Posts filed under 'Digital Home'
Toshiba announced today the availability of its new line of gigabeat Portable Media Players.Based on Windows Mobile Portable Media Center Version 2.0 software, the two new models available in 30GB and 60GB capacities offer consumers a vast array of content and a stunningly simple device to enjoy it with. By partnering with four of the content industry leaders, gigabeat users are not limited to the entertainment selections from one content provider and are not locked into a single service.
“The new gigabeat line of Portable Media Players offer consumers access to hundreds of content delivery services,” said Yoshi Uchiyama, Group Vice President of Toshiba’s Digital Audio Video division. “Consumers are no longer tethered to one service with limited choices. We’ve partnered with the industry leaders and pioneers to ensure that consumers have immediate access and can choose the delivery service that is best suited to their needs.”
For consumers seeking full length movies for their gigabeat, Toshiba has partnered with Starz Entertainment Group LLC (SEG) to offer their new Vongo(SM) service. Unveiled at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, Vongo delivers movies and other video content over the Internet for playback on Windows-based PCs, laptops and select portable media devices as well as on a TV. Vongo subscribers have unlimited access to more than 1,600 movie and video selections as well as a live, streaming Starz TV channel for a monthly cost of $9.99. Additionally, select popular pay-per-view titles are available for $3.99 a movie. Vongo began a universal 14-day free trial earlier this spring providing consumers with access to the service which can be downloaded by broadband subscribers in the United States at www.vongo.com.
The partnership with Toshiba fulfills Vongo’s promise of entertainment on the go by offering premium movie content on the Toshiba gigabeat, the first commercially available, next generation Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Center device. This groundbreaking partnership will enable consumers to simply download movies onto Toshiba’s gigabeat and access them whenever and wherever they want.
“Vongo certifying the gigabeat as its first approved portable device and associated agreement with Toshiba is a major development for Starz and the digital entertainment industry,” said Bob Greene, Executive Vice President of Advanced Services for SEG. “Vongo and Toshiba deliver together true ‘on the go’ portability for movies, TV episodes and concerts with a true next generation device. Even better, we do so at no additional charge for Vongo subscribers.”
In addition to movies, TACP is providing consumers with a simple way to obtain their favorite music for their gigabeat. This year, Toshiba will continue their relationship with Napster� and is pleased to announce two additional partnerships that offer consumers access to a broad array of musical content. Both eMusic� and RealNetworks’� Rhapsody� service have entered into joint marketing agreements with Toshiba for the gigabeat device.
In addition to the new Napster.com, an interactive music destination where music fans can hear and share over two million major and independent-label tracks for free, Napster also offers two premium music subscription services, Napster and Napster To Go. Napster subscribers pay one low monthly price and enjoy unlimited access to CD-quality music and advanced discovery, community and programming features. Napster To Go subscribers enjoy those same premium benefits plus the power to transfer an unlimited amount of music to compatible MP3 players, like the Toshiba gigabeat, without having to purchase individual tracks and albums a la carte.
eMusic will offer more than 1.2 million tracks from established and emerging artists in every genre from the world’s leading independent labels. Unlike other download services, eMusic is the only one to deliver music in the universally compatible MP3 format, which allows consumers to burn CDs, transfer music to MP3 players and make as many copies of songs or albums as they like for personal use.
“We’re excited to provide new gigabeat owners with a fantastic selection of great music and to welcome them to eMusic’s community of music fans,” said David Pakman, CEO and President of eMusic.
Rhapsody, RealNetworks’ award-winning online music service, gives consumers access to over 2 million songs from every major label and thousands of independents, along with thoughtful music recommendations and unique editorial content from some of the most experienced music experts around. With Rhapsody To Go, users can fill and re-fill their gigabeat Portable Media Player with music from this tremendous library using a fast and intuitive interface, creating the perfect solution for enjoying virtually any song on the go. Consumers can take advantage of a 30-day free trial of the Rhapsody To Go service with their gigabeat at www.rhapsody.com/toshiba.
