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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.
KDDI unveils ICS 'Smart TV Box' for cable providers in Japan, available later this year (video)
We've seen a fair share of Android-powered set-tops in our time, but KDDI (with the help of Panasonic) has taken a slightly different entertainment route with its recently unveiled Smart TV Box. Similar to some Google TV boxes, which the Smart TV Box isn't, KDDI plans to bring this one to cable providers in Japan to act as the main unit in living rooms, with the testing phase set to commence as soon as next month. KDDI's Smart TV Box is powered by an undisclosed dual-core chip and feeds off of a tasty bite of Mountain View's Ice Cream Sandwich. As far as ports and other features, there's HDMI and three USB ports on board, while Ethernet (WiFi, too) keeps you connected and a built-in hard drive takes care of all your DVR needs. Like we said earlier, trial runs will start in August, but the Japanese company expects to have the brick officially up-and-running in a number of households later this fall. In the meantime, though, there's a soothing video for your viewing pleasure just past the break.
WD TV Play media hub revealed by the FCC, puts Texas Hold'em on the big screen
Western Digital must not want to leave casual TV gaming to the Roku crowd. Our friends at the FCC have just posted a filing that shows the as yet unannounced WD TV Play taking on its set-top rival with a dedicated gaming channel. We're only given a small peek into the new media hub's gaming universe through the pre-release user manual, but we know that a Texas Hold'em variant and other titles will find their way in through the gaming services Funspot and PlayJam. No signs have surfaced of a Roku-like motion control, either, although the remote has been given an overhaul compared to its WD TV Live cousin with prominent shortcut buttons for Hulu Plus, Netflix and Vudu. There aren't any immediate clues as to when the otherwise pedestrian-looking Play will take over store shelves -- that said, the virtually complete details hint that there's not long to wait.
Nexus Q social streaming device hands-on
What is the Q? Well, it's a ball... a ball that plays music. And videos. And it also lights up. It's what Google is calling it a "social streaming device" but what's most important is that this is finally the realization of the Android@Home standard that was unveiled last year. While the styling is what'll immediately grab you, it's the functionality that Google thinks will rock your living room. Join us after the break for our first impressions of this category-defying device.
Vizio's Google TV box emerges as the Co-Star Stream Player, goes up for pre-order in July with OnLive gaming
Remember the Vizio VAP430 Stream Player that we tried during CES? Half a year later, the Google TV hub is getting full launch details, just in time for Google I/O. Along with receiving the much more elegant title of Co-Star Stream Player, the set-top box now bakes in OnLive streaming game support -- the Co-Star could, in theory, replace a game console for any American with a good broadband connection. Whether or not playing Just Cause 2 on a TV is in the cards, the hub ticks all the 2012 Google TV checkboxes, including a hybrid keyboard and remote, 3D-capable 1080p video and DLNA media sharing. Before you rush to the local big-box store to pick one up, be warned that pre-orders don't start until July, and then only on Vizio's website. The $100 price, however, will make it considerably easier to wait.
D-Link outs MovieNite Plus, still expects you to buy the popcorn
D-Link has refreshed its MovieNite Apple TV / Roku competitor to enable the media streamer to add a wide variety of apps -- including Hulu Plus (soon). The 1080p video pusher is nearly unmistakable for the original edition, which was available for as little as $48 online, except that it won't be exclusive to Walmart anymore -- oh, and this time out it'll set you back $80.
