Interact-TV has launched a new convergent media player / PVR (personal video recorder), and has upgraded its Linux-based OS's application stack. The Telly MC1200 supports up to three internal hard drives, and runs Telly 3.0 software, also available as a free upgrade to owners of older Telly models.

The Telly MC1200 includes room for up to 750GB of internal storage
According to Interact-TV, Telly can store and manage libraries of digital music, photos, and DVDs/video, and can burn CDs and pause and record live TV, “putting all the household's digital media within reach of the remote control,” the company says.

The Telly 3.0 software includes a feature to let users save out DVDs to the local hard drive for later playback “without searching for the original disk,” according to Interact-TV. Viewers may use any broadcast, cable or satellite TV provider, the company says, and have access to a subscription-free, multi-user searchable electronic program guide that is delivered over a broadband (always on) internet connection. Telly 3.0 also includes a web server that lets users remotely schedule recording sessions, as well as samba networking software for easy file transfers from networked PCs.

Additional features include CD playback, ripping, and burning, Internet weather information, and a personal financial portfolio. The device is easy to set up and use, the company claims, and supports both wired and wireless home networks.

What's under the hood?

The Telly MC1200 is housed in an aluminum case measuring 16.5 x 4.6 x 12.2 inches. It comes with an infrared trackball remote control and infrared keyboard (pictured at right).

The device is based on a 1.2GHz VIA C3 processor, a low-powered X86 compatible chip that uses a quiet “fan-sink” for low-noise operation in living rooms. The system bus speed is 533MHz. The device includes 256MB of PC2100 DDR SDRAM, expandable to 1GB.

The MC1200 has a 2-channel UltraDMA/133/100/66 IDE controller, and comes stock with a single 80GB, 7200 RPM hard drive (larger drives optionally available). Three drive bays and a robust power supply provide capacity for up to 750GB of internal storage. The device also offers a FireWire interface supporting the addition of “unlimited” amounts of external storage.

The MC1200 comes with a slimline (laptop-style) DVD player, with a DVD/CDRW drive optionally available. It also includes an NTSC standard TV tuner, with video resolution of 640×480.

The latest Telly includes 6-channel AC97 stereo analog outputs, as well as 5.1 (five satellite speakers and one subwoofer) audio outputs. It includes S-video, composite, and coaxial (RF) video inputs, as well as S-video out.

The MC1200 includes a single PCI expansion card slot
Additional I/O ports include 10/100 Ethernet, two USB ports, analog line out, a microphone input jack, an IrDA receiver, PS2 ports for mouse and keyboard, serial and parallel ports, selectable-use port for composite video or SPDIF audio out (digital audio output), an SVGA port, and one PCI expansion slot.

Software side

Like the previous (and still available) Telly MC1000 model, the MC1200 runs Interact-TV's internally developed Linux implementation, which it calls EOS, or “Entertainment Operating System.” The OS includes a 2.4.18 Linux kernel, standard Linux software components such as an X Window server, and libraries supporting APIs for GUIs, XUL (XML user-interface language) and application management.

Linux is the foundation of the EOS architecture

Availability

The Telly MC1200 is available now direct from Interact-TV, starting at about $800. As with past Telly's a developer's version is also available for multimedia programmers interested in joining Telly's third-party software ecosystem.

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