Set-top boxes may not have the coolness factor of MP3 players or digital televisions. But growth is steady, and key developments like MPEG-4 and IPTV make this a particularly important period in the market.

By the end of the year, manufacturers will launch dual-format players and holdout studios will announce support for both standards.

That's the most obscure place you could have it. Most players won't go. I think he set up to discourage as many people as possible from going.

[It sounds spiffy, but there is reason to be skeptical. Set-top boxes and other appliances designed to ease the use of the Web haven't taken off, despite grand promises.] It's an innovative idea, ... These are the same users that won't even download new software on their browsers.

Today convenience is the success factor of just about every type of product and service that is showing steady growth.

With the market for Portable Media Player (PMP) semiconductors essentially doubling to $6.4 billion in 2009, the stakes in the portable video-processing market are high.