By Kurt Scherf, Contributor

Although a great deal of web and apps capabilities are being directly embedded into televisions and other consumer electronics, there were several companies that demonstrated stand-alone set-top boxes with the ability to not only connect to well-known online content sources such as Netflix or Hulu Plus, but also over-the-air (OTA) and even cable television programming. Among the companies showing such trends were Boxee, NETGEAR, and Roku. Each set-top box showcased its unique features as CES:

• The Boxee TV product incorporates “cloud DVR” capability to record over-the-air programming and have it viewed on any Internet-connected device;
• The NETGEAR NeoTV Streaming® Players incorporate Sling Media’s SlingPlayer® technology to push content from the box to other Internet-connected devices; and
• Roku announced that Time Warner Cable bring 300 channels of its programming to these set-top boxes so that existing subscribers could watch at no additional cost. 

Kurt Scherf, Contributor, has attended 13 out of the last 14 Consumer Electronics Shows in Las Vegas and tracked the news and developments remotely this year. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, the 2013 CES was the largest in terms of physical space (1.92 million square feet), with attendance of more than 150,000, with 35,000 people from 170 countries outside the U.S. While plenty of column space was dedicated to the companies that weren’t in attendance in an official capacity (Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Research In Motion, to name a few), there is always enough excitement in the new year about consumer electronics developments to cover.