Once you have a home theater setup your mind starts to wander to the myriad of remote controls that you are now the proud owner-operator of.  You start to wonder how you are going to help your partner in life, your children, and your parents operate your shiny new entertainment system.  With remotes for your TV, Stereo, Blu-Ray Player, Cable Box or Satellite Dish Receiver, Roku, and many other devices it is a surprise that you can even get it all working to begin with.  Thankfully, the home theater industry has responded to this dizzying set of tasks by designing and delivering a number of remote controls that will handle the task with aplomb.  With that said, you already have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad and would like to carry around a single converged device, one that allows you to make phone calls, cruise the Internet, and control your home theater.  Your request has been heard by the team at Peel as they deliver a home theater remote control that works as an App on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad along with a network connected receiver and an infrared sending unit that the Peel team calls the “Peel Fruit.”  In this review of the Peel, we will find out if it has the juice to take on the market for home theater remote controls and avoid the Gadget Graveyard.

I received the Peel and quickly opened it up, excited to see if it could handle my most demanding home theater tasks.  The packaging of the Peel was a quandary to me, as I believe it will be to many who purchase it.  It isn’t obvious how to open the packaging, so I went with the most direct route and peeled the cardboard around the plastic insides.  The company could do with a little label that says “Peel here” to help those who purchase the product get access without ripping up the packaging.   Otherwise, the packaging was very simple and well designed to show off the Peel Fruit, which we will get to in a moment.  Inside the package is:

1. The Peel Fruit complete with battery.  The Peel Fruit is a pear-shaped Wireless Infrared Sending Unit that sits in the line of sight to your home theater to control it.
2. Wireless Receiving-Sending Unit that plugs into your home network via an available Ethernet Port, and
3. Printed Instructions

Printed on the inside of the packaging itself is some safety information as well as the one-year warranty information.  The instructions for setting up the Peel are very simple and straightforward:

1. Plug in Wireless Receiving Unit into a free Ethernet Port on your router
2. Put the battery into the Peel Fruit and position it with a clear line of sight to your home theater equipment
3. Download the Peel App for free from the App Store
4. Load the App and setup the system

I followed the directions and was presented with a very simple and well thought out setup program that asked me to open the Peel Fruit and find the device number to plug into the App.  By plugging the Peel Fruit device number into the App, it effectively paired (not peared) it with the wireless receiver.  The Peel Fruit was then able to send and receive signals, but needed to be configured with the brands of home theater components that I have in my home theater.  The home theater that I tested the Peel with is composed of a 37″ 1080P Vizio TV, a LG Blu-Ray Player with streaming capability, a Time Warner-Scientific Atlanta Cable Box with DVR, and a Mac Mini.  The Peel recognized all of the brands of the components of my home theater as well as the ports that everything was connected to.

The configuration stage took about 15 minutes, including making some selections of the type of content that I like to watch. I had some missteps in setting up all of my channels on Time Warner and contacted the Peel Technical Support Team and they were excellent, in fact, I would have to say that it was one of the best technical support experiences that I have had in a long time.  They were patient with me and very helpful.  Also, I looked at the Peel Support Site on the Internet and found it chock full of great information and helpful troubleshooting tips.

Once the configuration stage was completed I powered on the home theater with the Peel App and got down to some serious TV watching.  There was no lag between selecting a control on my iPhone or iPad and the Peel transmitting the required remote control command to my home theater component of choice.  This is a big deal as many other units rely on slower proprietary wireless connections and Peel really came through by leveraging the ZigBee wireless connection between the Wireless Receiving Unit and the Peel Fruit.  For those unfamiliar with the ZigBee standard, it is what many wireless home automation control systems use to connect devices via wireless.

The Peel made good use of the screen real estate of the iPod Touch and iPhone, but on the iPad it only showed up in the 1x iPod Touch or iPhone App view.  This is where the team at Peel could have delivered a deeper and more compelling viewing experience for the content available on the TV on the iPad.  Think about what you could do with the second screen viewing experience with an iPad Universal Remote Control.  I understand from the Peel blog that Samsung is now preloading a version of Peel on their Galaxy 7″ Tablet, so there is some work underway to deliver the Peel App to larger format devices such as tablets.  With this little issue out of the way, the interface is very nice and it even makes suggestions as to what kind of content is available at the time that I am watching.  With a quick check, I was able to tune into some programming that I had not thought of in the past, but the Peel App suggested it and I thought I would give it a try.  There are some dedicated soft buttons on the Peel App for dedicated control of the home theater components and while they are nice, they do not replace the controls of the devices themselves, but do an adequate job of providing the basics.  So, I would not suggest throwing away your old remotes from the component manufacturer, but you can tuck them in a drawer for the time being. To move between the various screens on the Peel App you simply swipe in the common Apple way on your iPhone and you can move to your different genres as well as controls for your devices, “What’s On”, and other selections.

The Peel App also allows you to notify your friends on Twitter and Facebook through a handy integration.  Now if it could only learn what is on my DVR and provide that list interactively on the Peel App, that would be pretty nice.

On the downside, the Peel unit is only an infrared sending unit, and if your home theater components are out of the line of sight you can not control them via RF repeaters that have become commonplace in high end home theater designs that want to remove the equipment from the equation focusing on the viewing experience.  This is one update that I am sure the Peel team are looking at as they move into the market in force.  Also, the Peel team just released a multi-user capability in their most recent Peel App that enables you to control multiple Peel units in the same house, nice for those that have a couple of home theater setups.  I did not get a chance to test this feature as I only had a single Peel unit to review.

Overall, for $99, the Peel is a great deal for a new kind of universal remote capability when compared to the $150+ universal remotes from Logitech and Universal Remotes.  The Peel takes advantage of the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad to bear fruit in a new type of remote control experience that shines by delivering a deeply integrated user experience .  The Peel will be living on in my daily use with my home theater, avoiding the Gadget Graveyard that has taken the lives of many a gadget.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews

Tagged: TV, Universal remote control

Peel Product Universal Remote Control Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 13, 2011 at 11:00 am.

This post brought to you by Untitled Jersey City Project. All opinions are 100% mine.

Is it just me, or do most of the television shows these days seem to follow a cookie cutter plot of whatever happens to be the current fad? That’s why we have several Witch, Vampire and other creepy dramas on channels like the CW. Don’t get me wrong, I watch some of these shows myself, but it’s always cool when something different comes along. Untitled Jersey City Project from the FX network is a work in progress TV show that is comprised of 8 two minute episodes that were featured during FX’s Sunday primetime movies. What’s the show all about?

The eight short-form episodes of Untitled Jersey City Project are fragments from a larger story, with many of the story threads left unresolved. But from these eight episodes, this much is clear:

The story is set amidst the fast-developing Jersey City waterfront, just across the river from Manhattan. A shining new city is being built on the edge of this gritty town. But while the glass office towers and condos are sleek and new, the rules of the game haven’t changed one bit.

Everyone here has something to gain – money, fame, power. Or they can lose big. Or they could end up dead.

You can watch the episodes on the website. I didn’t recognize any of the actors, except for the cool 2012 Audi A6 car that is featured in each episode. The story itself has enough action and cliff hanger type filming techniques to make you want to continue watching all the installments. The 8th episode leaves you wanting more and it’s unclear if FX will show more short episodes in the coming weeks or convert to a longer format show or film.

Take a look at this episode and see what you think…

Would you continue to watch a series of short episodes like this one, or do you prefer a normal format show?

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: TV

Untitled Jersey City Project – A work in progress TV drama. Will you watch? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 21, 2011 at 10:30 am.

I used to think my cable box offered all the programming I needed.  As cable prices keep rising, I’ve come to the conclusion that those multi-media boxes and an $8/month subscription to Netflix are a better deal.  While I haven’t gotten rid of cable yet, I have pared down some of the programming from Time Warner.  I’m using the Logitech Revue with Google TV in my living room for watching Netflix, but I wanted a smaller box to put with my second TV.  I decided the second generation Apple TV had the features I wanted, so I bought one from my local Apple store.

