XHub Media Center 2.3, a Leopard compatiable version of the HTPC software was released by Snarb.tk. XHub is an alternative to FrontRow, iTheater, MediaCentral, and CenterStage.

Expect the basic functionality including movies, TV Shows, photos and music. XHub does have an added bonus of listening to internet radio, built in web browser, and EyeTV recording viewer. One of the nice features is their built in RSS Feed reader. Something most HTPC applications are still working on. XHub is also themeable, with over 20 animated interfaces, brining a unique look to your HTPC. In addition to now supporting 10.5 Leopard, this version takes steps to improved enhancements and reliably.

This update is free to registered users. For the unregistered the XHub Media Center is $24.95, and a demo is available for download.

For those of you scratching your head when it comes to your TV tuner, El Gato its offering a hand. Today they opened their EyeTV Lounge. Its ElGato's discussion and support forum. It is a place where you can get assistance regarding Elgato Products, chat with experienced users, or just chat about Apple, HTPC's, and Digital Media.

To get people involved, they are having a month-long grand opening which includes several drawings, held weekly. These prizes include iPod Touch, 3 EyeTV 250 Pluses, and 3 Turbo.264's. The Grand Prize includes an AppleTV250 Plus and Turbo.264 combo, iPod Touch, EyeTV 250, Turbo264 Combo, and a 2TB Firewire Drive!

To be eligible you must join the EyeTV Lounge. The earlier you register, the more chance you have to win.

The holiday shopping season is officially in full swing, and there are plenty of HTPC products receiving the sale price treatment. Always enticed by a good deal, here are some of the deals we've been able to round up. Take advantage of them, most are only available for one day!


Amazon.com
Free Shipping, $1 Gift Wrapping, Ends 6PM PST
Online Store

Apple
All items include Free shipping, some available in store only.
Online Store

MacBooks: From $1048 (Up to $101 off)
iMacs: From $1048 (Up to $101 off)
Airport Extreme: $158 (Save $21)
Airport Express: $88 (Save $11)
Wireless Mighty Mouse: $58 (Save $11)
LaCie Mini Harddrive: $178 (Save $32)

ElGato
All items include Free shipping.
Online Store

EyeTv Hybrid + Gadget Bag - $129.95 (Save $35)
turbo.264 + Gadget Bag - $79.95 (Save $35)
EyeTV Hybrid + turbo.264 + Gadget Bag - $199.95 (Save $65)

Other World Computing
First come first serve!
Tips & Deals | Clearance Page

EyeTV EZ - $59.00
Genuine Apple 1GB Mac Pro (512MB x 2) FB-DIMM Memory Upgrade Kits $65.00
Apple MacBook/iMac/Mac mini Intel 512MB and 1GB modules $7.75 and $23.75
Apple SATA 2.5" Notebook drives from $29.99
Desktop 3.5" Drives up to 750GB from $44.00, 300GB for $59.00
USB 2.0 Hard Drive enclosure kits from $25.00
FireWire Enclosure Kits from $27.50
G4 Processors Duals & Singles up to 1.7GHz from $79.00; 1.0GHz $109.00!
ATI Radeon Video Cards from $49.99
SuperDrives DVD/CD Burners from $20.00

More to come as we find them. This post will be updated throughout the day.

IOSPIRIT was busy today releasing the latest version of their Remote Buddy software. Version 1.8 now includes support for remote controls supplied with EyeTV devices. Taking advantage of the Remote Buddy software EyeTV users can utilize the supplied remote to control more then just EyeTV, including Dashboard, iPhoto, iTunes, DVD Player, VLC, FrontRow, and more. 1.8 also includes leopard inspired OSD and behaviors to control spaces.

To utilize the EyeTV remote with RemoteBuddy, both EyeTV 2.5.1 and Remote Buddy 1.8 need to both be running to take advantage of new features. The EyeTV software contains the drivers, while Remote Buddy intercepts the remote signals. IOSpirit is reporting that the software and remote included with EyeTV 250, 250 Pluss, 300, 310, 400 410, 500, 610 in addition to Terratec and Pinnacle devices.

The update is available for download through IOSPIRIT's website for registered users. New users may purchase the latest version or $28.00.

While America is watching the football games, and preparing Thanksgiving dinner, the folks at Equinux have released an update to The Tube. This latest release, version 1.5.5, of their TV Tuner software features improved search features and EPG listings. So when you search for your favorite programs they are now displayed properly in the EPG listing. In addition to the EPG the OSD controls have improved and the update feature has also been improved to support OS X 10.5 Leopard.

