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Two Minute Review of the Griffin Elan Sleeve for the Apple iPad 2

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2011

Two Minute Review of the Griffin Elan Sleeve for the Apple iPad 2

Do you want to keep your iPad 2 safe, but you don’t want a big case? Then take a look at our two minute review of the Elan Sleeve from Griffin.

Who are Griffin?

Griffin Technology began designing and manufacturing technical solutions with an innovative flair in 1992. We’ve since grown to become one of the largest providers of accessories for personal computing and digital media.

We ask ourselves: What would you like to do with your computer, your TV, your stereo system, your MP3 players, your musical instruments… the technology that enhances your life?

Our approach has given birth to some of the best known accessories in the digital entertainment and personal computer markets, including the iTrip family of FM transmitters and the groundbreaking Evolve Wireless Sound System.

Today, Griffin designs, manufactures and delivers useful and fun solutions for digital entertainment and personal computing to people in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, through major retailers and online.

The Elan Sleeve

Here is how Griffin describe the Elan Sleeve:

Slim enough to slip into a backpack, bag or briefcase; tough enough to protect your Apple iPad from whatever it may bump into in there. Slip your iPad into the Elan Sleeve, then flip the tab closure down to secure it. Gently pull the tab to slide your iPad out quickly and safely. For protection that looks great, Elan Sleeve is constructed of a stain-resistant synthetic outer shell with a smooth micro suede interior.

What’s in the Box?

The case is the only thing in the box, or rather the box is around the case.

Protecting Your iPad 2

The iPad 2 slides into the top of the sleeve and is held firmly in place.

In fact, you will really have to go some to get it out – although this will get easier with time when the sleeve becomes more used.

Final Thoughts

The Elan Sleeve is very light weight – in fact, without the iPad 2 inside it hardly weighs anything at all!

I certainly felt that my iPad 2 was safe and secure! It also didn’t take up much more room than the iPad 2 on it’s own, which was a bonus.

Price wise, the Elan Sleeve retails for around the £20 mark, although as usual take a look around to see if you can find a bargain.

If you are looking for something to store your “naked” iPad 2 in to keep it protected, then you should look no further than the Elan Sleeve.

Visit the Griffin website

Microsoft Release RC of Windows Phone 7 Connector for Windows Home Sever 2011 and SBS 2011 Essentials

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2011

3

Microsoft Release RC of Windows Phone 7 Connector for Windows Home Sever 2011 and SBS 2011 Essentials

Today Microsoft finally released the RC (release candidate) of the Windows Home Sever 2011 and SBS 2011 Essentials Windows Phone 7 Connector which was shown off at CES back in January.

Here is what Microsoft have posted on their blog:

Today we are pleased to announce the Release Candidate of the Windows Server Solutions Phone Connector for Windows Home Server 2011 (aka Integrating Windows Phone 7 with your WHS 2011 Server). The purpose of this Add-in is to enable Remote Server Management tasks and relay Media Streams for WHS 2011 including:

Alerts

After you complete the authentication steps with the server that you are trying to connect to, an alerts listing is the first panorama item that the application launches into. This feature brings the Alert Viewer that you know from the server, to the phone.

If an alert is displayed white, it is active and included in the alert count. If an alert is dimmed, that means the alert is disabled, and it is not included in the alert count. Any alert item can be clicked to view the full alert text just as on a computer. Contextual menu options include enabling or disabling an alert, and performing a repair action if one was assigned to this alert.

Users

The user-panorama item performs basic user management tasks, including:

Viewing user account details
Enable or disable a user account
Change a user account password

If you disable a user account, that is a reversible action. The moment a user account gets disabled, it causes the same effect as it would if you disable it by using the dashboard. The user’s access to Remote Web Access, the phone application, and any server resources is turned off.

Devices

“Devices” is a panorama item that lets you:

View server-joined computer and Mac details.
View the backup status that every device last reported to the server.
Start or stop a backup for any computer or the server (from the contextual menu).

Media

The Media panorama lets you discover and view streams of media elements that you stored on your server in the appropriate shared folders (such as Music, Video and Picture shares).

Music

MP3 non-Digital Rights Management-protected songs will be streamed directly from the server to your phone. Album art is also transported. Your library is searchable and can be organized in different views to help find what you want fast.

Pictures

“Pictures” has a variety of functions:

Discover all .png and .jpg images that are stored in the Pictures shared folder on the server. Subfolders are recognized.
Open a picture full-screen to view it on the phone.
Save a copy of the picture to the phone, using its original dimensions and resolution (to be viewed later in the built-in Pictures hub of any Windows Phone 7).
Take a picture with the phone’s camera and upload it to the server.
Upload any picture that is stored in the Pictures hub of the phone to the server.

