Some Users Might Be Boxed In by Net Appliances
The World Wide Web has expanded the Internet’s appeal far beyond the world of computer geeks, but it hasn’t pushed the Net far beyond the computer.
In particular, consumers have turned up their noses at “Internet appliances,” or stripped-down devices that offer a simple route to the Web. Electronics companies keep trying, but their products keep flopping--witness the quick demise of three of the five Net appliances that Tech Times reviewed in February.
Undaunted, Sony is making a new foray into the field, offering a slick computer-size device called the eVilla Network Entertainment Center. It’s the second go-around for Sony, which tried with limited success to sell Microsoft WebTV units. Compaq, meanwhile, has released an updated version of its Microsoft-powered iPaq Home Internet Appliance.
Both try to eliminate the most cumbersome, frustrating and intimidating features of computers without sacrificing the Internet’s most popular functions, such as shopping, watching video clips, sending e-mail and listening to Web radio stations. Despite some noteworthy limits, they succeed in providing an easy on-ramp to the Web and a sample of its most popular resources.
What the two devices do best, though, is promote products and services affiliated with Microsoft or Sony. In Compaq’s case, the easy-to-use package of news, entertainment, local information and shopping is drawn entirely from sites owned or affiliated with Microsoft--not a surprising feature, given that it’s built around the MSN online service.
The eVilla’s preset Web sites aren’t quite so focused on a single company’s products, but Sony’s game, music, movie and TV properties all are featured prominently. And with both devices, users are fed a steady stream of ads for products and services affiliated with the two companies.
That’s much like the experience that computer users have on America Online, the planet’s most popular Internet service. But the eVilla and the Home Internet Appliance impose more limits on users than a computer equipped with AOL does, largely because they don’t have the power or flexibility of a computer.
Technophobes and Internet ingenues wouldn’t know what they were missing, but that’s not the intended audience for these devices, officials from Sony and Microsoft say. Instead, their main targets are homes that don’t have enough computers to meet all the demand for time on the Net.
Sony eVilla
The $500 eVilla comes in a large but stylish package, with 31 pounds of monitor and electronics combined in a perforated plastic casing. The 15-inch screen is taller than it is wide--a “portrait” orientation that displays more of the typical Web page than a computer monitor or TV set provides.
Speakers and a printer are optional accessories.
The fact that the eVilla isn’t a computer is apparent as soon as you press the power button. The unit comes to life in less than 30 seconds and signs onto the Internet just as quickly.
The first step with a new eVilla is agreeing to pay $21.95 per month for Internet access from EarthLink, the exclusive Internet service provider for the eVilla. Consumers who already have a computer can use their same EarthLink account for Internet access from their PC or Mac, but they can’t transfer an existing account to the eVilla.
The eVilla’s screen isn’t a customizable array of icons like the desktop of a computer. Instead, the main screen offers seven channels of material--news, finance, entertainment, shopping, lifestyle and sports--as well as links to audio and video “Net Tools.”
Each of the seven channels offers a set of stories and links from one to six companies, such as financial information from ABCNews.com, sports from CBS’ SportsLine.com and local movie listings from Infospace. Sony affiliates supply several pieces of the package, including the online games, music news and music shopping services. (A portion of the material on eVilla is provided by Zap2It, whose parent company, Tribune Co., also owns the Los Angeles Times.)
The four “Net Tools” are even more heavily weighted with Sony material. The photo tool, for example, is a link to Sony’s ImageStation.com, which offers printing and free storage for images from digital cameras.
Although the presets and tools offer a fairly wide array of things, the main weakness is that most of the material can’t be personalized. That kind of customization was sacrificed for the sake of giving users a guided tour to the Web, said Rob Bartels, general manager of the eVilla Network Entertainment Center.
To bypass Sony’s choices, users can go to the Web search page and navigate wherever they please online. They also can create a set of links to favorite Web sites.
The machine comes with a basic e-mail program but no instant-messaging capability. The software includes an address book for e-mail on the eVilla, but there’s apparently no way to transfer in addresses from a computer or hand-held organizer.
Users don’t have to be online to read e-mail messages or short snippets of the lead stories in each of the seven categories. Instead, that material is downloaded overnight by the eVilla, which dials into the Internet automatically for updates.
The main drawbacks of the eVilla are the trade-offs it makes for the sake of simplicity. The eVilla can visit only one Web site at a time, which makes it hard to do comparison shopping. Users can’t update the software in the box themselves, so they’ll have to rely on Sony to stay on top of the rapidly changing Web environment. And although Sony has built the unit to handle most of the major file formats found online, the eVilla review unit skidded to a halt on some of the more intense multimedia sites, such as Shockwave.com.