The gigabeat Portable Media Player also has the ability to download recorded television content from a consumer’s Windows Media� Edition PC, or from their TiVo� Series2 DVR using the TiVoToGo� feature. Either method lets consumers take their favorite TV shows with them wherever they go for the ultimate in flexibility.
To complement the full array of content choices available, the gigabeat Portable Media Players are available with 30GB and 60GB of storage capacity, a 2.4″ diagonally measured QVGA color screen with 320 x 240 resolution, a new more tactile PlusTouch� button and thanks to the Windows Mobile Portable Media Center software, one of the most intuitive interfaces available today. An FM Tuner is built in and gigabeat also offers the ability to transfer digital images for viewing directly from most digital cameras. Finally, a TV Audio and Video output lets users connect their gigabeat to a television for the ultimate in convenience.
The gigabeat PMC models are available now at $299.99 (30GB - MES30VW) and $399.99 (60GB - MES60VK) respectively.
June 22nd, 2006
Doghouse Electronics has unveiled the first-of-a-kind RoverTv, a super smart, super skinny portable media recorder and player that records directly from TV without a computer.”RoverTv establishes a new category of handheld TV recorders and players,” said RoverTv designer Jim Howard. “We built RoverTv hard-drive-free to streamline it and make it durable. Hard drives are chunky and fragile - they were never made to withstand the day to day handling that’s a normal part of enjoying a portable media device,” said Howard, noting that RoverTv’s Flash drive and SD technology provide unlimited external memory. Built-in software allows easy transfer of video/music content to and from a Mac or PC.
Howard says RoverTv satisfies rising consumer demand for more ways to enjoy the media they purchase. “With cable, satellite, downloading and broadcast, people have instant access to record media. RoverTv adds value, opening endless options for recording, transferring and viewing the media they’ve invested in.” RoverTv charges no recording fees and no monthly fees.
Available in the 3.5-inch “Big Screen” ($299.00) and the 4-inch “wide-screen” ($349.00), RoverTv also offers another industry first-it’s the first of its size portable media recorder and player that fills the surface of the device with screen rather than controls. RoverTv’s unique design places the controls on the outer edge, maximizing display size. RoverTv allows consumers to record directly from TV, DVD, CD, FM or computer and accommodates MP3, MP4, WAV files and more. RoverTv supports TiVo To Go(TM) for viewing content recorded to TiVo(TM) and can download content from iTunes(TM), BurnLounge and other electronic media providers. RoverTv is equipped to store JPEG/BMP/GIF photos, videos and presentations.
RoverTv features a Samsung TFT screen, crisp video resolution (320×240 for the Big Screen, 480 x 272 for the Wide Screen), USB port, AV input/output and FM radio receiver. RoverTv is powered by a rechargeable, built-in lithium ion battery that lasts a minimum of 12 hours for uninterrupted audio or 6 hours of video. Video stored in RoverTv can be viewed on any television up to 42″ via the AV output, or on PC. RoverTv includes USB cord, battery charger, AV cable, premium TXB ear buds, one 1Gig SD card and one 2Gig SD card, enough capacity to store eleven hours of television or 4200 songs. RoverTv is available through Doghouse Electronics, http://www.rovertv.net.
June 22nd, 2006
Toshiba has announced that it wil launch the world’s first commercially available HD-DVD recorder, the RD-A1, on July 14.As with most such innovations, the Japanese will get first bite, with no news yet about when the American and European markets can expect a similar product.
However, this is definitely a machine for the early-adopter enthusiast as the recorder will cost 398,000 yen ($3,466). Before you put your wallet down though, just look at the specification which is quite stunning.
The RD-A1 ha a one terrabyte hard drive which allows it to store over 100 hours of high definition programming. Toshiba has designed the recorder to minimize vibration and enhance audio. The body consists of a 1mm-thick main case and a metal subframe resting on aluminum damping pillars. It has multiple digital and analogue tuners and networking capability, allowing remote programming.