Videos

The “Videos” feature allows you to discover and view videos that are stored on your server in the Videos shared folder.

Even though discoverable by this feature, the variety of video formats is high and not all formats can be streamed. For details about which video formats can be streamed from the server and accepted by the phone, see Supported Media Codecs for Windows Phone.

Live Tile Support

If you pin the application to the home screen of your Windows Phone 7, you will be able to see a variety of at-a-glance information without launching into the application. An opt-in using the settings menu is required.

The at-a-glance information includes:

Count and type of network health alerts.
Percentage of storage use of your main disk.
Server name sending this information.

The Windows Phone 7 application requires both a server sided add-in to be installed on the WHS 2011 Server, as well as Windows 7 Phone application downloadable via marketplace.

For further information, and access to the downloads to start testing today, please visit http://connect.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver. Please note this is a release candidate and as such is for testing purposes only.

D-Link Now Shipping MainStage DHD-131 TV Adapter for Intel Wireless Display

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2011

0

D-Link Now Shipping MainStage DHD-131 TV Adapter for Intel Wireless Display

Today D-Link have launched their MainStage DHD-131 TV Adaptor for Intel Wireless Display laptops.

Make surfing the Web a part of your Home Theater Experience on your HDTV
Instead of crowding around a desk with all your friends just to show them this really funny video you saw on YouTube the other day, wouldn’t it be better if all of you sat comfortably on the couch to watch that same video, but on your big screen TV, with popcorn? Watch movies from Netflix or shows from Hulu. Listen to Internet radio using Pandroa or just blast 5.1 surround sound from a Blu-Ray movie³.

One Button Connection
The D-Link MainStage can do just that. It acts as a bigger, better, HD display for your Intel® Wireless Display powered laptop. It wirelessly ‘sends’ your laptop² display onto your TV, enabling you to surf the web, view home movies from your home network, or your laptop², right from the couch, with the push of a button.

Two Screens at Once
Drag a movie onto the Windows extended screen to watch on your TV, and continue using your laptop to chat, email, and work on a document.

Great for Presentations
The MainStage is also great for presentations, grab your Intel WiDi enabled laptop and ‘send’ your colorful and animated presentations onto your business flat-panel equipped conference room with the push of a button.

¹ Any device, content, or application you can access on your home network or your PC.
² Works only with laptops with Intel® Wireless Display powered by the Intel® Core™ Processor Family.
³ 1080p resolution and digital surround sound available only if supported by file format. Requires TV that supports 1080p and digital surround sound.
⁴ Codec Limitations and DRM issues are based off of what your laptop can and can not play.
⁵ 24/7 Basic Installation Support is available only in the USA for the first 30 days from date of original purchase.
⁶ 1-Year Limited Warranty available only in the USA and Canada.

The MainStage (DHD-131) is now available throughout D-Link’s network of retail and e-tail outlets for an MSRP of $129.99 in the U.S., and will be available in Canada in July for $129.99.

Learn more from the D-Link website

Here is the full press release:

D-Link Now Shipping MainStage^™ for Intel^® Wireless Display, Enabling Consumers to View and Enjoy Laptop Content on a Big Screen HDTV

D-Link’s Easy-to-Use MainStage for Intel^® WiDi-Enabled Laptops Allows Consumers to Surf the Web, Watch Movies and Shop Online from a TV

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – June 14, 2011 – D-Link today announced its MainStage™ for Intel^® Wireless Display (DHD-131) is now available, offering consumers an easy way to enjoy and share content from laptops[i] on an HDTV, from surfing the Web, to viewing photos, to streaming online videos.[ii] Delivering the web directly to TV screens, D-Link’s new MainStage makes the biggest screen in today’s homes the “main stage” for an array of home entertainment in 1080p HD and 5.1 digital surround sound.[iii]

“The Internet is truly indispensible in today’s homes – whether for enjoyment, work, school, or sharing family moments,” said Daniel Kelley, associate vice president of consumer marketing, D-Link North America. “MainStage lets you wirelessly project movies and TV shows from Netflix and Hulu, or personal home videos and photo slideshows, to the best screen in the home, the HDTV. If you already own a notebook with Intel Wireless Display, it’s one of the easiest ways to work and play online from your couch.”

