Mac|Life video RSS Feed

1080p HD Coming to YouTube

Brian Proffit — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:36:40 -0600

YouTube announced that starting next week they will be adding support for full 1080p videos. "As resolution of consumer cameras increases, we want to make sure YouTube is the best home on the web to showcase your content," the announcement said. "For viewers with big monitors and a fast computer, try switching to 1080p to get the most out of the fullscreen experience."

Sounds great, right? But 1080p videos are going to take significantly more bandwidth, and some are already complaining about buffering delays. Another issue is that in an attempt to keep bandwidth down, YouTube appears to be lowering the audio quality noticeably. They also limit the audio sampling to 44Khz @ 16 bit rather than 48Khz.

In our look at their sample video the quality was beautiful but it was jerky with frequent pauses. To be fair, though, there were probably lots of others like us trying to watch the only 1080p sample available right now. Our numbers seemed to indicate around 3.6mbps and 128kbps audio. There may be some pressure to improve quality from their new partners at CBS, MGM, Sony, Lions Gate Entertainment, and the BBC.

This is a perfect opportunity to find out if your broadband provider is really giving the advertised throughput. No word from YouTube on whether they expect users to restrict 1080p to uploads of things we actually want to see clearly.

Boxee To Have Its Own Box

Brian Proffit — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:22:27 -0600

Boxee's Avner Ronen announced today that they have signed a partnership with an unnamed consumer electronics company to manufacture a dedicated Boxee set-top box. Boxee will be showing a prototype and giving more details at a special unveiling event in Brooklyn, NY on December 7th. Those interested in attending can RSVP at http://boxeebeta.eventbrite.com/.

Ronen said this was just one more step in their plan "to provide consumers with a way to get Boxee in their living rooms, no matter whether it's on a Connected TV, game console, set-top box, BluRay player, computer, etc. Our goal is to be on every Connected device in the living room."

Judging by blog comments, Boxee fans are tentatively excited. Some have hacked their Apple TV to enable it to run Boxee, but they run into the same update override problems as those trying to sync their Palm Pre with iTunes. The questions they're looking for answers on at the unveiling are whether will it have DVR ability and if it will support other online content providers such as Hulu and Netflix.

The device will compete with others such as the new Myka ION announced just last week, which includes Boxee and Hulu support. The ION is expected to begin shipping by mid-December.

Kodak Zi8

Susie Ochs — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:12:17 -0600

If you flipped over the Flip pocket-size video cameras, there’s a new contender worth your attention. Kodak’s Zi8 replaces the Zi6, bringing full HD 1080p capabilities to a small, well-designed package that fits in your pocket but does more than its competition.

Measuring 2.4 by 4.5 by 0.9 inches and weighing 4.8 ounces, the Zi8 features a great-looking 2.5-inch LCD with three brightness settings--we had no problems viewing it in bright sunlight. We put a few nasty scratches in the plastic body during testing, but the screen survived unscathed. The four buttons and four-way rocker switch make navigating the menus easy with just your thumb.

The Lithium-Ion battery is removable, so you can pack extra batteries ($29.95 each) and keep shooting. A battery charger is included (or you can charge by USB), along with HDMI and composite cables for hooking the camera to your TV. The USB plug for connecting it to your Mac is built right in.

The Zi8 comes in basic black, aqua, or raspberry.

You do have to buy an SDHC card--the camera accepts cards up to 32GB, and we picked up an 8GB card at Best Buy for under $25. This is a great feature compared to the fixed-memory Flip. Fill up one card, swap it out for another, and you can film all day long.

The Zi8 shoots video in 1080p, 720p, or widescreen VGA, all at 30 frames per second, and you can also shoot 60 frames per second at 720p, good for catching fast-moving action, or if you plan to slow the video down later.

Video quality is impressive for a pocket-size camera, with accurate colors and skin tones. The face-detection feature adjusts exposure if you’re shooting someone in shadow, and low-light performance is comparable to the Flip’s. The Zi8 features image stabilization, but we still got the best results using a tripod. The built-in mono mic worked OK even outdoors, and there’s a jack for plugging in your own stereo microphone.

