Sure there are plenty of people out there who have a large collection of ripped DVD movies stored on their computers, but how many of those are leveraging a movie manager like Multiplex that lets them search their library, attaches movie metadata, provides high-resolution cover art, and wraps it in a mac-inspired management interface? I’d say probably not many – and that’s a shame. Because for $35 ($25 if you buy v1.0 now) you can get the features mentioned above, plus you can look forward to getting full-screen, stadium, cover-flow, and grid views, as well as, LAN based movie streaming functionality compatible with Boxee, PS3, and other UPnP devices / platforms in coming point release updates (all of which are free upgrades). [via]

Aside: Need help with DVD ripping on the Mac? Macworld has put together an excellent resource guide you can check out here.

Sorry folks. This product will only be launching in Japan on March 6, 2009. However, you never know when it might be coming stateside. In the meantime, let me tell you a little bit about this gem. According to PC Watch, two versions of the HS340 series Aspire easyStore Windows Home Server will be available; the HS340-S1 will come equipped with 1TB of storage while the HS340-S2 will offer 3TBs. Product highlights include: USB transfer copy, DLNA / UPnP support, Gigabit Ethernet, 1.6Ghz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of memory. Honestly, I just like the design. But the fact that it’s engineered to be energy-efficient is a big plus for an always-on device. MSRP is around $600 and $900 for the 1TB and 3TB models. [via]

Now this is just plain cool! Attached is a video of VMware’s forthcoming MVP Hypervisor visualization app that’s capable of managing various operating systems on a single portable device. As you can see here, VMware MVP has no problem running Windows CE and Android on top of Nokia’s Tablet Linux OS. I don’t know about you guys, but the idea of having – at least in this example – a three in one portable device that can multi task in this manner is very compelling. Unfortunately, it looks like VMware MVP will be targeted to smartphone manufactures initially. I say: Roll it out to the mass consumer market ASAP. Now this gets me thinking… imagine if you could add this app to your iPhone or Windows Mobile smartphone and turn it into an Android handset or Ubuntu MID? [via / via / via]

In case you’ve ever been curious if it was possible to sync two Windows Home Server boxes together, the answer is YES. Home Server Hacks has posted a guide on using a freeware tool called SyncToy 2.0 by Microsoft that handles this very duty. Why would you want to do this? Two reasons mainly: 1) you want to migrate your stored files to a new Windows Home Server; 2) you’d like to have added protection of your precious files and want to keep an active copy available on a WHS machine in another room of the house (or perhaps the second WHS provides content to separate group of users in a multi-person household). Well, whatever your reason, the process is simple enough to accomplish and may be worth your time to set up.

Ben Drawbaugh at Engadget HD has posted an excellent tutorial that shows how one can setup an automated system that will download your favorite TV shows via BitTorrent and then transcode the videos to Windows Media Extender compatible MPEG-2. What’s more, the tools he points people to will also apply relevant metadata to the recordings like original air date, description, and genre. FYI: while the process sounds like a compelling way to get free — though illegally obtained — content, you will need a PC with some serious processing power and free cycles to handle these duties. In fact, this task would be perfect for a Windows Home Server box. I wonder if such an add-on is available?

What was once used to un-DRM songs purchased through iTunes, doubleTwist has now evolved into something a little more interesting and useful. The latest iteration (as you can see demo’d in the video above) is capable of identifying attached portable devices, detecting stored media, transferring PC audio / video / photos to one’s device (with one-the-fly format conversion for device compatibility), media sharing with friends, and social network media upload tie-ins to services like Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube. As far as I can tell, doubleTwist is only available for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard (no Windows version at this time). Below is a list of supported devices capable of syncing with doubleTwist. [via] MORE »

Now another reason to consider picking up a VUDU box for consuming HD content. VUDU today announced that they will begin selling HD and HDX movies to own. The initial selection consists of 50 films from “top independent studios” with the promise of adding additional releases on the same day and date as the DVD release. Movies will be priced at $13.99 and $23.99 and can be stored on a user’s set-top box or in the company’s online vault, at no charge, to leave space available for future purchases and rentals. No doubt major Hollywood studios (who already are partnered with VUDU for rentals) will be keeping tabs on how well the new service works out. MORE »

Logitech is announcing that they’ve added a Napster add-on to their growing list of Squeezebox add-ons that allows Squeezebox Network Music Player owners to tap into their Napster account (unlimited, on-demand service $12.95/mo). With the Napster add-on, people can play their custom created music playlists, search/play songs from their favorite artists, listen to Napster radio stations, and discover new music from Napster’s 7 million song library. My question: How easy/difficult is it to navigate through the service with the limited controls this device has? MORE »

This morning I stumbled on a press release from Broadcom announcing a partnership with Chumby to extend Internet-connected TVs, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray disc players with Chumby powered Widgets via Broadcom’s system-on-a-chip solution. Then I jumped over to Chumby’s news release section to see what other developments have been going on and it turns out that Chumby also has arrangements with Samsung and Marvell (announced at CES ‘09) to use Chumby Widgets with their processors as well. Interesting. Who would have believed that the Flash-powered Widgets delivering infotainment services to a cute, little device would be ported for use in mass CE devices? MORE »

According to Brent Evans at GeekTonic, a “reliable source” at Hauppauge has told him that Window 7 will be getting a native HD-PVR driver so users can record 720p / 1080i H.264 video from a cable or satellite box via a component video connection without restriction. Brent also writes: “the Hauppauge team is working to ensure everything works properly including video capture, video playback, EPG support, scheduling of recordings and IR Blaster support.” If all this true, this development is going to be HUGE and make the HD-PVR more than just a straight-forward video capture device.