Requirements for HD DVD Playback

Playback of HD DVDs authored in DVD Studio Pro 4 requires a PowerPC G5 processor, Mac OS X v10.4 and Apple DVD Player 4.6 (or later). Source, see last bullet under requirements.

Tiger Approaches

Apple will release Tiger on April 29, 2005. You can pre-order now. QuickTime 7 demo shows off Tiger's H.264 codec.

Call for EyeTV Helper App Beta Testers

This AccelerateYourMac article provides really interesting news about the development of an EyeTV helper application. The developer is seeking beta testers. The link to the article shows the features list of the application in development.

CenterStage Alpha Could be Released Today

The developers of CenterStage report that the alpha release for CenterStage could happen today. They delayed the release to add more features. Watch this space for the download.

Tiger Needs More Than Two Weeks

Bucking the trend of today's earlier posts, it has been reported that Tiger may be released in April. To meet the 1H 2005 delivery promise, it may need a couple bug fixes following its release. Hopefully, QuickTime 7 is ready to go when Tiger is released. This major revision to QuickTime is expected to provide high resolution video at low bitrates for efficient storage and high quality playback.

Voom Has Two Weeks

Chuck Dolan has until April 1, 2005, to finalize his plan to purchase Voom from Cablevision. How many death knells has Voom escaped? For those wanting to maximize HDTV content, Voom has a $1 deal to install up to three receivers. I am getting Voom next week. Voom has added 11 SD channels in the last week and is rumored to add a few more by the end of the weekend.

Flag Opponents Have Two Weeks

The appeals court hearing the Broadcast Flag case have given critics of the new FCC rule two weeks to demonstrate standing. The critics will have to show how they will be harmed by the rule in such a way that meets the judicial test. One judge on the three jurist panel has already written a dissent saying that the critics do not have standing.

Apple Adopts Blu-ray

Apple joined the Blu-ray Disc Association's Board of Directors. You may remember that, during the last Stevenote when the Sony president was on stage, Steve Jobs said that Apple was looking forward to Blu-ray which Sony supports.

I wonder if the return favor is that Sony supplies content for the iMovie Video Store?

CenterStage

An alpha release for CenterStage is due on March 14, 2005. A link to the project has been available in the Link section to catch up on development notes and access the forum.

Audio Hijack

You can timeshift audio using the aptly titled Audio Hijack by Rogue Amoeba. Certainly, you can use this program to timeshift whatever audio program on the internet for later playback. Audio Hijack Pro adds more encoding options. Audio Hijack starts at $16.

EyeConnect Public Beta Is Available

The EyeConnect program allows the streaming of files from your Mac to your UPnP media player to be viewed on your display. If you have such a player, then give the beta a try.

Device Compatibility

EyeConnect has been tested intensively with the following UPnP AV devices: The D-Link DSM-320 MediaLounge, the Philips Streamium SL400i, and the Philips Streamium MX6000i. Since any UPnP AV compatible devices will be recognized by EyeConnect, field reports from users with other devices are especially welcome.

Known issues

EyeTV MPEG-4 recordings do not play back on either the Philips Streamium or the D-Link devices.

The public beta will expire on May 19, 2005. Elgato requests feedback.

Voom

I hope Voom succeeds. Voom offers about 39 HDTV channels. Voom subscribers remind me of Mac users - very loyal to a good product. The more HDTV, the merrier!

Updates

EyeTV is now 1.7.1 and Matinee is now 2.1. The Matinee update brings cover art to the application.

Evolution?

We are in the middle of a transition to digital television. Miglia introduces EvolutionTV. This product does not compete with the EyeTV 500; in that, high definition viewing is not an option. I suppose it will ultimately evolve into an HDTV product and redeem the promise of its name.

Nearly One Million Units Projected for Mac mini

An analyst for Banc of America has raised first year sales estimates for the Mac mini from 305K units to 900K units. Source.

iFlicks 1.1 Has Been Released

iFlicks has returned from exile with new features. There is a demo but it has a limit of five movies that can be put in the library. iFlicks does not recognize .vob or .m2t files. iFlicks does not provide a VIDEO_TS launcher.