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Zune 4.0 software won't play nice with HDTV Media Center recordings
With the launch of the Zune HD and the CEDIA show just around the corner, we've been hoping this could mean an all new integrated future for Windows Media Center and other Microsoft platforms -- until now. As a few commenters pointed out yesterday, the corrected spec sheet received from Microsoft indicated HDTV and protected Windows Media Center DVR-MS (the files used by Vista Media center) recordings were not supported. We reached out for clarification and received the following: "Zune HD, and the forthcoming Zune 4.0 PC software, will support and transcode Windows Media Center recorded TV file formats from Windows Vista or Windows 7 that contain MPEG-2 video, in either the DVR-MS or WTV formats. Support is limited to unencrypted SD and HD recordings. HD Files with AC3 audio are not supported by Zune." As you may or may not be aware, at least in the U.S. , and most other countries, any high definition broadcasts you snag from antenna, ClearQAM or otherwise use Dolby Digital AC-3 audio, meaning the Zune software won't be able to convert them. Current workarounds for bringing Media Center recordings on the go should still be a go, but all we can see is the missed opportunity to tie the two platforms together with easy one click transcoding support. Hopefully Microsoft still has something up its sleeve to pull together Zune and Windows 7 Media Center, but portable DVR recordings ain't it.
AVCHD format will enable 8cm DVD-equipped HD camcorders
Sony and Panasonic-parent Matsushita have teamed up to develop an encoding format based on MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 that will enable future camcorders to capture HD footage directly to standard 8-centimeter DVDs. Called "AVCHD," the new format is able to handle numerous resolution/frame-rate combinations, including 480i at 60fps, 720p at 24, 50, or 60fps, and 1080p at 24fps (or 1080i for 50fps and 60fps configurations), and can encode audio in either 5.1 channel AC-3 or up to 7.1 channel Linear PCM. The advantages of this format over the current HDV scheme used with MiniDV cassettes aren't exactly clear -- although you are getting random scene access thanks to the nature of optical discs, recording time is cut down from around an hour with MiniDV to only 20 minutes at the AVCHD "average setting." Even worse, DVD players will require special software in order to read discs containing content encoded in the new format, and even then, they will obviously only play back at a maximum resolution of 480p.[Via PCWorld]
Viliv announces new US-bound PMP, the P2
So apparently the viliv P1 personal media player is doing so well in the US, that the company has already announced plans to release their new model, the P2, Stateside as well. The P2 takes all the P1's multi-codec goodness (MPEG-1/2/4, H.264, DivX, WMV 7/8/9, XviD, MP3, WMA, OGG, AC-3, and WAV), subtracts the iPod resemblance, and adds a 60GB option as well as an optional GPS receiver. Powered by a 400MHz AMD processor, the P2 runs on Windows CE 5.0 and sports a large 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 widescreen LCD, and also can also act as a USB 2.0 host device. Expect to see these for sale sometime in the middle of August, although pricing has yet to be announced.
