I4U Gadget Model of the Month

Media

AVerMedia Launches Interactive 1080P HD Visual Presenter

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AVerMedia Launches Interactive 1080P HD Visual Presenter Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review AVerMedia has launched its new AVerVision SPB350 Visual Presenter that has 1080p HD output and 20x optical zoom. The presenter features a five-megapixel camera sensor, interactive software, network sharing capability, and a 4-inch by 3-inch light box.

The device can display documents, 3-D objects, and microscopic images to any multimedia projector, monitor, or TV to enhance visual learning and retention for education and business situations. The camera can display full motion 30 frames per second moving objects with little or no distortion. The device can also be controlled remotely over the network. The presenter is available now for $2499.99. Read more

Posted on Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:40:16 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Media won't get early look at 90210

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Media won't get early look at 90210 Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review
By Kimberly Nordyke

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Critics and other members of the media hoping to get a sneak peek at the CW's upcoming series "90210" are out of luck.
The network and producing studio issued a statement Monday saying they won't be sending out DVDs of the highly anticipated show before its September 2 premiere.
Read more

Posted on Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:03:44 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Comedian and Actor Bernie Mac dies at 50

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Comedian and Actor Bernie Mac dies at 50 Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review
 By Kyle Peterson

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Comedian and actor Bernie Mac, who starred in one of U.S. TV's few black sitcoms and appeared in the "Ocean's 11" movies, died in Chicago on Saturday after a bout with pneumonia. He was 50.
Read more

Posted on Sat, 9 Aug 2008 10:44:45 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Samsung MediaLive HDTV Accessory Unveiled

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Samsung MediaLive HDTV Accessory Unveiled Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review Samsung announced its MediaLive retail launch this week. The gadget is designed to deliver digital content in real-time from Windows Media Center on a PC to big screen Samsung TVs. Note that last bit, the device only works for Samsung TVs.

The device can stream photos, music, movies, home movies and live or recorded TV from the PC in HD resolution to the big screen. Samsung says that the MediaLive device will work with most Samsung TVs purchased in 2008. Read more

Posted on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:20:16 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

How to setup PS3 as Media Server

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How to setup PS3 as Media Server Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review Our partner Digital Trends published a guide on how to setup the Sony PS3 as a media server in your home.

Quote from the guide: "My digital media was scattered among various drives, computers, and discs. I wanted seamless central control over all of it, so I decided to use my Sony PlayStation 3 as a media hub, with my 40-inch Samsung HDTV as a monitor. Read more

Posted on Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:12:28 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Verbatim Brings Color Backgrounds to LightScribe DVD Media

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Verbatim Brings Color Backgrounds to LightScribe DVD Media Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review When it comes to labeling discs like CDs and DVDs you can go a couple ways. You can get out a marker and write on the discs, which is rather messy and the labels may not stay. Or you can use a direct labeling media and DVD burner like LightScribe.

For a while you could get CD media for LightScribe that offered color backgrounds. Today LightScribe and Verbatim announced that DVD+R media is now available for LightScribe with color backgrounds. The media can be had with red, orange, green, yellow and blue backgrounds to add more creativity to the LightScribe labeling process. Read more

Posted on Tue, 8 Jul 2008 16:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder Review

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VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder Review Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review Today we are looking at the VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder. The device allows you to record movies and TV shows from your TV to the VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder internal HDD. You can also copy files and images directly from camcorder and digital cameras.

The VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder works well enough, but the image and video quality isn’t tops. Still if you are looking to transfer video files to a PMP or view them on any TV screen the VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder is a nice little device. Read more

Posted on Mon, 7 Jul 2008 13:57:09 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Media Moguls gather for Summer Camp

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Media Moguls gather for Summer Camp Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review
By Dan Cox

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Hollywood Reporter) - Major media executives packed their bathing suits, BlackBerrys and iPods this weekend and headed for their version of summer camp -- the annual gathering put together by financier Herb Allen in this exclusive resort.
Read more

Posted on Mon, 7 Jul 2008 04:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft, Yahoo mull Media Partner Options: Sources

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Microsoft, Yahoo mull Media Partner Options: Sources Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review
By Eric Auchard and Kenneth Li

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc have been holding separate talks with other potential media partners after their negotiations with each other broke down, sources familiar with the companies' thinking said on Wednesday.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 2 Jul 2008 23:48:03 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Mvix MX-780HD Wireless HD Media Center Review

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Mvix MX-780HD Wireless HD Media Center Review Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review Tweaktown published a review of the

Quote from the review: "Founded in 2005, Mvix USA is a company who believes in the concept of digital entertainment. With a product line that offers different versions of this ideal, Mvix is about getting your digital content displayed where it should be, on your television. Sure, you can watch your ripped movies on the PC monitor, but why not take it to the next level and enjoy that same content on a large screen TV? Read more

Posted on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Mitsubishi partners with NVIDIA and Aspen Media to bring 3D into the Living Room

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Mitsubishi partners with NVIDIA and Aspen Media to bring 3D into the Living Room Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review Mitsubishi announced new partnerships with NVIDIA Corp. and Aspen Media Products, creating a combined capability to bring 3D content to home entertainment.

