• Many people/computers can access it at once.
• There is no limitation on read/write.
• At 750Gb, it should have more than enough space to fit all your data for a long time to come.
• The price is more than reasonable at $250.
• It’s physically small enough to fit into a safe or store with a neighbor when not being used.
• You have fast access to the data via 100mb network.
• You have even faster access to the data via USB 2.0 when necessary.
• Your important and personal data is not housed and secured by a stranger.

Lets look beyond the first impression and see what this particular drive can really do.

How it works – a Network Attached Storage device is basically a hard disk in a case that has the ability to attach to the network and offer its available space to network users who have security access.  Its not a computer, although from your desktop it may appear to be a file server.  When using the NewerTech NAS, the provided software automatically detects the device when its connected to the network.  It installs itself as another drive on the computer similar to the floppy disk (A:) and hard disk (C:).  You can either use the provided software to do automatic backups, or you can manually drag and drop your data onto the NAS.

Software – The NewerTech NAS comes with three different software packages to make backing up your computer easy.  Two are specifically for Mac – Intech Hard Disk SpeedTools and Prosoft Data Backup for Mac.  One software provided is for PC – NovaBACKUP for PC.  Since I do not own a Mac, I can only test the PC software.

The NovaBACKUP software has a very clean and intuitive interface.  The initial screen is a kind of “quick-backup” screen.  If simple is what you want, this is it.  Just place a check next to one of the popular items listed (My Documents, My Pictures, Etc….) that you want to backup, select Backup from the drop-down menu, and select your miniStack NAS device or a folder on your NAS as the place you want to backup to.  It can be that simple.

Alternatively, the software has the option to go more in-depth.  If you have specific folders that need backed up more or less often or you have a folder full of junk that you don’t want to include in the backup, you can go into a full folder layout screen and check exactly what you do and don’t want to backup.

NovaBACKUP also allows you to choose full, incremental, and differential backups as a way to save time and bandwidth when doing backups.  A full backup is what you want to do the first time, but after that, you can run incremental backups.  An incremental backup only backs up files that have chanced since the last backup.  If you added a file, it will go.  This keeps you from having to backup the same files over and over if they haven’t changed.

Speed – Testing the speed of a device like this is a very difficult thing to do.  There are so many different variables to take into account that any test of speed would be inconclusive at best.  The rate of transfer to any device such as this depends on other network traffic, the speed of your router/switch and your sending device, and many other things.  Just know that my results may vary from the results that you are able to produce.

The NewerTech NAS employs a flexible design that allows multiple methods to connect to the drive.  Like any other NAS device, its got an RJ45 port (Cat5/6 cable) for connecting to the network.  This particular model also has a USB 2.0 port to allow faster transfer when backing up mass amounts of data.

Since I have a large amount of data to backup, I started out by doing a full backup via the USB 2.0 interface.  This method significantly reduced the amount of time necessary to do a full backup of my 45Gb “My Documents” folder and 8Gb Outlook database.  This transfer took about an hour to complete.  Considering the massive amount of data to transfer, this is actually a fairly impressive time.

Now that all my data is on the drive, I’ll mess around with some things, add some files, and try an incremental backup.  I’ll offload all the pictures from my digital camera and change a few word documents to see if it picks up all the different files.  In all I added and/or changed about 1Gb worth of files.  The incremental backup took just over 6 minutes on my 100Mb network.

Durability – The MiniStack NAS comes in an attractive white plastic case.  While it doesn’t have a specifically rugged look, the inside of the case is designed to help in the event of a drop or fall.

While spinning, the NAS will be susceptible to shock like any hard drive.  As the platters spin around, any shaking can cause the reading arm to slap against the platter which could cause it to scratch or mar the surface and make the data on that part of the platter to be unreadable.  Unfortunately this is just a fact of Hard Drive technology and there really isn’t anything that anyone can do to fix it.  IBM has had some success with drop detection where the computer detects a drop and stops the platters from spinning, but that technology is a long way from being perfect and even longer away from being implemented into something small like a NAS.

Flexibility – Not only does the NewerTech drive allow multiple simultaneous connections and multiple levels of user security that provide great flexibility in its implementation and use; its physical placement options are nearly limitless.  Anywhere with a network connection and power can house this thing.  It’s small and lightweight which means that you can stick it on top of a bookshelf or a cabinet.  It boasts great cooling abilities which means it should hold up well in a confined area.

