At least 24 hours late to the party, I’ve finally (ha) picked up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. After logging only about two and a half hours in combat, I like what I see. In multiplayer. While sacrificing literally days over the last couple years playing CoD: MW and WaW, I’ve never played more than a few minutes in the solo campaign mode. I just wasn’t into shooters (no Doom, no Quake) and online play (other than some dialup Daytona on Dreamcast) until landing up my first 360. And, now, it’s about the only way I use the console.

Modern Warfare 2 shows a whole lot of visual polish. Maybe a bit too much, in fact. And the maps are more complex and multidimensional, which I’m digging. The loadouts, perks, and kill streaks see a whole new level of sophistication and customization. In my limited exposure, player control and gun accuracy seem spot on. But, while Infinity Ward indicates they’ve taken steps to balance the gameplay, it’s only going to help seasoned veterans. As I seriously doubt a newbie would quickly find their way or hold their own. Of course, CoD still features the best online gaming lobby and matchmaking experience. However, I’d like to see the new Accolades (pic below) mirrored somewhere on the web. I won’t win too many matches as a sniper, but my kill/death ratio is usually amongst the best. So let me geek brag with a badge of some sort. Halo implemented in-game screengrabs two years ago; I assume IW can get some of their (my) content online too.

As someone who typically sneaks and snipes, I’ve fared better than expected (k/d = 1.0+) early going in MW2. After leveling up just a few times, you’re presented with the pre-configured Scout Sniper class. Not only do you wield the powerful and accurate .50cal Barrett, but you also carry your own rifle-mounted radar while simultaneously blocking the enemy’s UAV. But wait, there’s more. An awesome new “tactical insertion” perk let’s you mark and respawn at your preferred sniper roost. Even more devastating (to your foes)… I discovered towards the end of my initial round of gameplay that a basic “overkill” perk is standard on all classes. Without having to sacrifice the “stopping power” perk. So I’m now building out a custom sniper class (pic up top) with a fully automatic sub machine gun to more effectively blast my way to a a sniping perch. See you online?

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While I predicted significant Moxi HD DVR price cuts after Arris’ acquisition of Digeo, I expected to see them come as the new parent company retreated from retail. However… Not only isn’t Arris giving up on direct consumer sales, versus exclusively pitching hardware to the MSOs, they’re pushing forward with the introduction of a new Moxi HD DVR model containing three tuners. Additionally, the Moxi Mate extenders will overcome their biggest limitation later this fall when they’ll begin receiving streamed live television (on top of the existing DVR recordings). Here’s a breakdown of the updated pricing from the conference call:

Ben Drawbaugh (EngadgetHD) and I agree that Arris still needs to tighten up the Moxi UI and we’d both like to see ATSC OTA tuning, but $1000 (no monthly fees) for three rooms of ad-free Moxi-controlled digital cable is a reasonable deal. Especially in light of TiVo multi-room viewing being dead to me – given their current technical implementation. It’s more economical and less disruptive to replace my DVR than it is to replace my home. Perhaps TiVo’s upcoming access point will ease my pain, but if improvement isn’t seen in the next few months we’re moving on to a Windows Media Center (with Ceton?) or Moxi whole-home DVR solution.

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Rumors reported by Silicon Alley Insider last week indicate that TechCrunch Michael Arrington’s Linux-based CrunchPad web browsing tablet has gone into hibernation. Perhaps due to higher than anticipated production expenses. Arrington had promised “a big announcement” during the summer months… which never materialized. So something’s definitely up. And I expect it’s the realization that launching a gadget, versus web, startup requires a much more significant investment of capital along with additional risk. And, as a small player, the CrunchPad team would have a difficult time sourcing components at the best rates. A Dell can pull off a minimalist $199 tablet. A startup cannot. But this doesn’t mean the CrunchPad is dead. Like Arrington, I believe there’s a market for a simple, couch-based computing platform. So let’s hope the delay is due to lining up investors and a product team with experience building, marketing, and supporting a consumer electronics device. If not, many of us will gladly overpay for Apple’s Kindle-crushing iPad next year.

Looks like Roku and the Xbox 360 won’t be the only set-top boxes making the jump from 802.11g to the faster, further 802.11n spec this fall. While I’ve been scanning FCC filings lately, trolling for something specific, a new TiVo wireless adapter wasn’t on my radar. Fortunately, the Engadget team is  a more thorough and frequent FCC visitor, digging up TiVo’s upcoming 802.11n wireless access point (AN0100). Most of the good stuff, such as external photos and the user manual, are held back under a short term confidentiality request, so we find ourselves with more questions than answers. But that’s never stopped me from speculating…

My TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD each communicate with my home network via TiVo’s very own 802.11g USB wireless adapter. And the solution just isn’t fast enough to copy HD content from one TiVo to another for real-time progressive download playback. So, I assume one goal of this product is to improve the situation by pushing video faster over 802.11n. Which would also enhance Amazon VOD and Netflix HD playback for many.

Additionally, TiVo’s multi-room viewing (MRV) copying has got to go as the cable-cos are locking down their television programming with a CCI byte value designed to limit the number of digital copies. (I’m dead in the water for transferring anything other than local broadcasters on Cox Communications, as is Alex of TiVoBlog.com with Time Warner.) Given the increased bandwidth of a 802.11n solution, TiVo should feel more comfortable pulling the trigger on a software update which enables true MRV streaming, like Windows Media Center or Moxi, thus bypassing the cable restriction — no additional copies would be produced. (And this may be a bit more than idle speculation on my part… I recently came across a comment on the TiVo Community suggesting streaming is in the works. The author is not a TiVo employee, but he’s extremely knowledgeable in these things. What made the post memorable was the fact that it was quickly deleted for reasons unknown.)

Lastly, by going with an access point over a simple wireless adapter, TiVo would be able to eek out better network performance using an Ethernet connection rather than USB — due to their current hardware design. Additionally, access points should allow customers to effectively extend the range of their wireless infrastructure by building out a TiVo mesh network. Pairs (or more) of pre-configured wireless access points (aka bridges), can also easily communicate with themselves, requiring minimal user intervention as seen with Vudu and Sonos. I’d like to see a pair of these going for about $100, with additional units running say $60. And I’d like to see them this year. Make it so, TiVo.

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Less than a year on the market, the SlingCatcher’s entrance fee has dropped by 2/3rds from retail launch pricing of $300 down to a rock bottom $99.99 at Best Buy. I can only assume sales have been horrible. Which pains me on personal level. The digital media Swiss Army knife vision of the SlingCatcher was a factor in joining Sling Media way back when. And the inability to execute on that vision was also a factor in my decision to leave. (“losing my religion“) However, despite it’s imperfections and unfulfilled promise, $100 to merely stream from a Slingbox to another television in the home or abroad is a great value – neverminding those hobbled extender and DMA capabilities. Here’s hoping the inventory purge foreshadows a new SlingCathcer in the pipeline with the sort of modern hardware and features found in the current crop of media streamers. But with Sling’s corporate ownership, and resultant focus on the DISH Network Slingbox DVR, I wouldn’t count on it.

In the week or so I’ve been evaluating Sprint’s rendition of the HTC Hero, I’ve bemoaned the lack of Slacker Radio — one of my iPhone must-haves. Fortunately, review timing is fortuitous… and Slacker just joined Pandora in the Android Market. It’s the same music experience you know and love, yet accompanied by less polished visuals and additional advertising. The few bucks for a Slacker Premium subscription ($48/yr), which frees you of all ads and provides unlimited skips, isn’t unreasonable at all. However, I’ve fallen in love with whole-home audio solution Sonos… and Slacker is MIA. Meaning my sub will probably go to Pandora. I prefer Slacker’s station/genre programming over the Pandora Music Genome Project analysis and matching, but Pandora’s still available in more places. Additionally, unlike Slacker’s own G2 hardware (being phased out) and their Blackberry app, the Android Slacker solution does not offer local track archiving for offline playback.

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The digital photo frame space, widgetized or otherwise, is usually Mari’s territory. But I’m up early and distinctly recall months of her eStarling-related rants when their previous foray into this space failed to live up to expectations (or even connect). And she wasn’t alone. Gizmodo also suggested that “you’d be making a big mistake to buy this eStarling picture frame.”

So it’s with appropriately low expectations that I introduce eStarling’s latest $250 Internet-connected display, featuring 802.11n and a 10.2″ touch-sensitive screen. In addition to displaying photos, some resident apps include Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, video sharing, and the requisite weather forecast – with promises of more to come.

On paper, it all sounds pretty good. Exceptional, even. As did the version Mari blew $250 on. So before investing you hard earned cash on anything eStarling, I suggest waiting for the reviews (from elsewhere) to roll in… given my sneaking suspicion that Mari will not be an early adopter this time around. And HP’s similarly sized, equipped, and priced DreamScreen looks like the horse to beat.