Big news for current and prospective Pogoplug users. The company today is announcing that the device will support music, photo, and video streaming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (I’m waiting to hear back if it’s designed to work with any DLNA/UPnP enabled device – see response below). In addition, the Pogoplug can now be configured to backup folders, on a Mac or Windows PC, in real-time using a new feature called Active Copy. And not only that… Active Copy can automatically backup important files to another off-site Pogoplug for redundancy purposes. MSRP of the latest Pogoplug is $129 and it comes with 4 USB ports and Ethernet connectivity — just bring your own external USB hard drive for storage. MORE »

Own a TiVo? You may want to add a Windows Home Server from HP to the mix. HP has just introduced a new new add-in called HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo that allows TiVo owners to transfer shows to/from the HP MediaSmart Server, manage recordings, and watch stored recordings from any networked Mac or Windows PC in the home. The FREE HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo add-in can be accessed through the Windows Home Server Console of a HP MediaSmart Server EX90/EX495 or HP Data Vault. Supported TiVo DVRs include: Series2, Series3, Premiere, Premiere XL. MORE »

For those who don’t own a PlayStation 3, PSP, or PSP go yet, Sony has just announced some news that may make you want to jump onboard. According to Sony’s press release today, PlayStation Network (PSN) has become the first entertainment system to offer HD movies for rent or purchase from all the major Hollywood studios. Titles from 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution will available in U.S. starting today and soon in the U.K., France, Germany, and Spain. FYI, you can also rent, purchase, and organize PSN entertainment content through your Windows PC for playback on your PSP device using Sony’s Media Go application [demo], or access PSN directly on the PSP via Wi-Fi. All movie rentals will available for progressive download to watch instantly or held for 14-days for later viewing (note: once you hit play you have 24 hours to finish viewing the video). MORE »

It’s been a while since anyone has heard a peep from TiVo. Well, now we know what they’ve been working on. Their new flagship product is called TiVo Premiere and it’s being positioned as “the one box to rule them all.” Ah, yeah… right. While the new TiVo Premiere (320GB – $299.99) and TiVo Premiere XL (1TB – $499.99) has a lot going for it, it also comes up short when compared to the current crop of internet connected devices. Product highlights: widesceen compatible Flash UI (with app support), advanced metadata/search capabilites, improved video store integration, suggested show carousel (aka Discovery Bar), THX certification (only on XL), multi-stream CableCARD support, eSATA support, and generous hard drive options. Downside: no tru2way support, no integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi ($90 USB dongle will be available this May), Bluetooth slider QWERTY keyboard remote is not standard, no DLNA / UPnP support, no Gigabit Ethernet. MORE »

Sure the idea of ripping all your Blu-ray discs to your PC’s hard drive or networked home server sounds appealing, but the reality of going through the process isn’t quite as pleasant — especially when you consider how much storage space you’ll need (an uncompressed Blu-ray movie copy can be 25+ GB in size). Enter the S1Digital Blu-ray Disc Changer (MSRP $1,499). According to the company’s press release (attached below), the S1Digital Blu-ray Disc Changer can supply your Windows Vista / 7 Media Center PC or Windows Home Server an instant catalog of available movies to play or serve up. In addition, S1Digital is bundling in a free copy of the My Movies add-in to manage your collection and pull all the relevant metadata and cover art to keep your library of Blu-ray movies up to date. MORE »

I was lucky enough to attend Cloud Engine’s launch party for the second generation Pogoplug on Thursday night and came away impressed by the device’s potential. The new direction, we were told, for the Pogoplug is for it to become more of a Internet media streaming and sharing storage device with social networking features. MORE »

Windows Home Server and its related products have been a big hit for Windows PC users since its inception in 2007. Now, ASUS is getting in the game and is introducing the TS Mini to the world. This little energy-efficient, powerhouse packs a 1.66Ghz Intel Atom N280 processor, 1-2GB of DDR2 memory, Gigabit Ethernet, 6 x USB 2.0 ports, 2 x eSATA ports, and 2 x internal hard drive bays with one taken up with either a 500GB, 1TB, or 2TB 3.5-inch SATA drive. MORE »

While this isn’t the first NAS product we’ve seen that doesn’t come with a hard drive, the $69 Addonics Mini NAS is the first to offer the flexibility to use a 2.5-inch SATA, 2.5-inch Solid State Drive, 1 x Compact Flash (adapter req.), or 2 x Compact Flash (adapter req.) drives for storage. The Addonics Mini NAS is compatible with Windows / Mac / Linux and provides SAMBA, SMB, FTP, DHCP, UPnP, iTunes, BitTorrent capabilities. In addition, the device includes a USB port for LAN printer sharing and a browser-based UI for server management. MORE »

It’s been a while since we’ve talked about FON and its Fonera routers. Luckily, a couple of recent video clips of the Fonera 2.0n in action has prompted me to revisit the current offering. MORE »

Moxi, the DVR platform without annual service fees, has updated their hardware prices and added a new 3-Tuner unidirectional CableCARD HD DVR to the lineup. In addition, Moxi states that the Moxi Mate will soon be getting a free software update that will allow it to access Live TV via the Moxi HD DVR — previously the Moxi Mate could only access recorded TV content and media from a networked PC. MORE »