I’m happy to announce that the advanced program for the Enterprise Video Conference, taking place in conjunction with our Streaming Media West show October 30-31st in LA is nearly complete. This new two-day conference will focus on video deployments within the enterprise and education verticals and will be co-chaired by seven industry peers.

In addition to round-table panels, we’ll also have stand-alone case studies and how-to presentations. The event will be kicked off with a keynote from American Airlines and additional keynotes will be announced shortly.

If you are interested in being considered for a round-table speaking spot or want to place a customer on a session, please let me know ASAP. There are a limited number of spots available. If you’d rather be considered for a stand-alone presentation, NOW is the time to contact me. In addition to the program you see below, I will be adding three additional round-table sessions on topics to be determined. So if you want to suggest a topic you see missing, (like closed captioning) please do so. If you want to be involved with the program in some capacity, you must reach out to me now to let me know.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 30th, 2012

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Keynote 1: American Airlines
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | Keynote 2: TBD

A101 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Panel: Enterprise YouTube vs. Managed Video System
When pitching an online video platform integration to leadership, we often hear someone ask “Why not use YouTube?” Meanwhile, consumer products and services are often more feature-capable than their enterprise counterparts. What are the differences between consumer and enterprise products? Are there cases where a consumer technology can do the job, and what are they?

Moderator: Eric Hards, Manager, Digital Media and Streaming, Enterprise Digital Media, Lockheed Martin

B101 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Panel: Lecture Capture Systems
This session will cover open source products like Matterhorn and ClassX and will focus on strategies in this area for not just capture, but lifecycle management as well.

Moderator: Larry Bouthillier, Director of Digital Video Services, Harvard University

B101 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Presentation 1: Network Architecture for Video and Collaboration
As video becomes pervasive in an organization and more video devices are used, new demands are placed on the network. This session will discuss and train participants on the value and cost savings of taking an architectural approach to an enterprise video strategy including: faster troubleshooting, easier deployment, improved network visibility, predictable quality of experience, optimized user experience, device flexibility, alignment of resources with business priorities, and optimized delivery and performance routing.

Presenter: Aamer Akhter, Technical Marketing Engineer, Cisco Video Collaboration Group

B102 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Presentation 1: Teaching Video Production to Non-Professionals
In this session, you will learn the basics of how to train the non-video-professionals in your organization to create professional-quality and engaging content for your online video property. Topics covered are basic lighting and shot composition, effective interview techniques, tips & tricks for succinct and impactful “talking head with powerpoint” videos, and guidance on hardware and software selection to enable anyone in an organization to create high-quality content on a minimal budget.

Presenter: Bob Donlon, SVP, GM West Coast, WRECKINGBALL Media Group

B101 12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Presentation 2: TBD

B102 12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Presentation 2: TBD

A103 1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Panel: Student-Generated Video on Campus
Students no longer are passive consumers of video. The proliferation of video-shooting smartphones and social media has made them producers. Video is a tool for creative expression, but it is also an excellent tool for evaluating performance and progress, and for sharing ideas, solutions and innovations. In this session we’ll cover ways that student-generated video can be used in education, and methods for effectively and securely managing that video.

Moderator: Paul Riismandel, Director of Curriculum Support, School of Communication, Northwestern University

B103 1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Panel: Integrating Streaming, Video Conferencing, and Unified Communications Solutions
Learn how organizations leverage existing video conferencing infrastructure as production studios when integrated with a video streaming system. And learn how video conferencing allows presenters in multiple locations to participate jointly in webcasts. Finally, learn how this is all good news to those implementing streaming solutions because now they can be budgeted as part of a larger video communications budget.

Moderator: George Levar, Video Service Delivery Lead, Accenture

A104 2:45 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Panel: Unique Deployment Challenges for mobile video in the Enterprise
Deploying mobile video presents many challenges that are unique to enterprise environments. Enabling the bring-your-own-device trend complicates matters further. This session will address the major considerations for deploying mobile video in the enterprise, including encoding video for mobile devices, choosing the correct servers, and delivering to multiple devices and players, including HTML5. The final challenge discussed is networking, as enterprises need to determine if users are going to access the video over the enterprise Wi-Fi network or the public cellular network.

