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PLAiR streams web video to TV with your devices for 99 bucks
If you like TV, and you like the Internet, you've got some really good options for getting those two crazy kids to play nicely together. PLAiR, newly arrived on the market, adds a platform-independent and compact device to the menu of connected television solutions that stream web video to your living room. To be clear, there's not a shortage of players here. Even without a Smart TV in your house, you can use an HDMI cable to connect your Mac or iPad directly to your big-screen HDTV (although that's a bit of a mobility buzzkill). It's easier to put something in the middle to handle that conversation, at least until Tim Cook and Jony Ive make all our big-screen dreams come true. For most Apple-centric households, the natural middleman is the $99 Apple TV. Apple's "experiment" delivers 1080p content direct from iTunes, subscription goodies from Netflix or Hulu, sports from the NBA, MLB and NHL, free video from Vimeo and YouTube, and of course your photos, music and videos from household Macs. The relatively recent debut of AirPlay mirroring for Macs in OS X 10.8 means that your computer can screen-mirror to an Apple TV just as smoothly as your iPhone or iPad can. If you're inclined toward non-Apple boxes with more subscription and channel support, the Roku or Boxee hardware might be more up your alley. One thing the Apple TV can't do easily -- at least not without the intervention of a mirrored AirPlay device or a jailbreak -- is stream web videos from sources outside the approved/supported list. Even if you do use a mirrored device, it's tied up for the duration of the stream; how are you supposed to chat with your vintage movie club while you're watching? And what if you have friends with non-Apple gear who'd like to stream some videos your way? There ought to be another path to video Nirvana, and the folks behind the PLAiR HDMI dongle think they have it figured out. The new $99 wireless video-streaming gadget is arriving in some customers' hands today. I saw it demonstrated at the Engadget Expand conference, and while the company's description of it as "AirPlay for everybody" may be a bit off-target with no true mirroring support, it's still quite impressive. The PLAiR device -- one assumes that the lowercase "i" is not coincidental -- is a smart adapter that connects to three things: power, your TV's HDMI port, and your home WiFi network. Once it's set up, PLAiR links to a Chrome plugin on your Mac or PC to let you hand off streaming video to it with a couple of clicks. iOS and Android devices can play too; both platforms have streamer apps available. In the case of the desktop controls for PLAiR, you simply browse to the website for the video you want to see (scores of broadcast and Web video networks play nicely with the PLAiR, although big kahunas Hulu and Netflix sadly do not). A small overlay icon reminds you that you can stream to your TV; click it and the video hops over to the wider arena. Behind the scenes, the PLAiR unit is actually running its own streaming client via Flash or HTML5 and handling the video independently; your laptop is no longer needed, and in fact you can close the window and do something else -- even sleep it or shut it down. That's not the case if you choose to stream videos or photos stored on your computer or iOS device, of course. In that situation, you can create a playlist of clips that you want to see, and PLAiR will play them all in order, but your device needs to stay online and awake to push the video to PLAiR. iPhone and iPad users can jump into the fun via the free PLAiR iOS app. With the app, the same channels and sources should be accessible, and you can kick off a stream in similar fashion. Local content will play as well, although anything purchased from the iTunes Store will not play (the PLAiR doesn't know how to deal with Apple's FairPlay encryption for video). You also cannot mirror iOS apps to the PLAiR, but at least one common-use case for that is handled by a second companion app aimed at business users: the $0.99 OmniPresent will load and display PowerPoint or PDF decks via your PLAiR stick onto a projector or TV. If your video needs don't depend heavily on iTunes-purchased content or the premium offerings of Hulu or Netflix, you might get your money's worth out of the PLAiR. It's certainly a more graceful option for free-to-stream network content than rigging up an HDMI cable across the living room. Customers who pre-ordered the PLAiR hardware are getting theirs this week, but current orders are out of stock for the moment; if you order today you might see your unit by June. Here's a brief video intro to PLAiR. I'm afraid I will have to deduct points for continuity, as the Acer laptop pictured in the video appears to be running the OS X version of Chrome. ' And here's a video preview of PLAiR in action from Engadget Expand:
Chumby brings app network to LG Smart TV platform, more living rooms
Chumby's app ecosystem expanded to yet another platform last week, thanks to a new partnership with LG. Under the deal, owners of LG's Smart TV-enabled devices will now be able to access more than 1,000 applications available on the Chumby app network, including a variety of news-, entertainment- and music-based tools. The Smart TV crowd can access the ecosystem right now; everyone else, meanwhile, will have to wait a bit longer.
Skype for iPhone upgrade lets it videocall Skype for TV, if you actually want to
There's a new update out for Skype on iOS devices today that which expands the new videocalling compatibility to "a wider selection of Skype clients and devices" by adding the h.264 compatibility necessary to chat with any Skype for TV clients. That's available on certain LG, Panasonic and Samsung HDTVs right now, while Sony and Vizio have both announced it will be in some of their new HDTVs coming out later this year. The ability to call mobile devices seems to give a big edge to Skype over other living room videochat setups from Cisco, Logitech or Microsoft's Kinect, but even with a compatible (& pricey)camera in hand, good luck finding someone out enjoying the world who wants to chat while you're chilling on the couch.
