TVSquad

Archos is rolling out a series of software upgrades to its WiFi-enabled portable media players. CNET reports that he 605 WiFi and 705 WiFi will be getting support in May for Flash 9 which will let you watch online video from sites like YouTube and Hulu.

Flash 9 support will come as a free firmware upgrade, but you'll also be able to pay $20 for a "Web TV and Radio plug-in" which will give you access to thousands of streaming radio stations, video streams, and podcasts. Don't expect broadcast quality television though. More likely you'll find C-Span style video content.

Finally, Archos is adding placeshifting features to the Archos TV+, which is the company's answer to the Apple TV. The company will release a plugin in May that will let the box stream content over the internet to computers, Windows Mobile and Symbian Smartphones, and of course Archos's internet-enabled portable media players.

Hauppauge is probably best known for its line of TV tuners that let you watch and record live television on a computer. But it looks like the company is expanding it product line in a big way.

At CeBIT Hauppauge announced several new products, including:

• A 149 Euro portable media player that can pick up live digital TV using the UK's Freeview standard
• The 199 Euro HD-PVR USB TV tuner that encodes 720p and 1080i video on the fly using the H.264 codec
• The HVR2200, a 129 Euro dual-tuner Freeview card

And today, the company has announced plans to release a set top box using the DiVX Connected software platform. There's not a lot of information about this box, but I assume it'll allow users top access web content from sites like YouTube and Google Video. Once upon a time, DiVX was showing off this set top boxes that could access the company's Stage6 video sharing service, but that site was shut down recently. You'll also probably be able to stream content over a home network from any PC in the house.

Remember that sexy new Archos 704 the FCC teased us with a few weeks ago? Looks like it's fully operational, can do pretty much everything the 604 can, and has a nice big 7-inch screen to boot.

The 704 includes WiFi, an 80GB hard drive, and an optional docking station that allows you to use the portable media player as a PVR, recording and playing video on your TV.

Archos Lounge even snagged a little video of a 704 and 604 playing the same video. I have to say I like the 704's streamlined look, with buttons on the side instead of the front of the unit. You can see the video after the jump.

[via Gizmodo]

Archos is updating its line of WiFi-enabled portable media players with a new Archos 704 WiFi making the FCC rounds today. There's not much information regarding what sets this guy apart from the Archos 604 WiFi. All we can really tell from the FCC documents is that it's got 802.11b/g built in, as well as a CPU, RAM, and a hard drive. There's no specs on how fast that CPU is, or how much memory is included.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that it'll also have a larger hard drive than the 604, which sported just 30GB of storage, while the Archos 604 supported up to 160GB. It's hard to be certain from this photo, but it looks like the 704 might also be a bit larger than its older brother, which had a 4.3-inch screen.

All I'm saying is, my birthday's coming up, and I wouldn't say no to a portable media player with WiFi, a 7-inch screen, and a 160GB hard drive. Oh yeah, and support for recording television programs without a separate docking station would be nice.

[via Engadget]

Now, knowing me - and just reading that title - you'd think this article was something perverted, but believe it or not, it's a little on the technical side. The Starz premium cable channel has just launched a new service named Vongo, hoping to be the "iTunes for movies." You can download and install the program for free and have access to a number of movies, TV shows, and concerts on up to three portable media devices. There is a $9.99 subscription fee, which allows you to download as many of their offerings as possible. On top of that, there's also a $3.99 charge for "first run" movies that have just been released. This announcement comes just in time for the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), starting this week in Las Vegas, and is, I'm sure, timed to give those new devices a little extra "presence" there.

Personally, I love my Windows Portable Media Player and Windows Media Center Edition PC, so I can't wait to play with this new service more. I just downloaded it a couple of minutes ago, and will get back to you in a week or so and let you know what I think of it. In the meantime, let me know what you think.