Dane DeValcourt

Ok so I think I have a million dollar idea that someone with the know how, connections or resources should consider.

Lets start with some basics.  I think everyone can agree that in the future there will be a proliferation of high speed internet / bandwidth.  We may all disagree on what technology will accomplish this but its inevitable that we will continue to see higher and higher speeds and bandwidth.

I think we can also agree that we are at the dawn of new age when it comes to media.  For years we have fostered this need for instant gratification.  From the first fast food joints, cell phones, internet, wireless and even todays DVR.  All of these things foster the desire to have what you want, when you want it and where ever you are.

So, I propose the following device for the future.

We need a “box”, think Xbox or your cable box to start with?  However this box is going to be based on some industry standard.  Something like SIP if you will.   And rather then this box being proprietary or only works with a specific vendor it will have a place for you to fill out your providers info, kind of like todays email client where you input in the SMTP/POP address, username and password and presto your connected to your email.  Instead with this you will be putting in your content providers info.

Your content provider in this case is not just your regular IPTV provider or cable company.  It really and truly is your CONTENT.  All your digital media.  Photos, videos, music and even your local TV channels.  I say local TV channels based on the idea that eventually every TV channel will be available online in some way.

Ok, now for where this idea gets really fun and cool I think.  Imagine you go to a hotel, get up to your room, and one of these universal generic media devices are there.  You are to able to simply input your info into the device and presto… you have all your content and LOCAL channels and so on available to you.    

Of course I have to take this one step further and you now have to imagine that these devices will be equipped with some sort of RFID or Bluetooth type of device, as well as your mobile phone device will have RFID or Bluetooth embedded as well.

So now all of your service provider info can be stored on your mobile device so that when you get to your hotel room you initiate a “sync or pairing” with this media device so that all the user has to do is input a PIN and voila the media device is now configured and it can begin populating all your content.  This takes out the step of having the user go through a complicated configuration each time.

Your welcome for this great idea.  Please ensure to cut me in on the profits.  I will be happy to accept any percentage or stake in the business.

**********More Thoughts About This************

We are seeing more and more talk of the “cloud”, and we already have a mix of content providers or hosts if you will. For instance,  some are already acting as IPTV service providers where you sign up for a membership and you can stream your TV just about anywhere.  And we have had hosting providers since the internet was born pretty much who host any content you want.

This idea is a marriage of all these things basically.  Which in many ways resembles “the cloud” when it comes to the service provider aspect.

The key to this would have to be some sort of industry standard around these boxes and configuring them and how the content is delievered.  To be practical you have to make it as easy to configure as possible, you have to ensure that a box is a box and will work with any of these service/content providers without discrimination.

************Even more thoughts*************

Security.  You have to ensure a secure method for wiping content.  As well as maybe a way for one to decide what content can be stored / cached locally and what can only be streamed.  If the process for propagating the content was quick enough then maybe you can build in security based on the proximity of the device that configured it?  For instance, in my example using someones phone and RFID to configure the device then maybe the same can hold true for wiping the device.  If the phone in this case leaves the proximity of the box then it automatically wipes after a certain period of time or something?  As well as a way to manually wipe of course.

**************And more**********

Also imagine that this media device / box is the center piece of the AV equipment.  So TV connects to the box, as well as maybe digital photo frames and a phone.  You walk in, device is configured and is able to push your video content to TV, photos to digital frames and your phone is configured for you (again think VoIP and SIP).