B104 2:45 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Panel: Content Management, Media Management, and Learning Management
Solution strategies for managing information across multiple systems. Strategies for determining which solution is the best fit for your enterprise streaming initiative.

Moderator: Michael Newman, VP/GM, Video Content Management, Polycom

A105 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Enterprise Live Video Production: Tips and Tricks
Description to come.

Moderator: Eric Hards, Manager, Digital Media and Streaming, Enterprise Digital Media, Lockheed Martin

B105 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Panel: The Business Case for Video in the Enterprise
Description to come.

Moderator: Erica Schroeder, Director, Enterprise Video, Cisco

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31st, 2012

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. | Keynote 1: TBD
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. | Keynote 2: TBD

A201 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Panel: TBD

B201 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Panel: Media Asset Management 101
Learn the basics of media asset management and metadata from a panel of content management experts.  We’ll look at best practices for creating, managing and applying metadata to media assets to maximize search and storage capabilities, and strategies for getting started.

Moderator: Patty Perkins, Internal Communications Solutions Team Leader, Wells Fargo

A201 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Presentation 2: TBD

A201 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Presentation 2: TBD

B202 12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Presentation 2: TBD

B202 12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Presentation 2: TBD

A203 1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Developing A Device Strategy
Distinct from a focus on mobility, this panel will analyze device trends, the realities of reacting to new devices, pro-actively targeting certain devices, risks and rewards, and preparing for the future.

Moderator: Michael Newman, VP/GM, Video Content Management, Polycom

B203 1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Panel: Creating an Internal CDN to Support Video Deployments

Moderator: Erica Schroeder, Director, Enterprise Video, Cisco

A204 3:15 p.m. –4:15 p.m.
Panel: TBD

B204 3:15 p.m. –4:15 p.m.
Panel: TBD

[Updated: Pricing from 2013 can be found here] At the Content Delivery Summit in May, I presented findings from my recently completed CDN pricing survey, with data collected from over 700 customers that use content delivery networks for the delivery of video. For those who didn’t attend the event, this post will re-cap all of the data I presented and I have also included links to a PDF of my presentation and the video of my presentation from the show. (note: you can always find my latest pricing post at www.cdnpricing.com – Previous Quarters: Q4 11, Q2 11 Q1 10, Q2 10, Q4 09, Q1 09, Q4 08, Q3 08, Q2 08, Q1 08. For a complete list of all the CDNs in the market, see www.cdnlist.com)

The key takeaway from the data is that pricing for video CDN services is very stable and that all of the major CDNs are pricing contracts close to one another. I expect pricing to decline by 15% this year, for the average sized customer. Last year I saw an average decline of about 20%, so the rate of decline this year has been a bit less.

Since I collected data from customers both large and small, I broke down the pricing based on small customers who spend under $100K-$250K per year, medium-sized customers spending $250-500K per year, and large customers who spend more than $1M per year. I also have data from those who spend less than $100K per year and use resellers and regional service providers to stream their video. All of the survey data was collected from March-April 2012 with a total of 725 qualified responses. You can see a list of the questions asked in the survey at the end of this post. Here are the results.

32 customers spending more than $1M per year (all M&E)

• 22 customers using Akamai (multi-vendor), 16 customers using Level 3 (multi-vendor), 12 customers using Limelight (multi-vendor), 1 customer using Amazon (multi-vendor), 2 customers using Akamai exclusive, 1 customer using Level 3 exclusive

• 22 customers have their CDN contract bundled with other non-video CDN services, 10 customers don’t have their CDN contract bundled with other non-video CDN services

• 24 customers have contracts are 12 months in length, 8 customers have contracts that are 18 or 24 months in length

• on average, pricing was down 18.9% this year when compared to last year’s contract

• on average, customers expect traffic to grow 126.6% this year over last year

• on average, a customer doing 3PB a month, is paying a low of $0.01 per GB delivered, high $0.03 per GB delivered

• on average, a customer doing 400Mbps a month is paying a low of $2 per Mbps sustained, high $4 per Mbps sustained

253 customers spending $250-$500K per year (all M&E customers)

• 120 customers use Akamai, 62 customers using Level 3, 32 customers using Limelight, 14 customers using EdgeCast, 8 customers using Highwinds, 17 customers using Limelight and Level 3 (multi-vendor)

