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Microsoft emancipates Digital Cable Tuners with second Media Center update today


Scant hours after the SDV tuning, DRM-relaxing firmware update for Vista and Windows 7 Digital Cable Tuner users became available, Missing Remote let us know Microsoft has come through on the other half of its CEDIA promise by pushing the Digital Cable Advisor to Media Center Extras galleries everywhere. This half should enable all Windows 7 PCs to work with the CableCard tuners, sans-OEM requirement or inconvenient hacking. Sure we could ask for more from Windows 7 Media Center, but for now Netflix and these two (in less than 100 days) will have to do.

Read - MCE: Digital Cable Advisor Tool Available Now!
Read - ATI DCT Firmware update pops up on Windows Update, DRM-free MCE recordings & are a go

HABEY's second 1080p-boasting, N270-powered mini HTPC brings along video proof

Following up on its impressive debut earlier this month, HABEY's unveiled the BIS-6540HD mini HTPC that, like its 6550 counterpart, is capable of running an impressive 1080p signal with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor -- special thanks go to its HD hardware decoder for that feat. The fanless unit also features up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, eight USB ports, a built-in CF socket, two SATA II ports with SSD support, DVI and VGA outputs, ethernet, and options for wireless and HD TV tuner. No word on pricing or availability, but it looks like it's being marketed as an OEM product and we suspect it'll cost more than a pretty penny. Check out the video after the break to see it rocking Planet Earth on Blu-ray.

Verismo's VuNow internet TV platform ambushes OEM market


If you're still resisting the onset of the internet TV revolution, we're here to inform you that your efforts are in vain. Shortly after launching a dedicated box at CES, Verismo Networks has announced an OEM program that's apparently drawing lots of attention from manufacturers of TVs, optical media players, AV receivers, etc. Essentially, the company is looking to get its open VuNow platform, which pulls in content from around the web, onto other standalone boxes and integrated within future devices -- much like Netflix's Watch Instantly has done, and exactly like we saw at CES with Netgear. And don't think the cash flow stops at the consumer level, as there are also opportunities within education and medicine sectors for institutions seeking a streamlined way of distributing learning materials. Watch out, pay-TV -- we've got options here, and we aren't afraid to use 'em.

Olevia-branded Blu-ray player on the way

Looking for more competition among Blu-ray players? TV and appliance manufacturer Taiwan Kolin is apparently prepping a player for the Taiwan market, expected to debut around the third or fourth quarter of this year. Built around Sharp components (not at all the first player to do so), the Economic Daily News quoted Taiwan Kolin's president as saying it would also see store shelves in the U.S. under Syntax-Brillian's Olevia brand. Unfortunately, with no features listed and a retail price only remarked as "less than NT$30,000 ($977 U.S.)" it'll probably need to be a lot less than that to make any kind of splash here.

AUO promises thinner, greener HDTVs at SID 2008

AUO's back again, displaying what new flat panel technologies are trickling down to its OEM televisions, and soon to hit shelves in more reasonably-priced models (albeit wearing another company's name) near you. Hitachi and others are at the forefront of the thinner, lower powered LCD movement, and AUO promises an "ultra-slim" 10mm thick 42-inch LED backlit model next week at SID 2008. The new technology gives power savings of 44% over current models, as well as a 46-inch display with 50% power savings, 500 nits of brightness and 5,000:1 "ultra static high contrast ratio". While we'll wait to find out how that compares to other HDTVs with questionable claims to high contrast rations, the company also plans to show technology that provides 200,000:1 contrast ratio with LEDs. Besides just using less power, we can look forward to LCDs built with using less raw materials and resulting in less chemical waste, which due to our extensive comic book research, we can unequivocally say is a good thing.

FUZE Media Systems software goes OEM


Don't call it a comeback Media Center -- no seriously, don't call it a Media Center, they don't like that, call it "the system that delivers on the promises of Media Center" -- soon you'll be able to get FUZE's media system software via other manufacturers. According to CEPro, they're negotiating with "a number of other companies" to put FUZE software on multimedia devices to work with web based audio control, v2 Media Center Extenders and more. Until now the only way to get the company's software into your house is through a custom installer, and it's not giving up that market, but expect a new, broader opportunity to get FUZE Media Systems once the agreements are done later this year.

WiFi-enabled universal remote pulls codes from the web

You probably won't be seeing TVcompass's SR 1500 universal remote released looking exactly like this (or even bearing the TVcompass name) but we have high hopes some other company will rebrand the WiFi-enabled unit soon. Featuring a QVGA display,and Windows CE, the SR 1500 pulls device codes from the web using the built-in browser, which supports Flash and J2ME, backup settings to a server, and do custom guide displays. There's no pricing yet, but hopefully that'll get sorted when this thing gets picked up for resale.

[Via pocketpcwire]

Bongiovi Acoustics unveils miracle DSP chip for car audio

If there were ever a time where we'd need to hear it before we believed it, this would be it. Tony Bongiovi, an audio engineer who's been around the block a time or two (read: he worked with Hendrix), has finally crafted the miracle chip he's been missing for decades. Dubbed the Digital Power Station (DPS, not to be confused with DSP), the microchip is described as a "very sophisticated equalizer," and while it was originally "the size of a refrigerator," he looked to Glenn Zelniker, a specialist in digital signal processing, to program a wee chip to do the same thing. The result is a dynamically programmed microchip based on an off-the-shelf DSP from Freescale Semiconductor, which is housed in special headunits (like JVC's KD-S100) and has more than "120 points of adjustment" to tune the tunes to fill each vehicle perfectly. Reportedly, the chip even turns factory speakers into high-fidelity drivers, as it calculates the dimensions of the vehicle and the abilities of the cones while outputting the audio. The JVC unit will cost "between $700 and $1,000 installed," since you'll have to schedule an appointment with your service department to get the correct software installed for your make and model, but we'd suggest a trial listen before you plunk down your one large.

[Via PhysOrg]

Microsoft WILL support Blu-ray? In Vista at least (maybe?)


Blu-ray logoMuch has been made of Microsoft's supposed plan to include native support for only HD-DVD in their next OS, either in order to force customers to install extra software on their own and/or to force OEM's to face licensing costs on their own. Despite that, Windows IT Pro says internal Microsoft documentation indicates a plan to add Blu-ray DVD support to beta versions of Windows Vista.

Microsoft still officially says it has no plans for Blu-ray support, leaving that to third party companies like Cyberlink. All of this comes just after Microsoft denied Blu-ray plans for the Xbox 360, so the question remains: Does Microsoft really hate Blu-ray, or do they really like it and are just playing hard to get? Be true to your feelings Bill.




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