The 28-page report comes from Brett Danaher, Department of Economics at Wellesley College, and Joel Waldfogel, Department of Economics at University of Minnesota and National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Carlson School of Management, Twin Cities. These two fellows have published the paper Reel Piracy: The Effect of Online Film Piracy on International Box Office Sales, 28 pages of research concluding in the idea that for this sect of the piracy universe, right here with Torrents specifically, the following is true:

Our findings indicate that, as a lower bound, international box office returns in our sample were at least 7% lower than they would have been in the absence of pre-release piracy. By contrast, we do not see evidence of elevated sales displacement in US box office revenue following the adoption of BitTorrent, and we suggest that delayed legal availability of the content abroad may drive the losses to piracy.

Torrents are a popular way for download files using the hosting power of multiple servers rather than just one – its rise to popularity also saw a massive new following of pirates across the earth just a few short years ago. The recent Megaupload shutdown was tied to Torrents only in the idea that they both had the potential for piracy. Instead the most popular Torrent-based website you may have heard of is the Pirate Bay, recently noted for their 3D modeling downloads and their newfound ability to have users download their whole site in a small file.

So as always, it’s up to you to decide what’s best for the film industry. The war rages on, and we’ll continue to let you know the biggest bits in the battles as they occur!

Rather than actually hosting files, as was the case with MegaUpload, btjunkie crawled the web looking for torrents. Private and public file-sharing sites were indexed, btjunkie serving up possible download links for peer-hosted content and fleshing them out with user-reviews to weed out bad or corrupted downloads.

“This is the end of the line my friends. The decision does not come easy, but we’ve decided to voluntarily shut down. We’ve been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it’s time to move on. It’s been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best!” btjunkie

Although they only point to download links, rather than host files themselves, torrent indexers like btjunkie have grown increasingly contentious as the film and music industries attempt to clamp down on methods of acquiring copyrighted content. News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch even described Google as the “piracy leader” after discovering how easily possible download links for Sony-produced movies were to discover using the search engine.

btjunkie has not given any public reason as to why it chose now to shut down. With renewed attention on piracy amid the MegaUpload trial, though, it’s unlikely to be the last site to consider downtime rather than face investigation.

That is now changing with Pirate Bay eliminating the torrent file hosting directly and moving to what is called a magnetic link. The magnetic link is now the default method of download and according to an insider at Pirate Bay “in a month or so” there will be no more hosted torrent files on the site. TorrentFreak says that moving to magnetic links means that very little will change for the end user at Pirate Bay.

The crux of the change may be the fact that with some countries forcing ISPs to block access to Pirate Bay, the change to magnetic links means that copies of Pirate Bay can be hosted from a flash drive. That would mean that fans of the site could access it even if it’s not available directly online. It could take longer for the torrent downloads to start using magnetic links and apparently, most modern BitTorrent clients support magnetic links already.

[via TorrentFreak]

“Unlimited” is a word anyone likes to hear. Unlimited ice cream is to sweet lovers what unlimited sharing is to peer-to-peer users, and Share offers just that. Share allows subscribers to share files with an unlimited number of personal contacts. Unlike other services, Share has no file size restraints or cost. With no monthly or yearly subscriptions required, Share is one step ahead of its competition.

BitTorrent will be relying on Amazon’s EC2 and S3 services to allow for this unique file sharing experience. Files are cached on the cloud so users don’t have to be online at the same time to complete transfers. Once a file is successfully received by all recipients, it will be removed from the cloud. Share is currently available in an alpha stage of development and only for Windows users. Mac users will be able to test the service in an alpha release of µTorrent.

[via Gigaom]

While there is no silver bullet for infringement online, this measure is one of several that we have implemented to curb copyright infringement online,” Google manager of global communications and public affairs Mistique Cano previously said to TorrentFreak. She also detailed that “this is something we looked at and thought we could make some narrow and relatively easy changes to our Autocomplete algorithm that could make a positive difference”.

isoHunt owner Gary Fung said told the blog in an interview, “It’s a lot more subtle than the censorship attempts made possible by the pending PROTECT IP and SOPA bills, but it’s still censorship and it starts small. Google is increasingly becoming a self-righteous Big Brother of the Web. So much for ‘Do no evil’”.

The searches “thepiratebay,” “the pirate bay,” “isohunt,” “torrentreactor,” “btjunkie,” “kickasstorrents,” “sumotorrent,” “btmon,” “extratorrent” and many others are now excluded from ‘Autocomplete‘ and ‘Instant‘, as well as “4shared,” “filesonic” and “fileserve.” We’ll see what Google’ll do in the future. And, by the way, this is from a company who’s motto is ‘Don’t be evil’. Just in case you didn’t know.

[via TorrentFreak]

After several tests and numerous user reports, TorrentFreak discovered that Comcast subscribers from across the United States were unable to connect to The Pirate Bay. The traceroute was going to the right place, thepiratebay.piratpartiet.se, but the website would not appear. Further tests showed that the block is not DNS related. The Pirate Bay has now confirmed that one web server was down, but has now been fixed. Still, only certain users were unable to access the site. The Pirate Bay is investigating, and trying to fix the issue from their end if possible.

Comcast’s Executive Director Internet Systems Engineering, Jason Livingood, stated: “Please note that we do not block websites and we are NOT blocking The Pirate Bay.” It is strange, though, that only Comcast users were having problems accessing the site. Comcast does have a reputation of blocking BitTorrent in the past. In 2007, Comcast was found to be actively blocking BitTorrent traffic, which they later admitted to doing. This action by Comcast has fueled the Net Neutrality debate, and resulted in an investigation by the FCC and several lawsuits.

