streamer

High Resolution Technologies makes some of the very best and most affordable digital-to-analog converters on the market. The company's newest model, the MicroStreamer, is a tiny thing, just 2.5 inches by 1.2 inches by 0.4 inch, and since it's USB-powered it doesn't have a power supply or require batteries. It works as an external sound card for computers, tablets, and some smartphones. It's also a high-quality headphone amplifier. It was designed in the U.S., and the little guy's circuitboard's components are mounted in Southern California. The aluminum case is made … Read more

Windows users who want to access and control their Macs can set up a connection using the free Splashtop Remote app.

Accessing a Mac from a PC has always been doable by setting up VNC (virtual network computing) sharing on the Mac and installing a VNC client on the PC. But many people may find it quicker and simpler using Splashtop to create the connection.

Setting up access requires installing the Splashtop Remote app on your Windows PC and the Splashtop Streamer app on your Mac. Both are free and easy to install.

First, download and install the Splashtop Remote app … Read more

D-Link announced today its latest streaming device, which is a stripped-down version of its Boxee Box, called the MovieNite.

Unlike the Boxee, that in addition to streaming can play back content stored on a plugged-in external hard drive, the MovieNite is a stream-only device. It supports popular steaming services, including Vudu, Netflix, Pandora and YouTube.

To make up for this, the new device costs just about one third the price of the Boxee Box, at around $60.

The MovieNite comes with just one HDMI port and supports up to 1080p high-def streaming content. It supports wireless N standard and a … Read more

Following the success of the WD TV Live Hub, Western Digital has now introduced the diskless version in the new WD TV Live (2011).

The new Live adds a couple more killer features, namely built-in Wi-Fi and support for the Spotify music-streaming service, to the already long list of services and file formats handled by its predecessors. And all for only $99, but there is a lot of competition at this price level. There were still some bugs left to iron out and the Spotify service is a little daunting in comparison to its desktop counterpart, but in all this … Read more

Western Digital announced today its latest in the WD TV media player series, the WD TV Live. This is the fifth generation of the company's WD TV family of networked-media players--not to be confused with the second-generation product of the same name that was released two years ago--and it's the first that offers built-in support for Wi-Fi and delivers the Spotify Music service.… Read more

Google TV: doomed product or stealth Apple TV competitor? Maybe a little of both, given the recent price slashing of Logitech's high-profile Revue With Google TV. A couple months back, the $299 Internet-meets-TV appliance dropped to a much more appealing $99.

And now it's even less. Buy.com has the Logitech Revue With Google TV for $89.99 shipped. And it's new, not refurbished.

In case you're not familiar with this set-top box, it goes above and beyond Apple TV- and Roku-style media streaming by offering apps, a Web browser, and a keyboard.

When it … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Some of you who own a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV media streamer may have noticed that the company has recently added Pandora to its channel lineup. Now the company says it will release a free iPhone app later this month that allows you to control the box with an iPhone or iPod Touch.

We reviewed the GoFlex TV earlier this ear and gave it pretty high marks. It's got some similar features to the Roku Player, with Netflix streaming capabilities, but, as its name implies, it's designed to play video files from a Seagate GoFlex drive that … Read more

In the digital-media box market, it seems like Apple and Roku have been getting the most attention lately, but companies like Seagate and Western Digital are trying to differentiate their boxes from the rest by offering tie-ins to their companies' portable hard drives. However, in the case of the WD TV Live Hub ($199.99), Western Digital has taken things a step further and built a networked 1TB hard drive right into the unit itself.

With that embedded hard drive, this box is bigger than the Apple TV and the latest crop of Roku players, but it is still relatively … Read more

It seems hard to believe, now that Netflix streaming video is available on nearly any Internet-connected home video product, but back in the spring of 2008, the only Netflix-compatible device was a tiny streaming media box called the Roku Player. In the two years since its release, a series of firmware upgrades has expanded the program offerings on the Roku, even as the company added step-down and step-up models to the lineup as well.

In its latest incarnation, the company has made its little black box even smaller, while retaining the same onscreen look and feel and "channel" … Read more