Security – The NewerTech drive comes with a comprehensive security package that allows a user to define who can and who cant access data on the drive.  You can secure the entire drive from others, or you can allow access to just certain parts of the drive.

All NAS devices require a Device ID and Write Key to gain access to the drive initially.  Both these codes are only available on the bottom of the device, so a would-be intruder would have to physically have access to the device before gaining access.

Once inside the device, an administrator can set separate permissions on the folders on the drive.  This allows flexibility when installing the NAS on your home network.  To ensure that your work data doesn’t get deleted by your inquisitive children, you have the ability to restrict their access to your folder.

Overall – Compared to other home data security and backup alternatives, the NAS seems to have everything you could want, with none of the downside.  The NewerTech miniStack NAS comes with some great software, has a USB option for faster transfers when necessary, good security, tons of space, and comes in at an impressive price.  Anyone looking for a secure storage solution should certainly look very hard at the NewerTech miniStack NAS.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Everyone knows the importance of keeping good backups of your computer data, especially anyone who’s ever lost data due to a hard drive crash, natural catastrophe, or any other reason. Many people, however, don’t back their data up regularly; it can be a time-consuming process that’s not always easily automated. This is one of a series of articles we’re doing on ways to backup your data. Read our previous article for an overview of different backup strategies available.

As mentioned in the referenced article, an online storage site (OSS) is one option for performing backups. I like the idea for several reasons. First, you have access to your data no matter where you are, as long as you have access to a computer. Secondly, while using a home server or external hard drive will give you the ability to recreate your data if your PC should crash, what if a natural disaster, for example, prevented you from accessing your backups? Floods, earthquakes, or tornadoes could hinder you from reaching your backups, even if only temporarily. With an OSS, your data will be safe and accessible, as long as you have access to the Internet. Even in the event that the OSS is hit by a catastrophe, any good OSS will have redundant sites, with multiple copies of your data at each site. An OSS is a viable solution only if you have fast internet access, though; dial-up or slower speed access would render this type of backup unusable.

How it Works: Once you’ve signed up for the service, you’re provided with your own website address, i.e., username.sugarsync.com, which is what you’ll use to gain access to all your files. To begin the process, you download the Sugarsync Manager, which is a small program that is used to access and manage the data. This is downloaded onto each PC you wish to sync, which I’ll expand on later.

When you first install Sugarsync on a PC, you configure options for it. These include picking an icon and setting up which folders you want to sync. In the above screen, you’ll see the Work Dell PC, with a panda icon, and a list of all the folders to be synced.  Once you’ve configured these options, Sugarsync will automatically copy all the files from your PC to your webspace. This is actually a very dynamic process – I used an external hard drive to copy a number of files to my new Vista PC, and they synced to Sugarsync simultaneously. This is one of the very neat features of this program – the backup process is automated.

You can add and edit your sync folders at any time through this interface. Once you’ve added a folder for syncing, the process takes place automatically. You can choose to sync an entire folder and its subfolders, or only choose certain subfolders. Within Pictures, for example, I’ve chosen not to sync the Microsoft Clip Organizer, as it’s not something that I typically change or care about backing up.

This basic syncing service by itself is a great feature.  Backup solutions typically require some sort of manual effort (such as CDs and external hard drives), or at least a schedule for the backups; Sugarsync’s ability to keep files in sync as the changes are make this an enticing product for any situation in which multiple files change throughout the day.  This just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the features Sugarsync offers, however.

The Magic Briefcase is another unique feature of Sugarsync. This is a neat little way to keep documents organized and synced between multiple PCs. For example, say you’re in the middle of preparing a presentation for work. You need to work on it that evening from home, but you don’t have a laptop. There’s no need to copy it to a USB drive or email it to yourself, because you have SugarSync installed. Simply put it in the Magic Briefcase. When you get home, you can retrieve it and continue working on it. SugarSync will keep it updated, and when you return to the office the next day, you’ll have the most up-to-date version.

Sugarsync Manager is also used to restore data in the event of any catastrophe.  By installing it on a new PC or harddrive, you can then use the sync feature to restore all the data.  Because it’s done automatically, there’s no need for tedious copying of files from one location to another.  While I fortunately did not need to restore due to any emergency, I did use this feature to get my data from an old PC to a new one, and found it much less time-consuming.

