There were early reports this past weekend that NETGEAR had introduced the NeoTV 550 HD Media Player, but no official announcement could be found on the site. As of yesterday, that changed. NETGEAR is officially announcing two new “flagship” media streamers to their AV Series product lineup. The NeoTV 350 and 550 Ultimate share the ability to play 1080p video with Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound, DLNA/UPnP network client streaming, and online content access. However, the 550 also provides an eSATA port for faster external storage file transfer speeds and Blu-ray disc support via an external USB or eSATA Blu-ray drive (most likely it will be able to handle Blu-ray rips stored on a USB drive as well). Interesting side note on pricing and availability… the 350 will only be available in Europe and Australia, while the 550 Ultimate will be available in the US, Europe, and Australia in October.

Product Description

Product Description

 ASUS, who has made a name for itself with the well-received Xonar family, is one such company and is today expanding its range with the introduction of the Xonar DG.

 Aimed at the gaming crowd, the Xonar DG promises a handful of optimisations including a dedicated headphone amplifier.

 The manufacturer insists that this will result in sharper, clearer audio with less background noise than you’d get from a soundcard without such an amp.  This is paired with Dolby Headphone support to give virtual of 5.1 surround when using stereo headphones.

 For those who prefer to listen through speakers, the Xonar DG can output a full 5.1 signal through an analogue or digital connection, and the chipset features a signal-to-noise ratio of 105dB and supports 192 kHz/24-bit audio.

As well as gaming rigs, the card’s low-profile design will be well suited to most HTPCs, and there’s an additional SPDIF output to connect to a video card for audio output over HDMI. 

 Unlike some higher-end soundcards, the Xonar DG makes use of a PCI interface, as opposed to PCIe.  And, whilst the card’s specification may not be quite as impressive as others in the Xonar family, it should be plenty sufficient for all but the pickiest of audiophiles.  It should also prove to be a significant improvement over onboard soundcards, especially when listening through headphones. 

 We haven’t been given an official price or release date from ASUS, but have seen the Xonar DG at a few domestic retailers priced at under £30 with a release date of August 27.

The keyboard uses 2.4GHz wireless dongle that plugs into your USB port to provide a range of “up to 20 meters.” The 2.4-GHz offers a wireless connection that is not required in the line of sight and it is necessary for many facilities HTPC. This new offering Rosewill competition with other 2.4GHz wireless keyboards from Adesso, Solidtek, and others as well as the more expensive options such as the Logitech DiNovo Edge Bluetooth keyboard / trackpad combo.

It seems that everyone is adding a HTPC to their media center. When you have a PC in your living room, you need a way to control it from your couch. Rosewill RK-issued V1TP Super Slim wireless touchpad keyboard to answer precisely this niche for only $ 59.99 plus postage.

Gotta give credit to Mvix for discovering and locking down a deal to sell Hong Kong based J&W’s super MINIX 890GX Mini-ITX motherboard in the US, Canada, and South America. Why super? Check out the following spec. highlights for this $199 board below — in particular the USB 3.0 ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, and RAID 0/1/5/10 configuration options for its 4 x SATA III 6.0GB/s connectors. Something tells me this is going to be a hot commodity when it begins shipping September 14th.

Spec. Highlights

• Phenom II x6 Ready, Support Socket AM3 Processors (95W Max)
• Supports Dual Channel DDR3 1600(OC)/1333/1066Mhz Technology
• Built-in Dual NEC USB 3.0 Ports, Dual Gigabit LAN
• 128MB High Speed DDR3 Sideport Memory (1333Mhz)
• Realtek ALC892 8-Channel HD Audio
• Multi Video Outputs: HDMI, DVI-D and D-Sub (VGA)
• Full-Speed PCI-Express x16 Gen2 Slot
• Mini PCIe Slot (for SSD/BT/Wifi-N)
• 4 x SATA III 6.0GB/s Connectors Powered by SB850 Southbridge
• 2oz Copper Layer PCB, 100% Solid Capacitors

Measuring 175x128x15 millimeters (which translates loosely into 7x5x5/8 inches), the MP-501 weighs in at 250 grams, or just over half a pound.

The Amex Digital media player is outfitted with two USB ports. An SD/SDHC card slot, and HDMI out, with an ARM Cortex-A8 processor tucked inside.

Streams HDTV and other media through its USB ports
The pint-sized gizmo is designed to stream 1080p HDTV video and other media to other connected devices through its USB ports.

The media player supports AVI, MPEG, MP3, JPEG, and just about all other major video, audio and photo file formats, with the exception of DRM-protected formats such as iTunes, Cinema Now, Vongo, Movielink, and Amazon Unbox.

Other innovations include wireless ‘touchscreen’ keyboard
Amex Digital has previously demo’d a number of other pioneering gadgets at the Computex trade show in Taiwan, such as a wireless “touchscreen” keyboard and the RM-mp1, a handheld device combining the functionality of a media remote, laser pointer, and touchpad mouse.