D-Link^® MainStage enables consumers to seamlessly enjoy and share PC content from an Intel^® Core™ processor-based notebook on a TV. Simply plug MainStage into the TV using an HDMI or A/V cable and with a push of a button automatically connects to your router, allowing consumers to surf the web and view home movies from a home network or laptop. In addition to enjoying content at home, MainStage also offers today’s mobile professionals an easy way to send colorful and animated presentations and online content to flat-panel displays in conference rooms for a range of business presentation needs. Furthermore, while MainStage users are showing a movie or presentation on the big screen, they can simultaneously work on the notebook that is projecting to the TV.

“D-Link’s MainStage TV adapter is a great example of Intel^® WiDi 2.0 in action,” said Joe Van de Water, consumer product marketing manager at Intel. “Intel WiDi 2.0 lets you wirelessly stream content from your PC to your HDTV with no cables or attachments to your PC. With Intel WiDi 2.0, you can enjoy Blu-ray movies, DVD movies, and content from Internet services like Intel Insider on your HDTV with up to 1080p HD clarity and 5.1 surround sound, and also share pictures, music, or videos.”

MainStage for Intel^® Wireless Display is compatible with any Intel^® Wireless Display enabled system. 1080p and Blu-ray or other protected content playback is only available on second generation Intel^® Core™ processor-based PCs with built-in visuals enabled, a compatible media player and supporting Intel WiDi software and graphics driver installed. For more information on laptop requirements and compatible products, please visit www.intel.com/go/wirelessdisplay.

Availability and Pricing

MainStage (DHD-131) is now available throughout D-Link’s network of retail and e-tail outlets for an MSRP of $129.99 in the U.S., and will be available in Canada in July for $129.99. It will also be offered at the company’s online store, http://www.dlinkshop.com.

About D-Link

Celebrating its 25^th anniversary in 2011, D-Link is the global leader in connectivity for home, small business, mid- to large-sized enterprise environments, and service providers. An award-winning designer, developer, and manufacturer, D-Link implements and supports unified network solutions that integrate capabilities in switching, wireless, broadband, storage, IP Surveillance, and cloud-based network management. For more information visit www.dlink.com, www.dlink.ca or connect with D-Link on Facebook (www.facebook.com/dlink) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/dlink).

# # #

D-Link, MainStage and the D-Link logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of D-Link Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other third-party marks mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2011. D-Link. All Rights Reserved.

[i] Works only with laptops with Intel® Wireless Display powered by the Intel® Core™ Processor Family

[ii] Any device, content, or application you can access on your home network or your PC

[iii] 1080p resolution and digital surround sound available only if supported by file format. Requires TV that supports 1080p and digital surround sound.

Drive Bender for Windows Home Server 2011 User Interface Finalised

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

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Jun 14, 2011

0

Drive Bender for Windows Home Server 2011 User Interface Finalised

Today saw the release of some screen shots of the final user interface (UI) for Drive Bender for Windows Home Server 2011, a few days before the beta 4 is due to be delivered.

For more information check out the Drive Bender website

And watch out for beta 4 later this week!

StableBit DrivePool for Windows Home Server Build 1836 Now Available

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

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Jun 13, 2011

1

StableBit DrivePool for Windows Home Server Build 1836 Now Available

The latest beta version of the Windows Home Server Drive Extender replacement StableBit DrivePool build 1736 has just been released.

Combine all your hard drives into one big storage pool (except the system drive with the OS).
Add and remove drives from the pool at any time without re-partitioning or manually moving folders.
Create duplicated folders on the storage drive pool that are protected against single drive failure. If a drive fails on which a duplicated file was stored, the contents of that file will remain readable even without the drive.
All your data is stored in standard NTFS files. You can always access your files even if the Windows Home Server completely crashes or this add-in can’t be used.

The changes in this version are:

* You shouldn’t be able to perform repair tasks on disks that are not in the pool.

* After trying multiple notification techniques (WMI, Powershell, Direct WHS), scrapped existing notification system and rewrote it from scratch. All notification are now in real-time with no interaction from the clients. This fixes the client computer monitoring error. It can take up to 6 hrs to replicate the new settings to the client computers.

* Do not notify about incomplete files while a disk is being removed.

* Individual drive free space was actually the capacity.

Download Stablebit Drivepool build 1836 here Learn more about StableBit DrivePool here

Have you tried it? What do you think?

