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Posted by Sean Penn on October 5, 2006 5:31 PM
Google allows you to embed customized gadgets into your personalized Google home page or your company web site. Might be a good Labs project to test something like a MediaTicker gadget.
Below should be a gadget for displaying the latest hi-def movie releases.
Posted by Sean Penn on October 16, 2006 8:17 PM
Grab this code to get the Feedburner-hosted Roxio Labs animated headlines in your web page:
Posted by Sean Penn on October 16, 2006 9:16 PM
Not only is this a cool idea, it's a cool interface for navigating photos.
Posted by James Manning on October 18, 2006 11:25 AM
Today, I received an interesting email from one Milton Black regarding Roxio's "choice" of supporting the Blu-ray format over HD DVD. Since some contentious points were raised, I wanted to take the opportunity to address them and set the record straight.
To kick off, here's the email we received:
Comments: Why did you go Blu-ray software? With it not being a stable format yet, Sony is still having problems with its 50gb double sided disks. HD DVD is more similar record format to DVD and is and will be alot cheaper format in the future than Blu-ray. Microsoft should set some bells off to companies, if Microsoft has found it to be more compatible system with their computers that other companies would follow suit. Sorry to hear you may have fallen in to a death spin with using Sony's version of Blu-Ray. All the best!
Sorry you may have lost another customer, Regards Milton Black
(ps: bigger is not always better!)
So, let's break this down point by point:
Q: Why did you go Blu-ray software?
A: Actually Sonic didn't "go" Blu-ray. We "went" new formats (note the plural). Sonic is equally committed to both Blu-ray and HD DVD, just as we were (and still are) committed to DVD+R and DVD-R. It's not our place to pick winners or losers in a format war - it's simply our job to support all new emerging standards (that have merit of course) as best we can. That provides consumers with choice and ultimately they will decide what wins and what doesn't. The implication in Milton's question is that we somehow "chose" to support Blu-ray over HD DVD. In reality (and like all companies) we have to balance our resources and the fact that the Blu-ray format was finalized way ahead of the HD DVD format (with BDAV, which was launched in Japan a couple of years ago), and the fact that all major PC manufactures are behind the BD format (with the notable exception of NEC and Toshiba) made BD development a pretty good starting point. To cut to the chase, Sonic's professional products group has a suite of software authoring tools for creating HD DVD titles and BD titles and HD DVD support is obviously in our future for consumer products as well. Of course, there are really no HD DVD recorder peripherals for PCs out there yet, so we'll have to wait and see what happens with that.
OK, moving on...
Q: With it not being a stable format yet, Sony is still having problems with its 50gb double sided disks.
A: A company is having problems with a new format? Stop the press!! Joking aside, I remember when DVD first came out- it was painful. Every new technology has kinks (and that includes HD DVD too...
"When PC Magazine tested the HD-A1, we found it to be very much a first-generation product, with a few bugs to be worked out."
- http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1982533,00.asp),
and with Sonic and Roxio's unique expertise in optical media (we were the first company to write an audio CD, BTW) the industry heavies are looking to us to help them make better and more reliable products. We'd be doing our innovation-loving customers an injustice if we just waited until it all settled down before creating products.
Q: HD DVD is more similar record format to DVD and is and will be alot cheaper format in the future than Blu-ray.
A: True, there are many more similarities between HD DVD and DVD than there are between BD and DVD. The early myths that it will be cheaper to manufacter HD DVD discs because of the technical similarities to DVD have been discredited months ago. While the first generation set-top players have large price differences ($500 HD DVD vs. $1000 BD), this will even out quickly as the market progresses.
Q: Microsoft should set some bells off to companies, if Microsoft has found it to be more compatible system with their computers that other companies would follow suit.
A: But Microsoft doesn't make computers. Dell, HP, Sony, Samsung and others make computers and they are all firmly behind the Blu-ray format at this time. Although some companies are changing their stance and saying that they will support both formats, the fact is that PC manufacturers want to include recordable drives in their machines today and Blu-ray is the format that currently has the technology. HD DVD-R drives will catch up soon, no doubt, but at this time BD-R is out and about.
Q: Sorry to hear you may have fallen in to a death spin with using Sony's version of Blu-Ray.
A: Thanks for your concern! To correct you though, there is no "Sony version" of Blu-ray. Blu-ray is Blu-ray - although of course Sony had a hand in it's creation. Also, as per my diatribe above, Sonic and Roxio are not backing any one format. We are equal supporters of HD DVD and Blu-ray and you'll see that reflected in our software products as soon as the hardware is ready.
That's it, comments welcome!
