Aperion Introduces Intimus 4T Tower Home Theater Speakers
There's just something sexy about high-end tower speakers! If you drool over tower speakers like us here at NAV, you might want to check out the Intimus 4T Tower Speakers from Aperion. According to SlipperyBrick:
The Aperion Intimus 4T tower speakers feature dual 4″ woven fiberglass composite mid-woofers and a reportedly audiophile grade 1″ silk dome tweeter. A pair of these speakers is designed to be used as either the main speakers in small to medium sized rooms, or they can be used as surrounds as part of a larger system. Body colors to choose from include gloss black or real cherry.
At $650 a pair, these speakers will definitely add some class to your home theater.
LG Introduces the BD300 - The First Blu-ray Player With Built-in Netflix Streaming
Anytime we can combine the zillion boxes that coming off of our TVs here at the the NAV headquarters, we get pretty excited. One of the coolest dual products to come along lately is the BD-300 from LG. The BD-300 is a Blu-ray player with the ability to play streaming content from Netflix. Excellent! According to Gizmodo:
After adding flicks to your instant queue, you can access them directly from the player, just like with the Roku box. Basically, the BD-300 is a BD-Live Blu-ray player with an invisible bolted-on Roku box--and that's totally awesome, since it chops the number of boxes you need down by at least one (and shows why Netflix's strategy to win the set-top box war is brilliant). If you're a Netflix subscriber, this is three levels of win. We'll see this baby later tonight, but here's all the details we got in the meantime.
What great news. Now when your Netflix Blu-ray DVDs show up you can just pop them in the BD-300. When you're done with the DVDs, you can fire up the Netflix streaming over the same device. Anyone else notice that Netflix is taking over the world? We're not complaining though!
The LG BD-300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player will be available this fall at under a $500 price point. We'll let you know when more details come in.
So simple yet so cool! How would you like the ability to shove a SATA hardrive into a dock that connects to your TV without a bunch of headaches. You can do tha that with the SATA HDD Multimedia Dock and according to RedFerret.net:
This new SATA HDD Multimedia Dock not only accepts 2.5/3.5 inch hard disks and SD Cards but will deliver multimedia content like video and audio from the disk to your television without a computer. Now that's cool. So you can drop in your disk full of photos or MP3s, hook the thing up to your HiFi or TV and play it all without missing a beat. Now that's cool. Did we say that already? There is however one tiny hitch, the thing only streams FAT32 formatted disks, which is a bit naff, eh? Ah well. $84.00.
At $84, this is quite a deal. The only thing to figure out you'll want an easy to access harddrive external case for your PC so you can load your data. Other than that, the SATA HDD Multimedia Dock looks like a handy device to have around the house.
Here's some news that doesn't surprise us here at the NAV headquarters. More people are watching TV online. According to a poll by Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI):
A fifth of U.S. television viewers are putting down their remote controls and clicking on a mouse instead to watch primetime programs online -- particularly professional women, according to a new survey.
It showed that 50 percent of people viewing TV on the Web are watching programs as they become available and "appear to be beginning to use the computer as a substitute for the television set," Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI), which conducted the poll, said.
We're guessing the reason the number of online viewers is increasing is because of the advent of handy devices like AppleTV and the Netflix Player.
While the news may dissapoint some Netflix streaming users, we like the news that Netflix has no plans to be a pay-per-view model. According to Gizmodo, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings states:
"We don't plan to enter the pay-per-view segment, where Apple, Amazon, Sony and others focus, or the ad-supported segment, where Hulu, YouTube and others compete,"
While Netflix does need to work on more streaming content, we here at NAV like the current concept and simplicity of the Netflix streaming model. We can always get pay-per-view from other sources if we really want it.
Samsung Introduces MediaLive Windows Media Center Extender For 2008 Samsung HDTV's
Want to take your brand new Samsung TV to the next level? Well you'll want to check out Samsung's MediaLive media center extender that hooks up with Windows Media center to stream content from your PC to your TV. According to TVSnob.com:
The company's new MediaLive media center extender, available next month, enables Windows Media Center users running Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate operating systems on a PC to quickly and easily stream digital content from the computer to 2008 model Samsung HDTV's using an HDMI-CEC connection via either a wired or wireless home network. The MediaLive extender supports all types of multimedia codecs including AC3, H.264, JPEG, MPEG2, MPEG4, WMA, and WMV bringing virtually any audio, video or photographic content straight to your bigscreen.
