04.16.07
Posted in Multimedia, Services at 2:32 pm by Jonathan Greene
Via Nokia Press Release…
Orb’s intuitive solution simply streams a person’s own content from their home PC using the Web browser and media player of the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet thus creating a “personal media portal” from which users instantly access and enjoy home photos, videos, music, and even TV, from anywhere, anytime. With MyCasting, consumers can also remotely record TV programs using Orb’s Digital Video Recorder (DVR) function and then play back those recorded programs on the Nokia N800.
“The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet was developed to make it easy for people to access their favorite internet sites, content, and entertainment from the couch, airport or coffee shop- anywhere there is WiFi. Orb’s MyCasting is an excellent use of the device making it a jukebox of personal media,” said Ari Virtanen, vice president, Convergence Products, Multimedia, Nokia.
“Nokia offers a quality mobile web experience for users with the rich functionality being introduced in the N800 Internet Tablet,’ said Joe Costello, Chairman and CEO of Orb Networks. “When Orb unlocks that personal digital content on the home PC, the N800 becomes the one connected device to enjoy it all whenever and wherever you want.The combination offers a new level of media freedom and control for the customer.”
The MyCasting service which will be demoed on the Nokia N800 at Nokia’s booth (# 402) at Web 2.0 Expo this week is free of charge and is immediately available for download from www.orb.com/n800 as well as from the Tableteer site, which can be accessed via the Nokia N800. There’s no need to download additional software for the N800. Using the built in media player and browser, Orb works instantly.
I tried this today (of course) and had some issues. I don’t have a PC (it’s PC only) here, so Parallels it is and that’s most likely my issue, because I was unable to stream any content on my LAN. I’ll give this another try later on courtesy of Ricky’s collection… Orb lets you share with friends.
I also had some issues initially getting past the security prompt on the http://my.orb.com. I had to clear about 5 accept the cert warnings and then another one as the page refreshed (for good measure perhaps) only to find that the process failed. I tried once again (per Ricky’s advice) and it did load, but I was not able to get anything to play.
I will say this… While this is potentially a cool application, I think the Orb UI requires far too many clicks to just play a song or a video — especially when you are told the media format you’ve selected is not compatible. Orb can be setup as a UPnP server as well as a web streamer so on your LAN, you can choose to run either Canola or the MediaStreamer application which may work better. If someone has success with this, please let me know!
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04.12.07
Posted in Software Updates, Multimedia, Services, Basics at 9:15 pm by Jonathan Greene
I’ve never done an unboxing video so when a new N800 arrived today from the Nokia Blogger Relations Program, I thought this would be as good as anytime to get going. I realize now that the memory card adapter, I struggled with was just that an adapter… see what limited sleep can do to a geek??
I’ve broken things into two videos… First my unboxing, followed by my flashing the Firmware to Tablet OS 2007 v3 with a quick install and check-in with Rhapsody for good measure.
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03.29.07
Earthlink offers Free WiFi to N800 users…
Posted in Internet, Services at 11:02 pm by Jonathan Greene
…though there’s a catch.
While the Feather service is truly free, it only applies if you live or are visiting a city in which Earthlink offers service and lasts through the end of this year. As you can see from the map below, the cities with coverage today are: Anaheim CA, Corpus Christi TX, Milipitas CA, New Orleans, LA and Philadelphia, PA.
I personally find the map to be a bit misleading as Earthlink has chosen to shade an entire state even if they have a single city covered… Typically cities set up their own rules for what’s free vs. pay (or even public) on MuniWireless networks so it’s possible it will continue to be free in some markets - though as someone living in a place without such a network, I can’t offer any firsthand experience. Please let me know if you have success with this or other muni-networks.
In order to use this service, you’ll need to set-up a free account and download a small piece of software which enables your connection. I found the link in the Tableteer homepage - on the Tablet. (I had actually seen it in my applications manager earlier today, but could not think of a reason why I’d want to install an earthlink app…) The application installs easily from the Feather site though I honestly can’t tell you more about it or the service since there’s no access point on the feather network in Westchester, NY!
Regardless this is still cool as the tablet makes a great MuniWireless communicator - you’ve got web, email, presence (IM) VOIP and of course now streaming music! My parting thought on this is that I’d really like to see Nokia do more deals!! T-Mobile (my preference given Starbucks coverage), Boingo, and Wayport all offer much more coverage and would open the possibilities for WiFi Roaming and make this even more compelling.
Quick update… about 2 minutes after I posted this Twitter informed me that the PSP now includes Free WiFi with T-Mobile.
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03.27.07
Posted in Applications, Multimedia, Services at 11:58 pm by Jonathan Greene
As noted earlier today, the Rhapsody application has been officially released. I’ve been using for much of the day and I’ve been very impressed with how it works so far.
Some background… Rhapsody is Real’s subscription music service. It allows you to have unlimited listening access to their library of 3 million songs with a low monthly fee ($9.95 - $14.95). While this has traditionally been a Windows only thing, you can do most of what you can do from Windows directly on your tablet which is quite handy. I believe this is actually the first portable version of the Rhapsody service which works this way.
Clicking on the artist name lets you view deeper info and explore on the web…
When you download the application, you’ll probably note similarities to the MediaStreamer application if you’ve used it. The main difference here, branding aside, is that you can connect directly to the Rhapsody service and listen online. Of course you need to setup an account, which is free for the first 30 days and you’ll be prompted to either sign-up or sign-in when you start up for the first time. If you decide to continue it will run $9.95/mo for the Rhapsody unlimited service. Windows users can also open the client on their desktops and actually download the tunes for offline access. Currently the N800 is not a supported portable player, though for some reason the Nokia 3300 “Taco” phone is…
Here’s a video run-through of what to expect:
I am very happy with this new application! While it’s nice to stream music from online radio stations, Rhapsody puts you in control of both freeform as well as programmed music — all in the palm of your hand! It’s easy to search for tracks or simply surf the library. I love that my playlists stay active between sessions and that adding tunes to MyLibrary is instantaneous, whether from the desktop or tablet.
The only real bug I can note for now is that you can’t actually login on the web via the Tablet’s browser as Rhapsody does not support this version of Opera. I have to think this was an oversight in the release process and hope it will get fixed quickly. It’s not critical to login to use things, but it would be nice to use your account outside of the player.
I do wish it was possible to sync/download tunes to your media cards, but there’s always the next release…
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