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Monsoon Multimedia debuts Sling, ROKU competitor with some compelling features

by Mel Martin Jul 27th 2010 at 2:00PM

Today Monsoon Multimedia is announcing the Vulkano, a universal video platform that integrates DVR, Web video, streaming and time shifting of media from the home to a portable device, including the iPhone, iPad, and Macs or PCs. It also supports streaming to Android, Blackberry, Symbian and WM6 phones or devices.

Prices range from US $259 to $379 depending on the storage capacity customers desire. The $379 device stores 1 Terabyte. The company says it will introduce a 3G capable app for the iPhone next month.

Among the functions available are:
  • Triggering recording from a remote device
  • Playback of recordings on iPads, PCs and Macs in the home and remotely
  • Browsing of an electronic program guide for shows and episode information
  • Access photos, video and music on your home TV from UPnP supported devices
  • Connects to cable, DVD, satellite, DVR and Tivo
  • Streams using H.264 and MPEG-4 standards at rates as low as 150kpbs
  • Connects wirelessly to home router

Although not currently in the product software, the company says it will offer free upgrades that include Google TV, Yahoo!, Netflix, Hulu and other services in the 'near future.'

"We designed Vulkano from the ground up to replace single purpose solutions, such as TiVo, Roku, Slingbox, etc," said Steve Stone, CTO at Monsoon. "In the coming months we will be pushing new apps to Vulkano owners for free so they can rest assured that this is the first and last product they'll need for all their TV and Internet media needs."

We're going to get a review unit soon and can give you our own impressions. For a full description take a gander at the Vulkano website. Monsoon is taking pre-orders for an estimated August 10 shipping date. It will be interesting to watch the consumer reaction to this device. It is very Apple friendly and if it is easy to use and set up Monsoon will have a winner.

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Today Monsoon Multimedia is announcing the Vulkano, a universal video platform that integrates DVR, Web video, streaming and time shifting...
 

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kevincampbell247

Not really in competition with Roku when the Sling costs from US $259 to $379 and the Roku costs from US $69.00 to $119.00.

That's a pretty huge price gap.

July 28 2010 at 5:09 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
alan

Great. Last month I went nuts trying to decide between buying a sporty $25K MINI Cooper... and its close competitor/rival, a $75K Winnebago motor home. Now I'll need to decide between a $99 Roku and this new competitor, a $259-$379 Vulkano? Sheesh.

July 27 2010 at 7:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
loup407

I'd love to find a replacement for Tivo. While it works well enough, it's not exactly Mac friendly. Monsoon's past history causes me to be pretty skeptical. I'll be interested to hear how it works after its been in the real world for a while.

July 27 2010 at 3:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
backwoodsperry

I had a Monsoon Multimedia Hava device. Their support was terrible and the company continually made broken promises to their users. They publicly promised a free iPhone app in Q2 of last year, only to produce a $10 app in Q4. When users complained on the forums, they proceeded to delete user's posts. Their Support representatives even claimed on their forum that Apple forced them to charge $10 for the app, but then deleted their own posts after people called them on it!

The device itself was decent. It did a pretty good job at recording and streaming video at a quality slightly higher than Slingbox. However it was also marked in a deceptive way, advertised as "high definition" when in fact it could only stream 480i.

Suffice it to say, I'm done with Monsoon Multimedia.

July 27 2010 at 3:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

This has no CableCard support so forget about it recording anything off of digital cable. Where I live (SF Bay Area), Comcast doesn't even have the networks in the clear.

July 27 2010 at 3:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Chris's comment
digitalsedition

This is all that need be said. Without CableCard support or similar, this device is about as useless as an EyeTV these days.

July 27 2010 at 10:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Steve Miner

I couldn't find any details about their Mac support on the their website. Will the Mac player work with an old iMac G5?

July 27 2010 at 2:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike Bittemann

Your headline suggests this competes somehow with the Roku, but I don't see how that is possible. The Roku is for streaming media from the internet to your TV - not from other sources to your mobile device.

Am I missing something, or is the author?

July 27 2010 at 2:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Mike Bittemann's comment
Mel Martin

You are missing something. As pointed out in the post, the Vulkano streams Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and other services to your TV. It also allows you to view these services on your iPad or cellphone. While the 2 devices are not exactly comparable, there is enough overlap that it is worth noting.

Thanks for writing.

Mel
TUAW

July 27 2010 at 3:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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