For the most part, support for CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) in home theater PCs (HTPC) has been terribly lacking. What is CEC you ask? Quite simply, it is a communications channel and protocol utilized in HDMI that allows functionality such as controlling power and volume of a connected TV among other things. You may have heard of it in a manufacturer’s […]
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Microsoft continues to focus its living room aspirations on the Xbox 360. For a long time, one insurmountable advantage that Windows Media Center held over the Xbox 360 was access to live sports content. The addition of the ESPN3 app to Xbox Live changed that, and now the Xbox’s ESPN3 app is getting an update that might just convince me to […]
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Vizio recently released their first Android tablet, and now Vizio has the first Android tablet that can access Hulu Plus.The fact that the Vizio Tablet runs Gingerbread instead of the tablet-focused Honeycomb probably helped. There are a number of Gingerbread-based smartphones running Hulu Plus already, requiring the Hulu app developers to expend relativly little effort tweaking the app and certifying the device. Vizio has […]
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In the Sandy Bridge generation, Intel has brought to market numerous CPUs that cover a wide range of thermal and performance envelopes. The T-variant parts having TDP values as little as 35W are an intriguing choice for small form factor (SFF) enclosures because their cooling and peak power consumption requirements are much less. What happens when we compare the T-variant […]
Read moreI have yet to try it, but this is a pretty darn cool idea (I guess they stole it from Panasonic) but no iPhone required. I think it’s pretty fair to assume that they won’t insert competitors screens into your photo. The feature they need to add is to replace the existing competitor’s screen in the photo with theirs. Live […]
Read moreLet me paint a picture for you. Imagine a room that is 12ft x 10ft. You might be thinking to yourself that this room would make a nice guest bedroom. I’m sure that’s what the builder thought when he designed the house. Now I want you to fill that room with a love seat, an oversized chair, a coffee table […]
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Syfy announced its upcoming fall lineup. While the Syfy channel doesn’t actually seem to like much science fiction anymore, there are a few remaining things I’m looking forward to, including the 4 hour original movie Neverland, which is a Peter Pan prequel, and the season finales of some of my favorite shows (quoted below). Note that I have yet to […]
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As the long-time leader in network connected digital TV tuners, when SiliconDust announced the three CableCARD tuner HDHomeRun PRIME labeling it “highly-anticipated” would be an understatement. Offering native support for Window 7 Media Center via its gigabit Ethernet port, the PRIME is also unique in what is becoming a [welcomely] crowded market for Digital Cable Tuners (DCT) not just because […]
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For those of you who have followed our recent guide on using the native movie library in 7MC, you might have noticed that some of your coverart is missing from movies recorded on live TV. The issue seems to be that the server 7MC was using to download the coverart has changed its url but 7MC is still using the old address. […]
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Word first got over the weekend that Microsoft was prepping the first Update Rollup for Windows Home Server 2011, and sure enough, it is now available. The update includes a number of bug fixes and one new feature. Unfortunately, the new feature is exceedingly minor. The “Getting Started” tasks on the Dashboard home page will now include a reminder to […]
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