Enjoying the Mobile Devices

How To Bypass The Zune's WiFi Sharing DRM

2006-12-01T02:10:00.000-08:00

We knew it would be done sooner or later, and now that we have the mod to use your Zune as a portable hard drive, a method to bypass the Zune's WiFi sharing DRM is finally here.

First, you need to enable hard drive mode using the instructions, refer this post.

Then, rename whatever files—MP3s, movies, programs—to have the extension ".jpg" in order to fool the Zune into thinking it's an image. This hack works because Zune doesn't apply DRM to images!

Then what?
Now, take your Zune and send the folder containing these files to your buddy along with a real photo. If you only send a fake photo, an error is thrown. The last step is to have your friend sync the Zune with their computer, open the "containing folder" where the files were downloaded, and rename the files back to their correct extension.

We tried doing this before with just the Zune software, without the storage hack, and Zune threw an error because it resizes the images down in order to conserve space, and our file wasn't a real image.

How to convert DVD to Microsoft Zune player

2006-11-17T02:06:00.000-08:00

This guide will describe the basic steps about converting DVD to WMV/MP4 for Microsoft zune. It should be very easy to understand. I hope it helps.
First, you can Google search ‘Wondershare DVD to Zune Ripper’ and then download it. Or you can download directly from this link
http://support.wondershare.com/stat/?action=down&id=37&sid=2
Then install and run it.

Step1: Add DVD files

1)Rip your DVD files from DVD-ROM drive by clicking “Open DVD”.
Many friends ask me how to copy movies form DVDs to hard drive. This process calls ‘Rip’. Additional, ripping protected DVDs is illegal (unless you have the own right of the DVDs). This software helps you rip DVDs automatically. You needn’t know how to break the css protect. You will not be confused by the complicated operation of ‘DVD Decrypter’ or ‘DVD Shrink’.
2)Or Load .ifo files from your hard drive by clicking “Add ifo”. IFO file is an index of DVD files. It contains many control info about the DVD movies.
3)Or right click on the blank area in the center of the main interface to import video files from your hard drive or DVD-ROM drive.

Step2: select subtitle, audio and output format

1)Regular DVD movie usually has several subtitle, like English, French, German, etc. You can select anyone according to your need.
2)Select Audio it the same as select Subtitle.
3)Format: this software can convert DVD to WMV and MP4 format which are fit for Zune player, if also can extract audio track from DVD and save as MP3 and WMA format which are fit for any other MP3 player.

Step3: Start Convert
After all the things done, click the ‘start’ button to start the conversion.

Step 4: transfer to Zune
After finish conversion, add your converted files to zune software and click 'Sync contents to and from your Zune', then you can enjoy your DVDs on Zune.
You can download the Zune software free from here
http://www.zune.net/en-us/meetzune/software.htm

Tips
This software provides rich options for you to set; it also provides basic video edit function. After you add the DVDs.

1)Click the option button, a window will be popped up. Here you can set resolution, frame rate, width/length ration, video bitrate, codec, conversion speed, sample rate, audio channels and audio bitrate. Here are some tips about the options

1.Resolution: Zune’s resolution is 320*240.
2.Frame rate: 25fps is PAL, 30fps is NTSC.
3.Length/Width ration: 4:3 is common display; 16:9 is width screen display.
4.Codec: this software provides two codes. For converting MP4, you can use XviD or H.264. For converting WMV, here are three encodes for you, WM1, WM2 and WM3.
5.Video bitrate and audio bitrate: higher bitrate provides better quality with lager size and longer conversion time.

2)Click the “effect” button; you can set the Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Audio volume for the DVD movie.

3)If the default setting, this software convert your DVD into one files with all chapters, if you just want to convert some chapters of the DVD, you can click the ‘Show chapters’ button, then check the box before the chapters you want to convert.

4)If you just want to convert some parts of the DVD, you can drag the scroll bar below the preview window to set the conversion start and end time, or you can click the ‘trim’ button to set it exactly.

5)DVD movie often has a black border to both the top and bottom, if you want to cut it and watch your DVD with full screen, you can drag the yellow frame to cut any parts you don’t want when you preview the DVD movie, or you can click ‘crop’ button to set it exactly.

Rumor: Zune to Pay You For Sharing Songs?

2006-10-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

The Microsoft Zune may pay you for sharing a song with others if they end up buying that song themselves. As you probably know, the Zune's WiFi capability will let you send a song to another Zune user, and then that user can listen to it three times for free within three days, after which a prompt appears asking for $1 to buy it. As the rumor goes, Microsoft will give you an unspecified number of credits for passing along that song that was later bought. Then, you can redeem those credits for free music or anything else from the Zune Marketplace. This is a great idea. If enough people buy into Zune, the product will reach critical mass, and because of this bounty, everyone will be eager to offer their song lists to others in hopes of amassing enough credits to buy more music. It's viral/incentive marketing on a micro-payment scale. If this is just a false rumor, if I were Microsoft I would do it anyway.

Touchscreen iPod in December?

2006-10-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

An "extremely well-informed exec" tells Trusted Reviews that the 6G iPod will be released in December, and it will be capable of 480p resolution. The source confirmed that it will be a touchscreen model with virtual click wheel control, but made no mention of whether wireless connectivity would be part of the package. Added the source, "This is why Jobs isn't afraid of the Zune."

We've seen the iPod touchscreen patent documentation, and we've entertained countless rumors and even reliable tips about the upcoming device; what we need to see now is a real picture of it. One thing's for sure, if this widescreen iPod is released in the next two months, the Microsoft Zune with its old-fashioned 4x3 screen and crippled WiFi will be slam-dunked.

how to fix your nano when you failed to install iPod Linux

2006-10-13T01:04:00.000-07:00

Step one: download all the files you'll need.
head over to http://www.killdisk.com and download the free version.

if you think your have defective firmware becase you tried to mod it somehow then head over to http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/ and download the latest firmware update(unless you already have it)

Install the firmware files(to your computer). When you need to access them later on they will be in the ipod folder in your programs folder.

plug in your ipod

Now go to where you put the killdisk files. Open the KD_WIN file. It opens up a dos window and shows all the connected hard drives including the now defunct ipod. Use the arrow keys to go down to your ipod. It's probably labeled iPodME, but I dont know if thats always the case. MAKE SURE THE CURSOR IS ON THE IPOD! You dont want to accidently erase the wrong drive.
Then press F10 and it begins deleting all the info on your ipod. It's gonna take a while. I'd imagine it'll take a lot longer with any other larger in filesize type ipod other than a Nano. My Nano took about 40 minutes to completely erase.

Once thats done unplug your ipod. Its going to boot up and bring you to a screen asking you go to an apple web page for support. Press ctrl+alt+del and make sure ipodservice and for that matter itunes is not running in the background so view the processes and turn them off if they are.

NOW open the latest ipod updater and when it asks you to connect your ipod do so. It finely was able to mount my nano and all the firmware was restored. Of course all the music was gone from the nano but thats no big deal and it was expected.

I hope this helps!

How to: Getting Linux on your iPod Nano (Windows)

2006-10-11T01:57:00.000-07:00

This is a guide about how to install iPod Linux on your nano,
BE CAREFUL! I'm not responsible if you screw up your iPod nano. I wouldn't advise this procedure if you are not familiar with MS-DOS commands, but as I said, do it on your own risk.

Step 1. Download this utility
Unzip the exe file to the C drive, once extracted rename the file to an easier name such as aes (I will use this name every time I'm referring to this tool in the tutorial).

Step 2. Prepare the necessary files:
-Johnnywest's mod of the iPodlinux installer.
-the podzilla and start files should be included with that installer.
-Most Current Apple Updater.
-HP's USB format thingy (optional).

Step 3. If your ipod holds important information, backup the ipod, this procedure will definitely erase all data in the ipod.

Step 4. Kill ipodservice.exe process. (Ctrl+Alt+Del then click the processes tab and end it) keep checking back to see if this is on or not during the entire process.

Step 5.If your tried to install ipodlinux without success I would recommend you format the ipod using hp's tool, use ipod updater right after to restore normal apple firmware and allow the ipod booting the apple firmware (do nothing after the updater is done, it should start automatically), after apple's firmware has started restart the ipod (hold down menu + select) and enter disk mode (hold down select + play right after the iPod starts up again).

Step 6.Install ipodlinux, select apple firmware start and right after finishing the install, eject the ipod and start it in disk mode.

Step 7.Open a command prompt window by going to the start menu clicking run and typing command. When the DOS window opens type cd\ then hit enter, from there type:

aes ? /info (where ? is a number starting from 1)

type this command changing the number until you find the ipod, the 4G ipod shows the following message:

aes 5 /info
EBIOS characteristics (C/H/S): 497/255/63
Total capacity: 3GB

As you can see my ipod is disk number 5, the 2GB ipod should show a similar message but displaying 1GB in capacity, the following commands are based on the fact that my ipod is disk number five please replace this number with the number of your ipod.

aes 5 /show

Should output something like this:
---------------- Hard disk 5
Primary partitions:
No ID Type Dr Label Size (MB) Boot
══ ══ ═════════════════ ══ ══════════════════════ ═════════ ════
1: 00 Empty 0
2: 0B FAT32 0 **
3: 83 Ext2/Ext3/Reiser 31
4: 00 Empty 0

aes 5 /delete:2
aes 5 /pri:3851:fat32
aes 5 /activate:1

Note: if you have the 2GB ipod you should use aes 5 /pri:1866:fat32

Now eject the ipod and start disk mode while it's booting.

Windows still won't recognize the ipod, but now it will prompt you to format it. If it doesn't right click on the iPod drive from the My Computer menu and select format. Select fat32 and quick format, after format is completed restart the iPod (hold start + menu) and put the iPod in disk mode
After the ipod has been formatted the ipod won't boot(no linux, no apple), but the apple updater will recognize the ipod without major problems.

Step 8.Restore the ipod, and after restore is complete (meaning you booted from apple's firmware at least once), restart the ipod and go to disk mode.

