Rumor: Microsoft TV

There are rumors that Microsoft will introduce a video streamer box at CES this year:

http://twitter.com/#!/slashgear/status/22224742257790977

I think that this could be a pretty good product that I would like. I think that this could be something that would help simplify my setup.

Announcement hopes:

Here is what I hope the announcement will be:

• The box will be about the size of a Roku or Apple TV


• It would run a version of Windows that has been stripped to only allow Windows Media Center to run.
  
  
  
  • Windows Media Center already supports Netflix streaming
  
  
  • Windows Media Center plugins would still be allowed to run
  
  
  • This would help prevent software conflicts
  
  
  • The box would automatically update itself from Microsoft's servers
  
  
  
  


• These devices would also be Media Center Extenders
  
  
  
  • This would allow you to buy a few of them for a house, and be able to watch the same content in all rooms.
  
  
  
  


• There would be two SKUs.  One with a hard drive for content, and one that would only stream content from other sources.
  
  
  
  • The SKU with the hard drive would allow the user to store content, and playback from the local hard drive.
  
  
  
  


• These would also support Zune Marketplace to get access to video and audio content (as the Xbox 360 does).


• These devices would also be UPnP AV client.


• These would support USB or UPnP TV tuners, to allow viewing or recording (for the SKU that has the hard drive) of TV content.

Since Microsoft already has the Xbox, this device would need to be cheaper than the existing versions of the Xbox.  I would think that the version without the hard drive would be $100, and the version with the hard drive would be $200.

Pie-in-the-sky hopes:

Harmony 900

As I have mentioned before, we like the Harmony line of remotes, and have owned several of the models.  The buttons on the Harmony 890 remote that we have been using for the past several years started to fail.  Even though they don't seem to last, the Harmony remote line contains the best universal remote controls.

I decided to get the Harmony 900, as it is the replacement for the Harmony 890.  The Harmony 900 is a combination IR and RF remote, where it can control devices that are not in line of site of the remote.

The Harmony 900 uses the same web base configuration tool as the other remotes, but unfortunately I had to create a new account for this new remote as the tool wouldn't allow me to add the new remote to my existing account.  This required me to re-add all of my devices.

The IR repeater that is included in the Harmony 900 is different than the one included in the 890.  The IR repeaters include with the 890, could be attached directly to the devices to be controlled.  This helped improve the reliability of the remote signal reception.  The Harmony 900's IR repeaters are meant to sit on the shelf with the component itself.  This is not ideal for furnature where there isn't a door covering the equipment.  In my case, I had to disable the internal IR receiver on my Media Center PC, and use an external USB IR receiver located right next to the IR repeater.

So far the remote is working pretty well for us.  My wife is pleased as well, especially since pressing the buttons actually work.

Fitbit

A while ago I heard about the Fitbit on the Major Nelson podcast. The fitbit is a wearable device that you can use to track your fitness.  It syncs through your computer to upload data to the Fitbit service, where you can track your progress.

The fitbit is a multi-axis accelerometer based pedometer, but it the main draw is that it wirelessly syncs data to the service when you are in range of the base station.  Since it is a two way sync, data that you have entered on the website can affect the display on the fitbit itself.  For example, your height or stride length entered on the website will affect the total distance value shown on the device.

In addition to helping you track your fitness, the fitbit claims to be able track how well your sleep is.  Included in the fitbit package is an wristband.  To track your sleep, you put the fitbit in "sleep" mode, and then place it in the wristband.  I assume that the fitbit services calculates the quality of sleep from the percentage of time that the fitbit detects motion while in "sleep" mode.

There are one thing that I think that could be improved with yncing without a computer.  The computers that we use most are laptops that are normally not connected to USB devices, so these will not be useful for syncing.  And the desktop computers in our house are normally turned off. Using a cell phone would be a great solution. I see a few ways that this would work.

1. Have the fitbit sync with a phone over bluetooth.  Fitbit could write an iPhone or Android application that would send the data to the fitbit server


2. Replace the fitbit device with an iPhone or Android application, assuming that the application doesn't decrease battery life of the phone.

i.TV

i.TV is a very cool iPhone application.  i.TV shows you information on movies and TV shows.  i.TV also lets you see and modify your Netflix queue (Both the disc and instant queues).

i.TV relatively recently added the  ability to schedule recordings on TiVo DVRs.  I have used this a few times.  There is one thing that I would like to see added is the ability to set the priority of the recording request.  Currently, any request made through i.TV will not be scheduled if there is any conflict.

Kodak EasyShare W1020

We bought a couple of of Kodak EasyShare W1020
picture frames for gifts.  These are 10" picture frames that can, in addition to displaying photos from memory cards, can display photos from flickr and KodakGallery. We wanted to use these frames as a way to share pictures with family members.

The initial setup of the frame was pretty straight forward.  Once you turned on the frame, it detected all of the wireless networks.  When you select one, and enter the password, it waits for a PC or Mac that has the Kodak software installed.  When you install it, you will be able to configure various channels.

The problem that I had was getting flickr to work.  The firmware that was initially installed has support for rss photos feeds.  I was never able to get any of the rss feeds from my sets to work.  But the built in flickr feeds worked fine.

I noticed that the frame tried to update its firmware, but the upgrade failed.  There isn't a menu option to manullay upgrade the firmware, so I just tried to power cycle it.  On the next boot the firmware upgrade was successful (version from 10/2008)

links for 2007-07-24

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  How To Add Good Expires Headers to Images in Apache 1.3 (by Jeremy Zawodny)
  
  
  (tags: performance apache httpd Expires headers http mod_expires)
  
  

Binary marble adding machine

Now this is cool.  This is a 6-bit binary wooden adding machine counts using marbles.  The video is pretty amazing.  A lot of work was put into this.

