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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

These May Be the Droids You’re Looking For October 30, 2009

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A first look at Motorola’s newest Android-based smartphone.http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/these-may-be-the-droids-youre-looking-for/?ref=technology

The PC World 100: Best Products of 2009 October 28, 2009

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A laptop that recharges wirelessly, a CPU that leaves the competition in the dust, and a top pick that’s changing the face of computing–these are just three of the items in our PC World Top 100 list of the best products of the year.
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PC World looked at many outstanding hardware, software, sites, and services this year, evaluating each one on its design, functionality, performance, and impact. Here is the cream of the crop, the 100 best of 2009. (Note that we chose not to rate products specifically on their price or value, focusing instead on their overall quality.)
Please let us know if you agree or disagree with our choices or have an unmentioned favorite by commenting at the bottom of this story or on the PC World Facebook Fans page (we’d love to have you join us there).
We’ve also assembled slideshows for convenient comparison-viewing of our top picks in four categories: cameras/camcorders, laptops, smartphones, and storage devices. Check ‘em out!
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How to Carry Your Office on a Stick (USB Flash Drive) October 28, 2009

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As USB flash drives continue to get faster and provide increasing amounts of storage capacity, you can use them for more than just backing up files and documents. You can actually run a ton of applications right from your flash drive, which can come in handy when you’re on the road outside your office or home. There are some popular suites of flash drive apps, such as PortableApps, which we’ve covered before. There recently announced freeware portable apps for popular packages such as Google Chrome, Skype and even uTorrent. However, PortableApps is not the only game in town these days. http://portableapps.com/
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NirLauncher
NirLauncher is another impressive suite of portable apps that are easy to launch from your USB flash drive. It includes the entire collection of useful Systernals troubleshooting tools. The author makes the process of setting up all of these apps easy, with a file named systernals.nlp that you simply copy to the Systernals folder.

LiberKey
LiberKey offers a super-slick interface with three different packages of portable apps, including audio, file management, graphics, Internet, office, security and networking tools. Here’s a list of all the applications available.

Lupo PenSuite
Lupo PenSuite also provides a graphical interface that’s been translated into 28 languages for managing a plethora of portable apps (over 200, including popular apps such as 7-Zip, Audacity, CCleaner, eMule, FileZilla, Firefox, Foxit Reader, GIMP, IrfanView, Notepad++, Opera and Pidgin).

Individual Portable Applications
Of course, you don’t need to have an app suite launcher to install portable apps on your USB flash drive. You can simply copy them to your flash drive manually. For example, i.Scribe is a fully functional email client that you can run from you flash drive. Just drag it to your stick and you’ll be able to read and compose email messages. It also includes a calendar, address book and supports many plugins.

It’s a good idea to add anti-virus protection to your USB flash drive. Avira AntiVir Personal is a free anti-virus program that you can install on your flash drive.
There are numerous portable versions of browsers that you can use on your flash drive. The most popular are Portable Firefox, Portable Google Chrome, Portable Opera and Avant Portable Browser.


Portable OS in Your Pocket
You can actually install a stripped-down version of Windows XP on your USB flash drive thanks to software like BartPE (Bart’s Preinstalled Environment) which makes the process extremely less painful and more efficient.

If you prefer to roll with a Linux-flavored operating system, instead of a mini-Windows, then you can do so with the help of PendriveLinux.com. You can select just about any type of Linux, such as Debian, Ubuntu, and many more. You can find ready-to-burn Live CD images here on The LiveCD list and UNetbootin.

