D-Link Launches First DivX Connected HD Media Player November 7, 2007
Read more Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , HD , HDTV , Home Entertainment , Online , TV , Wireless
There are a lot of streaming solutions out there right now but D-Link has announced the UK availability of the first one to use the DivX Connected technology for seamless streaming of high-def content.
Anyone that downloads video files off the Net will be very familiar with DivX, which takes really big DVD files and compresses them into smaller, download-friendly files without sacrificing too much of the quality.
The DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player goes on sale in the UK on November 15 and will cost £130. It allows you to stream music, photos, standard video and high-def DivX video files from a Windows-based PC, or Mac, to your TV via a wireless or Ethernet network. DivX Connected also allows the box to stream content directly from the Internet.
It comes with USB 2.0 on the front and a HDMI port on the back for streaming 720p HD DivX files to your TV. The bundled software will convert and support a wide range files like MPEG-1, WMV 7-9, DivX 3-6, Xvid, MJPEG, and Motion JPEG. There’s also Scart and composite ports for hooking up to non-HDMI equipped TVs.
If it does what it says on the box, then this might finally be a low-cost, streaming solution worth looking at. It can be pre-ordered now at Amazon.-Martin Lynch
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
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Comments
A step in the right direction but if you take the jump to:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=39
you will find some better options.
Looks a good bit of kit, especially for that pric. DivX is taking off as codec of choice (we have it as the codec for video on our Viewty phone) and something that can do conversion as well as streaming, from a PC or directly from the Internet, really helps dissolve the boundaries between "Proper" and Internet TV. Every new technology needs a mass-appeal version that is well priced and easy to use - if it works on the latter as well then it really is something to watch out for.
This is exactly what the Xbox 360 should already do out of the box. Same goes for the PS3 and Wii.
But considering an old PC lying around worth zilch can do all this simply with the addition of a wireless card, I'll hold out til the price comes down.
I might be wrong but there have been very similar products out for a couple of months now.
The Emprex ME1 is a HDD Enclosure with Media Player functions. It has standard DivX / DivX HD support and it can stream videos over LAN from a local PC (including the DVD drive!).
It has two video outputs (normal and HD output) and it has video input for recording programs and time-shifting.
Sadly it doesn't have internet streaming or wireless connectivity and the menu is a bit naff but the ME1 does offer very similar functions to the D-link so I believe they got there first.