Android and Me has posted a quick video clip with a Sling Media representative showcasing SlingPlayer Mobile running on a Motorola DROID, Nexus One, and Samsung Behold 2. The rep states that the app will be launching this Summer (Price: $29.99) and it will support streaming over 3G or Wi-Fi. For more info on the app’s capabilities and its supported Slingbox devices, jump over to SlingPlayer Mobile’s product page. MORE »

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 »

Joel Johnson over at Gizmodo has posted a glowing review of Air Video, a $3 iPhone and iPod touch compatible app that can stream videos from a server PC over a local area network via Wi-Fi or remotely over 3G. Besides the incredible price, Joel was impressed by how easy Air Video’s Mac OS X / Windows server application is to configure in order to share folders/files from the computer itself or from a NAS. He also liked the fact that H.264 files are streamed automatically while non-H.264 files (even massive 1080p Blu-ray movie rips, if you’re PC is up to the processing task) are transcoded on-the-fly for instant playback. There’s even an option to convert a video file to H.264 for future use. All in all, Air Video sounds like a must-have app for any digital home enthusiast who has a large collection of videos they want to tap into through their mobile device. MORE »

A couple years ago I set out to look for a wireless VoIP handset that I could use around the home. Unfortunately, I came up short on products that I would actually buy — most were simple Skype powered phones or SIP enabled phones with horrible UIs. The best bet, even today, has been to install a VoIP app on your Wi-Fi smartphone (i.e. Fring). But what if you’re like me and want a dedicated home phone with both smartphone and VoIP capabilities? Well, that may soon become a reality. Pictured here is DSP Group’s DECT multimedia phone reference design [PDF Brochure] that leverages the Android OS (including apps from the Android market) and provides DECT wireless, Wi-Fi connectivity, DLNA media streaming, TV remote functionality, home automation control, and full web browsing through a 3.5-inch touchscreen. In other words, this wireless home phone can be used with your traditional landline service and / or be used as a VoIP / Google Voice phone. Presentation video below. [via] MORE »

It was just last month ASUS introduced the O!Play Air HDP-R3 media streamer. Now, ASUS is teasing CeBIT 2010 goers with the news they’re going to follow up that device with the O!Play HD2, a media streamer that will feature USB 3.0 (aka SuperSpeed USB) and “provides access to a wealth of cloud infotainment.” In other words, the HD2 has evolved from just being a LAN media streamer to a product that can also handle available media content online and, possibly even, pull in relevant data like weather and news feeds. Price, hardware specs, and feature capabilities should be trickling out in the next few months (UPDATE: spec details and show floor video below). [via] 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 »

It was just last month at CES when Skype announced its partnerships with LG Electronics and Panasonic to deliever Skype-enabled TVs to the market. Today Samsung is announcing that all Samsung LED 7000 and 8000 series HDTVs will be Skype-enabled as well. While TVs may be “Skype-enabled”, all current models require the purchase of a FREETALK TV Camera — available soon through the Skype Shop. Worth noting: the TV webcam has ambient and directional microphones built-in, so you don’t have to shout from the couch, and it encodes video in H.264. I’m waiting for the day when webams are built right into the bezel of all HDTV sets, but then I start thinking about George Orwell’s book, 1984 (pic from the movie adaptation), and wonder if that’s such a good idea. MORE »

Quick update for Apple TV owners who heart Boxee. You can now update your Boxee Alpha release to the latest Boxee Beta via ATV’s Installer/Launcher, according to Boxee Blog today. However, if you’ve never installed Boxee using ATV USB Creator, download atvusb-creator from the project page and then follow these instructions to get Boxee up and running — just don’t tell Steve J. that you went AWOL from his walled garden, ’cause he might not like it.

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 »

Wow! If you thought the 7-inch (800×480) display, Chumby powered Sony dash was a neat little table-top infotainment device before, now you’re really going to like it. Today Sony announced that the $199 dash will feature Netflix instant video streaming (and possibly Amazon Video On Demand) via its newly supported 1,500 app Sony BRAVIA Internet Video platform. That’s in addition to Chumby’s collection of 1,500+ widgets! (FYI, Chumby has a few Netflix widgets already, but they only help one manage their Queue or list Top Movies.) This new dash device, I must say, is becoming quite the adept little unit. Expected launch: April 2010. MORE »