Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

BeyondTV will start supporting recording in h.264 and a rss feed that makes getting shows into iTunes automatic. Unfortunately, these features will cost you extra, similar to the DVD burning plugin they offer. From the announcement:

The plugin allows recompression to the h.264 format and an rss feed that makes getting shows into iTunes automatic (which then can sync to your iPod video, iPhone or Apple TV). The plugin will be bundled for sale/trial with the DVD burning plugin. Any user that already bought the DVD burning plugin will get h.264 at no charge.

I am all for different compression formats being covered. I think this is a good strategy for BeyondTV. They need to continuously add more features to compete with Vista Media Center. Since BeyondTV is a smaller application than a full blown operating system, frequent updates could really help BeyondTV. They do need to get away from the “nickel and diming aspects” of releasing plugins for a price.

For all you Mac fans out there, Roxio just launched Popcorn 3, which allows you to transfer your favorite personal video entertainment to DVDs and popular portable devices. Moving digital content around from device to device is always a good thing.  I got Roxio’s press release by e-mail today and here is a snippet:

Popcorn 3 is equipped with a variety of innovative features designed to simplify and accelerate the otherwise time consuming and CPU intensive video conversion process, including Automatic TiVoToGo™ Conversion that starts encoding as soon as the TV show is transferred to the Mac, Batch DVD-Video Conversion that enables consumers to queue up multiple DVDs for use with Roxio’s Fit-to-DVD™ technology, and Pause and Resume buttons that enable users to suspend a disc copy or video conversion project, work on a different task, then resume when convenient.

To reduce time spent on multiple conversions and to ensure end-results meet expectations, Popcorn 3 comes with Video Quality Preview that enables consumers to review a snippet of converted video to check video quality prior to initiating the full encoding process. Popcorn 3 also supports Elgato’s Turbo.264 for faster video encoding. Popcorn 3 users can now create DVD’s up to four hours long, resulting in fewer discs and decreasing the amount of time required for video-project transfer.

The application also includes a rich disc labeling application that enables users to create personalized disc labels or print directly onto discs using LightScribe enabled burners and media. Built on the award-winning Toast burning technology, Popcorn 3 continues to provide consumers with a quick and easy way to copy and enjoy their movies on a disc or on-the-go.

Sony has just released their latest iMac competitor, called the VAIO LT Series. Like the iMac, the VAIO LT is an all-in-one solution, meaning the compter and the monitor are combined.

The VAIO LT trumps the featues of the iMac with its high definition options. The HD version of the VAIO LT, which costs $2,900) has a Blu-ray drive and a Digital Cable Tuner to watch HD cable with a CableCard.

Because of the size of the screen, this system most likely will not live in your family room as a media center. It would be great though as a second TV in an office or den. Think of this computer as an office computer with “benefits.”

One thing to note is that the system only comes with on Digital Cable Tuner, which means you can only record OR watch one channel at a time. Though, this should not be a big deal for an office computer.

Sony has certainly been creative with their CableCard offerings. They are the only company that is offering a CableCard computer with any type of styling. The VAIO line also already had the impressive but tragically flawed VGX-XL3.

A non-HD version is available for about $1,900.

Auzentech is now shipping the Auzen X-FI Prelude 7.1 soundcard, which should be available at retail stores August 28. This marks the first time Creative has permitted a third-party soundcard vendor to use the Creative X-FI chipset in its own soundcard design.

So why is this a big deal? Computer audio, especially for media centers, has been stagnant. Auzentech is known for developing great cards for media centers. Creative’s X-Fi is a great card for gaming. Auzen X-Fi Prelude should be a good combination of both feature sets. Dolby Digital Live and DTS Interactive will be supported with future driver updates expected by the end of the year or early 2008.

Dolby Digital Live converts any audio signal into a Dolby Digital bitstream for transport and playback through a home theater system. With it, your PC or game console can be hooked up to your Dolby Digital-equipped audio/video receiver or digital speaker system via a single digital connection, eliminating the confusion of multiple cables.

While a step in the right direction, the Auzen is not the HDMI solution everyone has been hoping for their media centers. For the time being, it should be the hardware of choice for media centers.

Rumors have been flying around the internet about a DVR add-on for the PS3. I had doubts whether we would actually see such a product anytime soon. Apparently the rumors are true, at least for European PS3 owners. From Sony’s press release:

At Games Convention today, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) announced the introduction of PlayTV, a combined TV tuner and Personal Video Recorder (PVR) for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™). PlayTV will be available in UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain early in 2008, with other PAL territories to follow in due course.

PlayTV, which will let you watch and record live TV, will be also compatible with the PSP so you will be able to take your TV shows with you. With all good things, there is a catch: PlayTV will not be able to record HD content from cable and satellites. Sony also made no mention of price.

I wonder how long until there is a DVR add-on for the Xbox 360.

(via TVSquad)

Over the past year, my wife and I have taken tons of photos and video of our baby. We are constantly getting asked by friends to share pictures and videos of little floppyhead (hence the name of this site, though his head is no longer as floppy). Here are two suggestions for sharing photos and videos:

1) Use Picasa. It is a free digital photo album tool from Google. You can organize your photos, do a little bit of touching up, crop photos, and e-mail photos to friends and family. You can also send a link to a Google web album, which are free and does not require your family to register for an account like some of the other photo sharing services. The best thing about Picasa is that it handles large picture files very well. We bought a Digital Rebel camera so most of our images are quite large and are a pain to e-mail. Picasa automatically down sizes anything you e-mail or post to a web album, all from within the program.

2) Use Adobe’s Premiere Elements. I have yet to find a free piece of software that is as easy to use as Premiere Elements. Consider the $99 cost of the software as an investment in saving you time. Through Elements, you can make DVDs that include menus and chapters. DVDs in many ways are an easy way to share video. Everyone has a DVD player, even the older generations in your family that have no idea of YouTube. Plus, I am still alittle uneasy putting family videos on YouTube. Even if you are sharing videos online, Premiere Elements helps you make a slick looking video without a large learning curve.

Of course you can always just put the pictures on a CD with a nice CD label using a free CD template.

I have the occasional Mac envy. Recently I have been eyeing the new Mac Mini, thinking it would make a cool HTPC. The problem with it is that there is no tuner built into it. Of course, you can always get an external tuner.

Elgato’s Eye TV 250 is the big fish in the Mac tuner world. EyeTV 250 Plus delivers free over-the-air digital TV to your Mac in 720p or 1080i HDTV (MPEG-2) and other digital television standards, as well as conventional analog TV via standard cable or antenna. From their website:

EyeTV 250 Plus records digital television in one quality setting, Lossless. The ATSC digital stream is recorded unaltered, and so you’re getting full quality HDTV content as encoded by the broadcaster. EyeTV supports closed captioning and Dolby® Digital sound.

Right now the only way to get HD content on Mac is through an ATSC tuner. Remember, Macs do not have HDCP built into the operating system like Microsoft’s Vista. This means no HD-DVD or Blu-ray for now. Plus, iTunes does not offer HD content. Forget about digital cable tuners and CableCards.

I use an ASTC tuner on my Windows XP machine right now and really enjoy it. Maybe it is time I take the plunge and buy a Mac mini. EyeTV 250 Plus is available immediately for $199 at the Apple Store, as well as through resellers.

(via ehomeupgrade)

Alienware is finally getting around to updating the Hangar 18 with CableCard support. Apparently the first iteration of the Hangar 18 sans CableCard support was a resounding success, which is surprising to me because of its complete lack of HD support.

CE Pro has the scoop:

Soon, Alienware will offer CableCard support for the Hangar 18 through an external OCUR (OpenCable Unidirectional Receiver) box. Here’s the hitch: OCUR will only be available through professional home technology installers/resellers. “We feel that OCUR is a solution that requires the expertise of a reseller and installer to perform an optimal customer experience, which does not warrant direct consumer sales of OCUR-equipped products,” says Marc Diana, product manager for non-mobile products.

Well, this pretty much guarantees that I will not be buying the Hangar 18. Why is CableCard support so difficult for companies to implement into their media centers? No one has really done it right, besides Velocity Micro. Sony is close but the VGX-XL3 really needs 2 digital cable tuners.

You have got to hand it to Sonos. They are constantly offering new ways to enjoy the Sonos Digital Music System. Not only can you listen to Rhapsody and Pandora, but you can also now listen to Sirius radio streamed over the internet to your living.

From the Sonos website:

With the wireless Sonos Controller in hand you’ll have instant access to more than 80 SIRIUS Internet Radio channels. All you have to do is pick a room, pick a channel and hit play. It’s that easy.

New subscribers to Sirius will need to shell out $12.95 a month but existing users can upgrade their service to include their Sonos for $2.99 a month. If you are already an existing Sirius user, Sonos might be worth checking out , if you can stomach the $1,000 price tag.

Sonos could be a dominant figure in the digital audio realm if they just lowered their price. It seems like their system has always been around $1,000.

The Snapstream blog has posted a video overview of the set-up process for their Beyond TV software. From the post:

This demonstration focuses on the process of setting up Beyond TV. A quick overview of what is covered in the video:

• installing and setting up a USB TV tuning device
• downloading and installing Beyond TV
• setting up Beyond TV

More companies should have videos like this, especially in the media center/htpc world. I use Beyond TV on my Dell 24″ monitor as a second TV. I did struggle alittle bit with the ATSC installation. For the non-techie, such an installation could be intimidating. This video shows how easy the installation is to complete.