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Belkin Conserve Surge protector pays for itself in months

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CNet points us to the Belkin Conserve Surge Protector which shuts down 6 of its 8 outlets completely with a remote switch that you can mount by/like a lightswitch.  The idea is pretty simple but can you make it work?  A lot of devices require always on-functionality.  Cable Modem, Router,  etc. Plus, all Macs are pretty good about going to super low power mode when idle so is the cost savings worth it?

On the other hand, devices like lights, printers, TVs, and some computers and peripherals can be shut down to save a buck or so a week.  Oh, and Amazon has the device at a very friendly $25 after $10 Belkin rebate.

 

Toys Weekend deal: LaCie USB-powered 500GB portable HD $99+Free shipping

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From the Toys section:

Amazon.com offers the Sam Hecht-designed LaCie Little Disk 500GB 2.5" Portable USB 2.0 External Hard Drive, model no. 301841, for $99.95 with free shipping ($0.20/GB). That’s the lowest total price we could find by $6, although it was a buck less in February (since expired.) This USB-powered 2.5" hard drive runs at 5400 rpm and features an 8MB cache.

 

Walt Mossberg re-reviews MobileMe

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Walt Mossberg, Personal Technology Columnist for the Wall Street Journal, reviewed MobileMe when it first came out last summer.  As we all remember, it was a bit of a rotten egg initially.  Walt agreed.   Nine months later he’s got a much better opinion of it. 

How about you?  Or is Google Apps better? 

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/452319854

Biggest problem: Outlook integration isn’t "there" yet.  The written version is here.

Midweek Toys Deals: Western Digital 640GB hard drive or 320GB portable for $59 with free shipping

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From the Toys section:

Both drives are very highly rated and demonstrate you can get roughly double the storage in full size hard drives (3.5 inch) for the same price as laptop sized (2.5 inch).  Both are SATA and come with free shipping.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0017XUX7O&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0011U65F2&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Toys Deal: 1TB Western Digital $93 w/free shipping

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From the Toys section:

Amazon today offers the 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green 7200 RPM hard drive with 32MB of Cache for $93 with free shipping.  That’s the lowest price we’ve seen on this highly rated 5 star hard drive.  In fact, it is the highest rated hard drive on Amazon.  Green hard drives not only save on electric bills, they also run cooler which allows them to operate well at closer proximity to other drives and other electronics.

The 1TB Seagate Barracuda drive which gets significantly lower marks in the reviews is $5 less at $88.

Toys:Altec Lansing iPod/iPhone Alarm Clock half off

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From the Toys Section:

Amazon.com offers the Altec Lansing M402 Moondance Alarm Clock Radio for iPod for $94.99 with free shipping. That’s the lowest total price we could find by $13. Features include dual alarms, FM radio, large LCD, auxiliary input, rear mood lighting, and wireless remote (for snooze too).  You also get $5 worth of MP3 downloads from Amazon MP3 with the purchase.

Other options in this field include the Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus for $77.50

Amazon description below:

A remote control is included.

Escape to Your Musical Oasis
The bedroom has become important personal living space–a sanctuary, an oasis, and a place to recharge. More than just a bedside alarm clock, the Moondance Glow is designed with a feature set that dramatically enhances the bedroom environment. Altec Lansing started with big audio and then added the iPod dock and alarm clock. The system features two 3-inch full-range drivers that deliver exceptional stereo clarity.

Adjustable Lighting Sets the Mood
Understanding that the bedroom is a place with many moods, Altec Lansing added a diffused lighting system that lets you select between 17 colors and any intensity to create the perfect illuminated ambiance. It’s perfect for individual use, for entertaining, or as a white-noise-and-nighlight system for a child’s bedroom.

Innovative Snooze Remote Eases Your Morning
The Moondance Glow has a remote snooze alarm that enables this audio system to be placed anywhere in the bedroom for the best room-filling sound–not just on the bedside table like other alarm clocks. Simply touch the snooze alarm pad on the bedside table and, using a wireless RF signal, the alarm goes off across the room. This remote also serves to pause and play your tunes anytime during the day. The system’s dual alarms allow you to wake by iPod, radio, another audio device, or alarm buzz.

Full-featured Clock Display and Additional Features
The visual command center is informative, intuitive, and user-adjustable, such as the light intensity and the size of clock digits. The LCD displays scrolling song and FM station data (RDS). The FM tuner has four station presets and wire antenna for superior reception. Back-lit touch capacitive buttons allow control of the system with the whisper press of a fingertip. Or, a remote control (separate from the wireless snooze control) provides across-the-room command of the speaker system functions, FM radio, alarm, and playlist song navigation. An auxiliary input connects a second audio source, including CD, DVD, and other MP3 players. And the Moondance Glow will keep your iPod charged, always ready to take and go.

