Just in case you’ve missed the hype (we’re talking New York Times coverage), ZillionTV came out this week to great affect.

There are three (big) things about ZillionTV that make it different from previous generations of VoD (Video on Demand) set top boxes:

1. It has a strong content provider business model — in fact, like Hulu on the PC, ZillionTV in large measure funded by content providers themselves.
2. online casinoIt has a strong ISP business model — ZillionTV’s not an over-the-top (OTT) service; instead it will be offered in concert with broadband providers
3. It has a motion sensing interface (built around Hillcrest Labs’ backgammon free casino money free craps game play free black jack craps video poker strategy play black jack online how to win video poker casino game online uk best casino online casino secure online gambling jackpot casino online casino black jack learn to play craps how to win at video poker craps online blackjack casino game online casino betting free on line video poker casino games no download casino online gambling casino play free casino slots video poker machine bonus video poker free on line slots double bonus video poker free video poker games free casinos roulette online craps rules free on line casino rules of craps диваниraman amplifieronline casino free money blackjack 21 internet casino how to play craps free casino game download fortunelounge online casino free casino download free casino card game free roulette game free casino play no deposit free money casino internet casino online technology); bringing Hillcrest’s pointer technology and GUI to the TV set (along with Kodak’s Theater HD Player, which launched with similar technology last fall)

I think that this box is going to make a big splash in the market — it’s expected to be cheap for customers to purchase, cheap for them to watch videos (with a “free with ads” model in the works), and — the biggest difference — easy for customers to use.

The only thing I think is missing here is a keyboard functionality. Hillcrest’s onscreen keyboard is definitely best of breed (their tremor detection technology makes is much easier to point at letters on the screen than say a Wii remote — and much easier than up/down/left/righting with a standard remote). But this HD capable and powerful box can bring a lot more than just VoD to the TV. I think additional apps (T-Commerce, Web, email, etc.) are going to need some sort of a physical keyboard to be truly useful.

The rumor mills are running this week with news that Microsoft is reportedly in talks with 3DV Systems. Such an acquisition could give the Xbox 360 the motion sensing capabilities that it’s lacked (and that have given the cheaper, but less capable, Wii leg up in the market over the past two years).

We’ve seen 3DV’s technology on display, and the ability of their camera systems to accurately detect 3D motion was (at least in demo settings) quite impressive. What 3DV hasn’t had (in the year or so since we saw them — at the 2008 CES) is a mass market partner/customer to bring the technology to market. The Xbox 360 could certainly be that platform, and with Microsoft’s forthcoming move in to Apple Store-style retail outlets, it’s not far fetched to imagine Microsoft productizing this for PC use as well.

If this rumor pans out, it’ll be another feather in the cap for proponents of optical motion sensing. GestureTek has been racking up an essentially continuous string of wins and awards, particularly in the mobile space (where GestureTek’s ability to utilize existing cameras has huge BOM benefits).

Engadget put up a review today of the Kodak Theater HD. They were not completely impressed with the media capabilities of the device (we’ve not got our hands on one here yet to comment either way), but they loved the motion sensing pointer interface:

The good news is that Kodak has a wonderful box and a wonderful input mechanism on its hands

In fact they liked it so much that they asked:

Oh, and let use the Pointer Remote with our computers… pretty please?

(In fact, you can use the same technology for your computers — just pick up one of Logitech’s air mice which also uses Hillcrest Labs technology.)

We’ve long been fans of what Hillcrest has been doing in this space, so we’re glad to see the notoriously curmudgeonly Engadget folks praising their tech so highly.

Oh, and what did they get wrong? Well if you were looking for gyros, you might want to talk to Movea. If you’re looking for accelerometers (and other assorted motion controlling magic), Hillcrest is your supplier of choice.

Google’s getting a lot of attention for their new Google Mobile App for the iPhone, mainly because of the spectacularly effective voice recognition system that lets users search the Web, location-based info and contact info internal to the iphone by voice.

What we’ve found to be most interesting is the fact that Google is using sensors built into the iPhone, specifically the accelerometer and the proximity sensor that usually turns off the keypad when the phone’s next to someone’s face, to make this operation a handsfree and button free experience.

The user simply picks up the iphone, holds it next to their face and then speaks the command — not even a spoken annunciation (“computer, beam us up…”) is required. Just another example of how motion apps are changing the way we interact with our devices.

BTW… in case you wondered why other developers haven’t come out with apps that behave this way… well there is some controversy about how Google got access to these APIs

Sony has never made as big a splash with its motion sensing technology (Sixaxis and DualShock 3 controllers) as has Nintendo with the Wiimote and Nunchuck. That’s not to say that Sony’s given up on the concept — far from it as recent patent applications show.

The new device, as envisioned Breathing Room buy

rent a car bulgaria in the patent application, combines three different mechanisms for tracking motion:
* Accelerometers in the controller itself
* Video tracking (via the Playstation Eye cam), potentially offering face or gesture tracking
* Ultrasonic tracking to further provide an absolute tracking mechanism (using an array of microphones)

The new system is modular, meaning that the controller itself can “break apart” and be reconfigured in different formats for different games.

