Building B Builds A God Box For Internet Video
Building B became the latest startup to join the Internet video set-top box sweepstakes today with the Belmont, Calif.-based company’s announcement that it has developed a video god box capable of marrying traditional television with video-on-demand and Web video.
The company has raised a whopping $17.5 million from Morgenthaler Ventures, Omni Capital, Index Ventures and other private investors. It will need the money, for it is entering a crowded marketplace where everyone from Apple (AAPL) to set-top box makers such as Motorola (MOT) and Cisco Systems’ (CSCO) Scientific Atlanta to startups such as VUDU are jostling for pole position.
The service seamlessly integrates traditional television with on-demand premium content and Internet video — all delivered to the living room television without the need for a PC. ….. leverages the unique strengths of wireless broadcast technology.
In an interview with NewTeeVee, Building B co-founders Bruno Pati and Phil Wiser said that offering all types of video content in one service that’s delivered over the air using wireless broadband to a single box is something consumers will find appealing.
“The real opportunity, we believe, is in the living room, but unfortunately, you have a lot of new boxes in your living room for different things,” says chief executive officer and co-founder Pati. Fellow co-founder Wiser, formerly chief technology officer of Sony (SNE) and founder of Liquid Audio, says, “We are licensing content from cable content owners and other companies, and delivering it over a wireless network.”
Building B, however, is being unnecessarily tight-lipped about the technology it’s using for wireless content delivery. They said that the service combines best of Internet and wireless delivery, but didn’t offer any specifics. The executives were equally cryptic about how much the devices and the service will cost. A commercial launch is currently slated for sometime in the fall, when they plan to sell them through regular retail channels, but Pati and Wiser wouldn’t provide any information beyond that.
Such reticence makes me inherently skeptical of their claims, especially in light of Movie Beam, another wireless video content delivery service that burnt through millions of dollars and in the end had little to show for it. Similarly, Akimbo, which has been aggregating produced video content for some time, hasn’t exactly rocked the world, despite backing from AT&T (T) and Cisco Systems.
Wiser told me that Building B’s offering would be ideal for broadband service providers who want to offer video as part of their triple-play package, which, in theory anyway, does seem like a good market opportunity.
But by now many smaller players — including independent telecoms — are betting on low-cost set-top box offerings from the likes of Amino that already deliver some, if not all of Building B’s features. That is another challenge Building B will have to overcome.
That said, Sprint and Clearwire, two companies that are building WiMAX-based networks, could be ideal partners for the company since their networks will eventually have the bandwidth and geographic reach to deliver some of the promised services.
Building B Fact Sheet
| Website | building-b.com |
| Location | Belmont, California |
| Cofounders | Bruno Pati, Phil Wiser |
| Financing | $17.5 million |
| Investors | Morgenthaler Ventures, Omni Capital, Index Ventures and other private investors. |
| Business/industry | Set-top box, Online Video, Telecom |
| Competitors | Cisco Systems, Motorola, AT&T, Apple, VUDU, Amino, Verissimo, Boxee, others. |
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[...] by Om Malik Sunday, August 19, 2007 at 9:24 PM PT | No comments I just posted a piece over on NewTeeVee about Building B, a start-up, that is building a new kind of a home video god box, that combines [...]
GigaOM Another Day, Another Internet Set-top Box « on August 19th, 2007 at 9:24 pm - Permalink
http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=7910
Brian Sugar on August 19th, 2007 at 9:39 pm - Permalink
seriously?
http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=7910
Brian Sugar on August 19th, 2007 at 9:41 pm - Permalink
[...] new set-top maker has entered the fray to the tune of $17.5 million in capital investments. The company, Building-B, says it will have a [...]
Zatz Not Funny!»Blog Archive » Another Day, Another Set-Top on August 20th, 2007 at 10:47 am - Permalink
[...] Building B Builds A God Box For Internet Video Building B became the latest startup to join the Internet video set-top box sweepstakes today with the Belmont, […] [...]
Top Posts « WordPress.com on August 20th, 2007 at 4:59 pm - Permalink
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Has Building B created an internet video “God box”? | Start Tech News on August 20th, 2007 at 6:38 pm - Permalink
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For God So Loved The World He Created Building B on August 20th, 2007 at 9:26 pm - Permalink
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Has Building B created an internet video “God box”? | Simons Wrong! on August 20th, 2007 at 9:39 pm - Permalink
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Tech Referrals & Reviews » Has Building B created an internet video “God box”? on August 20th, 2007 at 10:55 pm - Permalink
[...] The bottom line is that we’ll believe in the One True Box when it’s sitting atop our TVs—we’ve heard way too many empty promises from far too many prophets to be true believers before then. [Building B via NewTeeVee/GigaOM] [...]
Tech Referrals & Reviews » Video Wars: Building B Promises the One True Set-Top Box, Without Wires, PCs or Details on August 21st, 2007 at 12:38 am - Permalink
[...] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life! [...]
Technical world - All about technical things » Has Building B created an internet video “God box”? on August 21st, 2007 at 2:21 am - Permalink
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Has Building B created an internet video “God box”? | Redslush.com on August 21st, 2007 at 3:19 am - Permalink
[...] The bottom line is that we’ll believe in the One True Box when it’s sitting atop our TVs—we’ve heard way too many empty promises from far too many prophets to be true believers before then. [Building B via NewTeeVee/GigaOM] [...]
Video Wars: Building B Promises the One True Set-Top Box, Without Wires, PCs or Details | Redslush.com on August 21st, 2007 at 6:43 am - Permalink
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» Has Building B created an internet video “God box”? Tech Web Daily: Just another Tech News Blog on August 21st, 2007 at 1:22 pm - Permalink
This is too much.
Yet another set top box? I thought that was probably the most difficult space to get into today.
especially with your GigaOMTV episode where Sling said they might get into this space - I’d say TiVo is there too, and how can a new company come in with the same old approach?
I mean, someone like the TellyTopia - sure, that’s a new angle with little competition. Slightly different space, of course.
If I got the product for BB right, trying to win against TiVo and Sling (not to mention Moto and Cisco) will be tought for these guys.
Chillin on August 21st, 2007 at 3:30 pm - Permalink
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Has Building B created an internet video “God box”? | It’s Like This on August 22nd, 2007 at 12:34 am - Permalink
[...] No comments The Internet Video download boxes are dime a dozen (or so it seems.) Not a day passes by when a start-up promises to deliver a box that would change our life. Well, not one of them has thus far changed [...]
Will You Vudu? « GigaOM on September 5th, 2007 at 9:54 pm - Permalink
[...] Building B Builds A God Box For <b>Internet</b> Video [...]
We Review First Internet Steps » Programming PHP. on September 20th, 2007 at 7:58 am - Permalink
I have ATT Uverse and love it. They use Motoral boxes.
Jacob Lee
Jacob Lee on November 8th, 2007 at 9:38 pm - Permalink
Can you say MovieBeam? If Disney, Intel and Cisco can’t pull this off how do these guys think they’re going to do it. They have neither the content or the distribution or the R&D that those companies had…
Phil Dewey on February 26th, 2008 at 2:18 pm - Permalink
thanks
sohbet sitesi on May 15th, 2008 at 9:05 am - Permalink
[...] is still stuck in the first gear, as far as I am concerned. Call me skeptical, because I believe the average TV users are reticent to add more boxes to their entertainment [...]
Roku Lives To Make Netflix Set Top Boxes - GigaOM on May 19th, 2008 at 10:20 pm - Permalink
good nice theme thanks
kadın on June 7th, 2008 at 7:12 am - Permalink