Fully digital living rooms on the horizon

Fully digital living rooms are becoming a reality, but they are still years away, as technology makers and home users learn to work together to bridge the digital divide.

The idea behind digital streaming has been around for a while, but manufacturers simply haven’t had the technology necessary to make it possible… until now.  Joining established companies entering the market for a first time, a number of smaller startups hope to make a splash while attracting new users.

Music has been widely available through streaming radio and download services over the Internet, but video is becoming the new cash cow for advertisers and publishers. 

YouTube helped make Internet video viewing mainstream, with many television producers now making their content available for free.  Furthermore, services such as Hulu and Joost make it possible to watch even more content directly over the Internet, with a minimal amount of video and text advertising.

Eighty-two percent of adult broadband users in the United States watch videos online each week, while 58 percent also watch TV episodes online. 

"We haven’t gotten there yet," Diffusion Group president and principal analyst Michael Greeson told the San Jose Mercury News.  "We’ve got the pieces in place now."

The problem now is that many people in the living room want the same interactivity as a PC, but they want it directly to their TV.  Even though technology designed to connect a PC and TV continues to drop in price, most viewers don’t want to waste the time or energy, and want streaming content on their TV without the need of a PC.

Services such as TiVo, Sling and Roku continue to become popular, as Netflix, which originally was known as a DVD rental business continues to expand its digital streaming partnerships with Blu-ray manufacturers.

Standalone Blu-ray player sales continue to struggle leading up to Christmas, but streaming services are gaining traction as users are not forced to spend money on new technology.  Although this sounds like it would hurt Blu-ray sales because consumers will avoid the format, DVD players cannot stream content, select Blu-ray players can, which could help boost sales.

It’s possible TV providers will need to lead the way to a fully digital living room, with AT&T and others already launching new digital services that utilize streaming content and other Internet-based technology.

The evolution towards a digital living room could be slow, but the change is under way.