[via MAKE: Blog]

iPhone Walkthrough

Apple has posted an iPhone guided tour video on their web site.  I like it a lot, but I am still unsure of the usability with out any tactile feedback.  Also I am concerned about the screen getting scratched.  In addition to those two concerns, I don't want to switch to AT&T for cell service.

[via The Macalope]

Crystal Weather Station

This is a cool looking weather station.  The Crystal Weather Station has laser engraved 3D icons in crystal.  One of the coolest things about this clock is that you can switch between temperature and clock mode by waving you hand over the clock.

[via Engadget]

links for 2007-05-04

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  Store Developer docs on a compressed disk image
  
  
  Reclaim some disk space while saving documentation on a compresses disk image
  
  
  (tags: mac macosx osx tips diskimage disk dmg)
  
  

SNL/Steve Jobs on the iPhone

This is pretty funny:

http://www.youtube.com/v/7Kd-beTSdkQ

[via TUAW]

SlingCatcher

It looks like Sling Media will be coming out with a product that I find pretty interesting (And that I mentioned before.)  The SlingCatcher is a device that you connect to a wireless or ethernet network and your TV.  This will display the video that is being "broadcast" by a Slingbox.

I would use something like this to view the TiVo Series3 that is downstairs on our TV in the bedroom (This would allow us to not have to use the horrible UI on the Comcast Motorola DVR.)  I am sure that the and satellite providers aren't going to like this product.

[via Engadget HD]

DIY baby rocker

This is great.  Someone took the motor from a microwave oven and is using it to rock a baby chair.  It would be fun to make something like this before the baby comes.

http://www.youtube.com/v/mWj3YUQ9UiQ

[via MAKE: Blog]

TiVo remote addresses with Harmony remote

I needed to setup my Harmony remote to be able to control both the TiVo Series3 and the DIRECTV HD DVR.  I thought that there was a setting in in the Harmony interface, but I couldn't find it.  Here is the way that I was able to get this to work:

1. Configure the remotes and TiVo for seperate remote addresses.


2. In the Harmony remote application, click on the Settings for one of the TiVos.


3. Select the "Confirm infrared commands" option.


4. Follow the instructructions.


5. Do the same for the other.

Harmony Remote problems

Now that the Series3 is working, I wanted to configure my Harmony remote to control the new setup.  While trying to do this, I had a couple of problems.

There is a new update to the Harmony Remote software.  When the software first started up, a dialog appeared with options to install the update or quit.  Every time that I installed the update, the software would crash.  I eventually found out that the problem was that the Harmony Remote software was not unpacking the update itself, but using the configured helper application. (The Unarchiver).  Once I deleted this app, the update worked correctly.

WidgetStation

This is a cool looking alarm clock.  The WidgetStation is an alarm clock that has two lcd screens.  It can display calendars and rss feeds.  For audio, it will play internet radio stations but not AM and FM stations.

I think that this could be a great product if it had an iPod dock, where the iPod can be used as an audio or video source, where the video could be played through on the lcd screen.

[via Engadget]

wiDock

Since we have all of our music on our Mac mini, and the mini is not in a really accessible location, it is a hassle to synchronize our content to our iPods.  Right now, the Mac mini makes the volume that contains the music available through afp.  Each of our laptops mount the Mac mini drive, an the iTunes library access the content directly from the mounted volume.

The wiDock looks like something that could make this a lot easier.  In addition to being an iPod dock that has audio and video out, it also has built-in 802.11b/g and an ethernet port.  If you use the included software, you can sync iTunes with an iPod over a network.  This would allow us to keep the dock in our office, but still synchronize the iTunes library on the Mac mini in the living room.

Ambient Clock

Now this is a device that I would love on my desk at work, if it ships.  The Ambient Clock is a clock that, in addition to displaying the time, also your schedule.  The clock would retrieve your schedule from Google Calendar, though Ambient's wireless network.

The really interesting thing is how it displays your schedule.  It shows the blocks for scheduled appointment around the circumference of the clock.  In addition it displays travel time to meetings as little dots running up to the appointment block.  (The travel time is calculated using Google Maps.)

When no appointments are close the clock glows a calm blue color.  This changes to a yellow shade, within 10 minutes to the event.  When an event is in progress, the clock is in a shade of orange.

Contour Video iPod Hard Case

The iSkin eVo3 iPod cover that I bought for the 30Gb iPod doesn't fit on my 80Gb iPod, so I went to Fry's to look for a new case.  I ended up getting the Contour Design iSee video iPod Hard case.  This is a clear plastic case that snugly holds the iPod.  There is a hole in the front for the click wheel.

This doesn't gather lint as the iSkin case does.  Also, the headphone doesn't have a tendency to slip out, as it idid with the iSkin.  The only concern that I have about this case, is that it doesn't cover the click wheel, so there iPod could start to show some wear there.

Technorati Tags: Contour Design, iPod, iSee video, iSkin eVo3

Storing cheap electricity

This post on the WierdTechNewsHub mentions the GridPoint Protect.  This is a device that connects to the main circuit breaker and stores electricity when rates are low, and then it supplements utility power when rates are high. This will also work as a backup during blackouts.

Supposedly, this will save 10%-15% off your electric bill.  The version of the GridPoint Protect that is meant for home installation is $10,000, so it might take a while to recoup the initial cost.


[via digg]

Technorati Tags: electricity, energy, GridPoint Protect