If our description from CES of the perplexing (and frankly inconvenient) navigation associated with E-Lead’s Noahpad wasn’t enough to truly depict what is going on with this thing, then perhaps these videos will help. Sure, they’ve gotten a British guy to do voice-overs, and the company is playing some interesting angles with the multi-use concept, but we’re not sold that anyone could really get used to that keyboard. Take a look for yourself… you’ll see what we mean.

[Thanks, Tom]

The HD digital distribution club just got a little bigger, as lossless audio distributor MusicGiants is launching its VideoGiants service with 250 movies from Paramount, and additional content from HDNet. Available in 1080p or 1080i WMV format, users can purchase the movies in 10-packs for $159 delivered via Seagate hard drives or, in a few months, one at a time via direct download to a home media server. After that, it can be viewed via the media PC or Media Extender (including Xbox 360). MusicGiants has been selling HD audio tracks to high end home theater owners via its network of dealers and installers for about two years, with plans to make this type of service available to the mass market soon. Still think the future of HD content is on shiny discs?

After getting a look at Belkin’s unique podcast solution, the Podcast Studio, we thought we’d take a look out on the CES show floor for it, and we’ve got the pictures to prove it. Due to the odd design and poor choice of lighting in the Belkin booth, these photos look a little more arty than they should. Hey, we’re not complaining. Check the gallery and be taken on a magical visual journey.

After getting a look at Belkin’s unique podcast solution, the Podcast Studio, we thought we’d take a look out on the CES show floor for it, and we’ve got the pictures to prove it. Due to the odd design and poor choice of lighting in the Belkin booth, these photos look a little more arty than they should. Hey, we’re not complaining. Check the gallery and be taken on a magical visual journey.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin announced at CES last night that his agency will be looking into Comcast’s data-meddling ways. “Sure, we’re going to investigate and make sure that no consumer is going to be blocked,” he said. Per FCC rules Comcast is allowed to use “reasonable traffic management” solutions to keep its network running, but Martin said he thinks Comcast and other ISPs should be required to disclose filtering to customers even if it’s found to be reasonable. That’s pretty encouraging, but we’ll see how this all plays out in the industry — especially since NBC and AT&T execs were talking excitedly about ISP-based copyright filtering on another stage at CES earlier in the day.

[Via Slashdot]

It really shouldn’t be a surprise that execs from AT&T, Microsoft, and NBC and several content filtering companies spent part of a CES panel about piracy talking about filtering at the network level — it’s definitely a tempting solution for Big Content, and one we’ve already seen Comcast kinda-sorta implement to general hue and cry — but it’s still somewhat disheartening. According to AT&T SVP James Cicconi, current anti-piracy efforts “haven’t been working,” and “a network-based solution is the optimal way to approach this.” Of course, having your ISP monitor every bit that goes down the tubes is pretty damn creepy, but come on — you know that’s not stopping fools like NBC’s Rick Cotton from saying that the volume of P2P traffic itself is unacceptable because it’s “dominated by copyrighted materials.” That’s a little ridiculous, but AT&T’s Cicconi tried to spin it positively regardless: “Whatever we do has to pass muster with consumers and with policy standards. There is going to be a spotlight on it,” he said. Damn straight — it’s called “all of your customers switching to an unfiltered provider.”

It’s been a tick since Ziova cranked out a new media streamer, but its ClearStream CS615 looks pretty promising. Interestingly, this one doesn’t feature any built-in wireless capabilities nor a DVD drive, but it seems as if the firm’s CEO is aiming this unit at folks who didn’t want to go cordless, anyway. You will, however, find USB 2.0 and 10 / 100 Ethernet ports along with a caddy for an internal 3.5-inch HDD, and the support for WAV, H.264, FLAC, OGG, LPCM, WMA, AAC, AC3, DTS, MPEG1/2/3/4, WMV9, QuickTime, JPG, BMP, GIF and PNG files (just to name a few) ain’t too shabby, either. Furthermore, there’s HDMI (HDCP-compliant), S-Video, composite and component video jacks, support for SMB / FTP and a front-mounted LCD to dish out ID3 tags and other pertinent information. The CS615 is slated to land stateside in March for $329, while Europeans and Aussies can expect it to head their way shortly thereafter.

The future of converged devices is with pda devices. Today the fully functionality of pda can be gained be using pda accessories. However these high tech gadgets should be properly protected by using pda cases.

As the unfortunate trend continues, yet another kiddo has found their Christmas PMP replaced with something that’s, well, not a PMP. In today’s episode, we find a Washington, D.C. girl that unwrapped an iPod earlier this week and discovered that the only Apple product tucked within was the inner packaging. Instead, a clever note was stashed inside (presumably with a paperweight of some sort) that read: “Reclaim your mind from the media shackles. Read a book and resurrect yourself. To claim your capitalistic garbage go to your nearest Apple store.” Oh, and just in case you really needed more than one guess as to where this thing came from, here’s a hint: it was sold by the same retailer who passed on Wii demo units due to “safety” concerns.

[Via TUAW]

Sure, we’ve heard RIAA-admiring lawyers affirm that ripping your own CDs is in fact “stealing,” but it seems the aforementioned entity is putting its money where its mouth is in a case against Jeffrey Howell. Reportedly, the Scottsdale, Arizona resident is being sued by the RIAA, and rather than Mr. Howell just writing a check and calling it a day, he’s fighting back in court. Interestingly, it seems that the industry is maintaining that “it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into their computer.” Ira Schwartz, the industry’s lawyer in the case, is arguing that MP3 files created on his computer from legally purchased CDs are indeed “unauthorized copies,” and while we’ve no idea what will become of all this, we suppose you should go on and wipe those personal copies before you too end up in handcuffs.

Update: We got some more info on the case — it looks like Jeffrey’s actually being sued for illegal downloading, not ripping, but this whole “ripping is illegal” tactic is still pretty distasteful. Check out this post for the full story.

[Via BlogRunner]

Not that it’s been that long since we heard from Becker or anything, but it’s never too early for yet another numerically named navigation unit, right? Available now in the UK, the Becker Traffic Assist 7827 sports a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 resolution touchscreen, 400MHz processor, 128MB of RAM, a SiRFstarIII GPS chipset, integrated TMC receiver for traffic avoidance, an SD expansion slot and USB connectivity. Additionally, you’ll find a rechargeable battery good for around five hours, a 2GB SD card with maps for 37 European countries, a headphone jack and a multimedia player that handles photos and MP3s. All things considered, we suppose it’s not priced too outrageously at £249.95 ($497), but if you’re still unsure if it’s worth the coin, may we point out the elusive “mood light” feature to push you over the edge.

[Via NaviGadget]