James Manning, Director Roxio Labs
Posted by Sean Penn on October 18, 2006 11:54 AM
Welcome to the Roxio Labs blog (blog number 15,473,539 overall). Ah, for digital media though, the number of relevant blogs is much smaller. Here on the "blabs" as we like to call it (thanks Tom) we'll be sharing the latest news on digital media, gadget and software commentary, Roxio & Sonic news, some inside perspective on hi-tech, product updates, and the occasional random musings about the future.
If you would like to see a topic covered on the blog send us feedback here.
Enjoy!
Posted by James Manning on October 18, 2006 12:00 PM
Some great news for all those who know how hard we work at Sonic...
Sonic Recognized for Technical Innovation and Financial Success
Sonic Software Inducted into TECnology Hall of Fame; Company Named One of Fortune Magazine's 100 Fastest Growing Companies
NOVATO, California (October 16, 2006) - Sonic Solutions® (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media software, today announced two honors that emphasize the company's long-standing commitment to technical innovation and financial success. NoNoise®, an application developed during the early days of Sonic for removing background noise from audio recordings, was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame in recognition of its significant contribution to the advancement of audio technology. In addition, Sonic's financial achievements were noted by highly regarded business journal Fortune Magazine, which ranked the company on its 2006 list of America's Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies.
Read the full story here.
Posted by James Manning on October 18, 2006 12:18 PM
Often times, we're asked by customers and investors, “what do you do with all those CDs and DVDs that you burn during the development of your amazing burning software.” Well, I’ll tell you. We give them to Henry van Horik, the intrepid Bird Man of Sonic-a-traz (actually, one of our top engineering gurus)… Then Henry pastes them onto his car…
Yes, it is true. Our own Henry Van Horik, intrepid developer and all around free-radical thinker, has created the first, to our knowledge, DVD art car. Henry’s car not only reflects the sun – keeping the interior cool on summer days, but its higher bandwidth than 12 T-1 lines (move 4.6 Teraflops from Novato to Santa Clara in just 90 minutes!).
Posted by Sean Penn on October 19, 2006 3:33 PM
Business 2.0 Magazine had some words of wisdom for those caught up in the "Bubble 2.0" frenzy around digital media. Sonic is also highlighted as part of our deal with Macrovision to enable download and burn for the masses.
"The current push by Apple et al. into digital movie downloads makes a lot of assumptions. It supposes that we all own iPods and PCs, and are more than happy to plunk down a few hundred bucks for yet another set-top box - this time called iTV.These services may do very well, but they lack one thing: the ability to store, or "burn," a movie on a disc.
The ability to burn is one reason why DVDs are still the best bet.
They also pack more information than the typical downloaded movie. Their quality is far superior than streaming movies wirelessly - which, by the way, are going to look horrible on a regular Wi-Fi connection (802.11b, for you geeks).
You can lend DVDs to friends and family. They're easy to mail. And you get instant access to all of their features and every scene in a movie, instead of having to wait for the download to end."
Read the full article here.
Posted by Sean Penn on October 20, 2006 12:12 PM
One of the problems with most video sharing services is that in order to share a clip with friends and family that you don't want broadcasted to the public, they have to get an account and log-on to verify they're on your list of friends. How many times have you heard: "Yeah, I got the link but I had to get an account or something so I gave up."?
You may already know that Google offers "unlisted" videos. When a video is unlisted you can't get to it via search or category browsing. You get a permanent link to your video that you can send to friends and family.
Now, how do you verbally tell someone how to get to your video, without using a lengthy URL? Or, how can they find all your videos easily without searching for that latest URL you sent?
Well, none other than our own CEO Dave Habiger offers a tip for using Google video to share with friends and family. (And you thought he was just a suit who does quarterly earnings calls! Nope, he's a digital media addict like the rest of us.) This tip is especially useful for kids who want to share their videos with their friends.
Instead of "unlisting" your video, Googlewhack it. What is Googlewhacking? It's a curiously addictive pastime (er, waste of time) where you try to drive Google search results to a single answer. Popularized and vigorously pursued by Dave Gorman, it can now be applied to your own content to "hide" it from the rest of the world (excepting the most tenacious Googlewhackers).
When you upload your video, give it a two word combination name that you think no one would ever search for, like "banjotomato". You can separate the words (banjo tomato), too, but there may be a few more results when someone searches since those words could be found individually in a video's description.
Now, just tell your friends to go to Google video and search for "one word: banjotomato" and there's your video. (Note: it may take a few hours for it to show up in Google's search.) Have fun!
P.S. You would be amazed at how hard it is to get 1 result when searching the web using two words in Google. Even something as disconnected as "goldendoodle Nebuchadnezzar" returns 29 results. It's a big world out there.
