Much like Sony's PlayStation 3, Spark's VTube clearly wasn't designed to sit nicely in-between a 7.1-channel AV receiver and a cable set-top-box. Engineered in some backwoods lab about 30 kilometers south of Shenzhen, the so-called VTube looks to be a pretty standard media player outside of its unorthodox design. The unit packs HDMI / component / composite video outputs, an Ethernet jack and a Toslink optical audio output, and those who dig internal storage can slap a 2.5-inch HDD within to keep those old Office clips handy. Predictably, it also supports pretty

Remember when Seagate introduced its Betamax-esque FreeAgent Theater HD way back at CES this year? Of course not -- you were locked onto the Palm Pre keynote. At any rate, the next generation of that very device somehow made it through the product development stage and now sits in our very hands, and we have to say, it's no more modern in person than it is in press shots. Equipped with the usual assortment of ports (HDMI, component, composite, Toslink, Ethernet and two USB) ports, the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player gets all of its content from a FreeAgent Go

Here we go again: round umpteen of the fight to break and re-enable Pre syncing with iTunes is now underway thanks to the release of iTunes 9, and we're sure there's plenty more where this came from. Endlessly amusing to casual observers, yes, but Pre customers are the ones losing out -- sure, Palm might be able fix this in a jiffy (especially since they continue to tout compatibility with the Pixi), but meanwhile, media sync's out of the picture once more. Stay tuned for more on this as it develops.

If you can't wait to see what new announcements Microsoft will have surrounding Windows 7 Media Center, then you should head over to Engadget HD for our live coverage of the event. We made our predictions early, which means you can either look in awe of our genius or laugh as we miss every mark, either way click through to see what's new in Media Center.

This just in from our team at Microsoft's MCE event at CEDIA -- the OEM requirement on CableCARDs has been officially lifted, freeing Joe Six Packs all over from having to buy whole systems. The photo above pretty much says it all -- enthusiasts (hey, that's us!) can add CableCARD tuners to their PC. Even though a DIY workaround has been around for a while, it's nice not to have to break/bend the rules to get your shows recorded, isn't it?

Today is officially the first day of CEDIA Expo 2009 and now that Microsoft has announced its Media Center news, it's the partner's turn. Up first is Nevius which is of course releasing new Media Center PCs with Windows 7, so of course the new looser DRM and other features are included. Niveus is stepping up the hardware though too by adding RAID and SSD drives to the Pro Series, and also a new Windows Home Server requirement for its full system restoration capabilities. The other new offering is the aptly named White Glove service, which basically means the

We have good and bad news after visiting the Dish Network booth first thing in the morning. We're happy to say that Dish was proudly displaying a Dish Tuner for Media Center 7 at its booth. The bad news however is that it was just a "proof of concept." Which means no matter how hard we tried, no one would tell us anything about price or availability. The other thing up in the air was if the actual implementation would be based on VIP211K HD STBs like the demo, or if instead there would be a dedicated tuner. The last unknown was around VOD or PPV, which we know was

Not sure if you've noticed, but CEDIA has just kicked off down in the ATL. One of the first to introduce something genuinely fresh is Sherwood (of all companies), with its R-904N NetBoxx pulling double duty as a 7.1-channel AV receiver and an internet media portal. For starters, the compact set-top-box looks nothing like a typical AVR, but you'll still find 700 total watts of amplification, three HDMI 1.3 inputs, one Toslink input, a pair of coaxial audio inputs and support for Dolby Volume, Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD Master high-resolution audio formats. Once you're done

If you are still looking for a decent bit of kit to view high-def video with in your living room, then you might want to invest in Asus' new O!play HDP-R1 HD player.

Asus O!play features eSATA, USB 2.0 and LAN connectivity, so you can hook it up to everything from your PC or laptop or even your new 256GB USB thumb drive.

Asus' device has the standard HDMI connectivity to allow you to view any HD files on your living room telly, which you can control via the included remote.

No wireless

T3 notes that the main downsides

Virgin Media has confirmed that Channel 4's high definition channel 4HD will be joining its raft of new HD offerings.

4HD is the second HD channel announcement of the day from the company, following confirmation that the new ESPN sports channel that replaces Setanta will also be available in high def.

ESPN HD, and C4HD will join the only current HD channel BBC HD along with four other new HD channels Living HD, FX HD, MTV HD and National Geographic HD in the linear line-up.

This will be complemented by the extensive existing library of