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Mac Mini – Obsessive HTPC thinking

I can’t get the Mac Mini out of my head and some quick browsing today has led me to all but pre-order it immediately. All elements that might seem to be missing from the ideal HTPC configuration can easily be solved with the help of third part products.

Current Plan

  • Mac Mini – Faster model, but just 512MB…debating on super drive needs, it might just be nice to have the option.
  • Apple composite/S-Video adapter – direct to my 34″ Toshiba HDTV via Composite Connection
  • M-Audio Transit to enable digital audio out to my stereo
  • Griffin just came out with the Firewave which is another digital surround sound option
  • iTunes for Audio – nice!
  • I can either use the eyehome for video playback or instead just go with VLC, Quicktime or Mplayer. Pop in a DVD and it’s on!
  • I just discovered a great new remote from Macally that allows for remote mousing as well as simple App control.

As mentioned earlier the EyeTV 500 now supports digital cable (hell yeah!) and OTA broadcasts. Optional… I was also just checking out a Miglia Director’s Cut 2 to use as a video/VCR out from my HD cable box to archive those programs I might not be able to initially capture and archive for certain reasons with the EyeTV.

There’s also a very cool program called DropDV which will let you convert MPEG2 to DV for editing. Bye bye commercials for permanently archived TV.

Another option is to run MythTV directly on the Mac Mini. Using the same parts to enable TV capture and digital audio out, I’d be able to have a standard media center UI which is something I mentioned yesterday that I thought was definitely missing to make this whole thing easy to use without a keyboard and mouse — at least after the initial set-up. The set-up certainly has a much higher geek quota, but seems to be worthwhile for the end game.

This could be really slick!!

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Elgato EyeTV 500 does cable HDTV!

Great news for Mac HDTV owners!

EyeTV 500 allows users to watch high-definition television live via free-to-air digital HDTV (ATSC) or unencrypted digital cable TV (Clear QAM) on the Mac; record television to the Mac’s hard drive, creating an archive of with MPEG-2 encoding and sort by various by date, title size and more; “time shift” by pausing live television, rewinding or fast forwarding; edit out unwanted content using EyeTV’s built-in editor that identifies where programs and scenes start and stop; and program EyeTV 500 through the manual control panel or Electronic Program Guide (EPG) from TitanTV.

In addition, EyeTV allows users to export recordings for further editing to applications like iMovie, iDVD or DVD Studio Pro. Programs can also be archived to DVD or Video CD, to create an archived collection that can be played on most standard DVD players. [Macworld]

Initially the EyeTV only recorded OTA(Over the Air), which was not exactly something that interested me since I receive a fairly good number of channels directly through my cable service. I had even checked the TitanTV site to see what I might be able to get if I recorded via OTA and was not that impressed… The addition of cable support is excellent and while the price is higher than you might like to spend, there’s a MacWorld special bringing it down $50 to $249.

I had recently pointed to the EFF’s review of this device and it came away as a solid performer, though requires some heavy lifting to watch full HD on your machine. You can archive to DVD, or edit (and remove any commercials) on your system as well with your choice of video editing software.

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Mac Mini destined to be your Media Center?

Macmini

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the Mac Mini since seeing it pop up today through the MacWorld Keynote IRC feeds and finally reviewing the specs on the Apple site and store. While it certainly would make a great Mac if you are a developer looking for a small footprint machine or a second mac at home (actually even as a first mac), I think the real application this box wants is a media server.

People are already using their macs as media servers through various other tools like an Eyehome or a Squeezebox, but this is a standalone super capable device that could easily be used (perhaps in conjunction with an EyeTV for DVR functions) as a full media center Mac. The only thing that seems to be missing in the box is a digital audio out option.

What’s really needed now though more than anything is a simple application or User Interface for the bigger screen that would enable dare I say the 10 foot experience you’ve heard quite a bit about from Microsoft. If I was Slim Devices, or El Gato or probably quite a few others who have been playing in this space, I would be all over the opportunity to customize the Mac Mini into a media center. I actually just noticed that El Gato is about to release something called eyeconnect, which looks quite promising! Perhaps a great start to the Mac Media center foundation…

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Radio — you hear it here again

The Wall Street Journal reports on the latest in the battle for listeners in radio… Apparently terrestrial radio is getting more than a bit scared and is about to run a series of commercials targeting satellite, though without mentioning the platform or either brand… The campaign is running with the tagline “Radio — you hear it here first.”