Are you a Comcast user who also uses The Pirate Bay? Have you had any problems? Let us know in the comments!

[via TorrentFreak]

“The core problem are the random NodeIDs. The address hashing and verification scheme works for scenarios like the old Internet, but becomes almost useless in the big address space of IPv6″ ‘Astro’

DHT – or distributed hash tables – are used in BitTorrent downloads to avoid a central tracker and instead use peer-sourcing to identify other users sharing files. By establishing a malicious hash table, the torrent downloaders could be unwittingly directed at a specific server; large swarms of simultaneous users could potentially overwhelm the site.

[via TorrentFreak]

The report comes from BitTorrent news site TorrentFreak, which has been watching over the numbers. Call of Duty: Black Ops managed to beat out heavy contenders like Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Mafia II, and Mass Effect 2. All of which were available for the PC. Black Ops reached a staggering 4.2 million downloads, while the closest competitor (Bad Company 2) was downloaded 3.96 million times.

The numbers aren’t as high for the Microsoft Xbox 360 version, but they’re still high. Treyarch’s title was downloaded a total of 930,000 times for the 360. However, it wasn’t the most downloaded title, as Dante’s Inferno managed to grab the crown this year. This isn’t good news for Treyarch or Activision, but something they probably expected.

[via Kotaku]

While all three were originally sentenced to a year in prison, those terms have been slashed. Neij will spend the longest inside, at ten months, Sunde at eight months, and Lundström the least, at four months. Fourth co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg will see his appeal held at a later date, as he was ill during the court sessions.

According to Ludvig Werner, chair of the Swedish arm of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the appeal court decision is “an extremely clear signal”. However, the damages awarded still fell well short of the 120 million kronor ($17.1m) the entertainment industry were initially seeking.

Russo claims not to have carried out the hack out of spite or with commercial gain in mind, but we’re guessing the RIAA and others will be looking on with great interest.  Still, in an interview with KrebsOnSecurity, Russo said he has no intention of handing it over: “Probably these groups would be very interested in this information, but we are not [trying] to sell it … Instead we wanted to tell people that their information may not be so well protected.”

[flv]http://insilence.biz/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/TPB_volI_mini.flv[/flv]

[via Downloadsquad - thanks Samuel!]

The CinemaGo is, for all intents and purposes, just a re-imagining of the CinemaTube of last year. You still get the eSATA interface, USB 2.0, built-in WiFi, and a BitTorrent manager. On top of all that, you also get access to MUZEE Internet radio channels as well. Additionally, the box is also able to handle 1080p output, and it’s perfectly capable of supporting formats like MOV, WMV, and MKV, amongst a whole plethora of others.

As for storage, you can choose to either put media onto the box thanks to an attached hard drive, or if you’re into that whole futuristic wireless thing, you can utilize your home network, or a general Web-based connection. As for pricing, you’ll be looking at spending $149.99 when the CinemaGo releases later this year. Oh, but wait. If you pre-order now, you can circumvent that price, and actually get it for only $109.99. So, this may be the best time to pre-order.

Press Release:

brite-View CinemaGo with Internet Radio Debuts

The Perfect Compact Player, CinemaGo Offers Personalized Entertainment at Home or on the Go

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire/ — brite-View by Xpike Innovation yesterday launched the CinemaGo (BV-5005HD Mini CG), a special version of the highly successful CinemaTube (BV-5005HD). The small, sleek CinemaGo’s eSATA interface data transfer speed is three times faster than a USB 2.0 interface. CinemaGo also includes a Wi-Fi adapter for easy network access, a torrent download feature and MUZEE internet radio channels.

CinemaGo’s vivid 1080p high-definition picture quality can be displayed on HDTV in all video formats, including MOV, WMV, MKV, AVI, VOB, DIVX, FLV and RMVB. Content can be delivered from a locally attached hard drive via the home network or the internet. MUZEE broadcasts thousands of sports, music, news and talk show channels from 210 countries. San Francisco Giants fans can listen to KNBR in a Miami hotel room, and music fans can groove to the latest European dance hits on Digitally Imported.

The CinemaGo’s compact design is perfect for enjoying personalized entertainment whether at home or on the go, even in the car. The eSATA interface, a feature requested by brite-View customers, lets users watch Blu-ray movies without waiting for the movies to load. Networking multiple CinemaGo devices enables content streaming and file transfer between attached hard drives.

“A good digital media player transforms your TV into an entertainment hub, showing content from your computer, a storage device or the network,” said Robert Lo, CEO of Xpike Innovation. “The CinemaGo does exactly that, with the potential to do much more.” Lo said talks with partners are ongoing, and hinted that firmware upgrades may bring even more web-based content and services to the CinemaGo.

The CinemaGo is available now for pre-order on brite-View’s website for $109.99.

About Xpike Innovation, Inc.®

Xpike Innovation, Inc. designs and manufactures consumer electronics that spice up your living room without breaking the bank. Xpike Innovation is a leading provider of home networking applications, online media access and digital home solutions, including full-HD media players/streamers featuring torrent download, powerline Ethernet adapters and 1080p HD wireless transmission kits. Backed by nearly 30 years of electronics industry experience, Xpike Innovation products provide rich Internet-based multi-media user experiences for consumers to enjoy with their HDTVs.

brite-View™ is a brand owned by Xpike Innovation, Inc.

That drive can be used for local playback, standalone Torrent downloading or time-shifting, though since there’s no onboard tuner you’ll need to hook the ULTIO Pro up to a cable or satellite box.  Ports include ethernet, two USB host, one USB 2.0, a multi-format memory card slot, HDMI, component, composite and coaxial digital audio, and there’s an IR remote.

DLNA network streaming, optional WiFi 802.11n support and UPnP round out the main network features, and of course there are photo and music player apps as well as video.  The MvixUSA ULTIO Pro Home Theater Media Player will begin shipping in the first week of February 2010, priced at around $169.

Press Release:

MvixUSA Launches ULTIO Pro, the 1080p Home Theater Media Player with PVR (Personal Video Recording)

Chantilly, VA. January 27, 2010: Mvix(USA), Inc., a market leader in market leader in technology and products for high-definition entertainment, business signage solutions and networked accessible storage devices, announces the worldwide launch of the Mvix Ultio Pro, a Hard-Disk Based media center capable of HD digital media playback with video output as high as 1080p and personal video recording capability.

Ultio Pro’s high-end video processing not only plays Blu-Ray quality video, it allows to store entire Hi-Definition media on its internal hard drive, plug it into a TV via a HDMI and enjoy movies, digital music and family photos on large LCD or Plasma. The flexibility and scalability of Ultio makes it the easy to play HD movies or home videos. Ultio supports most 1080p HD video codecs, and formats such as H.264, MKV, Dixv HD, MOV, VC-1, FLV, etc. Ultio Pro is completely scalable – one can choose upto 2TB of media storage in its internal hard disk. Ultio Pro comes with an embedded Torrent client combined with NAS (Network – Access-Servers) features that provides an ideal setup for digital media acquisition, storage and sharing.

Combined with spectacular picture quality of HD video and crystal clear sound clarity of digital audio, the Ultio Pro enables analog recording of TV shows from the Cable or Satellite, or family videos from a Camcorder. It provides an ideal setup archiving old VCR tapes and DVDs to digital media files. Ultio Pro even supports time-shift and scheduled recording functionalities – making Live TV playback a snap.

Mvix Ultio Pro is being launched worldwide in 2 flavors: the regular version (without a HDD) is priced at $169, whereas the premium version (bundled with 2TB Hard Drive) will be available at $348. Pre-Orders start immediately.

Speaking on the occasion, Mike Mallon, VP of Business Development at Mvix, commented “Mvix Ultio Pro is the amalgamation of high definition media playback and recording. We’ve been working on the personal video recording (PVR) technology for some time and we’re happy to combine HD media playback and recording in a single device that should serve as the ultimate solution for home entertainments and business videos. Our aggressive pricing structure with a comprehensive set of features is likely to set highest standards in high definition entertainment.”

Ultio is also internet-ready and pre-equipped with a network port and an optional Wireless-N capability. It sports a samba server and a UPnP implementation, allowing seamless integration with services like PlayOn® or Tversity® (for streaming video content from Netflix®, Hulu®, CBS®, Youtube®, CNN®, ESPN® and much more). Wireless-N accessories for Ultio Pro will also be launched simultaneously.

Mike further added, “We are excited to launch this new product in the new year. This is our most comprehensive product to-date and we feel very confident about its market traction. In reality this new model is built by our valued customers – each feature on this device is an outcome of customer feedback on our older models.”

Pre-Orders of Mvix Ultio start immediately and shipping is planned for first week of February. Mvix Ultio Pro will be available at popular retail locations such as Amazon.com, Buy.com, Thinkgeek.com, B&H Photo Video.com or directly from Mvix’s Online store.

For more information, please visit http://mvixusa.com/product/ultiopro

Similarly frustrating is the 2.5-inch drive bay, rather than a 3.5-inch.  That makes it useful for dropping in an SSD, certainly, but we can’t imagine many users will pair the NAS25HDU2 with a big chunk of solid-state storage.

FTP, UPnP, Samba, printer sharing and all in something around the size of a VHS tape are all going in the right direction, but unless you have very basic needs (and a 2.5-inch drive you simply must use again) we’d look to a more capable (at least gigabit ethernet friendly) option.  The Addonics NAS25HDU2 is available now, priced at $69.

[via Gizmodo]

The new StorCenter is generally similar to the old model, a compact box with two 3.5-inch SATA-II hard-drives, but the design is far slicker and more suited to home use. Where the ix2 had no front-mounted ports, the ix2-200 gets a USB port, quick-transfer button (that automatically sucks the contents of a drive hooked up to that USB port onto the internal storage) and useful indicator lights. Round the back there are a further two USB 2.0 ports – which can be used to plug in further hard-drives, printers for network sharing, or Iomega’s optional Bluetooth dongle for wireless transfers from cellphones and the like – and a gigabit ethernet port, along with the power input and a Kensington lock slot. You can also see the two drive bays, now user-accessible.

One of our key criticisms about the original ix2 was that, should a drive fail – and you can set up S.M.A.R.T. drive alerts which will email you should that be predicted imminent – you needed to send the whole NAS to Iomega in order for them to switch to a replacement drive. Attempting to replace it yourself, or upgrade the stock drives for faster or larger versions, voided the NAS warranty.

The ix2-200, however, makes replacing the drives yourself more straightforward. Two screws (on the underside of the NAS) hold each in place, and once removed the caddies pull straight out. There’s no support for hot-swapping, unfortunately, but the ix2-200 will automatically rebuild the standard RAID-1 array; more concerning, though, is the fact that Iomega insist you use their own replacement drives rather than any generic SATA-II 3.5-inch hard-drive. Not doing so will void the ix2-200′s three-year warranty, and we’re disappointed that Iomega seemingly bury this tidbit in the user manual rather than making it clear on their product pages (which only say that the drives are user-replaceable).

