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Inside Honda's money-making, AI-based NeuV concept car
According to Honda, a vehicle is parked a whopping 96 percent of the time. With that in mind, the automaker this week unveiled the NeuV (New Electric Urban Vehicle) concept, an autonomous automobile that could potentially make its owner some extra cash by acting as its own low-level, Uber-like ride-hailing service.
HANA Entertainment Box looks to pass along HD content over coax
Coaxial cabling has long since been viewed as a premiere option for passing along high-def content within the home. After all, in most places it's already neatly installed within the walls. The High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) has announced its intentions to release a HANA Entertainment Box reference design based on the new (UWB-based) 1394 Over Coax standard; products based on said design will enable consumers to "download HD content from any broadband connection or HD cable set-top-box and watch it in any room in their home with a coax jack and a remote control." HANA is hoping to have the reference design and initial prototypes out the door in Q4, though we wouldn't hold our breath.
Fabled Opus motherboard appears in Xbox 360
Well, what have we here? One of those unicorn-like Opus motherboards? According to an image put forth by one Electric Tuner, that's exactly what we have. If you'll recall, we heard back in February that Microsoft may be utilizing the Opus mobos in order to fit the newer 65 / 90-nanometer CPU / GPU combo into RRoDed Xbox 360s that are just collecting dust in warehouses. Thus, you'll find no dedicated HDMI port here, but it should operate much cooler and in a more reliable fashion than the pre-Falcon rigs. There's no word on how exactly this unit was acquired (a replacement, perhaps?), but you can head on down to the read link for one more picture and a little discussion.[Via Xbox-Scene, thanks Leonardo]
Sony shows off "Hana" speaker / lamp concept
As far as unusual speakers go, Sony's new "Hana" concept is certainly less out there than some of the questionable contraptions we've seen, although that doesn't necessarily mean it's any more likely to actually be available one day. As you can see above, in addition to pumping out tunes, the Hana (that's Japanese for flower, hence the design) also doubles as a lamp (an LED lamp, specifically), and apparently comes equipped with its own MP3 player. While you may not be able to get your hands on this one anytime soon, those in the market for a speaker/lamp combo surprisingly do have a number of other options to choose from.[Via Pocket-lint]
HANA adds Cablevision & 17 other new members, demos connectivity
We've been following the High Definition Audio Video Network Alliance for over a year now and at this year's CES the group is announcing it has added 18 new companies, most notably Cablevision joining as a board member. The promise of easily connected HD devices from companies like JVC, Mitsubishi and Samsung is enticing but the fact is that none of those companies announced plans for the technology in their new product lineups. CE Pro sat in on a reception last night and did see connectivity demonstrations on various devices, including a HANA-enabled Samsung HDTV. Progress takes time so for now check out a list of HANA's 17 other new members after the break and dream of a day when your HDTV, AV system, set-top box, DVR and PMPs can join hands as sisters and brothers throughout the house with no new wiring or extensive setup necessary.Read - Cablevision Joins High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) BoardRead - HANA Scores with Multiple Vendors Showing Interoperability over 1394
Ultrawideband and coax distribution announced from PulseLink
PulseLink has introduced a solution for combining 1394 (aka FireWire), coaxial ethernet, and Ultra wideband connections and distributing high-definition video throughout the whole home. It combines the wired technologies from the HANA and DLNA specifications, as well as UWB wireless tech for the "last mile" to compatible devices. As the connection between devices can be up to Gigabit speeds, PulseLink claims to be able to stream four 1080p HD signals at the same time, with wireless HDMI connections at the endpoints. The company's chipset will be available to manufacturers this quarter.
Microsoft shows off Ana, says no HD DVD in Xbox 360... ever
Microsoft recently had the guys from Ars Technica over to show how the Xbox 360 compares to the PlayStation 3 on one of Sony's own 1080p Bravias, and of course didn't find much difference except in cases where scaling came into play. They looked at the 360's hardware scaler, Ana, which means while it may lack the advanced digital A/V output of the PS3, it will allow every HDTV owner to play games in HD resolutions over component or VGA. Also of note was their response to questions about possibly putting an HD DVD drive in the console, the answer was a firm no, and even referred to the company's own format of choice as a potential "next Betamax". The lack of HDMI may be resolved soon, but with the high def war still very much in flux don't look for Microsoft to put all of its eggs in the HD DVD basket just yet.
