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Progress Update on the Notion Ink Adam Android Tablet

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:44:54 +0000

It seems SlashGear has a friendly relationship going with Notion Ink, the makers of the Pixel Qi (demo 1, 2) / NVIDIA Tegra / Android powered Internet Tablet (a winning combo in my opinion). The guys have posted new renderings of the Adam, which are said to be closer to the final design that will [...]

ASUS Intros the O!Play Air HDP-R3 Media Streamer with 802.11n Wi-Fi

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:31:50 +0000

Good news for folks who had their eye on the original O!Play HDP-R1 released back in the Summer of 2009 (now under $100 on Amazon), but were unsatisfied with the fact that it only offered Ethernet network connectivity. ASUS’ new O!Play Air HDP-R3 now sports built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi and a multi-format memory card reader. Of [...]

Auto Rip n Compress – Backup Your DVDs and Blu-ray Movies via Windows Media Center

Alexander Grundner — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:36:31 +0000

I have a feeling Auto Rip n Compress is going to be everyone’s next “must-have” add-in for Windows Media Center. The add-in allows you to easily rip DVD or Blu-ray movies from your couch using only your remote. Of course, you’ll need to have some software pre-installed on your PC — like AnyDVD HD, Handbrake, [...]

S1Digital Rolls Out a 100 Disc Blu-ray Changer for Windows Media Center and Windows Home Server

Alexander Grundner — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:22:24 +0000

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 [...]

Research Study Finds Connected TV Users Demand Improved UIs and Web Services Integration

Alexander Grundner — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:35:32 +0000

Strategy Analytics has a released a new research study dubbed, Profiling the Connected Media Consumer: a Contextual Study, that examines what owners and potential buyers of network enabled HDTVs are looking for and/or expecting in their “Connected TV.” The good news… vocal early adopters are already guiding what features and services their products should support [...]

USPTO Grants Apple a Patent on Touch Bezel Controls

Alexander Grundner — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:06:52 +0000

Uh, oh. It looks like Apple will soon be the only tablet manufacture able to produce a device with a touch sensitive bezel control interface. (Now it’s starting to make sense why version one the Apple iPad has such a thick bezel, instead of going flush with the display.) According the USPTO website, Apple Inc. filed [...]

Concept Chrome OS Tablet UI Mockups Provide a Window to the Future

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:38:26 +0000

It appears that Chromium OS developers have begun laying the groundwork on a custom Tablet UI layer for Chrome OS. While things are just in the “visual exploration” phase, the mockups give us a sneak peek at what a future Google Tablet may look like — and I’ve got say… it looks pretty darn cool. In [...]

ExoPC’s Windows 7 Powered 8.9-inch Slate Has Potential

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:18:47 +0000

We’ve seen our fair share of Android tablets at CES and many have finally sobered up after the Apple iPad unveiling. So what now? How about a Windows 7 powered device with no compromises? French firm, ExoPC, has a 8.9-inch (1024×600) tablet expected to ship this March called the ExoPC Slate. What makes this product [...]

Logitech Touch Mouse (PC/Mac Remote) iPhone App Released

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:20:45 +0000

Good news for Apple iPhone and iPod touch users. Logitech has added a new app to the iTunes App Store called Touch Mouse. The FREE app turns your handheld into a wireless remote for your Windows or Mac computer (requires installation of the Touch Mouse Server software). Touch Mouse’s feature highlights include: multi-touch trackpad, keyboard [...]

PlugPlayer UPnP iPhone App Offers Some Interesting Functionality

Alexander Grundner — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:50:40 +0000

It occurred to me that the Apple iPad has no native, cross-platform media streaming capabilities (a big missed opportunity if you ask me). Being the case, I did a quick search on Google for an iPhone app, since most are compatible with the new iPad, and discovered PlugPlayer (iTunes – $4.99). What’s interesting is that [...]

TwonkyMedia: Connected Home/DLNA Best Practices

Alexander Grundner — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:02:44 +0000

If you’re in the market for a digital media adapter or any kind of DLNA/UPnP powered device, you may want to spend a few minutes reading TwonkyMedia’s Connected Home/DLNA Best Practices. The guide has been designed to help the general consumer make sense of the networked device landscape, as well as, what to look for [...]

Apple Launches the ‘Magical & Revolutionary’ iPad

Alexander Grundner — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:09:40 +0000

I don’t know if the Apple reps from Cupertino were smoking dope at today’s event in San Francisco or what — with all their magical and revolutionary references? In any case, there was a mix bag of reactions from folks in the Twitterverse. I might be going out on limb here… but I got the [...]

