Developages - Development and Technology Blog

The BBC has set its sights on conquering the portable world now by making iPlayer downloads available on portable media players (PMPs). As long as the media players support Windows Media-protected content, then downloaded - not streamed - iPlayer content can be used. The content referred to is downloads as many devices are not Net-enabled. Users download the content first to a PC or laptop and then ’sideload’ - drag and drop - the file to their PMP. So far, the service has been tested on the following devices:• Sony Walkman E and S series • Archos 605 WIFI and Internet Media Tablet • Philips GoGear 52xx series • Samsung YP-P2 and YP-Q1 • Nokia N96 Anthony Rose, head of digital media technologies, BBC Future Media & Technology, commented: “If you’re buying a portable media player and would like a model that allows you to play BBC iPlayer programmes on it, we have made a web page, Where To Get BBC iPlayer, where you can get a list of the model numbers of tested BBC iPlayer-compatible devices. Those on this list have been tested by the BBC iPlayer team. BBC iPlayer may work on devices which are not on the list - if the device packaging mentions “PlaysForSure”, that’s a good sign. We’ll update the list as we test more devices.” The content for the PMPs has been encoded in an additional file format: 320 x 180 pixels 500Kbps video and 128Kbps 48KHz sampling audio in WMV file format.-Martin Lynch [iPlayer] TV bbc iplayer

Original post by nafiz

Get the salt ready because the idea of Blu-ray on the Xbox 360 console is not dead. It might be battered, hacked but, like the Black Knight from Monty Python & The Holy Grail, is still lying around limbless looking for a fight. Xbit Labs is claiming that Microsoft has contracted the Samsung/Toshiba joint venture, Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology Corp. to build external Blu-ray disc drives for the 360. The drives will reputedly cost from $100-$150 to allow an Xbox 360 Blu-ray bundle to compete favourably against the Sony PS3. So far, Microsoft has denied reports of an internal Blu-ray player and even dissed the long-term viability of the format but if it’s ever going to do it, now in the run up to Christmas - or at the CES 2009 show in January - would be the obvious choices. After all, digital movie downloads are just taking off and the quality of HD movie downloads is nowhere near as good as Blu-ray because the files would be way too big and take too long to download. What does it mean for Microsoft? Sure it means gritting its teeth and conceding ultimate kudos to Sony and Blu-ray but what’s that against tens of millions of dollars in its coffers from HD-starved Xbox 360 owners? [Xbit Labs] microsoft blu-ray xbox

Original post by nafiz

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Like a fiery car crash across the center divide, we just can’t divert our attention from the antics of Gizmondo. Gizmondoforums, the self-described “home of the Gizmondo fanbase” (really, they have enough fans to create a base?) is carrying this quote from Rich Jenkins, who along with Carl Freer co-founded Media Power, the company now in charge of Gizmondo:

“We are excited about the potential of Android and have been working on an Android version of the Giz…Android would be a TERRIFIC addition to the Gizmondo and enable a TON of open source development.”

Originally, the Gizmondo 2.0 gaming console was expected said to be WinCE 6-based and scheduled for an end of 2008 release. While this Android talk makes it all a bit more interesting, it certainly doesn’t make it any more likely to happen.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Gaming

This one isn’t quite as dodgy as they come, but the very notable limitations really keep this from being the whiz-bang hack that it appears to be on the surface. Hacker StreetskaterFU had no trouble getting confirmation from others that his method of running Blu-ray games from the PlayStation 3’s hard drive was indeed legitimate, but it is only confirmed to work with select “older titles” including Warhawk, MotorStorm and Call of Duty 3. To make matters worse, instructions are sketchy at best, but at least there’s a video of the process working after the break. Let us know how things go should you give this a whirl.

Continue reading Hacked PlayStation 3 reportedly runs Blu-ray games from HDD

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops, Storage

Oh sure, you’re pretty 1337 if you can say you’ve got an SSD within your laptop, but if you’ve a need to store more than, say, 8GB of files, a bit more room may be desired. tnkgrl’s Aspire One mods began earlier this week with the addition of Bluetooth and extra RAM, and today she’s showing the world how to swap the built-in SSD with a 1.8-inch 60GB PATA drive. As expected, this one’s remarkably easy to complete once you’ve torn the thing open, but she also explains how to best put it all back together once you’re done. But you’re not, because she’ll be producing a how-to for adding internal 3G in the coming days / weeks.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Although it seems like every TV shipping recently comes with USB ports and DivX compatibility packed in, if all you want is the ability to plug in a drive and play, the Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link may be right for you. Equipped with the same HDMI / component / composite outputs plus WAV, WMA, MPEG-1/2/4, MP3, OGG, AC3, AVI, DivX, XviD and JPEG file formats as the ScreenPlay HD, this unit forgoes the 500GB hard drive — a far cry from the old ScreenPlay days when it was just a HDD — in favor of a sleek 3.26 x 3.07 x .78-inch profile weighing less than 4 oz. Plug in your USB flash drive or FAT32 or NTFS formatted HDD and play or upconvert SD content up to 1080i with no problem. Granted it doesn’t have the power of a full-fledged media streamer but as a $99.95 take-anywhere box (available now in the U.S., Europe later this month) it’s probably worth a look.

