Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

We knew the SlingCatcher was sneaking out into the wild, and hey — we just snagged one at retail in Chicago. We’re busy tearing into all the projector, Sling streaming, and media streaming features, but we figured we throw up the unboxing photos right away so you can get a feel for Sling’s latest, long-awaited box.

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

It’s been over a year and half since Sling first announced the SlingCatcher, but the mythical streamer is finally, finally here — it’s now officially for sale on Sling’s site and at other major retailers. You already know most of the details about the $299 box — Slingbox playback, SlingProjector computer streaming, extensive codec support including XviD, eventual Sling.com content delivery — so we’ll just let you hit the order page, but rest assured we’ll be tearing this thing apart when our test unit arrives.

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

After seemingly endless delays, it looks like the SlingCatcher is finally making its way into the world, as evidenced by this grainy unboxing at the SlingCommunity forums. Sure, it looks exactly the same as the prepro boxes we’ve toyed with, but we won’t lie — we’ve been waiting for this box with breathless anticipation ever since it was announced at CES 2007, and combined with the recent launch of the Sling 2.0 software, the Slingbox PRO-HD, and the seemingly-imminent launch of the the Sling.com video portal, Sling’s ending the year strong. Click on for a few more pics, and don’t worry — we’ll be blowing this thing out as soon as we get our hands on one

[Thanks, Christopher]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Home Entertainment

If you don’t have quite enough set-tops sitting underneath your HDTV, we’ve got one more to fill that tiny gap over there on the right. PIE United has introduced a rather quizzical device aimed at folks who love to show off photos of their journeys around the world on the big screen. The HD-0310 1080p Digital Photo Viewer connects up via HDMI and supports 12 types of flash cards along with USB drives; in addition to photos, it’ll play back video clips and MP3 files. Oh, and just in case you’re fresh out of HDMI ports, this thing packs a single input in order to connect another HDMI device and switch between the two. Not too sure how much this will run the layman, but outfits looking to buy in bulk should be able to land a killer deal.

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

D-Link’s $230 DSM-330 media streamer has always been among the most flexible set-top boxes out there, and it’s just gotten even better, with the latest DivX Connected server software bringing Flash video support to the device. It’s not quite browse-and-play — every site requires a specific plug-in — but Hulu, College Humor, YouTube, ABC News, and Vimeo are already working, and there are more on the way. That’s pretty tempting for two bills, but we’ll stick to rocking PlayOn with our 360 and PS3.

[Via eHomeUpgrade and Zatz Not Funny!]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Nothing like washing down an all new WiFi-enabled digiframe with an all new home media server, right? Apparently Sony is firmly in agreement, as it’s also launching its latest multimedia server / NAS drives today in Japan. The 1TB VGF-HS1 / 1.5TB VGF-HS1S would stack nicely atop your VAIO HTPC, and aside from boasting gigabit Ethernet, DLNA compatibility, an integrated display, USB connectivity and a hidden multicard reader behind the front panel, this unit plays nice with AVCHD, MPEG2, HDV, JPEG, BMP, PNG, WAV, MP3, ATRAC (saywha?), AAC and WMA file formats. Word on the street has these shipping on May 17th for ¥60,000 ($570) / ¥80,000 ($760) depending on capacity, but only time will tell if Sony sees fit to send ‘em Stateside.

[Via Impress]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

What do you know? Yet another outlet for you to happily blow $179. As of today, Popcorn Hour’s heralded A-100 HD media streamer is finally available for the public at large to pre-order. Previously, folks had to actually sign a list just to be blessed with the privilege of placing an order, but now it seems supply is at long last flowing in nicely. The company has even set up a forum to keep customers informed of order status, but we wouldn’t dillydally around — these are still being sold on a first come, first served basis.

[Thanks, leland]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wireless

Apparently MediaGate heard the “What? No HD?” cries from you folks during yesterday’s PC-on-TV DPG-1200 shipment announcement, as it has just opened up the flood gates and allowed its MG-450HD entertainment server to start filtering out to end users. If you’ll recall, this wireless HD media streamer can also play on wired networks and with USB devices such as digicams and flash drives, and you’ll also find HDMI, composite, S-Video and component video outputs to complement the stereo L / R, optical / coaxial digital and analog 5.1-channel audio ports. Of course, you’ll be asked to provide your own internal hard drive, but considering that it managed to shed $20 from its initial price tag (down to $229 now), it’s still squarely in bargain territory.

