These are all the things i have learned from numerous hours on many message boards!
1) Play games from any country
Harbouring a desire to play Super Gaiden Ninja XI? Now you can. In fact, you can handily play any PS3 game from any country. On holiday in the States and spot the latest release at a bargain dollar-to-pound price? Help yourself. So far, at least, PS3 games aren’t being region coded. That said PS2 and PS1 games are so you can’t play a US title on a Euro console. And let’s not forget that Blu-ray movies are region-coded so the barriers aren’t completely down yet.
2) The secret video reset
One of the most annoying aspects of the PS3 are its video settings. Take it up to the bedroom portable or round to a friend’s house and there’s a good chance that you won’t be able to see anything onscreen because your ‘new’ TV is running at a different resolution or using a different cable connection. And - because you can’t see anything - you can’t change it. Until now. Shut down your PS3 then restart by pressing and holding the power button. This will reset your PS3 to its most basic 480p graphics mode so you’ll be able to see enough to choose RGB SCART, component, HDMI or whatever from here.
3) See how much charge is on your pad
There’s no indication of how much charge is left on the pad itself. Instead it appears on screen during games. Press and hold the PS button on any joypad. An indicator will appear, showing your pad’s charge as a small battery. A full battery pic means a fully-charged pad. Neat.
4) Download game saves
Chances are someone out there has already beaten that boss for you and saved their game afterwards. Why not take advantage of it? Google ‘PS3 game saves’. There are hundreds of finished and half finished game saves scattered all over the internet. Download the save you want - it’ll come in a ‘PS3′ folder that you can lift onto a USB stick and put into your PS3. Go to the Game menu, choose your stick and the game save you downloaded should be right there. Press Triangle to copy it to your hard drive.
5) Make free video phone calls
You will need a USB headset (like the one you use for PS2 Socom) and an EyeToy camera. Plug in both via USB then go to your Friends menu. Choose a friend you’ve signed up earlier and press Triangle. Choose Start New Chat and type a message. Something like ‘Videochat?’ should do the trick. Now, providing they’re in front of their powered-up PS3 (perhaps you could text them to tell them to be in position?) then they’ll see your message and be given the option to accept your videochat.
Now, provided they too have a camera and headset, two windows will open, one showing you (so you can make sure you’re looking your best), the other displaying your mate. Best of all you can hit Triangle again and invite more people to join your chat - up to a maximum of six. And the cost? Not a bean above your usual broadband connection charges.
6) Browse multiple Internet windows
Open the browser (go to Network) and surf to a page you want. Now open up the menu
with a press of Triangle and choose ‘Open In New Window’. Enter another URL and then
do the same again. Keep going until you’ve got six windows open.
Now press L3 (done by clicking down the left stick). You’re now in multi-page mode.
Move the left stick to flick through the web pages as though they were bits of paper,
then click L3 again to zoom in.
7) Upgrade your hard drive
We took the drive out of our PS3 and found it to be a Seagate Momentus 5400rpm 60Gb 2.5inch SATA drive.
We swapped ours out effortlessly for a Seagate Momentus 120Gb 2.5inch SATA drive and it worked perfectly.
Remove the cover flap on the bottom of your PS3 with a fingernail.
Undo the blue screw and slide the drive over to the right and out of your PS3.
Undo the four screws on the ‘caddy’ and remove the old drive.
Put your new drive in the caddy (it should be exactly the same size, of course) and re-do the four screws.
Slot it back in and slide to the left to make the connections. Re-do the blue screw,
pop the cover back on and restart your PS3. Say ‘yes’ to the message on screen and voila -
new super-size hard-drive. (Go to Settings, System Settings, System Information to check).
8. Share your bought downloads
You can download anything you’ve bought from the store to five PlayStation 3’s.
This is useful if you’ve got more than one PS3 (of course) and also if you’ve wiped
your hard-drive and don’t fancy paying for the same download twice…
However, you can also choose to share your download with your mates. The PlayStation
Store logs how many times each download has been downloaded by each user.
