I tried to get Media Center recordings into the Zune player in an attempt to have them transcoded to play on the Zune itself with no success whatsoever. I wasn’t able to get Zune player to recognize the file type much less convert it. I may not have succeeded but I certainly haven’t given up yet either.

My wife got a Zune, a little because I told her how great it is. Which is 98% true. It has a great form factor, a very nice screen, the built in FM-radio is a welcome addition, the wireless sharing (a neat idea, but until more people get a Zune it lies in wait) will be used down the road.

The problem is Microsoft’s attempt to keep you from transferring any video that’s not in a very specific format. The Zune player can automatically convert music and video to a format perfect for the large LCD the Zune sports. What they don’t tell you is that it won’t work with Divx files. Every .AVI file you have won’t be had by the Zune. Well, at least it wouldn’t to begin with. But, I have found a way thanks to a post from KingJehu at zunescene.com unfortunately the link he provided is no longer available so I read through the registry and created one myself.

Windows Registry Editor Version5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Multimedia\Zune\Extensions\.avi]
“Extension.Handler”=”Microsoft.Zune.1.AVI”"MediaType.Description”=”Video Clip”
“MediaType.Icon”=”C:\\Program Files\\Zune\\ZuneLoc.dll,-736″”Extension.MIME”=”video/avi”"AlreadyRegistered”=”no”
“Runtime”=dword:00000007″PerceivedType”=”video”
“Permissions”=dword:0000000f
“UserApprovedOwning”=”no”
@=”"

You can download the file ZuneAvi.reg or you can copy the above text and create the registry entry yourself. I have personally tried this on two computers, one running XP and the other running Vista and it has works great. I’ve had about a 90% success rate (all but one file has converted successfully). Even then the Zune player transcoded the file but the video was just unwatchable.

The Zune player still can’t play AVI files but it can add them to its library. I’m going to try and convert a recorded TV show from Vista Media Center tonight using a similar registry modification. I’ll post the results once I’m done..

technorati tags:Zune

Missing:

One Black Messenger Sling bag and Nintendo DS Lite.

Last Seen:

My Jeep on January 20th.

That’s correct, my Nintendo DS development days (which were on the backburner) have come to an end as someone is enjoying my Nintendo DS in a way that I wasn’t. By stealing it. That’s correct folks, my DS and the bag my loving wife bought me for Christmas is gone.

My wife had to special order a replacement bag for me because I lost my previous one with a “horrible lunch accident” where the bag had to give up it’s life to save my DS and PSP. So she went out searched out a few malls unsuccessfully and ended up ordering it for me, only to have my negligence in locking my Jeep’s doors have it end up missing.

Good bye DS, Supercard, and PassKey. Goodbye to the 1GB SD card I barely knew. The 52 hour save of playing Advance Wars DS - best wishes. The ability to try out the latest version of ScummVM - aloha. I hope whoever has it now enjoys it as much as I did and can figure out why the power light doesn’t work anymore. The green light never lit up after the “horrible lunch accident” similar to someone suffering from PTSD.

The score after losing the T-Mobile Sidekick, Blackberry 7230, the Samsung YEPP YH-999, and Nintendo DS is : Fate |||| vs. Me || - I keep having to replace things that I keep losing so now all I have left are the PSP and the Blackberry 7100t; only until Fate decides to take them from me.

After my Sidekick died I switched to a very cheap Blackberry 7230. Not only is the 7230 very cheap it’s no comparision to the Sidekick. A tightly packed keyboard with keys too small for my fat fingers to type without constantly hitting the letters ‘A’ and ‘S’. I killed it pretty quickly by dropping the beaters from an electric mixer directly on the screen whilst trying to bake cookies for my employees. Not only did the cookies taste horrible, but I was once again, without phone.

