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JetStreamHD starts shipping, leaves iPad media streaming vapor trails in its wake (video)
With Pogoplug Video out of the picture, Nuvyyo's JetStreamHD is ready to become your default iPad media streamer. The tower plugs into your router and delivers streaming content like hi-def videos, music and photos from your home network to your Apple tablet. And the free JetSteamHD iPad app makes it easier to sort through your content, while promising the best available resolution for seamless entertainment streaming. The device is shipping now, for a suggested price of $199. Video and PR after the break.
Hands on with Boxee for iPad and Boxee Box v1.2
The long-awaited Boxee for iPad app went live yesterday and quickly rose to the #13th most popular free app for iPad. Simultaneously, Boxee released a new firmware version for the Boxee Box set-top media player, v1.2, with some new Apple-friendly features like AirPlay and AFP support. We've gone hands-on with all the new functions. Airplay for the Boxee Box Probably the biggest news for me isn't the iPad app at all -- it's Airplay support for the Boxee Box. This is something I've been hoping for ever since our own Erica Sadun started to help reverse engineer the AirPlay protocol, eventually leading to her AirPlay receiver software for OS X BananaTV. You need to enable AirPlay first, as it's an "experimental" feature. Turn on your Box, go to the Settings page, and navigate to Network > Servers and tick "Enable streaming from iOS devices". Immediately, "Boxee" should show up in your Airplay settings in compatible iOS apps. In fairly brief testing, I received somewhat mixed results. Photos, Videos and YouTube worked fine sent from my iPad 1 and iPhone 4. Video playback was slightly laggy, but no more so than when using an AppleTV or any other AirPlay receiver. The Boxee remote is capable of basic transport control -- play/pause works with video content, as does the d-pad for fast forward and rewind. It doesn't, however, do next/last picture when the Box is showing photos, nor can you start or stop slideshows with the remote. Sound was less successful. The native iPod app on both my iOS devices detected the Boxee Box, but I had several instances where the stream got "lost" -- the device thought it was sending it to the Boxee but no sound came out. I also had one crash which required me to hard-reset the Boxee. On the other hand, when it did work it worked well -- and in a neat touch, the Boxee activates its sound visualizer during music playback to give you something to look at. Spotify also didn't work at all, I couldn't convince it to make any noise. I had the same problem when trying to stream audio from iTunes 10.4 on my Mac to my Boxee Box. As this option makes the Box appear to be a normal AirPlay client, all iOS apps that support AirPlay video and audio streaming should work with it, notwithstanding crashes on Boxee's end. Note that it also isn't listed as supporting the new iPad 2 mirroring mode in iOS 5, although we weren't able to test that. Again, however, this feature is clearly advertised as being experimental. Streaming content from your network to the iPad On to the iPad app itself now, then, and the first big feature is the ability to stream arbitrary audio and video content within your network to the app. My first big disappointment: this is really just a lukewarm rework of Air Video. Like all these streaming apps, the Boxee version needs an intermediary computer that consumes the video content and converts it into an iPad-friendly video stream. I had initially hoped that the Boxee Box itself would be able to fill this role, so I wouldn't need to leave a computer switched on for it to work. No such luck in this release. For the iPad app to work, then, the Boxee Media Manager (BMM) has to first be running on a Mac or PC on your network (minimum supported OSs are OS X 10.5 or Windows XP). Very similarly to how Air Video works, the BMM has a minimal UI that allows you to select which folders of content will be visible to the app. Switch to the iPad, and your content is there, presented in a reasonably attractive UI. Now, there are downsides. Like all of these pieces of software, there's a quality drop from the conversion process. That process also creates lag -- it takes a few seconds after pressing Play before you see any video, for example, and trying to fast forward to a particularly point in the video rapidly becomes quite frustrating. Compared to more established solution like Air Video the Boxee app has several other important drawbacks. It offers limited customisation, whereas Air Video lets you fine-tune the conversion process to trade off lag, quality, and network bandwidth. Even worse is the lack of support for not-on-local-network streaming. With Air Video, wherever you are in the world, you can enter a PIN into the app and all of your content will stream out of your home connection, across the internet, and down to your device. Boxee cannot do this. On the other hand, if you don't