The orb-like gadget is part headless-phone – running Android, of course – and part Apple TV alternative, hooking up with HDMI to your TV and throwing in speaker connections too. It can be used as a media streamer, pulling in content from YouTube and other cloud stores such as Google’s new movie purchase system, as well as a communal jukebox of sorts, with a shared playlist accessible from Android devices. It’s priced at a hefty $299 and will ship in 2-3 weeks time in the US.

One such Android device that could control the Nexus Q is the Google Nexus 7. The tablet ticks all the spec-sheet boxes – it has a 1.2-megapixel front camera, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, 8GB/16GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM, all in a 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm form factor weighing 340g – but comes in at $199 for the entry-level model.

The 4325 mAh battery is good for up to 8hrs of use, Google claims, and there’s a microphone, NFC, accelerometer, magnetometer, GPS and a gyroscope. Interestingly, it runs Chrome for Android as the default browser, and comes with a specially updated version of Currents.

Standby for hands-on content with both new Nexus devices!

The streamer naturally supports full 1080p video, as well as surround sound, and pipes media via the 300Mbit/s WiFi adapter. If your reception is a little shaky then there’s an Ethernet port, with other ports including HDMI and optical out.

How are you going to control all of this? Using the supplied remote control app, available for iOS and Android. The free application will allow you to control just about any function on the streamer via WiFi, letting you get rid of another unnecessary physical remote. If this sounds like the media streamer for you, then have a hunt around retailers where you should expect to pick one up for around $69.99.

JVC Multimedia units:

KW-AV50 ($379.95; available now) – Detachable 6.1-inch QVGA touchscreen, SiriusXM read and iPhone/iPod connection support. Powered USB port plus 4.0V line and subwoofer pre-output level; USB PMP/drive media playback of WAV/MP3/WMA files. 50W x 4 plus 3 pre-out terminals.

KW-AV60 ($429.95; January) – DVD/CD/USB receiver with detachable 6.1-inch WVGA display. App link mode support, plus Satellite and HD Radio ready; same WAV/MP3/WMA compatibility and connectivity.

KW-ADV64BT ($489.95; January) – DVD/CD/USB receiver with detachable 6.1-inch WVGA display and integrated Bluetooth. Powered rear USB port with 2-way iPod control plus App Link Mode. Satellite Radio and HD Radio ready, plus Dolby Digital support; same connectivity and WAV/MP3/WMA support as AV60.

KW-AV70BT ($579.95; February) – 7-inch WVGA motorized widescreen touchscreen with proximity sensor and detachable face. Integrated Bluetooth for phonebook sync, hands-free, audio streaming, voice recognition dialing and phonebook search. USB 2.0 port for 2-way iPod/iPhone control; powered USB supply with drive-change mode for smartphones. App Link Mode, Satellite Radio and HD Radio support, plus WAV/MP3/WMA compatibility. MOS-FET 50 watts x 4, three sets of 4V pre-outs, line input terminals, plus a front SDHC/SD slot and dual zone/dual play.

JVC Navigation units:

KW-NT300 ($899.95; March) – DVD/CD/USB/SD Navigation receiver with 6.1-inch touchscreen. Bluetooth, powered rear USB port, 30,000 control backlight color options. Mapping supports Junction View, Off-Axis View, 3D Viewing with 3-D Footprint, 360 degree rotation and built-in color 3D landmark icons in most major cities. Voice guidance, turn-by-turn instructions.

KW-NT500HDT ($999.95; March) – As NT300, but adds built-in HD Radio audio and data tuners. Free lifetime subscription to Total Traffic HD+/Total Traffic Connect with on-screen news, sports, weather, and real-time traffic updates

KW-NT700 ($1,099.95; March) – As NT300, but with 7-inch motorized faceplate with five positions of forward tilt and one reverse tilt.

KW-NT800HDT ($1,299.95; March) As NT700, but with built-in HD Radio audio and data tuners. Free lifetime subscription to Total Traffic HD+/Total Traffic Connect

Bluetooth and Apps

The JVC KS-BTA100 Bluetooth add-on module ($79.95) adds phone book access/phone book transfer, hands-free calling, audio streaming with remote control and text message alerts to 2012 head units without integrated wireless. There’s also support for Pandora and other streaming from Android and BlackBerry phones.

As for apps, App Link mode pulls across data from iPhone/iPod touch software onto the head-unit display. Functionality depends on the app itself, but can include text-to-speech of RSS feeds, weather and traffic updates, streaming media, video recording and more.

Other ports include stereo audio output, an S/PDIF digital optical audio output and a USB 2.0 connection which allows you to treat the GoFlex Cinema as an external drive and dump media straight onto it. Meanwhile the drive can also be used standalone with digital cameras and camcorders, pulling your content straight across ready for playback.

Format support includes Xvid HD; AVI; MPEG-2 (VOB/ISO); MPEG-1; MPEG-4 (Xvid); AVC HD; H.264; TS/TP/M2T; MOV; M2TS; MKV; FLV; VC-1; and WMV9 video, along with ASF; MP3; WAV; AAC; FLAC; WMA; LPCM; WMA Pro; Dolby® Digital; and DTS audio. There’s also support for up to 20-megapixel images and subtitles.

The Seagate GoFlex Cinema is available now in Europe, priced at €99 ($136) for the 1TB model, €129 ($177) for the 2TB model, and €179 ($246) for the 3TB model. No word on North American pricing or availability at this stage.

Meanwhile, the Zune HD is currently listed as “out of stock” on Microsoft’s online store. The company has said that it will continue to support the PMP hardware as well as “honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices.”

At roughly 12m 30s into episode 45 of the Windows Phone Blog Radio podcast, the team confirms that “we’re not going to be making the Zune HD any more.” The topic then turns to Zune services in Windows Phone, and how Microsoft sees the multimedia experience in its smartphone platform as being the new focus.

[via Neowin]

You’ll also be able to recommend tracks to your friends by sending them directly to their inbox. The integration is the latest move in Spotify’s push for growth, with the streaming music service announcing that it had partnered with Facebook for its sharing system. The deal also meant Spotify access in the US was no longer dependent on an invitation, though you’ll need a paid subscription if you want access on your Western Digital hardware.

The Western Digital WD TV Live is priced at $99.99, while the WD TV Live Hub is $199.99. A premium subscription to Spotify is priced at $9.99 per month in the US, £9.99 in the UK, and €9.99 in Europe.

Meanwhile, the support article that confirmed the Zune range had been discontinued has since been pulled, though you can still read the details in Google’s cached version (and below). According to the Zune Support Twitter account, “that site was added to the Zune website in error” and there’s “no further info” at this time.

“We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players. So what does this mean for our current Zune users? Absolutely nothing. Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today. And we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices. Customer service has been, and will remain a top priority for us.” Pulled Microsoft Support statement on Zune

It seems Microsoft may be keeping its Zune hardware options open, though we couldn’t blame the company for being more focused on media integration in Windows Phone than standalone devices. Even Apple appears to have lost some enthusiasm for its iPod range, announcing minor updates to the iPod touch and iPod nano yesterday, while connected media players on smartphones – with both cellular data and WiFi to choose from – proliferate.

[via WinRumors]

As we observed yesterday, the Zune HD has gone two years without a refresh; we initially reviewed it back in September 2009. A refresh was tipped for late 2010, but then Microsoft swung its focus to Windows Phone and how it could include both smartphone and media player functionality in one package.

“Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today” Microsoft assures exising users, “and we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices.” Late last month, Microsoft reducing pricing for its all-you-can-eat music service, Zune Pass, though also removed the ability to download and keep 10 non-DRM tracks per month.

[via WMPowerUser]

A 64GB SDXC memory card (there’s SD and SDHC support too, obviously) is good for up to 88hrs of standard-definition video, while the battery in the personal media server itself is around 10hrs of active use. The 1,400 mAh pack recharges in around 4hrs, and you can hook the DY-PS10 up to your computer via USB and transfer files to a memory card directly if you prefer.

The Panasonic DY-PS10 will go on sale on September 15, priced at 14,800 yen ($191). Unfortunately it seems those of us outside of Japan may have to wait a little longer for a slice of the personal media server action. Panasonic says the DY-PS10 is currently Japan-only because of wireless restrictions.

The Presenter, if you’ve forgotten, is RIM’s wireless display adapter which allows BlackBerry smartphone users to run PowerPoint presentations and slideshows from their handsets. If the talk of PlayBook-style hardware is accurate, though, this new BlackBerry Media Box would be considerably more powerful than the Presenter: the TI dual-core chipset used in the tablet is capable of Full HD output and smooth multitasking.

According to the source, the Media Box would be “less consumer focused” than the Apple TV, though there’s still a chance of third-party services integration. With RIM not having its own comprehensive media download and rental store, unlike Apple’s iTunes, however, that isn’t much of a surprise.

Perhaps more useful would be a sort of thin-client system, a desktop equivalent of the PlayBook offering a full-sized display, keyboard and other peripherals to access secure email, calendar and other data on the BlackBerry handset itself. Still, that could just be our wishful thinking; we won’t know until later this year, when the Media Box is tipped to be released.

[via GottaBeMobile]

The Orb BR disk is $19.99, and is available for PS3 now, and other Blu-ray players next month. The software allows the streaming of both local and internet content, and iTunes library integration is included. It streams in up to full 1080p HD. That means any content on a user’s home network could be streamed through the Orb enabled device and controlled by smartphone or computer. The Orb BR also supports MKV video. This allows content to be watched from Hulu, HuluPlus, NetFlix, Amazon, YouTube, and others.

The Search feature allows users to simply type the name of the show they wish to see, and Orb BR queries locally and on-line until it finds the right program. They don’t have to search by network or specify the source, Orb BR is supposed to find it. Orb Networks also has other products out like the Orb Music Player, and the Orb TV solution. We can’t wait to get a hands-on to see the Orb BR in person.

Press Release:

OAKLAND, Calif., June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Orb Networks (www.orb.com) today announced that it is shipping its new Internet TV streaming software for PlayStation 3 players, making it easy for consumers to watch thousands of online TV shows and movies from Hulu, HuluPlus, Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube, Comedy Central and more on any TV. The new Orb BR (Blu-ray) software works with an Internet- connected PS3, and is easily controlled through a smart device app (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android phone, Android tablet) or using any computer.

Priced at only $19.99, Orb BR leverages the consumer’s investment in a PS3, and offers a simple and cost-effective way to enter the new world of connected TV without buying or installing any new hardware. In addition to a huge selection of online TV shows, Orb BR provides consumers with access to thousands of movies on their TV, via Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand.

With Orb BR, consumers can stream more than online content, including anything that’s on their PC — downloaded DivX/XviD files, home movies and photos. Orb BR even allows users to stream their iTunes library through their Home Theatre sound system.

Orb BR works with PS3 units that are connected to the Internet using a wired or wireless connection. To help consumers easily find and watch their favorite shows, the Orb controller app features a powerful and easy-to-use global index of TV shows. Consumers can type in the name of the show they want and then Orb quickly finds the show, without having to specify its source (e.g. Hulu, Netflix, ABC, CBS, etc).

It’s quick and easy for consumers to get started with Orb BR because there is no hardware to install. To set up Orb BR, users simply insert the Orb BR disk into their PS3, download the free Orb Caster software to their PC or Mac, and then download the free Orb controller app to their smart device(from the App Store or Android Marketplace).

Orb BR for PS3 is now shipping at www.orb.com, and can be ordered online at orb.com for $19.99. Orb BR for Blu-ray players is scheduled to ship in early July.

About Orb Networks

Based in Oakland, California, Orb Networks, Inc. is the leader in digital media streaming solutions for the digital home and remote access applications. In addition to Orb BR, Orb Networks offers the Orb Music Player ($79) that streams iTunes and Pandora to any home stereo. And, the Orb TV ($99) solution, with a hockey puck-sized device that plugs into a TV, enables consumers to stream online video content to a TV. Focused on enabling the enjoyment of media anytime, anywhere, the company develops and markets PC (Windows, Mac, and Linux) software, smartphone applications and web application services. For more information about Orb products, please visit www.orb.com.

SOURCE Orb Networks, Inc.

As we’ve seen, both have NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor at their heart, paired with 1GB of RAM, WiFi a/g/n, Bluetooth and twin cameras, 2-megapixels up front and 3-megapixels on the back. The Galaxy Tab 10.1′s real selling point is its slimness, of course, being just 8.6mm thick despite having a 10.1-inch display and a battery good for up to 10hrs of runtime on a single charge.

The Galaxy S PMPs, meanwhile, are available in 4-inch and 5-inch models, priced at $229 and $269.99 respectively. They each have 8GB of onboard storage and run Android on a 1GHz single-core processor, have WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth and twin cameras. No word on release dates from J&R, but there’s talk that they’ll drop later in May. Check out our hands-on with the 4-inch and 5-inch models for more.

We gave the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition a thorough reviewing yesterday, so check it out to see if this is the Honeycomb tab to have.

[via NetbookNews 1 and 2]

There’s also GPS, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and twin cameras: a front-facing webcam for video calls, and a 3.2-megapixel camera on the back for photography and video. Like the WiFi 5.0 it can play back 720p HD video. There’s Android Market access, an FM radio, 8GB or 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot.

Hands-on, it’s just like a Galaxy S smartphone, though of course you miss out on 3G and the camera is lower resolution. It’s quick, thanks to the 1GHz Hummingbird CPU, and Samsung preload Skype and Qik for VoIP and video calls. As a PMP, it’s a compelling device, though perhaps a little large; still, if an iPod touch is too small for you, and if Samsung price the Galaxy S WiFi 4.0 PMP correctly, this could be a solid Android alternative to the Apple media player.

Since it runs Android, and has Android Market access, there’s plenty of software out there, and a microphone – tuned, Samsung tells us, for VoIP apps like Skype – means that, as long as you have a wireless connection (or a mobile hotspot) you could feasibly use this as a phone replacement. In fact, Skype and Qik Plus are both preloaded, along with Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.

In the hand, we couldn’t help but find the Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 a little unwieldy; like the Dell Streak, it can feel too much like there’s a foot in each camp – smartphone-scale and tablet-scale – and convincing success in neither. Screen quality is strong, though it’s an Super Clear LCD TFT panel rather than a Super AMOLED or Super AMOLED Plus, if a little lacking in clarity. It’s only really side-by-side that you notice any shortcomings, however.

An HDMI output, stereo speakers and Samsung’s SoundAlive audio DSP system round out the key specs. What we don’t know at this stage is pricing; that’s likely to be the deciding factor as to whether this oversized iPod touch rival can take on its Apple foe.

