Plex for iPhone and iPad updated to v2.4

Andrew Edney
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0
Plex for iPhone and iPad updated to v2.4

The Plex application allows you to use your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch to browse and play your media (video, photos and music) using the Plex Media Server installed on your Mac or PC. The latest version, v2.4, has just been released in the App Store.

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Description

Plex for iOS brings the power of Plex to your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. With Plex, you can stream your music, videos and photos from your home computers running Plex Media Server (available from http://www.plexapp.com/) and access content from a wide range of channels.

Channels are available for apps like Aperture, iTunes and iPhoto, or online services like YouTube, Vimeo and Revision3. There’s also a remote control feature for Plex Media Center.

Additionally, you can sign up for the myPlex service, which lets you connect to servers shared with you by your friends, queue videos from your web browser to watch later, and connect to your Plex Media Server at home wherever you are in the world via Wi-Fi or a celluar connection, with no configuration necessary!

Plex Media Server streams your media directly from your computer, so there’s no need to convert before viewing. Plex is smart, too – if your media isn’t already in a format your device can play, it’ll convert it on-the-fly.

Limitations:
• DRM-protected content (TV shows, movies and older music tracks from the iTunes store) is not supported.
• ISO images are not supported.
• VIDEO_TS folders are not supported.
• PGS subtitles are not supported.
• Audio formats iOS can’t play natively (e.g. FLAC) are not supported.

What’s New in Version 2.4

∙ NEW: Social features! You can now add friends to your myPlex account, recommend media to each other, and post directly to your Facebook timeline. Tap account settings and go to the friends tab to send out friend invites.
∙ NEW: Ability to clear cached images.
∙ NEW: The app can be launched via the plexapp:// URL scheme.
∙ NEW: Media can be deleted from the app (must be enabled on the server, requires PMS 0.9.6.1 or newer).
∙ NEW: Automatic video quality adjustment has been restored, allowing the app to select the most appropriate video quality for the current available bandwidth, up to a user-defined maximum.
∙ NEW: Attempt to automatically select audio & subtitle streams for all parts when playing stacked media.
∙ NEW: Networked logging option (in advanced settings). Sends iOS and PMS logs to a centralized server in the cloud when enabled, to aid with support.
∙ NEW: A new look for settings.

∙ FIX: Channels section was invisible when no channels are installed on the server.
∙ FIX: TV season posters were low resolution on iPad.
∙ FIX: Remote control requests include the correct authentication tokens allowing the feature to work via myPlex connections.
∙ FIX: Marking progress when not signed in to myPlex was broken.
∙ FIX: More reliable reloading of home screen data.
∙ FIX: Images flickered while loading.
∙ FIX: Certain remote buttons weren’t working properly after rotating the device.
∙ FIX: Wide flag images could get cropped on iPhone.
∙ FIX: The movie player sometimes switched to portrait orientation when starting a video.
∙ FIX: myPlex scrobbling was broken.
∙ FIX: Search wasn’t working when not connected to a server.
∙ FIX: The on-hold menu wasn’t working when the default playback action was set to “Always Ask”.
∙ FIX: A couple of crashes on iPhone 3G.

∙ UPDATE: Translations for Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.

The cost for the app is £2.99.

Download from the Apple App Store

StableBit DrivePool for Windows Home Server 2011 Beta 1.0.2.6278 released

Andrew Edney
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0
StableBit DrivePool for Windows Home Server 2011 Beta 1.0.2.6278 released

There has been another beta build from CoveCube! StableBit DrivePool development marches on – now its version 1.0.2.6278.

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Here is how CoveCube describes this application:

  • Combine all your hard drives into one big storage pool (except the system drive with the OS).
  • Add and remove drives from the pool at any time without re-partitioning or manually moving folders.
  • Create duplicated folders on the storage drive pool that are protected against single drive failure. If a drive fails on which a duplicated file was stored, the contents of that file will remain readable even without the drive.
  • All your data is stored in standard NTFS files. You can always access your files even if the Windows Home Server completely crashes or this add-in can’t be used.

This beta version’s change log:

1.0.2.6278

* Sometimes VDS was being queried too often.