The extender discreetly attaches to the back of the Samsung TV. Since the extender is for Samsung only, it's a tad limited but at $200 it's probably not a bas investment.
As our homes become more entrenched with technology, one of the biggest issues is trying to keep up with the it. One example of a fast moving technology is home networking. It seems just a few years ago, our only choice was a wired network with Cat 5 cable. Not anymore! We ran a great across a great article at Computerworld.com that goes into your choices for setting up a home network. The article starts by explaining the types of networks:
A network lets you connect multiple PCs and other devices together so that they can share resources such as printers, files or an Internet connection. There are three major types of home networks: Ethernet networks that make connections over special (Category 5) wiring; power-line networks that use existing electric wiring and outlets; and wireless (Wi-Fi) networks based on components that send data over the airwaves using radio frequencies.
The article covers these areas:
Wireless Networks
Wi-Fi standards
Draft-N vs. Pre-N
Older and slower standards
2.4 GHz vs. 5.4 GHz
Wired Networks
Power-line networks
The Ethernet option
Network components
Key Features
Network Type
Speed and Range
Security
Hardware Support
Firewall Features
And much more. This is an excellent article you'll want to check out to make sure you're getting the most out of your home network.
NFL Teams with NBC to Stream 17 Regular-Season Games
This is great news for us NFL fans. The NFL and NBC Sports are teaming up to offer some streaming football for free this season. According to SportsBusinessJournal.com:
The NFL will stream 17 regular-season games live this season, marking the first time regular-season action will be broadly streamed in real time in the United States.
Starting with the NFL Kickoff game on Thursday, Sept. 4, between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants, the league plans to stream NBC's prime-time schedule on NFL.com and NBCSports.com as part of a plan being engineered by NBC Olympics President Gary Zenkel and Brian Rolapp, NFL senior vice president of digital media.
This is pretty exciting news. While the NFL offered some streaming football on NFL.com last year, it was a combination of talk show and live cut-ins resulting in only about 50 percent of the game being viewable. Are you excited about the NFL and NBC deal? Leave us a comment.
Roku Neflix Player Believed to be at 100K Units Sold
Over the last few days, there's been a lot of unverified claims that the Neflix Player by Roku has surpassed 100K units sold. According to the WashingPost.com:
The Roku-Netflix ( NSDQ: NFLX) movie delivery box, which went out of stock soon after it was launched, has apparently sold close to 100K units since its launch in May, a seemingly high number considering its limited application and selection of Netflix movies for now..that number comes from Dan Rayburn on his blog. The price point of the box is $99 (and then Netflix movies are free for most of its subscribers), and 100K is only 1 percent of total Netflix user base of 8.2 million customers, so it is possible.
Here at NetworkingAudioVideo we're not surprised and actually believe the number may actually be much higher. The one thing the player always takes a beating on is the lack of content (about 10,000 titles to stream). The key is at a $99 price point if you're already a Netflix subscriber at say $8.99 at month you're only paying .02 cents per show or movie the first year. Even if you only find 1000 shows or movies to watch thats only .20 cents a show or movie.
The whole point is there is no other type of "legal" content out there that is that cheap. As Roku adds more providers and Netflix and more streaming content, we predict that the Netflix Player sales will surpass all the other streaming media devices out there. The biggest issue for Roku right now is there isn't a lot of promotion for the product going on and we only have to assume that's because they've had a tough time fufilling the orders they alreay have. Once they fix their supply issues, Roku will definitely want to look at an all out media blitz.
It's been a few years since we here at NetworkingAudioVideo built our Home Theater PC. At the time it cost us around $1000 for our setup. Here's a decent video on building a Home Theater PC that shows you how to build a pretty nice setup for around $500 and it's a lot nicer than the one we built.
So if you're interested in building a home theater pc, be sure to check this video out.
Yesterday we told you about a cool little project to build your very own Wireless Audio Streamer for under $100 bucks. So once you build your streamer, what do you listen to? You might want to check out this handy "wiki" at Wired.com that shows you how to stream your music online.
The tutorial starts out:
You've spent a lot of time and money collecting digital music. And by now, you have a pretty sweet library of MP3s and AACs to show for the effort.
