Elgato Introduces EyeTV Wonder – The Easiest Way to Watch TV on the Mac

By NEWS RELEASE | January 11th, 2005 (0) Comments

Elgato Systems and ATI Technologies Inc. today unveiled the jointly developed EyeTV Wonder USB 2.0 analog TV tuner for the Mac. EyeTV Wonder combines proven ATI TV tuner technology with the award-winning EyeTV software and deliver an unparalleled TV experience. With Elgato’s EyeTV software, Macintosh computers handle uncompressed video at 240 MBit/sec with ease, showing off the tremendous power of Mac OS X and OpenGL. EyeTV Wonder seamlessly integrates with Mac OS X and is everything you have come to expect on the Mac – easy to install, set up and use. EyeTV software is available only on the Mac and features include on-demand recording as well as remote programming via the included electronic program guide, TitanTV.

EyeTV Wonder will begin shipping at the end of January 2005 with a suggested retail price of $149.00 (starting at 149,00 EURO and 104,00 GPD).

ATI TV Wonder has been a great success since its introduction to the Windows market. This new partnership between ATI and Elgato makes the highly successful ATI TV Wonder available to the Macintosh market. EyeTV Wonder has a built-in 125-channel analog TV tuner transferring raw, uncompressed video directly to your Mac, delivering superior quality TV. EyeTV Wonder seamlessly connects to external devices like camcorders, VCRs and gaming consoles such as Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox or Nintendo Game Cube.

“With this strategic partnership, ATI and Elgato close a product gap for Mac enthusiasts by offering a ground-breaking well-priced solution for watching TV in pristine quality,” said Freddie Geier, CEO, Elgato Systems. “We are confident that EyeTV Wonder will be a big success in the global Macintosh market”.

“The popularity of Mac OS X and the diverse nature of the Mac development community is driving astonishing innovation,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “We’re delighted to see Elgato and ATI harness the powerful core image processing capabilities of Mac OS X to deliver a great TV viewing and recording solution.”

“By joining forces with leading software developer Elgato, ATI was able to bring digital media silicon expertise to bear in a total solution that enables Mac users to watch and record very high-quality analog TV,” said Paul Lypaczewski, Vice President & General Manager, Multimedia Business Unit, ATI Technologies Inc. “ATI recognizes that the newest Mac computers are great platforms for the enjoyment of video, including videogames and TV.”

EyeTV Wonder will ship in North America, Europe and later this year in Asia-Pacific including Japan.

EyeTV Wonder – The easiest way to watch TV on the Mac
With EyeTV Wonder, enjoy these feature-rich possibilities:

• Watch pristine, high-quality uncompressed TV (analog)
• High-speed USB 2.0 data transfer
• 125 channel analog TV tuner
• On-demand and scheduled TV recording to save your favorite movie or show onto the Mac’s hard drive. While recording it is possible to pause live TV, fast forward or jump backwards. Video and audio are compressed in real-time by the EyeTV Software and stored in standard formats such as DVD-compliant MPEG-2.
• Schedule and record TV programs at any time. Remote programming and recording is made possible with EyeTV Wonder and the TitanTV Electronic Program Guide (EPG). Use keyword searches to find exactly what you are looking for, and program EyeTV Wonder to record it. Online access lets you program EyeTV Wonder from anywhere via the Internet.*
• EyeTV Wonder provides S-Video and Composite Video input to capture content – still images and video – from any analog source such as a camcorder, VCR or game consoles like Sony PS2, Microsoft Xbox or Nintendo GameCube.
• The built-in editor lets users edit recorded television to save only the parts you want to see again, and leave unwanted content behind. You can save your collection of favorite shows to DVD or VideoCD and play them anywhere on most standard DVD players.**
• In addition to the high-quality video, EyeTV Wonder provides digital stereo audio.

System Requirements:

A Macintosh computer with PowerPC® G5 processor or G4 processor with built-in USB 2.0 port. Mac OS X 10.3 or higher and 256MB of RAM (512MB recommended). Minimum 20MB free hard disk space; approximately 2GB of hard disk space per hour of recorded TV; QuickTime 6.4; a CD/DVD recorder and Toast 6 Titanium software (not included) are required to create DVDs, SVCDs or VideoCDs (optional). An Internet connection is required to use the optional Electronic Program Guide (EPG) from TitanTV (for Europe the optional EPG from tvtv).

About ATI:

ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative 3D graphics and digital media silicon solutions. An industry pioneer since 1985, ATI is the world’s foremost visual processor unit (VPU) provider and is dedicated to deliver leading-edge performance solutions for the full range of PC and Mac desktop and notebook platforms, workstation, set-top and digital television, game console and handheld markets. With 2003 revenues in excess of US $1.3 billion, ATI has more than 2,200 employees in the Americas, Europe and Asia. ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ATY).

About Elgato Systems

Elgato Systems (www.elgato.com) creates award-winning hardware and software products, combining the benefits of the Macintosh computer with popular consumer electronics devices such as the TV to create the ultimate digital home. With their premiere product, EyeTV, Elgato is a worldwide leader in digital video recording for the Macintosh. Founded in 1992 by Dr. Markus Fest, the inventor of Toast CD recording software, and led by CEO Freddie Geier, Elgato is a privately held company with its headquarters in Munich, Germany and a US subsidiary in San Francisco, California.

Elgatos award-winning EyeTV product series includes EyeTV USB, EyeTV 200 (FireWire), EyeTV 300 (DVB-S), EyeTV 310 (DVB-S with CI), EyeTV 400 (DVB-T), EyeTV 410 (DVB-T with CI), EyeTV 500 (ATSC) and EyeTV 610 (DVB-C).

Follow @eHomeUpgrade