I then moved on to a freebie phone from my wife’s co-worker which lasted just long enough to get my hands on a … nother Blackberry. This time one slightly more advanced the 7100t. I remember when Papa John’s was giving them away (for the Cingular network granted, but still the same phone). I’m enjoying it so far, simple to use, the Suretype keyboard works better than I could have imagined and it is pretty snappy with grabbing things off the internet. But…

My biggest complaint about the Sidekick was the closed off development cycle, being unable to develop software for public consumption which was a big part of the reason I decided to stop developing for the Sidekick. For the Blackberry the problem is that NOTHING is available for free. A few things here and there, but really, nothing of any real value. There are quite a few programs out there for the Blackberry, some of which are great programs built on novel ideas, while others just charge 5.00 to let you download something of questionable value.

Turns out you can’t have it both ways, but for the moment I’m fine with that and plan on sticking with my 7100t, at least till the Sidekick 2.5 comes out.

technorati tags:Blackberry, Cell, Phone, Sidekick

After having a quick chat about the iPhone with Apple’s VP of Applications (which by the title should be qualified to answer this question) Gizmodo was able to find out the question on many people’s mind. Will the iPhone be open for developers?

The short answer is no. I’m certain that it will have some extensibility but it will be handled very similar to the Sidekick. Software has and continues to be released for the Hiptop worldwide, of course the amount of software available is a drop in the bucket compared to a true PDA-Phone hybrid, but the software is an afterthought for most users. I have two friends who still own Sidekicks and have never installed a single program.

I’m certain Sidekick users are not the original consumer target of the iPhone but I have a feeling a few users will switch to Cingular (by the time the iPhone launches Cingular is stated to be rebranded as AT&T) to try it out.

Does anyone remember the Samusng i300? A Palm powered phone released by Sprint way back in the day? I actually owned one of these and I appreciated the ability to load software on the phone, I enjoyed the full digital display for entering text, and I thought it had a nice apperance for the time. What I hated more than anything was the display, as with any LCD it is more difficult to view outdoors, especially in direct sunlight. For dialing the phone outside I would rather spend time praying that the person I needed to speak with would call me instead of me trying to correctly select what essentially was me trying to dial a 10-digit random lottery number. I’m certain that times have changed, but the Samsung i300 showed me a glimpse of the future: my fingers are always dirty and will always smudge LCD screens, when your main concern when using your phone is to not scratch the screen that takes up 80% of the front you become slightly uptight, and half the fun of a new gadget is seeing what limit you can push it to and not just enjoying the device for it’s sole intended purpose.

I have already owned an i300 and if the iPhone not available to develop for then I think I will keep looking for the next gadget to buy for myself.

technorati tags:iPhone, Apple, PDA, Newton

No handwriting recognition, not a revolutionary PDA OS, not green. Not a Newton. But it is pretty neat, the iPhone by Apple. I’m certain that if you have ever visited this page before you have already heard about this next big thing from Apple.

Some websites have been very quick to refer to the iPhone as the Newton’s return. As seen at www.osnews.com from their MWSF recap

All in all, the iPhone is a PDA. The Newton is back.

Let’s quickly go over a few key points as to what makes this statement correct/incorrect;

• The iPhone is a PDA. The Newton is a PDA. It would be similar to say, “The Handspring Visor is back!” when refering to the Palm Treo. Yeah they are similar and made by what could be considered the same company but really, a totally different beast all together.
  
• Touch screen interface. The Newton had a very large screen driven by Pen input, where the iPhone uses your fingers to input information and browse around. The 3.5″ inch screen could be large enough for everyday use and it will certainly stop all the detractors of the Newton who would constantly remark on its girth. What is neat about the iPhone display is the multiple touch input that it purports to have. Being able to touch two independant locations correctly instead of selecting some point in the center of both locations. Which was patented by Nintendo earlier on in 2006 (learn about the orignially planned features for the DS at DS Advanced.
• The iPhone will sync with a PC, Mac, or Internet service while the Newton will force you to rip your hair out in clumps while running six copies of slowdown.exe to have your PC speak slow enough the Newton to synchronize anything. Of cource for the Mac there are many different options to sync with, none of which work well enough to mention here. I’m certain the detractors will say that if the Newton was reborn that it would be able to sync easily and with that I would agree. Still, this is just a quick run down of what makes this new product not a Newton.
• What seperates the iPhone from the Newton the most is timing; Apple released the Newton to an unaware, unconnected world and had to show reasons why someone should buy one. The iPhone is a new and exciting device where Apple provides an answer to problem instead of offering both a problem and an answer.
  

Well, that’s enough of me splitting hairs on a product that looks like it could be a Home Run as a new take on how to meet the mobile life needs of today’s society. A great sounding device; large screen, a sizeable amount of storage, connection options a plenty, and a battery that promises upto 5 hours of use for talk, video, or browsing. I’m very excited to see where this ends up and what kind of development opportunities this will open up for the multitude of people waiting to switch to Cingular to pick one up when they are released.

Here is a list of four retro-arcade games that could easily be developed to take advantage of the Nintendo DS’ special hardware features. The Nintendo DS’ touch-screen, microphone, wireless-play, and dual-screens could have turned some of the classics on their ear if only the DS had been released in the late 1980’s.

In the late 1980s Nintendo had changed from the company that created Hanafuda; (which thanks to Club House Games I know that I’m not smart enough to win even a single game) cards to the Nintendo Entertainment System, which may not have rivaled the graphics that arcades had but was certainly a turning point that home video game systems were making a resurgence.

Forgive the basic graphics attempting to give a view of what the game could possibly look like and enjoy the ideas presented. This list is in no particular order and are just a few of the games that could be rebooted as Nintendo DS success stories, so take it or leave it, here are my picks.

1. Klax was released by Atari in 1989 to follow on the success of Tetris. Just like Tetris it would be a perfect addition to the Nintendo DS’ ever growing assortment of puzzle games. Use the stylus to move the paddle back and forth, the trigger button to drop the collected tiles sliding from the top down to the bottom screen.

By adding Single-Card Download play multiple players could compete in multiple play modes. In multiplayer games each player attempts to remove tiles from their screen which results in tiles appearing on an opposing players screen. Taking advantage of the built in microphone each player yells “Klax” when a row of tiles is removed to double the number of tiles being sent to their opponents.

Mission based modes; where players have to remove tiles of a certain color in a certain pattern, time attack, score as many points as possible in a limited time, and the ubiquitis story mode, would allow the player to tally points to unlock new skins, play modes, music, tile colors, and special effect tiles for use in multi-player.

2. Gauntlet - Originally released by Atari in 1985 it was the first 4-player dungeon crawler arcade game. Released today it would set records on Nintendo WFC. Four player wireless play and track total levels played, number of times food is shot, total generators destroyed. When a player meets certain criteria (i.e. destroying 100 monster generators) they unlock hidden options; more player classes (just like in Gauntlet 3 for the Atari Lynx), different Magic spell capabilities, and new levels.

Players could use the stylus to create new stages to exchange with other players online. Select a tile set, treasures, monsters to fight, ingenious ways to block the exit and so much more. People could meet up online to play, exchange levels, and compare stats using voice chat directly in game

3. Quartet - Released by Sega to compete with Gauntlet. It was a 4-player side scrolling action game in a race to grab the most power-ups and destroy the boss to get access to the key and exit the level.

The Nintendo DS could add Single-Card Download play and Nintendo WFC to the mix and allow for 4 player head-to-head/co-op action to determine who the best of the Quartet is. With an added story mode built specifically for multi-player, players would be required to work in unison to complete levels and defeat enemies. Challenge stages could test players to beat specific goals to unlock new characters, special items, and levels.

4. Rampart - Released by Atari in 1990 Rampart required the player to build a castle using Tetris-like blocks and then defend it from invaders by firing cannon balls using a trackball. The game would take advantage of the dual screens and stylus controls like few others would.

The player would build their fortress on the bottom screen, placing blocks precisely using the Nintendo DS stylus and place canons within the walls, while watching their opponent on the top screen prepare just as quickly. When the battle is about to begin the screens would flip, placing the opponent on the bottom screen and the player at the top, the player would then move a targeting sight around and fire volleys of canon fire at their opponent. When the battle was over the screens would return to normal and the rebuilding process would begin again.

Building on top of the original would involve adding different armies to choose from, allowing for special abilities, different weapons, and the ability to play as an invading army instead of just the defender-you use the same pieces to build boats of varying sizes and attempt to land and seize the opponents castle by overwhelming numbers.

This is just a small sampling of what could be done to add to the extensive list of games available for the Nintendo DS, as the system hits it stride I wouldn’t be surprised to see some old franchises become the latest and greatest release of tomorrow.

technorati tags:Nintendo, DS, Arcade, Atari, Sega, Video, Game

I decided to take a picture of my Sidekick II to put an end to who would win in a “Dog VS. Technology” fight to the end. The dog, a 14 pound Shih-Tzu, the technology, a Danger-Sharp collaborative effort called the Sidekick II.

Check the pic, as I say my final good-bye.

vs.

Surprisingly enough it was a fitting farewell since I learned so much. The keyboard, attached with a very sticky mucous like glue, illuminated by dozens of amber colored LEDs, and buttons that reach much farther into the device than you would imagine. The buttons are probably 2/3’s of an inch deep, I’m guessing they have to account for the space the screen and keyboard take up. Oh well, goodbye for real now, since there is no going back.

I did use the phone for a few days after all this occured; I was only able to dial speed-dial numbers and answer calls blindly but it did work just as well as it did before the battle occured.

It would be nice to not program something that you carry around with you. Maybe this is where I should start. Seems like Microsoft can do some things right, maybe?

XNA Beta 2 Released

Microsoft moved the world of ‘Home Brew’ games one step close for Xbox360 owners. XNA Game Studio Express beta 2 is now available for download.

technorati tags:Xbox, Programming, Microsoft, Video, Games

Pac Pie Graph

via Boing Boing

technorati tags:Pac-Man, Video, Games, Pie-Chart

Officially, no more updates to any current DS or Hiptop programs. After quickly relenting to re-install Windows I soon discovered that I did not think ahead. I’ve wiped my system clean from a format and now have just realized that all my work was saved to that drive.

I’m an idiot.

I wanted to update my software to work on the Sidekick 3 and start working on learning some about programing on the PSP, and now I find out it’s all gone. I have some text files saved, but no art, sound, project files available.

I’m an idiot.

Hopfully I’ll learn from all this as well as everyone who reads this; be like Jesus when you work on a computer, Jesus saves.

I had some updates to my Newtonscript tutorial that I was about to upload, but asked myself, does anyone really learn to program the green machine anymore? I think those times lost their luster with the fall of The Newtie Awards (which I did lose to a program that’s almost 8 years old).

So is it true? Does no one learn Newtonscript anymore, not something you can place on an application/resume that would turn heads and it has no real world significance (aside from the geek jealousy it provides in meeting a fellow user).

Thanks to YouTube.com we can see the Mylo in action, and I’m quite impressed with what I have to see as well. You may lose the always connected option of the Sidekick but you gain quite a bit in the process (including the need to purchase more Memory Sticks…ugh) including Skype access. My main question with all this is why the PSP can’t add all these features? They keep updating the firmware but never offering any real added value?

View the whole movie, originally posted by Gizmodo over here at YouTube.com

Sony Mylo

Well, turns out that Sony is plan on adopting all the technology I can handle in one easy to use device. What is this supposed to be a Sidekick / PSP device?

I’m certain we have all read wikipedia.org at least once or twice in our web-existence, but now it’s something all Nintendo DS users can all add to; a list of Single-Card download games. What attracted me to the DS is now one stop shopping for what games to bring the next time I get together to play with friends.

Single-Card Download Games