How to watch video on Nintendo DS with DPG Converter + Moonshell

This article describes two methods to watch video on Nintendo DS: Moonshell + BatchDPG + AviSynth , this is a free method, and another one is Moonshell + DPG Converter which is more easy with a little cost.

DPG - Also known as nDs-mPeG, usually abbreviated DPG, is a special format of MPEG-1 video specifically for playback using the homebrew Moonshell program for the Nintendo DS. So, for watching video on Nintendo DS we have to convert video to DPG with a DPG Converter.

Moonshell - a homebrew multimedia player for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS lite dual-screen handheld videogame systems.

Now, let start to watch Video on Nintendo DS with DPG Converter + Moonshell

Part 1, Watch Video on Nintendo DS with Moonshell + BatchDPG + AviSynth

Programs you will need:

AviSynth: Download
Microsoft .NET: Download
BatchDPG (A free DPG encoder need to work with AvisSynth): Download
Moonshell: Download
ffdshow Download

Step 1:
Downlod and install AviSynth, Microsoft .Net Framework 3.0 and ffdshow on your computer. Once you have all that done, you can download BatchDPG, and Moonshell.

Step 2: Download BatchDPG + Moonshell
Download BatchDPG from the above link, extract it to wherever. Also make sure you copy "avisynth.dll" to C:\Windows\System32 directory.
Afterwards, click BatchDPGMTv2.exe to open up BatchDPG, you can see the interface below.



Click "browse" next to media file and select your media file. Once your video is loaded, please input one of the two recommended settings in the section below and select a temporary path and final output path of your video. Once you are done, just click "Add" and click "Run". Please repeat if you have any more videos.

BatchDPG 1.3 Beta 5 Recommended Settings For Moonshell 1.71

Fullscreen

FPS: 20
Video bitrate: 386
Max bitrate: 512
Passes: 3
Profile: Ultra
Resizer - Spline16
Width: 256
Height: 192
Audio bitrate: 128
Samplerate: 32768
Mode: Joint Stereo
Normalize: On

Widescreen

FPS: 22
Video bitrate: 386
Max bitrate: 512
Passes: 3
Profile: Ultra
Resizer - Spline16
Width: 256
Height: 144
Audio bitrate: 128
Samplerate: 32768
Mode: Joint Stereo
Normalize: On

Tips: You can lower the amount of passes to reduce encoding time at the possible expense of quality.

Step 3: Download Moonshell from the above link and extract it. Insert you SD Card and transfer the extracted Moonshell files and converted DPG video files from your computer to SD Card.
Then, your can open up your Nintendo DS, enter the DS Card –> MoonShell and play your video.

Note: Some types of DS Card (such as SuperCard-DS) already installed Moonshell, just check your DS Card and if there it is, just ignore step 3.


Part 2 Watch video on Nintendo DS with DPG Converter + Moonshell

Step 1: You also need to download Moonshell from the above link if your Nintendo DS doesn’t have it in your SD Card.

Step 2: Just Download this DPG Converter, use it to convert video to DPG formats and transfer DPG files to your Nintendo DS with SD Card.
This DPG Converter is very professional for converting video to DPG, it can convert almost all video formats to DPG, provides video editing (crop, trim, effect adjust, watermark edit and plug-in subtitle) and also supports batch conversion.

MKV Format and Tips of Playing MKV Files on Mac

It can hold different types of video and audio. For example, there might be an .AVI file contained within the .MKV file.

The Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard free Container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks inside a single file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows. Matroska is similar in conception to other containers like AVI, MP4 or ASF, but is entirely open in specification, with implementations consisting mostly of open source software. Matroska file types are .MKV for video (with subtitles and audio), .MKA for audio-only files and .MKS for subtitles only. High Definition movies in 720 or 1080 pixel width format are often encoded and packaged as a Matroska format video with a .mkv file extension.

These excellent and free multimedia players can tackle many of the video formats unknown to QuickTime. They contain the decoder to decode the .mkv files. They will also play many of the formats you will find inside the .mkv file.

How to use MKV Converter for Mac to convert MKV on Mac for free?

