But does it work as well as the hype suggests it does? Can you really install Android apps from the Android marketplace on your TV, and can you control your TV with your Android phone?

More importantly, will Google TV transform TV as we know it, and is the Logitech Revue worth the $299 it’ll cost when launched?

We decided to find out!

What’s inside the box?

The Logitech Revue comes with a small Set Top Box and a giant controller!

The Revue controller

The controller has a fuill size QWERTY keyboard, trackpad in the top right corner and a plethora of buttons for one-touch access to Google TV’s main features (buttons such as Search, Home, Favourite, and a few navigation buttons as well!).

Because the controller controls all other STBs in your house (see below), there are also buttons to switch them and your TV on and off.

There are also buttons for switching instantly to TV, for calling up your Electronic Programme Guide with one touch, and for going directly to your DVR to see all the programmes you’ve recorded.

Naturally you can also control the usual TV features, such as volume, and also change channel up and down, which is perfect if you’re a channel surfer. There are even dedicated buttons to control your recorded programmes, including fast-forward, rewind, record and pause.

The Revue Set Top Box

The Set Top Box, meanwhile, looks like any other STB – it’s small, sleek and black with a minimal numbre of lights on the front. All the important action takes place round the back.

Here you’ll find the ports that connect the Revue to all of the important things in your home entertainment setup. The Revue comes with the following:

• HDMI in
• 2 USB ports for plugging in external devices, such as the Webcam
• Ethernet port
• HDMI out, for connecting to your TC
• SPDIF, for connecting the Revue to your HiFi’s amp or your AV Receiver

Note that the Revue also has built-in 802.11b/g/n WiFi if you don’t want to use (wired) Ethernet.

How does the Logitech Revue fit into your existing home entertainment system?

The Logitech Revue is itself a Set Top Box. But obviously, it’s not the only STB you’ve got. If you’re like me, you’ll have a STB from your cable or satellite provider (Sky, in my case, with its Sky+ box), or at the very least a Freeview box. You might also have a DVD or BluRay player, and possibly even a home theatre system.

That’s a lot of boxes, each with its own remote control.

And now you want to add another STB?! Just where will it fit, and how will it integrate with all of these other boxes?

Fortunately, Logitech has already figured this out.

The Logitech Revue hooks up to all of your other STBs, BluRay players and Sky+ boxes. The Revue then connects to your HDTV via its HDMI cable. You control all of the STBs, BluRay players, etc. from the Revue’s controller.

All of this is achieved thanks to Logitech’s Harmony technology, which it already uses in its Harmony Universal Remote, and which is integrated into the Revue box. The Revue’s controller communicates witth the Revue box via wireless (so doesn’t need line of sight to work), and the revue box communicates with all of your other STBs and what-nots via infraRed blasters.

In other words, the Revue controller controls the Revue box, which in turn controls every other box in your system. The Revue’s controller, therefore, acts as one universal remote for your entire home entertainment system.

As far as the TV itself is concerned, what you see is a browser (Google’s Chrome, naturally), with the TV signal running through the browser.

This really is impressive stuff!

How the Revue works its magic

The TV signal is fed through the browser. What this means is that the browser is always there, even if you can’t see it. So when you watch TV, you’re effectively watching it through a browser – you just can’t see it. But when you want to watch a video through YouTube, you can instantly see YouTube on screen – there’s no delay, no separate application to launch – it’s as quick and seamless as browsing to a different Web page.

For example, suppose you want to search for Top Gear. Simply click the search button on the keyboard and type in Top Gear in the search box that pops up at the top of the screen. The beauty of Google TV is that it will do a search across all media for the keywords you enter.

So in this example, you get results for Top Gear the TV programme (i.e. when it’s next showing from your TV provider); Top Gear videos on YouTube; Top Gear web pages; Top Gear on the BBC iPlayer; Top Gear results from Wikipedia; and if you had any Top Gear videos stored on your PC, they’d show up too.

Better still is the speed and ease at which you can choose these results. Because everything’s delivered through the browser, if you click on the YouTube link, you’re taken to YouTube instantly. Come out of YouTube and switch back to the TV instantly.

And if you want the best of both worlds, there’s live picture in picture – the TV programme will shrink down to the bottom right corner while you view a Web page about that TV programme. Perfect for watching the Apprentice, or X Factor or any other programme where you shout at the TV screen, while reading Twitter at the same and on the same screen!

Can you install Android Apps on your TV?

If being able to view the entire Web isn’t enough for you – and by the entire Web, I even mean those that require Flash (and full Flash at that, not just Flash Lite) – then the Revue will also let you install and use apps.

