Using Orb to Watch Recorded TV Shows While on Vacation
In a recent posting I discussed the cool free service at www.orb.com that allows you to stream videos from your home PC to a remote PC or device via the Internet. I actually used this service yesterday while on vacation at a nearby resort water park. It was late in the evening and my wife and kids were asleep (and I forgot my Zune!), so I pulled out my Dell laptop and connected to the hotel’s free WiFi and began watching a recorded episode of ER from my home PC on my remote laptop. The video actually played back without any pausing for video buffering, but the video and audio resolution was subpar. This was mainly due to the slow WiFi connection, no doubt due to everybody in the hotel surfing the web and checking emails late in the evening. In any case, it certainly sufficed in letting me watch a recorded TV show to wear me down before I feel asleep.
Of course, it would be GREAT if I could do the same thing using a Zune HD with a WiFi connection…. 
Streaming Videos From Home PC
Earlier this week I was out of town on a business trip, and I had several TV recordings waiting for me on my Home PC. Since I was bored surfing the local TV channels in my hotel room (nothing was on, of course), I wished I had access to my video recordings so I could watch them. Sure, I could have used logmein to put the WMV video files on an ftp server and then download them to my laptop, but that would have been a big hassle with the extra work, transfer times, etc.
Recently, I did discover a new free service called Orb which is a software package you install on your home PC (with an “always on” Internet connection) that will stream video, music, pictures, or documents to a remote computer system via the Internet. So if I had this software installed on my home PC, I could have watched my TV recordings on my laptop in my hotel and feel right at home!
Also, Orb can be used to display a live TV show from my home PC via the installed TV Tuner card, which sounds very much like what the SlingBox hardware can do. As a test, I found that streaming live TV shows in this manner appeared choppy and had a lot of delays with the stream buffering, but I imagine some of that can be fixed with some tuning of the streaming settings.
To use Orb, you simply go to mycast.orb.com in a standard web browser and log into your Orb account. From that point, you can select which video you want to watch from your home PC, and let Orb do its thing. Orb will do a quick speed test (to determine the resolution and streaming speed) and will then bring up an appropriate media player on your remote machine for playing the video.
When I tried streaming one of my WMV video files (converted by my PC for my Zune), it did come across the Internet connection very well with no delay in stream buffering. Most likely this was due to the fact that the video resolution was 320×240 and thus it didn’t need to send across too much data per frame. Still, using Orb seems to be an effective way of watching my TV recordings while away from my home PC.
What’s really cool, is that I was able to stream a WMV video file from my home PC to my Motorola-Q cell phone (with Windows Mobile 5 OS) which played in Windows Media Player. The video image was reduced in resolution, but it played fine. Not bad for a wireless internet connection via the Verizon cell phone service. I can certainly see myself using Orb to watch my TV recordings on my Moto-Q phone while waiting at the airport gate, in my hotel room, etc.
As another test, I tried accessing Orb using my wife’s Blackberry Curve smartphone. Sure enough, it worked fine for playing the selected video (albeit, the video image was small on her phone).
So, I highly recommend you check out Orb to see if it meets your video watching needs.
Zune Accessories After Christmas Sale
I was at my local Target store this morning picking up a pair of jeans and some badly needed socks, and I noticed the end aisle shelf containing the no-brainer men’s gifts (items such as nail clippers, wallets, key chains, flashlights, etc). Usually, these items are fairly inexpensive (and of low quality) and only appear during the Christmas shopping season. What caught my eye, were a few items that fell under the category of generic MP3 player accessories. There was a small “dock” that was basically a speaker with a small amplifier and a slot to hold a generic Mp3 player device. There was also a white colored pair of ear buds, and a small FM Transmitter for sending MP3 audio signals to a FM radio. All of these items were priced at $10 US, which were now selling for $5.00 (50% discount). I’ve always thought about playing my Zune music through the speakers in my car, so I decided to pry open my wallet and spend the five bucks for the FM Transmitter. Below is the packaging for this item:
This small, white transmitter runs on two AAA batteries or uses power from a cigarette lighter power cord (included). The unit also has 4 defined FM Channels to choose from for the signal transmission. So to use this device, you simply insert the mini plug into the head phone jack on your Zune, turn on the device, and select one of the preset FM channels. Read the rest of this entry »
Controlling Windows Media Center From Your Smartphone
While I’m on business travel, I sometimes forget to set the Windows Media Center software on my home desktop PC to record a special show or event. Luckily, there exists an application called WebGuide4 that allows me to remotely examine my current recording schedule, and make whatever changes I see fit. It’s all web-browser based, so I can make the changes either in a desktop web browser like FireFox or Internet Explorer, or from Pocket Internet Explorer on my Moto-Q smartphone!
