Iomega, a global leader in data protection and security, today (6 August) announced the new Iomega(R) ScreenPlay(TM) TV Link, making it convenient and affordable to access multimedia content on any high-definition television or home theater system. Complete with full-function remote control, the new ScreenPlay TV Link features an easy-to-use USB port for attaching compatible storage devices and enjoying high quality movies, music and photos from the best seat in the house.

Smaller than a deck of playing cards, the new Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link is based on the same display technology as Iomega’s ScreenPlay HD Multimedia drive, introduced in April 2008, and offers the same audio and video quality with upscaling to high definition. While the ScreenPlay HD Multimedia Drive features a fully-integrated 500GB hard drive solution, this latest addition to the ScreenPlay product family gives users the flexibility to connect their own USB external storage devices to the ScreenPlay TV Link and play back the media content on an attached TV. The result is an affordable, easy-to-use multi-media solution that can utilize different storage devices when friends, family or co-workers drop by with a media file to share. Compatible USB devices with the new ScreenPlay TV Link include flash drives, hard drives, and Iomega’s REV drives.

“The ScreenPlay TV Link is an ultra-portable device that gives everyone a seamless way to share family photos, play music, and enjoy videos,” said Loren Bryner, global product manager, Iomega Corporation. “The ScreenPlay TV Link turns any TV or home theater into party central for computer-based media content. There’s no easier way to enjoy photos, music, or downloadable movies.”

The portable ScreenPlay TV Link includes a remote control for easy navigation as well as a full complement of advanced video outputs for displaying high-resolution digital photos and video.

“We’ve created a product that’s fun, functional and so affordable that it should be a ‘must have’ for anyone enjoying digital content today,” said Bryner. “Using the ScreenPlay TV link to bridge the computer world of digital media files with the home theater world of high definition television is a natural evolution of the family room and a great new option in home entertainment.”

Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link Technical Description

The ScreenPlay TV Link plays stored media content from USB storage media such as flash drives, hard drives (NTFS or FAT32), and Iomega REV drives.

Video connection options include HDMI, component and composite video, and a SCART adapter for use in international markets. Audio connection options include composite RCA and coaxial S/PDIF. Using the HDMI or component outputs, the user can choose video settings from 480p/720p/1080i (720p and 1080i are achieved through upscaling). Supported media formats include MP3, AC3 (Dolby(R) Digital Encoding), WAV, WMA, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB), MPEG-4 (AVI/DiVX 3.11, 4.x, 5.x/XViD) and JPEG.

The ScreenPlay TV Link measures just 3.26″x3.07″x0.78″ and weighs less than 4 ounces, giving this multimedia powerhouse roughly the same dimensions as a drink coaster.

System Requirements

The Iomega (R) ScreenPlay(TM) TV Link is compatible with standard televisions and with high-definition televisions (720p and 1080i playback is achieved through upscaling).

Availability

The Iomega (R) ScreenPlay(TM) TV Link is now available in the Americas for $99.95. (Price is U.S. suggested retail.) The Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link will be available in Europe later this month for 79 euro.

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Almost two years after the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly introduced the category of dwarf planets, the IAU, as promised, has decided on a name for transneptunian dwarf planets similar to Pluto. The name plutoid was proposed by the members of the IAU Committee on Small Body Nomenclature (CSBN), accepted by the Board of Division III, by the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) and approved by the IAU Executive Committee at its recent meeting in Oslo, Norway.

Plutoids are celestial bodies in orbit around the Sun at a semimajor axis greater than that of Neptune that have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium (near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared the neighbourhood around their orbit. Satellites of plutoids are not plutoids themselves, even if they are massive enough that their shape is dictated by self-gravity. The two known and named plutoids are Pluto and Eris. It is expected that more plutoids will be named as science progresses and new discoveries are made.

The dwarf planet Ceres is not a plutoid as it is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Current scientific knowledge lends credence to the belief that Ceres is the only object of its kind. Therefore, a separate category of Ceres-like dwarf planets will not be proposed at this time.

The IAU has been responsible for naming planetary bodies and their satellites since the early 1900s. The IAU CSBN, who originally proposed the term plutoid, is responsible for naming small bodies (except satellites of the major planets) in the Solar System. The CSBN will be working with the IAU WGPSN to determine the names of new plutoids to ensure that no dwarf planet shares the name of another small Solar System body. The WGPSN oversees the assignment of names to surface features on bodies in the Solar System. These two committees have previously worked together to accept the names of dwarf planet Eris and its satellite Dysnomia.

In Oslo, members of the IAU also discussed the timing involved with the naming of new plutoids. Again, following the advice of the Division III Board and the two Working Groups, it was decided that, for naming purposes, any Solar System body having (a) a semimajor axis greater than that of Neptune, and (b) an absolute magnitude brighter than H = +1 (see Notes) magnitude will, for the purpose of naming, be considered to be a plutoid, and be named by the WGPSN and the CSBN. Name(s) proposed by the discovery team(s) will be given deference. If further investigations show that the object is not massive enough and does not qualify as a plutoid, it will keep its name but change category.

In French plutoid is plutoïde, in Spanish plutoide and in Japanese 冥王星型天体.

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“Just one year after launching the iPhone, we’re launching the new iPhone 3G that is twice as fast at half the price,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “ iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync right out of the box, runs the incredible third party apps created with the iPhone SDK, and will be available in more than 70 countries around the world this year.”

iPhone 3G gives users ever faster access to the Internet and email over their cellular network with quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA for voice and data connectivity around the world. iPhone 3G supports Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE networks and automatically switches between them to ensure the fastest possible download speeds. The new iPhone 3G also makes it easier to multi-task with simultaneous voice and data communications, so with iPhone 3G you can browse the web, get map directions, or check your email while you are on a call.

iPhone 3G includes the new iPhone 2.0 software with both the iPhone SDK and key enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide over-the-air push email, contact and calendar syncing as well as remote wipe and Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to corporate networks. The iPhone SDK allows developers to create amazing applications that leverage the iPhone’s groundbreaking Multi-Touch™ user interface, animation technology, accelerometer and GPS technology on the world’s most advanced mobile platform.

iPhone 3G includes the new App Store, providing iPhone users with native applications in a variety of categories including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. The App Store on iPhone works over cellular networks and Wi-Fi, which means it is accessible from just about anywhere, so you can purchase and download applications wirelessly and start using them instantly. Some applications are even free and the App Store notifies you when application updates are available. The App Store will be available in 62 countries at launch.

Additional features available with the iPhone 2.0 software include the ability to do real-time mapping and track your progress with GPS technology, mass move and delete multiple email messages, search for contacts, access a new scientific calculator, turn on parental control restrictions for specified content, save images directly from a web page or email them to your iPhone and easily transfer them back to your photo library on your Mac® or PC. iPhone 3G delivers an amazing 10 hours of talk time on 2G networks and 5 hours using 3G, with up to 5 to 6 hours of web browsing, up to 7 hours for video playback and up to 24 hours for audio playback.

iPhone 3G takes advantage of MobileMe™, a new Internet service that pushes email, contacts, and calendars from an online “cloud” to native applications on iPhone, iPod® touch, Macs and PCs. With MobileMe email, messages are pushed instantly to iPhone, removing the need to manually check email and wait for downloads, and push keeps contacts and calendars continuously up-to-date so changes made on one device are automatically updated on other devices. With iPhone, you can even snap a photo and post it directly to a MobileMe Gallery to share with friends and family.

iPhone 3G will be available in the US on July 11 for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 8GB model and $299 (US) for the 16GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail stores and requires a new two year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers. iPhone 2.0 software will be available on July 11 as a free software update via iTunes® 7.7 or later for all iPhone customers. For further information about iPhone 3G pricing and availability in the US and internationally, visit www.apple.com/iphone.

*Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.
**Based on iPhone 3G (8GB) and first generation iPhone (8GB) purchases. Requires new two year AT&T rate plan, sold separately.