Setup is reasonably easy, especially if you’re content with the default settings (which most home users should be). A single network connection and power connection gets the ix2-200 running, while a setup CD loaded in one of the networked computers locates the NAS and opens up the webserver-based UI. While you’d think this would be a reasonably speedy process, it took longer than you’d expect for the Iomega Solutions CD to grab the ix2-200′s IP address; however, subsequent tweaks to the settings are easily done by punching in that IP directly, rather than reaching for the setup CD.

The UI is reasonably unchanged from the first-gen model, about which you’ll hear no complaints from us. Seeing as the ix2-200 gets all the ix2′s skills and more, that means you have a choice of UPnP DLNA and iTunes media server functionality, standalone BitTorrent downloads (complete with bandwidth throttling), folder quotas, Remote Access and Active Directory support. Apple users will find the ix2-200 compatible with Time Machine for straightforward integration, while Windows users get EMC Retrospect Express Backup (with unlimited client licenses) to handle automated backups. We’re also glad to see scheduling support, which means you can copy files to and from the StorCenter at preset times to other NAS or USB drives (using rsync or CIFS). Since we’ll be the first to advocate having a regular, offsite backup of your data, scheduling can make doing that all the more straightforward.

New and notable to the ix2-200 is iSCSI support, borrowed from its bigger ix4-200d sibling, and automatic drive power management. The former is unlikely to be much use to most home users, but small offices might find its ready integration with Microsoft Server useful. As for the latter, that’s much more appealing; the ix2-200′s drives automatically spin down when not in use, and the NAS is paired with an Energy Star certified PSU. Iomega have picked a pair of Seagate low-power HDDs, which are reasonably quiet but still louder than the StorCenter’s fan.

There’s plenty of functionality on offer, and certainly, and much of it – like iSCSI – seems of limited use to the sort of home buyers who’ll be drawn in by the ix2-200′s reasonable pricing. The NAS can work with up to five IP webcams, for instance, supporting recording and monitoring without a client PC; useful, but we’d rather Iomega had made Bluetooth support standard and integrated the Bluetooth chip, rather than demanding a separate USB adapter be used.

As for pricing, the new range starts at $269.99 for the 1TB model (which, in standard RAID-1 setup, will offer 500GB of storage), then $269.99 for the 2TB model, and finally $699.99 for the 4TB NAS. Of the three, we’d plump for the 2TB, balancing space versus pricing. Compared to the ix2, the ix2-200 is a significant improvement, not least for the native Time Machine support for OS X users and the power saving functionality. The enterprise functionality may mean relatively little for the StorCenter ix2-200′s target audience, but drive redundancy and the flexibility of print and media servers, backup and cost-efficient pricing make this a successful improvement on the first-gen NAS.

With four ethernet ports the Fonera 2.0n can do the usual wired networking of local PCs, but there’s also a USB 2.0 port for hooking up a printer, hard-drive or webcam (or a USB hub, from which multiple USB devices can be shared across the network).  You can set the Fonera 2.0n to automatically upload photos from a USB drive to Facebook, Flickr or Picasa, as well as set it to download BitTorrent files, MegaUpload files and RapidShare files; there’s also a YouTube uploader.  All of these can be used when your PC or Mac is turned off, via the web-based UI.

Of course, the main point of choosing FON over other routers is that it means other FON users can access your connection, and you theirs, meaning less paying for WiFI hotspots when travelling.  You can even make a little money, as FON members without their own shared hotspots are charged for connecting.  The FON Fonera 2.0n is available in Europe and the US now, priced at €79 and $99 respectively.

Press Release:

FON Releases New Innovative Web Applications WiFi Router

World’s largest WiFi community releases groundbreaking 802.11n WiFi router
that interacts directly with Web 2.0 services

MADRID and SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ — FON today released
its most innovative WiFi router yet, the Fonera 2.0n. Furthermore, it
announced that its international WiFi network, the world’s largest,
surpassed 700,000 hotspots. Besides several new features, Fonera 2.0n
allows users to up and download files to their favorite Web 2.0 services
with their computer turned off. Fonera 2.0n is now available in the EU for
just euro 79 and in the US for just $99.

Fonera 2.0n combines all of FON’s revolutionary WiFi sharing and money
making features with 802.11n wireless technology, delivering faster
connection speeds and more WiFi reach. Most importantly, it has a growing
host of features and applications that make it easy for users to manage Web
2.0 services such as YouTube, Facebook, Picasa, Flickr and RapidShare–even
while users’ laptops are off. Fonera 2.0n can also automatically post
status messages to Twitter, alerting users to when an upload or download
has completed or to when another user has connected to their WiFi signal.

“As demand for WiFi and use of the social web continues to grow, FON
keeps creating WiFi products that give people what they really want,” said
Martin Varsavsky, FON’s CEO. “The Fonera 2.0n is not only a router that
lets you connect to the world’s largest WiFi community for free. It’s a
real social gadget that frees up you and your computer from tedious waiting
for uploads and downloads and even ‘talks’ to you via Twitter status
updates.”

A built-in USB port and Fonera 2.0n management software allow users to
connect and manage external hard drives and other USB devices. The Fonera
2.0n can be managed by accessing the Fonera web-interface from laptops,
computers and different kinds of WiFi devices including Apple iPhones or
Google Android based phones.

While logged in to the Fonera web-interface, users can instruct their
Fonera 2.0n to automatically upload videos or photos stored on a camera or
hard drive to YouTube, Flickr, Picasa and Facebook, or to download*
torrents and files directly to a USB hard drive. Then, because the Fonera
2.0n can also perform tasks independent of a computer, users are free to
log out and shut down their laptops completely – the Fonera 2.0n will
continue uploading and downloading any remaining files.

