OK, I goofed in my last column. I mentioned that Orb Networks offered a service/subscription plan, but an astute reader pointed out that they couldn't find such a fee. In fact, a check of Orb's Web site reveals that its software is now free – check it out when you get a chance.

Continuing on the theme of TVs and home networks, Meedio this week was expected to announce its Meedio TV application, a digital video recorder application for PCs. The Meedio TV application will be available stand-alone or included as an integrated bundle with Meedio Essentials, the company says.

The Meedio TV application will include a free electronic program guide with listings from Tribune Media Service, as well as support for third-party EPG services based on XMLTV. Users will be able to search and browse for recorded programs by time, channel, keyword, title, cast or custom-defined categories. Searching for broadcasts can be done by time, channel, title, keyword, cast or credits.

Other features include support for external tuners through composite and S-video inputs, the ability to auto-delete recordings to help manage hard drive space, and recording in the background when Meedio isn't running. When the TV application is used with Meedio Essentials, users get the same interface for viewing their digital photos, music, movies, games, etc., as well as more than 200 application plug-ins.

More details are available at the Meedio Web site.

Another issue regarding recording shows through your PC is the amount of storage the recordings take up. In my recent attempts to turn my PC into its own media center, I came across this issue rather quickly when I discovered that the three-hour shows I recorded (replays of the Red Sox ALCS games) were taking up large chunks of my hard drive (see " Building my own media center, Part 2"). I attempted to transfer the files over my power-line network onto a network-attached storage drive and found out about limitations of that technology in terms of bandwidth (forcing me to switch back to a wired Ethernet connection for that particular PC).

Another option suggested recently was storing these giant files online. Storage company Streamload sent me tips on ways to help with the large file size of recorded shows.