But let's say you want to take that library to go? Before you start carrying around a huge hard drive, you might want to try streaming your tunes online instead. All it takes to start streaming your music over the internet is a playlist, a server with some storage space, and a software player that can open and play an internet stream.
The steps are:
Step 1: Host it somewhere
Step 2: Create a playlist
2.1 Extended M3U
2.2 XSPF
2.3 PLS
3 Download Software to Do It For You
4 Don't Feed the Lawyers
If you're not sure where to start when you want to stream your own music, this article is a good place to begin.
TiVo and Amazon Equals Products at the Click of a Remote
Everytime the "TiVo is Dead" talk starts to heat back up, TiVo comes out with another impressive announcement. Now besides spending too much money on the Home Shopping Network, TiVo users will be able to buy products with the click of the remote. According to The NYTimes:
The company, based in Alviso, Calif., will introduce a "product purchase" feature on Tuesday in partnership with the Internet retailer Amazon.com. Owners of TiVo video recorders will see, in TiVo's various onscreen menus, links to buy products like CDs, DVDs and books that guests are promoting on talk shows like "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "The Late Show With David Letterman" and "The Daily Show."
In the months ahead, TiVo plans to begin offering this feature to advertisers and programmers, so that the chance to buy products and have them delivered will be presented to viewers during commercials and even alongside product placements during live shows.
Hopefully TiVo will show restraint and overload TiVo viewers with too many ads. Only time will tell!
Need a wireless audio streamer for the house but you don't want to shell out $200 or $300 dollars. Maybe you have the money but you're looking for a cool weekend project?
Popular Science's website has a cool "how-to" that shows you how to assemble an audio media streamer starting with an old PC that you have lying around the house.
Some of the things you'll need to get started:
Salvaged PC (must have serial RS232 port, two USB ports, and one stereo line out jack; or, build your own, like our $72 PC
Streamzap PC remote control (Amazon.com; $30.24)
TRENDnet 54Mbps wireless G USB adapter (Amazon.com; $15.99)
This project made be a tad advanced for some, but it definitely looks like a project that might be fun to try. We here at NetworkingAudioVideo will give it a shot and let you know how it turns out.
When it comes to new technology standards, it seems the major players all go in their own direction. Well it appears there may be some teamwork at play with an Wireless HD Standard. According to Engadget:
WHDI creator AMIMON has joined forces with Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Sharp in order to form "a special interest group to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity" utilizing the aforementioned Wireless Home Digital Interface technology. Reportedly, the group will have a standard completed before 2009 dawns, but we all know how easily these things can get pushed under the rug.
We agree the standard probably won't be ready by 2009 but we're excited to see some progress towards a standard.
We'll start by telling what makes the MG-450HD such a powerhouse. The device is a media streamer that connects to you home theater in ways that most devices can't. Besides wireless and wireless connections you also have the ability to connect to multiple drives like to the hard drive of a networked computer, an attached USB device, or an optional SATA internal hard drive. Without the optional drives you can stream HD video, photos and audio from any PC on your wireless or wired network to your TV. Once you add one of the optional drives you can then store media locally.
How do you get your digital music? Here at the NAV headquarters we prefer to stream music over the internet. Sometimes that involves a streaming device like the Grace Digital Radio or the Sonos Wireless Music System and other times we stream right over a PC. One thing we noticed lately is that we rarely listen to CDs anymore and it appears we may not be alone. According to CNET.com, there was poll recently at Stereophile that asks: How do you listen to digital music? The results:
The poll says 34 percent still use CD players as their primary digital source. Yikes, I would have guessed much higher, more like 70 percent. Thirty-six percent use a computer-based server, and 10 percent use dedicated servers such as Sonos or Squeezebox. Another 4 percent use iPods! I felt a little better that 11 percent use a SACD or DVD-Audio player. Another 3 percent voted "other."
We'd like to see this poll taken again in about 12 months as we bet the 10 percent for dedicated servers at least doubles and the CD uses gets cut in half. The sad thing is that CDs are definitely appear to riding off into the sunset like LPs once did (although LPs have made somewhat of a comeback).
Do you still listen to CDs? Leave us a comment and let us know how you get your digital music.
