Y OUR P R IVATE M ED IA NEW S LETTE R I S S UED >> J AN -F EB / 2011

Anno 2011 Analog Sunset started!

A new year has started and whatever
is expected end of Q2 and Q4 is al-
ready one month closer now. Janu-
ary has gone at the blink of an eye
because of the interesting develop-
ments at our test lab and announce-
ments received about new stuff.
PopCorn goes Intel besides using
Sigma chips for future products,
DViCo goes a-wire on Android,
eGreat presents a 3D module add-on
and Blu-ray capabilities, HDI is like-
ly to bring new stuff as well alt-
hough they are silent as far as plans
are concerned. Enough to be excited
about but… questions may be raised
to what the benefits are of each dif-
ferent solution provided.
It has been a subject of discussion since long,
as of 2011 manufacturers of Blu-ray players
must comply with a set of rules which now
includes a limitation of HD video output over
analog. Luckily this does not apply to audio (it
would hurt them too much) and merely affects
video output over component for instance. In
HD resolutions. None of that will be possible
any more on new players… One would be
happy to own an older player, but also there,
new releases will prevent that using “Image
Constraint Tokens”, a mechanism preventing
analog output.
Effect on current players?

Rest assured, even though PCH is

using Intel CE this year in a new
product line, according to officials
also the Sigma product line will be
kept. DViCo, despite the merger by
the end of last year seeks to continue
developing products and firmware
for their customers. The only thing
they are unsure about is the name
“DViCo” or “TViX” to be kept.
Last but not least, all eyes are on
SMP8910 with integrated VxP and
one would almost forget the step in
between the current players and
those loaded with SMP8910, being
the SMP8646...
Will it affect our current models? Yes and
no, as it depends on several factors and
whether your product classifies as a Blu-
ray player or not. In case of HDI who
pursues the Blu-ray title for their products
for instance, there will certainly be the
limitation since they have to comply with
the rule set. PopCorn Hour on the other
hand, using a PC type license for Blu-ray
playback is not really considered a Blu-
ray player unlike HDI and therefore the
rules are different. Even though this may
indicate PCH not suffering from the limi-
tation, it may very well be forced one
level up, by the chip manufacturer who
may have to adapt their chips low level
code before getting the Blu-ray licensing
to prevent this, that would affect both
types of licensing. We do not consider it a
main issue as most people are using
HDMI nowadays. Unfortunately for those
that still need analogue output for video,
the end is nearing and an upgrade necessi-
ty presents itself. Sadly the power is with
Sony and others on this one and they de-
cided to force you towards upgrading as
that means purchasing more of their prod-
ucts in order to enjoy HD in the future.
We don’t like it, but it was inevitable to
come...

1
 Unnecessary Article if...
T here's no need for this article if only brands lurking to put marketing to good (ab)use
(with or without bending the truth) did not exist. We won’t name them (we are passed
that point), although we want to stress out to be alert for marketing tricks coming up in
2011. One of the easiest tricks applied is using specifications even when the product is missing
out on all the benefits that come from those. Examples in the past include GBIT network (while
performing even below 10/100 speeds), raising hell about HD abilities and missing out on HD
audio promising it’ll come (and then never does, remember Realtek chip issues) and then some…

For this year we suspect HDMI 1.4 to become the culprit, it becoming integrated without any
benefit like 3DBD support. Also GBIT is becoming a standard option now and though the perfor-
mance of transfers have been vastly improved, they are nowhere near PC alternatives. Likely the
Intel CE based units will provide adequate performance but there we expect the video quality to
be less. Be aware of 3D logo’s being shown for different 3D possibilities as well...

Intel CE, Realtek or Sigma? My thoughts!