SugarSync also provides access from your mobile phone to its mobile website, which is m.sugarsync.com.  They have a mobile version of Sugarsync manager. Once you log in, you can see your files and photos online, and you can also choose to import the photos on your phone. If you have a document viewer application, this is yet another way to easily access your files.  The mobile photo management is an area that needs work still. I had two issues with this feature.

Part of the problem is the basic interface; pictures are large, phone upload speeds are not that fast. Therefore, it takes a while; this is not the fault of Sugarsync.  The issue is that there is no message or indication on your phone that this process is taking place.  If you attempt to close Sugarsync, you will get an error message that the process will be canceled. but that’s the extent of the notification.  The first time I tried, I had 4 of 11 pictures transfer.  The second time, they all transferred, but it was at least 20 minutes, if not longer, before it completed. If you need to get pictures from your phone, you’d be better off using your USB connection and whatever your phone-PC management interface is, and then letting your photos sync to Sugarsync that way.

The other issue I had was that it removed the pictures from the phone. I was using one as my background, and I ended up having to download it from Sugarsync to my PC, then use the Blackberry Desktop Manager to put it back on my phone.   They do exist in a cache directory, but that’s a link to the Sugarsync site.  I expected the photos to actually sync, not be deleted.

To Sugarsync’s credit, they were responsive to my questions regarding these issues, and did acknowledge the problems.  According to the engineer with whom I corresponded, a future release will not delete the pictures, and they’re working to improve the interface so as to provide more information during the photo transfer process.

Web Archives is a static storage place. This is for files that you don’t want to sync. I’m currently using this area to store some older files that don’t need synchronization, but that I want to keep.  This lets me free up that space on my hard drive, but I still have access to the files.

So, now that you have your computers synced, what if you’re not home and you need to access your data?  Simply log in to your personal Sugarsync website, and you have access to all of the PCs you’ve synced.

If I click on the Documents folder, I’ll get the file management view, which looks like this:

I can select any or all of the files and choose to zip them, send them, or perform any other actions shown in the menu above. I could create or import an address book to simplify the act of sending files to others.

What I really liked about the online site is the Photo Gallery, which is all the pictures you’ve synced. If, like me, you have your photos in folders for different events, such as your vacation to the Bahamas, then that is now an album. You can share the albums with anyone you choose. If you share an album, you’re asked to enter the email address of the recipients(or use the Address Book to select recipients) . You can write a brief message to be included in the email. The recipient can click on the link in the email and view all of the photos in that shared album. If they try to go anywhere else, they’re asked for a login, so your other data is safe.  This is a great way to share pictures with others.  I’ve had people send me links to online photo album sites, but some of them make you create a login in order to see the pictures, and you have to get your pictures up there to begin with.  Why not let Sugarsync do it for you, and know that you have a backup at the same time?

If you’re looking for a backup solution, what would make you choose Sugarsync over other options? Flexibility, redundancy and security, support for multiple PCs, dynamic syncing, and multiple pricing/storage plans.

Flexibility: Because Sugarsync is available from any computer with internet access, you can always get to your data. You have multiple options for how you’d like to store your data, i.e., as an archive or as dynamically synced files; you can choose to share picture albums with other people; you can maintain copies of your data in multiple places and always have the most recent version.

Redundancy/Security: If you’re going to trust your data to an OSS, it’s important for the OSS to provide physical redundancy of your data. This means multiple copies in multiple physical locations. According to Sugarsync’s site, they provide two redundant data centers to backup all the copies of your data. They use SSL (secure socket layer) encryption for all data transfer, and 128-bit AES encryption once the data is stored on their servers.

Multiple PC Support: Do you have multiple PCs in your house that need to be backed up? Do you have the need to sync files between PCs at different locations? This is a very good option for that situation. I really found it simple to set up on all the PCs I have, and once it was done I didn’t have to do anything.  I could also manage multiple PCs from one interface, which simplified things.

Dynamic Backup: One thing I liked about Sugarsync is that it is a dynamic backup. A home server may backup on a given schedule, but if it backs up at 3 am and your PC crashes at 5 pm, you’ve lost a day’s work. Sugarsync will have synced your files throughout the day, so you’ll have the most recent version of whatever you’ve done.

Multiple Pricing/Storage Options: Sugarsync offers multiple plans to meet your needs. The Starter plan gives you 10 GB of storage for $2.95/month; the other increments are 30, 60, 100, and 250 GB, and range from $4.99/month to $24.99/month.

