The followup to the popular PopcornHour media streamer series has finally been announced, and the list of features makes it look worth the wait. Revealed in a post on the Networked Media Tank forums the C-200 contains an upgraded Sigma SMP8643 667 Mhz processor, HDMI 1.3 out, two SATA slots, a drive bay for mounting your own HDD, DVD or even Blu-ray drive (requires internal HDD or 1GB USB stick) and supports a list of networking standards, codecs and containers far too long to recount here. At first glance, only DivX jumps out as missing from the list, have a look at the forum posting and let us know if you spot. Of course, there's already a video unboxing available, seen after the break (along with the copied list of specs) or check out the full Google translated early hands on impressions from HomeTheater.co.il. The most pressing questions of when will these be available and for how much, will have to be answered at another time.

[Via HomeTheater.co.il & Geek Tonic]

In one of the more unexpected developments from NAB 2009, Qtv is pushing its streaming media player platform for consoles. Not an altogether radical idea we know, but what's different here is a plan to launch first on the PlayStation 2 and move to newer hardware later. From the makers of the Qcast technology behind the GameShark Media Player, Qtv includes YouTube and access to streaming video from other sources, plus pictures, music and video (DivX, h.264, XviD & more) from USB devices or networked computers. The PS2 may not be the first HD set-top box we thought of, it does have the highest installed base. The Qtv player launches later this year and will be available on Mac and PC as well for "less than $50," although thanks to the free 30-day trial the hardest part may be remembering where we left our PS2s.

We asked, and we're receiving. LaCie's LaCinema Rugged was initially announced across the pond late last month, yet we rough Americans were left wondering if it would ever see the light of day on US soil. Just in time for the holiday rush, LaCie has indeed announced US pricing and availability for the bulked up multimedia drive, and it's not like you even have to wait around to get your mitts on one. Try right now starting at $199.99, with sizes including 250GB, 320GB and 500GB.

Currently getting 3rd party codecs like DivX and Xvid working within Windows Media Center has worked well enough with 3rd party solutions, but the next best thing is native support. We'd already gotten the official word that H.264 support was included in Windows 7, but a tipster has lead us to believe that the pre-beta version of Windows 7 also includes native support for DivX. In addition, MKV is also expected to be supported; but that isn't the best part. Because although we've always been able to add these codecs to Media Center anyways, the real crux has been when you try to watch the very same content on an extender -- like the Xbox 360. So in an attempt to bring the entire Media Center experience to the extenders it appears Microsoft has added native transcoding. So now if Media Center can play the file, it can also convert it on the fly to a format that your extender supports. Of course like all betas, there's no guarantee these features will make it into the final build, but we sure hope they do.

LaCie launched the original LaCinema media drive back in January, and the company is now extending the line of media-playback drives with the LaCinema Rugged. Built in a tasteful black version of the same rubber-coated chassis as LaCie's standard rugged drives, the new unit comes in capacities up to 500GB and features 1080i HDMI output of a variety of codecs, including XviD. The LaCinema remote appears to be redesigned, and the menu system is apparently graphical and pretty, which is always nice. Not a bad way to do playback on the go, we suppose -- now if LaCie would just bring the £219 ($357) drive to the States, we'd be all set.

[Via Pocket-lint]

The D-Link MediaLounge DSM-330 is finally shipping to U.S. media streaming heads fiending for its 1080p upconverting, Divx/Xvid streaming abilities, although our excitement is dimmed a bit by all the competition that's popped up since we first laid eyes on the GejBox, and Stage6 falling by the wayside certainly doesn't help. That said, DivX has been on an upswing as of late, so the launch of its first Connected hardware couldn't come a moment to soon. Unfortunately MKV support isn't part of the package yet, but for $299 it does handle quite a few formats. Interested U.S. buyers should be able to find out if it matches up to Popcorn Hour's A-100 now, with Canadian distribution following shortly. Check after the break for the press release and the rest of the details.

