Acer ships AMD-powered Revo RL100 HTPC to Americans: $499 and up

Acer actually popped out its Revo RL100 media center right around six months ago, but for those unable to make the trip to Asia, today’s the day for getting jovial. Said player is now shipping to the US of A, hailed as a “digital hub” and outfitted with a dual-mode wireless touchpad / keyboard as well as the company’s own clear.fi streaming solution. A pair of models will be available — one with Blu-ray and one without — with the entire box measuring just 1- x 11.81- x 7.09-inches. As expected, an HDMI port ’round back will handle the bulk of the data transmissions, and an internal NVIDIA Ion graphics chip will be responsible for 1080p video playback. Within, you’ll get a 1.3GHz AMD Athlon II K325 CPU, 750GB SATA hard drive, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, three USB 2.0 ports, a multi-card reader, 802.11b/g/n WiFi and an Ethernet socket. Windows 7 Home Premium will be the OS of choice, and it can be yours for the tidy sum of $499.99 (or $569.99 if you’re looking to add BD capabilities).

Continue reading Acer ships AMD-powered Revo RL100 HTPC to Americans: $499 and up

Acer ships AMD-powered Revo RL100 HTPC to Americans: $499 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite portable hard drive streams content over WiFi (review)

Seagate just took the wraps off what’s likely the niftiest portable HDD to cross our path in a long, long while. The GoFlex Satellite is part storage device, part wireless media streamer, and it manages to wear both hats with little compromise on either end. For all intents and purposes, this is a standard 500GB GoFlex HDD with a bit of extra girth, an AC input, an 802.11b/g/n WiFi module and a built-in web server. The reason for those extras? A simple depression of the on / off button starts the streamer up, and it’s ready for a connection in around 30 to 40 seconds. Once fired up you can stream data to just about anything — even iOS devices. That’s an impressive feat, not quite a “first” moment as Seagate would like you to believe (we’ll give that crown to AirStash), but still a rarity.

Our unit shipped with a GoFlex USB 3.0 adapter and a car charger, with the latter enabling users to entertain their children on long road trips — a nice addition, we have to say. Installation is a cinch; just fire up a media sync application that resides on the drive (for OS X users, anyway), and you’re ready to drag and drop files as if it’s any ‘ole HDD. No media management software or anything of the sort, thankfully. The purpose of having your media onboard is to stream videos, photos, documents and music to your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, or any other tablet, phone or laptop with WiFi. You heard right — while there’s only a dedicated app for the iOS family, any WiFi-enabled device with a web browser can tap into this. Care to hear our take on this $200 do-it-all hard drive? Have a look at our review video just after the break.

Continue reading Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite portable hard drive streams content over WiFi (review)

Seagate’s GoFlex Satellite portable hard drive streams content over WiFi (review) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Minuscule PicoHD5.1 media player looks like a card reader, acts like a media streamer

What if your media streamer was as small as your media card reader? What if your list of “what ifs” shrunk by one this evening? And what if, by chance, said media streamer shipped with a remote nearly double the size of the product itself? We’ll confess, it’d be a weird, weird situation, but it’s one that you can actually experience for yourself if you’re cool with handing over £49.99 ($82). The bantam PicoHD5.1 packs a lot of oomph into a pocket-sized device; on one side, there’s room for a USB hard drive, thumb drive or SD card. On the reverse, you’ll find HDMI / component outputs capable of piping whatever media you just plugged in onto your television or monitor. There’s even support for 5.1 channel surround sound, and we’re told that it’s encased in aluminum — you know, for those inevitable bumps and bruises. Is the “smallest HD multichannel media player” truly as spectacular as it sounds? Hard to say from afar, but hey, that’s what 60 day money-back guarantees are for… right?

Minuscule PicoHD5.1 media player looks like a card reader, acts like a media streamer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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McTiVia networked streamer slinging PC content to TV screens this May

It’s not exactly a minty fresh concept, but if you’re bored with networked media streamers slinging content and content alone, Awind’s McTiVia might just be the nugget of unconventional that you’ve been after. For all intents and purposes, this is a souped-up wireless router that pipes all content from your Mac or PC onto your HDMI-equipped HDTV. The goal? To create cord-free HDTVs, in a sense. It’s capable of controlling up to eight computers via mouse or keyboard, and it also doubles as a WiFi access point for those needing to usher themselves into the modern century. She’s expected to hit retail in late May for $199, and we’ll be doing our darnedest to test one out as soon as shipments begin.

