Smart Home Blog

Now you can buy Windows based media center software ArcSoft TotalMedia™ 3.5 together with a Network Attached – Dual Digital Tuner HDHomeRun. The ArcSoft TotalMedia™ 3.5 offers the same bunch of features as any other media center software based on Linux, Windows or Mac OS. Many of them support HDHomeRun. For example, MythTV. So, I don’t see any reason to spend 80 bucks for that except ArcSoft will give a good discount on HDHomeRun.

[via eHomeUpgrade]

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Recently Mvix lunched a new version of its media player MV780. Unlike the previous model - MV760, the MV780 sports a native HDMI output. As result it can deliver full 1080i HD to your plasma or LCD without losing signal quality.

Unlike other network media players MV780 doesn’t need any additional software. When it’s added in your home LAN using Ethernet or WiFi the media player is detected as external storage. So, you can copy there any media content easily (additionally MV760 offers a synchronization between PCs in the local network or with popular filesharing programs, i.e. eMule, KaZaa, BitTorrent). Disadvantage of that approach is impossibility to stream movies or music directly from the source PC without storing locally.

The MV760 supports a huge number media formats. So, you shouldn’t have a situation when the movie cannot be played or image isn’t displayed. The new Mvix player seems very good but personally I don’t like its design. It looks like DSL model or WiFi router for me. Moreover, the MV760 cannot be placed horizontally under TV and it will stand out against a background of your A/V equipment.

No more words about the availability of the Mvix MV760 or its price. But taking into account the cost of the previous model we expect that the MV760 will be tagged not less then €250.

[via eHomeUpgrade]

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Kaleidescape, a proprietary multi-room audio/video system, has announced a release of its OS - KEAOS. New features of the version 3.5 include the ability to automatically synchronize music from a Kaleidescape System to iTunes on a PC, an iPod or other digital music player, new classical music interface that lets users personalize their classical music listening experience, greater data safety in the event of disk drive failure, and new options for sharing personalized movie scripts and favorite scenes with other Kaleidescape users.

Kaleidescape system may contain 1U or 3U Server, Movie Player 2, Music Player and Speed Reader to import large numbers of DVDs and CDs. It looks attractive but I didn’t any information about the price except that:

As the old sayings go, you get what you pay for, and quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.

Agree but it’d be nice to know how much is each main component.

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It’s pretty simple to have media center and lighting control in one box. Just install LinuxMCE… But if you already use MythTV and not going to break everything you may be interested in that thread. There is a simple explanation howto integrate X10 and MythTV using Perl scripts (MythX10 (238)) and flexibility of MythTV. I suspect this or similar approach is used on that video.

[via MythTV News]

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Westell MediaStation can be named as a new concept PC for home. It’s a small device featured with 6.5″ (400×240) LCD touchscreen display, integrated camera and speakers. It uses WinCE.NET 5.0 and offers a bunch of possibilities to use it:

• delivering media content from Intenet: video, audio, pictures;
• phone calls: land-line, VoIP and video;
• up to four phone handsets can be added and personalized for each family member;
• extending hardware functionality via USB ports;
• extending software by using SDK coming with device.

Westell MediaStation offers most needed functionality for home users together with portability and stylish design. If its price is reasonable, it may hit the market.

[via eHomeAutomated]

P. S. The same things (except connection separate handsets) and more can be done with Nokia N800 and coming N810. IMHO Linuxbased Internet Tablet is better option.

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