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AppleTV and iPhone - Products That Reach for the Mark, But Still Fall Short
By Michael Casamento

First, let me openly state that I love Apple products. I find they are beautifully designed and constructed, and for the most part function as advertised. I never touched an Apple computer until I purchased a MacBook Pro back in July of 2006. Initially, I was doubtful as to the claims of stability, and ease of use synonymous with Apple's reputation, but it didn't take long for me to recognize and appreciate the advantages gained from a company's tight control over both hardware and software.

I was unaware of it at the time, but Apple products would soon wind up playing a dominant role in fulfilling my technology needs. Shortly after the laptop, my next Apple purchase was an AirPort Extreme Base Station, followed by AppleTV, a Mac Pro, and an iPhone. The other day I actually made the mistake of calculating the total dollars I had spent on Apple stuff, something I still regret doing. Perhaps I should have just taken the money and invested it in Apple's stock. (crap)!

Apple TV...

For the most part I am very pleased with ALL my Apple purchases, however, there are a few things that really irk me. The first that comes to mind is AppleTV. This product's shortcomings have been well documented on the internet, but while I agree with most AppleTV owners, I think we sometimes expect too much of this product. This isn't our fault though, as it was Apple's decision to pack this little box with tons of potential, and then limit its functionality by sealing it up tighter than a drum.

I refuse to believe that the creators of AppleTV did not consider that many early adopters of the device would be buying this thing to serve as the content providing hub of a media-center. It has all the appropriate connections to be coupled to an HDTV and AV Receiver, yet because it lacks the proper codecs, it is not capable of passing multi-channel dolby digital audio to your system. Of course this can be easily remedied if only Apple would allow us to access the operating system via the unit's defunct USB port. Hardware limitations are one thing, but intentionally crippling the device via its software will only serve to inflame and frustrate owners (like me). I know, there are other ways, but I refuse to dismantle and hack into the device only to have all my hard work undone by a future upgrade from Apple.

The other thing that really bugs me, is the way in which movies are cataloged and tagged. This is a really easy one to fix, but Apple has still chosen to do nothing about it. Displaying all of your movies in a lengthy alphabetical list, with no other sorting or grouping options, is simply unacceptable. Metadata for video in iTunes still seems like an afterthought. How difficult would it be for Apple to port the cataloging capabilities found in the iTunes audio section over to video? After all, AppleTV is both an audio and video device, they deserve equal treatment!

That being said, I still love my AppleTV. I am not one of those owners who gripe about not being able to add external storage, or the unit's lack of DVR functionality. I also have no objections to using iTunes as my central media manager. People who feel strongly about these shortcomings are missing the intended purpose of this device, and would be much better served by a Mac Mini. Since AppleTV has only received one update since its introduction, my only question is this... what is Apple waiting for!

On to the iPhone...

I am not a real power cell phone user, so I will only touch on the one major gripe I have with this amazing device, that being iPhone's lack of A2DP stereo Bluetooth support. This is by no means considered a luxury feature, and is commonly found on most brands of multi-media enabled cell phones. Everything I have read states that the iPhone's hardware is fully capable of supporting this highly sought after feature, yet Apple has once again chosen to cripple the device via its software!

Naturally the only logical explanation is that Apple does not manufacture their own stereo Bluetooth headset, and will enable this feature if and when they become available to the public. Ok then, I reiterate... what is Apple waiting for?

Apple's mono Bluetooth headset was available almost immediately after the iPhone launched back in June 2007. Since the iPhone is a very capable iPod, Apple had to anticipate that owners would be very interested in using a stereo Bluetooth headset with the unit. Why did they not develop their own in time for the iPhone launch? If this was not possible, surely they could have managed to release a product in the months that followed; but here we are in January of 2008 and still nothing.

I personally find it appalling that Apple is forcing iPhone owners to go without this feature. The supplied earbuds are sub par, and to invest in a new pair of wired headphones when Apple can enable stereo Bluetooth with the flick of a switch is not prudent. So I, and many others, lie wallowing in uncertainty.

To Apple, silence is golden...

When all is said and done, I guess it's the uncertainty that gets to me most. Apple seems to pride itself on the stealthy way in which it does business. This method apparently works in their favor by causing followers to stir up rumors which heighten demand for upcoming products and upgrades. In some cases though, this technique is just plain unnecessary, and unfair.

Apple should be more forthright with the people who have chosen to buy into their technology. Instead, loyal customers are forced to wait for features that may never materialize. Those who grow impatient might find themselves making purchases they will regret should Apple suddenly fulfill their hopes with a software update.

Which brings me to my final thoughts. For the most part, Apple's products are spectacular, and perform extraordinarily well right out of the gate. My disappointment stems from the fact that once the newness wears off, long-lasting satisfaction often rests in the smaller details; and this is where AppleTV and the iPhone currently fall short. Until Apple adequately responds to its customer's needs, these products will always be a software update away from perfection, but maybe that's just how Apple wants it to be.

Copyright 2008 - Written by: Michael Casamento

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Casamento
http://EzineArticles.com/?AppleTV-and-iPhone---Products-That-Reach-for-the-Mark,-But-Still-Fall-Short&id=907109

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How To Connect Two Computers - Windows Environment
By Raashid Peters

Okay so why write about it? Well because there was once a time that i needed to know how to connect two computers together and I couldn't find any articles to help me and no links on the internet that had it in detail, so this is for the people that might experience the same.

So let's begin!

Firstly you will need to know how exactly your two PC's are going to connect. So here it is. The computers will connect directly to each other therefore no hub will be needed. For those of you that don't know, a hub is just a device that connects computers in a network via UTP STRAIGHT THROUGH cables.