Zephyr's HDMI port and new HANA scaler: up close and personal
Alright, so you've had due time to squabble over Microsoft's reasoning for apparently readying an Xbox 360 v2 -- supposedly prepared with a 65-nanometer CPU, 120GB hard drive, and an 1080p-pumpin' HDMI port -- and now XboxScene has dug up photos of what appears to be a prototype board sporting the coveted new HDMI port as well as a new "HANA" scaler. The materials on the PCB certainly seem to match up with what we saw yesterday, and moreover, the direct comparison shot between the current model's (presumably analog only) "ANA" scaler and the forthcoming version's "HANA" model adds a bit more consistency to the whole story. Indeed, if the current machine's scaler can't even output digital 1080p signals, it certainly helps to explain the missing HDMI cable that one would've thought went hand-in-hand with all this HD DVD hoopla Microsoft has got itself into. So be sure and hit the read link for a few more high-res shots, and click on through for the YouTube proof -- oh yes, there's a video.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
1394 is -- still -- coming to home theater
Things have been a bit quiet on the 1394 front since the HANA announcement, but they want us to know things are still progressing. This article from EETimes goes into the issues faced by the connector and why it hasn't taken off yet. We all want all of our devices to be able to talk to each other and share their content but so far that hasn't materialized. Helping get the ball rolling are planned 1394b support in a Vista service pack and the ability to send 1394 signals over ethernet or coax. Still, many CE manufacturers seem to be backing ethernet and the DLNA as a way of connecting devices, and this stalemate is even more complex than Blu-ray/HD DVD. As it is, most of us have cable or satellite boxes equipped with FireWire, ethernet and USB ports that are mostly unsupported, unless you like to tinker. Is the (easily) connected home 6 months or 6 years away?
Windows Media Center: Cablecard support is great but what about 5C?
While we all sit patiently waiting for Windows Media Center CableCARD support I started to wonder. FireWire has been available on Cable boxes for almost 2 years but we still can't stream HD to our Xbox 360 since most of the channels are protected with 5C. This of course also prevents us from enjoying the content in HD on our HTPCs because of the lack of 5C support. Some people say that 5C will never be supported by PCs, but the original 5C presentation actually has a picture of a PC connected to the 1394 network. So all of this this lead me to the question: why hasn't Microsoft added 5C support to Windows Media Center Edition?Is it simply because CableCARD is a better solution, so why bother? Wouldn't it be cool if WMCE could participate in a HAVi or HANA network, turning other HANA TVs into Media Center connectors? Or support backing up to DVHS? Maybe they have tried but were turned down. Either way, I think it would be a great option, especially considering it wouldn't require a special capture card in the computer, just a 5C supported 1394 port.
HANA is that you? Nope, it's tecStream
It will be some time before we see an of HANA's envisioned 1394 connected devices, but if you want a peek at the future, there is always UStec's tecStream home networking platform. Due to the array of devices which will connect to both your older analog sources or newer digital products via IEEE 1394.tecStream is designed to work over Cat5 cabling, basically wiring your whole house via Ethernet back to a 1.6 Gbps central switch, and allowing you to share and view content with a single remote control, no matter where you are. They claim it can handle up to 15 streams of 30Mbps or higher.With HANA and federal mandates hopefully combining to increase 1394 support, this sort of network may be right on time.
But who gets top bunk? HANA and 1394 TA to share a booth at CES
More of this "collaboration" as some people call it, I'm taking a cue from the HD-DVD and Blu-ray camps and thumbing my nose at all forms of standardization and cooperative efforts. The latest two draw my ire are the 1394 Trade Association and HANA who will be showing off how they can make your digital media devices connect better and more easily in just one booth at CES. I mean really, who wants that, now Kevin can't get the exercise of walking back and forth from booth to booth. It's a fact, 1394 makes kids and Kevins fat.From the release: "At ICES, HANA will demonstrate HD audio-video room-to-room networking with a network interface unit. It also will host a demonstration featuring audio and video distributed using 1394 through a variety of legacy products including Cable STBs, D-VCRs, AV hard drives, camcorders and a new HDTV. The Trade Association will participate in the booth, and plans to establish a formal liaison with HANA early in 2006."Blah blah blah, all this working together makes me sick, excuse me while I go work on some proprietary technology.
What's with all the collaboration lately? Say goodbye to VGA, UDI is coming
In retrospect, it's really not fair that computer monitors are stuck with that old VGA connector while HDTV's get all the exciting new DVI and HDMI connectors, but never fear, as is seemingly all the rage lately, a consortium has been formed to develop a new spec and implement it. The new connector, UDI (Unified Display Interface) will be fully HDMI and HDCP compatible, because everyone knows how much you love DRM.Intel, Apple, Samsung and SGI are among the companies heading up the initiative, with others like Microsoft and NVIDIA joining to pledge support, so you can expect this to be pretty standard on new computers buy this time next year. My question is why DVI wasn't good enough, it supports HDCP too, they mention lower cost in the article, but my gut tells me they're plugging some DRM holes and we get to pay for it by buying new equipment.
Apple/Firewire getting a boost from HANA's HDTV plan?
So it would seem, Macsimum News has gone deeper into last weeks announcement of the newly-formed HDTV initiative, and how exactly they plan to connect all of your devices together. Basically, HANA certified devices will all use 1394 to communicate with one another, without the installation of drivers and users will be able to control all connected devices with one remote.What with Firewire being an Apple technology, plus Apple's existing relationships with some of the companies in the group, it seems like a no-brainer that apple will be getting on board at some point. That is all of no concern to me, I just want to know when I can get that widescreen high-resolution MPEG-4 playing video iPod, Mr. Jobs?