W
e cannot let go of the subject and with good reason. That’s 3 years for Sigma to prepare. Even now it is confirmed “ready” for
Whatever a processor was famous for in the early public information, it is by far ready to be integrated into products. Luckily
stage of deployment in home entertainment devices, there’s an intermediate step to take being the SMP8646 but the difference
that’s the tag you drag along for years to come. With between this chip and what we have today, is minimal. (minimal as in true
Sigma it has always been buggy SDK but good quality in video perfor- GBIT support for networking and few extra horses pulling the wagon). As
mance, Realtek was a budget alternative with weak interface mainly used far as we know, it won’t be supporting 3DBD or HDMI 1.4, that will be for
in Chinese import and weaker than Sigma and now there’s Intel CE… and the real “next generation”, the SMP8910 expected Q4 2011 / Q1 2012.
what’s the name it made for itself…? Exactly, “bringing a lot of widgets
and stuff” nothing’ to do with media players except for the usual suspects No wonder brands are looking into different opportunities as in Android
like Netflix and then some, nothing to do with Europe… Gosh… and Intel CE which in my humble opinion will mainly become popular
outside Europe considering the services over there. Europe is more difficult
On paper, the Intel CE 4200 is the “mother” of as we seek an all in one integration neither Android based systems or Intel
CPU’s you can possibly want in your home enter- CE seems to be providing. I believe we rather wait for that SMP8910 solu-
tainment devices, raw power, tons of abilities be- tion to be born unless we get bored, we may go the Android / Intel CE
sides media playback other chips can’t handle at way… or we may purchase the “intermediate” products coming up based
proper speeds, custom development of applications on the SMP8646 (without HDMI 1.4) and I do say that for a good reason…
by the scene providing it is allowed and so on… It
can lift the level we know today for apps like NMT, torrent integration, Even though hardware wise we may only get some speed improvements,
NMJ interface etc… to a whole different level. Problem is, we doubt Intel with options like NMJ from PopCorn Hour that speed is very welcome. We
CE is optimized for video and entertainment devices or will be able to de- are still cursing every day about transfers over network being so slow so
liver Blu-Ray support (so no Hybrid possible). On top, all online super also that will be improved. Since there are only little advantages for the
content people speak about is unavailable to us and located in the US on- upcoming SMP8646, there’s all the more reason to be excited as we feel
ly… brands got time on their hands to further develop decent music systems,
interfaces, tune firmware better and concentrate around the core for these
Realtek will remain running behind Sigma units…
with their chips for a while to come and
mainly be used by overseas hardware So my thoughts kind of lead me to thinking for people seeking true media
makers using generic OEM third party playback devices, Sigma will remain in lead mostly with the right balance
firmware. There were promising rumors in performance and mainly two brands will be strong, PopCorn Hour and
about Realtek building on a new powerful chip and enhancing it’s interface HDI. Those who are looking for living room HTPC’s with gadgets and
but to date no one can be found so in 2011 we are led to believe Sigma to apps (and find themselves hungry for more besides owning an iPad or An-
remain the best option for “all round” performance and quality. droid device) Intel CE may be the way to go but we do expect all this gadg-
etry to be included in TV’s sooner or later.
Sigma has been a little unstable in
announcing the VxP integrated chip Being on a tight budget may leave one no choice but to remain with the
though. We saw it first at CES… not generic products and firmware we find on most budget players today, the
this year. No not last year either but Realtek solutions. There’s the least excitement to expect in 2011 compared
the year before that, CES 2009. to the branded and custom solutions… Choosing will be though!

2
 WhoIS TL Lim
TL Lim is the CEO of Syabas, most known for the development of the NMT
platform and since 2007, creators of the “PopCorn Hour” branded networked
media players. TL is the main man deciding on the strategic course of the
company and product development efforts as the CEO and brought the compa-
ny to a leading position on the market. Before launching Syabas in 2001 and
PopCorn Hour in 2007, TL Lim was the cofounder and senior executive of
Nexent Technology and held senior positions with ESS Technology and C-
Cube. TL Lim started his professional career after graduating from the Cheng
Kung University with a B.S in electrical engineering and earned an M.S in
electrical engineering from the University of Missouri.

