MPEG-2 and VC-1 decode, H.264 encode, CEC support now available for the Rapsberry Pi

Good news for those wanting to use their Raspberry Pi’s for media playback, you can now get support for MPEG-2 and VC-1, plus more!

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This is what Liz just posted on the Raspberry Pi blog:

If you’ve been following this website since we launched it last summer, you’ll probably be aware that we had to make some hard decisions about exactly what we could include on the Raspberry Pi if we were to meet our extremely low target price. One of the things that we had to regretfully dismiss as an option was an MPEG-2 decode licence for every unit. Providing that licence would have raised the price of every Raspberry Pi by roughly 10%, and we simply weren’t able to justify that when we held it up against the educational goals of the Foundation. Our initial expectation was that most of you would buy the Raspberry Pi for educational purposes, and that you wouldn’t mind that MPEG-2 wasn’t available. Our bad.

MPEG-2 and VC-1 decode

Thing is, a bunch of you went and bought the Raspberry Pi in February and immediately started using it as your primary media centre. And many, many of you have existing media libraries which are encoded using MPEG-2, and don’t fancy transcoding gigabites of stuff to H.264. You’ve been complaining about that. Vociferously.

We’ve spent some months working out how on earth to square this particular circle. A blanket licence for everybody would cost the Foundation money it simply doesn’t have, and not everybody with a Raspberry Pi would use that licence; an individual licence for an individual user to download and use with an individual machine is a surprisingly finickity thing to engineer. (This is why we’re very grateful to have Dom on board our engineering team, because he’s clever.) But that’s what we’ve done – so from today, you’ll be able to purchase an MPEG-2 decode licence which will be tied to your Raspberry Pi’s unique serial number. This will allow you to play MPEG-2 material from XBMC and omxplayer, which hasn’t been an available feature before now.

To purchase an MPEG-2 licence visit our (relaunched) store. And before you mention it in the comments, yes, stickers, t-shirts and other merchandise will be available, but not until we’ve built up a staff to handle it, which will take up a few months. Eben and I quickly realised earlier this year that if we keep gumming the envelopes and sticking on labels for this stuff ourselves, we will die from papercuts and boredom in very short order – and nothing else will get done because we’ll be very gluey.

We have also made a VC-1 licence available for purchase in the store. This is Microsoft’s video codec, and we don’t expect as many of you to require it as require MPEG-2, but there is a significant volume of material out there in this format which we thought it’d be nice to have the option to view on the Raspberry Pi.

You will receive your key by email within 72 hours of ordering. We haven’t been able to integrate key generation with the store website, so we will be generating them offline and sending them out automatically.

H.264 encode

Alongside MPEG-2 support (which you’ll have to pay for), we’re making H.264 encode available for free. The hardware has always been capable of supporting H.264 encode, but we were under the misapprehension that encode required an additional licence fee, so were waiting until the camera board release (which is still coming later in the year) before spending the money to enable it.

During the course of talking to the MPEG LA about the MPEG-2 licence, we discovered that the existing licence fee that is already baked into the cost of the Raspberry Pi actually covers both encode and decode – I tell you, this stuff is arcane – so we’ve enabled the relevant OpenMAX components by default in the latest firmware. It may take a while for someone to produce an encoder application which uses these components, but once they do you should be able to use the Pi as a standalone transcoder.

Check out what happened at the Q&A session with the Raspberry Pi Foundation

ISCSI Setup Series Part One: QNAP TurboNAS 3.7 Configuration

QNAP’s TurboNAS firmware supports ISCSI target functionality.  In Part One of my two-part ISCSI Setup Series, I show you the QNAP TurboNAS configuration.  Read on for details.

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QNAP’s TurboNAS supports ISCSI, meaning that you can point a server at the QNAP’s RAID storage and use it over ethernet as if it is attached to the server.  This is particularly useful in scenarios where you have virtualized the server and want to use storage that is not attached to the virtual box.  Here, I walk you through setting up the ISCSI target on the QNAP and establishing a connection with Server 2012 Essentials Beta set up in a Hyper-V instance on Windows 8 Consumer Preview.  See this article for the Hyper-V setup instructions.  Ready?  Let’s go!

Hardware Used

I have a QNAP TS-419 P II NAS unit connected via ethernet to my home network.  The QNAP is running TurboNAS 3.7 and is using 8TB of drives in a RAID5 configuration.  I also have an HP HPE490t Elite desktop, with a motherboard that supports virtualization.  I have activated the virtualization option in the HP’s BIOS.  Windows 7 and WIndows 8 Consumer Preview are both loaded in a dual-boot configuration.  Hyper-V is loaded on the Windows 8 OS and Server 2012 Essentials is loaded inside Hyper-V as a virtual machine.

Configuration of the QNAP

We need to do some work to configure the QNAP to act as an ISCSI target.  The steps are activating ISCSI, creating the target, and setting up the server application to use the target.  We’ll cover the first two steps in this article.

First, log into the administrative panel of the QNAP.

Click on Disk Management and then ISCSI. Select Enable iSCSI Target Service. Click Apply.

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Click OK as we’ll take care of that setting in a later step.

Click Target Management, OK to start the wizard. Select iSCSI Target with a mapped LUN. Click Next.

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The ISCSI Quick Configuration Wizard launches.  Click Next.

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My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 Version 2.12 released

As well as My Movies for Windows Media Center, Brian has also released version 2.12 of My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011.

Windows Home Server 2011

My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 operates as database back-end for My Movies clients in multi-zone environments.

The My Movies for Windows Media Center or My Movies Collection Management products can be downloaded and installed on client PC’s to maintain movies in the database on My Movies for Windows Home Sever 2011.

My Movies may not be pre-installed on commercial products, nor in any way redistributed or provided to end-users by installers that is not part of our installer program.

My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 2.12 changes:

Added: Better failure information on blu-ray TV Series that cannot be converted because of missing disc mapping.
Added: Facebook login.

Changed: Info on converter profiles in settings is now shown in a popup box instead of as a tooltip.

Fix: Depending on settings, the dashboard could crash when configuring video encoder settings.
Fix: Uncommon issue on WHS 2011, where the reading of audio tracks on a DVD included tracks there weren’t set to be active.
Fix: WHS console could crash if you previously had it configured to store MPEG 2 files or folder and MPEG 2 files, which is now part of video converter.
Fix: Monitoring list did not show correct icon for items identified by original disc id.

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Before installing a pre release version, you must make a backup of your database using the Collection Management program. There are no guarantee that a pre release version functions as expected, and it should therefore only be used for evaluation purposes. The database backup ensures that you can revert back to the latest stable version.

You can download the Windows Home Server 2011 edition here Check out our review of My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 2.0 Pre Release 7

Microsoft to Launch 2012 Election Hub on XBOX Live

Microsoft has announced plans for a 2012 US Election Hub on XBOX Live.  Read on for details.

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Microsoft has announced plans for US election-related content, working with such groups as NBC News, Rock the Vote, FaceTheFactsUSA and YouGov to bring live-streamed content.  And the representative for the district that I live in, Aaron Shock, has agreed to participate as well.  Here are some of the details:

REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 23, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. today announced “Election 2012 on Xbox LIVE,” a unique opportunity for Xbox 360 owners to watch and interact with live election coverage of the presidential debates, learn the facts about the candidates and issues from Face the Facts USA, register to vote through Rock the Vote, and participate in live daily polling from YouGov. NBCNews.com will deliver daily election programming to keep users up-to-date on the latest news and analysis about the election and the candidates. All these experiences will be featured on a brand new Election 2012 Hub on Xbox LIVE. Members will be able to fully access the first wave of content, which will focus on convention-related news, beginning Monday, Aug. 27.

Through this innovative platform, U.S.-based Xbox LIVE* members — part of a large, diverse and actively engaged audience of more than 40 million members worldwide — will be able to interact in real time throughout the three scheduled presidential debates, as well as enjoy live feeds from the Republican and Democratic national conventions. Xbox LIVE members will also be able to voice their opinions by responding to poll questions throughout live programming of the debates and other unique election events hosted on Xbox LIVE throughout the campaign season.

“We want to provide our passionate Xbox LIVE community with a great way to experience the election process with TV that makes them participants — and not just viewers,” said Marc Whitten, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “This is a great example of how our Xbox capabilities are making the promise of interactive television a reality.”

“As a leader in digital and broadcast news, NBC News is always looking for more places to deliver its high-quality multimedia content, particularly in this critical campaign year. This relationship with Xbox LIVE is a unique opportunity to expand our reach on a really innovative platform,” said Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and chief digital officer at NBC News.

Additional original programming will be featured through the Election Hub on Xbox LIVE with the “Conversations with the Next Generation” youth town halls in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 29 and Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 5. National Journal, The Atlantic and Microsoft are working together on these one-of-a-kind events at the Republican and Democratic national conventions to engage with younger Americans and students in a dialogue about issues facing their generation. The event moderators, including NBC’s Chuck Todd and Chelsea Clinton, will lead keynote interviews, panel discussions and audience Q&A with unique perspectives on the youth vote, education and the future of America’s economy. Participants such as George P. Bush; Kal Penn; Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill.; MTV’s Andrew Jenks; Michelle Rhee; OUR TIME’s Matthew Segal; and the national presidents of both the Young Democrats of America and the Young Republican National Federation will further explore ways in which people can empower youths to get involved in the political process and make their voices heard.

“Technology has been a transformative force in politics during recent years,” said Fred Humphries, vice president of government affairs at Microsoft. “The launch of the Election 2012 Hub on Xbox LIVE marks another exciting moment of change. This platform will innovate how some voters engage in the political process, and it provides greater access to valuable information such as the perspectives of youth at our town halls, newscasts and voter registrations. By bringing the elections directly into the home through this Xbox platform, we hope to encourage greater participation in the democratic process this fall.”

As part of Election 2012 coverage, Xbox LIVE is joining with Face the Facts USA, a nonpartisan, independently funded research initiative supported by The George Washington University and backed by “Americans who believe facts should come first in the national debate.” Thanks to this initiative, Xbox LIVE members will have access to videos that will help them more accurately understand the major issues surrounding the election and the candidates involved. Frank Sesno, former CNN correspondent, anchor and Washington bureau chief and director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University, will host this important video content.

Microsoft has also teamed up with Rock the Vote to encourage and facilitate voter registration. Rock the Vote will deliver information and programming directly into the Election 2012 Hub on Xbox LIVE, while also providing local voter information and the ability to register to vote through http://www.xbox.com/election2012. Rock the Vote will also make available exclusive musical content to be streamed directly to the Xbox LIVE community. Xbox and Rock the Vote previously worked together in 2008, successfully driving tens of thousands of citizens to register to vote and become active participants in the election process.

“We are thrilled to be working with Xbox again to deliver important election and voter registration content to millions of voters through this truly unique and impressive Xbox LIVE platform,” said Chrissy Faessen, vice president of Marketing and Communications at Rock the Vote. “There’s a growing audience of individuals getting their election information solely from online platforms; Microsoft has set itself apart by providing for its users a level of content and interactivity that’s second to none.”

Microsoft and the team at XBOX Live are continuing to deliver new and fresh content on the XBOX Live platform.  And as the election season heats up Stateside, it is good to know that we now have another platform for staying engaged!  This service begins on August 27th.

XBOX Live Election 2012 Hub Blog Post

App Update: Plex for Android 2.2.1.6 Available Now

Plex for Android, version 2.2.1.6 has been released bringing with it improvements and various fixes.

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Here is what is included in this update:

Fixes related to Plex for Android

The first bunch are related to connections to Plex Media Servers. The first two issues in particular were causing some seriously frustrating problems where some people could only get to their media servers when AWAY from home:
FIX an issue where unauthorized remote connections were incorrectly categorized as reachable.
FIX an issue where local connections aren’t chosen over remote connections when detected and reachable.
FIX an issue where sometimes servers would be listed with name of section rather than server.

And some fixes for the newly introduced remote control feature:
FIX remote controlled Androids now properly resume video in progress.
FIX when video started from remote control ends – return back to original view.
FIX when navigating to remote control Loading dialog never dissappears.

And more…
FIX where network logging failed to work on some devices / in some cases.
FIX about a dozen assorted field reported crash conditions.

Extras for Google TV

Google TV users pick up all the fixes above and:
FIX myPlex Queue and Shares now load properly again.
FIX always refresh the last selected flyout when returning to Home – so that you can finally see updates to onDeck and channels and so forth without having to reload the page.

Download now from Google Play

App Update: WordPress for iOS updated to version 3.1.2

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The WordPress app for the iPhone and iPad has been updated to version 3.1.2.

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It’s easy to manage your WordPress blog or site from your iOS device. With WordPress for iOS, you can moderate comments, create or edit posts and pages, and add images or videos with ease. All you need is a WordPress.com blog or a self-hosted WordPress.org site running 2.9.2 or higher.

What’s New in Version 3.1.2

– Fixed login issues with stats and Jetpack
– Easier Jetpack set up for self-hosted blogs
– Improved accessibility
– Crash and bug fixes

Download from the Apple App Store now

Still time to Win a Define R4 case in your choice of colour from Fractal Design

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We are big fans of Fractal Designs computer cases here at CDW, and we recently told you about their new case, the Define R4. We have teamed up with Fractal to offer you the chance to win one in the colour of your choice.

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The Fractal Design Define R4 is the latest in the Define Series of computer cases offering minimalistic and stunning Scandinavian design fused with maximum sound reduction, configurability and functionality.

The Define R4 side and front door panels are fitted with dense, sound-absorbing material making it a benchmark for noise reduction. Moreover, the Define R4 accommodates up to 8 HDDs, all modern graphics card sizes, and multiple ventilation options – including two standard Silent Series R2 hydraulic bearing fans – to keep internal components at optimal temperatures.

For ultimate functionality, the Define R4 features a front interface with USB 3.0 and an integrated three-speed fan controller behind the front panel door.

  • High density noise-reducing material for an optimal silent case – To achieve a high level of noise reduction, material with mass should be incorporated which is what we strive to achieve with the dense bitumen used on the side panels.
  • Patent pending ModuVent design allowing the user to choose between optimal silence or maximum airflow
  • Top HDD cage (5 trays total) can be rotated 90° or removed for additional airflow or to accommodate long graphic cards up to 430mm in length
  • Three-speed fan controller is strategically integrated in the front panel and supports up to 3 fans
  • Two Silent Series R2 fans included, featuring hydraulic bearings contributing to a longer life expectancy – Silent Series R2 retail fans will now come standard in all cases
  • Wider case body that allows for improved cable routing behind the motherboard – now 26mm wide
  • New tool-less front fan holder makes switching front fans a breeze
  • Two SSDs can be mounted on the back of the motherboard plate

USD: $ 109.99

EURO: € 94,95

GBP: £ 79,95

SEK: 899:-

So what do you have to do to win?

Well it’s simple, you just have to click on the link below and complete a few simple steps, which are as follows:

1 – Like Fractal Design NA on Facebook
2 – Like Connected Digital World on Facebook
3 – You can earn bonus entries by sharing.

The contest is open to anyone, worldwide, and will close at 5pm US Central time on Friday 24th August, and the winner will be selected at random and announced here on the site.

Good luck. and thank you to our friends at Fractal Design for this great prize.

Click here for your chance to win a Define R4 case

App Update: Facebook for iOS now at version 5.0

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Facebook for iOS has been updated to version 5.0 and has been rebuilt so it’s faster and easier to use.

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What’s New in Version 5.0

* Scrolling through news feed is faster than ever
* New banner lets you tap to quickly see more stories – no need to refresh
* Photos open fast and close with one downward swipe
* Instant access to your notifications

Download Facebook for iOS from the Apple App Store

Apple releases OS X Update 10.8.1

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Apple has just released OS X update 10.8.1 for Mountain Lion.

