Multimedia-PCs » update

Boot Camp Updated with Windows 7 Support

Jeremy Jones — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:39:52 +0000

Apple has updated Boot Camp to support Windows 7. They released a 32-bit and 64-bit version. They have support for Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate. They also added support for the Magic Mouse in Windows. The question that has come up a lot that is fixed now is the red LED on the digital audio port is now off. I deployed 35 MacBook Pros with about 6 running Windows 7 and I’m glad to finally have the update. Anyone that has tried to get Windows 7 installed and all drivers running knows it had been a problem.

Live Mesh Updated for Snow Leopard

Jeremy Jones — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:10:54 +0000

Microsoft updated Live Mesh to work with Snow Leopard. There are no new features so Leopard users don’t have to do anything. I still use Live Mesh occasionally and it’s nice to have the updated client.

To upgrade to this new release, you will need to reinstall Live Mesh for Mac. To do so, please go to http://www.mesh.com, sign in with your Live ID, and download the Mac client software from the “Devices” page.

Windows Home Server Power Pack 2 with Media Center Integration

Jeremy Jones — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:32:47 +0000

Windows Home Server Power Pack 2 is set to be released tomorrow (March 24th 2009). The biggest part of this update is some integration between Windows Home Server and Windows Media Center.

Windows Media Center Connector

* Computers running Windows Media® Center can now view recorded TV content that is stored on your home server by using the recorded TV gallery.
* Windows Media Center music, photos, videos, and recorded TV libraries are
automatically updated to include the Music, Photos, Videos, and Recorded TV shared folders on your home server.
* Media Center Extenders that are connected to a computer running Windows Media Center can now access content on your home server without using the guest account.
* You can control the shared folders on your home server that Media Center Extenders can access by using the Windows Home Server Console. To do this, on the console, click Settings, and then click Windows Media Center.

Media Sharing

* Support for MP4 audio and video files is added.
* Content that is stored on your home server and that is shared via Windows Media Connect, including files with extensions .mp4, .m4v, .m4b and .m4a, now appears in the music or video library with title, artist, composer, album, and genre metadata.

This is just the start for integrating media center features into Windows Home Server. You can find out about all the new features over at WeGotServed.

Review: Roku firmware 1.5

Jeremy Jones — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:51:20 +0000

By now most people have upgraded to the 1.5 firmware on their Roku box. If you still don’t have the update just check for updates 3 times and it should give it to you.

This update is the start of additional services that Roku will be offering. Everyone is familiar with the Netflix streaming. It was the default service that the Roku box went to when you turn it on. Now when the unit boots up it gives you a choice to go to Netflix, Settings, and has a section for what’s new. Roku has mentioned in the past that it wants to offer additional services and the what’s now says more is to come in 2009. The GUI is now layed out to handle additional services when Roku feels like giving them to us.

It’s not all about the future products in 1.5 firmware. The Netflix section got some updates too. The biggest update being HD streaming. I have watched a few HD shows on the box already and it is good, but not great. I wouldn’t classify the HD picture to be 720p but it is a lot better than what was offered before in SD. During slower scenes the image would match up with a 720p image from DirecTV. It’s when there is lots of motion or fight scenes that you can see the image get a little pixelated and blurring around the edges. Netflix is fairly new to streaming and the HD offerings were just released so Ithey will continue to get better with picture quality over time. As a free service to my Netflix subscription I can’t really complain.

One other thing that has improved is the streaming. I’m not sure what technically aspects changed in version 1.5 but I can say that the connection speed is better. I don’t have a issue at my house, I always got full quality. It’s at my girlfriends parents where I noticed the difference. They live in the middle of the country and their internet speed is 768kbs over wireless. Before they upgraded to 1.5 they were getting quality of 1 and it would constantly rebuffer during TV shows. After the upgrade they are getting quality of 3 and it won’t rebuffer at all. That’s a huge improvement over the last firmware.

Overall I really like where the Roku box is headed. If you have a Netflix account the $99 Roku box is a must have.

Roku Updates to Bring HD Netflix

Jeremy Jones — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 16:33:20 +0000

Roku has updated it’s little Netflix box with streaming HD. Mine doesn’t have the update yet. From what I read it looks like it is being sent in phases. Some comments said that the content is switching to HD automatically if you have them loaded in the queue. I’m keep hitting the update button until it’s there. If you have the update what do you think of it?

Vudu Adds Internet Content

Jeremy Jones — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:28:02 +0000

Vudu has updated it’s box to include some Internet content. YouTube is the only one I find of interest but even then I have my computer. YouTube playing on a big HDTV looks bad. It’s nice to see that they are adding aditional features to a pricey set top ($300). They say there is more to come so lets hope they add some big names like CBS and Hulu. I’m going to stick with my HD movie rentals from DirecTV and my Netflix subscription. In case you wondered, I can start watching a HD movie through DirecTVs HR-21 in 10 minutes. The video above is from ZatzNotFunny.com

Netflix fixes Roku Streaming

Jeremy Jones — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:25:21 +0000

Netflix announced that it fixed streaming issues. I had this problem when Xbox 360 streaming came out. I went in to developer mode on my Roku box and set streaming to 4. Took a little longer to buffer but I had better qaulity. Now I’m getting 4 and buffer times are a lot quicker. I’m just waiting for that HD update that was said to be available before year’s end.

(via EngadgetHD)

Netflix comes to Tivo

Jeremy Jones — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:35:17 +0000

Netflix has made its way onto Tivo units today. Dave Zatz noted that it isn’t as snappy as the Xbox 360 or the Roku box. It does do HD which hasn’t even made it to the Roku box. I’m starting to think that the Roku box will be the last to get the HD update. Looks cool though and this can only mean that more content will have to show up on Netflix.

New Xbox 360 Experience

Jeremy Jones — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:57:14 +0000

The Xbox 360 got a significant visual update today. Along with the visual improvements and some new features that are sure to make people happy. You can now create an avatar. It’s popular on the Wii so it should be a hit on the 360 too. Netflix streaming is also there. The big news about Netflix streaming is it’s in HD. You can now backup your games to the hard drive. It still requires the disc in the drive but it should load faster off of the hard drive. I don’t have a 360 but these kind of big updates get me thinking about buying one.

(via ZatzNotFunny)

Roku Netflix Box Getting HD Streaming

Jeremy Jones — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:00:20 +0000

Roku in it’s own forum spilled some details about updates coming before year’s end. They don’t want to be outdone by the Xbox 360 so they will be offering Netflix HD streaming. I still hope they surprise us with Hulu streaming. Details below:

- Roku will be delivering Netflix in HD by the end of the year
- Roku will be using Advanced Profile encodes which will deliver HD at substantially lower bit-rates than what Xbox is offering
- The number of titles is up to Netflix but the library will be the same as or larger than the Xbox library
- The UI will be updated to run in 720p and more covers will be visible on the screen at a time
- And the release will include another major new feature that you’ll have to wait a bit longer to learn about Wink

(via Hacking Netflix)

Multimedia-PCs » update

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