Popcorn Hour C-200 will be available in the Philippines on mid-August for P19,800

blued888 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:59:44 +0000

The Popcorn Hour C-200 Networked Media Tank is reportedly slated for a mid-August 2009 release, according to the official Philippine distributor of the highly touted device which is capable of playing everything you can throw at it, minus the kitchen sink.

Pre-order is already ongoing in the forum section of the Philippine site for Popcorn Hour (you have to register in order for the threads and posts to show up).

Expected pricing for the Popcorn Hour C-200 is P19,800 but if you’re among the first 15 people to pre-order the networked media tank, you will enjoy a 7% discount which brings the price down to P18,500. And remember, the C-200 is capable of housing its own Blu-ray drive. Expected arrival of the device is sometime around mid-August.

The choice is up to you, get a standalone Blu-ray player such as the Oppo BDP-83 or get this all-in-one playing device. While the player prices are the same, cost of ownership for standalone Blu-ray players is way much higher since you have to legally purchase discs while for the Popcorn Hour… Let’s just say you have to know your way around things.

Popcorn Hour C-200 networked media tank

blued888 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:45:31 +0000

The Popcorn Hour C-200 network media tank/player is the follow-up to the highly popular A-110. The Popcorn Hour C-200 features a more powerful processor along with increased RAM, flash memory and more interface connections.

This thing can basically play anything you throw at it, such as MKV, XviD, H.264. It also streams content from various partner sites such as YouTube, CNN, NBC, CBS, BBC, and others. There is also still photo content streaming from Flickr, Pikeo and Picasa.

Other improvements of the C-200 over the A-110 include a wireless RF remote control (which means you don’t have to maintain a line of sight in order to control the device), LCD on the front face plate and the option to load the device with a Blu-ray drive.

The C-200 starts shipping July 2009 for $299.

Head on over to www.popcornhour.com (for US-based information) www.popcornhour.com.ph (for Philippines-based information, no product page for the C-200 but I’m getting a hunch they’ll be putting up one soon).

Syabas Announces Next-Generation Internet Media Streaming Settop Box

Versatile Popcorn C-200 now features Blu-ray playback support, a front panel LCD and removable drive bay for either a hard disk drive or Blu-ray player

FREMONT, Calif., June 17, 2009 – Syabas, a leading provider of over-the-top settop software and hardware and makers of the award winning Popcorn Hour A-110, today announced the Popcorn C-200, a next-generation Internet settop box that streams digital content from the Internet or its internal hard drive to your television set and home stereo.¹ Unlike competing Internet settop boxes that support a limited number of Internet audio and video file types, the C-200 supports more than 30, including MPEG 1, 2, 4, AVI, H.264, Xvid, MKV, Windows Media and others.

“In today’s tough economic times, there are people facing the decision to either cancel their cable subscription or their Internet connection to make ends meet,” said Syabas COO, Alex Limberis. “With a C-200, people can experience the best of both worlds, as a lot of compelling content is freely available on the Internet. Today, consumers want to watch programs when they want them, not when a network or cable company tells them it’s okay.”

Like its predecessor, the Popcorn Hour A-110, the C-200 streams news and entertainment content from a number video partner sites such as YouTube, Vuze, Revision 3, CNET TV, Veoh, Blip.tv, NBC, CBS, CNN and BBC and Internet radio sites, such as Radio box and Live365 Radio. Additionally, the C-200 can stream still image content from Flickr, Pikeo and Picasa.

Additional new features of the C-200 include:

A redesigned external shell, which helps the unit better integrate into existing entertainment component stacks

Wireless RF remote control

An LCD display for quickly searching, streaming and/or downloading content, which is useful when listening to music without having the TV on

A gigabit Ethernet connection for lightning-fast file transfers

A front-loading drive bay that can be used to install a hard drive for storing and playing back downloaded content

The ability to add a Blu-ray drive with full support for Blu-ray navigation and Blu-ray Live

AVCHD format and navigation for displaying home video content from AVC format HD cameras

The C-200 includes component and HDMI out for high definition playback on today’s HDTVs. And for audio purists, the device features an optical line out, for playing back content that’s been encoded in Dolby Digital or DTS. The box also plays Wave, AAC and MP3 audio files, among others.

“Unlike competing new media streamers that have been around for less than a year and can require someone to hack a product’s operating system to get them to work, Syabas has been happily shipping media streaming products to satisfied customers around the world for several years,” said Alex Limberis, chief operating officer of Syabas.”

Availability
The Popcorn C-200 is expected to be available in July for $299 from www.popcornhour.com. The package includes the C-200, an HDMI cable, RF remote control, quick start guide and installation software. Complete product specifications can be found at: www.popcornhour.com .

About Syabas
Syabas, headquartered in Fremont, California and with facilities in China and Malaysia, is a leading software developer for inexpensive wired/wireless digital home entertainment products. Syabas products enable users to access content such as high- and standard-definition video, music, photos and services, such as YouTube, Veoh and Vuze, over a local network and the Internet.

¹= Hard drive not included

[via CrunchGear and Popcorn Hour]

Eclectic Electronics » popcorn hour

Popcorn Hour C-200 will be available in the Philippines on mid-August for P19,800

Popcorn Hour C-200 networked media tank