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ASUS WiCast EW2000 1080p streaming solution reviewed: 'lots of wires for wireless'
It's a modern day dilemma, really -- you'd love to hang that flat panel on your wall, but the wireless technologies available to mere mortals in the year 2010 just aren't up to snuff. Wireless power is a pipe dream, and even wireless HDMI has its drawbacks. Case in point: ASUS' new WiCast media streaming solution. Introduced last month in conjunction with Amimon, this high(er)-end streamer is theoretically capable of transmitting 1080p material over the air, with 3Gbps at its disposal. Trouble is, critics at AnandTech found that there were gobs of wires to connect before anything started to stream "wirelessly," and moreover, they noticed significant artifacting in Iron Man 2 even with just five feet separating the receiver and transmitter. The good news is that the WiCast isn't platform / machine-specific, but that luxury comes with a price -- you'll have to connect three cables (two USB and an HDMI) to your laptop and a receiver box to your HDTV. In the end, there seems to be just one real winner: Monoprice.
Sonos Wireless Dock for iPod and iPhone is out now for $119
And now we're at a crossroads. Apple is about to start hitting the wireless media streaming game hard with AirPlay and an armada of third party manufacturers. Meanwhile, Sonos is improving its already impressive streaming ecosystem with a now-shipping Sonos Wireless Dock (WD100) for your iPod or iPhone that can stream your device's music digitally to any of your Sonos ZonePlayers. It's not that bad a buy at $119, especially if you already have a big investment in Sonos. Plus, Sonos has plenty of other perks (like great support for online streaming music services) that it would be happy to point out to you. Still, we can't help but wonder what this sort of product will look like in an AirPlay-contoured market, say, one year from now.
PCD's $99 wireless streaming adapter will beam iOS or older-gen iPod nano content onto your TV
In case you've got some fundamental issue with Apple's upcoming AirPlay, or just a fifth-gen iPod nano you're unwilling to part with, here's a handy little adapter for you. Produced by Cywee and likely to be sold for around $99 by PCD in the US, this RF streamer plugs straight into your iDevice's dock connector and then beams video, pictures, games and the like over to its nearby base station, which in turn hooks up to your television by a set of RGB cables. Any app that utilizes Apple's video output API is a candidate for having its visuals sent over, though resolution is unfortunately capped at 480p and you'll need line of sight at a distance of no more than 15 feet for everything to work correctly. Just to make sure we're all appropriately underwhelmed by its current product, Cywee promises an 802.11n WiFi variant that'll handle 1080p and output via HDMI for next year. Great, we'll just wait for that one, why don't we?
Upcoming Galaxy GeForce GTX 460 card to support WHDI streaming courtesy of Amimon
Most of what we're seeing on the WHDI front has to do with getting basic HD video playback off of the laptop or out of the den and onto the TV, but video games are people too -- don't they deserve the same treatment? Galaxy seems to think so, and it's building Amimon's WHDI tech into its upcoming Galaxy GeForce GTX 460 WHDI Edition video card. A receiver adapter for plugging into your TV is of course included, and perhaps the mixed incentive of Blu-ray and DRM'd content streaming (WHDI is HDCP 2.0 compatible) and 1080p 60fps big screen shoot-em-ups will be exactly what PC gaming needs to sneak into the living room. We doubt it, but we appreciate the effort all the same. The card ships in October for an undisclosed, totally radical price.
Netgear brings the goods to CeBIT: HD streamers, HomePlug AV adapters
Another month, another blockbuster trade show. CeBIT's show floor doesn't open up until tomorrow (and yeah, we'll be storming it like no other), but Netgear's wasting precisely no time in unveiling its latest wares. The two pieces that are nearest and dearest to our hearts are the WNHDB3004 and WNHDB3004, the former of which is an 802.11n HD Home Theater Kit and the latter of which is a universal WiFi adapter that adds wireless support to any AV product with an Ethernet jack. Users interested in streaming "multiple, simultaneous, jitter-free 1080p HD video streams wirelessly throughout the home" should certainly give the first a look, as it enables instant wireless streaming from your existing router to any component with an Ethernet port; think of this as the beautiful alternative to running a 50 foot patch cable through your living room and simultaneously eroding your relationship with Mr. / Mrs. Significant Other. The outfit also doled out a few SMB-centric ReadyNAS devices and a couple of HomePlug AV boxes with AC outlet passthroughs, all of which are detailed there in the source links. %Gallery-86732%
Cignias NAO Symphony wireless iPod boombox gets unboxed
Cignias' NAO Symphony still doesn't seem to be widely available following its CES unveiling, but our good pal Dave Zatz looks to have sourced one from the wild, wild abyss. He did the world a favor by hosting up unboxing shots and a few first impressions, noting that this "sophisticated" iPod speaker dock actually interests him far more than most of those me-too offerings cluttering shelves today. Unfortunately, he's still working on getting the iPhone app to connect to a hidden SSID, but feel free to hit the source link and peruse the image gallery while he gets that ironed out. Update: This is now available directly from Cignias.