Out the box, the Revue comes with the following apps:

• Netflix (TV and movie streaming)
• Pandora (music streaming service)
• Logitech Vid HD (videocalling, when used with Logitech’s Webcam)
• Logitech Media Player (access all your photos, music and video directly from your PC and view/listen to them on your HDTV and home theatre.
• Napster
• Logitec Alert Camera Viewer
• CNBC app (real-time stock quotes, video and business news)
• Twitter

From early next year, apps from the Android market will also work on Google TV on the Revue as well.

Can you control your TV from your Android phone or iPhone?

This is one of the coolest features of the Revue. You can download a free Harmony app for Android or iPhone and control your TV from your phone! Using gestures with your finger on your smartphone’s touchscreen, you can navigate through the menus with a swipe of your finger.

If finger-control isn’t right for you, just talk into the phone, and use your voice to control the TV.

It gets better than that, though. Suppose you find a YouTube video on your phone, and you start watching it, but your phone’s screen is a bit too small. Simply select the video, long touch it, and up will pop a share menu. One of the options will be “Harmony” – click this, and the video you’ve just been trying to watch on your phone’s screen will magically appear on your HDTV!

Can you view content from your PC?

This is another super-cool feature of the Logitech Revue. It uses DLNA to connect to your PC, from where you can view all your media content – photos, videos, music, the works. Better still, because this is Google TV, you can search for the content on your PC using the same search box that you search for other content, and all from your HDTV.

So if you were looking for a smart media streamer or media hub, give the Logitech Revue a try – it does the exact same thing, but with the benefit of Google TV thrown in, which provides a unified search interface across all your media, whether it’s on your PC, the Web, YouTube or the TV.

Video reviews of the Logitech Revue

If you’re not excited by all this, then take a look at these early video reviews of the Revue

So is Google TV going to change the world of TV?

In a word, yes. Not immediately. It’s only the first version, and there are obviously a few kinks that will need to be worked out. The controller, for one. Personally, I love the keyboard idea, and the Mini Keyboard that Logitech also sell is much better for home use. But the controller for Sony’s forthcoming HDTV with Google TV built-in looks ridiculous!

Equally, the integration with TV companies’ programme guides will need to be much tighter to make the whole experience completely seamless.

But all this will come. Just as Android on the phone took a year before it became capable of challenging the iPhone, so Google TV wil lneed a bit of bedding down as well.

But the good news is, Google TV updates itself automatically. Just like Android on your phone, whenever Google releases a new version of it, you don’t need to buy a new STB – your existing one is automatically updated, giving you new features for free!

So within two years at most, I predict Google TV really will be the revolution in TV that Internet TV has promised for so long.

Finally, is the Logitech Revue worth $299?

Yes!

Of course, you’ll need to make this judgment yourself. It’ll obviously come down in price over time, and once other companies release their own versions of Google TV, we’ll get some interesting competition going on. Sony, for example, aren’t just releasing a TV with Google TV built-in, they’re alos releasing a BluRay player with Google TV.

But as the first Google TV STB, the Logitech STB is a fantastic effort. If you want the future of TV now, as well as the coolness of being able to fling videos, pictures and Web pages from your phone to your TV, then go and order the Logitech Revue now!

[Source: IntoMobile, Logitech, Google]

Next week will see Sony showing off the first ever HDTV with integrated Google TV, meaning the Web has finally come to the best screen in the house, and TV and web have finally become one.

Which all sounds very nice, but it does leave one important question: just what is Google TV anyway?!

Google TV – Internet TV the way it should be

Internet TV has been a technology waiting for prime-time adoption for years, now, but so far, no-one seems to have been able to implement it in a way that consumers actually want to use. Even Apple tried with Apple TV which achieved as much success as every other Internet TV manufacturer.

So what makes Google TV so different? let’s look look at the highlights.

The Search Bar

The Google TV search bar could well become one of this decade’s iconic images, sitting there like a gateway to a new way of watching TV.

It is what is says on the tin – a search bar – , but when used in the context of TV it becomes something much more interesting.

For example, let’s say you search for Formula 1 – it’ll bring up details of the next race in Japan, plus the details of it sshowing on BBC1, plus any other Formula 1 shows coming up or recorded, as well as We links galore. Plus it’ll bring up any apps you have relating to F1 and also link to video on YouTube.

Alternatively, if you look up a programme series, such as CSI, it’ll link to relevant sites like IMDB and TV.com, where you can find out more details about the programme and its actors.

Apps

It seems everything has apps nowadays – I’m expecting my cooker to grow them before long – but with Google TV’s Android heritage, TV apps take on a whole new dimension of excitement.