While most Xbox 360 owners could find something to look forward to in the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update, Media Extender users just found out they've been skipped over, again. Just like the previous update adding H.264 support, the 360's newfound DivX compatibility doesn't apply when its being used as a Window Media Center Extender. AC3 audio support as well as a host of other media-related updates are nice, but Microsoft is leaving some of its most dedicated users out in the cold. We wonder what will get DivX first, Xbox 360 Media Center or the PlayStation 3?

Don't look now, but TiVo is apparently gearing up to unleash TiVoToGo version 2.5 to the masses any moment. The firm's webpage has already been updated to show the v2.5 graphic, yet the download link still takes you to the existing build. Nevertheless, TiVoPony has unveiled that the forthcoming update will enable support for Windows Vista as well as DivX / XviD formats for web video conversions, and it will also allow users to "convert individual shows from Desktop's Now Playing list at any time, to any profile, by right-clicking." Unfortunately, that last feature still won't be available for Series3 or TiVo HD devices, but those looking to browse photo slideshows can expect higher resolution support (huzzah?). So twiddle your thumbs a bit and keep checking the read link periodically, it's bound to show up sometime soon.

[Via TiVoBlog]

IGS of Japan has released a hard drive-based media player that supports up to 1TB internal drives, and plays back various high-definition video and audio formats. Similar to the MediaGate line, the Rapsody N35 supports DivX and XviD, MPEG-1,2, and 4, and WMV HD at up to 1080 lines of resolution over DVI, component, or S-video outputs. The Rapsody also plays back OGG, MP3, and WMA audio over its digital coax and optical connectors. With the 10/100-speed Ethernet jack and included NDAS software, you can connect to remote computers on your network, and the local USB port allows for connecting devices directly. The N35 is available for 28,000 ¥, or $235 US.

We quickly realized that the Apple TV wasn't going to be a HD powerhouse and our tests have indicated as much -- we have also discovered that the problem is not the hardware. The Apple TV will not sync many videos and Apple has yet to provide any HD via the iTunes Music Store. Sure some of the trailers are in HD, but not all and how can we tell which without watching them. When we first started testing the Apple TV with a few HD clips we encoded ourselves, we were very disappointed and while it is still crazy to compare the Apple TV to HD DVD or Blu-ray, acceptable results are possible. We opened up our Apple TV and added a few codecs as well as copied over a few videos that would otherwise refuse to sync and we were very surprised at the results, not only were we able to watch some great looking HD, but our surround sound came alive with Dolby Digital 5.1 (no we don't count Prologic II). The real question is why: why would Apple not support DD 5.1, other codecs and most of all, why wouldn't they support higher bitrate video than 5Mbps when the Apple TV can play them so well? If the Apple TV fails to follow the iPod in it's foot steps, we will most certainly blame it on Apple decision to leave these out.

Hacks don't come much quicker than this. Just days after they started rolling out, one early recipient of an Apple TV has already cracked his open and claims to have gotten it to play nice with XviD files, although not without some wrangling. The first step -- and the one sure to stop the more warranty-aware folks among us in their tracks -- involves removing the Apple TV's hard drive, popping it into a USB enclosure, and mounting it on your computer. From there, you simply install the Perian video tool and the Dropbear SSH server in the appropriate locations, along with a script that disables the Apple TV's firewall and opens up the necessary ports -- then put it all back together. It's apparently not quite an ideal solution, however, also requiring the creation of reference QuickTime files for each XviD movie -- although, not surprisingly, they're already working on a tool to automate that process.

[Via Electronista, thanks Jonathan]

I have had my MacBook Pro 2.0 for almost a whole week and let me tell you, it is fast! The only way I have been able to max out both cores is by playing a H.264 and HD DivX files at the same time. (If I try two H.264 files QT crashes) The 2.0 Core Duo has more than enough juice to decode any HD files I can find for my computer. It can decode two HD videos at once and watch them in Expose, but not without dropping a few frames