What are the negatives of this service? Well, the obvious one is transfer speed. The initial syncing can take quite some time if you have a lot of files or a lot of large files, such as pictures, video, etc. The ongoing syncing is virtually instantaneous on my FIOS connection, but my daughter’s PC, with several years worth of pictures of her and her friends, etc., took several hours to fully sync the first time, although it was happening while multiple other computers were connected to the internet. Performing this function at night would have been a better option. If you’re on dial up, however, I would think even the ongoing syncing would be too slow to make this a good solution.

I’d like to see some improvements with the mobile interface, as noted above. They were smart enough to create a very simple mobile site, so it loads quickly, but the big push on their site for the mobile feature was for syncing photos, and that’s just not working well. I would use the file interface, but the photo interface is too slow. I also found that if I left the application open on the phone, as I did while writing this, I would get a message telling me that I didn’t have network coverage, so the interface was closing. Since I usually have all 4 bars on my phone, and have no issues with accessing other web sites, I’m not sure why this seemed to happen so frequently.

Overall, I was very impressed with this service.  With 4 computers in my house, the ability to sync all of them with no intervention from me, other than the initial setup, made this a great solution.  After you’ve installed and configured the Sugarsync Manager on each PC, it’s also easily managed, because you can do it all from one computer.   While I was using for personal use, I can also see it being a good solution for a small business or home business, as it provides an easy means to have offsite, secure backup of your data.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Physical Characteristics: At 9", this frame is a perfect size for a table – however, it’s best to make sure it’s an end table or something against a wall, as it requires access to an electrical outlet. The cord is long, which gives you some flexibility; however, having the AC connector smack in the middle of it makes it more unsightly if you don’t have furniture to hide it behind.

As I would expect from a Sony product, the picture quality is excellent. The sharply focused and clear display will do justice to your best photos, which would be all you would want to display on here – poorly focused and badly lighted pictures will only have those flaws emphasized. The sleek black glass surround means the frame does not detract or distract from the picture. The display is a TFT active matrix, with a 8.6" active display area, and a display aspect ratio of 15:9. It’s compatible with JPEG, TIFF, and BMP formats, and can support RAW, but for preview only.

There is a lot of flexibility as far as input/output connectors. For memory cards, there are Memory Stick Pro, SD memory/MMC, xD-Picture card, and CompactFlash card/Microdrive slots. A MiniB usb connector can be used to transfer pictures to and from a PC, you can use a Bluetooth adaptor to transfer pictures from a Bluetooth compatible mobile phone, and you can use an HDMI cable to connect your picture frame to your HDTV (although there is a disclaimer that Sony can’t guarantee compatibility with all types of televisions. Since I have a Sony Bravia-sync TV, I can only review that feature).

Saving Pictures to the Frame: So, how well does the frame work? For starters, I used the Memory StickPRO Duo from my digital camera to download pictures. I inserted the memory card, turned on the frame, and there were my pictures. The frame comes with a remote control that can be used to select options and pictures, and that was fairly simple to use. I pressed the Index View button and thumbnail images of all the pictures came up. From there, I could select a picture to see the larger version, and then choose to save the picture to the album on the frame itself. You can also select multiple images or all images to save. I also saved pictures from my computer. When doing it this way, all of the control is done from the PC. The frame shows as an external hard drive, and I selected the pictures I wanted from my Pictures folder, then copied them to the drive. The fact that the frame accepts multiple memory card types meant that I could also easily copy pictures from my daughter’s camera, which uses a different card than mine.

Displaying Pictures: I chose to save all my pictures to the album on the frame so I could return the memory card to the camera. Now I can use the frame to display the pictures as a slide show. There are multiple display formats you can use on the frame. I chose the simple slide show, with random effects. The effects are the basic things you find in a slideshow, such as dissolving from one image to the next. I also chose the single image view. You can choose the multiple image mode, which will display 3 images at once. Since this means the images are smaller, I didn’t like that option. There are other options for the slideshow itself, such as image display time. The default is 10 seconds, which is a fairly long time to stare at a picture. The shortest time is 3 seconds; you can also choose as long as 24 hours. I actually like that idea – it means you would have a different picture to look at every day, and it would reduce the boredom factor of seeing the same picture over and over again.

In addition to the slideshow itself, there are the options to display a clock or a calendar. I could see this being very useful if you used the frame on your desk at work; it makes it very dynamic. I don’t like it for my living room, so I don’t use it.

