As Smart TVs have grown in popularity, we’ve seen manufacturers expand the capabilities of Smart TV apps beyond streaming music and video to allow for accessing social media, browsing the web, and even some minor gaming. However, at E3 this year, it became increasingly clear that offering console and PC-quality gaming is set to be the next big trend. The […]
Read more
The list of intriguing new Mini-ITX cases just keeps on growing, this time with the announcement of the Fractal Design Node family of cases at Computex. Representing Mini-ITX will be the Node 304. The Node 304 is a relatively petite cube-style small form factor case capable of housing six hard drives, making it an exciting option for HTPC or home server builds. […]
Read moreNETGEAR just announced the NTV200S (aka NTV PRO) as successor to their popular NTV200 media streamer this morning. Those with familiar with the previous device will be forgiven for not noticing the difference as it essentially the same device (offering all the good stuff we loved like VUDU and Netflix) just with WiDi support (via 2x 2.4GHz antennas) for $20 […]
Read more
Nintendo has shown little enthusiasm in the past for turning the Wii into a media streaming device. The Wii does offer access to Netflix and Hulu Plus, but this is a far cry from the variety of media streaming apps available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. For Nintendo, the Wii U, the new console that launches later this […]
Read more
There is no doubt that Netflix has become an Internet video streaming juggernaut. They generate more traffic and have cornered more money in the market than just about anyone else. Streaming video over the Internet may be cheaper in the long run than shipping discs through the mail, but it’s a safe bet that a goodly chunk of the distribution […]
Read more
The XBMC team has never been known for its timely release schedule. In an effort to improve their release output and streamline their development process, the team recently moved to a monthly update schedule. At the beginning of each month, new features ready for testing are merged and then bugfixes are integrated over the course of the month. The May […]
Read more
The idea that a game console manufacturer would present a keynote at E3 that is almost entirely devoted to video games should not surprise anyone, and that is exactly what Sony did this year. Sure, there was some weird ebook/augmented reality app/PlayStation Move thingy that some Harry Potter fan somewhere will enjoy, but otherwise the keynote was pretty much all games. Sony did briefly […]
Read moreThis video shot at the Cable Show doesn’t show anything new for those of us interested in the retail space, but it does show off some Q/Echo hardware porn if you can’t get enough. More interesting though is a bit into the discussion where Gary talks about Ceton’s UCrypt solution for hotels and stadiums.
Read more
Trinity is just around the corner, but there’s no reason not to take a look at its aging sibling Llano with a builder’s guide for HTPC since most of it should carry over to the new platform. All told, it looks like they did a pretty solid job with it except for the cases, where there is a serious lack […]
Read more
Of the three major console manufacturers, Microsoft is the Johnny-come-lately, but somehow the company has managed to stake out the first slot on the first day of E3 for their keynote over the last few years. For this year’s keynote, all ears were perked lest Microsoft let a detail slip about the Xbox 360’s successor. In the end, no details […]
Read more