MPEG4
Latest
The Helios H2000: your $99 upscaling multiformat DVD player
Those familiar with the Helios name probably haven't forgotten the uber-cheap H4000 that landed late last year, but the firm has outdone itself once again by slipping under that oh-so-magical $100 price point with the H2000. This slim multiformat player can not only upscale your standard DVDs to 1080i, but MPEG2/4, DivX, and even XviD files can also be upconverted for your viewing pleasure via component, HDMI, or VGA. Moreover, this device also outputs unprocessed 480i / 576i signals via the HDMI port if you're sending it to an external video scaler, and while we're sure you may be willing to give your first second born for all these niceties, Helios Labs will only be asking for $99 when it arrives next month.
Sony intros 5MP NSC-GC1 handheld camcorder for the YouTube crowd
It's with mixed emotions that we announce the latest Sony camcorder, as even it has shamelessly hopped on the YouTube bandwagon and catered a product specifically to those looking to snag their own 15 minutes seconds of fame. 'Course, we can't help but love the five-megapixel sensor crammed into the five-ounce device -- which enables it to capture video in MPEG-4 at 15fps QVGA or 30fps VGA resolutions -- but Sony makes no secret that the standout feature on the Net-sharing CAM is its ability to pre-format footage and easily publish content to sites such as YouTube and Crackle. Additionally, the device sports a built-in flash, 4x digital zoom, a 2.4-inch color LCD, and a rechargeable Li-ion that only lasts about 90 minutes per charge. Thankfully, Sony doesn't plan on charging an awful lot for this shooter either, as interested buyers can snatch one up for just $200 this September.[Via CNET]
DirecTV 10 to launch tonight at 8:30EDT
Never before have we seen such an anticipated satellite launch. The DirecTV 10 launch is different because it's the first step for DirecTV to fulfill their unbelievable claims. So if you can't get enough of this stuff, follow the read links to the discussion, or join the a live chat. Also, the launch will be televised on channel 570 via DirecTV. We don't know about anyone else, but we'll have our fingers crossed that everything goes as planned and DirecTV will stay on schedule to make this baby operational on September 15th.Read -- Satelliteguys.usRead -- DBSTalk.com
DirecTV 10 to be delayed till July
While we were all hoping that DirecTV's latest satellite named DirecTV-10 would go off without a hitch on June 20th and bring all those HD channels they've been promising, but I guess we're not that lucky. It looks like the rocket is ready to go, but the bird was not delivered on time. At this point, they are shooting for July (6th?), but haven't said exactly when yet, we don't know about everyone else, but we will feel much better when this thing is in orbit and beaming HD goodness to everyone.
RCA's EZ201 Small Wonder camcorder now shipping
Keeping its promise to have the EZ201 Small Wonder on store shelves this Spring, RCA has just announced that its flash-based camcorder is available now at Circuit City locations. As expected, this 5.25-ounce video recorder sports a ho hum enclosure, no optical zoom, 512MB of internal memory, a 1.5-inch LCD, MemoryManager software, and a SD expansion slot as well. The device is also compatible with Box.net's online storage / sharing service, touts an EZ Grab feature that allows users to easily snag still shots from live action footage, and can function for two solid hours on a pair of AA cells. Best of all, however, is the price that CC is currently charging for this budget-minded device, as the $119.99 asking price is a full $10 less than we had previously seen, and you'll even get a 1GB SD card thrown in gratis.[Via Physorg]
DirecTV's newest satellite set to launch on June 20th
DirecTV has done a great job of reminding everyone how many HD channels they will be adding this year, but for whatever reason they don't say exactly when or how. Sure most Engadget HD readers know that the current MPEG4 satellites in service are specifically designed to spot beam HD locals, and it would be a waste to transmit national HD channels. DirecTV's priorities aside, now that DirecTV is providing HD locals all over the US, it is finally time to launch two new DirecTV satellites that are specifically designed for national HD channels. The first of which is DirecTV 10 and seems to be scheduled for a Russian launch on June 20th. If everything goes well, it will be operational in time for those new HD channels due in September.