have pretty significant bandwidth both at home and wherever you are, this often ends up looking pretty ropey anyway so (at least for me) this isn't a killer feature. Finally it's worth pointing out that the Boxee Media Manager app has no hardware acceleration so has to do all the video conversion heavy lifting on the CPU alone. This translates to a lot of heat, a lot of fan noise, and video playback that might be jerkier than it has to be if your Mac's CPU isn't particularly powerful. Of course, Boxee is free, but then Air Video is only $3. One last note: if you really, really like Inception, a trick presents itself: when playing back media, the Boxee player itself has AirPlay support. Which you can then direct to a Boxee Box for those dream-within-a-dream moments. Well, in theory; in practice, this just resulted in gray screens and lockups whenever I tried it. It's a silly thing to do so that doesn't strike me as a significant problem. Social integration & Watch It Later That's not the only trick up the Boxee app's sleeve, however. Boxee has long supported social integration to its server-side accounts, with two key features. These are visible as soon as you load the Boxee app. Watch It Later is rather like Instapaper for video. You install a special bookmarklet in your web browser. Whenever you find yourself browsing to a video you don't have time to watch right now, click the bookmarklet. Next time you load the Boxee iPad app (or turn on your Boxee Box) all those videos will be arranged in order for you to catch up on. The social integration is similar, but it's for videos other people post. You link your Boxee account to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Any video link that any of your friends post will be collated automatically and, again, presented for you to skim through and catch up on. If like me you often browse Twitter in quick bursts where you rarely have time to watch videos, but you never remember to go back and look them up later, this can be a really useful feature. Looking to the future I chatted with Andrew Kippen, Boxee's vice president of marketing, as I was composing this review. I asked him how he thought the launch had gone and what Boxee's short- and longer-term plans were to develop the software. TUAW: Any thoughts on how the launch of the app has gone? Was it well received? AK: Really well received. We're #13 on the App Store for Top Free Apps -- not bad for 24 hours. TUAW: Any immediate plans for bugfixes or changes? AK: I think we'd like to smooth out a few things in the first time experience and we're listening to forums/Facebook/Twitter/Email to hear how things are going for people -- mostly all positive, but we're hoping to squash any bugs that come up quickly. TUAW: Why can't Boxee Media Manager run on the Box itself -- am I right in thinking there's not enough CPU grunt? AK: It's something we're going to work on. We wanted to get it out there for Windows and OS X, before we baked it into the box. Always good to get first reactions so second effort has everything people want. TUAW: I've seen some crashes using the AirPlay streaming (which is perfectly understandable, I know you've worked to a reverse engineered standard and it's clearly marked as experimental) -- will this improve in future releases? AK: Yep -- obviously there's only so much we can test with early access users (~200) vs. the tens of thousands that are using the app now. TUAW: Will Boxee Media Manager be getting GPU acceleration anytime soon? It runs my poor MacBook Pro pretty ragged right now! AK: It's something we want to support. Just working to find time & resources to make it happen. TUAW: Longer term, where is the app going? Are you going to add the plethora of options contained in Air Video, for example? Any plans to support outside-the-local-network streaming? AK: Lots of plans for where we can go, but you'll have to stay tuned for that. The bottom line In this launch, Boxee has presented us with some experimental-but-cool stuff (AirPlay), some genuinely neat new stuff (social features in the Boxee iPad app), and some promising-but-needs-work stuff (media streaming to the iPad). In any event the app and the Media Manager software are both free, so you've nothing to lose by giving it a go. %Gallery-130373%
Seagate's GoFlex Satellite HDD invites Android users to its media streaming party
When we took a look at Seagate's GoFlex Satellite back in May, we recommended that non-iOS buyers hold off until the company rolled out an app for different operating systems. Android users take note, the storage company today took the wraps off of an app that lets users wirelessly stream content like HD videos from the external hard drive to devices running their favorite dessert-themed mobile OS. No internet connection is required to stream, you just need to be in range of the drive. The 500GB GoFlex Satellite has a built-in battery that can stream video for up to five hours. The drive will run you $200, but the Android app is decidedly more free. Check the relevant press info below.
