TVSquad

You'd have thought that after 32 episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (premieres on FX, next Thursday, 9/18 at 10PM) that Mac, Dennis, Dee, Charlie, and Frank would have tackled just about anything you can think of that's offensive. They've hit on underage drinking, Nazis, sex offenders, dumpster babies, religion, retardation, homosexuality, and homeless people. Well I'm here to tell you that it's far from over. There's still plenty of off-color material for these five fools to rape (considering the context... I think that is the right word) and it isn't stopping with this season, which will run for 13 episodes. FX president John Landgraf has confirmed that 39 more episodes will follow. But I'm getting ahead of myself. My thoughts on the season four premiere are after jump.

AVerMedia has been making TV tuner cards for Windows computers for ages, but the company has yet to release a product that's compatible with Mac software and hardware. Now TG Daily reports that the company is preparing to enter the Apple peripheral market.

The upcoming USB TV tuner will be compatible with the Apple iRemote and comes bundled with software for playing and recording programs. It will support analog and DVB-T standards.

There's no word on how much the AVerMedia tuner wll cost, but it should be available during Q3 of 2008. It's likely that the company will try to keep the price low, since AVerMedia is known for making low-cost TV tuners for computers running Windows.

[via Electronista]

Roxio has released updated versions of its Toast Titanium 8 and 9 disc burning software for Mac OS X. Version 9.02 and 8.04 are available as free updates for existing users, while new customers can purchase Toast Titanium 9 for $80 after a $20 mail-in rebate.

Toast is more than just a CD/DVD burning utility. The application also supports HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs, and includes TiVoToGo software for OS X, which lets users transfer recordings from a TiVo to a computer. But Toast TiVoToGo users had reported that the audio and video were out of sync after transfer to a Mac. The update should fix that problem.

Version 9.02 also fixes some problems related to high definition video playback, and a problem that prevented Blu-Ray discs from playing properly on a PS3. Toast Titanium 8.02 also resolves a problem that prevented EyeTV recordings from showing up in the Media Browser.

[via Gizmo Lovers and The Mac Observer]

Roxio has updated its Toast disc authoring software for OS X to version 9. While I normally don't go out of my way to post about incremental upgrades to disc burning applications, as Dave Zatz points out, Roxio's Toast software includes the Mac version of the TiVoToGo software which lets you transfer videos from your TiVo to your computer. Unfortunately, Roxio Toast 8 has been experiencing some A/V sync issues since the last time TiVo issued a software update. There's no word on whether those issues have been addressed in Toast 9.

There's also a section of the Toast 9 web site which mentions the option to convert video files to formats for playing on a variety of devices including cellphones, video game consoles, iPods, and the Apple TV. Although the web page mentions TiVo, I can't seem to find a TiVo option in the screenshot above.

Probably the biggest update in Toast 9 is the ability to create HD-DVD and Blu-Ray high definition video discs, if that's something you're inclined to do. Toast 9 will set you back $100 for a full license, and the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray plugin will set you back another $20, but you can get it for free if you purchase the software by April 13th. If you've got an earlier version of Toast you can upgrade for $80.

The Xbox Media Center team has released the first beta version of XMBC for OS X. If that's a lot of abbreviations for you, let me break it down. Xbox Media Center started off as a software project to turn the original Xbox into a home media center. But over the past year or so, some of the project's developers have decided to port the excellent media center interface to other platforms, including Mac and Linux.

XBMC 0.1 for OS X is still an early release, as the name would suggest. But it already presents a full featured alternative to Front Row for anyone who wants to enjoy their movies, music, and image libraries while sitting more than two feet away from their computer.

[via TUAW]

In the market for a Mac-friendly USB TV tuner? Up until recently the market's been pretty much cornered by Elgato and Miglia. But last year Hauppauge announced that some of its popular TV tuners for PC were now Mac compatible. Or if none of those tuners are doing it for you, check out the new TubeStick hybrid from Equinox.

This $129 tuner can handle NTSC, ATSC, and ClearQAM signals. In layman's terms, that means you can plug in an analog cable, a digital antenna for over the air HDTV, or user the tuner to decode unencrypted HD cable channels.

The TubeStick hybrid comes with a portable antenna for watching over the air programs on the go, but we'd recommend spending a few bucks on a higher quality antenna if you plan to use this tuner at home. The tuner is also compatible with Windows.

[via Engadget]

Elgato apparently had a bit more up its sleeve this week than we thought. The company announced the launch of EyeTV 3 at Macworld the other day. But Elgato also upgraded its line of EyeTV hardware to add ClearQAM support for viewing and recording unencrypted HD programming.

The EyeTV Hybrid and the EyeTV 250 Plus TV are both getting the upgrade treatment. The prices haven't changed. The Hybrid still sells for $150, while the 250 Plus TV, which includes a hardware encoder to reduce your video file size, goes for $200.

Unfortunately the update is not available to existing users via a software update.

[via EngadgetHD]

As expected, Elgato has release an updated version of the company's popular PVR software for OS X. EyeTV 3 includes a vastly improved electronic program guide, with support for tasks like scheduling "Season Pass" style recordings. I was actually kind of surprised to find out that there previously was no good way to set a recording for an entire season of a television program, so it's good to see that EyeTV for Mac includes a feature that most Windows and Linux PVR programs have offered for ages.

There have also been improvements to EyeTV's 10-foot interface, as you can see in the video above, from our friends at TUAW. Here are just a few of the other goodies packed into EyeTV 3:

• Improvements in the Program Window make it easier to find and manage your media
• Full-text search of the program guide
• Save your guide search criteria
• Create Smart Playlists
• Share recorded programs over the home network
• Improved on-screen menus
• Stream videos over WiFi to your iPhone, iPod Touch, or other computer on the home network

EyeTV 3 is available for purchase now. A full version of the software will set you back $80, while existing users can upgrade for half that price.