DXG's DXG-589V camera / camcorder does gaming, too
We've seen bargain-basement brands toss gaming functionality into a non-gaming device in a somewhat futile attempt to polish up a product before, and apparently, DXG has caught the consolidation bug too. The DXG-589V handheld camera / camcorder mimics the design of Sanyo's Xacti HD2, but rather than packing excellent resolution and HD capturing abilities, this rendition scales back on the goods that matter in order to reach a rock bottom price. Users will find a three-inch LTPS monitor, five-megapixel CMOS sensor, MP3 support, a rechargeable Li-ion cell, SD card slot, and direct recording abilities from an external video source, but you'll only be grabbing MPEG4 footage at 640 x 480 resolution. Additionally, you'll discover 20 less-than-enthralling games built right in, and with the PlayStation-esque control pad, Sony fans shouldn't have any problem getting the buttons down. Of course, the stripped-down nature of this here device allows DXG to shed a few dollars off the purchase price, but we'd be seriously cautious about dropping even $199.99 for this one.
SecuritySpy updated to 1.4.1
Sometimes there's a Mac app that's so functional, bulletproof and reliable, it almost drops below the radar. In my office, that app is SecuritySpy, recently upgraded to version 1.4.1. Developed by Ben Bird of BTV fame, this security camera monitoring/timelapse/motion capture tool just keeps ticking along with minimal poking and prodding, keeping a watchful eye on our network of Axis IP cameras and tracking every entrance and exit in areas of special interest. It's installed on a G5 with a couple of big drives, keeping a week or two of video available, and it's stable to the point of boredom: before the recent DST updates forced a reboot, the box was edging towards one year of continuous uptime.New in 1.4, MPEG-4 compression support for remote video monitoring and a snazzy Dashboard widget; download the demo and try it out. If you're the DV-using sort, the current beta version supports multiple DV devices. SecuritySpy pricing varies depending on the number of video sources, topping out at $500. Version 1.4.1 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.
DXG hops on the PMP wagon, kicks out Roadster DXG-521
When you think about DXG (if the name even rings a faint bell), a few off-the-wall digicams could come to mind, but the company best known for kicking out digital imaging products is delving into the ever-popular portable media player realm with its Roadster DXG-521. Looking slightly more like Sega's Game Gear than a sleek, pocket-friendly PMP of the modern era, this relatively unsightly device measures 4.75- x 2.25- x 0.81-inches around and reportedly sports a modest 2.5-inch LCD, 32MB of built-in memory, SD card slot, video-out, USB 2.0 connectivity, FM radio, MP3 playback, a voice recorder, four integrated video games (including Tetris), and a rear five-megapixel camera for snapping pictures on the run. Additionally, users can expect to capture external video into MPEG4 files, and while we can't say it's surprising, you can have your pick of the oh-so-trendy black / gloss white color schemes. Nah, we don't expect the video nor audio quality here to live up to the standards set by more luxurious offerings, but this doesn't look half bad for a couple Benjamins.[Via About]
The Engadget HD Interview: DirecTV's CTO RE: HD Lite
After we finished covering the DirecTV press conference, we had a chance to catch up with Rômulo Pontual the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of DirecTV and ask him some questions about HD Lite and DirecTV's HD locals distribution methods. We were very surprised that he would answer our questions considering the current pending lawsuit against DirecTV for HD Lite.Have you ever heard of the term HD Lite?Yeah.What do you think of that term?I don't know what it means.
