Friday, August 27, 2010

MPEG-LA makes H.264 video royalty-free forever, as long as it's freely distributed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/26/mpeg-la-makes-h-264-video-royalty-free-forever-as-long-as-its/

The H.264 codec that makes a good deal of digital video possible has actually been free to use (under certain conditions) for many years, but following recent controversies over the future of web video, rightholders have agreed to extend that freedom in perpetuity. Whereas originally standards organization MPEG-LA had said it wouldn't collect royalties from those freely distributing AVC/H.264 video until 2016, the limitless new timeframe may mean that content providers banking on WebM and HTML5 video won't have an expensive surprise in the years to come. Then again, patent licensing is complicated stuff and we'd hate to get your hopes up -- just know that if you're an end-user uploading H.264 content you own and intend to freely share with the world, you shouldn't expect a collection agency to come knocking on your door. PR after the break.

Continue reading MPEG-LA makes H.264 video royalty-free forever, as long as it's freely distributed

MPEG-LA makes H.264 video royalty-free forever, as long as it's freel! y distri buted originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 9:19 AM

Lamborghini dishes out a Reventon you can actually afford: a 1:10 scale RC car

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/26/lamborghini-dishes-out-a-reventon-you-can-actually-afford-a-1-1/

At long last even us plebeian supercar lovers can afford to say we own a Lambo. And we wouldn't even be lying if we claimed it had an internal combustion engine (3cc, vroom vroom!), hydraulic shock absorbers, disc brakes, or permanent all-wheel drive. Such must have been the stringent requirements handed down from Lamborghini HQ to DeAgostini, which has scored the license to produce a limited run of 65 1:10 scale models of the Reventon. The radio-controlled mini-supercars haven't been priced yet, but we suspect they'll fall quite a few zeroes short of the real deal's $1.2 million sticker.

Update: As it turns out, these come in parts and can be built up if you keep buying a collection of 65 "booklets." Each one costs €8 and the remote control is priced at €60, leading you to a total around €580 ($737) [Thanks, wii_willie!]

Lamborghini dishes out a Reventon you can actually afford: a 1:10 scale RC car originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 9:19 AM

Netgear announces NeoTV 550 & 350 HD Media Players plus other networking goodies

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/27/netgear-announces-neotv-550-and-350-hd-media-players-plus-other-ne/

This week Netgear made a battery of new product announcements related to home entertainment and Powerline networking. On the media side, the NeoTV 550 & 350 HD players look a lot like last year's Digital Entertainer Elite, minus the 500GB of internal storage and access to VOD services like CinemaNow. Both are however capable of playing a robust list of codecs in full HD from a variety of attached sources like USB, eSATA (in the case of the 550) or SD storage, as well as streaming content from UPnP, DLNA or WMP11 networks. The 550 adds in support for external Blu-ray drives and BD-Live too, all for $219, which should appeal any of the poor souls with an unused standalone drive.

Three new Powerline kits -- AV 200, AV 500, and AV+ 500 -- were also announced to help consumers avoid the pain of stringing Ethernet in every direction. The entry level AV 200 appears to improve on the previous HDXB101 kit by offering the same theoretical 200mbps in addition to push button security enhancements and greener power consumption. The AV 500 kit provides the same and ramps the networking speeds to up to -- you guessed it -- 500mbps, while the "+" version throws in a pass-through filtered AC socket to avoid sacrificing precious outlets. Priced all below $200, every kit will available by mid November for all the fall home networking networking your heart could desire. Peep the galleries and PR below for further details.




Continue reading Netgear announces NeoTV 550 & 350 HD Media Players plus other networking goodies

Netgear announces NeoTV 550 & 350 HD Media Players plus other networking goodies originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 9:18 AM

Samsung 90 and 30 series LCDs work hard as computer monitors, play hard as 1080p HDTVs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/27/samsung-90-and-30-series-lcds-work-hard-as-computer-monitors-pl/

Samsung 90 and 30 series LCDs work hard as computer monitors, play hard as 1080p HDTVs
The dividing line between computer monitor and HDTV grows ever thinner. Samsung is announcing two new series of multi-function monitors, displays that handle the computing you need with sizes ranging from 21.5- to 24-inches, 1920 x 1080 worth of pixels, and a response time of 5ms. But, they also handle the entertainment you want, with HDTV tuners, built-in speakers, and even remote controls. The $420, 24-inch 90 Series offers LED-backlighting and a retina-punishing 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, while the 21.5-, 23-, and 24-inch 30 Series makes do with a paltry 70,000:1 dynamic ratio at prices ranging from $270 to $330. All these genre-benders are shipping now, perfect for your dorm room escapades.

Continue reading Samsung 90 and 30 series LCDs work hard as computer monitors, play hard as 1080p HDTVs

Samsung 90 and 30 series LCDs work hard as computer monitors, play hard as 1080p HDTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 9:18 AM

Viking Modular's SATADIMM jacks an SSD into your memory slot

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/27/viking-modulars-satadimm-jacks-an-ssd-into-your-memory-slot/

Explaining the differences between DRAM and non-volatile storage is about to get that little bit harder, thanks to Viking Modular. The company's decided to "borrow" the DIMM form factor for its latest enterprise SSD offering, equipping it with a 240-pin array to draw power from your spare memory slots. Of course, you'll still need to hook up a SATA cable to get data flowing to this SSD -- at a very respectable 260MBps for both read and write -- but we must admit we're in love with the very idea of it. This new design offers another option for consolidating storage right onto the motherboard and should help case modders yearning for ever-slimmer enclosures. Alas, the SATADIMM is only available to enterprise and OEM clients for now, but we can't think of any reason why it won't test the consumer waters as well -- if not by Viking, maybe someone else?

[Thanks, David]

Continue reading Viking Modular's SATADIMM jacks an SSD into your memory slot

Viking Modular's SATADIMM jacks an SSD into your memory slot originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 07:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 9:18 AM

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