A periodic roundup of relevant news from our friends at Zatz Not Funny…

The future of Windows Media Center Extenders

Dave Zatz: Bad news for Windows Media Center fans these last few days, as we’ve received confirmation from both Linksys and HP that they’re discontinuing their extender lineups.

What exactly is Wolfram Alpha?

Dave Zatz: I was pretty surprised test driving the now-live Wolfram Alpha to learn it’s not really a typical search engine. Where Wolfram Alpha really seems to excel is in providing cleanly formatted company profiles (e.g. TiVo v. Netflix) and census-type data.

Network DVR vs. Remote-Storage DVR

Mari Silbey: Glen Hardin of Time Warner Cable recently wrote a comprehensive article on the 2008 ruling in favor of Cablevision’s right to offer network-based DVR services. In it he uses the more precise term Remote-Storage DVR (RS-DVR) rather than Network DVR (nDVR) to describe the technology Cablevision has proposed. Is the difference in jargon critical? Actually, yes.

Dave’s New Blueteeth (Jawbone, Solar)

Dave Zatz: What I hate most about Bluetooth devices is ending up with yet another gadget to charge. Frequently requiring a proprietary cable and, along with that, needing another free jack or port to juice it up. So it’s not that the first gen iPhone has a nearly worthless speakerphone (it does), but the promise of wireless charging that led me to LG’s solar-powered Bluetooth speakerphone.

ZNF