Home video

To date, the SlingPlayer viewing software has let owners of the Slingbox watch their home TV on a Windows PC, a Mac, or a Windows Mobile device anywhere in the world they have a broadband connection available. Symbian smartphone software is already available in Europe, and Palm software has just been announced. Those software players will soon be joined by a hardware option in the form of the recently announced SlingCatcher, due to hit stores in mid-2007 for under $200.

We knew the general details of the SlingCatcher based on Sling Media's announcements earlier this week, but this morning … Read more

A handful of all-in-one home-theater projectors have hit the market over the last 18 months, and InFocus jumps into this interesting category with the InFocus Play Big IN1, an inexpensive DLP projector with an integrated DVD player and speaker to output sound. While the info on the unit is a little vague, InFocus says that they are also looking into having an iPod dock for playing back iPod videos, to go along with the DVD player "dock" that attaches to the bottom of the projector.

Here are the details so far:

Sure, it's likely going to be somewhat overshadowed by the iPhone, but one of the other big highlights of Steve Jobs' keynote address at Macworld has been Apple TV, a box that you can plug into your TV so that you can stream your iTunes content--movies, photos, TV shows, music--directly to the tube. The interface reminds me a little bit of the PlayStation 3's media functions, but I'm hoping that Apple's version will be a heck of a lot cooler. Keep an eye on Crave's Macworld coverage here.

Here are some of the specs:

Yeah, there's still no video standard among portable devices. But ADS Tech is trying to help us all out with the Instant Video To-Go ($79.95), the first "self-contained, hardware-based video-content conversion solution for consumers." In English, that translates to a small device that converts video content for your iPod, PSP, and so on. It connects to any PC via the integrated USB 2.0 plug and can crush a 100-minute (roughly 2GB) MPEG-2 or VOB file down into a manageable QVGA H.264 video in a mere 20 minutes. Eliminate overnight encoding jobs for less than … Read more

The big surprise at CES 2007 has been the dearth of major announcements about new home-audio products. Receivers with HDMI 1.3 and built-in decoding for next-gen lossless audio formats are nowhere to be seen. But at least one receiver has brought something new to the table: Pioneer's VSX-1017TXV is the first model we've seen that offers built-in compatibility with both XM and Sirius satellite radio services. (In fact, it's one of three receivers in Pioneer's 2007 line that offers the dual-satellite option.)

As evidenced by the model number, the 1017TXV is just an evolutionary upgrade … Read more

Many companies at CES are working on products that combine TV programming with related content from the Internet and distribute it throughout the home (Microsoft demonstrated some of these capabilities with Vista and Media Center Extenders during its keynote on Sunday). But Sharp is the first company to demonstrate a prototype product that can stream two simultaneous HD feeds and Internet content over the existing power lines in your home.

The technology, called Network AQUOS, uses PowerLine Communication modems to connect the TV and PC, and transmit high-quality audio, video and online content over Homeplug AV, a high-speed networking standard. … Read more

Klipsch has long been known for its excellent speakers, and now the company is branching out in a big way. Its new KlipschCast family of products promises to deliver a whole-house audio system that's wireless, expandable, iPod-friendly and easy to set up. One hopes they pull this off while retaining the top-notch audio quality we've come to expect from the Klipsch name.

The system is anchored by the CS-700, a 2.1-channel home-theater-in-a-box system, and the company's first HTIB. The CS-700 utilizes Dolby Virtual Speaker technology to deliver a surroundlike effect from its two speakers, which feature … Read more

Mac users that have jealously watched their PC-using friends put their recorded episodes of The Office or Lost on their laptops get a late Christmas gift this year: TiVoToGo for Mac is here.

Just in time for MacWorld and CES, the product will be released by Roxio on Monday, Jan. 8.

The Mac version of TiVoToGo will sell for $99 and have all the same capability as the PC version, but it's all in one box this time, said Jim Denney, TiVo's VP of marketing. Automatic transfers of shows to a Mac, PSP, iPod, or burned to a … Read more

Sony today unveiled the Bravia Internet Video Link, a small accessory designed to deliver online video to compatible Bravia flat-screen HDTVs. The device is scheduled to be released in mid-2007; pricing has not yet been set. It will only work with compatible Bravia LCD TVs that are scheduled to be released later in 2007.

The Bravia Internet Video Link is a small device about the size of a VHS tape that's designed to snap onto the back of the TV. In addition to the Ethernet port (which interfaces to your home network), the Video Link box includes USB and … Read more