Panasonic has announced they have developed the world’s first single-chip processor that can handle all of Blu-ray’s latest Profile 2.0 standards.
By using this latest chip, dubbed the UniPhier3, Panasonic promises smaller sizes, lower power consumption, and cheaper prices for BD players using the chip.
According to the press release, the chip has full “support for the latest BD standards, and functions including dual-screen simultaneous video playback, high-quality audio playback, and network compatibility achieved on a single chip.”
It will also allows for “50% reduction in mounting surface area and 25% reduction in power consumption, compared to current Panasonic products.” That is a huge plus in my opinion as most current BD players are large and obtrusive, compared to many slimline DVD players.
The chip also supports “video playback for BD, DVD, and CD media, and standards including MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and VC-1; high-quality audio playback compatible with lossless coding”.
Samples of the chip are set to be released to manufacturers beginning next month. Maybe one day, using this chip, there will be a player with a better value than the PlayStation 3.
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In what should be welcomed warmly by owners of jailbroken iPhones or iPod Touches, members of ZodTTD have announced they have successfully ported the extremely powerful media player VLC (Video Lan Client) to the media devices.
Dubbed vlc4iphone, the port has its own frontend and will make your iPhone or iPod Touch capable of drag-and-drop playback of MP3, XviD, FLAC, MPEG2, MPEG4, h264, and OGG formats.
According to the official post on the site the project is still in beta, but it is expected to be released to the public in the near future.
The list of new additions, according to the post, are:
* Compiled in FFmpeg!
* MANY more decoders supported, including support for XviD, h264, MPEG4, FLAC, 3GP, MP3, MPEG2, AVI, and more!
* Added volume control.
* Fixed a warning when no media is found.
* Increased the size of vlc4iphone’s binary from 5MB to 24MB! Lots of media goodness packed inside!
Unfortunately, for right now the beta is only available to ZodTTD Beta Testers. You can however, become a tester by donating to the site, if you cannot wait for the public release.
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This morning, the popular software maker Nero AG announced the launch of three new exciting products, Nero TiVo PC, Move it and an updated media suite, now known as Nero 9
If you are interested in purchasing Nero, please visit their site while supporting AfterDawn by using this link: Download Nero 9
If you have any questions about Nero or need help, please visit our unofficial forums here: Nero discussion forums
Nero TiVo PC
TiVo PC brings users the capabilities of TiVo without the need for a set-top box and comes in two varieties. For $199 USD you can purchase the software along with a TiVo PC remote and a TV tuner card. A $99 USD software download is available from their site as well if you already have a TV tuner card. Both versions come with 12 months free of TiVo service, which is a considerable savings considering the plan normally costs $129 USD annually.
The software has all the standard DVR features like pausing of live TV, recording shows right to your HDD and the ability to skip commercials. Other notable features include “Season Pass” recordings which allows users to type in the name of a certain show and have it recorded every week for the entire season, and TiVo Suggestions. Even more importantly, the software allows for HD viewing as well as recording and allows you to transfer the recordings to portable devices, namely iPods, iPhones and Sony PSPs. You also have the option to convert the recordings to MPEG-2 and burn them to DVD-Rs.
Order the program here: Nero.com
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