So, I finally did it. I had been putting off getting a Blu-ray DVD player for quite some time, but the prices are way down and the features are getting better day by day, so I figured it was time to jump in.
I did some research, watched the sales, then pounced. I decided on the Sony BDP-S370 for the feature set and the price tag. I got it for $129 today, but I plan on re-buying it at Best Buy on "black friday" for $99 and returning it, saving the extra $30.
Now, my HD TV is a bit old. I bought a Mitsubishi 55" RP HDTV in 2003, so it doesn't have HDMI inputs. I'm connecting via the component cables. Not as good as the HDMI, but still not too bad.
So, I hooked it up, which took all of about 5 minutes. I have ethernet behind my TV, so the WiFi option was not necessary for me. Within 10 seconds of plugging it in, it informed me of a software update and walked me through a quick setup and update procedure. Painless.
The on-line content choices are pretty extensive. First thing I did was go to the YouTube app and browse a few videos. Using the numeric keys to "type" with was not fun, but doable. Full-screen playback is excellent. The content loads quickly and plays flawlessly.
The real reason that I bought the Blu-ray now was to make it easier to display my HD digital video (Flip camera) on the TV, and this player did not disappoint. I grabbed my 4GB thumb drive and threw a few mp4, m4v and mov files onto it and plugged it in. It recognized the drive immediately and offered to play the videos, which looked stunning!
Then I made a DATA DVD, burning some of those same files onto the DVD+R disc (note...NOT a Blu-ray disc). I popped that into the player and again, it recognized the files and could play them in spectacular high def. Absolutely wonderful.
Lastly, I grabbed my Flip camera itself, and plugged it into the player's USB port and voila! It recognized it and I was again able to play the content directly off the camera in HD! Outstanding.
The on-line documentation indicates that this is DLNA compliant, but I have not yet figured this part out. Once I do, I should be able to play my media files directly from the PC, across the network, to my TV. That's my next challenge.
In short, though I have yet to insert a Blu-ray DVD into this thing, I can already highly recommend this player as a great way to make it easy to watch your home HD video!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Apple QuickTime Bug
So, working for a "to be unnamed" technology company, I recently had the opportunity to build a web based application that utilizes Apple's QuickTime plugin to display live video from various cameras in an account. It was a fairly "vanilla" integration of the QuickTime plugin, utilizing some of the simple javascript methods provided by Apple's software.
On March 30, 2010, Apple released version 7.6.6 of the QuickTime plugin and very soon afterwards, we began receiving calls from our customers stating that our service had "issues" with the 7.6.6 version of QuickTime. We did some quick troubleshooting and found that the javascript method "SetURL()," provided by QuickTime, simply failed to work on a Windows installation of the QuickTime 7.6.6 software. This was a demonstrable fact, evidenced by some simple, straight forward sample code.
So, on or about April 1, I began attempting to contact Apple's technical support services for assistance. I figured there would have to be someone there at Apple that could help me and it shouldn't take long to get in touch with someone who knew something about this. Several phone calls in, after getting transferred and/or referred to a different number several times over, I got someone who gave me some good advice (or so I thought). I should sign up for the Apple Developers program (cost of $100), which would entitle me to the support I was looking for.
So, on Monday, 4/4, I did just that. I signed up, plunking down my money, then called for support. After about 1/2 hour on the phone, I was told that there was no-one there that could support the QuickTime plugin (that Apple writes!!!). I requested, as a result, that my developer program purchase be refunded, which I was assured they would do for me (how sad that I actually took their word for it still).
On March 30, 2010, Apple released version 7.6.6 of the QuickTime plugin and very soon afterwards, we began receiving calls from our customers stating that our service had "issues" with the 7.6.6 version of QuickTime. We did some quick troubleshooting and found that the javascript method "SetURL()," provided by QuickTime, simply failed to work on a Windows installation of the QuickTime 7.6.6 software. This was a demonstrable fact, evidenced by some simple, straight forward sample code.
So, on or about April 1, I began attempting to contact Apple's technical support services for assistance. I figured there would have to be someone there at Apple that could help me and it shouldn't take long to get in touch with someone who knew something about this. Several phone calls in, after getting transferred and/or referred to a different number several times over, I got someone who gave me some good advice (or so I thought). I should sign up for the Apple Developers program (cost of $100), which would entitle me to the support I was looking for.
So, on Monday, 4/4, I did just that. I signed up, plunking down my money, then called for support. After about 1/2 hour on the phone, I was told that there was no-one there that could support the QuickTime plugin (that Apple writes!!!). I requested, as a result, that my developer program purchase be refunded, which I was assured they would do for me (how sad that I actually took their word for it still).
I was left to attempt to fix the issue on my own. I did submit an Apple bug report which was deemed a "duplicate" and closed as such. Indications are that I can request updates via that report, but so far, 3 requests for updates have yielded absolutely nothing.
About 2 weeks later, when my CC refund did not come through, I reached out to them again, and found that a refund request MUST originate via email, so my refund was not even in progress yet. I sent the obligatory email and then asked for a "corporate" phone number to contact.
After calling there and complaining about all of the above, I got to someone named "Troy" who appeared (key...appeared) to be willing to assist me in troubleshooting. I emailed him my sample page source and even deployed it to a public server. He verified the issue on a Windows machine and said that "he would get back to me." That, my friends was 12 days and at least 3 unfruitful emails requesting an update ago.
It is absolutely mind-boggling to me that a company with a reputation as good as Apple's is could be simply as horrible at customer care and developer support as they apparently are. And I'm STILL waiting for my refund, almost a full month later!!!
In a word, I would simply say, "AWFUL!"
About 2 weeks later, when my CC refund did not come through, I reached out to them again, and found that a refund request MUST originate via email, so my refund was not even in progress yet. I sent the obligatory email and then asked for a "corporate" phone number to contact.
After calling there and complaining about all of the above, I got to someone named "Troy" who appeared (key...appeared) to be willing to assist me in troubleshooting. I emailed him my sample page source and even deployed it to a public server. He verified the issue on a Windows machine and said that "he would get back to me." That, my friends was 12 days and at least 3 unfruitful emails requesting an update ago.
It is absolutely mind-boggling to me that a company with a reputation as good as Apple's is could be simply as horrible at customer care and developer support as they apparently are. And I'm STILL waiting for my refund, almost a full month later!!!
In a word, I would simply say, "AWFUL!"
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