Report TL Lim Interview

What we have missed during CES ac-
cording to TL Lim is their presentation
of 3D support which can be enabled
using a firmware update on the C-200.
The requirement however would be
owning a 3D capable HDTV with HDMI
1.4 for which most 3D content can be
played or streamed from online
sources.
M
didate for a high end media player and PC Club believes Intel =
we are currently participating on this power, Sigma is quality and
development. However, this is a major Hybrid solution, Realtek
change from current SMP8643 SDK remains budget solution
and will take a while to develop as you and Android needs to remain with mobile
have just mentioned.” Kind of reads like phones and tablets or be loaded only on the
other products will be launched until side… What would you define as the
then? Yammy!
strengths and weaknesses?

“
Important to know is what will happen
For mobile phone owners like iPhone, with NMJ now Sigma has announced You have already point out their
Android, applications are available with XBMC support. “For XBMC, the Intel strength and no point for me to repeat
a new CGI set of commands to operate based player will be a better candi- again :) For serious video playback
the PCH player and recent work with date :)“ was the response. This indi- user, Sigma solution still a better choice.“
Eyecon allows content from the iPhone/ cates Syabas is likely to hold on to the
iPAD to be played on the PCH player. recently developed NMJ (we are for
that decision) and possibly support 2 Final question: Back to the Pop-
For the future, PoPCorn Hour will re- structures in the future or possibly stick Box… Concerning Syabas going to
main true towards the media player with NMJ…? Who knows…? develop on Intel platforms, does
scene and jukebox. The world is how- this mean over time the end of Pop-
ever moving towards cloud and app TL Lim is challenged by the standard
streaming solutions and we do work integration of TV Boxes with streaming Box to be replaced by the Intel solu-
with several partners to deliver addi- support that keeps growing in support- tion or will you continue that devel-
tional value in our products using new ed files. Syabas is observing that cur- opment as well?
technology. rently but is confident to stay ahead of
the “built in” competition.
On the rumors we heard PopCorn Hour Intel platform will not replace our
is working on a new stylish product How about requested features by PopBox solution. We plan to release
(aren’t they always?), TL replied with a consumers like syncing music? “The Intel as an universal player and also
“No Comment :-) “. Obviously it’s too syncing feature has been implemented,
soon to reveal and they want to keep just using our partner Eyecon media a more open system. Just like XBMC
the element of surprise and he contin- control iPhone app to achieve this func- question, we believe this will better
ued… tion. We always listen to MPC Club and suite to Intel based players which
NMT forum user request, develop next has a better CPU and GPU computa-
“We do have a good relationship with firmware release and next model de-
Sigma and are still actively developing sign, I call this “morphing” process.” tion power. As example, it is easier
our next generation line using current to implement background eye-
and forthcoming Sigma chips for media About the disappearance of SayaTV, candy visual effect when playing
enthusiasts. Intel based solutions are we wondered if PopBox would disap-
more developed towards a universal pear over time as the Intel platform be-
back music using Intel based
player design, video playback is just comes stronger, especially since over platform. The next generation of
part of it’s global functions and this here in Europe, we don’t hear a lot… PopBox still maintains a Sigma
player is also more open up for devel- “SayaTV is a social online broadcast. based design.
opers to participate.” Seems like not much participation, we
have shut down this service. PopBox is
We wondered if any products come in a US based OTT plus media player, It’s going to be a busy year for
between now and the release of the most of the premium apps are only suit- sure...
SMP8910 expected latest Q1 2012, TL able for US based user. ”
said: “I think SMP8910 is a strong can-

3
 Education: How about a LED TV’s
S imilar to the general term “HDTV” which not necessary indicate 1080p is supported (720p is also considered High Defini-
tion), LED TV’s exist in different types, got TV’s most common are EdgeLED and BackLed. The easiest way to keep them
apart today is measuring the thickness of the LED TV’s offered. If it concerns a model with a thicker back panel, you are
more than likely to find the LED technology used is “BackLed” whilst the thinner models are likely to be supported by “EdgeLED”.
Surely you can imagine what these mean. Back LED is a panel full with LED’s placed in the back of the LCD screen, just behind a
diffuser that divides the light equally over the whole TV. With Edge LED, these LED’s are placed all around the TV and as such al-
low smaller back panels.

