Thursday Podcast Roundup

Dan talks about his new Ion frontend. Pat talks about shopping for a new HDTV. The guys talk to Mythbuntu developers Nick Fox and Mario Limoncello.

Great interview this week with Carl Partridge the developer of Remote Potato, a remote scheduling app for Windows Media Center. With this app you can browse the EPG and schedule recordings via a web browser (including mobile phone browsers), this is a feature missing in Media Center since the changes to Windows 7 broke the fabulous Webguide addin. Carl talk about why he developed the app and how it works, I also have email and a roundup of the weeks news

No guests this week, but there’s still plenty of HD related topics to talk about. Of course that includes 3D, but after that we had time to discuss a new Blu-ray player from Oppo, future possibilities for digital distribution and exactly what we’re expecting from NBC’s costly Winter Olympics coverage. After that the talk turns to the legal aspects of the latest action from the FCC, and Microsoft’s patent infringement lawsuit. We wrap things up with an evaluation of DirecTV’s multiroom beta, and just what happened to all the hype over connected HDTVs in 2010.

Fresh after the Apple event, Jon, Sheldon, and I got together to discuss the newly announced and now official iPad. Everyone knows the specs by now so we focus on where this device would fit in and how it can best be used. At the end of the show we also reveal which of the three of us will be getting one. You’ll be surprised at who says yes so download and listen!

Plasma HDTV Break-in. DIY HTPC Picks. Which studios give you a DVD copy with your Blu-ray purchase? Warner’s Deal with Netflix: Why you’re waiting a month for new titles. Convert your old monitor into a TV without a PC. The Blu-ray releases for January 26th, 2010.

On the news front, Oppo has revealed plans for an even less expensive entry-level Blu-ray player, the BDP-80. It shares many of the same features of the superb BDP-83, but does strip out some of the higher end niceties such as the ABT2010 video processor from Anchor Bay. Audioholics has a nice look at the BDP-80 with a handy comparison.