( And here is an article about How to use MKV converter to convert MKV on Windows? )

The totally free video converter, iSquint - developed by Techspanion, can convert MKV to iPod (Nano, Classic, touch), convert MKV to iPhone, Apple TV, Xbox 360, PSP, PS3, AVI, MP4, MPEG, Flash and WMV. But Techspanion has been discontinue, you can download the final version on macupdate.com.
And after an outcry from fans, iSquint, the popular video converter on Mac OS X have now gone open source. It has got new name Film Redux. You can download its open source and built it by yourself. Here is a tutorial: How to build iSquint and VisualHub?

If you don't mind paying a little bit extra money for high quality and technical support, you can also switch to professional mac video converter. As the continuator of iSquint, iSkysoft video converter for Mac does this job well.

Now, you can enjoy MKV files unlimitedly on your Mac.

T-Mobile-branded HTC Touch Pro2 appears in the wild

It's really no secret that the Touch Pro2 is destined to arrive in the States on T-Mobile, but this is the first time we've seen the T-Mo edition not, uh, drippings with goo. And yes, that's a US-spec keyboard and the "fewer dots" US T-Mobile logo, so this looks like the real thing -- hopefully that means a launch is imminent. Hit the read link for a bunch more shots.
Update: Looks like the site is down for now, but thankfully Google cache has it on hand.

via: engadget

Apple iPhone & iPod Touch sales pass 37 million

Apple COO Tim Cook revealed during a second quarter earnings call on Tuesday that sales of the company's iPhone and iPod Touch devices have passed 37 million units. He said that sales of the touch-screen handhelds had more than doubled year over year. The sales figures combined make it an enormous platform for developers, particularly with games, which have been the most popular downloads from the App Store since it launched 9 months ago.

Apple and its development partners will soon "unleash a whole new level of innovation that keeps Apple years ahead of everyone else," according to Cook. The company said the success of the iPod Touch is clearly driven by the App Store. "All genres [on the App Store] are very popular," said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, "but games are quite popular. That's one of the reasons the iPod touch has been such a success."

In his preamble, Oppenheimer said the App Store now totals more than 35,000 applications. The company expects to pass 1 billion App downloads sometime on Thursday, April 23. It has also held its position on top of the portable media player market, with NPD recently confirming that Apple still holds 70 percent of the market in the U.S., and gains more ground each year worldwide.

via: afterdawn

Apple sinks lower, approving Baby Shaker, Poop the World apps

Apple continued to lower its standards for acceptable App Store content this week with the approval of two new applications, one designed to simulate violent, life-threatening acts on an infant. The object of Baby Shaker from Sikalosoft is to stop the crying of a baby pictured on screen by shaking the iPhone or iPod touch, until the crying stops and two red “x” marks appear over its eyes. Jennipher Dickens, whose son Christopher was injured by being shaken by his father, told Cnet, “As a mother of a child who was violently shaken at 7 weeks old, causing a severe brain injury, and the founder of a national organization for Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention (as well as the communications director for a national organization helping children with brain injuries), I don’t have to tell you how much this horrifies me!!!”
Update: Baby Shaker was removed from the iTunes Store shortly following the publication of this story.

Meanwhile, the scatalogical Poop the World from SWS Digital is designed to let iPhone and iPod touch users share details of their bowel movements, including time, place, consistency, and smell, with other users across the globe. Users are encouraged to select from one of 20 shapes that best approximate their most recent output, then a scent from a long list of possible smells. Details, including location, are then uploaded to SWS’ servers, allowing other users to track the details. Promoted by the developer with toilet paper rolls that feature the App Store logo, the app even offers trophies to users who accomplish set “goals.” Poop the World and Baby Shaker are available now from the App Store and sell for $2 and $1, respectively.

via: ilounge

Nokia to replace 5800 handset with capacitive touch panel version

According to sources at Taiwan handset component suppliers, Nokia is moving to replace the resistive touch panel used in the popular 5800 handset with a capacitive touch panel. The change is being made in order to compete more effectively with the products from Apple, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics on the market.

The initial orders from Nokia are enough for two million 5800 handsets, and shipments of the new version are expected to begin in May-June this year. Nokia's design and pricing strategy for the 5800 handset have been very successful, leading to sales of over three million units so far since the device was launched in November 2008.

