Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Besides bricking some Xbox 360 consoles, the recent Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard update did provide a few positive benefits too. One bonus came in the form of enabling gamers to stream WMV files via Windows Media Connect from an XP PC to their Xbox 360. Previously only Windows Media Center could stream to the 360, but if you had a DivX or XviD file you wanted to play, you had the option of using Transcode 360 to convert non-WMV files on-the-fly. However, until someone updates Transcode 360 so that it will run over Windows Media Connect, you’ll have to transcode your DivX or XviD files manually. It’s a pain in the neck, but it’ll do the job. But, thanks to our buddies at Joystiq, we’ve got a series of step-by-step instructions on how to transcode your DivX or XviD videos and watch them easily on your Xbox 360. We won’t go over every single point, but basically, it involves using the free and open-source program VLC followed by the helping hand of a batch script. The script turns your video files into WMV that’ll play nice with your Xbox 360, allowing you to enjoy your vids (in the example, a recent episode of “Lost”) in full, converted HD. But as you probably already know, if you’re starting out with a not great DivX file, you’re going to end up with an even worse WMV file that won’t look too hot, 1080p or not. So if you want to try it out, follow the read link for all of the step-by-step instructions.

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Multimedia, Software

Perhaps looking to get a quick hit of cash before the onslaught of competing services gets into full swing, MobiTV has announced a deal with Oak Investment Partners, a venture capital firm, to provide $70 million in exchange for a board seat. No word on what kind of spending spree will ensue, but MobiTV's saying that the cash will "fuel the Company's rapid expansion in response to the overwhelming demand for its mobile television and radio service across international markets." To their credit, the numbers show that these guys are growing pretty rapidly, clocking over a million total subscribers at latest count -- not bad for a company whose domestic carrier partners have launched at least partially competitive services. Having sampled MobiRadio, though, we'll say this much: we hope a few bucks of that VC cash goes toward offering higher-bitrate streams.

[Via BusinessWeek]

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Filed under: Portable Video

Twas only yesterday the lads in the Engadget mansion were lamenting about giving Skype a try if only it streamed some of that hot analog TV we've been hearing so much about. Little did we know that in some back alley of Akihabaraville, a team of hucksters from Novac in Japan were putting the finishing touches on their TV for Skype Anywhere (or something like that) product. Just load-up Skype and Novac's software onto your home PC, slip in their USB stick with integrated analog tuner, and voila, you're ready to stream the sweet, sweet TV out the Internet to any of the newer Skype clients capable of video calls. The TV will even call you and then allow you to change channels via a chat window if we're reading the machine translation correctly -- enter "the ##12#" to switch to channel 12, for example. Not likely to give Slingboxers any competition in terms of functionality or quality, but for ¥9,800 or about $85, you're not likely to find a cheaper solution boxed up so neatly. Oh Skype, come 'er and give us a cuddle.

[Via Impress]

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Filed under: Multimedia, Sprint-Nextel, 1xRTT, EV-DO, CDMA

Just in time for the playoff race to heat up, Sprint’s inked a deal with Major League Baseball to provide every — yes, every — major league game via streaming audio to Vision and Power Vision-enabled handsets. What’s more, each game will be available via both team’s flagship stations in addition to a Spanish feed. Called “Gameday Audio,” the service will run ya $5.99 and should be available this month. Now just throw in a little A2DP, maybe some Sirius for entertainment during the seventh-inning stretch, and you’ve got yourself a pretty wicked setup for baseball on the move.

[Via PhysOrg.com]

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Filed under: Multimedia, MVNOs

Mobile ESPN might not have attracted quite the following they’d have hoped for so far, but that’s certainly not to say they won’t keep on keepin’ on. In a deal with potentially broad-reaching implications for 3G data, MVNOs, and mobile entertainment in general, the sports-oriented carrier has announced plans to broadcast live college football games to their handsets, with as many as 25 planned for the 2006 season. Details are slim for the picking — including the all-important question of pricing — but if they can get this feature out the door for little or no additional cost on top of their basic service plans, we can definitely see this winning a few converts (not to mention flooding Sprint’s EV-DO pipes in the process).

[Via Moco News]

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