I have a bunch of movies and tv shows, so much it takes up about a Terabyte. Sure I have them, but how do I play them on my beautiful LCD TV? Not just play them, but play them conveniently. Currently I am using an HP media PC I picked up for about $500 a year and a half ago. It is Vista based, and uses Windows Media Center to play video. WMC is alright, but I don’t really find it easy to use. And as far as searching through 400+ movies by icon, not by name, well that just sucks.

As you can see I am not thrilled with the use of WMC, so I want to move on to another option like the Apple TV or the Western Digital TV. But which?

OK first, Apple TV which is already into it’s 2.0. It is small and easy like most Apple products, it can play HD and now with a little hacking (1 or 2) you can play all xvid and divx videos on it. Also you can download movies directly from the apple store for $2.99 and $3.99. There is a 40GB for $229 and a 160GB for $329. However with the same hack you can hook up an external hard drive via usb, so get the 40GB and save some money. Also it seems you can now get Hulu on your Apple TV, that is a major bonus.

OK so next, the Western Digital WD TV. This is a bit of a different take on a media player than the Apple TV. There is no built in storage, it is all provided via your attached USB drive(s). The cost is $129, so you are saving some money, and chances are you already have a usb hard drive around to hook up to it. But here seems to be the catch, in order to play most of your videos you will have to convert them with the included software. Which is kind of the reason I am using the HP still, I can play all formats without any conversion. Something not possible with the Apple TV up until recently via the hacks (1 or 2) I talked about earlier.

They both look good and have slick interfaces, they both do 1080P, both have HDMI, both can accept USB hard drives and I am sure there is or soon will be a rental service for the WD to match the Apple. But when it comes down to it, I don’t want to convert thousands of files over to a proprietary format. I would rather convert the Apple TV to play all of my files just once. I guess that is my answer.

I think I am going to get a 40GB Apple TV and give it a try. I will let you know how it goes.

Today in the App Store I saw Air Mouse by R.P.A. Technology. You can control the mouse on your Mac or PC via the iPhone, and even type remotely? Surely a feat such as this could not be accomplished for a mere $5.99. Alas it is true, it controls your computer, and it does it well. Take a look.

 

Click to purchase in the App Store.

You know I just thought of another use for this. You can install the server software on multiple machines. Now you can hijack someone’s mouse and keyboard with your iPhone. That would be a great joke!

Where to start… Well let me start by saying that I went into this hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. I have been burned so many times in the past by no name electronics companies that promise greatness, and deliver weird dongles and incompatible codecs.

In this case I didn’t even trust my normally trustworthy Amazon ratings which gave it an average score of 4.5 stars out of 5; 234 people surveyed.

With that said, let’s get down to it. (FYI @ 5:10 I start filming with the Mino)

This thing is pretty cool. It shoots clear crisp video, and gets to the task quickly. The buttons and interface are fairly easy to navigate. It shoots 30 frames per second MPEG4, with each minute taking up about 25MB. The verdict: It is well worth the $150 if you have a need for on the go video.
Here are some pictures, and some video shot with it.

Purchase @ Amazon.com

I heart Amazon Prime. The cost is $79 a year. The benefit? Free two day shipping on almost everything, and overnight shipping for only $3.99, for anything. I mean anything. I ordered a 68LB inversion table from Amazon, selected overnight shipping, what did it cost? Huge box on my doorstep the next day for $3.99. It certainly pays for itself if you like stuff to arrive fast.

So what did I order? 

The Flip Mino 60 Minute Camcorder

This thing seems pretty slick. Tiny one piece rechargeable instant USB video camera, there and ready to go when you need it. I am not expecting this to replace my HD camera, but I am expecting it to actually fit in my pocket. I of course ordered it overnight, so I will have it tomorrow.
A review will follow.

