My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 Version 2.11 PR1 Released

Brian has also released version 2.11 PR1 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:

Added: Converter now supports ISO files that are coupled to a title as ‘Online File’.
Added: better handling of situations where converter hasn’t converted the title on a disc.
Added: Popcorn Hour NMJ storage.
Added: Path for converted discs is now stored.
Added: Third and Fourth priority in searches.
Added: Data service API function to retrieve data in external applications.
Added: Back-end support for downloading of converted movies from WHS to mobile devices.

Fix: Minor error with empty image list on Collection List.
Fix: Services autostart did not respect users choice when setting it, but instead set it if they were started previously.
Fix: Missing message about required points for video converter.
Fix: Audio lookup on mounted Blu-ray wasn’t done on the mounted drive.
Fix: Audiotracks for blu-rays were not in the same order as handbrake uses.

MM 4.03 PR1 whs 2011

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 2.10 Pre Release 9 can be used as server for My Movies 4.02 Pre Release 9 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

XBMC 11.0 Eden Release Candidate 2 Available Now

The guys over at XBMC.org have just released the XBMC 11 Eden Release Candidate 2 build, only a few days after RC1.

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Here is what they posted:

We are pleased to announce that the video sync bug introduced has been resolved and Release Candidate 2 released in record time.

For those of you who skipped RC1, a review of major changes since Beta 3 may be found in this post. Additionally, you are welcome, as always, to review our coding changes on Github.

Meanwhile, those of you excited to get to downloading, as always, visit our Download page at any time.

Lastly, we’re still a few days away from being ready for the next round of XBMCbuntu, but, as always, we’ll update you as soon as possible. Thanks for bearing with us! With your reports, we’re getting closer every day!

Let us know what you think of it!

OnLive Desktop Now Brings Windows Apps to Android Tablets

Back in January we told you all about OnLine Desktop which enabled iPad users to gain access to Windows apps. Well now Android tablet owners can feel the love too!

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The key things to note is that there are various flavours of the OnLive service, including a free version, a Desktop Plus version and a Desktop Pro version, amongst others.

The OnLive Desktop app requires at least Android 2.3 and has been tested on the Acer Iconia Tab A500, ASUS Eee TF101, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 and HTC Jetstream.

Learn more about OnLive Desktop from here

This is the press release:

OnLive, Inc., the pioneer of instant-action cloud computing, is pleased to announce that its revolutionary OnLive™ Desktop App is now available for Android® tablets, bringing full Microsoft® Office apps, Adobe® Reader® and, with the OnLive Desktop Plus service, gigabit-speed1 accelerated browsing regardless of the tablet’s local Internet speed and local computing capability. The free OnLive Desktop App, released in the Android Market to select Android tablets2, delivers no-compromise, media-rich, instant-response Windows® applications including Microsoft® Word, Excel® and PowerPoint® software and Adobe Reader for PDFs, along with 2GB of cloud storage. OnLive Desktop Plus, available for $4.99/month at http://www.desktop.onlive.com, provides all OnLive Desktop Standard features plus OnLive’s gigabit-speed accelerated browsing experience. Already available on iPad® and coming soon to smartphones, PC, Mac®, TVs and monitors, OnLive Desktop delivers instant access to your personal desktop on all devices, so that if you use OnLive Desktop on Android, and then later use it on iPad, you will have the same files and browser Favorites (with OnLive Desktop Plus) on both tablets, with automatically-adjusted screen resolution.

Running remotely on powerful PCs in the cloud that are connected by Gigabit Ethernet to the Internet, OnLive Desktop utilizes OnLive’s patented instant-action cloud gaming technology to deliver a seamless PC application and Web experience, instantly responsive to multi-touch gestures, as well as a full PC on-screen keyboard, handwriting recognition and optional Bluetooth® PC-compatible keyboard or mouse.

“Android tablets are a great platform for OnLive Desktop,” said Steve Perlman, OnLive Founder and CEO. “With full HD resolution, PC keyboard/mouse support and available 4G LTE, Android tablets deliver an excellent experience with full Microsoft Office and Adobe Reader PC applications, not to mention gigabit-accelerated browsing through OnLive Desktop Plus-even over 4G LTE.”

