THE CONNECTED HOME TECH BLOG
YOUR DAILY DOSE OF HOME-TECHNOLOGY NEWS AND VIEWS PAUL THURROTT
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[1/23/2006]
SnapStream Develops 11-Tuner 'Godzilla PVR'
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
Digital video recorder (DVR) supplier SnapStream, makers of the PC-based Beyond TV 4 software, have created the world's most impressive DVR: It's an 11-tuner model called Godzilla PVR that fits in a single PC case and features four HDTV tuners and seven standard-definition tuners, all of which can work simultaneously. Unlike competing PC-based solutions, such as Windows XP Media Center Edition, which supports only one HDTV tuner (over-the-air only) and two standard-definition tuners, Beyond TV has unlimited tuner support, so SnapStream thought they'd see how far they could take it. Godzilla PVR also includes four 250GB drives (for a total of...
LAST COMMENT
Will it also cost $12.95 a month use, or will it cost 11 * 12.95 ($142.5) a month to use? :)
We nee...
Siegel -January 25, 2006
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[1/18/2006]
Sony Preps 4GB and 8GB Memory Stick Duo
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
This year, Sony will ship high-capacity Memory Stick Duo memory cards, which should be good news to owners of the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Sony will provide both 4GB and 8GB versions of the memory card, which are designed to at least partially offset complaints about the lack of a PSP hard drive. Why would PSP owners need such huge amounts of storage, you ask? Because they want to watch movies on the PSP's gorgeous widescreen display. Sure, you could spend $15 to $30 each for UMD-based movies, but if you rip them from DVDs yourself, you can save some money and retain a high-quality original. The cards will be expensive, of course, but at...
LAST COMMENT
I feel so sorry for those dudes that made that huge four gig hard drive add-on. Bummer....
hellnokitty -January 19, 2006
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[1/18/2006]
Microsoft Abandons Windows Media Player for Mac
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
When a Microsoft representative took the stage during Steve Jobs' Macworld keynote address to announce that the company was formally agreeing to support Mac OS X with new Microsoft Office versions for at least the next 5 years, there was no hint that Microsoft was also silently canceling other Mac products. But that's what will happen. The first to go is Windows Media Player (WMP) for Mac. Microsoft is now promoting a third-party solution that lets Mac users play Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV) files through Apple's QuickTime Player, which is included with every Mac. Is Microsoft afraid that people will notice how...
LAST COMMENT
Your last comment seems to have no basis. Are you a writer or just another stupid anti-microsoft ent...
Chad Huls -January 19, 2006
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[1/18/2006]
Record Year for Video Games, Thanks to Portable Devices
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
US video game sales hit a record $10.5 billion in 2005, thanks to stronger-than-expected sales of portable video game systems such as the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP). Game titles for these systems and the GameBoy Advance raked in $1.4 billion in 2005, with the GameBoy Advance accounting for over half of all portable game title sales. The best-selling portable game title of the year was Pokemon Emerald for the GameBoy Advance. No, I don't know why, either. Combined sales of the Nintendo DS and GameBoy Advance reached 4.6 million units, although many of those sales came before 2005. Sony sold 2.7 million PSP units in...
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[1/18/2006]
Microsoft Sold Just 600,000 Xbox 360s in US in 2005
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
Microsoft's Xbox 360 might have generated a lot of hype, press, and excitement during its late 2005 rollout, but the company managed to sell only 600,000 units in the United States last year, a paltry figure that highlights how badly supply problems have hurt sales. Given the demand, Microsoft could easily have sold several million Xbox 360 consoles if it had them ready for sale, but now that several weeks of disappointment have passed, one has to wonder whether the software giant hasn't wasted a historic opportunity to unseat Sony. Now, Sony is getting ready to unleash its PlayStation 3, although the console probably won't debut in the...
LAST COMMENT
I stood in line for one at 4AM. Not early enough, went home empty handed. The hype back then, just b...
Ric -January 19, 2006
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[1/9/2006]
Commodore Returns to CES
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
Back in the early 1980s, Commodore jump-started the home computer market by introducing the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 computers at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Over 20 years later, Commodore was back at CES last week, at least sort of. The company bearing the Commodore name these days isn't actually the same company that gave us the C64 and the Amiga, but is instead a Dutch company that purchased the rights to the Commodore brand last year. Commodore Mac II, as I like to call it, was in Las Vegas last week showing off its new products, which include a Commodore-branded GPS unit (based on Windows Mobile, no less) and a...
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[1/9/2006]
TiVo Shows Off Series 3 at CES ... Again
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
For the second straight year, DVR pioneer TiVo showed off its Series 3 set-top box at CES, but this time the HDTV-based unit was presented with considerably less fanfare. Now due in late 2006, TiVo Series 3 will include dual HDTV tuners, two CableCard expansion ports, Ethernet, and an external SATA port for external hard-drive expansion. It supports every HDTV resolution possible (as well as standard definition) and comes with a sleek new remote. What's the hold-up, you ask? Apparently, TiVo is too busy losing money on its analog boxes to think much about the next generation, but hopefully the interest the company got at CES will remind TiVo...
LAST COMMENT
And how much per month will they demand for this unit? Maybe TiVO should stop trying to make money b...
Siegel -January 11, 2006
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[1/9/2006]
New Sony Reader to Feature Paper-like Screen
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
Sony talked up its PlayStation 3 and Blu-ray technologies at CES this year, but one of the coolest things the company announced got barely any press: This spring, Sony will launch a new version of its Reader eBook hardware, and it's a gem. The new version includes a new, amazingly readable display that actually makes eBooks resemble real paper books, and is thus easier on the eyes than most LCD displays. Encased inside a snug and easily holdable frame that's somewhere between the size of a paperback and a hardcover book, the new Sony Reader will also support RSS and a terrific eBook library that will be sold through Sony's Connect online...
LAST COMMENT
Yes, it looks good but what will the DRM expose the hosting computer to?...
DaveZ -January 11, 2006
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[1/9/2006]
Dish Networks Goes HD
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
Satellite TV provider Dish Networks is the latest to get the HDTV vibe, and this time they're not fooling around. According to the company, Dish Networks now offers more HDTV content than any TV provider, with more than 1700 hours of HDTV programming per week. Naturally, Dish Networks subscribers will need to get a new HD receiver and, if they're smart, a bundled DVR in order to time shift all that lovely high-resolution content. But what's $700 between friends, right? Besides, Dish is adding five new VOOM channels to its guide, as well as three other HD channels, all of which will be offered in gorgeous MPEG-4 goodness. That's seriously...
LAST COMMENT
Dish HD service has been available for over a year. They are just continually improving what they pr...
John Barr -January 11, 2006
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[1/2/2006]
Here Comes CES 2006
- Posted by: Paul Thurrott
Another year, another Consumer Electronics Show (CES). That's right, this week the largest trade show in North America will kick off in Las Vegas, providing us with a sneak peek at the consumer electronics goods we'll be wasting our money on during the 2006 holiday selling season. If you think it's a bit early to be thinking that far ahead—after all, some of us haven't even taken down our Christmas trees yet—then you're not alone. But the biggest problem with CES isn't that we won't be able to get any of the cool stuff we see there for another 9 to 12 months. The biggest problem is the crowds. With hundreds of thousands of norms...
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ZenitDub -January 05, 2006
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