Littleton, MA — Startup company ZeeVee Inc. has launched ZvBox, a new consumer electronics product for watching any Internet TV, online video, or computer content on HDTVs at home.
Available for preorder online exclusively at Amazon.com, ZvBox connects to the monitor output of the computer and turns it into a new high-definition (HD) TV channel
called Zv, which is then broadcast across the existing cable wiring to all HDTVs in the home.
ZvBox represents a new product category for consumer electronics
called localcasting, a method for broadcasting anything a computer can do using the homes existing cable wiring and the TV tuners already embedded in HDTVs. As demonstrated by ZeeVees own ZvCast technology upon which ZvBox is built,
localcasting has several benefits which surpass alternative methods for watching Internet video on TV:
Lets you watch anything available online or on your computer, with no new subscription fees
Broadcasts the same great HD resolution that is displayed by your computer
Uses your existing cable wiring to reach all the HDTVs in your house with just one box ZvBox puts any online video on the HDTV
Eliminates the need for a receiving device near your HDTV
Experiences no wireless interference or performance problems
Allows you to start watching Zv in one room and finish in another
ZvBox closes the huge gap that has existed between HDTVs, which have the best viewing experience, and the computer, which provides virtually unlimited content options and many applications already in use by consumers, said ZeeVee co-founder and CEO Vic Odryna. Instead of the walled garden world of set-top box solutions, ZvBox opens up the entire universe of Internet video and computer applications, where innovation usually happens first. And since ZvBox provides a duplication of what you see on your monitor, anything you can do on your computer you can now do on your HDTVs.
To enhance the Zv viewing experience, ZeeVee has also created a new remote control, called ZvRemote. ZvRemote controls your media playback and has an integrated touchpad which controls the computers mouse and desktop interface from across the house up to 150 feet away. The ZvKeyboard is designed to make it easier to compose e-mail, surf the web, and type text for desktop applications. ZeeVee also provides a widescreen guide called Zviewer that is optimized for a 10-foot viewing experience on an HDTV.
Priced at $499, ZvBox will be shipped to customers on June 30, 2008, its scheduled release date.