Install linux again after it’s installed, eject the ipod and go to disk mode,
copy podzilla and start files and place them in the root/main iPod drive, eject, restart and boot linux ( hold rewind right after you restart).
Linux should boot fine and Windows should now recognize the ipod normally.

Note: If you experience anomalies while using the ipod under windows, just format the ipod, using just windows, not the hp tool or the ipod updater.
Good Luck.

iPod 5G downloadable games reviewed - part3

2006-09-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

Apple Computer Texas Hold ‘em
Card games are musts for every new gaming platform - they're rarely flashy but studies have shown that they're extremely popular, especially when sold at low prices or given away. Given that Apple Computer has already bundled a decent version of the classic card game Solitaire with iPods for the past few years, it's no surprise that the company has released its own take on the currently popular Texas Hold 'em ($5) as a downloadable game as well.

In short, Texas Hold ‘em is a variant on poker that drops two cards in front of each of several players - six, including you, on the iPod version - and then places up to five community cards in the center of the group, starting with three cards and then adding one per round while players bet on who will make the best five-card hand from the seven total cards. Your goal is to get other players to toss in as much money as possible into the betting pot, then have them fold or come up with a worse hand than yours. Since Apple’s take is “no-limit” - bet as much as you want - bluffing aggressively can cause other players to fold, but it can also cause you to lose a tremendous amount of money, quickly.

By the iPod’s past low visual standards for games, Texas Hold ‘em is a step up. Unless you turn them off in favor of a cards and bets only view, you’ll see photographs of individual players set against flat backdrops, and Apple has thrown in little inside jokes such as an iPod Hi-Fi on a shelving unit, and a first stage (of seven) that takes place in the company’s home town of Cupertino. But once you’re past the still images, there’s little to be impressed with: the art is ho-hum, character animation is almost non-existent, nothing’s going on in the backdrops, and there’s only modest, somewhat cheesy use of the iPod’s 3-D hardware. Oddly enough, the pre-game menus are better designed and animated than what’s inside the game; turning off the photographs altogether to focus on the cards feels less like a punishment than it should. Similarly, the music - country mixed with lounge - is amongst the least enjoyable we’ve heard in the first batch of iPod games. Once again, more user-selectable in-game tracks would be great; having access to your own music library is no excuse for poor in-game audio.

Though we hate to admit it, even though Apple appears to have gone nearly as low-budget as possible in developing Texas Hold ‘em - the only reason for our B- overall rating - this is the sort of game where it can get away with cutting corners. Poker games are judged on the behavior of their artificial intelligence and on their wagering and tournament interfaces, which Apple got right in everything save leaving out a multiplayer mode. Texas Hold ‘em is initially inviting and non-aggressive, presenting you with only one or two serious rivals until you leave Cupertino, then ramps up in difficulty - a game design that will keep people busy, challenged, and happy to play. For these reasons, and just as with Solitaire, Texas Hold ‘em will have its fans despite the sort of so-so presentation that a game like Vortex could not have delivered for the price. However, a little extra sparkle could have enticed even casually interested card game fans to try this game.

Apple Computer Vortex
Apple Computer clearly has a thing for Atari's 1976 arcade game Breakout. Perhaps it's the fact that Apple's co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak worked on the original title, which was remade for the iPod as Brick, or maybe it's the fact that the game is so simple that any device with a rotary controller can play it. Whatever the reason, Apple's latest iPod game Vortex ($5) is yet another Breakout clone, this time with two initial twists: now you're firing the brick-busting ball down a tube-shaped well, and both your paddle ("bat") and the bricks are rotating around the walls of the well. In essence, Vortex is what you'd get if you mixed Breakout with Atari's classic 3-D title Tempest, then added a few extra pieces to spice everything up.

Borrowing ideas from Taito’s earlier Breakout clone Arkanoid, Apple has added additional, optional bonus items that can be found by breaking open certain bricks, including icons that make the bat bigger, smaller, or three at once, adhesive rather than instantly repellant, slower, faster, and in a very Arkanoid twist, gun-laden. There are also bricks that take multiple hits, ones that explode, and some that can’t be broken at all, and the ball can be powered up into multiple balls or a single, more powerful ball. Though the iPod’s Click Wheel is ill-suited to controlling many types of games, its handling of Vortex’s various control features is without significant flaws; given the “faster” and “slower” items, the user adjustment we’d prefer for the Wheel’s bat moving speed might well be considered unnecessary.

Similarly, to the company’s credit, this is one of the prettiest iterations of Breakout to date. All of the three-dimensional elements, from your paddle to the bricks and well, are convincingly rendered as curved surface 3-D objects, and an animated lighting effect creates glare on the well surfaces. Three-dimensional zooming and rotation effects are used often enough to remind you of the iPod’s visual horsepower, too. If there are any flaws in the graphics, they’re small - the colors and textures are on the boring side, with less vibrance than we’ve seen in other iPod titles, and the explosion animations could use a bit of work, too. An energetic but less than mindblowing score accompanies the on-screen action; like all of the iPod titles released so far, it could really benefit from a screen to let the user pick from more song options at the start.

Overall, Vortex is one of the most engaging iPod games we’ve seen - more than a bit familiar if you’ve been following Breakout and similar games for years, but a “best of” given the numerous bonus items, different types of bricks, and newly 3-D audiovisual treatment. We’re hoping for an even better-dressed update or sequel.

PopCap Games Zuma
It's known by many names - Atari calls it Ballistic, Mitchell calls it Puzzloop, and Nintendo calls it Magnetica - but PopCap Games and developer Astraware call it Zuma ($5), a game that reiterates the same color-matching theme we saw in the iPod game Cubis 2, only this time in 2-D, and with bubbles and spirals rather than a grid full of cubes. If you like to point at things and match colors, Zuma might interest you - it's a good if simple game - but if you're like us, you'll quickly tire of the repetitive matching action after only a short period of time.

A decade ago, Taito released a post-Tetris puzzle game variously called Puzzle Bobble or Bust-a-Move, flipping the “well full of blocks” upside down and letting you shoot things up into it. Baby dinosaurs at the bottom of the screen fired colored bubbles at the well’s existing collection of bubbles, trying to match three or more of the same bubble color and eliminate everything already inside the well. The idea proved popular, spawning numerous sequels and a few knock-offs.

Like Ballistic, Puzzloop, and Magnetica, Zuma is a slightly remixed knock-off of Bust-a-Move, minus the cutesy dinosaur and bubble art. PopCap’s selected audiovisual theme is “ancient Indian,” with a stone frog face firing colored stone balls against less colorful stony backdrops. This time you fire from the center of the well rather than its bottom, rotating by sweeping your finger around the Click Wheel, and firing with a single button press. Just like Cubis 2, a beam of light points in your chosen direction, and a match of three or more pieces removes items from the screen.

The only literal twist here is that the colored balls are lined up in a single continuous line, which wraps around itself in a spiral shape, inching closer and closer to your cannon as the number of balls increases. If the closest ball in the line touches a golden skull next to your cannon, the game ends, so you need to constantly match colors to keep yourself alive - any match of three or more balls will shorten the line. Several icons are mixed in with the regular balls, letting you slow down or back up the line, aim more precisely, or blow up a bunch of balls near the bomb ball you hit.

Like several of the other recent iPod games, Zuma is a “pretty good” title, just engaging enough to occupy you briefly inbetween other activities. It has previously passed unremarkably from console to console under different names without earning any great respect or attention; though the iPod version benefits from a slightly nicer set of ball and background graphics than the odder-looking Nintendo DS title Magnetica, and its controls are naturally suited to the iPod’s rotary-style Click Wheel, it’s still not a standout visually, and doesn’t do much with the iPod’s 3-D hardware. Like Bejeweled, Zuma is a game that’s best-suited to super-casual gamers with low expectations - not a bad title, but not one we’d go out of our way to recommend.

iPod 5G downloadable games reviewed - part2

2006-09-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Electronic Arts Mini Golf
Golf games have come a long way in the past fifteen years, but you wouldn't know it from playing Electronic Arts' Mini Golf ($5), an overhead-view rendition of miniature golf that's visually a few steps backwards from the golf games released for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. EA has stripped this title down to the aesthetic core, doing away with split-screens, 3-D presentations, and special effects, regressing to a level that's not even close to par for the iPod's course. Only if you can ignore its poor audiovisual presentation will you realize that there's a somewhat fun, though way-too-simple golf title here.

Mini Golf has three courses - Tiki, Egypt, and Sideshow - each of which is a large, flat overhead map divided into 18 miniature golf holes. With very little animation, the game drops moving dot guides onto each hole to let you position your golfer and his or her club, then take quick shots from the tee to the hole. The only timing you’ll need is a single quick click on a power meter that makes the club swing harder; in part because this is miniature golf, EA has done away with multiple clubs, wind, putting screens, and other features that add depth to other golf games. Up to two players can participate in a Pass ‘n Play mode which lets you hand off the iPod to another person between shots - as with all multiplayer iPod games, a headphone splitter or add-on speaker accessory will be the second player’s only way to enjoy the audio dimension of the game.

Sometimes, the utter simplicity of the presentation is thoughtlessly bad. Trying to putt next to a hole occasionally posits your character’s icon right in front of your target, limiting your visibility and screwing up your shots. The game’s only special effect is a once-per-hole rotation of the overhead map from its initial orientation to the starting position of the next hole; simple ambient sound effects are heard in the background as you’re putting away. Poorly animated obstacles such as pop-out snakes on the Tiki course and buzzsaws on Sideshow create most of your “Out of Bounds” impediments; if you shoot poorly and fail to match the par ("average") number of shots for all 18 holes combined, you can’t unlock the next course.