Much like the LogMeIn software (which I mentioned in a previous posting), you install a small server application on your home PC which listens for a requested connection from the outside internet world. You can initiate a connection from a remote PC (or your Smartphone) by pointing your web browser to a specific web address that is designated for your computer with a user-defined port access number. This will bring up a special login screen where you can log into your computer system (via the small web server application) to see your current recording schedule and make changes if necessary. I particularly like the fact I can do this using my Moto-Q phone while waiting at the airport or whenever I have some free time on a business trip.
The WebGuide software also has a provision for streaming recorded video to your remote desktop screen, but I found that it works pretty slow and is somewhat unreliable (probably a function of the internet speed).
Since this is all free, it’s definitely worth checking out and playing with if you like to stay connected to your PC and not miss any favorite shows!
Remote Access Your Desktop PC using LogMeIn
When I’m watching my 4 year-old son downstairs in my family room, I often sit at the kitchen table with my Dell laptop and surf the web or try to get some work done via a wireless connection to our home router. What I find most convenient, is using Windows Remote Desktop to connect to my main desktop PC located in my office upstairs. Using my internal home network, I can “see” and interact with my main desktop PC just as if I was sitting in front of it. Luckily, the Windows Vista Business OS has the option of remote desktop access built-in (Vista Home Premium, however, doesn’t).
Recently, I’ve been using a web-based service called LogMeIn which allows me to similarily connect to my main desktop PC from outside my local home network. For example, I often connect to my home computer while on business travel from my hotel room. Why would I want to do that, you might ask? Well, it’s much easier for me to initiate the remote connection to my home PC and then fire up Outlook to check my emails, or to bring up the FireFox web browser on my home PC to access my favorite links, etc. This is much easier than trying to duplicate mail accounts and web links on my work laptop (which I take with me on business trips), and I can keep work files and business files separate.
What’s nice, is that LogMeIn works very well, and is fast (with a reasonable internet connection). And best of all, it’s free! There’s a version called “LogMeIn Free” which is a freeware version of the LogMeIn application that does everything I need to do. The only thing it doesn’t have, is the ability to easily transfer files to and from my desktop PC (if you want that feature, you’ll need to get the paid subscription version of LogMeIn). Read the rest of this entry »
Vacationing With My Portable DVD Player (a.k.a., Zune 80)
For the 3rd year now, my family goes on a 4-hour drive to a friend’s beach house on the Washington coast. It’s a nice short vacation where my wife, son, and two nieces have fun playing in the ocean and visiting the shops and arcade at the local beach town. Being in such a remote location, the beach house doesn’t have good TV reception or cable TV service, so we’re stuck watching DVDs on a 2nd-hand DVD player that is not quite working right (it seems that all “beach houses” or “cabins” have such defective equipment).
This year, I came prepared with my trusty Zune 80 and AV cables in tow. I knew that my nieces like the TV show Family Guy, so I recorded a few episodes along with the movie School of Rock for us to watch during the evenings at the house. When I converted the DVR-MS video recordings (from my TV Tuner card) to WMV format for my Zune, I had the DVRMSToolbox software remove all the commercials to avoid the need of skipping through them. I also converted the videos to these specifications:
- Audio and Video: CBR (Constant Bit Rate)
- 30 fps
- Video Rate: 700 kbps
- Audio Rate: 128 kbps, 44 kHz
For the Family Guy episodes, I used 320×240 screen resolution, and for the School of Rock video I used 640×480.
To watch the videos on the TV set at the beach house, I connected my composite AV cable to the headphone jack on my Zune 80, and connected the other end of the cable to the RCA inputs on the TV set. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my wireless Zune remote control so I had to do all the video selecting, volume, etc. on the Zune device itself (not a big deal).
As it turned out, both the 320×240 and 640×480 videos looked very good on the TV set. In fact, I would say they looked just as good as any of the DVDs we played on the attached DVD player. Aside from the fact that my nieces thought it was pretty cool to play videos on the TV from my Zune, using my Zune as a portable DVD player actually worked out great. So, I highly recommend using a Zune in this capacity if you’re traveling on vacation with your family and need a small DVD player device to keep the kiddies entertained.
