Hillcrest Labs wants to make it easier for couch potatoes to surf the Internet on TV. So it came up with a Web browser called Kylo that can be used comfortably by a person sitting across the room.
Rockville (Md.)-based Hillcrest is among 63 startups unveiling their wares from Mar. 21-23 at DEMO Spring 2010 in Palm Desert, Calif. DEMO is a twice-a-year conference at which fledgling companies can build buzz and seek funding.
Hillcrest built Kylo to capitalize on growing demand for Internet services delivered via the TV. An estimated 10 million people watch Internet videos on such sites as Google’s YouTube via computers connected to TVs, according to Forrester Research. Other research suggests that consumers are increasingly willing to ditch cable or satellite TV service altogether in favor of Internet options.
Also part of Hillcrest’s lineup is a device called the Loop Pointer that sells for $99 and is designed to bridge the technological gap between remote controls that can’t master a browser and keyboard-mouse setups that don’t fit with a living room’s decor or ethos. “People learn to point before they can talk,” says Hillcrest Labs founder and CEO Dan Simpkins. “As people started using more on-demand video content from the Web on their TVs, we realized that the 50-button remote would not scale to the task.” Companies including Logitech and remote control maker Universal Electronics are working on their own devices, using Hillcrest’s technology, Simpkins says.
An additional company aiming to enshrine the Web in the living room is GlideTV, based in Pleasanton, Calif. GlideTV makes its own controller, a squarish device with upturned corners that houses a scrollpad similar to those found on notebook PCs. [See images.] The pad supports a “swipe” motion for flipping through content choices, similar to features found in Apple’s…