Hands-on with the Honeywld Power Zest ICS set-top box at Computex 2012 (video)
Looking for an unwieldy product name for your next game of tech Scrabble? How about Honeywld Power Zest? Yes, don't adjust your television, there's no "i" in Honeywld. Speaking of TVs, this err... zesty little item we discovered here at Computex is a set-top box running Ice Cream Sandwich. Feel the power! To be clear, this is not a Google TV device -- it runs Android 4.0 with a heavily skinned, remote control-friendly UI. The box (available in blue, red, yellow and black) is built around a 1.2GHz dual-core Marvell SoC featuring Qdeo technology paired with 1GB of RAM. An embedded 2GB microSD card provides flash storage for the OS. In front you'll find a power LED and infrared receiver, while in back there's a power button, 3.5mm AV connector (for analog audio and composite video), optical audio output, HDMI socket, two USB 2.0 ports, an 100BaseT Ethernet jack and a 12V DC power input. There's no wireless support. We took the device for a spin using the supplied IR remote (which includes a mix of standard buttons plus the home, back, menu and search keys required for Android) and the experience was a bit of a mixed bag. It certainly worked as advertised but navigating Android with just a D-pad and four buttons was quite frustrating. Text entry was painful and buggy (an infrared keyboard will be offered as an extra accessory) -- then again, the box we used was still running early firmware. Honeywld plans to make the Power Zest available to Taiwanese retailers late July for somewhere between $95 to $120. Retail pricing will be a a little higher depending on markups. Until then, feast your eyes on the gallery below and hit the break for our hands-on video.%Gallery-157458%
WD TV adds streaming options, tunes televisions near and far to your Slingbox
A raft of goodies has been tacked on to Western Digital's TV Live and TV Live Hub media players including new streams and Vudu movie downloading, but the addition of SlingPlayer might be the most intriguing. Depending on your region, you'll see new channels on the WD set-tops, including The AOL On Network, Red Bull TV, ABC iview (Australia), Acetrax Movies, Maxdome and BILD TV-App. Walmart's Vudu service will also be added, letting domestic and some foreign users buy or rent from a library of 70,000 downloadable films and TV shows. Finally, if you're a frequent traveler, you can pack your WD box and fire up the new SlingPlayer on your hotel TV to watch hometown broadcasts wherever you may be. Provided you've got a Slingbox back home, of course. To find out more and see what's available in your country, check the source or PR below. Show full PR text New International and Domestic Entertainment Options Complement WD TV® Live™ and WD TV® Live Hub™'s 'Play Anything' Popularity IRVINE, Calif., June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Western Digital® (NASDAQ: WDC), the world's leader in external storage solutions and maker of the popular WD TV® media player family, today introduced a variety of new entertainment options for the WD TV Live™ and WD TV Live Hub™ media players. Current and new users can now enjoy Red Bull TV™, ABC iview (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Acetrax™, Maxdome, the BILD TV-App, and the AOL On Network. They can also watch live and recorded TV with the new SlingPlayer® app and save their premium HD movies to the WD TV Live Hub's internal storage with VUDU. WD's new entertainment choices add to the WD TV media player family's prodigious ability to play personal content such as videos, photos and music by supporting a wide range of media formats. Users can watch content located on any networked PC or Mac® computer in the home, from a network drive such as WD's My Book® Live™ personal cloud storage, and from any directly connected digital camcorder, camera, or USB drive. WD TV Live Hub owners can also save and share pictures and videos from outside the home, using the WD Photos™ app for iPhone®, iPad® and Android™ mobile devices. "WD continuously listens to its customers, and adds the content options they want," said Scott Vouri, vice president and general manager, WD connected home solutions. "With today's addition of hot international and domestic channels, live TV through SlingPlayer, and HD movie rentals, purchases and downloads through VUDU, the WD TV media players truly provide the most entertainment." The WD TV Live Hub is the only media player to offer direct HD movie download service for today's hottest new movie releases purchased from VUDU's large library of movies and TV shows. VUDU is a subscription-free, HD video streaming service, which offers more than 70,000 blockbuster titles including new releases, Hollywood classics, independent films, and TV shows. Because it has an integrated 1TB hard drive, the WD TV Live Hub can save and play back purchased digital content from VUDU, including the high-quality HDX™ video format that features 1080p Full HD and rich Dolby Digital Plus™ 7.1 audio. "By centralizing their entertainment on the WD TV Live Hub, our customers get high-performance full-HD movie playback without overloading their home network or cluttering up the hard drives of other PCs in the house," added Vouri. From "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol" to "The Muppets" WD brings today's top movies to the WD TV Live Hub for a cinema-like experience at home through the available VUDU service. New Services[1] Now Available: SlingPlayer (worldwide) – With a Slingbox® connected in your home, the SlingPlayer app brings your living room TV experience to your connected device in any room – around the home or around the world. The AOL On Network (US) – The AOL HD app, part of The AOL On Network, features high-definition technology, lifestyle, celebrity and entertainment content updated daily from The AOL On Network, which features video from brands like Engadget, TechCrunch, The Huffington Post and Moviefone. Red Bull TV (worldwide) – A unique online portal offering exclusive high quality programs from the World of Red Bull in HD. Available to nearly all devices – Red Bull TV offers worldwide live webcasts and a thematic catalogue of VODs complementing exclusive shows of the multimedia content of redbull.com. ABC iview (Australia) – ABC iview is Australia's most popular catch-up TV service and is run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It features 14-day catch-up from channels ABC1, ABC2, ABC3, ABC4Kids and ABC News 24. Acetrax movies (UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy and Austria) – Available on the WD TV Live only, this service offers blockbuster new release and library movies from the major Hollywood studios. maxdome (Germany) – Available on the WD TV Live only, the most popular German video-on-demand service maxdome delivers over 45,000 major film and TV titles. BILD TV-App (Germany) – With the BILD TV-App users navigate easily and comfortably with the remote control through Germany's largest news and entertainment portal. The application offers the latest news and videos from politics, lifestyle, entertainment and sports, as well as the pictures of the day. Availability The WD TV Live and WD TV Live Hub can be purchased at select retailers and online at wdstore.com. About WD WD, a storage industry pioneer and long-time leader, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users' data accessible and secure from loss. Its storage technologies serve a wide range of host applications including client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own storage systems. Its home entertainment products enable rich engagement with stored digital content. WD was founded in 1970. The company's products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital®, WD® and HGST™ brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company's website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information. Western Digital, WD, the WD logo, WD TV, and My Book are registered trademarks in the U.S. and other countries; WD TV Live and My Book Live are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other companies. Pictures shown may vary from actual products. Not all products may be available in all regions of the world. All product and packaging specifications subject to change without notice. As used for storage capacity, one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment. Source: PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1dpR0)
aTV Flash (black) version 1.6 for Apple TV will serve subtitles and more to your couch
Snared the video you want with aTV Flash (black), but still foraging for subtitles the old way? Version 1.6 of the $29.95 package will now hunt them down from OpenSubtitles.org and download 'em directly to your jailbroken Apple TV 2nd-gen. In addition, Firecore's undermining software now has more codecs and languages, smoother video playback, better networking and numerous refinements and bug fixes. Existing clients will score the upgrade gratis, and new orders won't pay for Apple TV 3rd-gen functionality when it comes out. If you want to say no mas to badly dubbed films, roll to the source for more details.
DirecTV Chairman Michael White: Apple TV "won't obsolete" our tech
We don't know if an updated Apple TV or the hypothetical Apple-branded HDTV will be announced at WWDC (or ever), but just the thought of such a possibility has the big names in the cable and satellite TV business pondering a future with Apple as a competitor. DirecTV Chairman Michael White doesn't think that traditional TV content delivery providers have much to worry about, per GigaOM. Speaking at an investor's conference in New York last week, White said that he doubts that a new Apple TV OS would drive current satellite and cable subscribers to purchase another set-top box from Apple. He thinks that most people would keep the box they already have. White is also doubtful that content providers are going to line up to provide movies and shows for an Apple device. At the Strategic Decisions conference, White said that "They are going to launch something, maybe in the next two weeks ... but I don't see media companies saying 'You can stream things in bundle over the Internet." Comcast's Chairman Brian Roberts allegedly almost welcomed Apple to the world of content providers, but realizes that regardless of the technology released by Apple, his company will still provide the Internet access the customers will need.
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.
AT&T stops offering Xbox 360 U-verse bundle until it can deliver an updated version
In a relatively strange fashion, AT&T's quietly pulled the plug on its U-verse kit for the Xbox 360 -- at least for the time being. According to a note on its own site, the company's taking some time to focus on "improving and enhancing" its U-verse bundle. This is probably a reference to the updated app (that would also require XBL Gold) AT&T promised for the new dashboard with Kinect support and a new UI, but has yet to deliver. As Multichannel points out, earlier last week Netflix had filed a complaint with the FCC, claiming that AT&T's U-verse on Xbox violated network neutrality regulations -- though, it's unclear whether this had anything to do with the outfit's decision to suspend the service. AT&T has said the set-top kit won't "be available until the new enhancements and functionality are added," so we'd recommend not holding your breath for too long.
Time Warner Cable's CEO doesn't know what AirPlay is, hates set-top boxes
While he might not be the first human to admit unfamiliarity with Apple's AirPlay, he's likely to be one of the most recognizable figures amongst the bunch. In a recent interview, Time Warner Cable's CEO, Glenn Britt, said one of the main challenges faced by digital video was the lack of simple ways to stream internet-based content to television sets. Naturally, that brought up the imminent question about Cupertino's streaming goods, to which he responded by saying "I'm not sure what AirPlay is," also adding that "the current Apple TV, the little thing, the hockey puck, really doesn't do anything to help enable you to get internet material on your TV." Furthermore, he went on to say, "I hate set-top boxes," as he believes smart TVs are a better streaming solution compared to other bits that require additional hardware. Perhaps this explains why the TWC iOS apps are still missing out on some much-needed AirPlay action.