Continue reading McTiVia networked streamer slinging PC content to TV screens this May

McTiVia networked streamer slinging PC content to TV screens this May originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 06:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elgato updates EyeTV iOS app, does the AirPlay dance

If you’ve been longing to use your EyeTV HD to sling content from your AirPlay-enabled iOS device to your designated Apple TV 2 setup, listen up. Elgato has pushed an updated version of the EyeTV iOS app (version 1.2.3) that enables Apple’s wireless streaming technology to play nicely with your ATV2 or third-party AirPlay device. Remember, the app costs $4.99, but wouldn’t you rather watch Seinfeld reruns on the living room 74-incher? Yeah, us too.

Elgato updates EyeTV iOS app, does the AirPlay dance originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xtreamer Ultra HTPC grabs a €249 price, May 3rd ship date

We’ve heard, we’ve toyed, and we’ve waited. And now, we’re presenting you with two vital nuggets of information surrounding the Xtreamer Ultra HTPC. The Ion 2-based machine is one of the most compact (and most affordable) pre-built HTPCs available, complete with six USB sockets, 4GB of DDR3 memory, an HDMI socket, IR remote and — if you place a pre-order before the end of April — a mini wireless keyboard, 8GB USB key, an HDMI 1.4a cable and a fresh copy of Linux. €249 will get one headed your way on May 3rd, or $323 if you’re Livin’ In America. Hit the source link to get in line, ya heard?

[Thanks, Tim and Henrik]

Xtreamer Ultra HTPC grabs a €249 price, May 3rd ship date originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android and Marvell to join forces in the Nixeus Fusion XS media streamer

Android and Marvell to join the media streamer game in the Nixeus Fusion XS

Android‘s has already hit the set top box world with the Google TV, but that isn’t true Android. This is, packing Android 2.2. Or, at least, it will be when it ships sometime toward the middle of the year. It’s the Nixeus Fusion XS, a Marvell 88DE3010-powered media streamer with 2GB of flash memory and 512MB of RAM, and unfortunately a little processor fan that hopefully doesn’t make too much noise. That’s the same Armada processor that drives the OnLive MicroConsole and hopefully it’ll give enough oomph for FroYo to serve up HD video content, including BD-ISO support and whatever else the little, ebony thing can pull down over USB or Ethernet, spitting it back over composite and optical audio output or on one string of HDMI. It’s looking rather less powerful than the similarly Android-powered Xtreamer PVR, but its anticipated cost of $170 should be a good bit lower. Oh, and we can’t wait to see what the hackers do with it either.

Android and Marvell to join forces in the Nixeus Fusion XS media streamer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android’s everywhere! Xtreamer PVR to serve up a heaping helping of Froyo in your home theater

We got to check out Xtreamer’s Prodigy media player and go hands-on with its Ultra HTPC at CeBIT last week, but it turns out that the company has another nifty device set to debut this year. After taking a peek at its 2011 product catalog, we discovered that the Xtreamer PVR is “comming soon” with a similarly sexy exterior and much of the same specs as the Prodigy, but packing a Sigma Designs SMP8656 chip for high-end 3D graphics, optional dual tuners, and Android 2.2. We sincerely hope that Xtreamer’s prowess with Froyo far exceeds its aptitude for spelling — we kid because we care.

Android’s everywhere! Xtreamer PVR to serve up a heaping helping of Froyo in your home theater originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wistron’s WiGO 1 and 2 streamers win iF design awards, presumably for strangeness

Though it could easily be mistaken for a dinosaur egg trapped in some prehistoric block of ice, what you’re looking at here is actually a set-top box. A media streamer, to be specific. Details are light, but Wistron’s so-called WiGO 1 and 2 have showed up at the presentation of iF’s annual Product Design Awards at CeBIT, described as “multimedia centers” with HDMI connections that can browse local, networked, and internet content. In the case of the WiGO 1 (pictured above), it looks like the inner “egg” — where the electronics lie — has literally no accessible connections, but the reality is that the iF folks simply set it in its display case with the rear facing down. The WiGO 2 is a little more traditional in appearance; the meat of the device is a normal black box at the bottom, topped with a large cube of clear acrylic that gives the package a less geeky, more fashion-forward appearance. See shots of both units below.

Wistron’s WiGO 1 and 2 streamers win iF design awards, presumably for strangeness originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How would you change D-Link’s Boxee Box?

Yeah, Boxee just gave you all what you’ve been asking for, but here’s the real question: what else does your little heart desire? D-Link’s Boxee Box has most certainly shaken up the industry, providing a killer UI and a not-so-AV-cabinet-friendly design. You’ve got more media streamer options than ever before, and if you held out to buy the D-Link-built box, you’ve a right to throw your opinions in comments below. Would you have made the chassis a bit more typical? Changed any of the outputs? Added any hardware features? The floor’s wide open, so don’t let this chance go to waste. You know what Lee Ann Womack says about getting the chance to dance… don’t you?

How would you change D-Link’s Boxee Box? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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