Engadget

How to install a CableCARD tuner in your DIY Media Center

Ben Drawbaugh — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:00:00 EST

Access to premium HD on computers has eluded most for way to long, so as soon as we heard that it was finally possible for anyone to add a CableCARD tuner to just about any Media Center, we just knew we had to try it for ourselves, and more importantly, share with you exactly how to do it. This doesn't really require any hacking, or anything illegal for that matter -- we're not lawyers -- but it isn't cheap. The internal version of the ATI Digital Cable Tuner pictured above can be found new on eBay for about $195, or new from PC vendors like Cannon PC for just under $300. If that doesn't seem like a bad deal to you and you already have an HTPC up to the challenge, then you should join us on our journey to HD bliss by clicking through.

Gallery: How To install a CableCARD tuner on any computer

Continue reading How to install a CableCARD tuner in your DIY Media Center

Filed under: DIY, Features, Media PCs

How to install a CableCARD tuner in your DIY Media Center originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 May 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Chicago's Conrad Hotel getting HDTV services courtesy of RCN

Darren Murph — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:40:00 EST

RCN's locking down lodging deals like it's going out of style, and just days after cementing one with Highgate Hotels in New York, here we have another with Chicago's Conrad Hotel. Soon, said luxury venue will be able to provide guests with all-digital cable TV and HDTV services. Each of the 311 guest rooms will present said content on a 42-inch plasma, though there's no exact word on when the agreement will be implemented. And yeah, considering the per-night rates here, you'd better stay locked inside around 90% of the time in order to come close to making it worthwhile.

Filed under: Misc, Displays

Chicago's Conrad Hotel getting HDTV services courtesy of RCN originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

RCN keeps up the good work, rolls out all-digital cable in NYC

Darren Murph — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:40:00 EST

It was inevitable, really. As RCN's quest to smash analog and introduce all-digital cable to all of its markets continues, we've finally received word that it will do so in the Big Apple. Starting next month, the carrier will begin switching its New York network to all-digital, which will obviously enable it to "reclaim existing analog channels, improve the picture quality, make the network easier to maintain, and dramatically increase the number of standard and HD channels it can offer to subscribers." RCN CEO and President Peter Aquino even stated that it hopes to offer "approximately 100 HD channels or more in the future," which couldn't possibly sound sweeter. Now, if only we knew how long it would be before "in the future" became "today."

Filed under: Regulatory, Cable

RCN keeps up the good work, rolls out all-digital cable in NYC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

RCN "unfurls digital freedom" to Pennsylvania subscribers

Darren Murph — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:36:00 EST

RCN has been delivering the Analog Crush in a number of its markets, but this particular one was just too succulent to pass up. According to the carrier, it has "unfurled digital freedom" on its Delaware County, Pennsylvania subscribers, loosing them from the bondage that is analog. Starting next month, the company will begin transitioning said market to all-digital service, enabling it to "reclaim existing analog channels, improve the picture quality, make the network easier to maintain, and dramatically increase the number of standard and HD channels it can offer to subscribers." If RCN CEO and President Peter Aquino isn't blowing smoke, the outfit will be able to "increase its HD channels to more than 75 channels at launch -- with many more on the way." Man, maybe "unfurl" was the best explanation.

Filed under: Industry, Regulatory, Cable

RCN "unfurls digital freedom" to Pennsylvania subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

RCN giving New York City a taste of Analog Crush

Richard Lawler — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:50:00 EST

New York is next in line after Massachusetts and Chicago, with the New York Times' CityRoom blog reporting it is next in RCN's plan to rid itself bandwidth-wasting of analog cable TV. Starting October 1, basic cable customers will suddenly become digital cable customers, with a few extra channels for their trouble. Of course we're more concerned with the potential of adding more HDTV over the ten already added recently, but first things first. Expect official word to go out in September, with rates expected to stay the same -- at least until next year.

Filed under: Cable

RCN giving New York City a taste of Analog Crush originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

RCN & Comcast dropping analog cable en Mass.

Richard Lawler — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:41:00 EST

New England cable customers better get used to the digital cable box, as both RCN and Comcast made moves in the last week to shrink analog lineups with an eye towards eliminating them entirely in the future, making room for more HD. Comcast says its HD stations in Western Massachusetts will go from 30 to 50 by the end of the year, plus more VOD options, while analog customers can expect to have their channels halved within the next two years. Meanwhile RCN kicked off project Analog Crush on July 4 to go all digital, planning to double its current 40 HD channels and increase to more than 100. Dedham is first on the chopping block, while other Boston-area residences will go digital throughout the rest of the year. Got a TV still connected to analog? Check out the links below to find out when you'll be moving to digital or losing service entirely.

