Sunday, November 28, 2010

MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [November 27th]” plus 7 more

MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [November 27th]” plus 7 more

Link to MakeUseOf.com

Cool Websites and Tools [November 27th]

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 07:31 PM PST

Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE or come with a decent free account option. You can make use of them without spending a dime. If you want to have similar cool websites round-ups delivered to your email daily email subscribe here.

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Moto Diary – If you are looking for an extremely simple and minimalistic online tool to start writing a daily journal then MotoDiary is something you should try out. This cross-browser tool that runs even on a cellphone, gives you a pen and paper feel when you type on its interface. The best part is the security. Read more: MotoDiary: Simple & Secure Online Journal

 

iPhone 4 Simulator – If you are an iPhone web app developer, then after you create an app, you need to test it. To do this you open up Safari in your iPhone and head on over to your web app's URL. But through iPhone 4 Simulator, you can test your web app while staying on your main computer. Read more: iPhone4Simulator: Try iPhone Apps Online

 

 

Zin.To – Want your Twitter followers to call you without giving them your number? Zin.to lets you do that painlessly. Once you sign in to Zin.to using your Twitter credentials, you can provide a mobile number or Skype ID. Zin.to then lets you send a tweet out to your followers including a unique URL. When anybody click on that unique link, they'll be able to call you without actually seeing your number. Read more: Zin.To: Let Your Twitter Followers Call You For Free

 

 

Sound Cities – The sound of the urban jungle is unique to each city. You won't find the same combination of blazing cars, humming factories, pedestrian and crackles in the same place. These sounds make a living, animated city. Soundcities is a web tool that visualizes all these sounds. This online database combines Google Maps with sounds found online and field recordings. Read more: SoundCities: Discover City Sounds On A Map

 

 

HooeeyWebprint – Suppose you cannot find a Wi-Fi signal for your laptop or your internet is having problems. You visited a website yesterday that you need to view to complete a presentation you are working on. What do you do? Answer: HooeeyWebprint. Thanks to this neat tool you will be able to reopen those previously visited websites even if you do not have an internet connection. Read more: HooeeyWebprint: A Software To Capture Web Pages for Quick Offline Viewing

 

These are just half of the websites that we discovered in the last couple of days. If you want us to send you daily round-ups of all cool websites we come across, leave your email here. Or follow us via RSS feed.


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Organize Your Gmail Inbox Better With ActiveInbox

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 05:31 PM PST

organize gmail inboxWe send and receive lots of emails daily. Many of the messages we receive are important ones requiring some further action or reply – but most of these emails are automatic notifications and updates from our social networks and subscriptions. How to make sense of all this clutter? How do we not miss something really important in that mess?

There are a lot of ways to. For example, you can use scheduled reminders not to forget to get in touch with the person again. Or you can schedule emails and delay replies in Gmail or use Gmail Priority inbox to reduce the clutter. And of course don’t forget our Ultimate Guide To Gmail for plenty of tips on how to make the most of Gmail.


This post looks at one such tool that helps you better organize your Gmail inbox (by taking the full advantage of Gmail labels). ActiveInbox, formally known as GTDInbox and GTDGmail (mentioned in our Gmail productivity post earlier), is a handy Gmail companion that makes the proper use of Gmail labels to help you get your inbox better organized.

Step 1: Install & Set Up ActiveInbox

The first thing you will need to do is to install the tool. It is installed as a regular browser addon and can run on FireFox and Google Chrome.

After installing the tool, you will need to create your first Status labels that help you turn emails into tasks. Status labels are regular labels in Gmail – you can add or remove them later to suit your needs as you start using ActiveInbox.

After this is done, you will see the following taskbar on top of each of your emails:

organize gmail inbox

Playing With New Label Types

Basically, what the tool does is rearrange your existing labels to make your inbox easier to manage. You can see it in action in this video :

Status Labels

With the tool you’ll be encouraged to mark every message using the main three status labels:

  • Action: Track important emails until the tasks are completed;
  • Some day: Track email you don’t know how to deal with but feel they are too important to be deleted or ignored completely;
  • Waiting on: Track emails that you plan to reply in the nearest future.

