A Networked Home

Archive for the ‘Video’ Category

Here’s a tip to change the way you can view your Now Playing List and get a few options.

• Enter the Now Playing List.
• While in the list press: SLOW - 0 - RECORD - THUMBS UP
• Now when you press 1 you will view the default (sort by record date), 2 will sort by expiration and date, 3 will sort alphabetically

If you lose power or reboot your system you will need to go through this process again.

NOTE: If you have the “Folders” option turned on this will not work.

Zune version 2.3 has been released. From Zune Insider:

Quick FYI: Zune will be issuing a software update today around 10am Pacific. There are no new features in this update, but it does provide some performance enhancements around set-up, sync and as always general reliability.

About a year ago I signed up to be a beta tester for Joost, the new online TV darling of everyone “in-the-know”. It was created by the two geniuses who brouhgt us Kazaa and Skype. At the time I found it vaguely entertaining, but soon lost interest.

After months of ignoring that icon on my desktop I decided to give Joost a second chance. My old beta version no longer worked so I deleted it and downloaded the latest version for Windows - it also has a version for Mac, but, alas, none for Linux. And, as a side note, no Linux version appears to be in the works either.

I downloaded and installed the latest version and launched it from the new task-bar icon (yes, this can be turned off and I am sure I will do so). My, how things have changed - they now boast over 20,000 shows from both mainstream and niche channels. CNN, ESPN and MTV are represented as well as smaller markets like (personal taste here) Cycling TV. I, of course, decided to test Cycling TV. It’s off-season now, but the channel had great repeats of all the big European races from 2007. Before I knew it I was watching the action from the ‘07 edition of Het Volk! For the rest of you, there is now a myriad of programming available.

Downside?

Now, since Joost was created by the same guys who brought us Kazaa, my next question was SPYWARE. I did some searching and found no actual spyware is installed with Joost (unlike Kazaa). Now, for the privacy zealots out there, yes, Joost reports what you watch back to the “networks”, but that should come as no surprise - they aren’t going to give their content to Joost without getting back numbers of viewers. This info goes out on port 11208 (UDP) for anyone interested. This port can’t be closed without disabling Joost so you just have to deal with it. I, for one, find this no concern.

Bottom Line

I thin Joost is coming of age. There are some bugs - I received some strange error messages at some points - but, it is getting close to being ready for prime time so give it a shot, download the latest version HERE. I think the shear number of channels and programs available is worth a look for anyone.

NOTE:

Joost defied my best efforts to bring you any type of screenshot as an example for this article. I am sure this is something mandated by the content providers, who once again prove that they have no clue about today’s market - wouldn’t want to allow that free publicity!

The AP is reporting that Netflix, beginning Monday, will increase the amount of time you can watch streaming video on your PC. The plan seems to be “unlimited” except for the $4.99 per month subscribers.

This is great news for all of us Netflix junkies!

I just read on Gizmodo of the upcoming release of the Ziova CS615 (press release). This sounds like something I have been looking for for sometime now. For a couple of years I have been looking at all the options for pulling the content off of the PC network and into the living room.

Recently I have been using a Y-cable plugged into the Yamaha RX-V661 A/V receiver (the other end plugged into either the laptop or the Zune) to access our music collection on the external hard drive in the office.

Our TV (Vizio 37″ LCD) has a PC monitor (VGA) input, but I have yet to hook the laptop to that to try video and pictures yet.

I had been planning to pick up a used PC on the cheap and add RAM, a large hard drive, TV tuner card, etc and run XP MCE, but perhaps Ziova will change my mind on that option.

I am hoping to get a test box to review and we will see from there if things live up to the hype.

Here’s a quick tip for those DirecTV TiVo users out there.

If you’d like to enable the 30 second skip that TiVo took away (probably at the behest of the big media companies) after version 1.0, and, if you are running a DirecTV TiVo then here is a simple hack.

• Begin playing any recorded show.
• While the show is playing press: SELECT - PLAY - SELECT - 3 - 0 - SELECT.
• You should hear three tones which verifies the feature has been enabled.
• Use the ->| button to skip 30 seconds.

If you lose power or reboot your system you will need to go through this process again.

If you want to disable the skip feature you can repeat the same process.

I have been using the new Zune 4 GB Digital Media Player Black (2nd Generation) player now for about 3 weeks and I think it’s fair to give my review.

The Interface

I can’t say enough about the new user interface on the Zune. It’s clean and the menu is large and easy to read.

A big addition is the support for podcasts, which is the main source of my daily listening. In addition, it does pictures, video and, of course, music. The settings menu allows you to use one of your pictures as the wallpaper as well.

The “Squircle” (Microsoft’s word not mine) is actually quite easy to use and scrolls very nicely through long menus.

Video

The video produces a surprisingly clear picture for the screen size. I would have no trouble watching a show on it while on the road.

The nice part about this is that videos play in wide screen format and when you turn the Zune sideways for viewing the “Squircle” turns with it so you can still control volume, forward and rewind in the logical way.

Wireless Syncing

There is a misconception I have heard several times now, even from Leo Laport. It goes like this: “The wireless syncing can only be done when the device is plugged into its dock.”

This is absolutely NOT true. While wireless syncing happens automatically when you plug the Zune into its dock, it is not the only way. You can go into the Settings menu, choose Wireless and then choose Sync Now and it will sync wirelessly.

A word of caution though - wireless syncing is SLOW. I used it a couple of times just to see how it worked, but now I just plug into the PC.

The other wireless feature - sending a song or podcast to another Zune within WiFi range - is something I have not tested.

Zune Software

Nothing major to report here. The software is clean and easy to use. The podcast category is growing quickly. The only issue I have is that non-podcast video content (music videos, etc.) is hard to find.

Output to Another Device

I used a standard Y-cable to connect the Zune to our A/V receiver and played music through the stereo with no noticeable loss of sound quality, even at high volume.

The 4 and 8GB versions do not do video output so I will reserve comments on this for now. But maybe an 80GB player with video-out is in my future…

One Issue I Have

I have encountered one very strange issue. When I plug the Zune into my PC, my scanner (Canon Canoscan LiDE90) immediately calibrates. This is followed by a message from the system tray that an unrecognized USB device has been encountered and could not be installed. For lack of any other solution I now unplug the scanner first.

Wrap-Up

As you have probably gathered by now, I am very happy with this player. I have no problem recommending one to others. The only problem you may have is if you have invested money in music from other services. The DRM for Microsoft’s Play-For-Sure and Apple’s ITunes is not compatible.

Well, this is the first in what will probably be a series of articles as I get into using the new Zune 4 GB Digital Media Player Black (2nd Generation).

The package arrived in fine shape and the unpacking was as dramatic as any product I’ve seen. The box was well-packaged and contained the player, headphones and USB plug.

I went to the Zune Site and installed the software (a fairly large 32MB file which downloaded VERY fast). The first time I ran it, it did hang up and I was forced to reboot, but I have had no problems since. Everything is very simple to use on both the player and PC software. My first concern was Podcasts and that was very easy to set up.

But, I did have a small issue with trying to stop it from downloading EVERY episode, which, of course, meant all of the ones I’d heard before. Fortunately, a right click on the file produces both the “Cancel Download” and “Mark as Played” options and clicking those fixed this. My next biggest concern was setting up wireless syncing, and here I will need to do more work. The setup was simple enough in the Zune software. The first connection failed, but a trip to my router’s dashboard to add the Zune to my list of allowed network devices was very simple - the Zune even provides it’s MAC address in case you need it. So far I’ve been able to connect to my network and get a message saying that sync has completed, but I have NOT seen the new files appear on the player.

I will continue to play around with this and will post more on it soon. In the meantime, I have seen that Toys ‘r’ Us has listed the Zune 30GB for $79.99 on Black Friday and my wife wants an MP3 player…and the 2nd gen software in available for upgrade to first gen machines…and I hope she doesn’t read this…

Okay, I confess, I am not an Apple fanboy. I never wanted to be roped into the inescapable world of ITunes. I have over 700 CD’s worth of music ripped into WMA format (before you say it, yes, I know I can convert them). When I bought my last PC I got over-zealous and added in the Gateway MP3-Photo Jukebox (since discontinued) which has served me reasonably well for about 3 years - more than enough for any MP3 player. For the past year or so I have procrastinated about getting the Creative Zen Vision M. The Zune was in the back of my mind, but it didn’t seem quite ready for prime-time. Then I started hearing about the second generation players, complete with wireless syncing and podcast support and I could no longer resist. I should have the new Zune 4 GB Digital Media Player Black (2nd Generation) in a few days and I will post a review as soon as I’ve had a little time to put it through its paces.