The Tube 1.5.5 requires a 1.0 GHz G4 or faster, 512MB of Ram and 2GB of spare hard drive space. The update is free for registered users and is available for download today.

When Apple introduced TV shows management to iTunes last year, there have been several attempts to build a solid tagging application, to properly name and identify tv shows. Apple responded giving ups TV Show Name, Episode, Episode ID, and Season number, but other tags are still missing, but appear in iTunes purchased shows. Enter TvTaggr.

TVTaggr is a new Leopard based atom tagging application, based on Atomic Parsley. This little application allows you to make batch changes to mv4 and mp4 files within iTunes. The main advantage however is having access to the hidden and seemingly non-editable meta data. Description, Network Name, Release Date, Movie/TV Ratings are all available to be edited. You can also access the 'Short Film' movie type used for Pixar Shorts and other short films.

EntertainMac has covered other AtomicParsley based movie taggers before in the past. TVTaggr blows these out of the water, with some of the quickest tagging times we've seen. The application is also more stable, and easier to use, when tagging multiple files.

Its great to have a utility to tag the tv shows not purchase from iTunes, but with only a little of metadata displayed in iTunes/FrontRow its a little difficult for us to spend the time to fully tag all of our TV Shows.

Its been a long time, coming, but it seems that the Beatles collection number one albums and songs will be finally available through iTunes, you just have to wait a little bit longer. Contact Music is reporting that, Sir Paul McCartney has given the thumbs up to selling the catalog through the iTunes Store stating: "You've got to get these things right. You don't want to do something that's as cool as that and in three years time you think, 'Oh God, why did we do that?'"

Apple Corp and Apple Inc. originally butted heads regarding a deal inked back in the early days of Apple, indicating that then Apple Computers Inc. would not be involved in the music industry. This of course changed with the introduction of the iTunes Store were Apple Inc. sells music from thousands of artists internationally. Slowly over the years, each of the Beatles individual music has made its way into iTunes, with the Beatles Catalog being the last domino to fall.

Last month, Olivia Harrison, George Harrison's window, indicated that the wheels were in motion to make the Beatles music available, just after George's music was added to the online catalog. But she also warned that we would have to wait until 2008.

EyesFront is back with version 2.0. The EyeTV Theme originally recreated a FrontRow feel to EyeTV 2.3.1 and later. With the latest release of Leopard and FrontRow 2.0, the theme has been simplified and updated to reflect the new look FrontRow 2.0. EyesFront includes a Quartz Background file, and five graphics, which replace components in the EyeTV application.

Earlier last year EyeTV switched to a Window MCE blue background for their on-screen menus, thanks to Apple saying 2.3.0 was too similar to FrontRow. But after 2.3.1 they gave the users the option to modify the Quarts background, to whatever you would like.



The theme again is being hosted on MegaUpload, for your downloading pleasure. It includes the quartz background, selector graphics and program guide graphics, as well as instructions on how to modify your EyeTV Application.

EntertainMac has tested it on 2.5.1, but never checked it out on older versions. Install at your own risk and always back-up your application before trying anything. If you forget, you can always get the latest EyeTV application from ElGato.

There are a lot of TV-Tuners designed for the Macintosh currently available on the market, each with their own benefits and draw backs. AMD introduced the ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo tuner for the Mac. Despite the long name the tuner looks extremely promising for AMD's initial introduction to the Mac market. The Wonder 650, first of all is a USB 2.0, dual tuner device that can recieve both Analog, and ATSC/HDTV broadcasts. Before you runout and buy one, the down side is, it will only handle one of them on each tuner.

The reciever features several enhancements to make optimize you viewing experience. The advanced 3D Comb filter, Edge Enhancement technology and Noise Reduction filters analog signals produce a pure image that is suppose to rival high-end HD sets. The ATI Theater Digital TV allows upt o 720p (1080i) broadcasts.

The hardware, however is only as good as the software that supports it. AMD provides ATI tvPortal to interact with the Wonder 650. The software is provides full PVR and time-shifting capabilities, allowing you to fast forward, rewind or pause live analog tv. TV shows are recorded in MPEG-2, while watching TV with the dual tuner functionality. An onscreen Electronic Program Guide provides you with the a listing of all the shows, as well as the ability to schedule recordings. We have not had the privilege to test this software, but from the screen shots and description its appears to rival EyeTV, with the exception of a full screen mode and FrontRow interaction, which for a media center is a major draw back.


The Wonder 650 requires a G4 processor or better with native USB 2.0, and 512MB of RAM. This is great for the older HTPC systems out there, or for those individuals on a budget. However for dual tuner support they recommend a Dual G5 or Intel processors combod with at least 1GB of RAM. This is great for those of you that adobted intel systems, but puts older G4 users out of luck for dual tuner support. It would be nice if the G4 could handle it, but there comes a time, when these systems need to be retired or turned into file servers.

