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boxee's App Box and API go live, could come to other hardware soon

by Darren Murph posted Apr 9th 2009 at 9:24AM


Not that there should be any shock surrounding the formal introduction of boxee's App Box and API -- after all, both were teased sufficiently during last month's bleeding edge alpha release -- but we're still thrilled to see things moving along nicely. This week, the open source media platform launched both an API and an application portal, both of which will act to bring all manners of third-party gems to the media browsing world. boxee doesn't plan on being any sort of gatekeeper (at least for now), which hopefully will spur innovation and get more developers interested. In related news, ArsTechnica has also found that boxee is currently in talks with a few big players in the hardware space, essentially hoping to get its 1s and 0s onto game consoles, Blu-ray players and other set-top-boxes. There's no clue as to the whens and wheres, but we suspect this means there will be no dedicated STB in the near future -- for better or worse.

[Via ArsTechnica]

INCA offers up motorized pop-out TV mount

by Darren Murph posted May 26th 2008 at 4:05PM


Joining the already crowded market of flat-panel mounts, INCA has introduced its 900810-5A-WPS, which is an elaborate way of saying Motorized Wall Mounted Pullout and Swivel. Said device is fully automatic and remotely controlled, can hold sets up to 100 pounds and should accommodate mostly any HDTV thanks to the optional mounts. You'll also find a built-in cable management system and the ability to manually override the "popping out" -- you know, in case you'd actually need to... for whatever reason -- but sadly, we have no clue how far this unit will set you back.

[Via SlashGear]

A high-definition look at Washington Nationals Park

by Darren Murph posted Apr 17th 2008 at 5:25PM


For those that witnessed the Nationals topple the Braves on Opening Day (at least on US soil), you got a glimpse of just how nice the all new Nationals Park really is. Now, Sanjay Talwani has taken an in-depth look at the stadium, and he found that copious quantities of HD equipment abounds. For starters, you'll find four 52-inch Sony LCD monitors along with a number of Luma LCDs within the control room, not to mention the 1,552 x 720 Mitsubishi scoreboard screen and the Sony MVS-8000G switcher. As for cameras, there are a pair of HDC-1400s alongside two wireless XDCAMs, but those pale in comparison to the four remote-controlled BRC-H700s around the top of the venue. 'Tis a shame the club's regional carrier, MASN, isn't diving in head first to carry all of its unclaimed matchups in HD, huh? For more details on the technology-crammed park, check out the read link below.

The hardware behind delivering Super Bowl XLII in HD

by Darren Murph posted Feb 10th 2008 at 8:02PM


If you'll recall, we took an in-depth look at exactly what it took to deliver Super Bowl XL to the masses, and just days after Super Bowl XLII concluded, we're now finding out what hardware is to thank for bringing Super Bowl XLII to (most of) us in glorious high-definition. Reportedly, the bulk of the praise should be directed to mobile production company Game Creek, which brought six HD production trucks and 25 HD cameras to Glendale for the big game. Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Also on location was an HD vehicle from NEP Supershooters that featured a Sony BVP900 and 950 HD cameras alongside a plethora of switching equipment and audio consoles. Needless to say, there was more kit at this single game than can be covered here, so go on and hit the read link below to get a better understanding of just how massive the production process really is.

Price drops on HD DVD / Blu-ray players boost sales -- surprised?

by Darren Murph posted Jun 22nd 2007 at 7:41AM


Captain Obvious has swooped in to bring us the latest sales bit from the world of high-definition players, and the results are nothing short of unsurprising. According to data gathered since the recent rash of price cuts -- particularly on standalone HD DVD players -- HD disc players have seen noticeable jumps in sales. Citing Sony's recently slashed BDP-S1 and Toshiba's bargain-priced HD-A2, various analysts and company spokespeople were unanimously upbeat by the recent (and unseasonal) uptick in sales. Notably, Universal Studios' Ken Graffeo claimed that he "realized over the last couple of months that the audience was not perceiving $499 as a great value, but the $299 to $399 range really hit the sweet spot." Maybe so, but get these suckas below the magical $200 point and watch the mayhem really begin.

ATI's "Avivo" specification pulls PC's, HDTV's closer

by Richard Lawler posted Sep 21st 2005 at 7:05PM


RubyATI has already shown their flexibility by partnering with JVC to put their chips in TV's, are now spreading the benefits of that technology across their product line with their newly-announced "Avivo" technology.  Simply put, Avivo is a set of image enhancement, display, and connection specifications that you'll be able to find in many of ATI's future products.  MPEG-2, H.264, HDCP or otherwise, if it is high def and you want to play it or output it to a TV, you will be able to with full hardware support on Avivo compatible products. Video cards equipped with the technology will support progressive scan output and hardware-assisted video encoding so you can convert for other devices without wasting precious CPU cycles. 

I'm glad to see this, as my home PC currently has an ATI Radeon 9200SE that is great, however setting everything up to work properly and output to my monitor and/or TV when and how I want has been more difficult than necessary.  Now that they are designing such connectivity in from the ground up, it will be good for everyone.  Expect Avivo labeled products to be available in the next month or so.

Will it do your laundry, dishes and homework?  No, but it will let you play that high-definition movie you just downloaded on your big screen TV with no loss of quality and leave you with CPU power to work with at the same time.





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