Wed, 24 Feb 2010 EyeTV intros Netstream DTT, streams digital TV around the home

Macworld Awards winner Elgato has announced a new device for streaming digital television around the home.

The new EyeTV Netstream DTT is billed as an intelligent network dual TV tuner for DVB-T or Freeview reception that works with both Macs and PCs on a home network.

The device enables two people to watch and record different TV programmes at the same time and promises easy set-up thanks to built-in support for Bonjour and UPnP. Tune EyeTV Netstream DTT once, and it stores channel list and serves it out to any Mac or PC on the network.

EyeTV Netstream DTT comes with EyeTV 3, Elgato's award-winning Mac TV software. EyeTV 3 lets users watch, record, edit television, search two weeks of Program Guide listings, and export recordings automatically to iTunes to sync with Apple devices including iPhones and iPods.

The device also works with Windows 7 Media Center and ships with TerraTec Home Cinema (THC) software. THC software offers many of the same features as EyeTV 3.

According to Elgato, traditional USB 2.0 DVB-T receivers are susceptible to "dead spots", so reception can never be optimal in every location within a room.

Elgato's new DTT device solves this problem. As a network device, it does not have to be installed near your computers. Users simply locate EyeTV Netstream DTT wherever they have a convenient antenna outlet or sufficient signal strength for the included telescopic antenna. Connect to your network router/switch and stream the live signal to the computers in your house. If you have a Wi-Fi network you can watch TV wirelessly on a portable computer, free from cables Elgato notes.

The EyeTV Netstream DTT is designed for TV reception in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The US uses a different system.

The device system requirements are a Intel based Mac computer running Mac OS X 10.5.8 or newer. On Windows based computers or notebooks, EyeTV Netstream DTT requires Windows 7 and 2.0 GHz Intel/AMD CPU or Intel Atom CPU.

Network bandwidth must be high enough to allow for streaming of television signals - 100Base-T Ethernet, 802.11n for wireless.

The Elgato EyeTV Netstream DTT has a suggested retail price of £229.99 including VAT and ships today via www.elgato.com or most Mac retailers, including the Apple Store.