The AMB ATI TV Wonder 650 is available for $150 now, and can be purchased through VisionTek

Rapper and President & CEO of Def-Jam records has decided not to sell his latest album through the iTunes Music Store. American Gangster, the artists 10th studio album is described as a concept album, depicting his personal experiences as a Street Hustler. Jay-Z cites iTunes ability to sell individual tracks as the reason behind the decision. It is his feeling that selling individual tracks compromises the albums integrity.

Seems like a pretty simple solution to me. Why doesn't Apple only off to sell the album and not individual tracks. Competitors such as Amazon MP3 is selling album in its entirety, without the option of individual tracks.

Leopard is hear, and it brings FrontRow 2.0. Most of us are familiar with this interface on the AppleTV. With the menu too one side and a carousel of icons on the other, it picks up where FrontRow 1.x left off.

We installed leopard on a 1.6GHz MacMini which has been set up as a HTPC. Music was store on an external harddrive, along with tv shows and some movies, all managed by iTunes. A healthy sized iPhoto Library lives on the internal drive. On another external we stored other movies, all aliased in folders in the user/~movies folder.

Here are review of TV Shows Section:

TV Shows is now its own top-level menu item, after all they are the iTunes Store's top-selling video items. Previously they were all tucked away under the movies category.

Our test machine contained over 5GB of TV shows. Most were captured through our EyeTV Hybrid, while others were purchased directly from iTunes Store. They are all managed and organized through iTunes, and given the proper meta-data when necessary.

The TV Shows area is extremely simple. Displaying the iTunes Top TV Episodes, in a familiar carrousel rotation, followed by a listing of each show in your collection. Each TV Show grouping is presented with the artwork included in iTunes. For items imported from other sources, the preview is a snapshot from the first frame. Not purchasing all of our shows, we went back and added artwork for consistency. The biggest change we have found here is that FrontRow 2 now knows how to sort TV Shows alphabetically, unlike FrontRow 1.x where the order seemed to be randomly selected by a keno machine.

Entering the TV Show listing, will pull up a complete list of episodes available. These are all sorted by season and episode number in descending order, meaning your most recent episode will be on top. Notably the season subfolders are now missing, which we think is a mistake. Most tv shows will have a run of 2-5 years, resulting in potentially +120 episodes. Everything seems to be loading fine from our library, but when you have that many episodes, you have to wonder if the load times will increase and how difficult will it be to locate individual episodes.

The artwork continues to appear along the left, with aired date, length, episode, season, and description all pulled from iTunes. We also noticed that if a description is not available, it will use the comments section instead. This is important for those of you that rip your TV shows from DVD's and want to get as much metadata in there as possible. TV.com is an excellent source for descriptions, episode numbers etc. The date aired field only seems to appear in iTunes purchased episodes, and we were unable to add this meta data through iTunes.

The one unique feature we found in the TV show area is the ability to change the listing between the show title and the date added. This feature is not very well executed. Sorting my date, brings up a mile long listing of episode titles, from all the different TV shows. They are listed by show name making locating an episode extremely difficult. If Apple allowed us to sort by TV show it would help tame this messy listing.

The TV Show section has taken a predominant position in FrontRow finally. Apple has tackled this section well, providing instant access to your TV Shows. The metadata is the highlight of the experience, allowing you to quickly identify episodes. This is a major step above FrontRow's TV Show management, but there are some areas which need improvement. Not grouping episodes by season, and the top level listing by date should be addressed. Overall we are pleased with the way the TV Show section has been presented.

Yes people, we are that good! Just this morning we were telling you how QuickTime would be updated soon, and available through the Apple website, and last week were telling you iTunes 7.5 would be here soon as well. Well today the Apple fairies granted us both.

Quicktime 7.3 addresses several compatibility issues with iTunes. We are hoping this addresses our inability to play TV Shows on the Mini HTPC. In addition it provides an export option for iPhone Compatible-Web content. The QuickTime Web Plug-in for JavaScript has also been updated with 'numerous bug fixes'

iTunes 7.5, adds iPhone Support for countries other then the United States. There is additional support for iPod games. These releases also addresses those pesky 'Other Bugs and Security Fixes' which seem to plague every release.

iTunes weighs 41.3MB, while QuickTime 7.3 is 55.8 MB and are both available through the Apple website and Software Update. The Quicktime Update does require a restart, so be prepared for that one

Apple and Clear Channel communications are coming together to introduce digital tagging for digital radio manufacturers. The hope is that by tagging the individual songs played over HD radio, listeners will purchase the music later through the iTunes store.