MediaGate finally launches MG-350HD, MG-35, and MG-25P in the US
This might not be quite as earth-rattling as iTunes getting ported to Windows, but it comes fairly close. MediaGate is finally launching its heralded media serving products here in the US of A, after spending two painstakingly long years parading around and thrilling folks in Japan. The "new" MG lineup are self-proclaimed "convergence products," and have done quite a swell job fusing data / media between the PC and TV, and now we Americans can get a taste of what we've been missing out on (or finding elsewhere). The MG-350HD entertainment server plays nice with Windows, Linux, and OS X-based operating systems, holds your choice of 3.5-inch hard drive, outputs in NTSC and PAL, and includes onboard Ethernet / WiFi, USB 2.0, stereo and digital audio outputs, DVI, S-Video, composite, and component. Moreover, it supports high definition streaming, MPEG1/2/3/4, AVI, M2V, DAT, VOD, XviD, OGG, WMA, BMP, GIF, and JPEG, and that's just to name a few popular formats. Aside from lacking WiFi, the MG-35 mimics its more feature-packed sibling just about to a T, but does tout Ximeta NDAS technology. The miniscule MG-25P boasts the most of the same functionality as its bigger brothers, but makes room for a 2.5-inch HDD, lacks a DVI out / WiFi, resides in a more durable enclosure for tight spots (like vehicles and shirt pockets), and also acts as "instant network storage" when you're done dishing out media. MediaGate's trio of media slingers are all supposedly available right now, with the MG-350HD costing $250, the MG-35 demanding $125, and the diminutive MG-25P running just around $80, all sans hard drives.
Euro1080 to implement DTS HDTV over satellite
European satellite operator Euro1080 announced plans to implement DTS-encoded audio streams into their recently-launched MPEG-4 satellite feeds. Enabling the 5.1-channel audio format broadcast is tech from Coding Technologies, which will put the DTS signal inside the aacPlus feed that will be broadcast along with HDTV picture to Europeans who subscribe to Euro1080 satellite. New set-top boxes to decode the MPEG-4 content are also to be released by electronics manufacturers. American ATSC standards only allow for competitor Dolby Digital's multichannel audio to be encoded, but DTS audio can be found in standard and high-def DVDs
Samsung stuffs PMP functionality inside its i70 digicam
If any one company had a lot of steam to blow off today, not to mention a lot of new kit to unveil, it was Samsung. (Potentially) rounding out the barrage of Blu-ray players, printers, DVD recorders, and just about everything else we could imagine is a svelte new digicam that pulls double duty as a PMP. The 7.2-megapixel i70 camera sports a sleek, silver / black motif, 3x zoom, three-inch LCD monitor, and a unique sliding cover that reveals a 9-button user interface when opened. Additionally, it sports that oh-so-handy intelligent face recognition feature that's (thankfully) becoming quite a common feature among new cams. Sliding away from the photography side a bit, the i70 also mimics a basic PMP, playing back MP3s, video files, and even text files while on the go. Couple that with a MPEG4 720 x 480 resolution (at 15fps) movie mode and you've got a fairly capable device that still fits the subcompact mold. Of course, Samsung didn't stop to let us know how much this sucka would run you, nor how long we'd have to wait to see it in stores, but surely we won't have to hold out too much longer.[Via LetsGoDigital]
Broadcom announces HD cablemodem-on-a-chip
Broadcom has announced a single-chip solution for DOCSIS cable modems that will combine the usual data and video with high-definition decoding for MPEG-4 AVC, VC1, and MPEG-2 formats. The chip also supports Dolby Digital , MP3, and AAC audio. It is intended for manufacturers to use in building cable modems that have a single integrated chipset with both the video and data decoding built in.This should open the door for both built-in PVR functionality, as well as allowing for possible IPTV use. The modem could download content directly from the internet using the data services and then decode any of the new compression formats used in Blu-ray and HD DVD.Manufacturers are quickly moving to embrace these newer codecs for compressing video over cable and the internet (and satellite), and it's good to see it becoming commoditized to the point where it's being built into a single chip. Will we see the cable companies get into FiOS-like content delivery soon?
