DVBLink: Share Your TV Cards Between PCs and Online

Windows 7 No Responses »
Aug 082011

Posted on Windows 7 News & Tips

Normally if you want to watch digital TV in more than one room, you need to pay for multiple set-top boxes or build multiple media center PCs each with their own separate TV cards.

More hardware is usually needed if you want to stream live TV to another location or to your phone.  With DVBlink you can not only add these capabilities and more, but better still, it only costs 40 Euros.

With DVBlink, one Windows 7 media center PC can act as a server and any TV tuners in this machine can be shared with other Windows 7 PCs either via Windows 7 Media Center or Windows Media player, and the live TV stream can also be  viewed by any web browser, including mobile phone browsers.  The diagram below best shows how DVBlogic works:

dvblogic 580x101 DVBLink: Share Your TV Cards Between PCs and Online

In my DVBlogic setup, I have my main W7MC (depicted on the left) connected to my main TV.  Inside I have 4 DVB S2 cards (Hauppauge WinTV-Nova-HD-S2) cards, that allow me to watch and record up to four channels at a time (in the latest version of DVBlogic, W7MC’s limit of 4 tv cards is removed and up to 8 cards can be utilised by one machine).

screenshot.1 580x433 DVBLink: Share Your TV Cards Between PCs and Online

DVBlogic allows me to share these cards with the devices on the right i.e. other PCs, mobiles, tablets, UPNP enabled devices like Playstation 3s – whatever.   Virtual tuners are also created for other PCs, so they can schedule their own recordings. The software uses smart tuner sharing, so if two or more devices are watching say the Discovery HD channel, then only one tuner is used rather than two or more.

Adding DVBlink has allowed me to significantly reduce my satellite TV costs.  In my home I have 4 media center PCs and using DVBlink has allowed me to do away with 3 additional set-top boxs and also the additional Sky multi-room fee – that’s nearly £600 for the extra 3 set-top boxes and £125/pa for the multiroom service.  For just over £300 I have 4 TV cards and the ability to watch TV wherever I want at anytime.

If you’re a Windows Phone 7  user, yopu can also download TW TeeVee that allows you to watch live TV on your handset.

More: DVblogic, TW TeeVee

 

DVBLink: Share Your TV Cards Between PCs and Online is a post from Windows 7 News & Tips – Latest Microsoft Windows 7 News, Tips, Themes, Wallpapers & Guides. Visit Windows 7 News & Tips for the Latest Microsoft Windows 7 News, Tips, Themes, Wallpapers & Guides.

Posted by Everton at 6:49 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Idea for a more accident-friendly WP7 search button

blog, Windows 7 No Responses »
Aug 032011

Just when you think you’re careful enough, it strikes without mercy. Nevermind the hilarious YouTube you were watching or photo you’re about to take, it’s Bing time. I am of course referring to the inconspicuous but deadly capacitive search button on most of the popular Windows Phone 7 devices.

In spite of the firmware updates trickling out to some Samsung devices which disables the capacitive hardware buttons whilst the touchscreen is touched, the problem is not completely resolved and it’s simply too easy to accidentally activate the “back” and “search” buttons, even if you’re careful.

Since I enjoy myself a design challenge, I came up with this mockup taking some inspiration from the tap-and-hold gesture found on the desktop version of Windows.

In essence, it would provide a short buffer that would allow users to cancel their action without repercussions. Of course those who actually want to complete the action can do so as well without any too much hassle either.

Unfortunately, due to the new press-and-hold multitasking behavior of the “back” button in Mango limits the idea to just the search button. Nevertheless that seems to be the button I accidentally press the most anyway. Feedback welcome.



Posted by Long Zheng at 5:30 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Intel’s Ultrabook Scheme: Is This The Future of PC Computing?

Windows 7, Windows News No Responses »
Aug 022011

Years ago, Linux vendors and Pacific Rim hardware maker outsiders made their last ditch effort to revive their flagging fortunes in the PC world and invented a new, super-low-end type of PC called the netbook.

Posted by Microsoft Windows News at 7:20 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Upgrade “in-place” from XP to Windows 7 for under $1

Windows 7 No Responses »
Aug 022011

Posted on Windows 7 News & Tips

Laplink software has reduced the cost of their PC Mover software to under $1.  With prices currently starting at $29.99 this is a significant discount for people still looking to upgrade Windows XP systems to Windows 7.

“We offer the fastest and easiest method to upgrade existing hardware from XP to Windows 7,” said Laplink CEO Thomas Koll. “And now we are removing any cost barrier.”  With PCmover, the upgrade process does not require external media, no programs need to be reinstalled after the upgrade and the PC’s “personality” remains intact.  “Windows XP will not be supported indefinitely by Microsoft,” continued Koll.  “Businesses will need to deploy Windows 7 and Laplink has a much-needed solution.”

The software doesn’t actually perform the Windows 7 installation for you, you still need to do this by installing Windows 7 over the top of your current copy of XP.  AT the installation screen DO NOT choose Upgrade.  Instead choose the Custom (Advanced) option.  Then install Windows 7 onto the same hard disk or partition where Windows XP resides without formatting the disk.  The installer will detect your old copy of Windows and move it, and all your files to a Windows.old folder.

install04 580x362 Upgrade in place from XP to Windows 7 for under $1

When you have Windows 7 installed, install PC Mover which will find the Windows.old folder.  PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant will recognize what is in that folder and put it where it needs to go and install the software where it should go as well.

pcmover Upgrade in place from XP to Windows 7 for under $1There are some caveats with this as not all your software will be compatible with Windows 7, and some could even cause problems with Windows 7 when migrated (this goes doubly so for hardware drivers).  You should download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor first to find any software that is not compatible with Windows 7 and uninstall it.

This is an excellent purchase for anyone still making the move to Windows 7 but worried about having to reinstall all their software.  At less than $1 it’s difficult to complain at this price.

You can buy and download PC Mover here.

Upgrade “in-place” from XP to Windows 7 for under $1 is a post from Windows 7 News & Tips – Latest Microsoft Windows 7 News, Tips, Themes, Wallpapers & Guides. Visit Windows 7 News & Tips for the Latest Microsoft Windows 7 News, Tips, Themes, Wallpapers & Guides.

Posted by Mike Halsey (MVP) at 11:50 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SplashTop Remote for Windows

Windows 7 No Responses »
Jul 282011

Posted on Windows 7 News & Tips

Splashtop, a San Jose California based company with offices in Asia, has a remote desktop product that makes connection to your PC from a remote location easy to use and fast.

Formed in 2006, Splashtop has a variety of products that allow fast remote connection to remote computers. Currently, Splashtop is installed on 40+million PCs around the world. and the hardware compatibility List covers over 600 platforms.

Splashtop 100x100 SplashTop Remote for Windows

Windows Version

With Splashtop Remote Desktop for Windows you can connect either PC-to-PC or PC-to-Mac to provide remote access support including full audio and video. Here are the requirement to receive connections using Splashtop Remote Desktop app, your computer needs to have:

• Windows 7, Vista, XP, or Mac OS X 10.6+
• 1 GB of RAM
• 1.6 GHz or faster dual-core CPU

Features:

  • Watch high-definition movies and videos (up to 30 frames per second), streaming from PC or Mac
  • Play interactive 3D games with low latency such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft, or EA Sports games
  • Setup with ease through its simple, intuitive interface
  • Latency is low with access and video and audio streaming up to 15 times faster than other remote access systems.
XDisplay for iPad – Second Display
A new product that goes with the remote desktop connection, XDisplay was recently released. This is an app that turns your iPad into a wireless second display for Windows 7 PCs to enhance productivity. Using the iPad as a screen extender.  It is comprised of two components, an application that runs on the iPad and the free Windows Streamer running on the PC. (See Below)
Other Products
The company has other products that allow remote connection or interaction with devices:
  • Splashtop Connect
  • Splashtop OS
  • Splashtop Streamer
  • Splashtop Remote Browser
  • Splashtop Remote Desktop
  • Splashtop Touchpad
  • Splashtop Whiteboard
  • Splashtop XDisplay
Download the freeware Remote Desktop App or Streamer version.
Watch the Splashtop Video Below:

SplashTop Remote for Windows is a post from Windows 7 News & Tips – Latest Microsoft Windows 7 News, Tips, Themes, Wallpapers & Guides. Visit Windows 7 News & Tips for the Latest Microsoft Windows 7 News, Tips, Themes, Wallpapers & Guides.

Posted by GGarza at 9:30 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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