MediaMall's PlayLater brings DVR to internet video
Aching to ditch your cable box, but can't bear to let go of that sweet, commercial-skipping DVR? If the folks behind PlayOn get their way, you won't have to. MediaMall launched the beta for PlayLater this week, a service it's calling "the world's first DVR for online video." The idea of a DVR for the internet sounds a little wonky at first, but it is an accurate description of the program's facilities -- pick a network (Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc.), a show, and an episode, and PlayLater downloads your selection to your computer's hard drive for belated enjoyment. Simple? Sure, but not without a catch -- anything PlayLater pulls down it wraps in a neat layer of DRM, locking that content to the PC that downloaded it. Time-shifting Hulu will set you back $5 a month, but beta testers (the first 5,000, at least) can score a free month just for trying it out. Hit the break for a press release and additional details.
Boxee offers sneak peek at iPad app in London
Boxee showed off its iPad app at a small East London gathering this week. The new app is not yet available, but those who attended the sold out event got a sneak peek of what Boxee has in store for its iPad users. Boxee is home theater PC software that runs on a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. The company also produces a set-top box that takes the place of the computer and lets you watch streaming video on your TV. The tablet app will bring Boxee to your iPad and let you watch streaming content, video shared by your friends and video files from your local network if you run the Boxee Media server. If you own a Boxee box, you can also send content from your iPad to your TV. No word on when the app will debut in the app store, but if Boxee is showing it off to people, the launch can't be too far away. [Via CrunchGear]
Intel refreshes Wireless Display with support for DRM-protected DVDs, Blu-rays
We were bowled over from the start by Intel's Wireless Display technology, which lets you stream HD content from select laptops to an HDTV (with the help of a small adapter, of course). But while WiDi's been good for watching The Colbert Report on Hulu and streaming flicks stored on your hard drive, it hasn't played so nice with DVDs and Blu-rays. At last, though, Intel is supporting HDCP-protected discs (along with some online content) through a free driver update. One catch: it only applies to Sandy Bridge laptops, which just started shipping this spring. If your notebook's a few months too old, well, using an HDMI cable isn't the worst consolation prize.
Plex Media Server launches client for Roku
Plex has been serving up streaming video for more than a minute, bringing content to Macs, iDevices, and even jailbroken Apple TVs (not to mention apps for all sizes of Android). For those who are neither Apple aficionados nor dedicated 'droid users, the company has rolled out a client that runs on Rokus. It's currently in beta and only supports video, but Plex plans to provide picture and music management in the future. Plex's XBMC secret sauce paired with Roku's ample streaming content buffet? Sounds delicious. [Thanks, James]
AT&T's MiFi 2372 gets DLNA update, streams media even without 3G connectivity
Novatel 2372 MiFi owners could always stream tunes from the web, but now they can do it from microSD -- after downloading Maintenance Release 1.0, that is, which finally brings DLNA server functionality. DLNA support means your mobile hotspot can share music, video and other content to devices over the network from an inserted flash card, even when the router can't serve up 3G -- especially useful on AT&T devices, which, you know, tend to suffer from occasional network congestion and data caps. The update also includes a new Customer Care Widget and a more intuitive MiFi OS web interface, so even average consumers might be able to configure one of these without consulting tech support. Sounds like a win for everybody.