Suddenly $3000 doesn’t seem quite so much.
June 22nd, 2006
Samsung, which despite the doomsayers, is on course to be first to market in the USA with a Blu-Ray player, has confirmed it is considering supporting the HD-DVD format as well.However, that support will come in the form of a combined Blu-Ray / HD-DVD player and not a standalone device.
“We don’t have a plan to make an HD-DVD-only player but are considering a universal player,” Samsung’s home platform spokesman Kim Du-Hyon said. “We are preparing HD-DVD now, and if we launch a universal player, it will be the end of this year or early next year.”
In a slightly unconvincing statement Kim also said that he expected Blu-Ray to stomp all over HD-DVD once consumers saw the two formats side by side. However, Samsung doesn’t seem prepared to back that conviction up with actions and is set to build a combo player anyway.
Samsung’s BD-P1000 Blu-Ray player will go on sale in the United States on June 25 for US$1,000.
June 22nd, 2006
Okoro Media Systems, manufacturer of digital entertainment systems for the high end audio video market, is pleased to announce the availability of the high performance GX Series. The is based on the AMD FX and Intel Duo 2 Technologies and comes with 1 Terabyte of storage. The GX Series will feature uncompromising gaming performance and will allow the use of up to five media center extenders for high definition video and audio distribution. This series also features a seven inch touch screen display with HD transcoder for 720p resolutions.
“Many of our customers enjoy playing the latest video games on their HDTV and have requested that we provide a higher end media center pc. We feel the GX Series digital entertainment system will allow them play these games at HDTV resolutions and allow them to easily manage their media with the built-in touch screen LCD.” said Christopher Curry, VP of Sales & Operations.
The GX series will launch with the GX300 model. This model is based on the dual-core AMD FX-60 processor with 1 GB of Crucial Ballistix RAM, NVidia 7950 GX2 video card and 1 TB of storage. All GX models feature the following:
7.1 HD audio with Dolby Digital Live technology
Dual ATI 550 PVR Tuner Cards
HDTV Tuner Card
1GB of Crucial Ballistix Memory
Upgradeable to 3.0 Terabytes of media storage
Dual Layer DVD Burner
7” LCD Touchscreen with 720p Transcoder
My Movies plugin for DVD archival Storage
Okoro Media Systems will soon include GX Models based on the Intel Core Duo2 and AMD M2 platforms
For more information about the GX series Digital Entertainment System, please visit www.okoromedia.com
June 8th, 2006
Acer seem to have slipped under the radar with their new Viiv Media Center PC, the Aspire iDea 500. A press release was in circulation last month, but it’s only in the past couple of days that the tech press has sat up and taken notice - and what a good thing we did.
For a start it blends seamlessly into the living room environment. It’s one of the slimmest media center PCs that we’ve ever seen at 70mm high.
Secondly there’s been no skimping on the technical specification. It has an Intel Core Duo processor and a Gig of RAM. Where many manufacturers fall down when building a MCPC Acer has succeeded admirably by sticking in two hybrid Analog / DVB-T Tuners so you can watch and record at the same time.
With dual hybrid TV tuners, HDMI, SCART and numerous other ports combined with internal keyboard and remote control receivers as well as a memory card reader, the Aspire iDea has all the connections that you will need.
Most importantly for a PC that is going to sit in the living room it’s very quiet. At system idle, Acer says that the iDea 500 will sit around 23dBA of noise. Under more heavy loads, the system outputs roughly 28dBA.
June 6th, 2006
Blueado today announced the commercial availability of the new Blueado HDTV Mini Media Center, a complete home theater media center solution.
Blueado redefines what a mini media center should by introducing the worlds first mini media center with TV tuners, a 400 GB Hard Drive, and 2 gigabytes of memory standard. The Blueado HDTV Mini Media Center is the ideal home theater Media Center for anyone looking to add a sense of style and sophistication to their home theater.
