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Gadget Wisdom

Author: David Shanske

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2011-09-25 06:23:49

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BoxeeBox

Boxee
Image via Wikipedia

Last week, the Device Guru website was temporarilly overloaded due to the syndication of one of its posts on Slashdot about building dedicated hardware to run Boxee. Boxee has been getting a lot of press, not just from us.

For those of you who haven’t been following it, Boxee is a complete media center solution based on XBMC, which it is an alternative for. Both provide an easy to install media solution with complete support for most video and audio formats, as well as streaming. Both have full plugin support, so you can extend it to support additional sites and online content, such as RSS-based media enclosures to follow podcasts.

Boxee takes it a step further by integrating flash-based players into its offerings, allowing it to offer full Hulu and other flash-based player site support controllable by a remote, although rewind and fast forward are apparently still buggy. XBMC has a Hulu-plugin that uses direct RTMP streaming. Since this eliminates the commercials, it means if it continues, Hulu will likely try to find a way to stop it, unlike the flash player method, which is fully supported.

Every month, Boxee seems to get support for a new site, such as ABC, BBC, etc. They even ask users to vote on what they want to see next.

That brings us back to Device Guru, who detailed his goal of building a sub-$500 IP-STB(Internet protocol set-top box), essentially something with the form factor of a piece of dedicated hardware, ie dvd player, stereo, etc, and capable of delivering a/v content to a TV/entertainment system/home theater without monthly cable fees and such. One can get some dedicated prebuilt boxes to do this, including the AppleTV, which Boxee has ported its software to, but there are advantages to building a small form-factor computer and loading Boxee, XBMC, and whatever else you want to use into it.

The DeviceGuru uses an Intel MicroATX motherboard, and an ultra-slim case. You can go for a Mini-ITX motherboard, and go even smaller. But if you want room for extra memory, firewire, DVI/HDMI, digital sound, etc., and the horsepower to decode and playback HD video, you may need the extra throttle.

Boxee, as well as XBMC, runs best on Ubuntu Linux, and thus all the software is free of charge. Get yourself a USB remote, set Boxee to autorun on startup, and your device will be indistinguishable from a DVD player.

We have a media player of our own, but we opted for a MicroATX cube, like Device Guru’s, from Silverstone. The SG-02. It uses a normal power supply, and has enough room for high-end video cards and hard drives with a moderate sized form factor. We have another cube made by Antec.  They move well, they allow us to use spare parts from other systems to upgrade, and for flashy effect, we added in a Crystalfontz front display. Many home theater PC cases, designed to be integrated in this manner, include displays for displaying the currently playing program, and there is display support in XBMC for them.

Either way, for a variable amount, less if you have some spare drives, you can build a media center that will integrate internet and computer based video into your entertainment center. And it will offer a unique selection of items, many of which you cannot find on cable.

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Published on February 16, 2009
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Integrated Channel Mapping

Back view of a Series 2 Tivo unit
Image via Wikipedia

For those of us still using cable, we caught this post from CableRant. It mentions a beta test of a feature called Integrated Channel Mapping by Cablevision in two communities on Long Island.

Integrated Channel means that if you go to channel 2, you will automatically get the HD version from channel 702 instead.  No more channel surfing between two sets of channels.

Sounds like a good feature to have. Once you adopt a high definition box, why shouldn’t the box, which already maps channels from their real to lineup numbers, hide the SD channels in favor of the HD ones for all channels that are identical except for the quality level?

We run our own DVR, using MythTV, and already do that, filtering out the SD channels for their simulcast versions. We find this a useful feature, and we think it should be available everywhere.

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Published on February 16, 2009
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Mimo Mini-Monitors

Mimo 710 Monitor
Mimo 710 Monitor

We recently came across a review of the Mimo 710 7″ USB-connected monitor. With a current list price of $129.99(may change in the future), this miniature monitor uses a single USB connection for both data and power, offering an 800×480 resolution, the same as a digital photo frame, and weighs only 1.3lbs, making it the perfect accessory for those people who need extra screen real estate, but not a full sized monitor. They can be oriented horizontally or vertically for use.

The $199 740 model adds a touchscreen, audio jacks, a USB port, and a webcam to the package.

Mimo advertises it as extra space for things such as an IM client, widgets, toolbars, etc. As of now, drivers for the display and touchscreen are available for Windows and a Display Only driver for Mac OS X. Drivers are not currently available for Linux, but we have high hopes.

