DLNA - Digital Living Network Alliance

You’re going to be hearing more about a new acronym -- DLNA…..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Living_Network_Alliance

….especially in reference to HD-TVs, Blu-Ray players, etc. New models of these devices already incorporate wired or wireless Internet networking, to access online services such as NetFlix video streaming. But in addition to a “Networking Blu-Ray player or Wifi networking HD-TV”, you’ll see references that these devices are also ‘DLNA-enabled’.

Essentially this means that home entertainment devices with networking can also access stored video/music/photos on home computer equipment. Microsoft is part of this group, interestingly Apple is not. Other members include AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and Cisco/Linksys (see above for complete list).

So far, over 8,000 devices have been certified for DLNA.

More Reliable Internet

Internet outages can happen to ANY internet supplier -- AT&T T1, AT&T DSL, Comcast, Wowway, etc. -- affecting thousands of customers. But end user outages and interruptions can also occur, making you think your ISP(internet service provider)'s service is less reliable than it really is.

To the average person, "internet infrastructure" is about as sexy as the plumbing at home. But I think the time has come to pay some attention to it, as your internet infrastructure will be your 21st Century foundation. If it doesn't work well, then all the things you'll want to connect to it won't work well -- or at all! And it doesn't have to be costly -- doing a few things right will enable you to enjoy all those useful 21st Century technologies which are becoming available.

First of all, you need high speed internet from Comcast, AT&T, or Wowway. With AT&T, make sure your DSL is a minimum of 3Mbps download so you qualify for free security software (for 4-10 PCs). If you have Comcast or AT&T U-Verse, you're all set.

Then, most people will want a wireless (WiFi) router to give fast wireless internet to laptops, netbooks, iPod Touch, Kindle readers, and wireless printers. Again, this is included with AT&T U-Verse. For AT&T DSL users, get one of AT&T's 2Wire Gateways. For others, the best router I like right now is the Netgear WNR3500L. About $80, has gigabit ethernet, and fast wireless N300 capability.

Plugging your internet infrastructure (cable/dsl modem and router) into a surge protecting power strip protects your equipment against damaging surges or over-voltages of electricity. But while electrical undervoltages can also damage the equipment (particularly power transformers), they can also cause your networking gear to lock up and stop working. The usual solution to this is to unplug the equipment for 5-10 seconds, and then plug it back in.

But as the number of wired and wireless devices in your home or office grows, the best solution is to get a small battery backup UPS (uninterruptible power source, starts about $50 for 200 watts) to plug your networking equipment into. This will feed a constant stream of power to your devices, regardless of whether or not the battery is being recharged from wall power. Your networking devices will sail uninterrupted through power surges, brownouts, "blips", and even short duration outages (ie 30-45 minutes with a small battery).

With a UPS Battery making your infrastructure reliable, you can confidently add 21st Century internet devices and services (ie digital phone service, iPod Touch, streaming NetFlix to your HD-TV) to your home or office, knowing that your internet signal will be there for them.

Note: You CAN get larger capacity UPS units which will power a PC or server along with your networking gear. Larger units also include a monitoring cable and software, so that when the battery has 5 minutes of capacity left, it will automatically (and gracefully!) shutdown your PC. See your Professional Nerd for more details and answers to your questions.

NetFlix

If you've noticed the closing of Blockbuster Video stores, it's because of NetFlix. They are the service which will mail movie discs to/from your home, charging a flat monthly fee and no late charges.

If you're not interested in snail-mailing discs, you MAY be interested in NetFlix's latest offer -- unlimited video streaming for $9 per month. Personally I think THIS offer is going to do to HBO and Showtime, what mailing discs already did to Blockbuster.

Video streaming means delivering movies real-time via your high-speed internet connection. With a single NetFlix account you can watch movies of your choice on the internet device of your choice. This means PC, Mac, and personal devices such as iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad.

To use this with your big screen TV, it too has to have an internet connection. Some of the latest HD-TV models are internet/WiFi (home wireless internet) ready. To others, you can easily attach a laptop via VGA/HDMI connection. But the most interesting (and inexpensive) way to do this, is to purchase a "networking" Blu-Ray player. Prices have bees steadily falling to where a 'wired' networking Blu-Ray player such as the Panasonic DMP-BD65 are now $120 from CompUSA stores. Like a PC, this requires an ethernet wire between your high speed internet router and where you'll have the Blu-Ray next to your big screen TV. For $40 more, CompUSA can sell you a Samsung BD-P3600 Blu-Ray player with built-in WiFi (home wireless internet), so you don't need to run a wire from your router.

With devices like these attached to your big-screen TV, just use it's remote to setup your NetFlix account, ignore the DVD queue, and start searching for and adding items of interest to your 'Instant Queue'.

A networking HD-TV/Blu-Ray player has a fully functional web browser which can also be used for web surfing as well as viewing live TV internet streaming, and stored YouTube videos.

Professional Nerds - Delivering 21st Century Technology !

Epson photo printing direct from iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad

Instead of making your next printer yet another HP, the 75 million iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad owners should consider an Epson printer (see supported models below) and Epson's free "Epson iPrint" application for printing photos directly from your device.

Many of you know that I'm a fan of Epson printers such as the Artisan 810 (print/copy/scan/fax w/wireless networking), and that I own (and love) last year's model, the Artisan 800. The Artisan paper tray has 2 levels built-in; you can have 8.5x11" plain paper AND photo paper (3.5x5, 4x6, or 5x7) loaded at the same time. Plus you won't have all the cumbersome buttons; the Artisan printers have a large touchpad with 'soft keys' as well as photo preview. Artisan 810 lists for $299, but shop around, you can find them on sale for $199. If you really want a 2nd paper tray (for envelopes and other things, they're available for $25 including shipping).

