If you have pre-ordered your Apple iPad, then you may have received it a day early.
The official launch date for the Apple iPad here in the UK is tomorrow, Friday 28th May, however those that pre-ordered seem to be getting theirs delivered now (I just got mine).
Here are a few quick shots – it’s now charging so I will let you know what I think of it later!
I also got the Apple case for it as well.
Did you get one today? What do you think of it so far?
The Tranquil T7-MP2 Media Center PC is now shipping – and sooner than planned, and we have a coupon code for you as well!
We have mentioned the T7-MP2 a few times now:
Tranquil Announce the T7-MP2 Media Center PC
Tranquil Talk Media Center PCs and ixL
There is also a £40 + VAT saving to be had if you order before the end of the month:
| Coupon Code T7MP240 |
Pre-order T7-MP2 before it’s shipping date (30th May 2010) and claim £40+VAT saving. |
| Valid until 30th May only |
Our T7-MP2 should be here tomorrow, so expect a full hands on review asap.
Built to exacting standards – and fan less of course, for near zero noise intrusion, this tiny Media Centre is the best available today.
- Powered by the ION chipset from Nvidia, you can now enjoy HD movies etc with ease
- Intel dual core Atom CPU ensures low energy consumption with excellent performance
- Near silent operation – there are no fans to be heard, or suck in dust
- Integrated Media Centre Receiver and Media Centre remote control
- Tiny foot print – the size of a hard back book
- Connect to almost any screen, HDMI (1.3) – DVI or VGA
and almost any audio player HDMI – SPDIF (Coax or Optical) – Analog- Expand storage with 6x rear USB2 ports and 1x eSATA port
- Built in WiFi (802.11 b/g/n) and GigaLAN interface
- Desirable quality – made from all extruded aluminium parts
- Ideal for Media Centre Playback of your media files, web browsing etc
or Live TV / Recorded TV playback, or CD/DVD/BluRay playback – via optional USB devices- Runs Windows 7 Home Premium with Media Centre + IP TV services
- Optional VESA TV bracket, to mount the T7-MP2 on the back of your large screen TV
(75×75, 100×100 or 200x100mm VESA mount points)To learn more please check out the full details
Initial stocks are already being reserved – so don’t delay, if you want to enjoy streaming media / IPTV services etc on your big screen. If you do choose to pre-order, be sure to use the coupon code below – and SAVE.
We take a look at the Iomega Storcenter ix4-200d NAS server.
The Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d NAS Server offers content sharing with advanced security, and is ideal for small office, remote office or home networks. Based on enterprise-class EMC storage technology, the StorCenter ix4-200d provides dual GbE connections, easy file sharing, iSCSI block access, and multiple RAID configurations for optimized data protection. Business users will appreciate the robust data protection features such as UPS support, print serving, folder quotas, Rsync device-to-device replication, and user replaceable drives for business continuity and disaster recovery. The easy-to-use interface, Active Directory support, and remote access provide no-hassle management. The StorCenter ix4-200d supports up to five Axis IP security cameras for simple video surveillance applications. Home users will particularly benefit from the advanced media features such as the DLNA certified UPnP AV Media Server, PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol), torrent download compatibility, Bluetooth upload, and Cooliris slide show plug-in. Award-winning EMC Retrospect Express backup software and RSA BSAFE encryption for protected installs and upgrades are included for advanced backup and security. Supports PC, Mac and Linux clients and is VMware certified for NFS and iSCSI. Available in 2TB, 4TB and 8TB capacities.
SPECIFICATIONS
FEATURES
Here are the features as described by Iomega:
Today Seagate have launched the worlds fastest hard drive for laptops – the Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid Drive.
The Momentus XT comes in either 250GB, 320GB or 500GB. No news on price yet, so watch this space.
Can you learn more here, including some videos: http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/laptops/laptop-hdd
Here is the full press release:
Seagate Delivers World’s Fastest Hard Drive For Laptop Computers; Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid Drive Offers Solid State Performance With The Capacity And Value Of Hard Disk Drives
New ASUS Gaming Laptop to Deliver Unprecedented Speeds Powered by Momentus XT Drive
London, UK – May 24, 2010 – Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) today announced channel and OEM shipments of the Momentus ® XT drive, the world’s fastest 2.5-inch laptop PC hard drive, combining SSD-like performance with the massive capacity and much lower cost of HDDs. The Momentus XT drive also features Adaptive Memory™ – a groundbreaking new technology from Seagate that learns and optimizes the drive’s performance to each user by moving frequently used information into the flash memory for faster access. The Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive boots up to 100 percent faster than traditional 5400RPM drives, the mainstream spin speed for laptop PCs, and sets new benchmarks for real-world system performance for laptops and gaming systems
.
