The goal here is simple: Play all the videos that I have ripped from DVD, downloaded from the web, shot with my own cameras or obtained in some other manner, no matter what the format. It sounds simple, but Apple TV can't do it. Neither can the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Video codecs and containers are a nightmare to keep track of, and even more of a nightmare to convert.

This isn't about photos and music. Apple TV is better at both of those than any of this stuff. It's also not about renting movies or buying movies, or even streaming movies from Netflix. Roku has a nice cheap box for that, and Apple TV is suitable if you just want to live inside Steve Jobs' media store. This is about playing non-DRM movies, pure and simple.

The names might be familiar to you: The Popcorn Hour C-200 by Syabas is quickly gaining cult status (and has its own hacker wiki), while the other four smaller boxes come from brands you probably have experience with, including WD, Seagate, Netgear and Patriot. None have built-in wireless, but they all have Ethernet ports.

My two main tests were simple—I loaded PC and Mac formatted external hard drives with a variety of files ranging from H.264 MP4s to WMVs of several vintages, from raw AVCHD files in MTS wrappers to the hot new DivX 7 MKV. Then I browsed through my local network to a NAS that had a cache of similar files. Could I see them? Could I play them? These shouldn't be issues, but they're big issues.

Here's a rundown of each machine, and how they fared in testing:

As you can see, there were clear leaders given my criteria above, but what struck me was how each one differed. Truth is, depending on who you are, any one of these might be the best fit. Here's what really separates them:

WD TV Live - $150

I would have given this thing the solo spot at the top if it weren't for a few dings that might very well be fixed in a firmware update: It won't show you DVD menus on ripped DVD images, and when you play files with the suffix .m4v, it won't fast forward or rewind. Weird bug, and can be fixed if you just change .m4v to .mp4, but since that's the default file naming for Handbrake's "Apple TV" profile, it could be a problem for people, like me, who spent months ripping their entire DVD collection that way.

WD's strengths include a friendly user interface with handy video previews, some promising early online services (including Pandora), and the most reasonable photo and music handling I've seen in this cluster of gadgets.

Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ - $150

I loved this when I tested it a few weeks ago, despite its fugly interface, and it holds up under testing. It does better with ripped .ISO files than WD, doing both DVD menus and chapters (and it doesn't have that weird .m4v bug either). Video was better, especially when running 1080p content. And when it came to browsing my Linksys NAS in search of movies, it could reach more and read more than the WD.

The tradeoff is that the interface is bad, and there's almost nothing in the way of online services. It gets points for making an attempt at sorting music, and displaying photos, but if that's a priority, WD is the better call.

Popcorn Hour C-200 - $300

Hardcore AV nerds love this thing, and I understand why. There are more ways to get at video content than in any other set-top box I've ever seen, and if you really know how to hack, there's really not much it can't do.

It's a big ole thing—they call it a "network tank," and despite remind me of the far cooler ones in Tron, I get it. It has an internal BitTorrent client and you can plug in a Blu-ray drive, for God's sake. I found very few video formats that it wouldn't support (FLV was one) but I had to take major points off because for being so big, it has a lame interface, and it comes with an RF remote that only worked when I stood within 3 feet. They even mention that there might be problems with interference, and that if people experience that, they can buy the IR remote. Great, thanks.

My only question—and, commenters, it's not rhetorical—is why spend $300 on this (plus extra for the optional internal HDD and the IR remote) when you can just buy a home-theater PC?

Patriot Box Office - $130

This was the dark horse of the group, being a late entry by a company known only for computer memory. I was surprised at how well it held up. It actually could decode more tested formats than any other device in this lineup—it did Flash video (FLV), which the three above can't render. Only the WD and the Patriot show you video previews, too. As small as it is, there's a space for a 2.5" SATA drive in there, and even a BitTorrent client. You can copy files to and from different drives and the network, and it's the cheapest of the lot, at $130.

So why did it come in a distant 3rd? Unlike the three above, it can't read Mac formatted hard drives, and its video quality was noticeably the worst of the batch. That said, if you are a hacker sort and want something to play with that doesn't cost as much as Popcorn, set your sights on this.

Netgear Digital Entertainer Live

As you can probably tell by now, Netgear had the most disappointing box of the lineup, despite its Apple TV ripoff of a look and feel. Lack of Mac media support and the inability to read key file formats, like DivX 7 and AVCHD, meant it couldn't pass muster with real video fanatics. Its biggest point of woe was the fact that it didn't support any file over 720p in resolution—whether that's a software thing or a hardware thing, it's sure not future-proof, and probably best to stay away.