On your mate’s PS3 Create New User and log onto the store with your ID.
You’ll now be able to go to your download and see that you’ve already
downloaded whatever it was that you paid for. You can now download it again,
using another of your downloads and giving it to your mate for free. Or a small optional charge…
9) Force a PS3 to show your files
Put your photos in a folder called ‘PICTURE’ or your videos in a folder called ‘VIDEO’ or simply *force*
your PS3 to look at your files on your stick regardless of what you called them or where
you put them. Insert your stick and go to the menu option you want (Photos, Music, whatever).
Press Triangle to bring up a menu and choose Display All. This will show every file on the stick.
It even works for a plugged-in iPod, though the multi-folder structure you’ll reveal is a bit baffling.
Still, your songs are in there if you’ve got the patience to find them.
10) Change your album art
When you import a music CD your PS3 automatically pulls down the album art and stores it with the tracks.
Occasionally it gets it wrong, however, or it may simply not be able to find the art of your hipper,
less commercial tracks. This is easily fixed however. Download a pic of the art you need as a
jpg on your PC and put it onto a stick (in a folder called PICTURE, ideally). Copy it to your
Photo menu (press Triangle). Now go to Music and select the album folder with the offending art.
Press Triangle and select Information. Go to the Photo menu and select your new picture. Bingo.
11. Setting up your memory stick for easy PS3 use.
Can’t find that song you just put on your memory stick? Unable to locate that game your trying to
transfer? Its prolly not in the right folder.
You can hit Triangle and then choose “display all” and hunt for it or you can prevent that from ever
happening by making the following folders.
Music: Music
Movies: Video
Pictures: Picture
PS3 game saves: PS3>SAVEDATA
PS1/PS2 game saves: PS3>EXPORT>PSV
12. Video Compatibility
Trying to play a video but keep getting an “Unsupported format” Message? Odds are the video is not in an Mpeg format.
This is easily fixed. Simply google “Xvid4psp”. This is a program that can convert most video formats
into mp4 with very little image quality being lost. As a bonus it can also reduce the file size considerably.
13. “Wireless” internet access with your 20gb PS3
For this you will need at the very least a computer or laptop near your ps3 and a ethernet cable
(a router, internet access etc expected also). After you connect your ps3 to the computer or through a
router (perhaps for multiple systems) and to the computer, right click on my network connections and click properties.
Then right click your wireless internet connection and click properties. Click the advanced tab and check the boxes
for “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection” if you have a drop down box
under that, select the connection that you connected your ps3 to. Then also click the check box that says allow other
network users to control or disable the shared internet connection.
Click ok, and wait for your computer to save the settings then enjoy. This also works with xbox, ps2,
gamecube, and dreamcast(that is if you can find the broadband adapter for it….).
14. Bluetooth Headset Functionality
If you have a bluetooth headset you can set it up under one of the 7 bluetooth ports available via the ps3.
To set it up put your headset in pairing mode, and then go to settings on your XMB. Click accessories and
click register bluetooth device.. Then choose register headset/microphone/headphones. Then follow the instructions.
Go to audio device settings to test your bluetooth connection after everything is set up.
15. How to view the PSN stores in other regions
First creat a new user and name it what ever you like. I suggest naming it what region PSN store that accout
will be linked to. There are only 4 major regions worth making an account for USA, UK, Hong Kong and Japan.
Next just make a new master PSN account on that user. Choose the desired region when asked for a country.
From there its should walk you through the entire proses.
The USA, UK and Hong Kong set up menus will all be in english so you should have no trouble getting things set up.
The Japanese PSN set up however is, you guessed it, in Japanese. Not to worry. Simply go to this web sight.
www.freewebs.com/buggie66/index.html
There you will find a step by step guide on how to make a Japanese account. There are even pictures detailing
every step just incase you get confused.
