Hasta La Gadget!

Sure we’ve already had our eyes all over Logitech’s CE4100-powered Google TV box and given its WiFi controls on iPhone and Nexus One a try, but we didn’t know exactly what to look for (or, according to Steve, what we’d probably be avoiding) when it hit stores. That’s been put to rest, as the above picture we received reveals we can expect the Logitech Revue with Google TV. Obviously reminiscent of the “with Google” Android branding on handset, the name also ties into its ability to bring together multiple forms of entertainment, we’ll see this this fall if slick branding is enough to get buyers and developers behind the return of Web TV.

Continue reading Logitech’s ‘companion box’ gets a name: Revue with Google TV

Logitech’s ‘companion box’ gets a name: Revue with Google TV originally appeared on Engadget HD on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The Boxee Box, a set-top box created in partnership with D-Link to host Boxee’s web video streaming software, is facing a setback.

The release of Boxee’s hardware has been pushed back to November from the earlier target of June.

“The original plan was to have the Box out by the end of Q2 (i.e. just about now), but that time-frame proved overly ambitious,” Boxee CEO Avner Ronen wrote on the company blog.

Boxee showed the gadget at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. The company didn’t reveal pricing for the device but said it estimates it to be around $200.

The delay is likely to pit the Boxee box squarely against Google TV. Google announced a set-top box platform based on the Android operating system that would integrate cable TV programming with web video. Google has partnered with Sony, Logitech and Intel to create the hardware that it says will be available in retail stores this fall.

Till its partnership with D-Link earlier this year, Boxee seemed content to offer its software as a free download to users. Most Boxee users install the software on their computers and hook the PC to a TV. Boxee’ software can also run on Apple TV.

But a software-only application does limit Boxee’s reach as it can be intimidating to users who don’t want to get their hands dirty with the set up.

Ronen says Boxee has set some ambitious goals for itself.

“Our vision is to make the Boxee experience on a set top box as good as (and where we can, better than) the one you already know on a PC,” he says. “The goal is to play HD videos from the web or a local network in 1080p and use hardware acceleration whenever possible.”

Boxee also wants to offer a TV browser experience that can handle Adobe’s Flash 10.1.

“Not to mention making all this happen for an affordable price and on a quiet device that will not feel obsolete 12 months after you buy it,” says Ronen.

We will have to see if Boxee can really pull this off.

See Also:

• Boxee CEO: Google TV Could Boost or Crush Us
• Hands-On With the Boxee Set-Top Box and Remote
• Boxee Plans to Offer Paid Content
• Boxee Unveils Public Beta, ‘Boxee Box’ Hardware
• Google Introduces Google TV, New Android OS

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

No patience left to wait for Google TV? Tough luck, bubs — ’cause Bonux’s Android set-top box ain’t shipping till the year’s end, either. Tucked away in a small corner of Computex was the gem you see above: an Android 2.1-based set-top box designed to bring… well, Android to your television. The white mockup box was strictly in place to demonstrate the software, and the inability to find a live internet connection on the floor crushed their desires to demonstrate connected extras. Essentially, this STB would scale a mobile OS up to TV size, which isn’t exactly the most elegant of solutions. That said, it does “work,” and the idea of using Android to pull in local media and web content may tempt those who aren’t willing to deal with the expense and complications of snagging a full-blown HTPC. We were told that the box could play back nearly every major file format known to man, and the HDMI output ensures broad compatibility with practically every HDTV ever sold.

When speaking with company representatives at its booth, they asserted that their goal was to shrink the white box down to the size of the black unit sitting beside it, or something barely larger than a deck of cards. If all goes to plan, they should be shipping worldwide by the end of this year, but they stated that it would be awhile before Froyo (Android 2.2) was supported given the intrinsic need for more potent hardware. Speaking of which, they’ve yet to actually nail down a final processor, and they’re still debating whether they’ll have WiFi as an option. In the end, consumers should expect “between one and three” variants (including one with an integrated TV tuner, possibly), and a retail starting price of around “$120 to $130.” So, found that patience you were looking for yet? Per usual, a video demonstration awaits you after the break.

Continue reading Bonux’s Android set-top box is pretty much Google TV lite… really lite (video)

Bonux’s Android set-top box is pretty much Google TV lite… really lite (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

When Google TV was shown to the world a couple weeks ago, only Logitech was on stage as a hardware partner for peripherals. Google would do well to check out the offerings of the Taiwanese-based Cideko. At Computex, it’s showing several new devices that would fit very nicely within the Google TV ecosystem–or, since it’s DLNA-compliant, even the Windows environment.

The Air Player (photo after the jump) is a device that can stream audio and video from multiple interfaces over to your HDTV. It can connect to your PC, external hard drive, or memory card and wirelessly transmit audio and video. And the Air Sender delivers up to 1080p A/V programming from your PC, external hard drive, or memory card and transmit it wirelessly up to 100 meters. The Air Player can then receive those signals and play them on your HDTV or any other remote monitor.

Although no one wants to keep a keyboard on the coffee table, console controllers have certainly found a home there. Cideko’s Air Keyboard Conqueror (above) offers the flexibility of a game controller with a full QWERTY keyboard. It also works as a 3D gyro mouse, so you can point and click on icons on your HDTV.

Cideko reps can’t say when, or if, these products will hit the U.S. But if the connected living room is going to catch on it will need products like this, or something a lot like them.

Check out our ever-growing slideshow of Computex 2010 at PCMag.com.

Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

In a world of connected screens it’s sometimes hard to classify what’s what. I mean, what’s a PC? We call smartphones “phones,” but the reality is they’re tiny PCs that go in our pocket. Similarly, the TV has undergone an evolution as well, and now Google is attempting to bring the PC and TV even closer together with the introduction of Google TV. What is it? Well there are three core elements: Android 2.2, the Chrome browser and the Android app marketplace. It’s ambitious, but I’m skeptical. I feel like I’ve heard a lot of this before — and in fact, I have. By no small coincidence, Android is headed by Andy Rubin, the man who was in charge of a product called WebTV before it was sold to Microsoft. And just as with WebTV, there’s a lot of potential in the ideas behind GoogleTV, but I’m not sure Google has nailed it.

Continue reading Entelligence: Hello WebTV part II

Entelligence: Hello WebTV part II originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 May 2010 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments