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March 26, 2004
Potentially the Favorite Toy of Every Copyfighter
Posted by Ernest Miller
Apex Digital, makers of famously inexpensive DVD players ($30!), has just announced the final specs for its soon-to-come, potentially revolutionary new PC Game Console/DVD player/PVR (Apex Digital Finalizes Spec for DVD Player/PC Game Console). This will be the first major consumer device that really pushes convergence to the current, practical limits and, at a suggested retail price of $499, it seems pretty well-priced. It may not get everything right (first generation devices usually don't), but who knows? See the product home page (which hasn't been updated with PVR information): ApeXtreme - PC Game Unit / DVD Player.
What might make this device especially cool for copyfighters is that APEX devices have also been famously hackable (Apex/Hiteker DVD Hacking Pages). How hard will it be and how long will it take for hackers to figure out a way to do all sorts of cool things with the capabilities this device has? How long til someone gets the device running Linux or ports MythTV? I know I'll be eagerly waiting.
via PVRblog
Comments (3)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Announcements
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1. Gen Kanai on March 26, 2004 3:27 AM writes...
Ernest, thank you for the link and the trackback.
I'm also excited for the Apex device, not because I want to purchase it, but it seems they have figured out how to get around the Windows OS license.
Also, it will be good competition for future devices that have similar specifications (such as convergence game/pvr/dvd boxes from other Japanese consumer electronics companies) which I think is good for the consumer.
I agree that this first-gen convergence device may be pretty challenging to use, but the price will only go down from here and the specs will only go up.
It's a challenging time to be an incumbent consumer electroncis company.
Permalink to Comment2. Gen Kanai on March 26, 2004 4:00 AM writes...
My apologies- it runs Windows XP Embedded. I suppose it had to have an OS.
Permalink to Comment3. Jeremy Tunnell on March 28, 2004 10:30 AM writes...
Well the techies seem to be collectively disappointed with it.
See here for details:
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=381003933631&r=381003933631
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