In the Box

• Apple TV
• Apple Remote
• Power cable
• Documentation

Specifications

• Dimensions:  3.9” wide X 3.9” deep X 0.9” tall; 0.6 pounds
• Processor:  Apple A4 chip
• Video formats:  H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats. MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.  Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
• Audio formats: HE-AAC (V1), AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV; Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound pass-through
• Photo formats: JPEG, GIF, TIFF
• Compatibility: Compatible with high-definition TVs with HDMI and capable of 720p 60/50Hz
• Ports and interfaces: HDMI, Optical audio, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, Built-in IR receiver, Micro-USB for service and support
• Wireless:  802.11a/b/g/n
• See the Apple website for more details

When I opened the box, I was disappointed to see that there was no HDMI cable.  This device requires an HDMI cable, so I think Apple should have included one.  I used the one from my cable box to hook up the Apple TV while I waited for a $10 cable from Amazon.  I don’t have any external speakers or a home theater system with the second TV (Vizio 32” Razor 720p, 60Hz LED, model E320VP), so I didn’t need an optical cable to hook up a sound source.  You should know that you’ll have to supply your own optical cable, too.

Front with power light on

Top

Bottom

Back

As you can tell from the dimensions shown above, the 2^nd generation Apple TV is tiny.  It’s a very plain black box with shiny sides and absolutely no buttons.  Hidden on the front is an IR receiver for the remote and a white LED that only lights up when you are using the box.  The back has all the connections.  The top is matte with a shiny Apple logo and the letters “tv”.  The bottom has a rubbery base.

The included remote is the standard tiny aluminum, 3-button remote you can buy separately from Apple to control multimedia functions on Apple computers, iPods, iPads, and iPhones.  The remote came with a coin-style battery already installed.  Be aware that surfing on a MacBook and using the Apple TV in the same room can be a pain.  My computer received and responded to all the commands I sent to the Apple TV box.

Hooking up the Apple TV was a snap.  I plugged in the HDMI cable to the back of the Apple TV; it was already attached to my TV since I had been using it for the cable box.  I already mentioned that I don’t have any speakers to connect.  I have a good, strong WiFi signal in my house, so I decided to use the device’s built-in wireless connectivity instead of an Ethernet cable.  The only other thing left was to connect the power cable and plug it in.

A note about using wireless:  Apple recommends a sustained 2.5Mbit/s or faster Internet connection for standard-definition programming and 6Mbit/s or faster connection for high-def programming.

I powered on the Apple TV and my television and began the process of connecting to my network.  Entering the password was a pain because I had to scroll around a matrix of alphanumeric characters with the navigation buttons on the remote.  I tried connecting an Apple Bluetooth keyboard, but it didn’t work.  Luckily, it only took two tries to enter my long password correctly.

Almost immediately after the network connection was established, I was notified an update was available.  I installed the update before continuing.

Here’s a photo of the menu on my television screen.  The first two options, “Movies” and “TV Shows”, are for watching video content from iTunes.  You can search easily through movies and TV shows available to buy or rent.  Of course, you’ll need an iTunes account for these functions.  I’ve watched a couple of movies and a few episodes from the sixth season of the Bones television show from iTunes now.  Even though we have an Internet connection that’s at least double the recommendation for high-def, we’ve always had a delay while the program caches.  Once I saw that it would take 2 hours for my program to be ready to watch, but it never actually takes that long – 5-10 minutes at most.  I just need to remember to rent my movie then go take a bathroom break and get a soda before I settle in to watch my program in the future.  Once the program was buffered and ready to begin, playback was smooth and uninterrupted.  The remote works well to control playback; you can pause/resume, fast-forward, and reverse.

The menu button on the remote has one function – to return you to the previous menu.  You have to back your way out through a tier of submenus to get to the home menu.  It would be nice to have one button that takes you all the way out.  There’s no power button on the remote, and the Apple TV doesn’t need one because you can’t turn it off.  I did find a “Sleep Now” option in the settings.  I suppose it is always powered on to preserve the Internet connection to shorten the time required to start watching programming.

My Flickr pictures

YouTube menu

Internet Radio menu

NBA menu

The third option on the home menu is “Internet.”  Here you can connect to Netflix, MLB.TV, NBA, YouTube, Podcasts, MobileMe, Flickr, and Radio.  You’ll need a paid subscription to watch programming on Netflix, MLB.TV, and NBA.  With YouTube, you can search for and watch videos; you can sign in to your account if you have one.  Podcasts and Radio give you access to programming available from the Internet.  Flickr lets you view pictures; you can log in to your account if you have one.  I don’t have a MobileMe account, so I couldn’t try this feature at all.  I’m sure it will be disappearing from the menu in the near future anyway.

Entering account information for Netflix setup

Netflix home menu

I do have a Netflix account.  I could connect to their programming by either registering the device with my account or by logging in to my account through Apple TV.  I decided to log in, so I had to use that matrix to enter my account information.  Luckily I only had to sign in once; the device remembered my login information.

Netflix Instant Queue

Netflix is where I have really put Apple TV to the test.  I probably have watched some other shows, too, but I watched the first five seasons of Bones in less than a month.  All those episodes of Bones were in HD.  There is only a few seconds delay before Netflix programming begins playing.  I had one episode freeze for a second or two, but everything else from Netflix played smoothly and with no glitches.

Menu for a Home Sharing computer

Music playback screen for a Home Sharing computer

The fourth option, “Computers”, shows a list of all the computers on your network that have shared their iTunes content through Home Sharing.  They all have to use the same iTunes accounts, too.  I only have one computer with iTunes on it, but I can connect to it through the Apple TV and access anything in my iTunes library.  I can play any home video files or those I bought from iTunes (and have stored on my computer) on my TV.  Buffering takes only a second or two and playback is smooth with the videos I’ve tried.  When I play back music, a progress bar and the album cover displays on my TV screen.  I can listen to audio books and podcasts or watch iTunes U programming stored on my computer.  I can also look at pictures that I have made available through iTunes.

Apple TV Settings options

Screen Saver setup

The fifth and final option, “Settings”, lets you set up functions of Apple TV – how it displays information on the screen, menu language, turn on subtitles, and select an output type for HDMI, etc.  You can make changes to your network settings, check for software updates, and pair up a new remote.  Here you can turn on Airplay and Home Sharing.  You can also set up a screen saver.  Finally, this is where you can put the Apple TV into sleep mode.  (Note:  the white LED on the front of Apple TV is off when the device is in sleep mode.)

Choosing Apple TV for Airplay on an iPad 2

We’ve discussed a lot of ways that you can get content on your TV using Apple TV, but we have one more to discuss.  With the Airplay function, you can play content from your iPod, iPhone, or iPad on your TV.  Turn on Airplay in setup to make the Apple TV available.  When you start playing content on your mobile device, you’ll see something that looks like a pyramid in front of a box.  Tap that and select that you want the content played through the Apple TV instead of the mobile device.  I was able to play music and videos from my iPad 2 on my television.  My photo app was able to display a slideshow on the television.  Airplay is not the same thing as mirroring.  Mirroring requires a special connector, and it displays everything from the iPad 2’s screen on the television.  Airplay turns off the playback on your mobile device and streams it wirelessly to the television through Apple TV.  You can multitask on your mobile device while you stream audio or video content to your television.

I couldn’t find anything in the documentation that said how much internal storage the Apple TV has.  There is no way to copy over content, so you can’t use the device for mass storage of your files.  There are no USB ports to connect an external drive for media storage, either.  Everything is either streamed from iTunes on your computer using Home Sharing, from your mobile devices using Airplay, or from the Internet.  There does seem to be some internal storage that’s used as a cache for streaming files.