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This update includes general operating system fixes that improve the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:

  • Resolve an issue that may cause Migration Assistant to unexpectedly quit
  • Improve compatibility when connecting to a Microsoft Exchange server in Mail
  • Address an issue playing audio through a Thunderbolt display
  • Resolve an issue that could prevent iMessages from being sent
  • Address an issue that could cause the system to become unresponsive when using Pinyin input
  • Resolve an issue when connecting to SMB servers with long names
  • Address a issue that may prevent Safari from launching when using a Proxy Automatic Configuration (PAC) file
  • Improve 802.1X authentication with Active Directory credentials

Have you installed it yet? Let us know by leaving a comment below,

Mad Catz launch the S.T.R.I.K.E.7 professional gaming keyboard

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Last week Mad Catz Interactive announced the S.T.R.I.K.E.7 Professional Gaming Keyboard for PC.  Designed to deliver the highest levels of customization and performance, the S.T.R.I.K.E.7 features a unique modular design and the V.E.N.O.M touch screen interface.

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The unique V.E.N.O.M. touch screen interface enables the gamer to take control of their gaming environment, launch games or applications at the swipe of a finger, deploy custom macro commands, program chat, game, media settings and more.

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“The S.T.R.I.K.E.7 is the first in a line of new keyboards and rounds out our PC gaming range of F.R.E.Q. headsets and R.A.T. gaming mice.” said Darren Richardson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.  “Our engineers created a keyboard that delivers unprecedented customization and performance.  We believe the S.T.R.I.K.E.7 will capture the imagination of passionate gamers and continues to demonstrate our ability to innovative in the core gaming sector.”

Additional information and purchase options are available at: www.madcatz.com/strike7

The S.T.R.I.K.E.7 is shipping now.

We recently got an opportunity to test out the S.T.R.I.K.E.7 and will be posting that up soon!

Mad Catz now shipping the Tritton Warhead 7.1 Wireless Surround Headset for the Xbox 360

Mad Catz Interactive announced the shipping of the Tritton Warhead 7.1 Wireless Surround Headset, for use with the Xbox 360.

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The flagship in the Company’s exclusive range of Xbox 360 gaming headsets, the Warhead 7.1 is the first headset in the world to deliver two-way communication via the Xbox 360 console, negating the need for a chat cable or adapter to be connected to the gamers’ controller.

“We believe premium products such as the Warhead 7.1 have longer product life spans and offer the best means for us to target competitive and passionate gamers who demand the best.” said Darren Richardson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. “In addition to our focus on creating new products, we also look forward to leveraging our expanded geographic footprint and worldwide sales and marketing initiatives to bring added visibility to this one-of-a-kind product.”

The Warhead 7.1 Wireless Surround Headset features 5.8GHz wireless technology and DolbyHeadphone 7.1 surround sound. In addition, the Warhead 7.1 offers gamers an array of features including twin ‘hot-swappable’ rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs, Selectable Voice Monitoring (SVM), EQ modes for movies, music and gaming and an on screen battery-indicator display.

Tritton Warhead specs

The Warhead 7.1 Wireless Surround Headset is available for purchase from Best Buystores, www.bestbuy.com, and Mad Catz store www.madcatz.com.

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Additional information is available at http://www.trittonaudio.com/prod/warhead.asp

We recently got an opportunity to test them and will be posting that up soon!

Hands-on with the new Archos 101 XS Android tablet

Today saw the launch announcement for the new XS range of Android tablets from Archos. We had some hands-on with the 101 XS tablet and accessories.

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The 101 XS Tablet

The 101 XS tablet has a 10.1 inch screen which is very clear, with a resolution of 1280 x 800. It also has a microSD slot that currently supports up to 64GB of expansion but Archos tell us it will also support up to 128GB too. It also has HDMI out for connecting to a television or monitor, and the quality is excellent (the presentation we were given was using this feature). There are also all the usual ports you would expect.

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The Coverboard

The Coverboard is light-weight and easy to use and is only 5mm thick. The keyboard is very nice and easy to use and it feels very natural. It is a proper Android keyboard with Android shortcut keys rather than just a keyboard Archos has added. It is magnetic and feels very sturdy and secure.

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