Easy HTPC

Disney has announced that it’s acquired a stake in quickly growing video site Hulu, joining News Corp and NBC Universal in the venture. That means full-length episodes of ABC hits shows like Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives will be available side-by-side with content from NBC and News Corp’s FOX.

It also means that CBS – who publishes its own full-length episodes on its site and on TV.com – is left as the odd-man out when it comes to big TV networks on Hulu. It also gives Hulu a huge leg-up on YouTube, who is just getting started in licensing content from the big media companies and so far has a fairly uninspiring selection of shows.

Peter Chernin, COO of News Corp, talks to the nature of Hulu’s now big lead in pro content in astatement: “Hulu, quite simply, now has the best premium content on the web. With three major networks and over 150 leading content providers providing content, combined with the best video user interface anywhere on the web, Hulu offers consumers the finest premium online video experience available today.”

It’s hard to dispute that after today’s deal, which sees Disney take what is reported to be a 30 percent stake in Hulu.

Via Mashable.com

AspireRevo launched in London

ACER UNVEILED its nettop offering – the AspireRevo – coupled with Nvidia’s Ion platform boasting a 16-core setup, in deepest darkest London late last week.

How this offering of Acer’s differs from every other nettop is just simply down to the partnership with Nvidia, also it’s the first offering around with the Ion system.

The Ion platform  basically combines an Intel Atom 230 CPU and Nvidia’s GeForce 9400 for this multi-core wonderfulness.

Acer states the AspireRevo is capable of delivering a good solid 1080p. Most devices such as the Eee Box and the MSI Wind will struggle to even think about movie playback at that level. The INQ actually saw this in action,and  it actually performed rather well and decoded too at a seriously high bitrate.

Other than that the AspireRevo is a common old nettop running from the usual array of specs found in others. It’s around the third of a desktop’s size, the power consumption is a third of the usual computers’ requirements too – everything really expected, with no surprises.

All the ports are present and correct, which is something we cannot say about some  competitors. Onboard are the likes of VGA¸HDMI supporting 7.1 audio, multiple USB ports, audio and even eSATA’s been catered for.

From May the 5th there are three different SKUs on offer; the first with Linux, an 8GB SSD for £150. The larger capacity version comes in at £250 with Vista premium and a 160GB HDD. There is one other Acer AspireRevo option that’s the same as above, only with a Wii-like Wireless game controller, for £300.

We’ve been more-or-less exclusively informed the next Ion offering will be of a netbook flavour – you heard it hear first folks.

In terms of nettops around today, this could very well be the first tiddly gaming platform with a decent HD ability – thanks to NV.

Via TheEnquirer.net

New DVD Releases for Apr 28

• American Dad: Volume 4
• Bride Wars
• Hotel for Dogs
• JCVD
• Jetsons: The Movie
• Legally Blondes
• Nothing But the Truth
• The Uninvited
• What Doesn’t Kill You
• X-Men: Volume 1
• X-Men: Volume 2

Via Videoeta.com

Via Videoeta.com

In computer software circles, there’s a lot of discussion about the “10-foot UI,” designed for interactions from across a living room. Now that streaming video has truly come into its own, the space has exploded. Apple’s Front Row is a 10-foot app, as is Boxee.

But if you’re a Mac user, especially a Mac mini owner who keeps it hooked up to an HDTV, there’s only one choice: Plex Media Center, a Mac-only offshoot of the Xbox Media Center software. Basically, Plex pulls all of your content — whether on your hard drive, your network, your Tivo — and blends it with everything on the entire Internet, including Hulu, Pandora, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, and The Daily Show, then wraps it in a stunningly beautiful interface that makes it a snap to navigate all of the world’s video and music with arrow keys are a simple remote control. Better still, it’s an open architecture, and people are adding to it like crazy.

It’s been around as Plex since last July, but many of the best features, like the Netflix plug-in, are recent arriving in the last two weeks. What’s maybe most exciting is that Plex has plug-ins that the original XBMC application lacks. The Mac development community is passionate enough to dramatically improve their offering beyond other versions. Heck, it has its own App Store. And it’s 100 percent free, running on all Intel hardware running Leopard.

This is the media operating system of the future. Now, if they’d just release a companion remote application for iPhone, this thing would really take over the planet.

Via Cultofmac.com

The options for HDTV movie viewing keep growing. Some might say it’s been a long time coming but finally Amazon’s Video on Demand service is offering some HD movie titles. The service goes out to several consumer devices including IPTV by Panasonic.