All in all, I really enjoy the Apple TV.  I’ve had to restart it a couple of times in the past month, but it reboots very quickly and it remembers all my passwords when it reconnects.  It offers programming from iTunes, and no other multimedia box I know offers that.  I wish that it also offered Hulu+; maybe that will come with a future upgrade.  I guess it’s not that important because I’ve only had to enter data during setup, but it would have been nice to have a keyboard to enter account names and passwords.  I like that it’s a tiny box that fits easily on my cramped TV stand.  I think the Apple TV was $99 well spent.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Streaming, TV, Video

Apple TV (2nd Generation) Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 3, 2011 at 7:00 am.

The jury is still out on the verdict regarding the usage of 3D TV’s at home. In the meantime, Sony has showed additional usage for the capability of showing a different image to each eye — Dual-View. Dual-View enables two players to watch one screen, but to view two different images (instead of the split screen implementation in some games). The 24” display Sony presented at E3 can provide dual view in 3D to two players. It achieves this by supporting a 240Hz refresh rate, when each of the 4 separated pictures are being presented in 60Hz.  Providing a dual view might be a good reason to wear the special glasses.

The dual view idea is not new. Philips had presented a 3D TV with Dual-View capability in March. While this technology can enable two people to watch two different shows on the same TV, the sound track cannot be separated and therefore gaming is a good application. An even better application, and this time without the special glasses, is to enable the in-dash screen in a car to show different view to the driver and to the passenger. Several car manufacturers have presented the usage of a dual view capability in cara, including Mercedes SplitView technology (see picture below), which enable the driver to see the navigation instructions while the passenger can watch a movie. It will be interesting to see what additional use models the capabilities of the new displays will bring us.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Car Gear, News

Tagged: Car, TV

Sony shows 3D displays with Dual-View capability originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 21, 2011 at 10:00 am.

A good friend of mine needed a universal remote with RF to control his new media room.  All of his A/V equipment is behind his couch in the back of the room. He needed the remote for a few months and looked to me for a good tech-solution and a good deal as well. I immediately thought of the Logitech Harmony line of universal remotes. I love and continue to use the Harmony 900 I reviewed earlier this year.  But as the story goes, it was Black Friday 2010 and there was a great deal on Logitech’s Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote…..so I went for it.

My plan was for my buddy to have my Harmony 900 and for me to to play with and review the 1100. Other than my desire for a new tech-toy, the main reason he would be better off with the 900 is that it includes the RF accessories he needed to make his system work, whereas the 1100 does not include the RF Blaster system.

The Harmony 1100 was introduced back at CES 2009 and won Best of Innovations that year. Even now, at nearly two years old, this high-end universal remote remains Logitech’s ‘flagship’ remote-control.

The entire purpose of the Harmony 900, 1100, and other (universal) remotes like it, is to replace the ever growing mountain of remote controls with a single all-powerful/controlling device.

The rest of Logitech’s remotes are shaped classically, long and narrow like the 890 and 900 pictured above.

As you can see, the Harmony 1100 is wider than it is long. Where other remotes can be used one handed, the 1100 is designed to be effectively used by two hands. This is primarily because of its large 3.5-inch QVGA color touchscreen and lack of physical buttons.

Other than its unique design, the 1100 has a clean, easy-to-use layout; six buttons, two rockers, and a directional pad along with its touchscreen. The back is nicely shaped with a large indentation running down the center of the rubberized back of the remote, making it easy and comfortable to hold one handed and operate the buttons on the right which are directly under your thumb. However, the majority of the functionality of this remote is accessed through the touchscreen interface on the left.

I had a few bumps getting my 1100 setup and operational. The first hassle was one of my firewalls was not letting the Harmony application see the remote when I connected it to my computer. The Harmony FAQ page got me past that stumbling block relatively quickly. The second bump happened once I got the two talking, the application demanded that I create a new Logitech Harmony Remote account because my ‘old account is not compatible with the 1100′.  Because of that, it was not a 5 minute setup…..more like 30 minutes plus.

Package Contents:

• Harmony 1100 remote control
• Charging station
• USB cable
• AC adapter
• Lithium-ion battery
• Installation CD
• Quick-start guide
• Features guide
• 1-year limited hardware warranty

Features:

• One-touch activity controls
• 3.5-inch full-color touch screen
• Works with 225,000+ devices
• RF wireless capability
• Customizable commands and icons
• Guided web-based setup
• Replaces up to 15 remotes
• Rechargeable
• 1-year limited hardware warranty

Specifications:

• Computer: Windows-based PC with Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, Mac computer with Mac OS X (10.3 or later)
• Additional requirements: Internet access, USB port, CD-ROM drive
• Dimensions: (L x W x H) 5.48 x 4.09 x .68 inches
• Weight: 204 grams (with battery)

Once I created a new Harmony account, like the 900 and the 890 before it, I had to input all of my devices by manufacturer and model number. After completing that, I had to tell the application how my media system is setup and what ‘activities’ I needed it to control. The web-based application Logitech includes with their remotes leads you through programming of the device and tailoring the controls to each individual A/V setup. The account retains your preferences enabling you to tweak your remote’s programming at anytime without having to re-input all of your info.

The best feature of the Harmony 1100 is that you can tailor each of the screens for all your activities with whatever command you want.  For example, I added Comcast’s Menu and Guide commands to the side buttons on all my ‘Watch TV’ activity screens.

The 1100′s screen is nice enough and gets the job done. But it’s definitely not an iPhone’s or iPod Touch’s Retina Display. The screen is pixelated but functional.

Like Logitech’s Harmony 900, the 1100 universal remote definitely works as advertised. It interacted perfectly with my TV, receiver, cable box, and AppleTV. At $400, it is expensive. If you do not need or want the touch screen and programmable layout, there are less expensive options; such as Logitech’s Harmony One that can be found on the Net for under $200. To end my story, my buddy loves the Harmony 900 I gave him, and I guess I am still adjusting to the 1100′s form factor and touchscreen interface.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews

Tagged: IR Remote, TV

Logitech Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 9, 2011 at 12:00 pm.

Although I’m not a big sports fan, I live in Indiana and am surrounded by basketball fanatics. With March Madness getting underway, the people at PC Tools are releasing details from an interesting survey that they recently conducted. Would it surprise you to learn that the number one place where people check the scores of their favorite teams is a work? Ok, that didn’t surprise me either. But get this… the 2nd most popular place to check scores is on the toilet! Ummmm…. ick! For more info after the jump on this poll and tips for online activity during the season.

PC Tools™:  1 in 4 Americans Online During March College
Basketball Championships

Work cited as the favorite place to check scores online,
followed by on the toilet and while driving

San Francisco, March 10, 2011: Online activity spikes this Sunday as the tournament brackets are announced. College basketball fever hits as fans go crazy researching teams and players for their top pool “winning picks.” Today, PC Tools™ announced the findings of its March college basketball survey conducted by TNS Global.  The national independent omnibus poll of 1,000 U.S. adults reveals online behaviors related to March’s big college basketball tournament and the results show that Americans are watching games or viewing sports-related content online.

­   Nearly one in four Americans (24.4%) report they are online while watching basketball on TV, with men watching up to three hours a day of sports games or highlights on their computers.

­   Fans are increasingly watching games online, with over 41% citing the convenience over TV, followed by less advertising (24.5%), being at work (18.6%) and favoring the interactive capabilities of watching sports online (13.9%).

­   The most common online activity while watching basketball on TV is chatting with friends via instant messaging, followed by watching online shows and videos, and of course, trash-talking through social networking. Other popular online activities included flirting, checking statistics, looking at betting lines and hooking up.

­   When it came to the best spot to check scores, the number one place was at work, especially for those under fifty. The toilet was the second favorite place to check scores, especially with those under thirty.  Sports fans also checked scores when driving, when someone wants to talk about feelings, in arguments with a significant other or when their boss was talking. Church was the least popular place to check scores.