Livestream Livepack: a 'satellite television truck in a backpack'
"Game changing" is thrown around way too frequently these days, but man, this thing just might be. The Livepack is being described as "a satellite television truck in a backpack" by creator Livestream, and for all intents and purposes, it is. Put simply (or as simply as possible), the pack includes everything one would need to stream "HD quality" footage: encoding hardware, a Firewire cable and the real kicker, a built-in wireless connection with six load-balanced 3G modems over three carriers (AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint if you have to know). Users simply provide their own camcorder, mash a button when it's show time, and out goes the signal. The Livepack can currently be rented for $2,500 per month (includes 30 hours of streaming) or $1,500 per month if you commit to a year-long agreement. So, who's up for showing the world their high school prom live in HD? Demo vid is after the break.[Via Red Ferret]
Creative Sound Blaster Wireless 'for iTunes' works with other software too
You've known how to wirelessly connect the music on your computer with your massive hi-fi speakers since about the dawn of the caveman, but that doesn't mean Creative won't try to make it seem revolutionary. The company has this week announced immediate availability of its Sound Blaster Wireless for iTunes, which essentially functions as a wireless adapter for any pair of regular old speakeroonies. The name is a marketing-inspired misnomer as the device will work with all manner of software, including Windows Media Player, Napster, Rhapsody, LastFM and even YouTube. The relative straightforwardness of this unit is appealing, though we're skeptical about Creative's claims of zero signal drop-offs, given that transmissions are done via the already crowded 2.4GHz wireless frequency. If you just have to hear it for yourself, entry fee is $149.99.
Thanko's i2! Stream forces your friends to hear your jams
So we've basically seen the wired version of this in Belkin's RockStar, but at least that made a modicum of sense. This, however, does not. Thanko's i2! Streams works as such: you plug one of the wireless transmitters in between your DAP / PMP and headphones, and up to five of your pals simply hold onto a receiver unit with earbuds of their own. As you can guess, those five pals now have your music piped to them through the air. The only problem? Why hold on to one of these things when you could pick up a chintzy DAP of your own down the street for a couple yuan / yen / whatever? Thanko's wonders never cease...[Via CrunchGear]
Tzero's WiMedia-based ZeroWire uses UWB for HD streaming
While Tzero has been at the forefront of ultra wideband technology for some time, the firm is upping the stakes even higher with its WiMedia-based TZC7200 ZeroWire chipset. The UWB semiconductor solution was designed to deliver "real-time high-definition video" either wirelessly or over cabling, and can even open new doors for "distributing entertainment content throughout the entire home using existing coax." Reportedly, this device can pipe multiple streams of HD video through your average cable network at the tune of 480Mbps, and it boasts application integration including IP, UDP, TCP/IP, multicast, and unicast. Notably, ZeroWire is "comprised of both a Radio Frequency IC (RFIC) as well as a baseband and media access control system-on-chip," and while the chipset is listed is being available immediately, you'll need to contact Tzero yourself to fetch the pricing details.
Kyocera Bluetooth Music Gateway streams jams from your mobile
Kyocera's Bluetooth Music Gateway most definitely isn't the first of its kind, but the dashing musical liaison is indeed adding a hint of differentiation to the streaming Bluetooth middleman category. Encased in a sleek black / metallic gray enclosure "about the size of a deck of playing cards," the three-ounce BT-enabled device receives streaming tunes via your A2DP-capable cellphone, DAP, or PMP, and then channels the audio to your home stereo via a pair of stereo RCA cables. Furthermore, users with an AVRCP device can enjoy volume / track control right from their mobile, removing the need for a separate remote control and furthering its overall appeal -- and before the non-Bluetooth users go crying foul, Kyocera's also offering up an optional $34.99 adapter that converts any 3.5-millimeter stereo jack into a Bluetooth transmitter. The Bluetooth Music Gateway should be landing sometime in the April timeframe, and you'll be looking at $99.99 with the Wireless Audio Adapter thrown in, or $79.99 without. [Via Slashphone]
