All PVR

From Teleglass comes the T4-N Limited Edition Video Glasses. The glasses create a simulated 45 inch screen (as if sitting from six feet away), with a resolution of 640 x 480. Coolness abound, you can focus and adjust each monitor to reduce eye strain. As you can see by the picture above the audio comes from frame-mounted earbuds.

Just connect any NTSC viseo player and enjoy. They look stylish, unlike the competition, and it’s hidden components reside in the frame and nose-piece. Word on the street is that they cost $1150 per pair, but you’ll have to hurry, because there’s only 500 available.

Pink Tentacle via Teleglass

And now for something completely different… Athusa and Backyard Birding

The “mythical” Traveling Terabyte Gear

In reference to an entry published on Sept. 23 (“Hacker Sends War-Tough Marines a Befitting PVR�?), I have received a generous update about the Traveling Terabyte Project. Go to www.travelingterabyte.org for all the official information.

This is an important project that connects us to our beloved Devil Dogs (Marines). It provides them a care-package that we can all share in to show support. Hopefully it gives the soldiers a bit of home when they’re abroad, and keeps them grounded when they’re in hell (Ooo-Rah!).

They are not yet taking donations (as this is a grassroots movement stemming from the generosity of one person, Deviant Ollam), though there should be something set up soon.

And, as a big fan of this project, I will also be posting updates and hopefully finding more supporters, at Athusa.net. Let make it work.

Very, very special thanks, and American gratitude to: AST Cell. As well as to all the people involved with this project.

To follow up on a 22 Sep 07 entry, this was announced today from Western Digital:

My Book Studio Edition

Sorry PC-based PVR-lovers, this one’s for Mac users only. Here’s excerpts from the Western Digital press-release:
“From storage-hungry high-definition video editing to big design projects and managing photo shoots, creative professionals require high-speed performance and huge amounts of storage capacity for the rich multimedia content generated by their work.”

“Equipped with high-performance quadruple interfaces (USB 2.0, FireWire® 400/800 and eSATA)”

“,Offered in capacities from 320 GB to 1 TB (terabyte),”

“Estimated pricing for the My Book Studio Edition storage appliances ranges from $199.99 USD to $399.99 USD depending upon capacity.”

Click here to read the entire press-release. Snoogins.

“Deviant Ollam” is a New Jersey hacker/network engineer who saw fit to create the Traveling Terabyte Project (TTB). A program in which he sends hard drives, filled with popular movies, television shows and music, in Pelican cases, to Marines in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan.

Deviant said this about his revelation, “I’ve got this extra storage and thought ‘what could I do with it?’. It didn’t really make sense to put the disks into my already hugely ridiculous raid array.�? So, why not send them to a few Leathernecks? Everyone needs a little inspiration (even tough-guys). But, shipping the drives to a war-torn country could’ve been an obstacle, “You can’t really put the drives in bubble wrap and throw them in the mail,�? So he instead packed the equipment into the olive-drab cases with international power adapters and USB cables.

Once Marines receive the cases they often add their own files customizing and personalizing their gifts (becoming a snapshot of our modern heroes lives). And, like any grassroots movement, these drives have become a small overseas urban-legend. Eventually being delivered to the American embassy in Dushanbe Tajikistan, just to prove they exist.

Hopefully the Traveling Terabyte Project will get legs. I’m still searching for a donation website. If anyone knows of one, please comment. Anything we can do to remedy some of the stress of being in a war zone, is something we should do. They’re heroes.

From one American cyber-geek to another, thank you, ‘Deviant Ollam’.

More thanks to TG Daily for getting the word out on this project.

Need an external hard drive for movie storage? Look no further, Western Digital has come to the rescue. Introducing “My Book Essential Edition 2.0″, a hard drive the size of a paperback book. Contained within it’s cover is 1 TB of disk space, and a 2.0 USB port. It’s a plug-n-store device for all your PVR needs, and it costs $349.

