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DirecTV is field testing RVU, will offer satellite TV without individual receivers in October
We've been waiting since 2009 for the RVU Alliance to deliver on its promise of TV service controlled by a main server that streams content to any screen in the home without requiring any set-top boxes and it appears DirecTV is ready to make it so. A press release issued today indicates it has started field trials of the HR34 RVU server that will be the keystone in its Home Media Center, and plans to roll the service out nationwide in October. If you want to know when to start buying HDTVs like the Samsung D6000 series, it also mentions RVU certification for those and DirecTV's own C30 Home Media Clients (check out a video demo here) is expected to be finalized in June. There's been some delays but if you were also hoping that 2011 would be the year we can get rid of the cable box, the progress is looking very promising. [Thanks, Tyler]
iTheater RC1 to drop on January 31
If you've been waiting for the release of iTheater as eagerly as we have, you may have been expecting to be able to download the project yesterday. Alas, it was not meant to be. For the uninitiated, iTheater is an open source, home theatre media center project intended to make browsing your computer's media easy and fun. The development team intended to offer their initial release yesterday, but when the time came they felt that it just wasn't ready, and opted for a period of internal beta testing instead. Get the full low-down on their decision here. They do promise, however, that RC1 will absolutely, positively be made available on January 31.To the development team: We understand your frustration, and we're glad that you're taking the time to ensure your project's readiness. Good luck in your beta testing, and we'll see you in three weeks.