As I mentioned above, I also have a Sony Bravia HDTV. I unplugged the HDMI cable from my cable box and plugged it into the frame, and just like that, I had my pictures displayed on the TV. Apparently there are options to use the TV remote to control the picture frame, but I didn’t experiment with that, as I don’t intend to keep the frame connected to the TV, and there is already a remote with the frame. Using the TV seems like a great way to play an updated version of "let’s bore our guests with our vacation pictures slideshow". No longer do you have to drag out the slide viewer; just plug the frame into the TV and off you go. Although I haven’t tried it on any friends or family yet, this seems like a great way to show off pictures, as everyone can see them easily.

What I Didn’t Like: I would like to see more options for tweaking some elements of the slide show, such as timings. The intervals are pre-set, and for a simple slideshow I felt that 10 seconds was too long and 3 seconds wasn’t long enough. I would have liked the ability to enter a specific time, like 7 seconds. There is an auto-edit option that claims it will get rid of red-eye, among other things, but I didn’t find it very effective. It did improve contrast on some of my darker pictures, but the red-eye remained.

What I Did Like: As I mentioned, the quality of this display is excellent. The different inputs provide a lot of flexibility for loading content onto the frame, and the menus are fairly easy to navigate. There is also the option to turn off the lit-up Sony on the bottom of the frame, which I found distracting. I liked the ability to connect to the TV also – I do look forward to torturing my family with slideshow presentations next time they visit.

In short, I found this to be a great frame. Although it’s pricey at $250 US, you don’t buy a Sony product with the expectation of bargain prices. If your goal is a high-quality picture in an attractive and discreet unit, you’ll get it from this device.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The advent of such technologies is great. For too long, people have been required to have a steady hand and oodles of time to be considered creative. With software like FotoFusion from LumaPix, any old Joe can give the illusion of being a pro.

Before I go any further, I have to make a confession. I have never scrap-booked. While many may see this as missing out on a great experience in life, I have just never had the time. I have, however, used programs like Photoshop to create collages in the past. I am an avid amateur photographer, and I shoot with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I probably take more pictures in a week than most people do in a year.

When first introduced to FotoFusion, I admit that I was skeptical about the practical application for such a software to the normal home Digital Camera / PC user. Even as a “photography enthusiast” I didn’t see much of a need for this kind of software.

I ended up getting the FotoFusion Extreme version, which is touted as being for “Professional Photographers and Studios”. While this version is overkill for me, as most of the features that are above the Enhanced version are features I will never use, I wanted to be able to test the full functionality of the software for this review. The Extreme version has better output options than the other versions. The printing sizes are unlimited, the output formats are more extensive, and you can do multi-page projects. This version rumbles in with a hefty $299.95 price tag.

There are 2 other versions available. FotoFusion Scrapbook Essentials says it’s for “Scrapbookers” . This version is certainly not my cup of tea. This version limits printing to 12”x12” @ 300DPI, limits the text options, and doesn’t allow banners or grouping of photos. This version weighs in at an inexpensive $39.95.

FotoFusion Enhanced says it’s for “Photography Enthusiasts”. This version would likely do everything that I (and your average home user) would need. The output on this version is limited to a generous 13”x19” @ 300DPI which would be sufficient for most viewing and printing. This version weighs in at a manageable $119.95.

Enough of the prologue, let’s get on to the review. My initial introduction to the software was via a few videos on the LumaPix website. The videos show someone using the software to quickly resize images, move things, add shadows, change frames, and perform a bunch of other amazing tasks. As with many introduction videos, I was still skeptical. Sure the guy who wrote the software can make it do nifty stuff, but can I?

The download for the software is easy to find, is only 11mb, and downloaded very quickly off their servers. The registration process is painless. Send them your money, they send you an email with registration information. To activate the software and turn it from limited to full version you simply have to have an internet connection and remember your email address. The registration server was down the first time I tried, but I tried again in 5 minutes and the activation went through without a hitch.

The initial splash screen has a couple options, one of which is video tutorials. I love the video idea for learning how to do something that is so visual in nature. Now, you may ask, how are there video tutorials packaged into an 11mb program download? The videos aren’t packaged into the product. You have to have an active internet connection (preferably broadband) to watch the videos. The program itself just provides a simple interface to access the web-driven content.