Today’s high-performance SSDs for mobile computing cost as much as 10 times more than hard disk drives of the same capacity, with the price of a 250GB SSD outstripping even the cost of many laptop PCs. As a result, most consumers and system builders are unwilling or unable to pay the high price for the greater speed and quiet operations of SSDs. Additionally, SSDs offer fewer capacity options than hard disk drives.
Momentus XT, 2.5-inch Solid State Hybrid Drive
The Momentus XT drive is a best-of-both-worlds solution that combines a 7200RPM spin speed, 4GB of solid state memory and Seagate’s Adaptive Memory technology to deliver unprecedented hard drive performance. The unique Adaptive Memory technology works by identifying patterns in how often certain digital data is used, and then moving the most frequently used information to the embedded solid state memory for faster access – effectively tailoring hard drive performance to each user and their applications.
“For notebook PC users looking forward to faster PC performance without sacrificing storage capacity or affordability, now there’s an option,” according to John Rydning, IDC’s research director for hard disk drives. “Seagate’s new Momentus ® XT drive is the first storage device for notebook PCs that raises the bar for affordable capacity and performance.”
“We see the Momentus ® XT drive as a game changer, a product heralding a new generation of hard drives that combine SSD and HDD capabilities so that laptop users don’t have to make trade-offs on speed, cost or capacity,” said Dave Mosley, Seagate executive vice president of Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management. “The feedback we’ve received from customers, industry experts and early reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, and Seagate will continue to drive innovation that provides more value and a better computing experience to consumers.”
Momentus ® XT Drive Brings Unprecedented Speed to New ASUS Gaming Laptop PC
ASUS has also announced that it will offer the Momentus XT drive as an upgrade option for its new Republic of Gamers (ROG) G73Jh notebook. The system is powered by an Intel i7 720Qm quad-core processor, 8GB of DDR3 memory, and DX11 capable ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870.“With the Momentus ® XT drive, ASUS gives gaming customers who prefer the ASUS ROG G73 the capacity they need and the performance they crave,” said PC Wang, vice president of the ASUS Systems Business Group. “Seagate’s innovative solid state hybrid drive hands down delivers the best value, capacity and SSD-like performance to a wide audience.”
The Momentus XT drive installs as easily as a traditional 9.5mm-high notebook drive for new systems or laptop upgrades and, unlike early hybrid drives, operates independently of the operating system and the motherboard chipset.
Seagate also unveils new addition to mainstream Momentus ® Family: 750GB spinning at 7200RPMs
In addition to the Momentus XT drive, Seagate is delivering the world’s highest capacity 7200RPM drive at 750GB. This new Momentus 750GB drive is a traditional hard disk drive designed for mainstream to high-performance computing and external backup enclosures. The Momentus 750GB drive also features a SATA 3Gb/s with NCQ interface, 16MB cache with silent acoustics and low power consumption. The Momentus 750GB drive delivers high capacity with high performance and further enhances the feature-rich options already available in the Seagate Momentus family of 2.5-inch notebook drives.
Newegg have a fantastic deal on if you want to buy the HP EX490 MediaSmart Server.
That’s right, you can get the HP EX490 MediaSmart Server, with free shipping, for $389.99.
You can order yours from here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859105562&Tpk=ex490
As usual this offer wont last forever so be quick.
Those of you who are following information about the new HomeServerSync Add-In from Tranquil may want to check out the website.
Yesterday we posted some exclusive screenshots and information on the new add-in, and now there is a website. There isn’t much there at the moment, and there isn’t much more I am allowed to share right now.
Take a look at what we posted yesterday: Exclusive First Look at the HomeServerSync Add-In from Tranquil PC
You can register your interest on the site now: http://www.homeserversync.co.uk/hss_interest.htm
UPDATE: It is worth registering your interest as Tranquil will be giving away 25 subscriptions in July when the service launches to those that have registered. What have you got to lose?