Innovations listed on its Web site include the SP-7, a digital photo frame with printing capabilities; the “world’s first Blu-ray HTPC (Home Theater PC) A/V Center Computer;” and a Blu-ray player for Macs which made its debut back in 2008.

As described in a company profile on the Amex Digital Web site, China-based “Amex Corporation” is a hardware designer, software programmer, and OEM, with manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen and offices in both Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Founded in 1990, the company currently manufactures 250 different products and has a staff of 250, according to the site.

Could be available for $49 US in September
Amex Digital is currently advertising the MP-501 on its Web site for $49 US dollars, but an order form isn’t immediately evident on the site.

According to Engadget, however, some customers have received e-mails from Amex Digital stating that the 1080p media player will be available for direct order on September 10, at US pricing of $49 plus a $20 international shipping charge.

You can see a copy of an e-mail apparently sent by Amex Digital by clicking on the “Show Press Release” link in Engadget’s report.

Wow, Roku today gave everyone reason to like its line of players again. The company has dropped the price of its HD and HD-XR models by $30 and the SD unit by $20. So now you can pick up the SD for $59.99 (currently out of stock), the HD for $69.99, and the HD-XR for $99.99. What’s more, a new firmware update set to be released will unlock HD-XR’s USB port for USB storage media playback. But the best news… the HD-XR is on track to gain 1080p video support later this year. No word if video partners will bump up their content quality to match the setting, but it will definitely work with your personal library. I’m curious what video codecs the players will support….

Chinese company Norco unveiled the BIS-6550HD, a network digital signage platform powered by Intel Atom platform and with 1080p HD playback. The BIS-6550HD sports an Intel Atom N270 processor with up to 2GB of RAM and a 2.5-inch hard drive. The system gets Norco’s proprietary efficient fanless thermal design.

Other than the integrated GMA950 graphics, the Norco BIS-6550HD is also equipped with an ultra low power HD AVC/VC-1/MPEG-2 hardware decoder that is capable of Full HD real-time decoding. WiFi and TV tuner are available as options. It offers VGA and HDMI dual independent display support, a CF socket and a SD card reader.

Logitech astounds us on a regular basis with their ability to produce dirt-cheap yet solid-sounding speakers. We can only imagine how thin their profit margins must be; heck, that’s probably why there are so few other players in this segment. But the quality of their latest offering, the Speaker System Z623, barely passes muster. It also leaves us wondering what value THX certification really holds for the consumer at this price point. 

The Z623 is a 2.1-channel system equipped with a 200-watt amplifier that delivers 35 watts to each of the satellite speakers and 130 watts to the sub. The satellites have a single driver each–a 2.5-inch dome with an aluminum phase plug–while the subwoofer utilizes a seven-inch pressure driver with a bass port in its cabinet. As is typical in this category, the satellites have hard-wired cables that plug into the sub, where the amp is located.

Logitech’s Z623 is a 2.1-channel system with a generously sized subwoofer.

Logitech offers plenty of analog inputs: The subwoofer cabinet has both stereo RCA inputs and a stereo 1/8-inch jack, and there’s a second stereo 1/8-inch jack on the right-hand speaker cabinet. The power switch, knobs for volume and bass level control, and a 1/8-inch stereo headphone jack are also on this cabinet. Unlike Logitech’s top-of-the-line speaker system, the $400 Z-5500, there are no digital audio inputs and no surround-sound decoder—not that we’d expect those features at this price point.

THX says they worked closely with Logitech during the Z623′s development cycle.

What we do expect—at any price point—is good fidelity. THX certification notwithstanding, the Z623 speaker system falls short of that mark. We have no complaint with the system’s performance with movies or games; it delivered dialog and sound effects with gusto. But when we dove into our library of high-definition FLAC files (downloaded from B&W’s Society of Sound), we discovered that the satellites overdrive mid-range frequencies, rendering broad swaths of both vocals and instruments unpleasantly harsh at higher volumes.

Listening to “Arawen,” from the Toumast album Amachal, it felt as though band leader Moussa Ag Keyna was thrashing our ears with his hard-driving guitar work. We had similar experiences with other songs and other instruments from very different musical genres, including the languid piano work on “Slowly,” from Juliana Raye’s retro-sounding Dominoes album, and the vocals on “Nuwaruguma,” from the Aurelio Martinez album Garifuna Afro-Combo. Each of these tracks was encoded in either 16- or 24-bit FLAC with sampling resolutions of either 44.1- or 48kHz, and yet we couldn’t listen to the speakers in a near-field environment for more than 20 minutes before our ears felt fatigued. The problem is related more to the drivers than the amp, because we enjoyed a much better listening experience with B&W’s P5 headphones plugged into the satellite.
 
The Z623’s low price tag, combined with its good performance with movies and games, saves its bacon. If you’re looking for inexpensive speakers for listening to music, however, we think Logitech’s Z250 speakers are a far better value. They’re not THX certified, they don’t come with a subwoofer, and they’re only $20 cheaper than the Z623, but your ears will be a lot happier.

Specifications