Read - RCN
Read - Comcast

Filed under: Industry, Cable

RCN & Comcast dropping analog cable en Mass. originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

TWC adds Caller ID on TV in Eastern North Carolina

Darren Murph — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:03:00 EST

While Microsoft and the gang are out wondering if folks really want Caller ID on their TV screens, Time Warner Cable is out delivering. Effective immediately, select customers in Eastern North Carolina (from Wilmington to Raleigh) can now see who's calling 'em right on their television screen, but of course, one must be subscribed to digital cable and digital phone to receive the free service. More specifically, Caller ID on TV logs the last ten incoming calls (including the caller's name, number, date, call time and whether he / she enjoys long walks on the beach) and can be turned off if you so choose. The offering is being made as part of a $50 million upgrade in the region, and by this summer, every TWC subscriber in the East Carolina footprint will have access. Personally, we're interested to see what else is bound to come from such a substantial cash investment (more HD, please?). [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Filed under: Misc, Cable

TWC adds Caller ID on TV in Eastern North Carolina originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Velocity Micro's latest HTPCs add Vista and ATI Digital Cable tuner

Darren Murph — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:19:00 EST

Looks like Okoro Media Systems isn't the only HTPC builder on the block cramming Microsoft's latest OS into its systems and upping the specs, as Velocity Micro has taken a break from its NoteMagix series to amp up a few media PCs. Both boxes come with Windows Vista Premium pre-installed, ATI's TV Wonder Digital Cable tuner, and options for HD DVD and Blu-ray playback. The CineMagix Pro Cinema rocks a fairly average black chassis, 500-watt power supply, AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, HDCP-compliant ATI Radeon X1950 Pro, onboard 7.1 audio, 8-in-1 flash card reader, up to 1.5TB of hard drive space, dual gigabit Ethernet adapter, 802.11b/g, a pair of FireWire connectors, six USB 2.0 ports, and a wireless keyboard / mouse combo. The Intel-powered CineMagix Grand Theater swaps in your choice of CPU, including options for both the Core 2 Extreme X6800 or QX6700, up to 4GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS, up to 2.25TB of HDD space, but otherwise mimics its AMD-packin' sibling. Both units are fully customizable if you've got the cash to burn, and while the CineMagix Pro Cinema starts at $1,695, the Grand Theater rings up between $2,195 and near-five digits.

[Via 64-Bit-Computers]

Filed under: HDTV, Media PCs

Velocity Micro's latest HTPCs add Vista and ATI Digital Cable tuner originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Velocity Micro's latest HTPCs add Vista and ATI Digital Cable tuner

Darren Murph — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:19:00 EST

Filed under: Blu-ray, HD DVD, Media PCs, Tuners

Velocity Micro's latest HTPCs add Vista and ATI Digital Cable tuner originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dell intros digital cable-ready Home Media Suite

Donald Melanson — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:06:00 EST

As you may have seen in our coverage of that other keynote going on today, Dell seems to have gotten into a bundling mood, announcing the Dell Home Media Suite set to launch soon after the release of Vista later this month. At the core of the setup is the familiar-looking XPS 410 desktop, packing a Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, a 1 terabyte RAID disk array, and, especially notable, a digital cable tuner so you can fill up all that space with recorded HD programming. Dell's also not skimping on the monitor, throwing its just-announced 27-inch LCD into the mix, alongside a slew of other peripherals, including a set of Creative speakers, a Creative Live! Voice webcam, a Dell Photo All in One 966 printer, a Linksys Draft N router, and a Linksys powerline AV bridge. While Dell hasn't announced how much it'll cost to get all that delivered to your door just yet, if you add it up the parts (even with the inevitable discounts) you know it isn't going to come cheap.

