Pinnacle: new TV tuners for Vista

The company best known for its TV receivers in Hungary is finally paying more attention to Microsoft's latest operating system.

As we have seen with many people - who have Pinnacle hardware and use Windows Vista - the company reacted relatively late in terms of driver updates to Microsoft’s newcomer. Many products still only have beta versions available.

However, the cube seems to turn a bit as Pinnacle launches products specifically designed for Windows Vista: 2 portable USB 2.0 TV tuners that can receive both analog and digital broadcasts, and an analog TV receiver that fits into a PCI connector. All three packages also include a full-featured remote control that lets you control your TV, desktop recorder and PC (e.g., Windows Media Center) comfortably while sitting in an armchair.

What is all this due to? Let's listen to Jeff Hastings, one of the directors of Pinnacle Systems: "In the last quarter of 2006, 60% of PCs sold in the United States included Windows Media Center. With the release of Windows Vista, this ratio will only increase. However, the majority of WMC users do not have a tuner card, and this is an opportunity for us to distribute our products even more widely.”

Of course, Microsoft also welcomed this decision, as Pinnacle's products allow us to take advantage of many of the features of Windows Media Center: watch and record live broadcasts, and pre-programmed recording with the built-in TV Guide. We should also mention that with the products just announced, we will be able to control our set-top boxes and parabolas.

We are curious to see what and when these will materialize in our small country.