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Recorded TV HD plugin for Media Center adds commercial break indicator
The Recorded TV HD app for Media Center users debuted earlier this year, bringing the ability to sort saved TV shows by genre or personalized favorites list with additional metadata pulled in automatically. Today, developer Mark Terborg released v1.4.18, which adds a Sage TV-style commercial break indicator to the scrub bar, provided users are running properly configured commercial scanning software as well. The familiar look may ease the nerves of switchers jumping from the Sage ship, who can get a taste of the add-in during its 30-day free trial but will have to pay $19.95 for a license covering one PC plus extenders, or $39.95 for a whole household. Check after the break for a shot of the plugin's UI, or hit the source link for the full changelog.
Ask TUAW: Canceling Mobile Me, iPhone backups, playing Windows media files and more
Welcome back to another edition of our weekly Q & A column Ask TUAW. Each week this column will appear with questions and answers. If you have questions for the following week's column, drop them in the comments, and I will do my best to get to them. I won't be able to answer them all every time, so please, be patient. When asking a question, please include which machine you're using and what version of Mac OS X is installed on it (we'll assume you're running Snow Leopard on an Intel Mac if you don't specify). If you're asking an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad question, be sure to note which model and version of iOS you have. For this week we've got a new batch of questions about how to cancel Mobile Me, getting Windows Media files to play on a Mac, backing up an iPhone and more. Rusty Cantor asks How do I cancel Mobile Me? I can't seem to figure it out. I'm 83 and this tech life is driving me nuts.
Flip4Mac 2.1.1.70 adds Windows Media 9 Advanced playback
The essential QuickTime plugin for playing Windows Media files, Flip4Mac, has been updated. In addition to bug fixes, etc., the new beta version 2.1.1.70 adds the significant improvement of support for Windows Media 9 Advanced playback. If you've been running into incompatibilities with a favorite site that uses that codec check out this latest version.[Via MacVolPlace]
Get 35% off Flip4Mac
Ok, so for whatever reason you just need to have the ability to encode darling little WMVs on your Mac, Flip4Mac is probably the way you'll want to go, and macZOT! makes the encoding software more appealing with a nice 35% off discount. The full-fledged Flip4Mac WMV Studio package typically runs $49, but with this offer (good for today only) the price gets knocked down to just under $32. As a side note, you don't need to spend any money to play Windows Media files: simply grab the free plugin. The software requires OS X 10.3.9, and QuickTime 6.5 or later. (Don't shoot the messenger!)
Microsoft already on their way to patching FairUse4WM
Leave it to the Hawthorne Effect, right? It's been three days since we spilled the beans about the PlaysForSure-stripping FairUse4WM app, and already Microsoft's Windows Digital Media Division is issuing notices to its PlaysForSure licensees regarding patching up the problem. It's a little difficult for the likes of us to decode, but check it out for yourself, we've printed the letter in its entirety (sans email addresses) for your perusal. From what we can glean, Microsoft's prepared to combat this "new circumvention tool" by patching the individualized blackbox component (IBX) in PlaysForSure either as a push down through the software, or as an update available in the near future to Windows users. We won't butcher the technical nuances of this one any further though, so we'll let you guys see what's what and figure out how to keep everyone in the Fair Use fair use loop. Either way, guess it looks like Microsoft wasn't listening to our pleas; are you there Bill? It's us, Engadget.
FairUse4WM strips Windows Media DRM!
So far as the yet very quiet forums are claiming, a new app called FairUse4WM can be used to strip Windows Media DRM 10 and 11 (i.e. PlaysForSure, but not WM DRM 9). Yes, yes, we know, we've heard this song and dance before. But before we proceed, let's just be totally clear on how the system works: providers like Napster and Yahoo Music Unlimited provide subscription service for unlimited access to Windows Media DRMed files; stop paying the fee, stop getting access to the files -- but you already knew all this. We tried FairUse4WM and we can verify that it quickly and easily stripped the DRM from our Napster To Go tracks, and made them freely available to play on our Mac (which, of course, has Flip4Mac installed). In other words, it's a simple, apparently lossless, one-step method for making your files playable after you're no longer paying fees on your subscription service. The app didn't work on our Vongo videos, but we can verify with all certainty that yes, Windows Media DRM can now be easily and quickly stripped from PlaysForSure media services. Now watch as Microsoft shuts down the forums and runs damage control in order to prevent an digital media entire platform from collapsing. Click on for a couple more pics of the app in action!P.S. - Kinda goes without saying but we take absolutely zero accountability for what you may do with FairUse4WM, ok?[Thanks, Frank]
PiMPstreamer homebrew streams video
One of things I wanted in the next official firmware upgrade was the ability to stream video. A reader by the name of Joel stated that "the PSP doesn't have a Core 2 Duo, it has 237 Megahertz. Live streaming video needs mmuch more."Well, looks like homebrew has proven you wrong. Very wrong. A homebrew application called PiMPstreamer has just been updated, and the responses have been overwhelmingly positive. The program lets you stream movies and music from your PC to your PSP. Movies can include traditional MPEG, AVI and even WMV files. It's only been tested on 1.5 firmware, so those of you that homebrew-compatible PSPs might want to check it out. For the rest of us, I think it's a clear indicator that the PSP is very capable of a video streaming function, and we should demand Sony implement it in the next firmware.[Via PSP Hacks]
Universal Flip4Mac coming soon (Today!)
