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Switched On: The next microplatform
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The case for rich operating systems supporting a wide range of applications has been proven out among PCs, tablets and smartphones. But the jury is still out for other devices such as televisions. While Samsung pushes ahead on attracting apps to its Smart TVs using its own platform and LG, Sony and Vizio align with Google TV, there are still reasons to believe that the smart TV will fail to have tremendous impact as Switched On discussed last year. Blu-ray players, video game consoles and cheap boxes from Apple, Roku, Netgear and others allow consumers to expand their video options while integrated networking provides gateways to content from smartphones, tablets and PCs.
Slingbox 350 and 500 review: Sling Media finally upgrades its line of media streamers
It's hard to believe that the Slingbox has been around for seven years, but that only makes it harder to accept these are the first retail models that have been released since 2008. That finally changes today, though: Sling Media just introduced two new place-shifters: the Slingbox 500 and 350 (pictured). Available on October 14th for $299 and $179, respectively, these new set-top boxes replace the Solo and Pro-HD. While the 350 simply adds 1080p streaming for the same price, the 500 adds SlingProjector, a feature that lets you take photos stored on your iOS or Android device and send them to your television (video streaming will soon be supported as well). The Slingbox 500 will also soon be able to play content on USB-attached storage, but that will come in a future software update. The SlingPlayer apps get a refresh as well, adding reminders and an easier way to share your Slingbox with friends. What we set out to determine in this review -- and what you'll discover if you click through -- is how big of an upgrade this really is. Is it worth chucking your old hardware for one of these boxes? What if you're thinking of getting your first media streamer? We'll delve into all that after the break.
This is the Modem World: Can I pick my own set-top box, please?
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology. When I was a kid, my parents actually rented our home phones from the phone company. They were hard-wired to the wall -- no detachable RJ cables. The phones were heavy, and when you needed a new one, you would call the phone company and get in line. They would then come out in four to six weeks and install the new phone for you at your expense. If you wanted to move the phone to another room, the process was like calling an electrician: holes were drilled, ladders were scaled and money was spent. The phone equipment itself was drab, heavy and came in your choice of two colors: boring and depressing. Answering machines were rare -- instead, you had to use expensive answering services staffed by cranky women from New Jersey.
Diamond Multimedia outs AMP1000 Android set-top box: Gingerbread-based, 1080p, sells for $120 (update: ICS coming this week)
Diamond Multimedia's more commonly known around the web for selling Mac and PC capture cards (among other things), but as of today, the company's officially entering the set-top box game with its AMP1000. The media player itself is running a not-so-new flavor of Android -- Gingerbread, to be exact -- which will be used to bring a slew of familiar entertainment tidbits to the bigger screen, such as a media player capable of 1080p playback, an evolved internet browser and an oversized photo viewer, as well as other content like games, ebooks and magazines -- all of which can be downloaded from Google's Play repertoire. Although Diamond Multimedia's formally pricing the AMP1000 at $120, there's a Facebook-only offer that knocks the price down to a mere $100. Now, will it be enough to compete with, say, Vizio's $99 Google TV box? We'll let you be the judge of that. Update: Well, in case you weren't fond of the AMP1000's Gingerbread innards, Diamond Multimedia's got something in the works to solve that problem. A company rep has contacted us to let us know Ice Cream Sandwich will be coming to early adopters "later this week," as well as noting that all future units will come with the creamy OS already onboard.
New Roku HD, 2 and LT updated to version 4.7, slew of 'under the hood' improvements in tow
It's been nearly a month since we saw the Roku 2 and LT get hit with some performance-boosting updates, and now the pair's about to be on the receiving end of some additional enhancements. Version 4.7 -- which is also coming to that new Roku HD -- brings with it a slew of improvements, including refined stability for the aforementioned player and a sharpened device discovery method on the company's Android / iOS applications. Inside v4.7, Roku's also added support for channels using Microsoft Smooth Streaming as well as other improvements to help with launch of "several new partner channels" later this year. The refresh is set to arrive automatically over the next 48 hours, though you could always grab it manually by hitting the Software Update menu on your tiny box.
