Hasta La Gadget!

Hey humans! So Hastings was telling us the truth after all — the Nintendo Wii will be joining the other two game consoles to stream Netflix starting some time in early Spring. Like the PS3, a special Netflix “instant-streaming” disc will be required for the Wii, and it goes without saying that HD’s out of the question since the Wii itself can’t push above 480p. There’ll be no additional fees beyond Netflix’s usual monthly subscription. Time for a game of Mario Kart to celebrate, no?

Update: the Netflix sign-up page is now live! [Via Joystiq]

Wii gets Netflix this Spring, disc required for streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dreamer has finally found a partner in its Blu-ray powered IPTV fantasy now that Blu-TV has debuted on the OPPO BDP-83. As the company envisions it, once loaded, it turns your BD-Live capable Blu-ray player into a video and interactive content gateway anyone can develop apps for once the SDK is released. Already powering an IPTV service in Korea, we got a quick demo of the software running on a PS3 in Dreamer’s CES booth and flipped through a quick selection of online marketplaces, simple games and video services. We’re not sure how many manufacturers will warm to the idea of opening up players currently limited to their choice of streaming services, but if the apps start to flow, having this as an embedded option could be a differentiating feature as player prices dive.

Continue reading Blu-TV brings interactive IPTV to disc players, starting with the BDP-83

Blu-TV brings interactive IPTV to disc players, starting with the BDP-83 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your car’s dash just got a tad bit more interesting with the introduction of Pandora music streaming in Pioneer’s latest navigation unit. The double-DIN in-dash device exploits your iPhone’s cellular connection to glean tunes from the ether and comes with a 6.1-inch display, Bluetooth, 3D video accelerator, and 4GB of built-in memory expandable by MicroSD. Coming out in March for $1,200, this is slated to be a direct challenge to satellite and old school radio services, and for more on the greater market impact of its introduction, you can see the WSJ coverage below. For the full specs of this new flagship device, as well as a new AVIC-U220 add-on nav unit, hit the source link below.

Pioneer AVIC-X920BT brings Pandora streaming music to your satnav via the iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Popcorn Hour lineup had (and still has) a huge following, but it remains one of the most under-appreciated media streamers on the market from a mainstream perspective. We get the feeling that all of that’s gearing up to change, with Syabas demonstrating its highly marketable Popbox here at CES. We were able to swing by and take a look at the product tonight, and we’ve got to confess — it’d be a pretty stellar add to any home entertainment setup. The box was small, light and stylish enough, and the actual user interface was drop-dead simple to navigate. It hooks up with any networked media (the demo was playing back content from a NAS drive), and it even pulls down metadata from IMDB for films. We briefly watched a couple of 720p clips, and playback started instantly and the video quality was nothing short of fantastic. We’ve got a video in the works, but for now, feel free to have a glance at the gallery below.

Update: Video is now live after the break!

Continue reading Syabas Popbox hands-on

Syabas Popbox hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CES just wouldn’t be CES without a few new introductions from LaCie, now would it? Nah. Up first from the sexiest name in storage is a fresh member of the LaCinema multimedia hard drive family, the Mini HD. Equipped with 802.11n WiFi and a penchant for serving up 1080p video, this DLNA media player boasts an HDMI output, internal hard drive, USB socket (for uploading media or playing files back from a USB drive) and an extensive list of supported codecs that includes MKV, AVC and DivX. This one should be filtering out now in the US and Europe for an undisclosed amount. Moving on, we’ve got the simply titled Network Server, which sports five drive bays, gigabit Ethernet and Windows Home Server running the show. LaCie also enables users to backup their backups via its own Wuala technology, though exact pricing and availability details won’t be revealed until later in Q1. Lastly, there’s a new trio of USB Keys, which look an awful lot like actual keys. Sadly, these aren’t ready to handle the beast that is SuperSpeed USB, but they do promise transfers as fast as 30MB/sec, and they’re also waterproof and available in sizes as large as 32GB. The company’s also throwing in 4GB of web-accessible Wuala storage for the first two years of ownership, with the CooKey and WhizKey available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities for $19.99 and up, up, up. The full releases are just past the break.

Continue reading LaCie serves up LaCinema Mini HD, Network Server and Wuala-infused USB keys

LaCie serves up LaCinema Mini HD, Network Server and Wuala-infused USB keys originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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