Hasta La Gadget!

It’s hard to believe that the Slingbox has been around for seven years, but that only makes it harder to accept these are the first retail models that have been released since 2008. That finally changes today, though: Sling Media just introduced two new place-shifters: the Slingbox 500 and 350 (pictured). Available on October 14th for $299 and $179, respectively, these new set-top boxes replace the Solo and Pro-HD. While the 350 simply adds 1080p streaming for the same price, the 500 adds SlingProjector, a feature that lets you take photos stored on your iOS or Android device and send them to your television (video streaming will soon be supported as well). The Slingbox 500 will also soon be able to play content on USB-attached storage, but that will come in a future software update. The SlingPlayer apps get a refresh as well, adding reminders and an easier way to share your Slingbox with friends. What we set out to determine in this review — and what you’ll discover if you click through — is how big of an upgrade this really is. Is it worth chucking your old hardware for one of these boxes? What if you’re thinking of getting your first media streamer? We’ll delve into all that after the break.

Continue reading Slingbox 350 and 500 review: Sling Media finally upgrades its line of media streamers

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Slingbox 350 and 500 review: Sling Media finally upgrades its line of media streamers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola may have held a fancy event for the launch of its 2012 RAZR line up, but it’s saved the unveiling of its new raft of set-top boxes for the IBC show floor. No fewer than 10 models running Moto’s KreaTV OS are on display at the event, possibly putting a dampener on rumors of Google selling the business off. Four of the set-tops are earmarked for IPTV services, with the different options accounting for variations in storage capacity and processing power. An additional four bear the Microsoft Mediaroom branding, and are distinguished by their differences in HDD capacity, wireless performance and feature set. Two cable boxes round out the selection, offering cost-effective simplicity and DVR capability, respectively. If you’d like more info on the ins and outs of each model, check out the PR below for the family newsletter.

Continue reading Motorola launches 10 new set-top boxes at IBC 2012

Filed under: Misc, Home Entertainment, Household, Wireless, HD

Motorola launches 10 new set-top boxes at IBC 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Diamond Multimedia’s more commonly known around the web for selling Mac and PC capture cards (among other things), but as of today, the company’s officially entering the set-top box game with its AMP1000. The media player itself is running a not-so-new flavor of Android — Gingerbread, to be exact — which will be used to bring a slew of familiar entertainment tidbits to the bigger screen, such as a media player capable of 1080p playback, an evolved internet browser and an oversized photo viewer, as well as other content like games, ebooks and magazines — all of which can be downloaded from Google’s Play repertoire. Although Diamond Multimedia’s formally pricing the AMP1000 at $120, there’s a Facebook-only offer that knocks the price down to a mere $100. Now, will it be enough to compete with, say, Vizio’s $99 Google TV box? We’ll let you be the judge of that.

Update: Well, in case you weren’t fond of the AMP1000’s Gingerbread innards, Diamond Multimedia’s got something in the works to solve that problem. A company rep has contacted us to let us know Ice Cream Sandwich will be coming to early adopters “later this week,” as well as noting that all future units will come with the creamy OS already onboard.

Continue reading Diamond Multimedia outs AMP1000 Android set-top box: Gingerbread-based, 1080p, sells for $120 (update: ICS coming this week)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Home Entertainment

Diamond Multimedia outs AMP1000 Android set-top box: Gingerbread-based, 1080p, sells for $120 (update: ICS coming this week) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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