How about Mac OS? Yes, that’s possible too, although you’ll need a USB drive that is 8 GB or larger.
Virtual OS on a Stick

VMware is the leading innovator of virtual operating systems. It started by developing a way to install multiple operating systems on a single desktop but eventually found its niche by offering a platform to host multiple virtual servers instead of just desktops operating systems. It now provides a way to install a complete virtual operating system on a USB flash drive with a product called VMWare ACE. Not only can you run everything you run on a normal full-blown desktop or laptop, but it also provides connectivity back to your company’s network via a secure VPN. Thus, you can pop your flash drive in any computer with Internet access and work on your own customized desktop and even access your files and documents on your corporate LAN. http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2009/10/27/27gigaom-how-to-carry-your-office-on-a-stick-usb-flash-dri-62969.html
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CDRKing Philippines carries cheap USB Flash Drives check them out here http://cdrkingph.blogspot.com/ blog article or go directly to CDRKing website herehttp://www.cdrking.com/

Netbooks That Are Easier on the Eye HP Mini 311 vs. Nokia Booklet 3GOctober 28, 2009

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Higher-Resolution Screens on Nokia’s and H-P’s Inexpensive Laptops Show More of What’s Online
Like clockwork, retailers were ready for Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 7 release last week with new desktops, laptops and netbooks, those inexpensive, smaller laptops that have become popular in the past year. Included in this selection of netbooks are some that improved the poor screen resolutions that have plagued these tiny PCs.

Review: HP Mini 311 vs. Nokia Booklet 3G

WSJ’s Katherine Boehret tests Nokia’s first netbook, the Booklet 3G, and the HP Mini 311. She finds the high-resolution netbooks each have their benefits.
Screen resolution isn’t the same as the size of the screen itself. Rather, it is related to the number of pixels—or distinct dots—on a display, and an indication of how much material can be seen on the screen without scrolling. A higher-resolution screen allows you to see more of a Web page, spreadsheet or list of emails than a lower-resolution screen, even if both are the same physical size.
Because higher-resolution screens cost more, most netbooks come with low-resolution screens to keep prices down. But poor resolution combined with a small netbook screen results in frustrating visuals, like Web pages that display just a small portion of their contents, forcing you to scroll down or horizontally to see the rest of the page.
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-This week, I tested two Windows 7 netbooks with unusually high-res screens: Hewlett-Packard Co.’s HP Mini 311 with an 11.6-inch screen and a resolution of 1,366-by-768 pixels, and Nokia Corp.’s Booklet 3G with a 10.1-inch screen and a resolution of 1,280-by-720-pixels. Both these small computers display the bulk of most Web pages without any scrolling necessary—a big relief on a netbook.
-Though high-resolution screens make these netbooks easier on the eyes than others, I still had trouble adjusting to their shrunken features. I liked typing on the HP Mini’s generous keyboard, which H-P says is 92% of full size. But its touchpad buttons felt stiff and uncomfortably located at the edge of the computer. The Nokia Booklet had the opposite problem: Its touchpad and buttons worked fine, but its tiny keys made me feel like I was typing on a kiddie computer. To read more click herehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703574604574499482752219744.html
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Comment: The small keyboard and the small screen on these netbooks makes me still prefer the 15.4 inch best buy ASUS F52Q I foundhttp://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/best-laptop-buy-philippines/

Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers October 27, 2009

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SAN FRANCISCO — Companies big and small monitor Twitter to find out what their customers like and what they want changed. Twitter does the same.

It started two years ago as a bare-bones service, offering little more than the ability to post 140-character messages. Then, it outsourced its idea generation to its users. The company watches how people use the service and which ideas catch on. Then its engineers turn the ideas into new features.

In the next several weeks, Twitter users will discover two new features, Lists and Retweets, that had the same user-generated beginnings.

“Twitter’s smart enough, or lucky enough, to say, ‘Gee, let’s not try to compete with our users in designing this stuff, let’s outsource design to them,’ ” said Eric von Hippel, head of the innovation and entrepreneurship group at the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. and author of the book “Democratizing Innovation.”

Economists have long thought that producers — the people making products and running companies — are naturally the ones coming up with new ideas, Professor von Hippel said. In fact, he said, consumers often come up with ideas for products, and companies wait on the sidelines to see if they have mass appeal.

Technology companies have been the most active in relying on others to innovate for them. This is in large part because the Internet lets people exchange ideas easily and rapidly with large groups, and computing tools let people design new products cheaply.

The photo-sharing site Flickr started as a small part of a big online game. When the founders realized that the photo-sharing feature was more popular than the game, they scrapped the game and built Flickr. Open-source software companies leave innovation up to users, and companies like Bug Labs let people build their own hardware.

