Apple TV or Roku or …. ??

Online or streaming video is gaining lot of popularity. There are multiple options out there now.  Apple has now introduced its latest model to the mix, the new Apple TV. The new model is a lot different from the previous generations. The new one has no local storage and hence is a lot smaller and cheaper. The new model costs only $99 vs the $229 for the previous model.  The new Apple TV can produce 720p HD resolution and has HDMI ,optical audio output 802.11N wifi, ethernet and 1 micro USB output.  Besides the content from iTunes store, you can get content from Netflix , flickr and Youtube.  And if you have your media library in iTunes on your computer, Apple TV can access the iTunes library and play any content through wifi. Best of all, if you own an iPad, iTouch or iPhone, you can watch videos on Apple TV off of your iOS device or your Mac using the AirPlay feature.  This way you can watch any video on you Apple TV that your iOS or Mac can view.

Roku is another streaming video content provider on the market. Recently they have upgraded and updated their line of products as well. Roku now comes in three versions, Roku HD, Roku XD and Roku XDS, price ranging from $59 to $99.  The advantage I see that Roku has over Apple TV is  Roku XD and XDS delivers 1080p HD resolution and it can play a lot more content than Apple TV.  Roku can stream Netflix,  Amazon video on demand, Youtube,  Pandora,  Vimeo and so on.  You can also play content from an external hard drive.

Have you heard about the Boxee box from Dlink thats coming out in Nov 2010 ?  Its supposed to be a lot superior that the Apple TV and Roku.  Boxee claims that it will play any online media out on the web and can stream any media off your PC or external hard drive.  It works just like the Boxee TV software on your computer, except the Boxee Box doesn’t require a computer.

But whats puzzling  me is that, why would one get any of  these when  new LCD TV or Blu-Ray player can stream video off the internet and PC.   Most of the latest LCD TV or Blu-Ray are either wifi compatible or has 802.11N wireless card in them. They can hook up to Netflix, Pandora, Amazon VOD, Youtube and some can even hook up to my PC or to an external hard drive.  The new gaming devices like PS3, X box 360 and Wii can also stream video and audio content off the internet .
Yet these new gadgets are coming out and none of it make sense to me. Unless you are not in the market for a TV  or Blu-Ray player upgrade, it really doesn’t make sense to buy an Apple TV, Roku or Boxee Box.  Blu-Ray players are getting cheaper and cheaper, you rather pickup a Blu-Ray player that can play your Blu-Ray DVD and stream video and audio off the internet than adding another device to the mix.