Streaming
It's been a good while coming but Google's music streaming service has finally arrived. Called Music Beta, it's available by invitation only and restricted to U.S. users ahead of rollout elsewhere. The service appears to be very similar to Amazon's Cloud Storage and Player, although no music is on sale directly from Google. Rather than measure the size of your collection by the gigabyte, however, Google will allow users to store up to 20,000 music tracks from their personal collection in an online vault, with no restrictions on bitrate. Music Beta offers users instant sync across devices, the ability to play selected music offline and intuitive playlist creation based on the mood of a selected track. Read More
Elgato has just released – or to be technically correct, re-released – the latest addition to its line of digital TV tuners for PCs and Macs. The HDHomeRun is a rebranded dual tuner that has been sold by SiliconDust for nearly five years now and also sold in its previous incarnation by Elgato since mid-2007. The device has however received an update and is a little smaller and sexier than the original model, but still offers PC and Mac users the same ability to watch and record HDTV over a local wireless network. Read More
Set to hit Europe in May, Philips' gorgeous new Fidelio SoundSphere docking system consists of two curved speakers with an alien-pod vibe (especially with the eye-like tweeters on top) and a docking cradle that caters for Apple devices but also includes an auxiliary input to feed in audio from other players. The inclusion of Apple's AirPlay technology also means that music can be wirelessly streamed from an iTunes library over a home Wi-Fi network. Read More
Prodigy jack-of-all-trades media streamer announced
As digital media streamers go, the Prodigy from Xtreamer appears to be something of a jack-of-all-trades. The budget-friendly box can store its own content in a wide variety of formats, connect to external drives or wirelessly hook up with a computer. It has a dedicated internet browser specially tweaked for TV, can play Flash media and will work with Apple's AirPlay technology. There's USB 3.0 and HDMI wired connectivity, and audiophiles will appreciate the lossless audio options, while movie buffs get treated to full 1080p high definition playback ... but it's the new Flash GUI that's said to be the real vote winner. Read More
Veebeam wirelessly transmits computer content to your TV
If you're looking for an affordable way to stream high definition online movies to a big screen TV, then Veebeam could just be what you're looking for. The device comes in both standard and high definition varieties, and is made up of a wireless USB antenna that's connected to a laptop or computer and a receiver box that's hooked up to an HDTV. The system is said to be capable of wirelessly playing any content from one to the other, whether it's online movies, sports or news updates, digital photos or holiday videos. Read More
Altec Lansing has come to the rescue of music lovers who like the idea of streaming music wirelessly around the home, but can't afford to invest in systems from Olive or Sonos, or who don't want to be shackled to Apple Air or iOS devices. The inMotion Air universal wireless speaker can pump out any audio stored on a computer up to 333 feet away via an included adapter, while mobile devices can also supply the music via Bluetooth. Audio enhancement technology offers CD-quality performance, regardless of source compression encoding. Read More
Netgear has announced its 3DHD Wireless Home Theater Networking Kit, a set of high-performance 802.11n wireless adapters designed to transmit HD and 3D HD video throughout your home. The 3DHD kit, which received a CES 2011 Innovations Award, delivers multiple jitter-free 1080p high-definition video streams without additional wiring or cabling. Each 3DHD adapter can be connected to a home theater device with a network port, and features four transmitters and four receivers for 4x4 MIMO connectivity. Read More
The battle for your TV - Internet set-top device market heats up
The latest player in the Internet-to-your-TV world is the Boxee Box by D-Link. This set-top device is likely to put up a fair fight in the face of some big name competition including Apple TV, Sony Internet TV (armed with Google TV) and Logitech Revue (also running Google TV). Read More
At a major sporting event I attended recently, it proved impossible to get a connection on a mobile network that was swamped as many of the 100,000 strong crowd attempted to contact friends and family. While the influx of calls was the result of a thrilling draw, it highlighted the weakness of overloaded communications networks that would struggle in the event of a disaster in a heavily populated area. A new system being developed by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast could turn this weakness into a strength by allowing members of the public carrying wearable sensors to form the backbone of new mobile Internet networks. Read More
Sonos adds wireless iPod dock to Multi-Room Music System
Since we first brought news of the Sonos digital music streaming system, the company has added a number of new devices to the setup, including a standalone ZonePlayer and the CR200 controller. The latest addition to the range is a wireless dock for iPhone and iPod. Read More
