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2 days ago in SageTV

MyMovies Plugin for SageTV Public Beta is Now Open

Gorgeous MyMovies movie collection plugin for SageTV is available for public testing.

For those that don’t know MyMovies was previously a movie collection program available to Windows Media Center users alone. SageTV user PluckyHD has been hard at work porting MyMovies over to SageTV. After much effort he has opened a public beta of his MyMovies plugin for SageTV meaning SageTV users too can enjoy MyMovies.

The MyMovies for SageTV plugin looks awesome as you can tell from the gallery below. Some short video previews are also available on PluckyHD’s YouTube channel.

SageTV_MyMovies_6
SageTV_MyMovies_5
SageTV_MyMovies_3
SageTV_MyMovies_2
SageTV MyMovies 1


If you’re a SageTV user ready to jump in or just want more information on the new plugin, head over to the SageTV forums.

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3 days ago in Remotes & Keyboards

Apple Magic Trackpad Released, Gesture Mouse for Plex?

$69 multi-touch trackpad for Mac desktop computers.

Apple users are once again spoiled with cool looking merch now that the Apple Magic Trackpad has been released. Weighing in at $69, the Magic Trackpad is essentially the same touchpad found on the MacBook Pro yet it’s almost 80% larger. Its build is sleek — aluminum with a glass surface. This desktop mouse replacement supports multi-touch and click, scroll, swipe and rotate finger gestures as you would expect from Apple.

The Magic Trackpad runs on 2 AA batteries and connects wirelessly via Bluetooth. I’m pretty sure this could also work on a PC as long as some appropriate software was created to support the gestures. Perhaps a media center will do it first. There has been a little chatter in the Plex forums as a few users hope for some integration with Plex for Mac OS X. It would be very interesting to see a media center app support finger gestures that you would normally see in today’s smartphones. Make it happen, Plex team!

Buy Now: $69

Apple Magic Trackpad
Apple Magic Touchpad top touch
Apple Magic Touchpad right side
Apple Magic Touchpad left side
Apple Magic Touchpad with Mac


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6 days ago in MythTV

MythTV 0.23.1 is Now Available

Lots of updates and bugfixes come to MythTV with the latest release.

A new version of the popular open source DVR software MythTV has been released. This is a bugfix release from version 0.23.

From the MythTV developers’ announcement:

A recent bugfix required that we upgrade the version of the communication protocol used between the various MythTV components. In order to allow users to keep track of this change, we are pleased to announce that 0.23.1 has been released, which includes the [aforementioned] bug fix along with many others.

The emphasis is on many others. This release covers changesets 24509 through 25396. You do the math.. That is a lot of updates. The complete list of changes in both 0.23 and 0.23.1 can be found in the Release Notes on thier wiki.

MythTV users, head on over to download the latest version.

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9 days ago in MediaPortal

MediaPortal 1.1.0 Final is Now Available!

Latest and greatest MediaPortal version has been released.

All the major hard work and long hours are over. While the sun was still down here in the U.S., Team MediaPortal announced the release of the final version of MediaPortal 1.1.0. We now are able to present you MediaPortal 1.1.0: the best release in our six year history says infinite.loop, proudly in their news post.

MediaPortal 1.1.0 Final introduces the following changes over MediaPortal 1.1.0 RC6:

  • [general] Change logverbosity to “info” for the 1.1.0 final version (chemelli)
  • [Skin Engine] Reinstate the skin version check for MP 1.1.0 and increase the skinversion in references.xml
  • [general] Update MediaInfo to 0.7.34 (chemelli)

Head over to the MediaPortal’s post for installation notes and to download the latest and greatest MediaPortal release.

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12 days ago in Hard drives

Seagate Launches GoFlex Home NAS

Simple, centralized storage and DLNA streaming.

Seagate is really on the move–having added another product to their GoFlex line yesterday. The new kid on the block is the GoFlex home which aims and claims to simplify house-wide, network storage. Seagate claims that “with just two cable connections and a simple, illustrated, step-by-step installation tool that gets the device up and running in minutes, the GoFlex Home system solves the household storage puzzle in a snap.”

With the GoFlex Home, users can backup their data from a Windows or Mac OS X computer automatically using the included backup software. Alternatively, the GoFlex Home is also compatible with Apple Time Machine which is huge for Mac users. The GoFlex Home comes in 1TB and 2TB flavors. This can be easily increased by dropping in a larger hard drive size or connecting additional USB drives to the device. The USB drive also supports sharing a network printer.

At the moment, the GoFlex Home is available for purchase on seagate.com for $159.99 for 1TB and $229.99 for 2TB.

goflex_home_angle_hi
goflex_home_back_hi
goflex_home_base_angle_hi
goflex_home_base_back_hi
goflex_home_base_front_hi

goflex_home_front_hi
FA GoFlex Home PANAM Pkg R6D_Angelo
GoFlex Home PANAM Pkg R6D_Angelo
goflex_home_side_hi

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13 days ago in Laptops and Netbooks

6 Reasons to Use a Laptop or Netbook as a HTPC

Identify the advantages of a laptop or netbook as a HTPC.

