I had an excellent opportunity to write a Simple MRD for the next Generation Streaming Device/Player. I wrote this MRD for building a next generation Roku Device. I decided to add the contents of this MRD document to my blog.
Next Generation Streaming Media Hardware
Market Requirements Document
Objective:
Develop the next generation (NGN Roku Device) Viable and Reliable ‘Home Media Platform’ to give consumers exceedingly better and seamless user experience and to allow consumers to play movies and shows across all digital media devices. This will allow the target customer to deeply immerse in the TV Experience.
Target Market and Current State
· Describe the target customer
Our target consumer is someone who is passionate about home entertainment. He is very vocal about what he likes and knows, and he [in turn] wants to spread that [knowledge] to his family, friends and peers. He may OR may not know too much about technology and is willing to buy new devices that provide a great return of investment with exceptional value.
List up to three influential market and technology trends
1. Trend 1 : Distribute Content across all Digital Media Devices at Home
In the near future, digital homes will contain one or more intelligent platforms, such as an advanced set-top box or network attached storage (NAS) server device. These intelligent platforms will manage and distribute digital content to rendering devices such as TVs and wireless monitors from devices like digital cameras, camcorders and multimedia mobile phones. The consumer experience will be further enhanced because many multimedia devices can also manage and distribute content to other devices.
- Easily acquire, store and access digital music from almost anywhere in the home
- Effortlessly manage, view, print and share digital photos
- Carry favorite content anywhere to enjoy while on the road
- Enjoy distributed, multi-user content recording and playback
2. Trend 2 : All in One Integrated Consoles for Gaming, Media Streaming, place-shifting and Surfing
Manufacturers of Video Games Consoles are planning on providing an integrated Game Consoles with ability to stream movies as well. The new ‘All in One’ Game Consoles OR Streaming Set-top boxes will also provide ability to stream movies, play games and ability to place-shift OR sling. One more increasing trend in the market for any new digital media device is to provide an ability to do web surfing in addition to regular media player functionality. This feature can be provided in a Stand-alone Media Player OR Integrated Game Console.
End Users are willing to spend their entertainment budget to Integrated Devices, which provide ability to play Games as well as Stream Movies using the next generation Intelligent Networks.
3. Trend 3 : Better Integration to make Media Streaming work on Mobile Phones and PCs
The youngsters today belong to belong to a generation that has never known a world without ubiquitous handheld Devices, Smart Phones and Networked technology. These consumers are beginning to use Mobile Devices for Entertainment especially when they travel. All Business travellers today have started using Mobile Phones to catch up with TV Shows and Movies.
This increasing trend calls for better integration with Mobile Phones and related devices by working with Partners like Sling box. Better Integration is required for Mobile Phones running Android and Windows Mobile 7 Phones. Better integration with all PC kind of devices like Windows 7 Desktops/Laptops/Netbooks & Android Netbooks is also an increasing trend as seen in the market.
Growth Opportunities
1. Opportunity 1
Based on the above trend, provide Support for DLNA on next generation Roku Media Player. Allow streaming support from PCs & Android Desktop/Netbook. Better integration with Mobile Devices is also a recommendation for next generation media player.
In addition to this feature support, there are opportunities for Roku in Service Provider space viz. Telco distribution and customization. By partnering with Telco and Cable Companies, Roku can bundle the media streaming service with DSL services.
2. Opportunity 2
Work with Game Console Manufacturers and TV Manufacturers to work on integrated solutions for both streaming and games.
Allow Web Surfing on Roku Devices in addition to Media Streaming.
3. Opportunity 3
Optimizing Shipping Costs in addition to providing a better experience on Roku Websites. Growth opportunity can also be enhanced through collaborated marketing efforts, better website design, which helps in better evangelism of Roku Solutions.
Competition
1. Competitor 1 : Apple Digital Media Receiver - 2nd Generation Device
Apple TV allows consumers to use an HDTV set to view photos, play music and watch video that originates from limited Internet services or a local network. The first generation (white) had iTunes, Flickr, Mobileme/.Mac, and You-tube. The second generation added Netflix. Both models supported downloading/streaming podcasts.
Notable features include:
a. Users can access the iTunes Store directly through Apple TV to rent movies and TV shows and stream audio and video podcasts. While the first iteration of the Apple TV could purchase content, the second generation lacks a hard drive, and thus cannot store purchased content. Instead, users would need to buy content on a computer and stream it to the Apple TV. § Apple TV can display photos from Flickr and MobileMe in a slide show, with automatic cross-dissolve transitions. - Netflix streaming integration was added in the September 2010 revision.
