TVSquad

Monsoon Multimedia, makers of the Hava line of place-shifting set top boxes are taking a break from trying to one-up the Slingbox and trying to take on another big name in the placeshifting world: Orb. The difference is Orb gives away its product for free, which could make tough for Monsoon to grab any market share.

This week Monsoon announced HAVASoft, a video streaming, place and time shifting application for PCs with TV tuner cards. Users will be able to install a client on their PC and stream video to internet connected computers or Windows Mobile phones and PDAs. One thing HAVASoft users will be able to do that Orb users can't is broadcast their live or recorded TV streams to more than one user at a time.

Users will be able to pause, fast forward, rewind, and record live TV over a remote connection. And if you've got a wireless home network the software will let you use a TV tuner in one PC as a networked tuner for use by other Windows Media Center PCs in the house. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Support for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6
• Stream MPEG-2 video over a home network
• Stream MPEG-4 video over the internet

No word on pricing yet, but Monsoon Multimedia says the software will be available "in early 2008."

[via TiVo Lovers]

One thing that sets HAVA's place-shifting boxes apart from the better known Slingbox is that every Hava unit has a built in TV tuner. That means you can stream live TV across the internet just by plugging in a cable or antenna, no cable box, TiVo, or other device needed. It's also meant that you could use Hava boxes as networked TV tuners for Windows Media Center PCs.

But now Monsoon Multimedia, the makers of the Hava line, are announcing that you can plug a USB hard drive into a Hava Titanium box to turn it into a fully functional personal video recorder. You can schedule recordings remotely using the Hava interface, or remotely using Hava's PC or Windows Mobile software.

Monsoon Multimedia will be selling Hava branded USB peripherals for the Hava Titanium soon, but I'm guessing if the company issues a firmware upgrade for the box, you should be able to plug any old hard drive into the USB port.

The other day Sling Media announced the Slingbox Pro-HD, which is capable of streaming HDTV content over the web from your TV, TiVo, or high-def components. Now Sling arch-nemesis Monsoon Multimedia is striking back by announcing the Hava Wireless HD.

As you can probably guess from the name, the Hava Wireless HD not only streams HD video over the internet, but it can connect to your home network over 802.11n WiFi, while the Slingbox Pro-HD requires either an Ethernet cable or a wireless adapter.

The latest Hava box can stream 1080i, 720p, or 480p signals to more than one PC at a time. It also includes an integrated ATSC/NTSC tuner for receiving broadcast signals without a TV set. As with all previous Hava boxes, you can even use the Wireless HD as a networked TV tuner for your Windows Media Center PCs.

But while you can use SlingPlayer software to watch streaming video on devices including Mac and Windows computers, Palm, Symbian, and Windows Mobile phones, you'll need a Windows PC or Windows Mobile device to watch your streaming Hava content.

The Hava Wireless HD is set for a Spring release. No word on the pricing yet.

It's no secret that a lot of consumer electronics devices, including TiVo and Monsoon Multimedia's Hava place-shifting device are built using Linux and open source software. It's powerful, stable, and most importantly, available. The open source community has developed a wealth of code that developers can draw from in order to build robust consumer oriented products.

But while the software is often free, meaning you can use it without paying, it's also free as in speech. In other words, once you incorporate code that has been published under the General Public License, you have to allow others to see the source code for your device. And that's not something a lot of companies like to do. You know, trade secrets and all.

So when the folks that developed the open source BusyBox software, which is used in the Hava, asked Monsoon Multimedia for a peek at the company's source code and Monsoon failed to comply, two open source developers filed suit against the company.

This is apparently the first time anyone has filed a copyright infringement suit in the US involving an alleged violation of the General Public License. It should be interesting to see if the case goes to court where it could set precedent, or if Monsoon Multimedia decides to settle out of court.

[via CNet]

With all the talk about Slingbox and Hava, you may have forgotten that Sony was one of the pioneers of the place-shifting revolution (if you can call it a revolution).

Sony's LocationFree boxes, which let you stream content from your TV, PVR, DVD player or other A/V components to any internet-connected PC, Windows Mobile device, or Playstation Portable. But in recent years, Sony's LocationFree line has been operating in the shadow of the more popular Slingbox.

Sony plans to launch the latest member of the LocationFree family under the VAIO name. Not that the move alone is likely to raise much awareness about the product. But Sony also plans to pre-install LocationFree software on VAIO noetobooks. In other words, buy a PC, notice that it has place-shifting software, and maybe you'll go out and buy the hardware to enable it. Maybe.

Slingbox competitor Monsoon Multimedia has announced that its HAVA Gold and HAVA Platinum HD streaming video products are now both available in stores.

You can plug either box into your TV, TiVo, or pretty much any device that plays back video. Then just fire up the HAVA player on your computer or mobile device to watch your media on the go.

The HAVA Platinum HD also includes support for high definition video, which you could probably tell from the name. This higher end model also includes a TV tuner, and integrates with Windows Media Center PCs, enabling you to time-shift as well as place-shift.

Unlike the Slingbox, you can use a single HAVA box to stream video to multiple PCs simultaneously. The HAVA Gold sells for $130, and the HAVA Platinum HD goes for $150, although you can find both a bit cheaper if you shop around.

How often have you said to yourself, I'd really like a Slingbox, but wouldn't it be great if it was just a little bit cheaper and from an obscure company? Well, then there's Moonsoon Multimedia's Hava.

No, no, you say. Even cheaper and more obscure. Ah hah. Have you considered the Honestech My-IPTV? Of course not. You've never even heard of them. So there.

Anyway, rather than giving you a box to set down by your TV, Honestech's solution includes an external USB tuner and software for your computer. Install the tuner and software, and you can stream video to internet-connected devices including computers, Windows Mobile phones or PDAs. PVR functions are also available.

Prices start at $99. Of course, for less money than that, you could just pick up a cheap TV tuner, set up Media Portal or GB-PVR for free, and use Orb to stream your video over the net.

[via Engadget]