• 216 customers don’t have their CDN contract bundled with other non-video CDN services, 37 customers have their CDN contract bundled with other non-video CDN services

• 202 customers have contracts that are 12 months in length, 51 customers have contracts that are 18 or 24 months in length

• on average, pricing was down 11.4% this year when compared to last year’s contract

• on average, customers expect traffic to grow 48.8% this year over last year

• on average, a customer doing 500TB-1PB a month, is paying a low of $0.02 per GB delivered, high $0.06 per GB delivered

• on average, a customer doing 200Mbps a month is paying a low of $6 per Mbps, high $11 per Mbps

123 customers spending $100-$250K per year (all M&E customers)

• 47 customers use Akamai, 18 customers using EdgeCast, 12 customers using Level 3, 8 customers using Limelight, 3 customers using Highwinds, 35 customers using Limelight, Level 3, Amazon, EdgeCast (multi-vendor)

• 63 customers don’t have their CDN contract bundled with other non-video CDN services, 60 customers have their CDN contract bundled with other non-video CDN services

• 81 customers have contracts that are 12 months in length, 42 customers have contracts that are 18 or 24 months in length

• on average, pricing was down 10.6% this year when compared to last year’s contract

• on average, customers expect traffic to grow 73.3% this year over last year

• on average, a customer doing 250TB-500TB a month, is paying a low of $0.04 per GB delivered, high $0.12 per GB delivered ($0.06 per GB average)

• only a handful of customers paying per Mbps delivered, not enough data to provide high and low pricing on per Mbps delivered model

Additional Survey Findings

• 317 customer spend less than $100k per year.

• For customers spending under $100K per year, Amazon dominates with more than half the contracts, followed by EdgeCast, Limelight, Level 3, Highwinds and those who buy CDN services via third-party resellers.

• Across all 725 responses, 6 customers were using AT&T and 7 customers using Verizon (see my post on that here: New CDN Contract Data Shows AT&T and Verizon Not Winning Deals or Disrupting Market)

While I hear many people and vendors talk a lot about connected devices when they speak of the growth of online video, the fact is that in the past 3 years, all of the CDNs have seen a big growth of video traffic on their networks, yet none of them have seen any large jump in revenue from that traffic. There still aren’t enough devices in the market, being used for the consumption of online video, for any CDN to see a big growth in revenue over a short period of time. When that big growth in revenue does happen, many people will say it happened overnight when in reality, it is something that took 4-5 years to really grow. As to what 2013 will hold in terms of pricing declines and traffic growth, it’s too early for me to speculate on that until Q1 of next year.

Survey Questions

1) Which industry vertical does your company best fall under?
2) What is your contract length for video CDN services?
3) If you have a contract for CDN services, when did you last renew it?
4) Is your video CDN contract bundled with other non-video CDN services?
5) How much has your price for video delivery declined versus your previous deal?
6) How much do you expect your total video traffic with CDNs to grow this year versus last year?
7) On a YEARLY basis, how much do you spend with CDNs for the delivery of video?
8) On average, how much video do you deliver per month?
9) On average, how much do you pay per GB delivered OR per Mbps sustained for video delivery?
10) Which CDN vendors do you use for the delivery of video?

I am amazed at what passes for so called “research” these days. This morning, Quixel Research (who?) put out a press release saying that based on a nationwide survey of 1,169 current and potential flat-screen TV owners, Apple’s “highly anticipated Apple connected television platform (iTV) is likely to have a significant and disruptive impact on the consumer electronics and entertainment landscape once it’s introduced.” The reason for their logic? According to their survey, “80% of all current flat-panel TV owners also indicated they would be either extremely, very or somewhat interested in purchasing one of the new Apple televisions.”

Of course what Quixel Research isn’t willing to say is what people are actually willing to pay for an Apple connected TV or how many would be sold. Simply collecting data that shows people are interested in something is completely useless without pricing data. I could survey people all day long asking them if they would like a new car and what features they want it in, but that does not tell me what they would be willing to pay for it and if they would actually spend the money to buy it. Presenting findings without those data points makes all the other results pointless.

