Samsung’s decision to spin of their LCD unit into a separate company earlier this year was prompted by falling panel prices amid a worldwide component glut. The problem wasn’t just the abundance of manufacturers pumping out lower quality, inexpensive panels, but falling demand for LCD TVs. That falling demand became even more evident in a recent NPD DisplaySearch report that […]
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Every major TV manufacturer is trying to build a Smart TV platform these days, each with their own app store and development tools. The reality is that, for the most part, all of these manufacturers are looking to provide the same apps and access to the same connected services, so it seems silly that we should have all these different […]
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As if Microsoft hadn’t already made it clear enough that they don’t have any interest in developing Windows Media Center further, along comes word that Microsoft has discontinued one more avenue of WMC support. Microsoft has been updating the Windows Hardware Certification Kit ahead of the release of Windows 8 and in the latest Windows Logo Newsletter Microsoft has announced […]
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I’m going to have to admit right up front that this one slipped past me. I’ve been a Media Browser user for a couple of years now, but for the last month or so I have been distracted by some special project testing with XBMC and completely missed the release of Media Browser 2.6, codenamed Atlas. It’s unfortunate too, because there is […]
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Western Digital’s WD TV Live and Live Hub media streamers have received an update enabling access to several new media streaming services and the SlingPlayer app, as well as VUDU movie downloading, though only for the WD TV Live Hub with its built-in hard drive. The new streaming services include AOL On for the U.S., the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for […]
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AverMedia visited Computex this year with a new product, the AverMedia AverTVBox PVR. The AverTVBox PVR is a bit of an oddity, though I suppose I can see where it might serve a certain niche market. It is a standalone PVR/DVR. It records directly to a connected USB hard drive and accepts analog cable connections or analog settop box connections. […]
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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 […]
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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. […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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