The below picture is of something called a "Vulkano," which I imagine is pronounced kind of like a cross between Vulcan and Volcano. What that "k" is doing there though is anybody's guess.
The device is the latest attempt on the part of Monsoon Multimedia (the makers of HAVA) to really bring place-shifting into our homes… or on the road… or plane… or just about anywhere. The Vulkano is a DVR (although it does need to be hooked up to a tuner) that will send stuff out to your various multimedia devices (laptop, iPhone, iPad, etc.) once it's done recording. The big questions are clearly about the quality of recording and the ease of transfer, because if it's simple and fast it could change the way a lot of people watch TV.
Place-shifting has been around for a while, but has never really hit the mainstream. If the Vulkano works as well as promised – and if Monsoon can convince consumers that place-shifting is easy and worthwhile – the device could prove incredibly popular. Blogcritics will, fingers crossed, have one in hand pretty soon and will deliver our findings as soon as possible.
Article comments
1 - Big Dave Zatz
It's pronounced Volcano, which is how it was introduced at CES. The K is there due to licensing and for branding.
2 - Josh Lasser
That is both good to know and far less fun.
3 - Carl Bittel
I have had this device since it shipped in mid August. To be brief and to the point, it is by far the most disappointing, not ready for prime time device I have ever owned. The hardware, firmware and software all redefine the word glitchy. It is Monsoon Multimedia's version of Windows ME. The EPG is "shoot me in the head" slow and on the "Live" view you can't directly enter a channel number. If you want to go to channel 899, then you must scroll (SLOWLY) through as many individual channels as there are between the one you're on and 899. Also, if you want to record the channel you're watching, you must also make sure that is the channel which is selected in the EPG or your recording will not be labeled correctly or have the right description. The remote frequently makes the device freeze requiring a reboot. The video streaming to my iPad stutters over wifi in the same room and the audio is out of sync when recording. You can't record a program and watch (stream) it at the same time. It's one OR the other. Audio on the local "Live" display is garbled and has compression artifacts. The attached external eSATA storage disk is sometimes recognized and sometimes not. The Vulkano reminds me of those pharmaceutical commercials for anti-depressants. You know the ones where they claim the drug might help you or then again it may make you want to commkit suicide... I really had high expectations for this device, but it is an EPIC FAIL...