Hardware

Considering there are no internal speakers, the iXtreamer is a pretty imposing slab. Measuring 242.1 x 251.3 x 65.7 mm, it’s finished in silver and black plastic with chromed highlights. Physical controls are limited to a power/standby button on the front. On top is the docking connector, with a suitably broad cut-out so that an iPad can slot in; a piece of plastic roughly the size of a PCMCIA card pulls out the side of the iXtreamer and slots in behind the iPad, giving it a rubber-padded place to lean against. Alternatively, there’s an included dock adapter for your iPhone. A sliding panel can cover up the dock if you’re not using it.

On the right side is a door hiding the 3.5-inch SATA drive bay (and the only less-than-solid part of the unit’s construction); some iXtreamer SKUs include a preloaded drive, but the basic model comes empty for you to fit your own. A pair of drive rails and the necessary screws are supplied, and up to 3TB HDDs are supported (with the current latest firmware, v2.6.0). It’s worth noting that you don’t actually need an internal HDD in place in order to use the iXtreamer; you can also stream content across a network instead.

That’s courtesy of the 10/100 ethernet port, which shares a crowded rear panel with two USB 2.0 Host ports, a single USB 2.0 Device port (for hooking up the iXtreamer to a computer and accessing its internal drive), HDMI, composite and component audio/video, and optical/coaxial digital audio outputs. No integrated wireless, but Xtreamer does offer a USB WiFi b/g/n adapter separately.

On the bottom is a 50mm fan, which generally remained relatively quiet. Xtreamer offer an optional IceCube passive cooler kit in case the fan noise is still too frustrating, and which basically slots in instead. The IceCube was not supplied with our review unit.

As well as the iXtreamer, there’s an HDMI cable, composite video cable (though not component), the drive mounting kit, iPhone dock adapter, a USB cable for mounting the iXtreamer as an external drive, and the PSU (which came with a European power cord, despite this being a UK unit). There’s also a comprehensive remote (including batteries) which is a big improvement over the tiny credit-card sized zappers most iPod docks get. It’s not exactly handsome but it’s full-featured, and the buttons glow in the dark; you can even use it to turn off the LED indicator light on the iXtreamer itself.

Software

Unlike most iPod docks, the iXtreamer is really several products bundled into one. At its most basic, it’s offers access to audio, video and photos stored on the iOS device docked on top, but there’s also a separate streaming, internet video and multimedia jukebox component, Xtreamer, with its own firmware.

The basic functionality is straightforward: dock your iPod, iPhone or iPad and it starts charging; hit the iPod Mode button on the remote (or choose Dock from the main menu) and you can choose from audio, video or images. The former work as you’d expect, offering a regular list of what titles you have stored on the iOS device, and you can also load playlists (including Genius playlists).

Photos are less successful. For a start, you can’t simply browse the various albums on your device; instead, you have to choose a slideshow, get it playing, and then the images will display on your TV. Once it’s running, you can pause it or skip forward or back through the images, and background music can also be heard; however, if you want to change album, you need to go back to the iPad display and do it there. We’re also unimpressed with the resolution the iXtreamer shows images: while the system UI is smooth and jag-free in 1080p mode, the slideshow images look to be shown in the same resolution that the iPad displays rather than their full quality, meaning it’s jagged and uninspiring.

The Xtreamer software, meanwhile, is a whole lot more complex. Our review unit came running v2.5.0 but that had already seen at least two incremental updates at Xtreamer’s site. We had a few headaches dealing with the firmware update process; the automatic on-device updater wouldn’t recognize a network connection, so we turned to the manual download of v2.6.0 instead. Unfortunately, unzip the file on a Mac and splits it into multiple separate files, which the iXtreamer can’t handle. Instead, we had to use a PC to unzip as a single .IXTR file.

The basic homescreen has six options, Favorites, Media Library, Dock, Xtreamering, File Manager and Settings. Along the bottom of the display, the IP address (assuming you have a network connection) and status icons are shown, illuminating when there are USB drives attached, network shares, an internal HDD, network connectivity and other system elements. The settings page is comprehensive, though all we needed to tweak initially was the output resolution (which sensibly defaults to the 480p lowest common denominator) to suit our TV. However, there are options for subtitles (with user-assignable fonts), slideshow transitions, aspect ratio, brightness/contrast/hue/saturation, Dynamic Noise Reduction and more, including a choice of DTS/Dolby TrueHD/Dolby D+ audio, DTS/Dolby D 2.1CH audio, or AAC/FLAC/OGG 5.1CH audio. You can also toggle on or off the NAS, UPnP streaming, web server and FTP server functionality.

Favorites is populated by your own shortcuts to most-accessed sources, along with your recently viewed media. Media Library, meanwhile, offers the full range of sources, depending on what you have hooked up or shared to the iXtreamer. As well as USB and internal HDD access, there are network shares, internet content, UPnP streamed media, content on Xtreamer’s own eTRAYz NAS, iRadio and DVD playback, the latter assuming you have a USB DVD player plugged in.

We were successfully able to play content both from a plugged in USB drive, an internal drive in the iXtreamer’s HDD bay, and across a wired network connection (we didn’t have the official USB adapter). The company’s main selling point is the range of codecs and formats it supports, at up to 1080p Full HD resolution and with various audio codecs to match:

Video containers:

MPEG1/2/4 Elementary (M1V, M2V, M4V)
MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG)
MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS)
VOB
AVI, ASF, WMV
Matroska (MKV) (H.264)
AVC HD
MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4
FLV – Flash Video
VP6 Codec h.264 Streaming FLV
Video codecs:
Audio containers:
AAC, M4A
MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA)
WAV
WMA
FLAC
OGG
RMP4
FLC
PCM
PLSX

Audio codecs:

Audio Down Mix : DTS, DTS-HD MA, DTS-HD HR
Audio Passthrough 5.1 CH : DTS, DTS-HD MA, DTS-HD HR 5.1 CH -
Audio Passthrough 7.1CH – Dolby TrueHD , DTS HD-MA
Photo formats : JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, HD JPEG
Other formats: ISO, IFO, FLV, RM, RA, RAM
Subtitle formats : SRT, SMI, SUB, SSA, IDX
Streaming formats : RTSP, FLV, FLV HD (VP6)

We had no issues with ISOs, HD MKV files, AVI and MP4 clips we’d downloaded or ripped, all playing back smoothly and offering full fast-forward/slow-motion control (down to half-speed or up to 32x in various increments). The quality was on a par with what we’ve seen from a regular DVD or Blu-ray player, or indeed an HTPC hooked up via HDMI. Best of all, even with HD footage the fan was relatively quiet and unobtrusive.

Xtreamering is actually made up of multiple apps, many of which are developed by the Xtreamer community. By default some come uninstalled, too, which led to a few hiccups from the off; each can be loaded individually, and while some downloaded with no problems, others were unable to find the required installation files and threw up network errors. A global install option failed, despite other apps finding the network connection with no problems. After each (successful) installation the box restarts.

Of those that worked, the experience was generally good. The News app has content from BBC, CNN and others, pulling in text-only stories (with a thumbnail image) which can be browsed first by headline and then the full story shown (albeit with an intervening “summary” stage which seems to serve no real purpose). The YouTube player, like we’ve seen from smartphone YouTube apps, allows for searches, browsing the recently added, most watched and most highly-rated clips.