OnLive Desktop Plus brings the world’s fastest browsing experience, whether over Wi-Fi- or 4G LTE-connected Android tablets. Regardless of your local connection speed, even the most complex websites-including ones that would take minutes to load over your local connection-load in seconds, instantly delivering fully interactive animation, video and sound. A 50 megabyte file from cloud storage (e.g., Dropbox) or a 15 megabyte attachment from Web email (e.g., Gmail™, Yahoo!® Mail, etc.) can literally download or upload in less than a second, resulting in an utterly transformative Web experience. And, despite the astounding speed improvement, OnLive Desktop Plus can dramatically reduce Web browsing data usage, since only the top layer of the currently visible part of a website is ever sent over the local connection. Essentially, OnLive Desktop delivers only what you can see or hear at a given moment, potentially reducing data usage by a factor of 10 or more.

The free OnLive Desktop app is available for select Android tablets and iPad now in the United States. Smartphones, PC, Mac and monitor/TV support (via the OnLive MicroConsole™ thin client with Bluetooth keyboard/mouse) are coming soon-with your same OnLive Desktop available by login from any device. Support for the United Kingdom and other countries is coming soon. OnLive Desktop can be accessed anywhere, on any device, at any screen resolution, preserving application and browser files between devices.

Set up your free OnLive Desktop account at http://www.desktop.onlive.com. OnLive Desktop services include:
· OnLive Desktop Standard, FREE!-Available Now!
– As-available3 access to OnLive Desktop, with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe Reader
– 2 GB of secure cloud storage, appearing as your Documents folder on OnLive Desktop
· OnLive Desktop Plus, $4.99/month-Available Now!
– All features of OnLive Desktop Standard and…
– Priority access to OnLive Desktop
– Cloud-accelerated Web browser1, with:
§ Lightning-fast transfer of Web mail attachments (e.g., from Gmail, Yahoo! Mail) and cloud storage files (e.g., from Dropbox)
§ Full Adobe Flash and Acrobat® PDF plug-ins
· OnLive Desktop Pro, starting at $9.99/month-Coming Soon!

– All features of OnLive Desktop Plus and…
– 50 GB of secure cloud storage, appearing as your Documents folder on OnLive Desktop
– Ability to customize OnLive Desktop with additional PC applications

Introducing the ARCHOS 7″ Child Pad with Ice Cream Sandwich

ARCHOS announced today a themed 7” Android tablet for children, called the Child Pad. The 7’’ Child Pad features a compact light weight design, the latest Android version, 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich”, a 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.

Archos Child Pad

Kid friendly features of the Child Pad include access to the Kids App Store powered by AppsLib which is filtered down to 14-friendly categories and 10,000 apps including games, entertainment, communication, multimedia, books, comics, sports and more.
In addition, ARCHOS has created a kid-friendly user interface with colored icons, home screen folders with direct access to games, entertainment, learning and puzzles and the top 28 kids’ apps pre-loaded including Angry Birds, Pig Rush and Flight Frenzy.
ARCHOS has also designed the Child Pad to comply with both CIPA and COPPA regulations, ensuring a safe tablet environment for kids and peace of mind for parents. The parental controls and safe web browsing is powered by Editions Profil, whose “Mobile Parental Filter” is ranked as the most efficient parental control software in worldwide benchmarks.

The Child Pad will be available in stores starting the end of March with the recommended retail price of $129.

Nokia Lumia 900 available to pre-order unlocked in UK

We told you about the new Nokia Lumia 900 again yesterday, and now if you are in the UK you can pre-order an unlocked one!

At the high end of the range comes the Nokia Lumia 900 in white, cyan and black, designed for the rest of the world, outside the United States. Designed for entertainment, with a stunning combination of big screen and processing power, people all over the world can’t wait to get their hands on this latest flagship Nokia phone. It offers the best quality video and entertainment performance in the Lumia family on the 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display, housed in the unique polycarbonate unibody.

