Starbucks HQ would be proud

I was in Chicago this week for 4GWorld and saw this sign at Starbucks at the convention center. I'm sure that Starbucks headquarters would be quite proud of their employees promoting their seasonal latte.

What's even funnier is that not only did I see this on one sign, I saw it on two and the printed sign no more than 10 feet from this had things spelled correctly.

Review: EyeTV

Now that I have a high definition TV, I needed to find a solution to record HD content. We've had a TiVo for 5 years now, so watching live TV on a regular basis was not an option. After some research, I decided to turn a Mac Mini I had into a media center using El Gato's EyeTV 250 Plus.

As I wrote before, the options for having 1 DVR that records analog cable and clear QAM channels are quite limited. The EyeTV handles this, so it is a huge plus for it.

The first thing I noticed after installing the EyeTV is that it isn't a TiVo. Well, duh, it isn't made by TiVo. The way I look at it, the TiVo is the gold standard in DVRs as the interface is easy to use, has Season Passes to record all episodes of a show and can be configured from a remote control. The EyeTV is a computer program and easiest way I've found to do the scheduling is to use Apple Remote Desktop to connect to the machine and use the program guide instead of being able to use the remote.

It took me awhile to figure out how to effectively use the remote control and on screen menus and last night was the first time I watched TV (I've had it for about a week now) using just the remote control and not using my MackBook Pro to control it. The quality is quite good and the on screen menus can be negotiated fairly easily (not as easily as the TiVo, however. Now that I've realized the limitation of the programming, I think I can live with it. However, it won't pass the wife test; I'll have to do the programming and show my wife how to view the recordings.

Pros

• Ability to use an existing Mac to use as a DVR.
• Easy to add drive space for expansion (add an external hard drive).
• Records analog cable.
• Records clear QAM channels.
• Free TV Guide guide data for a year.
• Record scheduling via TitanTV.
• Ability to add commercial skipping (in recordings) using etv-comskip. This may be the killer feature of the EyeTV. In my testing, this has worked most of the time.
• Recordings can be shared to other machines if they have EyeTV installed, or if they are exported to AppleTV and added to iTunes, or if they are exported to iPhone format and viewed over the web.

Cons

• It isn't a TiVo.
• I haven't figured out how to remotely schedule clear QAM channels.
• Scheduling has to be done from a remote computer. A web interface (advertised via Bonjour) would be ideal.
• On screen menus need work as there are far too many clicks to do anything. Take a look at the TiVo.
• On screen menus seem slow.
• Remote control is a piece of junk. It is far too light (in weight) and the buttons aren't labelled to reflect what they do. I've had to look at the manual a few times and play around with it to figure out how to use it.
• More needs to be done to allow full control via the remote control if El Gato wants to hits the media center market.
• Toast Basic which is included is a waste as the only goal is to upsell you and while it is nice to have some kind of recording software, I don't like getting slapped with "you can't do this unless you upgrade". El Gato might have been able to strike a better deal with Disco or just build in basic disc burning themselves. Mac OS X includes APIs for burning DVDs.
• I haven't found an option to automatically delete recordings after x days or when disc space gets slow.
• No option to say how much disc space you want to devote to recordings.
• No ability to stream live TV to other machines.
• If recordings are shared for AppleTV (to share over iTunes), they have to be manually removed.

Overall Recommendation

I have a love/hate relationship with this product so far. I like being able to record HD and non-HD content using my setup without having to purchase more content. In addition, I like the commercial skipping (via open source software). The scheduling, however, is the biggest downside to making this a true TiVo replacement. In addition, the on screen menus need a lot of work. I'm definitely going to keep this and learn to use it more. However, I can't whole heartedly recommend the EyeTV. It isn't a product for the novice and won't pass the wife test in ease of use. Some of the export options may make it more useful as I have a few trips coming up.

I'll post updates as I learn more and possibly as the software gets updated.

Review: PhotoLinker

As part of reviewing the i-Got-U GT-120, I searched for a Mac solution to handle geotagging of photos. There are lots of options on the Mac. I looked at many of them and GPSPhotoLinker worked quite well and was free to top it off. In addition, the interface was very Mac like. I liked what I saw, so I asked the developer for a copy of PhotoLinker, GPSPhotoLinker's big brother, to review.

GPSPhotoLinker and PhotoLinker share a main purpose and that is to geotag photos. In both programs, you load in your track files. (Hint, create a folder on your hard drive and put all your track files there and keep them so that you can reference them later. Both programs link to the files and don't copy them.) Both programs do their basic job well in that you load your tracks and pictures and basically click "geotag". If all you need is geotagging, then I have to recommend the free GPSPhotoLinker as it worked well in my testing.

PhotoLinker starts adding bells and whistles that may make it worth $50 to prosumer or professional photographers.

PhotoLinker adds:

• Cleaner interface. The basic PhotoLinker view puts the geotagging console hidden so that what you see are your pictures, a map, and tags associated with the picture. GPSPhotoLinker confuses the interface by having the first column be the area to geotag.
• Ability to add EXIF tags outside of the standard geotagging information such as keywords, description, people shown, and event.
• More customization in view options.

I put both products through some tests and the rest of this review will focus on the paid PhotoLinker product.

Pros

• Easy to use.
• Works well.
• Clean user interface; very Mac like.

  There isn't a lot to say as it does what it is supposed to do and does it simply.

Cons

• Map choices aren't all that useful; Google and the more mainstream maps aren't options. The developer has indicated on his forums that this is due to licensing costs with the mainstream vendors.
• No direct downloading of iGotU data. (The open source iGotU software is GPL licensed which would make it impossible without separate arrangements to integrate it.)
• No AppleScript support. Normally I wouldn't care, but when my end goal is to get geotagged files into iPhoto, automation would be most welcome.
• Cost is a bit high.

Overall impressions

I really like the concept of geotagging my photos. I don't travel all that much, but anticipate taking vacations in the future with my family (have you ever travelled with a 2 year old? It isn't the most pleasant experience.) For basic geotagging needs, the free GPSPhotoLinker will handle all my needs. I can't justify the $50 for PhotoLinker for a few user interface improvements. I don't see myself using additional EXIF tagging, so that feature isn't a key to me. PhotoLinker will have to add some real compelling features to justify the cost; I can't think of any features right now, so I'm not much help to the developer. I'd be more than happy to take another look at PhotoLinker when improvements are made to see if my recommendation against buying stands.

GPSPhotoLinker Screenshot	PhotoLinker Screenshot

Review: Sprint MiFi 2200

A few months ago, I got a Sprint MiFi 2200 to test and use for work. When I first saw this device at CTIA Wireless back in April, my jaw just dropped because of the size and utility of the device. In case you don't know what it is, it is a mobile WiFi hotspot.

For a number of years, I've written drivers/applications for various USB modems. While USB modems do have many uses, the lack of drivers drew me to the MiFi. The quality of drivers/applications ranges from good (the ones that are built into the OS are best) to not so good, so by eliminating the drivers, my main complaint about modems goes away. I also really like the ability to connect more than one device to it when I'm in a situation with co-workers without a broadband connection. In addition, having the modem separate from the computer lets you put the modem next to a window and you can sit somewhere else in say a hotel room. This is huge when you have trouble getting a signal; you no longer have to have sit next to the window.

Really my only complaint about the device is battery life; due to the small size, the battery doesn't last as long as the battery on my Mac.

Pros

• Small size
• No drivers required
• Can share to 5 devices
• Fast connection for a wireless card
• Sprint has a fairly large footprint with good coverage

Cons

• Poor battery life
• 5 GB/month data cap (may not be an issue for the casual user)
• For a consumer, the monthly cost could be a barrier.

Overall, if you have a need for mobile broadband, I don't think that you can go wrong with the MiFi.