Intel CE, Realtek or Sigma? My thoughts!

EdgeLED or BackLED Choosing between...

Similar to the general term “HDTV” which not necessary indicate
1080p is supported (720p is also considered High Definition),
LED TV’s exist in 2 different types. The easiest way to keep them
apart today is measuring the thickness of the LED TV’s offered. If
it concerns a model with a thicker back panel, you are more than
likely to find the LED technology used is “Back Led” whilst the
thinner models are likely to be supported by “Edge LED”. Surely
you can imagine what these mean. Back LED is a panel full with
LED’s placed in the back of the LCD screen, just behind a diffuser
that divides the light equally over the whole TV. With Edge LED,
these LED’s are placed all around the TV and as such allow small-
er back panels.
Due to the better quality technically the Full LED solution
(Back LED) is preferred. It produces the same quality in every
inch of the TV panel whilst the EdgeLED technology weakens a
bit around the center. There is no extra power consumption
over using lesser LED’s as in the EdgeLED system. When on a
budget, EdgeLED may be the better choice. It still holds a vast
improvements in quality over the old LCD models using CCFL
tubes, equally consumes less than LCD as does the Back LED
system and likely are to be found up to 30% cheaper than the
Back LED solutions. They are also thinner (still). Manufacturers
are still looking for improvements over the EdgeLED “Light
Guide Planes” to better divide light and equal the quality (if at
all possible) of Back LED solutions.

Benefits here, the lesser LED’s mean they must lit

In general, the discussion of quality comes
up and it’s a fact, LCD panels powered by
a LED solution produce better quality than
the earlier LCD models with the old CCFL
light tubes and consume less power. LED’s
require a lot less power than CCFL and
even though many LED’s are placed in
BACK LED panels, they don’t need a lot
of power since placed close together, they
only need to lit a small section. With
EDGE LED, you may consider, less LED’s
means less consumption. Wrong, as also
up a bigger section and as such require
more power so there is no difference in
consumption for both LED types and both
require less than regular CCFL LCD TV’s.
Mainly the thickness of the TV’s are thus
decided upon by which type of LED it us-
es, but consider also Edge LED is usually
just behind on quality over Back LED
TV’s, especially in the middle region of the
TV. You can hardly see it by the naked
eye, but the light is divided less equally
over the TV panel considering the place-
ment of the LED’s. The benefit of Edge
LED is thus mainly thickness, which over
time will surely be possible with Back LED
as well… and once there, Back LED may
take the lead in our preferred choice with a
small benefit in quality. If we add price,
Edge LED TV’s are able to be produced
with up to 40% less manufacturing cost
according to some sources and are in gen-
eral less expensive for the customer in ac-
quisition. While we didn’t find that much
difference in pricing on the Sony LED
models, we wonder how much of this is
true although price is not based on LED
only, so we couldn’t make a clean picture.

4
 MPC upgrades test lab with Onkyo and SVS
Focus 2011 started off expensive for MPC Club due to invest-
ments necessary to keep up with technology. Our choice
of receiver became Onkyo TX-NR3008, not the most
beautiful aesthetically solution but the best value for mon-
ey. In addition we selected a 7.1 speaker set from SVS,
known for their “woofers” mostly but lately makes afford-
able and excellent speakers as well. While having set
things up and playing around with the settings and possi-
bilities, we are ready to launch few comments about our
new setup. While we are not technically advanced in either LSound over in Norway. Before you go
receivers or speakers, our comments are as usual based on thinking we settled for less, we didn’t. The
point where we compromised is the design
a consumer level although we know the features that are
of the speakers which are rather dull and
important for a home entertainment system. Following is generic but the speakers live up to the nec-
our appreciation of Onkyo and SVS. essary requirements fully. We selected the
SVS SCS-02(M) as left and right speakers,
SCS-02 center speaker, 4 SSS-02 speakers
for surround and back speakers (pyramid

Onkyo NR-3008 In all, there’s nothing we could be wish-

Ever since Onkyo released the TX-SR-
605 a few years ago (our previous re-
ceiver) they have been on top of the
game. Nowhere else can you find the
same offer and prices Onkyo has to offer
in their top models. Our main require-
ments for a new receiver included HDMI
1.4 and support of 3D, enough HDMI
connections, decent up scaling abilities
and HDMI loop through where you can
connect your TV and media players to
the receiver while they can still be used
without powering on the receiver (pass-
through).
Even though we decided upon a 7.1
speaker system (due to limitations of our
space) we wanted to make sure future
expansion is possible. With the 9.2 chan-
nel support on the Onkyo TX-NR-3008
we are safe for a while to come.
ing for in the range of features or easy
operation of the unit. The additional abil-
ities to stream music from network
sources, connect iPhone for music play-
back using the TV or the display where
extra’s we welcomed. We came across
one little problem though. Our speakers
where set at 40Hz by Audyssey whilst it
should be the recommended 80Hz
(THX). This setting will send everything
below 80Hz to the woofer and every-
thing above 80Hz to the main speakers
and surround speakers so it required a
little manual adjustment.
For audio, the Burr Brown 192KHz/24-
Bit DAC’s are included for all channels
and the unit integrates online radio
(vTuner, Last.FM and Napster). For full
specification, read up on the Onkyo TX-
NT3008 at Onkyo’s web site.
shaped) and finally the ever so important
subwoofer became the SVS PB10-NSD
with real 20Hz spine crushing base. Now
that’s a good subwoofer at a very afforda-
ble price.
The cost of this setup including €100
speaker cable of good quality (why save on
cable when spending this much) came
down to €3.171 divided in €1.700 for the
Onkyo TX-NR3008, €100 for speaker cable
and the full speaker set + shipping at
€1471. (At the time of writing, the prices
have already dropped for the Onkyo receiv-
er which is available at €1.463 bringing the
total cost below €3000. For anyone serious
about upgrading their home entertainment
system with a decent receiver and speaker
set, we can absolutely recommend this se-
lection. It brings our media to live and we
can now enjoy (read test) movies and music
like we never did before.

That’s as far as our “demand” went. The

Onkyo using the HQV Reon-VX for
video processing over a Faroudja solu-
tion was a plus as well while the Audys-
sey MultiEQ XT32 was an improvement
over the earlier Audyssey system. ISF
calibration (Image Science Foundation)
for day and night use of the receiver
where programmed.
SVS Sound
No receiver can perform well without the
proper speakers. With brands like Klipsh
we had to cough up a lot more money Noteworthy to mention, the guys over at
than we did so we compromised our- LSound are responsive and supportive in
selves a little bit to spend only half the your selection process and afterwards.
money we would spend on a top brand. They have a 45 day Buy & Try policy.
Strangely, Bose wasn’t even an option
and the perfect example where one Receiver: Onkyo TX-NR3008
would pay for the name… Our compro- Speakers: SVS LSound Norway
mise lead us to SVS speakers from

