Hasta La Gadget!

After a false start when it passed certification earlier this month, SiliconDust’s three CableCARD tuner HDHomeRun Prime is finally available for preorder from Newegg for $249. The release date is scheduled for June 29th but those interested in getting it hooked up to their HTPC as quickly as possible may want to wait until next week when the six-tuner 6CC version goes up for preorder, as those are expected to begin shipping first. There’s no volume discount on the tuners at $499, but at $83 per tuner you might be able to justify it as a better value than the four-tuner and also network-sharable InfiniTV 4. Either way, if you just need a bit more information before purchasing, you’ll find it on the sales page, on the linked PDF below or in the video trailer embedded after the break.

[Thanks Justin & @TheReal_PeterF]

Continue reading HDHomeRun Prime TV tuner officially available for preorders for $249, six tuner version next week

HDHomeRun Prime TV tuner officially available for preorders for $249, six tuner version next week originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 May 2011 09:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it looks like the LG Revolution won’t be the first Android phone to get Netflix after all. The app has just hit the Android Market and is currently available for the HTC Incredible, Nexus One, Evo 4G, and G2, plus the Samsung Nexus S. As you might expect, there’s not a lot of surprises in terms of functionality — you can resume watching where you left off on your TV or computer, and the app will allow you to manage your instant queue in addition to letting you simply browse movies. On its official blog, Netflix explains that while the app is currently limited to phones with “requisite playback support,” it anticipates that many of the “technical challenges will be resolved in the coming months,” and that it will be able to “provide a Netflix application that will work on a large majority of Android phones.” That’s some curious wording, to be sure, and a notable change from earlier talk that suggested only certain Qualcomm processors would support the necessary DRM for Netflix. Also not supported at the moment: Canada. If none of that precludes you, however, you can hit up the Android Market link below to try it out for yourself.

In other Netflix news, the company has also rolled out a little gift for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users — the iOS app now finally boasts support for subtitles.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Netflix releases Android app for select HTC phones, Samsung Nexus S originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 15:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google I/O is still ongoing and at the session for teaching developers how to build Android apps for Google TV the team has just shown off a quick peek of the new Honeycomb-based UI that will be released later this year. Shown above you can quickly compare it to the original UI to see how different, and hopefully improved it is. The new icon layout should make getting back to live TV a simpler process, while there’s also that large space above for widgets and support for notifications. Developers will be able to run their ADBs on devices later this summer, but prior to that it will have a “Fishtank” program for some devs to take home their internal test units to run apps on now — no hardware modification necessary.

The team also just announced that the source code to the existing Google TV remote app for Android is being open sourced, so anyone who thinks they can do better (it wouldn’t be difficult) can have a crack at building their own. Also available is code for the Anymote Protocol it runs on so developers can make tablet or phone apps that integrate with and control the Google TV — both are linked below. Other features mentioned included support for 3D, and game controllers using Android 3.1’s expanded USB compatibility. There were no product announcements before the session ended, and no word on the rumored and expected ARM base for new products, but the project manager confirmed new product announcements “later this year.” Google TV will need new product announcements if it’s going to receive a boost over other smart TV technology, but the potential of the market and availability of open source code is still providing a tantalizing vision of the promise it’s failed to capitalize on so far.

Update: The entire presentation is now available on YouTube, check it out after the break as well as an earlier Bootcamp presentation on the same subject.

Continue reading Google TV shows off new Honeycomb UI, plans for Market, SDK; opens up remote app source code (video)

Google TV shows off new Honeycomb UI, plans for Market, SDK; opens up remote app source code (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 16:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In among all the hard news of today’s second Google I/O keynote, we were treated to a tease of a Google Chrome OS nettop, which to our ears sounded like it was called a Chromebox. What we’ve no doubt about is that Google is planning a desktop version of its web-centric OS, which — together with that Samsung-branded computer above — is going to be showing up at some point in our collective future. Light on details, but rich on intrigue, just the way we like it.

Google teases Samsung-built Chromebox, desktop version of Chrome OS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 13:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google just showed off a new 11.6-inch Chromebook from Acer at Google I/O promising an eight second boot time with an Intel Atom N570 CPU, 16GB SDD, instant-on, two USB ports, webcam, HDMI and 6.5 hour battery life. It’s cheaper than the Samsung Series 5 also announced, starting at $349 with optional world-mode 3G available for more cash and will be available for preorder on the same day — June 15th from Amazon and Best Buy. Check more details at the source link below, with pics in the gallery and specs are after the break.

Continue reading Google unveils Acer Chromebook: $349, 11.6-inches with 6.5-hour battery

Google unveils Acer Chromebook: $349, 11.6-inches with 6.5-hour battery originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 13:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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