moxie

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Did RIM just stage this BlackBerry 10 "leak"?

- Do we need this? Kohler shower head doubles as a wireless speaker.

- Dude builds OSX into old Macintosh Portable, let's talk about RETRO OBSESSION.

- Bionic mannequins spy on shoppers to boost sales.

Bathroom break video: One of the best couples Halloween costumes ever recorded.

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Remember Cable Card? It's still around, quietly allowing owners of TiVos and Home Theater PCs, via devices like the HDHomeRun Prime, to get the full complement of cable TV programming without having to use the company-issued DVR or cable box.

At CNET we've tested a few Cable Card products, including TiVos and the now-defunct Moxi DVR. The latter product was still hanging around the CNET offices so I decided to test it out for myself at home.

I called up Verizon (I'm a Fios TV subscriber) last week, told the rep I had a third-party DVR and … Read more

Whisper Systems today began offering hard disk encryption for Android--an app called WhisperCore that is free for individuals to use.

The app includes full disk encryption for all data stored on the device and allows for SD (Secure Digital) card encryption as well, said Moxie Marlinspike, co-founder and chief technology officer of Whisper Systems.

The beta release is limited to the Nexus S, but will be expanded to other devices soon, he told CNET. Meanwhile, pricing for commercial use is based on the size of the deployment.

Once the app is installed on the phone, the user sets a passphrase, … Read more

A security researcher who specializes in online privacy had his laptop and cell phones temporarily seized after returning to the U.S. on an international flight last night.

Moxie Marlinspike told CNET in an interview today that he had been detained and questioned after an international flight last week and appears to be on a federal "watch list" for domestic flights too but doesn't know why.

Asked if he is a volunteer with WikiLeaks, a whistleblower Web site that the U.S. government is seeking to shut down for publishing classified Afghan war files, Marlinspike said: "… Read more

The TiVo Premiere is finally here, and I've gotten a chance to live with it for the past week. Thanks to a late CableCard installation, I'm not quite ready to wrap up the review on the product, but I've seen enough to share some detailed impressions. And it is, in many ways, a tale of two TiVos. Or, more specifically, two sets of prospective TiVo customers. TiVo newbies--those who have suffered with "generic" DVRs from their cable providers and are coming to a real TiVo for the first time--will find themselves getting an all-in-one digital box that's an easy-to-use and elegant gateway to a wide range of TV and online video and audio entertainment. Meanwhile, TiVo die-hards are likely to be disappointed: the TiVo Premiere is merely an evolutionary step-up from previous Series3 and TiVo HD models, not the sort of game-changing product that the original TiVo was. It adds an updated, high-def user interface, universal search option, and faster operation--and not too much else. … Read more

The Moxi Mate is a multiroom extender that works exclusively with Moxi DVRs. It's currently available separately for $300, or in bundles with Moxi's DVR.

Connect one or more Moxi Mates to other TVs in the house--and provide them with an Ethernet connection--and you can access recorded programming and (after a February 2010 firmware upgrade) live TV from the main Moxi unit. But there are some important caveats. As Moxi's PR rep told us in an e-mail:

"Each live stream requires access to one of the Moxi HD DVR's tuners. For recorded TV, the number … Read more

When we last heard from upstart DVR maker Digeo, the company had been bought out by networking and communications company Arris. Thankfully for owners of Digeo's Moxi DVR, though, it appears that the company's new corporate godfather is doubling down on the video recorder product line: It's debuting an updated version of its DVR with a triple tuner and initiating a round of price cuts on existing model (and related bundles).

The full details:… Read more

When we last heard from Digeo in April, the company was adding several digital media extras to its flagship Moxi DVR. Flash forward to August, and the company is back with more updates, the biggest of which is a new hardware announcement. The Moxi Mate is an "extender" that adds multiroom capability to any household with a Moxi DVR. The box is basically a thin client (no hard drive) that can access recorded content from the main Moxi, as well as all of the system's online and home networking digital extensions (Rhapsody, PC-based media streaming, PlayOn content such as Netflix and Hulu, and so forth).

Sounds great, but there are some caveats that prospective buyers should know. Most importantly: the Moxi Mate can't currently support the streaming of live TV--only programs that you've previously recorded on the main Moxi DVR. And while you could theoretically have several Moxi Mates in a household, Digeo currently supports only one of them streaming from the main Moxi at a time. (Of course, all of these issues could possibly be addressed in future firmware updates--but those are the product's initial notable limitations.) The other big deal: the Mate doesn't have a built-in Wi-Fi connection, so you'll need to supply an Ethernet network connection.

On the plus side: the video streaming is said to be nearly instantaneous, unlike TiVo's multiroom solution, which requires the video files to be copied to the hard drive in another room first prior to viewing. Also, the Moxi Mate will automatically resume paused programs. So, if you watch half of a movie on the main Moxi, you can retire to the bedroom and easily pick up where you left off on the Moxi Mate.

In addition to the Moxi Mate announcement, Digeo also rolled out new software to existing Moxi DVR owners that adds a variety of small upgrades. Among them: … Read more