Plex and LG to challenge Apple TV, Boxee, and others

Plex, for those not familiar, is a software company whose former creed was to: “bridge the gap between your Mac and your home theater, doing so with a visually appealing user interface that provides instant access to your media.” Today, the company has announced that it will be partnering with electronics maker LG to “integrate the Plex platform into their 2011 lineup of Netcast connected TVs and Blu-ray devices.” In the company’s announcement, they quip that when it comes to connecting devices to your television, a Mac Mini is “too large,” a Boxee box is “too pointy,” and the new Apple TV is “too tiny.” The company is betting on this free, integrated software model to be the future of connected televisions. The announcement continues: “Early next year, when you buy an LG Netcast TV or Blu-ray player, you will have Plex functionality built-in. Specifically, it will connect to a cloud version of the Plex platform for online content, and, if you happen to have a Plex Media Server running anywhere in your house (after all, who doesn’t have a computer in their house?), you can access your local and online content, in a rich interface, with full metadata.” The concept of integrating mature, intuitive media software into a TV really does sound like a great idea; especially for LG, as TV manufacturers are always trying to differentiate themselves from the competition.

“There will be more content providers investing in writing Plex plug-ins, so your online content choices will grow. And next year, if you’re upgrading your TV, or or buying an LG Blu-ray player, you’ll have the ability to get Plex, built in, at no additional cost. Fully integrated into killer consumer electronics gear, exactly as it should be.”

Yes, that is the way it should be. Hit the read link for more info on Plex and their recently inked LG deal.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab coming to Sprint in November…

We have heard that Sprint is currently targeting a November release for Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet. Pricing for the CDMA device has not yet been disclosed to us.

DIY Friday: Make an Altoids Mini-BBQ. Perfect For S’Mores!

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This is adorable: a tiny charcoal BBQ grill using an Altoids Sours tin, two metal computer fan guards, and some sheet metal screws for legs. It looks like it fits one regular-sized briquette. As one of the commentors notes, this is great for marshmallows, but you could also cook a shrimp at a time.

Making it doesn’t require tools more sophisticated than a Dremel – no soldering, no nothing. Release the GeekDads. You could probably bang this thing out and be eating S’Mores before your neighbor’s charcoal grill is hot enough to cook.

Instructables user Vmspionage’s mini-grill was inspired by the earlier eBQ, which uses a full-sized Altoids tin. He also writes that “the propane version is coming soon! :D ” Now we just need someone to make a MintyBoost-powered electric starter, and we’ll really have something cooking.

Altoids Sours BBQ Grill [Instructables] via Makezine.

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Tablet Skirmish Heats Up With Toshiba Entry

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Papers Turns iPad Into a Scholarly Study Buddy

Like it not, we live in the Information Age. As such, we're almost always researching something. Which means we're almost always looking for some place to stash our research where we can find it again. Papers will give you that place on the iPad. Papers is a vertical app targeted at scientific and academic researchers, but it can be valuable to anyone doing any kind of research. It's especially valuable to researchers working across Apple platforms, since Mekentosj makes versions for not only the iPad, but also for the iPhone, iPod touch and Macs.

Fail-Safe: Achieving 100% Uptime for Crucial Web Services

For a growing number of businesses, maintaining fail-safe website availability is a matter of business-critical importance, and not just for the e-commerce industry. Certainly for the e-tail trade, website downtime equates to lost business, but beyond the online sales realm, Web availability is paramount for organizations of all sorts and sizes. As demand for SaaS, or hosted, applications grows and the move to cloud computing gains momentum, always-on Web availability has literally become a do-or-die proposition for the vast majority of organizations.

Net Applications: iOS has over 1% of global browsing share, Android at 0.2%

Net Applications has released their report on global browsing usage numbers for iOS, Android, and Linux. The numbers show that from October of 2009 to August of 2010, both Android and iOS steadily increased their browser usage share, while Linux was mostly stagnant or declining. As of August 2010, iOS held 1.13% of global browser usage, Android held 0.20%, and Linux held 0.85%. To be frank, the fact that iOS holds a larger global browser share than Linux is a bit surprising. Hit the read link to see the detailed numbers with month by month breakdown.

[Via 9to5Mac]

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