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CES 2008: CES - It's a Wrap

Well, another CES has come and gone and I'm still recovering. The early numbers show the attendance was down from about 150,000 last year to about 140,000 this year. Really? I didn't notice, the show seemed more crowded and bigger than ever, covering over 8 football fields! There was so much to see and no matter how long you're there, it's still tough to see and touch everything. There really wasn't much this year that stood out and grabbed me. Yes, I laughed at Bill Gates final Keynote address, drooled over Panasonic's 150" Plasma TV that would require a crane to lift it into place, Kid Rock and the new Corvette ZR1, Comcast's new FREE VOD website Fancast, XStreamHD, Logitech's SqueezeBox Duet...actually, there was some cool stuff to see this year.

Here's some more great CES 2008 Wrap Ups:

About.com
Best of CES 2008

CNET CES 2008 Wrap Up
Home Audio Wrap Up
Home Video Wrap Up
HDTV Wrap Up
Computers Wrap Up
Emerging Technologies Wrap Up
Car Tech Wrap Up
Portable Wrap Up
Cell Phone & Smart Phone Wrap Up

DigitalCameraReview.com
CES 2008 Wrap-Up

Earth2Tech
CES Green Gadget Wrap Up

Engadget
CES 2008: Everything you must see
The Best of Crapgadget

Engadget HD
CES 2008: The Best and worst of HD
CES 2008: The Best of Set Top Boxes
CES 2008: The Best of LCD TV HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Plasma HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Blu-ray Players

GearLog
Best of CES 2008

Gizmodo
Best of CES 2008

Mahalo
Everything CES 2008
CES 2008 Videos

PC Magazine
Best of CES 2008

popgadget
CES - It's a wrap

Tech Digest
CES 2008: The 50 Hottest Products

CES 2008: DirecTV's HDPC-20 PC Tuner Card is real...at least on paper

Earl over at DBSTalk has posted what appear to be official brochure scans for DirecTV's long anticipated, at least 2 years long, USB HDPC-20 PC Tuner. The dual tuner receiver will allow you to use your PC as a DVR while watching DirecTV programming, hopefully in HD although the brochure makes no mention of it. I'm guessing yes by the model number but we'll have to wait for more info to leak/surface from DirecTV. It looks like only support for Vista Media Center PC's, no word on Mac support just yet.

ClickStar-The Future of Digital Entertainment (or thats what they are hoping for)

ClickStar, the next movie download hopeful founded by none other than actor Morgan Freeman, is anxiously awaiting it's December 15th, 2006 launch date. Unlike most of the other movie download services, ClickStar will offer first-run movies, for a price...A DVD quality download will cost you around $24.99 which can be viewed on your PC and your TV which may give it the edge over MovieLink and others.

Here's what the ClickStar web site says about their new service:

ClickStar, Inc. is a new digital entertainment venture between Intel Corporation and Revelations Entertainment, the production company headed by Morgan Freeman and business partner Lori McCreary that addresses the growing consumer desire for premium entertainment through broadband for the PC and the TV. ClickStar is an amazing new service delivering premium movies and thematic artist-created channels brought to you by and featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. For example, “Explore the World of Science with Morgan Freeman”.               

Standing out in front of the pack of the myriad of Internet download services, ClickStar will offer Broadband Debuts of first run movies -- featuring A-list stars and directors -- available exclusively on ClickStar within weeks of their release in theaters, and well in advance of their release on DVD. ClickStar will offer exclusive special bonus features taking ClickStar viewers behind the scenes including interviews with the stars, secrets to filmmaking– including stunts and special effects, tours of exotic locations from around the world, and exclusive footage not available on DVD.          

