SanDisk Unveils USBTV
During CES, SanDisk announced a technology called USBTV, which aims to use flash-based storage devices to link computers and TVs. Naturally, SanDisk, the inventor of flash drives, wants to keep its flash drive business going strong and this was a bold move.
Flash drives are incredibly cool and easy to use, but there’s still a problem of plugging a USB device onto your TV. There simply are very few TVs that come with USB ports today. But why not put USB ports on TVs? Flash drives are already replacing the floppy disk. (OK, flash drives have really replaced the need for a floppy drive, but that’s another story.)
Getting content from your computer to the TV is an annoying process (from burning to labeling discs, etc.) but the USBTV requires that TV manufacturers add a USB port.
For now, SanDisk showed off a “product concept� using a TV cradle and a remote control, allowing USBTV to connect a TV set. (Sorry no pics available.) Apparently, the USBTV device converts stored files into various audio and video formats for quick playback.
Said Eli Harari, SanDisk CEO. “…USBTV solves in a simple, elegant way the ‘last 10 feet’ of the content portability problem in the home between the PC and the TV.â€?
Ah yes, that crucial last 10 feet. Why not use your home network or a media server? That’d be my first choice.
The first pocket-sized players, expected to be available this spring, allow consumers to access an on-screen guide where they can pick and choose from content they’ve stored on the USBTV player and play it on a TV. No wireless set-up or complex networking equipment is required.
Update: Just found a video on YouTube showing the USBTV in “action”.
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