Recently in Video Hardware & Software Category

Ever get frustrated trying to convert Component to HDMI or convert from one video connector to another because your TV is 10 years only and doesn't support HDMI? Even if you are a home theater guru, the number of converter options and cabling options can be immense and downright confusing.

Well, StarTech.com, a manufacturer of hard-to-find connectivity and technology parts, launched the ConXit Connection Wizard, an online tool that helps users find the right converter, extender, splitter, interface card, cable and more. The search tool will help you find the right connector for Bluetooth, BNC, CameraLink, Coax, Compact Flash, Component, Composite, Digital Coax Audio, DVI, eSATA, ExpressCard, HDMI, RJ-11, RJ-45, and more.

This online tool recommends the best products for connecting IT and/or audio-video peripherals after just two easy steps.


Step One - Select the type of connector for the peripheral or device you wish to connect from a drop down list of options.

Step Two - Select the connection type on the host computer or component. The ConXit Wizard will then recommend the best options for making the connection.

Check out the ConXit tool.

Dell just launched the Inspiron Zino HD, a small 8" by 8" x 3.5" cubed-shaped trendy-looking HTPC that aims to sit in your living room and become your centralized home media center. Comparisons of the trendy-looking Zino HD vs. the Mac Mini will undoubtedly be made. Colors for the Zino HD include Piano Black, True Blue, Formula Red, Plum Purple, Spring Green, Promise Pink, Tangerine Orange, Green Scatter, Red Swirls, and Blue Lines. Piano Black is free, but you'll pay $10 or $30 for the other colors.

Starting at a base configuration price of just $229 the Dell Zino HD many home theater fans will seriously consider the Zino HD, though they will no doubt bump up the default specs which includes a AMD Athlon 2650e 512K L2, 1.6GHz processor and 2GB of RAM. You can go as high as the AMD Dual Core Athlon Neo X2 6850e (1MB L2, 1.8GHz) for $110 and up to 8GB of Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz. It comes with a 250GB hard drive but you can go up to 1TB of data storage. Perhaps most importantly, it sports HDMI output for connecting to your HD 1080p TV.

It supports Vista and Windows 7, and sports an optional ($100) Blu-ray drive, TV tuner (coming soon), optional ATI Radeon HD 4330 512MB GPU, 4-in-1 card reader, 4 external USB 2.0 ports, and 2 eSATA connectors. Interestingly, Dell has chosen AMD processors exclusively for the Zino HD product line, marking the first time Dell has launched a product without including Intel processors as an option. Of course, in theory you can wipe the Vista or Windows 7 operating system and install Linux on this bad boy and run Linux-based home media center/HTPC software.

With a wireless remote control (not included) and Windows 7 Media Center software this can be a very powerful home media center computer at a very decent price. The Inspiron Zino HD can record and play your favorite TV shows, stream high-definition content from the Internet, and playback your personal music, video and photos.

Specifications:

• Ultra-small form factor designed to fit almost anywhere.
• Easy personalization with nine color choices for Inspiron Zino HD.
• Choice of AMD processors or dual core Athlon Neo X2 6850e.
• Up to 8GB dual channel DDR 2 memory.
• Up to 1TB internal hard disk storage.
• Combo DVD/CD RW drive with optional Blu-ray Disc combo.
• Integrated 10/100/1000 networking with wireless option.
• Optional TV tuner, wireless keyboard and mouse.
• Built in 2.1 high-definition audio and 4-in-one media card reader.
• Integrated ATI graphics adapter with standard HDMI and VGA video connections, and optional 512MB discrete graphics adapter.
• Four USB ports (2 front/2 rear); two eSATA ports (rear).
• Energy-Star 5.0 compliant.

Dell Inspiron Zino HD Configuration Page

Livestream today is launching the world's first solution for wireless live streaming at HD quality by bonding six load-balanced 3G/EVDO modems over three carriers. Called Livepack, this unique solution enables you to have a roaming live video studio anywhere you can get 3G/EVDO connectivity. Livestream says it can stream HD video at far lower costs than traditional solutions such as broadcast trucks.

 Of course, bonding six 3G/EVDO modems together has some other fringe benefits - like ludicrous wireless Internet speed! Wonder if you can tether the Livepack to your laptop and get super high-speed Internet access while on the road? Imagine streaming HD Netflix movies or downloading Bittorrent files while driving down the road. - your passenger doing the laptop mouse & keystrokes of course!

Livepack fits in a custom-designed backpack and is a turn-key hardware solution for wireless live streaming at HD quality to thousands of viewers on the web using encoding hardware, Firewire cable, and 30 hours of streaming uplink time per month.

Livestream said: "Livepack is ideal for live broadcasting any events including concerts, interviews, sporting events, town hall meetings, paparazzi, university graduations, weddings, ceremonies, transmission from a moving car, and a variety of enterprise applications."

"Livepack is like having a satellite television truck in a backpack," said Max Haot, CEO and co-founder of Livestream. "If you want to live stream in high quality at an event where you don't have a reliable fixed Internet connection, broadcasting with a cell phone cannot yet deliver either the high video quality or network reliability you need. The only other solution available is a traditional broadcast truck and satellite signal which can cost up to $50,000 a day."

Livepack is an integrated solution using hardware provided by Livestream's partner, LiveU, that has been fully integrated with Livestream's streaming video platform and content delivery network (CDN). 

Livepack product details and recordings of live videos can be viewed at www.livestream.com/livepack. Livepack was recently used for coverage of the MTV Video Music Awards, NY Fashion Week, Harry Potter movie premiere and Pixie Lott Live,

Livestream's groundbreaking Livepack redefines simplicity for live mobile HD quality video streaming. Once Livepack is powered up, and a DV camera is connected, all it takes is just one press of a button to start the live streaming, enabling broadcasters to deliver live, on the scene, video coverage at just a fraction of what a satellite truck costs to rent and operate.

Livepack quickly establishes a reliable Internet connection and is not tied to one wireless network, as it includes six 3G/EVDO modems for redundancy. Because it integrates with Livestream's streaming video platform, Livepack does not require any additional re-encoding or server in your offices to reach its destination. Once the video reaches the Livestream content delivery network the video is immediately streamed in your Livestream player, as well as being captured and securely archived.

Availability and Pricing
Livestream Livepack is available in the U.S. for monthly or yearly rental directly from Livestream, and includes the hardware unit, custom designed backpack, dedicated IP address for the Livestream channel, all 3G/EVDO network charges, and 30 hours of streaming uplink time per month.  Neither a DV camera nor tripod are included. Month-to-month rental without commitment is $2,500 per month plus the cost of shipping. Yearly rental is $1,500 per month plus the cost of shipping.

TANDBERG announced that their PrecisionHD™ USB camera is now shipping. The PrecisionHD™ USB camera is the first webcam to offer 720p high definition with 30 frames per second and is interoperable with Microsoft OCS.

The camera does not require additional drivers or software installations to operate the camera which is always nice - just plug and play.

I wonder how this HD camera compares with the HD-capable Microsoft LifeCam Cinema which is supposed to be coming out soon?

Below is a pic of the Microsoft LifeCam Cinema HD camera:

Father's Day is just around the corner, so no doubt you'll be wanting to get your dad some cool gadgets for his "man cave". Well, Walmart has some sick deals going on this Father's Day, including a $128 Magnavox Blu-ray Disc player (NB500MGX)! Wow, no reason to not have a Blu-ray player now. Man that's cheap! I remember when they were over $300. Other deals include select Blu-ray movies two for $20, inexpensive HDTVs, and more. Walmart explains, "Every dad has a man cave at home - the place you most likely will find him when he wants to relax. Starting June 14, Walmart is helping families find savings that add something more to man caves in his game room, garage and backyard." They break down the various cave types, including The Game Room/Living Room Cave, The Home Office Cave, Mobile Man Cave, The Deck Cave, and The Garage Cave. What, no Parlor Room Cave, Bathroom Cave, Kitchen Cave, Laundry Room Cave? Oh, those are for Mother's Day, you say?

Check out the full release after the jump...

Cox Communications today expanded its fastest broadband service to residential and business customers in Northern Virginia. Now offered in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg it delivers up to 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) downloads and 5 Mbps uploads using DOCSIS 3.0. Last month, this service was launched in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The third generation of cable's DOCSIS (Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specification) service introduces channel bonding, a technology that can bond parallel cable channels to transmit data at faster speeds. Speeds are further enhanced with PowerBoost™, a cable-exclusive technology that provides an extra burst of speed when it's needed.