Once you choose any of the statuses, the message becomes trackable via ActiveInbox’s sidebar.

This is the key to safely emptying your inbox: give your actionable emails Status, archive them and use your sidebar to track them until they’re complete.

You can now quickly load the list of messages which, for example, are waiting for a reply and even preview them in the pop-up screen:

organize gmail

From there you can also change the status label or archive the email as done or skipped.

Projects & References

While status labels categorize the emails as tasks based on which action they require, projects are meant to organize your messages thematically. You can turn your existing labels into projects or create new ones:

organize gmail

Reference labels are meant to make your messages easy to retrieve later, e.g. R/MeetingNotes, R/Invoices, R/Receipts.

Browse Emails More Efficiently

Apart from helping you to organize your inbox, the tool also adds a few nice features that let you quicker dig into each specific email conversation:

  • See ‘previous emails‘ for compose/reply view
  • Browse related emails in conversation view
  • See ‘Contact History‘ popup on right-click on a contact
  • Preview emails in the inbox and search results on right-click

organize gmail

Preferences

The best thing about the tool is that you can use it “as much as you want of it”. ActiveInbox’s preferences hiding behind the About & Help link in the sidebar let you set every bit of the tool feature range:

organize gmail inbox

Tips and Tricks

All in all, the tool does a great job helping you make sense of your Gmail (or Google Apps) inbox. Here are a few helpful tips to make the most of it (note: you can do most of these with Gmail even without the tool but with ActiveInbox it seems just so much more fun):

  • Don’t check your inbox multiple times a day and reply to each new one – it is so inefficient. Better set up status and project labels to let your inbox get sorted by itself.
  • Never forget to follow-up: let your emails hang in the “Waiting on” folder until you hear back.
  • Set up Gmail filters for all “service announcement” emails (Facebook notifications, Twitter updates, etc.) to put them into a special label and archive automatically. That way you can read them when you want to, but they don’t clog your inbox.

Do you think this tool might help you organize your inbox? Please share your thoughts!


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Hot Tech Deals [Nov 27th]

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 12:15 PM PST

If you’re in the market for a new computer, laptop, mobile phone, games and other accessories; don’t waste your time searching online. We’ve taken the liberty of locating the best tech deals and unifying them into a single post for your convenience.

For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.

Keep reading to find out today’s Hot Tech Deals.

  1. Sharp LC19SB280UT 19in LCD HDTV $149.99 Free Shipping

  2. TODAY ONLY Kensington SD100 Notebook Docking Station $19.99 Free Shipping

  3. Legacy 17in Checkpoint Double Slimcase Computer Sleeve $25.99 Free Shipping

  4. STILL IN STOCK Gamestop Black Friday Deals

Image credit: Modified from Svengraph’s icon set


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Get Hulu’s Free Videos Working In Boxee Again

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 11:30 AM PST

hulu boxeeThere’s nothing worse than a program losing features, so it’s understandable that Boxee users are upset about Hulu’s latest outage in their favorite media center.

Lucky there’s an easy fix. The enthusiastic community over at the Boxee forums found a way to get Hulu working on Boxee, at least for now. By masking Boxee so that Hulu can’t tell it’s not a desktop browser, this simple hack will give you access to your favorites once again.

Get Hulu working on Boxee again, quickly, without having to pay for Hulu Plus. Just follow these simple instructions.

What Happened

So you fire up a video in Boxee, and instead of seeing your show you see this message:

hulu boxee

With the recent release of the Boxee Box, Boxee is trying to get as many for-pay services working on the platform as possible. The NHL, Netflix, Vudu and MLB are all signed on; Boxee’s hoping Hulu will sign on too.

Hulu, incidentally, recently launched their new pay service: Hulu Plus. It would seem Boxee is posed to become an official platform for Hulu Plus, but support for free Hulu videos needed to go as a condition.

That’s a shame. Guess we’ll just have to get it working ourselves.

Get The Script

First things first: you need to download a script. Don’t worry; it’s easy. Head over to this posting on the Boxee forums and download the text file in post number four. If you download the script from here you’ll first need to register, and you’ll also need to rename the .txt to “hulu.js”.

Too complicated? Fine. Check out this handy post on 9minutesnooze, which features a download you don’t need to register for or rename.

Drag And Drop

hulu boxee

Now that you have what you need, it’s time to put it in the right place. Where the right place is, of course, depends on your operating system of choice. For Windows users, the right place is “C:\Program Files\Boxee\system\players\flashplayer\”. Ubuntu users should move the file to “/opt/boxee/system/players/flashplayer/hulu.js”. Finally, Mac users should move the file to “/Applications/Boxee.app/Contents/Resources/Boxee/system/players/flashplayer”.

That’s it. Fire up Boxee, if you closed it, and try to play something on Hulu. It should be working!

Enjoy

hulu on boxee

Note that Boxee is starting to show content only available on Hulu Plus, meaning some of the videos listed as working on Boxee won’t work. But if you just use Boxee to watch Hulu’s free content, you’ll find everything working beautifully.

This is how it should be. In a blog post back in March of 2009, Boxee founder Avner Ronen promised Boxee users they’d always have access to legal online content:

To our users: if you choose to use Boxee as your media browser to view legal and publicly available content on the internet, we will do everything we can to ensure that you can access it, no matter what the source.

It would seem Boxee’s dropped this commitment, in the name of becoming an officially approved device for the Hulu Plus store. Sad.

Alternative

Is this hack not working? I guess they patched this hole, for now. I’ll try to keep you up to date about alternative solutions, but until then here’s an alternative. Download the Hulu Desktop app. You’ve now got an easy way to watch Hulu shows from your couch.

You can even launch this app from within Boxee, thanks to the Launcher app. Check out my article about using Boxee as the ultimate ROM and game launcher to find out how.

 

 

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The Complete MakeUseOf 2010 Holiday Gift Guide

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 10:00 AM PST

 

 

We’ve asked the MakeUseOf team to share some of their favourite gift ideas. And they happily complied. So if you were wondering what geeks wished for this holiday season, wonder no longer — dive right in! This isn’t one of our conventional posts where we list the old, boring money savers. This time, we’ve let our hair down (so to speak) and really went all out.

Happy shopping!

Aibek

The MakeUseOf Editor-in-Chief is obsessed with the new iPod Touch 4G. Prices start at $229 for the 8GB model.

ipod touch

Jackson

I’m pretty much entranced by the indestructibility of the ioSafe SoloPRO and wished I could get one for myself. Prices start at $249.99 for the 1TB model. By the way, we featured one on MakeUseOf before.

iosafe solopro

In home entertainment, the Netgear Roku has got me hooked. It streams online content like TV shows from Netflix or Amazon Video On Demand directly to a TV. Priced at $89.99, it’s much cheaper than the D-Link Boxee Box. Get it from Best Buy, Radio Shack, Fry's and online at Newegg, Amazon and Buy.com.

NETGEAR Roku Box Front View.tif

Stylish yet maintaining functionality, the Flipside wallet 2X is unlike anything you’ve ever put in your pocket. It stores up to 7 cards and shields them from RFID theft. Get one for yourself at just $39.95 from their online store.