MIPS unveils new Aptiv mobile chip design, vows more speed in a tiny space
MIPS has only had a slight amount of traction in smartphones and tablets given that its best friend is Ainovo. It might get a better footing in an ARM-dominated world with a new range of processors in the Aptiv line. The highest-end chip of the bunch, the ProAptiv, is reportedly much smaller than its ARM opponents across the aisle while managing the same speed, goosing the floating-point math, memory addressing and multi-core support to where it's as much as 75 percent faster over the previous generation. That's good news for mobile devices and set-top boxes where space is tight. MIPS isn't leaving embedded gear like 4G LTE modems alone, either, as the mid-size InterAptiv and tiny MicroAptiv are getting similar improvements. If you're eager to get cracking on a processor of your own, you can license MIPS' new work right away -- and us plebeians who simply buy the devices can expect Aptiv to be ready for gadget use by the middle of the year.
Mediaroom rumors could put Microsoft IPTV on the fast track to success
We're hearing rumors today that Microsoft's already hardworking Mediaroom could be putting in overtime in the near future. According to ZDNet, not only is Microsoft working on a Mediaroom client for Windows Phone (aka Rome), but it's also got a Silverlight-for-Mediaroom project (aka Taos) in the pipeline, with a possible Silverlight-for-Mediaroom STB (aka Santa Fe) also on the way. As if it didn't already have a heavy workload, the platform is also up for a possible tie-in with Windows Media Center (aka Monaco). All this comes on the heels of chatter that the software giant is considering a new Xbox 360 TV service, incorporating Mediaroom, and news of a Silverlight SOC that could be worked into an STB like Santa Fe. All code names and acronyms aside, it looks like Microsoft is gearing up to give Apple and Google some serious internet TV competition, which means Mediaroom's going to have say goodbye to happy hour and hello to some serious all-nighters.
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.
People of Lava launches Scandinavia Android TV, melts home theater hearts and wallets
After teasing us with its cool hardware and even cooler name last spring, Swedish TV maker People of Lava has now launched what it claims is the world's first Android-powered TV -- that is if you don't count Korea's Smartroi TV running Android 1.5. Its top-of-the-line 55-inch models cost a wallet-singeing 40,000 Swedish Krona (or roughly $5,820) and ship with Android 1.5 along with widgets for Google Chrome, Facebook, YouTube and Google Maps. They also have access to an app store which currently only includes 20 titles, but could grow to more than 1,000 by the end of the year -- since according to marketing director Martin Ljunggren, the store should import any app now in the Android Market that's scalable to a TV screen. That's a feat we're curious to see given Android's difficultly scaling apps even to tablet screens -- but hey, what do we know? In terms of sales, People of Lava hopes to move $29 million dollars worth of Scandinavia units in 2011, in both Sweden and niche US and UK markets. Overall that's great news for the tech savvy well-to-do, but considering Mountain Vew's focus on Google TV, we're not sure how long these Android TVs will be around.
Google TV officially launching October 17th?
It's been no secret that Google TV is scheduled to arrive sometime this fall and we've already seen the Logitech Revue box hardware pass the FCC, but a tipster has just shared an internal Best Buy document with us disclosing that the original planned launched date was October 3rd, and it's now been mysteriously pushed back by two weeks. That would pin the official launch as October 17th, which is certainly later then what Intel's chief recently hinted at. While it's certainly not definitive proof, considering the fact that Best Buy is an official partner of Google TV and the dates timing relative to the upcoming holiday season, we don't think this leak is all that far fetched. Let's not forget that schedule would also place its release a little more than two weeks after the suggested ship date of Cupertino's new hobby. Sure, Google's mantra may be "do no evil", but that doesn't mean they can't try to rain on Job's parade every now and again right? Oh and for all the eloquent waxing you could want on Google's assault on the living room, make sure you check our editorial on the platform if you happened to miss it.