Adobe plans to add HTTP Live Streaming to Flash Media Server to support iOS
Adobe showcased several new and upcoming features of its Flash Media Server during the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade show last week. One interesting feature for media producers who plan to target iOS users is the eventual addition of the iPhone-friendly HTTP Live Streaming to the Media Server's supported protocol list. Adobe blogger Kevin Towes noted this change in a "sneak peak [sic]" of developments on the streaming and encoding front, but no specific time frame was given for delivery of the new feature. HTTP Live Streaming is an HTTP-based media streaming protocol developed by Apple. It uses H.264 video and AAC or MP3 audio to deliver its media stream. The protocol is supported by QuickTime on Mac OS X and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This move by Adobe to support a non-Flash streaming format could be framed as a win for Apple in the Flash versus HTML 5 streaming wars. Since Apple shows no signs of moving towards Flash support on iOS, Adobe is modifying its services to support mobile streaming on Apple's platforms; this makes Adobe's solution more universally useful and compatible, while handing Apple a small but significant win. [via Ars Technica]
Novatel's 2372 MiFi gets DLNA certified, can serve up some beats with those bytes
The humble MiFi from Novatel has, in various guises for myriad carriers, saved our bacon on repeated occasions at press events, feeding up sweet connectivity when 3G USB modems were few or ineffective. Now it can make that bacon sizzle, too, receiving DLNA certification and becoming a little media streamer. Content loaded to the MiFi's microSD card will now be served up to any compatible media player, receiver, or computer, which includes watching movies on iPads and Xboxes and PS3's. Oh, my! It remains to be seen whether existing 2372s will be upgradeable to support DLNA or whether it'll be new devices only, but the company has said that AT&T will be the first carrier to offer the service. So, there's something to look forward to, T-Mobile subscribers.
Rovi Connected Platform brings another flavor of Android-to-anything streaming
And then, there were two. Just days after Qualcomm pushed out its DLNA Certified Skifta Android app for streaming content from your smartphone / tablet to just about anything else, along comes Rovi with an awfully similar alternative. The company -- which swallowed up Sonic Solutions just months ago -- obviously has a thing for slinging contained media all over the place, and its new Connected Platform will soon be available pre-ported to Android 2.1 or higher. In short, that'll enable Android devices to beam multimedia stored on their microSD cards to an array of PCs, set-top boxes or NAS devices, which in turn would be connected to a monitor or HDTV of some sort. The dirty details on what kinds of devices it'll support remain murky, but we're hoping to hear more once the app makes its debut in the Android Marketplace sometime this quarter. Something tells us you'll need a phone with a bit more oomph than the Acclaim to actually have decent streaming performance, though.
Philips CES 2011 HD lineup: 4000 / 5000 / 6000 series LCDs, Blu-ray players and home theater systems
Consider yourself an HD junkie? You're in for a treat. A feast of treats, actually. Philips has just let loose a veritable smorgasbord of new HD kit at CES this morning, from LCD HDTVs to Blu-ray decks to complete home theater systems. Here's what you need to know: The 4000 LED series of HDTVs are available in 40 (40PFL4706), 46 (46PFL4706) and 55 (55PFL4706) inch sizes, these mid-range sets include MediaConnect and NetTV for getting your PC to play nice on your TV (sans wires, at that), with the latter also providing easy access to Vudu, Netflix, Blockbuster and FilmFresh. These will ship by May for prices of $749, $999 and $1499 in order of mention. For those who couldn't care less about MediaConnect of NetTV, a 19-inch, 22-inch and 32-inch version will be available this month for $199.99, $249.99 and $449.99, respectively. Moving up a bit, the 5000 LCD series will ship in 40 (40PFL5706), 46 (46PFL5706) and 55 (55PFL5706) inch sizes, with these boasting the same basic functionality as the 4000 series but gaining a Pixel Precise HD engine and 120Hz de-jitter support. Look for these in the April / May time frame for $679, $899 and $1099. Looking to take one more step towards high-end? The LED 6000 series is where's it at, improving upon the other two lines by adding... 3D. Naturally. Check the 40PFL6706 (40-inch), 46PFL6706 (46-inch) and 55PFL6706 (55-inch) models this September for $999, $1299 and $1699 in order of mention. If you're looking to outfit your room with a full-on home theater system, Philips is revealing five new setups today, three of which have 3D support baked right in. The whole lot includes a Blu-ray deck and support for MediaConnect / NetTV, with the more expensive sets boasting wireless rear speakers and DLNA streaming. They'll be shipping from February to May for $269.99 to $449.99. Closing things out are the company's five new Blu-ray decks, with the $169.99 (BDP3506), $199.99 (BDP5506) and $219.99 (BDP7506) models supporting 3D Blu-ray. The 7506 also gets MediaConnect and NetTV, with the whole range shipping between next month and April. Check out the full releases, each chock full of details, right after the break. Oh, and sink your retinas into the gallery below while you're at it. %Gallery-112527%
