An interesting Linux-based wireless home appliance targeting international travelers is set to go on sale today in France. According to Nexedi, its “TVBrick Home Server” allows travelers to watch home TV channels when they are abroad. The device, which is based on the OpenBrick platform (pictured below) connects to a broadband Internet connection in the home, and… allows the traveler to watch home TV channels remotely using a laptop or PC provided broadband Internet access is available at the remote location. The remote PC thus receives streaming audio and video from the TVBrick Home Server. For example, someone from Japan with a TVBrick Home Server installed and operating at home could watch Japanese TV programs while traveling in France.

Nexedi CEO Jean-Paul Smets said “the use of TVBrick appliances for private use within the same family is compatible with Copyright Law in Europe and in Japan. This is why Nexedi is selling TVBrick to families only, mainly Japanese. Also, in order to help our customers not to infringe on copyright, we implemented a password system to restrict access to members of the same family.”

In a FAQ on its website, Nexedi notes that the sound quality is decent, but the image is not very good at this time, due to technology limitations. “This is due to the fact that international Internet connectivity is not yet fast and stable enough to transmit high bandwidth streams,” the FAQ says. “TVBrick is now tuned to provide a sub-VHS quality image at 9 frames per second. Users who really miss home TV or need to keep in touch with their country will love TVBrick. Other users will probably feel that the image quality is not good enough (yet). This is expected to change within 2 years.”

Why Japan? “At least 256 kbps uplink are required to use TVBrick. Only Japan and Korea offer nowadays fast enough uplink connectivity at a decent price,” the FAQ explains, and adds that “Nexedi is interested however in testing TVBrick in countries with slower network infrastructure provided that customers acknowledge the risks posed by such an infrastructure.”

Additionally, the FAQ warns that “it is not completely certain that the use of TVBrick is legal in countries of Common Law such as the USA or UK where the notion of fair use is quite versatile from one juridiction to another.”

Nexedi said its TVBrick Home Server can be ordered online at www.tvbrick.com and will be available beginning July 7, 2003 at a price of 950 EUR.

---

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.