Its compact size (12.2 x 3.1 x 5.3 inches (W x D x H) conserves that precious space in your bedroom. Plus, the Moondance Glow is backed by a one-year warranty.

What’s in the Box
Moondance Glow stereo alarm clock, snooze remote pad and dongle, wireless remote control, iPod docking adapters, power supply, user’s guide, and quick connect instructions.

Plex gets Netflix integration (with Silverlight)

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Plex, everyone’s favorite mediacenter for Macintosh, just got a little more awesome today with a new Netflix application that looks perhaps better that the Roku box that Netflix itself sells.  The Netflix App can be downloaded for free from the Plex store but does require the Silverlight plugin (Netflix requires this, not Plex).  Make sure you have the latest version of Plex running before installing this one.

Great work on this one guys!  (more pix below)

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Toys Deal: 4GB RAM for Pre-DisplayPort Macs for $25

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From the Toys Section:

Once again, Amazon.com offers the OCZ 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 SO-DIMM Dual Channel Notebook Memory Kit with two 2GB SO-DIMMs, model no. OCZ2M8004GK, for $39.90. This $15 mail-in rebate drops it to $24.90. With free shipping, that ties last month’s mention as the lowest total price we could find.  Why not max out your Mac for for a few bucks.

This RAM will work in Pre-DisplayPort MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Minis and iMacs.  Make sure to check your device before purchasing.

Toys: Seagate 1TB Drive is $79 at Amazon today only

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From the Toys section:

Today only, Amazon.com offers the OEM Seagate Barracuda 1TB Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive, model no. ST31000333AS, for $79.99 with free shipping ($0.08/GB). That’s $10 under our mention from last week and the lowest total price we’ve seen. This drive features a 32MB cache and runs at 7200 rpm.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001NGOIJO&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Mini DisplayPort-HDMI Adapters now at Amazon for $19 plus shipping

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Want to hook up your new Mac directly to an HDMI-equipped HDTV?  You’ll need an adapter.  Apple isn’t selling them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. 

Amazon and through its partners are now selling the adapter cables for $19 plus $4.99 shippingGizmodo ran some tests on the Mini DisplayPort-HDMI adapter and found it worked better than Apple’s solution of Mini DisplayPort-DVI Adapter to DVI-HDMI adapter.  Plus this one is cheaper.

Monoprice has them for less but they are currently on backorder.

 

Toys Deal: Half off Crucial 2GB RAM

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From the Toys section:

Amazon has Crucial 2GB 667 Mhz CT25664AC667 DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM Laptop Memory on sale for $19 with fee shipping.  This is the lowest price we’ve ever seen on this memory, let alone from a name brand like Crucial and a retailer like Amazon.  This memory can be used in Intel Mac Minis, iMac and most pre-Unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros.  Check here for a compatibility list.  Double check that your system is compatible before buying.

 

It also works in many models of the popular ASUS EEE PCs.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000F7QRTG&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

VUZE adds transcoding support for iPod, iPhone and AppleTV

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We’ve been using VUZE and its former brand Azureus since we first started Bittorrenting Linux ISOs and other totally legal stuff years ago.  While a bit bloated, VUZE/Azureus has always been the most feature-packed, cross platform Bittorrent client available.  When they changed their brand to VUZE, they added a HD video distribution network which had some good content, some not so good.  Now, in version 4.2, they’ve added client side video transcoding to all of your favorite devices. 

Along with iPods, iPhones and AppleTV’s, VUZE now supports Playstation and XBox MP4 formatted movies.

It is a relatively easy process to set up but slow to finish unless you have a some serious MP4 horsepower.  The good news is that the process is all automated so you won’t have to be there when your totally legal stuff is moved to AppleTV/iPod/iPhone compatible formats.

Toys Deals: 55% off Boston Acoustics desktop speakers, Slingcatcher

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A Quick deal from the Toys section:

TigerDirect via Amazon.com offers the Boston Acoustics MM220 Slim Computer Speakers in Midnight for $44.99. With free shipping, it’s $15 under our mention from two weeks ago and the lowest total price we’ve seen. This 2-piece system features 80 watts of output, 1/2" tweeters, headphone jack, and more.