Major radio companies from Clear Channel Communications to Viacom’s Infinity Broadcasting to Entercom Communications have banded together to create 30-second spots featuring such stars as Avril Lavigne and Ludacris talking up local radio. The musicians run through highlights of their careers, and then remind listeners how all the Grammys and accolades happened only after lots of radio airtime. As one performer says in the spots: “Before being a lady of soul made me a diva, you heard me, Ashanti, on the radio.”

Did we mention the payola required to get you to hear those songs the number of times necessary to program your musical tastes?

Radio also is going after the niche audiences that satellite attracts by accelerating longstanding plans to move to digital broadcasting. That technology lets broadcasters transmit as many as five stations per frequency, compared with one today.

Radio executives envision having a rock station on the main channel and secondary stations featuring, say, boy bands, “deep cuts” from albums or traffic reports. They hope such specialized programming will help win back audiences from satellite radio and even from portable music devices such as Apple Computer’s iPod.

“If we end up deploying all the secondary channels and bringing the consumer dozens of niche stations, and we do it for free, what’s the value proposition in satellite radio?” asks Mr. Field. [WSJ]

I’d say the value is diversity of programming, content not available via traditional or HD Radio and of course no commercials.

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Already Read Spam

I am not sure how this technique works, but on a daily basis I get anywhere between 10-15 messages from the same better than Kazaa spammer but the messages come through as though they’ve already been read. It’s an interesting tactic since regardless of how many times I tell my spam filter they are bad, coming in as read seems to be beating the filter. Fortunately, Mail.app keeps them together and I can trash them en-masse without opening or confirming their receipt.

Anyone else get these? Any thoughts on tactics to block them?

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11th Hour MacWorld Prediction

OK – More of my dream than prediction, but certainly reasonable given existing technologies within Apple. Of course I want the video iPod and iWalk (remember that beauty?), but today will really be more about content management through the extension of Quicktime.

I believe Apple has been waiting for the right moment to unveil a competing DRM strategy to Microsoft’s Window’s Media play and has a strong chance of success based on various industries reluctance to adopt Microsoft software for fear of lock-in. Apple has a great story with iTunes and the iTunes Music Store and this experience can directly extend to the transfer of content across a variety of devices. Sure it would break the potential iPod lock that has been developed so far, but the capability to get Apple software utilized across movie, cable and satellite broadcasts is too great to ignore.

Apple’s MP4 /AAC Fairplay combo can work on computers of all types, wireless devices (we’ll clearly see at least one example today through Motorola), iPods and other players as well as media servers in the home. The sub $500 iMac is all about the delivery and management of media created or delivered within the home. While clearly an Apple product, it will work seamlessly on Windows and even Linux. Apple’s reliability and design will enable such a device to be seen more as a consumer electronics appliance rather than a PC which many people have difficulty seeing installed in their living rooms — let alone being able to afford.

That’s it. I think this type of announcement would be nothing short of revolutionary.

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Comcast Launches VOIP

The WSJ reports on the launch of Comcast’s VOIP service today. Initially the service will be promoted to up to 15 Million homes and within 18 months to the 40 Million homes will have access. They are looking for about 20% adoption within 5 years which would give them 8 million customers. VOIP is hitting the big time and the new phone wars are on!

“This is a growth engine we’re counting on for the next five to 10 years,” said Steve Burke, Comcast’s chief operating officer. Comcast decided that it would wait to roll out phone service until it could offer features such as call waiting and operator assistance, as well as 911 emergency service. The cable modems used in the phone service will have back up batteries so the service won’t fail in a power outage, a feature not offered by some early cable-based phone service.

Telephone companies have responded by offering discounted packages of services including television through alliances with satellite-TV operators. Over the past few months the two largest Bells, Verizon Communications Inc. and SBC Communications Inc., have announced multibillion-dollar plans to lay their own fiber-optic networks to deliver interactive TV and even faster Internet service. But those plans are only just being launched. Cable companies spent $65 billion upgrading their networks in late 1990s.

“The telephone companies are way behind the curve,” said Glenn Greenberg, managing director of Chieftan Capital Management Inc., a money-management firm owning over 20 million shares in Comcast. “It’s going to cost them a bundle of money to be the third one in the market to offer the same channels.” [WSJ]

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Bad Ass family Truckster!

I think this new Volvo SUV should be able to safely transport my family about when it’s time to get a car…. Though I’d probably opt for something other than yellow. vrrrroooom!

Volvo Cars North America showed that basic V-8 power might not be enough for its XC90 sport wagon. A one-off concept vehicle features a 600-horsepower supercharged V-8 engine, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.

