SOOKBOX

Sookbox provides a universal framework to connect and control media on all devices. The goal of Sookbox is to empower users to enjoy their media on whatever device they choose, from the palm of their hand. At Sookbox, media access is organized by user, rather than by device or service. Devices should do what they are best at doing. Movies should be watched on a television, not a laptop. Music should be listened to through an amp and speakers, not computer speakers. And the remote control ... for everything should be a smartphone or tablet. The problem is that communication between these media outlets is difficult and onerous. Sookbox gives a cross-platform universal solution that goes beyond putting a smart app on a smart TV. Sookbox breaks from traditional thinking in two crucial ways: First is to put a cloud into homes, and the second is to serve content and controls separately. Sookbox provides a novel type of cloud service. The Sookbox uses stored or streamed content. It allows users to have their own physical server in their homes. This server, the Sookbox, allows a user to store content in their own "personal cloud." That is music, digital movies, and pictures on a single server. This idea is not unique, but it is powerfully packaged: media storage, distribution, and control - all centralized and layered in a single device. That gives you the power to use your iPhone to click “Goodfellas. Basement TV.” The core of the product line, the software of the cloud server, is a revolutionary type of web application development platform known as Harmony. The current paradigm is a world where content and controls are in the same place. For example, the YouTube video controls are right next to the video and the back button is across the browser. Sookbox transcends that paradigm. Televisions are best for video, speakers are best for sound, and handheld devices are best for control. Now that Sookbox divides the cloud by user, it makes sense to serve multiple, different sites from a single web app. A fundamental Sookbox feature is that it does not compete with other cloud services or try to debunk them. Instead, it gives them a platform and a vessel to reach their current users in a friendlier, more powerful way. Harmony unleashes applications such as Pandora, Netflix and YouTube across a user’s home. For example, someone might want to develop a “Pandora Alarm Clock” app. The API allows developers to provide a single, connective user experience synchronized across multiple types of devices. On the developers' side, the Harmony libraries and structure allow them to serve independently content to content device(s) and controls to controlling device(s). By facilitating this two-way communication, Sookbox allows the navigation of media, the play/pause, volume, etc. to be displayed graphically on the handheld device and directly control the music coming out of the speakers. Sookbox can be viewed as a personal cloud. Personal meaning the user owns it personally, but also it is personalized. The cloud should be divided by user, not by device or by service. Sookbox opens a new layer between the other cloud services and the user that makes the experience personal and meaningful.