Online video platform Boxee has signed a deal with an unknown device manufacturer to produce a "Boxee box" that will stream the site's content. The company will show a mock-up of the box and reveal more details at its December 7 meet-up in Brooklyn, NY.

Boxee has been working on this deal since the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), CEO Avner Ronen said in a blog post. "During the show we met with several device manufactures interested in embedding Boxee into their existing devices or building a dedicated Boxee device," he wrote.

Boxee has secured a partnership with a consumer electronics company, but they cannot "say more about the partner or the specs of the device," Ronen said.

"This will be the first connected device running Boxee, but the idea is to provide consumers with a way to get Boxee in their living rooms, no matter whether it's on a Connected TV, game console, set-top box, BluRay player, computer, etc," he continued. "Our goal is to be on every Connected device in the living room."

Why get a separate DVR when you already have a computer? That's the idea behind the just-released AVerTV HD DVR. This PCI Express card lets you record high-def video from your cable or satellite set-top box with two HDMI inputs. Use the included software to schedule recordings, and use the included dongle to input video from component, composite, and S-video connections, as well.

While the card records 1080i H.264 video, it does so at a 320-by-240 resolution, so it isn't right for playing back on a big screen. The company is billing it more for use with portable devices, such as the iPod, iPhone, and PSP. Gamers can record their game sessions and post them online, and anyone can burn their recordings to DVD. The card works with Windows 7, Vista, and XP computers. Pick up the card from AVerMedia's site for $99.

All you Blu-ray holdouts, will this tempt you? JVC has just announced the JVC XV-BP11, a $199.95 Blue-ray player, in time for holiday gift-giving. Besides Blue-ray, it can handle the AVCHD format used in many high-def camcorders. Naturally, it also plays standard DVDs and MP3 discs, and displays JPEG photos.

You're not going to get a variety of high-end features at this level, but it looks like a good choice for people who simply want 1080/24p HD playback and Dolby Digital audio with no frills. The few extras include cinema zoom and a parental lock.

Select Samsung HDTV owners can now download widgets for streaming content from Blockbuster On Demand and Amazon Video On Demand services using the Internet@TV feature offered on LCD and Plasma HDTVs Series 650 and above and LED-backlit HDTVs Series 7000 and above.

The Blockbuster On Demand service, which provides instant access to 7,000 streaming movies, is also available on select Samsung Blu-ray Players and Blu-ray integrated Home Theater Systems after downloading a firmware upgrade. Video On Demand movie rentals are priced from $2.99 to $3.99, and purchases range in price from $7.99 for classic films to $19.99 for new releases. Amazon's Video On Demand catalog includes over 50,000 movies and TV shows, with over 2,000 in high definition. New releases and "day after" broadcast TV shows are also available in standard and high definition.

The traditional mouse's shape is ideal for the desktop, but less so for the living room. With Internet video increasingly invading the biggest screen in the house, several peripheral companies have already taken a stab at creating the ideal controller for the reclining viewer. Now GlideTV has stepped in with the GlideTV Navigator.

Using a design new for mice but old for ashtrays, the GlideTV Navigator is a shallow bowl-shaped device that combines the functions of a keyboard, mouse, and remote. The clickable touchpad lets you choose on-screen items, while the playback buttons make it easy to start and stop media. It works with a rechargeable battery, so you don't need to constantly load it with AAs.

The GlideTV Navigator was a hit at CES this year and now it's finally available. Pick it up for $149 (steep, right?) at the GlideTV site.

Who wouldn't want to buy the station charged with bringing the world the magic of 30 Rock? Comcast, apparently. The cable giant denied recent rumor that it would be purchasing NBC for $35 billion.

"While we do not normally comment on M&A rumors, the report that Comcast has a deal to purchase NBC Universal is inaccurate," the company said in a recent statement.

It's not a flat out denial, to be sure. It's more of a "someone didn't get their facts quite right," i.e., maybe the price was actually $36 billion. According to "people close to the situation," Comcast is "kicking the tires" over at that network.

So, what's going on? Only Comcast and the Sheinhardt Wig Company know for certain.

Samsung has unveiled two 1GHz ARM CORTEX-A8-based application processors for mobile devices. The SP5C110 is intended for small form factor gadgets like smartphones, while the S5PV210 is meant for netbooks.

Both low-power, 45-nanometer processors last longer on standard size batteries. Each one includes 32KB data and 32KB instruction caches along with a 512KB L2 cache, which the company said enables real-time Web browsing and smooth UI response.

Both chips also come with built-in 3D graphics engines for gaming, and 1080p HD codec engines for playing or recording high definition video at 30 frames per second. There's also an on-board HDMI 1.3 interface for output to an external display.

The CPUs will be available in sample sizes for manufacturers in December 2009; expect to see actual consumer products using these chips sometime next year. (Via Phone Scoop)

Does this look like a new HDTV that's a bit on the small side? That's what I first thought when I  spotted it last week. The MS246H is actually a sleek new 23.5-inch LCD monitor from ASUS. Though the company announced the same model in Australia a week or so ago, its stateside debut happened at the Pepcom media event last Thursday night .

The ultra-slim LCD is only 0.65 inches wide with dual-lamp LCD panels to help with power savings (up to 40 percent, according to ASUS). The MS246H boasts a 2-millisecond response time, 250 cd/m² brightness, and a 50,000:1 contrast ratio. That's not too shabby, all things considered, though the Acer H253H still has it beat with a standard 100,000:1 contrast ratio on top of its 2-millisecond response time. Then again, the ASUS' promised viewing angles (170 degrees horizontally and 160 degrees vertically) are much better than the Acer's performance.

