NJOI – Malaysia’s Free Satellite TV – NJOI, a service brought to you by Astro is Malaysia’s first free satellite TV for everyone. The part that is not free is that you have to buy your own satellite dish and decoder. It will be made available to all by 1st quarter of 2012. As for HD content, there’s no news about it.

NJOI provides 18 free TV channels and 19 Radio channels. Future plans include that user will be able to buy extra content through a prepaid method which will be made available by middle of 2012.

There’s still no image on the decoder and hardware setup yet. However, I think it’s a good initiative on delivering content for free to every Malaysian. HD content should be include in the service too so that everyone can enjoy a crystal clear digital content.

You can check out more about it at www.astro.com.my/njoi.

iTableous – iPhone 4 With 40″Screen. Have you imagine how it looks like when the most famous phone, the Apple iPhone 4 has a 40″ screen and a gigantic size? iTableous is what the 40″ screen iPhone 4 is. It is actually a table, TV, entertainment, and gaming device which basically combining a 40″ television and computer in it.

It’s created by a German named Benjamin Bachmeier who he made this iTableous, an exterior design that follow the design of the Apple iPhone 4 with all components such as volume buttons, camera, speaker and home button.

Other specs include a computer configuration of CPU 2GHz, 4GB Ram, 500GB hard disk drive, DVD drive, 4.1 speakers and a camera. It does not runs the iOS of course but include two operating systems, Mac and Windows. It has a PlayStation 3 installed under it. Unfortunately, the huge 40″ screen doesn’t support multi-touch or even a touch function.

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When Blu-Ray disc was announced few years back, it was a powerful media disc with copy protection and there’s not pirated Blu-Ray disc in the market until just recently. On a trip to China, my dad found shops selling Blu-Ray disc at extremely low price, which starts from 16RMB (2.4US$) which does not include a proper box art and cover, where the most expensive is only at 46RMB (7.11US$) which comes with a proper box art and nicely sealed.

The seller claimed the 46RMB is an original version, which we think it’s not and the 16RMB one is obviously a copied pirated version which no trust on that it will be delivering 1080p image and HD sound.

We brought two copy of the 46RMB version home to try it out. The box art is pretty good just with no booklet and the inner box is a standard box with a cover of YBD. The Blu-Ray disc is a black surface disc.

Well, loaded the disc into the player and it’s confirmed that it’s a Blu-Ray disc. The quality is superb and sound quality is great, featuring up to DTS HD audio.

The image quality is good too! Showing up to 1080p on my Toshiba 55″ Full HD LCD TV. So, I guess it’s true that a Blu-Ray disc can be copied already.

I just got to know about this that YouTube launches a new page, YouTube Movies. It shows full-length movie through rental and some free movie. Because of my current location, Malaysia, I couldn’t access the rental movie, however there’s still a list of free movie for you to access. It’s a new rival for Netflix.

What do you think? Netflix or YouTube Movies? I don’t really bother about online streaming services for movies in Malaysia because the Internet speed here really sucks a lot! When I stream a movie, I can’t do anything because it has already take up all my bandwidth on a 1Mbps Internet. Really slow.

Google TV, the much anticipated home entertainment media platform delivered by Google and Android is coming very soon by several company like Sony is already making set top box and TV with built in Google TV. But then is Google TV suits everyone need?

Google TV is just another Windows Media Centre slash TiVo slash HTPC slash Netflix slash Xbox slash Apple TV slash computer. It’s just a little device which hook up to the Internet, stream content from the cloud and can be connected to the PC to become a TiVo. Being a geek, Google TV will be interested to he or she but to current consumer, this kind of media device might not seems fascinated due to complicity of control and UI.

In my opinion, no matter how simple the UI is, an old man still want a manual remote control accessing to HD channel and a separate PC which does YouTubing. Google need to think about the old generation too at the same time making great product for the geeky new generation. The question is how? I also wonder how. I tried teaching my dad how to stream video from my PC or even play a AVCHD dvd from the PlayStation 3 but it just didn’t work out very well.

Another problem is that Internet connection speed not always fast in all the countries around the world. Malaysia is one of the example having a slow speed. Google TV need to have a very fast connection only then you can stream high quality HD content from cloud, or else, it’s just streaming NOTHING.

So Asians, Malaysians, what do you think about Google TV and do you want it for you home?

If you lives in the western country when Chinese television show is limited to your or you are behind a private network which Chinese P2P TV streaming is not available to you, you can check out Natnatvip.org which is a site where they compile all the Taiwanese drama and show for your watching. They uses Youtube as the player and some other Internet flash player and is played part by part. Of course the quality is not as good as on the TV but still is a good place for you to check out Chinese show.

Besides Taiwanese drama and show, there’s also movies, Japan and Korea drama and also US TV series. If you have a fast connection, this site is wonderful for you.

Belkin has been famous in the router and modem for quite some time already and recently they have release a new lineup for their router, bring ing the new 802.11n to home and a redesigned of their modem.

With the new line up, they promote the idea of “Surf, Share and Play” at the same time, running on a simultaneous dual-band wireless N and the Play Max Routers deliver the best speed and performance for streaming HD Videos.

It also features Easy Start and Self-Healing which is for those who are not tech-conscious to go online and keep them surfing. So it’s good for your grandma or grandpa too. Another feature is there’s app built into the router like Print Genie, Music Movier and Daily DJ which utilized the USB ports and your external hard drive.

For torrent freak, there’s Torrent Genie which keep your file torrenting even if your computer is not switch on, it will just download into your external HDD which connected into the router.

These routers will be available starting mid July 2010. Pricing will be announced soon.

Check out full press release after the break.

IMO, routers are very important for home. Do not just get something cheap and can be used for yourself, get something good. I am running on wireless G and N network at the same time and soon will convert everything into N.

PRESS RELEASE

Belkin Presents a New Way of Thinking with the Introduction of Apps in New 802.11n Wireless Router Line

• Wireless routers feature Easy Start and Self-Healing to get people online and keep them surfing

• Innovative apps such as Print Genie, Music Mover™, and Daily DJ™ let them easily do the activities they want to do

• Simultaneous Dual-Band N Play and Play Max Routers deliver the best speed and performance for streaming HD videos

Kuala Lumpur, June 22, 2010 – With the explosion of online multimedia content, people are looking for new and richer experiences with their photos, music, and videos. Belkin’s new wireless routers are set to enable them to do so. Featuring fun and powerful applications, the Basic, Surf, Share and Play Max Wireless Routers enable them to play music, games, and HD videos as well as share photos and print wirelessly from anywhere in their home.

In a recent IDC survey, 72% of respondents own a digital still camera and use it often, so we can expect that more people will want to share their photos and videos in more places. According to Forrester, the digital music market in the US has grown to more than $3 billion. The Wall Street Journal reported that almost 1 million homes in 2008 eliminated their cable TV to rely solely on the Internet for video entertainment. In recognizing these burgeoning needs, Belkin aims to create richer multimedia experiences to empower people to do the activities they want.

With apps designed to enhance their wireless experience, Belkin’s new line of routers are easy to set up and maintain. The Self-Healing app automatically detects and resolves network problems and runs routine maintenance scans to give the clearest wireless channel.

The Share and Play Max Routers offer the Print Genie app allows wireless printing from any computer on the home network, while Memory Safe™ automatically backs up photos and files to an external hard drive (sold separately)—so people can rest assured that precious memories are protected.

With advanced Dual-Band N technology, Belkin’s Play Max Routers provide the best speed and performance. Simultaneous networks eliminate interference and allow optimal performance for media-intensive activities, such as streaming HD movies, gaming online, and downloading large media files.

Apps on Play Max let people to do more with their music. Music Mover can play their entire music library on smart devices, like the Xbox^® or PS3™, making their music just a touch away. The Daily DJ app serves up daily personalized playlists to match moods. By analyzing the musical DNA of a collection, Daily DJ creates playlists around three mood mixes: High-Energy, Steady Groove, and Kick Back. Playlists can also be created by choosing a song and letting Daily DJ offer a new take on their favorite music.

AVAILABILITY

Products will be available in all major IT stores starting mid July 2010.

QUOTES

Kurt Scherf, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Parks Associates:

“Belkin’s approach to studying user experiences and how people are interacting with their digital content is evident in how they’ve designed their new wireless routers. Features such as Easy Setup and its Music Mover app help people do the activities they want to do, and Belkin is communicating these benefits in a simple way such that people can understand.”

Jim Wagner, General Manager at Belkin:

“The explosion of digital content is heralding new opportunities, and this in itself is exciting. Using our consumer insight research, we learned that people want to do more with their photos, music, and videos throughout their home and across their network. Further, we found that while people had high aspirations for their network and media, unfortunately they were not buying routers capable of giving them the best of those experiences.