16. Setting up Remote play
This is based on your PS3 having the newest firmware and is a 60gig:
1. Connect your PSP to the PS3 with a usb cable (the one that came with the PS3 will work). Turn on your PSP,
go to settings, and choose USB connection
2. on your PS3, go to settings, choose remote play settings, and choose to register a device. It will take a few
seconds to register your PSP. once its done, you can get out of USB mode on the PSP and disconnect it from the PS3 system.
If you want to make sure your PSP registered, choose the “registered devices” category on the PS3 remote play settings.
A list of registered PSP devices will appear (the nickname you gave you PSP will be shown, along with it’s mac address.
3. Next, go to network on the PS3 and choose the Remote Play option. It should say to connect a registered PSP to the PS3.
4. now, make sure the WLAN switch is slide up on the PSP, and in the PSP menu, go to network and choose Remote Play
(which should say the nickname of the PS3 it is connected to). A list of your network connections will appear,
with a new one that says “PLAYSTATION(R)3″. Make sure you are a reasonable distance from the PS3, and choose that
connection. A few seconds of connecting later and………
5. VIOLA! Your PS3 XMB menu should appear on your PSP! You can now look at photos, listen to music, and watch videos
stored on the PS3’s HDD on the PSP! You can even go into the Playstation store, go on the web browser, and send messages
to your friends on your freinds list! ZOMGLAWLCOPTERZ!1!111!!
*note: pressing the “HOME” button on the PSP will bring up some options you can tinker with*
6. When you want to quit remote play, Press the “HOME” button on PSP and Choose to quit back to the menu. Then on the PS3,
press circle to go back to the XMB. And that, kiddies, is how you do it.
17.Nov.08 
PS3 
Comments (0)
Want better Christmas photos this holiday season? Are you bored with or just plain tired of the “same old” pictures year after year? Let’s spice things up a bit then with these nine how to tips for taking better Christmas photos this year.
1. Get Closer than You Normally Do
This year why not start off by shooting more close up and macro Christmas photos? Everything from wrapping decorations to textures and miniature views of common objects will help to lend a new dimension to your Christmas photos.
2. Use Reflections
At this time of the year especially, there are lots of shimmering, shiny surfaces available. Use these to capture reflections all around you from faces to scenes and splatterings of color. A small strategically-placed hand mirror can get you started looking for those unique, one-of-a-kind reflected images. From there, it’s only a matter of scouting around for even more reflected image possibilities.
3. Try Some Christmas Photo Silhouettes
Taking dramatic, unique-looking silhouettes couldn’t be easier. Get your subject backlit, disable the camera’s flash, meter off the brightly-lit and brightly colored background – and BINGO! You’ve got an attention-getting silhouette.
4. Go Outside for Startling Christmas Photos
If there’s snow in your locale (oh joy!), you can capture the winter season settings that will spark your Christmas photos this season. Newly fallen snow has an almost magical quality about it that readily lends itself for some truly outstanding digital images. Be sure to try shooting a series of black and white images for Christmas photos that go well beyond the “ordinary” array of holiday pictures.
5. Add a Selection of Night photography Images
Say, while you’re outside, don’t neglect night photography in your Christmas photos portfolio. Even before the sun sets you can start shooting “night” photos of the brightly-lit store fronts, shopping districts and special holiday lighting around town. Look for especially well-done house and garden lighting too.
17.Nov.08 Photography Comments (0)
By ERIC A. TAUB
When Apple announced in March that it would open up the iPhone to outside software developers, it promised that the resulting applications would help create “amazing” and “innovative” applications that would transform the concept of a smartphone.
Last week, an application turned the iPhone into a megaphone to proclaim: “I Am Rich.” That is the name of a downloadable program that promised to do nothing except signal to the world that its buyer was wealthy enough to have spent $1,000 to download an image of a multifaceted ruby.
Created by a German software developer, Armin Heinrich, it was written pretty much as a joke. “I found that some users complain about prices for iPhone applications above 99 cents,” Mr. Heinrich said. “I regard it as art. I did not expect many people to buy it and did not expect all the fuss about it.”
The value of a consumer product aimed at the luxury market, after all, is rarely determined by the cost of its raw materials and fabrication, but rather by its perceived exclusivity.
