News & Analysis
Comment
MIrandaSB
The price is not something to worry about. I purchased mine with DISH Network ...
LarryM99
The real key is not necessarily the price. It is the WAF (Wife Acceptance ...
Logitech's Revue draws mixed reviews
Rick Merritt
10/6/2010 5:57 PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The first GoogleTV device—the $300 Logitech Revue—is getting mixed reviews after debuting here Wednesday. It will be difficult to show consumers the benefits of the relatively expensive set top and keyboard in market quickly getting crowded, analysts said.
The product gets kudos for integrating broadcast and Web video on any HDMI-capable HDTV and supporting playback of personal media and 720-progressive video conferencing. However, its $300 price tag—plus another $149 for an HDTV camera—will dampen sales.
Logitech built into Revue the functionality of its Harmony Remote universal A/V controllers that cost as much as $200. Those remotes control multiple A/V devices but are not widely used.
Meanwhile, Roku and Apple are selling set-tops that bring Web content to the TV for as little as $99. The Revue will also compete with a growing array of TVs, game consoles and Blu-ray players that bring Web content to the TV.
"If Logitech sells a million of these, they will be doing very well," said Colin Dixon, senior partner at market watcher The Diffusion Group (Frisco, Texas) which predicts "steady but not spectacular growth" for the category of Web TV set tops.
The Revue is a compelling alternative to the Cisco Systems Umi also launched Wednesday. The $599 Umi delivers on an HDTV video conferencing at 1080-progressive resolution using an Intel Canmore processor and other dedicated hardware.
"It will be hard for Cisco to compete with the Revue," said Dixon. "Logitech's video quality is clearly not as good as the Umi but it is good enough," he added.
Several top TV makers showed TVs using Skype Chat software to deliver video conferencing at last year's Consumer Electronics Show. "I expect to see a lot of consumer video conferencing systems at this year's CES," said Ben Bajarin of market watcher Creative Strategies (Cupertino, Calif.).
The Logitech Revue uses the more recent Intel CE4100 Sodaville processor that will also be used in an upcoming Sony TV that integrates the GoogleTV software. The code which enables searches across broadcast TV and Web content requires at least a Gbyte of DRAM and 4 Gbytes NAND flash.
Dish Network, so far the only service provider supporting GoogleTV, helped create a special protocol letting users search content stored on a Dish digital video recorder and schedule recording. APIs for the protocol will be made available when a Google Android Web site for GoogleTV apps goes live early next year.
Dish will sell the Revue set-top and keyboard for $179 plus a $4/month activation fee to new and existing customers. Revue can access electronic program guide data from any cable or satellite service, but it will not provide interactive services such as searching or automating recording on the DVRs from other service providers.
The Logitech keyboard uses the company's 2.4 GHz wireless technology running on two AA batteries to link to the Revue set top. The company also designed a smartphone-sized remote controller as a $129 option.
Logitech's $149 TV cam is its first excursion outside PC Web cams where it has sold more than 78 million devices. It will also sell indoor and outdoor security cameras that can be controlled using GoogleTV for $299 and $349.
The conferencing service requires Logitech's VidHD program which is pre-installed in Revue along with a Logitech application for playing personal music, video and pictures. It can stream any content not controlled by digital rights management.
Like other Web TV set tops, the Revue bundles in access to a number of Web services including Picassa, YouTube, Netflix, Napster and Amazon.com's video service. It uses HDMI to link to a service provider set top and a TV.
The company has also designed remote control applications for iPhones, iPads and Android phones. All the new Logitech products are available for order now and will ship at the end of October.
Logitech chief executive Gerald Quindlen said the Revue is the first of many products in the works for GoogleTV. But the company's focus will continue to be on keyboards, remotes and other peripherals—not set-top boxes, he added.
"Today is just the beginning of this platform and what we intend to do around it," Quindlen said. "We are already at work on a host of peripherals and other devices around this platform," he said.
"This is a box that will get better every day and is the beginning of a transition taking place in television," said Rishi Chandra, Google's lead product manager for GoogleTV.
"Long term we are very bullish on Google TV," said Dixon of The Diffusion Group.
This FCC photo showing the inside of the Revue hit the Web before the device was launched.
|
|
|
|
|
rick.merritt
10/6/2010 6:13 PM EDT
What's your review of the Revue? Is Web TV real this time?