Two Minute Review of the Waterfield Designs Cozmo Bag

Reviews

Andrew Edney

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Jun 13, 2011

2

Two Minute Review of the Waterfield Designs Cozmo Bag

Are you in the market for a very cool and stylish looking bag to carry not only your laptop or netbook, but also a few other things? If so, then why not take a look at the Cozmo from Waterfield Designs?

Who are Waterfield Designs?

Here is how they describe themselves on their website:

No mass production or overseas workforce. WaterField bags are designed and made in San Francisco, where rent is high, labor is expensive and competition is intense. We wouldn’t go anywhere else!

In a nutshell, WaterField products are ridiculously well-made, fastidiously designed, have more personality than you can shake a stick at, and are so “user-friendly”, that you can actually operate them with one arm tied behind your back. This turns out to be a huge benefit for high-frequency travellers; the busy, laptop-carrying, cell phone-obsessed commuting types; or the dual diaper/carrying bag parents.

Here is how Waterfield Designs describe the Cozmo bag:

[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]Cozmopolitan. Go first class, even if you’re just going down the block. Smart design and smart style includes off-set d-rings for auto-balance and “weightless” suspension shoulder strap. The Cozmo’s great shape allows it to stand up on its own, empty or full. [/box]

A Closer Look

The Cozmo comes in a variety of different colours, I went for the Brown Muzetto Leather, which in my opinion gives it quite a unique and very stylish look. It also comes in three different sizes – I went for the medium.

I found the carry strap to be very comfortable, even when the bag was full of stuff and I had been carrying it around for a while. It also felt very secure and I didn’t worry that the strap or buckle might break under weight.

I also felt that my laptop, and other “breakables” were very safe in the bag. There is nothing worse that someone banging into you and you worrying that something may have been damaged!

Final Thoughts

This is a great bag. It looks really stylish, in fact, it looks a bit retro. Obviously there are many different colours to choose from so you can choose one for yourself that suits you. Even the inside of the bag looks stylish!

I went for the medium size because when I travel around, I usually have my laptop, a variety of charges, bits and pieces of paperwork, and so on. I could actually have got away with the small, but at least I know I will have plenty of room available to me if I need it.

Depending on your laptop size (I used my 13” MacBook Air, which makes the bag feel even more spacious) you can fit quite a lot more stuff in there. There are also some pockets to keep smaller things secure. The laptop pocket inside also have velcro to keep your laptop safe and snug.

Available in three sizes:

Large Cozmo $189 / Large Cozmo Dimensions
Medium Cozmo $179 / Medium Cozmo Dimensions
Small Cozmo $169 / Small Cozmo Dimensions

Price wise, the Cozmo isn’t a cheap bag, but then to be honest it doesn’t look, or feel cheap. This bag could last you a very long time, so it is certainly worth considering the investment. I know that I will continue to use it for a long time to come, both for going to meetings or even taking on a plane when I go abroad. So if keeping your laptop safe and secure is important to you, and you also want to look good, then you should certainly take a look at the Cozmo.

Learn more about the Cozmo and place your order here

Below is a short video showing the different size bags.

UWHS Giveaway – Still Time to Win PerfectDisk 12 Home Server Edition

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

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Jun 13, 2011

0

Last week Raxco released PerfectDisk 12 and then we reviewed PerfectDisk 12 Home Server edition for WHS V1 and WHS 2011. Raxco have given us 5 copies of PerfectDisk 12 Home Server edition to give away and there is still time to win a copy.

Check out our review of PerfectDisk 12 Home Server edition for Windows Home Server 2011 Check out our review of PerfectDisk 12 Home Server edition for Windows Home Server V1

PerfectDisk 12 Home Server edition comes with both the 32 bit version (for Windows Home Server V1) and the 64 bit version (for Windows Home Server 2011), so you will get both if you win.

Ok, so what do you have to do to win one of these licences, worth $39.99 each?

Well in the past we have done giveaways involving leaving a comment, answering a question, doing something in our forums, but we haven’t yet done one involving Twitter, so we figured it was about time!

So, make sure that you follow us on Twitter (@aedney) and then tweet the following:

I want to win PerfectDisk 12 with @aedney and UWHS. Visit http://bit.ly/Ct7vB and RT for your chance to win.

Or just click the Tweet button below to do it automatically.

[twitter style=”horizontal” text=”I want to win PerfectDisk 12 with @aedney and UWHS. Visit http://bit.ly/Ct7vB and RT for your chance to win.” float=”left”]

The giveaway will run until Thursday 16th June, and which point we will pick 5 winners at random who tweeted and post them on the site.

Good luck!

