Packard Bell Studio ST media playback drive invades Europe

It’s not much more than a hard drive with HD media playback abilities, but the Packard Bell Studio ST certainly looks nice, doesn’t it? It’s Europe-only for now, but we’re hoping parent company Acer brings over a US-branded version of this box, which holds up to a 2TB hard drive and can do 1080p out over HDMI with Dolby Digital. Codec support is described as “all main formats,” which is a little shady, but we’ll be forgiving if it’s cheaper than the Western Digital WD TV Live HD.

[Thanks, Matt]

Packard Bell Studio ST media playback drive invades Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS introduces O!Play HD2, first networked media player with USB 3.0

ASUS introduces O!Play HD2, first networked media player with USB 3.0

Chances are you’re not a part of the SuperSpeed revolution yet, and that’s okay. It’s early days yet, but ASUS is doing its part to make that transition to USB 3.0 a little more appealing with its O!Play HD2. A follow-up to the earlier O!Play models, the HD2 offers what looks to be plenty of connectivity options (we’re seeing USB, memory cards, and eSATA) and promises a “wealth of cloud infotainment.” ASUS isn’t sharing any more details than that right now, but we’re going to try to track this guy down on the CeBIT show floor and, when we find, it you can be sure we won’t spare the hard questions.

ASUS introduces O!Play HD2, first networked media player with USB 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sherwood’s internet-streaming R-904N NetBoxx receiver review

Sherwood's internet-streaming R-904N NetBoxx receiver review

Why have two gadgets when you can have one that does two things? The answer, of course, is when that one thing doesn’t do either of its two tasks well — the Jack of All Trades Syndrome. When Sherwood told us last year it was making a receiver that had built-in network playback capabilities, meaning we could ditch our media streamers (tiny though they may be), we were naturally stoked. Many months on we’ve finally had a chance to put one through its paces and, if you click through, you can read our impressions of this slim and uniquely styled audio/video receiver — and find out why we’ll be reluctantly hooking our dedicated streamers back up.

Continue reading Sherwood’s internet-streaming R-904N NetBoxx receiver review

Sherwood’s internet-streaming R-904N NetBoxx receiver review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Engadget: Best NAS / media streamer combo device?

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Felix, who would feel a lot better about his situation in life if he had one certain gadget that could do two certain things. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

I am looking for a NAS — 1TB would be good — preferably with WLAN built in, and multi-download BitTorrent capabilities are a must. I’d like a unit that doubles as a media streamer (music and videos), and while I’d prefer to stream over WiFi, I definitely need an HDMI port. If there’s an option with a display on the unit itself, I would love to know about it. Thanks for any input!

We know these multifaceted devices exist, but we also know they aren’t exactly everywhere. For those who’ve bought in, we’d love to hear about your experiences. Do you prefer yours? Are you disappointed with its performance? Don’t lead our man astray, okay?

Ask Engadget: Best NAS / media streamer combo device? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spawn Labs starts shipping HD-720, your video games now ready to be slung

Hey, remember Spawn Labs? Look, we know last September was a long, long time ago, but how could you ever forget the box that essentially acts as the Slingbox for your video game consoles? The HD-720, which arrives with the ability to pass along either Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 signals to a web-connected PC for remote playback, is now available to order for $199.95, while additional adapters can also be purchased for $39.95. Of course, you should make sure you have a pretty robust Windows-based laptop and a solid internet connection before getting your hopes up too high here, but if those are well taken care of, your portable gaming dreams are now just a credit card indention away.

[Thanks, Ryan]

Spawn Labs starts shipping HD-720, your video games now ready to be slung originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ZAGGbox media center / streamer now available for pre-order

ZAGG has been dropping a few hints about its ZAGGbox media center for a little while now, but it’s so far been keeping a relatively low profile — it even managed to slip under our radar at CES. It was at the show, however, and its now finally announced that the ZAGGbox is available to pre-order for $799. Not exactly the cheapest set-top box around, to be sure, but that price will get you a few fairly unique features, not the least of which is simultaneous transcoding of captured video for easy viewing on both your TV and the mobile device of your choice (it also comes with its own iPhone app). Otherwise, you’ll get an ample 1TB of storage, a full range of A/V inputs and outputs, built-in 802.11n WiFi, and some Slingbox-like streaming to any device, anywhere you like. Unfortunately, ZAGG still isn’t making any firm promises about a release date, although it will supposedly be out sometime in the second quarter of this year.