Flipside Wallet.jpg

If you’re looking to get a new digital camera and would like to get the best compact camera in its class, go for the Leica D-LUX 5 which was recently released at Photokina. It’s going for $799 from B & H and is much cheaper than its predecessor. It sports a 10.1MP sensor, 24-90mm (Equivalent) 3.8x zoom F/2.0 Leica lens, 3″ LCD display and can record 720p HD video.

leica dlux 5

If that’s a little too rich for your blood, get the Panasonic Lumix LX5 instead. It’s essentially the same camera, just branded differently. To distinguish itself, it uses Panasonic’s in-house firmware. The LX5 will set you back $413.03 from Amazon.

lumix lx5.jpg

In the audio category, you’ll want the Etymotic ER4P for the best sound accuracy in a non-customised in-ear monitor. They’ll cost you $299 from Amazon.

etymotic er4p.jpg

We’ll be taking a close look at these later on in December with a review but you could try on the Sleek SA1 with the wireless bundle from Sleek Audio. It sounds great and costs only $169.99 for the bundle. Or you could just get the SA1 earphones for $79.99

sa1.jpg

Jorge

Jorge recommends the über-versatile and super-portable iPod Shuffle 4G. Prices start at $49 for the 2GB model but you can easily find it for $46 with free shipping at Target.

iPod shuffle - Apple Store (U.S.).jpg

Justin

Justin suggests pre-ordering the Back To The Future Game from Telltale Games — the same guys who made the Strong Bad game (which he loves) and the Wallace and Gromit game (which is also on his Christmas list). It’s only $24.95 and you get a free copy of Puzzle Agent ($9.95) with every pre-order!

Telltale Games.jpg

Justin also loves the Boxee Box. He thinks that it’s the best media centre around. It allows you to stream TV shows from Hulu, watch your movies, view your photos and listen to your music — on your television. Although it retails at $219.99 directly from D-Link, you can easily get one at $199 from Amazon.

boxee box

On a more serious note, Justin finds the Kobo Reader with its sexy quilted back panel and Wi-Fi support very enticing. It comes loaded with 100 free ebooks to help you get started. It’s also the lightest eReader around, weight only 221 grams. Prices start at $149 CAD.

koboereader.jpg

Tina

Tina has got several great gift ideas that are fun and affordable.

These cute App Magnets resemble iPhone app icons. For the iPhone-obsessed and Apple geek, they’re actually pretty coveted trophies.

app magnets

Looking for a new wallet but really don’t want to get one in a traditional design? At just $15, you can mix it up with a Mighty Wallet. Using the same material that’s used to make express mail envelopes, these wallets are super durable. With over 70 designs available, your wallet is going to be one of a kind.

might wallet

Fancy a geeky t-shirt that you can show off? Interactive T-shirts from ThinkGeek are made by geeks for geeks. Prices start at $4.99 for sale items and shoot up until $39.99.

thinkgeek shirt.jpg

More eReader goodness, Tina recommends the Sony Reader Touch Edition PRS 650 as a great alternative.
Pricing starts at $199.00 and it’s available from Abt, Micro Center and Newegg.

sony reader.jpg

Tim

To spice up gaming, Tim recommends getting the Kinect for Xbox 360 that allows you to use your body as the controller. Available from major online retailers for just $149.99.

kinect

Simon

For busy students, Simon suggests getting the Livescribe Smartpen which records everything you hear and write, and allows you to replay your notes instantly. The 2GB Pulse Smartpen is available from the Livescribe store for $99.95, limited-time offer.

livescribe

A survival tool that every outdoorsy person should have at the ready, the Leatherman Skeletool is an amazingly light multitool sheds weight by featuring only the essentials: a premium stainless steel blade, pliers, a universal bit driver, and a carabiner/bottle opener.

leatherman

Jeffry

Jeffry also recommends getting the iPod Touch 4G. In addition to that, he thinks the iPad is worth a mention. It’s a fantastic touchscreen device that can be used for a lot of purposes and has a huge, ever-growing App Store to boot. Prices start at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only model.

ipad

For music enthusiasts, Jeffry recommends the Yahama Silent Guitar, which is available from Amazon at $559.99.

yamaha silent guitar

Bakari

Bakari reckons that instead of the Netgear Roku or D-Link Boxee box, the AppleTV makes the perfect gift. Available from the Apple Store at just $99, this little black box allows you to stream your entire iTunes library, rent TV shows and movies from the iTunes Store and watch Netflix or YouTube on your home television.

appletv

Dave

Dave’s really in the giving mood and suggest that the best gift is to allow your recipients to shop for themselves. Hand them a a couple of iTunes or Amazon gift cards and let them go nuts.

