Stream movies, music etc. from your MediaCentre to your iPhone.
Remote Potato has finally come of age. Here’s the blurb:-
Imagine having your entire library of TV shows, music, pictures and videos with you wherever you go - without having to sync.
With the Remote Potato app for iOS, you can connect to your Windows 7™ Media Center from your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, and stream content direct from your home PC. Watch the game! Tape that documentary. Listen to your favorite album!
• The first app in the world to directly stream WTV recorded TV files to your iPhone!
• Browse your TV Guide and schedule recordings.
• View your pictures library; download or email pictures to friends.
• Watch previously recorded TV shows - streamed live from your home PC
• Browse your music library, listen to songs streamed direct from your home PC.
• Sync up albums and songs for offline access.
This awesome app is now available here!
More great news is that an Android client for Remote Potato is currently being developed and will open up this functionality to the fastest growing Mobile OS out that at the moment.
More info here
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
“L.A. Noire” Rockstar’s latest trades the graphic violence for facial expressions.
L.A. Noire is a gritty detective thriller set in the 1940s. Rockstar have gone for something very different this time. Instead of blatant graphic violence as it’s no.1 selling point, this genre-busting game will be a lot more subtle.
Using MotionScan technology the game will depend on the user being able to read the expressions on the suspect’s faces. Can you tell when someone is lying? Can you tell when you’ve just asked an uncomfortable question? MotionScan has allowed Rockstar to accurately record every nuance of movement on the actor’s faces for inclusion in the game.
The result is a game that takes things one step further in realism. No longer will avatars need to grimace and scowl to impart their feelings, we get enough overacting in Hollywood these days. A twitch of the eyes, a quick smirk and a fake smile…all captured perfectly to give you the sense that you’re really interacting with the characters.
Using 400 actors with all the scenes filmed with MotionScan this game takes characters to the next level in realism, although the plot of the game is less attractive. Apparently the game does have its fair share of violence and gore but not marketing that as it’s main attraction is surely a positive progression in gaming.
L.A. Noire is a gritty detective thriller set in the 1940s. Rockstar have gone for something very different this time. Instead of blatant graphic violence as it’s no.1 selling point, this genre-busting game will be a lot more subtle.
Using MotionScan technology the game will depend on the user being able to read the expressions on the suspect’s faces. Can you tell when someone is lying? Can you tell when you’ve just asked an uncomfortable question? MotionScan has allowed Rockstar to accurately record every nuance of movement on the actor’s faces for inclusion in the game.
The result is a game that takes things one step further in realism. No longer will avatars need to grimace and scowl to impart their feelings, we get enough overacting in Hollywood these days. A twitch of the eyes, a quick smirk and a fake smile…all captured perfectly to give you the sense that you’re really interacting with the characters.
Using 400 actors with all the scenes filmed with MotionScan this game takes characters to the next level in realism, although the plot of the game is less attractive. Apparently the game does have its fair share of violence and gore but not marketing that as it’s main attraction is surely a positive progression in gaming.
Friday, 21 January 2011
How the HTPC is becoming mainstream
Windows 7 is a raging success. Microsoft have come up with an operating system with all the usability and stability that was so often lacking in some of its previous efforts. One of its finest features is the mainstay of MediaVue products: the innovative Media Center.
Media Center has brought the industries of TV/movie entertainment and computing into the same box. Genius.
There were some concerns that the usage of a PC as the basis for your TV experience may cause problems because of the broad range of functionality and the potential for difficulties this might cause. The realty has actually proved the opposite to be true.
How many households in the UK alone have got and use email, Instant Messenger, Ebay, Facebook etc.? These things are mainstream. How many people have got and use freeview, DVRs, etc.?
Mainstream.
The combining of this functionality (and more) into one convenient box is a product that is proving a raging success. It is beginning to creep into the mainstream in a way that suggests that this is a household convenience that is becoming part of the furniture.
The Home Theatre PC is alive, well and here to stay!
Windows 7 is a raging success. Microsoft have come up with an operating system with all the usability and stability that was so often lacking in some of its previous efforts. One of its finest features is the mainstay of MediaVue products: the innovative Media Center.
Media Center has brought the industries of TV/movie entertainment and computing into the same box. Genius.
There were some concerns that the usage of a PC as the basis for your TV experience may cause problems because of the broad range of functionality and the potential for difficulties this might cause. The realty has actually proved the opposite to be true.