Getting the power to the ground are Pirelli P-Zero 20-inch tires, mounted on nine-inch-wide alloy wheels. Front brakes are massive 15-inch discs with eight-piston calipers, while rear brakes are 13-inchers with four-piston calipers. Playing off Ferrari’s “prancing horse” logo, Volvo planted a “raging moose” decal on the XC90’s flanks. -Mark Rechtin, Automotive News [AutoWeek]

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Motorola’s iTunes Phone

Engadget scores a picture from the Motorola Keynote at CES which showed off the first of quite a few iTunes capable phones coming this year. This looks like a very nice form factor and will allegedly use a similar interface to the iPod Photo which so photos, and pictures will most likely sync through in the same manner as an iTunes connected device.

While I personally like the idea of this phone and could consider something like this as a second device (maybe for my wife) this particular phone is not for me. While the masses don’t want tightly converged devices, I do. The thought of going back a step to carry a second device for email and other Palm related activities is not going to work for me. Looks like the headphone jack is on the top… no word yet on whether it will be a 2.5mm jack or whether standard headphones will be easily supported. I’d bet that if this is a 2.55mm jack that a variety of new accessories to support this and other pending phones will soon arrive benefiting those of us on the Treo and other similar units.

Let the year of the MP3 phone begin…

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Archos PMA430

Engadget has some nice pics and info on the Archos Pocket Media Assistant PMA430, which used to be known as the AV500 In addition to info we already knew, like it can manage and play your photos, videos and runs on Linux, it now seems can also play host via USB to peripherals or receive photos directly even from a camera. It uses USB 2.0 and has WiFi (802.11b) which makes transferring larger files easy and seems like an excellent device. I like how it has a built in leather (perhaps pleather) flip to protect the screen.

In checking the Archos site I’ve discovered that there is an internal TV tuner which allows you to record directly to MPEG4. Very tasty. You can get about 4 hours of video playback and up to 9.5 hours for music. Both Mac and Windows are supported.

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Gates at CES

Cnet has a great interview with Bill Gates from CES and includes a nice video clip as well from his presentation with Conan O’Brien.

In the interview, he talks about IPTV, Media Center and the future Xbox2, Blogs and RSS, Search and is well worth a read. The video clip is particularly interesting and shows off the remote connectivity available in MCE with portable players including phones running MS Smartphone. Bill connects wirelessly to the Media Center and is able to view photos just taken and saved back on the PC. Pretty cool stuff…

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Elgato’s EyeTV 500: HDTV the Mac Way

EFF Reviews the Elgato’s EyeTV 500 and it basically comes out as a winner though a bit expensive way to record and timeshift HD and digital content. I already have one component of the Mac Media Center with the EyeHome and the EyeTV would really make a nice addition. It’s just a matter of having enough juice on my computer to record and stream the full HD signals… oh yeah and the fact that you can only record Over The Air (OTA). I still like it though… there may be a chance for this to be capable of recording from cable at some point through a software upgrade. The hardware seems ready with an input right on it, but it seems to be a political issue as you might expect.

update….Damn. I woke up this morning and found the Azureus had downloaded the sample clip (537.6MB) posted by thee EFF, but my laptop, the more powerful system here can’t easily play without stutter. I am using VLC as Quicktime was unable to play the file at all. I guess I would need the dual-G5 system recommended by the EFF in order to get full use from a system like this.

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Microsoft creates new DVR platform

If this isn’t too PC centric (yeah right) it might actually be something people will want aside from Tivo, though as I’ve said many times a DVR that gets tangled up as an aftermarket connect to your cable service is a tough sell. There’s no word on the number of tuners, whether it works on IPTV or cable or what… Perhaps LG will have a demo box / prototype at the show. Certainly an interesting move Mr. Bill.

I’ve been excited about this one since I first heard the news. As part of their digital home efforts, Bill Gates announced as part of his keynote Microsoft is releasing a standalone DVR/DVD-Burner platform to compete with the likes of TiVo. First to market will be a new box from LG later this year. These units will have a look and feel similar to the Media Center PC platform but will not be traditional PCs nor will they be usable for PC tasks such as running Office. They will have the standard Windows EPG and will be able to burn content to DVDs. Since they support Windows Connect, they will be able to stream music and pictures from your PC and also be able to transfer TV content to your PC for syncing to a portable media center. Media Center Extender technology to connect to a media center PC is also planned but won’t necessarily make it into the final release. [Michael Gartenberg]

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It Takes a Blogger…

I’ve been listening to the Sirius CES broadcast, and the floor opened for questions which were mainly lame. Except for Jason Calacanis speaking for Engadget.com asked the most relevant question in my mind. Sirius only announced the video product today and Jason asked whether we might expect a video product from Howard when he arrives in 2006. The Sirius team seemed very impressed with the thought and made an audible note to self on it. I thought it was a great question considering the potential for content when you add video to the excellent audio mix already available.