Apparently his humor was lost in translation. As first reported by The Los Angeles Times, eight people bought the application, earning its developer $5,600, his 70 percent share. (Apple got the rest.)
But then Apple notified Mr. Heinrich that two of the sales were reversed. Some people apparently bought it by mistake, with at least one saying he hit the “one click” button, not expecting the sale to go through.
Mr. Heinrich was bombarded with e-mail and phone messages, “many of them insulting,” he said. “It’s O.K. to return the money. I did not want to harm anybody with my app.”
Apple declined to comment. But in the past it has said an application cannot be sold until Apple approves it.
There is also no way for a customer to try an application before buying it, a feature that could have further reduced the sales of “I Am Rich” — perhaps to zero.
11.Aug.08 IPhone Comment (1)
It’s late in the day and again my iPhone 3G’s battery is running low. Instead of giving this iPhone a name, as many people do with their gadgets, I’m using a mantra: “Another day, another charge.”
That makes this an apt time to take a fresh look at an increasingly important part of our gadget portfolio, those portable charging devices that provide a shot of juice in a pinch.
Do you know someone seemingly at the edge of disaster because of a misplaced phone charger? Or maybe, after a nap with the music on during a lengthy plane ride, you find you don’t have enough power to call the office?
The iPhone 3G magnifies such issues. The Wi-Fi connection, the faster network speeds and GPS features all strain the battery. So for the last week, I’ve been using a few portable chargers to keep the iPhone and some other gadgets ready to go.
These devices are not intended to replace a proper charger. Rather, they should be viewed as an auxiliary power source for when the battery runs low and business needs to get done.
“It provides a supplemental charge,” Ken Klarfeld, iPowerRush president, said of his portable charging device, one of the first targeting the iPhone 3G. “You’re on a plane, watching a movie and your iPhone goes dead? What do you do?”
With the iPowerRush, you should be fine—as long as the six AAA batteries it needs work.
In my tests, it provided what Klarfeld noted, a supplemental charge. The iPhone battery was nearly dead when I plugged the iPowerRush into the iPhone. About 45 minutes later, I had enough power to make it home, a 30-minute commute, playing with the iPhone all the way.
Once home, I plugged the iPhone into its charger. It should be noted that Apple’s new iPhone charger is about the size of a marshmallow, making it a portable power source. But it still needs to be plugged into a wall socket.
The iPowerRush, sold online for $30 (iPower Rush.com) empties those six AAA pretty quickly, so it could become pricey if you use it too much. Even with fresh batteries, the device will not provide a full charge to the iPhone.
You can use rechargeable batteries—remember to recharge those—as well.
Another approach is a portable charger with multiple connectors, or “tips.” These tips are made for iPods, various mobile phones, digital mobile phones and countless other gadgets.
One of my favorites is the Powerstick, a $70 device (Powerstick.com) that includes nine tips. I’ve used them for many of my own gadgets, as well as those I review. It always works—and sure enough one of the tips it ships with worked with the iPhone 3G.
Again, the iPhone was nearly empty when I connected the Powerstick. It didn’t fully charge the device, but it provided a longer charge than the iPowerRush.
You recharge the Powerstick via USB, so when it’s empty, you simply plug it into a computer’s USB port. A recharge takes about 30 minutes.
But not all devices that claim to work with the iPhone will. The packaging on the Lenmar PowerPort Mini says it works with iPhones, but it wouldn’t charge my iPhone 3G. It did charge an iPod Nano and it claims to works with BlackBerries, but I didn’t test that.
The PowerPort Mini is a cleverly designed device, small and affordable (several online retailers offer it for about $22). Like the Powerstick, it charges itself via USB and it fully charged an empty Nano with juice to spare.
But I’m leery of this device, and it is not recommended. There were times it wouldn’t work at all, even on that same Nano. There’s no point in buying an unreliable backup.
Finally, Duracell has refreshed its line of battery-based portable chargers. It sells two versions of My Pocket Charger, one for iPods (not iPhones) and for mobile phones made by Research In Motion and Motorola.
