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Neuros LINK - $300 Internet TV Set-Top / Entertainment PC

Alexander Grundner — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:13:16 +0000

Ok. So I’m a little puzzled and intrigued by what the Neuros LINK is supposed to be exactly. A quick once over reveals that Neuros is intent on jumping on the Internet TV bandwagon by releasing a set-top capable of providing access to content from popular online video portals like Hulu, YouTube, Fancast, NBC, CNN, [...]

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Boxee Adds Netflix Watch Instantly Functionality

Alexander Grundner — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:05:51 +0000

Good and bad news here. Boxee on Windows (and I’m assuming Mac OS X) is now capable of tapping into your Netflix account to provide streaming movie access from your Instant Queue. The new Netflix addition also adds access to My Recommendations, New Releases, Last’s Week Top Choices, Browse Genres, and Search. Now for the [...]

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Nokia Unveils the Nokia Home Music Wi-Fi Radio

Alexander Grundner — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:49:49 +0000

Very nice. Nokia Europe has unveiled their first Internet radio device for the consumer market. The Nokia Home Music offers Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity making it capable of tapping into 1000s of Internet radio stations. In adddition, the Nokia Home Music provides a built-in FM radio tuner and can stream music from network devices via [...]

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ASUS to Intro HD Capable Eee Box B204 and B206 Entertainment PCs

Alexander Grundner — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:12:54 +0000

Who wants a mini, VESA mountable, econo-priced PC that’s capable of outputing HD resolution video and includes an HDMI connection? I thought so. Well, the smart folks at ASUS picked up on what consumers were wishing was included in the original Eee Box unveiled back in June and have beefed up the box to include [...]

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Sneak Peek: Netgear EVA9000 Digital Entertainer Elite

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:04:17 +0000

I can just see the marketing folks at Netgear screaming: “Nooooooo.” Unfortunately, for Netgear their EVA9000 FCC filing documents have been compromised (in other words: they have been discovered and made public without their consent) and are now making the rounds around the Internet. I guess I won’t have to sign an NDA for Netgear’s [...]

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Sling.com Goes Live

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Sling Media this morning has taken the wraps off their new, public on-demand video entertainment portal, sling.com. The new site is a separate property from their hardware site, slingmedia.com, but offers users a way to tap into their home Slingbox to view Live TV from any location (very cool) and programming from over 90 providers [...]

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Say Hello to SageTV HD200 HD Theater

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:36:42 +0000

As many of you know, SageTV has been relentless in their pursuit of being on the cutting-edge of media center development. Today the company is announcing the follow up to their popular SageTV HD100 Extender with the new SageTV HD200 HD Theater. Not only does the HD200 come in a smaller, more stealth enclosure, the [...]

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Wavexpress Shelves TVTonic for Windows Media Center

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:39:20 +0000

Looks like it’s not only car manufactures, banks, and retailers who are having trouble during these economic times, but content service providers as well. Wavexpress Inc. has announced that their TVTonic service will be going offline while they “restructure for the future.” It’s a shame because many Windows Media Center users have come to love [...]

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Video Review: Linksys WVC210 Wireless-G Internet Camera with Audio

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:33:11 +0000

[VIDEO] MyHomeServer.com has posted a video review of the Linksys WVC210 Internet Camera that some of you folks might find interesting. The camera features pan/tilt functionality, microphone and speaker inputs, dynamic DNS, and the ability to provide video streams to cell phones or PCs. While watching the video I started getting ideas on how my condo [...]

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SnapStream Bumps Price of Beyond TV to $99 - But Adds Plenty of Worthwhile New Features

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:48:04 +0000

Big news from the SnapStream camp. Beyond TV 4.9 – repackaged and priced at $99 – now includes Clear QAM support for recording unencrypted cable transmissions (including programming available in HD), a built-in Placeshifting web player (first glimpsed at in Sept.), and native H.264 (iPod compatible) video transcoding and DVD burning (both previously plug-ins available [...]

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Thoughts on Blockbuster ONDEMAND

Alexander Grundner — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:40:43 +0000

Ok. So I’ve been thinking about Blockbuster ONDEMAND. I’ve got to say… I’m not impressed with the company’s new service offering. I’ve been a happy and loyal Blockbuster Online subscriber for a few years now and I can’t justify buying a set-top, even though it’s being bundled for $99, if the movies I want to [...]

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Blockbuster Partners with 2Wire to Provide On-Demand Movie Set-top Box

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:36:54 +0000

Big news this morning if you’re a fan of Blockbuster. The company has announced the limited availability of a $99 on-demand video package that gets you 25 movie or TV episode rentals plus a FREE MediaPoint Digital Media Player by 2Wire. No word on how much the MediaPoint set-top by itself will sell for in [...]