I also didn't like the fact that its interface is laid out entirely for retail, like an Apple TV without the panache, or a Roku box that costs more and doesn't do Netflix. Local files were not a priority, and despite the friendly interface, it doesn't even make an attempt to differentiate photos and music. I did give it a gold star for online services, but only because it had the most in this group—if online services are what you love, buy a Roku, or a TiVo, or an Xbox, or a friggin' Apple TV.

Still not sure what you're looking for, check the spec comparisons here:

Update: At the urging of many readers, I recently tested the Asus O!Play and found that it does all of the things the Seagate can do (except fit Seagate-branded FreeAgent drives inside), but at a lower cost—$100 vs $130 in today's pricing. If you have narrowed your options down to the Seagate, skip over to my Asus O!Play review before making your final decision.

If people notice, I guess. The DivX format movies will be available to download (and own) from Film Fresh for about $10 to $15. They'll also be "high-quality", though I haven't been able to get complete video or DRM specs yet. See the quote below for what's been said so far: [DivX]

Consumers have the freedom to transfer their DivX movies via DVDs, USB drives, SD memory cards, and portable hard drives, or streamed over a home network for playback on other registered DivX Certified devices they own-all on supported products from top consumer electronics brands such as LG, Philips and Toshiba.

We don't know too much about the 2.7-inch touchscreened YP-R1, as it's merely leaked onto a British online shop, but it looks like the YP-R1 is set to bring it in the audio department (with AAC, FLAC, and OGG support in addition to MP3 and WMA) as well as video (where it can read Xvid, DivX, H.264, MPEG-4, WMV, and, oddly, Real Media Video). It's got TV-out to display all that goodness on a big screen, though the only capacity we know about is a paltry 8GB, which just doesn't cut it these days. The page shows a release date of July 30th and a price of about $180 USD, which is a little pricey for an 8GB player. We'll keep an eye on the R1 for more official specs, and check out our Samsung P3 review for a look at Samsung's current PMP line. [DapReview]

They both have what pretty much every $300 Blu-ray player from Samsung, LG, Sony or Panasonic has:
• An Ethernet port for BD-Live and firmware updates
• DivX and AVCHD playback
• Bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio, requiring decoding in a separately sold receiver

They don't have Wi-Fi or any streaming video app, like Netflix or Amazon VOD. (You'd have to slum it with a cheaper LG or Sammy if you want those proletarian features.)

They both do have "superior" stereo analog outputs and Burr-Brown digital-to-analog converters for CD listening, if you're still into CDs and have really expensive speakers. Besides, the step-up DBP-2010CI also has 7.1 analog audio outputs, though not sure if the 1610 does (doubt it). That's really only necessary if you have a nice surround-sound system, but don't have the cash to upgrade your receiver when you go Blu-ray.

The 2010 also has an Anchor Bay upscaler for admittedly badass playback of DVDs, and an RS232C so that custom installers can set up remote controls for it. That's really who it's for: Custom installers who go the extra mile—and then bill you for it. Go get 'em, Denon. I'll be here content with my LGs and Samsungs. [Denon]

The app can detect faces (thought it doesn't sound like it can spot individuals like iPhoto '09 claims), and can organize by whether people are smiling or not, how old the subjects are, colors, landscapes, and that kind of thing. Looks like a typically Sony interface that might be fun, if you make a habit of storing photos on your PS3.

Other updates include support for the new 3.11 version of DivX encoding and guest access to the PlayStation store. Whoopeee. [PS3 Blog]

There are various players like the Network player, BD Prime, HD Base and HD Center, all of which have various mix-and-match functions. The best player, which will be priced at about $800 whenever HDi finds a distributor, will have all of the above functions plus a built-in hard drive bay (plus hard drive) so you can download BitTorrent files to—and play back from. There's 2 eSATA ports as well.

This type of player would be perfect for the guy who watches Blu-ray, yet also enjoys the occasional internet-procured movie/TV show. Here's hoping they find a distributor soon. [HDI]

Once upon time, video codecs and formats were really only the concern of AV nerds, anime freaks and hardcore not-so-legal movie downloaders. Now, even the most part-time of geeks has to deal with them, whether they're trying to stream a flick across their house with an Apple TV, dump some video onto their phone or just trying to grab last night's episode of Dexter because they, uh, forgot to renew their Showtime subscription. It's messy and annoying, but we're here to clean it up. Take a deep breath.

