As a parent of three, two of whom are teenagers, I don't have much sympathy for the box located in the center of my living room.
By OFER ZEMACH
An article published in one of the daily papers noted that the average person spends about three hours a day sitting in front of the TV, about half his leisure time.
As a parent of three, two of whom are teenagers, I don't have much sympathy for the box (no, I didn't invest in a 60" flat screen) located in the center of my living room getting more attention than any family member. In fact, the only thing the kids do more than watch television is sleep.
But these days when (nearly) every household has more than one television, the hi-tech industry keeps on coming up with innovative technologies to match our modern lifestyle, and watching TV over the Internet is on the rise.
Competing with similar devices like the Slingbox, the HAVA Platinum HD looks like your standard cable box. But actually it is a technically impressive product which lets you watch television via Internet on your computer whenever - and wherever - you want.
It is aimed at anyone who wants to watch his favorite TV programs when on the move, such as businesspeople who travel often, but is sure to attract those who want to watch from, say, a home or office computer. It was also the perfect answer for my two teenagers who on a recent trip to New York were concerned about missing Eretz Nehederet. They were thrilled to be watching live Channel 2 on the laptop while enjoying Starbucks on the Upper West Side.
Installing the application is fast, easy and needs no special plugs or adapters, as required for wired Ethernet. The device features technology which provides high-definition picture quality and enables an unlimited number of PCs connected to a home network to view the video content. At the same time, with an Internet connection you can send live TV from your home to a single remote computer anywhere in the world, all without requiring a PC to be up and running at home.
The HAVA Platinum HD interface acts like a TV remote and users can control the content no matter where located. Users can pause, fast forward, rewind and record live TV to a PC's hard disk, then save the recorded content on a DVD or transfer it to a portable multimedia player.
The HAVA unit connects in-line with your set-top box, and has input and outputs for any kind of video, plus a wired Ethernet jack. An infrared adapter set from a PC inside your house controls power, channels and play/pause on the TV.
Overall, the HAVA device is without a doubt one of the coolest products I've tested recently. I was impressed with its ability to smoothly stream TV to a computer - be it over the home network or across the Internet.
The HAVA Platinum HD is available through Impact networks for NIS 1600, (03) 699-8005, or www.impact-networks.co.il.
ofer@jpost.com