Apps will be available from Pandora (streaming radio), CNBC, Napster, Amazon, Netflix and Google themselves, and with thousands already developing for Android phones and tablets, the leap to the big screen may come sooner than we think. Games, web apps, weather apps and more, plus innovative apps that use the TV & web combination will soon become a reality.

All Android apps that currently work on your Android smartphone will also work on Google TV (although some, such as the jogging app, might nto work quite so well when not placed in your pocket!)

The Web

Not only is the Web the fuel that drives Google TV, it’s there for you to browse – with full Flash support. We’ve had browsing before on TVs, mainly with consoles from the Nintendo Wii (torturous) to the PS3 (not bad but no Flash), and it sort-of works.

But with the power of Google behind it, sites will begin to offer TV-friendly versions of their sites in much the same way they do with mobile versions.

These new TV Websites can help making sofa browsing a reality and even take the web in a totally different direction.

In addition, Google TV will also also offer the regular Web too, with all the browsing you can handle from the house’s comfiest chair, plus the usual Web fun with Twitter and Facebook – and all picture in picture with live action.

Video On Demand

In addition to videos from YouTube, you can also stream video on Google TV from the likes of Netflix and Amazon, enabling you to watch films with just a simple click of the mouse.

While these Video On Demand (VOD) services won’t be available to us in the UK just yet, we do have VOD services of our own from major TV companies such as Sky, BBC, ITV, C4 and Five that may well be adapted for Google TV, plus the forthcoming YouView – the merged service of BBC/C4/Five/ITV – may well find a welcome in the G box.

Plus there’s always Web video too from YouTube and Google Video, and let’s not forget the BBC’s iPlayer.

Your TV’s new Homepage

With Google TV, your telly gets a homepage, which you can customise to your heart’s content. Kind of like an iGoogle for your TV, you can place apps, internet bookmarks, Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs), VOD queues – in fact anything you like.

This is very much in the Android mould of homescreen personalisation – let’s see if it’s per person, making the TV even more personal in a busy household.

Recording TV programmes with Google TV

Recording TV isn’t new, granted. But with Google TV you’re not restricted to recording TV from broadcast – put in what you want to watch and it’ll pull down other video sources too.

So say you want to record the very excellent Interpol playing their equally excellent music, Google TV will record shows tagged as Interpol, as well as placing links to online videos of Interpol – all in a smart queue, all without you having to trawl various channels and sites.

Smart, and something unique to Google TV.

Media Hub

Most media players can now hold their own as media hubs, showing films, photos and playing music from directly from your PC or a USB connection.

Google TV can also do all this, but because of its Web browser and Android app support, it also supports streaming music from major streaming radio services like Pandora and Napster. Plus if Android is anything to go by, it may only be a matter of time before Spotify makes an appearance on the platform (let’s face it, the app is already written), turning Google TV into an infinite jukebox.

The Coolest Remote

So surely a remote for this device is going to be huge – or frankly horrid to use if you don’t have a QWERTY keyboard?

Well, in addition to dedicated remotes from the likes of Logitech, your iPhone or Android phone can also be your full colour touchscreen remote control, fully customisable and never lost (unless you have a habit of losing your expensive phones). So it can be a simple or as full featured as you want, and you’ll already be used to inputting text into it.

Summary

There are even more features we haven’t covered, like watching video from your phone on the TV screen to setting up recording direct from the search bar – there’s just so much Google TV can do.

Sony will be debuting their Bravia GT1 HDTV next week, and Logitech have already announced their Revue set-top box, so more details like release dates and pricing will soon become clear.

Google TV is going to be something special and genuinely represents the next step that TV and the web have been waiting for.

One for the Christmas list Santa!

[Source: Google TV]

But which system do you choose? All seven do similar – but not identical – things, and each will do things the others won’t.

Should you choose Apple over Google? If so, why?! And just what is on offer in this new world of Web TV?

Luckily for you, we’ve created this handy guide to help you navigate through all the confusion and the find the Web TV box that’s best for you.

Eight Internet TV Players

Before we begin, let’s briefly look at the contenders

• Apple TV
• Roku XDS
• PS3
• XBox 360
• Boxee Box (see our Boxee Box review)
• Tivo Premiere
• WD TV Live Plus
• Google TV (not yet released, but coming very soon)

You’ll note that the PS3 and XBox 360 are both included. That’s because they’ve both got really good Internet TV software, and now that they ship with built-in Wi-Fi and hard drives, and come with a plethora of A/V connectivity options such as HDMI, they’re actually really good for doing much of the stuff you’d expect from a dedicated Internet TV player such as Apple TV.

How to choose your Web TV box

Each Web TV box is pitched at a slightly different market. The difficulty for you is working out which market you’re part of! So we’ve organized this list according to the things that people most want to do, and then we recommend the boxes that will do them the best.

If you want to see a full head-to-head comparison of the specifications of each box, head on over to Gizmodo, where this list was derived.

If you need to stream your own videos

If it’s important to you that you’re able to stream your own videos from your PC, then choose from one of the following:

• Apple TV
• Google TV
• PS3
• XBox 360
• Boxee Box
• WD TV Live Plus

Neither the Roku XDS nor the TiVo Premiere will stream your videos from your PC, so if this is essential for you, rule these two boxes out.

If you want to stream your own photos

Burying your pics on your PC’s hard drive does them an injurious injustice, as you’ll never actually look at them! Much better to bring them out into the light once in a while, and the best way to do this is to be able to easily stream them from you PC onto your HDTV.

Not only does it let you see the pics more often (and in great clarity too), it’s also great for when your friends and family are around too. Watching pics on your telly is so much more civilised than on your monitor!

So if this feature is important to you, you’ll need to choose from the following:

• Apple TV
• Google TV (possibly)
• PS3
• XBox 360
• TiVo Premiere
• WD TV Live Plus

The Roku XDS and Boxee Box do not offer this facility.

If you want to stream your own music

What if you want to stream the tunes that are stored on your PC, and pump them through your home cinema? Then you’ll need the following boxes:

• Apple TV
• Google TV (possibly)
• PS3
• XBox 360
• Boxee Box
• TiVo Premiere
• WD TV Live Plus

The only box that won’t stream your tunes is the Roku XDS, which seems like a bit of a shortcoming!

If you want to watch live TV

Now this could be a deal breaker. Some of these Web TV boxes will let you watch live TV as well as the Web and PC content you can stream from the ether. Google TV in particular focuses on blurring the lines between live TV and Web videos.

In contrast, with other boxes it’s an either/or approach: either you watch live TV or you watch web content or PC content.

If live TV is important to you, then choose from the following boxes:

• Google TV
• Boxee Box
• Tivo Premiere

Hmmm, that’s not a large selection! Makes your decision easier if live TV is what you’re after though!

If you want to watch YouTube on your HDTV

They all let you watch YouTube videos on your HDTV. Which is just as well, as a Web TV box without YouTube wouldn’t be much a Web TV box!

If you want to watch Netflix

If Netflix is your movie renting streaming service of choice, then you’ll be fine for all of these devices, except one: Google TV, which currently doesn’t support Netflix (or more likely, vice versa!)

However, Google TV hasn’t been launched yet, and it’s only a matter of time before Netflix finds its way onto Google TV, particularly since Google hired one of Netflix’s executives two weeks ago to become Google’s new VP of Content Partnerships.

If you want to watch Blu-ray discs

…get a Blu-ray player! Only the PS3 supports Blu-ray amongst this lot.

If you need to store your content locally

If you need to store any of the content on the box itself, then you’ll need to use one of the following:

• Google TV (possibly)
• PS3 (160GB hard drive)
• XBox 360 (250GB hard drive)
• Boxee Box (SD card – don’t expect to be saving entire films!)
• TiVo Premiere (it’s what it excels in)
• WD TV Live Plus (via external USB drives)

Local storage isn’t what these boxes are about, though. Leave your PC to store your tunes and pics, and the Web to store your films and videos, then stream them whenever you need them.

If you need to view the content from your phone or iPod

What if you want to see the content from your PC and your phone or your iPod? Fortunately, some of these little wonders will let you do just that:

• Apple TV (iPhone, iPad, iPod content – who’d have thought it?!)
• Google TV (content from Android phones and tablets)
• PS3 (content from the PS3 and PSP)
• TiVo Premiere (content from iPhone, iPod, PSP and laptop)

For the other devices, you’ll need to upload the content onto your PC first, and stream it from there.

If you want the best quality HD content

Features are one thing, but what about quality? All the boxes here support 1080p full-HD content except one: Apple TV, which only supports 720p.

It should also be noted that Google TV’s quality hasn’t been announced yet, but as there will be several different options, including set top boxes and HDTVs with Google TV built-in, from many different manufacturers, it’s a safe bet that at least one of them will support 1080p!

If you want to extend your Web TV box with downloadable apps

This, for my money, is the killer feature – apps! Web TV is great, but it’s been limited by the functionality provided in the box itself. But not with some of these boxes. Some of them support apps, letting you download whatever app you want to enhance and extend the features of your Web TV box, just like you can with your smartphone.

So which boxes let you do this? Just these ones at the moment:

• Google TV (Android-based so you can install all the hundreds of thousands of Android apps onto your telly)
• TiVo premiere
• WD TV Live Pro

With all of the other boxes, you’re stuck with the features that the box came with, and reliant on the manufacturer for any updates.