You might recall our discussion about video bitrates earlier, or how much data is packed into a file. As a general rule, more bits per second translates into more betterer quality audio and video. The variable in that—the other part of the equation—is how the content is compressed and de-compressed. Better compression techniques—the zen of knowing what bits of data to pull out to make big data chunks smaller—make for better quality video while taking up less space on your hard drive. Basically, the part you need to know is that codecs are the software that make that magic happen.

Standard Standards
• H.261 is not a term you have to worry about, but it's the technology that most video standards and codecs were originally based on. Originating in 1990, it's the first major digital video compression standard, and like other "H" standards, it was developed by the International Telecommunication Union. This one was primarily for teleconferencing over ISDN lines, and as such, it looks like ass.

• MPEG-1 Part 2 is another oldie, developed by the Movie Picture Experts Group and approved in 1991. (BTW, the whole "part" thing is because video is just one "part" of each MPEG standard.) Based quite a bit on H.261, MPEG-1 was designed to take VHS quality video and squeeze it down to a bit rate of about 1.5Mbps, optimized for CD transfers. No surprise, it's the standard used for all VCDs (which can play in most DVD players), but not a standard you would see hanging around today.

• With MPEG-2 Part 2, approved in 1994, we're finally talking decent vid. Also known as H.262, since it was developed jointly by the ITU-T and ISO, MPEG-2 is an extension of MPEG-1 that delivers better resolution and higher bit rates (3-15Mbps for standard def and 15-30Mbps for HD, though the spec allows for up to 100Mbps). It's the video codec used by DVD and digital television, though now it's slowly being replaced by the more efficient MPEG-4, except on DVDs, where it'll ride out that disc format's lifetime.

• H.263 is designed for sending video over crappy connections. So it's used to encode most Flash video and to send video over mobile networks.

• MPEG-4 is where we really stand right now. It has a much broader scope than past MPEG standards, aiming to tackle both the low end (crappy cellphones on a crappy network) and the high end (Blu-ray). It's still developing, so it's not-so-coincidentally where this whole story gets messier. There are two relevant parts of the MPEG-4 standard for our myopic video purposes: There's Part 2. And there's Part 10—which is also known as H.264 or Advanced Video Coding (AVC). To be clear though, even though they're both part of the MPEG-4 standard, they're totally different formats. Nevertheless, both are more efficient at compression than past MPEG codecs, delivering better quality using less space.

• Okay, so if you've ever frequented a Torrent site, you've actually watched tons of videos that use MPEG-4 Part 2, though it's not like they would've had a flashing sign telling you so. MPEG-4 Part 2 actually has different "profiles"—the two that matter being Simple Profile, for low bitrate, low-res stuff, and Advanced Simple Profile. The latter profile is what's used by movies you would download in formats like DivX or XviD or 3ivx—which are all codecs that are essentially just differing implementations of the MPEG-4 Part 2 standard.

• MPEG-4 Part 10, the other part, was actually co-devopled by MPEG and the ITU-T, so it's also known—in fact, more commonly known—as H.264. It's more efficient than MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 Part 2, delivering the same quality video in as little as half the space, making it suitable for the low and high-end. Because of this, it's quickly becoming the standardest standard. It's part of the HD DVD and Blu-ray spec, replacing MPEG-2 in digital TV (like with satellite services and AT&T's U-Verse IPTV) and supported by pretty much every portable video player on the planet from the iPod to the PSP. Apple has a decent, if Kool-Aid flavored, FAQ about H.264.

• VC-1 is essentially a Microsoft developed alternative video codec to H.264 released as a standard by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, though it descends from the same H.26X/MPEG family. (It essentially started life as WMV9, but then Microsoft shopped it to the SMPTE to make it an industry standard, and now it is.) It too, is part of the mandatory Blu-ray and HD DVD spec, and is the official video codec of the Xbox 360. It's pitch is the same as H.264's—trying to deliver better quality using less space, like HD video in 6-8Mbps.

Free-Floating Codecs
Okay, so all that stuff up there are industry-wide standard video codecs. On top of all of those, various entities love putting out their own spin on those standards. As we mentioned before, DivX (proprietary) and XviD (open source), for instance, use MPEG-4 Part 2 (more specifically, MPEG-4 ASP) compression, meaning stuff that'll natively play back MPEG-4 ASP will also play back DivX. Like the Xbox 360, for instance. There are a ton of MPEG-4 ASP-based codecs, actually, like FFmpeg, 3ivx and others, but DivX and XviD are the most common. Same deal with H.264: Some well known codecs that use it are Apple's Quicktime H.264, x264 and Nero Digital. You've also got Windows Media Video (WMV) codecs, which are Microsoft's proprietary twists on industry standards.

