A clever group of whippersnappers have got the right idea when it comes to home entertainment, namely, LinuxMCE-based systems that don't break the bank but offer a pretty stacked feature set. Fiire, a company which manufactures and sells modular media boxes and remotes aimed at unifying your
media center has a few items it'd like you to see. The whole shebang is based around the FiireEngine, a $799 box that acts as a central hub to your media world, and features an
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, RAID support for six eSATA drives (for a total capacity of 6TB), and an
NVIDIA 6200 graphics chipset. The system has DVI, VGA, component, and S-Video outs, but strangely no HDMI -- which might be a deal-breaker for some. The Engine is meant to be accessed through the company's FiireStations ($499-899), set-top boxes or wallmount units that stream media from the FiireEngine to any location you want, using low voltage processors and a frugal selection of hardware. Finally, to control the open-source system, the company offers the FiireChief ($149), a multi-function remote which can "follow" a user from room to room, allowing you start a video in one spot, move to another, and have the players automatically switch locations. All in all, a fairly interesting package from a somewhat unknown company, though how integrated the system is remains to be seen, and the lack of HDMI support is a little troubling.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Aaron Smith @ Aug 16th 2007 10:00AM
What's the big deal on HDMI, if you have DVI and want HDMI just get an adapter.
domerdel @ Aug 16th 2007 12:34PM
from what i've heard, the big deal of not having native HDMI is the lack of the following:
1)1080p
2)HDCP
that of course, the video card is capable of stating that in the specs, but I doubt it.
Jeff Laughlin @ Aug 16th 2007 11:24AM
Regarding the question of how integrated it is... The software includes a remote assistance feature. As part of the SureFiire guarantee Fiire will add support for whatever you hardware you have, such as adding infrared codes for your TV if it's not in the database, and adding drivers for your lighting system if it's not already supported, and so on. So the customer is guaranteed it will integrate with their other devices or they get their money back. And, yes, HDMI is via a DVI->HDMI cable.
Bill @ Aug 16th 2007 1:15PM
HDCP: DVI can also support HDCP. My Fujitsu Plasma supports HDCP over DVI. Besides, what would you be watching from a Media Center that requires HDCP outside of HD DVD/Blu-Ray (neither of which is sold with this device)?
1080p: Assuming you have a 1080p TV it should properly deinterlace the 1080i signal sent by this device. My media center sends out a 1080i signal and my JVC TV properly deinterlaces it 1080p.
This is an inexpensive alternative to Microsoft's Media Center. Adding an HDMI means raising the costs and, in my opinion, is not needed in this device.