In an email exchange with Quixel Research the company did tell me that they had data on pricing, but they are “not able to release specifics on pricing deltas.” Of course they won’t, because that data would show customers are not willing to pay enough for such a device, in any large quantity, (something we saw in this survey) which would make Quixel Research’s data pointless. But that doesn’t stop Quixel Research in their release from making grand statements that such a device from Apple would, “have a dramatic impact on entertainment landscape,” and would, “disrupt the home entertainment industry“. What they classify as “disruption” is anyone’s guess as without even speculating on how many devices Apple could sell or what people would be willing to pay for them, it’s simply lots of buzz words in a press release.

All of this so-called research is simply useless drivel and a ploy by Quixel Research to get their name in the press. Before this release, the company had not been mentioned by anyone in the media since 2009, based on a search in Google News. It seems a week can’t go by without another research firm putting out some sort of broad press release about an all-in-one Apple TV device, simply to try and get their name in the media. Quixel Research won’t be the last company that tries to capitalize on using Apple’s name for their own cause, but it won’t work, we can see right through these ploys.

[Updated March 5 2013: The Roku 3 has been announced. See my updated post here for a comparison of the Roku 3 vs. Apple TV] or keep reading below for a comparison of the Roku 2 vs. Apple TV. And if you want a shot at winning a free Roku 3, I’m giving one away to one lucky reader of my blog. You can enter the drawing here.

While there are currently seven different $99 streaming boxes in the market today, the two most popular and best-selling are the Roku 2 and Apple TV. I get a lot of questions from readers asking me which box I think they should buy and many always want to know how the two boxes compare. While I have done many side-by-side reviews in the past, here’s the latest comparison on how the boxes stack up, the pros and cons of each and the factors you should use to determine which $99 streamer you should buy. While Roku currently has four different models of boxes available on the market, ranging in price from $49 to $99, this post will compare the $99 Roku 2 XS to the $99 Apple TV. And if you want to win your very own Roku 2 XS or an Apple TV, I’m giving both away in two separate drawings. (Enter Apple TV drawing | Enter Roku 2 XS drawing)

Hardware

To date, Apple has sold over 6M of their $99 Apple TV devices and Roku has sold more than 3M globally. Based on available industry data, they are the number one and number two selling $99 boxes in the market today. It’s no wonder considering both boxes come loaded with features including HDMI out, 802.11n Wi-Fi, an ethernet jack and support for 5.1 surround sound and 1080p video. Both boxes are about the same in size (Roku 2: 0.9″ x 3.3″ x 3.3″ vs. Apple TV: 0.9″x 3.9″ x 3.9″) and consume very little in the way of power (Roku 2W, Apple TV 6W). Each box comes with a 90-day warranty and a simple power cord with no power brick. You can add an extra one year warranty to the Apple TV for $29 or $$15 for the Roku 2. While both are great streamers with very similar hardware, there is one big compatibility difference between the two that could determine which one you should buy.

If you plan to hook the box up to a newer TV with built-in HDMI, then both boxes are a great choice. But if you have an older TV without HDMI, the Roku is your only option. Unlike the Roku 2, the Apple TV has no support for older TVs. The Roku 2 XS supports older TVs and provides 480i video quality via composite video and has support for analog stereo via left/right/composite video RCA, thanks to a mini-jack. So if you have an older TV with no support for HDMI, The Roku 2 is the box for you. Two other hardware advantages the Roku 2 has over the Apple TV are a microSD card slot for additional game and channel storage and a USB port.

While the Apple TV has a mini micro USB port, it cannot be used to playback local content via a USB device. The port is only used by Apple for servicing the unit. Since the first generation of the Apple TV device was released (the 720p model), many have speculated that Apple would enable the mini USB port to allow users to play back local content. However nearly two years later, that has not happened. Roku’s USB port can be used to playback content from a USB hard drive or thumb drive and supports MP4 (H.264) and MKV (H.264) content only. So if you have content in these formats and want the option to playback some local content, the Roku 2 is the box to choose. The Apple TV box has an optical audio port and the Roku 2 XS doesn’t, so that might be important for those who want to use these boxes for audio content more than video.