Cox's Ultimate Internet package provides residential customers with the ability to download movies and music, share files, stream video and compete with gamers around the world, faster than ever. DOCSIS 3.0 meets the increasing bandwidth demands of multiple users while optimizing their online experience. Standard price for the residential Ultimate Internet package will be $139.99 per month, with an introductory rate of $109 per month.

Interestingly, Northern Virginia business customers will also be able to take advantage of DOCSIS 3.0 technology through Cox Business Internet's new "premium package". It too features download speeds up to 50 Mbps and 5 Mbps uploads, but they claim Cox Business Internet helps optimize support for corporate e-mail, online research and Web-based business applications. Yeah right. You're paying more for the premium business with the same speed as the home edition.

[Update - Cox informed me what the business offering gives you]
"50 Mbps business customers get 5 dynamic or static IP address, domain name hosting, the ability to support servers and 24/7 technical support. When bundled with other Cox services, the business service is priced between $200 and $300 depending on the length of contract. Home office business users pay only a slight premium above standard residential service."

So there is some value-add. I've just encountered too many instances of residential vs. business broadband offerings where it's the virtually the same thing but you pay a premium for business broadband. Several years ago TMC considered using Cablevision for our supplementary Internet access at TMC since it was only like $40 for 10Mbps vs. like $800-$1200 for a data T1 that's only 1.544Mbps. Yet, when we looked at the business cable offering it was much more than $40 and we didn't need the static IPs. So basically you're paying more just because you're a business.

Just as a fun test I took my personal home cable router (also Cablevision) plugged it into TMC's cable line and had high-speed Internet for the $40 rate. In theory, we could have ordered service under a residential plan, but that wouldn't be ethical. Still, I hate paying more for business broadband when I'm not using anything more than residential broadband.

The company has already launched DOCSIS 3.0 in Lafayette Parish, La., and plans to offer Ultimate Internet to several Cox markets by the end of 2009, and to more than two-thirds of its footprint in 2010.

Now if only Verizon (FiOS fiber-to-the-home), AT&T (Uverse Fiber-to-the-neighborhood), Comcast (DOCSIS 3.0 55mbps), or Charter Communications (cable broadband) would bring affordable high-speed Internet to my neighborhood. Stuck on pokey DSL!

Just got this email from Netflix saying they are increasing my Blu-ray access from $1 to $4 per month. What the hell? I have to pay 4 times what I was paying before? Way to screw your most loyal customers Netflix! Sure, the $1/month might have been a low-cost enticement to get people to sign-up for Blue-ray movie rentals, but you can't just increase the price 4-fold overnight. I think we Blu-ray fans would be much more accepting if the price increase was more gradual.

Let's flashback to October 2008, where the Netflix blog wrote:

Hi, Jessie Teitz here, VP of Marketing. This message is for everyone who rents Blu-ray movies from Netflix. You might have heard that we've been talking about changing our prices for Blu-ray movies because they cost more than standard DVDs. To make up for this significant cost difference, we've decided to charge a little bit more for those who want to rent Blu-ray movies. On November 5th, we'll start charging an extra $1 a month for Blu-ray access. For our members on unlimited plans, $1 a month for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies is a great value. We have more than 800 Blu-ray titles, and growing, for you to enjoy as part of your Netflix subscription. We think you'll agree, a $1 increase in your monthly subscription is pretty modest for you to enjoy this compelling format. If you don't want to pay $1 more a month for access to Blu-ray movies, simply remove the Blu-ray access on your account and your monthly subscription cost will stay the same.

Yes, this was a "little bit more". What happened to just a "little bit more". $4 is a huge chunk of my monthly subscription now when I still can't even get 10% of the movies I want on Blu-ray.

Here, read the email in all it's glory...

You are receiving this email because you added unlimited Blu-ray access to your account for $1 a month. The number of Blu-ray titles has increased significantly and will continue to do so. As we buy more, you are able to choose from a rapidly expanding selection of Blu-ray titles. And as you've probably heard, Blu-ray discs are substantially more expensive than standard definition DVDs.