Containers aka Wrappers
Alright, well you've probably noticed that none of your video files have the extension .h264 or .vc1 or the like. That's because videos are packaged in containers or wrappers that stuff things like the audio, navigational info, etc. along with the video in a single pretty file. Naturally, there are about as many of them as there are codecs. To be clear, you would take a video encoded with, say, H.264, and wrap it up as a .mp4 or .avi file.

The majors ones are:
• AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is Windows' standard multimedia container
• MPEG-4 Part 14 (known to you as .mp4) is the standardized container for MPEG-4
• FLV (Flash Video) is the format used to deliver MPEG video through Flash Player
• MOV is Apple's QuickTime container format
• OGG, OGM and OGV are open-standard containers
• MKV (Mastroska) is another open-specification container that you've seen if you've ever downloaded anime
• VOB means DVD Video Object. Guess what? It's DVD's standard container, and what you get when you rip a DVD.
• ASF is a Microsoft format designed for WMV and WMA—files can end in .wmv or .asf

So, in order to play a video file, your setup has to be able to handle both the actual video codec and the container. It's why you can try to play an AVI file and Windows Media Player laughs at you, even though it totally played one a minute ago— the container was no problem, but it didn't have the right codec. Or conversely, even though an iPod could play back an H.264 encoded video, if it was wrapped up in MKV, it won't be able to read it.

Okay, my brain hurts. Hopefully this will make yours hurt less when it comes to dealing with pesky videos. If you'd like to do even more homework, Wikipedia, as always, has a more in-depth discussion. And Doom9 is always an amazing resource for all things digital video.

Something you still wanna know? Send any questions about codecs, kitties or pad thai (but not RealMedia) to tips@gizmodo.com, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

[Image: ME@Flickr]

Warner Bros. Licenses Content for Distribution on DivX Certified(R) Consumer Electronics Devices

Agreement Enables Retailers to Offer Premium Content in DivX(R) Format for Playback on Variety of Devices

SAN DIEGO & LOS ANGELES —(Business Wire)— Oct 14, 2008 DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ:DIVX) and Warner Bros. Entertainment today announced an agreement that will enable online retailers to offer Warner Bros. titles in the high-quality DivX® standard definition format in October 2008 and high definition format in September 2009 for playback on DivX Certified® consumer electronics devices.

The wide-ranging agreement covers all titles available for digital distribution in the Warner Bros. catalogue including current and back-catalogue major motion pictures and television programs. All titles offered in the DivX format are compatible with a variety of DivX Certified devices from major consumer electronics brands, including DVD players, Blu-ray devices, gaming consoles and more. The agreement allows retailers who sign additional agreements with DivX and Warner Bros. to offer Warner titles in the DivX digital media format.

“Using the DivX secure format is in keeping with our overall digital distribution strategy,” said Jim Wuthrich, Senior Vice President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “The visual quality, security and widespread interoperability of the DivX format offers an excellent means for consumers to enjoy Warner Bros.’ content whenever and wherever they desire.”

“Warner Bros. offers an extremely compelling catalogue of premium, high-quality content enjoyed by consumers all over the world,” said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. “We’re very excited to work together to offer consumers premium content on any DivX device, from the PC to the living room and on the go.”

For more information about DivX, visit www.divx.com. To learn more about Warner Bros. Entertainment visit www.warnerbros.com.

The Price: $299

The Verdict: The Mediasmart Connect is a decent video player, Media Extender and photo viewer, but it doesn't shine in any area other than video quality. We compared the Mediasmart Connect to an Xbox 360, streaming the exact same episode of Entourage from the exact same Windows Home Server and the video quality was noticeably better on HP's unit. Great, except you wouldn't really notice the difference unless you had them side by side like we did.

One other problem we noticed is that browsing speed (browsing a folder file system) is pretty damn slow. Paging down takes upwards of seconds to refresh, forcing you to hold the down button one by one to save yourself from the delay. The same "page down" action on an Xbox 360 is near instantaneous, so we know it's not a server issue.

It does, however, have features that other extenders or media streamers don't. For one, there's the ability to aggregate videos from various networked sources, including DLNA-capable servers. Again, nothing spectacular, but it's a feature that's nice to have. 802.11n streaming (a/b/g are also there) is another nicety for people who hate wires. More bonuses are YouTube, Snapfish, CinemaNow and Live365, services you may or may not use and want on your set-top streamer.

Compared to the Xbox 360, both can act as Media Center Extenders, both can play back DivX and XviD files and work as a photo viewer, but only one can play a donkey-load of video games. On the other hand, the Mediasmart Connect does have on-board storage, which is great if you want to dump a bunch of videos onto it and delete them out of your BitTorrent folder on your PC.

