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Eyes-on Whiteman Technology's Delta DVR, plus more hardware details

Did the recent revelation of the Delta DVR, with its six tuners, AMD silicon running Windows Media Center embedded and 3TB HDD have you viewing your current DVR with disdain? Well, stop reading now, because we got to speak with the man who created the Delta DVR, Ryan Whiteman, and found there's even more to like about his potential TiVo killer. Read on after the break for the full scoop.

First off, connectivity's even better than we thought: those four USB ports on the front are the 3.0 variety, while there's a couple of 2.0 sockets round the back. In addition to HDMI, there's a DisplayPort to connect any screen you like, plus Gigabit Ethernet if using WiFi isn't your thing. Additionally, there's Bluetooth connectivity and a SATA 6Gb/s port to connect external storage should the capacious onboard HDD prove insufficient to contain your collection of 80s cartoons (or your significant other's Real Housewives addiction). There's also an SD slot on the front along with RAW support so photogs can show off all their latest snapshots.

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We also got some more insight on the hardware powering the Delta DVR. Currently, it's running an AMD Fusion APU, but Whiteman informed us that he's been working closely with the chipmaker and may utilize newer, faster silicon that has yet to be released. He couldn't tell us much about the mystery chip, but he did say that it rendered a discrete GPU unnecessary. We thought that notable, considering that the Delta DVR aims to be a gaming console leveraging cloud services, though Whiteman wasn't telling if serious gaming platforms like Steam or Origin will be available. However, he did say that it'll come with a custom remote constructed by Amulet Devices to enable voice control (think LG's Magic Remote), and he's toying with the idea of incorporating Kinect for both voice and gesture controls. A six-tuner CableCARD is inside courtesy of SiliconDust, and the slot-loading Blu-ray drive does double duty as a DVD burner. Oh, and it'll come with a fully functional web browser, and Whiteman's aiming for a "price competitive with TiVo Premier Elite and a lifetime subscription" and he said that the company "competes to win" -- we'll let you draw your own conclusions as to what that means.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get a look at the prototype device while at DEMO due to Whiteman Technology's vendor agreements, but we did witness it working from behind a closed cabinet on the pavilion floor. Currently the Delta DVR's just a home theater pipe dream -- a promising one, for sure, but a pipe dream nonetheless. That said, we surely hope that Whiteman Technologies can get the funding needed to start manufacturing the device and deliver on all its promises, because it's got just about everything we could ask for in a home theater hub. What say you, dear readers, is Whiteman's box the DVR of your dreams? Sound off in the comments below.