Rich Fiscus
17 Jun 2008 21:27
HP has expanded their MediaSmart product line with the addition of a new product called the Connect digital media receiver. Right now it's available for pre-order from Amazon.com, Best Buy, Circuit City, and NewEgg.
It isn't a receiver in the traditional sense of a home theater receiver. What a home theater receiver does for your DVD player and perhaps a cable or satellite receiver, the MediaSmart Connect does for your PC. It features standard high definition A/V outputs like HDMI and component video, allowing it to be hooked up directly to a HDTV, but gets its input from a home network.
Paired with either a computer running Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate it can act as a Media Center Extender. If you have Windows XP or any type of storage device with UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) support, including the HP MediaSmart Home Server, you can use the built-in MediaSmart interface instead to take advantage of your network storage.
The most interesting feature of the MediaSmart Connect is its built-in support fo CinemaNow, which offers movies for rental via download. It can also stream internet radio from Live365.
The Connect can stream a number of video formats across your home network, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MP@ML, MPEG-2 MP@HL, MPEG-4 ASP,WMV, WMV-HD, DVR-MS, and H.264. It's also DivX Certified.