All PVR

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.

SpyGadgets.com is selling the world’s smallest camcorder for $195!

“The Micro-Camcorder is the smallest high resolution, real time digital camcorder ever produced. Easy to use “one touch record” button lets you discretely record any evidence instantly. For the most discrete application, the Micro Camcorder can even fit into a standard pack of chewing gum!”

It’ll record 33 hours of video on a 1 GB Micro SD Card, and records over 2 hours on a single charge. It can also be used as a USB storage device, and all videos can be downloaded to a PC via the same USB port.

Alright, normal people, the info is out about this micro-bugger. Now be vigilante, and watch out for “pervs” who are looking a little too close at their packs of chewing gum.

Get your HD-DVR’s warmed up people. Like Jay-Z, you’re going to have a busy recording schedule ahead of you. With the launch of 21 new HD channels, DirecTV promises there’s more channels to come, “,more than any other cable or satellite provider”.

They say, “By the end of October, DIRECTV will deliver over 70 HD channels. And by the end of the year, you’ll get up to 100 of the channels you really want to see in breathtaking HD” (examples: CNN HD, A&E HD, The History Channel HD, premiums like HBO HD, Showtime HD, and Starz HD).

What do you think?

“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.â€? 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,â€? 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.

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

Cable Companies, like Al Capone, think they can muscle you into submission by cutting off your ability to use analog TV signals. Well, according to the FCC, 40 million Americans still use “rabbit ears” and analog TV’s, and they think those people should have choices. Elliot Ness would be proud.

Originally slated for February 2009, the FCC’s “digital transition” has been reviewed and extended to 2012. “Digital transition” means that the use of analog (over the air) broadcast signals will be eliminated, and replaced with digital broadcasts (over cable). All consumers will require a digital TV or converter box to watch their favorite programs. No more rabbit-ears. It hasn’t been decided yet whether the cable companies will have to convert a signal before it leaves the station, or whether they will need to send all relevant customers converter boxes. Either way it could be expensive for them (which, in turn, could be expensive for us). It’s really anyone’s guess what the future holds.

In 2012, the FCC will review the stats again and make another determination. If they decide that America is ready, they will only require cable companies to broadcast in Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD), instead of SD, HD, and Analog signals.

Whatever… I say it’s good news for all of you “old-school technology” lovers out there (like me, you remember 8-track tapes and own AM radios). Long live VCRs and “floor TVs”!

Thanks to: arstechnica.com

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

The Sunbrite outdoor LCD HDTV is just another way to watch your DVR (or whatever) by the pool, or on the patio. Have your house pre-wired and this TV stays outside permanently. It’s a 32″ super-bright, all-weather, HD LCD TV, with a native resolution of 1366 x 768. Here’s more specs:

“Protective anti-glare, contrast-enhancing and scratch-resistant window protects the screen from rain, dirt and other elements. Special coating protects internal electronics from corrosion. Dual-fan airflow system keeps unit cool and protects the TV from rain, dust and insects.”

It also has a Picture-In-Picture function and stereo speakers. It costs $4195 at Skymall.com.

Well, it was very tough to top our last Friday’s deal of getting standalone Toshiba HD-DVD player for $199.

We know our readers expect only the best, so instead of bringing you mediocre deals, there will be No Friday deal today!

I’d just like to remind everyone that tomorrow is the last day to get Series3 HD Tivo for $389 (alas, shipping is extra $16 or so). This price is of course after $200 Father’s Day rebate, that you need to remember to print out and submit.

PS: There’s a 42″ 1080p LCD from Hyundai. Can’t say that we can recommend that brand, but at $1299 + $99 delivery, it’s reasonably priced. Oh yea, and you get a free Fujifilm 8MP digital camera with that, to boot.

deal, tivo

Creative’s Wide Screen Zen Vision is an excellent 30 GB little unit, with high resolution screen and all the features you’d ever expect from your portable media player.

Of course it plays MP3s and WMAs, with Creative’s known excellent sound quality, but the kicker feature is undoubtedly video. Check out the impressive supported codecs list: MPEG-4 SP, XviD, DivX 5.0, DivX 4.0, MPEG-2, MPEG-1, Motion JPEG, WMV.

With this impressive list, chances are you won’t need to transcode any of your existing media, just copy as is and it plays!

Rumor has it that Microsoft’s Zune is going to get a wide screen edition in the future, but why wait? Another rumor has it that if you connect this or Archos unit to one of the newer DishNetwork DVRs, it will recognize it and let you copy your recorded shows onto it.

Just $199 after two rebates (yea, I hate rebates too, but I love saving money!).

zen-vision-w, creative, deal

Here’s the skinny, rumor has it Tivo will be offering $200 rebate on their Series 3 HD DVR for Fathers Day shoppers.

The rebate actually scheduled to run from May 27th to June 16th, plenty of time to find the lowest priced Series 3 and then get an extra $200 rebate on it.

Maybe I am just full of conspiracy theories, but this yet again shows that Tivo are prepping to hit $300 price mark in the near future (holiday season perhaps?). They will do it either by lowering Series3 cost (via Rebates or otherwise), or maybe by releasing a scaled down version of Tivo HD. But, whichever way it comes, I think we’ll all just be happy if it materializes!

[via EngadgetHD]

Not ready for HD just yet? Hop over to CircuitCity.com and pick up the popular Hauppauge PVR150, for under $70. It comes with Remote Control also, and 100% compatible with most Open Source PVR platforms, such as MythTV.

Tivo, Series3, HD-DVR, deals

Today we bring you another DVD/DivX player from Philips.

This beauty provides you with upscaled 1080p output, over HDMI with HDCP, for only $62.99

Plays all kinds of media, including DivX files, MP3, WMA, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2.

Get it from BestBuy.com or pick up in store.

deal

Is this a new tradition we are starting? Maybe, we’ll see how many sales show up out there!

For starters, if you don’t yet own a DVR, make sure to grab free (refurbished) Series2 Tivo. You will need to commit to 1 year $12.95 per month payments, and I understand that you can’t get a Multi-device discount with this one (for those that already got Tivo and want a second/third/tenth one).

Or, maybe you want to lower your monthly bill, with Tivo or another provider? Here’s is some real-world advice that just may (or may not) work.

And here is another post, about how to extract better deal from your TV provider company. But, what I find most interesting, is the low low prices being paid in Canada, and with HD-DVR too?! How come lowest HDTV package here in the US is usually above $50 and often $70 or more, before premium channels?!?!

Already have Tivo? Did you try Amazon Unbox yet, with their limited time sign-up bonus?

tivo, deals

Even more exciting news from the WebTV frontier. I must say, CBS really impresses me with their Out-of-the-Box approach and willingness to grow! I am pretty sure others will follow suit, but the brave souls that pave the way will go down in history!

So CBS is now officially going to distribute their shows over many channels, not just Joost or the big 3 Veoh venture, but MSN and others.

I am also reading it as ‘Shows will be free and Advertiser supported’, but we’ll have to wait and see.

So, any thoughts on what this will do to their revenue from shows’ DVD sales? I think that will still continue to thrive, most people, at least today, find that DVDs are better experience and get to watch it on the big screen. Of course this will be changing, in a few years. Yep, this is my official prediction, so now save this post in time capsule and pull it out in about 2 years!

via TV-Squad.

cbs, webtv