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Sony takes on Flip Video, in Technicolor

Now that Flip has created a market for cheap minicamcorders such as the MinoHD, Sony's decided to jump in with its own offerings, somewhat annoyingly nicknamed the Webbie HD models.

The vertical-style MHS-PM1 seems a better category fit than the MHS-CM1; though like many of its competitors it lacks an optical zoom, it has a nifty swivel lens mount. It records 1080p MPEG-4 video to Memory Stick Duo media at 1,440x1,080-pixel resolution, and shoots stills at a comparatively high resolution (5-megapixels). Also like many competitors, the software it ships with--Picture Motion Browser Portable--doesn't support the Mac.… Read more

Sony offers up Web camcorder with 5X zoom

One of a duo of direct-to-Web HD mini camcorders marking Sony's debut in the market, the MHS-CM1, is modeled more after the traditional cheap designs from Panasonic and Samsung than the new tech toy-type Flip MinoHDs of the world.

The horizontal design does allow for a 5X zoom lens and largish 2.5-inch LCD. However, I found the CM1 oddly uncomfortable to hold. It records 1080p MPEG-4 video to Memory Stick Duos at 1440x1080 resolution, and shoots stills at a comparatively high resolution. Also like many competitors, the software it ships with, Picture Motion Browser Portable, doesn't support … Read more

Pinnacle Video Transfer: Digitizing analog video gets easier

One of the most daunting tasks in video archiving is getting the footage digitized and transferred to an easily accessible storage device. This is especially tiresome and tedious if the original is in tape format.

For this reason, I am impressed with the Video Transfer from Pinnacle.

About the size and weight of a cigarette pack, this little device is capable of converting analog videos from any source into MPEG-4-quality video files and saving them to any USB 2.0 storage device, including thumb drives, without the need for a PC. You can also choose to convert video footage directly … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 719: Yotta yotta yotta

There's a lot of storage headed your way in the coming years. A lotta, in fact. We'd even go so far as to say it's a yotta. Byte. In other news, no one in the tech industry will be taking a vacation between June 15 and July 12, due to the second coming of the iPhone, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu is getting behind a more democratic music industry. Try that one on for size, RIAA. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 719

Comcast mulling metered access, 250GB monthly bandwidth caps http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/ 20080507-comcast-mulling-metered-access-250gb-monthly-bandwidth-caps.html… Read more

The Gizmo Report: DirecTV's HR21-700 digital video recorder

In my previous blog posts titled "Disappointed with DirecTV" (part 1, part 2) I described the problems I've had getting my DirecTV equipment upgraded for compatibility with the company's new MPEG-4 satellite broadcasts.

Today, I'll be reviewing the centerpiece of this upgrade: DirecTV's HR21-700 digital video recorder (DVR).

Since there's a great summary of the features of this product in this PDF from dbstalk.com, I won't try to rehash all the details. But I do want to describe my experiences using this gizmo, and compare it directly to my older HR10-250 … Read more

Disappointed with DirecTV, part 2

I posted the general outline of my problems with a DirecTV upgrade a few days ago. Now for some of the details.

When DirecTV called me in February to talk me into upgrading my hardware, I had three pieces of equipment in operation: a dish antenna configured to receive signals from DirecTV's three older satellites, an RCA DTC100 HD receiver in my bedroom, and a Hughes HR10-250 HD TiVo DVR (digital video recorder) in my living room.

DirecTV made a simple offer: if I simply said "yes," they'd send out a professional installer with a new … Read more

Disappointed with DirecTV

DirecTV is in the middle of a long-planned upgrade to new satellite broadcast technology. The company has launched new satellites that use MPEG-4 video compression to carry an ever-increasing number of HDTV stations, both local and national.

I've been a DirecTV subscriber for many years. In fact, I signed up in 2000 because I wanted to take a look at the then-new RCA DTC100 HD receiver. I didn't even have an HDTV, but I did have a high-quality 21" CRT computer monitor that the DTC100 could drive. It wasn't good for large audiences, but for one … Read more

Handbrake: Open sourcing your video

This is the second open source application review that I've done, but it really should have been the first. I could probably live without talking to other people (Adium), but I'm not sure I could survive long flights without the occasional movie. Handbrake covers this fundamental human need.

If you're not currently using the open-source Handbrake application, your life is woefully incomplete. Handbrake is one of the applications that you will continue to use when you die. Angels are using it, even as I type, to rip their DVDs to their hard-drives so that they can save battery life on long trips (to Redmond, most likely :-).

Enough gushing. What is Handbrake? … Read more

Get wet with the Sanyo Xacti E1 pocket camcorder

Summer's coming, and that means you're going to see plenty of opportunities to get wet. Whether you're swimming in a pool or surfing at a beach, you're probably going to get soaked in the next few months. Unfortunately, most camcorders simply can't take the moisture. The Olympus Stylus 770SW and the Pentax Optio W30 are two of the few digital cameras you can take swimming with you, but even they're not the best choice for shooting video.

Sanyo just announced the Xacti E1, a waterproof pocket camcorder. This new gadget can handle getting dunked … Read more