[IP] Sony's Vaio X: Like TiVo on Steroids
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 5, 2004 8:27:47 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Sony's Vaio X: Like TiVo on Steroids
Reply-To: dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Note: A great machine to automate the production of content destined
for the Darknet. Sony should sell a lot of these. <g> DLH]
Sony's Vaio X: Like TiVo on Steroids
Tue Oct 5,11:00 AM ET
Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/pcworld/20041005/
tc_pcworld/118050
CHIBA, JAPAN-- Sony will begin selling in Japan in November a
combination personal computer and video server that can record up to
seven channels of television simultaneously, it said at the Ceatec 2004
exhibition here.
The Vaio VGX-X90P goes on sale in Japan on November 20 and will cost
around $4727.
To understand the Vaio X computer it's best to think of it as three
things packed into one black, shiny box.
On one side it's a multimedia personal computer, with two 250GB hard
drives and a television tuner. Users can do all the normal things they
would with one of the company's Vaio computers including recording
television programs from a single analog channel or, via an optional
unit, a digital TV channel.
Also packed into its tower-PC sized case are two video server boards.
Each unit contains three analog TV tuners and is connected to a 250GB
hard drive. The unit runs on the Micro iTron operating system and the
interface with the rest of the PC is via an Ethernet port, says Junji
Tsuyuki, a senior product producer at Sony's IT and mobile solutions
network department.
Simultaneous Recording
The three analog tuners mean it's possible to record three channels at
once and because there are two server boards this rises to six channels
simultaneously, says Tsuyuki. With the tuner from the PC side of the
device also added, a user can record seven channels at the same time
although the focus of the device is continuous, simultaneous recording
of six programs via the dual video servers.
That works out well for the company's target audience of consumers
because most areas of Japan are served by two public television
channels and between three and five commercial TV networks.
The 250GB hard drive space is enough to store five and a half days
worth of programming from each of the three channels assuming
continuous recording, or one week's worth of programs assuming 19 hours
per day of TV per channel, Tsuyuki says. What's more, users can specify
400GB drives for the video server units when they order the Vaio X.
This would raise its total storage capacity from 1TB to 1.3TB.
Users can bring up a grid-like electronic programming guide screen
that, instead of looking forward, contains the past few days of
television. Then, at the press of a button, any program can be watched
on demand--a function Sony likens to a time machine.
"In America, TiVo (news - web sites) is very famous but we don't have
it in Japan," says Tsuyuki. "This is a kind of TiVo for Japanese
users."
Sony has licensed technology from TiVo and also holds a stake in the
Alviso, California, company but none of the company's technology was
incorporated into the Vaio X, says Tsuyuki.
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