Crave

The new FreeAgent Theater+ from Seagate.

(Credit: Seagate)

Seagate on Tuesday announced the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player. The device enables users to take digital-media content from their PCs and play it on their televisions. All the content is controlled with an included remote.

The FreeAgent Theater+ connects to USB-attached storage drives through two USB ports. Once Seagate's device is connected to a PC, users can load the attached drive with movies, videos, music, and pictures. The FreeAgent Theater+ sports both HDMI and Component output, allowing users to watch up to 1080p content on their HDTV. It also has composite inputs for those with standard-definition televisions.

Although it works with any drive, the FreeAgent Theater+ is designed to work with Seagate's FreeAgent Go portable drives. Those drives can be slid into the device's dock, making it a bit more convenient to transfer the device.

To make it easier to transfer files, the FreeAgent Theater+ can connect to a home network via its Ethernet port. According to Seagate, it intends to release a USB wireless adapter in October to enable users to connect to their home networks wirelessly. The adapter will support 802.11n connectivity and cost $69.99.

Seagate's new player features several video formats, including H.264, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, DivX HD, and Xvid HD. It accepts AAC, MP3, FLAC, WMA, OGG, and more on the audio side.

Whether or not Seagate's new product can fix some of its past mistakes is still unknown. The company's previous device, the Seagate FreeAgent Theater, was the lowest-rated USB-ready digital-media player in a CNET Reviews roundup from April. Competing products from Iomega and Western Digital scored higher.

The Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ is available now for preorder at $149.99. For $289.99, consumers can pick up the FreeAgent Theater+ and a 500GB FreeAgent Go drive.

CNET plans to have an official review of the FreeAgent Theater+ later this month.

(Credit: Roku)

For this week's installment of the weekly Crave giveaway, we've got a nifty little black box: The Roku Digital Media Player, which streams video from Netflix and Amazon.

I reviewed the thing and here's the bottom line on it:

"The one-two punch of Amazon and Netflix makes the Roku Player an enticing choice for anyone looking for a simple, convenient, and affordable alternative to cable or satellite TV." (Read the full review).

Normally, this Roku costs $99.99, but you have the chance to get one gratis.

So, how do you try to win a free Roku Digital Media Player? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.

• Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, no need to register again.
• Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated.
• Leave only one comment. You may enter this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified.
• The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) Roku Digital Media Player. Approximate retail value is $99.99.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Monday, August 3, at noon EDT.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENT OF ONE OF THE 50 UNITED STATES OR D.C., 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, ALL U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sweepstakes ends at 12 PM EDT on August 3, 2009. See official rules for details.

Good luck.

Mediafly's podcast aggregation channel is coming to Roku.

(Credit: Mediafly)

Mediafly is coming to the Roku Digital Media Player later this year. The Mediafly channel will aggregate free-of-charge audio and video podcasts from a variety of providers, including Comedy Central, CNN, ESPN, and NBC. While these programs are easily available on a PC, the Mediafly channel should provide a quick and easy way to enjoy them on a TV or living room audio system as well.

Currently, Mediafly allows users to organize podcasts into customized feeds that are then available on a variety of Web-connected devices, including the iPhone, Zune, and Blackberry. (Check out CNET's coverage of the recently released Mediafly iPhone App for an explanatory video.) However, the Mediafly experience on the Roku will include streamlined access to the most popular 500 shows across 20 topics without the need to set up an account or manage any subscriptions. For example, the promo screenshot (above) highlights the comedy genre, and shows at least two Comedy Central stand-up podcasts, along with "Ask A Ninja."

The capability to access audio and video podcasts exists on competing products such as Apple TV and TiVo DVRs, but both of them are considerably more expensive than the $99 Roku box. Originally introduced as a Netflix-only playback device, the "Roku Netflix Player" has since expanded its roster of content providers, adding Amazon Video-on-Demand as well. Mediafly is the first of 10 new channels that the company has pledged to add by the end of 2009.

(Credit: Toshiba)

It's not surprising when a TV or monitor manufacturer decides to enter the digital photo frame market. It's already got its hands on the panels, designers, and brand recognition, so why not throw something out there and see if it can sell some units? So again, not shocking that Toshiba announced Monday one 10-inch and two 8-inch Digital Media Frames (especially since its dabbled in this market outside the U.S.).

Toshiba's not calling them photo frames, because they do more than just display pictures once you connect them over Wi-Fi to the Internet. A partnership with FrameChannel will give you access to more than 1,000 channels of personalized content, such as news, weather, sports, and financial data as well as photo-sharing sites, social networks, and RSS feeds.

The 8-inch model (pictured) comes in black or white at a suggested retail price of $179.99 and features "an acrylic front finish and eye-catching reflective trim." It also looks like they have some touch-sensitive buttons that hopefully disappear when not in use. The $229.99 10-inch frame is black only and has "a striking faceplate design and a slim profile."

Look for them to be available in August.

(Credit: Real Networks)

Real Networks has unveiled the twelfth iteration of its RealPlayer media playback software.

Dubbed "RealPlayer SP," the new RealPlayer includes version 11's capability to grab Flash-based videos from any Web browser (albeit with the usual caveat: the streams can't be copy-protected, which rules out most Hollywood movies and TV shows on sites such as Hulu). The "SP" designation in the name stands for "social and portable." The big upgrade is the capability to easily transcode and transfer those videos to a wide array of portable devices, including many BlackBerry phones, the Zune, and--via iTunes--the iPod and iPhone. It also offers the capability to easily share online video links via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as via e-mail.

