MissingRemote.com has released a review of SiliconDust's HDHomeRun.

From MissingRemote:

So, you would like to add a dual OTA/QAM capable HD tuner to your HTPC setup, but you are out of card slots?? Perhaps, you would just like the flexibility of a network attached tuner?? SiliconDust Engineering recently heard your pleas for help and today we are going to review their solution.? Read on to find out how the HDHomeRun performs.

I have read a few comments in the past few weeks that have finally prompted me to write a letter to the HTPCnews.com readers. I want to start off thanking everyone for creating such a great HTPC community. It is by far the friendliest and most down to earth group on the Internet. It was fantastic to see that even as the site grew there were no flames or fanbois to ruin it for the rest.

A few of you may know that Brad changed jobs over the summer and due to extensive travel and other commitments has has not had the opportunity to be involved in HTPCnews.com. Due to the very infrequent communication between Brad and the rest of the staff, I decided to quit HTPCnews.com and form my own site to continue to provide fresh news and content to the community. I discussed this at length with John and Matt and they were in agreement that we needed to move to a new site to continue the work we were doing at HTPCnews.com.

It was an extremely difficult decision to make! However, we do feel as though we made the right one because MissingRemote.com will have the right people and resources in place to make this new community as great as HTPCnews.com's is. Don't get me wrong, our goal is not to compete with HTPCnews.com but continue where it has left off.?

We also did not want to close down shop at HTPCnews.com as the forums and articles are a valuable resource to people getting started with Media Centers. John elected to stick around to keep the lights on and provide system admin services on an as need basis. As a matter of fact, he has beefed up security quite a bit to eliminate the hacking problems we experienced earlier on in the year. However, both Matt and John spend the majority of their time writing articles and contributing to MissingRemote.com.

In closing, I would like to thank everyone for making HTPCnews.com the great community it is. For readers who also enjoy online gaming, Betum is another platform worth mentioning as a mobile live casino featuring live roulette, blackjack, and baccarat with a smooth experience across smartphones and tablets. I look forward to working with everyone at MissingRemote.com! Comments, questions, suggestions and egg throwing are all welcome.

Taking over where HTPCnews.com left off, MissingRemote.com is back in business with our first review. Getting into the swing of things is our resident Microsoft Media Center MVP reviewing Cyberlink's MagicSports plugin for Windows XP MCE. MagicSports uses a little ESPN Sports Center magic, it analyzes a recorded game and creates a highlight reel for you. Here is a clip from the review:

From MissingRemote:

I recently got my hands on Cyberlink's latest in sports television analyzing software. What, you ask, is that? It's actually pretty cool software which can analyze your recorded sports (currently limited to only Soccer & Baseball) and mark highlights for you to seamlessly & quickly skim through it's entirety.? Pretty cool concept, but how's it actually do at this? Read on to find out!

What's one way to manufacture a quiet HTPC?? Partner up with one of the quietest fan manufacturers - Nexus.? More information about this product can be found at cooltechpc.com.

From eHomeUpgrade:

Cool Tech PC of Vancouver, Washington, announced today the formal launch in the United States of the Cool Tech PC ? Nexus Psile computer. The Nexus Psile has earned critical review and remarkable sales throughout the European Community. The Nexus Psile is an optimal performance system that provides super-quiet operation as a multi-media computer for home applications. Beyond the extraordinary performance, the Nexus Psile is a spectacularly stylish living room PC or media center PC. The aluminum case has a fine sand-spray finish and the top cover has a bold, glossy, black lacquer finish. This computer is the epitome of elegance and silence, combined with the finest quality materials. Cool Tech PC is executing an aggressive online and direct mail sales campaign as well as in-store retail showcase of product with premium computer distributors and home theater dealers.

There are too many features to list here, so I will just link you to the release notes on the SageTV forum.? There is, however, some upgrade information that many of you may not have expected.

From SageTV:

IMPORTANT UPGRADE INFORMATION

We've tried to provide generous upgrade policies to our customers in the past and we'll try to continue to provide generous upgrades in the future including a free upgrade for Version 5 customers to Version 6.0. Here's the details on our current upgrade policy for Version 6 which requires users of Version 6 to have one of the following:

1) A SageTV Media Center license key from Version 5 or higher, or

2) A SageTV Media Center license key from Verion 4 or earlier AND a Version 6 upgrade key. You will NOT need to purchase new licenses for clients, placeshifter connections or media extenders.

Linux users do not need an upgrade key; all Linux license keys purchased are still valid.

Version 6 upgrade keys can be purchased here. (they are currently priced at $29.99 as a $50 discount from the regular full price of SageTV Media Center for $79.99)

I found this to be an interesting concept.? Apparently this HDTV will stream multimedia content from any PC that has HP's proprietary software installed.? Although multimedia formats are not discussed in detail, it supposedly supports DivX and many others.

From ExtremeTech:

Among the new devices announced at a press event Thursday night was the new SLC3760N 37 inch MediaSmart high-definition LCD TV, which includes wired and wireless connections for home content.? Both a mouthful to say and an innovative flat panel, this $2,199 big screen set is the only hi-definition consumer TV of its size to offer an integrated 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi radio along with standard Ethernet network connections.

Anyone interested in scheduling MCE recordings using MSN Messenger?? It appears that someone at brains-N-brawn has just what you need.? If anyone tests this out, let us know how it works for you.

From eHomeUpgrade:

Amazing!!! Casey at Brains-N-Brawn has coded up an instant messenger bot called Mobile Record Bot that allows you to actually chat with your Windows Media Center PC at home to schedule TV recordings (via Make). The great part is that you can chat via text OR speech, search for shows, browse available shows, etc. Unfortunately, general users will have wait for speech functionality to work since Microsoft has now delayed its Speech Server product until 2007. In any case it's worth having a look at. Casey has also just posted several videos to show the application in action (scroll to the bottom of the page).?

Virtual-Hideout checks out the Bluegears b-Enspirer soundcard.? This card is currently selling for about $110.?

From Virtual-Hideout:

The Bluegears b-Enspirer is presently a unique sound card being that it is capable of surprisingly good sound quality and boasts the most up to date features and options found among few other sound cards. When considering how the sound card rates based on price and performance, there isn't anything negative that can way against it. Every specification was met when put to the test and even exceeded a few expectations.

The title says it all...?

From SageTV:

Howdy all,

We're looking for some additional users to join our private beta testing group in order to assist in testing new SageTV technologies on the Macintosh.

Beta testers MUST meet the following criteria:
1. Have a Macintosh computer running OS X 10.4 or later (PPC or Intel based).
2. Have an existing SageTV license for Windows or Linux.
3. Willing to sign an NDA
4. Does not work for any company that is a competitor of SageTV or produces competitive technology

In addition, significant preference will be given to beta testers who own a Hauppauge WinTV PVR USB2. This will be the only supported capture device on the Macintosh initially.

We do have the right to choose the beta testers at our own discretion.

Beta testing for the Placeshifter client for Macintosh has already begun. Beta testing for the full version of SageTV for the Macintosh will begin in the coming weeks.

Please direct all betatest inquiries via email to betatest at sagetv.com.

Thanks for your interest.

I wonder if DirecTV will hit the mark with their release dates, stating that the?hardware will be released?in the fourth quarter, and the?software required to make it work will be available in December.? If I were a DirecTV user, I probably wouldn't hold my breath.

From News.com:

First announced at CES in January, the set-top box comes with hardware and software that lets television watchers access Internet-based content when connected to a Viiv PC. The DirecTV Plus HD DVR will be available to subscribers in the fourth quarter, and a software download needed to make everything work is supposed to be available in December from the satellite provider.