Posted by James Manning on October 23, 2006 10:52 AM
That's right, there's a newer, shinier, more graphic-a-licious version of MediaTicker 2 Beta posted (version V2-201B09). This will be the final beta posted before we go GM in a few weeks, so download it now, check it out and let us know what you think.
Here are some of the things we updated:
Be sure to send us your comments by clicking here.
Posted by Sean Penn on October 23, 2006 2:23 PM
Today, wireless home networks are built on 802.11a, 802.11b, or 802.11g protocols, providing you with 11Mpbs to 108Mbps (Megabits per second) of digital freedom to stream HD movies around your home, right? Well, sort of. Typical rates vary, offering effective throughput (at best) around 5 (802.11b) to 24 (802.11a/g) Mbps depending on distance, interference, wireless overhead etc.
HD video, using the latest PC-oriented codecs (QuickTime H.264 or Windows Media Video HD / Windows Media 9) will take anywhere from 6-15Mbps depending on complexity of the video and the resolution (720p up to 1080p). MPEG-2 video, the coded used for DVD, uses upwards of 20Mbps for HD video.
If you have an 802.11b wireless network, forget it. Be happy if you get standard definition working.
For 802.11a/g networks, HD is possible, but results may not be consistent. Network traffic could use up that extra bandwidth, and some routers don't do well with guaranteed sustained transfer at high rates. These are some of the reasons that Microsoft started getting involved in certification programs for wireless devices - to help ensure good performance and user experience between Windows Media Center PCs and extenders like the XBox 360.
Further, these streaming formats will soon have to compete with the 30+Mpbs streams coming from Blu-ray & HD-DVD players, a significant jump. While the QuickTime and WMV formats certainly have the capability to support those bit rates, you won't be able to stream them around the home wirelessly.
Enter 802.11n, the next generation standard for wireless LANs. 802.11n uses multiple antennas and new encoding schemes to achieve typical rates of 100-200Mbps, enough to stream Blu-ray/HD-DVD quality HD video, and to provide solid performance for those 10Mbps HD streams along with other network traffic, from your hub to that tool shed where you can watch guilty pleasures like "Jackass: Number 2" in peace.
Manufacturers are so counting on your insatiable wireless appetite that they have already released equipment that supports the DRAFT of the 802.11n protocol. Reviews have been mixed. Compatibility, interference, and firmware issues are common with these devices, as one might expect for a format that has not been ratified yet. Approval is expected sometime between December 2006 and mid 2007. So, after waiting out the first generation hardware, you should be able to turbo-charge your network for Christmas 2007, or maybe with that big tax refund in 2008.
Until then, go with Blu-ray or HD-DVD for the best quality, or, for best networking performance run an actual ethernet cable from your PC source to your viewing destination or get Windows logo certified routers.
For more information on wireless networks and video performance, try this doc from Microsoft.
Posted by Sean Penn on October 24, 2006 5:07 PM
This update to the 3gp Decoder Pack includes support for .3g2 files. These files can contain an audio format known as QCELP. For example, some Treo 650 models create .3g2 files with this audio type. This version also addresses the problem where installing Creator 9 after installing the 3gp pack would break Windows Media Player playback of .3gp files. Uninstall the previous version of the decoder pack and install this new version to solve the problem.
Posted by Sean Penn on October 26, 2006 5:38 PM
A couple of our latest press releases:
Posted by Sean Penn on October 30, 2006 9:33 PM
Great review for Creator 9 here on Computeractive.
"Being such a huge suite of tools, it’s impossible to cover every aspect of Roxio Creator 9 in a single review. But, if you’re looking for something to handle all your digital media needs, you’d be hard pushed to find anything as easy to use and comprehensive as Creator 9."
Posted by Sean Penn on October 31, 2006 1:39 PM
If you're like me, you have a rat's nest of wires behind your entertainment center that is so dense not even light can escape it, so complex that you get phone calls at work by media-starved family members in peril, and adding new devices requires surgical dexterity and a saint's patience.
Well, at least some of those wires may disappear soon (leaving only the complexity).
A new Wireless HD specification is in the making, and would...
"enable high-speed streaming of audio and video content between consumer electronics devices like televisions, DVD players, game consoles and other portable devices without using cords."
Posted by James Manning on October 31, 2006 4:23 PM
We found a cool product for the Mac called "TubeSock" today"
It addresses that age-old connundrum of how to save video clips from sharing websites onto your hard drive (instead of just streaming them).
As it says on the TubeSock site... "TubeSock grabs YouTube videos from the web and copies them to your video iPod, Mac, or PlayStation Portable. TubeSock knows how to convert the video using the codecs and bitrates best for each device. It can even add the video to iTunes for you."
We think it's pretty cool. Check it out.
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