Additional features include the ability to backup files to a hard
drive, access a printer or webcam from anywhere, stream music via WiFi, and
convert a 3G or HSDPA dongle to WiFi. Users are also free to create
applications of their own on the Fonera 2.0n’s Open Source platform.

Fonera 2.0n can also help users save money on energy and reduce their
CO2 output. A Fonera 2.0n router consumes less than four watts while
downloading, instead of a PC that averages 100 watts, so users can reduce
their CO2 emissions by 273Kg a year–equivalent to driving an SUV more than
1,500km per year. **

“The deep integration of online file sharing, social networks, and
other Web 2.0 content into our already busy daily lives translates into
more hours spent at the computer, greater energy use and more greenhouse
emissions,” said Varsavsky. “By enabling users to handle basic computing
tasks from the router instead of the PC, we’re taking a small step towards
reducing power consumption without limiting functionality.”

Fonera 2.0n also maintains all the features of previous FON WiFi
routers. Once connected, it creates two separate WiFi signals, one private
and one public, that allow for a secure, wireless internet connection at
home and free access at FON Spots worldwide. Fonera owners can also choose
to make money*** by selling FON WiFi access passes or letting guests
securely roam at their FON Spot.

For further information about the Fonera 2.0n, visit http://www.fon.com

*FON does not promote illegal activities or otherwise violate any
applicable laws or intellectual property rights. Disclaimer: you should not
download copyrighted material unless you have permission from the copyright
holder to do so.

**Calculations based on data from 2009 PC Energy Report.

***Money making functionality not available in all countries.

About FON:

FON started the free WiFi revolution in 2006 with the first Fonera WiFi
router and the goal of free, ubiquitous WiFi for everyone. Today, FON has
more than 700.000 WiFi hotspots and over 1.7 million registered members.
FON also has a growing list of Telco partners including British Telecom,
SFR Neuf, ZON Portugal, and Comstar Russia who add FON functionality to
their broadband routers so that their customers can benefit from the FON
community, thereby enhancing their product offering. Google, eBay, British
Telecom, Index Ventures, Coral Group and Sequoia Capital are investors in
FON. For more information about FON, visit http://www.fon.com

FON, the FON logo, and Fonera are trademarks of FON. Other company and
product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

They have a previous CinemaTube model available, which retailed for about $69.99, but that lacked any HD. This time around, Brite-View has gone and provided a full 1080p HD media player, that also comes out of the box with BitTorrent downloader, as well as YouTube XL, which allows you to watch YouTube right on the tv. It’s basically a means to bypass the computer, if you’re not using Windows Media Center or an equivalent to do the same. Plus, the high definition is something that you probably shouldn’t pass up.

The CinemaTube comes with a load of supported video formats, like MPEG (and all its derivates), DivX, as well as H.264. Audio wise, it’ll pump out pure Dolby Digital and DTS. And it can also play media from a USB mass storage device. The pre-order is live right now, and it will get you to save some $30 from the suggested retail value of $129.99. So for $99.99, you can start downloading and watching straight to your TV in glorious HD. Head on over to Brite-View’s site to dig into even more details, as well as some more pictures.

[via GizmoScene; thanks K.C.]

Among the pluses are the easy to use USB and internal hard-drive connectivity, the fast throughput and the decent range.  It’s also relatively compact, and there are other niceties such as an onboard BitTorrent client, iTunes/UPnP server, remote-management and VoIP prioritizing.

The most obvious downside is the price – around $300 – but the display system, while functional, does occasionally lag and the buttons lack tactile feedback.  Still, if you’re replacing a standard router and want to pile on the specifications, the D-Link DIR-685 Xtreme N Storage Router seems a good place to start.

Some gamers have found that their PSP’s GAME folder is wiped after the exit the pirated version, while others have reported the same thing happening once the PSP is power cycled.  Meanwhile others are claiming to experience trouble playing music or having their PSP hang unexpectedly since loading Rock Band Unplugged.

Obviously SlashGear does not condone software piracy, and recommends that to avoid any issues with your PSP you wait until Rock Band Unplugged is officially released.  The game will hit shelves on June 9th, priced at $40. 

[via technabob]

Video demos after the cut

As you can see in the image above, connectivity includes HDMI, composite and SPDIF ports, together with two USB host ports, a USB slave port and ethernet.  The Myka runs on Sigma Designs’ SMP 8635 SoC, catering for both CPU and DSP duties, and there’s also a WiFi adapter squeezed inside there too.

The team behind Myka say they’re in negotiations with “major content owners, studios and TV networks” to get some more legitimate media onto the box, with Netflix support also tipped as just around the corner.  Until then, it looks like a sleek way to download content and play it back.

Myka is available to order now, priced at $300 for the 80GB model, $350 for the 160GB and $460 for the 500GB.

[via technabob]

Both drives also have a USB port, which can be used to add hard-drives either to expand overall capacity or make a backup of your backup for storing elsewhere.  It’s not all good news for dry network admins, either: the Big Disk and d2 Network each support UPnP and DLNA media streaming.

There’s also an integrated BitTorrent client for standalone downloads, and a comprehensive admin panel that lets you assign users and groups.  Both drives are available now, with the LaCie Big Disk Network priced at $379.99 and the LaCie d2 Network priced at $189.99. 

Press Release:

LaCie Introduces Two Network Storage Servers for Workgroups

• Compatible with Time Machine TM
• Stream multimedia content to your UPnP devices
• Advanced aluminum heat-sink design
• Extremely quiet and energy-efficient

LaCie announced today the availability of two new high capacity Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions – Big Disk Network and d2 Network. These professional file servers are optimized for users to instantly store, share, and back up files, from any PC or Mac on a wired or wireless network. LaCie’s new NAS solutions deliver high-performance and professional-class reliability, in an easy-to-use network solution for the home or small office.

