Smöråkning : PVR

The Venice Project changes name to Joost!

anders — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 08:26:00 GMT

Last week I blogged about the Venice Project. Well, I just got an email telling me they've changed their name to "Joost" and will soon be accepting more beta testers. Maybe I'll even get some more invitation tokens soon..

The Venice Project

anders — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 09:17:00 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, my application for beta-testing The Venice Project finally came through and I was able to get my hand on the client. They call it "the future of television" and I have to say that so far I am very impressed with what I've seen.

Don't get me wrong - at the moment, most of it kind of stinks.. The UI is fairly difficult to navigate; my MCE remote control only works for half of the things you want to do so I still need a mouse/keyboard. Everything is in 4:3-format so my widescreen TV isn't very happy. And seriously, who's interested in watching old black-and-white episodes of Lassie or a whole channel devoted to "Paris Hilton behind the scenes"-shows?

But there is such a huge potential here! The quality is almost as good as can be expected (the resolution is OK and since the latest build the feed is pretty much free from stutter). I'm sure that the UI problems will be worked out and the lack of widescreen support seems to be more of an issue with content rather than the software.

~~Finally, if someone is interested in beta testing this thing too, I have two invitation tokens to hand out. Just send me an email using the contact form!~~

Update (2007-01-12): I'm now out of invitation tokens...

Bredbands-TV

anders — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 10:17:00 GMT

Ser ut som om Bahnhof planerar att lansera bredbands-TV med lite mer flexibilitet än nuvarande lösningar (från typ Telia etc). Låter lovande! Jag har redan anmält mig som frivillig till piloten, så får vi se hur bra det fungerar tillsammans med vår HTPC..

Lite lustigt är förresten att de använder sig av domänen one.se, där jag en gång i tiden hade min allra första webbsida..!

WANTED: Your HTPC configuration

anders — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 07:27:00 GMT

The past couple of months I've been increasingly active on the GBPVR Forum. GBPVR is without doubt the best PVR I've used on my HTPC so far. A couple of weeks ago, one member suggested that someone set up a Wiki for HTPC hardware, so that new users or users who are in the process of building something themselves can find information on what works and what doesn't. So I went ahead and did just that.

Now, I realize that some of you live in the 20th century (i.e. still watch your TV in real-time) and perhaps don't even know what an HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer) or PVR (Personal Video Recorder) is, but for the rest of you, please visit a new Wiki page called My HTPC Setup and contribute a description of your own HTPC!

PVR á la Anders

anders — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 15:22:00 GMT

You know, I've always wanted to build my own PVR (even long before I had even heard the expression), but it's not until now that I really feel that the time has come to actually do it!

And why now, you say? Well, let me tell you.. Or actually, let me show you.

Have a look at this gorgeous case (called Cubit 3) from Hoojum. Isn't it just the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? I mean, the Apple G4 Cube was pretty, but it isn't even close!

Curious on the rest of the specs? Well, I'm not completely sure yet, because it all depends on what people say about the upcoming Via EPIA SP mainboard, but I sure hope that the fanless 800Mhz version will be enough. Add a good-sized SATA drive, 512Mb of RAM, a slot-in DVD and last but not least, a Hauppauge PVR 350, and I'll have a pretty nice setup, don't you agree?