Talk about a sexy iPhone app! Zigzix’s new Zemote ($3.99) is definitely going to be a must-have for any HTPC enthusiast running Windows XP or Vista (OS X version coming soon). The Zemote for iPhone and iPod touch provides users with a variety remote interface options that controls a user’s PC over Wi-Fi (requires an additional PC app to be installed called Zemote Receiver). As far as I can tell, Zemote provides four distinct interface mode options for people to choose from: touch pad with scroll and right/left-click buttons, keyboard (seen here), multi-function key remote, and a touch pad with basic media control buttons. Zigzix even claims that you can control your PC’s mouse pointer via motion control. How do you like that?

Geared primarily for business travelers and students who have a need to take their archive of files with them on-the-go, the Thecus N0204 miniNAS is perfect companion providing network file sharing over Ethernet (also compatible with USB WLAN adapters), one-touch USB volume backup copies, USB printer sharing, and RAID / JBOD storage configurations. Interestingly, the miniature sized N0204 can make use of two 2.5-inch SATA hard drives providing up to 1TB of hot-swappable storage with an energy savings of 25-30% over traditional two-bay NAS devices. Other neat tricks: DLNA / UPnP / iTunes media serving and USB webcam support for remote video surveillance. It should be available at Amazon.com soon (no word on price). [via]

Something scary is going on that has a lot of privacy advocates and consumer watchdog groups a little worried. It turns out that the Obama administration, in cooperation with other foreign governments and entertainment industry representatives, are negotiating the details of a controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement [PDF] in secret and under the veil of “national security”. Some of the early leaks suggest that the proposed trade agreement would “criminalize peer-to-peer file sharing, subject iPods to border searches and allow internet service providers to monitor their customers’ communications,” writes Wired.com. Russian TV broadcaster, Russia Today, even goes so far to say that governments may seek to reserve the right to search/scan people’s computers without permission or just cause. It’s all too Orwellian… but not that surprising considering the RIAA and BSA’s favorite lawyers have taken top Department of Justice posts in the Obama administration recently. I guess we’ll have to see if the treaty turns out to be as pernicious as many think it will be.

Further coverage: Techdirt, CNET News, Wired.com, Russia Today, News Search @ Google.com

One of the new features bundled into Power Pack 2 update for Windows Home Server is an add-in for Windows Media Center that will allow users to access WHS content seemlessly. Previously you would have had to jump through a variety of technical hoops in order to accomplish this. So now when a PC on your network backs up media files to WHS (like recorded TV, photos, videos, music), you can access them from any Windows Media Center PC on the network. In the attached video, Ian Dixon at The Digital Lifestyle walks viewers through the process of installing the add-in and provides a quick walkthrough of it in action.

If you liked the previous story on ‘Yet Another Movie Jukebox’ Plugin for Popcorn Hour’s Networked Media Tank, you’re going to enjoy this one as well. It turns out you can now use MediaMall’s PlayOn application with your Popcorn Hour NMT and view Netflix, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, CNN, ESPN, and other content directly from the device. For some reason, the guys at MediaMall aren’t publicizing this fact on their product page, however, it does make sense that it works due to the fact that the PlayOn application is a DLNA compatible UPnP media server. The attached video demo was produced by Real HT Info.

Over the weekend I was trying to track down some digital media adapters that were capable of playing DVD movie ISO files and I stumbled on a YouTube video of Popcorn Hour’s Networked Media Tank (which does, by the way, support ISO playback) running a plugin called Yet Another Movie Jukebox (YAMJ). A quick search for the plugin lead me to its Google Code project page. Essentially, YAMJ is Java command line tool you install on your PC or Linux server which recursively scans through your video library and analyzes these files in order to retrieve relevant meta data and cover art attributes from a variety of third-party sources. YAMJ stores the retrieved information in an XML file and then creates HTML reports, with embeded links, compatible with the Popcorn Hour Network Media Tank. Attached below is the YouTube video demo’ing the Yet Another Movie Jukebox plugin. MORE »

This product has so much going for it I don’t even know where to start! Lets begin with the hardware. The AVA RS5 is equipped with a 64-bit ready Intel Dual Core 1.6Ghz Atom 330 processor, 1GB of memory, 5 hot-swap drive bays, Gigabit Ethernet, an eSATA expansion port, 4 x USB 2.0 ports, and (get this) a slot loading drive that can be ordered with CD / DVD or Blu-ray (+ £390). The AVA RS5, according the company’s product page, can auto-rip a CD’s music tracks to 320Kbps MP3 and creates ISO copies of DVD and Blu-ray discs for archive and playback on set-tops and PCs that support disc images (related thread). What’s more, the server comes bundled with My Movies, Squeezebox music server, iTunes server, DLNA / UPnP server, among other media-centric Windows Home Server add-ins. Availability: ships April 20, 2009 | Pricing: starts at £774.00 ($1,107 USD) for 1TB and the default CD / DVD configuration. [via / via]

If you’re running MediaMall’s PlayOn server application ($39.99 – 14 day free trial available) on your Windows Vista PC, you’re gonna be ecstatic to learn that a freeware add-in called vmcPlayIt has been released that will display available Netflix, Amazon VOD, Hulu, YouTube, CBS, CNN, ESPN content directly through the Windows Vista Media Center and Media Center Extender interface. Overall, the integration looks pretty solid from the screenshots available. Give it a spin and let us know how well it works for you. [via]

Gone are the days when you could only get your hands on a MOXI DVR in limited cable TV markets. The company is now delivering their TiVo butt-kicking, CableCARD compatible 500GB HD DVR to the masses via Amazon.com for $799 (subscription fees: $0, advertising: none). FYI: the MOXI HD DVR was first announced and made available to consumers in limited quantity back in January. The only thing lacking, from what I can tell, is online video content integration (maybe that’s coming later?). However, it does support Flickr photo viewing, “SuperTicker” updates, and playback of your PC’s stored media files over the network.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around this, but it appears that IOGEAR has created a network capable 4-port USB hub called the Net ShareStation (GUIP204) that will allow both Mac and Windows PC users to wired or wirelessly access hub connected USB devices like printers, storage drives, webcams, speakers, etc. However, IOGEAR warns that some devices (i.e. USB printers, speakers, webcams in particular) may require “direct connection for optimum performance.” Not quite sure what that means. The company also states that the Net ShareStation also supports “Windows Vista Rally Technologies to simplify the setup and maintenance of network-connected devices” along with UPnP. All in all, it sounds like an interesting device to experiment with if you want to network enable some of your USB devices. MSRP $99.95 MORE »