The d2 Network supports up to 1.5TB capacity, while the Big Disk Network combines two drives in a RAID 0 setting, for up to 4TBs of storage. Both NAS solutions are perfect for advanced users or small to medium sized offices that want to develop workgroup environments for up to 50 users (15 at one time). Network administrators can choose from various security levels for user profiles, groups, and public or guest access. Users can connect an external USB drive to increase security through scheduled backups, or even expand capacity. The d2 Network also includes an eSATA connection for storage expansion.

In addition to high-performance hardware, LaCie’s NAS solutions offer a comprehensive software bundle for easy set up, back up and administration. The LaCie Network Assistant enables quick access and configuration of your NAS solution. Both solutions also ship with Genie Backup Manager Pro for Windows and Intego Backup Manager Pro for Mac users, which allow customers to reliably and efficiently backup documents, emails, and other digital assets directly to their NAS device. They also support computer disaster recovery for extra security.

“Data storage needs are becoming increasingly significant in homes and small offices,” said Edin Del Mar, LaCie product manager for office network solutions. “The Big Disk and d2 Network provide professional server functionality and large storage capacities that satisfy the needs of any workgroup environment, with superior design and better performance than comparable products on the market today.”

The Big Disk and d2 Network integrate easily and efficiently into most small office networks thanks to Active Directory support, which allow the product to seamlessly join Windows domains. It also supports most of the network protocols for Windows and Mac users, including SMB and AFP. Network administrators can take advantage of the Wake-on-LAN (WOL) for turning on the drive remotely, and be sent email alerts for backups, downloads, and risk indicators.

For optimal use in the home, the d2 and Big Disk Network allow users to leverage two convenient usage scenarios without being connected to a computer. The first is the ability to download large files using the BitTorrentTM protocol. The second use lets users play media from the NAS solutions through a UPnP-AV compatible device such as a PS3 or Xbox, directly to a television. Both NAS drives are compatible with any DLNA multimedia device.

Designed exclusively for LaCie by the world-renowned designer Neil Poulton, the Big Disk and d2 Network drives were engineered to maximize reliability and are remarkably compact for their enormous capacity. Its sturdy aluminum body with a unique heat sink design offers natural heat dissipation by providing 60% more surface area. The versatile design allows users to place the drive in an upright or vertical position, depending on the environment. If users desire multiple d2 drives for backup or increased capacity, the drives can be rackmounted using the LaCie d2 rack accessories for desktop and standard 19″ IT equipment racks.

Availability and Pricing
The LaCie NAS solutions are available now, with the retail cost starting at $189.99 for d2 Network and $379.99 for Big Disk Network. LaCie products are available through the LaCie Online Store or LaCie Resellers.

About Neil Poulton
Neil Poulton was born in Thurso, Scotland. A graduate in Industrial Design from Edinburgh University and Milan’s Domus Academy, Poulton first came into public view in 1989 as the creator of “the ageing pens,” pens made from a “living,” wearing plastic that changes color and form with use. Today, Neil Poulton designs and develops best-selling, award-winning products for a variety of international clients including LaCie & Artemide. Since 1991, Poulton has lived and worked in Paris, France. www.neilpoulton.com

About LaCie
Located in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, LaCie is the leading manufacturer of computer peripherals for Windows, Apple and Linux users. LaCie creates external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday people easily manage their digital lives. LaCie has differentiated its products through original designs and leading-edge technology. Established in France in 1989, LaCie is listed on Euronext under FR0000054314 (LAC). For more information, visit www.lacie.com

The advice is, as always, make sure to corroborate the MD5 checksum on your ISO download with the known, safe MD5, and if the two don’t match then don’t run any of the downloaded files.  The good news is that anti-virus software appears to be catching the trojan before it installs, but better to be forewarned than rely on software.

While SlashGear doesn’t advocate installing leaked, unofficial software such as this Windows 7 RC, we recognize some users will continue to do so.  In the interest of security, the MD5 for the “safe” Windows 7 RC Build 7100 ISO x86 ISO is 8867C13330F56A93944BCD46DCD73590, while the MD5 for the x64 ISO is 98341af35655137966e382c4feaa282d.  Far safer, however, is to wait for the official RC build, which is reportedly imminent.

[via freitasm; image via Frank Fontaine]

So, what’s the basis for this supposed bias? Norstrom is a member of the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Swedish Association for Copyright, which are publicly outspoken against websites and services like The Pirate Bay.

Should the ruling stand as it was laid out on April 17th, the four people that created The Pirate Bay will each have to serve a year long sentence in prison. We’ll just have to wait and see if the popular Torrent site founders will get the retrial they think they deserve.

The Routon H3 also has between 500GB and 1TB of storage, for directly downloading torrents and other media files, and can be outfitted with a range of digital TV and cable tuners for DVR duties.  As well as media, the H3 can be used to browse the internet, with Flash support, together with instant messaging, photo browsing and slideshows, and Flash games.

Two USB 2.0 ports allow for the connection of external storage, and the H3 can also access files across the network connection.  As with the P760 and P730 MIDs, Routon is looking for distributors for the H3, so there’s no word on availability; the internet home media player should officially launch in May.

Sunde announced via Twitter just before the official verdict came down and offered consolation to supporters. “Stay calm — Nothing will happen to TPB, us personally or file sharing whatsoever. This is just a theater for the media.” The trial, which ended March 2nd, was a joint trial pitting the admins of TPB against record labels and a government alike.

