2005¦~1¤ë11¤é

Shuttle XPC Media Center, Intel Joins Media Center Race The Inquirer (whose Charlie Demerjian was just lovely about the time I maybe sort of made fun of him for checking out the Daisy Dukes at E3) spotted lots of good stuff at CES, including this Shuttle XPC in a set-top form factor. One-upping most smaller Media Center PCs is the ability to upgrade the graphics card (although most larger boxes can do this just fine), meaning this slim little media crate could probably output World of Warcraft to your 102-inch plasma of the future just fine. Demerjian also reports that Intel will be releasing a barebones Media Center PC of their own, although it will likely be sold to 'authorized buyers' only through distributer s such as TNH and Synnex, so it may not make a huge splash¡Xthat's probably good, considering how many customers of theirs Intel will be biting by entering their new market. Shuttle XPC Pentium M video player pictured [TheInquirer] Intel to launch complete Media Center systems [TheInquirer] - lev (tips@gizmodo.com) [Gizmodo] 1:24:36 PM

LaCie Silverscreen Video Hard Drive Fate conspired to keep the LaCie Silverscreen drive from my notice, for I have both handled it at CES and skimmed this report at MacCentral without realizing what exactly it was I was looking at. Thankfully my friend Aron set me straight, pointing out that the relatively inexpensive USB hard drive could play a variety of video and audio formats (including XviD and AAC) directly out to almost any TV¡Xincluding TVs with support for analog YPbPr High Definition inputs. That means you could fill up the 80GB model with about nine or ten ripped DVDs and play them back at top quality, including 5.1 Dolby Digital audio via an optical SPDIF audio out. If it had some sort of built-in display, it would be the iPod Video we've always wanted. LaCie silverscreen drive connects to TV [MacCentral] - lev (tips@gizmodo.com) [Gizmodo] 1:23:22 PM

Creative Zen Micro Photo Creative was showing off this Zen Micro Photo at CES, a 6GB hard disk-based player that will have a 160 by 160 pixel OLED color screen. If the sales numbers Creative is throwing around are anywhere near accurate (and let me qualify that they are basically just saying "we sold a ton"), the Creative Zen Micro might be the clear #2 in the music player market. What I haven't quite sussed yet is if the Zen Micro Photo will be a replacement to the $250 Zen Micro, or if the new $300 unit will compliment its predecessor. Creative Zen Micro Photo [DAPreview] - lev (tips@gizmodo.com) [Gizmodo] 12:37:40 PM