* After removing a drive, sometimes a full duplication pass was scheduled. This is not necessary unless you specified to duplicate later in the remove wizard.

* When DrivePool creates new partitions, it will now properly align them on sector / cylinder boundaries. This was a problem when formatting advanced format disks and was caused by a bug in one of the Windows APIs (IVdsPack::CreateVolume).

* Added option to switch the unit type of the file distribution bars on the folder detail panel. 3 unit types: * By Bytes * By Disk Usage Percent * By Percent of Shared Files Not shown for folders stored on a single disk.

Learn more from the new Stablebit DrivePool home

DVBLogic releases DVBLink v4.5 Release Candidate 2

Andrew Edney
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0
DVBLogic releases DVBLink v4.5 Release Candidate 2

DVBLink TVSource, DVBLink Connect! Server and DVBLink EPG Loader for Digiguide v4.5 are now at release candidate 2 stage!

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Release Candidate 2 of DVBLink products v4.5 is available!

What is new/fixed from RC1:

General

    – Added: removed limitation on child lock pin code length

DVBLink TVSource

      – Fixed: unrecognized eit character sets 21 and 31
      – Fixed: no signal on high freq transponders using Terratec S7
      – Added: PCTV 460e 1.0 diseqc and Unicable support
                 – Fixed: “Internal error” dialog upon selection of channel CA system

DVBLink Connect! Server

    – Fixed: Error displaying a schedule for not existing channel

DVBLink AnalogTV

    – Added: Argentina to the list of supported countries

DVBLink for Dreambox

    – Fixed: 3 minutes delay during system start-up also blocking aother services

Notes:

      – This version is not binary compatible with version 2.x, 3.x and 4.0/4.1. You will have to uninstall them completely before installing this version. Do not forget to make a backup!
      – 1geek1tool products are not supported (yet) in this version
      – v4.5 products use new licensing engine. This means that at the moment only trial activation is possible (e.g. your licenses for already purchased DVBLink products cannot be used with this version while it is in beta phase).
                 – The 4.5 update will be free of charge update for all v4 users. For v3 users the current paid upgrade rules apply.
Learn more and download from here

Airtunes coming to XBMC for Windows

Andrew Edney
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0
Airtunes coming to XBMC for Windows

The guys over at XBMC have posted that Airtunes is coming to XBMC for Windows.

airplay

There is a really good blog article about Airtunes coming to XBMC, which you can read here.

To summarise the article:

The last item necessary to fully pull all versions of XBMC into par with AirPlay support has been added in the June dev cycle.

Very long story short, fully feature complete AirPlay is yet another major step forward in XBMC’s constant march forward to media dominance for all sorts of reasons. And, as always, I’m excited (and very wordy) about that future.

This is really cool, and I look forward to testing it out soon.

My Movies Collection Management for Windows Media Center 4.03 PR5 (Build 2) Released

Andrew Edney
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0
My Movies Collection Management for Windows Media Center 4.03 PR5 (Build 2) Released

As well as the news versions of My Movies 4.03 PR5 for Media Center and My Movies 2.11 PR5 for Windows Home Server 2011, Brian has also released version 4.03 PR5 (build 2) of the Collection Management component.

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Here is the complete changelog:

Added: Option in “Movies” settings section in WMC to hide offline play options on playback if there are online play options.
Added: When you change episode paths, it now checks if other paths are changed as well.
Added: Sort saving for title list in the Collection Management dialog

Change: Various updates to the automatic refesh rate changing functionality.
Change: Added functionality for folder monitoring to recreate watchers if they get lost due to host reboots.
Change: Refresh rate is now reset when leaving My Movies.
Change: Some internal component parts where replaced with others for the UI in Collection Management.

Fix: MediaBrowser setting did not stick.
Fix: Minor fixes to better handle non-AACS Blu-ray’s
Fix: When adding a box set the latest added title will now be the selected one after the adding proces.
Fix: TV Series on Discs did not always have their episode coupled to owned episodes
Fix: Double click on an episode on the season listing under a disc title now jumps to the right episode.
Fix: MediaBrowser XML file was in some situations still encrypted.

MM CM

Download My Movies 4 Collection Management Now

What do you think of My Movies?

Check out our review of My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 2.0 Pre Release 7

My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 Version 2.11 PR5 (Build 2) Released

Andrew Edney
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0
My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 Version 2.11 PR5 (Build 2) Released

Brian has also released version 2.11 PR5 (Build 2) 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.

Change Log:

Change: Updated Nimbie drivers for Nimbie NB21.

Fix: MediaBrowser setting did not stick.
Fix: MediaBrowser XML file was in some situations still encrypted.

MM WHS

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.

My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 2.11 Pre Release 5 can be used as server for My Movies 4.03 Pre Release 5 clients.

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

My Movies for Windows Media Center 4.03 PR5 (Build 2) Released

Andrew Edney
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0
My Movies for Windows Media Center 4.03 PR5 (Build 2) Released

Brian has just released My Movies for Windows Media Center version 4.03 PR5 (Build 2).

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Here is the change log:

Added: Option in “Movies” settings section in WMC to hide offline play options on playback if there are online play options.
Added: When you change episode paths, it now checks if other paths are changed as well.
Added: Sort saving for title list in the Collection Management dialog

Change: Various updates to the automatic refesh rate changing functionality.
Change: Added functionality for folder monitoring to recreate watchers if they get lost due to host reboots.
Change: Refresh rate is now reset when leaving My Movies.
Change: Some internal component parts where replaced with others for the UI in Collection Management.

Fix: MediaBrowser setting did not stick.
Fix: Minor fixes to better handle non-AACS Blu-ray’s
Fix: When adding a box set the latest added title will now be the selected one after the adding proces.
Fix: TV Series on Discs did not always have their episode coupled to owned episodes
Fix: Double click on an episode on the season listing under a disc title now jumps to the right episode.
Fix: MediaBrowser XML file was in some situations still encrypted.

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

My Movies 4.03 Pre Release 5 can be used as client for My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 2.11 Pre Release 5 or My Movies for Windows Home Server 2.00.

MM WMC

Download My Movies 4.03 PR5 now Check out our review of My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 2.0 Pre Release 7

Microsoft talks about Designing the Windows 8 Calendar app

Andrew Edney
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0
Microsoft talks about Designing the Windows 8 Calendar app

In the next in their series of Building Windows 8 articles, Microsoft talk about designing the calendar app.

calendar

This is how this article starts:

When we set out to design the Calendar app for Windows 8, there was no shortage of directional possibilities. Given the long history of calendars in society, and the diversity of Windows customers, we asked ourselves: What are the essential attributes of a great calendaring experience and how can we bring them to life by using the uniquely rich capabilities of Windows 8?

At its heart, a great calendar should to do the following:

  • Show your life clearly. You should have crystal clear visibility into what’s happening in your life – at home, at work, and at school.
  • Make it easy to get around. Moving back and forth in time should be quick and efficient. Opening events and appointments should feel natural.
  • Make it easy to add new items. New things are always coming up in your life. A great calendar makes it easy to make new plans.
  • Keep you on time. Well laid plans aren’t very useful if you show up late!
  • Be ready to do more. As you get busier, scheduling gets more complicated. Calendar should gracefully handle your needs as they change.
Showing your life clearly

One of the most important functions of a calendar is its ability to answer the questions “What’s going on for me today?” and “What’s coming up next?” As we designed the Calendar app, we focused on providing that clarity and eliminating distractions. Given all the potential capabilities of a digital calendar, keeping this focus can actually be quite difficult. The temptation to add extra bells and whistles can be very real. At the same time, we realized that focus is one thing paper calendars have always been quite good at — they simply present you with the calendar grid and the information you’ve written on it.

With that insight and the clear principles of what it means to be a great Metro style app, we committed to clarity of presentation. The app focuses on the calendar and your content, above all else.

To continue reading, click here.

I wonder what the next article will be about?

Dropbox app for iPhone and iPad updated to version 1.5.1

Andrew Edney
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0
Dropbox app for iPhone and iPad updated to version 1.5.1

Dropbox has updated it’s iPhone and iPad app to version 1.5.1.

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Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go.
Read your docs or flip through your albums when you’re out and about. Save photos or videos to your Dropbox and share them with friends in just a couple taps. Even if you accidentally leave your iPhone in a taxi, your stuff is always safe on Dropbox.

Features:

  • Always have your stuff with you, no matter where you are.
  • Add files to “Favorites” for fast, offline viewing.
  • Easily save photos and videos to your Dropbox.
  • Share your photos and docs with family and friends.
  • Save email attachments straight to your Dropbox.

What’s New in Version 1.5.1

  • Bug fixes
Download now from the Apple App Store

Kinectimals game now available for Android

Andrew Edney
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0
Kinectimals game now available for Android

As well as being available on the Xbox 360, iPad and iPhone, Microsoft has now released Kinectimals on Android.

kinectimals android

This irresistible mobile experience gives you the chance to use your phone to visit the island of Lemuria and play with, care for and fall in love with your very own cub. Bring your pet with you wherever you go! If you’ve already experienced Kinectimals on Kinect for Xbox 360, your phone becomes the key to unlocking five new cubs on your console. Stand-alone mobile game features Kinectimals’ signature visual quality, delightful animation and brand new ways to play with your cub!

The cost of Kinectimals on Android is £1.93.

Kinectimals 1 Kinectimals 2

Buy now from Google Play

Microsoft announces the Kaiser Chiefs as Xbox Summer Stadium ambassadors

Andrew Edney
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0
Microsoft announces the Kaiser Chiefs as Xbox Summer Stadium ambassadors

Microsoft announced today that acclaimed British indie rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs, will be ambassadors for the “Xbox Summer Stadium” sports and entertainment campaign from 15 June until 12 August 2012. As part of their role the band have pledged their support to Microsoft’s charity partner, Right To Play, encouraging fans to take part in donating to a great cause.

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The Kaiser Chiefs have joined Right to Play Athlete Ambassadors including UK High Jumper, Martyn Bernard, and Red Bull Cliff Diver, Blake Aldridge, to deliver a special message asking fans to unite in the virtual world and support the charity. On 16 June 2012 at 6 p.m BST, fans across Europe are invited to take part in the 100m dash on Xbox Kinect Sports game and help break a Guinness World Record for the most people in an online race. Participants will not only have the chance to be record breakers, but Microsoft will also donate funds to Right to Play each time a person is taking part.

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Kaiser Chiefs lead singer, Ricky Wilson, commented: “We’re proud to be supporting Right To Play and want to encourage our fans and Xbox communities to raise funds for a brilliant cause. Tomorrow on 16 June, I’ll be joining people across Europe in the charity fun run on Xbox LIVE. It takes just 10 seconds of your time to do something which will actually help children around the world.”

On the weekend of 15-17 June 2012, Xbox is providing free access to its Xbox LIVE Gold subscription service and for every person who takes part in the charity run on 16 June 2012, Microsoft will make a donation to Right to Play. These contributions will enable Right To Play to use the transformative power of play to educate and empower children facing adversity.

Right To Play Athlete Ambassador and UK High Jumper, Martyn Bernard, commented: “Working with the likes of the Kaiser Chiefs and Xbox helps raise much needed awareness of the great things we can do together to improve the lives of children through sport. With their support and fans we hope that more children from around the world will have access to and benefit from Right To Play’s sport and play programming. Here’s to a fantastic summer of fundraising.”

Sport fans will also have the chance to represent their countries in weekly online tournaments, as well as watch the world’s greatest sports events on Xbox LIVE’s entertainment applications. The Xbox Summer Stadium campaign will culminate with an exclusive and intimate gig by the Kaiser Chiefs broadcast on the closing weekend of 10th August 2012. Xbox Gold members can watch it exclusively on Xbox LIVE via the MUZU.TV entertainment app as well as win tickets to attend the gig.

Elena Branet, Entertainment Marketing Lead for Xbox LIVE added: “We’re very excited to have Kaiser Chiefs join our campaign to bring the community together around entertainment and help raise funds for kids sports. It’s going to be a fantastic few weeks for sport and entertainment and we’re extremely proud to be hosting it all on Xbox LIVE in support of Right To Play’s programmes.  We hope our fans will take part in what promises to be a very memorable summer and enjoy the celebration with this iconic band.”