The trial was publicized online as a sort of circus, with the majority of the charges against the defendants being dropped due to a general lack of understanding of the technology and lack of evidence by the prosecution. However, the final charges could not be dropped, and the sentence isn’t even as bad as it could have been. The admins were facing up to two years and $13 million in fines for 33 movies and multiple music tracks. Hollywood and the prosecution are claiming a huge victory against illegal file sharing. Yet Sunde remained optimistic, invoking Hollywood in a smaller post-trial press conference: “We see this as a film,” he said. “This is the first set-back for the heroes…. In the end we know that the good guys will win, as in all movies.”

[Via Wired]

Remote access is free for the first year, and then costs $9.95 per year thereafter.  Any web-enabled device can access files and allowed folders through a password protected interface.  Torrent downloads, meanwhile, allow users to switch off their PC and rely on the ix2 managing the download and storage.  Iomega have also included jumbo frame support for improved data flow across the network.

We reviewed the original Iomega StorCenter ix2 NAS back in October 2008, and were so impressed that it ended up in our holiday gift guide that year.  The 1TB StorCenter ix2 NAS is available for $299.95; meanwhile the 2TB version is priced at $479.95.  Optional extras include a USB Bluetooth dongle, which permits file transfers direct to the ix2 from a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone.  You can also plug in a USB hard-drive or printer and share them across the network.

Press Release:

Iomega Announces New Features for StorCenter ix2 NAS Appliance For Home and Small Business Users

Remote Access, Torrent Download and Many More New Features Without Compromising Heralded Ease-Of-Use

SAN DIEGO, March 17, 2009 – Iomega, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a global leader in data protection, today announced exciting new features for the Iomega® StorCenter™ ix2 Network Drive, including remote access and peer-to-peer file sharing, as well as ease-of-use enhancements that make the ix2 NAS appliance one of the most versatile home and small business network storage drives available today.

“With the simplest set-up process in the industry, the ix2 not only provides home and small business network storage users with such important features as media serving, Bluetooth and video surveillance capabilities, now we’ve added remote access so users can connect to their files from anywhere in the world, as well as the new standard in peer-to-peer file sharing and much more,” said Jonathan Huberman, President of Iomega and the Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. “That’s the power of network computing with Iomega and EMC.”

The “New and Improved” StorCenter ix2 NAS Appliance

Here is rundown of some of the new features incorporated into the 1TB* and 2TB StorCenter ix2 NAS:

Remote Access: ix2 users can now connect to their pictures, videos and other files from anywhere in the world – as though they were sitting at their workstation or home computer. The process is simple: enter a personalized web address into any browser and the user will be easily and securely downloading and uploading their files. Users can change the settings on the ix2, such as adding users and folders from any web-enabled device. The first year of remote access is free; the cost is $9.95 for every year thereafter. Custom domain names, such as www.yourfamilyname.com, are also available for an additional charge.
Torrent Download: Considered by many as the new standard in peer-to-peer file sharing, this technology facilitates download management directly to the StorCenter ix2, making it easier and faster to download large media files. With direct file transfer to the ix2, users can say “Goodbye!” to frustrating unfinished downloads and having to leave your PC on all the time.
Folder Quotas: With all the digital content available today, storage space can disappear a lot faster than you think. Quotas allow users to set a maximum capacity for shared storage folders on the StorCenter ix2 to prevent any of the folders from consuming too much space. If a folder exceeds 90% of its capacity, the ix2 sends a message so the folder size can be adjusted, if desired.
Jumbo Frame Support: This new feature increases data flow for larger files when network traffic increases, allowing more efficient computing.
Apple® File Protocol (AFP): To simplify file-sharing for Mac users, the ix2 now includes native support of the Apple File Protocol (AFP) file system to facilitate copying files and networking from a Macintosh computer.

StorCenter ix2 – General Capabilities

With just four mouse clicks, users of the StorCenter ix2 can configure up to two terabytes of storage and advanced information management, protection and sharing capabilities that can be connected to multiple devices – including wirelessly with Bluetooth – to manage all their digital files.

For home users, built-in support for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) and Digital Living Network Alliance™ (DLNA) certified devices means the recently DLNA certified StorCenter ix2 can save, store, and play back all kinds of multimedia files – music, photos, videos and other digital content – using not only laptops and desktop computers but any compatible device on a home network, including the popular Sony PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

For business users, the StorCenter ix2 offers unique applications to boost office productivity. In addition to speed, centralized storage capacity and the onboard security to protect all the files on a network, the ix2 delivers optional Bluetooth connectivity, which allows users to send pictures, files and address book contacts directly from cell phones to the StorCenter ix2 for network sharing and data protection. The StorCenter ix2 also has a unique digital video surveillance capability using a compatible Axis™ video surveillance camera for inexpensive real-time viewing and recording of activity inside or outside the office.

Fast network performance at the office or in the home is delivered through a Gigabit Ethernet connection, and data is stored on two high-performance SATA-II drives. Up to two USB devices can be connected to the ix2, including USB printers for network print sharing, a USB Bluetooth dongle for direct uploads, or external USB drives to add incremental storage capacity.

The ix2 includes encryption technology from RSA, the security division of EMC that protects digital data at many of the world’s largest banks and now shields the StorCenter ix2 from viruses or malware. This is another example of EMC technology integrated into the StorCenter ix2 to help protect users’ data.

The StorCenter ix2 provides data backup and protection with integrated EMC Retrospect® Express backup product. During the set-up process, users choose files and folders for scheduled automatic backups from all the PCs and Macs on their network. After that, any changes or additions are updated and saved automatically. The ix2 also includes MozyHome® online backup, which provides 2GB of free online storage for connected PC and Mac computers with the option to upgrade to unlimited online backup storage for $4.95 per month per computer.

