Does Microsoft's "PlaysForSure" motto really mean it plays for sure? Does Apple's "FairPlay" play fair? Not exactly, says Linux-based media device vendor, Neuros, which is promoting an "Unlocked" media trademark in response to branded, proprietary digital rights management (DRM) schemes.

Users are [normally] left trying to hack these devices [Media streaming boxes] against the wishes of manufacturers (see our post ‘When will Steve Jobs open up the AppleTV?‘) or have to make-do with whatever official features are implemented.

In a joint effort, Neuros Technology and M2X will, as part of the TI-Neuros Open Source Bounties , port VLC to Neuros Linux on the next generation of Neuros OSD solution. The VLC porting project was kicked off on May 28, 2008, with developers directly from VLC community. Jean-Paul Saman, one of the VLC maintainers, will be leading this porting effort.

At the OSCON open source convention in Portland last week, Neuros CEO Joe Born explained how Linux-based embedded devices will bring open source to the set-top market and the consumer electronics space. He also demonstrated how to build applications for the Neuros OSD, his company's programmable DVR product.

A 20-page downloadable whitepaper compares 10 free media center applications, including Boxee, Elisa, Entertainer, Freevo, MediaPortal, My Media System, MythTV, Neuros OSD, Plex, and XBMC.

I recently came across an Ubuntu-based device that is designed for viewing streaming and local video content on an HDTV. The majority of content providers stream content with proprietary codecs using DRM (Digital Rights Management) that are only compatible with Windows.

ChinaGrabber is selling an unlocked, quadband GSM cellphone that runs Linux on a 624MHz Marvell PXA310. The $570 BPhone features a 5-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen with 180-degree rotation, plus WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and up to 16GB flash expansion.

Neuros Technology has rolled out pre-release firmware for its Linux-based OSD networkable set-top box that allows the gadget to suck down and show YouTube content.

Or rather, it is all about preparing for inevitable failures, and they are legion. Hardware failures, power failures, and most of all, storage media failures. Ever notice how fragile digital storage media are? Are we ever going to get digital storage media that can match plain old paper, and other analog media, for reliability and longevity?