YouTube isn’t the only streaming video, however. There’s also content from IPTV feeds like the TED talks and from MAKE, as well as a “Golden Oldies” channel that promises full length classic movies. The problem again is that this unofficial content has a habit of disappearing after it’s been uploaded; some movies worked, others didn’t, but none had thumbnails in the gallery, instead leaving you to navigate by the tiny text at the bottom of the screen. Without search functionality, you’re left paging through a few hundred screens, hitting play and hoping the stream will work. A Netflix option at the bottom of the page got us excited, but all it says is “Comming [sic] Soon.”

Wrap-Up

The iXtreamer is an interesting mixture of hardware and software, some elements more successful than others. Although it’s billed primarily as an iPhone/iPod/iPad dock, that functionality lacks the simplicity of more dedicated rivals; viewing photos from an iPad seemed particularly inelegant. Still, it works, and iPad-compatible docks are still relatively rare compared to their iPod/iPhone brethren. Xtreamer hope to add iOS app support, but all that depends on Apple and we can’t see that it’s especially likely at this stage.

The Xtreamering software also feels like a work in progress, perhaps because it actually is. As with any community-led media player environment, it can be broken and over-ambitious in places, together with functional and useful in others. The YouTube viewer is straightforward to use, while the news app is surprisingly good; frustrating installation processes threaten to sour the overall experience, however. If you view it as an added extra, on top of the solid media playback base, then it’s an interesting project worth keeping an eye on, but we wouldn’t buy the iXtreamer solely for the Xtreamering functionality.

That leads up nicely to the iXtreamer’s real strength: its abilities as an HTPC replacement. There’s no live TV, nor Netflix, Hulu, iPlayer or 4oD, but you do get a huge range of codec support that should handle just about any media file, disc or stream you can throw at it. The internal hard-drive bay – which handles up to 3TB with the latest firmware – is a great option, and given you can also stream content locally and as an FTP server from files hosted on the iXtreamer, it makes for an excellent media NAS too. A BitTorrent download client would be a nice touch.

Xtreamer has plenty of ideas for where the iXtreamer might develop – there’s apparently an Opera browser port in the works, complete with Flash support – and seem prompt in their release of new firmware versions, addressing bugs and adding features as they go. Even if you don’t need the iPad/iPhone functionality, you can get the same core hardware and software in other units, like a DVD player or a standalone streaming box. As with most HTPC-style media players, this isn’t for the faint of heart, and there are easier ways to view the most common files (on your computer, on your iPod or on an external drive) with your HDTV, but they generally lack the iXtreamer’s huge flexibility and upgrade potential. If you’ve the patience to work around the half-baked elements, and a demanding media library to play, at £159 ($258) the iXtreamer is a whole lot more affordable than a dedicated media PC.

Thanks to Advanced MP3 Players for the loan of the iXtreamer

That’s down in no small part to the JetEffect 3.0 and BBE+ processing, tuned by Cowon’s own CEO Namkyu Park, aka “Golden Ears”. There’s also an integrated speaker, accelerometer, FM radio (with recording functionality) and a microSD card slot, along with a T-DMB tuner.

Pricing at Advanced MP3 Players is 8GB for £219, 16GB for £239 or 32GB for £279; US shoppers can pick up the 32GB version through Amazon for $369.99. More details on specs here.

Ports include one USB 3.0 Device, for hooking up to a computer and dropping files onto a SATA HDD in the EM7195′s internal bay, together with three USB host ports for external storage. There’s also 10/100 ethernet, HDMI and a multi-format memory card reader.

Supported file types include MKV and H.264, though Eminent is yet to reveal a full list. It also gets a backlit remote control. No pricing, but the Eminent HD EM7195 is set to hit the UK come March 2011.

Press Release:

Eminent announces new HD media player EM7195 with DVB-T twin tuner

The Eminent HD media player EM7195 with DVB-T, USB 3.0 and a next-generation Realtek chipset offers a complete home cinema experience. Eminent expects the HD media player EM7195 to be available in the UK in March 2011.

Supplier of ICT accessories Eminent will equip its HD media player EM7195 with a DVB-T twin tuner. As a result, it is possible to watch one Freeview™ channel and record another one at the same time. Use the electronic program guide (EPG) to choose from free digital TV channels. The Eminent HD media player EM7195 allows to schedule recordings and record up to two channels simultaneously.

Eminent is the first company offering an HD media player with the next-generation Realtek RT1183 DD C+ chipset in the UK. High stability, fast navigation and HD audio support add to the comfort of using the Eminent HD media player EM7195. It supports a broad range of video formats, including MKV and H.264.

The USB 3.0 connection facilitates fast movie transfer from a PC to the hard disk inside the Eminent HD media player EM7195. It takes seconds to copy a complete movie to the HD media player. Furthermore, it is possible to connect external storage devices to the USB ports, SATA port and card reader. Connect the Eminent HD media player EM7195 to the home network to stream multimedia files from a PC to the TV.

Additional accessories, such as the full-size luxurious backlit remote control, clearly add value to the Eminent HD media player EM7195. Eminent provides all necessary cables, including an HDMI and USB 3.0 cable. The Eminent HD media player EM7195 is an elegant black device made of brushed aluminium.

Eminent offers a 5 year warranty. This HD media player will be available in the UK in March 2011.

“Much to our surprise, we received this friday an email from Apple that said “We regret that the dispute regarding your application named ‘VLC Media Player’ could not be resolved amicably between the parties. We have removed your application from the App Store. For any questions relating to this matter, please contact Rémi Denis-Courmont directly.” This was a follow-up from an email we received from Apple last October : “On 10/20/2010, we received a notice from Rémi Denis-Courmont that Rémi Denis-Courmont believes your application named ‘VLC Media Player’ infringes Rémi Denis-Courmont’s intellectual property rights. In particular, Rémi Denis-Courmont believes you are infringing their copyright.” Rémi Denis-Courmont’s complaint came pretty much unsuspected, since we did receive approval from the VideoLAN association before starting the iOS port of VLC. As a matter of fact, some members of VideoLAN even helped us porting VLC to the iOS. It goes without saying, we still believe the AppStore licence is compatible with the GPLv2 under the which VLC is released. Therefore, together with the VideoLAN association, we’ll do our best to not let this be the end of VLC/iOS. As a final word, we think it’s pretty sad to deny millions of users the right to enjoy a nice piece of open source software … in the name of freedom.” Applidium

In fact, the team continues, some of the members of VideoLAN actually helped them with the port to iOS. Denis-Courmont’s complain centered around the DRM Apple apply to App Store titles and how that contravenes sections of the GLPv2 licence under which the media player is released. Applidium still believe there’s room for both to exist, and will be pushing to have the VLC app reinstated.

“At last, Apple has removed VLC media player from its application store. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved – the hard way. I am not going to pity the owners of iDevices, and not even the MobileVLC developers who doubtless wasted a lot of their time. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone.” Rémi Denis-Courmont, VideoLAN

The difference in the two policies was flagged up to Apple by Rémi Denis-Courmont, one of the original developers of VLC. The GNU license would allow Apple to distribute the iOS version of VLC, but not to apply DRM to it; as has been the case with previous GNU-licensed apps, Apple has chosen to pull it from the App Store rather than amend their DRM policy.

