The ZvBox is a promising little CE device that streams HD content over widely available coax cable. Unfortunately, the first version did work so well but Vic Odryna, CEO and overall nice guy, promises brighter roads ahead thanks to an update and the new commercial unit.
I was less than impressed with the ZvBox, but the concept is very solid and the company seems to be committed to the product. ZeeVee is taking the next logical step and entering the custom install market with a rack mountable version of the ZvBox with better cooling and more connectivity options. Also, an improved GUI which should be entering beta soon (thank goodness). Hopefully this next version doesn’t hijack the host computer and improves on the mouse lag ’cause I really want this product to work well; if nothing else to provide true Hulu access on my HDTV.
There hasn’t been a gadget that I was initially interested about more than the ZvBox. In my world of 250 press releases a week and thousands of random gadgets, that’s something. The device hijacks a QAM channel over your home’s coax network and streams digital media through it. Since most people already have coax ran, at lease close to their HDTVs, the concept is solid. With that being said, it was like Christmas morning when I received the review unit, but quickly turned into Christmas ’89. The year the big package under the tree turned out to be luggage rather than the PowerPad I was expecting. Yeah, I am that disappointed with the ZvBox.
In fact, when I was initially done testing the unit, I was convinced that I was going to send the unit back to the company, as I didn’t want to embarrass anyone. Then a few minutes later it hit me that I do not review products for companies but rather for you, the reader. There are some fine aspects to this product but you really should read on to hear the rest.
Lucky duck Dave Zatz recently unboxed his eval-unit ZvBox. The unimpressive looking box is really equiped with an innovative feature set. It takes a PC- or web-based content and streams it over your homes coax cables for QAM-equiped TVs to pick up. Seriously, why doesn’t more manufacturers use this technique?
We spoke briefly to Dave about the unit and he seems impressed so far. We both thought that the $499 price seems a bit steep, but a more in-depth hands-on might — hopefully — reveal justification. If the UI is solid, and the streaming is great, then yeah, $499 wouldn’t be a bad price to stream media to every TV in the house. Got to admit that ZeeVee didn’t skimp on the remote though; multi-thousand dollar HDTVs come with lamer remotes. More on the ZvBox to come.
Here’s an interesting idea — sort of how FM broadcasters for MP3 players work, except this device sends video from your computer out to a blank TV channel over your home’s coaxial wiring.
It’s called “Zv” and it’ll cost $500 when it launches later in June.
