By David Ponce

If you’ve got a nagging urge to get your Android action on that big fat HDTV you just purchased, a company called Always Innovating might have something for you. It’s an HDMI dongle that is essentially a little PC all on its own. It’s got its own TI Dual Cortex-A9 OMAP 4 (1 to 1.8GHz) processor, 256MB to 1Gb of RAM, WiFi and is capable of 1080p video decoding. Oh, and it’s running Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich. The idea is that you take any ole TV, plug this into the HDMI port and off you go, running Android as if that TV was a mobile device. You can run apps, browse the Internet, watch movies and do whatever else you’d do on an Android device.

Always Innovating isn’t selling these directly to the consumer, instead opting to license them to third party vendors. They expect to see them in shelves come summer 2012, for a price somewhere between $49 and $99.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ UberGizmo ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m as big a fan of streaming/downloading content online, or watching TV on demand, as anyone these days. But I also have to admit that at times I still enjoy the randomness of broadcast television, and just flipping on the TV and taking what I get. The feeling is hard to describe. But it’s like The Simpsons. While I own every season on DVD (up to season 10 of course) and can watch a given episode whenever I want. There’s still some appeal to randomly stumbling across a classic episode on TV.

But for most people, enjoying broadcast TV is limited to sitting at home on the couch in front of the flat screen. It’s not always easy to take it with you. Portable TVs are always an option, but who wants to bother when you probably already have a laptop with you while traveling? So most of the time you’ll settle for a show or movie you’ve ‘purchased’ online. But with Elgato’s EyeTV Hybrid dongle you don’t have to settle. If you’re sitting in an airport and want to see what’s going on with the local news, you can just plug it in to your laptop and enjoy broadcast TV right in your lap. It can even turn your laptop into a portable DVR, stream a live broadcast to your iPhone or iPad and best of all, the hardware is smaller than some flash drives. Check out our full review after the jump.

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By Chris Scott Barr

Here’s an interesting thing. TVs are getting more and more features these days. Enough that they can actually start eliminating the need for other devices to be connected to them. The next device to go? If Sony has anything to say about it, they’re looking to replace your DVR.

Sony is releasing a trio of new Bravia TVs that come equiped with 500GB hard drives. What’s more is that they have support for external drives, just in case you run out of room. The only real difference between the three models is size, which range from 22-inches to 40-inches. The new sets will cost you a pretty penny though, with the smallest size fetching $1,000 when it launches next month in Japan.

[ Sony ] VIA [ Geeky Gadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

What it lacks in subtlety, XCM’s HDMI Capsule switcher makes up for in simple usefulness. I’m hesitant to call it a run-of-the-mill HDMI switcher though. Technically all it’s really designed to do is switch between 4 connected HDMI sources, but its frosted plastic housing hides a rainbow of surprises. Literally! The box glows either green, blue, red or yellow depending on which input is selected. So if you color coordinate it with your gear properly, you should be able to see what’s currently selected at a glance from across the room. Available from importers like Play-Asia.com for ~$30.

[ XCM's HDMI Capsule Switcher ]

By Andrew Liszewski

These nondescript black boxes from Vanco could be the best thing since sliced bread if you need to route an HDMI AV signal around your house, but don’t want to re-wire your place with HDMI or HD video friendly cat5e & cat6 network cables. It instead lets you transmit a full 1080P HDMI audio & video signal over your home’s existing coaxial wiring, assuming of course your home is wired for cable. Over a dual or quad-shielded RG6 coaxial cable you can extend the HDMI signal up to 328 ft. or 164 ft. over RG59 coaxial cable which I’m going to assume is more common. And if for some reason you’re setting up a massive video wall at home you can cascade up to 45 of the receiver units from a single transmitter box.

As for the price tag? Well I’d like to say this solution is a more affordable alternative to running network cable or using other HDMI extenders, but the transmitter & receiver pair run about $500 so I guess it all depends on your particular setup and how much easier or cost effective it would actually make things for you.