People who want to play Windows Media files on their Intel Macs can rejoice, eventually. That's right, Telestream, the makers of the very cool Flip4Mac which enables Quicktime to play Windows Media files, have posted a note on their website. It basically says that they are working on a Universal Binary and they hope to release it within the next few weeks.Update: The real story here is that the Universal version of Flip4Mac (2.1) is available from Microsoft right now. Go forth and download. Thanks, Andy!
Flip4Mac begins beta testing Universal Binary WMV QuickTime components
For Intel Mac users who either love or hate WMV but have to deal with it one way or another, Flip4Mac has just begun beta testing the long-awaited Universal Binary version of their WMV QuickTime components. Announced in their forums today, it is more or less an invite-yourself program, as I had to contact them weeks ago to get on their email announcement list.After briefly testing on my MacBook Pro, it seems like everything is working just fine. I'm able to play embedded WMV files with no problem, but I unfortunately don't have any locally saved WMV's to try at the moment. So far, the beta seems like a success, and while I hate the WMV format just as much as the next Mac user, it's nice to no longer receive that 'plug-in not found' error.
Firefox extension: VideoDownloader does just what it says
VideoDownloader is a slick Firefox extension that allows you to save content from websites, including embedded videos at sites like YouTube. The extension adds a small icon to Firefox's status bar that, when clicked, offers a pop-up window with a download link of the actual file you want. Simple and painless. The one catch I've run into so far: the files from some Flash-embedded sites like YouTube are .FLV, and while I have the latest Flash player installed, I can't seem to find it, and not even Safari will open these with a File > Open command. Other than that, this extension has worked great for grabbing all sorts of media so far.The list of sites this extension works with is lengthy, but really it should allow you to grab embedded content from just about anywhere. Unless, of course, the site has already been turned on to haxies like this and they've already launched countermeasures. Until then, enjoy.
VLC 0.8.5 released with Intel Mac, Growl support, many improvements
The most excellent jack-of-many-formats VLC media player has just reached version 0.8.5, and boy does it pack a whallop - just check out the release notes. The biggest new additions to write home about are Universal Binary support, Growl notifications, a statistics system, new skin support including skins from Winamp 2 (for those who just can't let go), new video filters, support for downloading updates (possibly due to Sparkle?) and a whole lot more.VLC is a feature-packed media player with support for a boatload of media formats, and is available free for many OSs from VideoLAN.
Gigabeat S previewed by AV Watch
We're doing our best to not lament on the Japanese snagging the Gigabeat S first, which is officially due for release April 28th -- yes, this year. We still don't know how long it'll be until we get our own launch this side of the Pacific, but AV Watch's DEVICE Viking (ahem) took a good long look at the portable media device that first whet our appetites at CES. We won't waste your time with so much wonky machine translation interpretation, but from what we could tell, they liked it -- you know where to go if your appetite too could use a little re-whetting.
DRM and battery life: no real effect after all?
Last month we wrote about a CNET study that quietly laid claim to PlaysForSure DRM cutting player battery life by as much as 25%, and FairPlay draining iPod batteries by up to 8%. DAPreview put it to the test, though, by comparing playback time on 25 albums in 160KBps non-DRMed and DRMed WMA in sequence on a fully charged SanDisk Sansa e260 with volume at 50%, screen brightness at low, and the backlight left on. And wouldn't you know it, the DRMed files played all of 25 minutes less, or 2.8% less than the 14:55 pulled from the non-DRMed music. However, since the test was only run on a single device, this only means you can conclude that the Sansa e260 handles DRM well; with so many chipset designs for player internals, you couldn't expect all devices to produce the same positive results. But hey, it's encouraging, if nothing else -- especially if you're a Sansa e260 user.
New episode of mariposaHD
Since HD Beat doesn't have a video podcast yet, you'll have to find other sources for high definition content on your PC. As Ben mentioned, mariposaHD is definitely one such source. They're finally back with their second episode, featuring Karo, cactus, skiing and fashion week in 720p, 1080i, or iPod video formats for your viewing pleasure.Between this and the Akihabara videos we've got women and tech covered, anyone got a good 720p feed for automobiles?
Microsoft offers Flip4Mac for free
Flip4Mac is a plugin for Quicktime that allows you to watch Windows Media files in Quicktime itself, and that's pretty cool. However, what is even cooler is that this great little plugin is now available for free thanks to Microsoft.You read that correctly, Microsoft is freely distributing Flip4Mac thought they are only offering the viewer, if you want to create WMV files in Quicktime you'll still need to pony up the cash.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