Boxee for PC, Mac and Ubuntu Getting Fall Update

Digital Home

Andrew Edney

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Jun 13, 2011

0

Boxee for PC, Mac and Ubuntu Getting Fall Update

There has been a lot of updates and talk of future plans for the Boxee Box, but not a lot about the original Boxee software for quite a while. Well that is at least until today.

We took a look at the Boxee software back in January 2010.

It’s good to see that there will be some movement on this, although I can certainly understand why it has been quiet for so long.

Here is what Boxee posted today:

Good news for PC/Mac/Linux users – we are working to update the downloadable software version of Boxee and hope to have builds available this fall so you can enjoy the updated browser, improved playback, and lots more content that are currently available on the Boxee Box.

We know Boxee users on computers have been frustrated with the long wait and we want to be open with you about our priorities, growth, and the future of Boxee.

We started Boxee in 2007. Our goal was to make a box that people could easily plug into their TV to watch whatever they wanted from the Internet or their home network. After a while, we realized it was going to be very hard and expensive for us to build a box and decided the quickest way to get Boxee into the hands of users would be to release downloadable version of the software. A beta of Mac and Ubuntu versions came out in 2009 and we later added support for Windows.

While the downloadable software gained fans we never lost that initial dream of building a Boxee Box, so we were very excited to partner with D-Link and work together on making a Box. That decision in the summer of 2009 has given shape to the company Boxee has become.

The reason is simple – the effort to build the Boxee Box involved writing on a completely new OS, handling a totally different and more involved setup process, support for new security mechanisms, writing a new browser, integrating new hardware libraries for video, audio and graphics handling, and many more tasks. It was (and still is) an enormous task for a relatively small team, keeping in mind that we weren’t “starting from scratch” – we were adapting a product and code base that already existed which is considerably harder.

At a certain point we had to focus everyone on the Boxee Box to make sure we hit deadlines. After launch we needed everyone working to address feedback and our own demands for where we wanted the product to be. All of it came at the expense of the downloadable version. The gap between the CE and computer version grew bigger. However over the past couple of months we’ve taken steps towards bridging that gap.

We are going to release an update for the downloadable version this fall, and hope to keep it more up to speed with the CE version going forward. We also hope to make the open source version of the downloadable version easier to use for people who want to build out their own versions of Boxee. That said, updates for the downloadable version will most likely lag behind the versions of Boxee for devices.

Learn more from the Boxee blog

Acer Announces AMD-powered Revo RL100 HTPC

Digital Home

Andrew Edney

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Jun 13, 2011

0

Acer Announces AMD-powered Revo RL100 HTPC

Acer have just released a new HTPC into the US market – the Revo RL100. It’s slim and it has a very cool keyboard! But it’s only available in the US.

Just take a look at that keyboard! How cool is that! The RL100 itself actually reminds me a bit of the original Playstation.

The Acer Revo RL100 measures just 1.0 inches (H) x 11.81 inches (W) x 7.09 inches (L). It’s sleek, understated and flexible with the ability to lay flat or upright on a stand depending on the user’s preference. It connects directly to a TV via an HDMI port and seamlessly integrates with a high-definition 5.1 channel surround sound system. Enhanced with Dolby® Home Theater v3, the Acer Revo RL100 provides an immersive, crystal-clear audio experience.
The smooth acceleration for HD home cinema features next generation NVIDIA® ION discrete graphics with support for 1080p/720p HD video playback and Web HD Flash acceleration. Equipped with an AMD Athlon™ II K325 processor (1.3GHz), a 750GB SATA hard drive and 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, the Acer Revo RL100 has plenty of power and storage for cinematic entertainment.

The Acer Revo RL100 comes with a dual-mode wireless touchpad/keyboard. With the press of a toggle button, the wireless multi-gesture touchpad transforms between a back-lit full-function keyboard and a simple touch-based mouse. The keyboard is about the size of an index card that enables a large amount of text to be typed using fingers or thumbs.
A feature called Free Touch provides screen navigation, cursor movement and application control with the use of just one-finger. Using two-finger pivot motion, PDF files can be rotated 90 degrees. Users can also pinch for zooming and browse photos, web pages, documents or media albums back and forth by sliding three fingers horizontally and vertically.

The Acer Revo RL100-U1002 will be $499.99 and the Acer Revo RL100-UR20P with a Blu-ray drive will be $569.99.