Supported Epson printers with Ethernet or Wi-Fi connections (USB not supported for Epson iPrint):
* Artisan® 700, 710, 800, 810
* Epson Stylus® NX420, NX510, NX515
* WorkForce® 310, 520, 600, 610, 615

All charged up!

You KNOW it's going to be a good day when you awake early from a refreshing night of sleep, have a good breakfast to start the day right..... and when all of your 'devices' have been recharging all night long! Somehow the list keeps getting longer, and in my case that includes:
- Blackberry Storm2 smartphone
- BlueAnt bluetooth headset (announces Caller ID number for incoming calls!)
- Dell XPS Studio laptop computer
- Apple iPad (32GB WiFi only)

Miss recharging any one of these, and your 21st Century life will suffer! Just yesterday afternoon I was on hold with a support line somewhere in India. My headset had been beeping, indicating that it was about to die, and just after it did, my cell phone battery indicator went 'red'! Had it also died, I would have lost the call, and had to get back in line to wait 'on hold with India' yet another time! I was able to plug the phone into a USB charger on my laptop before it died, but it was a short cord, and I looked very funny leaning over the laptop keyboard and holding the phone in my hand.

I still like the fact that my iPad just sips electricity - 10 hours of battery life, and I only recharge it every 2-3 days, rather than nightly like everything else. Steve Jobs and Apple may be onto something here. In the marketing wars between the Apple iPhone, Motorola Droid, Blackberry Storm2, Palm Pre, and various iterations of Windows Mobile, I can say without a doubt that the one phone I had with Windows Mobile just guzzled electricity. I'd even got an expanded battery "bulge" for it, and it still barely lasted 1 day.

So don't forget about battery life when looking for your next smartphone or other device. If you run out of battery before you run out of day, you'll just find yourself with the added stress of fumbling amongst various car chargers and laptop USB adapters to keep enough juice in the devices so your 21st Century LIFE keeps moving forward!

iPad Mania

When I first saw the announcement of Apple's iPad back in February, what flashed into my mind was a scene from the 1968 movie: "2001" where the astronauts are 'reading the newspaper' using an electronic device called a 'newspad'. I knew I had to have one, not only because people will be asking me about it, but I needed first-hand experiences of the iPad's value, both business and personal. OK, ok, for me, it's also a tax write-off!

SETTING EXPECTATIONS: An iPad is a VIEWER whose battery lasts TEN HOURS. It's NOT a 'computer' ie a laptop or netbook replacement. The 1.0 iPad is missing some things, however not only does it open other doors, Apple sold over ONE MILLION of them in the first 30 days -- and that's just in the USA! Net-net, I expect that most wanted features WILL be added.

Like laptops and netbooks, all iPads have WiFi wireless internet. In addition to the basic type, there's also a "3G" model which has both WiFi and 'always-on' cellular-based internet access for $30 per month. Both types have 16GB of solid-state 'disk' (aka SSD) storage (no rotating disk drives) and enhanced models come with 32GB or 64GB of SSD.

Since 3G iPads are scarce and I already have a MiFi 3G wireless router from Verizon, I chose the non-3G iPad, but with 32GB of SSD. iPad's have a very nice 'virtual' keyboard built-in, and I added a Mac wireless Bluetooth keyboard for experimentation (3 weeks later it's hardly been used).

As with iPhone, iPod, and iTouch, the iTunes software on your PC or Mac is the basis for adding content to the iPad, whether it be music, photos, or videos. I synchronized a bunch of family photos and took the iPad to Mother's Day dinner where Mary and Grandma Novak enjoyed them very much. Son Jeff used the iPad with the MiFi 3G to show GrandPa Novak about Facebook. I took this photo with my Blackberry phone, uploaded it to Facebook, and they were viewing it two minutes later.

Even the base models with 16GB, iPad requires about 3GB of overhead, so there's still a LOT of storage for music, electronic books (including FREE as well as Amazon Kindle purchases), and photos. But there's more -- a DVD movie can be "ripped" and sync'd, and only requires 1.3GB each (http://www.magicdvdripper.com/ $35). In addition to synchronizing via iTunes, iPads can get your own "cloud shared" files via DropBox (http://www.dropbox.com, first 2GB free). So who cares if there's no direct USB port on the iPad?

There are many free apps, but I've bought 4 which I find very useful:

1) GoodReader ($1) for viewing MS Word, Acrobat PDF, and many more types of files

2) Keynote ($10) which converts and displays PowerPoint presentations

3) iPad to VGA ($29) external video connector (iPad resolution is 1024x768).

4) LogMeIn Ignition ($30) which lets your iPad remotely control another computer.

Son Jeff the music teacher has already tried the iPad for turning sheet music pages while piano playing!

So there you have it. An ultra-light, ultra-thin content viewer with WiFi and/or 3G internet, useful applications, plenty of storage, and a battery which lasts 10 hours. Thumbs UP !

Problems playing videos

Ever tried to play a video on your computer, and while you could hear the sound, you couldn't see the picture? What your viewer/player software (such as Windows Media Player) is missing is a ‘codec’ – that’s a COmpression/DECompression algorithm your videos were originally encoded with. While you could spend time converting the videos to another format, it may be MUCH easier just to add additional CODECs to your machine.

Here are two free resources:

A) Safely download and install the KLite Mega CODEC collection from File Hippo:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_klite_mega_codec/

B) Now go to the DIVX website and download their free package which includes a player and a video converter, but most importantly, an additional collection of CODECs which also can be used with other viewers such as the built-in Windows Media Player.

http://www.divx.com/downloads/divx/1

Full DIVX details here: http://www.divx.com/en/software/divx-plus

Between these two, you should be able to play your videos in Windows Media Player without having to spend lots of time converting files -- but THAT is the subject of another post!