Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Belkin's FlyWire Wireless HD solution ready for CES

from Engadget by Darren Murph

As the war between wireless HD solutions heats up, AMIMON is looking to make a splash by partnering up with Belkin. Reportedly, the firm's Wireless High-definition Interface (WHDI) -- which was just recently HDCP certified -- will be the heart of the Belkin FlyWire aimed at streaming HD DVD / Blu-ray (among other uncompressed content) to television sets sans wires. Unfortunately, little more is known beyond that (aside from the price range, set at $499 to $599), but here's to hoping that we'll get a closer look in just a few days.

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Pinnacle Video Transfer records video to anything USB 2.0, even your iPod

from Engadget by Paul Miller

Mark down "plays well with others" on Pinnacle's report card, the company's upcoming Pinnacle Video Transfer can take an analog video input and record the source to any USB 2.0 storage device, including an iPod. Video is recorded straight to the H.264 format, with user-selectable quality of Good, Better and Best. You can even charge the iPod you're transferring to. Supported devices include the PSP, PSP Slim, USB flash drives, USB hard drives and the iPod video, iPod nano third-gen, and iPod classic. The Pinnacle Video Transfer should hit stores January 15th for $129.99.

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Microsoft announces Windows Rally network device framework, shows off first product

from Engadget by Nilay Patel It's strange that we haven't heard a peep about this earlier, but apparently Microsoft's been working on a suite of bundled network discovery and configuration tools called Windows Rally, designed to ease ODM development of network devices and make them as easy to use as USB gear. Although things have been going down on the DL since April, today's the big coming-out party, and the the crew in Redmond is celebrating with...the launch of VS-IPC1002 VGA webcam from China's Vimicro. Aimed at "China's fast-growing surveillance market," the standalone cam plugs directly into a 10/100 Ethernet network and uses Windows Rally to auto-configure itself and begin streaming 30fps video to a Vista PC. That doesn't sound like the sexiest thing in the world, but if it actually works as described, we might be seeing a lot of actually-interesting Rally-powered devices in the future. Update: Check out a video of Rally being demoed at WinHEC after the break -- thanks, Dan Z.

Continue reading Microsoft announces Windows Rally network device framework, shows off first product

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gOS 2.0 "Rocket" set to debut at CES

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Considering the absolutely lackluster hardware present in the Everex gPC, it's a tad difficult to get psyched up about the next revision of the gOS. Nevertheless, gOS 2.0 (or Rocket, as it were) is all set to launch on Monday at CES, and while there's not much to phone home about, the inclusion of Google Gears is the most notable feature. The aforementioned bundle is an "online / offline synchronization technology from Google that enables offline use of web apps." More specifically, users can look forward to gBooth (a browser-based web cam), integration with Facebook, shortcuts to launch Google Reader, Talk, and Finance on the desktop, an online storage drive courtesy of Box.net and Virtual Desktops, which is hailed as "an intuitive feature to easily group and move applications across multiple desktop spaces." Additionally, Adobe Flash Player 9 for Linux will come preloaded, and if you're so inclined, you can download the package yourself on January 7th.

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Archos TV+ WiFi-enabled DVR gets official

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Don't act surprised -- you knew good and well this thing was a-comin', and it seems launch day has finally arrived. Highlighted now on the firm's website, the TV+ DVR still rocks that WiFi goodness we knew would be included, with options for an 80GB or 250GB hard drive and the ability to schedule, record and stream content at will. Additionally, you can sync your recorded shows with your Archos PMP, flip through songs / photos and even view PDFs. You know by now if this one is still lingering on your must-have list, and if so, you can snag one for $229 (80GB) or $349 (250GB).

Gallery: Archos TV+ WiFi-enabled DVR gets official