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Marantz IS301 Wireless iPod Dock

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:47:24 +0000

It’s obvious the Marantz IS301 Wireless iPod Dock is going to be the next must-have device for iPod owners here in the U.S., if we can convince Marantz to import their uber A/V device to us next. Here’s why: users get a a stand alone dock that accepts all iPod models (sans the iPhone 3G [...]

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BUBBA|TWO Makes Its Way into Homes Across the Globe

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:02:17 +0000

Thanks goes to my favorite Linux magazine, Linux Format, for informing readers that eXcito of Sweden recently launched a follow up to their popular Debian-based mini NAS called BUBBA|TWO. I’ve got to say… the new incarnation has got everything I wished the original had and then some. For starters, BUBBA|TWO now comes preloaded with a [...]

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My Movies for Windows Home Server Adds FLAC Support and Media Center Extender Compatible DVD Rips

Alexander Grundner — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:47:01 +0000

The title pretty much says it all. So, Brian Binnerup has been busy adding new features and squashing bugs on his road to the official, non-beta release of My Movies for Windows Home Server. The two stand-out features in v1.02 users now get to play with is support for FLAC lossless audio CD rips and [...]

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INNOVUS MyHome Plugin Released for Squeezebox Duet

Alexander Grundner — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:03:22 +0000

iPhone home automation apps have been all the rage of late, but INNOVUS Home Automation has found another compelling and fairly inexpensive platform to tie their service into… the Squeezebox Duet music system. With the MyHome Plugin and the accompanying INNOVUS House Control solution products, users can manage their music, control lights throughout the home, [...]

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New Zune Pass Music Subscription Model Unveiled

Alexander Grundner — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:36:47 +0000

Now here’s a music subscription model I can endorse! Microsoft is announcing that it has made agreements with major and independent music labels to offer unlimited, on-demand access to its subscription music service, Zune Pass, for $14.99 per month. But the best part… each month subscribers will get to KEEP 10 tracks to add to [...]

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Okoro OMS-LX100 CableCARD Media Center PC Now Shipping

Alexander Grundner — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:21:01 +0000

It looks like Okoro Media Systems heard consumers’ calls for a more attractively priced HTPC. The company today announced availability of the OMS-LX100 low profile Windows Vista Media Center PC with a single CableCARD tuner for only $1,725 (add $300 for the dual tuner setup). At this entry price point the system packs some nice [...]

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Verismo VuNow PoD Gets a Launch Date of December 15

Alexander Grundner — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:34:32 +0000

This is exciting news! The Verismo VuNow PoD that we got a glimpse of back in June is really coming to market. The product seems to include everything that was mentioned in the video demo except for dedicated access to Hulu and Amazon Unbox/VoD (my guess it’s coming down the pike in the near future). [...]

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More Details on Windows 7 Media Decoder

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:02:40 +0000

Earlier this month we told you about what Microsoft had in store for Windows Media Player 12 in Windows 7. Now, Long Zheng at istartedsomething.com has posted slides from a presentation entitled “Video Improvements in Windows” for WinHEC 2008. The slides clearly identify which codecs will be supported natively and their profile limitations (i.e. max [...]

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Plex/Seven Released - Adds Some New Worthwhile Features

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:53:59 +0000

Ok, so there are about 2-3 biggies in the Plex 0.7.0 release. Plex now bundles in what’s called the Plex Media Server (a standalone application) so users can access content from their iLife apps including DRM protected iTunes tracks, the addition of TV series theme music when navigating a show’s archive page, and user submitted [...]

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Windows 7 Internet TV Teaser Screenshot

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:40:02 +0000

While there’s no concrete details as to who Microsoft will be partnering to bring Internet TV content to Windows 7 Media Center, Chris Lanier has posted a screenshot of what’s currently showing up in the electronic programming guide. My guess is that Microsoft will be tapping into their already existing network of media content, but [...]

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C. Crane Digital FM Transmitter

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:15:45 +0000

Talk about a get gift idea for under $70! C. Crane’s Digital FM Transmitter [Amazon] is a pretty sweet little peripheral that allows users to transmit audio from any device with a standard headphone jack to a nearby FM radio receiver. So, if you’ve ever wanted a drop dead simple way to tap into internet [...]

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SageTV Flash-Based Remote Control Released

Alexander Grundner — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:59:18 +0000

A software developer by the name of ShadeBlue has released a free SageTV remote utility that’s accessible from any device with a web browser that supports Flash. SageTV Remote Control, as it’s known, is capable of switching between multiple SageTV servers, clients, and extenders from a single user interface. In addition, the utility’s command settings [...]

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Microsoft’s ‘Hub’ Strategy for Windows Live Has Great Potential for the Digital Home

Alexander Grundner — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:59:30 +0000

After reading Reuters’ coverage regarding Microsoft’s plan to transform Windows Live into an aggregator hub with “50 outside Web services including Yahoo Inc’s Flickr photo site and career-oriented social networking site LinkedIn,” it occurred to me that Windows Live might be a darkhorse into the living room. I can imagine a scenario where Windows Live [...]

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