Start-ups are more likely to take this approach because they are still defining their products and have the flexibility to change direction. It can be much harder for older companies to make the shift, both culturally and logistically.

And some big, nontechnology companies are embracing user-generated innovation. Ford Motor noticed that people were modifying Sync, its voice-activated system for playing music and getting directions. Ford has invited university students to come up with new features for the in-car system.

Lego started a site called Design byME, where fans can use Lego design software to create their own models. Lego then sells the designs, effectively offloading the design cost to fans.

Twitter, though, may rely on user-generated innovation more than any other company. Early on, Twitter users started referring to others by typing the @ symbol before their name. For example, Biz Stone, a Twitter founder, recently wrote about his wife: “Wow, @Livia just took her homemade vegan lasagna out of the oven — I’m hungry!”

“That one really took us by surprise,” said Evan Williams, Twitter’s chief executive and a founder. Since then, Twitter has added a section to the site where people can see every time they are mentioned with the @ symbol. It began hyperlinking the names so others can click on them to see the subject’s profile page.

Twitter also gets ideas from the software developers who build Twitter applications. It was not focused on letting people search Twitter messages until a start-up, Summize, created a search engine. Twitter bought Summize in 2008, and search is now a central part of the company, which signed search partnerships with Microsoft and Google last week.

“Most companies or services on the Web start with wrong assumptions about what they are and what they’re for,” Mr. Williams said. “Twitter struck an interesting balance of flexibility and malleability that allowed users to invent uses for it that weren’t anticipated.”

But it was a learning process for the company. The founders did not like several user-generated Twitter features at first, but accepted them once they saw that others were adopting them, Mr. Williams said. When people started referring to Twitter posts as “tweets,” Twitter resisted until a few months ago, when it applied for a trademark on the term.

In 2007, Chris Messina, an early Twitter user, came up with another idea, inspired by a convention used on other Web sites, to mark conversations about a certain topic with the # symbol. “I begged and pleaded for them to support this feature, and they said, ‘No, it’s only for nerds, no one will get it,’” said Mr. Messina, an open-source advocate who runs a technology consulting firm, Citizen Agency.

But Twitter users caught on fast. Many conferences, for example, announce the so-called hash tag at the start of the event so attendees can mark all their posts the same way and people can search Twitter for everything written on the conference.

Now, Twitter hyperlinks the hash tags so readers can click and see all the other posts on a topic. Many of these appear in the list of trending topics on Twitter, another new addition. Twitter could add other hash tag features, like more clearly grouping all the posts about a certain event, Mr. Williams said.

Up next are two new features that were also inspired by users. One is called Lists, available to a small group now and to all Twitter users soon. People can create lists of all the tweets written by Hollywood celebrities or politicians, for example. Lists will help new users figure out whom to follow and help avid users filter their overflowing streams of posts, Mr. Williams said.

The idea was inspired by those who were confused about how to use Twitter and by ideas from software developers, he said. TweetDeck, for example, makes a Twitter desktop application that lets users group posts based on who wrote them. Lists also echo Follow Friday, another feature that users invented. Every Friday, Twitter users write posts recommending other people to follow on Twitter.

Also, when Twitter users wanted to send a post by another Twitter user to their own set of followers, they wrote “retweet,” which they shortened to RT. Twitter is now privately testing an official retweet feature that will fix some of the problems with retweets by eliminating redundant posts, clarifying who wrote the original post and preventing people from changing other people’s words, Mr. Williams said.

“You get a bunch of users interacting and it’s hard to predict what they’re going to do,” he said. “We say, ‘Why are people using this and how could we make that better?’ ” Read the original posting here
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print

Top 20 Free iPhone Apps for Entrepreneurs On-The-Go October 26, 2009

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If you are lucky enough to have an iPhone then you should be taking advantage of all the incredible free applications available to you. If you are an entrepreneur you will be pleasantly surprised at just how many useful iPhone apps are available for download.

These applications come in all shapes and sizes and will help you with things such as finance, productivity, social networking, meetings, travel and much more! Read the complete blog here
http://www.makestablemoney.com/top-20-free-iphone-apps-for-entrepreneurs-on-the-go/

Web 2.0 speakers see mobile devices taking over October 25, 2009

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Cellphones such as the Samsung Memoir (top clockwise), Sony Ericsson C905a, Casio Exilim, Nokia N97 and Palm Pre are taking bigger roles in our lives.
SAN FRANCISCO — They came to talk about not-so-distant future technology, where cash is a relic, we’ve all but ditched the PC in favor of the mobile phone and the entire cable TV 500-channel universe — including pay TV — can be seen online, any time of the day.

The Web 2.0 Summit, which wraps up here Thursday, has attracted some of the biggest industry players — including Google, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, Adobe, Microsoft, AOL and MySpace— along with traditional media companies, such as General Electric (owner of NBC Universal and co-owner of the Hulu video site) and Comcast, the USA’s biggest cable operator and second-largest provider of broadband. Among the hot topics:
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Mobile, mobile, mobile
The last few years have seen dramatic change as we shifted our lives to the PC and the Internet, but now it’s all about mobile. If you don’t sport a cool new iPhone, Android or Palm Pre smartphone yet, you will.
Smartphone technology — a PC in your pocket — “is ramping faster than any tech cycle I’ve seen in modern times,” said Mary Meeker, an influential technology analyst at Morgan Stanley.
“That this is all happening in a recession is a very good thing to happen to our industry,” she added.

Ah, yes, the recession. Hard times.
But not for gadgets, gizmos and the Web. Apple just reported record revenue and sales of Macintosh computers and iPhones. Last week, Internet giant Google said its revenue in the third quarter rose 7% year-over-year. And Microsoft, launching a new version of Windows this week, is expected to dramatically increase sales, thanks to new computers and upgrade purchases.
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New ways to pay
Speaking of the greenback — well, that’ll be something we can talk to our grandkids about some day.

“Is it possible that innovations as young as ATMs … are already becoming obsolete? I hate to tell you — I think so,” said Scott Thompson, president of eBay’s electronic payment service, PayPal.
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Naturally it’s in his interest to say such things: PayPal gets a hefty 3% commission on online transactions pushed through its system. Thompson came to Web 2.0 to announce the opening of PayPal to outside developers, as Apple did with the iPhone, so they might create new ways to send money to folks. “Developers can build things as simple as payment apps for social-networking sites, or a payroll system for a foreign country,” he said. “You can pay for items on the phone, or even the TV in your living room.”
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Thompson showed an amusing video of his new fantasy world, showing a young couple walking down the street, admiring a movie poster on the street and using a touch-screen PayPal widget to pay for it on the spot. In another scene, the guy buys a drink for a gal at a bar, with a touch-screen PayPal widget on the surface of the table.

Wide world of cable
Like PayPal, cable TV wants to open up, too.
The old way: Subscribe and get access to hundreds of channels. Watch the channel grid to figure out what’s on; maybe rent a DVR to record shows to watch when you like.
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The new way: Subscribe and watch any show in the lineup on the Internet at any time — including HBO and basic cable channels such as AMC, TBS and Discovery — which generally haven’t been made available for Internet viewers.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts announced just that at Web 2.0 for Comcast’s 24 million subscribers via its Fancast website. He said all Comcast subscribers would have access by the end of the year.
“We see the world changing. We see where the world wants to go. That’s the road we’re on,” he said.

-Availability initially will be confined to Comcast customers who subscribe to both the company’s cable and broadband Internet services.

Real-time search
Search giant Google can find information for you on the Web, but until now not usually in real time. That explains the growing popularity of social networks Twitter and Facebook, where real-time conversations go on daily, many Web 2.0 speakers said.
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Microsoft’s Bing search engine, which is hoping to give rigorous search competition to Google for the first time in years, on Wednesday announced non-exclusive deals with both Twitter and Facebook to provide search results for Twitter tweets and Facebook public posts. At Bing.com/twitter, the conversations can be viewed and searched. Additionally, tweets will be part of the search results.
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Microsoft showed an example of a search on singer John Legend, showing a picture of the performer followed by two of his recent Twitter posts, news items and links to websites.
Later Wednesday afternoon, Google separately announced its own agreement with Twitter to include its updates in Google search results.

Forget the car keys
Finally, we end where we started, with mobile.
Looking at how we use our phones now compared with five years from now, David Ko, a Yahoo senior vice president, said we probably will no longer leave the house with our keys, wallet and phone in our pockets or purse. “Maybe you’ll just take the phone,” he said. “That will turn on the car, be your office key, wallet and badge for work.”
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However, once we arrive at the office, we’ll still sit in a cubicle (“that’s not going to change”) and work on a computer. “It may be a tablet, or a different form of a computer, but it will still be a PC of some kind.” Read the complete original article herehttp://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-10-21-web-future-summit_N.htm

PLDT expects new ‘Watchpad’ service to revolutionize online entertainment October 25, 2009

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Multitasking online suddenly got a lot more entertaining.
At least for subscribers of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Company’s myDSL broadband internet service, there is now one more reason to go online. With its recently launched Watchpad, users can now watch their favorite TV shows in streaming video for free even as they surf the web, check their emails, update their social networking status, write their blogs, chat in real time and play online games.

With Cignal HD as content provider, Watchpad is a revolutionary service that combines broadband connection with rich multimedia content. Initially available right off the bat are popular free TV and cable channels National Geographic, Cartoon Network, MTV, Pinoy Box Office, CNN, Animax Mobile, CNBC and GMA-7. PLDT myDSL subscribers only need to register at www.pldtwatchpad.com to get a username and password in order to access them for free.
“While it’s true that you can access streaming videos of your favorite shows in the internet from various sources online, what we did here at Watchpad is bring them all together under one online roof,” says PLDT Retail Business Group Head Dan Ibarra. “So our users can spend more time watching, surfing, chatting and blogging instead of searching the web for these show.”

And that’s not all. Watchpad is also introducing myFlicks, its own one-stop, commercial-free movie central channel which will show the acclaimed films of 2009 Cannes International Film Festival Best Director Brilliante Mendoza starting this month. Mendoza, who has so far directed a total of eight films, is the first Filipino to get this prestigious recognition at the annual film festival held in France.

During the press conference launching his inclusion in Watchpad’s initial entertainment line-up, Mendoza said he’s very pleased to see his films such as Serbis, Twilight Dancers, Masahista, Mamoro, Foster Child and soon, Kaleido and the award-winning but controversial Kinatay be exposed to a wider, online audience, he pointed out that since myFlicks is still subject to MTRCB regulations, only the MTRCB-approved cuts of his films will be shown in Watchpad.
For PLDT’s part, Ibarra and AVP Gary Dujali announced that aside from those by Mendoza, more acclaimed films from the country’s best directors are coming soon at Watchpad. Another exclusive Watchpad channel, myView, will feature special shows from popular celebrities like Isabel Oli who will discuss her fashion tips and Rhian Ramos who will dwell on her own celebrity status in myLife.

Also in myView are the latest showbiz gossip from respected industry scribes like Shirley Pizarro, Isah Red, Dolly Anne Carvajal and Ricky Lo.

Dujali pointed out that the Watchpad service is not just limited to films and television but also the latest online games from LevelUp! Games. Initially available for Watchpad are CrazyKart and Hello Kitty Online Philippines.

With regards to the speed and quality of the streaming videos and overall quality of the service as a whole, Dujali and Ibarra are one in saying that while Watchpad is available to all PLDT myDSL subscribers, “the service is best experienced for those who are subscribed to Plan 1299 and higher.” Plan 1299 is also the minimum requirement for those who want to enjoy the streaming videos of available Watchpad entertainment in High Quality (HQ) resolution.
According to Ibarra, PLDT has a total subscriber base of over 1.5 million for both its wired and wireless broadband service. He said he expects this number to significantly increase with the introduction of Watchpad.