“With that in mind, we created a line of wireless routers based around the activities people want to do most. We made our Surf, Share, and Play Routers powerful enough to give great networking experiences, and we added easy-to-use apps to enable these activities. Now, even the most novice of consumer can create great experiences in their home and across their network.”

After watching blurry image of Thomas and Uber Cup on a big 55″ LCD TV, daddy finally can’t tolerate with the blurry image and subscribed to the only HD package in Malaysia and that is the Astro B.yond HD. With additional RM20 on top of current subscribed package of the Astro satellite TV, you get to watch 5 HD channel and 3 more coming soon.

There’s no charges for converting to HD, you only need to pay the monthly while the installation and set top box are free, provided you return your old Astro decorder.

I called Astro like 2 weeks ago and took them 10 days process my application, only then they send their cable man to install the new satellite dishes and the set-top box.

I live in an apartment and was using centralized satellite system, we need not to install a satellite dish for standard definition Astro, but the new HD need a new satellite dish. Since my apartment has not install the new satellite dish for the centralized thingy, the cable man has to install one for us. The new satellite dish is slightly bigger than the old one and is black in colour.

The new Astro B.yond HD has a new UI, the remote and response are pretty fast and output is HDMI. It’s only HDMI that can output to HD while component cable only can output to standard def. The cable man took a short time to set up the system, the new smartcard activated within minutes and I am so ready for HD.

There’s an EPG (Electronic Program Guide). It’s so much better and smoother than the Guide system in previous Astro.

There’s a new remote too. It’s white in colour. Lots of button and there’s button for PVR (Personal Video Recorder), the play, pause, record and rewind button. Unfortunately, for current B.yond subscriber, we have to pay RM5 to activate it and monthly for PVR service, you have to buy your own HDD though. Or on the other hand, change to the new B.yond PVR decorder (need to pay RM400), then RM10 per month for the recording service. Sucks a bit right? PVR is suppose to be free! Just like Tivo! I not very interested in PVR at the moment though. =)

So is there any difference between HD and non HD? Yes, there’s big difference. The 5 channel, ESPN HD, Astro Supersports HD, National Geographic HD, History Channel HD and HBO HD are super sharp.

High definition.

Standard definition.

HD channel output via normal AV cable. It’s letterboxed.

Now I really hope for more HD channel. The next 3 channels updating soon are FX HD, AXN HD and Astro Zhizhun HD, a Chinese channel. Excited. I’m looking forward for Discovery HD, Star Movies HD, CNN in HD and of course, the Hong Kong’s TVB series on Astro On Demand in HD. Come on, faster bring them in!

One more thing, I need to look for coaxial to Toslink for the digital audio output because my amp at home support Toslink input only.

I went into Switch, an authorized Apple store here in Penang, Malaysia yesterday and spotted an expensive pair of speakers. The design is like a crystal with the speaker hole in front. It’s the Harman Kardon GLA-55. It’s also my first time knowing about this pair of speakers. What amazed me was not the sound quality but the price tag. It’s RM3299 (around 1026US$)!

It must be very pro, but at this moment, I guess I wouldn’t spend so much on the speaker. I have my own home theater system in room and another 5.1 Creative speaker connected to my PC and the sound rocks too.

Though, things don’t come to an end so fast. I have actually found guide on the net on how to watch MKV video on PS3. It’s pretty simple, convert it to a PS3 compatible format then transfer it to the PS3 then you are ready to go.

Some people are worried of video quality would be downgraded during the conversion but if you use the right software, it won’t. So the software is called mkv2vob, it’s a freeware, download it, convert it, transfer it.

Browse for your MKV file and select your destination directory which is also the output folder.

If your PS3 doesn’t connect to a amplifier via S/PDIF digital cable, you may not hear DTS surround sound, so you have to CHECK “Always Transcode DTS”.

On the other hand, if you want to transfer your file via a flash drive or portable HDD, you need to split your file. Sucks right? It’s because that PS3 only recognizes FAT32 format and the problem is you can’t transfer any file larger than 4GB into a FAT32 formatted HDD.

Unless that you have your PS3 connected into your network, you need not split it, you can just stream directly or just copy from your network.

As for me, my PS3 is not connected into my home network, my house runs wireless and it’s not capable for HD streaming. My method of watching MKV video without splitting is by burning the converted video into a dual layer 8.5GB DVD+/-R.