Shinco has come up with a unique way to add personal video recording functions to an LCD TV without driving up the cost. Leave out the hard drive.

The 32-inch TV has a USB port and ships with a 2.5-inch USB hard drive enclosure. Of course, you can plug your own 3.5-inch case, a flash card reader, or pretty much any other form of USB storage you like into the TV.

The TV includes a single tuner, so you'll only be able to record one program at a time. And you can't watch one live show while recording another. But it does included an MPEG-4 decoder, so you can watch prerecorded shows while making new recordings.

The TV is available for HK$6280, which is about 805 US dollars. But it's not clear that we'll be seeing this model in the US any time soon.

[via Gizmodo and Everything USB]

CE Pro reports that HP is exiting the digital entertainment center business. What does that mean? Basically that one of the first companies to offer a Windows Media Center PC that looked good in your living room is going to stop packing computers into A/V style cases.

Sure, you'll still be able to buy an HP machine that will work as a media center. After all, any computer running Vista is a media center, and if you throw a TV tuner into it, it's a PVR.

But the company's going to focus its living room strategy on its MediaSmart LCD televisions with digital media adapters. These are sort of like a proprietary version of Microsoft's Windows Media extenders, allowing users to access videos, music, photos, and web-based content on their TV set.

Laptop makers Rock are working on a new product that basically crams a media center PC into a LCD TV. Think iMac but without the Mac.

With a 22-inch screen, Rock's Meivo (multimedia entertainment integrating video on-demand) isn't going to be the pride of your living room home theater system. But it could make a nice addition to your bedroom, kitchen, or other small space.

The Meivo comes equipped with a Core 2 Duo processor, two desktop hard drive bays, 7.1 channel audio output, WiFi and Bluetooth support, a USB port, RF keyboard and mouse, and a TV tuner. It supports 720p video, and has a native resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels.

It should be available in April for about £1,000 or close to $2000.