[ Vanco HDMI Over Coaxial Cable Extender ] VIA [ mavromatic ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It was announced, and has been available in the U.S. since last Fall, but the second generation of the Flip MinoHD will soon be available for all of us north of the U.S. border. (By mid-July for $239.) When compared to the original MinoHD the second generation model has a slightly thinner, considerably more rounded body with an aluminum housing featuring a brushed metal finish. Overall it’s a bit sleeker than the previous model, but is far more pocket-friendly and compact than the Flip UltraHD we reviewed last year. And if brushed metal isn’t your thing (what’s wrong with you?) you can order a customized version from the Flip website instead.

But the real improvements of the second generation MinoHD include a bump to 8GB of memory, twice that of the original model allowing you to record up to 2 hours of 720P ‘HD’ video, a mini-HDMI port on the bottom and a screen that’s now 2 inches in size compared to the 1.5 inches of its predecessor. That might not seem like a lot, but having played with it for a while, it’s actually a big improvement. Video quality is pretty much on-par with the previous model and the UltraHD, same sensor and all, and while some people have commented that its touch buttons don’t provide a lot of tactile feedback (there’s still a physical record button) I actually like that they’re easy to keep clean.

If you’re in the market for a compact camcorder the Flip line still remains at the top of the list when it comes to being easy-to-use, making them an ideal gift for the less than techno savvy. However, the lack of pretty much any options when it comes to video quality or shooting (it really only has a digital zoom) and the fact that certain reception-issue-plagued smartphones have already caught up and surpassed the Flips when it comes to functionality will hopefully see Cisco expanding the line and the camera’s capabilities in the very near future. You don’t think they bought Linksys and Flip for nothing did you?

[ Flip MinoHD ]

By Andrew Liszewski

We’re all familiar with the idea of slapping a hi-def LCD display on the wall in a portrait orientation and then playing back footage of the great outdoors to make it seem like a window with a fantastic view. So the eScape from Sky Factory doesn’t exactly break any new ground. They’ve basically taken the concept and refined it with a lovely 40-inch 1080P LCD and a stylish frame with shutters, that open inwards for some reason. And while I find the $9,750 asking price ridiculous, it’s the included video scenes that actually leave me shaking my head.

Is the waterfall clip supposed to make visitors think that part of my house and/or apartment opens into an underground grotto? Or that even though I live on the 26th floor of a high-rise building, the view from my bedroom includes a spectacular shoreline with waves crashing against rocks? Now I know these virtual windows are just supposed to provide a relaxing escape wherever they’re installed, but I think it wouldn’t hurt to provide a couple of video options that are at least semi-plausible.

[ Sky Factory eScape Virtual Windows ] VIA [ DVICE ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Cables suck, particularly when you’ve got your HDTV mounted to the wall with an ugly trunk line sticking out the back that’s difficult to camouflage. But Cable To Go’s TruLink 60GHz WirelessHD kit promises to at least get rid of the HDMI cable between your TV and components like your PVR, Blu-ray player or hi-def gaming console. Installing the hardware looks to be as plug-and-play easy as anything, and with a range of up to 33 feet, it should be more than adequate for most setups.

However, there are some downsides that I can see. First of all the transmitter/receiver seem to be dependent on a line of sight signal, so you won’t be able to hide this, um, aesthetically challenged hardware in a cabinet or behind your TV. And it only accepts a single HDMI connection, so unless you have all of your hi-def gear piped through a switcher of some sort, you’ll be swapping cables. Finally, while it does eliminate the HDMI cable running to your TV, it also adds another power cable to deal with on both ends, which can be even more annoying. That and the fact the kit is a whopping $499.99 available starting in June.

[ TruLink 1-Port 60 GHz WirelessHD Kit ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Evan Ackerman

This TV from Haier (I guess they’re an electronics company or something) doesn’t just feature wireless HD… It’s totally, completely wireless. Wireless power, folks. What does it take to transmit 3 gigs per second of 60hz 1080p plus 100 watts of electricity? A gigantic antenna is what, as you can see right in front of the distracting jerk with the ponytail who got in the background of my shot:

We talked to the Haier reps about just what exactly would happen if you got in between the antenna and the TV, and while they said that it was perfectly safe, I’m going to assume that that’s just PR-speak for, “it’ll definitely turn you into a super hero while giving you some form of cancer.” We have no information on when you’d find something like this in your house, but the wireless HD probably won’t be available before 2011, about the same time as non-chafing lead underpants.