Library of Congress eyes National Film Registry streaming scheme
In the digital age, libraries all over the country have been looking for ways to remain relevant and useful as they continue their core mission of giving people access to media and educational materials. To that end, The Library of Congress has announced plans to make selections from the National Film Registry available for streaming online. Of course, as the Federal Times notes, some of the copyright owners might balk at the suggestion (it's hard to imagine George Lucas ever letting anyone freely stream Star Wars) but in theory this isn't a bad idea, at all. "I hope we'll be able to work something out," said Librarian of Congress James Billington. "[The registry] has great educational and inspirational as well as entertainment value." Besides, if you don't give kids a legal, safe way to watch the classic W.C. Fields flick "It's a Gift" (1934), they're just going to get it from illegal torrent sites or from guys selling bootleg DVDs on Penn Avenue in Garfield.
HTC Media Link DLNA streamer review
Apple's AirPlay might be getting all the attention lately but it's hardly the first solution for wirelessly streaming media to the television. Far from it. In 2003, the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) formed with its first set of interoperable products hitting the market in 2004. Since then, the alliance has certified thousands of products supported by more than 245 member companies, 29 of whom are listed as "promoter members" including such heavyweights as Sony, Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba, Verizon, AT&T Lab, LG, Qualcomm, Cisco, Microsoft, Panasonic, Intel, HP, and Motorola. Pretty much everyone but Apple. Recently, HTC joined the DLNA ranks with the introduction of two smartphones -- the Desire Z and Desire HD -- and a tiny media streamer known as the HTC Media Link, HTC's first attempt to gain a foothold in the living room. Over the last week we've been testing the Desire Z (a Eurofied T-Mobile G2) with the Media Link, lazily streaming video, music, and images around the house using a myriad of sources and controllers from Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, and Western Digital. How did it perform? Click through to find out. %Gallery-112218%
Planex MZK-SNG02US brings DLNA to your SD cards and USB drives
Not looking to go all out with a DLNA-ready NAS or dedicated media player to get some streaming started on your home network? Then you might be able to get by with something like Planex's new MZK-SNG02US device, which packs a single USB port and an SD card slot, and basically acts as DLNA-enabled bridge between your storage media and your router. Unfortunately, it looks like this one is only available in Japan at the moment, and its ¥8,000 (or $95) price tag places it a bit closer to some of those aforementioned dedicated devices than we would have liked. We're guessing that will get knocked down a bit if and when it's released (and most likely rebadged) over here, though.
LG BD690 is the first Blu-ray player certified for Wi-Fi Direct, keeps Bluetooth paranoid
The possibilities teased in 2009 by Wi-Fi Direct have probably kept Bluetooth up at night, and we're sure the commencement of device certification last month hasn't helped, either. Now the LG BD960 has emerged as the first Blu-ray player on the Wi-Fi Direct certification list, hinting direct P2P communication in our home theaters among WiFi devices (without the need for a routing middleman) could soon go from fiction to fact. Unfortunately, mum's still the word on shipping and pricing. The mere chance however that the player could stream content to any other WiFi-equipped device -- Direct certified or not -- is a big enough deal to give our dedicated media streamers Defarge-like glances already. Particularly, if the BD960 comes packed with features similar its suspected predecessor the LG-BD390, which can stream both Netflix, Vudu, and DLNA network content, as well as play DivX HD 1080p content. Until more details surface though, we'll simply have to keep reminding our poor Galaxy S that it isn't destined to be alone in this cold, cruel world forever.