A number of sites in the UK, including Unlocked Mobiles are showing the Lumia 900 for pre-order. The best price we have found is from Unlocked Mobiles for £445.98 (including VAT).

They are showing it as Expected on 21/05/2012.

Are you interested in buying one?

Knowhow Movies streaming service from Currys and PC World launches

A few days ago we told you about yet another streaming service hitting the UK, this time in the guise of Knowhow Movies from Currys and PC World. Well today it launched and there isn’t that much to see yet!

KnowHow

Teaming up with major film studios including Disney, Warner Bros, and Momentum Pictures means customers can rent or buy fantastic films and TV episodes from launch, with new studios being added imminently. With KNOWHOW Movies, new releases will be added to the library on the day of release, meaning customers will have access to them as soon as they become available. New releases are priced at £3.99 to rent and £12.99 to buy and catalogue titles are priced from £2.99 to rent and from £5.99 to buy. TV shows start at £1.99.

Having a look around the site doesn’t show that much new content. For example, under New Releases are films like Tron Legacy which has been out a while.

New Releases

I suppose we have to give it time, but I am not yet convinced that we need another streaming service.

I will give it a try though and report back!

Will you give it a try?

Fixed AMD Catalyst drivers for Windows 8 Consumer Preview

AMD have released fixed Catalyst drivers for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview – so go grab them now!

windows-8-start-home-screen_r2_c21

Full WDDM 1.2

    • Highlights include:
      • Native Stereo 3D support: Windows 8 will natively support Stereo 3D for full-screen and windowed gaming, and video applications
      • Unified Video API – Video playback is now integrated within the DirectX® 11 API; enabling simultaneous high quality Video and 3D content, and the potential for enhanced video transcoding performance
      • Optimized screen rotation
      • improved sleep / resume performance
      • Optimized Power Consumption
  • AMD Eyefinity
  • OpenC
  • OpenGL®
  • UVD
  • AMD Dual Graphics / AMD CrossFire™ Technology
  • AMD Overdrive™
  • AMD Catalyst Control Center / Vision Engine Control Center

Please note: A future AMD Catalyst Windows 8 driver release will add support for the AMD Radeon™ HD 7900 Series, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series in the coming weeks.

Instructions:

Download and install the Driver from the following location:

Applicable Products for Driver Version 8.93.7 RC10:
This article applies to the following configuration(s):

Hardware

  • AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series
  • AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series
  • AMD Radeon HD 7000M Series
  • AMD Radeon HD 6000M Series
  • AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series
  • AMD A-Series APU
  • AMD C-Series APU
  • AMD E-Series APU
  • AMD FirePro Series
  • AMD FIrePro 3D Series

Operating Systems

  • Windows 8 32-bit Edition
  • Windows 8 64-bit Edition

 

WD Adds KeepVault Offsite Data Storage to New WD Sentinel DX4000 Servers

We reviewed the WD Sentinel DX4000 server last year, and today WD announced that KeepVault has been added to provide offsite data storage.

wdfWDSentinel_thumb

This is what was said today:

AuthenTec (NASDAQ: AUTH), a leading provider of mobile and network security, announced that Western Digital® (WD®) has selected its KeepVault backup service to provide optional offsite data protection for the new WD Sentinel™ DX4000 series of small office storage servers. KeepVault™, which was recently added to the AuthenTec portfolio via the Company’s acquisition of Proxure, is the only offsite/online backup provider to be integrated with the WD Sentinel DX4000 storage servers. The addition of KeepVault helps to ensure that data stored in the WD Sentinel DX4000 storage servers is protected even in the event of a natural or manmade disaster.

The WD Sentinel DX4000 small office storage server acts as the “on premise cloud storage” for today’s small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) and by adding the KeepVault “off-site cloud storage” the SMB’s have a cost effective disaster recovery solution all from a single solution from WD. KeepVault features real-time backup, encryption and data compression for the WD Sentinel DX4000 and offers SMB’s the speed and convenience of local protection and the peace of mind that they are also protected in the event of a disaster via the KeepVault solution.

