Slingmedia Set To Launch DOCSIS 2.0 Capable SlingModem
One of our favorite companies over the years has been Slingmedia. They have single handedly changed the way we think about placeshifting TV. They are going to be announcing a very cool new product next week at The Cable Show.
Dubbed the SlingModem it will basically act as a cable modem on steroids. This will act as both a cable modem and a palceshifting streaming device in one. To quote from our sister site, TV Snob:
The SlingModem will require a broadband connection with a network router to enable web streaming, but unlike the SlingBox, won't have to sit between the router and the TV or set-top box eliminating home network clutter.
This seems like a very interesting streaming device that will be able to remove one layer of confusion for the user when setting up their streaming solution. It also will come equipped with an analog tuner so you can bypass the TV altogether. Slingmedia constantly comes up with very innovative products that further their dominance in the home TV placeshifting market. Once more info is released about the Slingmodem we'll be sure to add another article.
Iomega's ScreenPlay HD Media Extender: A 500GB Hi-Def USB Media Player
Iomega, one of the leaders in helping you store your content, has released a Hi-Def media streaming hard drive to help with experiencing your media via your entertainment center. The Screenplay is a USB based hard drive streaming device that will allow you to store just about all of your videos, music and pictures in one place. There is no network with this device so you will have to load it up via USB with all of your content, but it does support HDMI which most of the media hard drives on the market do not support. This will allow you to play a bunch of different file types like:
MPEG-1
MPEG-2( AVI / VOB )
MPEG-4( AVI / DiVX / XVid )
JPEG
MP3
AC3
WMA
WAV
OGG
With the Screenplay you will be able to view your videos at 1080i which should satisfy most people these days. Sadly there is no H.264 support as of yet. We couldn't find any info on their site as to what CPU they are using in there so it may be that they can't do H.264. Hopefully they are using the newer Sigma 8634 processor. That way H.264 can come via a firmware update later. If they are using a lower powered CPU then H.264 probably will remain a pipe dream. This is a device we may have to go out and get as this could be a very cool travel streamer. Going somewhere and want to take your media collection with you, bring the Screenplay. We'll hunt around for some hands on reviews in the meantime and see if this thing is worth your time.
Elgato has released a free update that will add support for H.264 to their flagship PVR product. Elgato's EyeTV is one of the leaders when it comes to Mac PVR software. Coupled with their other products this lets you turn your Mac laptop into a portable entertainment center. You can record all the shows you want and then have the freedom to view them from wherever. Now with the addition of H.264 you can add to their list of features high quality and low space requirements. Once you get your cable input hooked up to your Mac you will be able to utilize their highly intuitive menu system and program guide to customize your viewing experience to however you like it. Products like these are perfect of the person on go. Record a ton of your favorite shows to your Mac and watch them as you travel.
We are planning a bigger review of the Elgato line-up since they offer so many really cool products for the digital media world so stay tuned.
MediaGate HD MG-450HD Wireless Media Streaming Device [Unboxing]
Our friends at MediaGateUSA were kind enough to set us up with a demo unit of the MG-450HD media streaming device they have recently unleashed on the world. While we give it our once over we thought we would share with you the standard unboxing porn that always comes with a new device here at Networking Audio Video. Keep an eye out for our hands on review in the coming weeks, for now check out after the jump for all the juicy pictures.
MvixUSA Releases New MV-2500U HD Multimedia Hard Drive
One of our favorite companies when it comes to media streamers has been MvixUSA and they have just released another cool portable media streamer dubbed the MV-2500U. This little( 5- x 3- x 0.8-inches ) device sports a 2.5" internal drive and basically will be able to fit in your pocket. You can now take a large portion of your media collection with you wherever you go. And the fact that it will let you output in HD is a huge bonus for this little device. MvixUSA has focused on this segment for awhile now, producing products that can act as your main home streamer, but also have the functionality to be taken with you. The MV-2500U does not have an LCD screen like the rest of their products so you will have to rely on the on-screen menu system to navigate your stored media.
Planex DigiJike BitTorrent NAS: The Future of Home Media Streaming?
For all you BitTorrent fans out there a new box is on the market( somewhere ) that may be your holy grail. The Planex DigiJuke NAS device will allow you to specify what content you are interested in and it will use its built-in browser to find the torrents and start downloading them. This is basically like having Tivo, but instead of just being able to grab only what your cable provider gives you, now you can have anything that has been uploaded on the web. With the built in 1TB of storage it will allow you to store quite a few movies before you need to offload to a backup device. One of the DIgiJukes big selling points is that it can automatically format your newly downloaded content for a bevy of devices from PSPs to iPods to just your standard TV.