At $299, it's hard to recommend the Mediasmart Connect over something like an Xbox 360 because of everything else the 360 can do. If extras like YouTube and CinemaNow (as well as media aggregation over all servers), built-in 802.11n wireless, DLNA compatibility and better video quality appeal to you, this may be your ticket to streaming video anywhere in your house. [HP]

LG also touted its new relationship with DivX as fodder for future change in the industry (the Renoir contains software for converting files into DivX files, for viewing on the phone). DivX's Andy Glasson said HD recording in mobile phones is also something to watch next year. Glasson explained that his company is already working on H264 encoding and decoding technology that would make this kind of recoding possible.

Now, if they could just slap a Red 3K Scarlet or 5K Epic digital camera in a cell phone, I think we could officially label this development "progress." Until then, we wait. [Cell Phone Feeds]

Aug 28, 2008 19:00

LG to Launch First DivX Certified(R) DVD Player from a Major Manufacturer Capable of Playing HD Video

Innovative "Floating" Player Lets Consumers Enjoy HD Content on Standard DVD Device
SAN DIEGO & SEOUL, Korea —(Business Wire)— Aug. 28, 2008 DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ: DIVX), a digital media company, and LG Electronics, Inc. today announced the DivX Certification(TM) of a new DVD player from LG capable of playing high-definition DivX(R) video.

Incorporating a stylish and sleek design capable of being mounted on a wall, LG's new DivX Certified(R) DVD player, the DVS450H, allows consumers to play their personal libraries of high-definition digital content. With this device, consumers can enjoy high-definition DivX videos burned to DVD's or stored on USB flash drives. Typical HD video requires a considerable amount of digital storage space, but DivX HD video provides a superior media experience by maintaining the highest visual quality while significantly reducing the digital file size of the video. Using DivX technology, a full-length high-definition movie is able to fit onto a standard DVD.

"The demand for products that play DivX video has continually driven us to produce solutions that maximize this high-quality experience across a range of product categories," said Dan D.H. Koh, Head of Marketing Strategy Team in LG Electronics' Digital Media Company. "Incorporating support for high-definition DivX video on this DVD player illustrates this in a significant way. We are committed to bringing our customers the very best entertainment solutions and are pleased that working with DivX fulfills this vision."

"Bringing high-definition video to LG's newest DVD player illustrates our mission of enabling a high-quality media experience across any device," said Kevin Hell, Chief Executive Officer, DivX, Inc. "This new player from LG simplifies the consumer transition to HD entertainment by providing a high-definition experience on a familiar DVD platform. We are delighted to work with LG in bringing consumers a premium solution for their digital content."

Products that bear the DivX Certified(R) logo have undergone a rigorous testing program to ensure a high-quality DivX media experience, including reliable video playback, interoperability with other DivX Certified devices and the visual quality that users expect from DivX.

LG is a major manufacturer across consumer electronics product categories who has embraced DivX Certification within a variety of different platforms, including mobile phones, digital televisions, and in-car media players.

Flexplay, a company that's been peddling self-destructing DVDs for five years or so, teaming up with the office supply store to start selling the coasters for $4.99 each later this month. It's pretty much exactly like the deal between DIVX and Circuit City that tanked so badly back around the turn of the century, but now they're doing it at a time when downloads are becoming more popular, Netflix is ubiquitous and there's a newer disc format out there competing with DVD. Boy, I don't see how this can fail! [PC World]

Key Features: - Play most video formats (DivX, Xvid, AVI, WMV, RMVB + more) - Play DVD files WITHOUT converting them - Sync, organize and watch non-iTunes video files - Browse the web with a Safari based web browser - Rent & watch Hi-Def movies from Jaman.com - Stream media from UPnP(v1) media servers - View local weather forecasts - View RSS Feeds - Enable SSH access - All original Apple TV features remain intact - And much, much more...

