Grace Digital hoped to get in updates on its radios before a wave of CES news with the launch of three new Internet radios. The Bravado X, Mondo and Solo Touch now have color, higher resolution displays that provide a much clearer and more image-driven interface. All three can be controlled either from buttons or from the company's iPhone remote control app (free, App Store).
TiVo on Monday made the Pandora app available on its Internet-connected set-top Premiere DVR set-top boxes. Pandora users can now listen to on-demand radio stations from their main TV. Users can either sign in with an existing account or create a new account through the TiVo interface.
The VMP75 NexTv is ViewSonic's latest foray into living rooms for what's quickly becoming a crowded field of media hubs. This network media player can serve up content from a variety of local and online sources and even has its own web browser. But is it a strong balance, or trying to do too much at once? And how does it stack up against an Apple TV? Our NexTV review hopes to provide an answer.
Western Digital expanded its set-top hubs today with the WD TV Live Plus HD. The new addition primarily brings Netflix video streaming and, unlike some other interfaces, lets users add movies to the queue from the hub instead of going to a separate device's web browser. Internet access beyond Netflix is also important as users can check Flickr photos, watch YouTube and stream Live365 or Pandora radio.
Western Digital put out an update to the WD TV Live HD that makes it the first networked media hub to properly recognize Windows 7. Patching the firmware lets the hub show up as a destination for Windows' Play To feature. Viewers can now choose the content from the computer, rather than the hub, and don't have to load the media player first to load a video, photo or music.
Grace Digital hoped to stand out among Internet radio tuners with the Solo. The hub links up to any existing speaker system and streams either 18,000 preset stations, custom-programmed stations, or services like iheartradio, Live365, Pandora and Sirius over an 802.11g Wi-Fi link. Although it has built-in controls, it's unique in having the option of an iPhone app (free, App Store) that serves both as a remote control and as a way of checking track info away from the built-in screen.