If you don’t want any wires

Now we’re talking hardware! Web TV requires an Internet connection, but what if you hate wires? Good news: all of the boxes support Wi-Fi, except one: the WD TV Live Plus.

So which box should you buy?!

Well, hopefully this has helped steer you towards a better choice, or at least cut down the number of options for you. If not, here’s a few recommendations:

The box that supports (nearly!) everything

The box that ticks the most boxes (as it were!) and supports the most features is….…the PS3 and Xbox 360!

But note: I haven’t included Google TV in this section, as there are too many unknowns about it. However, as it supports live TV, where the PS3 and Xbox 360 don’t, then it might still win as the most heavily-featured box in this list.

In the meantime, if it’s a dedicated box that you’re after, the next best is the WD TV Live Plus.

What about price?

Another potential deal breaker! At the time of writing, the following prices apply (though as with all tech, the prices are sure to change, but this at least gives you an idea of the relative cost of the boxes):

• Apple TV: £99 from Amazon
• Roku XDS: $99 from Amazon.com (not available in the UK yet – possibly another deal breaker!)
• PS3: £249.99 from Game
• XBox 360: £183 (250GB model) from Pixmania
• Boxee Box: £199.99 from Amazon (available November 10)
• Tivo Premiere: $264.97 from Amazon.com (not available in the UK)
• WD TV Live Plus: $119 from Amazon.com (not available in UK yet)
• Google TV: Unknown, but possibly $299 if current rumours are true. The Logitech Revue Set Top Box with Google TV built-in is set to launch, tomorrow, while the Sony Bravia HDTV with Google TV will be announced on October 12th, so we’ll have a better idea then.

Should you buy a Web TV box?

In short, yes. Web TV is set to do for your telly what the Web did for mobile phones. And if you’re not sure what that is, just compare the iPhone to an old Motorola RAZR! Think tight social networking integration within your telly, surfing the Web at the flick of a remote, or searching for TV programmes and YouTube clips from the same interface.

And then think of apps and imagine a whole new set of features for you humble telly that we’ve only just begun to imagine!

If that sounds too airy fairy, check out this video of Google TV:

Hopefully you now get some idea of the revolution that’s just around the corner – and it’s not 3D!

[Source: Gizmodo]

Although MKV files are everywhere on file sharing networks, finding an MKV Player is difficult as there aren’t many available, simply because the format is so new.

So we thought we’d help you with a guide to the best MKV Players on the market at the moment, together with links to where you can buy them.

Why buy an MKV Player?

Without getting too geeky (more details on Matroska can be found here if you do want to geek out!), an MKV Player will automatically play videos contained within an .mkv file, many thousands of which you’ll find on torrent sites.

MKV isn’t just a new format of video, though – it’s a complete multimedia container, containing video (in many different video encoding formats), audio, selectable chapters and menus.

Think of it as a DVD, complete with its selectable chapters and extras, but all contained in a single file, so downloadable – and playable – from a single MKV file.

An MKV player, therefore, is simply any media player that natively supports MKV fiiles out of the box, letting you play them as soon as you download them without having to reformat them into a different video format.

Finding an MKV player can be tricky, though, as the format is still new. So we picked out six of the best MKV players on the market for you, each with its own unique claim to fame (and price!).

The six best MKV players

1). Iomega ScreenPlay Director

The Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD is a cracking media player that streams full 1080p HDTV from hundreds of different sources, and in dozens of different formats – including MKV.

• Watch video from your PC – the ScreenPlay Director comes with Ethernet and optional WiFi, and will stream your videos from your PC. It comes with own onscreen display and remote, which let you navigate through your music, videos and pictures for instant viewing.
• Watch video from the Internet – again via either Ethernet or Wifi, you can stream videos from CinemaNow, YouTube or dozens of other sites
• Watch video from the ScreenPlay Director itself, with its bui;t-in 1TB or 2TB hard drive

You can watch videos in tonnes of different formats, too, including MKV, MPEG, AVI, DivX and Xvid, H.264, WMV, AVCHD and VC-1 (phew!)

Add to that support for Internet radio, more HDTV connectors than you can name, USB support for plugging in and browsing external MP3 players (with support for MP3, AC3, WAV, Ogg, WMA and Flac audio files), and DLNA support for viewing videos and pictures from DLNA-compliant gadgets (including your PC, camera phone or camera), and the Iomega ScreenPlay Director is a strong contender for one of the best connected gadgets of all time – period!

With its suport for MKV though, it’s a downloader’s dream – download any MKV file from the Internet, and play it instantly on your HDTV. Genius!

Best for: The ultimate gadget fiend who wants the ultimate media sharing experience and doesn’t mind paying for it.