 

When I was growing up, man did I love that game Risk! I used to carry it around on a 5 1/4 floppy disk in the inside pocket of my jean jacket. You know, just in case I came across an Apple IIC, IIE or IIGS. Yes I was a nerd, yes I wore huge glasses and yes I will beat your ass in some Risk if given the chance.

Greyscale Goodness

Now here is your chance to relive your old days of greyscale global domination…except now in color on your iPhone. The game is Lux by SillySoft, and it is already poplular for the Mac and PC. They now have a free version for the iPhone, and I can’t get enough of it. 

This version Lux Touch is what they are calling the free version for the iPhone. The company says that they will be coming out with Lux Dlx (deluxe) in the near future which will have more levels and better AI. I can’t even imagine Risk on any other playing field besides the continents, but it is on its way to the iPhone. 

For more, take a look at the video review below:

 

Click to Purchase in the App Store

The Sonos music system is one of the coolest things ever made. It can play music from your archive, Sirius, Rhapsody, Napster or Pandora in any room of your house. Play the same song in all of the rooms or a different one in each. The Sonos is an amazing and versatile system, but one thing it isn’t is cheap. The remote alone is $399. I really want a second remote for upstairs, but don’t want to pay $399 right now. The solution? Zones.

Zones is a Sonos remote control application for the iPhone. Although it is not perfect yet, it is functional and only $14.99. Still that is priced on the high side for an iPhone application. But the idea of having a Sonos remote integrated into something I always have in my pocket made me take the plunge.

I am impressed with the functionality so far. It runs very smoothly, and like the Sonos, setup is effortless. It is missing a couple of core functions for now, but there are work arounds. Take a look at the video below to the see the rest of the review.

Click to purchase in the App Store

That was my first video review of anything. Future ones will surely suck less, surely.

 

My first post with the crappy iPhone wordpress application. Enjoying the 3G 16GB goodness…glad I upgraded. 

Why buy the new 3G iPhone when you can purchase the first generation iPhone in 24K GOLD…for many times the original price. Currently it is on eBay with 13 hours left, and it is sitting at $1000 with ZERO bids. So if you want an iPhone at more than twice the price and half the speed and storage of the 2nd generation, this is the one for you. Oh and it is also unlocked.

Check out the golden 2G ridiculousness on eBay - Happy Bidding.

This is pretty refreshing. A large screen, large keyboard portable device to read your email, that just does email. I have a phone that can make me coffee and pick up the cleaning, but it isn’t really a joy to check email with. This thing looks truly uncomplicated. All I see is a wheel, a button, a keyboard and a screen –and it is nice and thin. nationwide coverage. small monthly fee. backlit keyboard.

There are a few down sides: Only sync with 3 accounts. Why only 3? GPRS data, not 3G? I guess if it is just email. Only supports JPEG attachments. No webpage viewing.

Kinda cool if you just need to check a couple accounts and do nothing else. The device is only $99, service is $20 a month.

Peak

After a 12 year break i recently returned to Apple’s loving womb, and it has been great. I was in the market for a new laptop and I knew I wanted it to be a Mac. Everyone was all hyped up about the Macbook Air, however I ended up getting the Macbook Pro.

One of the reasons I did not go with the Macbook Air was it’s lack of ports and expandability options. It looks like Samsung has answered the call for an ultra-lightweight laptop that you can actually use. 

The ultra-lightweight notebook weighs only 2.8 pound, which is less than the Macbook Air. It features a 13.3-inch screen, 3 USB ports (Apple 1), a built-in HDMI connection, a 34mm express card slot, a 7-in-1 memory card reader, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. Like the Macbook Air, it does not have an internal optical drive. There’s also an option for an ultra-fast 128GB solid state drive (SSD), while Apple only offers a 64GB at this time.

I have never used a Samsung laptop, so I can’t vouch for the quality or usability. I can however tell you that I love my Samsung TV, Refrigerator and Washer and Dryer. I am always impressed with their excellent quality and features! There is no release date or price information at this time.

Check out the Samsung press release with full spec sheet