Roku Expects to Have 100 Channels Available by Year End

Alexander Grundner — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:32:31 +0000

Bloomberg has an interesting piece on Roku and its plans for the future. The big take aways from the article is that Roku expects to have reached 1 million Roku Players sold this year (and hey’re considering even giving them away at some point), they plan to have 100 channels in its Channel Store, and [...]

HP’s Phil McKinney Discusses the HP Slate

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:08:16 +0000

The following video gives potential buyers a closer look at the upcoming HP Slate and the thinking behind it. HP’s CTO, Phil McKinney, states that 2010 is providing the “perfect storm of innovation” for such a product to be introduced to market. In particular, McKinney is referring to the current costs associated with producing such [...]

Revenue from Networked Home Media Devices Expected to More Than Double by 2012

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:46:34 +0000

ABI Research’s “Home Networking Market Data” is forecasting that networked home media device makers will see revenues jump from approximately $100 billion in 2009 to over $243 billion by 2012. The jump is being attributed to the recent introduction of networked HDTVs and Blu-ray players, which they believe will be strong categories going forward, as [...]

Gefen Now Shipping 60Ghz Wireless HDMI Solution

Alexander Grundner — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:20:46 +0000

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 [...]

DisplaySearch Forecasts 1.2M+ 3D Capable HDTVs Will Ship in 2010, 15.6M in 2013

Alexander Grundner — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:18:52 +0000

I don’t know how analysts arrive at these numbers, but 3DTV was a big hit at CES 2010. So on top of HDTVs being network connected for streaming media locally from devices on your home network and the interent, consumers will soon have 3D options to look forward to — including dedicated 3D programming channels. [...]

Use Tango to Remotely Control Your Music Player Docked iPod Touch with an iPhone

Alexander Grundner — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:35:14 +0000

For the person who owns both an iPod Touch and an iPhone, Tango (FB page) may be an app you’ll be interested in. Tango enables one to control an iPhone/iPod Touch’s music collection with another iPhone/iPod Touch over Wi-Fi. Tango, from just about any room in the house, can show you what’s playing, adjust the [...]

Deloitte Predicts Tens of Millions Internet Tablets Will Be Sold in 2010

Alexander Grundner — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:31:56 +0000

Analyst firm, Deloitte, predicts 2010 will be the break through year for Internet Tablets (aka WebPads, SmartPads, NetTabs, Slate). Reason being, device manufactures working on such devices have shifted the product’s focus from “work-oriented data-entry” to web browsing and media consumption. Deloitte also believes that manufactures are finally nailing down the form factor to an [...]

Elan Demos Multi-touch Enabled Windows Media Center Remote

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:16:29 +0000

What do you know? Multi-touch has been integrated into an HTPC remote for Windows Media Center. The attached video demo shows how Elan Microelectronics Corp.’s capacitive touchpad Smart Remote Control works in conjunction with Windows 7’s built-in touch features over RF. You’ll notice that it makes browsing photos and web pages on your TV a [...]

Aperion Intros the Home Audio Link System for Wirelessly Connecting PCs and Portable Devices to Your Home Stereo

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:16:44 +0000

If you’ve been looking for an easy way to connect your PC, Mac, MP3 player, or smartphone to your home stereo for audio playback, have a look at Aperion’s new Home Audio Link (HAL) system. For $149 you’ll get a HAL transmitter (w/ Audio In) and receiver (w/ Audio Out) that can stream uncompressed music [...]

TwonkyServer Mobile Demo’d Doing Its Media Serving Duties

Alexander Grundner — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:38:43 +0000

If you were excited to learn about TwonkyMedia’s new TwonkyServer Mobile app for Android, have a look at the following video demonstrating how the DLNA / UPnP media server app for mobile devices functions in the real world. In a nutshell, the TwonkyServer Mobile app catalogs all your phone’s media (photos, music, videos) and makes [...]

Silicondust’s HDHomeRun with CableCARD Support for Windows 7 Media Center Looks Promising

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:00:17 +0000

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 [...]

Niveus Media Adds SIRIUS / XM Satellite Radio to 2010 Windows 7 Media Center Servers and Players

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:44:03 +0000

A quick search on the web shows that there’s a lot interest in a SIRIUS Internet Radio plug-in for Windows Media Center, but no one has created one — until now. The good news is that 2010 Niveus Media Server / Player owners will get Niveus’ new SIRIUS XM plug-in out of the box (requires [...]

Oregan Networks Integrates W3C Widget Standard into Its Internet TV Platform

Alexander Grundner — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:57:57 +0000

Widgets on net-connected TVs isn’t anything new, but the idea of integrating a web technology standard so anyone can create a cross platform widget that can make its way into a TV is. According to Oregan Networks’ press release, the company’s new Onyx Widgetry application store for connected TVs leverages the W3C Widget Standard which [...]