Off Topic: Flying First Class
This is totally off the topic of Zunes, but it’s a slow day and I thought you might find it amusing (or even informative!).
Up until a few years ago, I really never traveled very much for my job. I probably flew on a plane a total of 6 times over a 15 year period. With my latest job, I actually travel quite a bit visiting customers throughout the USA helping them with issues and problems. After the first 6 months working for my current employer, I was on a flight to Sacramento, CA and I noticed during check in that I was upgraded to a first class seat. I asked the person at the ticket counter about this, and she said I was automatically upgraded because I was a Silver-Elite Frequent Flyer and they had an empty seat available in First Class. What a pleasant surprise, since I didn’t know I had traveled enough that year to have earned such a privilege, and it would be the first time I’d ever flown first class.
First off I get to board early with the other first class passengers, and my seat is huge and roomy. There’s two of us seated where normally there are three (in coach class), and my legs aren’t crammed up against the seat in front of me. As the other passengers are boarding, the special flight attendant designated for first class says to me, “my name is Danielle, and I will be attending you during the flight. How should I address you?”. Huh? I thought. I responded with, “… I guess you can call me Dave”, but later I thought I should have said, “you can call me Master-of-the-Universe!”. She then asked if I wanted anything to drink, which I responded, “a cup of coffee would be nice”. Quickly she handed me a steaming cup of coffee (in a ceramic mug) and then began to attend to the other first class passengers. Read the rest of this entry »
Finally, I spotted another Zune in the Wild!
Since getting my Zune 80 as a Christmas present, I’ve been on the lookout for other Zuners. Living in the Seattle area, you would think my chances are pretty high in seeing another Zune owner since Microsoft is nearby, Seattle is a high tech area, the University of Washington is here, etc. However, I haven’t come across one person with a Zune. Lots of iPod owners, but no Zuners…. until yesterday.
I was in Bremerton, WA waiting for my ferry ride back to Seattle, and I saw two guys comparing their Zunes in the local Starbucks. They were both shocked to find the other holding a Zune, and talked briefly about their particular models (both has the Zune 30). I was going to say something, but I was stuck in line ordering my drink. So there you have it– there are other Zunes in the wild!
Most likely, I would think that people keep their Zunes in their coat pocket and thus they aren’t so visible. Also, they could be well concealed in leather cases and pouches. In any case, it’s good to see a few other people using their Zunes in the Seattle area.
Traveling with my Zune
Sorry for the lack of postings recently, as I’ve been away on business travel. I was actually looking forward to my most recent trip, as I was planning to make use of my new Zune 80 for the plane flight. Normally, I would fly Alaska Airlines or Northwest Airlines for my trips, but this time it made more sense for me to fly Delta Airlines to my destination. As this was my first time with Delta, I wasn’t sure what to expect for the flight. I was pleasantly surprised to find my outbound and inbound flights were on a Boeing wide-body aircraft (very roomy), and each seat had a personal entertainment system in the headrest. I was able to watch various satellite TV shows and play a few trivia games during the flight, and because of this I never made use of my Zune 80 for entertainment. My business meetings all week ran very late, so I didn’t have an opportunity to even use my Zune after hours to watch a movie or video podcast. So as a result, I never took my Zune out of it’s travel case!
I also was trying to be more observant of others around me who were using a Zune device, but I didn’t come across any other Zuners. Lots of people using iPods and other media players on the plane, in the airport, and on the subway trains, but nobody with a Zune. So to date I still haven’t come across another Zuner. Never fear, I do have two more trips coming up where I might come across a Zune owner in my travels.
Maps For Your Zune
Here’s something that I came across at ZuneBoards.com called zNav, which is an application that generates jpg images of maps and directions. The zNav help page states: zNav is a utility program that uses Yahoo maps to build driving directions in an image format compatible with the Microsoft Zune. Additionally, you can do a business search for a location and create an image with the business name, address, phone number, and map. For any business found, you can get driving directions to or from that location.
Since the only type of “file” you can sync to your Zune are picture images, this utility generates jpg image files with the desired information. Nice if you carry your Zune with you frequently and want such mapping information handy. Since I have a Motorola-Q Smartphone (with online mapping capability) which I carry with me always, I probably wouldn’t use this application. Nevertheless, an innovative tool for storing non-entertainment media on your Zune.