“When we at Blueado decided to make the first Mini Media Center we made a commitment to to include a TV tuner inside it. Since late 2005 we’ve been working on a multi-TV tuner card solution that will fit inside our Mini Series. Today we are very excited to introduce the worlds first Blueado HDTV Mini Media Center.” Says Greg Snyder, Vice President of Product Development. “One of our goals is to provide a media center that works in any living room, that is why today we are also excited to introduce another industry first, Total TV Compatibility. This means that every Blueado Mini Media Center we make will be compatible with every single TV sold in America, today or seven years ago.”
The Blueado HDTV Mini Media Center can consolidate all your digital photos, organize your music and DVD collection, and replace your DVD player, DVD Recorder, and with the included programmable universal remote it can also replace all your remote controls. Every Blueado HDTV Mini Media Center includes My Blueado, the revolutionary online setup configuration tool that allows. customers to set up their TV signal, Speaker Configuration, and TV guide all from Blueado.com when they purchase the Blueado Mini. The Blueado Mini reduces the time required to set up the Blueado at home from hours to minutes. The Blueado HDTV Mini includes an impressive 54 Mbps 802.11g fast secure wireless networking adapter, that comes with a 3 feet cable to allow you to place it away from any home theater equipment. The included brand new Microsoft Media Center keyboard is a must have for enjoying online content from your living room. The new Blueado Mini includes two front USB ports for easy plug-n-play connections to popular peripherals such as Play For Sure MP3 players.
The new Blueado Mini offers a DVI, HDTV Component interface that supports out put to High Definition Televisions, and includes video output, S-Video out, and VGA. The 400 GB hard drive will provide over 100 hours of recorded Television and Pentium M along with the 2 Gigabytes of Memory provide enough power to record HDTV programing while enjoying the many other features.
The Blueado HDTV Mini is available directly from http://www.blueado.com for US customers.
The Blueado HDTV Mini m5e Sport Edition includes:
4.2 inches tall, under 8 inches wide, and just over 12 inches long
Built in Standard ATSC TV Tuner
Built in Over the air HDTV Tuner.
400 Gigabyte Storage will record over 100 hours of HDTV or over 200 hours of high quality standard video.
2 Gigabytes of Memory
Built in DVD Burner.
Pentium M 2.0GHZ
Dolby Digital Audio In
5.1 Dolby Digital Audio Out
5.and 6.1 DTS Digital Audio Out
Front USB 2.0 and Fire Wire Connections
7 Input Card Reader
DVI, S-Video, VGA, Standard Video Out, Component Video Out
Front Audio Out and In
My Blueado Software
My DVD Software
MCE Weather Software
MCE Auction Software
June 6th, 2006
S1Digital, builder of premium digital home entertainment systems, today announced the launch of the Media Center Mini Edition, a new generation of Media Center that strikes a balance between portability, space and power to deliver a digital theater experience anytime, anywhere.
About the size of a book, the Media Center Mini Edition is a full featured Media Center and PC designed to meet all of your home entertainment needs. Powered by an Intel Core Duo processor, the Mini runs Microsoft Media Center Edition 2005 and is Intel Viiv Technology compliant. Why settle for less when the Mini Edition is the perfect way to extend content around the home or as an on-the go digital media solution.
Mini Edition uses include:
* Play back all of your primary Media Center content in another room, including recorded TV, movies, videos and music. Great for the kitchen, bedroom or any room where space is limited.
* Add a touch screen interface for simple control without a keyboard, mouse or remote control. Using S1Digitals soon to be released home automation solution, control your lights, A/C, security and other home theater equipment.
* Load your movies, music and recorded TV and take it with you. Don’t forget the Mini Edition is a powerful PC as well so you can surf the Internet, play games and do your work (although we don’t recommend you do your work while on vacation).
