Halo 2 fans rejoice! The long awaited maps upgrade is here, which includes 4 new Halo 2 maps. Add new life to the greatest XBOX game ever made with some new Halo 2 maps! I just got this email from Microsoft notifying me of the new Halo 2 maps.

Remember my Wireless Power post where I discussed a technology that powers your PDA, cellphone, etc. all from a pad? Here's a picture of it again:


Well I was checking out ThinkGeek and I came across a battery-free wireless mouse. As a wireless mouse user myself, it sure is annoying and expensive to have to replace the batteries every few months, so this product will be making my "Wish list".

From ThinkGeek.com

Batteries Be Gone!

Now this is a cool iPod setup! The Klipsch iFi iPod Speaker System features 200 watts of peak system power you can rock the house with this baby! This “plug and play” setup, made exclusively for iPod fans, works with all dockable iPods, including the iPod Mini and iPod photo. It uses a radio frequency that can transmit through walls and ceilings allowing you to experience your digital music library in audiophile-quality Klipsch sound.

This 2.1 configuration comes with two Klipsch Reference Series RSX-3 satellites, a dedicated subwoofer, docking station and radio frequency remote.

Today SMC Networks announced the newest in its EZ-Stream line of Home Entertainment Networking products, the new EZ-Stream 2.4GHz Wireless Multimedia Extender (SMCWME-G).According to SMC, the EZ-Stream 2.4GHz Wireless Multimedia Extender is a "high-end networked entertainment receiver that streams, plays and shares audio (including MP3 and Internet radio), pictures, video even premium music and movie content downloaded to the PC from major online content vendors all from the comfort of the living room couch."

It works via a wired or a wireless network for access to Internet resources on a networked PC, the SMC EZ-Stream Multimedia Extender provides access to music, photos and videos stored on a computer's hard drive via its link to entertainment devices, including televisions and stereo receivers, via high-quality composite video, S-video and digital-audio input connectors. Essentially, it is very similar to the Linksys MCX Extender that I reviewed, except that the Linksys MCX requires a Windows Media Center (MCE) PC and the SMC extender works with any PC. The fact that the Linksys MCX only works with MCE PCs is not a knock against the Linksys MCX since the MCX was designed specifically for Media Center PCs to include the ability to not only stream video or music wirelessly, but also pause live TV, and have the same menu interface as though you were accessing the Media Center PC interface directly. The SMC EZ-Stream Multimedia Extender does not have the ability to pause/rewind Live TV as far as I can tell.

SMC is demonstrating the SMCWME-G this week at the Retail Vision show in Orlando, FL.

MPEG NATION emailed me about their new service that allows anyone to stream video via the web instantly. Ironically, I just talked about streaming video yesterday in my Microsoft Launches MSN Video Downloads blog and I mentioned a pseudo-competitor of theirs - Orb Networks. Anyway, MPEG NATION enables individuals and companies to inexpensively begin streaming video across a high-performance, reliable content delivery network without having to spend hours encoding and transcoding formats, negotiating rates, or worrying about ongoing storage and bandwidth costs. MPEG NATION claims to be the first-ever "one-price-fits-all solution" for placing video in blogs, auctions, personal and corporate websites.

Here's the release:
MPEG NATION Launches Powerful Broadband Streaming Video Service for the Masses

Stream your video world-wide to millions of people for less than $1 per month!

CHICAGO, March 30 -- MPEG NATION, a division of Digital Silo, Inc., a global provider of integrated content delivery and streaming media services, today announced a new, first ever, low-cost service to encode and stream consumer and commercial video content via its worldwide content delivery network, within minutes, via a simple upload.

MPEG NATION enables individuals and companies to inexpensively begin streaming video across a high-performance, reliable content delivery network without having to spend hours encoding and transcoding formats, negotiating rates, or worrying about ongoing storage and bandwidth costs.