Several reviews suggest this item would be an ideal accessory for a netbook, being as it has a rather small form factor as well, and users may need the extra room sometimes. We could also see it used for people who want a place for the above information, but don’t want to use up the desk space for a regular monitor.

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Published on February 15, 2009
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681 Stations Still Shutting off Analog this Week

Logo of the United States Federal Communicatio...
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Engadget HD  reports that even with the DTV Transition delay signed into law, the FCC has approved the request of at least 368 stations to switch analog off this Tuesday. Crunchgear places the number of stations at 40% of the country’s broadcast stations. Another posts reports some preliminary lists of stations going off the air.

There is no obligation or mandate to broadcast in analog, only a mandate now effective in June to cease broadcasting in analog. The four major networks have agreed to stay on the air, but that applies only to the 100 or so stations they own, not any privately owned affiliate. The FCC could also pressure broadcasters to stay on if doing so is in the “public interest”.

We’ve already weighed in on the DTV transition. We are for it. The boxes are out there, the coupons were out there, and will be again, we hope. And even without them, there are ways to get through this. Digital broadcast brings free HD, clearer picture overall, and additional bandwidth for extra channels(although we have yet to found a secondary channel we watch regularly, although NBC Weather Plus wasn’t lacking in usefulness, but it is no longer with us.).

In some markets, there are apparently channels people want to watch offered on digital subchannels. NBC offers NBC Universal Sports in many markets. RTN, the Retro Television Network, airs classic television on digital subchannels of its affiliates. Or the This TV Network, offering movies and old shows from the MGM library. As fans of classic TV no longer offered by supposedly classic networks Nick at Nite and TV Land, we wouldn’t complain if we got any of these. For a synposis of digital subchannels, Wikipedia has a good summary of possible uses.

For those of you wishing to consider dropping cable service, over-the-air digital broadcast is certainly the way to go, with or without bolstering by internet and dvd services.

Here is the supposed complete and final list of stations shutting off on Tuesday.

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Published on February 15, 2009
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Kindle 2 Announced

Amazon Kindle with carrying cover, Open.
Image via Wikipedia

Engadget released a nice set of pictures of the Kindle 2, the next generation of Amazon‘s E-book reader. For alternate coverage, Crunchgear has a nice Kindle 1/2 side-by-side photo comparison.

It has several improvements over its predecessor

  • Screen refresh is 20 percent faster
  • 7 Times Greater Storage
  • 16 Shades of Grey as opposed to 4.
  • Thinner

We still can’t justify the $359 cost for the privilege of paying more for books than the printed version. The discount has to ultimately, if not subsidize the cost of the reader, at least justify with value-added service the cost of buying it. For less cost, one could use an old PDA or a cell phone, although the screen would not be as conducive to easy reading. For the same cost, one could go for a netbook.

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Published on February 9, 2009
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Asus Eee 1000HE

comparison of the sizes of a package of handke...
Image via Wikipedia

For those of you following the netbook craze, there is new Asus Eee out there.

Engadget has a roundup of various reviews. The HE is built around a new six-cell battery and offers over seven hours of battery life, and offers the standard compliment of features. PC Magazine declared it as dethroning the MSI Wind as the leading netbook, with a list price of $400.

In a related story, Eee PCs are expected in Walmart by years end.

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Published on February 9, 2009
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Ditching Your Pay-TV – Redux

Sports scores in Windows Media Center on Windo...
Image via Wikipedia

We like to continue the thread of losing cable or satellite in favor of alternate options. In the current times, it seems worth keeping alive. In a post last month on Engadget HD, there were lots of comments that brought up some important issues.

  • With Hulu, Netflix, and other services, we now can get a variety of older movies and some recent TV shows that should satisfy most demands.
  • WAF – Also known as the Wife Acceptance Factor(Applies to other relationships as well). How well does your solution work for your less tech-inclined housemates?
  • Antennas – If you drop in favor of broadcast, do you really want to put a large antenna mounted outside to get the most stations, or can you get most of what you want with a simple small one.
  • “I mean I’d rather wait 6 months to watch Entourage on Blu-ray then to pay $70/mo or watch it in crappy quality.” – You can use the money you saved, if you are willing to wait, to buy box sets of the series you like the most. You’ll get better quality, no station logos, and extras.
  • Homebrew DVR solutions like Windows Media Center or MythTV(which we use) work seamlessly with over-the-air broadcasts and provide full DVR services for the cost of a computer to run it.
  • The worry is that bandwidth caps which many internet providers are imposing will interfere with low-cost online streaming , as internet access will now be metered and thus up the monthly entertainment cost you pay.

