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Belkin announces @TV, Slingbox-esque media streamer and companion app
Belkin has unveiled @TVPlus, a media streamer that jacks into your home theater and pumps episodes of Community (or, other things, we guess) to your smartphone, tablet or laptop through the internet. Packing a built-in WiFi radio, you'll connect to it on your travels with the @TV app, which is capable of recording live TV straight to your mobile device for offline viewing. The app is free for tablets ($12.99 for smartphones) while the box itself will set you back $150 when it arrives in mid-July.
Tron: Legacy Blu-ray gets a release date, supports Disney's Second Screen iPad app
Amazon already revealed the three different Tron: Legacy Blu-ray & Blu-ray 3D combo packs on the way, from the 2-disc standard edition to the two movie, 5-disc Identity Disc-packaged limited edition but now we know the release date (4/5/11) and info about the extras. On the disc, Blu-ray-only exclusives include the Daft Punk music video for their song Derezzed, plus Launching the Legacy, Disc Roars and The Next Day: Flynn Lives Revealed features (Tron: The Original Classic Special Edition saves a Photo Tronology just for Blu-ray watchers.) If you have an iPad, the Disney Second Screen app that will make its debut alongside Bambi March 1 adds to the action with 360-degree views of the Tron vehicles, interactive progression reels and other information all synced to the movie by the audio track. There's more details including MSRPs ($40 - $80) and the press release after the break.
Cox 'Plus Package' brings advanced Trio UI, 500GB multiroom DVR and more HD channels
Cox is ready to make a major leap forward in its user interface -- goodbye SARA and Passport, we won't miss you -- with the newly developed "Plus Package" rolling out in limited areas during Q2 and throughout its service area by the end of the year. For the hardware Cox is bringing a Whole Home DVR solution to bear based on a Cisco 8642 HD/DVR with 500GB (3x more than the sizes currently offered) of storage, and MoCA-connected 1642 HD receivers, which are also necessary to tune to the new HD channels on the way delivered over Switched Digital Video (SDV) in the 860-MHz band. The star of the show however is the new "Trio" program guide (video embedded after the break), a 16:9 interface that spaces out program info over three panes -- channels on the left, programs in the middle, details on the right. TV programs can also be sorted grid-style, by themes, HD-only or favorite channels, while VOD lists titles, box art and detailed info in the three window style. There's personalization for up to eight members of a household, as well as TiVo-style suggestions and related programming searches based on metadata. An exec told Multichannel News the new tru2way-built software started by realizing that "our guides were, in fact, broken" and this all-new approach is a step towards fixing that. Besides the TiVos and Moxis of the world, other service providers with similar setups include DirecTV, FiOS, Dish Network and U-verse and while we'd definitely like to see that middle pane expanded a bit to show more of each title, Cox could be the first cable company offering a set-top box that actually competes with any of them. %Gallery-92661%
Archos's Generation 5 players are now available worldwide
Yeah, we already knew the 605 and 405 had been loosed Stateside, but Archos is finally ready to unleash the whole family on the world -- pictured above, with convenient comparisons to other players you-may-have-seen-around courtesy of Archos. Unfortunately, the Archos 705 WiFi and Archos TV+ won't actually be available until early next month, but the Archos 105, 405 and 605 WiFi are all out today. The players aren't terribly expensive either, with the 2GB 105 at $89; 2GB 405 at $149; the 4GB, 30GB, 80GB and 160GB 605 WiFi at $199, $299 and $349, $399, respectively; 80GB 705 WiFi at $399, 160GB at $499; 80GB Archos TV+ at $249, and finally the 250GB TV+ at $349. As for those curious about content partnerships, the WiFi models connect wirelessly to the "Archos Content Portal" for PC-free purchasing of premium content, and there are currently over 15 partners worldwide -- with CinemaNow doing the honors in the US.[Thanks, Peter L. Warning: PDF link]