UPDATE: When you take out your subscription, use the Promo code U098 and instead of getting a 12 month subscription, you will get an extra 100 days free! So you will get 15 months for the price of 12 – now that is a good deal! See here for details.
Here we have an exclusive look at the forthcoming HomeServerSync add-in from Tranquil PC.
Last week we mentioned a new forthcoming add-in from Tranquil that we couldn’t really share much about as we had been sworn to secrecy: HomeServerSync Add In for Windows Home Server from Tranquil PC
Well today we are able to share an exclusive first look at this new add-in, which I think you will agree already sounds like a “must have” add-in.
This is the little information we could share then:
Coming in July 2010, the HomeServerSync Add In for Windows Home Server
This unique service will enable a number of valuable extensions to all Windows Home Server owners. Think of :
So HomeServerSync is an add-in that provides a personal cloud storage service.
Sync your PCs to WHS and WHS to PCs : (local or remote)
Sync your WHS to secure off site backup (100GB included) : (affordable upgrades optional)
It is simple – it synchronises a specific folder on the client PC (probably a mobile PC) to a ‘specific’ folder on the Home Server. As WHS does not limit ‘shared folders’ the number of syncs that can be set up means that the HomeServerSync service can provide a very flexible and functional solution to Home / SOHO users alike.
All ‘local’ or ‘mobile’ connected PCs have secure (AES128) access to the Home Server via a secure HomeServerSync tunnel, there is no need to change any firewall settings etc or use the WHS ‘https:’ service, which some WHS users struggle with (i.e. WHS IP address changes / firewalls etc)
In addition to HomeServerSync providing a simple service whereby ‘media files’ etc can be automatically copied to the Home Server Media folders (media watcher), the 2 way function can be neat way to have some fun, and make sure everyone has what they need, wherever they are all of the time !
So here are some exclusive screenshots and explanations (please note that these are not the final screens as the add-in is still in beta):
This is the main WHS TAB screen – the ‘folder watches’ setup in the SI area (lower part of screen) have been erased on the picture. This is where folders are selected to for sync to the off site backup service
Setup your Backup Schedule to the offsite service
Always – real time
After – do it after hours
Every – schedule
MiDASS credentials – your HomeServerSync account details
Storage settings – these will be set to default and are likely to be removed as ‘options’
Item list for online backup
Add or remove ‘watched folders’ for offsite backup
Here is where you to restores from.
Screen from the ‘client appn / service’ showing which folders are sync’ed i.e. C:\David is in sync with WHS \MyFolder – comment – history
Here you can add / remove / sync now your PC folders to WHS
This is where the ‘client’ can set up what he/she wants the service to do for them, when and how.
It should speak for itself – the bottom line is that it should provide a safe and simple solution, including ‘auto versioning’.
So that’s about all I can share for now, keep checking out UWHS for more information, including pricing (sorry, I can’t reveal the pricing just yet, but let’s just say it is a VERY good deal!).
UPDATE: When you take out your subscription, use the Promo code U098 and instead of getting a 12 month subscription, you will get an extra 100 days free! So you will get 15 months for the price of 12 – now that is a good deal! See here for details.
FetchTV’s Freeview+ box in the UK gets the Sky Player.
So what is the FetchTV box then?
The FetchTV SmartBox is one of a kind. It allows you to receive and record all free-to-air digital terrestrial channels, provides access to thousands of hours of Movies and TV on demand, as well as access to Catch Up TV services like BBC iPlayer directly on your TV.
There’s no contract, no subscription, no fuss.
Obviously this is a UK specific device, and it retails at around £180. You can learn more by clicking here: http://www.fetchtv.co.uk/shop.html
Here is the full press release:
Sky’s online pay television content is today, for the first time, available to homes in the UK via a Freeview+ set-top box. Sky Player, Sky’s online TV service, can now be watched on household TVs connected to IP Vision’s FetchTV Freeview+ box. The box can be connected to any broadband service to allow specific web content to be watched on the TV.
Sky Player currently allows viewers to watch a number of live channels, as well as access to a comprehensive range of on-demand shows spanning movies, arts, sports, documentaries and entertainment, via their computer or XBox 360.