The New York Times looked at Netflix’s Watch Instantly service, and they seem to like it. Even though there are a lot of movies not exactly top of the line, it includes the Starz Play catalog. And you still can get things by mail.

For those of you who want to start working on integration, PlayOn media server(Windows Only) is out of beta. capable of streaming Internet video from YouTube, Hulu, CBS, Netflix, CNN, ESPN and others to your PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or other DLNA compliant hardware via a PC. The reviews are good, although you need an always-on computer to stream content to your set-top box. There is a lot of DLNA compliant hardware out there. As of now, it isn’t linux-compatible, so we’ll hold off.

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Published on February 8, 2009
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Digital Television Delayed…Really This Time

HAYWARD, CA - JANUARY 28: An old analog telev...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

After initially being defeated, the bill to defer the Digital TV transition till June 12th was passed last week. However, some stations had already indicated they are sticking with the Feb. 17 date. The FCC said it had heard from 276 stations to that effect, in addition to 143 stations that had already pulled the plug, and another 60 who said they planned to do so before Feb. 17. The FCC had pointed out that some of those 276 may change their minds once the date changes. The FCC has been working on regulations that might cover the above circumstances.

But, there might be a bigger problem. Many manufacturers stopped making the boxes, expecting the demand to peak around February 17th. The trade association estimates there are approximately 3 to 6 million boxes available, and there are at least 3.7 million rebate coupons requests on the federal waiting list. Not to mention the confusion the switchover is producing on the older generation.

The NYTimes reports help is coming from an unlikely source. In Houston, which is the 10th largest TV market in the country, the local Meals on Wheels has been delivering and installing converter boxes for its clients.

For those of us who feel comfortable with such things, digital over-the-air broadcasts is an excellent way to get HD programming from local affiliates at no cost. Unlike your local cable concern, this feed is not compressed to the same degree, giving it a better quality to enjoy. We have one hooked up in addition to our cable, for this very reason.

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Published on February 8, 2009
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Jumping on the Twitter Bandwagon

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase

After our colleagues at Flight Wisdom signed up for a Twitter account to help people follow their blog, we decided to see how it went for them. Within days of signing up, users started to flow in, although some of them were already readers. Not only that, but by following other similarly themed Twitter accounts, they were able to get more up-to-the-minute news. If you haven’t already, check out Flight Wisdom.

So, we are proud to announce that we’ve set up our own Twitter account, GadgetWisdom. Not only will it automatically post a tweet when we post a blog entry, but it allows us to post our random thoughts when we don’t have time or yet enough material for a full post.

In order to keep up, we’ve integrated Twitter into our copy of Pidgin. Pidgin is a multi-protocol instant messenging client, and with an add-on, you can add Twitter monitoring and posting to Pidgin. Anyone we are following will pop up in the Gadget Wisdom window in our taskbar. So, it will help us keep better track of what is going on to talk about.

So, we ask you, what Tech Twitter Accounts do you think we should follow?

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Published on February 8, 2009
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Kindle No Longer So Cost Effective

amazon-kindle
Image by MARQUINAM via Flickr

Not long ago, we were on a plane and someone across the aisle had Amazon‘s Kindle. The Kindle, if you’ve missed it, is an E-Book reader. And if anyone had the power to make electronic book reading take off, it is Amazon.

But the Consumerist reports that nearly 30% of books sold for the Kindle are now above $9.99, making them cost more, not less than the equivalent paperback. As one person put it…

300 dollars was supposed to be a sort of covenant between us and amazon. we backed their device and they would usher in an era of low cost/reasonably priced literature. Sure it wasn’t written in stone but the way they advertised it many of us believed it, otherwise this forum wouldn’t be as popular as it is. Instead what is happening is that we put ourselves out there for a company and they returned the favor by charging us even more for books then if we just went out and bought the printed version.

The idea of electronic reading is eventually the reader pays for itself in savings offered by buying electronic over print media, making print a luxury. The size of the Kindle makes it, from what we saw, much easier to read on than a cell phone, which certainly could do the same job of displaying text. It offers an always-on wireless connection to provide content.

But ultimately, it is a $300 toy, for which there are rumors a new version is set to be released on the 9th of February. Three hundred dollars can buy a lot of books…or even a netbook computer to read books on.

On a related note, for free e-books, the following site was suggested as options….feedbooks.com – Provides a variety of contributed as well as public domain e-books in a variety of formats as well as subscription based service. Looks good to us. We’re off to read Sherlock Holmes and not pay a cent…

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Published on January 30, 2009
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