An Ethernet Port On Every Set-Top Box...

...and a chicken in every pot. Or something like that. Intel wants the FCC to mandate that an ethernet port should be included on every cable, satellite, and IPTV set-top box in the United States. The feature would allow set-top boxes to serve as hubs for streaming media content from various other PCs and media servers in the household. However, Ars Technica couldn't help but notice that Intel itself might have a financial interest in such a move, since Intel is a major supplier of ethernet chipsets.

According to Ars Technica's article, two representatives from Intel corporation visited the FCC headquarters to promote the idea of requiring ethernet capability on set-top boxes through a presentation they delivered. Set-top boxes are currently required to provide an IEEE 1394 data bus connection, and though the article gives no specifics on the purpose of including IEEE 1394 connectivity, it doesn't seem like a far stretch to include the more ubiquitous ethernet port on the list of required features.

On the other hand, the FCC seems to be in an open devices kind of mood, given all the requirements they're demanding of Sirius/XM in exchange for a merger, so we'll just have to wait to see where this Intel request goes.

Source: Ars Technica

Windows Home Server Power Pack Update Now Available

Many users of Microsoft's Windows Home Server software were affected by numerous bugs that many considered to impair their products' usefulness, such as the data corruption bug and the lack of 64-bit support, but Power Pack update which we previously reported on has finally fixed those issues, and more.

Other fixes introduced include "backup of home server Shared Folders, improvements to remote access, more efficient power consumption and better performance." Hopefully, this release will prove to be more stable and better received with users. The blog post goes on to say that hardware partners will update their products to the new version, and HP will release a software update that will include the Power Pack and extra functionality.

The team is pleased to announce that Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 has been released to manufacturing (RTM) and is now available on the Microsoft Download Center!

The English version is available now and German, Spanish and French versions will be available on the Download Center soon. Windows Home Server customers who don’t download it on their own will receive Power Pack 1 via Windows Update in August, and the new Chinese and Japanese versions will RTM in August, too.

Source: Windows Home Server Team Blog

July 21st Tech Roundup

• Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 - Virtual-Hideout
• ECS GF8200A Black Edition - Motherboards
• ASUS M3N78 PRO - Bjorn3D

• Powercolor HD4850 - Technic3D
• Visiontek HD 4870 - Overclockers Club

• Corsair 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 4GB - Legit Reviews
• Kingston DataTraveler HyperX USB Drive - InsideHW
• Sans Digital MS2UT+ Black RAID Enclosure - ASE Labs

• Man & Machine Really Cool Keyboard - I4U
• Aten CS1782 KVM Switch - Phoronix
• LapLogic W800 Aerogel Extreme - APH Networks

• OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU Cooler - Tech-Reviews
• Aquacomputer AquagraFX GTX200 VGA Water Cooler - Hardwareoverclock
• Freezer 120mm Case Fan - FusionMods

• Hiper Osiris HTC-1K514 - Hardware Canucks
• Glacialpower GP-AL 650A - Mikhailtech
• Kingwin Mach1 1000W - Overclocker Cafe
• Moneual Lab MonCaso 972 - Overclockers Club

• Alienware Area-51 M15X - TechSpot
• Samsung YP-P2 MP3 Player - ThinkComputers