[Via SlipperyBrick]

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Filed under: Handhelds, Home Entertainment

Monsoon’s HAVA HD streamer doesn’t get quite as much love as the various Slingboxes, but it’s a fine piece of kit with features Sling doesn’t have quite yet, like pause and rewind — and now it’s got one more supported client platform, as the company’s using CTIA to roll out support for Nokia’s Internet Tablet OS. That means the N800 and N810 can now get in on the action, and the quality looks pretty decent — the crew over at Internet Tablet Talk got a chance to play with an early version, and they think it looks even better than the PC client. Hmm, looks like that WiMAX N810 could double as a fairly decent portable TV, eh? Video after the break.

[Thanks, Joey]

Continue reading HAVA player hits Nokia’s internet tablets

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

We first saw D-Link’s DSM-750 MediaLounge Wireless Media Player at CES way back in 2007, and the company “officially” launched the 802.11n unit in September of that year — but the scheduled November 2007 retail date came and went, and the four of you queuing up to drop $349 on an unheralded Media Center extender were left to sadly contemplate the crushing banality of your existence. Well, buck up, boy-o, because it looks like D-Link’s realized that it’s actually supposed to sell the DSM-750, and it’s also gone and dropped the price down a whole $20, to $329. Sure, you can operate the thing in either MCE or MediaLounge mode, but you’re still limited to 1080i output (even over HDMI), and at that price, it’s pretty hard to see why you wouldn’t just nab an Xbox 360 Arcade to do the same thing — you’re getting far more functionality for the money, even if you have to spring for wireless and the remote. Still, we’re glad this thing is finally here — those four dudes were getting awfully weepy.

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

We’re not sure how the AirLive AirMedia 3000 “wireless multimedia server” accesses YouTube content without a browser — unlike devices like the Apple TV and iPhone, it apparently plays the straight .flv files, which only show up on the website, we believe — but if it does, chalk it up as one of the easier ways to watch dogs ride skateboards on your TV. Not much else in the way of details, but if this thing really is rocking Flash video support, we can see it carving out a solid little niche for itself.

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

There are a ton of DVRs with media server / streamer features out there, but the new Media Giant from Conceptronic manages to distinguish itself by being one of the more flexible units we’ve seen, at least on paper. The 1TB DVR features UPnP setup with DLNA support, a built-in analog tuner, a Twonky server, component, composite and firewire inputs, HDMI and component out, digital audio out, an optional PowerLine networking adapter, and a laundry list of supported codecs, including DivX, XviD, WMV9, SVCD and VOB. Not a bad little box — but we won’t know about pricing or availability until it gets officially official at CeBit next week.

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

When CES 2007 came around, a good portion of the US stopped and thanked their lucky stars as MediaGate’s fairly well-spec’d lineup finally came stateside. Now, the same firm is introducing the MG-350HD’s (pictured) successor, the MG-450HD. Said entertainment server enables owners to wirelessly stream HD video, music, and other media to an HDTV or stereo from their PC, and it also fetches content from networked hard drives and locally attached USB drives. Unfortunately, this one caps out at 802.11g, but it does include HDMI, optical / coaxial digital audio outs and Ethernet to boot. At $249, it’s still a bit more expensive than Popcorn Hour’s highly praised A-100, but loyalists probably won’t mind.

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

We’ve seen how Celrun does PMPs, and we’re equally impressed with how it has tackled media streaming. The Celrun TV (no kin to the Apple TV, we’re told) checks in with a 320GB hard drive, Ethernet / WiFi, a couple of USB ports, an integrated digital TV tuner and a slew of ports including HDMI, component and optical audio. The fun continues with support for AVI, MPEG1/2/4, DivX, ASF, XviD, OFF, FLAC, WAV, H.264, WMV and lots, lots more. No word on a price or release date, but we’ve all ideas this HD streamer won’t be straying too far from South Korea, regardless.

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Storage

For those that can bring back wish lists from last October, you’ll undoubtedly remember the totally promising Popcorn Hour Networked Media Tank. Now, it seems the device has received somewhat of a facelift since our initial sneak peek and hasn’t lost a bit of its popularity. The A-100 media streamer enables users to stuff an HDD within and transfer files via BitTorrent when not dishing out all sorts of media or acting as a NAS. Additionally, it supports 1080p output and plays nice with just about every format imaginable, including: MPEG1/2/4, MP3, AVI, ASF, WMV, MOV, H.264, XviD, AAC, WAV, JPEG and lots, lots more. Sadly, this $179 gem is currently backordered, and requires some sort of fancy sign-up process just to get in line. Still, with specs like these, the wait is probably worth it.

[Via BoingBoing]

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