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Neuros OSD Beta Release September 21, 2006

Posted by flung in : DVR, Neuros OSD , trackback

Neuros Technology has officially launched the beta version of the Neuros OSD. What exactly is the Neuros OSD? Well it’s the first open source Linux based embedded media center product. It can record video from a variety of sources and deliver the resulting video to a variety of users including the iPod, Sony PSP, various smartphones, and of course PCs. The OSD also acts as a conduit for data - linking your PC, portable devices, and entertainment centers together.

The key attribute of the OSD is the fact that it’s “open, expandable, flexible, and standard”. It uses open source software which means it’s easily upgradeable. You can easily grow and expand the OSD to meet your specific needs.

The Neuros OSD has the following features:

Here are the hardware specifications:

Here are the I/O ports on the OSD:

So what’s really cool about the OSD is that it takes the best of many worlds and puts it into a single box. It’s as flexible as a PC; ready to go out of the box like a DVR; and is small and relatively inexpensive (at $299).

Thus while the OSD is a great device for people who want ready to go media center systems, it’s also an ideal platform for programmers and hackers. In fact, the folks at Neuros encourage you to tinker with the Neuros OSD. Why? Well there’s a lot of features that can still be added to the device and there’s still a great deal of work that needs to be done. In fact, Neuros is willing to provide some cash for various OSD hacks. You can check out some of the hacks that will give you cash here. These hacks include:

1. YouTube or Google video browser - get YouTube on the OSD before Google Video shows up on iTV

2. Browser for flickr

3. Digital Music Receiver

4. TiVo for radio

5. VoIP on the OSD

6. Cleaning up the build environment

7. Create a package manager for the OSD

There are various cash amounts associated to each of the challenges above so make sure to check out the page for additional information.

So finally we did mention that there’s a beta available. You can go ahead and purchase the beta directly from the folks at ThinkGeek.com. This is the only place where you’ll be able to get the device if you want it right now in it’s current shape and form. UNFORTUNATELY, the beta is already sold out for now. We’re not sure if additional beta units will become available but make sure to check out the ThinkGeek website..

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/drives/89ed/

Final production units are expected to become available around mid-October so perhaps there won’t be additional beta units.

If you find yourself interested in this project, make sure to stay in touch with the project by checking out the website here:

http://open.neurostechnology.com/

We here at KrunkerHome think this is a pretty cool project to be on. I’d personally love to be working on it if I had more time on my hands. Although I have a Windows Media Center system at home, I can totally imagine outfitting a home with many of these OSD devices. We’re hoping to score an evaluation system to look at soon so stay tuned for more information!

[Check it out]

[Check out the wiki page]

[ThinkGeek beta product page]

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