Availability for the Nokia N97 handset is expected in the second quarter, while Nokia is also expected to roll out more models with capacitive touch panels, QWERTY keyboards and with ultra-thin designs during the third quarter.

via afterdawn

Hulu app coming to the iPhone soon

Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that a dedicated Hulu application is indeed on its way to the iPhone and should be here in just a few months.

SAI says the application will work over Wi-Fi and AT&T's 3G network, meaning that users will be able to view programming anywhere with a fast data connection.

Rumors suggesting that an iPhone-friendly version of Hulu swirled around this time last year, however, they predated the launch of the App Store, and Hulu flat-out denied that one was being worked on.

This time around, though, it's far more plausible, with the upcoming iPhone OS 3.0 software update, which lets developers bake streaming media into their applications. For Hulu, this means that the advertising could be stuck into the mobile stream and that users would be able to watch videos without leaving the application.

One of the things that keep this rumor from holding water is that Hulu is in direct competition with Apple's iTunes business. Users of Hulu can watch ad-supported, full-length television shows and movies on their personal computers for free, instead of paying Apple to download a copy for offline viewing.

If such an app were available on the iPhone, it would also offer portable TV and movie watching, something not yet offered in Apple's own mobile iTunes app, which is limited to video podcasts. In past instances of this, the company has simply denied applications such as Podcaster from making it through the app approval process, only to launch it as a first party feature later on.
On the other hand, some of Hulu's competitors have already gotten a foot in the door, including Joost and CBS-owned TV.com, which has its own iPhone application that streams in content in chunks. In addition, Google's YouTube, whose application comes preinstalled on the iPhone, has recently reached an agreement with major studios, including Sony Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment, and CBS (publisher of CNET News), to offer visitors full-length TV shows and feature films.

If Hulu can't manage to pull off getting advertisements in the stream, using this system, it would be fairly simple to force users to sit through advertisements between clips.

via news.cnnet

More Zune HD touch Details Emerge

After the leaked pictures of the Zune HD appeared on Saturday, more unconfirmed technical specifications of the device have now emerged. Microsoft's new portable media player is set to go neck-to-neck with Apple's iPod Touch, as the specifications of the Zune HD make it a viable contender.

The Zune HD is set to feature a multitouch (capacitive) OLED screen in a 16:9 aspect ratio and will have a TV out port on the side (apparently HDMI). Coming in 16 and 32GB versions, the device will also support wireless syncing to your computer. Some even speculate the PMP will support 3D Xbox games, if the Zune HD will actually use Nvidia's Tegra chipset.
The new details also mention a Web browser on the Zune HD, which in turn supports multitouch. No word on what kind of browser this will be, but let's hope it won't be anything similar to Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile. As previously reported, the Zune HD is set to launch this fall (probably September) with new details of international availability in Canada, the U.K, and France.

What is Microsoft cooking?

The tech blogosphere is also talking today about Zune-themed mobile phones. AdWeek reports that Microsoft is now taking bids for an ad campaign for a Zune mobile application dubbed Pink.
While some speculate that the Zune HD is likely to run on the long-overdue Windows Mobile 6.5 (expected in Q4, same as the Zune HD), it's more likely that WM phones would just share some services and feature with the new Zune.

via pcworld

Sony prices first touchscreen Walkman players

Sony has announced the price of its first ever touchscreen Walkman media players, part of the NX-X1000 series.

The NW-X1050, which will hit Japan on April 25th, will sell for $400 USD and has 16GB of built-in flash memory while its higher capacity brother, the NW-X1060, will sell for $500 USD and will include 32GB of memory.

Each player supports Wi-Fi and will allow playback of YouTube videos and the downloading of podcasts. Also of note, the players have integrated FM and 1Seg TV tuners and will allow recording of content if broadcasters support it.

The media players have nice OLED touchscreens and for audio support AAC, MP3 and WMA. For video files, MPEG-4, H.264 and WMV are supported.

EX earphones are bundled with each player and offer integrated noise reduction.

via afterdawn

Buy.com selling imported, unlocked iPhone 3G

Online retailer Buy.com has begun sales of “never-locked" iPhone 3G units, although it is unclear exactly where the units are from or whether they are protected by Apple’s standard one-year warranty. The units, which are listed as 16GB models but without any color specification, are priced at $800 each; a video accompanying the listing says the iPhones come from “overseas,” and may include instructions and other materials printed in Italian or some other non-English language. Confusingly, though both the video and the top portion of the listing indicate that the phones include the “Apple guarantee,” a separate block of text farther down the page indicates the phone “can only be returned to the distributor under” a “30 Day Limited Warranty.” Finally, although the page states that the phone can be used with T-Mobile in the U.S., T-Mobile’s 3G network operates on a different frequency than those supported by the iPhone 3G, meaning the device would be limited to standard EDGE connectivity when using T-Mobile’s network.

via ilounge

HP MediaSmart now streams to iPhone, iPod

A free firmware update to HP's MediaSmart Server has brought some nice improvements, providing remote video streaming and video conversion of unprotected content. The update enables the server to automatically convert videos (including unprotected DVDs) into two resolutions; the original, high-resolution file to stream to devices on a home network including PCs, Macs and gaming systems, and the mobile resolution file devices such as iPod touch, iPhone and PlayStation Portable (PSP).

The video converter will transcode most popular video formats into both high and mobile quality MPEG-4 (H.264) versions. "This new feature will help eliminate the frustration people experience when attempting to stream their videos to connected devices in the home or remotely to their mobile devices," said Jason Zajac, vice president and general manager, Worldwide Attach Group, HP.

Owners of an iPod touch and iPhone can download a new HP MediaSmart Server iStream application at no charge from the iTunes App Store, enabling them to stay connected to their digital media stored on the MediaSmart Server. Other software enhancements include an improved mobile streaming user experience, a more robust HP Media Collector, an improved Apple Time Machine configuration, and the ability to create public and private albums in the Photo Viewer.

via afterdawn

Play iTunes music on No-Apple players with AAC to MP3 converter

Apple on Tuesday followed through on its promise to remove all digital rights management (DRM) from music sold on the iTunes Store.

All songs on the iTunes Store are now available at 256kbps AAC encoding, which Apple says is virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings.



Why we need to convert AAC to MP3?



First, can we now just move the song purchased from iTunes to another player ?



Yes, but only if that player supports AAC. Obviously, iPods do, and some other players do as well, like the Sony Walkman NWZ-S738F, the Archos 5, and, yes, even the Microsoft Zune. But, if you want to play the music on other players that not support AAC, you need to find a AAC to MP3 converter to convert AAC to MP3 which can be accepted by almost all music players.



Second, what about the previously purchased iTunes tracks, does them still have DRM? If so, can I upgrade them?



Of course, and Apple is offering users a way to upgrade all of their existing music to DRM-free songs. Upgrading costs 30 cents per song. If you upgrade an entire album, it will cost 30 percent of the original album price and music videos can be upgraded for 60 cents. You can get to this upgrade link on the iTunes Store by clicking on "Upgrade to iTunes Plus."



But, if you purchased a lot of 99-cent tracks on iTunes over the years and want to find an more efficient way to remove the DRM, you can also try an AAC to MP3 converter, of cause it should be an DRM remover too.




How to convert AAC to MP3 with AAC to MP3 converter ?



First, download AAC to MP3 converter and install it.



Following is the screen shoot of a professional AAC to MP3 Converter called Aimersoft AlMusic Converter, it supports both protected and unprotected AAC to MP3 conversion and can also remove DRM from iTunes music.







Then, you can use it to convert AAC to MP3 and remove DRM with three clicks.



1. Click “Add” to load AAC files with the postfix .M4A (unprotected) or M4P. (copy-protected).

2. Click “drop-download” list at the bottom to select output format.

3. Click “start” to start conversion



And you can drag and drop all your music files to AAC to MP3 converter at a time, then do something else till it is finished.

DRM Ends, Variable Pricing Begins for iTunes Music

Apple on Tuesday followed through on its promise to remove all digital rights management (DRM) from music sold on the iTunes Store. The company also unveiled tiered pricing for individual songs and albums.
All songs on the iTunes Store are now available at 256kbps AAC encoding, which Apple says is virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings. Apple began the process of converting its music to remove DRM in January when Phil Schiller announced the move during his keynote address at Macworld Expo.
The other change to the iTunes Store involves pricing. Apple adopted new pricing options that include selling songs for 69 cents, 99 cents or $1.29. While there is no clear way to determine what songs will be priced at, Schiller did say that more songs would be priced at 69 cents than $1.29.
Of course, Apple is offering users a way to upgrade all of their existing music to DRM-free songs. You can get to this link on the iTunes Store by clicking on "Upgrade to iTunes Plus."

