Kill the Cable

Boxee Beta Launch Party

If you’re going to in NYC on December 7th, you should definitely check out the Boxee Beta Unveiling launch party. They’re going to be showing off new applications and:

• new user interface
• improved navigation
• search TV Shows and Movies
• a user controlled Queue
• shortcuts
• more…

Can’t wait to see all the cool new stuff.

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iPhone Voice Activated TV Search from AT&T

Using an iPhone, some backend AT&T servers for quick voice recognition and a networked TV an spokesperson was able to bring up various TV shows by voice command alone (checkout the video). The fact that the two shows he searched for were “Dora the Explorer” and “Project Runway” does take a bit of the sheen off of demo, but other than that it looked fairly awesome.

I give it about a month before an enterprising developer gets a homebrew system working utilizing Google Voice an Arudino board and an IR transmitter.

In the meantime, you can use the official Remote application from Apple to control your AppleTV and iTunes or if you’re running XBMC, try the iPhone XBMC Remote.

You can read the full story at TechCrunch.

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XBMC Camelot released

For those of you who like to live dangerously (if you consider installing alpha quality software to be LIVING ON THE EDGE!!!), then have I got an update to XBMC for you: Codename: Camelot XBMC 9.1 alpha is out for download.

The Good

There are a host of new features in this release, far too many to list here. The highlights are:

• DirectX has replaced OpenGL for Windows
• Numerous skinning engine updates which allow for use of some fancy new skins
• Many improvements to the video player which allow for much smoother playback
• Switch to Core Audio on OSX
• Many VDPAU improvements under linux
• Many platform-specific customizations
• Much Much more. We will be showcasing the new features here on xbmc.org as the final release approaches.

The Bad

• Windows: DirectX runtime and Visual C++ 2008 runtime(x86/x64) are required. The installer will be updated to check for these.
• Windows: ‘Windowed’ shortcut opens in full screen
• Windows: Non-functional brightness/contrast
• Windows: Discs inserted before XBMC is launched may not appear correctly
• Windows: Some videos may not play back as smoothly as on other platforms
• Linux: VDPAU de-interlacing is known to be broken

The Download

Downloads for all platforms at the XBMC Downloads page

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XBMC on a Beagleboard

XBMC (the awesome open source media software) has a new demo video going around showing off XBMC running on a Beagleboard (a $150, ARM powered circuit board). This has lots of people excited because:

1. $150 isn’t much money to for a media center extender type gadget.
2. Having an ARM processor means it won’t use much power compared to a full blown HTPC.

While it’s certainly an impressive hack, I think this is most likely going to remain the toy of the hardcore hacker and do it yourself tech crew. The $150 price point is a bit misleading as that’s the board only; by the time you add an enclosure and some storage you’re bumping up against a low end netbook price (and ending up with much less functionality).

More fun details at the HackADay website.

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Apple Hates + Breaks Boxee and XBMC

Quick note: as reported by CrunchGear – the AppleTV 3.0 update trashes both Boxee and XBMC. So, for the time being don’t run the upgrade if you’re concerned about that.

If you’re at all familiar with past Apple updates this is probably not a shock to you.

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Lifehacker: Build a Silent, Standalone XBMC Media Center On the Cheap

Lifehacker just posted a great tutorial on how to install XBMC (Xbox Media Center) onto an Acer AspireRevo.

The AspireRevo is tiny (180 (L) x 180 (H) x 30 (W) mm), about the size of a paperback and has 6 USB ports, Ethernet and HDMI output at 1080p.

The directions are based upon having a Windows machine available to format the update, etc. But OS X options do exist.

Overall, if you are technically savvy this approach makes a solid choice for a HTPC.

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