How many households in the UK alone have got and use email, Instant Messenger, Ebay, Facebook etc.? These things are mainstream. How many people have got and use freeview, DVRs, etc.?
Mainstream.
The combining of this functionality (and more) into one convenient box is a product that is proving a raging success. It is beginning to creep into the mainstream in a way that suggests that this is a household convenience that is becoming part of the furniture.
The Home Theatre PC is alive, well and here to stay!
Thursday, 20 January 2011
New Windows 7 Phone App for HTPC Media Centre integration.
Twist On:Tech are working on a new MediaCentre app for the Windows 7 Phone. This will allow the user to control aspects of the Media Centre experience form their phones.
This is the latest info from the developer:
Hey guys, just a quick note to let you all know about an app for WP7 that I'm working on called Media Center Manager. More info is available at http://bit.ly/hNOhpH including some screen shots of the current version.
Just a quick overview of what I plan to have support for, at a minimum, in the first version:
o List/Play/Manage Recorded TV
o List/Play Music
o Now Playing screen supporting Play/Pause/Stop/Skip Back/Skip Ahead/Rew/FF for Live TV, Recorded TV, Music
I'm trying to make this as full featured going into the first version as I can, but inevitably I'm sure I'll have to leave something out to get this out in a reasonable period of time. I'm hoping for a first release in 3-4 weeks.
I also plan to do some Remote Potato integration which will enable some additional functionality, but exactly what and how much of that will happen in the first release, I'm not sure.
This is one of a number of applications currently being developed for the Windows 7 phone that will fully integrate it with your HTPC MediaCentre. It’s going to be interesting to see how this market progresses because when it takes off….it’s going to be a revolution in living-room entertainment technology!
Twist On:Tech are working on a new MediaCentre app for the Windows 7 Phone. This will allow the user to control aspects of the Media Centre experience form their phones.
This is the latest info from the developer:
Hey guys, just a quick note to let you all know about an app for WP7 that I'm working on called Media Center Manager. More info is available at http://bit.ly/hNOhpH including some screen shots of the current version.
Just a quick overview of what I plan to have support for, at a minimum, in the first version:
o List/Play/Manage Recorded TV
o List/Play Music
o Now Playing screen supporting Play/Pause/Stop/Skip Back/Skip Ahead/Rew/FF for Live TV, Recorded TV, Music
I'm trying to make this as full featured going into the first version as I can, but inevitably I'm sure I'll have to leave something out to get this out in a reasonable period of time. I'm hoping for a first release in 3-4 weeks.
I also plan to do some Remote Potato integration which will enable some additional functionality, but exactly what and how much of that will happen in the first release, I'm not sure.
This is one of a number of applications currently being developed for the Windows 7 phone that will fully integrate it with your HTPC MediaCentre. It’s going to be interesting to see how this market progresses because when it takes off….it’s going to be a revolution in living-room entertainment technology!
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Kiefer Sutherland switches to major new web-only series.
Digital Broadcasting Group have produced a web-only series staring 24’s Kiefer Sutherland and the UK’s very own John Hurt. Entitled “The Confession” it will have 10 webisodes each 7 minutes long.
This is a proper “A-list”, big money series that will surely spawn a hundred other such mini-classics. Some good, some rubbish.
“The Confession” will focus on the relationship between a priest and a hitman. We can only guess which star will be cast as the hitman and who the priest….
Coming from an idea by Kiefer Sutherland the whole series only took nine days to shoot and will feature (surprise surprise) flashbacks.
This is the type of innovation that the MediaCentre PC was created to embrace. Of course with facilities like BBC’s iPlayer watching a TV program on the web is hardly a new idea. But a series created specifically to be watched on the web? It’s going to be very interesting to see how this is received by the entertainment hungry punters and what further productions will come our way because of it.
Digital Broadcasting Group have produced a web-only series staring 24’s Kiefer Sutherland and the UK’s very own John Hurt. Entitled “The Confession” it will have 10 webisodes each 7 minutes long.
This is a proper “A-list”, big money series that will surely spawn a hundred other such mini-classics. Some good, some rubbish.
“The Confession” will focus on the relationship between a priest and a hitman. We can only guess which star will be cast as the hitman and who the priest….
Coming from an idea by Kiefer Sutherland the whole series only took nine days to shoot and will feature (surprise surprise) flashbacks.
This is the type of innovation that the MediaCentre PC was created to embrace. Of course with facilities like BBC’s iPlayer watching a TV program on the web is hardly a new idea. But a series created specifically to be watched on the web? It’s going to be very interesting to see how this is received by the entertainment hungry punters and what further productions will come our way because of it.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Is dumping dead fish the answer?
In September of last year TV’s maverick chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall set out on a quest to save our fish and our fishing industry. This boy doesn’t do things in half measures. Two years ago he set the country on fire with his “Chicken Run” series of programs, urging customers and suppliers alike to change the way we produce chicken for food, giving the chickens a decent quality of life before slaughtering them. Now he’s turned his attention to the fishing industry and more specifically its fish quotas. He argues that the current procedure of discarding the fish that are over the quota for that particular species is insane.
On his first program he showed tons of dead cod being dumped back into the sea because they were over quota. How exactly dumping dead fish is supposed to preserve stocks is a question yet to be answered. What’s really interesting from an observer’s standpoint is the role that the Internet has played in this campaign. Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall has used Facebook and Twitter to get his message out there and already has over half a million signed up (and rising) to his petition to change fishing quota policy. The power that now exists in social media is staggering. No longer can newspapers and TV programs control the masses opinion on issues. It would be interesting to find out how many have signed up without even seeing the program and because their friends recommended it.
Whether he succeeds in his quest or not it has been an admirable effort and it may herald the beginning of a new level of activist campaign marketing.
In September of last year TV’s maverick chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall set out on a quest to save our fish and our fishing industry. This boy doesn’t do things in half measures. Two years ago he set the country on fire with his “Chicken Run” series of programs, urging customers and suppliers alike to change the way we produce chicken for food, giving the chickens a decent quality of life before slaughtering them. Now he’s turned his attention to the fishing industry and more specifically its fish quotas. He argues that the current procedure of discarding the fish that are over the quota for that particular species is insane.
On his first program he showed tons of dead cod being dumped back into the sea because they were over quota. How exactly dumping dead fish is supposed to preserve stocks is a question yet to be answered. What’s really interesting from an observer’s standpoint is the role that the Internet has played in this campaign. Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall has used Facebook and Twitter to get his message out there and already has over half a million signed up (and rising) to his petition to change fishing quota policy. The power that now exists in social media is staggering. No longer can newspapers and TV programs control the masses opinion on issues. It would be interesting to find out how many have signed up without even seeing the program and because their friends recommended it.
Whether he succeeds in his quest or not it has been an admirable effort and it may herald the beginning of a new level of activist campaign marketing.
Monday, 17 January 2011
Sick of your work PC? This could be the answer...
IT provisioning can be one of the most expensive and dynamic areas of internal business. It’s ok for one of us to upgrade our laptop/tablet PC every couple of years but for a company that has 200+ that’s an expense to make any resource department hide under their desk.
It’s a sticky subject because often times the programs used at work may be necessarily more memory and processor intensive. Yet the realty is that most people have at home a much more powerful IT setup than they have access to at work. The solution?
Some forward thinking companies are encouraging their employees to use their own IT equipment. A secure remote access service will allow office workers to get in about all the applications they need for work. Not only will this make working a faster more efficient experience for those workers that were using a clapped out old XP machine but this, in the long run, will save money for the company itself. Instead of spending cash on upgrading all their in-house IT they just upgrade the remote access software as and when required. That’s a whole lot of cash saved right there.
Of course if you’re currently using a MediaCentre PC at home then you’ll also have the added temptation to deviate from your work and start checking out all your latest entertainment etc.
Try to stay focused!
IT provisioning can be one of the most expensive and dynamic areas of internal business. It’s ok for one of us to upgrade our laptop/tablet PC every couple of years but for a company that has 200+ that’s an expense to make any resource department hide under their desk.
It’s a sticky subject because often times the programs used at work may be necessarily more memory and processor intensive. Yet the realty is that most people have at home a much more powerful IT setup than they have access to at work. The solution?
Some forward thinking companies are encouraging their employees to use their own IT equipment. A secure remote access service will allow office workers to get in about all the applications they need for work. Not only will this make working a faster more efficient experience for those workers that were using a clapped out old XP machine but this, in the long run, will save money for the company itself. Instead of spending cash on upgrading all their in-house IT they just upgrade the remote access software as and when required. That’s a whole lot of cash saved right there.
Of course if you’re currently using a MediaCentre PC at home then you’ll also have the added temptation to deviate from your work and start checking out all your latest entertainment etc.
Try to stay focused!
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