In-Home Streaming “Appliances:” The Next Big Thing?
Take for instance, the RobotCam, a name that doesn't provide any details about the product. This robotic vacuum cleaner, similar to iRobot's Roomba, has a surprising twist: it's also a mobile surveillance system complete with motion detection. The RobotCam can be programmed via voice commands or on its 2" LCD panel, and it then goes about its business of cleaning or checking rooms for movement during "patrol" hours. Its 1.3 megapixel CMOS chip can be used to either take still images or stream video and either can be accessed via HSDPA (3G GSM broadband) handsets or via the internet.
And then there's the Rovio, the household appliance that checks on other appliances in the house. Like its name implies, Rovio roams around the house, using what the manufacturer, WowWee, calls "pinpoint navigation" to perform micro GPS maneuvers. Similar to RobotCam and also dubbed as a home security robot, this product uses Evolution Robotic's Northstar navigation technology (via an infrared light and an 802.11g network) and user-controlled navigation software that's accessible from any web enabled device. The navigation software allows a user to "create and execute patrol routes for the Rovio" according to the company. As part of its visual verification of its patrol, the Rovio—which can raise its camera to a height about 18" off the floor—also streams live audio and video back to the user across the internet, and can broadcast the user's voice through the Rovio to have a "conversation" with someone in the remote room. Example uses shown on the CES show floor in a mocked-up kitchen showed Rovio being navigated live via camera to check out whether or not the stove was turned on, but I think children of the world can now rejoice—and go back to playing their Xbox—since Rovio appears poised to do their parents' scouting work for them. Available soon, Rovio will retail for a suggested $299.
Logitech showed off a streaming appliance that won an CES 2008 Innovation Award. The Squeezebox, is somewhat akin to the old Turtle Beach Audiotron (and has been dubbed by pundits as a "poor man's Sonos") but uses wireless mesh networking to allow music to stream across multiple rooms and also to be controlled by a handheld controller with a 2.4" color display that can be carried from room to room to browse playlists, albums, artists, and streaming internet radio stations. The product also has the ability, with a monthly subscription fee, to access services such as Real's Rhapsody music service using SqueezeNetwork, Logitech's internet service that also allows personal music collection can be stored online in an MP3tunes music locker and played through your Squeezebox. Despite a name that sounds awfully like another streaming audio and video home appliance—Slingbox—the Logitech product attracted significant interest.Does this interest in home streaming appliances mean that streaming usage will jump extraordinarily in 2008? Stay tuned, check out YouTube for the latest videos about (and from) these appliances, and watch for robotic discs moving around about your feet.