On top of the BitTorrent hard drive aspect of the DigiJuke, it can also act as your standard NAS device serving up files and media to all of your devices. It comes with the standard USB ports so you can attach extra storage or just so you can pop in an extra hard drive to watch some of your friends content.
The main site is in Japanese and the translation page doesn't reveal much so we don't have all the info on this device. We do know that it will retail for around $524 and come with 2 500GB drives. We don't know if this will ever be released in the US, but we will continue to look into it and see if we can dig anything up.
We recently got an email from our friends over at Popcorn Hour letting us know that they have opened up their ordering system to everyone. For a long time you were only able to buy a Popcorn Hour A-100 by signing up as a member and getting on their wait list. In the past this wait list was months long. Well it looks like they have been able to ramp up their manufacturing process and have enough devices to open up the ordering to everyone. It will still be a first come first serve system, so the sooner your pre-order the quicker you will receive your Popcorn Hour streamer.
We have had our Popcorn Hour A-100 in the office for awhile now and we have been really digging it. Of course it is not without its flaws, but it is one of the top streamers on the market today. And for $179 it is a total bargain. You would be hard pressed to find a HD( 1080p ) media streamer out there for under $200. So If you are in need of a new media streamer and you want to be able to stream true HD, stream over NFS and have a device from a company that is devoted to constantly improving their product, then this is the box for you. Like we said, for $179 it is a no brainer.
You can read all of our coverage of the Popcorn Hour A-100 Media Streamer here.
April 2008 Monthly Round Up for Networking Audio Video
As always April was a very busy month for us here. We go the Squeezebox Duet remote in for testing( expect our review next month ), we saw a host of cool new products get announced and we reviewed some older products just to round out our catalog with as many media streaming reviews as possible. It looks like May is shaping up to be just as busy with the MediaGate MG-450HD due to arrive and a few other products we are working to get in the office so stay tuned.
The Ripserver CD Buring Device to Solve All of Your Problems
One of the biggest hurdles people face when contemplating the move to a digital music lifestyle is the prospect of having to rip all of their CDs to their hard drive. When we made this leap it took about 2 weeks using two computers, specialized software( EAC and CDex are tops of Windows users ) and constant attention. Not everyone has the time to deal with this and so their thoughts of going digital fade into the ether for another year. Well there is now a solution, albeit a pricey one.The Ripserver is a dream for people that don't want to have to deal with all of the complexities that can creep up when ripping CDs yourself. This system is about as idiot proof( no offense ) as possible. Select either MP3 or FLAC and the bitrate and start shoving discs into its hungry mouth. It will rip the source material to its internal drive( 500GB or 1TB ) and allow you to stream them right from the box with its built in UPnP server. Oh and it is DNLA compliant also so no worries about compatibility with any music streamer you may already have or are thinking about buying.
It will also act as a standard RAID 1 NAS device so you don't have to feel that you spent over $1000 on a simple music ripping device. If all of this didn't already have you salivating then check this out, the device sports a 1Ghz processor. We haven't really seen a NAS device sport anything north of 500Mhz. The performance of this sucker should be top notch and streaming should be smooth as a dream. Also the fact that it is running Linux means that you can bet the Linux community will have ported some cool apps to this in no time. If you live in the UK you can get one from Amazon or if you are in the US you can get one here. If we hadn't ripped our CD collection already we would be all over this thing. As always if anyone owns this we would love to hear about it.
We had reported earlier about the new streamer from MediaGate and our thoughts on it were mixed. While it did offer a lot of nice features we thought it lacked a lot of polish. Also the stock image they were using to promote the device did not have an HDMI input on it, but they were talking a big game about HDMI so that really confused us. We said that we would update you when we got more info about the release date of the MG-450HD so here we are letting you know that they are officially being sold so if you want to grab one you can click here. We are going to try and see about getting one in the office and see how it preforms. We'll be sure to let you know what we find out.
The TubeStick Hybrid from Equinux: Perfect TV Receiver For Your Mac
Equinux has been around for awhile and they make all kinds of products for your Mac, but the one that most people reading this blog will recognize is the TubeStick. This little USB stick will allow you to receive TV right on your computer. These are some of the smallest TV tuners on the market and they are known not only for their quality, but their very snappy design. Their latest addition to the TubeStick line is the new TubeStick Hybrid. This new TV tuner will allow you to receive "digital over-the-air HDTV (ATSC), digital (QAM), and analog cable TV (NTSC)" all the while being so small that you won't have to sacrifice any other of your ports on computer. It also ships with an external antenna to allow you better reception for the over the air channels. Using their software you can record your favorite shows to your computer for viewing at a latter date. For only $129 this is a great deal. You can read the rest of the details here, but from what we have read it looks like a homerun of a product.