Exemode's budget-friendly DV572 SD camcorder
Exemode leaves no question about who it's catering to with its uber-cheap, budget-friendly offerings, but we're not complaining with doing the camcorder thang on the cheap. While the firm has been down the pocket-sized road before, not to mention offering up quite the unique MP3 player, this five-megapixel camcorder sports the more typical handheld design. Offering up SD-based recording over the HDD / miniDV approaches, it can handle SD cards up to 2GB in size (sorry, no SDHC support here), and captures the good ole times in 640 x 480 MPEG4 at 30fps. Additionally, it can take stills in JPEG, record audio in WAV, features an (admittedly paltry) 4x digital zoom, rocks USB 2.0 / AV connectivity, and reportedly puts out just under seven hours of battery life. The best apart about this otherwise ho hum offering is indeed the price, as you aren't likely to be too disappointed after dropping just ¥14,800 ($125).[Via Impress]
Thomson's mysterious Black Diamond PMP goes public
Think your black iPod nano attracted fingerprints and got scratched too easily? Keeping the same sleek black / blue glow motif showcased on Thomson's PMP2008, the mysterious new Black Diamond PMP (a.k.a. the EH308) should truly wear your touch on its enclosure. While the flashy homepage doesn't give us a completely satisfactory look at the unit itself, we do know that it'll pack 8GB of internal capacity, rock a 1.8-inch OLED screen, and feature "tactile controls." Furthermore, it'll come with a rechargeable Li-ion cell rated for 15 hours, USB 2.0 connectivity, a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, and the ability to display photos as well as play back audio (formats unspecified) and video (WMV / MPEG4). Curiously, Thomson also boasts about its ability to "manage podcast and web audio formats," as well as confirming its compatibility with "secure downloadable music formats" such as WMA-DRM. Expect this dark device to hit store shelves any day now, and at around $300, it's just a tad cheaper than that other Black Diamond floating around out there.
Toshiba develops new compresion tech for HD DVD
Today's latest CODECs can do some amazing things in the quality vs size compromise, but anyone who has tried to encode their own knows how challenging it can be. Members of the Blu-ray camp have claimed they use MPEG2 for just that reason. To make using the latest CODECs easier, Toshiba has developed an encoder that can run on a PC and even encode in real time, which they say will make content creation even easier and faster.
DIRECTVs HR20 MPEG-4 DVR now available at Best Buy
DIRECTVs long awaited MPEG-4 HD DVR is slowly making its way into new markets nationwide via Best Buy Stores. This DVR started in the Los Angeles market but thanks to the power of the Internet, all hail the Internet, the unit can now be ordered from BestBuy.com for a cost of $399. We have discovered via their store search that it is in fact available in new markets across the country signaling a nationwide roll out. Interestingly enough, CircuitCity.com, another large DIRECTV provider, doesn't list this model anywhere and a quick call to a local store proved that Circuit City isn't carrying this model just yet. Just a quick warning though: unlike DIRECTV's first HD DVR, this model does NOT come with an HDMI cable. They had to cut costs someplace.
Capture audio and anything on screen as a movie with iShowU
iShowU is a versatile utility from shinywhitebox for recording video captures of your display (including any audio). Users have quite a bit of control over what exactly is recorded and how, including specifying a capture size and format, as well as 'mouse capture' and 'follow mouse' modes of recording. Check out iShowU's features page for the full rundown.While iShowU is in its 1.x beta mode, it's free, as the dev has "no intention of releasing a half baked product that works only on Thursdays, and then, only if you are holding the mouse juuust right." Once it goes commercial, shinywhitebox is aiming for a $40-$80 price point, so why not grab a demo before they hit the big leagues?
Popcorn 2 goes Universal
Roxio announced Popcorn 2 is a Universal Binary now. Popcorn is a little app that'll supposedly move content around to your mobile stuff— a PSP, iPod, or "mobile phone." I couldn't get a list of supported phones, but I'm assuming it won't convert your movies to ASCII so they show up on Nokia's from 2000. Popcorn also says it'll grab your unprotected DVD content. Now, I haven't used Popcorn, but will it just refuse to rip store-bought DVD's? Ugh, I'm beginning to hate DRM too... If anyone knows the answer to these burning questions, leave your experiences in the comments.