From today, Sky Player will also be accessible to FetchTV’s registered users through the FetchTV SmartBox, offering programmes from over 20 leading channels including Sky Sports, Sky1, Sky Arts, G.O.L.D., History, National Geographic, MTV and Disney. Live and on-demand content from Sky Movies will be added to the service shortly, offering access to up to 500 titles at any one time.
As with access to Sky Player via PC, Mac and Xbox, existing Sky TV customers will be able to access a range of content for no extra cost, depending on their core Sky subscriptions, whilst non-Sky customers will be able to sign up to a choice of TV packages via a monthly subscription.
All of this content is accessed via a broadband connection, giving current Sky customers more choice over how they access their content, whilst for prospective customers, particularly those who cannot receive Sky via satellite, or who may prefer not to, it’s a new access point to Sky content.
Eddie Abrams CEO of FetchTV said:
“This deal is a landmark in the pay TV world. Freeview customers who have one of our FetchTV SmartBoxes can now access and watch Sky’s pay TV content on their TV over the open internet. This launch gives consumers a real choice of how they can access fantastic sports, movies and entertainment content on their TV screen.”
Griff Parry, Sky’s Director of On-Demand, said:
“We’re delighted to have launched Sky Player on FetchTV. In giving our customers as much choice as possible on how they access the content they love, Sky continues to build on its commitment to embrace a wide variety of new platforms and devices.”
The FetchTV SmartBox is Freeview+ accredited and is an ‘over-the-counter’ plug and play solution with no need for an engineer installation visit. The FetchTV VOD services, that also include access to BBC iPlayer, work with any broadband supplier – unlike other VOD-enabled TV services available in the UK. Customers who don’t have broadband can shop around for the best broadband deal to suit them.
The box is equipped with a 160Gb hard drive allowing the user to record, pause and rewind live digital terrestrial TV. The box also acts as a media centre allowing users to stream content like digital pictures and movies stored on other devices in the house such as PC’s external hard drives on to the TV screen.
FetchTV’s Smart Box has two USB ports that allow any programmes recorded from Freeview channels to be exported on to a USB stick or drive, meaning the box’s hard drive need never get full.
FetchTV boxes are currently available at John Lewis, Carphone Warehouse and Currys online. RRP is £219.
Sky Player will be made available to current FetchTV box owners today via a firmware update.
There is a great 10 minute video on Windows Home Sever Vail over at the Channel 9 website.
On Thursday night Tim emailed me to say he had seen this but I haven’t had a chance to post this until now, so sorry! As you can see, Tim had the 3rd comment 🙂
Here is the description of the video:
Recently the Windows Home Server team announced the beta of their next version of Home Server, codenamed Vail. This release tightens up the way you interact with Home Server. Jonas Svensson, Program Manager on Home Server Vail stopped by to show us a peek at this new release. The big features for this release include the ability to stream your media outside of your house, simplified setup, and expanded development tools.
Jonas is a great guy and well worth spending the time watching!
You can view the video with Jonas here:
Dave and the guys have released the Home Server Show Podcast number 91.
Here is what Dave has to say about this weeks show:
The Home Server Show 91 – Today’s episode is back to our normal length and we have a lot to share with you.
We are going over some of the top Vail bugs and feature requests found on Microsoft’s Connect site as well as news, updates on the site, and the Icy Dock Competition in the forums.
Links and News Items mentioned on the show
Bandwidth Bottlenecks discussion
As usual you can listen to the show here: http://homeservershow.com/the-home-server-show-91.html
We haven’t had much action on the drinking game for a while – last week they mentioned a lot of things we had talked about here but didn’t say where they got the news – spoilsports!
Tranquil PC have started dropping hints about a new add-in for Windows Home Server called HomeServerSync.
Here is what Tranquil has to say:
Coming in July 2010, the HomeServerSync Add In for Windows Home Server
This unique service will enable a number of valuable extensions to all Windows Home Server owners. Think of :
- Off-site Home Server backup
- Remote Home Server Console access
- Document / Folder Sync (multiple) anywhere
- Personal cloud storage services
More news coming soon…
To sign up for the HSS Newsletter, get the news first… just drop a line to hss@tranquilpc.co.uk
I’m sworn to secrecy at this point, but what I can say is that I think you will be impressed and I know it’s something I am really looking forward to using!