Panasonic to Release DivX Certified Blu-ray DVD Player Next Generation DVD Player to be Available in Europe and Russia DivX, Inc., a digital media company, announced the DivX® Certification of Panasonic's Blu-ray Disc (BD) Player The Panasonic Blu-ray Disc player, which joins a number of existing DivX Certified products from Panasonic, is scheduled to be released beginning in March and is expected to be the first DivX Certified® Blu-ray Disc Player available in Europe and Russia. Like Panasonic's existing DivX Certified DVD players, the latest DivX Certified Panasonic Blu-ray disc player enables users to enjoy high-quality DivX video playback. "In order to give our users access to the extremely popular, high-quality DivX format, we have introduced the first DivX-Certified Blu-ray Disc Player for Europe and Russia," said Yuki Kusumi, Group Manager of Product Technology, Video Business Unit, Network Business Group, Panasonic AVC Networks Company, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. "The timely launch of this strategic product is a direct response to the strong demand for DivX playback among consumers. We are very confident this product will be very popular in the European and Russian markets." "The DivX Certified Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Player is a great device from a leader in next generation DVD technology, and marks an important strategic milestone in our growth into new product categories," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "DivX has already become a de-facto standard on existing DVD players and we are well-positioned to repeat that success in the Blu-ray category. We're pleased Panasonic continues to recognize DivX technology as an important feature on next-generation devices." Products that bear the DivX Certified logo have undergone a rigorous testing program to ensure a high quality DivX media experience that includes reliable video playback, excellent visual quality, and interoperability with other DivX Certified digital devices. The DivX logo has become a powerful symbol for a high-quality digital video experience across any device. About DivX, Inc. DivX, Inc. is a digital media company that enables consumers to enjoy a high-quality video experience across any kind of device. DivX creates, distributes and licenses digital video technologies that span the "three screens" comprising today's consumer media environment—the PC, the television and mobile devices. Over 100 million DivX Certified devices have shipped into the market from leading consumer electronics manufacturers. DivX also offers content providers and publishers a complete solution for the distribution of secure, high-quality digital video content. Driven by a globally recognized brand and a passionate community of hundreds of millions of consumers, DivX is simplifying the video experience to enable the digital home.

Update: A reader points out that DivX was saying Stage 6 is successful, but consumed too much of their attention and resources, so the only options they had were to spin it off, sell it, or shut it down. We're not one to argue about varying levels of being "successful", but if it really were as "successful" in terms of being "profitable", we're not sure why DivX couldn't hire some more employees to man the site. Having a dedicated site to provide content in the correct format would have been a good asset to have as the DivX "platform" is growing.

The Price: $299

The Performance: Fantastic. We were able to stream live 1080i over-the-air (OTA) HDTV with no glitches for the most part, and whatever glitches we did see were due to the fact that OTA reception in our area isn't great and we had a small antenna. But when we watched pre-recorded content in both 720p and 1080p, there were zero glitches or dropouts. We tested this both with the wired internet and the Wireless 802.11N network via Linksys's WRT600N Router, and it was super smooth even over Wi-Fi.

Its DVD playback was fine, and is convenient if you want to use this in a spare guest room or a bedroom to stream HDTV off off without hooking up HDTV connections or getting another DVR. The DVD is just a bonus. Also, this extender handles XviD files (but not DivX), meaning you can grab TV shows you missed off of BitTorrent and watch them as well, without having to transcode anything.

The Verdict: Did the extender do everything it promised to do and do it well? Definitely. Streaming perfect HD over 802.11n Wi-Fi isn't a small feat, and doing so when supporting XviD and DVD playback is impressive as well. But is it worth $299 when you can get an Xbox 360 that does pretty much the same thing for the same price? Yes, if you want 802.11n Wi-Fi streaming and XviD playback inside the Media Center interface. If not, then you're better off getting an Xbox 360 and getting gaming out of the deal as well.

We got a hands-on with it earlier in the week and were pretty impressed. Some scenarios that we can think of are:

• Streaming HD from your DVR in your living room to your Slingcatcher in your bedroom.
• Dumping a bunch of BitTorrented DivX/XviD files onto a USB drive, taking it to the Slingcatcher, plugging it in and watching.
• Opening up ABC HD, turning on last night's Lost, and watching it on the TV instead of the computer.

Convenient! [Slingbox]

Update: The 2200 looks like it's not shipping quite yet (1-2 weeks), but the 2100 is.

Update 2: Turns out the Linksys systems only support XviD and not DivX. [2100 via 2200]

The best alternative to get "streaming" to work with Windows Media Player 11 is to first locate the file you want to watch over the network, then press the triangle button and copy it to your PS3. The same file that couldn't play back a minute ago will happily render itself when viewed off the PlayStation 3's hard drive.

It seems to us that the fault may either lie with the way that WMP11 streams files or the way that the PS3 plays back streamed files over the network—we're not sure. If the PS3 supported SMB networking, this problem might be eliminated. We'll have to check back in the future if and when they do add this feature.

Sorry for the confusion everybody! When I got DivX, and not XviD, to stream correctly, I assumed that XviD does not work. I should have tested it on an external drive as well. But hurray, XviD works fine on PS3. Thanks for checking up on us.