We’ll admit to being long-term fans of golf video games, and having played dozens of golf games over the years, this is amongst the least engaging we’ve seen. The only real challenge here is that, according to the promotional page, each hole is a “unique geometric puzzle,” so you can “find the hole-in-one solution” if you want to achieve a great score. Our feeling is that it’s not ultimately worth the time. Other titles released for the iPod have clearly shown the difference between cell phone gaming technology and the iPod’s superior hardware; Mini Golf instead challenges you to keep caring from stage to stage, something that you’d need to be a golf fan - and then, not one who cares that this is only stripped-down miniature golf - to do. Given EA’s storied history of golf video games, currently dominated by the popular multiconsole title Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf, Mini Golf’s simplicity is more a curse than a blessing; this is barely worth the low asking price.

Namco Pac-Man
Nearly 25 years after Atari released its infamously ugly Atari VCS/2600 translation of Namco's 1979 arcade game Pac-Man, the iPod version ($5) has proved that it's still possible to screw up the classic maze game in new ways. To be fair, Pac-Man has demonstrated great staying power over the past quarter-century despite numerous translation challenges - most of them visual - and its least impressive iterations have still satisfied hundreds of thousands of younger players. Aesthetically, the iPod version is ahead of most of the pack: Apple's 2.5" 320x240-pixel screen lets you see apparently pixel-perfect renditions of the game's mazes, ghosts, dots, and main character, and its sound effects and small bits of music similarly sound arcade-perfect. There are even enough pixels left over on the right side of the screen to fill with old-fashioned Pac-Man cabinet artwork and a picture of a joystick.

Unfortunately, there’s a reason for that joystick: it’s there to let you know the direction Pac-Man’s just been pointed in. Rather than allow the iPod’s four cardinal face buttons to control Pac-Man definitively, Namco’s control scheme here forces you to tap or sweep your finger across the Click Wheel’s surface to signal direction changes, a decision that will remind fans of the simple, efficient, classic Pac-Man controls of how the arcade machines used to play when the joystick was broken. Even when you’ve tapped in the right direction, Pac-Man will sometimes veer unexpectedly in a different direction, such as off into a tunnel or a ghost. The precision motions needed for fakes and turns become harder with the iPod’s control scheme, and the lack of other control options doesn’t help matters, either. Pac-Man on the fifth-generation iPod feels worse than it has on cell phones and other devices, which is a real shame.

Given the dozens of possible ways you can play a decent game of Pac-Man these days - as part of a compilation cartridge or disc for a real handheld, or as a download for a cell phone or other device - we’d advise you to pass on the iPod version of Pac-Man unless your standards are pretty low (think 1989 or so), or something is done to improve its control schemes. Other iPod games will be a better use of your $5.

Electronic Arts Tetris
As launch day buyers of Nintendo's original 1989 Game Boys, we're on record as being long-time fans of Tetris, the Russian block-dropping game that helped to spark a portable gaming revolution and created an entire genre of similar puzzle titles. We've also enjoyed many of the game's official sequels and semi-sequels, particularly the excellent titles Bombliss and Tetrisphere, but none of them have stopped us from going back and enjoying the game that started it all. Now the iPod has its own version of Tetris ($5), and there's somewhat good news for newcomers to the series.

Developer Electronic Arts has given Tetris a sweeping audiovisual overhaul. Strong blue menus and cool translucent overlays make the interface attractive, while the in-game art - famously rendered entirely usable on the Game Boy’s black and white screen - is detailed and colorful, with vibrant blocks and clean backdrops. The 10 by 20 block well is clearly illustrated block-by-block for strategic block placement, while the blocks have highlighted edges that look ever-so-slightly three-dimensional. EA has also remixed the classic Tetris music, adding a more modern techno air to the the old Russian soundtrack, though you can no longer select from several songs at the start - a sad omission given the game’s musical roots, and the iPod’s.

The only bad news here is, like Pac-Man, in the controls. Rather than trying to emulate a joystick or joypad with two buttons - the default way to play Tetris since its inception - EA lets you move left and right by sweeping your finger in a rotary fashion on the Click Wheel, and rotates blocks with clicks on the Click Wheel’s left and right sides. Down drops the block instantly to the bottom, while the Center action button moves the block downwards at a pace faster than gravity but slower than the down button. In a phrase, this control scheme is sub-optimal - rotating with buttons and moving left and right with a rotary controller really doesn’t make sense - and begs for user-selectable control schemes. For no good reason, this default control scheme takes time to get used to, and still doesn’t really feel right once you’ve spent time with it, though we found it more tolerable overall than with Pac-Man.

In our view, Tetris is a gimme of a game title for virtually any system, particularly when it’s been blessed with improved graphics and music, but on the iPod, its great looks and sounds are undercut by an unnecessarily mediocre control scheme. If you’re willing to adjust the way you’ve played Tetris before - something we wouldn’t do - you’ll get more enjoyment out of this title than we did.

iPod 5G downloadable games reviewed - part1

2006-09-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

PopCap Games Bejeweled
A cell phone game for your iPod? Heavily inspired by Sega's classic arcade and home game Columns, which was itself derived from Nintendo and Elorg's Tetris, PopCap Games and Astraware's Bejeweled ($5) would be "yet another game where blocks fall from the sky, waiting to be matched up," but for a few twists. Here, the blocks wait to be matched while sitting inside an 8 by 8 grid, replentishing every time you link three or more same-colored blocks. To make the match, you have to find two like-colored blocks in need of being connected to a third, then find that third block in a position one block away from the first two. Press the third block one block over, create your match, and move along; the gap created by the matched blocks is filled with new blocks, which slide down from the sky and may create chain matches in the process. Time-pressured and clock-free modes are available.

From an audiovisual standpoint, Bejeweled is only modestly impressive. Its jewel-shaped blocks look pretty much the same as they have on cell phones and computers for the past couple of years, the music is inoffensive, and the only special effects on display are cool 3-D tunnel-like transitions between levels. Similarly, its gameplay doesn’t hold a candle to a good game of Tetris, or even Sega’s Columns for that matter. But it’s a good time-waster, and easy enough for anyone to play - especially with an optional hints system that clues you in to potential next moves - though beginner modes with fewer gems (7 are on by default) would make for even more fun, early on. The only buyer who will find Bejeweled deeply disappointing is the one looking for something deeper.

On a final note, developer Astraware deserves a couple of brownie points for innovating in a new and smart way with the iPod’s Click Wheel controller. In addition to touch-sensitive scrolling, required to move your cursor around to select blocks (a sub-optimal way of moving, in our view), you can lightly tap (rather than depressing) up, down, left, or right to move the selected block for a match in that direction. After a few minutes of adjustment, this light tapping concept makes Bejeweled easier to play than it otherwise might have been on the iPod. Additional user-selectable control schemes would have been even better.

FreshGames Cubis 2
The iPod has no shortage of block and tile games, and FreshGames' Cubis 2 ($5) is part of the collection. PopCap Games' Bejeweled gave you an 8 by 8 grid full of gems stacked one layer deep; Cubis 2 gives you a 7 by 7 grid, partially filled with cubes that can be stacked three layers deep. You control a light beam cursor that scrolls on two sides of the board (west and south), adding additional cubes one at a time in an attempt to make matches of three or more same-colored blocks. If you create a chain and set off another chain, you get more points. Sound familiar?

Well, it’s not totally the same, thanks in part to Cubis 2’s isometric 3-D presentation - its grid is on a forced 45 degree angle that lets you see the stacked height of the cubes, and here you’re adding blocks one by one rather than rearranging them. There are also star cubes - ones you’re penalized for not removing - plus two-colored cubes, and seven other types of cubes that appear in various game modes make matching and point tallies less predictable, though they can be hard to tell from one another on the iPod’s small screen. Though not flashy - FreshGames could have done a bunch more with the light beam cursor and special effects - the visual presentation is aided by several user-selectable backdrops and cube designs, which let you make the potentially confusing blocks easier to discern. Music, as with most of the iPod’s titles, is nothing special.

Whereas Bejeweled is an everyman’s puzzler, Cubis 2 is a title for more sophisticated game players - the challenges of managing multi-layer cube stacking and different types of cubes are going to be beyond the attention spans or interest levels of many casual gamers, and even the small on-screen type may be potentially frustrating if you really care to read it. But if you have good eyes and want something a bit more intellectually stimulating than a simple block-dropper, this one’s worth a try - we’d pick it over Bejeweled because of its depth and variety, and despite Bejeweled’s slicker use of visual effects.

Electronic Arts Mahjong
There are few games that naturally fit the iPod's screen and control limitations as well as Electronic Arts' Mahjong ($5), a classic puzzle title that will remind new players of the card-matching game Concentration. Here, you're given a screen full of Chinese tiles, some marked with numbers, others with art or Chinese characters. Your goal is to select one tile - say, a single green wheel - and match it to another tile with the same symbol. The matched titles then disappear. Mahjong's challenge is that you can only select tiles on each board's perimeter - left or right edges - and can only access the tiles in the center when you've freed their left or right sides of other blocks. Make too many "easy" matches and you'll never free the blocks at the center.

Considering the audiovisual mediocrity of most of the iPod’s initial slate of titles, Electronic Arts went above and beyond to create a beautiful, consistent design for both its in-game artwork and menus. Red and black silhouetted ancient Chinese scenes are found - and animated - in the game’s introduction and transition screens, with a golden dragon and ivory tiles used during the game. Mahjong’s music, while limited, is also theme-appropriate and charming. Having played many gaming variants on this title, we’re almost entirely impressed with EA’s take, and found both its controls and presentation to be highly recommendable. Beyond the single-player mode, up to four players can pass around the iPod in a “Pass ‘n Play” mode, each taking a turn at removing two blocks - as with all multiplayer iPod games, a headphone splitter or add-on speaker accessory will be the additional players’ only way to enjoy the audio dimension of the game. Another mode called Emperor’s Challenge has you progress through six different themes, each with a dozen tile layouts.