EMC® LifeLine™ technology integrated into the StorCenter ix2 manages all of the appliance’s potent network-based storage functionality, along with out-of-the-box data protection, file management and media-serving capabilities.

Availability of New Features

The new features are now shipping with new StorCenter ix2 units.

Compatibility

The StorCenter ix2 Network Storage appliance is compatible with Windows®, Mac OS®, and Linux® PCs and supports up to two printers or external hard drives. The interface is localized in 11 languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simple Chinese, German, and Russian). Other supported devices include uPnP AV devices, digital media adapters, iTunes™, and PTP (e.g., digital cameras and frames). BlueTooth compatibility requires an optional adapter.

Price and Availability

The 1TB StorCenter ix2 Network Storage appliance is available worldwide for $299.95; the 2TB model is available for $479.95. (All prices are U.S. suggested retail.)

In addition there’s been some port juggling, with the USB moved to the rear panel, optical S/PDIF replacing the co-axial S/PDIF and a hardware reset button to allow for easier use of the device.  That’s on top of the original A-100′s ability to act as a NAS as well as a BitTorrent downloader, and pull media from your home network and HTPC to display on an attached TV.

Video output is up to 1080p resolution, via HDMI or component video.  There are also S-Video and composite video ports.  Supported codecs are too numerous to list, so check out the Popcorn Hour page for full details.

Next up, a new guy and/or company landed on the scene, the name, Van Der Led. So far we’ve heard about the new Asus Eee look alike from the company called Jisus, and then later this past week we wrote about a new cell phone watch from the same name, it’s all kind of fishy, but we’ll see. Speaking of Asus Eee-like computers, we first saw some reviews of the new HP Mini-Note coming from various sites, then later this past week we discovered that they’d gone on sale on HP’s site with an advertised ship date of April 15th. Lastly, in line with budget PC’s, Everex pushed out a new one, their MyMiniPC small form factor desktop PC that had a new version of gOS Space with the whole package being customized for MySpace users the world over.

Still on the topic of Notebooks, Toshiba released several new models including the A300, M300, P300, and U400 series’ of notebooks and extended the X205 SLI line by two new models. Toshiba also pushed out some new REGZA television sets ranging from 52-32-inches in size with most of them packing hard drives and built in DVRs as well as a ton of ports including 3 Ethernet NICs making these TV’s more connected than my computer. In other TV news Mitsubishi announced the name of its line of upcoming laser TV’s, thusly dubbed LaserVue.

In other news, Buffalo expanded their LinkStation line to include one of the first remotely portable models, it uses two 500GB laptop hard drives, a quite, small, fan-less case design, it offers up all of the lovable features of their LS line including the 1TB of storage space in a package small enough to fit in your hand. RedPost has upgraded their product lineup from the RedPost/Kit to the new RedPost SignBeta. Also, the BBC’s newest iPlayer has been expanded from the computer, to the iPhone/iPod Touch, and now to the Wii and is causing considerable network strain over in the UK leaving Internet providers looking to the BBC to cough up all or part of the estimated 831 million pounds needed to upgrade the network.

In Mobile news, we got an invite to go to an event being hosted by HTC in London on May 6th where we believe they’ll be unveiling their first Android Phone, rumored to be called the HTC Dream. Speaking of Android, we spotted a Nokia N810 that was running Android, and I must say it looked pretty amazing; hopefully they finish up the coding on the project so more N810 users can adopt the new Android OS.

Lastly in gaming news, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed got a release date of September 17th, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King has entered alpha testing. Microsoft is rumored to be working on a Wiimote-like controller for their Xbox 360 system which would be great for games much like the upcoming Star Wars title. There was also lots of news regarding Grand Theft Auto IV; the most interesting is that a shortage of the game is expected in the UK, who would have thought they’d enjoy frolicking around killing anyone and everyone in some random city.

Sadly it doesn’t yet support MKV files, but it supports MPEG2, H.264, WMV, and DivX media files. Plus, since it uses more open standards than most set top boxes, a firmware upgrade adding support for more formats might not be entirely out of the question.

It outputs via HDMI, composite, S-Video, or SPDIF and can be connected to your network via Ethernet or WiFi. After you get everything setup and connected, simply point the BitTorrent client to a torrent file and you are off and running filling up your 80, 160, or 500GB hard drive which is inside this box. There is also a USB connecter on the front that could presumable be used to transfer files or expand the storage if necessary (and it would be).

The best part is although this box is completely open to use in less legal methods, they also have BitTorrent, the company, and the protocol, on board with all of their legal content providers and they are to announce more legal content providers this week at NAB. No word right now on how much the various versions of this box will cost, or when/where it will be available, but they are partnering with ISOHunt which can be used on the box, and if you are a member of the site you’ll also be eligible for a $25 discount, and they are working with other trackers to add a “send to Myka” button to make things easier.

[via Wired]

They are going to start re-working their network management tools so that they treat all network traffic equally instead of discriminating against BitTorrent or other P2P traffic. The reason? Well you might be surprised to hear this, but there are increasing number of uses for BitTorrent and other P2P networks that is completely legal.

More an more companies are offering up the standard download channels as well as torrents of their products. Recently I’ve legally downloaded several underground albums, mixtapes, Linux Distros, all of these things specifically being given away for free by their creators and being passed out via BitTorrent. Chances are this was just an attempt to save face over a stunt that they were eventually going to end up looking quite bad for.

[via digitaltrends]