Have a couple of friends who are avid gamers? Buy them a game instead with Steam’s easy-to-use online buy and gift system.

The iPod Touch, iPad and AppleTV have all been mentioned but what about the Samsung Galaxy Tab? Dave hasn’t forgotten about it! This Android-powered tablet is making headlines everywhere. Even the President of Russia tweeted about it.

President of Russia (medvedevrussiae) on Twitter.jpg

Get one from Amazon for just $599.99.

samsung galaxy tab.jpg

If cords tangle up your life, try this wireless headphones on for size. Dave recommends the Sennheiser RS120 926 MHz Wireless RF Headphones with Charging Cradle for just $49.99 from Newegg.

sennheiser.jpg

And if you’re constantly running out of juice, why not harness the power of the sun with PowerMonkey Portable Solar Charger. Compatible with all PDAs, mobile phones, iPods, PSP and Nintendo DS; this mobile charge is a little pricey at $105 from Amazon.

solarmonkey

Steve

If you’re a road warrior and enjoy the occasional good read, Steve disagrees with both Justin and Tina, and recommends the Amazon Kindle. Perhaps it’s because the Kindle can last for a month between recharges. The Wi-Fi model is available at just $139. Pay $50 more and get the 3G+Wi-Fi model.

Amazon.com_ Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6_ Display - with New E Ink (Pearl) Technology [Includes USB Cable for Charging. For International Shipment].jpg

As an accompaniment to the Kindle, Steve suggests the new iPod Nano. Get the 8GB model at just $149.

iPod nano - Buy the iPod nano - Apple Store (U.S.).jpg

When you’re finally back at home, Steve thinks you should switch on the Sonos S5 wireless speaker system and stream music from your iTunes library, online or play internet radio. And control the entire system from your iPhone. Available from Amazon at $385.

sonos s5

Road warriors should always recuperate with a good night’s sleep and wake up when the time is right. WakeMate is a really cool device that analyses your sleeping habits and wakes you up at the optimal time in your sleep cycle. Get better sleep at just $49.99.

wakemate.jpg

Nancy

Nancy loves her iPhone and adores the CandyShell Flip for iPhone 4. Now, you don’t even need to remove the case to dock the iPhone! Get it from Speck at just $34.95.

candyshell flip

Any self-respecting geek would have used (or at least dreamt of) a Moleskine at some point. How about coupling a Moleskine and iPhone/iPad together? That’s some major geekery. Get the Moleskine Folio Digital Tablet Cover for Apple iPad from Amazon at just $64.99 and the Moleskine Folio Digital Smartphone Cover for $34.65 also from Amazon.

NewImage.jpg

If you love Pac-Man, check out the Pacman Heat Changing Mugs. Shipping commences on December 1st 2010 but you’re able to pre-order now for £5.99

pac-man mug

And just as you thought Nancy couldn’t get any geekier, she surprises us with this gift idea: the Mini Robot Vacuum for your desktop. Your own personal desktop vacuum! It’ll cost you $20 from fred flare.

mini robot vacuum

Matt

As our very own in-house technophile, Matt has a few good gift ideas up his sleeves.

For $599, get the ultimate, best in class LCD monitor — the Dell Ultrasharp U2410 24″ IPS monitor. No geek will dare argue this.

dell u2410.jpg

If you’ve got the best monitor, you just got to have the best performing gaming mouse. The $24.99 Logitech MX518 Optical Gaming Mouse is worth every penny and more.

logitech mx518

Do you play most of your games in the dark? What else is new? Well then, you’ll probably want to spend $59.84 on the Saitek PK24 Eclipse III Wired Keyboard. Better not miss those frags.

saitek

If your gaming takes you late into the night, plug in these $149 Shure SRH-840 audiophile cans and carry on gaming. And if you do happen to get everything Matt suggests, you’ll end up with some sweet gear that will make other gamers green with envy.

shure 840

Jessica

In the midst this geek frenzy, Jessica manages to hold her cool and recommends the very sensible Sansa Fuze Video MP3 player from SanDisk. Prices start at $49.95 for the 2GB model up to a moderate $79.28 for the 8GB model.

sansa.jpg

Angela

If you’ve got loads of gadgets like Angela, you’ll appreciate the Grassy Lawn Charging Station. It uses your existing charging cables but hides them under the realistically artificial grass. Get it from ThinkGeek and it’ll set you back $24.99.

grassy lawn charging station

Want to surprise a very special male geek and just happen to have $195 of spare change lying around? Then you could probably get these Flash Drive Cufflinks. They’re 2GB each, a total of 4GB a pair and they’ll set you back — yeap, you guessed it — $195!

4GB USB Flash Drive Cufflinks.jpg

If you’re a geeky father and would like to impart some of that innate geekiness to your children, check out this book by Ken Denmead: Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share. Available from Amazon at $11.56.

geek dad

It may sound risky but is absolutely safe. Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) is about interesting and challenging tasks that families should engage in. Get it now at $25.95 from Amazon.

And for LOTR fans, what better gift could you ask for than the leather-bound Lord Of The Rings (50th Anniversary Edition) book set? Get it today at $56.05.

lotr 50 anniversary.jpg

James

In every way, our newest writer James Bruce agrees with Tim and thinks that the Xbox 360 console with Kinect bundle will make the best gift this holiday season. Prices start at $364.99 for the 4GB model and $539.49 for the 250GB model.

xbox

That’s it! We hope you enjoyed this list of great, geeky gift ideas! Anything to add? What’s your ultimate gift this holiday season? Tell us all about it in the comments.

 

 

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How To Watch Almost Any Type of Video On Your iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 09:31 AM PST

watch iphone moviesWe recently covered the launch of the iOS version of VLC Media Player making life much easier for Apple users who don’t want to have to convert videos to watch them on their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

While VLC seems to have cornered the market with its multi-platform video player for Macs, Windows and Linux users, another lesser known app has come to the iOS platform, in the form of OPlayer Lite, with far more features that may leave VLC in the dust. There are two versions of OPlayer available in the iTunes store, OPlayer Lite for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and OPlayerHD Lite for the iPad [iTunes link], while the VLC Media Player [iTunes link] app is compatible with all iOS devices.

How To Transfer Videos From Your Computer

The easiest and fastest way to transfer videos from your computer to your iOS device is by using your USB. Hook up your device to your computer, launch iTunes and navigate to the tab which shows all installed apps.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to ‘File sharing.’ Any apps that allow direct file transfers from the computer to the iOS device will be listed here. Select OPlayer Lite or VLC Player and you can add files to your video library.

watch iphone movies

Another method in which you can transfer files using OPlayer HD Lite is over the air. Connect to the same wireless network and launch OPlayer HD Lite. At the bottom of the screen, select the ‘More‘ tab, and select Wifi Transfer.

watch ipod video

Make a note of the IP address and enter it in your browser. You will be then be able to upload files one by one directly from your computer. Of course this is a much slower method, and has been said to affect your device’s battery life. Using the USB takes about 1 minute at most to transfer files as large as 1.5GB. Be sure to keep the WiFi transfer window open as you copy files otherwise the connection will be lost.

watch ipod video

With both VLC and OPlayer, you can close the program and resume your video at the exact point where you stopped.

How To Watch Videos From Your Inbox

If you want to watch a video sent to you via email, download the video in the native mail client. When you come to open it, if you’ve already installed VLC, you will be prompted to open it using VLC, or another program.

watch ipod video

If you would prefer to use OPlayer, click on ‘Open in…‘ and a list of available programs will be displayed. Select OPlayer and your video will launch immediately.

watch ipad video

The main difference between VLC and OPlayer when it comes to watching videos from your inbox is that OPlayer saves them on your device whereas to play them again using VLC Player, you would have to download it to your computer first and then transfer it to your iOS device.

Why Choose OPlayer?

watch ipad video

If your priority is functionality, OPlayer is probably better suited for you. Where OPlayer is ahead of VLC in the game is that it allows you to create playlists, and organise your videos into folders, directly on your iPad.

VLC’s playback of HD video also leaves something to be desired, and is accompanied by a warning that the iPad will not be able to playback the video properly. While OPlayer handles it much better, the quality still isn’t as good as you’d expect it to be.

Subtitles have been temporarily disabled in VLC Media player, so if you watch a lot of foreign films, you’d be better off using OPlayer Lite, at least for the time being.

Another major difference between the two is the extent of control you have over the video settings. With VLC, you cannot adjust your settings at all, whereas with OPlayer you have control over the aspect ratio, audio stream index, subtitle stream index and more.

OPlayer has additional features including streaming videos, an inbuilt browser and direct downloads to your iOS device.

Why Choose VLC?

watch ipad video

If you want a little bit of eye candy, VLC will appeal to you more. While there is no organisation available in VLC, the general UI is much more appealing than OPlayer’s plain appearance.

Unlike OPlayer Lite, VLC is ad-free. A small ad is featured at the top of the screen in OPlayer Lite during video playback which can be a little bit distracting.

watch iphone movies

Both players allow you to delete videos directly from your device and resume playback if you close the app, in the same place where you stopped.

How do you watch videos on your iOS device? Let us know in the comments.


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New Designs Are On The Way In The MakeUseOf T-Shirt Store

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 08:31 AM PST

The eager beavers are hard at work in the MakeUseOf design labs, putting the finishing touches to several new T-shirt designs.   Our MakeUseOf T-shirt store has so far been a big success, with our two top sellers being the Caps Lock T-shirt and the Wi-Fi shirt (and we now have a baby tee version of the Caps Lock T-shirt for all you female geeks!)

Is there a particular T-shirt design you would like to see MakeUseOf take up and sell?   If so, let us know and we will pass it onto the artists to see what they can come up with.

In the meantime, our very own Mr November, Matt, is here for us today to model the Wi-Fi shirt.

If you would like a T-shirt like Matt’s, just head on over to here and place your order. The price is $16.95 (shipping not included).  Or check out our other offerings in the store.


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Miro 3.5 Comes With Built-In Video Conversions [News]

Posted: 27 Nov 2010 07:30 AM PST

We all enjoy watching videos online. In fact, if you wanted to you could drop your cable company and build a remote control internet TV with all that’s available. There is no shortage of awesome podcasts and web shows out there and keeping track of them all can prove difficult sometimes, which is why we have apps like Miro.

Miro is a great cross-platform application for viewing high definition video podcasts and even publishing your own video content. This month, Miro announced the release of a significant update to their app which adds some interesting features and tweaks, including built-in video conversion for a lot of popular devices.

Let’s take a look at what’s included inside Miro 3.5.

What Is Miro?

If this is the first time you’re hearing of Miro, check out this short video to see what it’s all about:

New Features

Now let’s see what’s different in Miro’s new release. As stated on the Miro Internet TV Blog:

  • Conversions: In Miro 3.5, you can easily convert media to Apple, Android, and other devices.
  • Batch processing: Convert multiple files at once to save time.
  • Improved Library Management: Improvements in tab display, item views, and queued download handling.
  • Better HTTP Performance: Miro switched to using libcurl for HTTP downloading which is less CPU-intensive and works faster.
  • Subtitle Improvement: New display preferences let you specify font style (Windows) and encoding (Windows, GNU/Linux) to improve the display of subtitles.
  • Tweaks and Bug Fixes: Faster torrent restarting, proxy authentication, improved database handling, and much more.

Needless to say, this is a significant overhaul of what was already a pretty impressive video application. With this announcement, now you can download your favorite podcasts/internet shows and convert them to your portable devices to watch them while you’re on the go.

What do you think of the update? Do you use Miro?

Source: Miro Internet TV Blog


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