Ask Engadget: Google TV, Apple TV, Roku, or something else?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Brandon, who is fairly interested in ditching his cable subscription. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "Hey Engadget readership. I've been paying way too much for channels I never watch for way too long. I'm about ready to seriously consider my options for ditching cable. Problem is, I've got too many alternatives. Google TV, Apple TV and Roku stick out, but I've also heard of using a new Mac Mini along with Boxee. Given that I have a Netflix subscription to loop in, which of these would be my most satisfying option? Or is there another I'm not considering? Thanks for the assistance." We feel your pain. Loads of options, and not really one set-top that does it all. 'Course, you could always whip up an HTPC to really cover your bases, but we're sure you'll get some fine input either way in comments below.
Report: Twenty percent of peak downstream Internet used for Netflix?
If you're anything like us, you're both smart and incredibly good looking. Also, you're sarcastic. And in addition to all that, you spend much of your downtime enjoying streaming media on your computer, or your Internet-enabled TV, or perhaps even your fancy-pants cellphone. And it looks like, indeed, much of the country is "anything like us" -- at least according to Sandvine, Inc., of Waterloo, Ontario. The network hardware manufacturer has released a report that concludes that over twenty percent of stateside peak time downstream Internet traffic is gobbled up by Netflix streams, with the heaviest use going down in the primetime hours between 8 to 10 pm. We're sure that this is no surprise to Netflix itself, whose CEO recently stated that the company is primarily a streaming company that just happens to mail out DVDs to some customers; but still, the figure is pretty staggering. You can draw your own conclusions, but we're just happy to no longer live in a place where the only thing to watch on a Thursday night is The World According To Jim.
LG Optimus 7 Windows Phone 7 prototype flicks photos to TVs, launches October
We were a bit surprised to find LG's prototype Windows Phone 7 device for developers, soon to be unveiled officially as the Optimus 7 when released in its production form, hanging out in the wilds of IFA. Nevertheless, there it was, streaming DLNA content to a WiFi enabled TV. LG worked with Microsoft to develop a custom DLNA media sharing capability for its GW910 handset. Just one of the ways hardware partners are able to differentiate themselves on the otherwise locked down Windows Phone 7 platform. It certainly makes sense that LG would play to its strengths in the television industry as it moves to market with the device as early as next month according to our sources. Watch the trick flip-to-TV photo sharing interface in action after the break.
WD TV Live Plus gets reviewed, lauded for value
After being announced in early June, Anandtech recently put the Western Digital WD TV Live Plus through its paces and discovered the Netflix enhancement works as advertised. Like many Netflix-enabled devices though, the TV Live comes up short compared to the full PC experience since access is limited to only the Instant Queue. Its presence also sacrifices firmware hackability -- a quality which previously made up for the WD TV Live's lack of versatility as an HTPC. The ability to move, copy, and manage locally stored media files via the interface, on the other hand, was praised as a unique advantage over competing models -- exciting, we know. Sadly, video quality was docked as being "significantly less than the HTPC counterparts they've seen so far." However, it's possible this could be improved in the future via firmware updates, since its Sigma Designs processor features noise reduction and deinterlacing algorithms that strangely aren't currently enabled. File format-wise, DVD ISOs worked flawlessly, while Blu-ray ISO and some WMV video formats experienced issues that users may want to read up on before buying. Gripes aside though, Anandtech was still willing to place it "around the top of the list" for media player devices, thanks to its wide file compatibility and robust features. For more details, hit the review source link.