5
Columns Struggling with “so so” iPad solutions...
I consider myself a heavy user of mobile apps. My iPhone
and iPad are filled with tools to handle media players, receiv-
ers, TV remotes and lately I started taking an interest in ap-
plications that allow me to send links from my couch to my
QNAP NAS. There are only few options available developed
by Sylver (Qget Remote costs €2.99) and by Jerome Patey
(QGet Mobile HD costs €4.99). I downloaded both and they
both fall short in their abilities and are considered expensive.
To hand pick a winner wasn’t easy but we eventually decided
the QGet Remote application was more affordable and simp-
ly did a better job over the more expensive QGetMobile HD
which is a source of frustration more than an handy tool for
which I felt money was wasted and filed a refund at Apple
(in progress).
The whole Apple store system lacks consum-
er friendly solutions, no wonder people hack
into their devices and get all apps for free
(even I am tempted) since you have no right
to cancel purchases at all. This opens the
doors for developers to bring half baked solu-
tions out there, overstating their products
abilities. For reasons of being limited by the
abilities of the Apple SDK, browsing without
flash and then some issues that can’t easily be
overcome, these apps suffer from limitations,
sluggish browsing and more… We have every reason to be-
lieve neither applications should cost more than €0.99 be-
cause of that...

Torrent main and weak point in Qapps

We found the developer making quite some
statements including “QGetMobile works
with all downloading websites, that is, pass-
word protected websites, private trackers
such as Torrent411 or Demonoid” which we
verified is far from the truth. It may work
with the mentioned web sites but it certainly
does not work with all torrent sites. We got
stuck on so many torrent download sites we
tested due to the application failing to
download the links (links made for other
apps), loading popups we cannot remove
unless pressing the “back button” which
does not progress to the torrent link, bad
browser integration (slow, no functions oth-
er then next and back), lack of tracking links
that are already downloaded and then
some… My oh My… This wasn’t a good
experience at all.
There is even something strange about
QGetMobileHD, the more expensive solu-
tion. Using the same site (PirateBay in our
test), same search string and same download
link, we failed to get past the video popup of
Party Poker while QGet Remote didn’t even
show it. We redone this test 10 times on
each application, QGet Remote happily took
us to the download link while QGetMo-
bileHD failed every time to get past the
commercial popups. (Qget Remote seems to
suppress it)
While for download sites where one has
premium accounts these tools work won-
ders, torrent sites are definitely a weak spot,
weaker on the one (QgetMobileHD) than
the other (QGet Remote).
With QGet Remote, clicking the same link a
second time reveals a message “This task is
already existed in Run, Pause or Finish
List” meaning it does make use of QNAP’s
checking mechanism we know form the PC
side application. Doing the same with
QGetMobileHD will now show a message
as well which it didn’t have a while ago (we
mentioned this to the developer).
Neither application has some form of histo-
ry, bookmarks we can use for the sites we
often use which makes browsing long and
dull entering addresses all the time. Both
can be used with RSS feeds though. Speed
was clearly different as well where QGet
Remote browsed a lot faster than QGetMo-
bile HD, we even noticed entering the web
address had a delay with the latter quite
often.
The main reason for these applications to
exist is Torrent and this is clearly the weak-
est point. Neither application lives up to
what we may reasonably expect, regardless
if this is due to development shortcomings
or abilities from the SDK.
There’s an underlying reason why I dislike
these programs as I figure QNAP should be
creating these and provide them free to their
customers, developed more maturely and
taking maximum benefit of the QNAP NAS
solutions. Even though we cannot consider
the price we paid for these apps hurts us, the
functionality just isn’t even close to the PC eral torrent sites, the lack of features and
side applications where I see myself going overall slow operations kill every bit of
back to my PC constantly since it is faster, fun using the apps. Again, picking the tool
supports bookmarks, has history abilities that does the better job, we’d select Qget
and then some… I’m not making friends Remote. It is cheaper, faster and overall
saying this for sure… has lesser issues with torrent sites.
Since years we are pushing QNAP to pro- On the other hand, you may want to stick
vide the ability to upload multiple links at with the PC application available free
once instead of one by one, needless to say from QNAP (QGET) who hopefully will
since the QNAP cannot handle this, neither provide some apps later on for mobile
can either application discussed here. devices free to use (we will recommend
and push it) , that is, unless these tools
So in all, it’s great to see so many tools mature and are provided at a more reason-
and solutions being developed by the sce- able price, especially QgetMobileHD…
ne, it’s sad we moved away from open
source development to paid applications We welcome further development even
that do not live up to what these solutions from Apple’s side to lift the limitations of
could be providing. I would be happy to integrated browsing and flash. It is a bur-
support developers that are able to en- den for the developers that play a role in
hance my use of the QNAP NAS with their apps limitations but then it is up to
some money but in this case, even though them to lower the price for it accordingly.
helpful in some ways, the issues with sev-

