Roku XDS: Step One In My Quest To Kill Cable

Perhaps you read my post this past weekend about my quest to remove cable television from my life. As a refresher: I’m giving Comcast six months (heavily discounted months due to new service) as I try out better solutions, then I’m cutting the cord. This past week I got the chance to try out one possible replacement: the new Roku XDS.

If you’re familiar with Roku, it’s likely as the first box that was able to play streaming Netflix titles outside of the computer. Way back in 2008 it launched for just $99.99. Back then, that was a pretty killer feature for a pretty killer price. But since then, the marketplace has become much more crowded. It seems nearly every device (videogame consoles, TVs, etc) come with Netflix integration. And Apple is about to launch its new version of the Apple TV for the same $99 price also with Netflix.

The Roku XDS (and HD and XD versions) is Roku’s attempt to strike back at the competition. The box now offers a lot more than just Netflix (as it has for a while, but now there’s more content than ever). In fact, there are over 75 channels you can get for the box — Netflix is just one of them. And, the Roku XD and XDS offers 1080p HD support — something the Apple TV will not (it only goes up to 720p). Bottom line: it’s a nice, simple box with a ton of content for a good price.

But is it a cable-killer?

By itself, no. The main attraction of cable is still the good content (mixed in with all the crap) available. Roku has some of that content through both Netflix and Amazon, but it’s either limited or expensive, respectively. There’s other great content too — like MLB.TV, Vimeo, Pandora, MOG, etc, and plenty of much more obscure stuff — but it’s still not quite up to the quality of content you’ll get with cable.

That said, these new Roku boxes definitely seem to be a part of the equation in me killing cable. The Netflix integration is great, as are several of the other channels like Pandora, MOG, TWiT, and Revision3. Believe it or not, the interface is actually more simple than the Apple TV interface. You just have to pick whatever channel you want, and off you go.

In a way, it sort of reminds me of my old TiVo, a device which I used to love but has since been squeezed out by the ultra-cheap cable DVRs.

The Roku box itself has also been modified so that it’s now smaller and sleeker. It seems comprable to the size of the new Apple TV (which again, isn’t out just yet). There is also a new remote, which isn’t as sleek as the Apple TV remote, but feels nice in the hand and is a hundred billion times better than the remotes cable companies gives you with their piece of crap cable box hardware.

I’ve been testing the Roku XDS, which is the top-of-the-line unit (but only costs $99). The HD and XD are cheaper ($59.99 and $79.99, respectively) and have a fewer features. For example, the $59 HD only does 720p video instead of 1080p (which, again, both the XD and XDS do). The more expensive boxes also have more output options (though all have HDMI), better WiFi options (N support), and a slightly better remote. But it’s hard to argue with $59.99.

The Roku XDS has another very cool bonus feature though. Thanks to its side USB input, it can play content loaded onto a USB stick in 1080p HD. I’ll leave that up to you to determine what that means if you were to visit certain areas of the Internet that offer certain content for free.

I fully realize that even in six months there isn’t going to be one box alone that kills cable. But I definitely see the new Roku box as one of the pieces of the puzzle. And even for those not trying to kill cable yet (emphasis on yet), the Roku will undoubtedly be a nice, cheap addition to the home entertainment center to get plenty of Internet content into your living room.

Apple Reverses Another Stance, Allows Ringtone Makers Into The App Store

You know, it’s starting to look like that set of App Store Review Guidelines Apple published recently might actually… mean something. Just 8 days after the guidelines went live, Apple blew all kinds of minds by allowing Google Voice apps (which had long been banished) into the store; now, another item seems to have been crossed off the blacklist: Ringtone Makers.

Since the early days of the App Store, applications that allow users to make ringtones from songs on their handsets have either inexplicably sat on hold or were outright denied. And yet, here we are; as of right now, there are no less than 5 different ringtone making apps sitting in the App Store.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

2010 Holiday Shopping Predictions: Gadgets, Games and Software [STATS]

What’s on your holiday shopping list this year?

If you’re anything like the millions and millions of web users around the world, you might be thinking of purchasing a smartphone, a tablet, a gaming consol or a few other geeky essentials for your friends and loved ones — or even for yourself.

According to data from Hitwise Intelligence, a web and search analysis firm, what we search and browse for leading up to the end-of-the-year holidays has a strong correlation to what we actually buy, both online and in brick-and-mortar stores. This kind of information, while invaluable to retailers and marketers, is also fascinating to us as gadget geeks.

We took a look at market share and web traffic stats from the last week of August; here’s a breakdown of how pre-holiday stats stack up for the most popular consumer electronics products:

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Apple Is on a Roll

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With major releases throughout the year, Apple’s new iPhone 4, iPad and revamped line of iPods are guaranteed to show strong holiday shopping numbers. This brand grabbed five of the top 20 spots in consumer electronics-related markets for the month of August alone — that amounts to 42.1%.

Most of this attention centers on the iPhone, which launched a new fourth-gen model over the summer, and iPad, which hasn’t stopped making headlines since its debut this spring.

But a healthy amount of consumer interest is also focused on Apple’s new iPods. Many of these bite-sized devices hold more data than ever before and are priced to sell. The iPod shuffle sells for $49, and the new touchscreen, iOS-powered iPod nano starts at $149.

The company also refreshed its MacBook Pro line this year.

In other words, as a hardware manufacturer, Apple had a gangbusters year, rolling out product after product, some of which are entirely new. It would be fatuous to think Apple wouldn’t have an equally gangbusters holiday retail showing.

Still, we’ve been keeping an eye on Android OS’ not-so-slow advance in the mobile market. While this multi-manufacturer platform has a somewhat fragmented set of devices and release dates, we are hearing rumors, “trumors” and verified reports of several exciting, holiday-timed launches. Samsung’s Tab, for example, is an Android-powered tablet that is set to launch later this fall on all four U.S. wireless carriers.

The bottom line is that although Apple is the heavyweight to beat in terms of hardware and gadgets, there’s still plenty of room for other manufacturers and retailers to succeed this holiday season.

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Games and Gadgets Make Great Gifts

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By far and away, the two most dominant verticals in consumer electronics will be gadgets and gaming.

Gaming consoles as well as the games themselves are generating a huge amount of interest with consumers, and many companies are planning on holiday launches.

Microsoft’s Xbox is taking the lion’s share of consumer interest right now, we feel due in large part to the upcoming launch of Kinect, its controller-free interaction system. Several Mashable staffers got some hands-on (or rather, hands-off) time with Kinect during a visit to Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters; to say we were impressed would be a huge understatement. Kinect’s hardware is priced to sell at $150, and the Kinect bundle will be available to shoppers beginning November 4.

As far as non-Apple gadgets are concerned, HTC’s Desire and Samsung’s Galaxy S line are both performing well. One product that took us by surprise was the Kymera Magic Wand, a gestural remote control that’s half Avatar, half Harry Potter. It’s been available for some time and sells for around $78 (£49.95).

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What Are Your Predictions?

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So, what’s topping your shopping list (and your wish list) for the 2010 holidays so far? Are you enamored of the new Droids? Are you eyeing the reduced-price Kindles? What games, gadgets and software are most interesting to you right now, and which do you think would make the best gifts?

Let us know in the comments what consumer electronics products are piquing your interest right now, and be sure to give us your holiday 2010 predictions, as well.

Image courtesy of Flickr, allerleirau.

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Reviews: Android, Flickr, harry potter, iPhone

More About: apple, gadgets, games, gaming, Hardware, holiday shopping, microsoft, retail, samsung, xbox

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