Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

Through Velocity Micro PC and Niveus, the first wave of Digital Cable Tuners have been released. However, the next round of Digital Cable Tuners have hit a snag and will not be available until mid-April. Apparently, ATI needs to update the firmware for the system. I went to the Velocity Micro PC webpage and “customized” a media center with a Digital Cable Tuner, at which point I was notified that the tuner would not be shipping until mid-April. In addition, Sony’s VGX-XL3 is scheduled for release on April 17th. It is unclear whether or not ATI’s delay will impact the shipment date for Sony’s latest foray into the media center market. Dell and HP have not yet confirmed when they will be shipping Digital Cable Tuners.

Digital Cable Tuners are an important part of the Vista media center package, providing the first means of watching digital cable television though you media center pc. With a Digital Cable Tuner, you will be able to record and watch high definition cable programming. From ATI’s website:

Designed to work with Windows Media Center, the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner is the world’s first PC TV tuner offering CableCARD™ support for receiving premium HD content from digital cable channels such as HBO, ESPN, Cinemax, and many others. In addition to being the first product to bring premium digital cable to the PC, it also supports over-the-air ATSC digital TV, NTSC analog TV, and satellite set-top box connectivity. The ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner is the ultimate solution for adding HD entertainment to Windows Vista PCs!