Like so many products we cover these days, the new Veebeam ($100 – $130) attempts to facilitate the piping of web video and local media to our televisions. However, unlike Intel’s Wireless Display (WiDi) technology, Veebeam is mostly agnostic – in terms of both hardware and operating system.
The Veebeam solution consists of two components: a small USB stick that wirelessly transmits AV from a computer to a larger receiver/set-top that you connect (preferably over HDMI) to your television. The model I looked at handles digital audio and 1080p content. However, you’ll want to review hardware specs carefully… two Core 2 Duo laptops I tested on provided slightly different experiences. A 2.0Ghz model with 3GB of memory produced some dropped frames/stuttering when running Hulu.com Flash content fullscreen, while a 2.4Ghz model with 4GB of memory ran pretty darn smooth all things considered – as you can see in my video above. (The computers also house different graphics cards, but I don’t have that info handy at the moment.)
Setup and operation is mostly a straight forward affair… Load up the Windows or OS X software and the Veebeam service runs. Pop-in the USB stick that automagically links to the Veebeam receiver. Once everything’s up and running, inserting the USB stick triggers laptop audio and video to be intercepted and passed along to the Veebeam receiver in what’s referred to as screencasting mode. Audio is also kindly muted on the host machine. Additionally, Veebeam can natively pipe select video files (think rips or home movies) straight to the television without any chrome in the video play-to mode – leaving your laptop free for additional tasks. The Veebeam receiver houses the USB antenna when not in use, and inserting it puts Veebeam into standby.
Like WiDi and similar solutions of this nature, Veebeam is partially hobbled in not providing a remote control. Then again, their assumption is that your computer is the remote. And, given the capabilities of their wireless technology (WUSB), they expect us to keep a laptop in the same room. During screencasting I couldn’t simply force the video to stretch or match the television’s resolution, resulting in black bars – perhaps a minor annoyance and something that I imagine could be better handled through a software update. Also, be aware, the OS X streaming software isn’t quite as reliable as Veebeam’s Windows variants at the moment. So if you run a purely Mac household, I might suggest holding off on a purchase for the time being.
Click to enlarge: