Rumours on the supposed Amazon STB continues to trickle in-- "people familiar with the company's plans" tell the Wall Street Journal the long-awaited device ships on "early" April 2014 to retailers such as Best Buy and Staples.

According to the WSJ the STB carries a "forked" Android version allowing it to run not only Amazon streaming services but also the likes of Netflix, Hulu and even games.

TechCrunch also joins the Amazon STB rumour game, saying the device features a Chromecast-style dongle/stick design and OnLive-style PC game streaming capability. Reportedly "top-tier games" are to be streamed at 30fps-- a lofty goal, but one has to keep in mind Amazon is (probably) equipped to power such intensive cloud-based offerings.

Kaleidescape picks Cheena Srinivasan as its new CEO.

Srinivasan is a founder of Kaleidescape and previously served as the company’s COO and EVP. With over 25 years of experience, Srinivasan has been essential in establishing Kaleidescape as it pioneered the development of movie servers.

Srinivasan steps into the role of CEO at a pivotal time for the industry, says Kaleidescape. The company says while movie purchasing behaviour is shifting away from physical disc ownership toward digital models, consumers continue to demand physical formats--and a large majority haven’t yet made the transition from disc to digital. This, says Kaleidscape, creates the need for a product that caters to both forms of content.

Kaleidescape looks to provide a compelling “digital bridge” that allows consumers to enjoy their physical collections as well as new digital content. As CEO, the company says Srinivasan will focus his efforts on establishing Kaleidescape as the best platform for electronic sell-through by offering the convenience of streaming, the quality of Blu-ray, and a catalogue of titles that is second to none.

Crestron starts shipping the HD-XSPA, an A/V receiver the company describes as packing a surround sound processor, 7.1 channel amplifier and DigitalMedia (DM) room in one box, making ideal for integrated whole-house systems.

It connects directly to DM switches thus eliminating the need for a separate DigitalMedia receiver, and features control via RS-232, IR, ethernet and relay for programmable control of local devices.

CEC pass-through allows additional control of other devices via HDMI.

4K/Ultra HD source and display support comes via 4 HDMI inputs, DM input and HDMI output. Digital surround format support includes Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Harman Kardon launches the BDS 580 and BDS 280 networked entertainment systems-- a pair of Blu-ray players armed with built-in MHL, AirPlay and DLNA connectivity for out-of-the-box smartphone and tablet support.

The players handle 3D Blu-rays, Blu-rays, DVDs and CDs, while the MHL input allows the addition of devices such as smartphones or the Roku Streaming Stick.

Control comes through either remote or Harman Remote app. Audio format support includes Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Volume, DTS Digital Surround, Harman Kardon Natural Surround Processing (NSP) and EzSet/EQ III auto-calibration.

The pieces in Valve's plan for console-style PCs fall into place at CES 2014, where the company names the hardware partners making the first batch of SteamOS-powered games machines.

Interestingly enough CES does not host a Valve-branded Steam Machine-- the company instead leaves the stage open to 13 other companies, namely Alienware, Alternate, CyberPowerPC, Digital Storm, Falcon NW, GigaByte, iBuyPower, Maingear, Materiel.net, Next Spa, Origin PC, Scan, Webhallen and Zotac.

The Steam Machines seen at the show range from $500 entry-level options to $6000 high-spec monsters. All pack an array custom specifications inside at times slightly bizarre custom hardware. Current favourites include Gigabyte's miniature cube, Falcon NW's desktop number (complete with lurid decal!) and the PS4-style option from iBuyPower.

British PC maker PiixL comes up with an elegant means of keeping a SteamOS-powered games machine out of sight-- the Jetpack, a home theatre PC (HTPC) slim enough to attach on the back of a flatscreen TV.

An update on PiixL's earlier EdgeCenter HTPCs, the JetPack features an expandable chassis users can mount on larger TVs (32- to 70-inch) via standard VESA mounts. It will be available in multiple "deeply optimised" configurations complete with overclocked Intel Core i7 processors, Nvidia Titan/GTX780 GPUs and up to 1TB SSD storage.