The 5-megapixel still photos didn’t stun us, and it’s hard to keep the camera still while pressing the shutter button. But the macro switch (for photos and videos shot close-up) is a nice touch. The 4x zoom is digital, photo-speak for “unusable.”

Your videos are encoded as H.264 MPEG-4 MOV files, but the included software isn’t Mac compatible. The Zi8 appears on your Desktop like a removable drive, and you have to drag the movies to your hard drive manually, but they open in QuickTime and can be imported into iMovie for editing.

Users Experiencing 27-inch iMac Problems

Cory Bohon — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:59:57 -0500

The 27-inch iMac hasn't been out long, and users are already reporting performance problems with the new model.

There are two Apple Discussion Board threads [one, two] of users reporting problems with laggy Flash-video playback, a bug that causes the hard drive to spin down, corrupted build of Snow Leopard, and possible bad permissions problems.

Apple has yet to validate any of these claims, but if you own a 27-inch iMac and are you're experiencing with any of these issues, it might be worth a call to AppleCare.

Via Engadget

Netflix: iPhone Streaming Coming... In The Future

Cory Bohon — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:41:26 -0500

In a recent interview with Reuters, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that iPhone streaming could be coming eventually.

Netflix is a great resource for watching completely legal movies online streaming to your Mac, Xbox, and some Blu-ray players, but the mobile audiences have mainly been left out of the streamy-goodness.

When asked if Netflix is currently working to bring their movie streaming service to iPhone, Hastings replied, "It’s something that’s likely to come over time. But nothing in the short term. (With) movie watching, we are not focused on mobile yet, but (instead) on the TV, on Blu-ray and on the video game consoles. We will get to mobile eventually, including the iPhone."

Of course AT&T's video streaming terms on the cell network could stop this idea cold just like it did with Slingbox. So, if we even got this application, you'd probably have to connect to a Wi-Fi network. That is, unless the FCC has its way.

via Ars Technica

Using ffmpegX to create Flash Video Files and More

Michael DeLano — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:04:42 -0500

If you have to make a Flash video, but you don't have the cash for Adobe Flash, check out ffmpegX and the video below.

The video player requires Flash 8 Player or later. Please download the latest Flash Player.

Robbers Set World Record for Cleaning Out Apple Store

Arvind Srinivasan — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:34:48 -0500

Kids, you should never do anything like this in your life. Ever. And crime doesn’t pay, even if this video seems to indicate otherwise.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, we can’t help but be impressed by these particular thieves. Not only do they clean out an entire New Jersey Apple Store (Sagemore, in Marlton, NJ), they do it in...wait for it...31 seconds. The ABC reporter is kind of hilarious too -- he has this odd ESPN announcer vibe, complete with replays.

Clearly, Apple needs to beef up security, at least in this particular store.

(via TUAW)

We Are A Bunch of Nerds Winning Videos

Mac|Life Staff — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:46:29 -0500

The degree of geekdom here at Mac|Life is pretty high--and we’re proud of it. But Dave Cantu’s video of him airbrushing Steve Jobs as the Terminator onto a black T-shirt swept the vote among the staff, and we knew then that we had officially leveled-up. Steve Jobs + Terminator=100 percent rad!

Meanwhile, when Derrick Rohl’s oil-drum crushing science experiment came in a close second place, there could no longer be any doubt.

Barrel Crush from Derrick Rohl on Vimeo.

And our third-place finisher Cole Doyle’s oddly captivating demonstration of finger and toe cracking left us shaking our heads--and laughing at the weirdness of it all.

So congrats to those guys. And thanks for reinforcing our geekdom. For their efforts, Dave, Derrick and Cole will each receive Xtand iPod touch stands, as well as boxes full of goodies hand-picked by the Mac|Life staff.

Thanks also go out to the rest of our extremely entertaining readers who shared their talents with us. We saw trombonists, DJs and a few singer-songwriters in the mix, as well as some aspiring Broadway stars, along with a few that we’re still a bit confused about. You can check out clips from some of the other entrants below: