Kirkland, Wash.
– Digeo Tuesday sweetened the pot for
purchasers of its Moxi HD DVR set-top box for digital-cable subscribers.
The company, which
is owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, announced that it is now making
available Moxi Mate thin-client set-top boxes, which will enable multi-room
access to video content from a connected Moxi HD as well as PCs and other
devices connected on a wired or wireless in-home network.
The Moxi Mate,
which will carry a $399 suggested retail, is a small, silent (no fans or onboard
hard drives) set-top box for remote rooms like bedrooms or kitchens.
The Moxi Mate will
access all recorded content stored on the central Moxi HD DVR.
The Moxi Mate can
also play media files available from the home network or the Internet on a TV
in any room in the house.
The thin-client device
will eliminate the need to require consumers to buy multiple DVRs and pay
additional subscriptions for each device, and set up series recordings multiple
times for their favorite shows.
Digeo is launching
the Moxi Mate with a selection of limited-time special price offers. Purchasers
have the option of buying a Moxi HD DVR ($799 suggested retail) with a Moxi
Mate ($399) for $999 special bundled price, representing approximately $200 in
cost savings.
Digeo said the
Moxi and Mate combination provides the only retail multi-room solution that
doesn’t require the purchase of a second DVR.
Existing Moxi HD
DVR customers will also be offered a special $199 price on a separate Moxi Mate.
To make adoption
more affordable, Digeo is also offering a series of flexible monthly payment
options and zero percent financing
programs. Consumers can purchase the Moxi multi-room solution — a Moxi HD
DVR plus a Moxi Mate for $49.95/month for 20 months.
The company also said
that the Moxi HD DVR will be compatible with an add-on LaCie 4 Quadar 6TB hard
drive for extra storage. The storage device will record 12 times the HD
programming previously available, for up to 1,000 hours of HD recording.
The Moxi system
now supports connections of external e-SATA hard drives that are PVR capable,
the company said.
Digeo also said
the Moxi HD DVR is now compatible with switched-digital-video cable services
with the addition of a special adapter that will be available through cable
providers in select markets.
The capability is
part of a software update that is available at no additional cost for existing
and new Moxi HD DVRs this week.
The update will
also enhance the Moxi onscreen guide with a grid guide offering the option to
view upcoming programming by presenting multiple channels and timeslots
simultaneously.
In addition, the
set-top box now supports addition media files supporting content from digital
music collections, digital cameras, HD camcorders and popular Internet Media
formats.
