We've been hearing rumblings about Hulu subscription service for months and today Hulu officially announced it's availability. Never fear free Hulu fans, this Plus service is intended to be complimentary. It's essentially an extra tier for those that want the new addition features and programming. And for those extra features and programming you'll need to pony up $10 / month.
If you are a Boxee user you already know that you can search for videos from all over the Web, watch them, or add them to your queue for later viewing. What if while you are at work doing a little browsing over your "lunch hour" and you come across a hilarious video you want to check out later? You could jot it down, email yourself the link, or try to remember it later? With the Boxee Bookmarklet, you can add that video to your Boxee queue instantly with the click of a button.
Boxee is one of the nicer HTPC solutions this side of Windows Media Center. It's not perfect by any means, but It has been slowly and surely making improvements over the last several months. It's latest version release (0.9.21.11487) features greatly improved media identification. Identifying media, movies in this case, has gone from rather clunky, to somewhat refined in a short period of time. Not only has the initial identification improved, but fixing errors and unknown files is super easy.
Boxee uses IMDB to pull it's movie information and cover art. As long as you have your movie files named properly based on IMDB standards, you're pretty much half way there.
Some Metadata managing apps like Media Center Master and YAMMM require your movie folders to be in individual (and correctly named) folders so that they can properly store metadata and cover art. Even the default Media Center library works on the same principal. So what the heck do you do if you have a large collection of movie files in a single directory? File2Folder to the rescue. This handy little application will take each movie file, create an identically named folder, and move the movie file into that folder. A huge time saver to say the least.
Check out my full write up at How to Geek or download File2Folder and have a go yourself.
If you use Windows Media Center on a dual monitor or multi-monitor system you may be aware that WMC "traps" the mouse so that you cannot work on the other monitor. This is a big annoyance for Media Center users who enjoy a little entertainment while browsing the web or doing a little work. Fortunately there is a little app called the Maxifier that eliminates this "trapping" and let's you run Media Center in full screen mode on any monitor. It also offers additional options and customizable hot keys. There is a stable version (1.4) for Vista Media Center and a Beta version (1.5) for Windows 7.
This is a really simple little app that solves a big annoyance for many Media Center users. You can download it and give it a whirl here, or read my full write up on The Maxifier at How-To Geek.
This year's U.S Open Golf Championship takes place at Pebble Beach, one of the world's most beautiful and famous courses. As if that's not enough, you've also got the ongoing saga of Tiger Woods and his "comeback" from infidelity. If you can't be in front of the TV for all the coverage, the U.S. Open Golf Championship iPhone app has you covered. The App has been fully updated for 2010 and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
I found the Masters iPhone App to be very slick, so I was anxious to dive into the U.S. Open app get a closer look.
I was very anxious to review the HippoRemote Pro 2.2 App for the iphone / iPod Touch. I had previously taken a look at the Boxee iPhone App and thought it was great, and HippoRemote promised so much more functionality. I'm pleased to say that it did not disappoint. It even exceeded my expectations. What sets HippoRemote apart from other remotes is the built-in "profiles." Each of these profiles is a user interface uniquely customized for it's specific program. For example, it has dozens of profiles for programs such as Media Center, Boxee, VLC, Windows 7, PowerPoint, all major browsers, and even web apps like Pandora. It also comes with keyboard control, game controller, and it even has the ability to turn on your computer via Wake on Lan w/ supported computer hardware.
HippoRemote can work as a replacement for your Media Center remote, or just as a supplement for when you want to use an app outside of a typical HTPC setup, or browse the web. HippoRemote works over WiFi, so obviously, you'll need a WiFi router. You'll also need to install a VNC app on your computer. The responsiveness is outstanding. I didn't detect any sort of lag. I should mention that I reviewed the full featured Pro version of the App that costs $4.99. They also have a .99 basic version, and a free lite version. You can read my full review of HippoRemote Pro 2.2 at How-To Geek to learn more and see how to get setup. Don't worry, it's pretty easy. Ready to jump it and try it out? You can check out the App here on their wesbite or download it from the App store.
This is a bit of a follow up on my previous article on how to play VIDEO_TS and VOB files in Windows 7 Media Center. The first time I focused mainly on how to play the DVD rips using the Media Browser plug-in for WMC. This time around, I'm going to focus specifically on ripping your DVD to play in the native Windows 7 Media Center Movie Library.
Once again, I'm going to use DVDFab's HD Decrypter to rip the DVD, but we're going to adjust some settings so that HD Decrypter creates an xml file that we can use to automatically pull cover art and metadata for our movie collection in the native Movie Library.
A few months ago I set out to search the interwebs for a quality armband for my Motorola Droid. As an avid runner and geek, I loved the idea of being able to run with what is basically a computer strapped to my arm. With Pandora and a run tracker app installed, I had dreams of some sort of 3G runner's nirvana. Listening to streaming music while my distance, speed, and route are tracked by a running app.
After doing a little Googling, checking some forums, and perusing Amazon, I didn't really find anything specifically crafted for the Droid. I did however come across the iArmBands Armband for the Nexus One and other Android phones. One of the reviewers stated he used it for the Droid, so I gave it a shot.
So, you'd like to cut the commercials out of some of your recorded TV programs? There aren't too many programs around that can edit Windows 7 Media Center's Recorded TV (.WTV) files. Before you go digging through Google looking for answers or dropping some cash for a fancy program, you might want to check out this little Windows application that might be right under your nose.
I'll admit it. Initially, I didn't even think about trying movie maker to edit Windows 7's WTV or DVR-MS files. The general consensus solution for editing WTV files was to convert them to DVR-MS files, then use any of a variety of apps to cut commercials, or save favorite clips. While I was perusing the online help files in Windows Live Movie Maker, I noticed WTV as one of the supported file types. I immediately grabbed a couple files, imported them into WLMM and gave it a try. Sure enough, it worked, and it really didn't take very long.
Boxee is a pretty cool HTPC solution, but I'm not a huge fan of the background look of it. Fortunately changing the background in Boxee is pretty easy. You can choose a static image, or a rotating group of images from a folder.
First you'll want to find yourself some nice high resolution landscape images. (They don't have to be pictures of landscapes, just landscape orientation... ) Go to Settings > General and then select Background image on the left. You then see the option to either set a background image or a background image folder. If you choose background image folder, Boxee will rotate through your background images, transitioning every 10 seconds. Check out my full article post on Boxee backgrounds at How-To Geek.
File this under cool, but unproductive. One of the many capabilities of VLC media player is the ability to set a video as your desktop wallpaper. To my surprise, not only does this work very well, it isn't a noticeable drain on resources. I could watch a movie while working with a few open applications without any issue. Here's how it's done.
I came across these tips from Ben Drawbaugh (who writes for Engadget HD) on how to reset Windows 7 Media Center if things are starting to get a bit sluggish. My Media Center hasn't gotten to this point yet, so I haven't tried it myself, but at the rate that I install and test plug-ins, etc, I'm sure it's just a matter of time. Ben notes that you should use these tips at your own risk and it worked for him but he gives no guarantee they'll work for you.
Check out Ben's full instructions here on his personal blog. If you give them a try, let me know what you think!
I often played around with "Photoshopping"myself or friends into movies scenes, famous paints, etc. Usually I relied on being able to download images from the web to be able to do this. With VLC, it really easy to grab a screenshot yourself. Of course, you don't have to be into it for the Photoshop shenanigans, maybe you just want cool desktop wallpaper, or whatever. One of the readers over at How To Geek had a really clever use for movie screenshot from VLC. He used them to create a pattern for his wife's cross-stitch based on the intro to the British comedy "The IT Crowd."
Sidenote: Folks from the U.S. with a Netflix account who have never seen the IT Crowd, can check it out the first 3 seasons for free on Netflix Instant. It's worth a look, especially if you have ever worked in IT.
Taking a screenshot, or snapshot, in VLC is pretty easy. When playing a movie simply select Video from the menu and click Snapshot. By enabling the advanced controls you can also take a snapshot directly from the the main interface with just a button. You can even advance or reverse the video frame by frame to get the perfect shot.
Check out the full article for all the details.
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