The donation site will go live on 15 June 2012, full details on how to donate and take part in Guinness World Record attempt on 16 June 2012 can be found at http://www.xbox.com/right-to-play.

We will be taking part – how about you?

Skype 4.0 for Linux Released

Andrew Edney
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0
Skype 4.0 for Linux Released

Along with an update to Skype for Mac, there is also an update for Skype for Linux – yes, Linux!

Skype linux

This is what the Skype team posted on their blog:

First off, we’d like to thank our Skype for Linux users for your patience awaiting Skype 4.0 for Linux, codenamed ‘Four Rooms for Improvement,’ which is now available. With this release, we have finally filled the gap with our other desktop clients and we are now making many of the latest Skype features, as well as a lot of UI improvements, available to our penguin lovers.
You will find four major changes in this release:

  1. We have a new Conversations View where users can easily track all of their chats in a unified window. Those users who prefer the old view can disable this in the Chat options;
  2. We have a brand new Call View;
  3. Call quality has never been better thanks to several investments we made in improving audio quality; and
  4. We’ve worked on improving video call quality and have also extended support for more cameras.

Of course, we have loads of other small improvements and fixes. As you can imagine, the list is so long it would take too much time to write it all, but some are worthy of mention:

  • improved chat synchronization
  • new presence and emoticon icons
  • the ability to store and view phone numbers in a Skype contact’s profile
  • much lower chance Skype for Linux will crash or freeze
  • chat history loading is now much faster
  • support for two new languages: Czech (flag:cz) and Norwegian (flag:no)

Note, the very first time you start Skype for Linux 4.0 might take a few minutes (depending on how lengthy your chat history is). Please do not close Skype during this time. Subsequent starts will load much more quickly.

So what are you waiting for? Try the new version of Skype for Linux and let us know what you like and what you don’t like.

Sky News app for Android updated to version 2.0.0

Andrew Edney
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0
Sky News app for Android updated to version 2.0.0

The Sky News app for Android app has been updated to version 2.0.0.

sky news android

Stay informed, and get the breaking news FIRST – free – from Sky News

The Sky News mobile app is now even better, with added depth on the big breaking news stories.

Delve deeper with image galleries, live blogs, graphs and interactive pictures, all optimised for your Android smartphone

You can read all the top stories from the newsroom with sections for UK News, World News, Politics, Business, Entertainment, Strange News, and a new Technology News section.

Key Features:
– Enjoy a whole new level of depth on the main stories of the day
– Headlines, showbiz and weather bulletins
– A new technology news section
– Send your breaking news story directly into the Sky Newsroom via Your Report

What’s in this version:

– SkyNews v2 brings you a whole new level of depth on the main stories of the day
– Image Galleries
– News Timelines
– Interactive Images
– Live Blogs
– Graphs and Charts
– Improved Tablet Support

Download the Sky News app from Google Play

Dropbox app for iPhone and iPad updated to version 1.5

Andrew Edney
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0
Dropbox app for iPhone and iPad updated to version 1.5

Dropbox has updated it’s iPhone and iPad app to version 1.5.

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Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go.
Read your docs or flip through your albums when you’re out and about. Save photos or videos to your Dropbox and share them with friends in just a couple taps. Even if you accidentally leave your iPhone in a taxi, your stuff is always safe on Dropbox.

Features:

  • Always have your stuff with you, no matter where you are.
  • Add files to “Favorites” for fast, offline viewing.
  • Easily save photos and videos to your Dropbox.
  • Share your photos and docs with family and friends.
  • Save email attachments straight to your Dropbox.

What’s New in Version 1.5

• Automatically upload photos and videos using Wi-Fi or cellular data plan
• Earn up to 3 GB of extra free space for uploading photos automatically (in 500 MB increments)
• See all the photos and videos you’ve uploaded to Dropbox in Gallery view
• Move and delete sets of files at once
• Upload files of any size

Download now from the Apple App Store
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