The concept is quite brilliant, and somewhat similar to what Apple is already doing with Starbucks. After purchasing a HD Radio capable of picking up these tagged songs, the listener can press a button to save the song information. Later when you sync your ipod, these songs will appear in your iTunes shopping cart so you may purchase them. It still unclear how the information gets from your radio to your ipod, unless its an OEM stereo designed to work with the iPod.

This concept will allow radio manufacturers and radio stations a fighting chance to compete with the growing MP3 player market. The broadcasters, would also see a percentage of the songs sold through this method.

It would be great if they could extend this method to Internet Radio stations as well. With the way that they have been struggling in the last years, it might give them a fighting chance as well.

When Leopard was release it was packaged with a new version of Apple's QuickTime Player. 7.2.1 however is not publicly available for download on Apples Website, leading us to believe that its release, or a higher version is coming around the corner.

Currently Apple's provides QuickTime 7.2, which was specifically built for "Mac OS X v10.3.9 and v10.4.9 or later". Recently we were encountering several issues with a 7.2.1 and iTunes installed on a HTPC. Suspecting a bad QT installation we went to download the latest available to discover it could not be installed on Leopard.

Currently there are now major differences between the two versions that are jumping out at us. There is the obvious user interface changes such the border-less player windows, pro logo change, and leopard compatibility, but the rest of the application seems the same, all the way down to the preferences.

HTPC Media Management is tough if you don't utilize a blue tooth keyboard or mouse, and the Apple Remote can only go so far. In the past we suggested utilizing Chicken of the VNC, an free VNC tool, which set up properly gives you access to your HTPC from another system. With Leopards release with over 350 new features, Apple has provided an alternative to Chicken of the VNC, in Screen Sharing. The more popular new features been documented over and over again, while Screen Sharing has seemed to slip under the radar.

Since Tiger, the Apple Remote Desktop service was available through your Sharing Preferences. With a Password you were able to connect and control the system with a VNC Application such as Chicken of the VNC or Apple's Remote Desktop. The results were good, but there was a lot of room for improvement. Little things such as refresh rate, screen scaling and a right mouse click, made the VNC interface challenging. Chicken of the VNC was also a very old application, with the last update coming in January of 2004. But for being an open-source free application it was great! Apple Remote Desktop can run all sorts of reports, but was really designed for IT Systems Management.


Leopard's Screen Sharing addresses those issues, and integrates a light weight, viewer right into the operating system. The response time and screen's refresh rate are extremely smooth. I could easily perform a days work through the Screen Sharing window without any issues. A few shortcuts such as screen captures and expose will trigger your local machine. Additionally Screen Sharing is backward compatible with Tiger. If you have the Remote Desktop service running in Tiger, Leopard can control it with Screen Sharing. The best part is that its extremely easy to set up, needing only a few clicks.

How To in 2 Steps

• Enable Remote Desktop / Screen Sharing
  On your remote computer open your sharing preferences. In OS-X Tiger you will enable 'Apple Remote Desktop'. We added a password in the Access Privileges for extra safety. In Leopard you have two options, you can enable Screen Sharing or Remote Management. Remote Management is specifically designed to work with Apple's Remote Desktop, while Screen Sharing is the slimmer version.


• Connecting
  From the 'Shared' panel in an Open Finder window, select your HTPC. A 'Share Screen...' button will now be available under the Connect As button. This will open your remote system in a new window. This window can be scaled smaller to conserve desktop space.

House may have left iTunes, thanks to the NBC tiff, but another group of doctors have arrived. Scrubs, now in its last season, has been added to the iTunes Store. Scrubs appears on NBC, but are owned by ABC/Disney. Steve may have some pull there being on their board of directors.

Currently only two episodes, My Own Worst Enemy, and My Hard Labor, from the current season are available. We hope that ABC/Disney will bring the earlier seasons.

All signs are pointing to another iTunes release in the next couple of weeks. iTunes 7.5 will be released to increase stability, introduce better duplicate management and report states. Other fixes include problems some users have had with iTunes Plus, the DRM free tracks, and support for UK/German iPhones debuting this month.

The duplicate management is something most of us have been waiting for since iTunes 1.0 was originally released. Currently iTunes only utilizes two fields (artist & track name) to identify duplicate songs, which means all your live albums and studio albums by the same artist gets tagged. Simply adding an additional field, such as album name would help with this immensely.

Hopefully this release will fix some of the video issues that some readers have been encountering as well.