As a result, the monthly charge for Blu-ray access is increasing for most plans and will now vary by plan. The charge for monthly Blu-ray access on your 3 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan will increase from $1 a month to $4 a month. The price of your 3 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan is not changing and remains at $16.99 a month.

The new charge for Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after April 27, 2009 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details.

If you wish to continue unlimited Blu-ray access for $4 a month, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-923-0898.

-The Netflix Team

TechCrunch has a prototype of their tablet PC featuring a touchscreen, Wi-Fi, an accelerometer, a camera and a four cell battery running on a stripped down version of Linux. Well, actually they're running the prototype on full-fledged Linux, but they promise better performance once they strip out all the extra stuff.

According to TechCrunch:

The device has a 12-inch touchscreen with a 4:3 aspect ratio (which is ideal for web browsing in my opinion). It is powered with a Via Nano processor, which has performed at par with the Intel Atom in our testing. 1 GB of ram (its more than we need) and a 4 GB flash drive to store the OS and browser and any cache. Resolution is 1024×768, which means the vast majority of websites are viewed in full width without scrolling.

So what's missing from this Techcrunch tablet gadget? Well, how bout a PCMCIA slot for inserting an EVDO/3G/4G card. Forget Wi-Fi - that's so 2005. We need to be able to roam and happily surf the web when outside earshot of a Wi-Fi access point. Although it does have a USB port, so maybe it will support USB-based EVDO/3G/4G dongles. PCMCIA is pretty large come to think of it, taking up a lot of internal space. A touch screen tablet optimized for web surfing needs to be as thin and as light as possible.

It should also support Skype, including Skype videoconferencing using the embedded camera. Maybe it will and maybe it won't, but surprisingly no mention of Skype in the article. It should also support some SIP softphone client for those that like to BYOVA (Bring Your Own VoIP Access).

What else would you like to see?

More proof that my prediction of a Blu-ray Christmas is coming true... According to the Blu-ray Disc Association, British consumers bought 462,500 Blu-ray discs in November, an increase of 165% from October. They put out a release with a very positive title that proudly claims, "Blu-ray Beats Recession Blues Sales Soar in Lead Up to Christmas at Even Quicker Rate than DVD".

Like I said in my pro- Blu-ray prediction, "I think consumers are looking to escape today's harsh economic climate. Watching movies is a heck of a lot cheaper than going to the movies. People are going out a lot less, eating out less, but they still want some form of escapism and quality entertainment. For that reason, I think it's going to be a very "black" Blu-ray Christmas."

Echoing my sentiments, according to the news release, "Despite the gloomiest of financial forecasts, sales of Blu-ray disc movies are defying the odds and bucking the credit crunch - with record figures reported in the run up to Christmas. And it's not just films flying off the shelves, Blu-ray disc players are also following suit, with a strong upsurge in European sales that is expected to continue into the New Year. In fact, overall sales are predicted to more than triple in 2009, reaching 2.5million units Europe wide* (and that figure does not even include the millions of Playstation 3 consoles, with their in-built Blu-ray players, that will be sold over the next few months)."

It also states that sales figures from the British Video Association (BVA) released in December, show that block-buster Hollywood titles such The Dark Knight sold a whopping 513,000 units in one day with Blu-ray disc representing 21% of all discs sold.

What's even more telling in these figures from the U.K. is that the British pound is much weaker against the Japanese yen and since no Blu-ray players are made in the U.K., that means there is a premium paid due to the pound-to-yen exchange rate. The U.S. dollar is also weak against the Japanese yen, however there are Blu-ray players made in the U.S., including the Magnavox NB500MG9 Blu-ray player which was sold on Black Friday at Walmart for $128.

So I expect U.S. sales of Blu-ray players this Christmas to be even better than the United Kingdom. We shall see if my prediction was right when most experts are expecting Blu-ray disc sales to disappoint due to the global slowing economy.

I have a Blu-ray player on my Christmas list that I hope to get. Santa Claus hasn't failed me yet. I also have a subscription to Netflix and planned on upgrading it to the Blu-ray package for an additional $1/month should I stay off Santa's "naughty list" this year.

This would give me access to Netflix's massive Blu-ray library. Apparently, I shouldn't get too excited though. According to this CNET article, Blu-ray movies discs aren't being delivered as quickly as regular DVDs.