HTPC

Amazon on Wednesday introduced its first set-top-box, the Amazon Fire TV. The new STB combines powerful hardware with one of the world’s richest collections of digital content and video games. The STB supports an external gamepad controller to make it more appealing to gamers. The novelty will cost $99 in …

For years Intel Corp. has been focused to deliver the best possible chips for various mobile devices, including notebooks and tablets, whereas solutions for desktops computers were put on the back-burner. This happened for many reasons because of the lack of competition on the desktop market as well as because …

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple, said on Friday that sales of Apple TV set-top-box in 2013 were worth more than a billion. While the number is small for Apple, it means that its TV initiatives are slowly but surely taking off and the STB is clearly no longer …

Less than two months after formal announcement, Qualcomm said it would not release its Snapdragon 802 application processor for ultra-high-definition smart TVs on the market because of lower than expected demand. It is unknown whether the company has not managed to win a particular contract with a TV maker, or …

Sony Corp. on Thursday said it would implement additional reform measures to return its TV business to profitability. The company said it would shift its focus on high-margin premium-class TV-sets, including those with 4K resolution and will continue to cut-down its costs. The latter will effect in optimizations, outsourcing and …

The mysterious “V1” device which Amazon reportedly demonstrated late last year behind closed doors may be its video game console, which is due later this year, according to unofficial information. In case the information is correct, then Amazon may become an arch-rival for Microsoft Corp., Nintendo and Sony Corp. later …

All modern high-definition movies are encoded to support colour depth with up to eight bits per colour because of inefficiencies of modern technology. But a number of modern displays and televisions support higher depth of colours, just like many modern cameras. Folded Space, a division of Panamorph, recently announced development …

In a bid to diversify its business and create a new market for its chips, Intel Corp. decided to design a special cloud TV service that would rely exclusively on its own set-to-box. Over time it became obvious that media business is not Intel’s strong side and on Tuesday the …

The Blu-ray disc association (BDA), the organization responsible for setting up Blu-ray standards, has confirmed that the work on a specification of Blu-ray disc for ultra-high-definition (UHD) video had begun. While representatives for the BDA did not reveal any actual details, they confirmed that the new standard will feature a …

Even though video streaming services like Amazon Prime and Netflix are growing rapidly these days, the majority of consumers still prefer movies on good-old optical media, such as Blu-ray disc (BD) and DVD. As a result, sales of Blu-ray movies hit another record last December in the USA. A recent …

Intel Corp. is not going to release its next-generation code-named “Broadwell” family of central processing units (CPUs) until later this year, but it is already working on two small form-factor PCs based on the chip. While the products are still in development, we already know that both are going to …

Despite all the buzz regarding 4K ultra-high-definition format in general and UHD televisions in particular, Kazuo Hirai, chief executive officer of Sony Corp., believes that the technology is years away from becoming a mainstream one. Nonetheless, he is already thinking about time when 4K TVs become commodity and his company …

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show clearly demonstrated that the 4K ultra-high-definition video format is heading to the mass market. Consumer and computer electronics companies need to sell a new technology with a beautiful name, so they will continue promoting UHD. But there are problems with certain standards as well as …

Just in case you think that the 4K resolution (3840*2160) is a thing to last for a long time, think again since 8K (7680*4320) technology may be approaching faster than expected. Samsung Electronics and some other consumer electronics companies this week showcased their first prototypes of 8K ultra-high-definition TVs at …

Qualcomm this week introduced its first system-on-chip for new-generation smart TVs, smart set-top boxes and smart digital media adapters at the Consumer Electronics Show. The new Snapdragon 802 chip features high-performance Krait general-purpose cores, powerful Adreno 330 graphics engine as well as advanced video engines and necessary input/output interfaces. Qualcomm …

Want to have an affordable ultra-high-definition TV (UHDTV) despite there not being much to watch on it yet? Get ready to spend big. Or perhaps not, as Polaroid, a brand-name owned by Empire Electronics Corp., is working on one that's actually affordable. The company plans to reveal its first 4K …

With modern computer components continuing the trend of shrinking in size while also increasing in performance, the small form-factor (SFF) market is big business. Taking size reductions to the extreme, can Gigabyte's BRIX prove its worth to downsizing system builders? Housed in a chassis measuring 10.5cm by 11cm, the biggest …

If you thought Valve would be the last company to crowd into the already cramped set-top-box industry, think again, as online retail giant Amazon is also looking to get into the game, with plans for its own media device pushing for a release sometime before Christmas. Currently it's codenamed Cinammon, …

We all know Arctic from their cooling products, but as KitGuru discovered a couple of years back, the company has big plans to expand into new markets – and the launch of its brand new, media centre platform is part of that plan. KitGuru checks out the quality on offer …

Often referred to as Quad HD, the next generation of TVs is chomping at the bit to arrive in our stores and living rooms. While Apple is content with packing more and more pixels into a smaller and smaller area, the TV companies seem more keen on delivering a regular-HD …

As of 6am this morning, the options available to technology lovers who want oodles of power but no noise and a stylish little package, just got a whole lot more attractive with the launch of Sapphire's Trinity APU-powered Edge VS. KitGuru peers under the bonnet to see what makes this …

Arctic's passive MC001-BD earned our KitGuru 'Worth Buying' award. Can its more powerful, $749.00 sibling impress us equally as much?

Like many of you, KitGuru gets half a ton of email each morning – not all of which is useful. Lots of those emails will contain offers, but it's rare for them to actually grab our attention. This morning's batch of junk seems to contain at least one nugget. KitGuru …

With the launch of Biostar's new Puro Hi-Fi technology, the mainboard specialist is aiming to hit a signal-to-noise ratio of 110dB which, it claims, will give users near loss-less audio reproduction. Established in 1986, Biostar is a mainboard manufacturer whose headquarters is located in the Xindian District of New Taipei …

The team behind the cheap-as-chips ARM mini-PC have just announced you can now pre-order your Raspberry Pi Model B units. If you're lucky enough to get a sucessful pre-order you should get your unit within 4 weeks or so by my estimates. The Raspberry Pi team have partnered with Premier …

J&W has now jumped on the Cedar Trail bandwagon in releasing a pair of mini-ITX motherboards for HTPC users in particular. Falling under the company's Minix line, the D2700-DC and D2500-DC are essentially the same board in terms of layout and specs, only they differ in the Atom chips embedded …

Most of you should be familiar with Raspberry Pi, a company aimed at launching an ARM based mini-PC for a mere $25 USD. The whole PC is powered by Micro USB and will be able to run Linux distros such as Fedora, Debian and ArchLinux at launch, with the possibilityof …

Xebec Tech are not a very well known company but they produce a very interesting and innovative range of products which are quite different to what else is available on the market at the moment.  All of their products are designed in the UK and their product range encompasses multimedia …

Roll the clock back, and the only stream with media on it was the standard broadcast TV and radio signals. Roll the clock forward and we'll all be living in a fast moving river of content, that allows us to instantly visit any shore that takes our fancy. AC Ryan …

This year AMD's Fusion low cost platform has hit the spotlight, offering hardware accelerated performance with miniscule power demands and heat output. While this will suit many people, some of the enthusiast audience will want to spend more money and aim higher up the food chain. Today's article should tickle …