Update: I just did another test, and EyeConnect on Macs seem to stream DivX and XviD just fine for me. So it looks like a WMP11 problem. Has anyone else gotten it to support streaming w/ WMP11? TVersity seems to stream alright on PCs too, according to some users.

Update 2: Just re-confirmed that TVersity works for me, but the same files that work in TVersity don't work streaming over WMP11. Very strange.

Update: We've found that XviD playback does work, but only on burned DVDs and external hard drives. See here for an update and a workaround.

DivX and WMV play back fine. Just as they claimed, the PS3 now can play back DivX files and WMV files. No problemo.

XviD does not work. Again, no XviD support at all. You'd be surprised how many of your files are actually XviD and not DivX, especially if you've been "obtaining" TV shows and movies over the years. Often times the files aren't labeled with the codec type in the name, so you'll have to try and play it back to know whether or not it's supported. If it's not, the file name will change to "Unsupported Data." [Some readers are reporting that XviD support works. Others have written us saying that some files work, others don't. Jason has tried this with a few XviD files and none of them worked. -JD]

Streaming only works off of Windows Media Player 11 shares, not Windows Media Connect or SMB (regular Windows folder sharing). This one could be a biggie. The PlayStation 3 doesn't actually support SMB network shares, which is the default Windows folder sharing network protocol that both Linux and OS X understand. This means you're going to have to install Windows Media Player 11 (or something similar, like Orb) in order to stream video from your home computer. Windows Media Connect, which sits on our Windows Home Server that housed most of our video files, didn't work. WMP11 did.

You can play files off a burned CD/DVD. If your PlayStation 3 isn't connected to a network, or if it's hooked up to a Wi-Fi network that's too slow to stream big files without dropping out, you can burn your flicks to a DVD. This is a hassle, but ensures that your movie experience won't be interrupted by someone microwaving popcorn.

The quality is pretty good. When we got the network streaming to work and found a compatible DivX file out of all our XviDs, playback was smooth and (for the most part) artifact free.

Video dimensions stretch well. The PS3 knows exactly what aspect ratio your files are and stretches them to fit your screen without distortion. The 360 couldn't quite handle that without a little coaxing.

The first time you play back a WMV file, you need to activate WMA playback first. Not a huge deal, but kind of a pain that you have to go to the System Settings screen and activate WMA playback before you can watch any WMV file that uses the codec.

Playback controls are gimpy. This isn't the fault of the new DivX support, but of the way the PS3 handles all video playback. It's usable, but it's not as polished as the Xbox's (which wasn't all that great to begin with.) UI isn't Sony's strong suit.

It's not all bad news though, as the PS3 is actually entirely DivX certified—unlike the Xbox 360. This means that the console natively supports the codec, so games can play back DivX files as their in-game cut scene movies. However, this fact doesn't help out the rabid downloader that's expecting it to play back most of his media files—like the Xbox 360 does. If you're looking for a machine to replace that aging Xbox Media Center (XBMC), the 360 is the current winner.

As far as upgrade details go, the PS3 is DivX-certified, meaning not only is playback guaranteed to function properly, but game developers can also use the compression format for in-game cutscenes In comparison, the Xbox 360 merely supports playback of DivX-encoded videos [DivX]

The Price: $599 for 60GB, $549 for 40GB

The Performance: Since the Cowon has so many features, any combination of which could be the deciding point for you, we'll go through each one in bullet point form.

• Movie playback: Fantastic. The screen is bright and crisp, and played back all the DivX/XviD files we threw at it. No stutter, no lag, no problem. It handles all aspect ratios just fine, expanding it to fit the generous 5-inch screen. Its built-in speakers are pretty good for watching stuff without headphones as well.

• Audio playback: It supports a laundry list of audio formats, and has a playback screen that's slightly too complex for a normal PMP. On the other hand, this isn't a normal PMP that's meant to be used with one finger. You definitely need the stylus.

• FM Radio: It does the job, but you need to have the headphones plugged in to hear anything, much like the first Sirius Stilettos.

• GPS Navigation: Fantastic. Just plug the unit into the dock, plug the dock into the cigarette adapter, and you're ready to go. The dock even has an FM transmitter so you can broadcast GPS sound, music, or movie (audio) over your car's speakers. The actual navigation is great too, with a pleasing female narrator and airplane-esque ding noise. The icons are large enough that you can hit with your finger instead of the stylus, and the UI has a 2D, 3D, and 2D/3D view. You can even listen to your on-board music while you're navigating as well.

