Well, the NetFlix Player (by Roku) has been out for about a month now and I was wondering who out there has purchased one yet. I held out, but this weekend I decided to order it and test it out. After all, hands on reviews are the best way to go I think.

While I was writing a story on NetFlix for the subscription-based IPTV Bulletin that I’m editing, I did some research on the competition, namely Apple TV and Vudu. They are all set-top boxes designed to deliver movies and TV shows directly to TV sets, not PCs. It’s not a very crowded market, so I’m hoping to get hands-on with all of them in the future.

In the meantime, here’s the comparison table I did.

The biggest plus about the NetFlix Player is its low price. Just $99 means it’s an impulse buy and not something you have to consider stretching your credit card debt such as with Apple TV (up to $329). Plus, you don’t have to pay per download like you do with Vudu and Apple TV. Again, this lowers the overall cost proposition for consumers.

I don’t think the NetFlix Player will be a killer device, but I think it’s definitely changing the game through its low prices.

So, I’m wondering… Have you bought the NetFlix Player?  If no, why not?

P.S. Seems like NetFlix Player shipments are delayed about two weeks, so I’ll have to wait a bit longer than I thought. However, this may be good news for Roku and NetFlix since it seems like demand is outstripping supply.

Technorati Tags: Vudu, Roku, NetFlix, NetFlix player, Apple, Apple TV

You’ve probably seen it by now.

What looks like a commercial for a new TV show or movie, turns out to be a commercial for a line of HDTV sets from LG called Scarlet. (Check out the video below if you haven’t seen it already.)

It seems like it was a successful campaign, in that it garnered lots of press attention including a red-carpet fake premiere with (fake) celebrities and lots of mentions on the Internet.

However, I’m more interested in the fact that this is one of the first TVs that are branded. And it’s about time. Everything else around us has branded names. Think of cars (Toyota Avalon, Ford Taurus), MP3 players (iPod, Zune), cell phones (LG’s Chocolate, Motorola’s Razr or the iPhone)–heck even condoms have brand names (Trojan, Magnum). So it’s about time that TV sets are becoming brands that consumers can identify.

LG’s Scarlet line of sets don’t really push the bar as far as new or advanced features, it just has a good brand name. And the back of the TV is red, too. So it doesn’t take much beyond lots of advertising dollars, an online viral marketing campaign, and a new product to begin promoting a new brand.

Why aren’t other TV set manufacturer’s doing this? I mean, Sony, which came up with Walkman, and Vaio, should have a good TV brand. Panasonic does have the Viera line of TV sets, but it reminds me too much of Good Morning America’s Meredith Viera to really have a brand impact with me.

Having a name like Scarlet, also makes it easy for consumers to find reviews and prices on the Internet. You don’t have to remember that the Scarlet is product number AZTX-4208, for example. (I just made that up.) Just Google “Scarlet” and TV and up comes results to help you shop and compare.

Brands. It’s what people want. People share with others what brand their new cell phone is. And consumer electronic manufacturers should realize that people want to show off their new HDTVs also. And let’s include DVRs also. Tivo has done pretty well as the top brand of DVRs, but distinguishing different product lines is kind of tricky. Tivo’s Series 2, or Series 3 DVRs are boring names. Why not the Tivo Magum? Or um, something like that.

Technorati Tags: Tivo, LG, Scarlet, branding, advertising, HDTV, TV