It comes with two AA batteries, and an online price check found both versions starting around $15. It did fully charge an empty Nano, but it does not work with rechargeable batteries.
Again, these portable chargers are great for a power pinch. I also think they are ideal gifts for road warriors, particular the Powerstick. It’s the most expensive, yet the most reliable and flexible.
But due to the iPhone 3G’s rapid popularity and even faster battery drainage, expect to see more power options quickly.
03.Aug.08 IPhone, iPod Comments (2)
By Dave Joa
Buy yourself a digital photo frame and have some fun. If you enjoy taking or looking at photos of any type then the latest digital photo frames are perfect for displaying your photographs at their best. The quality of image that is now possible with these electronic photo display devices is very impressive.
However before you buy a digital picture frame there are some minimum requirements that you need to check for the photo frame you are thinking of buying.
Make Sure the Display is High Resolution!
If you want the best image, and who does not, you will want to check the image resolution of your new digital photo display so that you get a sharp and well lit view of all your photos on the frame. These little display screens are very similar to what is used on a modern flat panel tv and use lcd technology. LCD stands for liquid crystal display.
Image quality on a digital photo frame is very important. So much so that if you do not get this right you will not see a good quality image on your new photo display.
Many different resolutions are available and you need a 640×480 resolution as a minimum or 800×600 if you can afford it. It will make a big difference to the enjoyment of your photo collection. Any frame with a resolution below this minimum will not display images as well as the original photo and you will not like what you see.
Also if you go for a larger size LCD display of 10 inches or over then also go for the highest resolution you can afford as well. So for the sharpest images you should always go for the highest resolution. If the frame you want seems cheap then check the resolution before buying.
Aspect Ratio is also Important.
There are just two different aspect ratios to consider for digital photo frames and these are the less common 15:9 and the normal 4:3, which is found in images from most of todays more common digital cameras.
Therefore a digital picture frame with a 4:3 aspect ratio will most likely display your photos the best in their original form. However a frame displaying the 15:9 ratio will give you a more impressive wide-screen image just like a mini TV.
The downside to 15:9 digital screens is that the top and bottom of any 4:3 photo will be cropped from the image you see and you may not want this effect.
Check the Memory Card Slot.
If possible get a digital photo frame with a multiple card reader slot so that you can use your existing memory card and also your friends. If only one card reader slot is provided then you will need to make sure that it is the same as that used in your digital camera.
You may need a USB port.
In order to move digital photos and images from your digital camera or computer using a USB cable then the digital frame you buy must have a matching USB slot for the cable. If you only want to use memory cards to transfer your images you will not need USB.
Other Options.
Today there are now some great options available for a digital photo frame and these include headphones, remote controls, speakers, alarms, clocks and wireless connections to the web for image downloads. These options cost more and it will be up to you to decide if you want them.
Use the recommendations made to you above to get a great deal on a good quality digital photo frame, which will display the sharpest images for what you can afford, and just ignore the company labels as these should not be relevant when making your choice.
27.Jul.08 Photography Comment (1)
Just bought a new camera ?? And very excited to start taking photos with your new gadget??
But Alas, why does the picture not look as good as you wanted to !! Fret no more, stay tuned below for 4 new tricks to taking more interesting and memorable photos.
1. Try out different camera exposure settings
By exploring the exposure settings of your camera, you could have pictures looking more brilliant with 0.5 to 2 stops underexposed in bright surroundings, and scenes appearing more clear with some overexposure. Just by simple tuning of the exposure level, you can create pictures which can bring out different moods from people viewing it. Thats why the quote “A Picture Says A Thousand Words” is very true indeed ! For newbies, try out bracketing (i.e: Take the same photos with different exposure levels) and take your favorite pick from them.
2.Bring out some creative blur in photos
By introducing some well-planned blur in photos, you can bring across certain important features, while using the rest as good complement, providing an overall nice touch. This can be done in 2 basic types.