New iPhone to have 3.2-megapixel camera?

2-megapixel camera, an upgrade from the current model's 2.0-megapixel camera.
The sources claim that OmniVision has received orders for 3.2-megapixel CMOS sensors that are intended for upcoming iPhones, and add that Aptina and STMicroelectronics are also competing for the orders.
The reports also claim that OmniVision has secured orders to produce 5.2-megapixel sensors for Apple, although it is unclear what device they will be used in. The sources say the end product is expected to launch in Q3 2009 however.
Apple has been rumored to be working on netbooks, new iPods, and a new iPhone, all of which could use the sensors.

via afterdawn

Turn Your IPod or IPhone Into a Portable Drive

Whether you use your iPod or iPhone for entertainment, communication, or to amplify your cool quotient, all models share one thing in common: They can function as portable storage devices. Depending on the model, your device features either a hard drive or flash drive that allows you to read and write files to it just like an external drive once you enable it to do so. Here's how.

Enable your iPod

You can turn any iPod (except iPod touch, see below) into a portable drive using iTunes. If you manually manage your music instead of having iTunes automatically sync songs, you don't need to do anything-your iPod is already set to function as an external drive, and will mount and be accessible on your desktop whenever you connect it.

If you set iTunes to automatically sync music to your iPod, you'll need to enable disk use; connect your iPod to your Mac, open iTunes, and select your iPod in the Source pane under Devices. Click the Summary tab (or Settings tab for iPod shuffle) and then select the "Enable disk use" checkbox. Your iPod will now mount as a drive volume on your desktop whenever you connect it.

iPod shuffle users and those with any click-wheel iPod that can be synced over USB running iTunes 8.0 or later can additionally allocate the amount of disk space that will be reserved for storage when autofilling the iPod. To do this with an iPod other than an iPod shuffle, plug in the iPod, select it in the Devices area, click the triangle next to it to expose its contents, click on the Music entry, click the Settings button that appears at the bottom of the iTunes window, and in the resulting Autofill Settings window, use the Reserve Space for Disk Use slider to determine how much of the iPod's storage media will be reserved for data. Note that this slider works only when autofilling the iPod. If you sync data either automatically or manually to the iPod, this slider's settings will be ignored.

Enable your iPhone or iPod touch

Apple doesn't allow you to enable disk use on an iPhone or iPod touch, but that doesn't mean you can't turn either into a portable storage device if it's got space to spare. Here are a few iPhone apps that'll turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a wireless (yes, wireless!) drive. You might want to look at the user reviews in iTunes first before you give them a try.

Avatron Software Air Sharing, $5 (iTunes App Store)

Magnetism Studios FileMagnet, $5 (iTunes App Store)

mAPPn Discover, free (iTunes App Store)

Veiosoft DataCase, $7 (iTunes App Store)

Aditionally, you can use Ecamm Networks' $20 PhoneView to copy files to and from an iPhone or iPod touch.

via pcworld

Convert MKV Files for Playback on PlayStation3

If you have some videos in the .MKV format you're itching to play on your PlayStation3, check out this simple tutorial for converting them using mkv2vob.


What you will need:
- An MKV file
- MKV2VOB
- A PS3

What MKV2VOB does is remux an MKV file with x264 video and AC3 audio into a VOB file which is playable on your Playstation 3. Before you ask...no, this will not result in the loss of quality because the audio or video are not touched. The streams are split and mixed into the VOB file.


So you've got your MKV file now and you are ready to start remixing it:
- First, you have to open MKV2VOB and select the file which you would like to work on and then select where you would like to save the finished file. When you have done this, click "Save".


- You will then have a dialog box pop up that asks if you want to enable automatic MPEG2 transcoding. It is recommended that you click "Yes".

- Another box will then pop up when you start the whole process. Do not close this box. Wait for it to complete what it is doing.

- When that box has closed, another box will open. Again, do not close or mess with this box. Wait for it to complete what it is doing.

- When that box has finished doing what it is doing, yet another box will open. Leave this alone and do not close it.

- When that box has closed the task is complete and you should be presented with a "Remuxing Complete" box.