Dujali also reveals that there are plans to acquire 25 to 30 more channels to augment the service as it continues to be a hit with PLDT myDSL subscribers. He hinted, however, that just like cable TV providers, PLDT may also require subscribers to pay a premium for certain channels as well as special shows like the pay-per-view fights of Manny Pacquiao, among others. Read the original article herehttp://www.mb.com.ph/articles/226365/pldt-expects-new-watchpad-service-revolutionize-online-entertainment

Watch FREE TV ON YOUR COMPUTER OR YOUR CELL PHONE PODCAST Also on your LCD TV October 23, 2009

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What is podcasting? PLDT’s new Watchpad is an example

Read about PLDT’s new Watchpad PLDT launches TV over DSL service, Watch TV online on your LCD WATCHPADhttp://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/pldt-launches-tv-over-dsl-service-watch-tv-online-on-your-lcd/

If you don’t know what “podcasting” is, don’t worry! You’re not the first to ask.
Podcasting is a new trend, and there are a lot of people who haven’t heard of it or don’t know exactly what it is. Basically, podcasting is like blogging, but with audio. (“Blogging,” which stands for “web logging,” means maintaining a web-based journal).

Podcasting s a combination of:
a new capability for listeners not only to download an audio file (MP3) from the internet, but to subscribe to receive future audio files from the same source or “channel,” and a growing trend of amateur DJs creating their own “radio shows” as giant MP3 files published on the internet, including both music and talk.
Podcasting is very significant for independent music for several reasons. First, it has fueled the rise of amateur DJs who are helping ordinary consumers discover music that they might never otherwise hear on the radio, These amateur DJs help level the playing field for all musicians.
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WATCH COMPUTER TV ON YOUR LCD TV WITH A CORD BOUGHT FROM CDRKING
Second, podcasting also allows consumers to “subscribe to a band” and receive future material (or messages) from that band — just as if the band had their own radio station. fromhttp://www.ilike.com/faq/garageband/answers/267

Get It To Go
All you need to get started is a Podcasting application. Once you download and install it, simply click on the RSS (really simple syndication) icon for the feed you want, then copy the URL from the address bar of your browser and paste it into your Podcasting application. The software will automatically check for updates and download the files to your computer so you can load them onto your MP3 player.

BASIC INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Launch iPodder
2. Add podcast feeds.
a. Option 1. Copy/paste podcast feed URLs into the text input box on the
Status tab and click Add Feed.

b. Option 2. Click on the Directory tab. Navigate the tree
by clicking or double-clicking on the name of the directory or the folder icons.
Podcast feeds will have a orange dash icon next to them. When you select a
feed, its URL will appear at the bottom of the window. Add the feed
to your subscriptions by clicking Add. It should show up in the main
subscriptions window with state “newly-subscribed”.


3. Set scheduler options
A bit of magic happens when you pick up your MP3 player and fresh content
is already there waiting for you. Use iPodder to schedule automatic downloads
by entering the times you’d like it to run in the Tools -> Scheduler menu option.
First check the box next to “Enable scheduler”. If you’d like
iPodder to run at specific times, select the “Check at these specific times” radio
button and enter the specific times. If you plan to listen to podcasts on
your morning commute, you might set iPodder to perform downloads a few hours
before you leave. Alternatively, you can set iPodder to run at regular
intervals. Select the interval from the “Repeat every” menu. Finally, click
“Save and Close” to apply the settings.

4. Walk away
Well, not literally. But do hide or minimize iPodder and forget about it for
a while. Based on your scheduler settings, iPodder will check for and download
new content and transfer it to your iTunes or Windows Media Player. Of course
if you’d like you can check for new podcasts at any time, just be prepared to
stare the download progress bar for a bit.

