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Archive for the ‘Mediacenter’ Category

Talking about DCut Beta (0.95.1)

October 12, 2005 Leave a comment

 For those of you who did not notice, dCut is back online. Get it from the link below…

Link

Introducing DCut Beta (0.95.1)

Categories: Mediacenter

Talking about Remote Keyboard for MCE

Wireless keyboard for Windows MCE! Sweet!

I hope it also works with my Xbox 360… when I get one

Link

Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Hardware – Remote Keyboard for Windows® XP Media Center Edition

Categories: Mediacenter

Welcome Addition to Orb

Orb added the ability to view shows on a remote PC even if there is no user logged. This is a welcome addition to an already incredible piece of software for an incredible low price (free!!). Before that you had to be logged on on the host in order to run the Orb services that would enable the streaming.
Now I will be able to watch the new Battlestart Galactica episodes from Italy when I go there on vacation  !!
 
One minor annoiance is that somehow Windows XP lost the MIME type association for the .asx files (used to point Media Player to the live stream).
 
There are two simple workarounds for this:
  • Download the LiveStream.asx file from the my.orb.com web site to your desktop and then play it from there by double clicking on it
  • Reinstall Windows Media Player 10

The more difficult one is to good look in the registry to re-establish the association, but I still have not figured this out.

 

I have my finger on QuickTime as the culprit, but I have not been able to confirm my suspects, yet…

Categories: Mediacenter

Talking about Wma organizer: Tag&Rename

June 24, 2005 1 comment

The search continues…

This tools actually looks very interesting and seem like it does everything I need: tag, rename and organize WMAs.

Link 

Wma organizer, ogg tag editor, mp3 organizer and iTunes aac tag editor: Tag&Rename 3.

Categories: Mediacenter

Talking about Album Art Fixer

June 24, 2005 1 comment

Cool application to fix the album art for all your MP3/WMA.

But… what I’m looking for is a tool that would allow me to tag my music files without having to rip them all over again. I’ll let you guys know how it goes…

Link

Album Art Fixer

Categories: Mediacenter

Talking about Orb Networks : New Version 1.00.390

You’ve been warned, if you have not yet installed Orb, you’re making a huge mistake…

A new version is available with ton of new features.

I just wish I did not have to be logged on to stream my media from a remote location. Is it that hard to make Orb a Windows Service?

From the web:

Orb Media v1.00.390 is the current version. Following are the features that were added since v1.00.347, the previously required update version of Orb Media. For a complete list of historical changes, including bug fixes, click on the version links (ORB PC v1.00.0390 and ORB Web v1.00.117) at the bottom of your Orb login page.

  • Support For Dual Analog TV Tuners – Orb Media now supports the simultaneous use of two Orb-supported Analog TV Tuners (i.e., tuners with a built-in, true MPEG-2 hardware encoders). Users can now watch a TV program on one channel while recording another TV program on another channel, or schedule two recordings at the same time on two different TV channels! Please note that HDTV tuners are not yet supported.
  • Ability to Update Orb on Home PC Remotely From Device – Users who are notified that an Orb software update is available will now be able to remotely update Orb on their Home PC, from the device they are using to access their Orb account.
  • Orb Thumbnails Now in Their Own Folder – To satisfy user requests, Orb thumbnails have been removed from the media folders and now reside in their own database for easy management of folders, and to prevent unwanted interaction with other applications.
  • Timeline Control of Windows Media Player – Users can now use the timeline control slider of Windows Media Player to Fast Forward or Rewind a recorded TV program, a video or an audio file. This functionality has been implemented on PCs only (PDAs and Mobile Phones will follow).
  • Sharing Photos with Multiple Groups of Family & Friends – Users now no longer have to create additional Orb accounts for guests to view shared photos. They can now create multiple groups of family and friends and invite each group to view selected shared photos on their Orb account.
  • New Orb Home Page – The new Orb home page convenient layout provides the user quick access to favorites and main media folders. From one single page, the user can now play selected live TV channels or recently recorded TV shows, favorite videos, audio, or view photo slides, stocks and home weather. The Orb home page also gives users a glance at new Orb features in the "What’s New?" section.
  • Sending Photos & Videos to an Orb Account – Users can now send photos or videos to their Orb PC via email from another computer, or via MMS from their mobile phone, as long as their cellular phone carrier supports delivering an MMS message to an email address.
  • Orb Slip-Stream: Support for Peer-To-Peer (UPnP) – Orb now provides full support for Windows Media and Real Media streaming through a peer-to-peer connection. This functionality is only available to Orb systems that connect to the Internet through a router that has UPnP capability. UPnP must be enabled on the router and the UPnP stack must be installed on the Orb PC, by adding the UPnP User Interface to the Networking Services of Windows Components in the Add/Remove Programs feature of the Control Panel.
    UPnP significantly improves the streaming experience, especially in local networks.
  • Configuration Tool in the Orb Tray Icon – In addition to adding new accounts and changing the TV setup, Orb users can now do the following from the Orb tray icon on their home PC:
    • Change the Recorded TV Folder – Users can now designate another folder on their PC to store recorded TV programs. Note that while only that folder will store newly recorded programs, all previously recorded programs will still appear in Orb, under Recorded TV.
    • Add/Remove Media Paths – In addition to setting new media folders from Orb Setup, users can now add and remove Audio, Videos and Photo folders from the configuration menu.
    • Enable Automatic Software Update – Users can now choose to receive automatic Orb software updates by enabling this function in the "Advanced" tab of the configuration menu.
  • Length of Time to Keep Recorded TV Programs now Configurable – Users can now decide how long should Orb keep their recorded TV programs, that is: until the disk space is needed, until the program is manually deleted, or for a specific number of days (1 to 7) before Orb deletes it to make space for an upcoming recording.
  • Five Days of Weather Forecast now on Mobile Phones – Just like for PCs, laptops and PDAs, Orb Weather will now display five days of weather forecast on cellular phones, instead of three days.

Link

http://www.orb.com/download,5

Categories: Mediacenter

Talking about Windows XP MCE 2005 Create DVD Update

Another update for MCE users…

Seems like it is more tailored to PAL systems, but also good for NTSC.

From the Web:

The Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Create DVD Update enables increased reliability when creating a video DVD using recorded TV files (.dvr-ms).

This update has the greatest impact for users who create DVDs using TV recorded from a PAL broadcast but is also recommended for users with an NTSC broadcast.

Link

Download details: Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Create DVD Update

Categories: Mediacenter

Orb goes free!

Good news for all the MediaCenter owners, Orb, the services that allows you to watch your MCE PC content from anywhere in the world, just decided to drop their $10/month and become a free service.

Do yourself a favor and check it out at http://www.orb.com/

From http://www.orb.com/aboutUs/press,50

ORB NETWORKS GROUNDBREAKING STREAMING MEDIA NOW FREE TO ALL CONSUMERS

Orb Drops Subscription Service Fee Allowing Consumers Free Mobile Access To Digital Home-Media Content such as Live TV, Music, Videos, & Photos; Announces New Photo Sharing Service

Categories: Mediacenter

Talking about Windows XP Media Center Edition Update for Standby Mode

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I learnt from my experience with previous update for MediaCenter. I have never seen this problem on mine, so I won’t be patching it.

For the rest of you…

The Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update for Standby Mode helps prevent the black screen that you may encounter when resuming use of the Media Center PC from Standby mode.

Download details: Windows XP Media Center Edition Update for Standby Mode

Categories: Mediacenter

Talking about Introducing DCut Beta (0.95.1)

March 14, 2005 1 comment

Dan produced a new version of dCut, hopefully this is going to fix the problem with dCut stopping halfway through my Battlestar Galactica episodes. According to the new features, seems like the problem is fixed.

From the website:

New In Version 0.95.1:

  • Fix for COMException error when editing at the 40% mark.
  • Fix for ArgumentOutOfRange exception when cleaning temporary directory.
  • Fix for performance counter error when perf counter is not available.

Link 

Introducing DCut Beta (0.95.1)

Categories: Mediacenter