ClickStar will target the millions of broadband consumers worldwide thirsting for a richer and more flexible entertainment experience. A typical ClickStar user will be able to enjoy full-screen high-fidelity films conveniently on their big screen TV from the comfort of their living room or on-the-go via their laptop. Either way, ClickStar will offer a high quality, multimedia rich experience that will keep consumers coming back again and again. ClickStar's core mission is to become the leading online destination for premium entertainment, designed to give consumers a direct connection to their favorite stars and to give filmmakers a direct connection to their fans while providing a new way of experiencing home entertainment that is highly personal, very affordable and always flexible.               

ClickStar – exclusive first-run feature films, artist created channels from Hollywood’s biggest names, complete viewing flexibility, and a unique opportunity to get closer to the stars.

I say there's still room for another player in the online movie download arena, especially one that offers more choices for the consumer. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as they've already signed at least 15 deals with content provides. My only question is, what about high definition movie downloads? I'm still looking for something to cut my ever expanding DirecTV bill!

How-To: Build a Mac Media Center - iTV

Tired of waiting around for Apple's iTV? Why not build your own? "Apple's forthcoming iTV promises to place all your digital media on your TV. But what if you don't want to wait months before enjoying your iTunes music and video or iPhoto pictures in your living room? And is iTV really worth the price? Ryan Faas looks at the options that exist right now and tells you why you might actually be able to spend less money and get a more rounded solution today."

iTheater has developed the mac media center software:



[via Make]

TechCrunch Reviews Online Movie Download Services

TechCrunch has posted an indepth review of the top legal movie download services, basically comparing iTunes to GUBA, CinemaNow, MovieLink and AmazonUnBox. If you're on a Mac, you're only choice will be iTunes but if you have a PC, your options are wide open and you should explore them.

I really think IP Video is the wave of the future and downloading movies & TV shows on demand and will definately be the preferred delivery method within a few short years. For some, I'm sure you're already there. Leave a comment and let us know how you're using the various download services and who is getting your entertainment dollars.

DIY: Build a $300 HDTV Media Extender

ZDNet Blogs has an excellent DIY post on Building an HDTV Media Extender for only $300! Worth looking at no matter what your budget is.

HDTVs are getting cheaper especially when you're talking about older close out models that they're becoming very common in the home. Personal video storage on a home network is also getting very popular but getting that video to the HDTV isn't easy without paying for an expensive and extremely limited function HD media extender appliance. But with a little spare time and some cheap commodity PC hardware you can build a superior HDTV media extender that can easily be upgraded to a full fledged media center machine for $300.

[via Build Your Own PVR]

1200 Channels and...

Wow, we've come along way from Bruce Springsteen's 57 Channels and nothin' on. A French company, Holersoft has developed Windows only application that will allow you to tune in 1200 channels! Don't believe it? Check out their channel list. Did I mention all 1200 channels are free? The only thing to buy is the software although there is a free trial version. What do you bet the cable & satellite providers will stand up and take notice of this!

[via GigaOm]

DIY: Watch HDTV On Your PC

Popular Mechanics has written a simple DIY article on how to turn your ordinary PC into an HDTV using a $100 video card. [Link]

Coming Soon (We Hope): Pioneer BDR-103 HD DVD/Blu-ray Combo Drive

I really thought Samsung would follow through with a combo player, I mean, it was all over the blogs so it must be true right? Well yes an no...They won't for now, nor LG or anyone else...Wait, I read today that Pioneer is jumping into the combo arena and it couldn't come at a better time.

The only thing Pioneer is saying is it will be model BDR-103. They haven't even released any specs as of yet but you can bet, well I wouldn't bet on any electronic news these days but lets just say that this time it feels real!

[via engadget]

Technorati Tags: blu-ray disc, dvd, dvd burner, hd-dvd, hdtv, high definition, media center pc, pioneer

How-To: Build Your Own Ubuntu MythTV Media Center PC

Andrew Barbaccia, the man behind the MythTV powered Monolith Media Center shows us how to build our own Media Center PC.

[via eHomeUpgrade]

Technorati Tags: hdtv, high definition, home theater, how-to, media center pc, mythtv