[via 9 to 5 Mac]

According to the ScreenPlay DX HD Media Player product page, the box has a 2TB hard-drive inside and comes with a WiFi USB dongle for wireless network connectivity. There’s also up to 1080p Full HD playback, DLNA support and an optical digital output. Supported file types include H.264, WMV, RMVB, MPEG-1/2/4 (part 2, ASP), DivX, DivX Plus HD (MKV),  XviD, AVI(Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), ISO, VOB, MP4, MOV and MKV.

We can’t spot a product page for the ScreenPlay TV Link DX HD Media Player, but it has fewer output options and no USB device port; we’re guessing that means it lacks onboard storage. Iomega will likely make these two media players official any time now, so we’ll update when we known more.

Video demo after the cut

Andy Rubin had shown how an Android device could wirelessly access a computer’s media library and stream content from it, or have files pushed across from the computer to land on the phone’s memory. That was expected for Froyo or Gingerbread but failed to arrive; it now seems it might be a part of this new music app, which could be released as a standalone upgrade or may be held back until Android Honeycomb, expected in the first half of 2011.

[via Android Community]

There’s also a 3.2-megapixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing camera for video calls. The battery is a 1,200mAh unit, and there’s a microSD card slot along with Samsung’s 1GHz Hummingbird processor running Android 2.2 Froyo.

Interestingly, despite the lack of cellular connectivity, the Galaxy Player is supposed to have access to the Android Market (along with Samsung’s own app store). No word on pricing or availability at this stage.

[via Android Community]

That includes 1080p MPEG 1/2/4, H.264 and VC-1 formats with ISO, AVI, MP4, MTS and various other file types supported. Audio doesn’t fall short either; Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD all make an appearance, with 7.1 surround sound on offer if you have the speakers for it.

Unfortunately, there’s no network connection – either wired or wireless – which means you can’t use the O!Play MINI as a DLNA streamer or access online video such as YouTube or Netflix. Still, it’s priced accordingly: €69 ($91) when it arrives in January 2011.

[via Eee-PC.de]

There’s no HDMI port, which is disappointing, but you get WiFi b/g/n and a decent clutch of supported formats. That includes H.264 BP/MP/HP, VC-1 SP/MP/AP, MPEG4 SP/ASP, MPEG2 MP and MPEG1, while audio file support is the same MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4), AAC, Lossless, WMA and WAV from the MP-1. Right now streaming is only in SD, though Orb apparently intends an HDMI version together with APIs to add extra video sources.

As before, remote control functionality is via an Android or iPhone app, since there’s no independent remote bundled. You’ll also need to install the Orb Caster software on your PC or Mac. The company says that, because of the computer-based nature of the system, you’ll still get access to Hulu, Netflix and all of the other online-streaming services that rival platforms like Google TV and Boxee have had to negotiate special deals for. The Orb TV VP-1 is available to order now.

[via GigaOm]

Once hooked up, it’s possible to transfer media from your PC or smartphone to the TV, view media from your PC on your device, or even use your device as a controller for the media streaming from the PC to the TV. Some of that functionality will require an HTC device, however, but we’re guessing the more generic DLNA abilities will work cross-platform.

Official availability for the HTC DG H100 Media Link is unknown at this stage, though HTC has previously confirmed that it’s due sometime this quarter. However, retailer HTCDirect is claiming UK stock will arrive on December 10 2010.

Ports include two full-sized USB 2.0, HDMI, 10/100 ethernet, S/PDIF optical digital, component and composite, along with a miniUSB port for hooking the RevoView up to a PC and treating it as an external hard-drive.  There’s also a multi-format memory card reader on the front.

Up to 2TB drives can be installed inside, and the RevoView will work with UPnP/DLNA streaming sources.  The compatible file types and codecs includes MKV, MP4, H.264 and ISO – there’s a full list in the gallery below – and the STB itself is expected to go on sale in the UK on November 8 for £119.99  ($194).

Press Release:

Acer Aspire RevoView – the best TV companion

London, 3rd November 2010 – The new Aspire RevoView is an HD DLNA certified media player that can playback media content from all DLNA certified devices that helps you share and enjoy your digital media. Featuring network capability and Full HD 1080p playback, it makes watching digital content on a high-definition TV easy and intuitive. There is no need of complex devices settings, burning DVDs or connecting a computer to the TV: Aspire RevoView connects directly to your TV via an HDMI port, plus it seamlessly integrates with your surround speaker system for an immersive entertainment experience.

Four easy steps are all you need to enjoy digital content on your TV with the Acer Aspire RevoView:

1. Save your created or downloaded content to an USB storage device or memory card

2. Plug USB device into the Aspire RevoView or insert memory card in the slot

3. Connect the Aspire RevoView to your TV

4. You are ready to enjoy your HD content on TV!

It can get even easier than that. The Aspire RevoView can be equipped with an internal swappable 3.5” HDD for seamless media exchange. The HDD tray can be shared with the 2010 Aspire M Series desktop PCs, allowing you to easily share and enjoy your downloaded or created content. The RevoView really bridges the gap between the computer and entertainment world.

An Ethernet port provides direct access to the Internet allowing you to watch online videos via YouTube or enjoy your or your friends Flickr or Picasa photo slide-shows in the comfort of your living room.

There’s no end to the fun thanks to the extensive digital media support: the Aspire RevoView makes it easy for everyone to store, play and share their media with no concern for compatibility.

A user friendly interface brings together all available media, permitting to effortlessly navigate through music, video and photo collections. Content can be displayed by folder, list or thumbnails and it can be sorted either alphabetically or by date. Plus, you can playback content from USB connected mass storage and memory cards as well as optical disks.

For seamless operation, the Aspire RevoView comes with an handy 26 keys remote control permitting to easily work media playback functions from afar and to swiftly navigate through the user friendly media center. What’s more, main functions, such as videos, photos and music are quickly accessible through dedicated hotkeys.

Aspire RevoView can also be used as an USB external hard drive where you can store your growing digital libraries and can be used as a back-up drive. A fully featured media player, Aspire RevoView combines high storage capacity, a compact design and seamless playback functionalities.

The Aspire RevoView will be available from the 8th November with RRP starting at £119.99 inc Vat.

Wester Digital throw a remote control into the box as well, and there’s support for DLNA and UPnP streaming so you should be able to squirt content to the TV Live Hub from your PC, Mac or smartphone.  In fact the only thing missing for your $199.99 is integrated WiFi, though the company will happily sell you a WiFi dongle.

The team over at DesktopReview has been putting the WD TV Live Hub through its paces, and they seem more than impressed, particularly given a WD 1TB standalone drive on its own is around $129.99.  They criticize the absence of third-party apps but generally can’t fault it; however, they also say that Western Digital has been making suspicious noises over Google TV, and while the company won’t confirm they have such a box in the works, that’s certainly what it sounds like.

[Thanks Kevin!]

Press Release:

WD’S NEW HD MEDIA CENTER STREAMS POPULAR MOVIES AND THE BROADEST RANGE OF PERSONAL CONTENT

WD TV® Live Hub™ Media Center With 1 TB Storage Allows Users to Centralize Video, Music and Photos and Play Full-HD 1080p Video on HD TVs Throughout the Home

LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Oct. 26., 2010 – Western Digital® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions and maker of the popular WD TV media player family, today introduced the WD TV® Live Hub™ media center (photo), a Full-HD 1080p media player with a 1 terabyte (TB) built-in network hard drive that gives users the freedom to play all their personal media on any screen in the home. The WD TV Live Hub media center brings new experiences to the WD TV family, including instantly renting or purchasing the newest releases through the Blockbuster On Demand® service, the same day as DVD/Blu-ray release, as well as interacting with personal Facebook® communities. In the U.S., the WD TV Live Hub media center is initially available exclusively at Best Buy online and at all 1,093 Best Buy stores nationwide.