“Our survey findings show that college basketball fans are online constantly during the championships. They need a good defense against cybercriminals lurking online with credit card scams, spreading malware through social networks, or installing bots to steal your personal data or identity,” said Morgan Hudson, PC Tools Director of Marketing.  “People can defend themselves by making sure their online protection software, like PC Tools™ Internet Security 2011, is running with real-time updates.”

“Sports fans want their online news, highlights and stats immediately without any lags or delays,” Hudson added. “They can speed up their PC and give their system a powerful boost simply by using performance software like PC Tools™ Performance Toolkit 2011.”

To ensure the best tournament experience, PC Tools recommends six tips to avoid the madness.

TIP OFF TO COURTSIDE EXCITEMENT, PROTECTION AND PERFORMANCE

BLOCK OUT POP-UP ADS AND VIDEOS

Avoid clicking pop –up ads and videos promoting “cheerleaders,” “watch game replays” or “player or celebrity” ads or apps because they may download viruses or other malware. Run up-to-date antivirus software to keep your systems safe and protected. PC Tools Internet Security 2011 protects against web-based attacks like phishing attempts and malicious downloads before they infect your system.

PICK AND ROLL THREATS BEFORE THEY ATTACK

As fans furiously research the teams, players and bracket predictions, they may click on less reputable sports sites. These sites may launch spyware, malware and other malicious exploits to attack users.  Browser Defender protects against web-based attacks like phishing attempts and malicious downloads before they infect your system.

BOX OUT FAKE AV ALERTS WHILE BROWSING

While checking the latest brackets and scores, do not click on the pop up alerts “You’re Not Protected, Install Antivirus Protection. Click Here.” These are fake AV programs with malicious spyware, malware and bots that infect your system and steal your personal information.

SLAM DUNK SUSPICIOUS MESSAGES

When a friend sends you a link or a strange message via IM or a social network site, don’t click on the link – especially if it has an .exe suffix or a foreign country suffix from top malware-producing countries like China or Russia (.cn and .ru).  Hidden malware can creep into your system so set your automatic security scans.

FAST BREAK WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE

Top athletes and division winning teams work out to maintain strength and speed on the courts. PC optimization software, like PC Tools Performance Toolkit 2011, improves performance and optimizes browsers for optimal use.

CRUSH OPPONENTS WITH A POWERFUL DEFENSE

Prevent cyber criminals from taking your credit card and other personal information via scams and drive-by-downloads. Install real-time security and firewall software to block unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer. Use PC Tools Spyware Doctor Antivirus 2011 and PC Tools™ Firewall Plus 7 available on www.pctools.com

About the TNS Global Survey

This survey was conducted by TNS between February 17 – 20, 2011 on the Online Express Omnibus among 1,000 adults age 18 years and over.

About PC Tools

PC Tools is dedicated to building and supplying consumers with simple, effective and affordable PC protection and performance tools.  For over twelve years, we have offered industry-leading and award-winning products to tackle the world’s evolving threats and security challenges.

Follow us on Twitter at @pctools or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PCTools

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: Sports, TV

PC Tools says that 1 in 4 are online during March Madness games originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 10, 2011 at 9:30 am.

Remember Lynda Carter in the 1970′s television series The New Adventures of Wonder Woman (1975–79)??? She and Lindsay Wagner, as the Bionic Woman, were every school boy’s dream back in the seventies. Well, like the Bionic Woman, NBC has just announced they will be remaking Wonder Woman (at least the pilot) for this Fall (seems like no past show is safe….but that is a whole other discussion).

Anyone heard any rumors (or have any bets) on who will be playing the new Diana Prince???

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: TV

Wonder Woman’s back…..NBC this Fall originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 25, 2011 at 1:00 pm.

For over 5 months last year, I used my iMac as my TV while my basement was being remodeled. During that time, I was able to keep up on all my favorite shows using Hulu and ‘other methods’. Although I did miss not having live TV, it wasn’t that bad and I really didn’t miss having to pay $90 to DirecTV for each of those 5 months. Once the remodel was completed, I turned DirecTV back on,  but have continued to keep an eye out for an easy to use, low cost alternative that will allow me to watch my favorite content on my big screen TV. The latest solution that I’m trying out is the Boxee Box from D-Link. Boxee software has been around for PCs, Macs and Linux machines for quite awhile, but the Boxee Box is the first all-in-one hardware / software solution that connects to your TV. Let’s check it out.

Hardware Specifications

Dimensions (LxWxH): 4.5″ x 4.5″ x 4.6″
Language Support: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Network Protocol Support: IPV4, ARP, TCP, UDP, ICMP, DHCP Client, DNS Client, DDNS Client, HTTP Server, Samba Client, RTP/RTMP, VPN: PPTP, DLNA 1.5 (DMP)
Wireless: 802.11n/g/b
Ports: HDMI 1.3, 10/100 Fast Ethernet, 2x USB 2.0, Optical Audio (S/PDIF), Analog Audio (RCA L/R)
Memory Card Support: SD, SDHC up to 32GB, MMC
Audio Formats: MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AIF/AIFF, AC3/AAC, OGG, FLAC, Dolby Digital/Dolby True HD
Video Formats: Adobe Flash 10.1, FLV/On2 VP6 (FLV/FV4/M4V), H.264 AVC (TS/AVI/MKV/MOV/M2TS/MP4), VC-1 (TS/AVI/MKV/WMV), MPEG-1 (DAT/MPG/MPEG), MPEG-2 (MPG/MPEG/VOB/TS/TP/ISO/IFO), MPEG-4 (MP4/AVI/MOV), DivX 3/4/5/6 (AVI/MKV), Xvid (AVI/MKV), WMV9 (WMV/ASF/DVR-MS)
Image Formats: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF
Playlist Formats: M3U, PLS, WPL
Subtitle Formats: SRT, SUB, SSA, SMI, ASS
Supported Resolutions: H.264: 1080p at 30 fps, 1080i at 60 fps; WMV9/VC-1: 1080p at 30 fps, 1080i at 60 fps; MPEG4: 1080p at 30 fps, 1080i at 60 fps; MPEG2: 1080p at 30 fps, 1080i at 60 fps

Package Contents

Boxee Box
HDMI Cable
AC Power Adapter
Remote Control with Full QWERTY keypad
Install Guide

The physical design of the Boxee is unique. It looks like a cube that is sinking into the surface below it. The box is made of Black plastic, with one shiny side and the rest matte. The shiny side has the Boxee logo, which glows a Greenish Yellow when powered on and Red when in sleep mode. The bottom of the Boxee has a neon Green rubber non-slip surface.

The Boxee has excellent expansion options, including an SD card slot on the Right side.

The power button is located on top.

All the connections are located on the back. There are 2 USB ports, that you can use to connect USB hard drives and/or flash drives to play your existing content. You can also connect to your network via Ethernet or WiFi. To connect to your TV, you will need to use the included HDMI cable and if needed, the optical or RCA audio jacks. Most video streaming devices include component or composite video connections, I think the Boxee is the first one I’ve seen that only offers HDMI. I’m perfectly ok with that as I like just using one cable to connect to my AV receiver for both video and audio.

You also get a small RF remote control. The top surface of the control has a 4-way directional pad with an enter button in the center. There are two other buttons for play/pause and menu.

But flip the remote over and you will find a full QWERTY keyboard. Instead of using an onscreen cursor to type in search critera, you get a regular keyboard. The rubber keys are small, but they have good tactile feedback and get the job done. My only wish is that the remote was lighted. In a dim room, it’s hard to see the letters on the keys.

Connecting the Boxee to my home theater setup took me a total of 10 minutes, with the majority of that time being devoted to fishing the AC adapter and HDMI wires around and through various openings in my custom enclosure. I only connected two wires – the included HDMI cable from the Boxee to my Onkyo AV receiver and the AC adapter to a power outlet. I’m not sure you can get any simpler than that.

Once connected, I pressed the power button on the Boxee and switched to that input on my receiver. When the Boxee finished booting, it immediately found my WiFi network and asked if I wanted to connect. A simple button press for Yes, and it then let me optimize my screen size. The last step asked me to either setup a Boxee account or login with an existing account. That’s all there is to the setup. It’s fast, it’s easy and painless.

The Home screen is an uncluttered view of the 6 main ways to watch content and a scrolling thumbnail view of featured videos.

Friends is the social part of Boxee. It allows you to watch stuff that your Facebook and Twitter friends are sharing.
Watch Later is exactly what it sounds like.  You can install a bookmarklet in the web browser of your desktop or laptop and mark videos to watch at a later time on your TV.
Shows and Movies should be easy enough to figure out… They are local and internet TV shows and Movie content.
Apps are special interfaces to popular content like Pandora, YouTube, TED, etc.
Files is a file browser for attached (USB, SD) or networked content.

There’s no shortage of things to watch on Boxee, but of course, the question is, is that content ‘good’ content? One of my criteria is the ability to find the latest episodes of my favorite shows, like I can with Hulu. Choosing the Shows option, you’re greeted with a scrollable thumbnail view of the latest TV shows. You can sort this list alphabetically if you like. You can also flip your remote over and start typing the name of a show to search for that show.

Clicking on a show’s thumbnail will then display the available episodes for that show. As you scroll the list, you will see the title, description and run time for the show. If you want to watch it, you just click Play on the remote.

Depending on where the show is coming from, the resulting video might start playing in a web browser interface like you see here. When this happens, you have two options. Sometimes you can press the menu button on the remote and then press the enter button to go to full screen mode. When that doesn’t work, you’ll have to move the onscreen cursor (see the arrow on Mayhem’s left arm in the image above?).

You’ll need to use the arrow keys on the remote to move the cursor to the appropriate onscreen button to change the video to full screen mode. This can be an annoyingly slow operation.

Once in full screen mode, the video (depending on the source) looks pretty darn good on my 55 inch TV.

But again, depending on the source and if you’re connected via hardwire Ethernet or wifi, you may encounter problems with buffering. That’s where the video will play for a few minutes and then pause as it loads more of the currently playing video.

But like I mentioned above, the whole thing is finding the stuff you want to watch. For me that’s current and semi current TV shows. I had problems finding full episodes of most of my favorite shows. For example, searching American Idol only showed snippets and clips of old stuff. Same for Grey’s Anatomy, Biggest Loser, Worst Cooks in America, and more. Yes, there are lots of shows that are available, but don’t think you’re going to be able to watch every show on TV for free on your Boxee. It’s not going to happen. Sometimes you’ll see a list of episodes on Boxee and when you choose one, you’ll be prompted to buy/rent it. I’ve seen this with Vudu.

It’s really a shame that Hulu isn’t available for Boxee…

Watching and finding movies is comparable to watching and finding TV shows. There are a lot of free movies, but you get what you pay for.

At this time Netflix is not available for Boxee. But Vudu is available for Boxee and it might be even better than Netflix because there’s no monthly subscription fee and they get movies the day the DVD is released. The video and audio quality is fantastic.

Vudu is one of the many free apps that you can install. There are apps for all sorts of content that you would typically visit a website to view. There are apps for Flickr, YouTube, DiggNation, and many more.

One of my favorite features of the Boxee Box is the ability to mark videos on my desktop and laptop for viewing later through the Boxee on my big screen TV. All you have to do is install the Watch Later bookmarklet in your web browser. Then as you surf and find a video that you want to watch later, just click the bookmarklet button.

Then when you check your Watch Later list on the Boxee, the marked videos will appear there.

Just click and watch. The only thing I wish it would do would be to automatically remove the videos once you’ve watched them. Instead, you have to manually remove them.

It’s important to note that you won’t be able to resume playback of online video if you stop playing and exit out of the video. If you come back to the video, it will restart it from the beginning. This isn’t a problem with local (USB, SD, networked file shares) content though. Those files can be resumed.

The Boxee Box is all about watching video content from the Internet, but don’t forget that it’s also a very capable viewer of your local content too. You can attach a USB hard drive, USB thumb drives or SD cards with video, music and pictures and the Boxee will show the media on your big screen TV.

I tested streaming video from another computer in my house via WiFi and had no problems with pausing or buffering even when I streamed a 4GB 720p movie. I had the same experience playing video on attached USB hard drives and SD cards. The best part is that you tell Boxee to keep an eye on certain networked folders or attached storage and it will automatically scan those places for new content and will present the found video and music files with the same type of thumbnail images and descriptions that it does the online TV shows and movies.

I’ve been using the Boxee Box for a few weeks now and have enjoyed testing it. The ability to explore lots of online content is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s easy to get distracted by all the content just like we do when we’re surfing web pages. I’ve found the Boxee lacking when it comes to having the ability to find and play the full episodes of all my favorite shows. When Hulu becomes available, that should be less of an issue. For movies, Boxee really shines when used with the Vulu application. Netflix fans are upset that the Netflix app hasn’t been launched yet, but for me, Vudu is a better choice. Boxee also shines for playing your local video files. It had no problems playing all the video formats I could through at it.

All in all, I like the Boxee quite a bit, but I think it still needs some work as far as providing the apps that a lot of people really want (Hulu and Netflix) so that they can dump their cable or satellite box. For me, it is a very nice alternative to the Popcorn Hour C-200, which takes a up a lot more space. For playing movies and local content, it’s my new best friend. But for playing TV shows, it doesn’t quite cut it and I won’t be cutting the cord to my DirecTV. At least anytime soon.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews

Tagged: Streaming, TV, Video

D-Link Boxee Box Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 24, 2011 at 3:00 pm.

One of the common challenges in the living room is to find the remote control. What if we could use our hands to control the TV, then we would always have a remote control in hand. This is the technology that PrimeSense is trying to drive. We know PrimeSense as the technology behind Xbox Kinect. However, PrimeSense technology is not only for games. Microsoft showed how to use the Xbox Kinect for controlling the media you have on the Xbox (like, Hulu plus and Netflix). In addition to that, PrimeSense will work with Asus to introduce the Wavi Xtion, which will enable you to play content from the PC on the TV and control it with your hands. If this technology succeeds, then we might soon see the PrimeSense technology in the Apple TV, Roku or the cable boxes.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, News

Tagged: Remote Control, TV

Using your hands to control the TV originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 9, 2011 at 9:43 am.

I was almost ready to dismiss this stick on light as a lame product, until I thought about all the times that I squint to see the buttons on my TV remote controls. Hmmmm… it might look a bit dorky, but it could actually come in handy. The Pop-up Microlite is a nickel sized stick on LED light for your non-backlit remotes. Stick it on using the 3M adhesive and then press it so it pops up to illuminate the buttons. When you’re finished with it, press it back down to turn off the light. You can buy one for $9.99 or a set of three for $19.99.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: Spotlight Gadgets, TV

See the buttons on your TV remote with the Pop-up Microlite originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 6, 2010 at 5:29 pm.

The new iGUGU Gamecore controller offers PC and Mac gamers a compact wireless motion sensing controller that incorporates a trackball, direction pad, joystick, programmable action buttons, and full QWERTY keyboard. It also comes with a transciever that will allow you to connect your PC or Mac to your HD TV for a big screen gaming experience. The Gamecore is compatible with 97% of existing PC and Mac games, as well as 100% of online games. It’s priced at $99.00 and is available now.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Gaming Gear, News

Tagged: Spotlight Gadgets, TV, Video Game

Play your fave PC / Mac games on your big screen TV originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 3, 2010 at 4:56 pm.

