I read <a href="http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2006/09/12/359847-covad-unveils-web-based-phone-system">this article</a> recently about the Neuros device. When describing my MythTV system to people, I often tell people that I've got more features than money can buy because nobody can sell such a device without being sued out of existence (ripping DVDs, skipping commercials, etc). It seems to me that Neuros is attempting to walk that very thin line by providing the hardware capable of supporting consumer demands while leaving open lots of backdoors to implement things that they may not be able to implement themselves.
<br><br>I find myself wondering whether this is going to become a common trend in how hardware companies operate. To avoid being sued it seems like they would have to be very careful what they provide doesn't allow them to be reasonably accused of infringing copyrights (as if skipping commercials was infringement!) but at the same time provide enough of a back door to allow consumers to install hacks that do permit this. I don't think TiVo went far enough with this strategy (and word is that they support it even less with the Series 3).
<br><br>Of course, these guys making Neuros are never, for example, going to get CableCard support and other important technologies for tapping the (sadly) growing number of copy protection technology standards but at least it provides something approaching a standard hardware platform.
<br><br>I'm assuming you can't run a Myth backend on this thing. I suppose a frontend might be possible?!?<br><br>