Hasta La Gadget!

A brand spanking new filing with the FCC shows a Flip Video-branded RF remote control, produced by Foxconn, which frankly raises more questions than it answers. Looking at its robust size, which is comparable to that of the Flip Ultra Video HD, we can be pretty sure this isn’t meant to remotely control anything that’s out at the moment. Head honcho Jonathan Kaplan has already expressed a definite interest in expanding the brand, and Cisco’s acquisition of Pure Digital was said to be “key” to its strategy of expanding its presence in the “media-enabled home.” So, given the parent company’s somewhat unsuccessful history of building media hubs, and the simplified control scheme that just screams for an on-screen menu, this may well be the prelude to a new Flip-branded whole-home DVR setup, an idea that Cisco discussed over the summer. Or it could be something entirely different — we just know it’s something.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals

Flip Video remote control shows up at FCC — bigger things to come? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For those who missed the torrent of 3G MicroCell news yesterday, here’s the long and short of it: the Cisco-built device is now on sale, but only in Charlotte, North Carolina. One fortunate Charlottean managed to scoop one up, but rather than keeping the experience to himself, he decided to bang out a full review for the rest of the world to see. By and large, Jason’s experience with the femtocell mirrored our own with Sprint’s AIRAVE. Installation and setup was a breeze, and once it was booted up and operational, it worked like a charm. Before picking this up, he was seeing one bar of EDGE (if he was lucky); afterwards, his entire house was blanketed with five bars of 3G. Not surprisingly, he noted that the before and after difference when fielding calls was “night and day,” but he did take the opportunity to bark at the lofty $150 price tag. But hey, those desperate enough will cough up anything to actually use their phone, right?

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

AT&T’s 3G MicroCell tested and reviewed by Charlottean: yes, it works originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of our dreams is to have a true whole home DVR that allows us to watch any show we want, on any TV we want; but so far the perfect solution has eluded us. TiVo was really the first to try with its Multi-Room Viewing, but missed the mark by not giving us a single Now Playing list for the whole house or even any automatic conflict resolution between units. The FiOS HD DVR was the next disappointment because it limits us to two tuners and 160GB for the whole house — seriously is that enough for anyone? Currently Windows Media Center offers the best solution, but it’s expensive after you pay $300 a pop for a CableCARD tuner, not to mention it requires more maintenance because it is based on a PC. Needless to say we continue to look for the perfect solution, and we think that the RVU (R-vue) alliance might be just what we ordered. In addition to DirecTV, Cisco and Samsung, the chip maker Broadcom is also one of the founding members of the alliance, but it is their goals that get us excited. So excited, that we’d actually be shocked if they were actually achieved, but you’ll have to click through to learn why.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

DirecTV, Cisco and Samsung have whole house DVR plans with RVU alliance originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Clearwire may not be as ubiquitous as you’d like it to be, but it’s taking a huge step forward in hopes of wildly expanding by linking up with Cisco. In essence, the two have joined hands in order to “enhance and expand CLEAR 4G mobile WiMAX services throughout the United States,” with Cisco providing the core infrastructure and Clearwire providing the guidance. Potentially more interesting is the notion that Cisco’s Linksys brand will soon be delivering “new mobile WiMAX devices,” such as routers that will presumably tune to WiFi and WiMAX waves. Specific product details are sorely absent, though Clearwire does reiterate that it’s hoping to have WiMAX service to more than 80 markets across the US by the end of next year.

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

Cisco signs on to provide infrastructure, build Linksys WiMAX routers for Clearwire originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 May 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cisco’s been trying to make themselves comfortable in our living rooms over the last few years with variable success. For Cisco, the more audio, home spun video, TV, and just plain data they can entice you to push around your house, and The Net in general, translates to warm willowy cash riding an OSPF packet direct into Cisco’s pocket. Now we’ve got a review from HotHardware of Cisco’s latest, the Linksys Media Hub Network Attached Storage device. Unfortunately for Cisco, the review politely ripped the Media Hub to shreds. It’s most compelling feature — the intuitive, built-in, Internet accessible Media Browser — would “lose” media and “frequently” degrade performance during database rebuilds that kicked off throughout the day. Issues that could be solved via firmware update — someday… probably. The price is also set too high compared to other NAS devices in the same capacity range. For about the same dough, you can get the Business Edition of the 2TB Maxtor Central Axis NAS preferred by HH. Fortunately for you, you’ve seen the review prior to handing Cisco your $350. You did wait for the review, right?

Filed under: Storage

Cisco Media Hub reviewed, punched like a baby originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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