”AuthenTec’s KeepVault adds important capabilities to the WD Sentinel small office storage server by providing offsite data storage for fast yet economical disaster recovery,” said Thomas Gallivan, vice president of marketing for WD’s SMB Solutions Group. ”The combination of WD Sentinel and AuthenTec’s KeepVault not only ensures automatic backup of PCs, laptops and Macs within the office network but additional peace of mind by providing businesses economical offsite backup as an insurance for their valuable data.”

“We are pleased to team with storage industry leader Western Digital to offer our KeepVault cloud storage service for the WD Sentinel DX4000, which can help save a small business hundreds of dollars per year compared to competing services,” said Tom Aebli, AuthenTec Vice President of Software and eCommerce. “KeepVault has been uniquely designed to work with the new Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials, operating system powering WD Sentinel, protecting the Microsoft backups to secure offsite storage and enabling quick data recovery and system restoration. This will further expand the growing number of SMBs who depend on KeepVault for cost-effective and reliable data and system backup.”

The WD Sentinel server hardware and software, and AuthenTec’s KeepVault service are designed for always-on and hands-free operation. Once setup, protection of business systems and data is automatic. KeepVault software is now shipped preinstalled with the WD Sentinel DX4000 server, and Western Digital customers receive a special offer pricing via their custom signup link: http://wdc.keepvault.com

It’s good to see KeepVault being implemented in more products, its a great product.

The Home Server Show Episode 173 Out Now

Dave at the guys at the Home Server Show have released episode 173.

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Here’s what Dave has to say about this weeks show:

What do we have here? Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Windows 8 Server Beta. That’s what we have! These two products were released for download a few hours before the recording of this show and we have both loaded up to go over as well as some news on Windows Home Server, Add-In’s, and a little Synology.

As usual you can listen to the show from here.

Problems connecting the Windows 8 Consumer Preview to WHS 2011

If you have downloaded the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and you have tried to connect it to your Windows Home Server 2011 box then you will have problems. Fortunately Microsoft has already posted a workaround.

windows-8-start-home-screen_r2_c21
The following are known issues you might encounter during beta testing windows 8 client, with Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials and Windows Home Server 2011.

Note this is preview version of Windows 8 client, some known issues are still under investigation, further resolution will be published with final Windows 8 client version.

Issue 1
You need to Enable .net 3.5 in windows 8 in order to join WHS 2011
Symptom:
When you tried to join a windows 8 client machine to WHS 2011, you will see an error.
Workaround:
You need to enable .Net Framework 3.5.
To enable .Net Framework 3.5 in Windows 8 32bit OS
1. Log on to the Widows 8 client machine.
2. Click Start, Type Control Panel, and then press Enter to open Control Panel.
3. Click Uninstall a program.
4. Click Turn Windows features on or off.
5. Check all .Net Framework 3.5 Items in pop-up Windows Features dialog.
6. Click OK to Search and download required files, and then complete .Net Framework 3.5 Components installation.

Note this issue only applies to WHS 2011.

Issue 2
Power setting of Client backup doesn’t work.
Symptom:
When configuration client backup for windows 8 client, if user chooses to allow auto wake up for client backup, the setting will not take effective.

Issue 3
The thumbnail of picture folder is not displayed properly in Remote Web Access page.
Symptom
From the windows 8 client, open Remote web access site, navigate to picture page.
The thumbnail inside the the folder that should display the pictures can not be displayed.

Issue 4

When user tried to access the share folders from client computers that had joined home group, user still get prompts for credential.
Symptom
Join the window 8 client machine to home group,
Log on to the client, try to access the shared folder of the server, it still prompt user for credentials.
Note this only applied to WHS 2011 and Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials.

The Digital Lifestyle Show #343 – A touch of the George Michaels

This weeks Digital Lifestyle Show has just been released – and it’s show 343.

DLS Show

Here’s what Ian says about this week show:

Welcome to this weeks show, Garry and Andrew join me to talk over the weeks news including Windows 8 Consumer Preview launch, Raspberry Pi going on sale, iPad 3 press event, news from Mobile World Congress , PC World launching a movie streaming service, Skype for Windows Phone and Nokia Windows Phones and lots of other topics.

