Chris Bortner, CEO of Envive talks with CE Pro's Lisa Montgomery about Envive's TheaterStation product line and the new TheaterStation client.


View larger video here

Meridian will debut the latest updates to its Sooloos media server at CEDIA Expo 2009.

The latest update, which provides a centralized shared music source, includes interface enhancements and major changes to system capabilities, zone playback options and hardware options.

"We have completely reinvented the system architecture of Sooloos," says Bob Stuart, Meridian's co-founder, chairman and chief technology officer. "The new design allows the interface to literally handle hundreds of thousands of files with the same speed and flexibility as just one hundred."

Sooloos 2.0 now boasts the ability to communicate with Meridian legacy products, which protects the investment of consumers "while offering an attractive system and exposing Meridian to a broader audience."

The Sooloos 2.0 system, which has begun shipping to dealers, consists of a 17-inch color-touchscreen controller with embedded CD slot for transferring CD music to connected Twinstore hard drives. In a 1TB configuration, the combination retails for a suggested $8,250.…

If you've avoided Windows Media Center because set-up can be a pain, then you might appreciate Niveus' new White Glove service offering.

"Normally you [dealer] have to do all of the set-up," says CEO Tim Cutting. "With our service, they can tell us how they're using the product. We set up the servers here and ship them for a nearly plug-and-play install."

Niveus will set up its Media Center machines for static/dynamic IP addresses, content sharing, audio, video and more.

In addition to the original set-up, Niveus will provide "proactive management" of media servers in the field, so problems like impending drive failures can be thwarted before they happen.

"Our support team will come in every morning and look at the dashboard," Cutting says.

Niveus can alert the homeowner or the dealer or simply fix any issues on its own.

"A good number of…

Fusion Research will give away its new Studio Movie Server to one lucky attendee at the CEDIA Expo 2009.

Attendees can register for the contest by having their badge scanned at Fusion's booth (#3317). The winner will be announced on the Fusion Web site on Thursday, Sept. 16.

Fusion’s new Studio Movie Server stores up to 250 DVDs, includes an "add your own" storage option and can integrate with any IR-based control system.

The Studio Movie Server also has the same interface and video quality of the flagship Cinema Server and Genesis product lines. MSRP: $3,495

ReQuest may be the first manufacturer in the custom channel to incorporate Netflix into its media servers, and the new application will be shown at CEDIA Expo 2009.

Sure you can find the streaming video service in numerous TVs, settop boxes, and Windows Media Center (see our digital media roundup), but our favorite integrator-friendly servers have been slow to adopt the service … until now.

ReQuest is incorporating Netflix into its high-end Intelligent Music and Movie Client (IMC), which connects to a ReQuest media server.

What started out as a nice way to access your own movies and music from a server has emerged to become a nice vehicle for streaming media – all through a single streamlined user interface.

First there was YouTube, then came Hulu (definitely a first in our industry) and now Netflix.

Read more

Posted by Julie Jacobson on 07/31 at 07:14 AM
News, Product News, CEDIA, Digital Media, Media Servers, (5) Comments, Permalink