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D-Link simplifies home networking with 'D-Life'

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that for the bulk of home owners out there, the great promise of a networked 'digital home' has been all noise and no substance.

Despite all the hype and bluster of industry giants such as Intel and Microsoft, the promise has to date only been realised by the small percentage of the market that can afford high end products and services from specialist integrators, and a handful of technical folk armed with the skills necessary to install their own kit.

Even people with a reasonable grasp of networking … Read more

A watch phone in dire need of a makeover

If this is what it takes to get a full-featured cell phone watch, we'll pass. Even if it does deliver as promised--MP3 playback, videos, Bluetooth, MIDI ring tones, 260,000-color resolution, and a raft of other features, according to ProductDose--we wouldn't be able to look at this ugly thing for fear of turning to stone.

It's not the Pepto-Bismol pink that bothers us; it's, well, just about everything else, from its bulky girth to cheap silver-toned filigrees. It doesn't help that it has a stylus that looks suspiciously like an eyebrow pencil.

It's … Read more

Microsoft's Stay-At-Home Server campaign deserves a time-out

Q: How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: That's not funny.

OK, getting that out of the way, let me tell you about the greatest marketing campaign since "The Wow Starts Now."

You see, Microsoft, known for its riotous sense of humor, thought it would try its hand of parody, creating a Colbert-like investigative report about whether servers belong in the office or in the home to promote the Windows Home Server. There's a whole series of larger than life posters here at the Consumer Electronics Show.

The problem is, the attempted parody ultimately reinforces all the stereotypes about moms, domesticity, and the so-called "Mommy Wars" that writers and activists are working really hard to erase.… Read more

Polk Audio SurroundBar 360: Single-speaker virtual surround home theater

Polk Audio has officially unveiled its first single-speaker all-in-one home theater system, the SurroundBar 360. The system is comprised of just two components--a single elongated speaker (44 inches wide) designed to sit beneath your flat-panel TV, and a DVD player/amplifier head unit that houses the electronics. While the SurroundBar concept isn't new for Polk (the speaker-only 2005 version was designed to be paired with an AV receiver), the latest iteration utilizes a new active (powered) design that's said to maximize the speaker's eight drivers. In addition to the disc player and AM/FM radio, the head unit offers all of the standard DVD player outputs (including HDMI). Input capabilities fall short of HD switching, but the 360's analog composite and S-Video inputs will be upconverted via the HDMI output. A USB input is also available for digital photo playback and music players.

Watch the Polk Audio Surround Bar 360 video on CNET TV.

We had the opportunity to hear an early version of the SurroundBar 360 put through its paces by company founder Matthew Polk himself.… Read more

iHome homes in on iPhone and Zune with new audio systems

SDI Technologies, the company behind the iHome series of affordable iPod audio systems, is not surprisingly embracing both iPods and iPhones in 2008, as well as Microsoft's Zune line of portable media devices. SDI is showing off several new products at CES, including an L-shaped alarm clock for the iPod and iTouch (as well as other iPod models) that allow you to change the orientation of the unit so you can watch videos, "while the clock display rotates accordingly to complement the position of the unit." We also liked the looks of the iP51 2.1 Micro … Read more

Microsoft to offer Windows Home Server perks

Aiming to boost the appeal of its Windows Home Server software, Microsoft is offering an update to the operating system that will add both fixes to the existing product as well as add-ons and new features.

Dubbed Power Pack 1, the software makes it easier to choose which files can be accessed remotely, and by whom, and also makes it possible to watch recorded TV programming remotely, essentially letting the Home Server act like a Slingbox of sorts. It also allows the Home Server's contents to be backed up to an external drive.

It's the first significant update … Read more

Another Samsung Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player

Just a month ago, home theater enthusiasts were clamoring Samsung's soon-to-be released BD-UP5000 HD DVD/Blu-ray combo player, which promised high-end features like HQV processing and the ability to decode DTS-HD Master Audio (after a future firmware update). But the BD-UP5000 was delayed, and now it's likely to face less demand considering Warner's decision to go Blu.

Watch the Samsung BD-UP5500 Duo HD Player video on CNET TV.

The same goes for Samsung's newly announced combo unit, the BD-UP5500. It appears that the main step-down from the BD-UP5000 is that it lacks HQV video processing, which … Read more

Samsung HT-BD2: Home theater in a box--with built-in Blu-ray

Soon after DVD hit it big--let's say right around the turn of the century--the concept of the home-theater-in-a-box ("HTIB," in the parlance of our times) was born. Manufacturers bundled up a 5.1 audio system with a DVD player and an amplifier--sometimes in one integrated unit--and sold the whole thing for a song, leaving the buyer to "just add TV." Not surprisingly, HTIBs soon became ultra-commoditized, with name brand units selling for under $300, and no-name budget rigs sitting on supermarket endcaps for half as much. But there's always a new high-end:… Read more

Windows Home Server remains a tough sell

Microsoft has largely succeeded in getting a PC into the home, but its effort to put a server there will be an uphill battle.

Bill Gates announced the product to much fanfare at last year's Consumer Electronics Show. However, even folks who are bullish on the concept, such as Forrester Research analyst J.P. Gownder, say it's destined to be a niche product for years to come.

In a soon-to-be-published research report, Gownder figures that home servers (not just those running Microsoft's home server product) will reach 4.5 million households by 2012. That's up from … Read more