Dvr embedded linux

The Fat Pipe

In the beginning, there was free TV, delivered over the airwaves. Millions of antennas sprouted from roofs across the country to catch broadcasts from a handful of local stations. It didn't seem all that long ago that cable TV was a fairly new idea. Cable made the idea of paid, premium content palatable. Then came satellite delivery of television and movies, which competed with cable, but also exposed an audience hitherto unable to get cable to premium video content.

Now comes a new kid, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, with a new idea: deliver paid, premium video services over internet broadband connections. Akimbo, a startup headquartered in San Mateo, California, wants to take advantage of the rapid increase in broadband households to deliver premium television content to the home. This isn't something you do with your PC--though the Akimbo is eyeing the PC as a future platform. Rather, it's in the form of a player that's connected to your home entertainment rack. Think of it as a DVR (digital video recorders) that's connected to the internet, rather than to cable TV or a satellite service.

Akimbo needed to solve a number of different problems, including timely delivery, content protection and variety of content. Users wouldn't want to wait days for content to be delivered. After all, sources such as Netflix can fulfill that role. Content protection was key to gain the confidence of the content providers, but it had to be flexible enough so customers wouldn't be scared off. And the content needed to be sufficiently compelling to attract users.

Now that Akimbo has launched, we take a look at the new player, and the associated service, to see how Akimbo has met its goals. We're primarily focusing on the user experience in this review. Does Akimbo have what it takes to garner the eyeballs it need to grow, given the increasing tug on people's time from a variety of sources?

Before we dive into the details of the service, let's check out the Akimbo hardware. When you unpack it, you discover a relatively unassuming box that resembles other DVRs we've seen.

The player is designed to fit inside a typical home A/V rack, and connect either directly to your TV or to an A/V receiver or preamp/controller.

The player as it exists today does nnot support high definition playback, so we see no component video or digital video (DVI or HDMI) connections. Akimbo uses Windows Media Video for its file format, and the current chipsets for hardware players do not currently support WMV HD playback. The unit also only supports either analog stereo audio or an optical digital audio connection. An Ethernet port connects to your home network. Alternatively, you can buy a USB Wi-Fi key to use with the player, which is recognized by either of the USB ports on the back of the player.

The Akimbo ships with a compact remote that fits easily in the hand. Although the controls seem sparse in number, it's one of the most comfortable remotes we've ever used. It's not backlit, and the buttons don't glow. <!--

Pic: akimbo_remote.jpg Title: Akimbo Remote Control Caption: The Akimbo remote is quite comfortable to use, but isn't backlit, alas. -->

Internally, the player is a circa-1999 PC, heavily customized. Akimbo uses Windows CE.Net for its core operating system, rather than embedded Linux, which seems to be more widely used. The unit houses a custom motherboard with an Intel 815G chipset, a 733MHz Celeron processor and 64MB of SDRAM. <!--

Pic: akimbo_inside.jpg Title: Akimbo Exposed Caption: Akimbo uses a 733MHz Celeron and an Intel 815G chipset. -->

The processor itself is passively cooled, but a small active cooling fan sits to one side of the motherboard. In actual use, the player was quieter than other DVRs we've used. Note the foam rectangle, which absorbs some of the noise from the 80GB hard drive.

The player hardware is fairly unremarkable. But it's all about the user interface and the content. Let's check out what's on.

When you first start up the Akimbo, you need to tell it about your network, and whether you're using Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet. We tested with both options, and setup was straightforward in either case. If your Wi-Fi network uses WEP security, you can enter the WEP key when you first fire up the Akimbo.

After the player finds your internet connection, you're then informed that you need to activate at the Akimbo web site through a PC. Here's where the paradigm starts to shift a bit from more traditional media delivery services. The Akimbo player and service don't just work over the internet--it also lets you manage your account with a web browser from any PC.

You can change your setup any time using Akimbo's setup screen. The setup screen offers key features, including parental controls the ability to pause downloads, change your network setup, and even enter remote codes for other devices, so you can use the Akimbo remote with your TV. <!--

Pic: akimbo_setup.jpg Title: Akimbo Setup Screen Caption: Setup options are changed in Akimbo's setup page. -->

Parental locks are useful for restricting access to mature content from children. You can also password protect buying options, so your kids don't inadvertently buy content that you need to pay for later. <!--

Pic: akimbo_parental.jpg Title: Parental Locks Caption: You can password protect both viewing and buying of content. --> <!--

Pic: akimbo_parental_2.jpg Title: Parental Lock Page Caption: Parental locks can be granular, but you only have one password level. -->

So you're at work and getting ready to head home. You can log into your Akimbo account, browse what's on the service, and select shows to watch later. When you get home, your choices are most likely waiting for you. <!--

Pic: my_akimbo_order.jpg Title: Ordering from the Web Caption: You can prep the download from the web, from any location. -->

Of course, you can order a show using the Akimbo Player. <!--

Pic: akimbo_main.jpg Title: The Akimbo Main Page Caption: Akimbo's Main Menu -->

Like most digital video recorders, Akimbo offers an EPG (electronic program guide). You can browse by channel, category, or perform a manual search. <!--

Pic: Akimbo_guide.jpg Title: akimbo_guide.jpg Caption: The on-screen guide offers a basic set of functionality currently. -->

It's not as refined as TiVo, but it does get the job done. And it's all software, so the system will be automatically updated with new releases over the Internet connection. Finally, of course, you can watch content you've downloaded.

As the hard drive fills up--which takes a long time with WMV-encoded files--you can delete or preserve specific titles. Akimbo will also try to intelligently delete older files as the hard drive begins to fill up. If you lose something you've watched, it's easy to just download it again, since all the content lives on servers on the Internet, and is always accessible.

The Akimbo player works quite well, and we were impressed with the thought put into the player, guide software, and delivery infrastructure. But all that glitters is not gold, and underneath the polished exterior lies some significant issues that Akimbo will need to overcome.

The first problem is content volume. Content is still very limited, although the list of content is growing by the month. Akimbo is busy cutting deals with content providers to broaden the range of material. From what we've seen of their plans, some pretty good stuff will be coming on line in the next six months. For now, Akimbo is offering a "free subscription for 3 months" offer if you buy the player.

Therein lies the rub. Akimbo is counting on paying subscribers. The base subscription fee is $9.95 per month, and much of the content will eventually be pay-per-view. The prices we've seen are pretty reasonable, but it's really not enough to sustain a business, or maintain viewer interest. It's critical that Akimbo's content base grow rapidly.

The second issue is the player hardware. Although the DVR functionality works very well, we weren't completely happy with a couple of issues. The first is download time. Akimbo does not offer incremental viewing. In other words, you have to wait until the entire show is delivered before viewing. Being able to order off the web is cool, but it's not the instant gratification we're used to with satellite or cable pay-per-view.

The other problem with the hardware is a more subtle one. We really felt like we were watching VCR content. The visual quality of the shows is all over the map, but the best content was no better than high-quality VHS. This is partly a limitation of the hardware, since Akimbo is relying on chips that are limited in the format they play. As the industry makes its headlong rush into supplying high definition content, the Akimbo player's content quality looks, well, quaint by comparison.