iiNet's BoBii: he ain't lite, he's my brother

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 28 February 2011 20:21

Your IT - Home IT

First there was the Belkin-based BoB, then BoB Lite (or BoB 1.5 if you will), but now a new BoB 2 as some have dubbed it, or BoBii as we like to call it, is the new big brother to the previous BoB brethren.

 

Just as well known supermarkets have had much success in bringing their own brands to market, so too is iiNet, the ISP that claims to be the new number ii.

Born, bred and then fed through the bosom of iiNet's iiLabs, and announced at iiNet's site (and at Media Connect's Kickstart Conference at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast), the new iiNet BoB as it is officially called is a way for iiNet to lower costs on its iiDevices, while bringing in new features that iiNet says are the result of over 3000 emails from existing BoB customers.

Although iiNet called its VoIP handset-free version of BoB the 'BoB Lite', the new BoB is getting the same name as the old BoB. Personally, we think BoBii is a much cleverer way to denote the true second-generation of the VoIP-bearing BoB, signalling the number 2 and making a play on iiNet's dual-i's.

However, we are but humble journalists and not product marketing specialists, although if iiNet does decide to rename the new BoB as BoBii, you read it here, well'¦ fiirst!

BoBii does what BoB did, but adds 'NBN compatibility', a sleeker VoIP cordless DECT handset with new colour screen and voicemail capability, support for two phone numbers from dual providers, CAT-iq for better quality audio and video streaming, a sleeker design for the main BoB unit, fetchtv compatibility and naturally, ADSL 2+ and 802.11n.

Playing up BoB for all it's worth, iiNet has a blog entry with an 'interview' with the new BoB 2, but given the fact that positronic brains are yet to be invented, BoBii clearly has a human helper in giving out answers.

One day, with the inevitable advance of technology, BoB really will be a talking robot able to connect you to the NBN, fetch a beer from the fridge (as opposed to simply fetching TV), iron your clothes, pump out a wireless signal, answer phone calls by voice and more.

But all of that is waaaaay off into the future.

For now, BoBii will be the new BoB, ready and on the JoB to connect you to iiNet's version of digital nirvana - from April.

No prices have been set, as yet. There's also no word on whether any future BoB 3 will be dubbed BoBiii, but we doubt it.

Until BoB's April launch date, BoBii will be bobbing along under the radar, but when BoBii's ready to truly launch, we're sure he'll burst out of iiNet's barn with a bang!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt attended the MediaConnect KickStart conference as a guest of MediaConnect.