Also of note this week :

Amazon.com offers the Sling Media SlingCatcher Digital Media Receiver, model no. SC100-100, for $162.61. (Add it to your cart to get this price.) With free shipping, that’s $3 under our mention from last month and the lowest total price we’ve seen. This device allows you to stream content from your TV to your computer, and vice versa. It features wireless, Ethernet and USB connectivity, as well as standard and HD AV outputs including HDMI, S-video, component, and composite video, and both analog and digital audio.

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0013BVADG&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

9to5mac Toys weekend HDTV deals

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We’ve noticed a few HD TV deals populating the 9to5Mac Toys section this weekend.   Here’s a recap:

Amazon.com offers the Samsung Touch of Color 58" 1080p Widescreen Plasma HD Television, model no. PN-58A650, for $2,254 with free shipping. It ties our mention from a week ago for the lowest total price we could find by $14. Features include a 1920×1080 (1080p) native resolution, 1,000,000 dynamic contrast ratio, integrated ATSC (HD), NTSC, and QAM tuners, four HDMI inputs, and VGA, component, and other video inputs.

 

Electronics Expo via Amazon.com offers the Sony BRAVIA XBR 52" 240Hz 1080p LCD HD Television, model no. KDL-52XBR7, for $2,588.74. (You may have to choose Electronics Expo in "More Buying Choices" on the right.) With free shipping, that’s $39 under our mention from a week ago and the lowest total price we could find. Unlike most LCD TVs we’ve listed, this model features a 240Hz refresh rate, purportedly producing more life-like picture motion. Other features include a native resolution of 1920×1080 (1080p), 80,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 3,000:1 static contrast ratio, 8ms response time, ATSC (HD), NTSC, and QAM tuners, four HDMI inputs, and VGA, component, and other video inputs.

 

Amazon.com still offers the Toshiba REGZA 1080p 52" Widescreen LCD HD Television, model no. 52RV535U, for $1,199.98 with free shipping. That’s tied with last week’s mention and the lowest total price we could find by $140. Features include a 1920×1080 (1080p) native resolution, ATSC (HD), NTSC, and QAM tuners, four HDMI inputs, and VGA, component, and other video inputs.

 


Sears offers the Samsung 50" 720p Widescreen Plasma HD Television, model no. PN50A450, for $799.88. Shipping adds $65, or opt for in-store pickup. Even with shipping, that’s $14 under last month’s mention and the lowest total price we could find. Sales tax is added where applicable. It features a native resolution of 1365×768, 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, ATSC (HD), NTSC, and QAM tuners, three HDMI inputs, and VGA, component, and other video inputs.

 


OfficeMax offers the Envision AOC 26" 720p Widescreen LCD HD Television, model no. L26W761, for $299.99. With free shipping, that’s $30 under our mention three weeks ago and the lowest total price we’ve seen. Sales tax is added where applicable. It features a native resolution of 1366×768, 800:1 contrast ratio, 500 cd/m² brightness, ATSC/QAM tuner, 8ms response time, one HDMI input, and component, VGA, and RCA video inputs.

 


Fry’s Electronics offers the Samsung 52" 1080p Widescreen LCD HD Television, model no. LN-52A550, for $1,298.98 with free shipping. That ties a deal from two weeks ago for the lowest total price we’ve seen for any Samsung 52" 1080p LCD HDTV. Sales tax is added where applicable. The TV features a native resolution of 1920×1080 (1080p), 30,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, ATSC (HD) and Clear QAM tuners, 5ms response time, three HDMI 1.3 inputs, and VGA, component, and other video inputs.

 


newegg.com offers the Hanns-G 28" Widescreen LCD Monitor, model no. HG-281DPB, for $359.99. Coupon code "LCD31230" knocks it to $329.99. With free shipping, it’s $20 below our mention from earlier this month and the lowest total price we could find. A true monitor (not a TV called a "monitor"), this LCD features a 1920×1200 native resolution, 3ms response time, 800:1 contrast ratio, 500 cd/m² brightness, and both HDMI (with HDCP) and VGA inputs. Coupon expires March 15.

 

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0015PBTHM&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001JJBQN6&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001EWDFBE&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Toys: 2TB internal hard drives now available

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From the Toys section:

If you’ve been Jonesin’ for the biggest available consumer hard drive, Platinum Micro thru Amazon is now selling the Western Digital 2TB SATA Caviar Green SATA hard drive with 32MB of cache for $329

You are paying a significant premium for having the biggest consumer hard drive on the planet, however.  If you are willing to drop down to 1.5TB, you can have 3/4 of the storage for much less than half that price ($129).