Visit the Acer website

[toggle title_open=”Read the Press Release” title_closed=”Read the Press Release” hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”white” excerpt_length=”0″ read_more_text=”Read More” read_less_text=”Read Less” include_excerpt_html=”no”]ACER REVO RL100 MEDIA CENTER:THE DIGITAL HEART OF THE LIVING ROOM

Sleek system with Blu-ray makes aggregating and sharing digital data among home devices simple and seamless; Winner of Computex Best Choice and Design & Innovation awards

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 13, 2011 – Acer America Corp. announced today that the slim and stylish Acer Revo RL100 media center is now available at leading technology retailers in the United States. A digital hub for a den or living room, it connects to a flat-screen TV and comes with a dual-mode wireless touchpad/keyboard for smooth navigation from the comfort of the couch. There are two models available, including one with Blu-ray.

Outfitted with Acer clear.fi, the Acer RL100 automatically interconnects all Acer home-based and mobile devices, including smartphones, making it easy to consolidate and share HD multimedia throughout the household. This means users can access HD movies and personal content from any Acer device in the house for enjoying on a big screen TV.

This unique system won both Best Choice and Design & Innovation awards at Computex 2011 in Taipei. The Best Choice awards jury selects Taiwan’s best information and communications technologies (ICT) products in the overseas market each year. The Design & Innovation awards, organized in cooperation with the world-leading industrial design institution iF Design, honors products showcasing excellence and originality in construction.

Available in a very slim, low profile black chassis that’s about the size of a game console, the Acer Revo RL100 measures just 1.0 inches (H) x 11.81 inches (W) x 7.09 inches (L). It’s sleek, understated and flexible with the ability to lay flat or upright on a stand depending on the user’s preference. It connects directly to a TV via an HDMI port and seamlessly integrates with a high-definition 5.1 channel surround sound system. Enhanced with Dolby® Home Theater v3, the Acer Revo RL100 provides an immersive, crystal-clear audio experience.

The smooth acceleration for HD home cinema features next generation NVIDIA® ION discrete graphics with support for 1080p/720p HD video playback and Web HD Flash acceleration. Equipped with an AMD Athlon™ II K325 processor (1.3GHz), a 750GB SATA hard drive (1) and 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, the Acer Revo RL100 has plenty of power and storage for cinematic entertainment.

Flexible Dual-Mode Wireless Touchpad/Keyboard The Acer Revo RL100 comes with a dual-mode wireless touchpad/keyboard. With the press of a toggle button, the wireless multi-gesture touchpad transforms between a back-lit full-function keyboard and a simple touch-based mouse. The keyboard is about the size of an index card that enables a large amount of text to be typed using fingers or thumbs.

A feature called Free Touch provides screen navigation, cursor movement and application control with the use of just one-finger. Using two-finger pivot motion, PDF files can be rotated 90 degrees. Users can also pinch for zooming and browse photos, web pages, documents or media albums back and forth by sliding three fingers horizontally and vertically.

Acer clear.fi: Simple Sharing, Set-Up, Search and Scalability The integrated Acer clear.fi media sharing system is based on the concept that it’s easier if all personal multimedia content is integrated into a single system with a common interface. clear.fi works by automatically detecting the clear.fi-enabled devices connected to the wireless home network and allowing digital content stored on these to be shared with other devices leveraging the same interface. clear.fi is Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) compatible, allowing users to access media on DLNA-capable devices such as network attached storage (NAS), Microsoft® Xbox 360, Playstation® 3, some digital cameras and cell phones. Highly scalable, all Acer-branded consumer devices now have clear.fi embedded and can instantly join the wireless home network to share stored multimedia.

Connectivity and Software Acer Revo RL100 has three USB 2.0 ports (one in front, two in back) for connection to a wide gamut of digital devices. The integrated multi-in-one card reader supports MultiMediaCard™ (MMC), Secure Digital™ (SD) Card, xD-Picture Card™ and Memory Stick™. It also offers an optical S/PDIF port for connecting to an external home theater audio system and both wired and wireless connections to the internet via integrated 802.11b/g/n wireless and an Ethernet port.

Practical software includes Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium, Microsoft® Office Starter 2010, Adobe® Acrobat® Reader, Adobe Flash Player, Acer Recovery Management, Nero Essentials, Clear.fi, eSobi™, Wild Tangent Zone and NetFlix®.

Pricing, Availability and Warranty The new Acer Revo RL100 is available now at leading retailers. It comes with a one year parts and labor limited warranty and toll-free technical support.(2) The Acer Revo RL100-U1002 has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $499.99 and the Acer Revo RL100-UR20P with a Blu-ray drive has a MSRP of $569.99.[/toggle]

via Engadget

BlackGold Announce BGT3630 Tuner Card

Andrew Edney

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Jun 12, 2011

0

Last year we got our hands on the BlackGold BGT3620, now BlackGold have announced the forthcoming release of the BGT3630.

