Hasta La Gadget!

Media Center Extenders — remember those? Yeah, those things were all the rage at CEDIA 2008, and right around four hours after the show closed up, you and the whole world forgot about ’em. Honestly, the concept and execution was flawed from the start. These standalone boxes provided exactly what media loving consumers didn’t want: yet another set-top-box crowding their space. Furthermore, most were priced at or above the cost of an Xbox 360, which — lo and behold — could be used as an MCE as well as a darn good gaming console. See the holes in this plan yet? Furthermore, most of ’em, particularly those that relied on WiFi, were utterly unreliable and offered disappointing streams. High prices plus lackluster results yields low demand, who woulda thunk it?

Essentially, manufacturers were hoping that those with loads of media on Windows-based PCs would jump at the chance to get all of that material on their HDTV with the addition of one little box. And in theory, at least, that does sound somewhat attractive. Unfortunately, only a few of these were announced in Denver, and almost all of them suffered from inexcusable delays. By the time they hit the market, all of the buzz generated at the trade show was extinguished, and early reviews were less than positive. It didn’t take long to see prices begin to plummet, all while fence sitting companies realized that avoiding this niche would likely be most beneficial to their longevity.

Today, we’re seeing Linksys’ DMA2100 and DMA2200 listed as “Discontinued” at a number of legitimate e-tailers, and while D-Link’s DSM-750 and HP’s MediaSmart Connect seem to be hanging around at near-full price, we can’t say the same for Samsung’s discounted MediaLive Digital Media Adapter. Heck, Niveus Media doesn’t even list its Media Center Extender – EDGE as a product on its website anymore. It shouldn’t be any real shock that hardly any other companies have jumped in since these first few, and we’re having serious doubts about the future of the dedicated MCE. Are you getting the same vibes? Do you think these things could thrive at the right price? Let us know in the poll and comments below!

[Via GeekTonic]

Update: Turns out HP is axing its MediaSmart HDTV / Connect lines as well. It’s full statement sent to us is after the break.

Continue reading Linksys discontinues Media Center Extenders, hardly anyone notices

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Networking

Linksys discontinues Media Center Extenders, hardly anyone notices originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 May 2009 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This one’s a bit of a mystery, but it’s certainly a tantalizing one: Haykuro of xdadevelopers fame has posted video of what purports to be the Android build off of HTC’s upcoming Hero device. What’s special about it is a reworked interface, which shows a lot of polish from icons to built-in apps to general interface elements… and maybe just a bit of TouchFLO flair. There are also new features like a login / logout menu for “social networks” in the settings menu. While the device lists the firmware as 1.5, there’s a small possibility that some of this new look and feel could be headed for Android 2.0 “Donut,” or perhaps HTC just feels like it needs to diverge from the pack a bit now that other manufacturers are starting to drop their own Android handsets. Check out the incredibly epic video after the break.

[Via Android Central]

Continue reading Android build for upcoming HTC Hero has revamped interface, social networking?

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Android build for upcoming HTC Hero has revamped interface, social networking? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 May 2009 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There is certainly no shortage of backup solutions available for people with data that they’d rather not have disappear, and realistically that’s probably everyone reading this, but there’s always room for tech that makes the process easier. That’s what YuuWaa’s thumb drives pledge to do. Plug one into your PC (no Macs allowed) and you’ll automatically be prompted to create an account and upload whatever you store on the drive. There are two models, a 4GB “Go” for €19.99 ($27) and a 8GB “Plus” flavor for €29.99 ($40), each offering twice their capacity in online storage — storage that’s free for half a year but thereafter costs between $3 and $6 a month to keep your files alive and, optionally, shared online. For that money you could just buy yourself a new thumb drive a few times a year, and we all know you can never have too many of those.

[Via Everything USB]

Filed under: Storage

YuuWaa’s hardware flash drives combine serious online storage with a silly name originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 May 2009 09:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We like the look of these gadget bags from Cocoon, mostly because you can waste so much time configuring them to fit your gear. The Laptop Case (above) for example, is about as modular as can be. The 15” neoprene sleeve is removable, and the top half of the case contains one of Cocoon’s “Grid It” sheets, a flat panel covered with interwoven rubberized elastic strips. This is the smart part, and those strips let you strectch an select just the right place to secure your smaller gear. Imagine never digging around in the bottom of the bag for you emergency ethernet cable and you’ll see why we like it.

The Grid Its are available alone or combined in cases, messenger bags and totes. Prices run from around $30 for plain sleeves up to $130 for the full-on, all-inclusive model in the picture.

Product page [Cocoon via Uncrate]

The rumor-mill has been running hot this weekend, with the revelation that Best Buy has three new entries in its inventory system. Widely regarded to be new iPhone models, the only details so far revealed are that the models are called Charlie 1, Charlie 2 and, yes, Charlie 3. Collectively they have been dubbed “Project Charlie”.

Now Gadget Lab can exclusively reveal the truth behind “Project Charlie”, and we think you’ll like it. Last August, shortly after Apple shipped the iPhone 3G, the Cupertino R&D labs were already well into designing the next version. Seeking advice from a knowledgeable writer and all around good-guy, the team asked me to give them a list of features I’d like to see in the new iPhone*. To my surprise, almost all of my suggestions found their way in, hence the codename of the new iPhone: “Project Charlie”.

Here’s my list:

• 10 megapixel camera with full frame sensor, auto-focus and ƒ1.2 lens. Support for dng RAW files. This will make the phone quite big, but that makes room for a few of the other new features.
• Airtunes. The new iPhone will stream music to any Airport Express.
• RSS BitTorrent. Pick a TV show and new versions will automatically turn up via a native BitTorrent client. Wi-Fi only, sadly (blame AT&T).
• SD card reader for backing up and reviewing photos. Will not work to expand memory (one of the few refusals from the Apple team).
• Background applications. This was a hard sell but Jonny Ive eventually realized I was right. You will be able to run as many apps as you like, all at once. This meant the new iPhone needed a bigger battery, which has duly been added. This, along with the full-frame camera, means the iPhone will be about an inch thick, but of course, there are always compromises in design.
• A real, slide-out keyboard. For blogging.
• FM radio.

I wanted to open up the suggestions list to you, the Gadget Lab reader, but I was under NDA. With these slip-ups in the Best Buy inventory system, though, I thought it was time to go ahead and reveal the secret.

Project Charlie – three secret AT&T devices bound for Best Buy [Phone Arena]

*For the sarcastically challenged, this post is almost entirely fictional.