Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re itching to park that AMD or Intel PC beside your TV as a dedicated home theater device, OpenELEC would like to offer up the first stable release of its Linux distro, version 2.0, for your consideration. The new build is now available for free (with the option to donate, of course), and the group behind it says that the installation takes less than five minutes and requires “zero Linux experience.” Once you’ve done that, it’ll be ready to serve your media needs in less than 10 seconds from a cold start, according to OpenELEC, with only a remote control needed to start surfing. The system updates automatically, including the XBMC V11 media core, and now includes PVR support, improved AMD functionality, CEC adapter compatibility, NFS, AFP, CIFS and SSH shares and Airplay / Airtunes support. If you’re already Mac- or Windows-centric, an OpenELEC system will play well with all your existing media, so if you’re ready to see how the Linux media crowd rolls, hit the source.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD

OpenELEC-2.0 Linux distro released, turns your PC into an ‘appliance-like’ home theater device originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pioneer’s CDJ-2000 took the spot at the top of the firm’s CD turntable range a couple of years back, and has enjoyed a decent spell as the club standard. To ensure that its reign continues unchallenged, a new iteration in the form of the CDJ-2000nexus (no relation) has just been announced. The vast majority of the DNA remains the same, but there are some key new features such as WiFi (as we saw in the XDJ-AERO) for use with the rekordbox app, Beat Sync, Wave Zoom and Slip (a much wanted feature first seen in the CDJ-900). In total, you can now load tracks from CD, DVD, USB, SD, networked machines, and WiFi, meaning the player has essentially outgrown its “CDJ” labeling, becoming a true multimedia player. If you fancy taking one for a spin, you can do so starting from some time this month, for the upbeat price of $2,399. Laidback Luke demo video on rotation after the break.

Continue reading Pioneer CDJ-2000nexus updates the flagship DJ player, brings WiFi and slip mode (video)

Filed under: Misc

Pioneer CDJ-2000nexus updates the flagship DJ player, brings WiFi and slip mode (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We hope you wear baggy pants, because you’re going to want big pockets to carry Samsung’s giant new jukebox. The Galaxy Player 5.8 is dominated by its namesake 5.8-inch, 960 x 540 LCD — a screen that makes the 4.8-inch AMOLED on the closely related Galaxy S III look downright modest by comparison. Android 4.0 and the latest generation of TouchWiz make their first appearances in a Samsung media player here, with the spin naturally on books and movies instead of the tasks you’d associate with a smartphone. You’re otherwise looking at the kind of media player you’d expect in 2012: there’s either 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage, a microSD slot, a front VGA camera for those face-to-face sessions and a huge 2,500mAh battery to compensate for the display. We’re still waiting on a few details, such as the exact processor and the Galaxy Player 5.8’s launch schedule, although the announcement’s timing suggests we may get a peek at this behemoth when IFA 2012 kicks off later this week. In the meantime, we’d advise against buying a pair of skinny jeans.

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video

Samsung unveils Galaxy Player 5.8, pockets everywhere brace for impact originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RealNetworks has decided to roll out that old internet chestnut, RealPlayer, to a fresh-faced generation of smartphones that are screaming out for one more media player. This one reckons it can handle your music, video and photo content al in the same blueish hue and while the player has a basic flavor out for free, there’s a $5 app for those that like the finer things in life. Extra features in the paid-for version include a graphic equalizer with save function, Gracenote database compatibility and manual metadata editing for those with more esoteric music tastes. Naturally, advertising is nixed in this version too. Now out from beta testing, hit the source for the download.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software

RealPlayer leaves beta, becomes fully-fledged Android app originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s IO Keynote wasn’t all about Jelly Bean: the company also had some slick new hardware to demonstrate in the shape of the Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus Q media computer. The ASUS-made Nexus 7 came as little surprise, a 7-inch 1280 x 800 tablet running Jelly Bean on a Tegra 3 processor. As for the Nexus Q, that takes a little more explaining.

The orb-like gadget is part headless-phone – running Android, of course – and part Apple TV alternative, hooking up with HDMI to your TV and throwing in speaker connections too. It can be used as a media streamer, pulling in content from YouTube and other cloud stores such as Google’s new movie purchase system, as well as a communal jukebox of sorts, with a shared playlist accessible from Android devices. It’s priced at a hefty $299 and will ship in 2-3 weeks time in the US.

One such Android device that could control the Nexus Q is the Google Nexus 7. The tablet ticks all the spec-sheet boxes – it has a 1.2-megapixel front camera, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, 8GB/16GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM, all in a 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm form factor weighing 340g – but comes in at $199 for the entry-level model.

The 4325 mAh battery is good for up to 8hrs of use, Google claims, and there’s a microphone, NFC, accelerometer, magnetometer, GPS and a gyroscope. Interestingly, it runs Chrome for Android as the default browser, and comes with a specially updated version of Currents.

Standby for hands-on content with both new Nexus devices!

Google IO 2012: Nexus 7 and Nexus Q hardware wrap-up is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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