - Real Time Chat Superimposed on Presidential Debate (digg.com)

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "Neuros has a new technology that will superimpose real time chat (from http://narration.neuros.tv/) onto TV sets with the Neuros hardware. The inaugural event is the upcoming US presidential debate. You can see the debate online and participate without the hardware, and Neuros may even post the logs as subtitle text for those downloading the video. Neuros posted a simulation using the technology during the state of the union address on YouTube. It's an experiment to see if real time commentary enhances the viewing of shows and events, it certainly has the potential to go either way."

Comment Many manufacturers want reoccuring revenue (Score 1) 1

by JoeBorn (#25034639) Attached to: Is open hardware the future of product design?
One big reason many manufacturers don't embrace openness is that they want devices that are tied to services or media. Apple has become the #1 music seller in the US by having iPods tied to iTunes and with the music store being pushed front and center to iPod owners. I doubt Apple would be enthusiastic about opening the iPod/iPhone so that Amazon's MP3 store can be as tightly integrated as the Apple store. Some hardware is even subsidized by service or content revenue, AppleTV, Tivo, etc. which makes openness even less appealing. Openess can win once there are compelling killer apps that the open device has that the closed ones don't. At some point the proprietary vendors get pushed into allowing 3rd party applications and services because they are getting left behind.
Television

Submission + - Web on TV: This Time it's a Winner, We Swear (neurostechnology.com)

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "Few technologies have been invented and re-invented more, seemingly just to prove no one wants it that the web on the TV. This time, its being demonstrated by Neuros as a way to get Web 2.0 content integrated into TV browsing. Does it make any difference or is TV web just a dog anyway you slice it?"
Media

Submission + - User Contribution Brings Last.fm to Neuros OSD (neurostechnology.com)

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "Community internet radio site last.fm is coming to the Neuros OSD. A last.fm community member, sponsored by Google, has ported the feature/service to the Neuros OSD, so that users can use the last.fm service outside of their PCs. open source allows the service to be tightly integrated with the main application and integrated with the other apps (and thus able to fetch music videos from youtube and access the local music collection). In contrast, Pandora on the iPhone is a stand alone application, isolated from the local music library etc. Does this give open source a real advantage on devices or is an API to a closed system just fine?"
Television

Submission + - Will User Generated Narration Change TV (neurostechnology.com)

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "Neuros is showcasing a hack to their 'OSD' device that was created at a BBC sponsored event, that allows a couple lines of IRC chat to be overlaid on top of a tv show. The experience is open commentary on any tv show or event. There's a video demo showing what it might be like using the State of the Union address as the event. The idea is that a viewer might ultimately have multiple channels to choose from, some open chat with friends, some professional commentary. It's an interesting view into what's at least one person's idea of the future of TV."
Programming

Submission + - Developing the Neuros OSD: It Takes a Village (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
ThinSkin
ThinSkin writes: "What happens when consumer electronics are designed, tested, and maintained by volunteers from around the world? The Neuros OSD is what happens, of course. ExtremeTech features an in-depth looks into the rocky history of Neuros Technology, a Chicago-based company that uses open source methods to develop products. Backed by Joe Born and a community of developers, Neuros was able to attract the attention of Texas Instruments to develop their most promising product, the OSD (open source device), a network-connected set top box for media playback and recording. The article offers a detailed glimpse into the world of open source development and how a company like Neuros was able to keep the community strong."
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - VLC Hits the Device Market (neurostechnology.com)

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "VideoLAN has long been known as a mature open source project for video playback and transcoding on the PC. Now, Neuros and Texas Instruments have sponsored a port of VLC to their next generation open set-top box. The idea is to allow developers to easily create interesting plug-ins for recording and transcoding applications for the set-top box which will automate functions previously requiring a PC, like formating recordings for a portable player or streaming to another device on the lan or the internet, etc."
Television

Submission + - Neuros and TI Launch Open Video Platform/Bounties (neurostechnology.com)

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "Texas Instruments has joined forces with Neuros Technology, an open-source video device manufacturer, to promote development of an open-source software platform for video hardware and set-top boxes. This platform, which will enable HD playback and recording, will open up the television as a development target and give community and third-party developers the ability to build applications for the TV. The bounty program will be paying cash to developers who implement specific features, and reflects an increased interest from TI in building ties with the open source software community on top of its hardware components. Are community-focused bounties an effective way to introduce large, traditionally closed companies to the open source community?"
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - TI, Neuros partner on OSS DVR, media platform (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Lenny
Lenny writes: Neuros and Texas Instruments are teaming up on the development of an OSS platform for video hardware and set-top boxes. The goal is an open platform and application development stack that can be used across different devices. Neuros CEO Joe Born likens it to a new distro for set-top boxes: '"TI and Neuros are, in essence, sponsoring the development of a complete distribution of Linux for a set-top box. The cooperation with Neuros means that there will be a complete reference design, distribution all the way to a consumer branded device that's available directly at retail to consumers," Born told Ars. "When done, it will be a complete open platform that will allow developers of all levels to contribute and port applications. Our goal is to have a web browser so that participation using only web tools is possible."'
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - NY Times Article on Neuros Open Source Hardware (neurostechnology.com)

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "The Sunday New York Times has an article on Neuros and describes the benefits of open source hardware to its mainstream readership. Can a mainstream audience appreciate that hackability can translate into new features or will it all just seem too geeky? In this case, the Neuros OSD got a YouTube browser and she also attributes a windsurfing rigg to it being open source. While the details might be lost on the average reader, are they getting the sense that some companies allow users to benefit from other users modifications while others are actively bricking products for applying 3rd party apps? In other words, is openness starting to add value to the brands that support it?"
Media

Submission + - "Unlocked" a brand for DRM-Free Media (neurostechnology.com)

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "Neuros has created an 'unlocked' brand for open, standard DRM-Free files that it hopes will draw attention to the issues associated with the DRM Schemes promoted by the likes of MS and Apple. The idea is that by creating an open brand (free for other organizations or companies to use) "Unlocked" can come to designate a consumer feature, which would be an important asset in getting support from other manufacturers, as well as winning the public relations war that's so important in legislative battles."
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Can Hardware Have "distributions" like Lin (neurostechnology.com) 2

Submitted by
JoeBorn
JoeBorn writes: "Neuros and DVRupgrade are partnering on a set of bounties to modify the Neuros OSD to synchronize with TiVo. Neuros has a blog posting suggesting that open source electronics will go the way of Linux with "multiple distributions" supported by multiple 3rd parties selling almost like affiliates. Do you believe open source hardware follow the distribution model of open source software? Have the barriers to entry dropped so low that virtually anyone can sell customized hardware out of their bedroom?"

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