See more details and check prices of the Iomega ScreenPlay Director HD

2). ASUS O!Play HDP-R1 Media Player

The Asus O!Play HD 1080p HDP-R1 Live Internet Media Streamer is a similar box to the Iomega ScreenPlay Director, but with a few missing features. Firstly, there’s no Wi-Fi – it’s not even an option. You do get an Ethernet cable, though, which is some comfort, but Wi-Fi would have been better.

There’s also no internal hard drive, so you’re reliant on your PC or an external hard drive (the ASUS O!Play comes with an eSata connector) for stored video.

Fortunately, none of this detracts from an excellent media player. It’ll play just about any type of video you care to throw at it, will read DVD menus from a ripped MKV file, and will pretty much let you watch anything you can download from the Internet.

And one benefit of a reduced feature set is a much reduced price – just $99, which less than half the price of the Iomega.

Best for: people on a budget who want to share their media cheaply, but aren’t too fussed about some of the finer features offered by the other players here.

See more details and check prices on the Asus O!Play HD Live Internet Media Streamer

3). Popcorn Hour C-200 Media Tank

The gloriously-named Popcorn Hour C-200 Networked Media Tank
is another media player, but this time one favoured by the hardcore video geeks – it supports just about any video encoding you care to throw at it, and comes with a built-in BitTorrent client, so it’ll download files from the Internet all by itself without any need for your PC to be switched on.

If your PC is on, then you can still stream any music or video from it, as you’d expect. Alternately, you can also share your media from your Popcorn Hour C-200 to your PC or laptop, as the Popcorn Hour also acts as a file server.

The remote control is based on RF technology rather than InfraRed, which means you can control the Popcorn Hour in any room, regardless of where the box itself is located (obviously more useful for music selection than video!), and there’s even space for a Blu-ray drive.

All of this doesn’t come cheap, of course – but it is the best box of the bunch, especially if you’re a hardcore media freak.

Best for: Hardcore video geeks who want full video support and full control over their media (yet don’t really care about a polished interface!)

See more details and check prices on the Popcorn Hour C-200 Networked Media Tank

4). Lacie LaCinema Mini HD

The Lacie LaCinema Mini HD debuted at CES 2010 a few weeks ago, but already it’s drawing admiring comments. With full 1080p HD, video streaming from your PC, and complete UPnP and DLNA support, which will share your media across your computers, cameras, phones – even your PS3 or XBox 360 – the LaCinema is a media sharer’s dream!

Better still, it doesn’t compromise on features – as well as supporting virtually every video format known to man (including MKV), it also comes with a bui;t-in 500GB hard drive and 802.11n Wi-Fi.

This makes using the Mini HD simplicity itself – simply connect it to your HDTV via HDMI, and choose your source: internal hard drive, an attached USB drive, or anything attached to your Wireless Network. Your content can be navigated smoothly on-screen, and you can even view media stored on non-PC devices, such as a DLNA-equipped mobile phone or camera.

Perhaps what’s most impressive about the Mini HD, though, is its size – it’s just 118 x 118 x 40 mm, which is tiny! Perfect for taking round to your mate’s and watching whatever you’ve got stored on her HDTV.

Best for: Plug n Players who want a small box with minimal fuss, nothing else to buy, and the ability to take it round to a mate’s house.

See more details and check prices on the Lacie LaCinema Mini HD

5). WD TV Live

The WD TV Live is a full-HD 1080p media player that, despite its ugly appearance, really knows how to share your media in style. Its unique user interface adds some nice polish, which is always nice when searching through thousands of videos and tunes, and is welcome relief from some of the more minimalist interfaces from the likes of the Popcorn Hour.

The WDTV does what most media players do – it lets you share video, music and pictures from your PC and the Internet, including YouTube, Pandora and Live365.

There’s an Ethernet connection, an optional Wi-Fi adaptor, HDMI 1.3 connector for connecting to your HDTV, and support for all manner of video formats, including MKV.

As a point of interest, Gizmodo tested a range of media players, and concluded that the WD TV Live was the best at finding and playing different videos from different sources. It sounds like that should be the absolute minimum that a media player should be able to do, but you’d be amazed how poorly some of them performed (not the ones in this list, it has to be said).

Best for: Accessing any type of content without hassle, so long as you can hide the box somewhere!

See more details and check prices on the WD TV Live

6). Archos 5 Android Internet Tablet

If it’s something more portable you’re after, you could consider the Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet. Not only does it support MKV as well as a tonne of other video formats, it’s also got the kind of feature list you normally only dream of.