5. Listen!
When you’re ready to listen, sync your MP3 player and you’re on your way.
If you’re running Windows and leave your iPod connected, iPodder will
automatically sync it after finishing its downloads.
6. Power user tip
To help manage the volume of new content, we suggest using your music management
software to create a smart playlist of the last N songs added.
Here are several free or commercial Podcasting applications available for download:
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Where can I find more Podcasts?
How to find Podcasts http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-find-Podcasts&id=275369


Podcast directories are growing every day. Here’s links to some of our favorites:
Yahoo! Podcasts – allows playback right from the web

iTunes (PC/Mac)

Doppler (PC)

iPodderX (Mac)

iPodder (PC)

Blog Matrix Sparks! (PC)

Playpod (Mac)


NBC daily news audio podcasthttp://podcast.msnbc.com/audio/podcast/MSNBC-Nightly.xml

Great Podcasts now ready for your viewing
Podcast.com is the ultimate podcast collection. Find podcasts from around the world. Play, collect, download and share any podcast. http://podcast.com/

Nature podcastshttp://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/

Yahoo podcasts http://m.www.yahoo.com/

Pinoy podcastshttp://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/4912

Kiss your monthly DVR subscription goodbye, use your computer as a recorder for your favorite tv showsOctober 23, 2009

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DVRs have changed the way we watch television. We can watch our favorite shows whenever we want and skip commercials. But TiVo and your cable company charge a monthly fee for the privilege.
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Fortunately, you have options. You can get a DVR without the monthly subscription.
If you want to pay up, you’ll find solutions at the store. Or, you can take the cheap-and-easy route. Let’s go to the store first. You can find links to the products mentioned at www.komando.com/news.
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Standalone options
The Moxi HD DVR is subscription-free. Moxi says its 500-gigabyte hard drive holds 75 hours of high-definition content. Or, if you’re old school, you’ll get 300 hours of standard definition.
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You can record two shows simultaneously. Or, connect to the Internet to watch Netflix, Hulu and YouTube content. It also connects to computers for viewing photos and listening to music.
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At $800, though, Moxi’s DVR is $200 more than a comparable TiVo.
Archos’ Internet Media Tablets also record television shows. They’re similar to Apple’s iPod Touch.
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Prices start at $280 for the Archos 5. It has a 60GB hard drive. The DVR Snap on ($80) turns it into a portable DVR. But it only records standard definition.
And now — cheap and easy
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You remember that old computer? The one in the closet? Get it out! It’s your new DVR!
You’ll need a television tuner card. You’ll find both standard- and high-definition TV varieties. Analog TV tuners are still being sold; opt for a digital (ATSC) tuner. Also, if you have cable, make sure the tuner is compatible. Some only work with over-the-air signals.
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You’ll also need to match the card’s output connections to your TV’s inputs. Otherwise, you could be limited to watching on your computer monitor.
Some tuners must be installed inside the computer. Others are external, connecting via a USB port. The USB option is easier to set up.
Windows tuners are made by Hauppauge, Pinnacle and ATI. They start around $50. Mac users should look at Elgato, Pinnacle and ATI tuners. They start around $130.
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These setups generally do not require powerful machines. Any modern machine should be fine. You’ll need 512 megabytes of RAM for XP machines. Vista and Windows 7 computers should have 2GB. Macs need a minimum 512MB.
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You also want plenty of storage. An hour-long recording requires about 2GB. Half an hour of HD television can require 6GB. If you have a teensy-weensy hard drive, you can add storage. A 1 terabyte external hard drive is about $100. Double that for 2TB.
Most cards include software for recording shows. This is handy for Macs and Windows XP. But Vista and Windows 7 users may not need additional software.
Media Center is included in Vista Home Premium and Ultimate. Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate include it. It will record your shows for you.
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Media Center makes it easy to configure TV settings. Use the built-in guide to schedule recordings. Or, record on the fly. The software also organizes your recordings for easy playback.
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Convert your shows to go
Finally, you can take your shows with you on your iPod. IPodifier (free) will convert recordings for your player. It works with Vista’s DVR-MS Media Center file format.
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Windows 7 uses the WTV format, but you can convert it. Right-click the file in Windows and select “Convert to .dvr-ms Format.” You can then use the file with iPodifier.
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Mac tuners should include software for converting recordings. Read the complete original posting herehttp://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kimkomando/2009-10-22-dvrs_N.htm
Posted by Philippine Bargains at 3:30 PM

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