We were able to get a brief early look at the SP beta. The software made it easy to download several Flash videos from YouTube. It was also simple to choose the preset for converting and transferring the videos to a format compatible with a Palm Pre that we borrowed from a co-worker. However, once we transferred the files to the Pre, we weren't able to play them back. However, an earlier demo from a Real Networks representative successfully transferred videos to a Pre, a BlackBerry Bold, and--via a transfer to iTunes--the iPod Touch, so we're assuming we encountered an isolated glitch.

HP MediaSmart Connect x280n: Member of a dying breed?

(Credit: HP)

Call it a one-two punch: Monday's news that HP is discontinuing its MediaSmart Connect line follows Friday's report that Linksys' line of Media Center Extenders is also on its way out.

While two announcements doesn't a trend make (you need three for that), I'm hopeful that one of my consumer electronics wishes is finally coming true. We may be seeing the end of the standalone network digital media player. And I say "good riddance." This is a product category that never really should've existed in the first place.

To be clear, I'm not talking about digital music players--those products like Sonos, Logitech's Squeezebox line, or the growing number of cheap (often sub-$200) Wi-Fi radios available. That's a maturing product line that's providing real value--allowing you to access your PC-based digital music, Internet radio, and the growing array of online music services (both free and premium ones).

No, I'm talking about video-enabled digital media adapters. (Which brings me to gripe No. 1: the industry couldn't even agree on a common terminology. The products were alternately known as digital media adapters, digital media players, network media streamers, set-top boxes--or some amalgamation thereof.)

There were three big reasons the product category continued to languish in the enthusiast realm and never really went mainstream. ... Read more

We knew the music of the Beatles was coming to the MTV video game Rock Band, but now we have a release date: September 9, 2009. That's when you'll be able to get The Beatles: Rock Band, a new edition of the game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii consoles. You can start working on your bad "lonely hearts club band" puns now.

The game itself will retail for $59.99 in the U.S.; there will also be a $99.99 version that comes with Beatles-inspired guitar controllers, and a $249.99 "special edition" bundle. I'm guessing that one comes with a walrus.

The date is awfully cute, considering the Beatles' formally self-titled "White Album" contains that song called "Revolution 9," which consists largely of a repetition of the phrase "number nine, number nine, number nine." Conspiracy theorists say that if you play it backward it sounds like "turn me on, dead man" and is hence one of the clues that adds up to reveal that Paul McCartney died and was replaced by a lookalike early in the band's career.

But here's something else for conspiracy theorists of a different variety. September 9, 2009, happens to be a Wednesday in early September, and Apple has historically held iPod-related announcements on Tuesdays in early September. If you want to be mega-speculative, consider that there could be an announcement that week that in addition to Rock Band, the Beatles would finally be coming to iTunes. The band's catalog is currently not legally available for digital download.

There have been legal issues and general animosity for years between Apple Inc. and Apple Corps, the publisher of the Beatles' music. When record label EMI, which owns the rights to the Beatles catalog, inked a deal with Apple to make its catalog available on iTunes without DRM, buzz circulated that the Beatles could be added to the digital-media emporium soon. It's been almost two years, and no Fab Four yet. Late last year, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney said that talks had stalled. There's no real gauge on where things stand now.

But I guess you could just try playing a Steve Jobs keynote backward and see what hidden messages surface.

(Credit: Kingston Technology)

It measures only 3 inches by 0.9 inches by 0.5 inches, but Kingston Technology's DataTraveler 150 USB flash drive offers the largest capacity in the line: 32GB. Forget carrying a few dozen MP3s, a couple photos, and some Word docs. That kind of storage puts a digital media collection in your pocket.

The DataTraveler 150 is available now in the U.S. only at an MSRP of $139. It's of course fully compatible with Windows Vista, XP and Windows 2000 as well as Mac OS X 10.3 (and above), and Linux 2.6 (and above). It also carries a five-year warranty and includes 24/7 tech support in case you can't figure out how to put it in your USB port, I guess.

Updated 9:30 a.m. PDT with details on MPAA plans.

Well, that didn't take long. Within an hour of making its new RealDVD software available for sale on its Web site, RealNetworks has filed suit against all the major movie studios and the DVD Copy Control Association. According to Real's press release, the lawsuit "asks the court to rule that RealNetworks Home Entertainment Inc.'s RealDVD software...fully complies with the DVD Copy Control Association's license agreement." Real feels it has a strong case because its software does not break the DVD's encryption when copying it to the hard drive (and, according to the company, even adds a second layer of DRM). Real claims this method is similar to that used by Kaleidescape, a provider of high-end home media servers. (Kaleidescape's 2007 courtroom victory over the DVD Copy Control Association is cited by Real as the precedent for the RealDVD software.)

A spokesman for Real confirmed that the suit was pre-emptive, but that the company expects that "the studios will be taking action later today."

Indeed, Hollywood sources confirmed that the Motion Picture Association of America plans to file a lawsuit later Tuesday morning asking a federal court to stop RealNetworks from distributing the company's RealDVD software, which the MPAA alleges allows for the illegal copying of films and violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The studios plan to request a restraining order.

Related coverage: DVD ripping goes legit with RealDVD

CNET News' Greg Sandoval contributed to this story.