The reason why I wrote straight through in caps is because this is not what you will be using to connect the two computers. Instead you will be using cross over cables. You can get this from a local computer store for relatively cheap. Or if you feel like doing work then make it, its really easy. If you need any help, then a Google search on how to make crossover cables will help alot. The reason why I don't tell you how, because I'm telling you how to connect two computers not create crossovers.

Anyways that's all the requirements you'll need, just a cross over cable. (Please note; if you buying or making a cross over, make sure it's at least cat5e UTP cables.)

Now that we got that out of the way, let's get to work!

Step1

On each computer, right click on "My Computer". Click Properties and then click on the "Computer Name" tab. Where it says "Computer description:" Give each computer a description (It must not be the same). Now click on the "change" so that you can change the name of the computer and create a workgroup. In the name option give it the same name you gave it for its description and in the workgroup section type in "my first network" (REMEMBER: Names of the computers should NOT be the same, BUT Workgroup names should be EXACT the same on both) Now once you change these, you will be asked to restart the computer, so simply click yes or ok, whatever you are prompted with.

Step 2

After the computers are rebooted you will need to setup IP addresses for each computer. This is how:

On your desktop, look for the icon named "My Network Places". Now dpouble click it to open it.

Once open look on the left to see an option "view network connections" and click on it.

Now right click on local area network and click properties.

Where it says "This connection uses the following items:"; scroll down to "Iternet Protocol (TCP/IP)", click on it and click the properties button.

Now click on "Use the following IP address" and at "IP Address" type in an IP address e.g 192.168.0.1.

Although you do the same steps for both computers you must have different IP addresses so you can make the second computers IP address 192.168.0.2

After you set the IP addresses just press the tab button and you should get a number in the subnet mask as 255.255.255.0, then press ok and wait a while and now you almost done!

Step 3

This is the easiest part; just take you cross over cable and connect to each computers network card RJ45 port. That's it you now will be able to see the computers in "My Network Places". You may start sharing files!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Raashid_Peters
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-To-Connect-Two-Computers---Windows-Environment&id=895294

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The Six Popular Video Formats
By William R Jones

AVI Format

The AVI format whose full name is "Audio Video Interleaved" is very familiar to peoples. This format is widely used in daily life, and its video quality is superior, while there are also many defects such as its large size, which takes too much hard-disk to store. In 1992, Microsoft corporation developed the AVI video format, which is known by people with Windows3.1. Namely "Audio Video Interleaved", the AVI file interleaves video and audio data and play them together. One of the advantage of AVI file is it can be used and played in different platforms. In another hand, to achieve the good quality, its file size is too large. Even worse, there are many different compression standards so that some AVI files can not be played if the system does not contain a proper codec. In order to play a AVI, sometimes, you have to download newer codec updates and that is very inconvenient.

MPEG Format

The full name of MPEG is ?Moving Picture Expert Group?, which is an international compression standard designed for moving images. MPEG algorithms compress data to form small bits that can be easily transmitted and then decompressed. Redundancy between subsequent images and previous images is removed while most similar parts are preserved to cut down the file size. Its compression rate can reach 50:1 and it is a video standard of good compatible. Currently, MPEG includes three compression standards: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Additional, MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 are being developed.

MPEG-4 Format

MPEG-4 (MP4) is a moving picture compression standard which is used for Internet, broadcast, and on storage media. Relative to MPEG-2, MPEG-4 provides improved quality at a small size. Not only can it be used in narrow bandwidth but also in wide bandwidth. Currently, the most compression technology of MPEG4 are DivX and XviD. Videos processed by DivX or XviD lose a little quality but the size will be reduced greatly. It provides users a convenient way to store a movie in a common CD-Rom disc, while the quality is better than VCD obviously.

RM Format

RM format developed by RealNetworks Corporation is a video format for stream media. It includes RealAudio, RealVideo and RealFlash. To transmit and play real-time video files in narrow-bandwidth Internet, Real Media adopts distinct compress rate according to the bandwidth. RealVideo is used to transmit video data. Except being played as a normal video file, it also can be used together with RealServer. RealEncoder converts real-time video to RealMedia Format, which is broadcasted by RealServer. You can enjoy the video when you are downloading it. Not like many other video format, it is not necessary for RM format to download the whole video file before it can be played. Currently, many websites provide RealVideo files. You can use RealPlayer or RealOne Player to play videos compressed by RealMedia technology. Another important feature of the format is video files can be played without downloading, if you use RealPlayer or RealOne Player.

RMVB Format

As the heir of RM format, RMVB format is developed based on RM format. The advantage is RMVB format abandons Average Bit Rate and use Variable Bit Rate to compress video data. By Variable Bit Rate technology, quality of video files is greatly improved while file size of them is acceptable.

DivX Technology

DivX developed by DivX, Inc. is a popular new video compression technology, which enables users to create and play high-quality videos in a fast and convenient way. For its outstanding quality, the DivX codec is one of the most popular MPEG-4 based codec. It integrates MPEG-4 and MP3 technology, namely it adopts DivX technology to compress DVD video data, while MP3 or AC3 is used to compress Audio. The quality is so superb that there is only a little disparity between DivX videos and DVDs. Another remarkable advantage is compared to DVDs, DivX videos provide the same image quality at only 1/10 the size. Especially, it is suitable for movie downloads. In a word, this video format is very popular and liked by many movie fans.

Article Source: http://www.avsofts.com/article.php?cat=1&index=12

By William Jones
Audio & Video Converter,editor,splittor,recorder softwares

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_R_Jones
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Six-Popular-Video-Formats&id=887916

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