Extenders are back in vogue. There have been a number of intriguing extender-based, multi-room streaming systems to talk about this year. DISH has their Hopper and Joey combo, and of course, many of us around here are eagerly anticipating the Ceton Q and Echo, but before the year is out we should also have TiVo’s version. TiVo first signaled their […]
Read more
One of the big stories to come out of E3 this year was the push made by Gaikai and OnLive to bring their streaming game services to Smart TV platforms and settop boxes. Indeed, OnLive has been particularly aggressive, appearing on Google TV-powered devices such as the Vizio Co-Star. The push to bring streaming games to connected devices took a […]
Read more
Google made a number of announcements at Google I/O this year, but the most surprising was probably the announcement of the Nexus Q. The Nexus Q was the strange, little orb-shaped media streamer. The size and shape were unusual, but the surprising part was that the Nexus Q is not a Google TV device, but is instead positioned as a completely […]
Read more
In early February, Redbox dropped a pair of bombshells. The first, the purchase of the Blockbuster Express kiosks, has come and gone and, frankly, no one really noticed, but the second bombshell, the announcement that Redbox would be teaming up with Verizon on a Netflix-like streaming service, promises to provide some lasting fodder. It took nearly five months, but the […]
Read more
It has been awhile since we took a good long look at JRiver Media Center. Our own Andrew van Til spent some time with the Version 17 beta back in October and even in early form found a lot to like, but with the MC17 release now past and with all of the uncertainity surrounding the ultimate future of Windows […]
Read more
Part of the appeal of the Roku media streamers over the years has been the openness of the platform. At any given time, there have been dozens of unofficial apps or channels that could be added to one’s Roku, and even among the officially supported channels, there were always plenty of off-beat and incredibly niche offerings to explore. The Roku […]
Read more
The good folks at Plex have released a relatively substantial update to their Android app, fixing a number of bugs and adding two big new features. First up is a remote control, allowing for control of Android-based Plex devices as well as enabling remote browsing and streaming from other devices. The other new feature is a beta version of Plex’s […]
Read more
Microsoft held their first BUILD conference in September 2011, providing the first in-depth look at Windows 8 and Metro. Microsoft also used the conference to release the Developers Preview, the first beta of the new OS, specifically so that developers could begin developing and testing apps for the new WinRT framework that Microsoft was bringing to bear with Windows 8. […]
Read more
Netflix recently released their Q2 results, announcing a return to profitability after taking a $5M hit in Q1. The company didn’t bring on as many new subscribers as expected, including a narrow miss in Latin America, the UK and Ireland where the company recently launched. In spite of this miss, the company plans to go in the red again next […]
Read more
Vizio’s next-gen Google TV set top box, the Co-Star, may be the most highly anticipated Google TV device to date, especially given its competitive feature set and price point. Next gen Google TV devices have been slow coming to the market, but the Vizio Co-Star is nearly here. Vizio is taking pre-orders for the Co-Star on their website for up […]
Read more