VWB hopes further distribution deals will help its flagship product, the MediaReady 5000, find a way into the custom home entertainment market.
The MediaReady 5000 is an Internet-capable set-top box that, apart from browsing and email capabilities, also functions as a personal video recorder, networked storage device, and a DVD player/recorder.
Users can capture music, video and pictures directly off the Internet and send them to a computer network or onto attached peripherals like an MP3 player, digital camera or portable hard drive. Also incorporating a TV and cable tuner, the unit can record live television to either a hard drive (120G-byte) or directly to its DVD drive.
"Our distribution with Tier 1 and Tier 2 retailers is giving the MediaReady line a growing level of consumer awareness," David Novak, a VWB spokesman, said.
Awareness is important in what may quickly become a crowded market. Though VWB made headlines late last year when it entered the growing portable video player market, the company already has seen competing products emerge from industry heavyweights such as Sony, Microsoft and Apple, to name a few.
Much like its competitors, VWB’s "Flyboy" can hold up to 80 hours of MPEG 4 video on its 40 GB hard drive. It also can play MP3 music files, store and display digital photos, record external sounds like voice and function as a USB 2.0 file storage device.
CEDIA runs from Sept. 7 through Sept. 11 at the Indiana Convention Center.