We have noticed over the past six months or so the increase in companies releasing Internet radio devices and the latest one we have come across is from a company called Intempo. The Daisy is their latest Internet radio to hit the market and it wants to be your portable Internet radio that you can take anywhere. They claim access to thousands of streaming radio stations as well as standard FM radio so you can get your fix of standard terrestrial streaming radio, commercials and all. They claim up to 20 hours of battery life which makes this a great device to have with you in the backyard as you work on your garden or just sip some wine and enjoy the spring weather.
This should be for sale any day now. After all the bad forecasts it looks like Internet radio is still holding on. We love the addition of another device into the mix, especially one that claims use so little power. We hate buying devices that need to be recharged every day. With 20 hours listen time before a recharge you shouldn't have to be plugging this into the recharger too often( unless you decide to go on some wireless remote radio listening binge ). We'll keep you posted on launch date, but be aware that this is slated to retail for just shy of $300. So while it has a lot going for it you really need to love Internet radio and love it wherever you are. Three hundred bucks is pretty steep for a fairly basic radio streamer.
D-Link MediaLounge DPG-1200 Media Streamer Now Shipping
After a fairly long lead up the DPG-1200 is finally available for purchase. This streamer will not only allow you to stream your media content from your PC to your TV but also allow you to bring all the 'great' video content on the web right to your living room. You will be able to browse all of the big video sites on the web and view them via the DPG-1200 on your TV. This will connect to your home network using its wireless connection( WPA2 thankfully ) and can connect to your TV via Component, Composite or VGA. You can check out all of their other specs here. The list price is $239.99 and we are working on getting one in our offices to give it a run through to see if it is something you guys might like. If you have any questions about this device let us know and we will do the best to answer them or track down the answers from D-Link.
Vudo Updates its Box to Version 1.2 and Offers 60 More HD Movies
OK fine, we are like 2 months late on the news, but we really haven't been covering the Vudu box since we weren't really sure where we thought it stood. Is it a media streamer or just a box that allows you to watch DRM movies from the web. In the end we realized that we were splitting hairs and that we had been avoiding it because we thought it another proprietary device designed to lock you into a company's ecosystem and not let the user have the freedom that we think they deserve. That being said, it is still a box that streams movies to your TV so therefore we figured it was about time to add some more coverage to it. You can expect to start seeing more Vudu articles as news becomes available. The news that we are so late in bringing you is that Vudu has released version 1.2 of its software, which among other things adds 60 new HD movies to its lineup. Other add-ons will include:
Instant HD, (an indicator that alerts the user broadband speeds are high enough for HD content downloads); speed limit adjustment control, (user definable bandwidth limits and recommendations based on the imposed limit) and a constant audio setting for high-end audio equipment compatibility.
With prices ranging from $3.99 to $5.99 this actually might be something your average joe may use. We will need to dig deeper and check out what the interface looks like and how it flows. Nothing can kill an cool product quicker then a poorly designed UI. Keep an eye out for more Vudu based articles in the future and if anyone has one of these or has any hands on experience with one we would love to hear from you.
Sony's new S-AIR technology is a very curious move given the amount of wireless streaming technologies out there. S-AIR is a proprietary technology from Sony that is suppose to make setting up and sharing your music among your S-AIR compatible music devices a snap. While we can see the draw of this convenience, the simple fact that you are locked into yet another proprietary format makes us think this is a bad idea. The wireless streaming market is getting very crowded these days and coming out with a closed system doesn't seem like a great idea in our mind. In our opinion if you want to make your device the simplest to use and also sell a lot of units make the setup work with standard wireless protocols. With the amount of time and money Sony probably spent on developing the technology they could have come out with something that played nicely with the rest of the wireless systems that you have in your house currently. I guess this is the way these big companies operate. Come out with a new technology, push it hard and hope that everyone supports it. Unfortunately we don't see this one panning out. There really is no major added benefit of S-AIR. Most devices these days are very simple to setup so having a new Sony system that doesn't work with anything else doesn't make a ton so sense.
If after all our rants you are still interested you can check out their press release that is filled with all the specs over at ehomeupgrade
Slingmedia Set To Launch DOCSIS 2.0 Capable SlingModem
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