Skip to Content

New to the Mac? Check out TUAW's Mac 101
AOL Tech

hdhomerun posts

Broadcast Flag rides again, courtesy of NBC & Microsoft?

by Richard Lawler posted May 18th 2008 at 4:28PM


Just like efforts to close the analog hole, our old friend the broadcast flag (don't remember what that is and how it was defeated? Take a quick trip back to 2005 with us) has reared its ugly head again. Displaying the kind of tenacity rarely seen outside of horror movie villains and potential presidential candidates, some Vista Media Center users have apparently gotten the above popup while trying to record broadcast TV from NBC. Since the FCC regulation giving the broadcast flag its power to remotely disable your recording ability was overturned, not only should it not be enabled, there's no reason the system should respond if it were. The EFF's working with the makers of the HDHomeRun to find out why this happened at all (although it's not the first time); whether it's an honest mistake somewhere or if Microsoft slipped a bit of extra DRM into its latest OS.

[Via EFF]

Ask Engadget HD: How can I record premium content on my HTPC?

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Mar 12th 2008 at 12:00PM Featured Story

ATI CableCARD tuner
Life is good if you got HD, but it's not all good. Sure, HD is great, but only if we can have it on our own terms, and unlike the analog sources before it, the powers that be are doing everything to keep us down. In the spirit of wanting things done right, our friend Justin writes in.

I'm a big DIY PC guy, and I've been looking into ways of recording HDTV on my PC for quite sometime now. The problem is, I want to record HD Streams from my local Cable Provider (Charter), or possibly switch to Dish Network's HD-only package and record those streams. Unfortunately, either of those requires either a CableCARD or proprietary tuner. I know DirecTV has one in the works (Release Date: Day and Date with Duke Nukem Forever, I hear), and that Niveus has a dual CableCARD USB 2.0 Tuner (At an ungodly $1500 price tag), but that's all I can find!

Believe us, we hear ya' Justin, but the options are slim. But while none are perfect there are a few ways to accomplish what your after.

Continue reading Ask Engadget HD: How can I record premium content on my HTPC?

MythTV 0.21 available, adds ClearQAM support via HDHomeRun

by Richard Lawler posted Mar 10th 2008 at 11:22AM

It's been a while since we checked in on the MythTV project, just updated to version 0.21, most notably adding QAM recording for HDHomeRun owners. If merely recording unencrypted HDTV via cable isn't enough, upgraded users may notice lowered memory consumption, the ability to record main and/or secondary audio channels, a couple new official plugins and a bunch of other tweaks. Check the wiki for the full list and get your Linux DVR going.

[Via TV Squad]

HDHomeRun to bring DVB to Media Center

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Oct 11th 2007 at 9:21AM

HDHomeRun
The HDHomeRun is our favorite networked HD tuner -- never mind the fact it's the only one. Having a tuner on the network instead of in the HTPC has a few advantages including the ability to use a smaller PC case, to use as many tuners as you want, and not having to run coax cables to the PC. But what might be the biggest advantage is, that it can add tuners that would otherwise be unavailable -- like QAM on Windows Media Center Edition. Now it seems the team at SiliconDust is working on a version for the rest of the world and will enable DVB-T and unencrypted DVB-C for various DVR packages on the PC including Microsoft's Media Center Edition.

Elgato's EyeTV software gets HDHomeRun support

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jul 24th 2007 at 12:17PM

EyeTV and HDHomeRun
We just love when two great products come together; and now the best HDTV software for the Mac and our favorite HD network enabled tuner work together. As much as we loved the HDHomeRun when we reviewed it, the lack of software support was a real drag and while Linux, XP and Vista all have great support now, Mac fans were left with a few decent home grown applications that weren't that feature rich. But now you can install EyeTV on any Mac on your network, connect the HDHomeRun in your closet or behind your TV and enjoy clear-QAM or ATSC HD; and because it uses UDP, it even works great over an 802.11G network. You can pick up the bundle from Elgato.com for $199, or if you already have an HDHomeRun, the EyeTV software is available for download in single and multiple licenses.

[Via MacMinute]




    AOL News

    Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

    Joystiq
    Download Squad
    The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
    BloggingStocks
    Joystiq Xbox
    Autoblog
    Big Download
    Fanhouse NFL Blog