Weve had customers put the Mini Edition on a yacht, in their kitchens, even in the bathroom, said Paul Heitlinger, S1Digital founder and CEO. With a Media Center this small, the possibilities are up to you.
Media Center Mini Edition Specifications:
* Windows Media Center Edition 2005 with Rollup 2
* Intel Core Duo T2300 (1.66GHz) Dual Core (Yonah) CPU
* 945GM + ICH7M-DH With Intel Viiv Technology
* 1GB DDR2 RAM
* 80GB SATA Hard Drive with Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
* 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio - with digital optical or analog outputs
* 10/100/1000 MB/s wired network connection and internal 802.11b/g wireless option
* DVD+/-RW drive
* Intel GMA950 video with DVI, Component Video and RGB output
* Internal speaker, IEEE1394 Firewire
* 6.49″ W x 1.96″ H x 6.49″ L
* Only 2.4 pounds
For further information on the Media Center Mini Edition or any of our other Media Centers and digital entertainment solutions visit www.s1digital.com
June 2nd, 2006
When Intel’s Viiv platform first launched we spent a lot of time writing ‘Viiv - sounds like live’. Of course, we didn’t notice that ‘live’ can be pronounced two ways and now that failing has come back to hanut us with the news that AMD is to brand it’s Viiv rival as LIVE!
No, caps-lock isn’t stuck - it seems to be essential to write the name in uppercase, but we’re still not sure whether AMD is telling us that our media center PCs will be alive, or live as opposed to recorded.
This slightly frivalous opening is by way of introducing you to the fact that AMD has played catch up with Intel and is dipping a toe into the media center PC market.
Leading OEMs including Acer, Alienware, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Gateway, HP, Sahara, and Tsinghua Tongfang, as well as system builders in North America, Western Europe, and China, will have AMD LIVE! PCs, powered by the AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor, starting in June. The AMD LIVE! Entertainment Suite, a collection of services and applications designed to enhance the PC experience, is also available today at www.amdlive.com.
The AMD LIVE! PC and AMD LIVE! Entertainment Suite represent the culmination of industry-leading companies collaborating around open standards to deliver compelling entertainment solutions, said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president, Desktop Business, AMD. With the AMD LIVE! PC, AMD begins delivering on its vision for merging broadcast TV content with interactive, personalized broadband applications and services, all without disrupting the devices already accepted and used by consumers in their homes today.
The AMD LIVE! PC is designed to help consumers get more enjoyment out of their digital media by consolidating their content in a central location and delivering the tools to help them easily and seamlessly access that content through the devices they already have. Today customers are looking for PCs that will allow them to view, interact and play new content from broadcast television to music to games, said Tom Anderson, vice president of marketing, global consumer PCs, Personal Systems Group, HP. By offering AMD LIVE! branded PCs, our customers will have the ability to buy a PC that will meet their evolving entertainment needs.
Weve seen remarkable enthusiasm for Windows XP Media Center Edition PCs, which enable consumers to enjoy their photos, music, TV shows and movies throughout the home, said Mike Sievert, corporate vice president, Windows Client Marketing at Microsoft. By collaborating with AMD to deliver a powerful combination of digital entertainment software on a strong media platform, Microsoft is helping to provide consumers with rich, engaging experiences.
Not surprisingly, Alienware is one of the first OEMs to produce a LIVE! PC. They will offer AMD LIVE! branded Aurora 7500 and Aurora ALX desktop systems, enabling users to consolidate their photos, videos, music, and movies in one place while accessing all of it through their TVs, game consoles, MP3 players, cell phones, and other common digital devices.
“AMD LIVE! converges home entertainment with personal computing by taking the innovative performance present in the AMD64 dual-core processor-powered Aurora 7500 and Aurora ALX and applying it to every aspect of a consumer’s entertainment experience,” said Bob Brewer, Corporate Vice President, Desktop Division, AMD. “AMD LIVE! PCs can erase limitations on entertainment, enabling Alienware users to enjoy their favorite digital media anywhere within the home and anywhere on the road.”
