The competitive tide is rising, seemingly by the minute, in the IP video/next-generation TV market. Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Hulu, Boxee, Roku and Sony are just a few of the myriad brands competing to “cut the cord” on cable’s ironclad reign over this multibillion-dollar industry. Potential “killer apps” range from OTT set-top boxes to IP-configured gaming consoles to streaming video services to “connected TVs.” It’s enough to confuse even the savviest channel changer.

Monsoon Multimedia wants to simplify the user experience with Vulkano, a set-top box that unites a variety of functions within a single, sleek set-top box. Vulkano comes from the makers of Hava, a placeshifting platform that competed directly with Slingbox. But Vulkano aspires to be far more than a place shifter — it wants to be Slingbox, TiVo and Roku, all in one. 

Colin Stiles, Monsoon’s executive VP of sales and marketing, told BIA/Kelsey that the continued convergence of in-home communication (think “triple play bundling”) inspired Monsoon to craft a product with five key feature sets.

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