The MS246H offers 1080p resolution over HDMI. A VGA port rounds out the feature set. No information yet on availability, but the MS246H will retail for $249.99.

Things are about to go from bad to worse for Blockbuster. The once powerful video chain is getting ready to close the doors on a number of retail locations, according to a regulatory filing by the company this week. Blockbuster is getting ready to close down 810 and 960 brick-and-mortar stores by year's end. That's more than one-fifth of its US locations.

The chain, which currently operates 4,356 locations in the US initially planned to close 380 to 425 by the end of the year. The company has largely struggled to compete with the explosion of services like Netflix and video on demand.

It's still a challenge to enjoy your computer's music, photos, and movies on your TV, but Seagate hopes to change that with the FreeAgent Theater+ HD. It's a home theater docking system that works with Seagate's FreeAgent Go portable drives.

The idea is that you connect your FreeAgent Go drive to your computer and load it up with all the media you want to share: all your home movies, family photos, and favorite songs. Then, plug the drive into the FreeAgent Theater+ HD, which is connected to your television. You'll be able to browse through that material with the included remote.

The FreeAgent Theater+ HD includes two USB ports for attaching other storage devices, and an Ethernet port so you can access it from your home network. The company will release a USB wireless adapter in October. The system works with both Windows and Macintosh computers. Get it as a standalone product for $149.99 or bundled with a 500GB FreeAgent Go drive for $289.99.

death of one of the models came quietly in the night. Apple has killed off the entry level 40GB model, and dropped the price of the 160GB version down to $229, down from $329.

Apple TV never really took off, and the company hasn't really gone out of its way to nurture the device. Some expected the company to announce new multimedia refreshes for the device at the most recent Apple event, though nothing surfaced. From the looks of it, Apple is either getting ready for an update to the device, or just killing it off altogether.

Sony's latest Blu-ray player goes way beyond discs and brings the best of the Internet to your television. The BDP-N460 connects to your home network via an Ethernet cable or wirelessly with an optional Linksys Wireless Ethernet Bridge to bring YouTube, Slacker, and several other media services to your home theater system. The big get, Netflix, is coming this fall.

The BDP-N460 offers 1080p video, and 7.1 channel Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus audio. Besides playing Blu-ray discs, the player uses Sony's Precision Cinema HD Upscale technology to give standard definition discs a near-HD look.

You'll have to wait until October for this one, but it'll cost a reasonable $249.99. Look for it on sonystyle.com or at your local electronics store.

One thing no one's ever said about CableCard: how easy it is to install the darn thing. In fact, only a tiny fraction of the millions of CableCards currently in use are plugged into computers. That's because CableCards can only be used in "cable-ready PCs," meaning a certain class of new systems sold by manufacturers and blessed by Cable Labs. Enthusiasts couldn't build their own, nor could they add the tuners to existing computers. At least, not until yesterday, when Microsoft announced that the regulators of CableCard will decrease the severity of digital rights management from the television tuner and widen the pool of PCs that can take advantage of them.

Great news, but how will you, an enthusiast, ever get your hands on the darn things? According to Ken Plotkin, CEO of leading tuner manufacturer Hauppauge Computer Works, his company will sell a TV tuner at retail by the end of the year. This probably means that other manufacturers will be quick to join; watch for CableCard tuners from AVerMedia and DViCo, and the crazy multichannel CableCard from Ceton Corp, which Engadget recently spent some quality hands-on time with.

Until then, keep in mind that you can always install one of the OEM units yourself, provided you can track one down on eBay.
Image © Ben Drawbaugh/Engadget.

LG Electronics said Wednesday that it will add the Vudu streaming movie service to its LG Wireless Network Blu-ray Player (model BD390) at the end of the month.

The $399 player already includes access to Netflix, Roxio CinemaNow, and YouTube.

"Our alliance with VUDU exemplifies LG's commitment to delivering the ultimate HD viewing experience, by providing instant access to more 1080p movie content than ever before," said Peter Reiner, senior vice president of marketing for LG Electronics USA, Inc., in a statement. "Vudu is the latest enhancement to our NetCast Entertainment Access feature and we are excited to now provide consumers with one of the most extensive on-demand, high-definition entertainment options on our Wireless Network Blu-ray Player."manufacturer's suggested retail price of $399. VUDU connectivity will be available at the end of the month via a free upgrade.

On Tuesday, Netgear launched the Digital Entertainer Live (or EVA2000), a small set-top box that connects an HDTV to a local USB or networked hard drive or to Web video services like YouTube or Hulu.

The EVA2000 went on sale today for $149.99, and a complementary USB wireless adapter (the EVAW111) is priced at $39.99. However, there are also some hidden fees you may need to be aware of.

The EVA2000 looks quite similar to the Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player, which is priced slightly less, at $129.99. In fact, the two remote controls look nearly identical. (Disclosure: I purchased a WD TV box about six weeks ago.) Both boxes also use an HDMI cable to connect to an HDTV, although neither includes it. There's one key difference, however: the WD TV outputs up to 1080i video, while the EVA2000 supports up to 720p.

The Netgear box supports a nice array of video formats (WMV 7/8/9, VC1, VP6, - H.263, H.264, MPEG 1/2/4) and file types, including AVI, DivX 4.x, DivX 5.x, Xvid, MOV, MP4, MPEG2-PS, MPEG2-TS, DVD VOB, FLV, Matroska, and ASF.

The one drawback to the WD TV, obviously, is that it lacks any sort of network access, either to the home LAN or to the Internet at large. The EVA2000 rectifies both deficiencies. Since it lacks a true network browser, however, the EVA2000 requires some intermediary software to access popular Web video sites, and this is where the additional fees come in.