Monday, May 3, 2004
SnapStream: Innovating and Pushing Ahead
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 07:00 AM
If you haven't heard of SnapStream, you should pay attention - they're a company to watch. I first heard of SnapStream when I met their CEO at a trade show back in 2001 - he was very enthusiastic about their product because it had the ability to take the recorded TV shows and convert them to Pocket PC-friendly formats. At the time, I have to admit that I didn't really care that much - the concept didn't appeal to me. I had tried putting a TV tuner in my PC before, and the whole "watching TV on your computer" and it was more of a distraction than anything else. I didn't really give the product a chance though, and right now I'm kicking myself for not doing so. The past couple of weeks I've really been looking closely at SnapStream's offerings and strategy - and I'm impressed.
I have to admire SnapStream's play here - one of the primary complaints from people who are interested in Windows Media Center Edition is that they have to buy a new PC. Most people can't justify a $2000 computer in order to get the MCE extperience. Microsoft did that for a reason - they want a controlled, baseline environment to build a stable experience for users. But what about us geeks who want to do things OUR way? That's where SnapStream comes in - they have BeyondTV, which is a PVR software product that allows you to do all of the video portions of what MCE offers, and a whole lot more. The server interface is nothing short of awesome - you can log into your PC remotely and stream content to a Pocket PC over WiFi or even GPRS! For all it's power, SnapStream still has a friendly interface that non-techies can use. But BeyondTV is really focused on the PVR aspects, while MCE has audio and photo capabilities.
Take combine that killer BeyondTV interface and functionality with their new FireFly PC Remote, add on Beyond Media Basic...and you have a complete end to end product that gives you MCE on your own hardware, and your own terms.
I think SnapStream can stay healthy and ahead of Microsoft in this area by continuing to innovate. You want to see cutting edge? How about being able to program your BeyondTV to record a TV show using a WAP-enabled mobile phone. My pulse quickened just thinking about this - there has been more than one occasion where I've wanted to record a TV show but haven't been home to set things up. Now that I'm using a ReplayTV, things have gotten better in terms of not missing shows, but SnapStream's approach takes it to the next level. And they have a transcoding function called ShowSqueeze where the MPEG2 recordings are converted to WMV9 format - slick.
Remember that silent Shuttle ST62K that I said would make a good Media Center-type computer? Well, I'm going to ask the nice folks at SnapStream if I can take their products for a spin and see if they're as great as I think they are. ;-)
I have to admire SnapStream's play here - one of the primary complaints from people who are interested in Windows Media Center Edition is that they have to buy a new PC. Most people can't justify a $2000 computer in order to get the MCE extperience. Microsoft did that for a reason - they want a controlled, baseline environment to build a stable experience for users. But what about us geeks who want to do things OUR way? That's where SnapStream comes in - they have BeyondTV, which is a PVR software product that allows you to do all of the video portions of what MCE offers, and a whole lot more. The server interface is nothing short of awesome - you can log into your PC remotely and stream content to a Pocket PC over WiFi or even GPRS! For all it's power, SnapStream still has a friendly interface that non-techies can use. But BeyondTV is really focused on the PVR aspects, while MCE has audio and photo capabilities.
Take combine that killer BeyondTV interface and functionality with their new FireFly PC Remote, add on Beyond Media Basic...and you have a complete end to end product that gives you MCE on your own hardware, and your own terms.
I think SnapStream can stay healthy and ahead of Microsoft in this area by continuing to innovate. You want to see cutting edge? How about being able to program your BeyondTV to record a TV show using a WAP-enabled mobile phone. My pulse quickened just thinking about this - there has been more than one occasion where I've wanted to record a TV show but haven't been home to set things up. Now that I'm using a ReplayTV, things have gotten better in terms of not missing shows, but SnapStream's approach takes it to the next level. And they have a transcoding function called ShowSqueeze where the MPEG2 recordings are converted to WMV9 format - slick.
Remember that silent Shuttle ST62K that I said would make a good Media Center-type computer? Well, I'm going to ask the nice folks at SnapStream if I can take their products for a spin and see if they're as great as I think they are. ;-)
