It looks like the big "clueless" consumer technology companies weren't the only ones who couldn't make the digital media receiver market work. Pioneer Prismiq, which PC Mag editor Bill Howard considered to have one of the best such products, is discontinuing all of its products, including the media player that won it Best of CES accolades in 2003. I'd always found its interface to be a bit raw and geeky, but such products were really ahead of their time and their functionality wasn't enticing enough to drive sales of standalone devices.
Furthermore, while the Prismiq media player may have been capable, many products in the category had simply abysmal interfaces, bringing down the whole category. The work going on now with DLNA should prove more useful to consumers in traditional consumer electronics categories.