Mitsubishi’s entire product line of Home Theater TVs feature 3D-ready technology and the new solution from NVIDIA and Aspen will play back 2D and 3D content.
It can also convert 2D PC games to 3D. Read more

Posted on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:51:49 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Canon PC Announces Media Center with 6 Cable Cards

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Canon PC Announces Media Center with 6 Cable Cards Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review Media PCs are all fine and dandy, but the big problem for most of us is that your typical home theater PC can’t record HD content from your cable provider. You can opt for some solutions that allow the use of cable cards that can record programming from your cable pay channels. Even then you can only record one or two programs.

Cannon PC has announced a new home theater PC that allows you to record a whopping six programs at one time. The PC runs on windows Vista and uses Vista Media Center which normally only supports a pair of cable cards. Cannon PC has modified the system to work with six cable cards and still not use all the PCs available resources. Pricing and availability of the machine are unknown at this time. Read more

Posted on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:46:16 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Comedian George Carlin dies in Los Angeles at 71

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Comedian George Carlin dies in Los Angeles at 71 Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.
Read more

Posted on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:06:48 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Quiet French Village hit by Brangelina Media Circus

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Quiet French Village hit by Brangelina Media Circus Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review
By Patrice Buguet

CORRENS, France (Reuters) - The new game in Correns, a village in Provence suddenly hit by media frenzy since Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie moved into a nearby villa, is to make up stories about the couple for the paparazzi.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:52:51 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

HP MediaSmart Connect Now Available for Pre-Order

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HP MediaSmart Connect Now Available for Pre-Order Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review We first talked about the HP MediaSmart Connect back in May when it was originally announced. What we didn’t know back then was when the device would be available to purchase. Today HP announced that the MediaSmart Connect is available for pre-order.

The device connects to any HDTV and allows users to rent movies from CinemaNow as well as share and purchase photos from Snapfish. The device can also find and store digital video and photos from any computer on the same network. The HP MediaSmart Connect will retail for $349. Read more

Posted on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:40:51 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

AMEX RM-mp1 wireless USB Media Remote

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AMEX RM-mp1 wireless USB Media Remote Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review AMEX Digital announces the RM-mp1 media remote.

The Amex RM-mp1 is a wireless USB-enabled remote control with an integrated touchpad. You can control Slideshows, DVDs, and Music devices. An integrated Laser pointer comes in handy in presentations. Read more

Posted on Fri, 23 May 2008 11:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

HP MediaSmart to support Youtube

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HP MediaSmart to support Youtube Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review Today HP announced support for YouTube on its HP MediaSmart connected entertainment products.

The soon to be released MediaSmart Connect digital media receiver and the high-definition MediaSmart TV will be bringing Youtube videos to your living room.
HP worked with YouTube to make it possible for people to watch and share full-screen videos on their HDTVs and to create multiple playlists from anywhere they watch TV: You simply log into your YouTube account with an easy-to-use remote control and start watching videos on their HP MediaSmart products. Read more

Posted on Tue, 6 May 2008 01:40:46 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

MvixUSA Launches Hard Drive Based HD Media Player

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MvixUSA Launches Hard Drive Based HD Media Player Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review MvixUSA announced a new ultra portable HDD high definition media player today called the Mvix MV-2500U. The device uses a 2.5-inch PATA IDE drive up to 250 GB and when connected to a PC it works just like an external USB drive.

The device includes an IR remote and it can store and decode both HD video and SD video in more than a dozen file formats. Supported resolutions include 480p, 720p, and 1080i. Supported file formats include MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4, DVD (VOB, IFO), DivX ® (3/4/5/6), Xvid, BivX ®, VCD (DAT) for both PAL and NTSC. The MV-2500U will ship this month. Read more

Posted on Thu, 1 May 2008 11:47:13 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Industry Leaders join push for Home Media Networks

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Industry Leaders join push for Home Media Networks Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Chip and electronics makers Intel , Infineon , Texas Instruments and Panasonic have formed an alliance to promote home networks for movies, music and pictures using domestic wiring.
Read more

Posted on Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:24:18 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater Gets BD-Live Certification

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ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater Gets BD-Live Certification Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review ArcSoft announced today that its TotalMedia theater software received BD-Live certification from the Blu-ray Disc Association. The certification makes the TotalMedia software the first PC application to get the certification.

"The new Blu-ray Disc movies with BD-Live present users with unique features of the next generation video players -- online interactive capability -- offering the ultimate entertainment experience beyond high definition," said George Tang, ArcSoft's Vice President and General Manager of Video and Home Entertainment Group. "BD Profile 2.0 certification guarantees compatibility with BD-Live specifications to ensure that users get the true BD-Live experience. Since ArcSoft is committed to providing the highest quality products, this certification is a further step in that direction." Read more

Posted on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:34:10 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

How to turn an Apple Mac mini into a Windows Vista Media Center

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How to turn an Apple Mac mini into a Windows Vista Media Center Technology News, Electronics Buy Guide and Gadget Review Krunker posted an extensive article detailing a project he has been working on for some time. It deals with turning an Apple Mac mini into a Windows Vista box capable of running Windows Media Center. The article outlines the steps taken, some of the additional features he added and how it's ultimately deployed in his home.

Quote: "How does the Mac mini hold up as a Media Center box? Very nicely indeed! I’ve been running the Mac mini as a MCE box for the last three plus weeks and it’s performed flawlessly. Read more

Posted on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr