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Elgato EyeTV for DTT Deluxe

Posted by drgadget on December 3, 2009 · 0 Comments 

Elgato DTT Deluxe
Image by Richard Clement via Flickr
Since my first wife left the marriage taking with her everything that had a plug attached I have always had a TV tuner for my computer.
The first couple were internal cards that went inside the desktop computer.  The picture was a bit iffy and, whilst they did have the capacity to record video, the hard disks at the time were so small it was hardly worthwhile.
Since switching to Mac’s I have used the EyeTV range from Elgato.  The first of these was the size of a paperback book and still used the analogue signal.  The second was down to the size of a pack of 20 cigarettes, the third the size of a USB memory stick – you can see where this is going!
I recently took delivery of their best unit yet, the EyeTV DTT Deluxe, and it is barely larger than the USB plug itself!  It comes with a clip-on telescopic aerial, a separate aerial for area’s with less signal strength and an adaptor for plugging into a normal TV socket.  Also included in the pack is a remote control and software that turns your Mac into a fully-fledged DVR (Digital Video Recorder).  The unit is an HD digital receiver and the picture is sharp and clear.  The software can be set to automatically convert a show for iPhone/iPod and AppleTV.  There is even an iPhone application that allows you to watch TV on the phone – effectively streaming live TV from the computer.
For the first time with Elgato EyeTV devices, Windows users are not left out.  The tuner works well with Windows 7 and Windows Media Centre and also comes with a software suite that claims to be nearly as good as that provided for Mac users.
To be fully effective you will need a subscription to an EPG service (Electronic Program Guide).  The easiest to set up for the EyeTV is called IceTV and it costs $99 per year – but this also includes web and iPhone software that allows you to remotely program the recording software.
The EyeTV for DTT Deluxe is available from MacFixit.com.au for $179.

Since my first wife left the marriage taking with her everything that had a plug attached I have always had a TV tuner for my computer.

The first couple were internal cards that went inside the desktop computer.  The picture was a bit iffy and, whilst they did have the capacity to record video, the hard disks at the time were so small it was hardly worthwhile.

Since switching to Mac’s I have used the EyeTV range from Elgato.  The first of these was the size of a paperback book and still used the analogue signal.  The second was down to the size of a pack of 20 cigarettes, the third the size of a USB memory stick – you can see where this is going!

I recently took delivery of their best unit yet, the EyeTV DTT Deluxe, and it is barely larger than the USB plug itself!  It comes with a clip-on telescopic aerial, a separate aerial for area’s with less signal strength and an adaptor for plugging into a normal TV socket.  Also included in the pack is a remote control and software that turns your Mac into a fully-fledged DVR (Digital Video Recorder).  The unit is an HD digital receiver and the picture is sharp and clear.  The software can be set to automatically convert a show for iPhone/iPod and AppleTV.  There is even an iPhone application that allows you to watch TV on the phone – effectively streaming live TV from the computer.

For the first time with Elgato EyeTV devices, Windows users are not left out.  The tuner works well with Windows 7 and Windows Media Centre and also comes with a software suite that claims to be nearly as good as that provided for Mac users.

To be fully effective you will need a subscription to an EPG service (Electronic Program Guide).  The easiest to set up for the EyeTV is called IceTV and it costs $99 per year – but this also includes web and iPhone software that allows you to remotely program the recording software.

The EyeTV for DTT Deluxe is available from MacFixit.com.au for $179.

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Augmented Reality

Posted by drgadget on October 1, 2009 · 0 Comments 

Augmented reality Blogged at The Mobile Learni...
Image via Wikipedia

The other day I sat down with my seven year old daughter to show her a new iPhone app that I had installed.  Not that this was a first – even my three year old has been quite competent with the iPhone since she was just turned two – a testament to Apple’s interface design!  What made this occasion different was my insistence that she remembered where she was on this day – the first time she played with a true augmented reality application.

Such applications are really only possible since the advent of the iPhone 3GS which has a compass, GPS and accelerometers which give it a fairly accurate idea of its location in three dimensions.

For some time web applications such as Google Maps have been overlaying data onto the maps and we have become quite used to finding information about surrounding businesses in such a way.  The iPhone 3GS allows developers to go one step further – taking away the 2D view of the map and replacing it with a real-time view of the world using the camera and screen as a viewport.  The application I was playing with is called NearestWiki.  You start the application and move the 3GS to look at the world around you – information badges appear in space which draw information from Wikipedia.  I was surprised how many entries there were near my house – I should imagine that when visiting a city it would be fascinating!

Probably the most exciting of such applications at the moment is called the Bionic Eye – which sadly does not have Australian data at the moment.  This shows shopping and public transport venues nearby.  When one is selected simply point the iPhone camera towards the pavement and arrows appear giving directions.

I believe that fairly quickly such technology will find its way into, perhaps, an attachment for glasses and will become ubiquitous.  Whilst the benefits of such data overlays are of interest in daily life – in medicine they are truly astounding!

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