Archive for November 22nd, 2005
It’s the TV tuner card that we’ve been waiting for. Hauppauge Digital has released a new add-on card to convert a PC into a satellite TV receiver.
Available immediately, the WinTV Nova-s receives free satellite channels, and will work with Freesat, the service announced by the BBC and ITV in September. No viewing card and no subscription fee are required.
The £59.99 inc VAT device plugs into a spare slot inside any desktop PC and decodes signals from a satellite dish. Owners can watch satellite TV on the full screen, or in a window whilst working on something else on the PC. Programmes can even be recorded to the PC’s hard disk for later viewing.
The WinTV Nova-s will appeal to householders who already have a satellite dish and wish to use a PC in the kitchen, study or bedroom as an additional digital TV. The Nova-s is also compatible with Microsoft’s Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE), the entertainment version of XP.
Owners of Hauppauge’s WinTV Nova-s can receive all the BBC TV channels immediately, including One, Two, Three, Four, CBBC, Cbeebies and BBC News24. The BBC’s radio channels are also available, including Radios 1 to 7. ITV services, including ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and Men&Motors will become available shortly, and more channels will be added early in 2006 when Freesat officially launches.
“Freesat will be the satellite equivalent of Freeview,” said Yehia Oweiss, Managing Director of Hauppauge Digital. “Already broadcasting BBC, the service is be available to all UK households and bring free digital TV to the 25 per cent who are outside Freeview’s area. Consumers can buy our Freesat tuner now and enjoy many digital channels now, with more being added all the time.”
The WinTV Nova-s is also compatible with HDTV (High Definition TV). HDTV broadcasts are expected to be delivered by satellite in 2006/7, offering stunning visual images.
The EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) broadcast by Freesat will be available on the Hauppauge card. In the meantime, owners can obtain an EPG via the Internet. The Nova-s will allow for scheduled recordings, using the hard disk in the PC to store programmes at their original broadcast quality. Owners could play back the recordings or copy to DVD for playback elsewhere.
As an added bonus, the Hauppauge WinTV Nova-s has a video input socket. This allows a camcorder to be plugged directly into the PC. Home movies can be digitised into MPEG format, edited and then copied to DVD for preservation.
ITV currently encrypts, or scrambles, its transmissions via satellite, using the service provided by Sky. In the next few months, ITV will begin to broadcast its channels “in the clear” - without encryption - so they can be watched through any satellite receiver. The BBC started doing this in 2003.
Source: MediaCenterPCWorld.com
November 22nd, 2005
Video Without Boundaries, a provider of interactive, media-convergent home entertainment devices, today announced it was deploying a new portable media player/recorder device named CoPilot.
The new flash-based MPEG-4 portable will retail for under $200 and features AV input recording allowing for easy connection to DVD Player, VCRs, cable and satellite set-top boxes for simple recording of TV and Movies.
“VWB has experienced tremendous success with the introduction of the Flyboy,” said Video Without Boundaries, Inc. President and CEO Jeffrey Harrell. “Based on early feedback from the retailers and our existing Flyboy customers, there is a tremendous untapped market for the price point that CoPilot will address. Video Without Boundaries recently announced our Portable Media initiative and the announcement today of the CoPilot product is the first of many projects the company plans in regard to expanding our portable product line as well as the ability to download and stream content to the devices.”
The CoPilot features video playback and recording on either an internal 512MB or 1GB flash drive. The unit memory is also expandable via its SD card slot enabling the CoPilot to store more than 6 hours of video at 320 x 240 @ 30f/s resolution. The CoPilot also supports MP3, WAV, and WMA formats and Line In Audio for simple playback and recording of music.
Other Features include:
* Internal Microphone for Voice recording
* Photo viewing
* Video output for playback of video onto TV
* Games
* Calendar
* Clock
* Built-in speakers
* FM radio
November 22nd, 2005
SkipJam announced today support for Apple’s iPod, providing iPod docking directly to the SkipJam iMedia Center.
Using Firewire (IEEE 1394) or USB 2.0 users can connect their iPods directly to any iMedia Center or to any iMedia enabled PC and immediately play music, photos and video throughout their home. The SkipJam iMedia support for the iPod also allows SkipJam users to record audio or video content directly onto the iPod Storage, creating a plug’n'go recording solution which records shows directly onto the iPod drives for portability.
Users plug in the iPod and the iMedia system automatically recognizes it. No additional steps are required by the user, and there’s no need to “copy” content to or from the iPod. The iPod, once plugged into an iMedia Center, becomes a portable storage extension, and the iPod hard drive can be accessed and played from any TV or Stereo in the home.