Amino launches Freedom over-the-top video set-top box, challenges Google TV to arm wrestle
If the AppleTV announcement didn't satiate your need for a Google TV set-top box battle royal, then new details about Amino's Freedom box might do the trick. Yes it still packs the same hardware announced back in 2009 such as an Intel CE4100m Atom Processor, 500 GB of internal storage, SD card support, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11n and 1 GB of RAM. We've now discovered however that it'll also run its own Amino branded version of Nokia's MeeGo OS, adding apps and gaming support to its list of capabilities that already included 1080p playback, VOD streaming, and DVR recording. In other words there's going to be a new Google TV competitor on the block sometime before the end of this year looking for a fight. Whether it'll provide a Lincoln Hawk-worthy performance though is something we'll let the bookies squabble over until we can go hands on with both. [Thanks, Hary]
Litl working on a settop box with smartphone-like remote, not scared of Google
You've got to hand it to Litl -- even after the Webbook failed to impress, the startup is still trudging though the gadget trenches. And there's no doubt that the new settop box it's tinkering with sounds interesting: like the Webbook, it will run Litl's very own Linux OS, and will be based on a browser and web apps -- in fact, the company is launching an SDK for the Flash-based HTPC tomorrow at the Flash and the City conference. The most interesting thing to us is the cute little touchscreen remote, which will apparently let you control the UI from the couch with multitouch gestures. Sounds pretty snazzy to us, but you'll have to wait until early 2011 to get one of these in your living room. Litl's CEO John Chuang wouldn't share much on the hardware front, but we know it's powered by some sort of x86 processor, and will have HDMI and composite-out to connect to your HDTV, as well as Ethernet / WiFi connection options. We're hoping by then that there will be some Android-based settop boxes on the market, but that doesn't worry Litl -- Chuang claims it'll be a dead-simple consumer product. No word on the name of this thing, but there's obviously time to decide on that. Hit the break for the press release, and the gallery below for some early designs of the device. %Gallery-92983%
FCC ponders opening set top boxes to broadband connections, greater competition
The FCC has this week signaled its intent to snoop around set top boxes and how they may be improved. Prompted by "a lack of competition and innovation in this market," the regulator will look into ways it can encourage the proliferation of broadband internet access provision as well as stimulating further advances. One potential solution may involve compelling cable and broadband providers to supply "bridge" network interface devices that'll allow users to hook up their set top box to a modem and get groovy online. Whatever the final proposals are, and they'll take more definite shape in February, we're pleased to see the FCC take a proactive approach toward an industry it perceives to be stagnating. Our idea? Boxee Boxes for everyone!
1080p Android demo'd, set-top boxes prepare for a new master
It is done. MIPS Technologies has demonstrated its enhanced implementation of Android running in 1080p via extended libraries to support hardware graphics acceleration and decoding on Sigma Designs hardware, a portent of set-top boxes yet to come. Of course, without any video or pictures or video of the blessed event (ISB Corp's previous OMAP based effort is pictured above) it's hard to tell why Android coming to TV is such a great idea, if its cousin widgets are any indication, there's a chance of being high on pre-release hype but low on desirability once it reaches the market. Still, the Open Embedded Software Foundation pledges to continue on shoehorning Android into devices beyond the mobile handset, but if it's shut down by a band of torch wielding villagers demanding the monster be put down, don't say we didn't warn you.[Via SlashGear & LinuxforDevices]
Switched On: Blockbuster box boxes blocks to bust
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. January 2009 will mark the first anniversary of Apple's switch in positioning Apple TV from something that transferred computer-based content to a PC to a video vending machine that allowed direct ordering over broadband. In doing so and cutting a few dollars off the price, the company became the leader in a small category of products exclusively focused on displaying networked content. However, it's been far from alone there. The installed bases of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which offer similar functionality, far exceed those of Apple's little box. Recently the long-delayed SlingCatcher came out of the gate, which -- with a little finagling on a PC screen-- can display virtually any video content available via broadband on a television using its SlingProjector technology.Vudu, a startup that had launched a similar a la carte device, has pushed deeper into the custom installation channel as of late. And CinemaNow, which had partnered with HP on its MediaSmart televisions and standalone device, was recently purchased for $3 million by Sonic Solutions. The acquiring company likely has designs on using the service to support its at-home DVD burning technology QFlix.And on the low-end from Roku -- the roots of which were as a developer of PC-stereo bridging products -- has come a nondescript box that streams movies from Netflix for $99. A year before MovieBeam finally had its plug pulled, its receiver device was available for even less than that.
