EVGA is lowering the bar for USB to VGA adapters and that’s a good thing.  Traditionally you would pay upwards of $200 dollars for a USB to VGA adapter but now the UV12 and UV16 adapter from EVGA are under $80!

The UV Plus family take an existing USB port and convert that bus into a VGA/DVI adapter for additional monitors.  This is ideal for those will lower video processing power (laptops) who want two or three widescreen monitors.

I spoke with Jeff, a pre-sales rep at EVGA and he did caution me against using the UV Plus family for hard core video applications such as (more…)

Capture video direct to H.264 video files for your iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, YouTube and even full resolution video backups from Blackmagic.  So why is Blackmagic so great?  Because it captures video into the native file format of your mobile device like iPod or iPhone.

The Blackmagic USB video recorder plugs directly into your PC via USB and using the included, easy to use software from Blackmagic you can recorder VHS, Video-8 or content directly from your video camera recorder.

The software has a graphical interface to quickly and easily identify your destination device during job setup to begin the ripping process.  The software includes a cropping tool because sometimes your VHS tape has black borders or time display stamps.  Well not anymore.

Check out this image of the software interface.  It’s clean, simple and logical.

So getting excited and ready to pull the trigger on a purchase or maybe work it into your next months gadget budget.  Well be sure to set aside $119 + shipping. (more…)

Set Top boxes have a big limitation in that you get Pigeon Holed into one device such as AppleTV or the forthcoming NetFlix unit, but the Myka could change the landscape forever.  The Myka is a BitTorrent device which will work with anything the web has to offer and can download/play MPEG2, H.264, WMV and DivX media.

As Wired reports, the Myka is userfriendly because it takes the nerd out of the BitTorrent process.  The Myka is intelligent enough to provide content (legal or otherwise) from a Peer2Peer network without all the advanced skills often required to pull off a BitTorrent download.  The Linux based box is a simple connection to the TV via HDMI, composite (ouch), S-Video or SPDIF and connects to the internet via eithernet or WiFi.  The Myka comes with a variety of internal hard drive configurations (80, 160 or 500GB) and includes an external USB port for additional storage or future connectivity / peripheral options.

“There’s no way the content providers will allow this pirate box on the market, right? Wrong. Myka already has the official BitTorrent service on board, which means it will carry legitimate content from 20th Century Fox, MTV, Warner and Playboy, amongst others.”

Wired posted a full interview with Myka’s president Dan Lovy, so if you’d like to learn more about the Myka set top box which will rule them all, jump.

Review: BFG 9800 GTX Video Card

Luigi had some of his clan review the BFG 9800 GTX Video Card over at i4u gadgets and I wanted to pass along their findings:

The BFG 9800 GTX runs on the NVIDIA 9800 GTX GPU. The core clock of the card runs at 675 MHz, the shader clock is 1688 MHz and the memory clock is 2200 MHz. the card has a 256-bit memory interface and a memory bandwidth of 70.4GB/sec. the BFG 9800 GTX has 128 stream processors. The card features 512MB of GDDR3 RAM and the card is PCI Express 2.0 compliant. Other features include HDMI capable with adapter and HDCP capable for protected HD content. Read the entire review: (more…)

AVerTV Hybrid Volar MAX is a long name to describe the multitude of functions the USB TV tuner does. The USB based TV tuner stick has the ability to receive HDTV, Analog TV and FM radio on any Windows XP or Vista computer or laptop.

Unless you need specific subscription channels, you no longer have to put up with cable or satellite costs to get the High Definition TV everyone is craving for. The AverTV Hybrid Volar MAX does it all. For video quality, playback and speed consider this:

“The AVer MeidaCenter provides users more joy from Clear QAM digital cable TV. Advanced real-time H.264 recording compression significantly reduces CPU loading and the amount of hard disk space needed for recording. The optional 320×240 resolution enables users to save and playback video on an iPod.”

Don’t hold doubt either, the AVerTV Hybrid Volar MAX can truly present the details of HDTV in 720p/1080i resolution. With an exclusive Vista MCE Video Gaming Plug-in, the AverTV Hybrid Volar MAX resolves the (more…)

 Is that a PMP in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Sorry, that’s all I could think of for this super mini video player that sports a 2.4″ or 2.8″ full-size bright high-res LCD display. The device can be expanded with a memory card (T-Flash or MicroSD) but comes with 2GB built-in. The battery life will let you play video for 3-4 hours and audio for 6-8 hours.

The device is so simple but really combines many features people look for in a PMP including simplicity of transferring video to the device (supports USB mass-storage mode for easy transfer of video on any OS), expandability memory, charging via USB (when traveling I hate bring extra chargers) and can play FM Radio, Text, Pictures, Games and Videos. (more…)

So many have asked the question: How do you make DVD rentals easier than running down to the video store. Well, we’ve seen NetFlix with their rapid shipping and quick turn times and Blockbuster on their heels. These big-boys are now turning to on-line download and “content on demand.” It all sounds nice, but even with great bandwidth and streaming video you still have a fundamental problem. You must watch those vidoe’s on your TV.

PortoMedia of Ireland has a different take on DVD rentals. How about rent movies on flash memory?

May seem a little crazy, but think about it. Once you have that content on flash, the ability to watch video on any portable device, be it a laptop, PDA or other device makes enjoyement of that DVD when and where you want it …well…ideal.

So what is the process?

“PortoMedia is setting up kiosks that will let consumers download movies to a flash memory key or portable hard drive. The kiosks will be packed with hard drives that can hold 350 to 5,000 titles. Users then plug in a memory device from the company, enter a PIN code, and buy or rent a movie. When consumers get home, they simply slide the memory device into a dock their viewing device and enjoy.”

If you are not on board with the idea of PortoMedia, don’t worry - you are not alone. Others, like Ziff-Davis, have doubts, but consider this: (more…)