For example, the SkipJam - iPod connection would allow a user to dock their iPod Video directly to a SkipJam iMedia Center or to any PC on the home network. Then pick up the iPod in the morning, fully charged, and full of the previous night’s TV content ready for viewing on the train or during lunch.
Alternately, an iPod Nano user in California could dock anywhere on their SkipJam iMedia network, and pick up the iPod the following morning complete with recordings from Internet Broadcasts of New York’s WNYC.
“The SkipJam iMedia Center is a universal audio video hub, with broad support for interconnecting a wide variety of media and formats,” said Michael Spilo, President of SkipJam. “We plan to continue to add functionality to support a wide array of products and platforms.”
SkipJam’s HomeView feature allows users to remotely access their entire home multimedia system, viewing any device or pre-recorded content remotely. The HomeView feature has also been enhanced to support the iPod. The new feature allows users to remotely convert content on the fly to iPod format and to stream any of their home multimedia devices or pre-recorded multimedia content directly to an iPod connected to their away from home PC.
This feature allows users to access high quality home recordings remotely, and download directly from home to the iPod for later viewing.
Complete Feature List
The SkipJam iPod support software provides iPod owners with access to their SkipJam iMedia house-wide multimedia network. This iMedia support opens a portal for iPod owners through which they can enjoy their content on a stereo or large screen TV:
* Play music from the iPod synchronized throughout the whole house
* Schedule automatic recording of TV shows directly to iPod Video drives
* Schedule automatic recording of any audio (e.g. FM or Internet Radio)
directly to iPod
* Access and convert ‘on the fly’ any media from home while away
* Locally convert high quality video recordings to iPod Video format for
portability
* View photos from iPods on any TV in the home
* Share iPod recordings and play them back on multiple TVs at once
* Aggregate content from multiple iPods for a shared multi-user experience
Price and Availability
The SkipJam iMedia Center to iPod interface software is scheduled for release in January, and will be available to existing SkipJam iMedia Center users as an upgrade free of charge.
November 22nd, 2005
Motorola and Skype announced the first Skype-certified Bluetooth headset solution in America, the Motorola Wireless Internet Calling Kit. Available at 3,500 RadioShack stores nationwide, the Motorola wireless Internet Calling Kit enables Skype users to experience the freedom of wireless while making free, unlimited voice calls over the Internet*.
Comprised of a Motorola H500 Bluetooth Headset and PC850 PC Adapter, the Motorola Wireless Internet Calling Kit also includes 30 free SkypeOut minutes so users can make Skype calls to mobile and landline phones without additional charges. To experience wireless communications, users plug in the Motorola PC850 PC Adapter to equip traditional laptops and PCs with Bluetooth technology, load the required software onto the PC and follow a simple, step- by-step procedure to establish the cordless connection between the PC and Motorola H500 headset**.
The Motorola Wireless Internet Calling Kit is the latest offering from Motorola and Skype. Leveraging Motorola’s strength in seamless mobility, advanced technologies, devices and accessories along with Skype’s rapidly- growing global user base and rich voice and messaging communication tools, the companies aim to provide greater connectivity options and access for Skype’s more than 66 million registered worldwide users.
“Motorola and Skype are combining the power of Internet telephony with Bluetooth technology, redefining the ways that consumers can stay in touch,” said Bruce Hawver, vice president and general manager, Motorola, Inc., Companion Products. “Multi-taskers will be impressed with the streamlined communications, using the Motorola H500 Bluetooth Headset for either wire-free mobile or Internet-based calls.”
“By working with Motorola, we’re delivering products that make Skype more accessible to consumers and businesses,” said Niklas Zennstrom, Skype CEO and co-founder. “The Motorola Wireless Internet Calling Kit is the first Skype- recommended Bluetooth solution in America, reinforcing our mission to evolve the Skype solution beyond the desktop for on-the-go communications.”
With up to approximately eight hours of talk time and a lightweight, ergonomic fit, the Motorola H500 empowers Skype users to embrace wireless connectivity for Internet calls — up to 30 feet away from a Bluetooth-enabled PC. Skype users can also have calls automatically forwarded to their compatible Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones when away from the PC and use the Motorola H500 Headset to wirelessly conduct cord-free conversations on their mobile phone***.
Pricing and Availability
The Skype Motorola Kit is available today at RadioShack and at the online Skype store, for $99.99.
November 22nd, 2005