Smart Home Blog

Long time I didn’t post anything. But now Smarthome Blog returns back! And the first post after the break will be about new release candidate 3 of Kodi 14.0 Helix – new name of XBMC project. Main changes of that version are:

• fix crash during video playback on Android 5 devices such Nexus Player and ADT-1;
• a few fixes of PVR system included into XBMC since version 12 (Frodo);
• some fixes for specified OS and GPU

It can be downloaded from here. Just choose desire platform or OS.

In the mean time OpenELEC – IMHO the best Kodi/XBMC based distribution to build HTPC, announced its own release candidate 2 based on Kodi Helix. Personally I prefer OpenELEC for my home PC based media centre and especially for my Raspberry PI HTPC.

Boxee team made a good present for all Netflix and Boxee fans on the Valentine’s Day. Netflix finally arrived to the Boxee Box! It’ll be available after firmware update (1.0.4.17443) manually or automatically. The Netflix Boxee App gives access to the huge collection of movies and TV shows in SD and HD quality. But unfortunately for US and Canada. The rest world is still waiting for Netflix expansion or some similar service. In any case, if you live in US or Canada and have Boxee Box and Netflix subscription just update it and enjoy!

The latest LG’s TVs are enough smart thanks to Smart TV feature included LAN connectivity, DLNA support and set of various applications. But what if you have old TV but don’t want to replace it? LG gives a simple and elegant way to turn it into Smart TV as well with its new set-top-box LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader. It has all advantages of Smart TV in the separate box. Pros: getting advanced features without replace TV. Cons: additional box, wires, remote.

In any case, you may see the LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader at CES 2011 soon.

Sanos offers elegant way to mount your LCD, LED or plasma without drilling the wall. The Sanos mounting kit includes three shelfs to accommodate HTPC with other AV equipment. It allows to mount up to 56-inch TVs and has a weight capacity on the top shelf up to 56 kg. Also all annoying wires can be hided behind the stand.

The price of Sanos’s TV stands is varied from $199.99 till $269.99.

Looks like 3D TV opened a new area for the fashion. Gucci, Calvin Klein, now Oakley released their 3D glasses. The Oakley 3D Gascan is the first 3D glasses with optical correction. Thanks to patented Oakley HDO-3D technology. So, except the clean 3D picture you’ll get the traditional sport style for $120. Not bad for the Christmas present for your relatives, friends or yourself.