Live coverage of Netgear's press hoedown
We're here at Netgear's press conference, with Debbie Williams, CMO, introducing us to what Netgear does, and then to Vivek Pathela, VP Product Marketing.
They're starting us off fast, Vivek introduces Netgear's new Digital Entertainer HD, which streams full HD content from the PC (1080p, baby). Going by the catchy EVA800 moniker, the player can pull stored video, YouTube vids, Media Center content, iTunes music and plenty more.
To demonstrate the amazing power of YouTube, Vivek shows off one of those Mentos videos, chuckles abound.
"Any content, in any room, at any time."
9:10 (PST) - "What does 'any room' mean?"
With multiple EVA800 boxes, you can pause a program in one room, and pick it up where you left off on another DE HD box. You can also set all boxes to play a certain bit of media simultaneously.
"Any time?" We wait with bated breath to discover how Netgear has tackled this nasty problem of the linear timeline of reality, but it turns out they're just talking about DVR functionality. Pause, play, record.
"It's universal content place shifted and time shifted!"
9:15 - "We can also stream content from another new product we have for CES, the Storage Central Turbo."
It's an updated NAS device, with terabytes of SATA storage, and gigabit Ethernet.
9:17 - "But what if I want to make a call right now?"
(we're not sure why he'd want to make a call right now, he's sort of busy at the moment)
"Netgear's unveiling a new dual-mode handset with Skype and landline compatibility."
The phone works with a wireless DECT base station, which can support up to 4 handsets.
9:20 "So let's call Patrick Lo." Patrick Lo unveiled that WiFi handset last year, and makes up some lame excuse for missing the show.
And that's it, time for Q&A. We're firing up our press kit to get you some sexy shots of the new products.
Turns out iTunes DRMed content only works off of a Windows PC. For wireless HD streaming, you'll need 802.11n. PowerLine HD can also provide the fat pipes.