• Photo Browser: It's a pretty decent photo browser, but where it really excels is its ability to read RAW files from various camera manufacturers. It ate up our Canon RAW files and displayed them at just about the same speed as the JPG files from our Samsung point and shoot. Good times. Very useful for photogs on the go.

• Internet connectivity: Because the whole device runs on Windows CE, you get Internet Explorer and MSN Messenger as part of the deal. As long as you're connected to Wi-Fi, you chat and browse with the onscreen keyboard just fine.

• Flaws: Although the Q5 is fast when you're inside an app (such as video or audio), getting around the device is kind of sluggish. You also have to make sure the task bar is unhidden in order to bring up the on-screen keyboard, something we had to get help on. The Wi-Fi antenna is also kind of flimsy, and you pretty much need to use the stylus for everything. Other than that, the only major flaw is that it's running on Windows CE, which is fine for some but may infuriate others.

The Verdict: The Q5W is super rich in features and plays back loads of video and audio files. It's fast, but kind of heavy, and is on the borderline of being pocketable (assuming you don't wear Bruce Springsteen jeans circa 1985). The GPS features are awesome for a PMP, and should make this a definite keeper in the car. If you're looking for a device that plays just about every file you have on the plane, on the train, or to work, you can do a whole lot worse than the Cowon Q5W. [Cowon]

You can play files off of a CD/DVD. This feature wasn't listed on the Xbox Team's website as one of the supported locations for playing back content, but this is fantastic for homes that have wireless networks (or no network at all). In fact, reading off a disc is probably the best way to ensure your movie won't cut out in the middle due to network congestion (unlikely) or someone turning off the computer accidentally (fairly likely).

It supports almost all files. It played back all TV shows we threw at it, including My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Battlestar Galactica, and The Venture Bros.. Most of these, and most TV downloaded TV shows, are encoded in XviD format. As for DivX, that's supported back to version 5.0, but it's unlikely that you're going to find any DivX 3 or DivX 4 online, unless you're talking about old files you've saved for a couple years.

AC3 Audio is supported. Nice! AC3 support was added in the Spring Update, but it's nice to see it working with DivX/XviD. Too bad it's not 5.1 though. 5.1 is supported!

It supports Windows Home Server as well. Along with USB drives and WMP11 streaming, you can also stream DivX/XviD from Windows Home Server too. It makes sense to store all your videos on here, since videos are big and WHS has a lot of room. QED.

Video Stretching is kind of weird. The Xbox will try and auto-fit your video to the screen when it starts playing, but it gets confused easily with different video dimensions. You'll want to manually change the playback mode to either letterbox or stretched, depending on what kind of content (widescreen, fullscreen, PAL) you're playing back.

You can skip through a video with the bumpers. RB and LB let you skip forward and back through the movie, but might not be granular enough to get to the place you want to be. You'll have to use the trigger buttons to FF or RW.

It's fast. If your network connection is fast enough (my network is Gigabit Ethernet enabled, which isn't a huge deal since the 360 is only 10/100), the video should play back without a hitch. It's quite nice to be able to play back stuff on your 360, in HD, without having to transcode it into WMV first.

It doesn't work in Windows Media Center Extender. You're going to have to kick out of WMC and back to the dashboard in order to play your videos. Annoying for people who like to switch between live TV and downloaded content.

It's not entirely perfect. It's 90% of the way there, but 5.1 AC3 support, improved handling of different video dimensions, better playback controls and Windows Media Center Extender support will make this the perfect DivX/Xvid implementation.

It's got Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 600MHz processor, 5-inch touchscreen LCD, 40-60GB of storage, flash-player, wireless remote, FM radio, voice recorder, stereo speakers, component/composite/S-Video TV out, RAW support for various cameras, super video codec support (DivX, XviD, MPEG4, WMV7/8/9) at 720x480, super audio support MP3, WMA, ASF, OGG, WAV, FLAC, APE, MPC), and a battery life of 13 hours (audio) and seven hours (video). Best of all it's only $549 for the 40GB version and $599 for the 60GB version. Even better? There's an optional car mount in order to either use all its multimedia capabilities on, OR, use it as a GPS! Stick around for a hands-on of this in the next couple of days. [Cowon]

Details are scant, but interested PS3 owners will first have to upgrade to the recently released firmware 2.00 before downloading the still unreleased DivX decoder itself. DivX gets a major bump in living room support, while Sony continues to blur the lines of entertainment console and multimedia PC. Once again, we wonder why Sony didn't do this sooner. But once again, we're happy nonetheless. [infosyncworld]