D-Link Announces the DHA-390 Surveillance Cam with Powerline Networking
Looking for a home surveillance system that won't take a degree from Harvard to hook up? Well you might want to check out the Internet Surveillance Starter Kit (DHA-390) from D-Link which allows you to monitor your home from a remote web browser. According to ZDNet:
D-Link is shipping the first in the line of its D-Life products, a series that is designed to enable users to easily manage networking devices via its D-Life Web site. First up is a surveillance camera kit that allows remote viewing of live streaming video from a remote Web browser. Starting at $399.95, the Internet Surveillance Starter Kit (DHA-390) is pricier than most entry-level IP Web cams, but D-Link bundles two Powerline networking adapters with the camera.
What makes the DHA-390 easy to install? According to the article:
I've tested only Wi-Fi IP cams, however. The D-Life camera is a different animal. Using Powerline adapters, it plugs into existing power outlets in the home for connecting to the home network router and then out to the Internet. D-Link says consumers can access the camera via the D-Life Web site for remote viewing and management of their account (adding new users to the camera, for instance).
For a quality home surveillance setup, the DHA-390 starts at a decent price-point and might be worth checking out.
We've known this was coming for awhile but you should see YouTube videos on certain TiVo boxes within the next few weeks. According to NewsFactor.com:
TiVo says it has completed the technology to make YouTube videos available on TV sets connected to its digital video recorder (DVR) boxes. As part of an agreement with YouTube announced in March, TiVo expects to roll out a software upgrade over the next few weeks.
Broadband subscribers with TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs will have access to the YouTube video universe. Viewers will be able to search by keyword or browse for content under categories such as featured, most recent, favorites or most viewed today.
It's amazing how YouTube is becoming available on all types of streaming devices. Hopefully YouTube will be on the Roku Netflix Player soon. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Here at the NetworkingAudioVideo headquarters we recently received a Slingbox Solo to review. As we mentioned the Slingbox to a few friends we we're amazed how many of them had no idea what the Slingbox was (shows you how many of our friends read our site!). For those of you not in the know, the Slingbox is one of the greatest devices to stream your television shows ever made we found a short video from TekieTV to that helps familiarize you with the Slingbox.
Apple TV vs. Roku Netflix Payer - Can They Really be Compared?
Lately there's been several articles on Apple TV vs. the Roku Netflix Player. The strange thing is that almost all of them come Mac based websites which usually clues you in to which way the article is going to lean. MacNewsWorld has an article that pits the two against each other that actually doesn't slant too far in the Apple TVs favor. The problem is article starts by stating the services can't really be compared by saying:
Comparing the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) TV to the Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) Player by Roku is like comparing two wildly different kinds of automobiles -- like a Chevrolet Camaro vs. a Ford F-150 pickup.
Sure, the Camaro and F-150 are both automobiles, and they can take you places you've never been before, but it's their differences that define them more than their similarities.
Then the article goes on to comparing the two devices and finishes up:
Basically, it comes down to this: If you want fresh HD quality content downloadable for immediate TV viewing, your best choice is the Apple TV, hands down. The only catch is you have to be willing to pay for it each time you rent or buy a movie or TV show.
If you gravitate toward an all-you-can-eat buffet, Netflix, with its mail-order DVDs and bigger streaming library, will at least keep you full.
We'll start by saying that we think both the Apple TV an the Netflix Player are incredibly great products. Our concern is that the last sentence in the quote above is never keyed on enough when you compare the two products. Comparing a service that charges for every download against a service that gives unlimited downloads for as low as $8.99 per month just doesn't work.
Anyway, we still suggest reading the article because it does point out the key features of each device.
Sony Announces Video-On-Demand for PS3 and PSP Owners
Our sister site TVSnob has some great news for PS3 and PSP owners, a new video service from Sony is on the way:
Just days after Microsoft announced Netflix would be coming to the Xbox 360, Sony has announced a new video service for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable that has already kicked off with 300 full-length movie titles and 1200 TV shows. That's just a start-Sony claims that they have signed seven movie studios to the service including Disney, Fox, MGM, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, and Lions Gate.
Both HD and SD movie rentals will be available priced between $2.99 and $5.99 and TV shows will set you back $1.99 per episode, and you'll be able to purchase standard-def movies with the exception of those from Disney.
While that's some great news, we'd still like to see some free content coming from Sony.
Digital Signature Launches the Mint 220 Digital Music Station
Yesterday, Digital Signature announced a sleek new multimedia speaker system called the Mint 220. According to the press release:
"The Mint 220 doesn't just deliver higher quality sound for the iPod -- laptop users want premium sound without the hassle of plugging in cables, once you plug in the transmitter you are ready to listen, and that's where the Mint 220's wireless capabilities really shine," according to Joyce Ahn, VP of Product Marketing for Digital Signature. "Now everyone can have high fidelity audio not just for music, but for all of their digital entertainment -- the Mint 220 truly delivers the best all-around value in its class."
So what's under the hood?
The Mint 220 features Texas Instrument's PurePath Digital™ audio technology, with wireless transmission via Digital Signature's proprietary 2.4 GHz USB transmitter, which is completely lossless over ranges of up to 45'. A remote control offers the final component of complete wireless freedom. With the ability to control all of the user's music, the Mint 220 is as easy to use as it is to set up.
The Mint 220 Digital Music Station features an integrated amplifier, iPod dock/charger, and two 3.5-inch Peerless speakers in the sealed design preferred by many audiophiles for tight control of mid- and high-range sound fidelity in bookshelf systems.
We've got a unit on the way so we'll give you more details then it gets here.
Nyko Announces Intercooler TS for Xbox 360 and PS3
Tired of burning holes in your carpet with your Box 360 and PS3? Well you might want to check out the Intercooler TS from Nyko. According to Joystiq.com:
Nyko has introduced its new Intercooler TS today. Unlike the old Intercooler, this new model has its own AC adapter and has a temperature sensor which activates when there's rapid change, rather than just being perpetually on and using the Xbox 360's power port. It retails for $25, and the original Intercooler will still be available for $20.
You can't beat $25 to prolong the life of your cherished gaming system.
We've seen quite a few reviews of the AppleTV from the media but it's nice to when we find reviews from typical users. We found a review of AppleTV from Sean at Sean808080.com that states:
When we started reviewing the AppleTV, we were surprised to find out that the AppleTV requires an HDTV. It was for this reason that we went out and bought one this year {REALLY!}
After that rather expensive day of picking up an HDTV and the 160GB AppleTV, we hooked things up. It was a _very simple_ hookup. Just an HDMI cable and we were off. After setting up our account information on the AppleTV, we began looking at our flickr pictures.
This is really one of the key benefits of the AppleTV. When it's idle, it will pull your photos and display them in beautiful color on your HDTV. If you've got a decent set of pictures that you've either taken or marked as favorites, prepare to be pleasantly surprised at how beautiful they are on an HDTV as opposed to your computer monitor.
What really interested us in the review is the way the family bonds around the AppleTV:
The big surprise for me was Youtube. I personally use Youtube sparingly as it's not very interesting to me. The kids on the other hand go bonkers when I offer to play some Youtube videos. They all sit around watch and dance to the Youtube selections. This was a real unexpected benefit of the AppleTV. It turns Youtube watching into a family experience as everyone in the house sits and watches very excitedly. I had no idea that the Youtube player on AppleTV would be the killer feature in our house.
Streaming radio has to be one of our favorite things here at the NetworkingAudioVideo headquarters. When you add a portable device that allows you to stream radio anywhere in the house or office, what more could you want? Since there's quite a few intenet radio devices on the market, where do you start? Well Newsfactor.com has a nice article that looks at these four radios:
You'll have to read the article to get the rundown on each device but we will tell you the reviewer's favorite device was the Phoenix because of it rechargeable batteries even though the sound quality way below par. Be sure to check out the complete review.
Microsoft and Netflix Announce Streaming Partnership for Xbox 360
It seems that just a few months ago there was a lot of buzz that Netflix was going to have a tough time surviving in today's marketplace. Since the buzz started we've seen Neflix creatively adapt and look at other opportunities besides just DVDs. Their partnership with Roku was brilliant and now Netflix and Microsoft have teamed up to allow Xbox Live Gold members to stream Netflix content over their Xbox 360 at no extra cost.
According to TVSnob:
The partnership was announced yesterday at the E3 gaming conference and will bring over 10, 000 TV shows and movies to members when it launches. Combining the new Netflix offerings with other Xbox Live content means the Xbox 360 will be home to more content than any other "connected" device on the market at the moment.
Now might be a great time to take advantage of the Xbox 360 price drop we told you about yesterday.
Aperion Introduces Intimus 4T Tower Home Theater Speakers
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