ZAGGbox media center / streamer now available for pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Popcorn Hour casually announces the A-200 NMT for its most dedicated media streamer fans

Not satisfied by the new retail-friendly Popbox that just debuted at CES? Popcorn Hour has announced it is introducing the A-200 Networked Media tank, internally as powerful as the bigger C-200 but with the A-110’s profile and lacking a Blu-ray drive port. Priced at $179, or with optional WiFi dongle for $20 more, preorders are to begin January 18 at 10 a.m. PST, it still has a slot for an internally mounted SATA HDD, and reported support for “simple” Blu-ray menu browsing. As far as other features, they’ve listened by including NTFS write support and also confirmed a new Flash Lite menu announced for the C-200 will arrive on this box, but unfortunately Netflix support on the Popbox doesn’t appear to have worked its way into the A-200. Check for even more specs and pics after the break, for those PCH fans once again choosing between flexibility and all-in-one ease.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Popcorn Hour casually announces the A-200 NMT for its most dedicated media streamer fans

Popcorn Hour casually announces the A-200 NMT for its most dedicated media streamer fans originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zii Labs and ARM team up for SiVO home media devices

Remember CES last year, when Creative debuted the Zii and — true to its marketing pitch — everything you know changed? Looks like the company (in the form of its subsidiary, ZiiLabs) is teaming up with ARM this go ’round to further blow minds with its new SiVO Digital Home Platform. Harnessing the newly released Zii Labs ZMS-08 (not to mention ARM’s 1GHz Cortex-A8 processor), the digital media hub boasts 1080p HDTV playback, 3D graphics, support for all your favorite media (including H.264, H.263, XVid and DivX, WMV9/VC1, MP3, WMA8 lossless, AAC-LC, and FLAC), web browser, Adobe Flash Player 10, and Adobe AIR. If you’re an OEM, ODM, or just a huge fan of Stem Cell computing, you’re in luck — this bad boy is making its debut this week in LV. PR after the break.

Continue reading Zii Labs and ARM team up for SiVO home media devices

Zii Labs and ARM team up for SiVO home media devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netgear intros EVA9100 media streamer, DGN2200M WiFi / WWAN modem and more at CES

Some crazy stuff is going down in Vegas — fancy that, right? Netgear is doing its darnedest to make its own scene with the introduction of three new items here at CES, so we won’t waste any time in breaking ’em down. Up first is the now-available $249 Digital Entertainer Express (EVA9100), which incorporates the media prowess found in the EVA9150 in order to give users instant access to “Blu-ray quality digital video up to 1080p, MP3s and high-resolution digital photos from PCs, Macs or NAS devices.” Portals to YouTube, Flickr and RSS feeds will be readily available, and the free trial of PlayOn will provide access to Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, BBC iPlayer and CBS.

Next, we’ve got the $179.99 DGN2200M wireless router (available in April), which actually pulls double duty as an 802.11n-enabled DSL modem and a WWAN modem. Hailed as the only wireless-N product on the retail market with dual WAN capabilities, this one can get users online via a 3G or 4G USB dongle whenever they leave their home broadband connection. Finally, the $159 Powerline 200 AV+ Adapter (XAV2501) — which will ship early next month — enables homeowners to create a 10/100 Ethernet connection from any ordinary electrical outlet that already supports a powerline network. This one’s also a HomePlug AV-certified device, so it should have no issues pushing through data at up to 200Mbps. We’ll be scouring the show floor for a little hands-on action, so stay tuned!

Continue reading Netgear intros EVA9100 media streamer, DGN2200M WiFi / WWAN modem and more at CES

Netgear intros EVA9100 media streamer, DGN2200M WiFi / WWAN modem and more at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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D-Link Pebble media streamer isn’t the Boxee Box

Sort of funny that D-Link is calling its other new media streamer the Pebble, since it’s just about as anonymous — especially compared to the company’s own Boxee Box, which is also launching this week for just slightly more than this thing’s $119 list price. We’re sure the Pebble will do a fine job streaming local and network media to your TV, but c’mon — have you seen the Boxee Box’s remote? Case closed.

D-Link Pebble media streamer isn’t the Boxee Box originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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