Samsung is now shipping the Spinpoint MT2, a 2.5-inch 1TB internal hard drive for use with mobile applications and set top boxes (DVRs, Digital TVs etc.), where you want your drives to run quiet and cool. The drive only runs at 5400 rpm, which is typical for such high-capacity drives. It uses Samsung’s proprietary SilentSeek and NoiseGuard technologies.

This drive should be fast enough for an HD digital video recorder and is likely to be much quieter than a 3.5″ disk. No word yet on price, but it should start making the rounds soon.

Western Digital has unveiled its latest product for expanding the storage space on your DVR. The new drive is called the My Book AV DVR Expander and it has 1TB of internal storage.

WD reports that the device is compatible with TiVo HD and Series 3 DVRs. The thing will also work with DirecTV and Dish Network DVRs as well. The 1TB of storage space is enough for 120 more hours of HD programs.

Elgato has just updated their software to include what they claim will be the world’s first fully-functional HD DVR for all of Apple’s devices. The function called EyeTV HD is designed to record live TV in HD. It will be compatible with your iPhone or iPad as well.

The EyeTV HD just goes into your Mac and your set top box and the video can then be streamed to your iPhone or iPad. It will cost you $200 and includes the HD recorder hardware and software, a remote control and IR channel changer, USB cable, component video cables, stereo audio cables, and a switcher for composite and S-Video input.

Sony PlayTV, the digital TV tuner/DVR for PS3 that is not available in the US, is getting some “great new features,”. That doesn’t mean squat to you and I. But, if you’re in England, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, or the UAE, it means Facebook integration.

There are also some “other great enhancements,” but sadly the company is not talking about those yet. We should find out “later this year,” according to James Thorpe, PlayStation Network Product Manager.

SnapStream has a new DVR that can record up to 50 channels simultaneously onto 100TB worth of storage capacity. SnapStream is also writing the software that controls it. Think about that. This is equal to 326 Tivo Premier boxes all in a closet-sized box.

There’s just a single coax cable as the input in back. SnapStream has tools to search the content. Their system is already used by TV production teams that need to find recent footage quickly. Pretty amazing and not for the likes of you and I.

I love my DVR, but the worst thing about it is that it only has a 20GB HDD and I can’t do anything with the programs I record other than watch them on the TV. Dish Network has announced a new DVR that frees your content and hold lots more of it.

The new DVR is called the VIP 922 and the thing has Slingbox tech built-in. Slingbox tech inside the DVR is a first and should let you shoot that content to your PC for viewing and possibly to other devices as well.

With all the 3D TVs that turned up at CES this year we knew that 3D was going to be big in 2010. The 3D sets are now starting to land at retailers for those so included to purchase. 3D content for TV is also starting to come as well.

Cox has announced that it will be broadcasting the Masters golf tournament in 3D for two hours each day for the duration of the tournament. The cable network will also show a highlight show each day in 3D.

Not all of Panasonic’s Viera TVs are large. Take these guys for example. They have shrank down in size. It’s the new Viera portable TV range featuring Panasonic’s latest 10.1” a-Si TFT displays at 1,024 × 600 resolution. The DMP-BV200 and DMP-HV100 models will let you watch TV, DVD and Blu-ray (only for the BV200) and are compatible with all forms of AVCHD video.

It will also handle DivX files from either a USB device or an SD memory card and you can hook either one up to the Panasonic Viera Home Theater system and DVR with the DY-WL10 Wi-Fi dongle. Same sets, smaller experience.

There really isn’t any way you could pry my DirecTV DVR from my hands, short of offering me a DirecTV DVR with more storage space and WiFi. I am not even remotely interested in TiVo and its associated monthly fees and hardware costs.

If you are a TiVo HD DVR user who happens to have a HP MediaSmart Home server, you can grab new software that gives you full control over your DVR. The software is called the HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo and lets you do some nifty things like transfer your shows to and from the DVR to the server.

Sometimes the USPTO grants patents on technology that just doesn’t make sense. Often these patents are nothing more than an attempt by one company to try and make other firms using similar tech pay a licensing fee. TiVo has been granted a patent on software that it filed back in 1999 that could change DVRs as we know them.

The patent is for TiVo’s Season Pass software. The software sits on the DVR and allows the DVR to resolve recording conflicts based on priority. This is a feature that every DVR has today and it is used when you run out of tuners available and have another show set to record.

The oddly named Tomato T99 is neither red, nor in the fruits and vegetables section of your local supermarket. But it is an interesting device that features digital video recording along with a 1.3-megapixel camera which allows you to use it as a monitoring or spy tool.

It also sports shadow-control to save battery life, where it shuts down the camera automatically when it doesn’t detect anyone there. It’s a feature that will save valuable storage space as well, so that you get all of the important moments that you do want.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. has officially endorsed two new 500 gigabyte external USB hard drives for the PS3, in Japan. The Buffalo HD-AV500U2 and the HD-CL500U2 are the first add-on storage solutions to be officially recognized by Sony and are being released overseas in March. The launch coincides with the launch of the PS3′s “torne” DVR hardware / software combo.

Neither drive has any special features that make them usable only with PS3; in fact, the HD-CL500U2 is basically one of Buffalo’s already available external HDDs, with a model number change. The HD-AV500U2 will fit into your existing entertainment center setup and has a handy blue LED display that shows remaining disk space.

Sling Media has updated SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows to version 2.0. This version supports phones like the HTC Pure, Tilt II, Imagio, Touch Pro II and others that are popular. It was redesigned for touchscreen and widescreen formats, so you can better view live TV and DVR recordings from your Slingbox.

Some of the new features include Unrestricted streaming on 3G and WiFi, Support for multiple viewing modes like wide-screen and zoom, Icon based interface eliminates the need for a stylus, an improved program guide and DVR interfaces, and Sling Account support that eliminates the need to enter your Slingbox Finder IDs and passwords.

Panasonic Japan just launched 4 new Digital video recorders, specifically the DMR-BW880, DMR-BW780, DMR-BW680 and DMR-BR580 which come in 1TB, 750GB and 500GB capacities.

The BW series features dual Digital and one analog tuner as well as a brand new Panasonic AVC engine for superior quality video and audio. Aside from the hard drive the BW series can record on 50GB Blu-Ray discs and SDXC cards.

If only the PS3 could record and process high-definition video. Well Sony is finally taking care of it, announcing Torne, a DTV adapter for Japan that will allow you to record television and even video playback while surfing the web.

The Torne ships in March, priced at ¥9980 (or $110) on its own. Or you can get it in a bundle for ¥42,800 (or $465). As for the US getting it? Don’t hold your breath.

[Engadget]