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I was quite impressed with the fact that the Amazon UK version of the Kindle has sold out, though you can still order for the next shipment.
Considering that Apple’s iPad probably is stealing a fair bit of the Kindle market, the fact that the Kindle device has sold out shows that there is still a market for this type of device.
I have managed to borrow a Mac mini, one of the new ones, and I have connected it up to my HD TV using an HDMI cable.
After realising that I needed to change the audio output from the built in speakers to the HDMI output I was very impressed with how well it looked and worked.
I haven’t put any content on the Mac mini so far, just streaming content from my home iMac across our 802.11n wireless network.
The first thing I tried was EyeTV, using EyeTV 3 on both computers I was easily able to stream recordings from the iMac to the Mac mini. I was quite impressed with the picture quality, even though it is SD television. There was no buffering or stuttering which impressed me.
I then tried Front Row and browsed my shared photographs, which looked lovely on the big 40″ HD TV.
I then was able to browse my iMac iTunes Library from the Mac mini and was again impressed, though it made me realise I need to be better at playlists. Then I tried to stream some HD iTunes content from my iMac to the TV and fingers crossed, was it going to work?
Yes, worked really well.
Very impressed.
I may have to get one for myself.
Still thinking if I should get the new Mac mini. Yes it meets my needs for a media centre (well apart from the lack of Blu Ray) however it is not cheap!
My hesitancy is based on how much I think I would use it.
Yes I could use it to play video content, iTunes content, recordings from EyeTV, DVDs.
Yes I could use it to play audio files, music and podcasts.
Yes I could use it to access web content, especially Flash based video web content.
However I currently do most of that via the iMac and the newly acquired iPad.
So would I use it?
Don’t know for sure.
According to various rumours Apple may be releasing a new Apple TV but in a different format compared to the current model. If the rumours are to be believed then the new Apple TV will be a screen-less iPod. It will only have 16GB of on board storage. It will in the main be streaming content from a Mac or the cloud.
I already use my iPhone to do this, however this new Apple TV has the advantage that it will she able to play 1080p HD content.
The price?
$99
Probably will get one.
I hate noisy computers and if Macs were noisy then I probably wouldn’t use them… though I do recall my old PowerMac G5 when the fans took off would not be out of place at an airport!
I do remember in a previous job, a user bought their cheap (PCWord Advent) laptop into the office to have something checked, and when we switched it on, it was so noisy. Drowned out all the other office machines… at that time we had four Sony VAIO desktops, an iMac and a G5 PowerMac in the office. The Sony VAIO desktops were quite quiet.
Another time I was testing a Windows Media Centre from Evesham. This was a computer designed to look like a VCR/DVD player and sit under the TV. I was setting it up at home under the TV when I switched it on and my wife said “there is NO way that is staying in here”. It was one of the noisest computers I had ever heard. Couldn’t believe it as it was designed to be a computer to play back music, tv and video. There was no way you could appreciate any music or soundtrack with the noise of the fans!
Another noisy machine was the xBox 360, it’s a lot noisier than either the Wii or the PS3.
I like my nice quiet iMac.
Though my MacBook Pro does get quite loud if it gets hot!
Now printing documents from Parallels should be a simple affair. The Windows VM should just print and go…
Parallels installs the following printer…
Which then should be delivered to the printer attached to the Mac, which in my case is a Canon MP600r.
The print job does read the Canon print queue… However the Mac decides to HOLD the print job and when you try and RESUME it, I get the following error.
The error says:
pstopdffilter/pstocupsraster failed with err number -31000
Now at this time I have no idea how to resolve this, except to either print direct from the VM to the Canon (as the Canon is wireless and on the network) or to use one of my printer sharing tricks.
Would be nice to know what’s causing the problem though and initial searches through Google don’t seem to resolve it.
Though I do like HD pictures it has taken me some time to go HD.
In the early days there was the “battle” between HD-DVD and Blu Ray and though in the early days it looked like HD-DVD would win, my preference was for Blu Ray, so I decided to wait and as well all know now, Blu Ray won. Though with the availability of HD content via services such as iTunes, maybe physical media won’t be here much longer… well it might be in my house as my broadband connection is not the fastest in the world!
So without any kind of HD player, why should I bother buying an HD TV so I didn’t…
Then along came Sky HD… this meant that I could watch HD TV if I wanted to… however I didn’t fancy paying large amounts of money every month to Sky for the odd HD programme.
Freesat promised HD without the monthly contract, but I would still need a dish on the side of the house and to be honest they are very ugly and I didn’t see much on Freesat that I couldn’t see on Freeview that I would want to watch. Too much work really to go HD via Freesat.
This week sees me getting a Sony Bravia HD 1080p TV.
So why have I gone HD?
Well Freeview HD has been switched on in my area. Yes it is only three HD channels, but they should be picked up by my aerial, so no dish.
Combine that with the Blu Ray player I got for Christmas to replace my aging DVD player, I am almost ready to watch HD.
I will probably (finally) get an Apple TV too, so that I can watch content from my iTunes collection on the new TV.
All I need now is for Elgato to releaves a Freeview HD adapter.
Sorry….
The BBC has a nice introduction to HD TV in the UK.
HD is undoubtedly buzzing this spring – take a look at any advert for anyone who sells TVs and associated boxes, or wander around your local shopping centre or supermarket.
A few years ago HD was specialist television – it is now pretty much everywhere. Around 23 million HD-ready TV sets are estimated to have been sold in the UK, and 70% of the TVs sold in the last three months of 2009 were HD-ready according to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom.
But there are millions of people across the UK who mistakenly believe that once they’ve got their HD-ready TV they are watching HD pictures, regardless of whether they’ve installed an HD set-top box or Blu-ray player as well, according to the British Video Association.
Though I do like HD pictures it has taken me some time to go HD.
Time has a really nice article by Stephen Fry on Steve Jobs.
I have met five British Prime Ministers, two American Presidents, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jackson and the Queen. My hour with Steve Jobs certainly made me more nervous than any of those encounters. I know what you are thinking, but it’s the truth. I do believe Jobs to be a truly great figure, one of the small group of innovators who have changed the world. He exists somewhere between showman, perfectionist overseer, visionary, enthusiast and opportunist, and his insistence upon design, detail, finish, quality, ease of use and reliability are a huge part of Apple’s success.
Read more.