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Is MOXI Toast?
onosko writes "Moxi Digital, one of the big hits of the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show in January, has bitten the dust, absorbed by one of Paul Allen's companies, Digeo. At CES, Moxi showed a Linux-based PVR and home entertainment server system that used Ethernet or 802.11a to distribute video, audio and JPEGs throughout a house. Last week, Digeo announced that it would not use Microsoft's interactive TV software."
This really looked liked the best of the upcoming PVRs. Bummed to see it
collapse. Here is a somewhat related and really entertaining short bit about Tivo turning 3
Dang Adobe Acrobat, here it is !
Sounds like a great opportunity for both companies, not "biting the dust" or whatever TaCO says! It is pretty apparent that Moxi never cared about Linux in and of itself, it was just a cheap means to an ends. We don't want companies like that promoting Leenux anyways!!!
For Immediate Release
D Di ig ge eo o a an nd d M Mo ox xi i M Me er rg ge e
C Co om mb bi in ne ed d c co om mp pa an ny y b be ec co om me es s u un nd di is sp pu ut te ed d l le ea ad de er r i in n d de el li iv ve er ry y o of f
a ad dv va an nc ce ed d m me ed di ia a c ce en nt te er r p pl la at tf fo or rm ms s a an nd d s se er rv vi ic ce es s
KIRKLAND, Wash. and PALO ALTO, Calif., March 29, 2002 -- In a move that will
strengthen and accelerate the development and delivery of advanced media center platforms and
iTV services, Kirkland-based Digeo, Inc. and Palo Alto-based Moxi Digital, Inc. announced
today the signing of a definitive agreement to join forces under the name of Digeo, Inc. Fortified
by additional funding from lead investor Vulcan Inc., the merger will create the industry's clear
leader in the delivery of integrated media center platforms and services for cable and satellite
operators. Through this merger, the two companies will fuse their intellectual capital, market
traction, proprietary technologies and respective product strengths. The new Digeo will pursue
its vision of simultaneously enhancing and simplifying the consumer home entertainment
experience by leveraging its strong partnerships with leading companies such as Motorola, Inc.
(NYSE: MOT) and Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR).
The new company will be under the visionary leadership of Paul G. Allen in the role of Digeo's
chairman of the board, as well as the guidance of board members Jim Billmaier, CEO of Digeo;
Carl Vogel, CEO of Charter Communications; William Savoy, president of Vulcan; Edward
Harris, senior investment analyst of Vulcan; and Kevin Fong, general partner of Mayfield.
The new company's leadership team will be a mix of Digeo and Moxi(TM) senior management.
Digeo CEO Jim Billmaier will become CEO of the new company. Moxi CEO Rita Brogley will
become EVP of business development and marketing. Digeo President of Advanced Systems
Larry Weber will continue in his role. Digeo SVP Bert Kolde will assume the role of COO.
Moxi VP of Engineering Toby Farrand will become CTO.
"This merger will allow us to deliver a family of media center platforms more rapidly," said Paul
Allen. "Besides having the power of a PC, they are incredibly easy-to-use and can also run many
exciting new applications that range from personal video recording to digital photo sharing to
wireless home networking. Their introduction will define a new benchmark for the next
generation of set-top boxes."
"Digeo and Moxi have been working along parallel paths to implement very similar visions," said
Digeo CEO Jim Billmaier. "Integration of the two companies will be swift, our efforts will be
amplified, and we'll deliver an even better media center platform to market sooner. We believe
these new platforms will be very attractive to cable and satellite companies looking for new
revenue opportunities."
"My goal for establishing a world-class technology company that would revolutionize home
entertainment has been realized by Moxi joining forces with Digeo and Paul Allen," said Steve
Perlman, founder and vice chairman of Moxi.
One other thing I find of interest are that while both the companies are heavily funded by Microsofts Paul Allen, both are using Linux as the base OS for their products.
I'd be surprised if Moxi is dead. Their not planning to lay anyone off...
(which is really kind of hard to get to; they hide it behind some Javascript'ed popup):
http://www.moxi.com/articles/press_Merge.htm
"The new company's leadership team will be a mix of Digeo and MoxiTM senior management.... Moxi CEO Rita Brogley will become EVP of business development and marketing.... Moxi VP of Engineering Toby Farrand will become CTO.... The new company will maintain dual headquarters in Kirkland and Palo Alto."
Stupid job ads, weird spam, occasional insight at
ReplayTV has wireless distribution via 802.11b? Moxi demoed that at CES. ReplayTV already has the ability to view still images and play MP3s and DVDs? Moxi demoed those features at CES.
Yes, Moxi was showing a technology, not a product. And yes, their overblown claims about partnerships with cable and satellite companies look like wishful thinking more than actual business deals. Yes, at this point they are vapor. And yes, we all owe a debt of gratitude to ReplayTV and TiVo for bringing the PVR to the masses (albeit more slowly than they or we the converted would like). But let's at least acknowledge that they demoed features that aren't currently available on any shipping PVR.
ReplayTV doesn't have a built-in cable box.
Having the cable box integrated with the PVR is a HUGE advantage because it lets you record more than one digital cable program.
Without some communication between the cable box and the PVR you can't change to the right channel at the right time.
"Scientists prove we were never here."
-- Devo
Being acquired by and funded by a billionaire is hardly a bad event for the company in question. Who approves such stupidly misleading headlines?
Not anytime soon, though the Series 2 TiVo design could accomodate it. Such a beast would need two tuners AND two MPEG encoders, which would drive up the cost quite a bit. Also, only those with antenna or cable-without-box would be able to make real use of dual RF tuners - if you had a cable box, you'd be left out.
I won't say "never", but it doesn't look like something that's on their radar screen right now.
From the press release:
"Digeo and Moxi have been working along parallel paths to implement very similar visions," said Digeo CEO Jim Billmaier. "Integration of the two companies will be swift, our efforts will be amplified, and we'll deliver an even better media center platform to market sooner. We believe these new platforms will be very attractive to cable and satellite companies looking for new revenue opportunities."