Sign in to Reply
Sheetal.Pandey
10/6/2010 10:51 PM EDT
I guess the competetion is too tight. Almost everyone is into the race of set top boxes, bringing more and features to the consumers. Sometime I wonder if a poll is done on the current users what price do they want a stb and what features?
Sign in to Reply
Sheetal.Pandey
10/6/2010 11:00 PM EDT
Well i just saw a demo of Logitech's revue. First of all the camera option where you can talk to your family overseas, I guess the quality is really great. The zoom ,focus and other functions are just great. The WebTV, I somehow like to use my laptop for internet than using a TV. At the end $300 price, I guess is trageting those customer whose pockets are really deep.
Sign in to Reply
Dr DSP
10/7/2010 5:00 PM EDT
Remember that the box that wins is the one with the best content (not the best features) at the right price! Proven out over and over in the game market. Expect it to be the same here. The first box to offer the contant I want at the price point I want it is the one I'm purchasing.
Sign in to Reply
jimcondon
10/7/2010 5:02 PM EDT
$300 dollars isn't cheap in this market. AppleTV is selling out at $99. That's really the price point for this market. It depends on how many you want to sell. I also realize that AppleTV enables additional dollars to Apple through video rentals and sales, so the profit doesn't need to be great. Once GoogleTV has a revenue model not based on hardware sales then the price can come down.
I honestly believe this product can be a game changer but the first wave will be a bit bumpy.
Sign in to Reply
Khaledmrd
10/8/2010 2:23 AM EDT
It is a Product that well thought of and take us to another level of daily life experience
Beyond Roku, Boxee, Apple TV it Got a great Simple HD Video Calling, Video Mail and Text Chat with TV Revues or PC and laptops
Beyond Roku, Boxee, Apple TV, Cisco it got the Full Browsing Capabilities with Google Chrome Browser and Flash 10.1, which means Twitter, Amazon, Facebook, Pandora, Nepster, Gaming and Apps and Full search of web or Content
Beyond Roku, Boxee, Apple TV, Cisco Logitech Alert Security System indoor and outdoor security cameras that can be controlled using GoogleTV
Google TV Platform is open so we will see more Apps and more development around
Sign in to Reply
phoenixdave
10/8/2010 3:32 AM EDT
After looking at their website, I'm getting excited about the whole concept of the Google TV platform. The Japanese have fully embraced the Droid operating systems, and the open-source software developers seem to be extremely excited about the possibilities. The Revue is the beginning but many will likely follow in the next 6 months. I like the ability to cohesively tie together the HD TVs, internet, Google Marketplace, video conferencing, streaming movies, and potentially other in-home applications into one huge network. I for one see a bright future for the whole concept..
Sign in to Reply
BMN
10/8/2010 8:30 AM EDT
Wow. I just love to hear about Logitech Revue. One of the good sources of info about Logitech Revue is
http://logitechrevuenews.yolasite.com/ which gives all real-time updates from yahoo, google, bing, Icerocket, Techmeme, twitter n don't know what others but its good site to get current updates from single place. A must visit.
Sign in to Reply
Warren
10/8/2010 11:18 AM EDT
$300 feels like a lot of money to me. Basic cable is something like $200 to $300 in most places in the US and [just] more than half of subscribers are only paying for basic cable [2008 NCTA statistics]. Total cable revenue looks to be about $650 per user (averaged over all users), so, again, $300 feels like a lot to me, especially in these times. Now, something like 38 million users have both cable and high speed internet... so I agree with Colin Dixon; "If Logitech sells a million of these, they will be doing very well". VERY well.
Sign in to Reply
chanj
10/8/2010 1:53 PM EDT
Consumers are typically price sensitive. No doubt features will attract crowds. It is ultimately the winning factor. I wonder what you would like to see on the STB. Is web browsing on the TV a must feature to you?
Sign in to Reply
LarryM99
10/11/2010 10:28 PM EDT
The real key is not necessarily the price. It is the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor). Much less expensive gear than this has fallen flat because the wife rejected it as being unusable. Yes, I know that it is sexist and that is wrong, but it is also a fact across much of the world.
If this thing can get hooked up and just work then the price becomes much less of an issue.
Larry M.
Sign in to Reply
MIrandaSB
1/26/2011 3:38 PM EST
The price is not something to worry about. I purchased mine with DISH Network since I work there, and I got it for a nice price of $179, and that's not only for employees! I have been using it for about 2 months now and it's amazing. I love it! I would suggest this to anyone who cares to improve their entertainment centers! Its the perfect addition.
Sign in to Reply