Smart Home Blog

Lats month Lenovo released its new IdeaCentre Q180 home theater PC. The skinny box sports a 2.13GHz Intel Atom dual-core CPU with Radeon HD 6450A graphics and up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM. It’s enough for 1080p playback smoothly. Additionally it can have a 750GB HDD or a 128GB SSD and Blu-ray drive. To hook up displays and peripheries HDMI, VGA, and S/PDIF output can be used together with USB 3.0 ports. Wireless connectivity is performed via Bluetooth or 802.11b/g/n WiFi. Also the IdeaCentre Q180 comes with compact wireless keyboard. It includes QWERTY keyboard, trackball and keys for media control.

The price for Lenovo IdeaCentre Q180 HTPC starts from $349. So, if you’re thinking about your own media center based on PC then new product of Lenovo can be your choice.

VIA launched ARTiGO 1150 – small nettop with can replace some big box near your TV. Compact (just 14.6 x 9.9 x 5.2 cm) and mere box is powered by dual-core Eden X2 processor clocked at 1GHz and a VX900H graphics which enough to support 1080p playback. Additionally up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM and one 2.5-inch SATA HDD or SSD can be installed inside it. ARTiGO 1150 has HDMI and VGA output to connect to TV or monitor, gigabit Ethernet, four USB 2.0 host ports, plus optional WiFi adapter and SD card reader.

The new VIA ARTiGO 1150 is available now and priced at $265 (barebone version). It can be good option as a media player or media client. But be carefully with Linux. Because VIA hardware had a big problems under Linux. Hope current stage is better.

Sony launched a next generation of its streaming players SMP-N200. It has sleek design and includes a full bunch of connectivity options – HDMI, composite, component as well as built-in WiFi adapter. Additionally to 1080p playback the player is ready for 3D content.

The Sony SMP-N200 is oriented for Sony Entertainment Network, where you may find live streaming TV shows, movies, music and photos. Even in 1080p and 3D! Also the box supports DLNA. So, you’ll able to push media from your NAS, network shares, smartphones or tablets to playback directly to the Sony SMP-N200. Additionally it can be controlled via iOS/Android devices using free app Sony Media Remote.

The Sony SMP-N200 will be available in October at $99.99.

Netgear launched its new NeoTV streaming player. It’s a compact and stylish set-top-box with built-in WiFi b/g/n and 1080p playback support. The NeoTV offers access to the many online media services such Netflix, Vudu HD, YouTube, Pandora and Vimeo, as well as social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Most of them are for US citizen only. But I hope it works with UPnP/DLNA as well which gives possibility to playback media content from NAS or home media server. For sure it has a “Fling” feature to instantly send videos from PC/Laptop/Tablet to the box.

To control NeoTV it can be used simple remote control or free application for iOS/Android devices. In the second case user will get a gesture control for channel navigation and an on-screen QWERTY keyboard for easier text entry and search.

The Netgear NeoTV will be available later this month at $79.99. Taking into account its price and features we may say the NeoTV beats Roku 2 XD, AppleTV and WD WDTV Live as a set-top-box for online services.

[via SlashGear]

Once I already wrote about possibility to use a streaming player Roku as a MythTV client. But after that I lost my interest to this device regardless its low price and tiny size. However the situation is changed when FPLEX – a fork of the cross-platform software to build media centers XBMC, announced support of Roku players. So, tiny, noiseless, cheap and energy efficient device turns into full functional 720p/1080p HTPC! Awesome, isn’t it?

Probably I’ll buy Roku XD or XD|S (USB port is useful sometimes) for testing, although initially I thought about ATV2 with ARM version of XBMC. Limited resolution by 720p in ATV2 and support PLEX on Roku are key moments for the new decision.