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.
aTV Flash (black) for Apple TV hits version 1.5, brings new player, NFS streaming and more
Folks enjoying all the tidbits aTV Flash (black) brings to the 2nd-gen Apple TV will be happy to know there's a fresh update rolling out now. Inside v1.5, FireCore's added new features such as NFS streaming, as well as including other minor things like extra transitions, subtle timing settings and support for more languages. In addition, and what's perhaps the biggest enhancement, the $29.99 kit is also getting an all-new player, which promises a smoother playback regardless of the file type being used -- not to mention it's optimized for iOS 5. Of course, the refresh is gratis to those who've already shelled out the cash, and you can get to it by hitting the "Manage Extras" menu on Cupertino's miniature box. Not familiar with aTV Flash? Give the source link below a quick click to peruse all about it.
New Roku HD shows up at the FCC, looks like a fusion of current boxes
If a recent FCC pit stop is to be believed (and it should), Roku's next-gen HD box may very well be on its way. Physically, the miniature device keeps the same form factor as its siblings save for the purple splash on its base -- much like a color-flipped LT. Still, the main highlight isn't its minimal makeover, but instead the resurgence of full-sized composite outputs, which had been absent since the first HD-flavored Roku. Furthermore, FCC docs reveal a Broadcom BCM7208 CPU alongside 2GB of flash memory in the box's innards, while it lacks the microSD slot found in the current model. More info is sure to spill over the next few days; in the meantime, give the source link below a click to check out the rest of the Federal treatment.
1080p-capable Apple TV ships a day early, just in time to AirPlay with your new iPad
Did you hop on the pre-order train for the third generation Apple TV, right after the Cook-note? Might want to check that doorstep, as a metric ton of you -- including reader Joel above -- have written in to say your new hockey-puck streaming boxes have arrived. For those keeping score, that's a day ahead of the announced March 16th ship date, meaning lucky souls can get a little downtime with that revamped interface and 1080p streaming a little early. Let us know how your liking it in the comments, and for those of you still waiting, may we humbly recommend our hands-on or comparison posts?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
DirecTV and Pandora join forces, let you jam out via connected HD DVRs
It looks like DirecTV's got more than just college hoops on the brain: it's just announced a new hook up with Pandora. The newly minted agreement will let you access your favorite tunes via DirecTV's fresh 1080p guide on connected HD DVRs -- and, yes it's free. Additionally, you'll be able to search for artists, songs and browse through different genres, as well as set up jam stations to your liking. Those of you interested in blasting Boyz II Men playlists from your DVR, can do so by simply hitting that Menu button (on your oversized remote) and heading over to the Extras section where the musical goodies await you.
Google reportedly considering sell-off of Motorola's set-top box business
This one is still far from a sure thing and would represent something of an about-face from earlier statements made by CEO Larry Page, but The New York Post is reporting today that Google may be looking to sell-off Motorola Mobility's set-top box division as its $12.5 billion acquisition of the company nears a close. Specifically, the Post reports that Google has brought on Qatalyst Partners and Barclays Capital to help shop the business around, and the paper's sources say that Google is "highly likely" to sell-off the division, at least partly because cable operators have "shunned" buying Motorola set-top boxes ahead of the acquisition. Details get decidedly murkier beyond that, with one source only going so far as to ballpark a possible sale price at anywhere from $2.5 to $4 billion. For its part, Google said only that it doesn't "comment on rumor or speculation."
Always Innovating HDMI Android dongle gets an ICS update, we swing by for a taste (video)
Always Innovating appears to be living up to its name, making significant progress on that clever HDMI Android dongle that we first heard of way back at CES. Now the company's TI OMAP4-based television companion is rockin' some Ice Cream Sandwich madness, drawing curious Mobile World Congress attendees into the Texas Instruments booth for a look. We happened upon the device on the last day of the show, and we couldn't help but be impressed. The premise here is quite simple: your "dumb TV" (i.e. one that isn't Internet-enabled) gives up one HDMI and one USB port (for power), in return connecting you to the wonderful world of Android 4.0. Think web browsing, tweeting, gaming (yes, even Angry Birds), video streaming -- that same experience you'll get with any Android tablet can now be had on your aging flat-screen TV. Always Innovating isn't feeling inspired enough to take the lead on manufacturing, instead licensing the technology to third parties, but with some agreements signed and others on the way, this ICS solution on a stick may be hitting stores just in time to become this holiday season's ultimate stocking stuffer. Pricing is of course up to the manufacturers, but TI reps suggested that we might see these things pop up later this year in the $50-99 range, finally making Google on every TV a much more reasonable proposition. Care to take a gander at this stick-based wunderkind? Jump past the break for our hands-on.%Gallery-149208%
