Stream to Your HDTV with Altona's USB-Powered VGA/HDMI Converter

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Does your notebook or desktop lack HDMI output? If so, hooking up to your HDTV can turn into a hassle, especially when it comes time to route the audio. Or at least it used to be. Altona's upcoming VGA to HDMI scaler-converter called the AT-HDVieW looks to solve this problem in one fell swoop.

The AT-HDVieW comes with three cables protruding out the back, including audio, VGA, and USB. Why USB? It's there to power the device, while the other two connectors extract audio and video from the host PC and coverts them to an HDMI signal. The built-in scaler makes sure the image looks correct on your TV, no matter what resolution your PC is running.

It supports resolutions up to 1920 x 1200, and unlike some HDMI devices, this one comes with an HDMI cable (6 feet).

The AT-HDVieW is available for pre-order for $119 and is estimated to start shipping on February 22.

Image Credit: Altona

Netflix Teases Console Owners with 1080p Streaming Announcement, then Pulls the Rug

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Hey, did you hear? Netflix plans to bring 1080p streaming and 5.1 surround sound to its streaming HD video service to later this year. Pretty rad, right?

It would be, except Netflix is taking a mulligan on the recent announcement, and now says that it incorrectly acknowledged 1080p streaming in the company's 2010 roadmap. Boo, hiss! Netflix didn't say why it pulled the about-face, though it probably has to do with bandwidth. While not official, Netflix says the requirement to stream 720p HD content on an HD-compatible box is "typically" 5Mbps. It's a safe bet that 1080p would require more, and maybe Netflix feels there aren't enough streaming subscribers with fast enough broadband speeds.

That means for the foreseeable future, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 owners are stuck with "underwhelming" 720p. That's right, in somewhat related news, Steve Swasey, VP of Corporate Communications for Netflix, downplayed the streaming service when discussing what Wii owners are missing.

"PS3 and Xbox users have 1 in 17 titles available in HD, and it's streamed in 720... it's not in 1080, and it's not in 5.1 surround sound or anything," Swasey said during an interview with The Wire. "So the HD experience at Netflix Instant Watching isn't that overwhelming. It's a little bit underwhelming. So the Wii folks aren't going to miss that much."

What a sales pitch!