First type is depth-of-field blur. Varying the lens aperture between 0.4 to 1.4 can create a lovely, soft background blur which bring sharp focus to the subject in the foreground.
Second type is movement blur. Done by setting the camera exposure on shutter priority, and keep it slow so as to capture interesting streaks as the subject moves in front of the camera.
3.Create something out of nothing !!
What does it means? This exercise encourages you to take a step back and rethink how you can take wonderful pictures with things you already encountered on a daily basis.
One approach is to create your shot around the common elements around you such as lines, space and patterns. This can mean anything from the roads to the bridges, the trees, the railings, etc.. You start to see more possibilities and room for creativity.
4.Take Unique Photos !!
Try to avoid taking photos from already popular places where everyone else has taken before, it will not be fresh, and the excitement is also much diminished. Try out new extreme photography (for example: underwater photography), or it could be as easy as shooting through thick glasses for that extra 3D feel, or shooting reflections of objects in water or other reflective objects.
27.Jul.08 Photography Comments (0)
Quick question: Does your idea of a perfect Friday evening involve cold beer, fried chicken and uploading pictures to your Facebook account? Also, have you forgotten how to play Poker with a real deck of cards?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, you need to join Facebook Anonymous (and no, it’s not an application found in Facebook).
Since its inception in 2004, Facebook has weaselled into the lives of more than 31 million users. So addictive that the New York Times has reported that Facebook is lowering employee’s productivity.
The site has become the hottest new application development platform on the Web. When Facebook opened up its platform to independent developers in May last year, it became a hotbed for hungry start-ups like Booze Mail and iLike, which let you do anything from sending Virtual Martinis to watching music videos.
Here is Digital Hub’s take on the hottest Facebook applications.
FotoFlexer
Forget running on the treadmill or lifting weights. With the FotoFlexer, you can trim that beer belly or add some six packs without having to sweat it out in the gym.
This nifty photo-editing too not only lets you add effects or change the brightness of your images, it also digitally enlarges your muscles and shrinks your waist at a button’s click. Great when you want to upload your new images onto your Facebook photo album.
Dating DNA
You have fewer that 10 friends on Facebook, out of which five are your mother’s Book Club members. Instead of sitting in a corner and moaning about your insipid social life, try Dating DNA.
The app should widen your social network by letting you chat with anyone on Facebook. Spy a cute brunette? Drop her a message or send some virtual flowers her way.
Single Facebook members will also dig this application - the site accesses your interests and personality and hooks you up with compatible singles.
Honesty Box
Add this to your profile page and your friends can leave anonymous messages that describe your personality - anything from “You’re hot” to “You’re a terrible dancer”.
The best part is that the person leaving the note doesn’t have to be signed in to Honesty Box. So you’ll have absolutely no way of sussing out who wrote what.
Skype Me
Forget painstakingly powering up Skype whenever you want to chat with your friends in other countries. Miss your spouse who’s currently overseas? Simply click the Skype Me application on Facebook, dial the number you want and start yakking.
Music Mixes
Most of us can probably remember sitting in front of our cassette players after school, recording Bananarama or Culture Club tracks onto cassette tapes.
Now you can relive your childhood with the Music Mixes app, which lets you create your own virtual mixtapes by adding tracks and sending them to your friends. What more, you can personalize your mixtape by adding in your own voice introduction at the start of the tape.
Polyvore
Fashionistas will adore the Polyvore app. It lets you create your own runway outfits using threads and accessories from brands like Marc Jacobs, Chloe and Topshop.
With thousands of outfits updated almost every day, you’ll guaranteed a visual fashion fest every time you log on.
18.Jul.08 Facebook Comments (0)
Adapted From: Tivo for Dummies:
A TiVo lifestyle begins with something unavoidably awful: connecting TiVo to your TV, weaving strands of cables into just the right configuration. Thankfully, TiVo’s installation happens only once. And basic installation can be a breeze.
After you have your TiVo up and running, you can happily surf the channels by using the TiVo remote, which works very much like that old standard you use for the TV.