Logitech Wireless Mouse M515 works on sofas for up to two years without recharge, stays lint free
Sure, lots of mice, ok, most mice can be coddled to work on fabric. But it takes a company with a dedicated mousing portfolio the size of Logitech's to design a mouse specifically for use on the sofa. See, the Logitech Wireless Mouse M515 features a sealed bottom case that lets you mouse around on soft surfaces without snagging. That means it won't collect bits of fuzz around the sensor when dragging it across the couch, bed, or a trouser-clad thigh. Naturally, it can also be used on more traditional computing surfaces, too. The M515 boasts up to two-years of battery life thanks, in part, to a hand-detection sensor that causes the mouse to sleep anytime it's not being held. Rounding out the list of features is Logitech's Hyper-Fast scrolling wheel and Unifying USB micro receiver required for the laptop or home theater PC you wish to control. Look for the M515 to ship to Europe in April for £49.99 -- that's about $80 converted, but you'll likely find it for a lot less whenever it hits US retail. Update: It's available in the US right now for $50 at our more coverage link.
Cisco joining connected TV party with updated cable boxes at CES
The battle for the connected living room is about to heat up in a big way: the Wall Street Journal reports that Cisco will announce a new series of connected cable boxes here at CES tomorrow, as part of a larger announcement that combines online video with recorded and live television. You scoff now, but keep in mind that Cisco owns Scientific Atlanta, which makes an absolutely huge number of cable boxes for providers like Time Warner and Comcast -- and if Big Cable embraces connected TV by distributing integrated Cisco hardware, well, we'd say upstarts like Apple and Google might just go home with their tails between their legs. On the other hand, the WSJ says "cable operators will be able to customize the software interface and decide on pricing" for Cisco's new boxes, so it's possible America's favorite corporations will completely bungle everything at the first opportunity. We'll be there live tomorrow, so we'll see what happens.
World's cutest pint-sized living room sets up shop in a PC case
If we were miniature people forced to scrape by an existence of hiding from The Bigs and wearing adorable hats made out of thimbles, we'd be totally eyeing this little abode for our winter digs. Warming our tiny, oh-so-precious hands at the warmth of the CPU, cradling our hot chocolate mugs that are really hollowed out marshmallows and telling stories of when little Timmy Tinykins almost got sucked out the power supply exhaust fan! Oh, what magical times we would have. [Thanks, CJ Johnson]
Switched On: A keyboard PC seeks to Eee-peat success
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The original Asus Eee PC took on the challenging North American market for a small notebook PC and was so successful that it created a new wave of product that's turned the PC business upside down. And although Asus has since released over a dozen permutations of its original Eee PC notebook as well as several desktop models both with and without integrated monitors, its next big test will be a keyboard. A top-slice reincarnation of the pioneering Commodore 64, the Eee Keyboard has a full complement of ports and can run Windows, but its two standout features are a 5" LCD that replaces the numeric keyboard and wireless high-definition output to a television. Much like the original Eee PC, it is unlikely that the Eee Keyboard would be anyone's primary PC. In fact, Asus's keyboard-footprint computer will have to overcome a number the same problems PCs and other information products like WebTV have had in the living room. But Asus may be hitting the market at a critical inflection point -- for a few reasons.
Will web-based interfaces become more popular on HDTV gear?
For those of us who have been around the block a time or two, we can distinctly remember just how hard WebTV fell. Granted, it is still around as MSN TV, but when is the last time you actually saw one being used? A new report put forth by ABI Research is asserting that web-based interfaces will soon become more popular than ever, potentially finding their way into set-top-boxes, standalone players, media streamers, etc. We've already seen RSS feeds and the like appearing on HDTVs, and the integration of Ethernet ports is certainly noticeable. Still, there seems to be a good deal of disconnect even now between bona fide internet content and HD programming, leaving us to wonder how accurate these suggestions really are. And furthermore, to what extent will being connected to the internet affect the way you utilize your living room TV?[Image courtesy of Ruel]
Acer Aspire L320 mini PC touts Viiv certification
Every time you think the Viiv hype is dying down, Acer brings it back up, as just a few months after kicking out the "world's first" Viiv-certified LCD TV, the firm is now unveiling its Aspire L320 mini PC with -- you guessed it -- a shiny Viiv sticker adorning its case. Hot on the heels of its xSeries displays, this machine sports a slim, silver / black case designed for living room placement, a variety of Intel Pentium processors, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, up to 400GB of internal hard drive capacity, an Acer-branded digital / analog hybrid TV tuner, DVD writer, flash card reader, and a bevy of included ho hum software that you'll likely replace immediately upon bootup. Additionally, it sports 7.1-channel audio, Intel's GMA 3000 graphics set, VGA / DVI outputs, an option to add Windows Vista, FireWire, audio in / out, and a pair of USB 2.0 ports to round things out. No word just yet on price or availability, but this ought to be a fairly inexpensive alternative for those eying a very basic (and fairly attractive) pre-fab HTPC.[Via RegHardware]
Time gadget of the week: Apple in the living room
I think it may be Constitutionally required that Time name every new Apple product gadget of the week. This time around it is the iPod Hi-Fi and the Mac mini (how do you like that for multitasking?). Time is excited to see 'Apple in the living room' with both of these products, and so am I (though I won't be buying either).Thanks, Jim Haw Jr.