More information soon when I am allowed to speak 🙂
UPDATE: When you take out your subscription, use the Promo code U098 and instead of getting a 12 month subscription, you will get an extra 100 days free! So you will get 15 months for the price of 12 – now that is a good deal! See here for details.
Today the MSN Video Player arrived as part of Windows Media Center – well, in the UK at least.
If you launch Windows Media Center, you may now see the MSN Video Player icon showing up on the TV strip.
To install it, just click on the icon and follow the instructions.
It’s a very small download so it shouldn’t talk long at all.
You will need to have Silverlight 4 installed, which you can get from http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight
When you go into the Guide now you will see all the available content, just click on something to see what you can view of it:
There will also be a Silverlight update for Internet TV, again this only takes a few seconds.
And then the chosen content will play.
There is a really good mixture of programming to watch as a starting point and hopefully this will get better as time goes on, so for now why not take a look.
Looks like Ian’s hard work has paid off and the 2nd UK Media Center/WHS User Group meeting may be back on.
Here is what has said tonight:
I as I have said previously we have been working hard to get the next Windows Media Center / Windows Home Server user group event arranged and with the help of Microsoft UK we are close to finalising the details. So I want to give you a heads up on the date: Saturday June 12th at a secret location in Birmingham, once we have everything arranged I will let you know the exact details but I can say it looks a great location. We will have multiple presentation rooms, coffee areas /chill out rooms and exhibiter spaces so it will gives us much more scope than we had last year.
In fact this will be much more of an event than last year and we are really looking forward to it. So keep the date free and as soon as we have confirmation I will open up registration, oh and best of all it will be free!
The 1st user group meeting, way back early last year was a really great evening. I did a session on Windows Home Server, which had to be cut short for the far more important task of eating the late delivered pizzas (thanks again Paul, they were lovely!).
So as soon as we have more information that we can share, you can be sure we will, and also keep an eye on http://thedigitallifestyle.com.
I know I will be there, will you?
If you want your own security system for home and you want to record everything, then you may want to look at the Swann DVR4-2500 security recorder.
A lot of people want a good, but cheap solution to help secure their home or office, and Swann have released the DVR4-2500 to help with that little task.
Here is what Swann say about the DVR4-2500:
SPECIFICATIONS:
Video Format : NTSC or PAL
Video Inputs : 4 Composite BNC Inputs
Video Outputs : 2 Composite BNC Outputs, VGA Out
Display Resolution :
NTSC: 704 x 480
PAL: 704 x 576
Display Frame Rate :
NTSC: 120fps
PAL: 100fps
Audio Input : 4 RCA Inputs
Audio Output : 2 RCA Outputs
Compression Format : H.264
Recording Resolution :
NTSC: D1 (704 x 480), HD1 (704 x 240) CIF (352 x 240)
PAL: D1 (704 x 576), HD1, (352 x 288), CIF (352 x 288)
Global Recording Frame Rate :
NTSC: 30 fps D1, 60 fps HD1, 120 fps CIF
PAL: 25 fps D1,50 fps HD1, 100 fps CIF
Recording Modes : Manual / Motion / Schedule / Sensor
Multiplex Operation : Triplex
HDD Interface / Memory Type : SATA
Hard Drive Support : Up to 1TB
LAN Connection : Yes
Network Interface : RJ45
Network Protocol : TCP/IP, DDNS
Remote Operation : Yes
Operating Power : DC 12V
Dimensions :
12.4″ x 8.9″ x 2.4″
315mm x 225mm x 60mm
Weight : 4.4lbs / 2 kg
Backup Method : USB to Flash Drive
Mouse Support : Yes
Remote Control : Yes
Remote Control Battery Type : 2 x AAA
WHATS IN THE BOX?
So what is the box:
– DVR4-2500
– BNC Cable 50ft (15m) x 4
– BNC to RCA Cable 3ft (1m)
– Remote Control
– Software CD
– Mouse
– Power Adapter
– Operating Instructions
It appears that the US one has a hard drive preinstalled and also 4 security cameras!
ADDING A HARD DRIVE TO THE DVR
Even though this is a security recorder, it doesn’t come with a hard drive already installed (although this may be a UK only issue). But installation one (and according to the documentation, a SATA II Hard Drive up to 1TB can be used) was simply a case of unscrewing the lid of the DVR, slide it off, and then just connecting up and mounting the drive.