The WD TV Live Hub media center plays a wide variety of media file types, including popular Full-HD 1080p video formats such as .mkv, .mp4 and .mov. The integrated, compact and quiet 1 TB hard drive enables users to centralize their digital media from multiple sources for smooth, glitch-free playback of even the highest resolution videos. Digital media can be easily transferred to the internal drive from shared folders on PCs and Mac®s on the network or directly from external hard drives, thumb drives, camcorders or cameras connected via one of the two USB ports. Users also can stream videos from home network drives with a DLNA/UPnP™ server such as the recently announced My Book® Live™ home network drive.

The WD TV Live Hub media center also is a media server: HD video, music and photos can be streamed from the onboard hard drive to any DLNA/UPnP-compatible TV or multimedia device, anywhere in the connected home, including the WD TV Live Plus HD media player, connected TVs, Blu-ray Disc™ players, Xbox 360®, and PlayStation® 3 game consoles. Users also can stream content from their WD TV Live Hub media center to iPads™, iPhones® or Android™ smartphones using third-party applications.

The WD TV Live Hub media center offers unique Facebook integration, which lets users upload photos and videos, share their status, view their wall and get the latest newsfeed from their network of friends – all on the big screen TV. In addition, the WD TV Live Hub media center provides viewing of Netflix® for movie streaming, YouTube™ for user-generated videos and Flickr® for photo sharing, as well as listening to Pandora®, a personalized Internet radio service. Additional content includes local and international weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com®, and MediaFly® daily video podcasts from CNN®, NBC®, MTV® and ESPN®.

The customizable WD TV Live Hub media center’s user interface enables personalization of screen backgrounds and user interface themes, as well as setting of favorites and content ratings. Standard wired or wireless USB keyboards can be used for simpler text input for activities such as searches of local content and YouTube and Facebook interaction.

“The WD TV Live Hub media center lets users create a personalized media jukebox that brings your entire personal content collection and the best of Internet content to the biggest screen in the house,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group. “With the WD TV Live Hub media center, consumers can take their home entertainment experience to the next level, streaming personal content to multiple rooms at the same time, so they can play a Netflix video on their HDTV screen in the family room, while sharing vacation slideshows on the computer in their home office.”

“People are looking for a versatile, easy-to-use media player that gives them a smooth streaming experience regardless of where they are in the home and whether they’re viewing Internet content or personal media content. That’s exactly what the WD TV Live Hub media center delivers,” said Frank Bedo, merchandise director in computing at Best Buy®. “We are excited to collaborate with WD on this innovative entertainment product.”

“Connected media players are an exciting new category that is helping to redefine home entertainment,” said Wendy Fritz, senior vice president, computing, at Best Buy. “The WD TV media player series’ broad ability with personal content has made it a leading seller. Add to that the premium content services, and the new WD TV Live Hub media center is bringing a whole new dimension to home entertainment.”

Other key features of the WD TV Live Hub media center include:

Compatibility with virtually all TV sets thanks to an HDMI 1.4, composite video and component video output;
Automatic sync of shared digital media folders from PCs and Macs on the network with the internal hard drive to provide easy playback of new content;
Customizable user interface and programmable remote;
Ultra-compact design that easily fits into almost any entertainment center;
Two USB ports that allow seamless media playback from USB drives, camcorders and digital cameras;
WiFi-readiness (with adapter); and,
A 1-year limited warranty in PanAm.

The full set of features and list of file compatibility is available on WD’s website.

Capacity and Compatibility
The WD TV Live Hub media center is available in 1 TB storage capacity and supports a large variety of the most popular file formats, including HD camcorder video formats. It is also compatible with Windows® 7, including the Windows 7 Play To feature, and any DLNA/UPnP-enabled device.

Price and Availability
The WD TV Live Hub media center is available worldwide (Netflix, Blockbuster and Pandora services are available only in the U.S.) and can be purchased in the U.S. exclusively at Best Buy and online at wdstore.com. MSRP for the WD TV Live Hub media center is $199.99 USD.

There’s also Pandora, Flickr, Vimeo and other sites offering free content as well.  It’s worth remembering that you can have up to six Roku players activated on any one Netflix subscription, too.

You’ll have to stomach a higher price for the Netgear name, however; whereas the Roku XD is $79.99, the Netgear Roku XD Player NVT250 is $89.99.  Annoyingly Netgear don’t even bundle an HDMI cable, despite that extra cost.

That estimate is based on inventory checks in various US Apple stores, many of which have sold out of the compact mediaplayer.  Preorders began shipping in late September, but new online orders are still listed as not expected to ship for 1-2 weeks.

The full list of supported formats is in the table below, but highlights include MPEG 4, H.264 and RM/RMVB, as well as direct ISO support and Dolby Digital AC3/DTS Digital surround sound.  There are also various image and audio codecs, while outputs include composite, component, both optical and coaxial digital audio, and HDMI 1.3.

A memory card reader and 10/100 ethernet port – that allows you to use the HD2 as an iTunes/Samba/FTP server – round out what’s looking to be one of the more interesting media players around right now.  The ASUS O!Play HD2 should be appearing in UK sales channels by the end of this week, priced at £109 ($172) with no internal drive fitted.

Press Release:

Connect to a Cosmos of Entertainment with ASUS O!Play HD2

World’s First USB 3.0 Multimedia Centre Combines Enhanced Content Sharing with Greater Storage Flexibility

With the HD2 model, the O!Play range expands its multimedia functionality to cover even more ground, including the world’s first media device with USB3.0 support to transfer high definition video and audio in ultra-fast speeds. The new device also features standard 3.5-inch hard drive compatibility, NAS support, iPhone® interconnectivity and DLNA compatibility for effortless access to online entertainment.

Better Sharing with USB 3.0, 3.5-inch Hard Drives and Network Attached Storage Support
O!Play HD2 features USB 3.0, which works up to ten times faster than USB 2.0, so even an entire HD movie only takes around 70 seconds to transfer.
O!Play HD2 expands the amount of content users can keep with support for 3.5-inch hard drives and an easy swap-and-store design so consumers can easily use O!Play HD2 as an external hard drive.
Complementing its mass storage capabilities, O!Play HD2 can be configured as a network attached storage (NAS) device for seamless network integration. It comes pre-setup with iTunes, Samba and standard FTP server functions. Users can manage their content and data quickly, all on one device. It even works as a jukebox, with on demand browsing of stored music files.

iPhone® Remote Control
Special enhancements make it possible to use an iPhone® as a remote control with O!Play HD2. This feature supports all major playback and content handling settings, extending O!Play HD2’s range in addition to promoting greater device integration.

Rich Connected Entertainment
O!Play HD2 brings more online entertainment home. It delivers access to live streaming of over 20,000 radio stations, Picasa and Flickr, plus a wealth of infotainment, including weather and stock quotes.

Easy Home Networking with DLNA
DLNA, or Digital Living Network Alliance, offers a standardized format for handling content such as movies, photos and music across different devices. O!Play HD2 comes fully compatible as a DLNA client, helping users share content through networked devices. This makes media streaming throughout the home effortless.