Here is what BlackGold have said:

The BGT3630 is the world’s high performance, digital demodulator, analogue capture, intelligent remote PCI-express PCTV product, implemented on a sub-miniature platform. The product is capable of receiving standard and high definition digital broadcast program content, including the new UK Freeview and Freesat HD channels. It is designed to transform a personal computer into the ultimate audio video entertainment system, supporting external video streams and worldwide HD broadcast streams.

Hardware receiver support – world standard analogue terrestrial (PAL, NTSC, CECAM), digital terrestrial including both DVB-T and DVB-T2, digital satellite DVB-S and DVB-S2, digital cable DVB-C. i.e. Two separate tuners on one card 1 x DVB-S/S2 Tuner + 1 x DVB-T/T2, DVB-C or Analogue.

Hardware external video – Composite video CVBS, S-video, Component video YPbPr, Component video RGB

Hardware remote – IR remote receiver, learning receiver, remote S3 wake-up (OEM build time options only, not on standard product. This is an option if a system builder requires a remote control other than the normal Microsoft Media Center remote USB IR sensor used for most systems)

Hardware profile – Miniature profile solution exceptionally low real estate, supporting compact half height and full height PC systems. (131mm x 69mm PCB outline including PCI-e fingers)
The BGT3630 is the perfect Windows 7 Media Center and other high end PVR application TV partner.

1. 32 and 64 bit Broadcast Driver Architecture (BDA) WHQL drivers
2. Infra Red remote control including S3 wakeup from remote control (OEM special order only, not with standard product. This is an option if a system builder requires a remote control other than the normal Microsoft Media Center remote used for most systems. It is not required by most users and is only available for high volume special order. Windows S3 Wake-up is standard on ALL BlackGold products and is not dependant on the BlackGold Remote.)
3. Special Media Center support for tuning and scanning of DVB-C channels
4. External video equipment connection via an audio/video adapter cable supporting composite video –yellow phono connector, S video – mini DIN connector, component RGB video – red/green/blue phono connectors and stereo audio – red/white phono connectors

The product has been architected to allow simultaneous management of both a DVB-S/S2 and a DVB-T/T2 broadcast program stream. Hardware tuner and demodulator technology supports the detection, receiving and processing of HD terrestrial and HD satellite streams.

The driver pack design allows operation with the broadest selection of PVR and Media Center applications; permitting the viewing, pausing and recording of multiple programs – dependent on the flexibility of the application multiple programs – dependent on the flexibility of the application.

(The DVB-T tuner can be used as one of either DVB-T, DVB-T2, DVB-C or Analogue)

UK operation supports all available Free-To-Air channels
All Freeview digital terrestrial (DVB-T & T2) TV and radio channels
All available analogue terrestrial TV channels.

Supports reception of all Freesat channels, supports reception of DVB-S/S2 standard and high definition transport streams from any world location.

Rock solid reliability – BlackGold is an accredited Microsoft development partner and provides Microsoft compliant drivers.

The world’s smallest (DVB-T/T2 plus DVB-S/S2) half height card design enables this product to grace even the smallest and sleekest entertainment PC’s.
Supplied with interchangeable half and full height brackets to accommodate all PC enclosure types.

The supplied Microsoft compliant BGT3630 driver supports both the 32 bit, and for those requiring the ultimate performance, 64 bit versions of Windows 7, Vista and XP.

The BDA driver supports multiple BGT3630 card installations.

There is no word yet on price, and their website says Anticipated release June / July 2011. So watch this space.

Check out the BlackGold website

And well spotted James Tenniswood!

AWIECO DriveInfo Updated to Version 1.03

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

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Jun 12, 2011

0

AWIECO DriveInfo Updated to Version 1.03

Last week AWIECO updated their DriveInfo add-in for Windows Home Server 2011 to version 1.03.

The AWIECO DriveInfo is a free add-in for Windows Home Server 2011 and Small Business Server 2011 Essentials. The add-in integrates itself into the “Server Folders and Hard Drives” area of your Dashboard. It shows a graphical overview of your hard disks and drives inside the Dashboard.