You can listen to or download the show from here.

UWHS Giveaway: Win tickets to see John Carter in 3D at the BFI IMAX in London

It’s time for another of our giveaways, and this time we have three sets of family tickets for a screening of the new film John Carter in 3D at the BFI IMAX in London.

imax

What is John Carter?

A war-weary former military captain, John Carter, is inexplicably transported to Barsoom (Mars) where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions. In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realises that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.

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Oscar-winning director Andrew Stanton (Wall-E, Finding Nemo) has created a sweeping action adventure, re-mastered into stunning IMAX 3D.

More on the BFI IMAX

The BFI IMAX is a luxury 500-seat (including wheelchair spaces), state-of-the-art, large-format cinema on the South Bank.

  • The screen is more than 20 metres high (nearly the height of five double-decker buses) and 26 metres wide.
  • A 11,600-watt digital surround-sound system
  • An IMAX projection system (the most sophisticated motion-picture projection system in the world).

Working together, these elements immerse viewers in larger-than-life images and ultra-realistic digital sound, making them feel as if they are literally “in the picture”.

The IMAX building
It was opened in 1999 and was made possible thanks to £15 million from the Arts Council of England’s Lottery Fund.

It was designed by award-winning architect Bryan Avery of Avery Associates Architects

The multi-storey, glass-enclosed cylinder, illuminated by coloured lighting effects at night, serves as a beacon to the revitalised South Bank.

So what is the prize?

We have three sets of Family tickets for John Carter in 3D at the BFI IMAX in London at a screening of your choice from the 17th March onwards for as long as the film is running.

A set of Family tickets consists of 2 adults and up to 4 children.

You are responsible for your own transport costs, and popcorn though – sorry!

What do you have to do to win?

To be in with a chance of winning a set of Family tickets (and we are giving away 3 sets), all you have to do is follow us on Twitter and tweet the following

I want to win some tickets to see John Carter with @aedney, UWHS and the BFI. Visit http://bit.ly/Ct7vB and RT for your chance to win.

Or just click the Tweet button below to do it automatically.

[twitter style=”horizontal” text=”I want to win some tickets to see John Carter with @aedney, UWHS and the BFI. Visit http://bit.ly/Ct7vB and RT for your chance to win.” float=”left” use_post_url=”true”]

If you don’t have Twitter, just click on contact button at the top of the page and send us an email and we will enter you that way.

The giveaway runs until the 9th March, so good luck!

And thank you to BFI for the tickets.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection #1 Hits Xbox LIVE on March 20

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Activision revealed today that the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection #1 will release on Xbox LIVE on March 20, the first of four Content Collections available for purchase to all Call of Duty: MW3 gamers.

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MW3 Collection #1 includes an unprecedented breadth and variety of content for Call of Duty downloadable release – four brand new multiplayer maps Liberation, Piazza, Overwatch and Black Box along with new Special Ops Missions Black Ice and Negotiator, marking the first time Special Ops has been made downloadable online in franchise history.

In “Black Box,” players will battle beside a downed Air Force One amidst multi-level homes overlooking the luxurious Southern California neighbourhood. Infiltrating a diamond mine aboard a snowmobile in the Special Ops mission “Black Ice,” your primary objective is to plant high-grade explosives in order to shut the mine down forever. In “Negotiator,” you head to India for high-stakes hostage extraction in which you’ll breach-and-clear rooms and navigate surface streets to ensure the safety of your VIPs.

Additionally for Call of Duty Elite Premium Members on Xbox LIVE, Call of Duty Elite Content Drops 4-6, featuring Black Box, Negotiator and Black Ice, will be available for download on March 13. Elite Content Drops 4-6 and MW3 Collection #1 will be made available on other platforms at a later date.

3377Black Box - Wing Defense3378Black Box Environment3379Black Ice - Snowmobile Infiltration3380Negotiator gco Hostage Crisis

Check out our review of Call of Duty: MW3

Have you tried any of the packs yet?