14 DAY TRIAL // Equinux, a company providing solutions for watching TV on your Mac, has updated its TV client to version 2.8, adding new language support, full compatibility with Apple's MobileMe service and more. The company's hardware TV solution, the TubeStick Hybrid, now sports boosted digital reception quality as well.
The TubeStick Hybrid is perfect for your MacBook or MacBook Pro being crafted asymmetrically, so it doesn't block the USB ports on the laptop. The device now has boosted digital reception quality (a new channel search is required for digital signals), while problems when switching channels under Mac OS X 10.4 have also been resolved.
As far as Equinux' software TV solution goes, The Tube is "a modern and convenient solution for watching TV on your Mac". The lightweight and innovative TV client sports an intuitive interface and full support for over a dozen DVB-T devices. It is an ideal piece of software for the Mac user looking to turn his / her computer into a digital TV.
Version 2.8 adds new language support - now available in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish; full compatibility with Apple's MobileMe service; a confirmation dialog to prevent accidentally deleting channels; new locations are now immediately active and selected; jumping in timeshift, recording with shift-left/right and option-shift-left/right cursor keys have been improved.
Although Equinux recommends that you use The Tube with its own hardware solutions, namely the equinux TubeStick (DVB-T/DTT), or the equinux TubeStick hybrid (ATSC/QAM/analog), the company does list other supported TV tuners, such as,
- Miglia TVMini - Miglia TVMini HD - Miglia TV Mini Express - Miglia TVMini2 Express - Miglia TVBook Pro Express - Miglia TVMicro - Miglia TVMicro Express - Terratec Cinergy T2 - Twinhan DTV Alpha - EyeTV for DTT - Digitus DVB-T Digital USB - Freecom DVB-T USB Stick - Hauppauge WinTV-Nova-T-Stick - MSI Technology Digivox mini Mac - Digittrade DVB-T Stick USB Stick.
The Tube requirements call for a minimum G4, 1.0 GHz or faster, 512 MB RAM (PPC) or a recommended Intel Processor and 1 GB RAM or more. Other requirements include minimum 2 GB disk storage, a built-in USB 2.0 port (obviously), a CD-ROM drive and an Internet connection (required for activation).