Multiple Format Support and Upgradable Firmware
O!Play HD2 supports the most popular formats, including MPEG2 (AVI/VOB), MPEG4 (AVO/Xvid), M2TS (Blu-ray), MKV (H.264), rmvb and DVD functional navigation of ISO and IFO formats. It also supports Dolby TrueHD decoding and pass-through, taking full advantage of Blu-ray Disc quality to produce 100 percent lossless audio. O!Play HD2 lets users experience 7.1-channel audio output for theatre-like enjoyment.

ASUS offers constant online updates to O!Play firmware and drivers. As new standards emerge and existing ones are refined, O!Play devices receive prompt operational revisions.

Their assumption is that there is a delay; another possibility, of course, is that sales of the Apple TV have been so successful that the company is faced with a stock shortage.  We won’t know for sure until the first units start showing up with pre-order customers and/or until Apple announce official sales figures.

Update: Boxee has been in touch to let us know that, while the MRSP of the Boxee Box will be $229, it’ll be up for preorder – and have a street price – of $199.

If the Intel CE4100 sounds familiar, that’s because it’s at the heart of the Google TV box that Logitech will be bringing to market as the Logitech Revue.  It’s able to churn out 60fps 1080p H.264 video, while the rest of the Boxee Box specs remain the same: Flash 10.1 with GPU acceleration, HDMI and digital optical outputs, various USB 2.0 and analog audio ports, and a memory card slot.

Boxee says it’s still working with NVIDIA and might consider the Tegra 3 whenever that hits production lines, but right now Intel are the ones scampering to the bank.  If you want a Boxee Box of your own, check out Amazon and Best Buy later on today.

However it’s also fully compatible with previous ARM Cortex A-series applications, smoothing out upgrade potential for existing hardware and software developers.  That’ll include Android, Adobe Flash Player, Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE), JavaFX, Linux, Windows Embedded Compact 7, Symbian and Ubuntu.

ARM are targeting not only mobile computers and smartphones but low-power servers and high-end digital home entertainment systems with the Cortex A15, with smartphones using 1-1.5GHz versions of Eagle while home servers might get the 1.5-2.5GHz chips.  That’s more a limitation of power consumption than anything else.  The first ARM Cortex A15 chips are expected in 2013 from TI and others.

Press Release:

ARM Unveils Cortex-A15 Mpcore Processor to Dramatically Accelerate Capabilities of Mobile, Consumer and Infrastructure Applications

Unprecedented levels of performance, power-efficiency, and technology leadership accelerate industry momentum to deliver extraordinarily innovative products

CAMBRIDGE, UK– SEPT 8, 2010 – ARM today introduced the Cortex™-A15 MPCore processor that delivers a 5x performance improvement over today’s advanced smartphone processors, within a comparable energy footprint. In advanced infrastructure applications the Cortex-A15 processor running at up to 2.5GHz will enable highly scalable solutions within constantly shrinking energy, thermal and cost budgets. The Cortex-A15 processor is available for licensing today and is targeted at manufacture in 32nm, 28nm, and future geometries.

As the latest addition to ARM’s Cortex-A family of processors, the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor will enable a new and vast array of products ranging from next-generation smartphones, tablets, large-screen mobile computing and high-end digital home entertainment devices through to wireless basestations and enterprise infrastructure products.

“The launch of the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor marks the beginning of an entirely new era for the ARM Partnership. It brings together more than 20 years of ARM expertise in low-power design with a host of new and very aggressive high-performance technologies,” said Mike Inglis, EVP and GM, Processor Division, ARM. “The Cortex-A15 MPCore processor will become the next major step along the industry’s energy efficient computing roadmap and open up a wide range of new application possibilities for our Partners.”

The debut of the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor enhances the ARM Cortex-A Series of processors by providing the electronics industry with the broadest range of software and feature-set compatible processors. The Cortex-A15 extends the capabilities of the ARM Cortex-A Series by adding efficient hardware support for OS virtualization, soft-error recovery, larger memory addressability and system coherency. While remaining true to ARM’s power-efficient design heritage, the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor brings a new level of performance scalability as well as a feature set that enables ARM Partners to address a range of innovative and traditional markets with a single processor architecture.

The Cortex-A15 also enjoys full application compatibility with all of the other highly acclaimed Cortex-A processors. This enables immediate access to an established developer and software ecosystem including Android™, Adobe® Flash® Player, Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE), JavaFX, Linux, Microsoft® Windows® Embedded Compact 7, Symbian® and Ubuntu, along with more than 700 ARM Connected Community™ members providing applications software, hardware and software development tools, middleware and SoC design services.

“The operational and economic benefits of cloud computing will transform the high-tech industry over the next decade. Everything from the handheld devices to the network infrastructure will require more performance and efficiency to handle the increasing amounts of information that will emerge from the use of remote resources,” said Jim McGregor, Chief Technology Strategist at In-Stat. “ARM has been at the core of the mobile industry and the Cortex-A15 MPCore and accompanying technologies extends the potential for this highly efficient and flexible architecture to other applications critical to our connected world.”

Collaborative differentiation through partnership continues to be the main driver of the ARM business model and the launch of the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor is the result of ARM’s work with lead licensee partners Samsung, ST Ericsson and Texas Instruments, who were key drivers of the definition of the processor, ensuring it meets the key challenges faced by the industry.

“The market’s demand for more functionality and connectivity with low power consumption requires ever more advanced processor, system and chip design. By combining the advanced CPU technology from ARM with Samsung’s world leading chip design and manufacturing capabilities, Samsung has already achieved considerable success in offering high performances and low power Application Processor products to the market place,” said Yiwan Wong, VP of SoC Marketing, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. “We believe this new Cortex-A15 MPCore processor core from ARM, with its quantum leap in processing capabilities, will successfully enable many next-generation electronic products and redefine the level of experience consumers will demand from their smartphones and mobile computing devices.”

“We have entered a new era for smart devices where wireless computing solutions bring 3D navigation, augmented reality, HD video filming, high speed broadband and other advanced capabilities to more consumers, enabling our vision of an all-connected world,” said Edgar Auslander, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning at ST-Ericsson. “Following our pioneering single die integration of modem and application engine featuring a dual Cortex-A9 processor, we are pleased to continue to work with ARM as a lead partner for the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor. Integrated into our leading-edge system-on-chip solutions, the new ARM core will enable our customers to build extremely power-efficient devices with an unprecedented level of performance.”

“As a long-term key partner, TI has worked with ARM for 17 years to innovate and deliver more than 3 billion ARM processor-based system-on-chip (SoC) devices. As an advanced lead partner and first licensee of the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor, we look forward to leveraging the Cortex-A15 core to deliver industry-leading processors that will provide the high performance demanded by the next generation of connected devices, all within a low power envelope. When pairing the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor with TI’s SmartReflex™ 3 technology, future OMAP applications processors will yield a 60 percent reduction in power, enabling TI to continue delivering the industry’s most energy-efficient, high performing solutions. We also see the potential for broader market implementations, leveraging the Cortex-A15 core for home entertainment and multimedia applications,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, vice president, OMAP platform business unit, TI.

Supporting Technology

The Cortex-A15 MPCore processor will be supported by specifically optimized ARM Physical IP that was developed jointly with the processor. These optimizations enable rapid development of leadership physical implementations, initially targeting 32nm and 28nm technologies with a roadmap extending to 20nm.