Setup/Wi-Fi Strength

Both boxes are super easy to set up, passing my Mom test which has involved me giving her each of these boxes to set on her own. Roku’s box takes a bit longer to set up than the Apple TV as Roku requires you to go to Roku.com on a computer to enter all of your contact information and credit card details. While Roku only collects your credit card data to have it on file in case you make any content purchases via the Roku Channel Store, many have voiced their complaints that it is an unnecessary step in the setup process, especially if you have been given a Roku 2 as a gift, are giving it to a young person with no credit card or simply don’t want to have your credit card on file with Roku. Currently, there is no way to skip entering your credit card details in the setup process, so if this is a problem for you, stick with the Apple TV, which doesn’t require any credit card details during setup. (Updated: Roku now gives you the option to skip entering your credit card info in the setup process if you want.)

As long as you know your Wi-Fi password and the box is within range of your Wi-Fi signal, each box takes less than 10 minutes to set up. I have seen many in the industry debate which box has better Wi-Fi strength, but I have yet to see any testing of the two that has shown conclusive results. A lot of factors go into how well Wi-Fi works including the type of Wi-Fi router, the position of the router and the type of Wi-Fi protocol (a/b/g/n) being used. Everyone has their own unique setting within their house that determines how strong and how far their Wi-Fi signal works, so it’s very individual. That said, both boxes have what I would consider to be identical Wi-Fi strength and of all the testing and use of the boxes I have done over the years, I’ve never encountered any Wi-Fi differences between the two.

Remote Control

When it comes to the remotes, both work very well and are very responsive. One of the things I don’t like about the Apple TV remote is that it doesn’t take standard sized batteries. It’s not a huge deal breaker, but I have a lot more triple AAA batteries lying around for the Roku remote, as opposed to the watch batteries (CR2032 or BR2032) that the Apple TV remote takes. The Roku 2 XS comes with a Bluetooth game remote with motion sensing for playing games and supports what Roku calls “instant replay”, which allows you to skip back in 10 second increments while a video is playing without having to re-buffer the stream. Apple’s remote is smaller and much thinner than Roku’s, but personally, I like how Roku’s works better than the Apple TV remote. Apple’s remote design is all about less is more, but I tend to find the few additional buttons on the Roku remote are there for a reason and are used often. All of this aside, no one is picking one box over another based solely on the remote and both remotes work very well and work from 30′ away.

In addition to the physical remotes that come with these boxes, you can download remote control apps for your iPad/iPhone that will control your Roku 2 XS or Apple TV. See this link for Roku and this link for Apple TV.

Content/User Interface

As for the content available on both devices, this is really where the Roku 2 is the box to beat. Apple TV supports content from Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB.TV, NHL GameCenter, NBA, Flickr and YouTube as well as the ability to purchase and rent content from iTunes. It also supports some free Internet content from folks like Revision3, WSJ and others, but all of that content is lumped in under the Podcast heading in Apple TV, so most folks probably don’t see it. The Apple TV use to support $0.99 rentals from ABC, Disney, Fox, and the BBC via iTunes, but Apple has since discontinued that option and shows now have to be purchased for $2.99. For those that want XBMC support on the Apple TV, it’s possible, but only works if you are willing to jailbreak the device.

The Roku 2 has channels for Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, Amazon Instant Video, HBO GO, Epix, MLB.TV, NHL GameCenter, NBA, Major League Soccer, UFC TV, CNBC, FOX News, NBC News, AOL HD, TED, Pandora, Crackle, Flickr and has support for PLEX. Roku has more than 250 public content channels listed on their website, has an open SDK and as a result, has a lot of content partners working to bring more channels to Roku devices. In addition, you can browse over 1,000 “private” channels available for the Roku and add them if you know the correct code. (see the list of private channels here) Compare that to the Apple TV which today, has no SDK and doesn’t run any apps on the box. (Updated: Roku says they have more than 600 content channels, but don’t have them all listed on their website, which is in the process of being updated.)