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Original post by Richard Lawler

Filed under: Storage

It’s hard to say if we’ve ever laid eyes on a family of portable hard drives with less vigor and pizazz, but Memorex isn’t kidding around when it calls these things “essential.” Boasting nothing more than the bare necessities, the new line of TravelDrives arrives with 2.5-inch HDDs that pack 160GB, 250GB or 320GB of space. You’ll find a USB 2.0 port and a flashing LED to keep you from dozing off, and there’s even a few color options to choose from in case you’re partial to Spring Blossom, Tropic Green, Caribbean Blue or Cool Silver. At least they start at just $89.99, right?

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage

Brando’s SATA HDD Stage Rack doesn’t stay the same for very long, as it seems a new iteration keeps popping up every month or so. The latest (and greatest, might we add) is the SATA HDD Multimedia Dock, which enables users to slap in any ole 2.5- / 3.5-inch SATA hard drive and access it via USB. That’s not all, though. This one also provides an SD card slot, S-Video / composite / component outputs and a bundled remote — what for, you ask? So you can play back MPEG1/2/4, XviD and DivX (among others) files, of course. This takes multifaceted to an entirely different platform, huh?

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

Toshiba — clearly feeling the heat from other fashionable external hard drive makers — has introduced a new line of disks guaranteed to bring on a neon flashback from your disco days (or Eurotrash nightmares). The three new models come decked out in the 160GB “Gecko Green,” 250GB “Hot Rod Red,” and 320GB “Carbon Grey” variations, with USB 2.0 ports and 8MB buffers on-board. The drives are Mac and PC compatible, no word on price or release date — but with looks like this, who cares how much it costs? Right? Yeah, no.

[Via Pocket Lint]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Storage

Not that we haven’t seen bamboo-based gizmos before, but there’s something about SimpleTech’s [re]drive that just screams upscale. This elegant, smooth looking external HDD was crafted to be easy on the eyes and Mother Earth alike, with the outfit utilizing “renewable, naturally grown bamboo and recyclable aluminum” along with an Energy Star power adapter and eco-friendly packaging. You’ll also find a USB 2.0 jack, automatic power up / down and 500GB of internal storage space. Not too shabby for an estimated $150.

[Via Wired]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

Not that Samsung is actually looking to pump this out into beauty salons worldwide, but there stands at least a mild chance that sophisticated females shopping for new compacts would also spring for some storage. Joongoo Lee’s Costume is a sleek, deliberately styled 2.5-inch external hard drive that looks entirely at home mixed in with various makeup components. Additionally, the bundled dock is equally sexy, though we can only hope there’s a USB 2.0 port somewhere on this thing. Though this is just a concept, we wouldn’t put it past Samsung to turn into a reality — after all, it did just produce pink and blue BlackJack IIs. Your soft side is showing, Sammy.

[Via PCLaunches]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

We’re not saying it can’t be done, but you should have some considerable trouble managing to run out of room for your expertly-shot, highly-narrative vacation antics with Hitachi’s new DZ-BD10H camcorder, which records 1080p HD video to Blu-ray discs or to its built-in 30GB hard drive. There’s even an SD slot, which we aren’t positive you can record video to, but it’s a fair guess. Other specs include a 2.7-inch LCD and a 10x optical zoom. Price should be around $1,500 when it hits Japan on August 9, but no solid word on a US berth just yet.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Storage

Western Digital has been flaunting its VelociRaptor for some time now, but the drive you’ve been slamming into towers is now available for low-power, high-performance blade server applications. The 2.5-inch, 10,000RPM enterprise SATA drive (WD3000BLFS) is specially designed to fit snugly within 1U and 2U rack servers, and aside from consuming 35% less power than the previous Raptor drive, this one is available with up to 300GB of capacity. You’ll also find 16MB of cache and a 1.4 million mean time before failure rating, though you won’t be able to procure one until later this month for an undisclosed price.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

Although Western Digital seems to have the portable hard drive sector all wrapped up, LG’s looking to snag a bit of that market share by introducing a new line of stylish alternatives. Each member of the XD1 family possesses a 2.5-inch HDD with a SATA II interface and a USB 2.0 port, and just in case black isn’t your bag, you can expect a red wine colored version as well. For now, we’ll have to live without a price or release date, but you can look forward to units arriving in 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB sizes sometime in the future.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Like pretty much every other Digital ELPH preceding it, Canon’s flagship SD1100 IS garnered nothing but the utmost praise in a recent Imaging-Resource review. Okay, so maybe critics did kvetch about slight noise at ISO 800, a somewhat confusing interface, and a not-particularly-useful digital zoom, but this point-and-shoot managed to get it right in the areas that matter most. Build quality and design were both smiled upon, the image stabilization performed as advertised and the image quality was deemed “excellent.” Of note, they did find very minor chromatic aberration in the wide angle shots, but considering the size of this shooter, results were seen as fantastic. Overall, it looks like Canon has produced yet another winner in the pocket-friendly camera department, but feel free to take a gander at the in-depth review waiting in the read link below.

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Original post by Darren Murph