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I want my ZeeVee TV - May 8, 2008

Media Wonk says: keep an eye on ZeeVee Inc., a company with a terrible name but an interesting approach to bringing PC and broadband content to the TV screen. I know, I know, who doesn't have a product or service for bringing broadband content to the TV set? Some of them even work. But the ZvBox (ZvBox??) has the sort of intuitive simplicity that could well appeal to non-gear heads.

The slim back box--which is being built by Lite-On in Taiwan--attaches to a computer like a monitor, through the VGA port, along with one USB cable. You plug the other end into the coax cable most people already have running through their homes courtesy of their cable or satellite provider. ZeeVee then searches for an unoccupied frequency on your cable system and occupies it, creating in effect a new "channel" on your cable system. To watch content stored on your PC or streamed from your broadband connection you simply tune to that channel on your cable box. The ZvBox remote has a touch pad that lets you navigate your hard drive from the TV screen.

The VC and privately funded company has been hiding out in Littleton, Mass., operating in super-stealth mode for the past two years but made its first public appearance at the Digital Hollywood Spring conference in Hollywood this week. It began taking pre-orders through Amazon.com on Tuesday and expects to start shipping product on June 30. Initial rollout plans call for e-commerce sales only, through BestBuy.com, CircuitCity.com and a few others in addition to Amazon, according to sales VP Dave Malin.

The beauty of the system is that it integrates seamlessly with your existing cable or satellite service:  no separate connection to the TV; no switching inputs to go from cable to broadband; you can channel surf just like any other of your 500 channels. The company has deals with Hulu.com, Joost and a few other online providers that make those services accessible directly through the Zv on-screen interface.

One potential obstacle, Zv officials acknowledge, is resistance from cable and satellite operators, who may not care for someone else cutting in on their service. "They could be our best friends or our worst enemies," Malin said. "We're just starting to have those conversations."

Crucially, Zv doesn't touch the cable set-top box, which usually is the property of the cable operator. Instead, it inserts itself into the coax network as it comes into the house, which belongs to the customer.

"We researched this very carefully," Malin said. "The terms of service for all of the major MSOs say you own the coax in your home," Malin said.

The company is hoping, though, that the MSOs will ultimately come to see it as an up-sell opportunity for their broadband offerings. "Eventually, all of those guys are going to have offer some kind of premium, 50 or 100 GBS broadband service, with real HD streaming," Malin said. "They could easily bundle Zv in and market it as broadband HD direct to your big-screen TV."

The company is also preparing for the day when it doesn't have to manufacture boxes anymore. "We have it down to a card that can be slid right into a PC by the OEM," Malin said.

The box and remote go for $499, which they can probably get away with for early adopter sales but obviously isn't a mass market price. An optional wireless keyboard is another $149, although the box will support most existing wireless keyboards.

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