Nor is a 56-kilobit-per-second modem a great way to experience entertainment online, particularly video. So it’s odd that Sony’s “Network Entertainment Center” can’t be hooked to a home network or a high-speed modem. That feature is coming--the device ships with an inactive Ethernet networking jack--but the timing is up to Sony.
Compaq iPaq Home Internet Appliance
The new Compaq iPaq Home Internet Appliance, by contrast, can be connected to a high-speed cable or DSL modem, or it can be hooked to an Ethernet or phone line network. That’s one of the main differences between the new version and the old--only the MSN Companion software changed, not the hardware.
But the Compaq can’t function as part of a home network; it can merely share an Internet connection. You can’t use the Compaq to grab music, documents or applications off of a home computer or to store items downloaded from the Internet onto a computer’s hard drive.
Nor is there any kind of storage on the Compaq itself, which rules out downloading music, games, pictures, e-mail attachments or the e-mails themselves. To provide some of those functions, the box relies on the kind of Web-based services that Microsoft is betting a bundle on.
In short, it’s purely a window to the Internet. And the window opens first on Microsoft-owned and affiliated Web properties, such as MSN Carpoint for researching and buying cars, Expedia for travel and Ticketmaster for event tickets.
That might be fine for new Net users and Microsoft fans, but veteran Web surfers with well-established preferences online might find little use for the Compaq’s home page and presets. The Compaq also doesn’t support every popular online file format, meaning that users won’t be able to view QuickTime movies, play games on Shockwave.com, or hear RealAudio streams.
Many of those issues could be addressed through software upgrades, which Microsoft can download to the boxes overnight. Whether Microsoft will support software and formats that compete directly with its own products, however, is a whole other issue.
To its credit, the new MSN Companion software makes jumping onto the Internet a far easier and friendlier process than a Windows computer does.
The Home Internet Appliance comes in two styles: the $399 IA-1, which has a flat-panel screen, and the $300 IA-2, whose monitor is a more conventional picture tube. The model reviewed was an IA-1, but the software is the same in both models.
The Compaq sets up in a few minutes, requiring users only to plug in a power cord and a phone line. Connecting a high-speed modem is a bit more involved but still simple, given the clear on-screen guidance. Users must either subscribe to MSN for $21.95 per month (a preexisting MSN account will work too) or pay $9.95 a month for the right to use their existing Internet provider. The supply-your-own-Internet option isn’t available to AOL subscribers.
The box turns on and off with the simple push of a button--like the eVilla, although it takes quite a bit longer to get up and running. Hopping onto the online home page is just as easy, as is navigating to any of the preset features, including e-mail, Microsoft’s instant messaging, searching the Net or returning to favorite Web sites.
Brian Gluth, a senior product manager for MSN, said Microsoft found that people who bought the Compaq were Net-savvy consumers who wanted to check their e-mail, send instant messages or do quick Web tasks without having to boot their PC. For such uses, the Compaq is a fine device--particularly for consumers who don’t mind using Web-based e-mail services such as Microsoft’s Hotmail, which are clunkier and slower than alternatives that download messages to the subscribers’ computers.
The wireless keyboard that comes with the Compaq is a nice touch, but it does misfire on one point. It uses a pressure-sensitive pad to control the cursor, and it’s not nearly as easy to use as a mouse. If users get frustrated, there’s a simple solution: Buy a mouse that can connect to one of the Compaq’s four USB ports.
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Times staff writer Jon Healey covers the convergence of entertainment and technology.
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The Skinny
eVilla Network Entertainment Center
Price: $500
Manufacturer: Sony
Dimensions: 15.82 inches tall, 11.81 inches wide, 16.18 inches deep, 31.5 pounds
Features: 15-inch Trinitron display, 255 MHz Geode processor, 64 MB of RAM and slot for Sony Memory Stick cards, 56 Kbps modem, 2 USB ports, Ethernet and mic jacks (not yet activated), BeIA operating system
The good: Extremely easy to use, great display
The bad: Limited personalization, no access to instant messaging, can’t handle some Web-based services
Bottom line: A better tool for Net newbies who fear PCs than for veteran Web surfers.
iPaq Home Internet Appliance IA-1
Price: $399
Manufacturer: Compaq
Dimensions: 10.25 inches high, 10.75 inches wide, 9 inches deep, 5.8 pounds
Features: 10.1-inch flat panel display, 32 MB of RAM, 16 MB of Flash memory with potential for more, 56 Kbps modem, 4 USB ports, Ethernet port, Microsoft Windows CE operating system
The good: Easy to use, quick access to a wide array of Microsoft-affiliated online services
The bad: No storage options, limited personalization, can’t handle some popular types of online file formats
Bottom line: If you love Microsoft’s online services, this offers a convenient way to get to them--especially if you have a home network and a high-speed modem
