Smart Home Blog

I thought about buying wireless compact keyboard for my LinuxMCE hybrid server a long time ago. Something like that illuminated keyboard. And finally I bought RF Wireless Multimedia Tiny Keyboard. It’s really light and small. Also it has a big advantage over the illuminated keyboard – a trackball and mouse buttons. I was scare a bit about supporting of that features in Linux. But the keyboard started working properly right after paring with adaptor.

Another cool feature – switching off mouse to save battery. Personally I use mouse very rarely. So, that possibility is very helpful for me. I think that the RF Wireless Multimedia Tiny Keyboard is very good addition to Windows or Linux based HTPC.

Two days ago Boxee released a big update. First of all the Windows version is a public now. So, Windows users can now try it without invitation. At the same time the user interface was changed a bit. The navigation know is more streamlined – local and Internet media are separated clearly. The latest update brought a Full HD possibility for Ubuntu users. Boxee supports VDPAU. So, nVidia owners can play 1080p without having strong processor.

Together with changes above a few new services were added to the Boxee. Partnership with Major League Baseball will allow to watch thousands of baseball games, live and on-demand in HD (where available), paused and rewind them (DVR functionality). Also Boxee users can try Digg for TV, Tumblr and current_. Nice to see that Boxee growing fast in the right direction.

Don’t forget about possibility to create Boxee extensions using its API. A lot of interesting ones were released During Dev Challenge – DropBoxee, We Are Hunted, Facebook Photos, BBC Live, OpenCourseWare and more. Check them!

CaptiveWorks launched High Definition Linux Media Center CW-4000HD. It based on AMD 5000+ X2 Processor and includes 512 MB DDRII RAM (can be expandable to 8GB), 1GB Fast System Flash, Nvidia GeForce 7050, Satellite Tuner Genpix Skywalker-CW3K, DVDRW. Optionally HDD and ATSC Tuner can be added. The CW-4000HD provides HDMI/SVGA/Component/S-Video video and Analog/SPDIF Dolby Digital audio outputs as well as gigabit Ethernet and six USB ports.

The CW-4000HD can really replace satellite receiver, DVD and network players. It provides PVR functionality – pause, record, schedule etc, for Satellite/Digital TV, supports IPTV, P2P TV and web video services, allows to playback video and music from the HDD, network shares and USB storage and shows pictures. Additionally it gives possibility to listen Internet radio, read RSS, browse web sites, play arcade games (MAME emulator), convert recorded TV shows in the desire format and burn them to CDs or DVDs.

Most of features listed above are implemented using amazing open source software Video Disk Recorder (VDR) and its plug-ins. However the version of VDR included into the CW-4000HD is too old to support DVB-S2 (it’s just 1.5.8). So, you won’t watch the real HD channels on that box. But except that the CW-4000HD looks very attractive in my mind. I like the idea to use open source software in the commercial systems. It definitely should give a renewed impetus to the progress and popularity of VDR.

The CaptiveWorks CW-4000HD is available on the GOsatellite.com at the price $449.99.

It’s hard to believe that the compact nettop Fit-PC 2 has enough horsepower to playback Full HD video with resolution 1920 x 1080! It’s based on Intel Atom (Z530 or Z510) processor and equiped with 1GB RAM, your choice of 2.5″ HDD, built-in WiFi adapter, six USB ports, Ethernet and HDMI out. As OS WinXP or Ubuntu can be used. The price of Fit-PC 2 is between $245 and $400 depending on the configuration.

As I see the Fit-PC 2 is good choice for media extender of MythTV, XBMC, Boxee or VDR. Also it can be used as LinuxMCE media director. But be sure that it supports netboot via PXE.

Another commercial product based on nVidia Ion platform was announced recently. Viako launched three new mini HTPCs powered by Intel DG41MJ motherboard, Zotac NVIDIA Ion and Geforce 9300-ITX WiFi platform respectively. No any words about availability or price yet.

People who prefer to assemble HTPC by their self may be interesting to by Zotac ION Atom mini-ITX motherboard for €132.69 and build small, quiet and power media center.