Following ElGato Systems MacWorld 2009 Expo introduction of the revised 2009 Model 10020974 EyeTV Hybrid TV Tuner Stick for Analog, HDTV and FM Radio Reception were initially ONLY available at ElGato's Online Store. But within a few weeks, Amazon now lists this TV tuner for Apple Mac OSX. The best HD computer TV tuner for Mac just got better - and cheaper.

CHOOSE CAREFULLY: There's now 3 different EyeTV Hybrid's floating around in inventory: 1. The ORIGINAL (discontinued) EyeTV Hybrid which is an affordable choice for Antenna using people that had 2 rows of horizontal air slots for cooling. 2. The JUST REPLACED EyeTV Hybrid 2008 Model with Clear QAM Digital Cable support that had vent slots on just ONE SIDE of the USB TV stick case, and now 3: The 2009 Hybrid Tuner in a sleeker, smoother, apparently non-vented silver casing.

Tags: Apple, Mac, TV, Television, QAM, ElGato, EyeTV

Model 1212

HAUPPAUGE HD PVR

PC using HTPC enthusiasts are finding Hauppauge's long-awaited Model1212 HD-PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder to be a godsend for connecting to and capturing content from their Set-Top box. For cable users on PC's it was the MISSING PIECE they were waiting for. For Mac users - the real question is If/When/Ever EyeTV or other's might be able to support the HDPVR's functionality in OS X.

"HD PVR is the world’s first High-Definition video recorder for making real-time H.264 compressed recordings at resolutions up to 1080i.  HD-PVR records component video (YCrCb) from cable TV and satellite set top boxes, with a built-in IR blaster to automatically change TV channels for scheduled recordings. Audio is recorded using AAC or Dolby Digital. The recording format is AVCHDr. The HD PVRs amazing recording quality allows personal archival of your favorite high definition TV programs from any component video HD set top box. The HD PVR also has standard definition composite and S-Video inputs so you can record your old home video tapes into an AVCHD format for creating Blu-ray DVD recordings."

Around the same time, Hauppage also introduced a new box: the Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1950 External USB HDTV Tuner/Video Recorder Model 1192. (Somewhat like an Elgato EyeTV 250 Plus Digital/Analog TV Receiver and Video Converter - but with IR Blaster) I predict we'll see support for the HVR-1950 in a future revision of EyeTV 3 soon. But the HD PVR is a totally different beast - and perhaps more challenging for ElGato to support. Time will tell - perhaps at MacWorld Expo 2009 ElGato will reveal what's up their sleeve? Hmmm?

Tags: Apple , Mac, WinTV, HVR, MyTV, HVR-1950, HD PVR 1212

Interesting change recently as ElGato's North American website: They dropped the rebranded Dual Digital/ATSC HomeRunHD ethernet networked based OEM tuner made by SiliconDust from their current products page. ElGato's US-North American site now lists only the EyeTV Hybrid and the 250+ models.

For a time, El Gato repackaged and sold the SiliconDust HDHR-US HDHomeRun Networked Digital TV Tuner. They added support for the unique, Dual ATSC and QAM digital device in later versions of EyeTV 2 - and continue support in the updated EyeTV 3. So perhaps ElGato is simply focusing on profitably selling EyeTV3 software at full $79.95 retail to HomeRun purchasers. Bundled or not -- It's a winning combination allowing multiple Macs to view and record TV - or to watch one station while recording another.

In a way the unbundling doesn't matter since ElGato is ultimately a World-Class software company with an award-winning TV application. What hardware it runs on is somewhat secondary. And the HomeRun is readily available elsewhere - and enjoys wide support on both the Mac and Windows PC platforms:

The HDHomeRun works with the following Software:
Windows Media Center:
MCE 2005 32-bit
MCE 2005 64-bit
Vista MCE 32-bit
Vista MCE 64-bit
SageTV - HTPC software for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Home Server, Mac & Linux
SnapStream BeyondTV - DVR for Windows
Elgato EyeTV - DVR for Mac
MythTV - DVR for Linux
MediaPortal - DVR for Windows
GB-PVR - DVR for Windows
VLC - Multi-platform media viewer
TSReader - MPEG-2 transport stream analysis

Tags: Apple , SiliconDust, HDHomeRun, Mac, Dual Mac Tuner, Gadgets, Technology, Ethernet TV Tuner

Equinux followed up with another quick .1 update to TheTube Macintosh DVR software for the TubeStick Hybrid TV Tuner compatible with both Apple's Mac OS X and Windows Media Center Edition PCs. Now at version 2.8.1 - they did a few recording and audio issue fixes. Good to see Equinux really keeping up and trying -- slugging it out in the Apple tuner market with EyeTV is a tough arena to compete in, doncha know...

Tags: TubeStick, TheTube, Time-Shift, Mac DVR, Mac Software, Apple , Mac