Computing – Page 6 – Devices View

CES 2005: New Remote for Custom Installers

January 9, 2005 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

UEI launched the Nevo SL "Pronto killer" touch screen remote control here last night in Las Vegas, and it’s got two really interesting features: a better programming interface than Philips offers for the Pronto (not that that’s saying much – the Pronto programming environment is terrible), and built in WiFi. WiFi could be used for just about anything – the remote is based on a version of Windows Mobile – but at least initially the idea is to stream media from one PC to another. Now, that may seem a bit ahead of its time, but according to Current Analysis*, …

Computing / Industry

CES 2005: You want convergence?

January 4, 2005 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

SBC preannounced their big CES news: a set top box that combines satellite TV programming, digital video recording, video on demand, and Internet content. There have been everything-but-the-kitchen-sink set top boxes before (anybody remember last CES? the year before that?), but I believe that this is significant for one reason: distribution. Most of the converged set top box dreams of years past are all about consumer technology value propositions: distributing content around the house, moving photos and music off the PC, and providing Internet access from the TV. That’s nice, but other than increased tech support calls, there’s little incentive …

Computing

Workable PC Convergence Demands More Convergence, Less PC

December 28, 2004 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

I was interviewing a custom installer about using PCs as video scalers, and he said something that applies, more or less, to any serious use of PCs for home theaters: the only way to have a reliable PC-based A/V system is to have a PC dedicated solely to A/V. I’ve had several XP Media Center Edition systems in over the past couple of years, and that’s certainly one way to do it. The downside to Media Center PCs is that they’re pricey if you don’t need the full suite of functionality, and though they’ve gotten much better, they are still …

Audio / Computing

New Ways to Listen To Music

December 9, 2004 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Musicmatch is one of several music playback programs for PCs, along with offerings from Microsoft, Real, Apple. With a good multimedia sound system — I’m working on reviews of THX systems from Klipsch and Logitech — you can use these programs to listen to music at your PC. The programs also allow you to transfer music to portable devices, or stream music around your house with various add-on gadgets (though access to copy-protected music is usually not available in that scenario). The programs now also offer access to online music stores for purchasing music (by track or by album) or …