Are you trying to decide which hardware option is best for you for adding internet capability to your TV? Do you go with the new Apple TV or Google TV? What about the Popcorn Hour or Seagate FreeAgent TV HD Media Player? All of these solutions have their good and bad points, but all of them have one thing in common. They restrict what you can and can’t access on the net. For example, none of them allow you to access Hulu (without some hacking). That’s why I’ve been considering the purchase of the new Mac mini. It’s a full blown computer with HDMI out and with it, I can pretty much view anything I like on my 55″ Samsung LED TV. The only ‘problem’ is the price – $700. Ouchy. But now I’ve learned of yet another potential solution. It’s The Wave. It’s a WiFi enabled 8×10 inch box that is powered by Linux and can be controlled by your iPad, iPhone, and other wireless remote controllers. The price starts at $349, but there are some gotchas. It isn’t compatible with Netflix or iTunes and it doesn’t have an HDMI port. Hmmm, the Mac mini keeps looking better and better. What do you guys think?

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, News

Tagged: Spotlight Gadgets, TV

The Wave – Is it your ticket to surfing the net on your TV? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 1, 2010 at 10:00 am.

I’m always on the look out for new TV shows that feature gadgets and technology and of course, I like to share what I find with all of you. So make sure you set your DVRs for tonight (10/22/10) at 10pm ET for the Dean of Invention show on the Planet Green channel. The host is none other than Segway inventor Dean Kamen. The show follows him as he jets around the world to meet with leading scientists, doctors and inventors to bring us cool info on breakthrough scientific advancements. The first episode is all about nanobots and bionics.

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: TV

Dean Kamen gets his own TV show originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 22, 2010 at 11:30 am.

Sony has just announced a remote control for kids. The RM-KZ1 is splash proof and features locked down battery and programming compartments. It allows parents to control channel availability by programming up to seven “favorites” buttons. It also has a “volume limiting” feature that does not allow volume to be changed +/- 3 steps within 30 seconds. The RM-KZ1 can control up to two components (TV – Sat/Cable). Itl is currently available at Target Stores and online at both www.target.com for $14.99

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Kid Gadgets, News

Tagged: Kids, Remote, Spotlight Gadgets, TV

Sony Introduces New Universal Children’s Remote Control originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 20, 2010 at 2:30 pm.

The next time you want to show the video from your iPhone or iPad on a large screen, grab the Scosche sneakPEEK II cable. It features both component & composite cable connections. Sorry, no HDMI though. The cables have 24k gold plated tips for enhanced durability and superior audio quality. It also features an integrated micro USB cable to allows users to charg their device during playback. The sneakPEEK II is available now at scosche.com for 59.99.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, iPhone, iPad, iPod related, News

Tagged: Cable, iPad, iPhone, Spotlight Gadgets, TV

Scosche sneakPEEK II Cable Outputs iPad and iPhone Video to your TV originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 8, 2010 at 11:00 am.

If you’re a geek that also loves to mod things, you’ve probably heard of Benjamin J. Heckendorn (aka Ben Heck). He’s the guy that has created all sorts of crazy portable systems out of bigger non-portable console systems. He’s a king among do-it-yourselfers and he now has his own bi-weekly show on Element14. “The Ben Heck Show,” hosted by Ben Heck, takes a light-hearted, fun approach to modding. The first episode premiered a few days ago and features Ben’s mod of an Xbox game controller for a gamer that lost the use of one of his hands. The show also highlight projects inspired by the modder community and on going larger projects like a portable Xbox system.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, News

Tagged: Geek, Modding, TV

Ben Heck now has his own TV Show originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 17, 2010 at 10:00 am.

The Cirago TV Pro CTP1000 Multimedia Player is a slick device that lets you play a wide variety of digital media on your TV. This sounded like the perfect thing for me- I have a bunch of photos, videos, and music scattered over several computers and it would be nice to store them all in way that lets me easily view them on my TV set.

The Cirago TV Pro is a smallish unit- only 10x6x1.8″, which makes it reasonably portable. It can handle a variety of media formats- MPEG1, MPEG2 and MPEG4 for video, MP3 and WMA audio, and JPEG images. It comes with either a 500Gb or 1Tb hard drive and includes jacks or ports for for USB-B, USB, HDMI, A/V RCA (yellow, red, and white cords), Composite RCA, and a slot for SD, MMC, and MS cards.

Rear view- several connection options

Inside the box is the main player, a remote, batteries, a USB to USB Type B cable, A/V and Composite RCA cables and even a nice long HDMI cable. One of my favorite kinds of power jacks, the skinny ones that share outlets on the power strip nicely, finishes off the contents.

Connecting to the computer is like connecting any other storage device and my older Windows XP desktop recognized it immediately. The transfer speeds seemed quick with the included USB-USB/B cable.

I could not tell from the manual or website if there was a preferred file structure or anything for the contents. As it turned out, this may be something that needs more research but we’ll get to all that later.

I choose the HDMI cable to connect to the TV so it would not have to fight with the other things hooked up, and installation was a snap. Turn the unit on, turn the TV to HDMI1, and give it a second to load- viola!

You are presented with a simple, but nicely done, menu- photos, music, videos, files, and settings. Click on the one you want and wait… and wait… and wait… It takes forever to search for all of the chosen file types- and the only way I found to interrupt a search was to cold crash the unit. More distressingly, it searches anew each… and… every… time. OK, so it finally eventually, after several long minutes, loads up and you can play. (We will revisit the searches later.)

Photos

You can just select one image from a series of thumbnails to look at, almost like a screen saver, or you can set it to slideshow. The slideshow even has several transitions options, including a Music + Photos version. I loaded it with a large folder full of photos taken by several cameras over several years as well as downloaded images. It did not recognize all of them but caught the vast majority of them. The on-screen images were very nice and vibrant, within the limits of things like pixel count and type of TV.

OK, this is a media player, so don’t expect a lot of finesse- it does not allow for things like rotation or editing, and it tends to stretch pictures out to fit the screen (this may be correctable in the settings, but not that I have found yet.) I was unable to get the Music + Photos version to play, probably due to too many files loaded. I was also frustrated at the inability to find a way to just show a specific folder or category of photo.

Music

Sound quality will of course be based on that of your system, in my case, it sounded very nice.

This is not a dedicated MP3 player, so it does not do playlists, shuffle play, album covers, etc. It also lists your music by file name and does not sort by artist, album, etc.

Videos

This is the strong selling point of the TVPro- it plays videos beautifully! It is nearly as easy as playing a DVD and the images are great (again, limited by the video quality and your TV). These files are listed by file name again, but this is not as awkward here as it is in other areas. The remote is well-designed for DVD-like video play.

Overall

This is a fun unit that is easy to use and offers some great entertainment- especially if you use it wisely.

Because it does not seem to have much in the way of an internal organization, it would seem to work best with fewer files on it- it appears to me to be designed more to hold a smaller number of larger files, like movies, etc. I loaded it with just heaps of stuff and the search times were running five minutes or more each time. Avoid over-loading it with a lot of small files. After all, you can always run more stuff from a thumb drive or card!

The remote is chock full of almost identical small buttons that can be tricky in low light conditions, and has a couple of niggling things- like I cannot find how to hit the ‘yes, delete this file’ command- but it is not a big deal.

If you want to play all those movies from your hard drive on a bigger, better screen- this is a great device for you!

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, Reviews

Tagged: multimedia, TV

Cirago TV Pro Multimedia Player Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 11, 2010 at 9:00 am.

I’ve said this numerous times, but I’ll say it again – I’m a TV junkie. Reality TV, medical dramas, regular dramas, comedies, movies, cooking shows, you name it, I watch it. For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed these shows from my DirecTV satellite DVR on a huge 65″ RPTV. But one month ago I sold the TV and had DirecTV put a hold on my service for a few months. Did I suddenly decide that TV was rotting my brain and make the choice to disconnect for awhile? Ummmm, no On the contrary, I’m doing a complete remodel of my basement and had to clear everything out in anticipation for the work. At first I didn’t know how I would survive without my shows, but it didn’t take me long to figure out an alternative – one that is working out way better than I expected.

