Unfortunately for them, it’s a terrible, nonsensical idea<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\nSome technologies make<\/span> so much sense that they just won\u2019t disappear. T9 \u2014 the old text input from our trusty Nokia phones from the 1990s \u2014 is one of those throwbacks. Direction 9<\/a> is a startup that is eager to introduce it to your television, so you can use the directional pad on your remote to enter text. They showed it off at CES<\/a>, and\u2026 I\u2019d be extremely surprised if it ever makes much headway.<\/p>\n\u201cEntering text on your phone is hard. You have to look at your phone, two feet away, and then look at your television, 10 feet away. You have to focus up and down, and you can\u2019t do blind typing,\u201d explains Leon Chang, founder at Direction 9.<\/p>\n
The company has built a prototype and added it to an Android set-top box. His vision for the company is to license the technology to \u201cRoku or Netflix, or Apple or Samsung, think a company like that. Any kind of TV streaming company.\u201d<\/p>\n
I originally took a photo of the booth to share it with the rest of the TechCrunch CES team, with the caption \u201cLOL, looks like T9 is making a comeback,\u201d but I felt bad; surely, there had to be something I was missing? Sadly, the founder wasn\u2019t able to make a real case for why their innovation ought to exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trend is to bring the people back to their family room. And [our technology] is easy to search or to input. There is no other solution: If you have to search for a movie or a TV show, or if you have to enter a password, this is the best solution. Nobody else could offer anything quicker, smarter, easier,\u201d Chang says confidently. \u201cWe provide them with all the API and source code for the UI and machine code.\u201d<\/p>\n
Except people\u00a0do<\/em> offer solutions that are easier. Anyone who has tried to set up Netflix recently has realized that most screens use a \u201clog in on your laptop and enter a code to log in on your TV\u201d type solution, a QR code or another way to quickly log in on your device. On Apple devices, you can use the keyboard on your phone to enter passwords and logins, and on almost every modern set-top box, voice is an elegant solution for searching for the tv shows you want.<\/p>\nOn top of all of that, any half-competent engineer could implement a version of T9 for a set-top box in an afternoon. It\u2019s not new technology, nor is it rocket science. I\u2019d be supremely surprised if Apple or Samsung came knocking to license this technology \u2014 especially at the price the company is hoping to charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur business model depends on who the company is, but we plan to charge $3 or $1 or $0.50 for every remote they ship,\u201d Chang says. In a world where you can buy a Roku Express for under $40, I doubt it costs manufacturers more than $5 or so to produce a remote control at scale. It seems unlikely that they\u2019d be willing to add 20-50% to its cost just to add a new text input as a feature.<\/p>\n
Look, I don\u2019t want to be a jerk to the Direction 9 team, but after 80 or so pitch deck teardowns<\/a>, I\u2019ve grown a healthy amount of skepticism regarding the startups I meet \u2014 and this one simply doesn\u2019t hold water. Of course, I\u2019ve been known to be wrong before, but I\u2019d be very surprised if this company were able to find customers or investors.<\/p>\n
Some technologies make<\/span> so much sense that they just won\u2019t disappear. T9 \u2014 the old text input from our trusty Nokia phones from the 1990s \u2014 is one of those throwbacks. Direction 9<\/a> is a startup that is eager to introduce it to your television, so you can use the directional pad on your remote to enter text. They showed it off at CES<\/a>, and\u2026 I\u2019d be extremely surprised if it ever makes much headway.<\/p>\n \u201cEntering text on your phone is hard. You have to look at your phone, two feet away, and then look at your television, 10 feet away. You have to focus up and down, and you can\u2019t do blind typing,\u201d explains Leon Chang, founder at Direction 9.<\/p>\n The company has built a prototype and added it to an Android set-top box. His vision for the company is to license the technology to \u201cRoku or Netflix, or Apple or Samsung, think a company like that. Any kind of TV streaming company.\u201d<\/p>\n I originally took a photo of the booth to share it with the rest of the TechCrunch CES team, with the caption \u201cLOL, looks like T9 is making a comeback,\u201d but I felt bad; surely, there had to be something I was missing? Sadly, the founder wasn\u2019t able to make a real case for why their innovation ought to exist.<\/p>\n \u201cThe trend is to bring the people back to their family room. And [our technology] is easy to search or to input. There is no other solution: If you have to search for a movie or a TV show, or if you have to enter a password, this is the best solution. Nobody else could offer anything quicker, smarter, easier,\u201d Chang says confidently. \u201cWe provide them with all the API and source code for the UI and machine code.\u201d<\/p>\n Except people\u00a0do<\/em> offer solutions that are easier. Anyone who has tried to set up Netflix recently has realized that most screens use a \u201clog in on your laptop and enter a code to log in on your TV\u201d type solution, a QR code or another way to quickly log in on your device. On Apple devices, you can use the keyboard on your phone to enter passwords and logins, and on almost every modern set-top box, voice is an elegant solution for searching for the tv shows you want.<\/p>\n On top of all of that, any half-competent engineer could implement a version of T9 for a set-top box in an afternoon. It\u2019s not new technology, nor is it rocket science. I\u2019d be supremely surprised if Apple or Samsung came knocking to license this technology \u2014 especially at the price the company is hoping to charge.<\/p>\n \u201cOur business model depends on who the company is, but we plan to charge $3 or $1 or $0.50 for every remote they ship,\u201d Chang says. In a world where you can buy a Roku Express for under $40, I doubt it costs manufacturers more than $5 or so to produce a remote control at scale. It seems unlikely that they\u2019d be willing to add 20-50% to its cost just to add a new text input as a feature.<\/p>\n Look, I don\u2019t want to be a jerk to the Direction 9 team, but after 80 or so pitch deck teardowns<\/a>, I\u2019ve grown a healthy amount of skepticism regarding the startups I meet \u2014 and this one simply doesn\u2019t hold water. Of course, I\u2019ve been known to be wrong before, but I\u2019d be very surprised if this company were able to find customers or investors.<\/p>\n
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