Hooking up your TiVo
Although there’s no single “right way” to connect a TiVo, all installations follow these three steps. The differences depend on the type of connections found on your TV, cable or satellite box, and other accessories. For the best possible picture, always identify and use the highest quality connections available on each piece of equipment.
1. Place TiVo near your TV.
2. Connect TiVo to your phone line.
3. Connect TiVo to your television signal.
If you don’t have a cable or satellite box, you may be able to simply screw your cable TV’s cable into TiVo’s RF In jack and then connect an identical cable between TiVo’s RF Out jack and your TV’s RF In or Cable In jack. (Sometimes the TV’s jack is simply called “Antenna.”) Tune your TV to channel 3 or 4 to see TiVo.
Cable or satellite box users have to follow two additional steps to complete the installation:
• 1. Set up TiVo to change the box’s channels.
• Depending on your type of cable or satellite box, you need to connect either TiVo’s IR Control cable or its Serial Control cable between TiVo and the box.
• 2. Connect sound and video cables from your cable or satellite box to TiVo’s input ports.
• TiVo accepts sound and video in several different ways, depending on your needs. Always choose the highest quality connections available.
Make sure that you have your TiVo, your TV, and your cable box, if necessary, plugged into the wall and turned on. (TiVo turns on automatically as soon as you plug it in.)
That’s it. You’re done! Your TiVo can now show you any channel that you want to watch (or record) through your TV. Ain’t technology grand?
Consider buying an inexpensive Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) for your TiVo (and cable/satellite box). Although TiVo handles power outages gracefully, it doesn’t like power fluctuations. (Your computers don’t like these, either.) Plugging your TiVo into a UPS (350VA rating or more) protects it and your recorded shows from harm.
Changing channels
You change channels with TiVo’s remote just as you did with your old remote - the one that came with your TV or cable/satellite box.
Just press the Channel button toward the top to advance a channel; press the lower part of the button to move down a channel. TiVo dutifully changes the channel accordingly.
The only time you may run into something odd is if TiVo’s currently recording the show you’re watching. TiVo must stay tuned to the current channel in order to record the show, so TiVo fills you in on its dilemma with a message that appears on the TV screen.
If you don’t want TiVo to finish its recording, choose “Change the channel, stop recording.” TiVo stops recording, saves the portion it has already recorded, and lets you change channels all you want.
But if you want TiVo to finish recording the show, press Select to abandon your channel change. TiVo continues recording the current show.
TiVo normally changes channels more slowly than your old TV or cable/satellite box remote. But if TiVo’s not changing channels properly, you may need to adjust TiVo’s setup.
08.Jul.08 TiVo Comment (1)
By James Jae Kook
If you have ever tried shopping for memory cards you know how difficult it can be especially if you don’t know much about them! Here are some basic tips to help you buy the best memory card that suits your needs.
Know the formats
There are many different formats available in the market as far as memory cards are concerned. Having knowledge about these is critical before you start shopping otherwise you risk buying a memory card which might be incompatible with your PC, digital camera or other host device.
SD Cards are a highly secure stamp-sized digital camera memory card, which weigh approximately two grams. Brands available include Sandisk, Toshiba, Kingston and Lexar. SD Cards can be used in a variety of digital devices, including mobile phones, digital music players, handheld PCs (HPCs), digital cameras, car navigation systems and electronic books. SD Cards have cryptographic security for copyrighted data based on proven security concepts from DVD Audio.
SDHC Cards are the next generation of SD cards but offer increased capacities (4GB - 32GB) and faster transfer speeds of up to 6MB per second (Class 6). These memory cards are primarily designed to be used in digital camcorders and digital cameras. However, their large capacity does allow them to be used in many other devices for additional storage, such as the new Asus eePC and other laptops.
Mini SD: This is available in sizes ranging from 1GB, 2GB and even 4 GB. They are compatible with all smart phone devices with a Mini SD or SD Card (with SD adaptor) slot and even digital cameras.