While many houses have multiple TVs, we’ve only ever had the one set at my house. No TV in the kitchen or bedroom. Just the big Mitsubishi in the basement living room. To give you an idea of just how much TV we watch, here’s a list of our must see shows for the week:

Big Bang Theory, How I met your Mother, Good Wife, Amazing Race, Survivor, Mercy, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Biggest Loser, American Idol, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Lost, Celebrity Apprentice, Desperate Housewives, Dancing with the Stars, 20/20, Vampire Diaries, Modern Family, Happy Town, and probably a lot more that I can’t remember… Yes, that’s quite a few shows. A waste of time? Some probably think so… but it’s how I like to relax after a stressful day at work.

The first weekend after we sold the TV, I was wondering how we would be able to keep up with our favorite shows and what we’d do in the evenings. My first idea was to use my Macbook Pro sitting on the coffee table to play rented DVDs from Netflix. But then I had a much better idea… I would move my main computer, a 27″ iMac upstairs and would use the MBP as my main computer in the interim. 65″ to 27″ is a big step down, but it’s not nearly as bad as 15″.

The iMac’s display would work perfectly as a TV, but how to get content would be the next hurdle. First I tried a USB TV Tuner connected to my 30 foot TV tower. I had high hopes that I would be able to pull in HDTV network broadcasts over the air from the Indianapolis stations. Unfortunately, that idea fell through. The only station that would come in halfway decently was a CW station and it would pause every 15-20 seconds.

My next idea was to use Hulu. I had played around with Hulu a couple years ago and found it to be fun, but I thought it was mainly for watching older shows and not a way to view the latest and greatest. Boy was I wrong!

If you’ve never heard of Hulu before (do you live under a rock?), it’s a web based video streaming site that has TV shows and Movies that can be watched for free.

When you look up the title of a show, you will see the different episodes that are available to watch.

I figured we could use it to at least watch some old classic shows. But then I discovered that if you create an account, you can subscribe to shows and have the site send you an email when a new episode becomes available. I then did a quick search and it turned out that about 75% of my current favorite shows were available on the site. Jackpot!

Unfortunately Hulu doesn’t have all the major network shows we watch though. It seems like they carry most, if not all ABC shows, but no Fox shows and they only offer links to shows on CBS that then stream from CBS’s website.

You also need to know that you won’t be able to watch the shows live or even the same day. They usually turn up on Hulu within 12hrs or so though.

When you find what you want to watch on Hulu, clicking on the thumbnail will start streaming the show. There’s an even an icon to make it full screen.

Clicking icons and playback controls is the first semi-annoyance I ran into. Using the GlideTV wireless remote helped a lot, but even with the cursor enlarged to the maximum size, it is still hard to click the tiny Play/Pause controls using Hulu’s built in web player when you’re sitting 8-10 feet awhile from the display. I didn’t complain too much though as I was super happy to have a way to watch my favorite TV shows. I actually used this method for 2-3 weeks until I found an even better method…

I had tweeted something about watching shows on my Mac and someone tweeted back that I should check out an OS X app called Plex. I’m very glad that I took his advice!

Plex is a wonderful media center application that will allow you to play video, music and display images. It also has an app store with free add-ons for viewing internet content from Hulu, Netflix, MTV, HGTV and lots more.

It takes full advantage of Apple’s $19 Remote, which I had ordered months ago but had never even opened the packaging. Using this remote with Plex is infinitely more user friendly than using the GlideTV with Hulu’s web interface because the text is large and you are not required to move a cursor around the screen.

The first thing I did was install the Hulu app, which takes almost no time to do. Then you plugin your Hulu user name and password and you’re all set to watch the shows in your queue.

It even shows a large thumbnail for each show as you scroll though your queue list and also displays the length of time for each episode.

Of course it also offers full screen mode.

Pausing and Playing is super easy with the Apple remote and allows you to easily see how far along you are in the program. There are a few caveats though. You can’t (as far as I can tell) skip forwards or backwards in a show. Resuming playback if you exit out of the app and come back in doesn’t work even though it asks if you would like to resume. Also watching Hulu shows through Plex doesn’t mark those shows as watched, which is kind of a bummer. These small annoyances are easy to live with when you don’t really have an alternative though

I have been very happy with the performance of Plex and Hulu. Overall picture and audio quality have been very good… although I do have the volume on the iMac set to maximum. I expected playback (via WiFi) to suffer from start and stop problems like I sometimes see when I watch YouTube videos. Luckily, this has been a very rare occurrence. It might happen a couple of times a week if that. We’ve even been watching a show streaming via WiFi while surfing on two other computers via WiFi at the same time and have not had any issues. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me considering that my T1 line is only 1.500Mbps up/down.

I would have no problems saying good bye to DirecTV for good, if Hulu or some other service had live network streaming. But I really miss being able to watch shows like Survivor and American Idol live. Watching delayed broadcasts of reality shows can be a pain because I don’t want to accidentally hear who was voted off before I see the show

Anyone else ditch cable or satellite service for Hulu?

Filed in categories: Articles, Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: Hulu, iMac, TV

How I’m using my iMac as my only TV originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 6, 2010 at 12:50 pm.

For those of you with Comcast Analog service, you probably are aware that Comcast will be dropping most of its analog signals and will move to an all-digital delivery in a few months.  Comcast has begun rolling out digital set-top boxes (aka Digital Control Transceiver, Digital Cable Box, etc.) to analog customers and I received mine last week.

Digital cable will offer some new amenities but, as you can tell from reading various on-line bulletin board forums, it will also remove at least two very important services for some existing Comcast analog customers: high-definition local broadcasts; and the ability to do time-shift programming with a VCR/DVR easily and without added monthly fees.

Not all analog customers will be adversely affected, but I think that there are enough out there who, like me, appreciate having cable but not enough to pay extra for local HD and certainly not for a DVR monthly service.  In that light, I offer to anyone interested my report for the previous week-end in setting up my new (old) Motorola 2000DCT digital cable box and trying to solve the second item above (time-shift recording).  And the fun times that ensued.  I will report back later on the high-definition problem.  Maybe.

Even MORE remotes! Go Digital !

First I’m going to present some very high-level depictions of what is going on with the signal swap-over.  These diagrams are not to scale and are meant as a means to grok the basic idea.  They represent about 2% of what’s going on, but hopefully kind of gives you the idea.
For starters, here is a key that shows the two basic signal types:  analog and digital.  Analog signals take up more room than digital, that is one of the reasons for the swap: you can actually cram more stuff into a digital signal.  In this figure, we are assuming there are three basic channels: FOX, CNN, and TLC.  For the remaining diagrams we are assuming that we want to tune in the TLC channel.

Analog vs Digital Channel "key"; three channels are represented here, three in analog and the same three in digital

The two diagrams below show what most of us  analogger’s have currently: the basic analog signal coming out of the wall and run into either a TV or VCR/DVR.  We ignore the digital signal in these illustrations.

Typical analog cable subscriber

Typical analog cable subscriber with a VCR in the loop

So for the most part the above is how analoggers control their signals.  With the upcoming switch to “all digital” on the Comcast network, however, a new cable box enters the mix with conceptually a digital to analog (D/A) converter.  Again, a high-level concept:

TV and cable box, only digital signals pass through and are converted to analog. The TV must be tuned to channel 3.

Cable box with VCR in loop. Cable box can be tuned to channel 12, TV AND VCR must be on channel 3.

So this last picture should highlight the trouble with the VCR issue: the VCR has to be set at channel 3 and only the cable box controls which channel is passed through.  The VCR no longer can be used to change channels (remember, it has to stay on channel 3) and you can no longer use the VCR to do automatic timed recordings to different channels, i.e. tape, for example, “The Simpsons” on FOX at 07:00 PM and then tape “Larry King” on CNN at 08:00.

Comcast-supplied cable box (bottom) set to channel 12

The channel changing has to be performed by the cable box which does not (or may not– depending on your box) have a means to do a timed automatic channel change.  So my VCR is practically useless except for manual recording of stuff.  And, as I mentioned, I don’t want to be burdened with more monthly fees from services such as TiVo.  Also, I don’t have super high-speed internet so watching and recording over the internet is not an option.
So what are the alternatives?

1. Tune the cable box to the channel that you want taped ahead of time and set the VCR to tape channel 3 as a regular timed recording.  Too limiting.  Too hard to remember to set the cable box ahead of time.
2. Get a Comcast-provided DVR machine and pay a monthly fee for time-shift recording.  ($16 a month).  Too expensive.
3. Get a Comcast-provided cable box that has time-shifted channel changing feature.  This allows you to program the cable box to change channels at the correct time.  You then have to also set up your VCR to time-shift record channel 3 at the right times.  This sounded promising.  But the cable box that Comcast provided to me did not have this feature.
4. Get a Comcast-provided cable box that has an IR blaster feature.  This allows you to program the cable box to do time-shift channel changes AND the cable box blasts the IR commands to the VCR that are needed to stop and start recording.  Very promising.  In fact it turns out that the cable box that Comcast sent to me does have an IR blaster port.  But the feature has been disabled by the Comcast firmware.  Strike four.
5. Request Comcast to swap out your cable box for one with the IR blaster feature that IS enabled.  And works.  How have your calls to your local Comcast office gone in the past?  My opinion here after on-line chatting with several tech reps is that few understand the problem and I didn’t want to have to take off work, go swap out a box, re-connect everything, find out it doesn’t do what I wanted and can’t be enabled, yada yada yada . . .
6. Cobble up an old PC into a media center, install a TV tuner card, add an IR blaster, set up an internet connection to control it, . . . ok forget that one too
7. Get a VCR that has an IR blaster feature.  This allows you to program the VCR to do time-shift recording and the VCR blasts the IR commands to the cable box to change the channels at the time of recording.    Promising.  But where can I find a VCR with that feature?  It’s not easy to find one on-line.   It is equally impossible too, once you find one on-line, to tell if it will be compatible with your cable box.

I finally went with option number 7: purchase a new VCR with an IR blaster.  I actually found one at Best Buy, the Samsung DVD-VR375 for $175.  If you opt for this type of approach, it is probably best to check out the in-stock devices for several reasons:  First just to confirm for yourself that the machine in question does in fact have an IR blaster (also called a Set Top Box Control port); and to allow yourself to return the device if it does not control your cable box properly.  Another tip for this option:  As it turns out, the Samsung model I purchased does not have an internal tuner, but given that tuning is now done a la the cable box I didn’t consider that an issue for myself.  You might have different opinions on that, however.

Another part of the weekend fun: The On-Demand channel; never did find out what was causing this

I was just glad to find a recorder IN TOWN and IN STOCK although, oddly, they were all open-box returns!  I think people had returned them because they may not have realized that the machines did not have an internal tuner.  One goofy point about this solution:  you have to leave the cable box left on so that the VCR can change the channels.  In the morning, you’ll have forgotten all about it and as you fumble to the living room you will press the Comcast remote control’s “ALL ON” button and voila — the TV turns on and the cable box turns off.  From thus experience came the title of this report.  Arggggh.

Rear of VCR (top) and its IR blaster port; on the bottom is the cable box with its disabled IR blaster port

Close up of IR blaster set in front of the IR sensor on the cable box. The VCR can change the channel on the cable box this way.

All On sends a signal to each of the products (cable box, VCR, and TV) but, if the cable box were left on overnight in order to facilitate a timed recording, the switch turns OFF the cable box and turns ON the TV. Explain that to your 77 year old mom. "I can't get this #@$& TV off of channel 3!"

So I have a solution for recording multiple channels at different times.  It’s not perfect, but isn’t that was progress is for?  Er . . .   wait a minute .  . .

UPDATE

I gave in on the HD problem and just subscribed to HD. Now I have another box and yet another annoying message.

Filed in categories: Articles, Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: TV

“Why can’t I get this TV off of channel 3?” -or- How I spent my weekend originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 30, 2010 at 5:11 pm.

Jackie sent me an email yesterday saying that we should review the FLO TV Personal Television. It’s a device that can show live TV (if you’re within the coverage area, which I am not). Channels include ABC Mobile, Adult Swim Mobile, CBS Mobile, CNBC, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, ESPN Mobile TV, FLO TV Channel, FOX Mobile, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, MTV, NBC 2Go, and Nickelodeon. The device itself looks mildly interesting, but the price is $249.99 not including a subscription fee.  They give you 6 months free up front, but then they stick it to you for a monthly charge of $14.99. What do guys think? Worth it or not?

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, News

Tagged: Spotlight Gadgets, TV

Would you pay $15 a month for FLO TV? originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 29, 2009 at 4:00 pm.

The Loop pointer from Hillcrest Labs is an in-air mouse that can be used to control a PC, Mac or PS3 connected to a TV with natural hand movements. A small RF Transceiver USB dongle that uses 2.4 GHz (2401 MHz to 2482 MHz) connects to the computer or PS3. You can buy one for $77.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, News

Tagged: Remote, Spotlight Gadgets, TV, Wireless

Loop in-air wireless mouse for your living room PC originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 10, 2009 at 5:39 pm.

Hoping to enjoy the same popularity as the WD TV and Popcorn Hour, the new ViewSonic VMP70 is yet another media player for your TV. The VMP70 boasts more compatible video and audio formats than any other player (MPEG 1/2/4, DivX/Xvid, H.264, VC-1, WMV9, RM/RMVB, WMA, MP3, DTS, OGG, AAC, (2-channel), Real Audio, JPG, JPEG, BMP, PHG,  and GIF photo format) and even includes an HDMI video cable. The ViewSonic VMP70 is now available for an MSRP of $129.99 with a promotional holiday ESP of $98.99. Check out the full press release here.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear, News

Tagged: HD, Media player, Spotlight Gadgets, TV

ViewSonic’s sub $100, Full HD media player now available originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 2, 2009 at 6:42 pm.

The Eviant T7 is an ultra-thin digital TV that offers 16:9 widescreen format and a 480×234 resolution. It is capable of receiving free, digital channels without converter boxes or subscription TV services. The T7 comes in glossy black, white, and red and measures 7.3”x 1.1”x 5.7” (wxdxh). It’s available at retail stores like Target and Walmart for $169.99

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: Spotlight Gadgets, TV

Send your college kids back to school with an ultra-thin digital TV – Eviant T7 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 18, 2009 at 3:45 pm.

Everywhere you look, small USB and hard drive based media players for your TV are popping up on the market. From obscure products like the Cirago MultiMedia Center, to the extremely popular WD TV HD Player and the Popcorn Hour Media Tank. LaCie has been an overachiever, releasing not one, but six different multimedia hard drive devices that range in price from $99.99 up to $449.99. Yesterday they announced that their LaCinema Rugged multimedia hard drive is now available in High Definition. The LaCinema Rugged HD is the first multimedia player in its class, to allow users to store and play High Definition content – on any HDTV in Full-HD 1080p resolution. It comes with a 500GB hard drive and HDMI output.

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV Gear

Tagged: HD, TV, Video

YAHDMPFYT (Yet Another Hard Drive Media Player For Your TV) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 9, 2009 at 8:04 am.

There’s been a real drought of gadget and new product related shows on TV for awhile now. I really miss HGTV’s I Want That and I Want That Tech Toys with Peter Rojas of Engadget stardom. We haven’t had a new season of ABC’s American Inventor either. While I’ve been mourning the lack of shows, one has sneaked in unnoticed until now. Actually, I didn’t find this show all by myself. My friend Brian LaVelle told me about it at work the other day. It’s a 1hr show on the Discovery Channel and is called Pitchmen. Billy Mayes (that guy with the super annoying voice that does those OxiClean commercials) and Anthony Sullivan help people bring new products to market. It’s interesting to see how new products are pitched and commercials are made. Fun stuff! Do you know of other gadget / new product shows on TV right now? If so, let us know about them.

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Gadget TV Shows, Gear Diary, TV

There’s a fun new gadget show on TV – Pitchmen originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 28, 2009 at 9:20 pm.