Monsoon Multimedia, a provider of video convergence products, has announced the availability for Vulkano and Vulkano Pro from select retail and distribution partners and Vulkano Deluxe and Vulkano Deluxe Pro direct from Monsoon at http://www.myvukano.com .
Vulkano integrates multiple “disruptive technologies” — the DVR, web video, place shifting, Universal Plug and Play streaming and Mobile Video Recording — while eliminating the need for multiple boxes, according to Monsoon Chief Technical Officer Steve Stone. Vulkano, a consumer device with an integrated hardware and software platform that has a video processor and local storage, is set to replace multiple boxes such as TiVo, Slingbox and Roku, he opines. It’s available now at prices ranging from $259 to $379, depending on storage capacity.
When connected to a set-top box and a TV, Vulkano enables a video experience across iPhones, iPads, Androids, PCs, the living room TV and, soon, on Macs and BlackBerry smartphones. Vulkano allows users to experience their TV channels, videos and photos on whichever screen they want, when they want it.
Consumers can now watch and control any home TV channel through a wired or Wi-Fi (and soon on 3G) connection from anywhere by installing a Vulkano and downloading a free software application on to their device of choice or from the respective app store. They can watch and control live TV and schedule a recording through an included EPG (electronic program guide), transfer, watch and control these recordings at any time on their TV, computers, smartphones or iPad type devices.
Vulkano lets users watch YouTube on their big screen TV and by leveraging UPnP (Universal Plug n Play) they can stream video and photos from their smartphones, computers and cameras wirelessly on to their living room TV without having to use cables. In the near future, Vulkano will offer free service upgrades such as Google TV, Yahoo! Widgets, Netflix, Hulu and others.
Both Vulkano Deluxe and Vulkano Deluxe Pro are available. Vulkano Deluxe comes with 16GB of SD storage costing US$279 and Vulkano Deluxe Pro comes with an 1TB e-SATA hard disk and costs $379. Select retailers such as Amazon re shipping Vulkano which comes with 8GB SD storage and costs $259 and the Vulkano Pro at $349 which includes a 500GB e-SATA hard disk. Monsoon will release its 3G version for the recently introduced iPhone 4 later this month.