Micro SD: These are even smaller than mini SD cards. They range in capacity from 512MB to 2GB and are the most common form of mobile phone memory due to their compact size. They can be used as an SD card if inserted into an SD card adaptor, giving you versatility to use them in digital cameras and other memory card devices.
Micro SDHC: These cards are the next generation of Micro SD cards but offer much higher capacities, from 4GB - 32GB, and faster transfer speeds up to 6MB per second (Class 6). They will be use in next generation mobile phones to cope with capacity hungry files, such as MPEG4 and MP3.
USB Readers: You will most likely require a USB reader for accessing data on your memory card. Today’s PCs often come with readers installed as standard so that you can insert as many as 5-6 cards at a time. This enables good compatibility with digital camera memory card formats.
Compact Flash: These are cheap compared to many other types of memory card, readily available and can be used with several different devices. Using integrated ATA controllers these memory cards enable file management, I/O, error correction functionality etc. Traditionally Compact Flash cards have been favoured by Professional Photographers as they are available in various capacities and have a very high file transfer rate. To enable many photos to be taken in quick succession.
MMC: Also known as multimedia cards these are the size of a regular postage stamp. They are easily integrated into different devices and consume less power compared to other memory cards, so are ideal for devices that need to conserve battery power for other functions. They are generally used in digital cameras, MP3 players and older Nokia mobile phone models.
Memory Stick PRO DUO is a versatile memory card, suitable for several device types, including digital cameras, digital music players, digital voice recorders and the Sony PSP. Memory Stick PRO DUO is also compatible with all devices that accept Memory Stick PRO. Simply use a DUO adaptor and the Memory Stick PRO DUO becomes the size of a Memory Stick PRO memory card.
M2 Memory Stick Micro, available from Sony, Lexar and Sandisk, is approximately one-quarter the volume of Memory Stick Pro Duo memory cards, yet only about 1.2mm thick. M2 is designed as an externally removable memory card with a controlled eject function to prevent users losing their media, providing a secure storage solution for music, videos and photos. M2 Memory Stick Micro is also compatible with all devices that accept Memory Stick PRO DUO or Memory Stick PRO. Simply use an adaptor and it becomes the size you need.
07.Jul.08 Memory Stick Comment (1)
It is easy to put your music files into your IPhone and IPod, but how about your video files? I found it difficult at first to put them into my IPhone, and play them on the go. I really wanted this to work since I would like to have some DVD movies, music videos, sports videos and other personal videos available on my IPhone.
For music files, it is as usual, you just put the MP3, AAC or M4A files into your music folders, and add the folder to your ITunes Music library, and presto! When you synch your IPhone/IPod to PC, your music files are copied. I did this routine for video, but unfortunately, they are not recognized by my IPhone.
1. So the first step really is to know the right video file format to put in IPhone. It just doesn’t accept any kind of video file. You must have the following video format - MP4, MOV or M4V. Sorry you cannot play AVI, WMV, 3GP or DIVX.
The difference with these video file formats (MP4, MOV or M4V) supported on IPhone is the H.264 standard. It is an advanced MPEG-4 compression standard for video, to deliver high video quality at a smaller file size. H.264 technology is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC (Advanced Video Coding).
2. If you have an unsupported file format, you will need to convert those video files first to MP4, MOV or M4V before you can play those on IPhone. There are software that are made to do these, but there are also sources on the net that allows you to download movies on the right format, and with that, they also have a bundled software to convert your unsupported video file.
3. Transfer movies and videos to IPhone through ITunes. Put your MP4, MOV or M4V movies to your ITunes movie folder, then connect your IPhone to your computer via USB, and synch your IPhone to ITunes to copy your movies to your IPhone. You must be able to see your videos in your ITunes Movies Library, that is a sure sign that it will also be playable in your IPhone or IPod Touch.
That’s all! At first try you may find it fuzzy to put video into your IPhone, but from the 3 steps above, it is actually easy.
Tags: IPhone video, IPod Touch video, movies downloads
08.Feb.08 IPhone, iPod Comments (0)
