Elgato, which makes TV tuners and the EyeTV app for the iPad has now released its EyeTV Mobile dongle for the iPad 2. It connects to the dock connector and allows users to view digital Freeview TV signals thanks to its telescoping antenna. It also supports any radio and MPEG-2 streams that are sent out over DVB-T.
Elgato has detailed the upcoming release of its HDHomeRun Prime App for the iPad that will allow users to stream and record live premium cable TV. It works together with the Silicondust HDHomeRun Prime line of CableCard-enabled network tuners and requires a cable TV subscription. A Wi-Fi network is also required, and all content is restricted to standard definition content, though the app downsamples HD content to make sure it's still accessible.
Elgato gave its North American audience an option of whole-home TV media streaming on Monday. The HDHomeRun carries twin HD TV tuners and will share two simultaneous over-the-air or cable TV signals to Macs and Windows PCs over the local network. It talks to the network over Ethernet but can properly stream over a good Wi-Fi signal.
Elgato put out a recursive but requested update to its EyeTV for iOS app ($5, App Store) to add AirPlay support. iPads and iPhones can now stream either live or pre-recorded video from an EyeTV-equipped Mac on the local network. The change lets cord-cutters and others bring live TV either back to the TV or to one that isn't hooked up to a conventional set-top box.
Other World Computing has launched a home theater package centering on Apple's Mac Mini, the OWC Media Center Solution for the 2010 Mac mini. The new service, which was previewed at the Macworld Expo, will preconfigure a 2010 Mac mini with Plex's digital media front-end app, add 4GB of RAM to the machine and bundle a portable Blu-ray burner and an OWC Mercury Pro Qx2 RAID 5 external drive, with either four, eight or 12TB of storage space. Combined with either an Elgato EyeTV Hybrid or HD DVR, the package can record and store Live TV, seek out streaming video via Plex apps, like Netflix, Joost, Hulu, Vimeo and YouTube, and back up DVD and Blu-ray movies for later streaming.
Elgato today brought out its first satellite TV option that doesn't require a computer to view. The EyeTV Netstream Sat pipes any freely viewable European satellite TV through to a local network and can play it back to an iPad or iPhone through the EyeTV app (free, App Store) as well as Macs and Windows PCs. It works over both Ethernet and 802.11n Wi-Fi and can rely on USB to feed DVB-S2 terrestrial video.
MacNN has reviewed Elgato's Turbo.264 HD Software Edition. The software focuses on exporting and encoding video, especially for iPad, iPhone, Apple TV and YouTube, and it handles a wide range of formats, such as AVCHD, AVI, DV, WMV, MPEG, MP4 and VIDEO_TS. While most of the capability of Turbo.264 HD Software is mimicked by QuickTime, the Elgato software is focused on encoding and ease of use, where QuickTime almost hides the features and is focused on playback.
Elgato on Tuesday rolled out a redesigned version of the EyeTV Hybrid. The USB tuner is now considerably smaller than the old model and uses an aluminum shell that looks more appropriate plugged into the unibody MacBook Pro. It can still catch over-the-air ATSC broadcasts in HD and can take any unprotected analog or digital cable signals. An RCA input adapter is bundled and accepts input from old analog sources like VCRs.
Elgato on Wednesday announced its latest TV tuner, the EyeTV Netstream DTT, which will stream DVB-T and Freeview digital free-to-air programming to all Macs or PCs on a home network. The dual tuner will let users watch, record or perform a combination of each to two different programs at the same time. It carries built-in support for the Mac's Bonjour as well as UPnP networks.
Elgato on Tuesday released its EyeTV One TV tuner. The receiver lets Mac or PC users watch and record North American over-the-air TV programs for free. The device has an extended USB connection on one side that connects to a computer's USB port and a full-size coaxial plug on the other that can be connected to an indoor or outdoor antenna.
MacNN has reviewed the iLive IS108B, a portable speaker system with a built-in iPod dock. The unit folds up into the size of a paperback, and can be powered either through AA batteries or an AC adapter. A clock display is situated in the dock, which fits many different iPods.
Aquafadas has launched an update to its MPEG-2/AVCHD capture and management utilities, VideoPier and VideoPier HD 1.3. The latest version now supports Elgato's Turbo.264/Turbo.264 HD, enabling faster export and conversion of codecs while reducing CPU load on the host machine. New clip management tools can be used for deleting clips, from both the application and the hard disk, with support for drag-and-drop movement of clips between events. Version 1.3 also improves the line display, for easier selection of multiple items, and fixes a bug involving Sanyo camcorders.
Elgato today released the Video Capture, a Mac-specific peripheral for recording analog video from VCRs or other sources to a digital format. The USB stick accepts RCA, S-video and (through an adapter) SCART footage and, through Elgato's own software, can convert it to H.264 or MPEG-4 for export to iTunes or editing through software like iMovie. It can adapt to 4:3 or 16:9 widescreen videos and recognizes international video standards like NTSC and PAL.
Elgato on Thursday announced it has added 1080p compatibility to its original Turbo.264 USB video conversion dongle, resulting in the Turbo.264 HD. The new product is now much faster than its predecessor, and still allows users to convert videos into the H.264 format that is compatible with portable electronics such as iPods, iPhones, the Apple TV and Sony's PSP and similar devices. Besides resolution, it also adds support for HD camcorder formats such as AVCHD as well as MPEG-2- and MPEG-4-encoded HD content. The Turbo.264 HD automatically detects AVCHD camcorders and moves the recordings in standard- or high-definition to selected source devices.
Elgato has announced the release of its EyeTV Hybrid USB TV Tuner Stick for North America, along with updated software, EyeTV version 3.1, which allows users to watch and record TV. The new software brings with it an electronic TV Guide and a feature called Smart Series Guides that allows the recording of a series of episodes of a user's favorite show. Users can also search the guide by genre and lock out certain programs or channels via the integrated parental controls. Maximum video resolution support is limited to 1080i.
Elgato on Tuesday catered to its European audience through the EyeTV DTT Deluxe. The USB tuner gives viewers access to over-the-air digital broadcasts on DVB-T (Freeview in the UK) in as unintrusive a way as possible, according to the company: the thin stick shape can fit into the USB port of even a MacBook Air without crowding out other devices. A detachable antenna gives strong enough reception for a good signal in less than ideal areas.
Elgato has released version 1.3 of the Turbo.264 software for its hardware encoding device that quickly converts any video to the advanced H.264 (MPEG-4) format without using the Mac’s resources. The company says the device allows users to watch TV and surf the web while encoding video -- with no reduction in processing speed. Turbo.264 supports many third-party Mac video applications as well as EyeTV, but also is bundled with its own software to quickly drop any video into iTunes to sync with an iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. Turbo.264 1.3 makes it easier to upload videos to YouTube, with both good quality and short upload times (the YouTube web site takes some processing time to additionally encode your clip into Flash, FLV, format).
Pairing events for effect, Elgato is using the Macworld Expo to launch EyeTV 3, the newest version of its TV viewing software. The update includes a redesigned interface, with a programs window designed to match Mac OS X Leopard, and a sidebar on the left that displays functions hierarchically. Recordings can now be loaded through the list view, or else through a Cover Flow mode; when the player window is active, a timeline with playback controls is displayed. The translucent On-Screen Menu has also been redesigned, and mimics the interfaces of current set-top boxes.