ChangeLog

v1.0.3

• Fixed: Detecting new disks, drives, folders
• Fixed: List server backup drives

Visit the AWIECO website to learn more Download AWIECO DriveInfo from here

BYOB Episode 46 Out Now

Tech

Andrew Edney

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Jun 12, 2011

0

The guys over at the BYOB podcast, including our very own Tim Daleo have just released episode 46.

Here is what is included in this weeks show:

[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]Corsair H80/100, Corsair Carbide Series 4000/500R, Windows 8 and much, much more. We are back after one week not doing the show. We apologize for missing a week and we cover all kinds of stuff tonight. Hope you enjoy the show and it feels great to be back.[/box]

As usual you can listen to the show from here.

Review of the PCTV Systems pctv nanoStick T2 DVB T2 USB Tuner

Andrew Edney

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Jun 11, 2011

0

Review of the PCTV Systems pctv nanoStick T2 DVB T2 USB Tuner

Would you like a DVB T2 USB tuner? If so, take a look at our review of the PCTV Systems pctv nanoStick T2.

PCTV nanoStick T2 is the world’s first DVB-T2 (Freeview HD in the UK) receiver and turns your PC and laptop into an HDTV PVR. The included TVCenter application lets you time shift and record TV shows and even stream SD live-TV and TV recordings to your iPhone, iPad or other PCs and Macs. PCTV nanoStick T2 is fully backward compatible to DVB-T (Freeview) and delivers outstanding reception for both standards. Other features include support for Windows Media Center (DVB-T only). DVB-T antenna, USB extension cable and mini remote control are included.

Watch TV in full-screen or scalable window
Use time shifting to pause and rewind live TV
Record your favourite shows or schedule future recordings

The included DistanTV software lets you stream Live-TV and TV recordings to your iPhone and iPad. You can even schedule TV recordings over the Internet with your smart phone. DistanTV works in your home network (W-LAN) as well as over the Internet (Wi-Fi hotspot and 3G).

Who are PCTV Systems

From their website:

The PCTV Systems brand stands for high quality and innovative products in the TV Viewing and Digital home marketplace.

The portfolio covers external (USB) and internal (PCI) TV tuner products for analog and digital TV reception on PC and MAC. Product development and quality management is driven by the product development group located in Braunschweig, Germany.

One major goal for the company is to develop well designed hardware and software solutions which enable customers to use the products without a deep knowledge of technologies. We are dedicated to satisfy our users with state of the art solutions.

Technical Specifications

Tuner

Supported TV standards:
- DVB-T2, DVB-T
- VHF-/UHF band
Stereo / dual channel sound
Antenna input: MCX connector
PC-interface: USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed)

TV recording formats

MPEG-1 (off-line trans-coding)
MPEG-2 transport stream
MPEG-4 H.264 (AVC)
MPEG-4 compatible with PSP/iPod (try&buy)

Minimum System Requirements

Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows Vista with latest Service Pack, 1 GB RAM
Or Windows XP (32 bit) with latest Service Pack, 512 MB RAM
Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz, Pentium M 1.3 GHz or equivalent AMD Athlon XP
For HDTV: 2,6 GHz multi core processor
Hard disk with min. 1 GB free capacity (20 GB free capacity recommended)
Sound and graphics with support for DirectX 9 or higher
USB 2.0 port
CD/DVD drive for software installation
Recommended: Internet connection for software updates and activations

What’s in the Box?

Along with the PCTV nanoStick, there is a passive mini-rod antenna with magnetic foot, remote control with batteries, antenna adaptor, USB cable, installation CD and quick start guide.

The remote is tiny – just take a look at the size compared to my trusty iPhone 4.

Windows Small Business Server 2011 Adminstrator’s Companion Out Now

Andrew Edney

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Jun 11, 2011

1

Windows Small Business Server 2011 Adminstrator’s Companion Out Now

Charlie Russell and Sharon Crawford’s new book the Windows Small Business Server 2011 Adminstrator’s Companion has just been released, and I was the technical reviewer on the book.

The Administrator’s Companion is the comprehensive, one-volume guide to deploying and administering Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard edition. This edition is the ideal solution for small businesses with up to 75 users. And, a heck of a value. The software is built on Windows Server 2008 R2 and includes Exchange Server 2010 SP1, SharePoint Foundation Services 2010, and Windows Server Update Services. The Premium Add-on option provides SQL Server 2008 R2 for Small Business.

As the authors say, “The evolution of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server from its inception to the latest version in 2011 has been an orderly progression of improvements both large and small—and the total distance covered is immense.”

Learn more about the book from here

And don’t forget Working With Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, the book I have written with Charlie and Sharon which will be available very soon.