Microsoft has finally announced that v2 media center extenders are on the way from D-Link, Linksys, and Niveus. But while Linksys and D-Link are keeping their product details secret for now (likely because they don't have finished products ready to show off yet), Engadget got a good look at the Niveus media extender at CEDIA.

We have to say, it looks a bit on the large side for a device that's primarily meant to connect the TV in your living room to the media center PC in your office. Up until now, the only media center extender that worked with Windows Vista was the Xbox 360. And although it's hard to gauge from the pictures, Niveus's new offering looks to be about the same size as an Xbox. In fact, if you squint just the right way, it appears there's even an X pattern on top of the box.

As Ian Dixon points out, if you take a look at Engadget's photos, you'll also notice that the interface does not look like a Windows Media Center interface. It's not clear if that means Niveus has designed custom software for the box, or if Microsoft might have a few other details about the v2 extender platform that they forgot to mention.

Update: And as Chris Lanier points out, it looks like Engadget got confused and showed screenshots of the Niveus Companion software.

That low rumbling whirrr you heard coming from the west as you sat down to your Fruity Pebbles this morning was the sound of the generators for the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field coming online. The master took the stage once again today to wow fans, put an end to some of the recent speculation and introduce some new products.

As far as MacWorld's go, this one was a little odd. Most of the keynote was devoted to the new iPhone, with no mention of iLife, iWork, Leopard or any of the computer hardware. You can get the complete rundown on the show, including all the info about the iPhone, from our pals over at TUAW. For our purposes here though, the big news is Apple TV.

A new generation of people with myopia (nearsightedness) are about to be created.

According to our friends at engadget Sony and Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson are teaming up to get television shows and channels on their mobile sets. In fact, according to Per Nordlof, Ericsson's director of Product Strategy, the two companies want to have a third of all cell phone users watching TV on their handsets by 2008. In order to accomplish this task, the corporate duo (not to be confused with the Dynamic Duo) are working on a number of solutions. One way is to transmit clips from your living room TV directly to a handset. Hmm, didn't The Riddler try to do something like that in Batman Forever (well, it was transmitting TV signals directly to one's brain. I'm trying to make a funny here, folks!).

It's great that the corporate world is moving ahead with the integration of technologies, but I wonder if it should be at the cost of more people needing glasses. Hmm, maybe this is a whole conspiracy between the telecommunications industry and opticians across the globe.

As a Verizon DSL customer, I've been eagerly anticipating to the arrival of their FiOS service to my neighborhood, mainly for the super-fast 15 Mbps download speed on their broadband serivce. But FiOS will also give customers the opportunity to get TV service, even though the jury's still out on whether it provides better value than the "evil" cable providers Verison is trying to defeat. But there's potential that the new service will bring something that neither cable nor satellite can provide: grainy videos of old commercials and teenagers getting hit in the groin.

Thaaat's right, folks: according to Reuters (via our blog cousins at Engadget), the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Verizon and YouTube are discussing an agreement where the recently-Googlified video site will provide content to Verizon via both it's VCAST mobile phone video service and to TVs via FiOS. The videos would be available on the FiOS service on an on-demand basis and likely for only a limited time.

Are you super rich? Do you love television? DirecTV has come up with what our pals over at Engadget call "the ultimate couch potato package". And I couldn't have said it better. The new package offers everything. HBO, Showtime, Sports, HDTV, Adult programming, and PAY PER VIEW... and no fewer than ten DVRs to spread around your pad. And, it's all for less than the monthly cost of a new Mercedes (assuming you don't put any money down)!

The cost is about $625/month or $7,500 a year.