DVR with video-on-demand
Prismiq officially takes the wraps off of its $299 Prismiq Media Player/Recorder, a digital media player and recorder that it announced late last month. Due out in April, this device employs the high-speed 802.11g Wi-Fi spec for adequate bandwidth to wirelessly transmit video. The company is marketing the device as a "disc-less DVR" because its software enables users to record TV programming to a PC equipped with a TV tuner card. Computers equipped with DVD-recordable drives can archive TV shows to DVD discs.

What's more, Prismiq has unveiled a partnership with CinemaNow that will enable users of the MediaPlayer/Recorder to download Internet-based video-on-demand to watch on their TVs. The agreement means that MediaPlayer/Recorder users will have access to more than 3,000 movies. Consumers can either play CinemaNow titles directly from the Internet or download them to the PC and later stream them to the TV.

Netgear tunes up
Among the top-tier wireless networking vendors, Netgear unveiled a new DAR called the Wireless Digital Music Player that lets music fans control the contents of PC-stored digital audio with a four-line remote control, which means you can link it directly to a stereo without the need for a TV interface. More good news: Unlike some DARs released last year, the new Netgear contender also streams Internet radio.

Netgear Wireless Digital Music Player

Netgear's 802.11b device, which can also be connected via Ethernet, accommodates MP3, WAV, and WMA formats. And all that digital audio should sound great, too, thanks to the unit's excellent signal-to-noise ratio of 92dB. Netgear has priced the Wireless Digital Music Player at $179.

MusicLink up
Another big name in networking, Linksys, launched a similar DAR: the Linksys Wireless-B MusicLink, which also allows users to listen to digital audio housed on their PCs, as well as Internet radio, via remote control. MusicLink sits by the home stereo system and connects via standard RCA cables; it connects to the home network with its built-in 802.11b wireless that allows streaming of MP3s (WMA files will be supported by April, according to Linksys) and Internet radio.

The Wireless-B MusicLink will be available in January, and although pricing was not finalized at press time, Linksys expects to start selling the device this month for as little as $99.

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