The Ovi Store gets 'tabs'...

The Ovi Store gets 'tabs'...

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Request to Nokia for next video device, AVI and DIVX

Hello all.

It's been a while since I posted anything. I can tell you what's been happening.

First of all, new Nokia devices provide better support for Flash videos, which in turn has meant that you can watch videos from a variety of sources in the internet. This means for me that I spend less time converting and uploading, as all I have to do is point to the Flash video site that I want and watch the videos. There are some downsides of course. I need a good WLAN connection. I need to have access to charging (as WLAN streaming of Flash videos eats out your power in a very short time), and I need to be willing to put up with low quality videos.

So here's what I would like to request that we get in the next Nokia video powerhouse (i.e. N96 replacement for this).

1.  Built-in support for AVI and DIVX containers and DIVX and XVID codecs. This is already built into the N900 so getting it to a phone shouldn't be an issue. This is LONG DUE. The baseline should be to support 720x576 (DVD quality) resolution and 3 Mbps, at least.
   
2. Smart support for non standard resolutions. Many videos you find are not in "standard" resolutions like qcif or qvga or nHD. The device should be smart and play the file anyways and scale or crop as necessary.
   
3. Capability to do Video Playlists. Again this is long overdue as this has been requested for a long time. And third party apps like CorePlayer have been able to do this for years
4. Ability to navigate by FOLDER in the Video App. Seems like a no-brainer, yet it has never been included
   
5. Full H264 compatibility. None of that baseline profile only. It should support Main Profile, Simple Profile and Spark versions of H264. 
6. Stereo Microphone for video recording. This was in N93 and N93i and needs to come back. 
   
7.  Auto-Focus in video recording. None of that infinite focus (ok, N86 has this but this needs to come to more models)
   
8. WMV at high resolutions (VGA and beyond) and higher bitrates. WMV only plays QVGA and low bitrates
9. YouTube HD support. Only regular version YouTube are currently supported and the YouTube application available only converts video to QVGA resolution even though I have the N97 or N900
10. Improved audio support. AC3, simulated 5.1 through headphones, SPDIF audio out, this could be done in the 3.5mm connector. A good tie-in accessory like a BOSE or Logitech 5.1 small speaker system would be nice.

 Other things that I would like to see but that are not so critical IMHO are:
-  Get ROXIO or NERO or FFMPEG to do the conversion software, AND include a DVD ripper tool (blueray recommeded). At least get the portable video version to work with these devices. I have many gripes with the Nokia conversion tools, maybe I'll do a post about the new OVI suite conversion.

- HDMI out. The VGA TV-out cable is showing its age already and is bad that it has lower resolution than the screen of the N900.

- Better/return uPNP support. It was very annoying that the N97 and N900 doesn't include uPNP. At least I can connect the USB cable to my PS3 and watch the videos that way...

- Video Store. Why doesn't Nokia sell/rent videos?, seems like a no-brainer. Videos in the OVI store are really underwhelming

- Better picture and video controls (contrast, hue, brightness, sharpness, zoom, frame by frame)

- Better integration with video podcasts and videos taken by the camera. Right now they get all mixed up and they're difficult to navigate.

What do you guys think?, do you agree?, disagree?, did I miss something?

Share your thoughts in the comments. Until next time, see you out there...

Most visited Video tips N97, 5800, N96

Hello again,

A few months ago I posted about the most popular posts

I think for the most part some of those are still valid. But now what you've search the most was for AVI files (DIVX or XVID) and how to play them in the S60 v5

Watching AVI videos in N97 (or 5800)

The second most popular is still the general settings for N96 that also work for 5800 and N97

And the ever popular tip for Music Database problems.

A lot of people also land in the Top page of this blog. If you're one of them and want me to blog about a specific topic, feel free to drop me a comment.

Until next time.

Another place to download SUPER encoder easier

Hello my fellow video enthusiasts.

As you know many people swear by SUPER from erightsoft as the best free converter out there. SUPER is based on the FFMPEG command line converter and is very easy to use. See my previous post on how to use SUPER.

I was digging in the web trying to find the FFMPEG latest command line converter, which I found at this link:


http://www.videohelp.com/tools/ffmpeg

And there they have links to several GUI that use the FFMPEG. Including SUPER from erightsoft.

They provide links both to erightsoft and a MIRROR which is easier to download that the original site.

So enjoy!

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/SUPER

While on the topic of Tools. Don't forget to also stop by Sourceforge and download MediaInfo, a must have to get all the details of the video and audio files.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/mediainfo/

Have a good weekend!

Apps and more apps OVI Store, and Midomi vs. Shazam

Hello again. I don't intend to do a review of the whole OVI store, or do some commentary on it against other on-line content stores out there. I'm sure other more capable (and smarter) people will give us all the insights and market trends.

No, I just want to share some of the apps that have started showing up and provide what I've experienced so far.

My main interest, as it relates to this blog, is in enjoying video and on that front there is something to report. I must say that I haven't seen any big interesting things at the OVI store so far for the N97.

I think I should do some research with the N96 to see if S60 FP2 has some more OVI content.

Some of the Apps I've found and loaded to my device:

- Nokia Handwriting calculator. It's as the name says a handwriting calculator. Still requires some learning, but it has some wow factor to it in writing long calculations as you would on paper (well almost).

- eBook reader: There's a few of those out there. The one I tried worked well. Only downside is that because you need the screen ON to read, your battery will be consumed quite quickly. Good idea, but needs a less hungry screen to work.

- Compass: There are a few of them out there. Again, cool idea, but in practice isn't very reliable unless you have a good GPS signal and you "shake" the device to pick North again.

Now, there are a couple of Music recognition programs that are free and work great. Midomi and Shazam.
I've used both and both deliver what they promised, finding out the music information after listening to a tune that you sing, whistle or otherwise can pick up with the microphone. IMHO, I liked the options that Midomi gives you to watch youtube videos of the song and find more information about the artist, album or song.

Shazam is also good and let's you find the song in the Nokia Music Store if it's available in your region.

There seem to be a lot of apps loaded every week, so from time to time I'll post if I find something that catches my eye.

Feel free to drop a comment if you've found some cool apps there.