All Articles Tagged Video

BoingBoing [via giz] got an exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming South Park App. The verdict: pretty darn cool, with some fun functionality for any South Park fanatic:

[...]the ability to stream clips, grab wallpapers for your device, read news, and browse the complete episode index. Also: choose character likenesses as “contact images” for your iPhone — assign a face to the phone book entry of your choice.

It’s not the full episodes available at http://www.southparkstudios.com/, but it will mean you’ll be able to look up the episode when Saddam first fell for Satan. Knowledge like that will serve you well, as people will have to, you know, Respect your South Park Authoritah!

We greeted the arrival of HD TV shows for iTunes with as much joy as we greeted the return of the previously nixed NBC content: with great joy.

Part of our joy was a secret hope that since the iPhone can (technically) handle HD content natively, it meant we might someday be able to play HD video direct from the iPhone — albeit through a dreamy-future-video-out capability since playing HD on the iPhone’s screen seems a little pointless. Sure, HD takes up radically more space, but hey, we like options.

Well Gizmodo [via] threw some cold water on all that by pointing out that the HD iTunes streams up might not be all that HD. The issue is roughly that not all HD is created equal — you need to check the resolution (720p or 1080i or whatnot), but you also need to give some thought to the bitrate. It’s basically a function of compression and, well, the more you compress the worse it’s going to look. So while iTunes is offering up HD content, that content is compressed into a size that’s reasonable for most people to download.

AppleInsider points out that Apple’s h.264 encoding is better than most at getting quality video into a compact package. Still, don’t expect your iTunes HD to look like BluRay.

One nice tidbit: When you download HD content from iTunes, it includes a Standard-Def version, which is what gets transferred to your iPhone. Apple probably took a look at the ‘options’ we mentioned we liked and figured we were better off with the SD on our portables. We tend to agree.

If you have been missing that all-important video recorder functionality for your iPhone, look no further than Cycorder. Now before you get all excited let me first say the only way you will be able to get this app is to have a jailbroken phone along with Cydia.

Jay Freeman, the author of other jailbroken apps such as Cydia and Winterboard, released Cycorder. It does have ads, but I can assure they do not get in your way. Just keep in mind these ads are keeping this app free for all of us.

Cycorder’s video is shockingly decent for a cell phone video recorder. Recording in .mov format, Cycorder gets anywhere from 7-15 frames per second. It did not support audio when it was first released, but it does now. An update has just been released and it finally supports audio, though this clip does not contain any.

To get Cycorder simply go into Cydia and you will see it on the “Featured Packages” list on the front page. Download and enjoy!

Video and screenshot, after the break!

[Thanks for the tip Art!]

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You know what the iPhone popularized? Not just iCloning. Not just multi-touch. Not just visual voicemail. What I’m talking about is watching video on your mobile device. Youtube was integrated into the iPhone from the beginning and well, most other mobile users were jealous.

But the iPhone has so much more video potential than just Youtube. As popular as Youtube is, there are other video sites out there. Take the webapp PocketVidz for example, they have thousands of videos available for your iPhone, sized and optimized for your viewing pleasure. What is the selection like? Should you try it out?

Read on for the rest of the review!

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Monday we asked you “What’s the iPhone 3G Chip and When Will it Ship?“. Tuesday it was “What is the iPhone 3G Going to Look Like?“. Wednesday brought “What Surprises Will There Be in the iPhone 2.0 Software & Services?”. Thursday questioned “What 3rd Party iPhone SDK Apps Will Be Available Launch Day?” Today we want to know what else the iPhone 3G will feature, both now and into the future?

GPS is the biggie (right after 3G!). What about a front-facing camera? VGA screen? Stereo Bluetooth? Wireless N? Full-sized querty keyboard? … (Ha!) What do YOU think?

To give you some help, here’s a HUGE roundup of all the iPhone SDK 3rd party apps rumors. Epic-style. Because let’s face it, roughly 0.01 seconds after Steve Jobs pulled the first iPhone from his pocket back at Macworld 2007, and someone, somewhere, put aside their childlike sense of wonder long enough think: “Nice! What’s the next gen going to be like?”

Complementary, contradictory, obvious, confusing, all but confirmed or from left field via outer space, the rumors have flooded the internet ever since. It’s become almost impossible to keep track of them all.

Three days from today Steve Jobs takes Moscone Center stage for the sold-out WWDC keynote, and according to everyone and their newsfeed, announces the iPhone 3G. In eager anticipation, every day this week, TiPb wil be asking you to tell us what you think the next generation iPhone will be, from 3G to GPS, release dates to price points, colors to casings, 2.0 software to .Mac .Me services, and this weekend we’ll wrap it all up with a look into the WWDC/iPhone 3G Crystal Ball, and a roundup of the very best of YOUR predictions.

So come on, let’s get in on!

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VLC is a popular media player that supports countless audio and video codecs and multiple file formats. Because of such versatility, a lot of folks use VLC as their computer’s main video player. And now thanks to ZodTTD, it’s available for the iPhone (jailbroken ones only, sorry)!

The project is currently in private beta but a public release is planned for ‘very soon’. In its current iteration, VLC supports drag and drop files for MPEG/MPG, AVI, and MP3 formats. Support for FLAC and OGG are well on their way and they are currently researching playback for DivX, VCD, WMA, and WMV. The project is even asking for YOUR input on what codecs you want to see supported, feel free to click the Read link to let your voice be heard.

I firmly believe that this will be a game changing program for the iPhone and the jailbreaking scene in general. Imagine being able to play ANY video format like the desktop version of VLC, that freedom from iTunes will undoubtedly lead people to jailbreaking. Keep up the good work ZodTTD!

ReadVia

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No need for double-takes. You didn’t click the wrong link. Just breath, dig deeply, and stick with me for a moment. Yes, you really are still reading the iPhone blog.

For a 1.0 device, the iPhone knocked the ball — if not out of the park — soundly into the fence, and sent a complacent industry fumbling and flurrying to catch it. But no device, not even from Apple, could get everything perfect the first time at bat. Now, I’ve pretty much staked my turf here by playfully poking a little bit of fun at the competition but, truth be known, when they’re not wasting their time on iClones every platform and handset has some great — even killer — features to recommend it. In that spirit, here’s my top 5 list of what Apple should seriously consider stealing… er… learning from the competition if they want to hit a home run with 2.0 and beyond…

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I love the fact that Apple gives us their events on iTunes! Believe it or not, I still watch the MacWorld 2007 video. I enjoying watching the part where Steve says:

An iPod, Phone and an Internet communicator. iPod, Phone, and an Internet communicator. Are you getting it? These aren’t three separate devices…

hmmm, perhaps I have watched that one too many times.

I do wonder why it is a Podcast though and not a “movie”. I say this because the Podcasts do not refresh… we just get a new one every time.

You can find the link here to the Apple store for download, enjoy.

Music by Pete Miser. Video put together by Meritt Duff. Found by TUAW and Merlyn. Desire to write songs and videos about a cell phone by Apple, of course.

Mr. iPhone demo used to creep me out, but now I think I have a crush on him.

iPhone wielding Slingbox owners will soon be able to view their favorite smutty Spice Channel content on iPhone screens, if rumors are true. A site that goes by the charming name Electric Pig (I prefer my swine without rectal power adapters thank you very much) claims to have spoken with one of the higher ups at Sling Media, who went on record as saying that a version of its popular Slingplayer for mobile devices is in development right now.

Sweet. Now I can watch all my favorite episodes of Gilligan’s island while driving down the freeway. Zoom Zoom.

ReadVia MacRumors