That said, EA missed an opportunity that would have made Mahjong even more accessible. Past versions of the game have allowed first-time players to choose between more familiar-looking titles - the Roman alphabet and Arabic numerals, different pictographs, et cetera - that aren’t as daunting to figure out as the slate of Chinese ones presented here. Long-time mahjong fans won’t mind EA’s Chinese tiles at all, and generations of new players have learned to adapt to those tiles, but more user-selectable tiles would have been great.

Zune vs. Ipod vs. Rhapsody

2006-09-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

By now you've had time to digest the Apple fall Ipod line and taken a look at both the solid improvements to Itunes and the "teased" iTV device. Microsoft finally had the coming out party for Zune, the response to Itunes and the Ipod. This was a mixed offering, a very strong music oriented product but a player that both seemed too large and clunky and optimized for a video service that doesn't exist yet. For Microsoft, of late, it seems they are always one step short of success, and, in this case it was hardware where they fell short. Real Networks did an end run and appears to have caught both blindsided making for a very interesting time in the tech industry.

Let's take a look at how these vendors stack up and at what the long term problem with the segment may be.

Apple ITV: What Media Center Should have Been

For some time now I've been trying to point out that the existing Microsoft Media Center is wrong headed and what was needed was a more appliance like device. Something that blended the capabilities of Tivo, Sonos and Kaleidescape would appear to be the ideal that could open this market up.

While the ITV "tease" didn't go far enough for us to confirm it meets the ideal of such a device, the product looks damn close and will likely open this segment up in any case. The big question has to do with the DRM penalties the device carries. This is, by the way, what limits the opportunities for the new, otherwise stunning, Tivo Series 3. We'll come back to the DRM issues shortly.

The other parts of Apple's recent announcement weren't as compelling as I'd hoped. They really needed more than one Studio (Disney is the most important but you need at least 2 to make this work) and an Ipod with a Panoramic screen and longer battery life (portable DVD players now have up to 10 hours of movie battery life) to live up to the promise they made prior to the launch. I believe that Apple does not meet those expectations. If the market is saturated by Ipods, I just don't think the new device will be a catalyst to cause a major replacement cycle with current Ipod users and that could be painful in a quarter where flat panel TVs will likely eat up most of the available consumer electronics budgets.

Competitively Apple is in good shape. Increasingly, however, they are competing with older Apple products for revenue growth which is a common problem with dominant vendors (like Microsoft will have with Vista).

Zune: Its power may be in its future

What Microsoft has created with Zune is basically a company within a company. Modeled after the Xbox group and with some of the same employees the company is largely made up of folks from the music industry. This will allow them, and this is clearly where Microsoft is making solid progress, to embrace musicians and labels very aggressively because they have intimate knowledge of those labels.

The downside is that the game business and the music business have distinct differences. In gaming there is a very close connection to the hardware both for PC and console game types. But for music, there is almost no connection. Even though electronic tools are used to create, modify and enhance music, music players can range from analog to digital and there is a hard break between the players and the content that goes in them. That is why the devices that play music today are at more than an arm's length from the devices that create music. This is the cause for Microsoft missing so badly on the Zune music player: They simply don't get the importance of hardware yet; they talk as if they do, but they don't feel it in their bones like someone from Sony, Toshiba, or Apple would.

If they can get the device right, the service looks very interesting. With sharing and a social network at the core it is clearly differentiated (whether the market likes the differentiation is yet to be seen but, at least, they didn't just copy Itunes).

The currently fastest growing service is Emusic. And its claim to fame is no DRM, but they live with independent musicians as well. Microsoft seems to be trying to create a service with the benefits of Emusic and Itunes in one service, which could be very interesting, but they live or die on the device and, to paraphrase a John F. Kennedy vs. Dan Quale saying, "I've seen the Ipod and the Zune player is no Ipod".

Rhapsody DNA: What Zune should have been?

The Sandisk Sansa is the player that is increasing its sales faster than anyone else. So, with Emusic being the fastest growing music service, wouldn't it be a good plan to hit both? Why not come up with a service that combines the best of Itunes with a Sandisk player and flat rate service that mimicked Emusic's flexibility with a full music library?

Rhapsody DNA seems to come as close as I currently think is possible to doing exactly that. Fundamentally, this is what Microsoft should have initially done and at least by spec - the service is better than Itunes. It is focused on music first and has a player optimized for music, it has a flat rate service, and it ensures a consistent user experience across both. While it doesn't have the breadth of "Plays for Sure" devices, neither does Apple. And it doesn't have TV or movies but it is unclear at this time, if that is important at all.

Rhapsody will need more than one player; but by picking the only player that has proven to be a threat to the IPod the company made the best strategic choice. The result is an offering that, on paper, is stronger than Zune, at least for those who are just interested in music.

Of course, against an entrenched vendor like Apple, you don't have to simply be better. You have to be a lot better and with a limited line of one product, I don't expect many Itunes defections at this time. But, for people who are looking for their first MP3 player, this could be the buy for the holidays.

Rhapsody's case describes how companies should compete with Apple and Microsoft, rather than use the courts or the government. Come up with products that knock the socks off a segment and catch the competitor sleeping. Historically, this has always seemed the more assured way of success and, to me anyway, it is one hell of a lot more fun. Litigation gets old really quickly.

The music/movie industry: Terminally clueless with a little hope

Last week I watched as Universal threatened YouTube with retaliation in what was a clear attempt to blackmail YouTube into a contract they otherwise wouldn't have signed. This week, Time Warner signed with YouTube a revenue sharing agreement indicating that some in the industry may get it, and Disney's deal with Apple suggests that Disney is coming around as well (though the lack of any others suggests that the other studios may be looking at Apple more as a Disney Division, or visa versa, these days).

The big problem with creating a compelling new service continues to be that the rabid desire to prevent piracy actually makes pirated media, music and movies, more valuable than purchased media. This is because you can do whatever you want with pirated media but the same is not true with DRM protected material. Flexibility means value and if I want to listen to music in my car, in my living room, or while skydiving naked over the Grand Canyon, I should be able to. But I can't simply because the studios are too rigid in their rules.

Much of the effort being expended by Real Networks (Rhapsody), Microsoft, Apple, Sonos and others is to find ways to make products work - despite the Studios and Labels. Personally, I prefer either subscription services or buying my tracks at Starbucks or Emusic (because they come without DRM).

With movies, I've had horrid experiences with Vongo and Cinema Now. I have decided to live off Tivo Series 2 (ToGo) and Netflix for the foreseeable future for movies and TV. Because I can watch these programs where and when I want (granted after a 3 day wait with Netflix).

There is an urgent need for all the major hardware and service players to cooperate in getting the content holders to open up. If that doesn't happen, every service and device will fail to reach the potential it otherwise would have.

Sony did rootkits, Universal is now threatening the very popular YouTube, and there is a political movement against DRM use growing in Europe after the Pirate Bay http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70358-0.html disaster, which could explode world wide against both industries.

Maybe its time that these industries think about working more aggressively to satisfy customers, rather than taking them to court. Perhaps the tech industry could help them to find their way.

Zune vs. iPod: About the Same Size, Both Stuck in 4:3

2006-09-18T23:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of accurate comparisons that clear up any misconceptions you might have about the Zune compared to the iPod. In that first picture, you can see that the Zune's half-inch larger screen is in the same aspect ratio as the iPod's: old-style 4:3. And even though the Zune's screen is depicted in press photos as being sharper than the iPod's, both have a resolution of 320x240.

The second comparison is of the physical size of the iPod and Zune, where their width is just about the same but the Zune is just a little bit taller. Seems like the general impression was that the Zune was much bigger than the iPod. Well, it is, but not by much.

Official High-Resolution Zune Photos

2006-09-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Finally, we have 100% official images of the Microsoft Zune! Those who were hoping that the FCC -submitted design wasn't final will be disappointed. Brown? I sure hope that colour looks better in person...but at least there's a choice of three colours. In terms of the thickness, it's hard to say - as I've expressed earlier, I have a Creative Zen Vision:M and I don't mind the thickness one bit, even though I was concerned about it when I saw the measurements on paper. I'm going to wait until I have the Zune in my hands to decide if it's too thick.

"The Zune digital media player from Microsoft is available in three colors: black, white, and brown"

"The Zune digital media player, shown in brown."

"The Zune digital media player, shown in black."

"The Zune digital media player, shown in white."

"The Zune digital media player shown in black and brown."

"The Zune digital media player, shown in black and white."
There are a few more variations on the photos above, available in high-res, on here press room page.

Enhanced fifth-generation Apple iPod

2006-09-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

It's almost under the radar in terms of "generations" of iPod - Apple's new second-generation version of the "fifth-generation iPod" is really an iPod 5.5, with three major hardware updates under the hood of a device that is cosmetically identical to the iPods released in October of last year. Now available in two capacities - a standard 30GB model for $249 and a super 80GB version for $349 - the physical sizes of these iPods are the same as the prior 30GB and 60GB models respectively, but boast superior battery life (3.5 hours of video on 30GB, 6.5 hours on 80GB) and brighter screens with brightness controls.

The iPod’s new screen brightness control can be accessed from the Settings menu or during video playback, the latter by tapping a second time (volume -> time scrubber -> brightness). While visibly brighter than before, the difference wasn’t pronounced indoors.

As with the new iPod nano, the 5G iPod has gained an advanced Search menu, which lets you dial in alphabetical letters using the Click Wheel to peruse your entire iPod media library for whatever you want to find.

One of the big surprises in the interface is that many (not all) forms of media now have icons to their left sides; we’ve seen what appear to be person/head icons and also CD/album-like iPods that appear to indicate collection status.

Apple has also added game playing abilities to the iPod. All fifth-generation models can now play games downloaded from the iTunes Store for $4.99 a piece; classics such as Pac Man and Tetris have been given Click Wheel-ready control schemes, while other titles from the cell phone and Macromedia Flash game universes (such as Bejeweled) have also appeared. The games look really good on the iPod’s screen - at least by comparison with the bland designs of the previous built-in titles - and include frame rates and animations that are far better than one might expect from the device.

Additionally, Apple now bundles each 5G iPod with its new iPod earbuds, which as noted in our other First Looks are lighter, more comfortable, and more bass-heavy than before thanks in part to superior fit. Silicone rubber is now used at the earbuds’ edges to increase their comfort. Apple will also sell these earbuds separately for $29.

How to rip DVD to WMV/MP3/WMA for PocketPC, Palm, SmartPhone

2006-09-08T00:33:00.000-07:00

This guide will describe the basic steps about converting DVD to WMV/MP3/WMA for PocketPC, Palm, PDA, and SmartPhone. It should be very easy to understand. I hope it helps.

Step1: Prepare
Download Wondershare Pocket DVD Ripper by the following link
http://www.dvd-ripper-copy.com/download/dvd-pocket-download.php?sid=2
Or download directly from this link
http://support.wondershare.com/stat/?action=down&id=14&sid=2
Install and run it.

Step 2: Add DVD files
After installing, you will see the main interface of the software.

1) Rip your DVD files from DVD-ROM drive by clicking “Open DVD”.
Many friends ask me how to copy movies form DVDs to hard drive. This process calls ‘Rip’. Additional, ripping protected DVDs is illegal (unless you have the own right of the DVDs). This software helps you rip DVDs automatically. You needn’t know how to break the css protect. You will not be confused by the complicated operation of ‘DVD Decrypter’ or ‘DVD Shrink’. I really love this function.
2) Or Load .ifo files from your hard drive by clicking “Add ifo”. IFO file is an index of DVD files. It contains many control info about the DVD movies.
3) Or right click on the blank area in the center of the main interface to import video files from your hard drive or DVD-ROM drive.

Step 3: Select the conversion files

DVD files often compose of many video chapters. In default setting, this software will help you convert multi DVD files into one file, so if you just want to convert some chapters of the DVD, you could cancel the click in front of the title, select the chapters you want to convert and click the box in front of it. The “estimated size” will let you know the approximate output files size.

For advanced configure, right click the files you want to convert, a window will be popped up. You could drag the slide bar to set the “Start Time” and “End Time” according to your need.
This exact to seconds.

Step 4: Customize output screen, cut black margin

16:9 and 4:3 are two popular ratios now; you could select anyone you want. More over, DVD Movies often with black margin on the top and button of screen, if you want to play your DVD on your PocketPC with full screen, you could cut the black margin. While playing the DVD, a yellow frame will appear beside the scene, you could drag the yellow line to cut any parts you don’t want.

More over, you could click the little “cut” icon; a cropping window will be popped up. Here you could customize the crop window more exactly.

Step 5: Option Setting

Click the “setting” icon to open the “Option” window. Here you could use the drop-down list to set values for “Resolution”, “Framerate”, “Codec”, “Video Bitrate”, “Ratio”, “Audio SampleRate”, and “Channels”.

1) Set resolution, you could select the suitable resolution according to your mobile device.
2) Set Framerate, there are seven choices for you to select, 25 framerate/s stands for PAL format, 30 framerate/s stands for NTSC format. NTSC is a standard used in North America and Japan. PAL is a standard used almost everywhere else in the world. If you want to know the character about PAL and NTSC, you could refer this article for more info
http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/PALvsNTSC/PALvsNTSC.asp
3) Set codec, there are three encoders for you, they are three versions of Microsoft WMV encoder, WM1 provides fast conversion speed, and WM3 provides better quality with longer conversion time.
4) Set Video Bitrate, high bitrate provides better video quality with bigger output size. You could select the suitable one according for your memory volume.
5) Set ratio, you could configure 16:9 or 4:3 here. 16:9 is width screen. It becomes more and more popular. 4:3 is common ratio for older monitor.
6) Set SampleRate, high samplerate provides better quality with bigger size. This software can convert the Audio track in DVDs to a single MP3 or WMA file which can be played on MP3 player. If you care about the quality, high sample rate would be your choice.
7) Set Channels, select “Mono” or “Stereo”.

Click the “effect” icon to open the “effect” window. Here you could drag the slider-bar to set values for “Brightness”, “Contrast”, “Saturation”, and “Volume”.

1) Set Brightness, It’s not conformable to watch a dark movie on Pocket PC’s little screen. If you complaint the movie’s background are a little dark, you could higher the values to get a clear movie scene.
2) Set Contrast, a suitable contrast value provides clear scene, you could set it according to your need or leave it as original.
3) Set Saturation.
4) Set Audio Volume.

Step 6: Select subtitle, audio, output path

1) Rename file: You could type the desired name here for your conversion file or leave it along; this will help you manage the multi files clearly.
2) Select Subtitle: DVD movies often provide multi-languages for watching, you could select anyone you want, and there also has a “No Subtitle” option for you.
3) Select Audio: Audio setting is similar with Subtitle; you could select anyone you want.
4) Select output path: the default path is C:\Program Files\Wondershare\Pocket DVD Ripper\Output\ you could change it at your pleasure.
5) Select Format: There are three choices for you, WMV/WMA/MP3, WMA and MP3 are audio format, if someone just wants the music from the movie without video (for example, you just want the songs from the DVD concert) you could select MP3 or WMA format, then you can enjoy it on your MP3 player.

Step 7: Start Converting

After prepare all things, you could click “Start” button to begin the conversion. Then a small window will be popped up.

This software supports batch conversion; you could add multi tasks at one time and then go away to do anything else. It could shut down computer automatically after all tasks are finished. You could preview your DVD while converting or click “Hide Preview” to shorten the conversion time. You could also get much info about conversion here.
When conversion is finished, you just need to transfer the conversion files to your mobile device, and then you could enjoy your favorite DVD movie anytime and anywhere.

The PSP GPS Accessory

2006-09-04T19:49:00.000-07:00

One of the first things we PSP fans have to be excited about is the upcoming GPS accessory. We've known about the possibility of a GPS accessory ever since before the PSP was even released; Sony's first public exhibition of the PSP showed several units equipped with a small GPS unit that attached to the PSP's GPS port. Sony reminded us that the accessory was on its way at the Playstation Business Meeting earlier this year. And just this past week, we learned an official price and release date for the Japanese market: December 7th for 6,000 yen (~$51 USD).

So why should you, or anyone be excited about the GPS accessory? What will it do for the PSP? Can I use it to navigate my way around town? This article will answer those questions, and many more.
For those that don't know, GPS is an acronym for "Global Positioning System." It was developed by the US Department of Defense, but today is free for anyone to use. Satellites in orbit around the Earth broadcast signals, and receivers pick up these signals. After doing some math with the numbers received from the satellites, the receiver is able to determine your position on the globe. If you're interested in more (or want a more technical explanation), the Wikipedia entry on GPS is extremely detailed.

GPS doesn't require a connection to the internet, a phone line, a cell phone, or anything of that nature. Just like you can tune your car's radio to your favorite radio station without connecting to the internet, your GPS receiver only needs GPS signals to operate properly. Let's take a look at the technical specifications of the GPS receiver:

Product Name: GPS Receiver
Number: PSP-290
Release Date: December 7th (Thursday)
Suggested Retail Price: 6,000 yen (5,715 yen before tax)
Reception Frequency: 1575.42MHz (L1 ban, C/A code)
Reception System: 20 Channel
Reception Sensitivity: Following: -153dBm
Captured: -140dBm
Position Renew Interval: ~1 second
Initial Position Acquisition Time: ~40 seconds
Positioning Precision: 5m (2DRAMS, -130dBm)
External Dimensions: 45 x 41 x 17mm (W x H x D)
Weight: 16g
Contents: GPS Receiver x 1, Case x 1

There isn't a lot to comment on here; the GPS receiver simply plugs into the USB port on top of your PSP, takes about 40 seconds to realize where it is, then renews its position every second thereafter. The 5 meter (16 foot) accuracy means that your position will be reported, at most, 16 feet away from where you actually are. This 5 meter accuracy is pretty standard for GPS devices without WAAS, and is certainly ample for providing something like driving directions.

Now that the explanation is out of the way, most of you are probably asking yourselves how something like that would be useful for the PSP, or even video games in general. And to be honest with you, we don't know the answer this question; there really haven't been any game consoles in the past to take advantage of GPS. Sony hasn't clarified how GPS will make video games more enjoyable.

As of this writing, two games that will offer GPS compatibility have been announced: Metal Gear Portable Ops from Konami, and Everybody's Golf (a.k.a. Hot Shots Golf) from Sony Computer Entertainment. They've been very tight-lipped about what part GPS will play in either one of these games. We can only guess about GPS support in Portable Ops, but Sony did hint at how you'd be able to use GPS for "Downloadable Golf course data" and "Simulation for shot." If anyone can figure out what that means, let me know.

So what about applications beyond gaming? Obviously the PSP offers capabilities that don't fall into gaming, so why limit a GPS receiver to just gaming? There's good news: Sony understands that. Sony announced that they will be demonstrating two titles at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show (September 22nd) that support GPS and don't really count as games. Furthermore, talk of GPS spurred once again when Sony announced cooperation with ZENRIN to release software called "Minna no Chizu in Japan.

The first title that will be shown at Tokyo Game Show is called "Planetarium Creator Homestar Portable: Supervised by Takashi Ohira" (previous coverage here, official site here, screenshots here). Homestar Portable is a navigation tool that contains information on over 5 million stars, information about 300 heavenly objects, and over 15 planetarium style shows. When you use the GPS receiver with this software, you'll be able to see the stars that are actually over your head, and get information about them. The ultimate date tool?

What we're more interested here at PSP-Vault though is the other software. When the GPS accessory was announced, many people were wondering whether or not it could actually be used for navigation purposes. That is, whether or not your PSP could help you find your way around town. Sony announced they would be showing software at Tokyo Game Show temporarily being called just "Navigation Software." The company behind the Navigation Software? They're called "Edia Co. Ltd."

Edia and the PSP

Edia's official Japanese homepage is here. As you can see, Edia is no stranger to navigation software; the company was founded in 1999, and currently offers a host of navigation solutions to some big names, such as Toyota Motor Corporation, Nissan Motors, BMW Japan, NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone, KDDI, Korea LG Telecom, and so on. Add Sony to that list.

For a preview of what software Edia will be offering for the PSP, we need look no further than the software they already provide to other companies. Edia operates several websites, gives content (such as the locations of noodle restaurants) to other companies with GPS devices, and even puts out some GPS devices of their own. Their foremost product is the Pontus line of "Portable Navigation Devices," whose official homepage is here. As you can see, the Pontus line provides full navigation capabilities, with everything you'd expect of a modern GPS system -- voice commands, route searches, automatic scrolling/rotation of maps, waypoints, and so on. One of the nicer features of the Pontus devices is its playback of multimedia files; you can actually insert a SD card in the side and play WMA audio files, MP3 audio files, JPEG images, and BMP images. Wouldn't it be sweet if Edia offered these same capabilities in their "Navigation Software"? Given Sony's emphasis on the multimedia capabilities of the PSP, it would be pretty cool if you could listen to music on your PSP as it provides you directions to where you need to be. Here are all the screenshots I've found of Edia's software in action -- keep in mind that whatever Edia offers for the PSP will vary. Maybe it will be better, maybe it will be worse. My apologies for the resolution... these are the largest I could find.

3g and 3gp

2006-08-31T00:14:00.000-07:00

What is 3G?
3G stands for third generation, a generic wireless industry term for high-speed mobile data delivery over cellular networks. 3G networks allow users to send and receive bandwidth-intensive information such as video, video conferencing, high quality audio and web data on-demand, virtually anytime and anyplace.

What is 3GP?
3GP - is the new mobile phone video file format.
3GPP, 3GPP2 are the new worldwide standard for the creation, delivery and playback of multimedia over 3rd generation, high-speed wireless networks. Defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project and 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 respectively, these standards seek to provide uniform delivery of rich multimedia over newly evolved, broadband mobile networks (3rd generation networks) to the latest multimedia-enabled wireless devices. Tailored to the unique requirements of mobile devices, 3GPP and 3GPP2 take advantage of MPEG-4, the standard for delivery of video and audio over the Internet.

Extensions:
.3gp 3GPP standard, GSM Network, Video: MPEG-4, H.263, Audio: AAC, AMR
.3g2 3GPP2 standard, CDMA2000 Network, Video: MPEG-4, H.263, Audio: AAC, AMR, QCELP.

The evolution of high-speed wireless digital networks is based on two predominant technologies ?GSM and CDMA2000. Both types of 3G networks are currently being deployed worldwide to offer consumers a variety of on-the-go multimedia services.

What is 3gpp?
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration agreement that was established in December 1998. It is a co-operation between ETSI (Europe), ARIB/TTC (Japan), CCSA (China), ATIS (North America) and TTA (South Korea).

The scope of 3GPP is to make a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone system specification within the scope of the ITU's IMT-2000 project. 3GPP specifications are based on evolved GSM specifications, now generally known as the UMTS system.

Note that 3GPP should not be confused with 3GPP2, which specifies standards for another 3G technology based on IS-95 (CDMA), commonly known as CDMA2000.

What is 3gpp2
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) is a collaboration agreement that was established in December 1998. It's a co-operation between ARIB/TTC (Japan), CCSA (China), TIA (North America) and TTA (South Korea).

The scope of 3GPP2 is to make a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone system specification within the scope of the ITU's IMT-2000 project. In practice, 3GPP2 is the standardization group for CDMA2000, the set of 3G standards based on earlier 2G CDMA technology.

Note that 3GPP2 should not be confused with 3GPP, which specifies standards for another 3G technology known as W-CDMA (UMTS).

Zune revealed by FCC as "Toshiba 1089"

2006-08-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well, here's a bit of a surprise: a wireless PMP just showed up on the FCC, featuring a 30GB HDD, FM tuner and a strangely familiar 3-inch screen. And it ain't being manufactured by Microsoft. Instead it looks like Microsoft got their good pal Toshiba to produce the Zune, which not only saves Microsoft the job of gearing up some production lines for the thing, but seems to keep them from stepping on at least one PlayForSure licensee's toes. Things get more interesting from there, since the documentation refers to those other heavily bandied code names: "Pyxis" and "Argo." From the looks of things, Pyxis seems to be the name for the network which Zune devices will use to share content, since in the "DJing Content" section it states that "Pyxis allows you to stream music to up to 4 other Pyxis devices." A bit more confusing, however, is that "You can invite other Argo members that you meet to be your friends wirelessly." Of course, it's always likely that they hadn't gotten all the codenames smoothed out by the time they wrote that up, but it's clear that the Zune player as we know it is only a small part of the overall "Zune" plan. It's also clear that Toshiba is part of the party, so we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for any other manufacturers who might be hanging on to Microsoft's coat tails here. Keep reading to see the Zune cracked open, tested, and completely dissected

Microsoft confirms Toshiba will produce Zune

2006-08-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

25 August 2006 21:27 by Davedough

In a leaked filing with the FCC, its been uncovered that Japanese hardware giant, Toshiba will partner with Microsoft on the upcoming "iPod killer". In the filing, it was discovered that Microsoft will release a 30Gb Zune with wireless internet capabilities before the end of this year. Analysts predict the Zune will be direct competition to the market leading iPod in the digital music market. Microsoft hopes to take away a good portion of the market from it's rival Apple. They've also stated that the Zune's success will hinge on whether or not the unit will allow you to download music from the built in wireless. No price has been released yet for the Zune, but if Microsoft's track record for competing prices holds true, consumers can expect to pay close to the same amount as they would for Apple's produce.
Source: BBC

Microsoft Zune Interface Mockups

2006-08-23T23:18:00.000-07:00

Although these are just UI mockups, our tipsters have confirmed that they're similar to the current "live" design on the player. These mockups are plain because the backgrounds are textured and have artwork, so the actual text is just white on black.

The first shot is of the settings menu—nothing spectacular. There's no "movies" or "video" entry, which is kind of strange, since the Zune supports video. More shots after the jump.

This next one is showing how it looks when you're browsing through your music. As you can see the large "M" on the sides means you're on that letter, which makes it easier to read when you're scrolling fast.

The music playback screen has a scrollbar so you can tell where you are in the song, and very large artwork. One complaint I had about the 5G iPod was that the album art is too small. It's nice that it's there, but something like this where you can easily identify the album art would be great. Maybe even a track number somewhere on the side so you can know which track you're on would also be useful.

The next shot is of the FM tuner screen. The real FM screen has the track info (artist, track name) under the screen, but this is pretty close.

The other items in the UI that iLounge didn't get screenshots for are the Videos screen, which shows you options like "all videos" and "all TV shows". This probably means they either plan a "TV Shows" download in their upcoming Video Store, or you can grab TV shows from your Media Center and watch them on the Zune. The videos are automatically flipped depending on whether they're widescreen or fullscreen.

How to download video from YouTube, Myspace, Google Video?

2006-08-23T02:08:00.000-07:00

Many friends ask me how to download videos from YouTube, Myspace, Google Video, etc. Videos come from those website are streaming videos. So you need some software to capture steaming videos. Here is a simple guide about it.

Step 1: You'll need firefox. Firefox is a free and powerful web browser. Download and install it.
Here is the free download link: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

Step 2: Install the videodownloader extension. This is a plug-in for firefox. It enables you capture streaming video from website. Here is the free download link:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2390

Step 3: After installing videodownloader, restart firefox. In the bottom right, you'll see a little box. Go to the video you want to download, double click that little box, and select download link. Then you could download the streaming video you want.

Finish my simple guide. I hope you get some useful info.

Hubdog Announces New "Blog It" Feature!

2006-08-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

"MONTREAL, QC., August 22th, 2006 – A completely new way to share what you discover on your mobile device has just been released."

"Thanks to Hubdog’s new “Blog it” feature, you can now post to blogger blogs from Windows Mobile devices. Find interesting News or Podcasts from your Hubdog channels and post them back to your blog within 2 clicks!"

Bloglines has a similar feature for clipping news items into your Bloglines blog, but of course it's not a mobile feature, and bloglines mobile content is pretty much limited to text and graphics. The hubdog "blog it" feature currently only supports Blogger blogs, but as I also have one, I'll be testing this out soon. When I finish with the Best of Awards 2006 judging, that is (I might actually have a life again)! Find out more on mobile blogging here, here and here.

This easy blogging & clipping tool brings new possibilities to the traditional, deskbound blogging experience. Here are some cool examples of new innovative ways to use your blogs and your Windows Mobile device:

1. Share what you discover

Every day, my colleague Yuri reads its favorite news and entertainment feeds with Hubdog on its mobile device; clicking on the “blog it” button every time he stumbles upon an interesting item to post on its blog.

The results: Yuri publishes a stunning blog; well, I personally think so! Why? Because we evolve in the same business and have so many common interests; this is why I find his blog so compelling and extremely interesting.

Yuri also uses his blog as a personal bookmark tool. During meetings for instance, he often refers to his blog posts to point out new suppliers and competitor offers. Consistently, Yuri uses his blog and Hubdog to record every interesting article he discovers throughout the day.

This feature is an effective new way to share and track news and information anywhere, anytime. I encourage everybody to use this feature to update and enrich their blogs, whether you need to share relevant business information, hot topics, viral media, fresh news or entertainment with friends and colleagues.

2. Create fresh entertainment channels

Since Hubdog provides video, image, radio, podcast and mp3 playback support; you can aggregate entertainment channels by simply using your “blog it” button to clip & post media items to a dedicated entertainment blog created for this purpose. Users can then press the Play button associated with the Hubdog mobile version of this blog; this will start the channel playlist, letting you enjoy a non-stop friendly-suggested media experience.

Share with us more innovative ways to use Hubdog’s “Blog it” feature at hubdog feedback
or by visiting this forum

Hubdog “Blog-it” Features:

* Posts items online or offline.
* Support for the most popular blog site on the web; only Blogger is supported at this time. More blog services to be announced soon.

* Add images and enclosures to your posts.
* Minimal upload bandwidth; text, images and enclosures from a post are not uploaded from the phone, hubdog server manages this process.

* Send posts while on the road. Be the first to break the news no matter where you are.

Andres Restrepo
Hubdog Press Desk

...posted from Andres press realease...Nate

Zune to be packed with music videos from EMI

2006-08-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

Music company EMI has agreed to put music videos of it's signed bands preloaded on the Microsoft Zune when it's launched. Such British bands as Hot Chip and 30 Seconds to Mars.

After initial reports came out, many speculated that the Zune would not play video, however this new deal seems to prove that the Zune just may be an all around device. With the ability to download software, play video and music, Microsoft may have a contender to take the 70% share away from rival Apple.

Details on the Zune are still few and far between, however it has been said that the Zune will come with a hard drive and wireless access allowing it to download software and music on the fly.

Source:
BBC

Use your Pocket PC or Smartphone to get more stuff done

2006-08-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

Author: Hal Goldstein , Categories: Opinion

Over the weekend I created a post about making use of a Windows Mobile device and the two leading time management systems from David Allen (“Getting Things Done”) and Stephen Covey (“First Things First”).
I pointed out that Allen’s approach is bottom up – efficient systems for organizing, processing, and then transforming the tons of stuff that comes our way each day into action. Covey’s approach is top-down – first take a good look at your life, determine what is truly important and organize stuff to do from that framework. In the initial post and following comment a number of good threads on this topic were given. My hope is to develop a series of articles by and for Windows Mobile users on best time management practices.
A great source of this knowledge is Bruce Keener and his web site. Since the post I have been emailing Bruce. Bruce has agreed to join our blog team with his observations and reviews about time management and electronic tools.
In my original post I should have also mentioned one other kind of software that I have found critical in being more productive and effective – mind mapping software. Mindmapping is a great brainstorming and idea-organizing tool.
I think of mind mapping as 2 dimensional outlining. The extra dimension make the process visual. I use MindJet on my desktop and Pocket Mindmap on my Pocket PC. Pocket Mindmap already did a good job syncing with MindJet, but recently the two companies formed an alliance. That should prove a good thing for end users. Expect to see more on Mindmapping in future blogs.

Again, if you have good, working time management systems using Windows Mobile devices especially if you use the Allen or Covey method, please E-mail me at hal@thaddeus.com or comment below.

Going Beyond the Initial Setup ? Provisioning Windows Mobile Devices

2006-08-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

By Chris De Herrera, Copyright 2006
Version 1.00 Created 6/26/2006

If you work in an enterprise that has multiple Windows Mobile devices, you will soon find that you need an easy way to setup new devices. This is especially true if you are planning to deploy hundreds or thousands of devices. This article explains different options to configure or provision Windows Mobile devices en mass.

Backup & Restore

The initial idea that some enterprise users may think of is like using Symantec Ghost for Windows Mobile devices. Basically a network administrator configures a Windows Mobile device initially by hand. Then they perform a backup of the device using tools like SPB Backup or Sprite Clone. This backup would be the 揼olden master?for that particular device and configuration. The cloning process is easy to perform by restoring the backup onto a new device. The downside to this process is that the backup is generally device and rom version specific so you will want to test the image with each new device and rom.

Working with the Registry

Another way to configure settings in Windows Mobile is by using a registry editor. Please note that neither Microsoft nor any OEM will support you editing the registry on the device. Microsoft has documented common settings that are related to security at Default Security Policy Settings for Windows Mobile-Based Devices. You will need a registry editor since there is no editor provided with Windows Mobile. You can download a registry editor from PHM RegEdit or Resco Explorer 2005. Also, if your device has been secured, you may have to use a digitally signed registry editor in order to change the settings.

Windows Mobile 5.0 Provisioning

With Windows Mobile 5.0, Microsoft came up with a new process to provision devices. This process allows users to setup different types of settings all at once. Also, you can create XML entries that are compiled into a CPF file to make registry changes beyond the standard settings. One of the critical items to understand is the two tier security architecture, security policy and security roles that control whom can modify the settings on the device. This process is fairly complex and requires you to consider how devices are managed in your environment. The downside to the provisioning process is that there is no option to automatically install applications so you will have to install them separately.

Understanding Windows Mobile Two-Tier Security Architecture

Microsoft has introduced a two-tier security architecture for Windows Mobile devices. The first tier defines that digitally signed applications are allowed full access to all privileged APIs and Registry keys. Applications that are not signed cannot be run on the device. The second tier defines that digitally signed applications will run in Normal mode while specially signed applications from the carrier or enterprise can access all privileged APIs and Registry keys. Applications that are not signed cannot be run on the device. Microsoft has described the two tier security architecture at Selecting Security Configuration.

Windows Mobile 2003 and 5.0 Smartphones support two tiers of security which define whom can install applications and make registry changes. Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PCs support only a single tier security architecture. Normally Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PCs and Smartphones are delivered with no security architecture implemented. However you should ask your OEM to ensure that you can confirm this for your specific device. Prior versions of the Pocket PC did not support this security architecture however the Smartphone has supported it since the beginning.

So when you decide to implement security in your environment, you may choose to purchase a digital certificate so you can sign your provisioning XML files. This will prevent users from being able to change these settings and install applications. The digital certificate process is the same as application developers use to sign their applications. You may find the article Windows Mobile 5.0 Application Security which covers how to sign applications helpful.

Understanding Windows Mobile 5.0 Security Policy and Roles.

Part of Windows Mobile 5.0 is that Microsoft supports many different roles that can modify the device. The security roles define whether or not a specific configuration file has access to resources based on the role defined for it. The security policies define the different policy settings that can be defined on the device to control a particular function. I suggest that all administrators read about the Security Policy and Roles.

Creating an XML Provisioning File

Microsoft has documented the provisioning options and process at Provisioning Files. The process of creating a provisioning file requires the device administrator to create an XML file with al the settings required to configure the device. The different XML schemas for the provisioning file are documented at Configuration Service Provider Reference for Windows Mobile-Based Devices. Also you will want to review the 28 example XML files at OMA Client Provisioning XML File Examples or the combined XML sample at XML Example for Security Policy. I suggest that you combine multiple XML options into a single file so it configures everything you need. You must make sure that you name the XML file _setup.xml.

Creating and Installing a CPF File

Then you need to create a CPF file. A CPF file is a special CAB file that installs the settings on the device for you. To create a CPF file. go to a command line (start - run and type CMD) and navigate to the directory where the _setup.xml file is located. Then enter the command ?b>C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ MakeCAB.exe /D COMPRESS=OFF _setup.xml MyCPF.cpf ?to create a CPF file that installs the XML settings on the device. Finally once you have the MyCPF.CPF file you can install it on any Windows Mobile 5.0 device and the device will have all the same settings. To install the MyCPF.CPF file just copy it to your device and use File Explorer to navigate to the folder where it is located and click on it to install it.

Testing a CPF File

Once you have installed the CPF file you can use a registry editor (see above) to confirm that the security settings you enabled are set. The common security settings are documented by Microsoft at Default Security Policy Settings for Windows Mobile-Based Devices, The registry is readable even if the registry editor is not digitally signed to allow changes.

The Future

While Microsoft now provides administrators with the option to setup default parameters and security on their devices, the process can be daunting. Hand coding an XML file and creating a .CPF file is a process that can fail due to typographical errors too easily. I hope that Microsoft or a 3rd party provides a simpler tool to customize these settings more easily than creating a custom CPF file by hand. In the meantime, you can create your own CPF file, edit the registry or consider the backup and restore approach.

What's coming Zune?

2006-08-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

And as usual, there are the usual screams of it being an "iPod killer". Rumours have it launching sometime in November running some flavour of Windows CE and retailing for about U$299.00

Engadget claims to know the following 'for sure':

* Zune is the name of the project, the brand, and the device.
* The first Zune device will be launched this year, with more devices to come in 2007.
* The Zune brand encompasses not only the device, but the software that will drive it, as well as a music, movie, and media service the Zune device family will use for acquiring, sharing, and discovery of said media. Music will be the first angle of service that is launched, "connected entertainment" being the ultimate goal.
* The Zune media service will heavily leverage community aspects and recommendation; emphasis is being placed on using Zune to discover new artists, media, etc.
* The Zune media device will be drive-based, and have WiFi.
* The Zune brand is intended to be an entirely vertically integrated end-to-end solution, not unlike the iPod / iTunes / iTunes Music Store triumvirate.
* The service and device will not be PlaysForSure compliant, meaning you will not be able to use your Zune player with Napster or Vongo, for example. This will be an entirely new system. Microsoft will continue to support and develop for their PlaysForSure initiative, but all things PlaysForSure are handled by two entirely separate division that will not have any crossover.
* Zune is under Microsoft's new Entertainment & Devices Division, and is headed by, among others, Robbie Bach, J Allard (Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect), and Bryan Lee (Corporate Vice President and CFO, Entertainment and Devices Division), which accounts for the division of this project from the rest of Microsoft, similar to how the Xbox project was also strictly separated.

Wondershare Pocket DVD Studio Nominated for Best Software Awards 2006

2006-08-10T19:19:00.000-07:00

Wondershare Inc, a leading developer of innovative video, digital imaging and DVD authoring software, has received a prestigious award from the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine. Wondershare Pocket DVD Studio for Smartphone has been nominated for a 2006 Best Software Award in the "Video" category by the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine staff and its Board of Experts.

Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine’s Annual Best Software Awards helps users select software that best suit their Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Smartphone needs by honoring companies that produce outstanding software. Since the award came into existence in 2001, it has become one of the most influential awards in the multimedia software industry. This year comes the sixth annual best software judgment by the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine. There are 80 expert judges who conduct these awards from a database of over 4000 products with over 650 nominees, 100 categories. And in the "Video" category there are only 4 products nominated as 2006 best software, including 2005 winner and finalist which were automatically nominated. All expert judges are prominent Web Site associates, Microsoft MVPs, support forum contributors, and Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine contributors. So for Wondershare Inc, this honor is further evidence that our products are leading edge and that they meet the needs of a diverse user base.

Wondershare Pocket DVD Studio is a product which makes you watch your DVD movies on your Pocket PC, Palm, Smartphone or Portable Media Center. Since its launch, Wondershare Pocket DVD Studio has become more and more popular with different kinds of users. It is priced only at $29.95 USD and it is available for download from the company's web site. For more information about this popular software, please refer to http://www.dvd-ripper-copy.com/pocket-dvd-studio.html

About Wondershare Inc.
Established in 2002, Wondershare software is a multimedia software company creating and marketing multimedia Windows applications for both business and home users. In this pursuit, the company was aware of the need for easy to use multimedia programs with reasonable price, its extensive software line enables users of all levels to easily and effectively edit, organize and manage their multimedia files or convert them to other format and medium. There is more information about the company on its official web site. http://www.wondershare.com

Guide - Video to Flash Converter

2006-08-10T03:32:00.000-07:00

You may have taken a lot of home videos of different occasions with your DV. Watching those videos is fun already, why don't you add more fun by turning them into stunning flash videos? Each Flash Videos can tell a full story! Here's a short guide which I've compiled to help you convert your favorite video to flash movie.

First, Download Video to Flash Encoder.

Click “Open Files” to select the video files you want to convert..Click “Play” to preview the video file and get the information of it

Second, Encoder Video to Flash Converter It enables you to customize video by setting Video Encoder, Frame Rate, Key frames, Quality , Audio Encoder etc.Video Encoder: It has only one mode,default.Qulity: In the drop-down menu you can select Low, Medium, Good, Best.Frame Rate: The default Frame Rate is 12 fps. In the drop-down menu, you can choose the right frame rate that you need.Zoom In/Out Video: Custom yourself or choose default setting.Audio Encoder: Keep the original audio or erase the audio it carried.

When you finish, click “Effects” to start the next .
Third, Effects.Take the special effects and make your video more attractive.

The “Up”, “Down”, “Left” and “Right” will allow you to convert certain area you select.
Forth,Templates,Select template and background music,also,background color can be changed as you wish.

Fifth, Publish At last, check-up your select and start encode. You can publish it as flv, swf,. Swf format can be played in a flash player directly. Also,you can select Publish For Web and upload them to our server. When it finishes,you get your flash video.

Five steps complete video to flash converter, so I think you must be interested in Video to Flash Encoder, download as soon as possible.
P.S, Product info: http://www.flash-on-tv.com/video-to-flash.html

The last iPod Convert guide you need (part 3)

2006-08-09T23:28:00.000-07:00

How to update video to your ipod through iTune ?

Step1. Connect your iPod to PC, launch iTunes.
If you don’t have iTunes. You can download free from here:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/download/
We recommend that you create a new list to place the file you converted.

Step2. Find the mp4 file you have converted, directly drag into the playlist you created just now.
If you have added the file to the library of the iTunes, you can drag it from library to the new playlist directly.

Step3. Update your iPod. Click ‘File’->’update your iPod’
After updating, you can see the file list on your ipod. You can change the file name showing on iPod. Please right click the file, choose "Get info", and change the info of this file at "Info". You are done and enjoy!

Well, my guide should be easy to understand, I hope you will not face any other problems during enjoying iPod with it.

The last iPod Convert guide you need (part 2)

2006-08-08T23:14:00.000-07:00

How to convert AVI to iPod, WMV to iPod, MPEG to iPod, RM to iPod, RMVB to iPod, ASF to iPod, MPG to iPod, DivX to iPod, XviD to iPod, DAT to iPod, MOV to iPod video?
After installing the ‘Wondershare iPod Video Suite’. Click ‘Video to iPod Converter’ button to lunch it. Its interface and operation are similar to ‘DVD to iPod Ripper’.

But compare with ‘DVD to iPod Ripper’, there are two parts I want to emphasize:
1. In ‘DVD to iPod Ripper’, you click the ‘option’ icon on the top to open the option window. In ‘Video to iPod Converter’, you should right click the files and click ‘Params Setting’ to open the option windows. This function let you set different options to different tasks. For example, you set the conversion format for the first video in xVID, and you can set it for the second video in H.264. So you can import multi files at one time and set the suitable option for each task and then go away to do any other thing. It’s really good, I love it.

2. With ‘Video to iPod Converter’, you can capture any lovely pictures from the videos. Either be your cool desktop or print it. There is a small ‘camera’ icon on the right part of the interface. Click it while previewing the video; it will save the current picture of the video for you. More over you can save it in .JPG or .BMP.

Operation:
Step1. Import video files by clicking ‘Add files’ or right click the blank of the main interface to ‘Load Videos…’

Step2. Option setting. It’s the same with ‘DVD to iPod Ripper’. So I’m not repeating it. You can refer above details to manage it.

Step3. Select output directory. The default out put directory is
C:\Program Files\Wondershare\iPod Video Suite\video2ipod\Output

Step4. Go, Go, Go. Click ‘Start’ button to start the conversion.

How to use Wondershare Video to DVD Burner

2006-08-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

The user-friendly interface with easy and straight five-step process effortlessly guide you through the 1) Import, 2) Edit , 3) Effect , 4)Menu and 5) Export steps and make learning and using Video to DVD Burner literally a breeze. In order to make you know the process clearly, I will introduce every step in detail in the following words

Step 1, Import
First thing you need to do is click the Add File button. However, if you have your movie on two or more files in a folder, you can open them all at the same time with the Add Folder button. You can preview or trim the video clip to get your favorite segment. Also, a bunch of information will come up. You will get details on the filename, duration, dimension, start time and terminal time.

Step 2, (optional) Edit
Click the Text tab to add your captions. Also, you can choose the font name, font size, font color and duration time. And if you want to erase the original audio, just click the Audio tab, set the original parameter to Zero, and then add music or even your voice-cover tracks.

Step 3, (optional) effectClick Effect tab and select the suitable transitions between your video clips. Double-click the thumbnail to preview the full effect. Animated preview helps you quickly find the right effect for each change of scene.

Step 4, (optional) menuThere are many pre-designed templates for you to choose from. Click templates button to choose the one you like. Click Text button to add some words. Additionally, you can apply any photography as a menu background or any music as background soundtrack.

Step 5, Export Congratulations! Here comes the final part - exporting and burning. Set the output properties such as output format, DVD Label and some necessary properties. Then click Burn to disk.Now you only need to wait for some time, then you will get the result you want.

Now you should have a pretty good idea of Wondershare Video to DVD Burner. If you want to know it better, you can down a trial version and use it your own self. You can get it here.
http://www.dvd-ripper-copy.com/download/video-dvd-download.php

The last iPod Convert guide you need (part 1)

2006-08-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, most iPod converter is popular more and more going with iPod developed. Many friends ask me to introduce a good iPod video converter after I issued a report about iPod video converters. (You can get more info from my report on the page)
so I write a guide for users to recommend a tool (Wondershare iPod Video Suite). I wish it is useful to you.

Before you convert your files, please know the general limits which the iPod carry.
H.264 video: up to 768 Kbps, 320x240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 128 Kbps, 48 KHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats.

MPEG-4 video: up to 2500 Kbps, 480x320, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 128 Kbps, 48 KHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats

How to rip/convert DVD to iPod

Step 1: Download the latest version 'Wondershare iPod Video Suite' from here
http://www.dvd-ripper-copy.com/download/suite-download.php?sid=2
Install and run it. The latest version is 1.3.2
Click DVD to iPod Converter component to lunch the ‘DVD to iPod Ripper’

Step2. Import/Rip DVD files

1)Rip your DVD files from DVD-ROM drive by clicking “Open DVD”.
Many friends ask me how to copy movies form DVDs to pc. This process calls ‘Rip’. Additional, rip DVDs is illegal. This software helps you rip DVDs automatically. You needn’t know how to break the css protect. You will not be confused by the complicated operation of ‘DVD Decrypter’ or ‘DVD Shrink’. I really love this function.
2) Or Load .ifo files from your hard disk by clicking “Add ifo”.
3) Or right click on the blank area in the center of the main interface to import video files from your hard disk or DVD-ROM drive.

Step3. Select the content you want to convert
As usual, the longest title is the main file of the movie. You can remove the title you don't like to convert by choosing the title, right-clicking and “Check All” or “Uncheck All”.
Additional, Wondershare iPod Video Suite supports batch convert. This helps you increase efficiency. And you can select the function ‘Shut down computer when conversion is complete’, then you needn’t stand by the computer until all the tasks finished.

Click ‘Trim’ button. A window will be popped up. You can set the conversion start time or end time here.

Step4. Option setting
Click “Option” to set conversion parameter.

You can customize “Resolution”, ‘Frame rate’, ‘Format’, ‘Bit rate’, ‘Channels’, ‘Frequency’, ‘Volume’ here according to your need. Or you just use the default setting.
There is something I want to explain. As to ‘Format’ setting. There are two choice for you—‘H.264’ & ‘xVID’. If you want to know the different between this two format. You can refer this post.
http://www.dvd-ripper-copy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8?sid=2
‘H.264’ provides higher quality with less size. But the conversion time is longer than ‘xVID’. If you care about the video definition. ‘H.264’ would be your choice. I prefer ‘xVID’ to ‘H.264’. Because it’s difficult to distinguish the difference between ‘H.264’ and ‘xVID’ on iPod’s little screen.

Step5. Subtitle, Audio, output directory setting

DVD provides multi languages Subtitle. You can click the drop-down menu to select anyone you want. Select ‘Audio’ is the same. To 'Save as', enter the full pathname or select the path where you want to save your video files by clicking the icon in the right side.

Step6.After all the thing done, click the ‘START’ button to begin the conversion.