DCT
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ATI's TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner announced
Another DCT's been announced, this time by ATI, and this time predictably called the TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner. Although specifics were sparse and pictures were absent, the ATI unit passed CableLABs certification and will apparently be sold with Dell systems as early as January 30th (i.e. when the first round of Vista PCs see their launch). Most interesting big: "It is scheduled to be available... inside desktop and notebook PCs..." CableCARDS in laptops? What a lovely and disturbing thought -- didn't we all just jettison that PCMCIA card slot?
Windows Vista Digital Cable Tuners: don't call it OCUR
Seems strange that it's been a whole year since Gates took the stage at CES 2006 to introduce CableCARD support in Windows Vista, but here we are, and with Vista about to hit the streets it's finally happening. Except users no longer need say "Vista with CableCARD" or OCUR (OpenCable Receivers) -- those boxes are now referred to as "Digital Cable Tuners", or DCTs, and that's the hardware you're going to need on your CableLabs certified Vista box to record digital cable HDTV. Expect to see a hell of a lot of boxes like this one at this year's CES, as well as any number of HTPCs ready to take advantage of it.
