New Gear
Locally Available
Terk has added the TV44 off-air TV antenna to their lineup. Designed to clip onto the rear side of satellite dishes that are slightly larger than 18" (dishes that simultaneously receive signals from more than one satellite), the TV44 has a built-in diplexer, allowing satellite and local TV signals to be sent over the same run of coaxial cable.
Terk TV44 Off-air Antenna:
$80
(631) 543-1900
[www.terk.com]
Living Room Lifeline
RCA introduces Alert Guard, a television feature that monitors the Emergency Alert System. Upon receipt of an advisory, watch or warning, the television can pop up information about the situation, including type of event, affected counties and the duration of the event. You can also choose the counties that you want to receive emergency information about, screening out information that is irrelevant and preventing unwanted interruptions.
Models to be announced:
Starting at $299
(800) 336-1900
[www.rca.com]
Movie 'n Slides
Samsung has announced the DVD-P731M DVD Player, which includes the ability to play MP3s and display still images stored on Memory Stick, Secure Digital, SmartMedia and MultiMedia cards. The unit can also provide progressive scan video through its component video output.
Samsung's DVD-P731M:
$229
(800) SAMSUNG
[www.samsungusa.com]
DVD on your LAN
GoVideo's DV2730 DVD player can stream the contents of a DVD over its included PC Card Ethernet adapter or optional 802.11b network card at speeds of up to 3Mbps. It can also stream MP3 and WMA audio files, as well as JPEG still images. The unit can output progressive and interlaced video through its component video output, as well as interlaced video through its S-video and composite video outputs.
GoVideo DV2730 Networked DVD Player:
$249
(408) 588-8000
[www.sonicblue.com]
A Desktop On Your Lap
ViewSonic's airpanel Smart Displays are LCD panels with touchscreens, including built-in wireless support, a USB wireless adapter and an upgrade to Windows XP Professional Edition to support Smart Display functionality. The airpanel V110 features a 10" screen (diagonally-measured), while the airpanel V150 boasts a 15" screen.
ViewSonic Smart Displays:
airpanel V110: $999
airpanel V150: $1,299
(800) 888-8583
[www.viewsonic.com]
Serving You
Interact-TV's Telly home entertainment server combines an on-screen program guide, a music server, a photo library and a CD burner into a networkable box with an 800MHz processor with 128MB of RAM and a 60GB hard drive. It is also said to be expandable, with a DVR option slated for availability.
Interact-TV Telly Home Entertainment Server:
$899
(720) 406-9399
[www.interact-tv.com]
Hard Disk to DVD
Toshiba's RD-X2 features an 80GB hard drive and a DVD-R/DVD-RAM burner, allowing you to perform simple time shifting. You can also perform basic video editing on recorded TV programs or bring in your own video and burn the finished project to DVD. And if you just wanted to play a DVD, it can do that, too.
Toshiba RD-X2 DVD Burner/Hard Drive Recorder:
$1,499
(800) 631-3811
[www.toshiba.com/tacp]
Share and Share Alike
Microsoft announces a full compliment of broadband networking equipment for both wired and wireless networking needs. Microsoft's Base Station products are gateways which go between your DSL, cable modem or satellite broadband connection and as many computers as you want to share your fast Internet connection with.
Microsoft Broadband Networking Equipment:
10/100 Ethernet PCI Adapter: $25
10/100 Ethernet Base Station: $80
802.11b USB adapter: $80
802.11b Base Station: $150
(425) 882-8080
[www.microsoft.com]
Turnin' Music into Gold
If you've got a PlayStation 2 equipped with a Sony Network Adaptor (and a networked PC with a hard drive full of media), BroadQ's Qcast Tuner Gold can turn that console into a full-fledged media player. Qcast Tuner Gold plays MP3 and Ogg Vorbis music files, DivX, Xvid, MPEG-1, -2 and -4 movies and JPEG and PNG still images. It works over both traditional Ethernet and wireless 802.11b networks.
BroadQ Qcast Tuner Gold for PlayStation 2:
$50
(512) 472-3626
[www.broadq.com]
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