One site that is particularly helpful for Linux PVR users is the PVR Hardware Database, which is a community-driven WIKI that includes a comprehensive hardware/software configuration database. It’s very useful for people trying to decide which hardware to buy to build a MythTV or Freevo box. Much of the success in building a functional Linux DVR is finding someone else who has done it before and has posted it up on a web page, and PVR Hardware Database is a good place to start. MORE »

Popularity: 3% [?]

Thinking of ditching you tired PC for a new concept-style portable PC? Engadget has got some juicy info on Eurocom’s upcoming L 570W all-in-one portable Windows Media Center PC showcased at WinHEC. The computer is basically an oversized laptop sporting a large 17-inch widescreen display, six built-in speakers, integrated webcam, fold-down keyboard with a mouse touch pad, AMD 64-Bit processor, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 300GB hard drive, 8x dual-layer DVD burner, and Wi-Fi (Whew). I’m not sure what to make of it, but I have a hunch that most consumers would probably prefer a true laptop for portability over this beast. With that said, the L 570W would make a nice desktop replacement.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Interesting news Engadget is reporting from WinHEC… it turns out that Thomson quietly bought up Gyration recently and has produced a new motion-sensing gyroscopic Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) remote with both IR and RF transmitters, thus making it the ideal multipurpose MCE universal remote. No word on pricing or when it will be available, but it will definitely be a popular product once it comes out.

Popularity: 3% [?]

One of TivoBlog.com’s bloggers laments the need to delete his favorite shows because he’s running out of space and asks for a way out? From the comments to the post, most suggest hacking the Tivo in one fashion or another since there is no standard way of backing up shows unless you have a model with DVD Recording capablity (or purchase Sonic’s MyDVD which can burn DVD’s of Tivo2Go files). There should be an easier way. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

Michael Gartenberg thinks Rhapsody’s strategy of giving away 25 tracks a month for use on Janus enabled portable music players is “brilliant” (Correction added see below). Here are the details straight from Real Networks: “The new Rhapsody lets anyone listen to and legally share songs, of their choosing, every month. Consumers simply download the Rhapsody jukebox software from www.rhapsody.com. Once downloaded, they can listen to 25 full tracks from Rhapsody’s library of over one million songs each month, and enjoy unlimited access to the jukebox’s other features at no additional cost.” MORE »

Popularity: 3% [?]

Direct from HP: “The new HP z555 and z557 High-definition Digital Entertainment Center series include three tuners: One ATSC OTA high-definition TV tuner for the ability to pause, play and record HD over-the-air programming and two NTSC tuners for recording two standard definition shows simultaneously. The z555 model comes with a 250 GB 7,200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, and the z557 model comes with two 300 GB hard drives, one being a personal media drive to deliver over half a terabyte of combined storage. MORE »

Popularity: 4% [?]

Both The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg and The New York Times’ David Pogue give Tiger rave reviews, even with the expected minor bits that require a future update. Spotlight and Dashboard earn the greatest attention as you might expect as does the new enhanced iChat AV which includes up to 10 party audio and 3 way video conferencing. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

Parks Associates announced today that Fall Focus: Making Media Meaningful, an executive conference focusing on media personalization and consumer habits, will take place November 9-11, 2005, at the Fairmont San Jose in Calif. Hosted annually by Parks Associates, Fall Focus will examine tools, technologies, and services aimed at making personal and commercial multimedia content more accessible and functional for end users. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

It looks like Longhorn is taking a bit of a beating lately. First Paul Thurrott and now Chris Pirillo also has less than flattering words for the new operating system as well. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

For those unfamiliar with Linux, Debian is considered the most stable and popular of the non-commercial Linux distributions (aka operating system). In fact, commercial vendors like IBM, Linspire, Xandros, and others use Debian as their core code which they build off of. But here’s the rub, Debian has had a philosophy of providing releases “when it’s ready,” something that if you’re a commercial vendor is nightmare if you want to come out with new products (FYI – if you use Debian, you can always change your apt.conf file setting from “stable” to “testing” and run Debian’s next stable release as it’s being tested – currently named “Sarge”). However, Debian’s new Project Leader, Branden Robinson, told Internetnews.com that “It is something I’m willing to work hard to help us achieve.” MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]