While Roku has support for nearly every content channel around, it does NOT have support for YouTube. For more than a year now, Roku has said they are working on an official channel, but they won’t give any estimate on when it will arrive. Some have been speculating for over 18 months now that the Apple TV will run apps in the future since internally it has 8GB of Flash storage, but none of that has yet to happen. So when deciding which box to buy, don’t listen to rumors of what the box may or may not do down the road, evaluate the boxes in the market based on what they can do today. If you want the most content choices available, the Roku 2 beats the Apple TV hands-down. But if support for YouTube is a requirement, then the Apple TV is your only choice. I should also mention that neither the Apple TV or Roku 2 XS are DLNA compliant, so is that is a requirement for you, then pick the $99 Vizio Co-Star or the $99 Western Digital WD TV Live box. Neither box has any kind of we browser built in, so you can’t browse the web with the Roku 2 or Apple TV.

The Roku user interface is not as polished as the Apple TV interface, but it’s simple, easy to navigate and you can customize the layout of the channels. The browsing experience on the Apple TV is great for picking movies and TV shows in iTunes, with large cover art, straightforward navigation and Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Both the Roku 2 XS and Apple TV have simple interfaces and while they look different, they both perform well and do exactly what they should, with dead-simple navigation. In addition to streaming content, the Roku 2 XS also allows you to play nearly 30 games, with the most popular being Angry Birds. Roku’s regular remote doubles as a gaming remote and works really well for simple gaming. And if Angry Birds is something you’re really into, Roku even has a limited edition version of the console that comes in red.

Playing Videos From Local Computer

If you’re into Apple devices and already have an iPad, iPhone or Mac, then it makes a lot of sense to pick the Apple TV over the Roku due to how all the devices work together in Apple’s ecosystem. You’ll have less content choices than the Roku 2 XS, but all the devices talk to one another and sharing content amongst all the devices is very easy. Any movies or TV shows that you purchase in iTunes via the Apple TV are stored in the cloud and will be available for download to an iPad or iPhone. Enabling your Apple TV to see your local computer allows you to stream just about any media you have on your computer that is running iTunes including your music collection, any video that iTunes can play and your photo collection.

And with Apple’s Airplay technology, you can start watching a video on an iPhone, iPod or iPad and then move that content over to the Apple TV in realtime, for content rented or purchased via iTunes. Airplay also supports the streaming of video from third-party apps on the iPad and iPhone to your TV set with Apple TV in the middle, but only if the app developer enables Airplay functionality. For instance, Airplay works with TNT’s iPhone app, but is disabled in TNT’s iPad app. Also, Airplay does not allow you to play back any DVD images from your computer.

While most people aren’t aware of it, the Roku 2 XS can be used to playback content from your local computer, but it is not as easy or seamless as Apple’s solution to use and it is not built-in to the Roku. Installing a third-party channel on the Roku, like Roksbox, or using PlayOn or PLEX will turn your computer into a media server that can stream movies, pictures, and music from you computer, wirelessly to your Roku device. That said, the Roku 2 XS will NOT play back iTunes content that has been protected via Apple’s DRM. Even with PLEX, the Roku 2 XS can’t playback Apple’s copy protected content. So while you can play back content that is in your iTunes library, it just can’t be content you purchased from iTunes that is protected via Digital Rights Management (DRM). I’ve also experienced cases where the Roku will play back some music tracks but not others depending on how it was encoded. Content purchased via the Roku 2 XS through Amazon Instant Video can be downloaded to an iPad via the new Amazon Instant iPad app.

Replacing Your Cable TV (cord-cutting)

Despite all the hype about cord-cutting, the Apple TV and Roku 2 XS will NOT allow the average person to drop their cable TV package. Neither box has an internal hard drive for storage, has no DVR functionality and has no support for picking up live TV stations via an over-the-air antenna. In addition, many of the content services available for the devices don’t won’t have every piece of content you want, at the quality you want and in the business model (rent/purchase/subscription) that you want. Even a great subscription service like MLB.TV has local blackout restrictions, so these $99 streamers are not a replacement for cable TV for 99% of consumers.

Conclusions

While many people are always willing to give their two cents on which device you should buy, everyone has different tastes when it comes to the type of content they want to watch, how they watch it and whether they rent it, buy it, or play it back from a local computer. Do your research and figure out what YOU want the box to do as opposed to what others are using it for. Picking the best box is pretty easy if you can answer the following questions:

• Does the TV you plan to hook it up to have support for HDMI?
• What specific content do you want to watch?
• How do you want to get your content? Via subscription, purchase or both?
• Do you want the ability to play back content (MP4, MKV) via a USB drive?
• Do you want to use the streaming box for casual gaming?
• Do you already own other Apple devices and want to use Apple’s ecosystem?
• Do you plan to play back a lot of content via iTunes?