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Skype from your landline

This is totally cool… You can use Skype directly from your existing phone courtesy of this helpful device.

Actiontec is touting something called the Internet Phone Wizard which apparently enables your existing landline to make and receive those free internet phone calls via Skype Technologies. Previously you would have needed two separate phones. The company claims that the device also improves on the somewhat wonky sound quality of internet made calls and that if you have two phones you can make an internet call on one and additional landline call on the other at the same time. [Tech Digest]

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XM ‘Connect-and-Play’

XM announced what can only be described as a developer’s kit for consumer electronics. With little effort devices can become XM enabled. Sirius better watch out, this could greatly enable a huge number of devices and allow for a much broader adoption.

The centerpieces of the technology are XM’s “Connect-and-Play” chip and data-port, a low-cost, mini-serial bus connector (Mitsumi part CAM-C16). For a low relative incremental cost, manufacturers of popular consumer electronics products, such as stereo and home theater receivers, DVD players, table top radios and portable media players, can now add the XM “Connect-and-Play” chip and data-port, making their device instantly “XM-Ready.” Through this new technology consumers simply plug an XM Connect-and-Play home antenna (MSRP: $49.99) into an XM-Ready audio product and activate the service to receive XM’s 130-plus digital radio channels. No additional accessories or installation are required. [PR Newswire]

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HD Radio

So one of the things you’ve probably heard about today is that your existing radio stations are converting to digital. What that means is that you’ll get the same clear stations with the limited programming you get now, but in crisp digital, as opposed to that lame analog you are listening to now. Of course you’ll need a new radio to enjoy this. You can expect that new radio will likely support some additional features like data — meta at the very least of what you have on, if not other content that’s yet to be dreamed up.

Sorry if that sounds a touch sarcastic, since it is. I just can’t see ever upgrading my radio to HD. Eventually it will be installed in cars at the factory, but I’ll choose Satellite radio any day to get the diversity of programming and commercial free stations. It’s well worth the subscription price of a CD per month.

Just because it’s new and digital does not make it better. HD Radio is more like adding a new and improved burst to a box of detergent than anything else.

If I was Fred, I would be proud of this deal though. It’s a massive upgrade across a huge array of media properties and definitely good for iBiquity Digital’s pockets. Just not for my ears.

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Serialized eBooks via RSS

Russ expands the already super cool Mobdex…

I just had an idea for a system where you could choose any one of the public domain eBooks out there and have a small chunk delivered daily via RSS. Many of us are too busy to read classic books out there, instead choosing “page turners” or books that are more applicable to our every day lives (like a some new marketing book). But we do have time to zip through our aggregator daily, right? So by taking a 500 page novel and distributing it, a few pages at a time, via RSS, we could read a new book in a month or so without even trying. [Russell Beattie Notebook]

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Comcast looking for in-vehicle video

This is just a PR for now… but certainly an interesting announcement from Comcast and Delphi at CES. If in-demand or direct broadcast to car takes off with Sirius or XM I wonder how it will compete with something like this. You’ll need a new device regardless and will have to make a choice based on what programming is attractive to you and your family. There’s no mention of content in this deal, it’s really more of getting from home to car. I’d venture a guess that your Comcast DVR (only, not a regular set top) will be able to send video content to the car waiting in your garage.

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ — At the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show, Delphi Corp. (NYSE: DPH) and Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) plan to announce an agreement today under which the two companies will work together to develop ways to allow users to select video content, transfer it to an in-vehicle entertainment system, and take it with them on the go.

Under the agreement, Delphi will work to develop an electronic consumer device for use in vehicles that enables the transfer and user selected playback of video, and Comcast will examine ways to allow users to access
video content.

“The Comcast and Delphi joint development project will seek to explore ways to empower users with a new mechanism to deliver video programming to the vehicle,” said Dave Wohleen, Delphi vice president and president of Delphi’s
Electronics & Safety sector. [PR Newswire]

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Time Warner OnDemand

Time Warner Cable in NYC has just updated their OnDemand system and now includes a pretty serious array of new programming — AOL Music ComedyCentral, A&E, BBC America, CourtTV, GOLF, CNN G4TechTV, Food Network, HGTV, and Kids on Demand.

I checked the Kids and was disappointed to only see cartoons for older kids and no PBS stuff… Comedy Central does have the Chappelle Rick James Episode, so no complaints there.