Filed under: Media PCs

Dell intros digital cable-ready Home Media Suite originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dell intros digital cable-ready Home Media Suite

Donald Melanson — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:06:00 EST

Filed under: Desktops, Home Entertainment

Dell intros digital cable-ready Home Media Suite originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Samsung and Cox get friendly over OCAP

Darren Murph — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:17:00 EST

It was exactly a year ago today that cable companies were getting all warm and fuzzy with OCAP, saying they were meant to be together and couldn't do without one another. Of course, once CES 2006 ended, so did all that lovey-dovey talk. Once again a cable provider is going out of its way to show support for the OpenCable Application Platform, as Cox Communications has signed a hardly-binding letter of intent "to accelerate the development of interactive digital cable services leveraging OCAP on Samsung HDTVs, set-top boxes and digital video recorders." Of course, we heard this same line at last year's Samsung press conference, but hey, we're willing to give it one more chance. No particulars were given in regard to any certain HDTV, STB, or DVR that would be coming down the pike, nor how quickly this stuff would get accomplished, but until we hear something substantial regarding progress after CES, we're not holding our collective breath on this one.

Filed under: Industry, Other hardware, Receivers, Set-top boxes, Samsung

Samsung and Cox get friendly over OCAP originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Insight Communications launches InsightDigital 2.0; adds 3 HD channels

Richard Lawler — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:33:00 EST

Cable customers in Louisville and Covington, Ky.; Columbus, Ohio; and Rockford and Macomb, Ill woke up to an upgraded digital cable package today, as Insight launched its InsightDigital 2.0 service. The upgrade brings new features as well as 5 new SD channels and 3 new ones for HDTV owners: ESPN2-HD, TNT-HD and MHD. Other Insight customers should expect to have the upgrades by early November. A look at Insight's website indicates a new InsightDigital 2.0 package with HDTV and DVR, including the three new channels plus the five existing national channels (Discovery HD Theater, ESPN-HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies and Universal HD) for $15.95 over the basic cable rate. Our fourth grade education indicates eight is better than five, so we can't help but applaud this move. How about some HD VOD Insight?

Read - Insight adding channels, shifting channel lineup
Read - Insight to Launch Next-Generation Digital Cable Service in All Markets

Filed under: ESPN-HD, MHD, TNT-HD, Cable

Insight Communications launches InsightDigital 2.0; adds 3 HD channels originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cox Communications mulling partnership with TiVo?

Evan Blass — Fri, 05 May 2006 15:10:00 EST

It's been over a year since we launched the TiVo Deathwatch, and not only is the company still alive and kicking, a new survey being conducted by Cox Communications may indicate that TiVo is about to enter into a partnership with the nation's third largest cable company. Thomas Hawk reports that users on on the TiVo Community Forum are buzzing about a questionnaire that was sent to Cox Enterprises customers who currently subscribe to one or more of the company's other services, but get their TV via satellite. Among a slew of questions about DVRs in general and TiVo specifically, is one which reads in part, "If Cox were to offer digital cable service with a TiVo branded DVR for about the same price as you are currently paying for satellite service each month, how likely would you be to switch from satellite TV to Cox cable that featured this TiVo branded DVR service?" Take this for what you will, but these questions would seem to indicate that the two companies are, at the very least, involved in backroom talks of some sort, and possibly even in the planning stages of building co-branded equipment. Combined with TiVo's recent courtroom victory over EchoStar, their current partnership with Comcast, and a surprising renewal of their service contract with DirecTV, a deal with Cox may be just the ammo we need to put the Deathwatch down for good.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals

Cox Communications mulling partnership with TiVo? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 May 2006 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

New DVR coming from Comcast and Panasonic

Matt Burns — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 15:32:00 EST

Your old Moto 6412 DVR from Comcast might soon be replaced with state of the art HD set-top boxes from Panasonic. The new cable boxes will encode in both MPEG-2 and H.264. It has USB 2.0 for connecting digital cameras and MP3 players. Best of all though, these boxes comply to the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP). This is the most important feature, even more then the 250 GB hard drive, as it allows people to interact with their HDTVs a bit more then ever before including using a single remote for a Comcast box and Panasonic home theater equipment.

Think of OCAP as an operating system that interacts between the devices on the cable network: video on demand and a variety of interactive services. This system has been in test markets (New York; Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wis.; Lincoln, Neb.; and Waco, Texas later this year) for some time now and it seems to be going well.

Note to developers of OCAP: we would like RSS feeds on our widescreen TVs. This cannot be that hard to do. Eventually we would except to see teleconferencing like in the current season of 24; work on the RSS feeds first though.

If you could add features or benefits to your cable system, what would they be?

Filed under: Cable

New DVR coming from Comcast and Panasonic originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2006 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments