Media @ Home

Samsung and DivX have reached a multi-year agreement to add DivX video playback to a range of Samsung TVs.

The TVs will be able to play DivX files directly via USB slots or via Ethernet connections certified by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA).

DivX says these TVs are expected to hit the market nationwide in early 2009. Samsung already offers DivX certified components, including DVD players.

Source: CE Pro

Velocity Micro signed an OEM deal with Fuze Media Systems in July, saying it would build and sell Fuze Media’s Windows Media Center-based entertainment solutions.

It’s part of Fuze’s effort to OEM its core technology to other manufacturers, enabling the software to be installed on other multimedia devices.

The CineMagix FuzeBox, which will be directly configured by Velocity Micro, features CableCARD support to watch and record digital content without a settop box or DVR. It uses the home’s network to simultaneously distribute audio to up to five different zones.
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TigerDirect has a great deal on 750Gb Maxtor OneTouch III external hard drive for all your digital photos, mp3 and high definition videos. The drive has such nice features as Automated OneTouch Back Up, System Rollback which restores your system to a point in time just before your system crashed, while keeping your current data safe and up to date, Maxtor DriveLock™ which password protects the contents of your drive for an extra measure of security and more.

Specifications
Capacity (GB): 750
Interface: USB 2.0
Spindle Speed (RPM): 7200
Buffer Memory: 16MB
Average Seek (msec): <9.0
Data Transfer Rate on USB 2.0: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Temperature, Operating (°C): 5 to 35
Dimensions: 5.3″ x 2.6″ x 8.5″

Available While Supplies Last.
Hurry, Don’t Miss Out!

Pulse~LINK introduced its CWave® wireless HDMI system that enables the placement of an HDTV anywhere in the room, reducing wire clutter and simplifying connectivity between your media devices.

CWave is using an approach similar to German’s WiMAC only instead of the slower WiFi wireless using UWB (ultra wide band) chipset which enables simultaneous operation of Ethernet over Coax, 1394 over Coax and Wireless connections to your HDTV. This chipset backed with power grid support allows for several simultaneous HD streams on the network.

Devices enabled with the CWave® UWB PL3100 chipset allow HD/Multimedia content located anywhere in the home to be shared across the existing coax backbone with wireless networking connections in each room for Set-Top-Boxes (STBs), HDTVs, DVRs, DVD players, Media Center PCs, and other multimedia equipment. Unequaled data carrying capacity also enables interactive “Trick Play” capabilities (pause, fast-forward, fast-rewind) and menu navigation throughout the home.

Pulse~LINK has a nice intro video of CWave technology on their website.

 Cable clutter and interface problems will soon be a thing of the past. In the living room of the future, all devices are connected wirelessly and can be easily operated via the television set. Fraunhofer researchers and their industrial partners will be presenting the first solutions at CeBIT in Hanover on March 4 through 9.Thick instruction manuals, a confusing tangle of cables and endless different standards – trying to connect your flat screen, DVD recorder, MP3 player, surround system and computer to one another and get them to work is rather a complicated task. Help is on its way in the form of a project called WiMAC(at)home (Wireless Media and Control at Home).

In this project, which is being financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), researchers are working on the wireless connection of electronic devices for broadcasting and entertainment in home networks. Among the partners in this consortium are Loewe Opta GmbH, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, Germany’s Broadcast Technology Institute (IRT), Nagravision GmbH and Weinzierl Engineering GmbH.

At the heart of the system is a novel TV set which unites several functions in one device. It serves as a digital media archive that can store music, videos and photos, and make them available together with live TV programs in the home network. Pay TV contents, too, can be distributed in a protected environment and in compliance with copyright regulations. The TV can even be connected to automated home systems, enabling heating appliances, alarm systems and air conditioners to be controlled via the screen. All devices in the wireless WiMAC(at)home network configure themselves automatically. New components are incorporated independently by means of Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology. The system is based on the specifications of the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), a global collaboration between computer and consumer electronics manufactures who have set fixed standards for home networking. Thanks to these standards, it is possible to connect notebooks, surround systems, digital video recorders and TVs of different brands. (more…)

It’s been a tough couple of years for both camps HD DVD (HD) and Blu-ray (BD). The consumers were hesitant to invest in either technology, the retail shops suffered from low sales. But now the battle is over. Here’s how it all happened…

• Jun 17th, ‘07: Blockbuster announced its plans to keep only Blu-ray movies in its stores, still offering HD DVD discs online.
• Jul 13th, ‘07: Tartan Video goes exclusively BD.
• Jul 25th, ‘07: Target choses to sell only BD players, but continue to sell discs for both formats.
• Jan 4th, ‘08: Warner Bros Entertainment announced to go exclusively Blu-ray. To be fair Warner was considering going BD since October ‘07.
• Feb 11th, ‘08: Netflix decides to stock only Blu-ray discs.
• Feb 12th, ‘08: Best Buy announced its plans to promote Blu-ray as an HD format of the future.
• Feb 15th, ‘08: Walmart announced to stop stocking HD DVD players in March.
• Feb 18th, ‘08: Samsung has revealed that they will start focusing on Blu-ray format.
• Feb 18th, ‘08: Niveus, producer of home media servers, has announced that effective immediately they will offer Blu-ray drives on all of their server products and will begin phasing out their HD DVD supplies.
• Feb 19th, ‘08: Toshiba (one of the major backers of HD DVD) after selling over a million HD DVD players, recorders and drives worlwide has finally decided to stop production of HD players in March, stating that “we carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called ‘next-generation format war’ and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” (Atsutoshi Nishida, Toshiba president and CEO).
• Feb 19th ‘08: Paramaunt and Universal the last two major studios supporting HD DVD commit to Blu.

Our condolences to all early adopters of HD technology.

HD DVD rest in peace!

Tomb’s picture courtesy of EyeCraveDVD.com

Sony has announced the replacement to its XL3 Digital Living System Media Center PC. The new product is the TP25, but don’t call it a Microsoft Media Center. You won’t see that term in Sony literature. Officially, it’s a “home theater PC,” even though it runs Media Center through Windows Vista Home Premium OS.

The premium “piano black” system TP 25 VAIO will retail at $3000 and will have dual CableCard tuners (external), 500Gb HDD. The lightweight version — TP 20 will be available in white and will have half the specs and price of its older sibling.

Read more here.

Credit: Julie Jacobson/CEPro

 TigerDirect is selling the award winning Logitech diNovo Edge Keyboard for $99 after mail-in rebate. The MSRP for this item is $200 and it’s Vista-ready. This sexy wireless keyboard is a beautiful addition to any media center set-up. Hurry-up, the offer expires 11/4/07. Check the specs at Logitech’s website.

It all started in 2005 when I got tired of chasing my photos and music spread over several laptop and desktop systems in my home. I decided to consolidate my media library and put it on a single PC, so it would be easier to share, manage and back-up.

After weeks of unsuccessfull attempts of trying to make a blueprint for a decent do-it-yourself HTPC for under a $1000 I decided to go with a ready-made Gateway FMC-901X [review 1, review 2] bought from eBay for under $600.

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