Reproduced by kind permission: Media Center PC World
June 1st, 2006
SageTV Media Center becomes the first full- featured personal video recorder/media center software product to offer placeshifting capabilities enabling users to access their live or recorded TV, music and photos on any PC when they are away from home.
The integration of PVR and placeshifting functionality in a single system yields better video quality and faster navigation than a separate placeshifting box connected to a PVR while also costing significantly less than purchasing two separate solutions.
The new placeshifting functionality is available immediately as a $30 add-on to both the Windows and Linux OEM editions of just-released SageTV Media Center Version 5.0.
“Placeshifting lets you enjoy your personal digital media library anywhere in the world, and combining PVR and placeshifting capabilities solves the performance, complexity and cost problems created by standalone placeshifting solutions,” said Mike Machado, CEO of Sage TV. “You don’t need an extra piece of hardware on your network, you do’t need to pay monthly subscription fees for a PVR service, you avoid the losses in video quality caused by having to rerecord the recorded video, and you don’t have to wait while the box sends IR commands to a PVR, records the TV signal and sends it for decoding.”
With SageTV’s new placeshifting feature, users can watch live or recorded TV from their home network as well as access their music and photo libraries from any PC with an Internet connection - whether in a hotel, office, airport, Wi-Fi cafe, at the pool or beach, or simply visiting family in another city. Watch your hometown news or ballgames from out of town, see a ‘Desperate Housewives’ or ‘Survivor’ episode from your PVR, play your favorite Nine Inch Nails or Nickelback tunes, and share your latest family snapshots wherever you are. No tuner card is required on the remote PC, and no extra hardware or software is required at home.
In addition, SageTV’s new placeshifting function can be used to stream video to any computer or TV in the home, including PCs located in weak wireless signal areas or those equipped with older 802.11b Wi-Fi. Only the PC equipped with the core SageTV Media Center application needs a tuner card.
Unlike standalone placeshifting products that cannot support different programming simultaneously, SageTV Media Center allows family members at home or away, or in different locations in the house, to watch the programs of their choice without being affected by each other’s viewing habits. With one tuner in the SageTV-equipped PC at home, one user can watch any live or recorded TV while the other watches any recorded TV. With two tuners, both parties can also watch either live or recorded TV at the same time.
These features extend the functionality of SageTV Media Center, a full-featured PVR that enables users to record a single show or whole season of their favorite television programs on their PCs; pause, rewind and fast-forward live or recorded cable, satellite or antenna TV shows; and record multiple shows on multiple tuners simultaneously. Integrated 14-day U.S., Canadian and European program guides are available directly from the SageTV interface, eliminating the need to switch to a separate online application to plan one’s TV viewing and recording.
For end users, SageTV eliminates the need to subscribe to a monthly digital video recording service or buy a new Windows XP MCE PC or Windows XP MCE operating system to obtain PVR/media center capabilities. For OEMs, the application makes it possible to build advanced multi-stream PVR products that also provide access to all music, photo and movies on the network from a single interface on Windows PCs or Linux PCs and embedded set-tops.
Version 5.0 of SageTV Media Center for Windows and SageTV Media Center Linux OEM Edition is available immediately at www.sagetv.com. The special introductory price for both the core application and the new placeshifting feature is $99.95, a $10 savings over purchasing the $79.95 PVR/media center software and $30 placeshifting option separately. A complete package including the SageTV application with placeshifting plus an Hauppage tuner card is $179.95. Additional concurrent placeshifting connections are available for $30 each.
Minimum system requirements include an Intel Pentium III 600 MHz or AMD Athlon 600 MHz computer with Microsoft Windows 98SE, 2000 SP3 or higher, ME or XP (Home, Pro or MCE) and 128MB RAM (256MB recommended).
May 23rd, 2006
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