Items Tagged With mac

Back in the summer I wrote about replacing our aging AV Amp at the heart of our Home Cinema system.  We knew the builders were coming to fit a wood burning stove and so the room needed to be gutted - the perfect excuse to move our home theater into the HiDef world.  The work was completed last December, all except for one vital componant - the new Mac mini.

At last we now have the fantastic user experience of the XBMC days, along with the horse power to play 1080P content.  Here's our quick video on setting the mini up as an HD media player ("basic" 2.0Ghz / 1Gb RAM moodel)...

Interest in Boxee has been growing steadily, especially since it became available on the Apple TV (we contacted Apple PR to ask them their views on installing Boxee on the Apple TV but they replied saying Apple declines to comment on this).  With a quarter of a million users, even before the Windows version has been released, Boxee are capturing people's imagination and with the possibility of new hardware boxes on the horizon with a "Powered By Boxee" logo on them, its time to sit up and take notice.  Read on for Automated Home's interview with Boxee Founder, Avner Ronen...

Xtenscape is a free Java based application for Windows 98/ME/XP/2000/Vista and intel-based Apple macs.  Just connect a CM11 / CM12 to your PC or Mac to easily shedule and control your X10 devices.

Now Scott Hather has released a free iPhone app to control the system, either from your LAN or the Internet...

Asian manufacturers, TrickleStar has launched an Apple Macintosh Z-Wave-compatible system.  Using their USB stick and software widget, the Mac can now be used as the central controlling unit for Z-Wave home control networks. Mac users will now be able to control their lighting, heating, entertainment and security systems with just a few clicks of the mouse, while improving comfort in the home and reducing energy costs. The widget will be available as a free download by December 17 on the TrickleStar homepage....

Plex, the media player / library manager for the Mac just hit another major milestone with the release of v0.7.0.  The whole community has been working hard on the latest release and as part of the testing team Automated Home can report with some authority that this thing rocks!

Undoubtedly the biggest new feature in this release is the addition of “Media Server” allowing you to play back all your DRM'd iTunes music plus a whole host of other features like great audio and video podcast support...