Amazon’s VoD service has launched up to 500 TV shows and movies in full HD glory with more to be added shortly. You can rent your Amazon vide HD features through your TiVo HD or Series 3 PVRs, Roku Digital Video Players, Sony Bravia Internet Video Link and those new Panasonic VieraCast IPTVs. HTPC users via Windows or Mac will also get the HD movie treatment via the Amazon.com website.

No big surprise with pricing. It’s a bar that’s already been set with HD movie rentals running $3.99 or $4.99 depending on how recent a feature. TV shows purchases will cost $2.99 each. At this time HD movie purchases aren’t available.

Several studios have jumped on board including Warner, Sony Pictures, MGM, Paramount and Universal Pictures. The video resolution depending on your device will be up to 720P. The one drawback is that the audio is only 2.0 stereo. TiVo has said that a majority of titles will playback in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound its boxes.

While this makes Amazon even more competitive against Netflix, for the fussy seeking movie perfection it’s still far from the pristine quality you get from a Blu-ray disc.

Via Audioholics.com

Introduction

Antec are very well known for their high end PC cases and have an impressive selection of PSU’s that are so reliable they carry a 5-Year warranty. Enthusiasts and gamers are not their only target market however as the product catalogue also features a range of HTPC cases. Today we have one of the higher specification models on our test bench, the Fusion Remote Max which is designed to house a HTPC system with no need to cut corners on the component specifications.

Read.

Via Driverheaven.net

Antec HTPC Cases.

EeeBox B208 may be the ideal small form factory HTPC

The netbook ushered in the era of low coastultra-portable notebooks for the masses and many consumers have jumped on the bandwagon. After the massive sales that netbooks were able to generate, manufacturers like ASUS starting putting the cheap netbook hardware inside machines meant for the desktop in an effort to create small form factor systems for desktop users.

While the nettop systems haven’t proved to be that popular with consumers, one place where a properly configured nettop could do very well is as an HTPC. The catch is that a HTPC connected to a big screen is typically expected to output HD video. ASUS is set to launch a new EeeBox PC B208 coming in June that will not only offer HD capability, but will feature discrete graphics and HDMI-out reports Engadget.

ASUS offers some specs for the B208 on its website and the device is similar to the otherEeeBox nettops with HD capability DailyTechcovered in December 2008. The B208 runs an Intel Atom 330 CPU and offers 2GB of RAM. With 2GB of RAM, the machine uses Windows Vista Home Basic rather than Windows XP. Storage for the machine ranges from 160GB to 320GB and graphics are via ATI Radeon HD 4530. Wi-Fi is integrated along with a memory card reader and Bluetooth. Outputs include HDMI and DVI-D with an adapter. The little HTPC also features S/PDIF out.

ASUS ships the machine with a multimedia remote control for operation for the comfort of the couch. The power supply for the machine is a 36-watt unit and ASUS claims that the computeremits only 26dB of sound.

Engadget expects the machine to retail for around $500.

Via Dailytech.com

We’ve been waiting with baited breath for the first Ion-based computers to start trickling out.  First out of the gate was Acer, with their Revo nettops, and now component maker Zotac is looking to get in on the action with a new dual-core Ion motherboard.

The fanless design manages to incorporate just about everything in a board that’s only 6.5 inches on a side.  The stand out additions include two RAM slots, HDMI, three SATA ports and integrated wireless internet.  Given Zotac’s history of developing some pretty solid little boards to enthusiasts and DIY computer builders, this might just be the first board available for system builders to integrate into their setups.  It would be a brilliant little board to use in HTPC setups; just connect power and HDMI and you’re up and running.

The only downside to the new products is pricing; according to the product announcement, the version with the dual-core 330 chip will run the equivalent of 300USD while the single-core N270 will cost the equivalent of 200USD.  Hopefully we’ll see these prices drop by the time this product makes it way over here.

Via Engadget.com

New DVD Releases for Apr 21

• Caprica
• Dallas: The Complete Eleventh Season
• Freakazoid: Season 2
• Frost/Nixon
• Hawaii Five-O: The Sixth Season
• iCarly: Season 1, Volume 2
• Into the Blue 2: The Reef
• The Last Word
• Notorious
• Rhoda: Season One
• Top Gear: The Complete Season 10
• Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
• Wolverine & the X-Men: Heroes Return Trilogy
• The Wrestler

Via Videoeta.com