FeaturesHere Today, Gone to Maui? Hands-On with AMD's HTPC Platform
Posted 05/12/09 at 06:30:00 PM by Michael Brown
Sorry, we couldn’t resist the headline. For the record: We’re not predicting the early demise of AMD’s new Live Home Cinema reference platform (code-named Maui). AMD sent us a sample build several months ago, but we wanted to live with it for a while before publishing our thoughts on the design.
We’re big fans of home-theater PCs, especially the build-it-yourself variety (be sure and check out the May issue of Maximum PC for Will Smith’s terrific how-to guide to building one of your own). If AMD can resolve one major issue, we think Maui will be the best home-theater PC platform on the market.
With a home-theater PC, you can stream all manner of Hollywood content for free (from websites such as Hulu) or for a small fee (from online stores such as iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon’s Unbox). While you can accomplish the same thing with a media center extender and any PC equipped with a version of Windows that includes Windows Media Center, a dedicated HTPC leaves that other machine available for other tasks. A home-theater PC with a Blu-ray drive can play HD movies, too, but comparing home-theater PCs to Blu-ray disc players—which are becoming increasingly PC-like—is more problematic. We’ll get to that soon enough; for now, let’s take a detailed look at AMD’s Live Home Cinema platform.
NewsRenesas Now Shipping Tiny, 1080p-Capable Cell Phone Processor
Posted 05/06/09 at 04:23:03 PM by Andy Salisbury
Just this week Renesas Technology Corp. announced their SH7370, a SH-Mobile HD1 application processor for mobile phones. The tiny processor is the first to support full 1080p (1920 x 1080) video playback and recording potential, and can support H.264/MPEG-4 video compression at 30 frames per second.
This processor also has two 24-bit dedicated audio digital signal processors that help lower the CPU’s load, while lowering power consumption. This allows for audio to stream at up to 5.1-channel Dolby Digital quality.
The whole thing is currently shipping with 512Mbits of synchronous DRAM, integrated onto a single package. Said package measures in at a compact, 10nm x 11mm.
NewsWestern Digital Introduces Sneakernet Home-Media Device
Posted 11/03/08 at 08:00:00 AM by Nathan Edwards
"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes speeding down the highway." - Andrew Tanenbaum
Western Digital's bringing back the sneakernet with a media player that displays video, audio, and photos from your USB devices on your TV - no networking required.
In fact, the WD TV HD Media Player doesn't have any networking capabilities at all. Instead, this little device plays files from your WD Passport (or other USB devices, although WD would love it if you used their portable hard drives) on your TV screen, in glorious 1080p resolution.
More info after the jump.
NewsWireless HDMI Streamer Coming from Sony
Posted 08/15/08 at 01:44:41 PM by Paul Lilly
Coming this fall, Sony will unveil its first WHDI device, the DMX-WL1T. If you haven't been following, WHDI is a new technology co-developed by Amimon, Hitachi, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, and Sony that provides a high-quality, uncompressed wireless link for transmitting video data rates of up to 3Gbps between an HD source and an HDTV.
Giving the device widespread flexibility, Sony's DMX-WL1T will come equipped with four HDMI inputs, one component input, one digital audio input, and a stereo analog input. The two-piece system will transmit uncompressed 1080i video and audio, but according to Sony Insider, HD content will likely only stream to a Sony DMex compatible Bravia HDTV.
Concrete details have yet to emerge, but it looks as though the WHDI device will offer a range of up to 100 feet and possibly more. Three IR Blaster ports also suggest that users will be able to control other third-party devices. Sony is expected to officially announce the DMX-WL1T later this month at the IFA conference in Berlin. Until then, it's all speculation, including pricing and availability.
ReviewsAccell’s UltraAV HDMI 4:2 Switch
Posted 07/31/08 at 08:11:55 PM by Michael Brown
Accell’s UltraAV HDMI 4:2 Audio/Video Switch is either a Dr. Jekyll or a Mr. Hyde of a home-theater product. The creature you’ll encounter depends on the video source you connect to it. Read on to find out just what we're talking about.
NewsWireless HDMI Soars Into Living with Belkin's FlyWire
Posted 07/11/08 at 12:45:38 AM by Paul Lilly
No matter how strong your cabling kung-fu might be, there's a pretty good chance that behind your home theater's assortment of receivers, set-top boxes, game consoles, and other electronic doodads sits a gnarly mess of wires. Most visitors never catch a glimpse of the clutter hidden behind your entertainment center, but you know it's there. Worse yet, you have to navigate through the wired jungle whenever you upgrade your A/V rack. You know that streaming Netflix player you're waiting to arrive from Roku? Get ready to wade through wires when it gets there.
Belkin believes it has a better way, and its FlyWire box looks poised to make cable clutter a thing of the past. Belkin's FlyWire HDMI box transmits both standard- and high-definition video anywhere in your home on the 5GHz band, and promises to penetrate through walls. And because FlyWire doesn't compress your video, Belkin claims its will even handle high definition gaming with aplomb. It even works with HDCP-compliant devices.
Look for FlyWire to spread its wings on retail shelves in October for $999 with IR backchannel capabilities, or $699 for an in-room solution sans IR.
NewsAcer Aspire X1200: HTPC and Multimedia Power In a Small Package
Posted 07/09/08 at 02:09:13 PM by Mark Edward Soper
Gizmondo and Crunchgear report that Acer's new Aspire X1200 is loaded with multimedia features in a slimline mini-PC form factor. Featuring nine USB 2.0 ports, a full-featured Flash memory card reader, and an HDMI port, the X1200 is ready to connect to your home theater system. It also features AMD Athlon X2 dual-core processors, 4GB of RAM, DirectX 10 support, and PCI Express v2.0.
For a complete feature rundown and available configurations, see me after the break.
ReviewsNetgear Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000
Posted 10/03/07 at 01:44:32 PM by Michael Brown
We like Netgear’s EVA8000—a lot. Its industrial design fits in with the rest of our AV gear, its user interface is as elegant and polished as it is easy to use, it supports resolutions up to 1080p with an HDMI port, and that’s just the beginning. But if you buy one, make sure it has the latest firmware update before you do anything else. We couldn’t configure our review unit at all until we updated the software. With that housekeeping accomplished, we were on our way to streaming bliss. Although the EVA8000 has dual antennas, it’s still limited to 802.11g speeds and cannot reliably stream high-definition video content without a wire, but it delivered excellent image and audio quality.
Click Read More for more.
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