- YouTube videos can be viewed directly on the Apple TV.
- Rotten Tomatoes review syndication and ratings offered per title available for rent. Rotten Tomatoes account holders cannot login, so is not needed nor required, as no personalized options are available.
Apple TV does not support user-defined RSS audio, video and text feeds. Parental controls allow consumers to limit access to Internet media service content. Internet media is split into four categories: "Internet Photos", "YouTube", "Podcasts", and "Purchase and Rental". Each of the categories is configured by a parental control of "Show", "Hide" or "Ask" to prompt for a 4-digit preset code. In addition, movies, TV shows, music and podcasts can be restricted by rating.
Although Apple TV has a "Closed Captioning" setting, subtitles are not available for most iTunes content. Apple TV’s main selling point today is its well-designed sleek hardware, responsive interface (consistent across all Apple Services), streaming ability from Computers and airplay experience (at minimum, play audio from Mac via airtunes). This is in addition to Apple’s perception of being a Cool Device Company. All their devices are cool because of successful marketing strategies and perception of consumers.
2. Competitor 2 : Western Digital Live Plus HD Media Player
The Western Digital TV Live Plus HD Media Box/player looks like a pretty solid entry, it enables users to stream personalized Internet content from YouTube, Flickr, Pandora, Live365, as well as the Media-Fly network which includes daily podcasts from CNN, NBC, MTV, ESPN and other online content providers.
The $150 box is $50 more than Roku, but offers additional features.
Notable features on WD Live TV Plus are as follows:
- Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation;
- Wireless ready to support wireless network connection (USB wireless adapter sold separately);
- Supports multiple file formats with no need to transcode;
- Plays videos, music and photos from the Internet with Pandorao, Live365 and the MediaFly network including CNN, NBC, MTV, ESPN and other online content providers;
- Ethernet port for wired or WiFi connection to any PC or drive on a home network;
- Plays content from USB drives, digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices;
- Unlimited media collection, via add-on USB drives;
- Two USB ports, but media is displayed in a single list and sorted by media type;
- Transfer files by copying, moving or deleting files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus;
- Advanced navigation options including thumbnail and list views, media library and search;
- Photo viewing to create custom slide shows, zoom and pan and search;
- Movie viewing with fast-forward, rewind, pause, zoom and pan, view subtitles, and search;
- Music playback with fast-forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat and search;
- HDMI 1.3 port, composite video and component video output4 for the highest quality HDTV or home theater.
WD TV’s main selling point is that it aims to play just about any media, seamless playback using USB drives and Windows 7 PC compatible.
3. Competitor 3 : Boxee Box
The Boxee Box built by Boxee.TV is a media player that allows 1080p HD videos to be streamed to a TV from the Web or a local network. It can also run a browser on the TV, including Flash content.
Notable Boxee Features
- Play videos, songs, or pictures from your computer or home network
- Plays any non-DRM video, music, and photos and media from anywhere on the Internet
- Thousands of shows available for free from your favorite networks, ready to watch at any time
- Free movies available from the web & new releases in stunning HD from premium movie services
Boxee's main selling point is that it aims to pull in as much content from as many places as possible while presenting it all in a visually appealing interface. It actually does quite a nice job. It's free. The amount of content available via Boxee is about as lengthy as it gets, the box is capable of pushing out 1080p video, and the remote control will make searching for things easy.
Goals & Strategy
Goal is to sell a Roku box in every room in the American Household.
Continue with the same strategy that had been adopted by Roku before. Keep it Simple, Responsive and Economical.
Solution Requirements
Based on the current investigation, here are functional requirements for next generation (NGN) Roku Device.
· Provide DLNA support, USB support
· Provide streaming capability from all digital media devices including USBs. Good Integration with Mobile Devices, PCs(all form factors) and Android Laptops/Netbooks
· Partnership with Telco’s and Triple-Play (Combo of phone+cable+internet services) Service Providers
· More responsive interface and easy installation capabilities
· More Content Partnership with Content Distributors/Owners
· Upgrade the SDK (open up the box & beat the Apple closed box approach)
· License third parties to build Streaming Devices
Forecast/Cost
Estimate the target price for Roku NGN Device in 2011 : $99
Estimate the volume of sales for the Roku NGN Solutions in 2011: 75000 (only for the next generation devices)
Total Revenues expected on Roku NGN Devices in 2011: 7.5 Million Dollars
