Hasta La Gadget!

How’s that Apple tattoo treating you? Good, good. Well, Elgato has something for the faithful: the new EyeTV HD. The device grabs a 1080i signal over component from your DVR or cable box or Blu-ray player, and records that video to your Mac using Elgato’s own desktop DVR software. The shows can then be auto-transcoded to iPhone or iPad-friendliness, providing you a bit of much needed Animal Planet during your commute the next day. That’s all well and good, but the real kicker is the live streaming the device can push to your iPad or iPhone, using an IR blaster to change the channel on your cable box. It’s all rosy except for the fact that you’ll need to plug this directly into your Mac and your cable box, meaning that they’ll have to be in fairly close proximity (there’s a six foot USB cable included). The unit retails for $200 and is available now directly from Elgato or Apple stores. PR is after the break.

We haven’t plugged in the box yet, but we played around with Elgato’s setup using an iPad 3G and found it pretty impressive. The streaming quality isn’t really at, say, a Netflix level (it’s more suited to a phone screen), but it’s certainly passable, and the interface for browsing your own channels and recordings is very pleasant. We also loved the inclusion of meta data and chapters in the recorded shows and movies that had been loaded onto the device (you can check that out in the gallery below). Elgato might’ve just released the most elegant “analog hole” yet.

Continue reading Elgato’s EyeTV HD records shows to your Mac, slings live to your iPad

Elgato’s EyeTV HD records shows to your Mac, slings live to your iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 11:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To say we’ve been waiting “awhile” for the ExoPC to fully emerge from under its veil and begin shipping to the world at large would be a startling understatement, but it looks like the holding period is just… about… over. We’re personally getting some one-on-one time in the coming days once we touch down in Taipei for this year’s Computex expo, but in the meantime, those who fancy machine translation (or who learned far too much during those high school French courses) can dig into an overview from the folks over at Blogue de Geek, who were recently able to sit down with a prototype version of the Windows 7 slate and give it a nice once-over. By and large, they were duly impressed with what they saw, noting that video playback was flawless (thanks, Broadcom!) and that bootup was shockingly quick considering that a full-on desktop OS is included. Hit that source link to get a taste (or just past the break for a video), and be sure to keep it locked here next week for continued coverage.

Update: Looks like the final product name will simply be “slate” and there will be four models to choose from: 32GB WiFi, 32GB WiFi + 3G / GPS, 64GB WiFi and 64GB WiFi + 3G / GPS.

Continue reading ExoPC prototype gets handled on video, looks downright delightful

ExoPC prototype gets handled on video, looks downright delightful originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 May 2010 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well we just got to lay hands on the above Foxconn-manufactured, Tegra 2-powered Android prototype, and we’ll be honest — it was awfully sweet. There wasn’t much going on beyond some gaming action — we didn’t see it boot into standard Android — though it was running the 3D football title you see above at a pretty healthy clip (check out the video after the break). NVIDIA reps weren’t very keen on sharing info about the device, though we can tell you that it’s apparently got 1GB of RAM inside cuddled up to that 1GHz ARM Cortex 9 CPU, a front-facing camera, and the WSVGA screen measures 8.9-inches (it’s also a much wider aspect ratio than something like the iPad). We’re going to hold any judgment till we see this thing cooking with a full UI, but we’re not knocking it — get this in at the right price, and we’ll likely be first in line.

Update: Correction, the screen size is 8.9-inches, not 9.7.

Continue reading Foxconn’s Tegra 2-powered Android tablet hands-on (video)

Filed under: Handhelds

Foxconn’s Tegra 2-powered Android tablet hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 19:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not a major update by any stretch. But Sonos owners are accustomed to regular software updates that extend or enhance the functionality of their distributed wireless audio system… for free. A good thing since a four room system can easily set you back a few thousand dollars — a hefty price compared to some brute force solutions but relatively cheap compared to custom solutions offering similar functionality but with the additional burden of extensive in-wall wiring. Today’s Sonos 3.2 update delivers crossfading to smooth the transition between songs and more sophisticated alarm settings allowing you to wake to any of Sonos’ vast music delivery options at any time and in any room of the house. The gang from Santa Barbara also added Japanese and Simplified Chinese language support and tossed in access to the streaming iheartradio music service giving US owners access to exclusive content and some 750 national radio stations. But the flagship feature is probably the ability to join any two S5 speaker systems to create a stereo pair — one S5 serving the left channel and the other serving the right. A union meant to achieve a balance indistinguishable from that of heaven and hell, yin and yang, or Nilay and Paul. Read our impressions after the break where you’ll also find a spectacular press release using plain, bold, and italicized text!

Continue reading Sonos 3.2 update and S5 stereo pairing put to the test

Sonos 3.2 update and S5 stereo pairing put to the test originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 May 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some eager beavers went ahead and busted through the embargo dam this morning, so you should already be up to speed on the Wildfire’s specs and vital statistics. For the latecomers, this is an Android 2.1 device with the same processor as HTC’s fabled Hero, a 3.2-inch capacitive QVGA display, and an ambition to sate the market for an affordable, socially connected Android smartphone. It’s slated for a release in Europe and Asia early in the third quarter of this year, and you can see all four of its tasteful color options in the exhaustive gallery of intimate photography below. Skip past the break for the full spec sheet and our early hands-on impressions of the Wildfire.

Continue reading HTC Wildfire hands-on (update: video!)

HTC Wildfire hands-on (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 May 2010 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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