Of course this is still at the patent application stage now, but its obvious that Sony’s still firmly in the motion control camp.

A group of French companies and research institutes have announced a new effort to develop standards for BAN — Body Area Networks.

The ARN BANET project includes 9 companies and academic institutions united to develop miniaturized wireless networking components designed for medical and sports-related devices like pacemakers or motion-tracking devices.

According to the press release, BANET is attempting to define the following:

BANET project aims at completing essential gaps and shortcomings of the
body area network state-of-the-art, by providing:

– a precise knowledge of the wireless BAN propagation channel in a wide
set of configurations which includes antenna design aspects ;

– a thorough justification of an air interface and MAC protocol choice
able to tackle essential requirements in radio link availability, bit
rate, power consumption, quality of service ;

– a study on coexistence of a BAN network in an environment made of other
BAN networks and other wireless systems ;

– a study of advantages brought by the coordination of BAN networks and
by the use of diversity on the body ;
The BANET project will also take into account the regulatory rules when
using radio devices around the body or as implants, which are essential in
terms of radio spectrum and biological issues.

The group intends to submit its findings to the IEEE 802 group for incorporation into international networking standards.

The bottom line here is that these types of networks are a key to the success of many motion-sensing applications — particularly in applications (like motion sensors used for athletic training monitoring or for rehab applications) where existing networking protocols like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth are too power intensive or don’t provide adequate data rates. We’ll be watching this effort closely — too many vendors are “stuck” using proprietary wireless systems today, which is holding back development of new applications of the technology.Blood and Bone the movie

Yesterday we asked : what other unexpected motion-based apps will people come up with that just aren’t on the map today?

Today’s news brought a great example: software that determines when a mobile phone is being used in a car and which diverts incoming calls to voicemail and “holds” incoming text messages until the phone (and the car, presumably) is no longer moving.

We should disclaim that this is an app based on GPS built into phones and not on accelerometers, but it’s still a great example of a unique way of leveraging motion (in a macro rather than micro sense in this case) to build intelligence and presence into applications.

The company behind it , Aegis Mobility, is positioning the product as a safety enhancer (there’s even tie-ins with insurance companies) and as a personal assistant that “knows” what you’re doing (driving a car) and routes your communications accordingly.

We think that a lot more can be made of such applications — using a combination of motion sensing and GPS-based location awareness and even the camera built into phones to provide intelligent apps with some situational awareness — knowing where you are, what you’re doing (or what your movements indicate you’re doing) and even what you can see (through the camera’s lens) to provide greatly enhanced navigation, location-based services and presence-dependent services.

One of the most exciting parts of tracking the motion-enabled market is discovering new uses and applications for the technology that are just completely unexpected. As motion sensing moves to become a ubiquitous part of many devices (PCs, phones, gaming consoles, toys , etc.) people are mashing up applications that have nothing to do with the original reasons the technology was embedded in a device.

A great example was highlighted in the Economist a week or two ago — a new distributed computing effort out of Stanford that leverages the hard drive protecting Sudden Motion Sensor accelerometers in laptops as part of a distributed earthquake tracking system.

Quake-Catcher Network is:

a collaborative initiative for developing the world’s largest, low-cost strong-motion seismic network by utilizing sensors in and attached to internet-connected computers.

With your help, the Quake-Catcher Network can provide better understanding of earthquakes, give early warning to schools, emergency response systems, and others. The Quake-Catcher Network also provides educational software designed to help teach about earthquakes and earthquake hazards

There are PC and Mac clients (as well as a desktop client designed for use with USB accelerometer dongles — mainly designed for science classrooms). There’s a lot of variability to account for (locations can’t be precisely determined without GPS, laptops shake when they’re typed upon and are often moved or placed on non-level/stead surfaces like, well, laps), but the system is designed with algorithms which will filter out these factors and provide a new set of data for tracking earthquakes.

We think this is a really cool app, but, more importantly, it makes us wonder — what’s next? There are literally millions of laptops out there with Sudden Motion Sensors — and now there are millions (and potentially billions) of mobile phones with accelerometers that can be combined with precise GPS and network-based location information and persistent 3G network connections. There are probably a lot of “next big things” just waiting to appear. Have some ideas? Let us know!

We were privileged to contribute a piece to the EE Times this week on how the MEMS and motion sensing revolutions are heading everywhere in the home and in consumer apps in general.

You can read the article here

.

And an unsolicited plug — if you’re interested in the business behind the technologies that make motion apps work, you should definitely be an EE Times reader — they spend a lot of time covering the components end of this business. We certainly read it every day.

USA Today has a good piece up today about the coming ubiquity of motion sensing accelerometers in consumer gear.

A lot of the focus (as is the case in many similar articles) is on the iPhone (and iPod Touch) — a large number of the apps being launched in the iTunes App Store are using the accelerometer, and it’s no longer just games.

An interested startup (new to us) mentioned in the article was Fitbit. Fitbit’s $99 motion sensor is designed to track a user’s motion throughout the day (and night) to track exercise, calories burned and even how well some sleeps. Pretty cool stuff and something we’ll be digging into in the near future.