HP Mini 311 Netbook

HP Mini 311 Netbook

The main reason I love home theater PCs is that they are multi-purpose and flexible. A HTPC can do what your set-top box can do and more. Likewise, laptops and netbooks are made to connect to external computer monitors, so why not make them even more useful by connecting them to the biggest monitor you own: your HDTV.

I come from modest beginnings to say the least. My first stab at a HTPC was an old IBM ThinkPad T20 laptop I picked up off eBay. MediaPortal, 19″ CRT TV, S-Video and line-in audio were sufficient to me at the time. Later I upgraded to a HP Pavilion dv6119us laptop which came with a cool (at the time) mini remote. Fast forward a bit past several other non-laptop iterations and now my setup is a bit more sophisticated: Antec Fusion Remote case, HDMI to 47″ 1080p HDTV, 5.1 surround sound, Logitech Harmony 720 remote, etc. I use a regular HTPC and laptop separately.

In some ways I miss my old laptop setup though. It had it’s advantages.
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15 days ago in Boxee, Media Players

First Boxee Box Gets Video Preview

D-Link's first factory-made Boxee Box on video.

The first Boxee Box by D-Link has been received by the Boxee team straight off the assembly line. Zach Klein, Boxee’s chief product officer, shows the media player in a brief video preview (see below). This is more of a look at the hardware than anything. No real details are provided other than a glimpse of the box, Boxee Box remote, splash screen and fingerprint resistant finish.

We can expect the Boxee Box some time in November per NewTeeVee. NOTE: Wheat Thins are not included!

The first Boxee Box arrived from the D-Link Factory from Zach Klein on Vimeo.

Credit: NewTeeVee

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15 days ago in SageTV

SageTV Media Center v7.0.12 Beta is Available

Now beta for Windows and Linux brings ~100 enhancements and fixes.

SageTV Program Guide - Photo credit: geektonic.com

SageTV Program Guide - Photo credit: geektonic.com

After a month since the last beta update for SageTV, the team has announced that v7.0.12 is ready. The new beta introduces a boat load of fixes and enhancements. The following are just a small number of new features new features:

  • Automatic rotation of JPEG files that have headers that indicate so
  • MKV Chapter support
  • Extended theme capability
  • Absolute minimum font size can be set
  • PGS (bluray) subtitles in MKV (only playback on HD extenders)
  • Workaround for ATI driver bug in 4xxx series GPUs w/ EVR
  • ZLIB data compression on the placeshifter UI channel
  • Unlimited video buffering in placeshifter client
  • Lockout of setup menus using parental controls feature
  • Fixes issue with ‘metadata cross-linking’ that was exposed by the BMT plugin

Along with these features, this beta version has added roughly 100 bug fixes and enhancements. Needless to say, the SageTV team has been busy. Check out the release notes on their v7.0.12 forum post to see what I mean and grab a download.

Source: SageTV

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15 days ago in Media Players, SageTV

SageTV STP-HD200 HD Theater Beta Firmware Update Version 20100716 0

More fixes and enhancements for the HD200.

SageTV has released two more firmware updates for the STP-HD200 since I last shared. These software versions are 20100713 0 and 20100716 0.

Changes for beta version 20100713 0 include:

  1. Add 5 seconds timeout for pgs streams since they are sometime incomplete
  2. Fix various pgs bugs
  3. Try to improve output resolution detection compatibility
  4. Add mkv chapter support in media player mode

Changes for beta version 20100716-0 include:

  1. Fix dvd subpicture decoding
  2. Add experimental dvb subpicture decoding in transport streams (Need server version at least 7.0.12 and reindexing)
  3. Add forcergb option to custom video modes to force rgb colorspace output on hdmi.

Head over to the SageTV forums to download the newest beta and for instructions on how to install.

Source: SageTV

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18 days ago in Remotes & Keyboards, XBMC

Official XBMC Remote for Android Hits the Android Market

Team XBMC puts v0.8.1 beta of their XBMC remote project on the Market.

Team XBMC has gone against their word, but in a good way. Previously they only distributed their awesome Official XBMC Remote for Android app on the project’s Google Code page stating “once we’re happy with it, we’ll put it on the Android Market.” Well, apparently Team XBMC is as happy with the app as I am because they added it to the Android Market today.

Official XBMC Remote for Android is not the v1.0 version they scheduled to hit the Market but it’s more than good enough to be appreciated by the masses. The current version is v0.8.1 beta which introduces the following changes over v0.7.1:

  • Added: Customizable home screen.
  • Fixed: Potentially wrong sort order when queueing songs.
  • Fixed: Wrong rounding in movie ratings.
  • Fixed: Various other bugs

Holding off adding the app to the Market was understandable, well, because people can be idiotic and leave nasty ratings on a work-in-progress beta app. Don’t be that way. If you have questions or issues with the app, hit up the XBMC forums and you’ll be taken care of.

Android owners, use the QR code below to download the app. Enjoy and share you love (or hate) for this app in the comments!

Read more at XBMC.

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