 

Toys: Canon Laser/FAX/Copier/Scanner/Printer $95 w/ free shipping

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Update: Expired

From the Toys section:

Today only, Amazon.com offers the Canon Laser Faxphone L80 Fax Machine / Laser Printer for $95 with free shipping. That’s an $83 overnight drop and the lowest total price we could find. Features include 6 ppm, 600 dpi, 350-page fax memory, and more.

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0001KWE0S&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

9to5Mac Toys weekend roundup

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From the Toys section, we’ve got a few little products at never before seen prices:

 

Amazon.com offers the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B 1TB Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive, model no. 0A38016, for $87.99 with free shipping ($0.09/GB). (newegg.com charges the same.) That ties our mention from a week ago as the lowest total price we could find, this time by $9. It features a 16MB cache, runs at 7200 rpm, and meets Energy Star 4.0 specifications established by the EPA.

MUCH MORE BELOW

 

A 1GB MP3 player that doubles as some emergency storage, a FM radio and a high speed SD card reader for $12.  You can even record voice or FM radio with it?!  All for under $15 including shipping.  It gets 4 out of 5 stars from 23 people so it can’t be THAT big a PoS.


We’ve found a Car/Home AC/DC iPod/iPhone charging unit/USB Adapter for $2 plus $2.98 shipping or free with $25 purchase.

Not sure of the quality of this one but a 1.5 inch digital picture frame on a keychain by Colby for $9.68 plus free shipping for orders over $25.  16MB of storage will hold about 60 128×128 thumbnails.  The software is Windows only.  Give this to someone you hate, you cheap bastard!

 

Easily the baddest Netbook out there, the Intel Atom N280 equipped EEE 1000HE Laptop which is hackintosh – able) hits all of the sweetspots.  It could also be the best Hackintosh around.  It is $25 off at $374.  Use that savings to buy 2GB of OCZ RAM (see deals below or click here).

 

Also we’ve found a super high end Plantronics Discovery Bluetooth headset for a 1/2 off  $77.

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000NDZ0O0&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001630QZE&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000JLG5ZY&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Toys weekend deal: $112 off Time Capsule

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From the Toys section:

Amazon.com offers the Apple Time Capsule 1TB, model no. MB277LL/A, for $387.92 with free shipping. (Add it to your cart to see this price.) That’s a $21 under our mention from earlier this month and the lowest total price we’ve seen. Apple’s Time Capsule is an 802.11n Wi-Fi base station with a built-in hard drive. That is a whopping/suspicious $112 off of a normally stable retail price of $499.

Of note, the 500GB version, model no. MB276LL/A, is also available for $259.31 with free shipping.  That is $40 off of retail.

A little rumor information as well: We’ve heard that Apple has been working on Software Update caching in future firmware updates to the Time Capsule. 

Finally, if you are just looking for a USB hard drive, Dell has a 1.5TB Seagate for $112 and Newegg has a 1TB model for $75 after $20 rebate.

 

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0012JJOQO&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0012JHY7K&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Hackintosh starts at $199

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Update: The Dell deal is over, but as far as Netbooks go, we’d reccomend the Hackintosh friendly ASUS 1000HE which you can grab at Amazon for $374 with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB HD or $399 with 2GB of RAM.

If you were thinking about Hacking up a Dell or just riding with the more than useful Ubuntu Linux installed and wanted to get it at a Recession-friendly price, now is your chance.  From the Toys sectionDell Home is selling the Hackintosh – friendly Mini 9’s in base configuration for $199 – for one day only.  That’s $100 off.  You’ll need to juice up the specs to at least 1GB of RAM and 16GB of Flash to have a respectable Hackintosh though.  Also of note, Amazon is selling the sleeker, thinner HP 1000 Mini series starting at $279 – which doesn’t have working audio drivers yet for Mac OS (you can use USB).

This Dell price point is significant, not only for us cheap bastards, but also because it is the same price as Negroponte’s OLPC.  Why not give a really sweet Ubuntu laptop with a video camera to a kid in a poor country.  Capitalism!  You win again!

 

Finally, take that optical drive out of that unibody and put in another HDD

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Frankly, since the MacBook Air was released, we’ve been questioning the validity of the internal optical drive in our MacBooks.  Really, we need that thing once or twice a month, if at all, with all of the other options out there. USB sticks for data transfer and quick backups, the Internet for 700MB movies and perhaps an external DVD for the occasional software install (and hopefully rare OS reinstall).  Otherwise that thing is just taking up a lot of space and gathering dust as a relic of the past in our Unibody MacBooks.

The good news is that today, MCE has a solution for that wasted space.  They simply take your DVD-R and put it in a USB case, then put in your MacBook another hard drive inside a holder that fills the space of an optical drive.  Therefore, you can technically have up to 1 TB of storage with the Unibody MacBook utilizing two 500GB hard drives space.  You can even make a (assuming soft-)RAID setup.

Sweet.  But we are still seeing some extra space there.  How about a SD card reader and an eSATA port while you are at it!?  Maybe also throw in a 3G Modem?  We’ll pay the premium.

 

via Macworld.

 

Plex Media Center blows us away with App Store

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Media Centers on the Mac have been pretty hit or miss so far.  We’ve been playing with a few of them, along with Front Row and nothing has been really "sticky".  One we’re a huge fan of is open source Plex. It has been improving incrementally for the past year since it branched off from XBMC and basically does everything Apple’s Front Row does, but better.  You can use an Apple remote or there’s built-in support for Harmony remotes.  Plus it does a bunch of other interesting stuff like play 1080P movies in formats other than MP4 and MOV, streams weather information to your media center Mac, and it is skinnable.

But then something amazing happened.

Over the weekend we hit the 0.7.8 Beta version and ..erm.. Boom!  They now have an App store!  These apps bring together a lot of what you’d want in a media center.  Obviously, you want to pick up Hulu, CNN, CBS Sports, Youtube, FFFound..the list goes on and on.  They currently have 20 apps but expect us to "be amazed by some of the ones we’re working on behind the scenes."   The good news doesn’t stop there.  This is an open market so developers can create their own apps – just like the iPhone App Store.  They are being open to other app repositories as well.  It has really turned into a platform within a platform.

This is it. Download it now.

Like Bill Joy (below) said about Google, this is an application in this space that has that certain thing needed to be successful.  It actually really works.  It can replace your TV tuner and your optical disc collection.  Give it a try (download link).  Tell us what you think.  Videos and blog clipping below:

 

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3315184&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
 http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3315450&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3315441&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1

 

 

I’d like to introduce you to the new Plex Media Server:

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Very nice, right? Alexis did an awesome job with the icon. (It also looks a bit like the new Mac Mini, the one with 36 USB ports all around the circular case, but that’s another story.)
 
So what’s so special about the new Plex Media Server? Well, it connects with the brand new Plex App Store (built by Jon Maddox, the latest talented developer to join our group). The Plex App Store serves plug-ins which are downloaded by the Plex Media Server, and provide a huge amount of online content to Plex.
 
What content and which sites? Great question. Let’s just say that you won’t be disappointed by the 20 plug-ins that are currently available from the App Store (most of them written by Scott, and the rest by Isaac, James, and myself), and you’ll also be amazed by some of the ones we’re working on behind the scenes.
 
There is also great news for developers: writing these plug-ins is amazingly easy. James has done a simply fantastic job writing a Python framework to develop the plug-ins with, and the Plex Media Server provides an easy, XML-based method to display Flash or Silverlight content to Plex. Almost none of the plug-ins are over 100 lines of code, and many are 20-40 lines. We’ll be following this release with lots of technical discussion of the framework, and top-notch documentation.
 
The plug-ins live in the Plex Media Server’s application support area, and the App Store itself is just another plug-in. The App Store plug-in can browse and install plug-ins, as well as update itself and installed plug-ins with ease, meaning that you’ll always be up to date.
 
I’ve leave you with three screencasts that Jon Maddox was kind enough to put together, which demo some of the new functionality. Seeing as this is the initial release, expect some glitches, and there are some known issues of which you should be aware (PLEASE READ THESE):
  • There is no support for authentication yet, so certain content or features which require being logged in are not available (e.g. Hulu videos that require you being logged in).
  • You need to make sure you have the Flash plug-in installed for Safari, and you must make sure you don’t have any plug-ins like Safari Adblock installed (possibly Pith helmet as well).
  • You may want to increase your cache settings, as plug-ins like Apple Movie Trailers, TED Talks, and other, stream video in high quality HD video.
  • We have added quite a few new skin features and fixed some bugs in MediaStream, so your mileage in any other skin WILL vary greatly.
  • If a Flash video is unavailable online, Plex will not detect this, and will stall while buffering.

These items will all fixed shortly.

Without further ado, the screencasts, the download, and the source: