1. Introduction I was thinking for a while to make the transition to 3D, but I...
Deal of the Day – HP V5061u 1080p Digital Camcorder – 3 inches touchscreen $99 shipped
Todays’s deal of the day consists in the cheapest 1080p digital camera I have seen (while being a decent quality at the same time) from Amazon for $99 shipped and no taxes in most states. The camera is a HP V5061u 1080p flash memory based, features a 5MB CMOS sensor, a 3 inches LCD touchscreen with 960 x 240 resolution that can rotate to 270 degrees so you can take your self portrait (this is a nice touch and usually reserved for more expensive equipment), stereo microphone and a weight of only 9.2 Ounces.
Another interesting feature – a DUAL SD card slot for more memory on the road. The output is HDMI so you won’t need any fancy converters and comes with rechargeable batteries but you can use a couple of AA batteries when the main ones run out of juice, again an interesting and quite useful capability.
iPad 2 Reviews roundup – the main conclusions
iPad 2 won’t ship until tomorrow (orders start only at 1:00AM Pacific Time, in Apple store at 5:00PM local time), but there are already a bunch of early reviews around the web from the big guys lucky enough to get their test units early. While everybody is in awe about the reduced thickness of the new Apple device – at only 0.34 inches – amazingly enough even slimmer that the already slim iPhone 4, the general opinion seems to be that the new iteration is more an evolutionary device rather than revolutionary.
Hardware:
Everything is faster and better, that much is sure. The weight is somewhat reduced from around 1.5 pounds to about 1.34 pounds (for Europeans, from 680g to 601g), the overall dimensions are reduced a bit to 9.5 by 7.3 inches (see the comparison table) and the processor in now dual core A5 instead of single core A4.
The memory doubles as well to 512MB from 256MB and there is a new graphic beast inside, around 9 times faster than the Continue Reading →
Apple TV gets NBA And MLB Live Streaming
Until now, in my opinion, due to its limited capabilities in terms of media streaming, at least compared with other boxes like Boxee Box and WD TV Live Plus, Apple TV was interesting only because of its manufacturer. I was actually amazed it supports Netflix, considering Apple’s reluctance to support anything else other than iTunes.
Well, it seems like Apple is pumping some extra content providers in it and with its latest update, the little box got some love for NBA League Pass and MLB.TV along with AirPlay compatibility for the latest iOS 4.3 update and Netflix Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, a capability currently only implemented by Netflix.
The new content isn’t free and is in line with the provider’s current prices (we don’t know if they need to pay Apple 30% of the dough though). NBA Leagues Pass has one unlimited streaming option for $100 and another $65 option that includes your 7 favorite teams. MLB.TV has one $120 pass offering multi-zone broadcasts, multiple camera angles and DVR while the cheaper $100 subscription offers just standard streaming.
Beside the new content, Apple TV’s new update also gets various fixes, better on-screen keyboard, new slide-show modes and a bunch of security fixes.
Internet Explorer 9 final to launch March 14
Described as “A more beautiful WEB”, at exactly one year after the platform preview, Microsoft will make Internet Explorer 9 available for download. This is an important event and IE9 is a radical departure from previous Microsoft browsers, and, in my opinion a true competitor to Firefox / Chrome.
IE9 brings a bunch of new features including hardware acceleration using Media Foundation, an improved JavaScript engine, high fidelity printing via an XPS engine, support for HTML 5 video and audio tags and for the Web Open Font Format.
The IE9 Platform Preview scores an impressive 95% at the Acid 3 test and also supports CSS3, SVG and XHTML
Check after the break for the full video announcement via Microsoft Channel 9.
iOS 4.3 now live for all iDevices – iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Folks, iOS 4.3 is now live, a full two days earlier than expected. (It was promised on March 11th, same day with the launch of iPad 2 but for some reason is early). Not that we complain.
The features are not much of a surprise, being announced everywhere since the beta came out. The goodies include WiFi personal Hotspot (limited to 3 devices at this point but this can be tweaked), the 3rd party apps get some AirPlay love which is good and various UI improvements / fixes all around.
The update is like always free so feel free to go connect your iDevice to iTunes and get the update…or not, if you jailbroken your toy, you should know that the PwnageTool iOS 4.3 GM Jailbreak For iPhone 4 was released and we’ll have a tutorial ASAP.
How to add / edit missing QAM channels in Windows Media Center
This is the part two in our series of tutorials in how to use Windows Media Center as a DVR for your high definition clear QAM channels. Unfortunately the operation is most cases is not as plug and play as we would like and I lost a day in the process of figuring a way to make everything work. The first part of the tutorial described how to deal with the “No channels were found error” that Media enter displays after a full scan for clear QAM channels. This part will describe how to add missing channels and set the proper Guide source so the right guide information and schedules are displayed.
In my case, although I knew KTTV-DT (the high definition Fox 11 affiliate in my area) had to be among the found channels, for some reason it wasn’t in the list. In this case ,you’ll have to add them manually by entering the modulation/frequency ID of the channel. An excellent resource for this is the SiliconDust website. Add your zip code, don’t forget to select the cable provider in the top left list box (Antenna channels list is selected by default) and you’ll see the actual channel number together with its virtual number. In my case, LA area, KTTVDT is 88.548. Continue Reading →
How to fix “No Channels were found” error in Windows Media Center
I recently reviewed a couple of QAM TV Tuners (SiliconDust HDHR3 Dual ATSC/QAM Network Tuner) and MyGica A680B I recently bought as part of my effort to get rid of expensive cable subscription, DVR fees, etc. I use a server running Windows 7 and Windows Media Center as a DVR and a bunch of XBOX 360 game consoles as extenders. While the tuners performed well, I had big problems setting up and finding clear QAM channels in Windows Media Center and I wasted a day trying to figure out why it doesn’t work. The result is described in this tutorial.
If you are trying to watch clear QAM channels using your newly purchased tuner, maybe you were surprised to find out that after a full scan Windows Media Center displayed a the message: “No channels were found” prompting you to check if your TV equipment is properly connected to the computer. Yes, it was! What next? Continue Reading →
Google Chrome 10 arrives, faster and with Flash sandbox
The Google Chrome 10 final is here and it brings a bunch of fixes / features and performance improvements to multiple OS including Linux, Windows and MAC. The worthiest are a new Crankshaft JavaScript engine that boost the JavaScript speed with a whooping 66%, a new settings interface and, my favorite, paste and search or paste and go, a fast way to use only one click to search / navigate to the phrase or url in the clipboard.
If you frequently use password protected websites (and who doesn’t) Google Chrome comes now with a method to synchronize those passwords between multiple computers, a nifty (albeit scary) feature.
The last addition worth mentioning is an improved sandboxing feature for Adobe Flash, destined to protect you against “the bad guys” and their malicious websites, feature that will be available if you are using Windows Vista or higher.
Check after the break for a couple of videos illustrating the new enhancements. Continue Reading →
Deal of the Day – Jamo S606 HCS 3 5.0 floor-standing speaker system – $400 shipped
Today’s deal of the day is the highly rated Jamo S606 5.0 floorstanding speaker system for only $400 shipped. Total weight is over 132 pounds so you’ll certainly save a lot on shipping in the process.
The system includes one center speaker model Jamo S 60 CEN, two bookshelves speakers model Jamo S 602 and two S 606 floorstanding speakers. All the reviews I read praised their looks so I couldn’t stop and bought a full set myself. Review to follow!
Technical specifications for the floorstanding speakers (also support optional bi-wiring):
| System Type | 3-way bassreflex |
| Woofer (mm/in) | 203 / 8 |
| Midrange (mm/in) | 2 x 127 / 5 |
| Tweeter (mm/in) | 25 / 1 |
| Power (W, long/short term) | 130 / 210 |
| Sensitivity (dB, 2.8V/1m) | 89 |
| Frequency Range (Hz) | 42 – 20,000 |
| Impedance (Ohm) | 6 |
| Weight (kg/lb) | 24.1 / 53.1 |
| Product dimensions (mm/in, HxWxD) | 1080 x 190 x 345 / 42.5 x 7.5 x 13.6 |
| Overall dimensions (mm/in, HxWxD) | 1110 x 260 x 345 / 43.7 x 10.2 x 13.6 |
Check after the break for high resolution photo gallery. Continue Reading →
Android Froyo Xtreamer PVR specs leaked, to ship later this year
It wasn’t yet officially announced but its photo / specifications leaked in a recent CeBIT document…Xtreamer works on a PVR based on a Sigma Designs SMP8656 chip for exceptional 3D graphics, dual tuners and Android Froyo 2.2. If this will really ship, it will provide REAL competition to Boxee Box, WD TV Live Plus and such boxes and maybe we’ll finally see our dream come true: A media streamer box to rule them all. The most worthy mentioning features are USB 3.0, Web Browser, MKV, h264 and many other video codecs (up to 1080p of course) and various internet streaming clients through additional Android applications. Yes, they won us on their side forever with “additional Android applications”.
Among other goodies labeled “coming soon”, the document also mentions Xtreamer SyncX, a two bay backup unit featuring Web Server, ftp, NAS, MySQL, free DDNs, Gigabit LAN and Print Server functionality.
Check after the break for full Xtreamer PVR technical specification. Continue Reading →
