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"Call us crazy, but when a company we've never heard of with no website issues a press release for an upcoming product that promises to \"turn your TV into VOIP unit, Video Phone, Video email, Video Security system, Bluetooth, VOD, and a Personal broadcasting unit,\" we tend to get just a little bit skeptical (and spelling the device's name three different ways doesn't help). The firm we're referring to is IZZ Media Inc., a division of the ODWTV Network (proud owners of such \"internet communities\" as Infowebmercial, InfoWebLocal, and ODWTV -- go ahead, check out the sites!), which is preparing to launch the do-it-all IZZ Box (or iZZ Box, or IZZ BOX) sometime during the first quarter of next year. Based on the nascent RCXML markup language, IZZ (no relation to this little guy) supposedly hooks up to any set top box, and magically endows your television with nearly every feature you could ever imagine -- amazingly, it even converts it into \"a Bluetooth.\" The main draw here seems to be its Slingbox-like ability to place-shift your multimedia content, but with all the nauseating buzzwords bandied about (convergence, integration, sustainability, standardization, etc, etc), it's almost impossible to separate the reality from the hype. Apparently IZZ was first previewed at the company's headquarters in Las Vegas this past August, and although it doesn't seem like there were any journalists on hand, the release assures us that it was indeed \"a hit.\" We've certainly got to admire a self-proclaimed \"new kind of consumer electronics company\" whose goal is to \"demystify convergence technologies and to create empowering experiences,\" but until we see their revolutionary product in action (even a picture would be a good start), we're filing this one in the vaporware cabinet right between FlipStart and Phantom.[Via PVRWire]"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/19/the-izz-box-slices-dices-and-may-bring-about-world-peace/>