au BOX!
TechRadar has a really interesting convergence story, which is emanating from Japan!
KDDI (the number two carrier in Japan) have delivered a set-top box (called the ‘au BOX’) which will cost ¥315 (£1.60) a month, and offer subs who use the KDDI network (and handsets) the ability to load content to the device via the TV!
The box displays on the TV with a web-browsing like environment, and will grab anything download from au’s ‘various media services‘ for transfer to the handset. The box is based on Linux, and given it has a DVD drive can also rip movies/music to a handset format (so it has some on-board transcoding too – cool!). Apparently the handset has to be connected by USB, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a wireless radio added at launch, or just after.
It’s not only the content that is converged, but also the billing – users are charged for the content they consume to their mobile bill, giving them just one payment to concern themselves with.
If you want to check out the ‘au BOX’ in more detail, then you can go here – I’m suggesting a good grasp of Japanese if you want to get the most out of the site though 🙂
[Via: TechRadar]