Possibly the best name ever for some AV kit?

Yes, it would appear as if I am typing random words in a string, but no, it really isn’t the case!

Advanced MP3 Players (AMP3) emailed me to let me know about the “Media Tank”, and this stoked my interest - it looks kinda cool, but what on earth is it?! Well, according to AMP3:

“it’s an all-in-one box that lets you connect to any source of video or audio, inside or through the internet.  It’s the first product that combines all of the most exiting delivery technologies (IPTV, Streaming, Torrents, etc) with incredible support for your existing media collection in any file format.  It has HD support, huge sound field support - in fact, if you can dream of it, the Media Tank has it.”

I think if you considered it a media hub with heavy-duty networking, connectivity, and HD capabilities, you be about there. Rarely for HD-compatible kit, it’s also at a very keen price - from what I have read on the Web, it could be about £185 when it comes out. Being DLNA certified too, you can get your Mobile device in on the action also!

AMP3 are going to be stocking it in a few weeks, with a hard disk - if you want to know more, click here.

You can also go to the official Popcorn hour site here.

Finally, you can check out CNET for a review of the hardware here.

Me personally, I am going to track one down once I find somewhere to put it, and a spare HDMI connector!!

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SAFA expects to launch its prosumer mp3 player named Bandi in Korea market, which looks much like candy. It will be available in October. Its available in 5 colors, green, white, black, pink (for girls?) and blue. Adopting a 1.5-inch OLED display and flash memory from Samsung, the Bandi features touch scroll, decent sound quality and distinctive GUI like a lightning bug.

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Seriously now, that thing that you see on the picture here is a jukebox. That’s right, a jukebox. Our digital society really doesn’t have any use for the traditional jukebox, unless you have the Xi Jukebox that we reported on a while ago.

This IntelliTunes Digital Jukebox is not designed for playing small LPs or CDs. No, it is designed to network (presumably wirelessly) to your computer to load whatever tunes you wish to play.

Once all the tunes are there, you can control them via remote control. The IntelliTunes Digital Jukebox has two screens of interface. One screen is for the actual selection of tracks, and the other is for animation while the tunes are playing.

Well, this could be the end of traditional jukeboxes as we know it. However, it has been a while since I’ve seen a traditional jukebox, so perhaps the end has already come. Still, I like the idea of every home having one of these jukeboxes on their wall, but most people already have their tunes on their iPod or whatever MP3 Player that they are sporting.

So, it appears the IntelliTunes Digital Jukebox is made for the household, but there is no word on the release date or price.

Source

Hanging out at sites like Giz may have instilled in you an insatiable, pocket-emptying gadget habit. But now we're entering a new era—the old guys on the TV are saying that soon we may not even have pockets, let alone money for them. Don't panic though: You've probably got a wealth of gadgetry sitting underutilized in your living rooms, closets and basements, just waiting to be given powerful new (not exactly authorized) features. For free.

I've collected the best firmware replacements, software mods and homebrew hacks from the DMCA-flouting, EULA-hating frontiers of gadgetland that'll breathe new life into your stable of hardware and maybe—just maybe—let you feel that lusty new-gadget rush again.

Turn Your Xbox, Old PC or Apple TV into a Genuine Media Center

Xbox Media Center is about as refined as an unauthorized hack can get, playing back virtually any audio and video format, running a bevy of console emulators and still playing your Xbox games. To be honest, this should almost be viewed as a natural update for every Xbox, which at its core is a slow but functional PC with an easy TV connection. (Any actual PCs you have lying around can run a PC-ported version of XBMC.)

Boxee is a very slick fork of the XBMC project for Mac, and it's available for Apple TV. As shipped, the Apple TV works fine within the closed iTunes ecosystem, but Boxee's support for virtually every video codec and free online video like YouTube, CNN, BBC, and Revision3 will suit your new, more destitute lifestyle a bit better.

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. Installation is pretty straightforward in most cases, with simple Boxee and XBMC setup programs available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Before you load XBMC, though, you have to mod your Xbox with one of these methods, many of which require a specific game. After that it's all install wizards and lollipops.

Installing anything on the locked-down Apple TV used to take some serious finagling, but there are now tools that will create an automated Boxee installer on a flash drive. Just plug the drive in, restart and you're good to go.

XBMC Online Manual

Boxee

Make Over Your iPod, Archos, iRiver or Sandisk with Rockbox

It's hard to look at the current generation of media players and not admire their diverse capabilities and extensible software platforms. That's not to say that your 5th-gen iPod doesn't play back music perfectly well, or that your iRiver H10 still isn't a kickass media player, but they do feel a bit dated. Rockbox replaces your MP3 player's operating system with something more substantial, effectively making it a completely new device. You get endless codec support, advanced audio options, dozens of games, useful apps like a calculator and a text editor, plus you can choose from tons of different interface skins for a unique look and feel. Rockbox's tweaking possibilities mean you will earn admiring "what is that?" questions from friends, and it won't cost you a thing. If your player isn't supported yet just hold on—everything from the Zen Vision:M to the Toshiba Gigabeat S has a fairly active dev team.

Difficulty: Easy. Rockbox has an automated tool called the Rockbox Utility available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It does the work for you. Even better, it often automatically configures your player to dual boot with its original OS.

Rockbox Official Site

Convert Your PC or Notebook Into A Much More Expensive Mac

It's undeniable that Macs are too expensive. For many, they are considered a luxury item whose added cost doesn't justify the benefit. Luckily Apple's switch to an Intel platform opened up a world of unauthorized OS X installations which can turn your existing PC into a powerhouse Mac Pro workstation, or morph your MSI Wind or Asus EeePC into the Mac netbook that should be in their goddamn product line anyway. Check the hardware compatibility list to see if your PC is eligible for the upgrade.

Difficulty: Moderate to Hard. If you're not morally opposed to downloading iATKOS and Kalyway, which are pre-patched Leopard install DVDs (this is bit torrent territory), then the process is much like installing any other OS. If you insist on building your own patched install from a DVD you own, then, well, good luck. Always check hardware lists first, though, because driver support is everything.

OSX86 Project Page

Flash Your Crappy Router Into a Top-Line Piece of Hardware

The DD-WRT project exists for a simple reason: Most routers are physically very similar, but are priced differently because of functionality derived from software. The DD-WRT firmware unlocks the potential of the most basic routers out there—too many to name but damn if yours isn't on the list. As it turns out, your budget model is kind of impressive: Program-specific traffic throttling, professional level wireless security and radical signal boosting are just a few of the dozens of new features that can be enabled.

Difficulty: Easy. If you can't manage this one, then you don't deserve a router—installation just takes a few clicks on the device's default configuration pages. A word of caution, though: Make sure your router configuration page is totally compatible with your browser before the operation, as some choke on Firefox and can botch firmware upgrades. Stick to IE if you have the choice.

DD-WRT Project Page

Download Updated Maps For Your Old GPS

I'm referring of course to capital 'D' downloading here, mainly because at the moment GPS map updates are a racket. You could spend hundreds of dollars on map data that is freely available on Google Maps, Microsoft Live and MapQuest, among others, or you can just, you know, not. Map packs for Garmin, TomTom and Magellan units are floating around torrent sites and usually don't require much more than a simple CD image mount and run routine to set up. (Guilty conscience sold separately.)

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. If you're just running a copy of a CD, then you'll be able to use the installation wizards. Some more involved methods for Windows CE-based devices require some SSH file transfers, but these are relatively rare.

Jailbreak Your iPhone for Wi-Fi Internet Tethering

Two internet plans are enough, but to sign on to a mobile internet contract when you've already got unlimited iPhone data feels kind of stupid. Jailbreaking your iPhone is now about as easy as performing a firmware upgrade, and there are actually multiple tethering apps. PDANet and iPhoneModem both work a treat, but keep in mind that excessive usage could draw AT&T's attention and ire: Tethering is not allowed on the data plan, even though it works fine. Both apps are available in Cydia, where you can also find a limited assortment of other apps that don't have a place in the app store.

Difficulty: Moderate. Jailbreaking can be managed through the Dev Team's fantastic Quickpwn tool, but it does take a few minutes and can go wrong if instructions aren't followed closely. After jailbreak, Cydia and Installer fill the role of the gray-market app store, functioning as simple package managers that are arguably as polished as their more legitimate younger brother.

PDANet and iPhoneModem take different approaches to tethering, but neither requires more networking expertise than it would take to, say, set up a router.

iPhone Jailbreak

PDANet

iPhoneModem

Turn Your Wii Into a Free Emulation Machine

It's more than a little infuriating to have to repurchase your childhood library of console games from the Virtual Console, especially when free PC emulators and accompanying ROMs abound on the old intertubes. All you need is a copy of Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess, an SD card and an SD reader and you're ready to install A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia, which is pretty much all anyone has ever really needed since this whole "Video Gaming Television Machine" thing got under way in the first place. Throw in extended media playback and some helpful widgets for an extra value-add.

Difficulty: Moderate. This is one of the only hacks here that needs additional hardware to work, even if it's basic. The good news is that once you find a copy of Zelda and load up your SD card, the process pretty much takes care of itself. Further app installs are taken care of through a intuitive dedicated channel.

WiiBrew WIki

A great resource for similar projects is our industrious sister site Lifehacker, where you can find a veritable treasure trove of tutorials and tricks. Have you postponed any gadget purchases until you're sure your bank is solvent? Have any other budget hardware resurrection techniques that we missed? Let us know in the comments.

The Crammer handheld is a great replacement for tons of books, tipping the scales at just 4.6 ounces. Despite its diminutive size, it is able to navigate through over 16,000 mathematics, social studies and science quiz questions based on leading school textbooks. All a student needs to do is connect the Crammer device to their PC or Mac and start consolidating all the content on the handheld. Students also have the choice to create thousands upon thousands of digital flash cards for virtually any subject online for a portable study session. There is an integrated 10,000 word Spanish translator that will auto-populate Spanish-to-English and English-to-Spanish flash cards while providing even audio pronunciation for each Spanish word.

The Crammer also comes with 1GB of memory that is able to store up to 10 hours of audio. You will be able to download new content via LeapFrog’s proprietary online resource known as the LeapFrog Learning Path. Parents who are thinking of picking up the Crammer will be able to do so for just $59.99, which is much cheaper than a handheld console and will definitely aid kids in their studies using a much more technologically advanced manner instead of poring over tome after tome.

Product Page via Press Release

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I will be in touch with each of you to arrange delivery of your prize.

Thank you all for entering and congratulations to those of you who won! Stay tuned for more contests from Toshiba in the near future!

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..As I said in the beginning, the device can officially be used to play mp3/wma and view jpg. But if you’re into hacking like me, you can easily add more programs and games to the device. You see the device has a hidden Window CE 4.2 which makes the device basically an HPC/pocketPC. To get to the hidden OS what you do is select setting from the main menu then click information. From there you can see a Navigon logo. Click it 3 times and you should be taken to an explorer window. You can transfer files through ActiveSync or through the SD card. Although keep in mind anything not saved in the “My Flash Disk” will automatically be deleted on a hard shut down (the switch on the right). So you will want to transfer all your programs there…