'Free' Internet TV service promises more
Home entertainment
As if our TV viewing habits aren't expensive enough, a new service, ZillionTV (www.zilliontv.tv), will soon offer on-demand content to TVs, via broadband Internet connections. And while ZillionTV dubs itself a free service, because it charges no monthly fee, you need only check your monthly RCN or Comcast bill to see there is no such thing as free content.
For example, to use ZillionTV, you will need a snappy Internet connection: at least 3 Mbps. (I don't know how anyone gets by on less than 10 Mbps these days.) You will also need to buy a box from ZillionTV (or through your ISP) for about $50. The box, much like Roku's Netflix box for streaming movies, bridges your TV and Internet router via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
ZillionTV is signing deals like crazy, with Disney, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox Television, and other studios. The service will make shows available from these studios for free, accompanied by advertisements. If you want your content to be ad-free, ZillionTV will charge you up to about $4 per program, from an a la carte menu.
Think of the service as Hulu-meets-Netflix-meets-iTunes, hopefully with more free, top-shelf content than is often available through those other services.
One neat thing about the ZillionTV box is its motion-sensing remote control, a point-and-click device that moves a cursor around your TV screen, as a Wii Remote does. ZillionTV will eventually allow individual family members to set up their own accounts, with links to favorite programs.
ZillionTV's videos will not be available in high-definition at first. No doubt, bandwidth is the issue. But its digital compression technology yields a picture that rivals DVD quality, ZillionTV marketing vice president Patrick Gauthier says.
Gauthier also promised that ZillionTV will make HDTV sometime after the initial release of the service.
ZillionTV is being test-marketed and beta-tested and will be available by the end of this year.
Biometrics
New case has finger on security
In my younger days, in New York, I spent a lot of time bellying up to the bar next to a couple of baggage handlers from La Guardia Airport. And hearing what some of those handlers were up to with travelers' checked luggage turned me into a strictly carry-on man.That's also why I am a fan of any technology designed to outwit lock picks. With its new BioCase, the luggage maker Heys (www.heysusa.com ) uses biometrics - in this case a fingerprint reader - to foil potential airport and hotel thieves.
The BioCase, a rugged-looking carry-on piece, is available in 19- or 20-inch sizes. Its fingerprint reader can store and recognize up to eight prints.
That means you can share the case with your family or have it recognize more than one of your fingers.
The reader remains charged for about 90 days. You can recharge it with a power adapter or via a USB plug.
One major drawback: The BioCase costs more than $700. That's a bit much if you are merely safeguarding socks and underwear. 