Based on Google’s Android operating system, the Archos 5 is a Portable Media Player with huge 4.8″ touchscreen, integrated GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM transmitter. You can even tether it to mobile phones, letting it access the Internet via your phone’s 3G connection. Very hadny if you want to browse the Web on its splendid Web-kit based browser.

There are a variety of different versions on offer, from an 8GB version to a hard-drive equipped version with 500GB of storage space.

But it’s the media playing virtues of the Archos 5 you’re interested in, and here it shines. With support for AVI, WMV, MPEG4, h.264, MKV, XVid, DivX and Flash video content out of the box, all the way up to 720p, and audio support for MP3, AAC, WMA, FLAC, Ogg, and WAV files, it’ll play pretty most of your content with ease.

It’ll also play video content from the likes of YouTube and Hulu, while music is served wirelessly via Pandora, Slacker, Last.fm, or whatever else you care to throw at it.

And if none of that appeals, just use it as a digital photo-frame – its screen is big enough and clear enough!

It’s not without its flaws, but as an all round media player capabale of playing your precious MKV files, and with a tonne of other features as well, it’s the perfect portable device for video downloaders.

Best for: Gadget fiends looking for the ultimate go-anywhere video player.

See more details and check prices on the Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet

Summary

MKV, although a relatively new format, is fast becoming the video container of choice, particulalrly among file downloaders. If you’re serious about your video, you need a media player that can support MKV, adn the range of media players in this list gives you this and so much more.

It’s great to see media players finally coming of age, as for the past few years they’ve been dogged by flaws, flakiness and poor usability (and just looked plain hideous). This list of 6 of the best shows that they’ve really upped their game, and any of these should suit you well if you’re looking for a great MKV player for your collection.

Know of any better MKV players? Let us know, in the comments below (and yes, we know about the PopBox, but it hasn’t been released yet!).

Looks like a giant shinny egg but don’t worry, scientist haven’t created 50ft chickens to solve world hunger it is just an Ovei Pod. Launched at CEDIA, the pod provides an enclosed space where you can get away from it all and watch your favourite South Park episode or enjoy a bit of game play on your PS3 or Xbox. Read on to find out more.

This all seems nice, the sound quality should be superior to conventional media centers and there will be no glare from that pesky sun shining on the screen, but what are the costs? Could this be another nail in the coffin of society? There are already many debates going around about technology destroying society, how the youth of today can’t speak or write proper like what we use to, and how people are not

We all know that Google likes to have its fingers in all the pies, well they are now sticking their hands into an area of the home entertainment market coveted by Microsoft and Apple. Google really are taking no survivors; it would seem their company motto isn’t only “Don’t be evil” but also “World domination is a must”.

The Google Media Server can connect a PC to any device that supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), a set of computer network protocols that enable devices to share data across a home network. The server uses the Desktop Search to locate media files on the PC and on the Web. So basically all you need is a windows PC running Google Desktop and a UPnP-enabled device (e.g. video-game consoles PlayStation 3 from Sony and Xbox 360 from Microsoft, as well as Hewlett-Packard’s MediaSmart high-definition televisions). Once you have those you can then:

• Access videos, music, and photos stored on your PC
• View online picture albums
• Play your favorite YouTube videos as well as other online videos

I can hear Microsoft quaking in their boots (whether that is from fear or anger I can’t tell).

[Source:Google Blog]

So far so good. However, the Home Media Server misses a trick or two – in fact, it completely misses the entire Web 2.0 revolution that’s been going on for some time, making the Home Server look a bit outdated even before it’s been released.

Microsoft Windows Home Media Server

First, some details. The Windows Home Media Server is designed to be a media hub, containing a four-bay SATA server that can sync all your iTunes from any connected server, and then serve them to any other connected PC when you want to hear them. Great for multiple-PC households (although there are no details on what DRM restrictions there are that may scupper such free and easy sharing).

All of your media can be backed up to the Home Media Server, and connecting to it is super-easy, so you don’t need advanced networking skills to set it up.

It’s not just your PCs that can connect ot the device, either. You can hook up XBoxes and even Macs and Linux machines (though the latter two will only see the media as files in a networked folder).

Home Media Server outdated already?

So why does the Windows Home Server seem outdated? Well, one of the features it offers is HP’s MediaSmart application, which is a remote photo-management program. This will let you split the server between public and private access, with public media accessible by your friends and family, who can log into the sever whenever at will. In this way, your friends and family can see the pics and videos that you designate as public whenever they like.

Now, call me confused (many people do!), but isn’t this what Flickr and a host of other Web 2.0 apps already let you do? You can upload your pics to Flickr (for free, mind!), and categorise them as public or private, and even restrict who gets to see the private ones. Better still, you don’t need to have your own media server constantly running in order for your friends to see them!

