Slashdot Mirror
Domain: rca.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to rca.com.
Stories · 6
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Firmware Upgrades For Everything
eggoeater writes "Forbes Magazine has an article discussing how more portable electronics are not only suggesting firmware upgrades, but requiring them in order to get all the features! Apparently the new Lyra A/V Jukebox will sometimes display a message stating that 'this feature will be available in future upgrades.' In addition, the article states that some patches are difficult and dangerous depending on the component. Some cell phone patches require a proprietary cable ($25) that will then wipe out your phone book. This raises concerns over alienating users that aren't tech-savvy and how this could affect perceptions of portable electronics as a whole." -
Consumer Electronics Industry: Linux is the Future
securitas writes "The New York Times is carrying a Reuters story about Linux as the software of choice for consumer electronics. At the world's largest consumer electronics show, the IFA trade fair 'the first Linux products are already on show and more will come soon, companies said.' The reason? Linux is freely available, widely embraced and profit margins in the consumer electronics business are one or two percent at best. The math is simple. The industry push comes from the members of the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum (CELF), that includes Sony, Philips, Matsushita/Panasonic, Hitachi, Sharp, Samsung, NEC, IBM, LG, Thomson/RCA and Toshiba. The CELF was previously discussed on Slashdot. Mirrors at Silicon.com and CNet News." -
New Tech - What is RCA's VPORT?
JoshRoss asks: "I was looking at the televisions on Bestbuy and I noticed that the RCA televions have a new 'feature', the VPORT. I looked around for information about this and just found RCA press releases for their XBOX READY logo. What is the difference between the VPORT and S-Video?" Is it just me or are others disturbed by the fact that the VPORT is touted as an X-box only feature as opposed to a console feature, although I must admit, it does make sense from "product synergy" standpoint as mentioned in this interview. Does anyone have any details on what this type of port this really is. Will other console systems be able to take advantage of it? -
Rio Riot and Lyra Personal Jukebox
dschuetz writes: "SONICblue has the new Rio Riot up on their home page. It looks to me like an iPod killer -- 20 GB hard drive, very nice interface (better than Apple's), built-in FM tuner, powerful "DJ" functions, Lithium Ion batteries. And, at $399, it's priced competitively. The only question is -- how big is this thing? SONICblue has lots of other great systems out there, like the ReplayTV and Rio Receiver (which runs Linux), so the possibilities for hacking and otherwise extending this device are very good." Another submitter sends: "MP3 Newswire has a story on the RCA LYRA Personal Jukebox, a 20GB MP3/mp3PRO player that is the first portable to use the updated digital music compression scheme co-developed by its parent company Thompson. The new Lyra sells for $299. In related news, SonicBlue has released its first jukebox style player, also a 20GB unit called the Rio Riot that sells for $399. Both articles have pictures of the new players." -
Record HDTV To A FireWire DV Deck
no_such_user writes: "This is a kit to modify your DTC-100 HDTV receiver, adding firewire ports to it, and letting you record to most firewire recording devices (including miniDV/D8 camcorders/decks, your computer, etc). Playback is through the DTC-100 only (until some crafty hacker-type decides to decode the stream for PC playback). Unfortunately, I see "patent pending" on their site. I hope they're referring to the hardware design used, and not the idea of protocol converter, 'cuz I think that's been done before. For reference, a broadcast HD stream is max 20mb/s, and miniDV records at 25mb/s. How long before we see HDminiDV?" -
Rocket eBook File Format?
Dodger_ asks: "Has anyone figured out the RCA eBook file format yet? The REB1100 looks perfect for carrying around to read technical papers and isn't too expensive($300) to boot. You can find even more info about it right here." These seem to be nice looking devices, and since they can be expanded up to 72MB (they come with 8MB) these would be able to hold quite a bit of documentation. Imagine converting the manpage library (or any other set of documents) to one of these puppies for some quality reading on your next long flight.