The videos are well done. The information provided is at a good pace, easy to understand, and works to provide information in a proper sequence so that the basics are properly covered before proceeding to more advanced topics. Admittedly the gentleman doing the voiceover for the tutorials is a bit dry; however, it is an instructional video, and I am not sure how excited he can be.

The interface for FotoFusion is pure genius. This is where this program goes from “nifty” to “holy cow, man!” Adding pictures to your collage is a simple click and drag operation. Resizing the image, adding a border, changing border style, rotating images, shading, redeye removal (and then some) are all right at your fingertips. Not only are these things very easy to find, they are placed in a way that just makes sense.

Having that many things (and so much more) right in front of you might seem daunting when you first hear of it. If I were in your seat, I would probably picture a screen with a tiny picture and tons of menus. This is not the case. All these options are placed into a few easy to use menus and actually on the pictures themselves.

The speed of the interface is amazing as well. I loaded the last collage I did with 24 pictures from my 10mp camera. These pictures are 4-5mb each. To compare, Photoshop with that many images would bog down significantly. FotoFusion was still amazingly fast. Resizing images, rotating images, changing backgrounds, or expanding frames either individually or grouped was still jitter free.

So let’s see. Getting pictures into the program is really easy. Working with them while they are there is easy. What’s left? Output! We got all this fancy stuff going on inside the program, how do we show it off to people?

Getting your work out of FotoFusion is about as easy as putting it in. A simple wizard asks you what you want to do, how you want to do it, and at what quality. Want to output to an image so you can show it off on that digital photo frame we talked about earlier? No problem. The printing ability of FotoFusion is nothing fantastic, but it has all the options one should expect of an image centered program.

Are you ready to run right out and buy this great software? Hold on for just a minute. Nothing can be as problem free and as perfect as this software appears to be. Let’s talk about the downsides.

There is one thing that bothers me more than anything else about this software and it is the way the Embellishments are structured within the program. Embellishments are the things that you can put into your projects to make them look fancy, such as custom frames, borders, backgrounds, or “ClipArt”.

When you first look at the Embellishments window, you are presented with a vast array of available knick-knacks to put into your collages. Unfortunately, not everything that is presented to you comes with your program. In fact, most of what is initially displayed requires an extra purchase (even with their most expensive version). There is no warning that you are about to use things that you have to pay for until you try to output the project. In my opinion, the window should open up to what you have and give you a choice to look at the paid-for options.

The Embellishments are purchased on a “credit” system. Each Embellishment that you use in a project is worth a certain percentage of a “credit” (1 / .5 / .25). You can purchase “credits” through the LumaPix online store by month or in bulk. The monthly system is $15/mo (+$15 initial setup fee) and comes with 20 “credits” and an upgrade to your current software version. The bulk offering is 20 “credits” for $20 or 50 “credits” for $47.50. To me the idea is silly and the free Embellishments are, most likely, more than adequate for the normal user.

One other thing that bothered me is that FotoFusion requires the Internet, more than what should probably be necessary. Not just for the introduction and tutorial videos, but for other parts of the program as well. Things that you would expect to be hosted locally like the Embellishments (not all, but some!) load dynamically from the internet. The nice part about this is that it allows content updates to be automatic; however, for those without fast internet it can certainly be a hitch. It seems like most of the material (including videos) could be added via “Content Packs” which could be available for download or on CD at a nominal cost.

With less time going to the store, picking out the right fancy paper, cutting perfectly good printed pictures and gluing things in books, you’ll have more time to take pictures. With all that time, who knows what you can create? FotoFusion was a huge hit in my house. For the purposes of this review I created collages of my son, of my favorite hobby, of my new lawn mower, and about 10 other things that I probably should not disclose. With excellent training tools, ease of use, simple interface, and high quality results, I believe this software can find a home with anyone who loves to take pictures.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

However, this time almost everyone who bought a player is a loser. People who purchased HD-DVD players will still be able to use them as up-converting DVD players, but HD-DVDs will soon be as hard to find as Betamax tapes. Many early adopters of Blu-Ray also have discovered they won’t be able to enjoy the new features of Blu-Ray’s 2.0 spec, as their players aren’t upgradeable. A notable exception is the PlayStation 3. In fact, if you’re in the market for a Blu-Ray player in the immediate future, the PS3 is easily the best bargain.

Does this mean it’s time for you to go out and buy a Blu-Ray hi-definition player? Probably not. DVDs are not going away for a long time, and the selection of titles on Blu-Ray is still very thin. New titles will continue to be released for DVD. You also won’t notice any difference unless you have a hi-definition television. Blu-Ray players are still very expensive, starting around $400. The disks cost more too. An average title that may cost $15 on DVD, may cost $25 on Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray players will probably be a hot item this Christmas, but won’t likely see widespread adoption until 2010.

While Blu-ray has won this battle, it may not win the hi-definition player war. High-speed Internet, improved compression algorithms, and increased flexibility of publishers make it look ever likely that consumers will be viewing their hi-definition content using an Internet connection, instead of a physical disk. Available now is the Apple TV, Hulu.com, Netflix Watch Instantly, and others. All offering on-demand, hi-definition content. While this content is not “true” hi-def, it’s very nice quality and is only sure to improve with time. IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) will also likely see widespread adoption in coming years.

Just as Netflix redefined home movie rental convenience, Internet delivery of high-quality content raises the bar of consumer expectations. I have Windows Vista running Media Center in my living room. Plugins like Anthony Park’s, allow you to select and watch Netflix movies from your couch with a remote, as easily as changing a channel.

Products like the Apple TV also promise a very seamless and integrated experience on your TV. Even the PlayStation 3 and Xbox360 offer similar hi-definition, instant viewing options. Instant movie rentals from home with either a monthly subscription, or per viewing charge has been promised for years. It’s available now, and will only grow in popularity.

Perceived improvement may be the last stumbling block. View a Blu-Ray disk, and an up-converted DVD disk on a high-def TV. The difference is not that great. Blu-Ray boasts more colors, and higher resolution, but it lacks the wow-factor that there was with VHS to DVD. It’s probably not enough for the average viewer to run out and pay $500 for a Blu-Ray player, or an extra $10 per disk.

Blu-Ray may have won the battle to earn your money with the purchases of Blu-Ray players and disks. Whether you will want or need to purchase them, is still to be decided.

Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of HDNet and the Dallas Mavericks recently blogged about the TV replacing the importance of the PC in US households. Among his claims are that in 18-24 months every HDTV will have a built-in web browser. That Web 2.0 content like YouTube is better geared toward the 10 foot from your TV experience, rather than 10 inches from your monitor. He’s not the only one, Arnie Berman, technology strategist for Cowen & Company wrote this:

In the past, consumers replaced their PC’s every 3 years and their televisions roughly every decade. Is this trend poised to reverse? Hint: Yes.

Interesting this talk is happening while network ratings are at their lowest point ever, especially among the 18-25 demographic. More people are tuning out their TV, and spending their prime time hours in front of PCs.

What do you think? Is the importance of the PC about to be replaced by the HDTV? Or, is it the other way around?

The Maturity of Web 2.0 and The HDTV is the PC [blog maverick]

The company plans to unveil its Watch Now feature Tuesday. But only a small number of its more than 6 million subscribers will get immediate access to the service, offered at no additional charge.

Netflix expects to introduce instant viewing to about 250,000 additional subscribers each week through June to ensure its computers can cope with the demand.

View: Full Story Via: USA Today

It hasn’t even been a month since the HD-DVD ripper, BackupHDDVD was released and we’re already seeing high definition feature films pop up on torrent sites. Other than Serenity, it is rumoured that HD-DVDs of the movies 12 Monkeys and King Kong have been decrypted and consequently shown up on torrent sites. Yesterday, a handful of hackers figured out how to extract the unique volume key from HD-DVDs.

According to HDTV Blogger, the torrent is “a 19.6GB file in native EVO format that should play on PowerDVD and WinDVD with HD DVD playback.” Apparently, he got a “very, very nasty email” after posting about the first HD-DVD torrent. It seems the anonymous mailer was upset at the fact that he was bringing unnecessary attention to the P2P community. Looks like his plan just backfired.

View: Full Story Via: torrentfreak.com

The much delayed operating system launches on Nov. 30 for business users and in January for consumers. And like any new rev of the OS that still commands 90 percent of the PC market, Vista has the power to take a technology and make it mainstream.
Pumping cash into the global economy

Just as Windows 3.1 led to mass adoption of the graphical user interface and Windows 95 popularized the browser, Vista will slowly but surely transform the PC into a true multimedia device. The computer has already absorbed the telephone’s capabilities; Vista’s role is to throw in the TV too.

View: Full Story
News source: Money