Indeed, one of the benefits of Web 2.0 is that what used to be on the desktop is migrating onto the web, with media being the first type of content making the transition. Images, music, even video, can all be bothe stored on the Web, and categorised, tagged, shared and even edited to your heart’s content, with the added benefit that it’s not just your friends and family that get to see your content, but an enitre community of people into the type of content you are.

Web 2.0 as a truly killer app

As such, this feature of the Windows Home Server is not only redundant, it strikes me as being singularly lame, as it pretends that Web 2.0 media sharing sites simply don’t exist – which, of course, is what Microsoft would prefer, as any desktop app that migrates onto the Web is another bit of functionality that you don’t need Windows for.

What would have been better is for the Windows Home Sever to integrate with these Web apps, enabling you to distribute your content not just around your home and to your friends and family, but to the entire world, should you wish.

Another benefit of Web 2.0 sharing is longevity – at some point, you’ll want to upgrade the Home Server, or, worse, it’ll simply stop working, whereas the Web 2.0 apps such as Flickr will keep on going for much longer (unless you can see Yahoo suddenly going out of business…no, me either!)

More and more people have an increasing online presence these days, and the torrent of new Web 2.0 apps that are being released daily will only increase the pace, with the result that our media will increasingly be shared online regardless of what home server equipment we have…which sort of makes the home server concept redundant.

So although the Windows Home Server is a nice bit of kit, particularly if you’re looking for a media hub, it’d be cheaper simply to buy a media streamer, a Network Attached Storage solution of some form (i.e. a big fat hard disk!) and get yourself a subscription to Flickr and the other Web 2.0 media sharing apps.

In summary, then – the Windows Media Server is a nice bit of kit, but about 2 years too late! HP’s version of Microsoft’s vision will be released in September, should you be tempted.

[Source: Gizmodo]

Add to this no less than four Freeview and analogue TV tuners and integrated Wi-Fi for direct connection to the Internet and you have a fully spec’d Media Center PC all wrapped up in a telly!

Rock Meivo LCD TV Media Center

Meivo (pronounced “My-Voh”) apparently stands for Multimedia Entertainment Integrating Video-On-Demand, which, if nothing else, gives you a hint of the purpose of this device – and the reason behind the odd-sounding name, too. Not only does the Meivo come with four tuners, it also supports IPTV for true Video On Demand, enabling you to watch new IPTV services, such as Channel 4′s forthcoming 4OD.

Rock Meivo’s PC

One of the problems with squeezing a PC into an LCD TV like this is future-proofing. Your average media-center PC tends to be less powerful than a much cheaper desktop, while upgrading the internal PC gubbins is either difficult or impossible.

Fortunately, the Meivo is off to a good start with an Intel Core2Duo processor, and any MXM-supporting nVidia graphics card you care to add, which should be more than capable of managing your media needs for some time to come.

In addition, most PCs slow down as they age because of the applications that are loaded onto them that stress the system over time, but with the Meivo, you’re only using its internal PC for media viewing and organizing, and the Core2Duo is more than capable of handling this.

The addition of Vista Premium also means that you get excellent media management software and interface built in, providing the Meivo with Sky+ like PVR abilties out of the box (which is useful when you can access content from four TV channels plus IPTV simultaneously!)

Rock Meivo’s other goodies

In addition to the PC, the Meivo comes with a tonne of other goodies as well. 7.1 sound output, memory card reader, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth and USB for connecting to mobile phones and MP3 players, meaning that all your media files can be pumped into the Meivo, no matter where they’re currently located.

Add to this an RF keyboard and mouse for controlling the Meivo or browsing the Web, and HD-DVD and Blu-Ray drives, which are expected soon, and you end up with a seriously interesting package that could make the media streamer redundant.

Of course, this all depends on how good the screen itself is, but this, too, doesn’t look too shabby, with HD support (though only 720p) and 1680 x 1050 resolution.

The Rock Meivo LCD TV release date is scheduled for end of April 2007, and should cost around £1000 excluding VAT.

[CPU3D, RegHardware, Stuff, Meivo.tv]

Not that you’d need such a system – the Asus A33 comes packed with a 500W amplifier and can pump out some serious 7.1 surround sound through your top-end speakers.

More details of the Asus A33 media center after the jump.

It’s not all about (loud) sound though. Being a media center, the A33 also connects to your HDTV through an HDMI input and two (yes two, count ‘em) HDMI outputs, enabling it to connect to such esoterica as, say, a PlayStation 3.

There’s also the PC side of things – the A33 comes ready equipped with Windows Vista Home Premium and Linux plus Moxi.

Set to cost around £1,000, the Asus A33 release date is summer 2007.

[Source: Crave]