6
 Cocktail Audio X10: Sounds good, but is it …?

W
Note henever there’s something The cost may be the least convenient part as it changes hand for
new, we point our attention to no less than about €350 including a 500GB hard drive. 2TB ver-
it and with the Cocktail Audio sion comes at €400. We couldn't find a lot of information on the
X10 we first thought we’d web except for the store offering the Cocktail Audio X10, being
have another box shaped media player. Boy, KJGLOBAL in the UK. The question is thus, it all sounds good
where we wrong. The Cocktail Audio X10 is but is it…? We don't know as we haven’t actually seen it but it
nothing but a media player with attitude allow- does look interesting to at least mention it.
ing you to index your music albums, rip them
on the fly to the hard drive and then play it back
using a list of functions tailored for a music
player. With a 3.5” TFT display in front, things
should be easy combined with the “what is said” a high quality
user interface. With a 2TB this baby can host no less than
300.000 CD’s ripped to MP3. Power under the hood, 60W am-
plifier inside and ability to use optical or connect two speakers
directly to the unit.

HDI debuts HD DUO

Note

A
lthough we swear by plac-
ing a storage device in your
entertainment setup, some
of us are bound by budget restraints, lack
of space and whatever other reasons peo-
ple may consider to go for more internal
storage in their media players. More con-
venient as using external USB storage
devices but less convenient then NAS, the
obvious solution is adding multiple internal disks as done HDI
now with their newly launched HD DUO.
Following the HDI HD MAX style, the DUO is best placed as
upgrade versus the HDI Dune Base that offered a single disk
cabinet. As with the other new series, also the DUO is covered in
the “future upgradeable players” from HDI although to date still
no detailed info on how that would go down is provided by HDI.
Early consumers reported a few limitations on launch mainly
concerning beta firmware available for the earlier models. HDI
reported a new firmware is bound to be released soon enabling
all extra content lately added to the SMART and MAX unit on
the DUO as well.
interesting. Integrating DVB-T properly is an ongoing process
along with several enhancements for DVD playback and then
some… making sure HDI remains at the top of their game.
About the future, HDI will likely surprise us in a while to come
again just as they did with the load of new players launched at
the end of 2010, mainly upgrading their existing product line
with nicer design and a better concept.
HDI was unable to comment on future plans at this time concern-
ing a platform the new Sigma SMP8910 chips. “There’s no de-
velopment ongoing right now on the latest SMP8910 simply be-
cause the chip is not available yet” stated Konstantin Dyshlevoy,
No mention of Intel based platform was given, nor Realtek, nor
SMP8646, the chip we expect to power new models from both
HDI and PopCorn Hour around the end of Q2… (just an expecta-
tion of us, no official info from either brand on this one)
We know HDI has a list of pending work to finish first including
the upcoming firmware release… Other items pending from HDI
since a while include maturing the DVB-T integration for which
an add-on is sold since long and providing the add-on boards that
shall power the MAX, SMART and DUO with extra extensions.

As for the expectations raised by HDI over the past 6 months, The HDI HD DUO specifications:
not only the future upgrade possibility is making these units “http://dune-hd.com/hd_players/current/152-dune-hd-duo.html”

Please note, by the time of publishing a new firmware has been released!!
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