The Diamani DUO line of LCD’s from Viewsonic has been launched. It’s a unique hybrid of TV and computer monitor. There’s a 19″ version for $349 and a 22″ version $399. Both sporting slim, sexy HDMI inputs, as well as HD tuners. They’re also equipped with VGA inputs. And to address your analog desires, there’s component, RCA, and S-video inputs. It’s the “be all to end all” of TV’s… I mean monitors… I mean… where was I? Oh yeah, It’s fine time someone tried to invent something useful for the practical man.

Electronista

At HGTV Marketplace, they’re offering a 4 seat spa with a motorized 61″ LCD HDTV. It’s a custom order through Catalina Spas, so there is no price listed. But, I’m sure if you have a vivid imagination you could conjure up a price close enough to what they’re asking. Who says the US economy is bad?

From Replay TV comes the “Personal HD”, a USB-based system that allows you to watch and record HDTV on your PC or notebook. Everything you need to get started is included; an HD tuner, antenna, remote control, software, and a 1 year subscription (after that it’s $19.95 a year, to keep the subscription). All available in November.

Other benefits are: Pause live TV, advanced searches to find and record your favorite shows, and transfers video to your iPods, iPhone, and AppleTV.

Replay TV

This from Mac Rumors via Gizmodo; It seems, amidst Apple TV Update 1.1, lay a curious iTunes Store “setting”. According to Mac Rumors, it has little affect on the Apple TV functions. So… what is it for? Many computer geek detectives are weighing in. With the addition of WiFi iTunes Store on the iPod Touch (and for the iPhone in the very near future), the educated guessers are saying it’s for Apple TV to download from iTunes Store directly. Because it is currently unable to do this without the aid of a computer, it has become an issue for Apple TV owners. Time will tell if it’s a strong assessment.

Get DirecTV’s NFL Superfan and Sunday Ticket Packages and you’ll be able to stream live games to your PC. Unfortunately, Apple and Linux users won’t be able to use this feature. Streaming requires Windows Vista or XP. It also requires a football-sized wallet for the $368 clams you’ll be shelling out.

From Ars Technica.com

AppleTV is all over the news lately, and the thing that is pretty upsetting for me is that some people are calling it a DVR or a PVR.
In fact, it’s nothing of the kind! The main function of AppleTV is to be Media Extender of sorts, similar to long time leader XBox 360, which is great for extending all your recordings and media from your Media Center PC.
I really think AppleTV is overpriced ($299, same as Xbox 360 basic) and it really isn’t bringing anything new to the category. In fact, it can’t even stream anything directly from the Internet, although it is connected to your home network and thus to the Internet. The only thing it is designed to do is forward (after lengthy copy/sync process) media from your home Mac or PC to your AppleTV. Again, not my kind of product…
We have been enjoying XBox 360 media extender capabilities for the longest time now and it’s great, and it gives us gaming alongside the media features, plus direct download of shows and movies from the Internet (via XBox Live Marketplace).

Still, if you insist on learning more about AppleTV, here is an excellent in-depth review from the smart folks at CNet.

appleTv, media extender

Ever wish you can take your DVR shows on the road? One enterprising user described how he loaded his video iPod with shows that he recorded off his DVR.

He just used a “$5 cable” to hook up his iPod to a hotel TV (with RCA inputs) and was watching The Daily Show, 30 Rock and Battlestar Galactica.

Ok, I noticed that the cable actually costs $8.99, but it seems like it would work just fine.

I also found another one:

Too bad you can’t use it to record TV shows onto an iPod.

According to Alan Graham, of ZDNet’s Web 2.0 blog, Apple wants to kill off Tivo. Already, research firm Frost & Sullivan said recently that Tivo would cease to exist in its current form by 2010.

But the blogosphere is full of criticism for Apple TV. Only the really dedicated Apple fan-boys believe that Apple TV is something really special. Many see it as just another media extender.

Despite all this, Graham believes that Apple TV is poised to knock off Tivo and even become better(!) than Tivo.

Most interestingly he analyzes the cost of using Apple TV and iTunes vs. using cable and Tivo and says that he can save $645 by using Apple TV. He compares the two choices using actual prices for cable service, Tivo costs and Apple TV/iTunes price of content.

Point #1. It’s a Flawed Analysis.

Graham’s analysis is flawed because he doesn’t take into consideration the need for ALL costs to use the Apple TV–it’s not a stand alone device since it requires a computer and Internet connection to work.

So he should add the price of computer (PC or Mac) and Internet access, as well as the price of Apple TV and the actual content. Tivo, on the other hand, is a true stand-alone box and using it with a computer only enhances the experience and gives you access to more of your media.

Point #2. Apple TV Timeshifts?

Graham calls Apple TV a Time Shifting device.

“The point of this device is to replace live television, not enhance it. Just like a DVR, the Apple TV time-shifts content, at least 24 hours from the moment it was originally broadcast. Same function, different approach.”

Um, not really. It’s not the same function at all.

Apple TV only time shifts content that resides on your computer hard drive or downloaded through iTunes. It does not time shift live TV. This is closer to “video-on-demand”. Calling Apple TV a “time-shifting device” is like saying that a DVD does timeshifting because you can pause and rewind your movie.

Also, iTunes offers TV shows but only after they aired over 24 hours ago. That’s a long time to wait, and frankly, that’s not time shifting. That’s time limiting. Don’t put a restriction on when I can watch something.

Point 3: Using iTunes to Download TV Shows Doesn’t Compare to Cable.

Lastly, Graham makes an apples to orange comparison between iTunes/Apple TV and the price of cable for one year. How can you fairly compare the choice you receive with cable compared to the limited amount of TV content in iTunes?

Perhaps a future version of Apple TV can get past all of these issues. But for now, Apple TV has a lot of catching up to do.

Tivo, digital video recorder, DVR, PVR, Apple, Apple TV, iTunes

Are you looking forward to the Apple TV? Can’t wait to get your hands on the new Apple TV? Want to see it in action? Are you tired of my questions yet?

MacDailyNews posted a video (shown below) that gives you a nice virtual demo of Apple TV. You can see how to navigate around the menu, how to listen to music, watch movies, listen to podcasts and browse your digital photos. Check it out!

Bonus for reading this far: MacDailyNews also says that Apple TV is outselling iPods on the Apple store.

So a few days have gone by. What is the blogosphere saying about Apple TV? Most are calling it an iPod without a screen, which is a pretty good description. There are criticisms and there is love for the new device. Many said they have placed orders already.

Here’s a quick round up of what’s being said:

Hanford Lemoore says that Apple TV is more important than iPhone. I think that’s true. iPhone is a nice cell phone with a cool interface, but it’s not earth-shattering. But then again, neither is Apple TV.

Digital rights are now a big thing with Apple. David Zatz of ZatzNotFunny says that Apple is now locking content in tight into their “ecosystem”, which is the iTunes music service. He titled his blog post “Why I Won’t Buy Apple’s iTV”.

At Macworld Expo in San Francisco today, one of the folks showing off an Apple TV said that “you can only put things in” and can’t take it out, like an iPod. So although I may be able to disconnect it, take it to a friend’s house and watch it somewhere else, I won’t be able to remove video from the Apple TV.

Another downside is that Apple TV doesn’t play Divx. One blogger, however, already put up instructions on how to play Divx content using the Apple TV. Although the blogger, Jamie Frater, admits that he hasn’t tested the version (well, since the Apple TV isn’t available yet) but he believes it should work. Let’s wait and see.

Blogger Cody Clark says that Apple TV needs more than 40GB. Yes, I agree. That’s the typical storage for an iPod. Why not go for more? How long will it take until someone hacks Apple TV? My guess is one day.

TeenageFanboy says that the Apple TV “hasn’t really received the best of receptions” especially since the Xbox 360 does the same thing–with gaming–for $100 more. He says that the Apple TV probably won’t change the minds of Xbox 360 owners or Tivo users, but those who love their iPods and use iTunes Music Service will use it.

And finally, William at Das Unugunu Blog said that the following are working against Apple TV: Competition, HDTV Required, Consumer Ignorance, a Useless USB Port and Lack of Codec Support. Overall, he said the Apple TV was a big disappointment.

Apple TV, Macworld, Apple