Once upon a time open source media center software Xbox Media Center (or XMBC) was designed to run on an Xbox. Makes sense, doesn't it? But the Xbox 360 is replacing the original Xbox, making the older gaming console a bit harder to find. And while the developers could focus all of their efforts on getting XMBC to run on the Xbox 360, it turns out the code can be ported to all sorts of other devices, including computers running Linux or Mac OS X.

Last year, a group of XBMC developers started working on a Linux port. And now one XBMC community member has begun creating a Mac port as a replacement for Apple's Front Row software. The software's not exactly stable just yet, and there's a good chance that if you try running it nothing will happen. But if you've got some programming chops, you could pitch in and help develop the Mac port. If not, you might just want to keep an eye on the project so you can try it out when a workable version is released.

[via tuaw]

Earlier this month SNARB.TK released an updated version of XHub Media Center for OS X. It boasted enhanced photo and TV modules, better remote controls ,and new animations. But it was missing one crucial update that you would have thought would be kind of important for any Mac software released this month: Leopard support.

Now XHub 2.3 is out, and it includes support for Mac OS X 10.5. Otherwise, XHub 2.3 looks an awful lot like XHub 2.2. Not that this is a bad thing. The $25 software package does a great job of turning your Mac into a full fledged media center, something you can't really say for Front Row or even Elgato's EyeTV software.

XHub includes support for EyeTV for watching and recording TV programs. There are also modules for listening to music, watching DVDs and other movies, and accessing online media like RSS feeds, and radio streams.

XHub Media Center 2.3 is a free upgrade for existing users.

(S03E15) "Your illiteracy has screwed us again Charlie!" - Mac

1:15 PM. On a Saturday. Philadelphia, PA. Last call at Paddy's bar for the season... and possibly forever. Why you ask? Because thanks to Charlie's pea-sized brain, a bum now owns Paddy's. Of course, Charlie isn't entirely to blame. Add in Frank's sedative brownies and Rickety Cricket beating in Dee's legs, and it becomes hard to say where the ultimate blame should rest. While this wasn't the best episode, the ending made for a good cliffhanger. In the past year, FX has rewarded Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me, and Damages with meaty renewals. Here's to hoping that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is extended the same courtesy.

It looks like the Mac is finally catching up to the PC when it comes to hardware support for TV tuner cards. Popular PC card maker Hauppauge is adding Mac compatibility, SageTV is broadening the number of TV tuners its Mac software supports, and now ATI is turning to the Mac as well.

ATI plans to release a version of its new TV Wonder 650 Combo USB tuner for OS X. The company just announced the PC version of this HDTV tuner last month.

The TV Wonder 650 Combo is a dual tuner box, with support for analog and HDTV signals. There's no CableCard support, but you can plug in an HDTV antenna and/or pick up unencrypted ClearQAM digital cable channels. ATI is also throwing in some tvPORTAL software which will let you schedule recordings and watch live and recorded TV.

The TV Wonder 650 Combo for Mac will set you back about $150, and should be available later this month.

I got a chance to check out Elgato's EyeTV 2.5.1 last night, and it looks pretty sweet. The Leopard integration is slick, and cover flow for recorded programs looks awesome, as you can tell from the video above.

As I pointed out last week, you can also share videos with friends over iChat and play back videos using Leopard's new Spaces feature.

But one thing I hadn't realized about EyeTV is that the electronic program guide is practically non-existent. Without a doubt, EyeTV is the most popular PVR application for the Mac. But it's missing a feature that's found in pretty much every Windows, Linux, or set top box-based PVR: the ability to record every new episode of a TV series. Right now you can't create a "season pass" for, say, The Simpsons. You have to search for individual episodes and schedule recordings.

That's something the Elgato folks say they plan to address in version 3.0. There are also plans to add place-shifting. Right now you can stream video from your Mac to other devices on your home network. If you've got an iPhone or iPod Touch, for example, you can watch movies over WiFi. But right now there's no way to watch live or recorded TV over the internet with EyeTV. For that, you'd need a Slingbox or other place-shifting piece of hardware.

With EyeTV 2.5.1 fresh out the door, nobody's saying how long it will be before we see EyeTV 3.0. But it looks like the next major release will make EyeTV a killer app. You know, if you have a Mac and a TV tuner.

If Apple's Front Row media center software just isn't doing it for you, there are plenty of alternative applications for enjoying your media in a full screen way. One of the more powerful Front Row alternatives, XHub Media Center has a new release out this week.

Version 2.2 sports enhanced TV and photos modules, improved remote controls, and new animations and other tweaks including a new search as you type feature.

You can use XHub to watch movies, play music, or view photo slideshows. It also supports EyeTV integration for watching live and recorded television programs.

XHub 2.2 is a free upgrade for existing customers. A full license costs $24.95.

(S03E12 / S03E13) "Hold on. Nobody's gonna get whacked off today!" - Dee

Every sitcom does it and it was only a matter of time until It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia hopped on the "hour long episode" bandwagon. Sometimes it's a finale or a premiere, but in this case it was FX taking advantage of the first day of November sweeps. Often it works and sometimes it doesn't. As much as I love this show (and the same goes for The Office and the four hour-longs its season started with), I just can't endorse more double-length installments like this. The uneven balance between the good and the bad is just far too obvious. At times during this episode, I felt like I was watching a bunch of mediocre deleted scenes that I'd normally expect to see as a bonus on a DVD set.