Keep in mind that these boxes are cheap at only $99 and getting them via Amazon means you can take advantage of their great return policy. If you pick one up and it doesn’t work the way you had hoped, return it and try a different one. At $99 each, with free shipping from Amazon, and an easy return process, you really can’t go wrong by trying them out. That said, the Roku 2 XS and Apple TV are only two of the SEVEN streaming boxes currently priced at under $100. (If you are looking for a box that streams Netflix and other subscription services and also has the Google TV platform built-in, then check out my review of Vizio’s recently released $99 Co-Star box.)

When it comes to deciding which $99 streaming box to get, there are a lot of choices in the market. I’ve created a chart that shows the hardware specs of each device and also lists which content choices are available on them. You can check out the chart and compare a total of 13 different boxes by visiting www.StreamingMediaDevices.com

If you still don’t know which box to get or have additional questions, put them in the comments section or drop me an email and I’ll be glad to help you try to pick the right one, based on your needs. And if you want to try and win your very own Roku 2 XS, Apple TV or Vizio Co-Star, I’m giving all three of them away in separate drawings. You must enter each drawing separately.

• Enter Apple TV drawing
• Enter Roku 2 XS drawing
• Enter Vizio Co-Star drawing

Earlier today I reviewed the Apple TV player in a head-to-head comparison with the Roku 2 XS in an article entitled “Roku 2 vs. Apple TV: How To Chose The Right $99 Streamer“. To go with the review, I am giving away one Roku XS device to a lucky reader of my blog. To enter the drawing, all you have to do is leave one comment on this post and make sure you submit the comment with a valid email address. The drawing is open to anyone with a mailing address in the U.S. and the winner will be selected at random later this month. The drawing is now over. Congrats to Larry S. who won the item.

I’m also giving away an Apple TV unit and a Vizio Co-Star unit. You must enter each drawing separately. Good luck!

Earlier today I reviewed the Apple TV player in a head-to-head comparison with the Roku 2 XS in an article entitled “Roku 2 vs. Apple TV: How To Chose The Right $99 Streamer“. To go with the review, I am giving away one Apple TV to a lucky reader of my blog. To enter the drawing, all you have to do is leave one comment on this post and make sure you submit the comment with a valid email address. The drawing is open to anyone with a mailing address in the U.S. and the winner will be selected at random later this month. The drawing is now over. Congrats to Addison L. who won the item.

I’m also giving away a Roku 2 XS unit and a Vizio Co-Star unit. You must enter each drawing separately. Good luck!

This morning Sony announced that for the second year in a row, their PlayStation3 system can be used to stream the NFL Sunday Ticket from DirecTV. The bad news, those who don’t have the NFL Sunday Ticket Max plan will once again have to pay $300 if they want access to the games. Even those with the Max plan won’t be able to stream all the games, as only out-of-market matchups will be available. Sony said that unlike last year, where customers could pay over a 3-4 month period, this year the $299.995 needs to be paid all at once to make it “easier” for them to manage.

While it’s great to see more content available via devices like the PS3, charging $300 really is way too expensive, let alone charging it all upfront. Considering MLB.TV is a third of that cost, and gives you access to thousands of games over the course of the year, DirecTV should make this more affordable. I’m sure there are a lot of people like myself who don’t want a dish on their roof, can’t have one installed and would be willing to pay about $150 a year to get access to the games. But at $300, it almost as if DirecTV doesn’t want people to sign up for it.

Last year, there were also quite a few issues with the system, most notably being the fact that while you could pause a game, if you un-paused it after the game had ended, it wouldn’t pick up where you left off but would give you a message telling you the game had ended. I hope they have fixed that along with how much the streams lag delay wise. Also, it seemed like a lot of times, the quality of the video was not in HD and was simply a SD feed being stretched, which is not what you should be getting for a $300 service. It’s hard to find specs on DirecTV’s website saying exactly what the video quality specs are. So for $300, customers expect and should get a better service this year, and I hope that’s the case. I’ll see if I can test it out and do a review.

How much would you be willing to pay? $150? $200?