Looking for solutions to add 802.11n connectivity to your network enabled A/V devices like set-top boxes, HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and game consoles? Well, NETGEAR has just introduced two new products that have similar functionality, but specialize in what they provide. For starters, the High-Performance Wireless-N HD Home Theater Kit (WNHDB3004) is a plug-n-play solution (one adapter connects to the router, the other(s) to the intended network device) designed to deliever jitter-free 1080p HD video and HQ audio streams securely to multiple devices, comparable in consistency to a wired connection. In fact, NETGEAR claims that the WNHDB3004 can handle “throughput of HD streams in excess of 40 Mbps 99.9 percent of the time, through multiple walls, throughout an above-average single family home.” Obviously, you’re best bet for streaming super high quality HD video. On the other hand, the Universal Wi-Fi Internet Adapter for Home Theater Devices and Gaming Consoles (WNCE2001) is a mini 802.11n adapter that can be connected to any Ethernet port and be powered by, get this, an available USB port on the attached device or standard wall plug power cable. MORE »

No one likes the idea of hooking up an external USB storage drive to a media playback device. Think about it… do you really want to carry your hard drive back to a PC every time you need to add or delete files? Or how about sneakernetting your drive to different rooms in order to serve a handful of devices around the house? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Enter the IUM Infinite USB Memory Device from Infinitec. This USB dongle is able to wirelessly stream files from a paired PC and present available files to the connected game console, HDTV, photo frame, digital media adapter, or blu-ray player as if they were stored locally on a USB flash drive. The only drawback: IUM can only be paired to one host PC at a time (requires installation of the Infinite Portal PC application) — unlike the recently launched HSTi Wireless Media Stick which can gather content from shared files on networked PCs and storage devices via a browser-based management screen (demo). The IUM is set to launch March 1, 2010. Price: TBD. MORE »

If you have the desire to go wireless with your HDMI connection and you have $999 to spare, have a look at Gefen’s new 60Ghz solution which promises to deliver uncompressed 1080p video from up to 30 feet away. The GefenTV Wireless for HDMI 60Ghz supports the HDMI v1.3 specification (including multi-channel audio) and can be upgraded via internet firmware updates. According to the Gefen guys, gamers will also appreciate it’s low latency transmissions not possible with non-60Ghz implementations. Now we just need a wireless power technology to hit the market for a true wireless HDTV install. MORE »

Get ready folks. Starting this April Silicondust will be accepting applications to beta test their currently under development HDHomeRun CableCARD product. The new device (expected to retail for $249) will accept a multi-stream CableCARD and will offer dual HD capable tuners that can be accessed by multiple Windows 7 Media Center PCs over your LAN via Ethernet. Not to be greedy… but I’m thinking there’s going to be a lot potential customers who are going to be begging for a 4-tuner model down the line (if not out of the gate) — which by the way is the max number of tuners supported by (non-speciality) Windows 7 Media Center. One potential negative of this setup, however, is that PCs have to share available tuner streams. In other words with a dual tuner HDHomeRun, for example, if one PC is tuned into a program and recording another, the other PCs can’t watch or record anything as far as I’m aware. Attached below is a video recorded by Pete Brown talking with Silicondust’s Jason Ludka about the new product at CES. MORE »

We’ve recently seen a demo of Alereon’s Wireless USB Laptop to HDTV extender and came away impressed. Well, it turns out Intel has a similar technology now being built into some of the newer boards sporting 2010 Intel Core Processors. The technology is called Intel Wireless Display and will work with a compatible HDTV adapter to stream anything shown/playing on a laptop’s display over HDMI. According to Netgear, the Dell Studio 15z, Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S, and Toshiba Satellite E205 all support Intel Wireless Display and in turn will work with their new $99.99 Push2TV (PTV1000) adapter available later this month. Products like this get me thinking… maybe an HD capable netbook/laptop/tablet may be a good enough alternative to buying a dedicated digital media adapter to play internet content on your HDTV. What do you think? MORE »

Now here’s a tempting piece of gear showcased at CES. Iomega this February will be launching a $99.99 NAS adapter, called the iConnect Wireless Data Station, that will take any USB hard drive or thumbdrive and make its contents available through your home network or remotely via 802.11n Wi-Fi or Ethernet. In addition, the iConnect features a built-in DLNA / UPnP media server (for streaming photos, videos, music to computers and digital media adapters), Apple Time Machine compatibility, torrent download manager, and printer server which can all be administered through the product’s web interface. Iomega is even throwing in some of its popular EMC software to help users backup computers and keep files synchronized. Not bad for less than a hundred bucks. MORE »

Most likely you’ve never heard of the WiGig wireless standard created by the Wireless Gigabit Alliance. If you haven’t, that’s OK because today the group is announcing the WiGig version 1.0 specification, which they hope will become implemented in home networking gear as early as the first quarter of 2010. So why should you care? We’ve got dual-band 802.11n now, right? Well, because WiGig is 10 times faster than 802.11n, with transfer rates up to 7Gbps, and is backwards compatible with 802.11b/g/n. What’s more, WiGig has been designed for HD media streaming to multiple devices at once, can transfer the contents of a Blu-ray disc in under a minute, and already has the blessing of 15 technology leaders within the CE, PC, semiconductor, and handheld industries. You in…? I am. 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 »

The $299 Astak “Mole” Webcam is most likely the coolest IP camera made available to the public to date. The Mole is a standalone, self-configuring IP camera that can be networked via Wi-Fi or Ethernet and accessed from any web browser at home or remotely. What’s more, The Mole features motion detection, night vision, two-way audio, remote pan/tilt and can tweet/email updates, record video to an SD card, and upload video to YouTube. And the video quality isn’t bad either… it records 320×240 or 640×480 video in H.264. The Mole will be available next month at Fry’s, Costco, Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and Astak.com. MORE »

The Hollywood Reporter and Broadband TV News are reporting that Stuart Collingwood, VP EMEA of Sling Media, has been quoted saying that the percentage of people who don’t use their Slingbox for remote placeshifting has jumped from 40% two years ago to 70% today. In fact, most people use their Slingbox to stream TV to networked PCs and other device around the home (see: Sling Media’s downloads page for apps targeted to the desktop PC and handhelds). And when it comes to remote mobile access, 80% of people watch slightly over 15 minutes of television in a single session.