The processor is also supported by a broad range of ARM technology including the AMBA 4 compliant CoreLink™ system IP, CoreSight™ debug and trace IP, Mali Graphics, and a robust set of development tools. This technology is complemented by a broad range of SoC and software design solutions, tools and services from the ARM Connected Community™ ecosystem to provide ARM Partners with a smooth path through the development, verification and production of full function, compelling devices while significantly reducing time-to-market.

For details on the specific new features and capabilities of the Cortex-A15 MPCore processor and the supporting technology go to http://www.arm.com/products/processors/cortex-a/cortex-a15.php

Ditching the hard-drive and switching to Apple’s A4 processor has obviously meant the Apple TV can be smaller, but it’s still a surprise when you first encounter it.  Palm-sized, fanless and with no moving parts, it’s silent just like a Roku or Netflix box, but comfortably exceeds it on features.  The bundled aluminum remote – which has been available for some time now – has just enough controls to navigate through the straightforward UI, though we did find ourselves wishing for a QWERTY keyboard like the Boxee Box by D-Link will offer.

On the back, connections are pared down to just HDMI, optical digital audio, power and ethernet – 10/100 rather than gigabit – and so hooking up the Apple TV will be reasonably straightforward as long as your HDTV is relatively recent.  There’s a microUSB port, too, though Apple tells us that will only be used for “service and support”; presumably loading new versions of the custom OS that the Apple TV runs.  Contrary to the early rumors, there’s no iOS App Store on here, but that’s certainly something Apple could deliver in a future firmware update should they decide to.

Navigation is quick and simple, and picture quality was impressively high given the speed at which the streams began.

The Apple TV is available for preorder now, priced at $99, with deliveries expected in around four weeks time.

The !ROFL itself is a palm-sized box with ethernet and HDMI connections, USB 2.0, WiFi b/g, a 3.5mm headphone socket and an S/PDIF port, together with an SD slot for up to 32GB cards.  As well as streaming content it can play local files in up to 1080p HD resolution, and if you plug in a USB webcam it can apparently make Skype video calls (there’s also an integrated microphone in the !ROFL itself).

That’s alongside a browser, internet radio client, IM, photo gallery and other apps.  IN Media aren’t saying much about their Android install – we don’t even know what version it is – but they do reckon it’ll allow for “seamless integration” with phones and tablets running the Google platform.  Right now the !ROFL is supposedly available in China, with US and Indian launches planned, but we don’t know pricing or anything more.

Press Release:

IN Media Announces Set Top Box Integration with Android

Integration of Google Platform Brings Seamless Access to Applications and Content to HDTV

LOS ALTOS, Calif., Aug. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — IN Media Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: IMDC) today announced the Set Top Box integration with Google’s Android platform.

IN Media’s !ROFL IP Set Top Box is now integrated with Google’s Android platform providing consumers the ability to download games and applications from Google’s Android Market application store. Customers will experience seamless integration with their Android based mobile phones, Tablet PC’s running Android and all Android enabled devices within IN Media’s Set top Box !ROFL.

Consumers can now share, view, play and interact with content driven from their hand-held devices to their television sets. “With !ROFL, we have taken the applications to big screen TVs, not only providing a 1080P High Definition content viewing experience, while enjoying the full range of Android supported applications,” said Dr. Nick Karnik, IN Media C.E.O.

“In today’s world of convergence, having a seamless experience on multiple devices using a standard platform of delivery, new cloud computing technology takes users to an era of on demand content,” Karnik stated. Personal content storage streaming to multiple devices allows users to store content on the network hosted by players such as Amazon eliminating the need to burn DVDs to a hard disk to create a content library. !ROFL takes advantage of Cloud Computing solutions.

”My Time is the new Prime Time,” Dr. Karnik said.

IN Media is a leading developer of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) appliances and interfaces with implementations of the technology in key provinces of China and planned roll outs in India and the United States.

Dr. Karnik is a technology entrepreneur with strong technical and marketing background in media and technology businesses. His vision for IPTV induced him to design new hardware and software platforms for cost effective delivery of content. Dr. Karnik has over 20 years of experience in information technology and media companies.

IN Media Corp. is a key driver in the convergence of Internet and broadcast television as Internet based content becomes more prevalent with mainstream consumers. IN Media’s set top solution takes advantage of these initiatives and is starting to be shipped to international markets.

There’s a pretty considerable list of supported codecs and containers, too – the full spec sheet is in the gallery below, but highlights include Xvid, ISO, AVCHD, DivX, MP4 and MKV for video and various audio and video options too.  You can also plug in an external Blu-ray drive via the USB 2.0 or eSATA ports for playback from optical media.

Meanwhile the new Powerline adapters save stringing ethernet cable across your lounge.  Entry-level is the XAVNB2001 Powerline AV 200 Wireless-N Extender Kit, supporting up to 200Mbps data rates, while the XAV5001 Powerline AV 500 Adapter (and the XAVB5001 Kit) and XAV5501 Powerline AV+ 500 Adapter (and XAVB5501 Kit) boost speed to a theoretical 500Mbps.  The “+” versions also provide a pass-through filtered AC socket so you can still plug in an appliance.

The Netgear NeoTV 550 will be priced at $219.99 (or €199.99 in Europe, though it’s already showing up for preorder at around £139); no MRSP for the NeoTV 350, but that’s up for UK preorder at around £88 ($136).  As for the Powerline adapters, the AV 200 will drop in early October for $169, followed by the AV 500 Adapter Kit later that month for $159.  The standalone AV 500 Adapter ($89) and AV+ 500 Adapter Kit ($179) will arrive in early November, with the standalone AV+ Adapter ($99) bringing up the rear later that month.

HTC are promising a future update which will extend support for other Android 2.1+ devices in their range, but for now the Wildfire is the only one.  The app can now sync content from a specified folder or, alternatively, pull in playlists.  It’s not quite up to iTunes standards – and of course there’s no integrated music store as Apple offer – but it’s certainly better than manually dragging & dropping content across.

[via Android Community]

Video after the cut

In charge of the unboxing – and getting pretty enthusiastic about it – is Boxee’s Zach Klein, who joined the company in September 2009 to lead product management.  There’s not a huge amount of new information here, but it’s great to see the company one step closer to release; check out our hands-on with the Boxee Box by D-Link from CES for more information.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/13398124[/vimeo]

[via ARM Devices]

There are also two USB 2.0 ports, one up front and one on the back, which can be used to hook up external storage for local playback.  As well as MPEG-1/2/4, Xvid, WMV9, RealVideo and FLV files, the LT-V100 can handle various audio and image files (including Ogg Vorbis and FLAC), though not copy-protected content.

No word on whether the Buffalo LinkTheater LT-V100 will make it outside of Japan, nor if there’ll be a wireless version, but considering the company has a WiFi-equipped version of their previous LinkTheater model that seems probable.  It’ll hit Japan at the end of this month, priced at 12,075 yen ($136).

[via AVWatch]

In return, Microsoft will gain access to DENSO’s patents, though neither company is specifying which, exactly, these include.  However, a quick glance at DENSO’s site shows they specialise in image recognition, stereo image processing, gaze tracking, drowsiness monitoring and remote security systems, together with integrating high-resolution LCD TFT displays with instrument clusters.

No word on the legal details of the agreement, but DENSO is apparently paying Microsoft for their assistance rather than the other way around.  You can all make your hybrid blue-screen-of-death/stuck-gas-pedal jokes now.