Written by Liz Gannes
Posted Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 3:00 AM PT

Verismo Box Plugs Web into Your TV

Verismo Networks on Tuesday previewed “the PoD,” a tiny box that brings web content to your TV monitor without needing a PC in between, at the Under the Radar conference in Mountain View, Calif. I’d never heard of the company before sitting down for the session, so was excited to see an entirely new device. Yes, yes, it’s a device, and it doesn’t come from a company you already have a relationship with, but like I said, it’s tiny.

Verismo CEO Prakash Bhalerao said his company has partnered with YouTube and BitTorrent to get access to their content, and vTap to search for anything else. Apparently YouTube will also be marketing the PoD to its users, which would definitely help a new company get exposure! The box can also handle anything with Windows DRM, so you can watch Amazon Unbox and CinemaNow downloads right on your TV.

The PoD, along with a remote, is set to go on sale later this summer for $99. Unfortunately I didn’t catch all the specs, and the company’s web site is less than helpful. We spoke to Verismo Networks CTO and co-founder Vijay Maheshwari after the presentation to get an up close and personal demo on camera. The video of that interview is embedded above.

Bhalerao said Cupertino, Calif.- and Bangalore-based Verismo is also looking to license its software to other set-top box makers. He added he sees opportunities to address markets where PCs aren’t as predominant, and will be sending out boxes to use for educational purposes in India.

I didn’t take any photos, but here are a few stills from the video:

The PoD itself:

Video playing:

vTap search interface:

PoD remote:

Settings menu:

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Topic: Hardware, Startups

Comments (5)

Liz that was an excellent report the post and the Video strangely i have problems with flash video being poor quality but the service you have used to display was really good (No buffering).

Tribster — 6:51 AM on June 4, 2008 Reply
I am not sure , whether Flash Video is HW decoded?
and What chipset they have in the box?

sanjay — 11:31 AM on July 17, 2008 Reply
I will buy this right now just to let you guys know even if you add forty dollars onto retail!

Richard Walston

Richard Walston — 6:49 AM on November 22, 2008 Reply
I own one of these Pod and I love it.. On my way to get one more for the faamily room.

Jesse Collins — 7:19 AM on June 9, 2009 Reply
I would like to find out the power consumption requirements for this machine, me thinks since it runs some GPL software i may be able to render this a neat little wearable computer project.

Mike Klegin — 4:33 PM on November 21, 2009 Reply

Linkbacks (25)

[...] of a marketing near from YouTube, so this belike won’t be the tangency you center of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Verismo Networks’ PoD beams all sorts… — 10:00 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

ZEITGEIST / Verismo Networks’ PoD beams… — 10:01 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Evsion Lab » Blog Archive » Verismo… — 10:02 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

TopVD News » Blog Archive » Verismo… — 10:02 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Verismo Networks’ PoD beams all sorts… — 10:03 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

New Gadgets and Gizmos » Verismo Networks… — 10:03 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Verismo Networks’ PoD beams all sorts… — 10:04 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Verismo Networks’ PoD beams all sorts… — 10:06 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Verismo Networks’ PoD beams all sorts… — 10:10 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Latesht .com » Verismo Networks’… — 10:14 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Verismo Networks’ PoD beams all sorts… — 10:26 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] with a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Verismo Networks’ PoD beams all sorts… — 10:34 AM on June 4, 2008
[...] gizmodo – newteevee – verismonetworks] amazon unbox downloads, Consumer, Cool, Entertainment, flash clips, Gadgets, [...]

The PoD - Watch YouTube Videos on TV w/o… — 12:27 PM on June 4, 2008
[...] web page by then. NewTeeVee’s Liz Gannes caught up with the company recently and interviewed company co-founder Vijay Maheshwari on [...]

Windows Home Theater » Blog Archive… — 4:20 PM on June 4, 2008
[...] was not at UTR this year, but Liz was, and she has video of the Verismo [...]

☆ Verismo the Unboxed Set Top Box Thursday… — 11:22 PM on June 4, 2008
[...] [via NewTeeVee] [...]

Verismo PoD multi-format video streaming… — 8:38 AM on June 5, 2008
[...] This week we also covered an independent player in the space — though it does require an additional box — the Verismo PoD. [...]

Panasonic Pipes YouTube Directly to TVs … — 1:47 PM on June 5, 2008
[...] a bit of a marketing push from YouTube, so this probably won’t be the last you hear of PoD.Read | Permalink | Email [...]

Verismo Networks’ PoD beams all sorts… — 10:54 AM on June 6, 2008
[...] NewTeeVee about the last 10-foot problem, and especially getting YouTube to the TV. Whether via a special-purpose set-top box, or integrated into your TV, both still fall [...]

I Want MyTube, Not YouTube « Digitalics — 1:01 PM on June 8, 2008
[...] Verismo Box Plugs Web into Your TV: this is a very good example of the trend towards a open STB with no direct connection to the larger companies. Ie Microsoft, Apple. This is intended to be a cheap STB that can utilise as many services as they can get API’s from/for. [...]

The tend towards an open STB continues. — 5:51 AM on June 13, 2008
[...] also sets up the battle of the li’l $99 boxes between Roku and Verismo box (which looks like it has changed its name from the PoD to the VuNow), which partnered with VTap to [...]

Roku to Open Its Box to Anyone « NewTeeVee — 4:39 PM on September 24, 2008
[...] solution will be available December 15th. Initially dubbed “the PoD” when NewTeeVee introduced it in June, VuNow provides the sort of features we’re coming to expect in the current generation of [...]

VuNow Launching December 15th — 6:28 AM on November 20, 2008
[...] your TV and does not require a PC to work. To give you a sense of the functionality, here’s a video demo Liz did of the Verismo box in action last [...]

Netgear Unveils Verismo-Based TV Set-Top… — 12:16 PM on January 7, 2009
[...] Screenshot of the PoD device from the video. Pic credit [...]

bangaloreinc - Verismo Networks - Bringing… — 1:46 AM on January 11, 2009
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Verismo Box Plugs Web into Your TV | Wood… — 3:46 PM on May 31, 2009

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Verismo Box Plugs Web into Your TV

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