Posts tagged with "video"

iOS 5 To Allow 1080p Video Export

Following the increasing speculation about the next-generation iPhone getting an 8-megapixel camera, the iOS 5 beta seeded to developers earlier this week keeps providing interesting details on features that Apple is baking into the OS, but aren’t ready or usable yet as they’re being built for future devices. In addition to iOS 5 enabling playback of 1080p video files scaled down to 720p as Apple hasn’t built a screen with enough resolution to support 1080p, 9to5mac points to more code strings from the developer beta that seem to confirm developers will soon be able to activate video export options at 1080p in their applications. This means Apple’s apps like Camera and iMovie, or other third-party solutions, will be capable of saving 1080p files with the public release of iOS 5. Previously, developers could only export videos to 720p.

Programmers use the AVAsset class to work on a detailed level with timed media assets such as videos and sounds. It lets them examine, create, edit or reencode media files, get input streams from devices, manipulate video clips during realtime capture and playback and more. It is now clear that iOS 5 enables devices such as iPhone 4, iPad 1 and 2 and fourth-generation iPod touch to both decode 1080p videos and encode content in 1080p.

An improved camera/processor in the iPhone 5 could allow the device to go past the iPhone 4’s 720p limitation and also start shooting flicks at 1080p with dedicated export options, though Apple would need to bump up the screen resolution to offer native, true 1080p playback. As far as the camera speculation goes, a new report by Digitimes today also indicates camera lens maker Largan Precision (caught in the Apple rumor mill before) has hinted at increasing orders for 8-megapixel modules from smartphone vendors like Apple and HTC. Reports in the past months suggested Apple’s regular supplier OmniVision would provide the 8 MP camera lens for the iPhone 5, although separate claims pointed out that Largan Precision was selected by Apple.

WWDC 2011 Keynote Becomes 4-Minute Musical

If you’ve missed the WWDC 2011 keynote video (it’s available for streaming and download) but you’ve already read all the announcements, and yet you feel like you’re up for one of those funny recreations of Apple keynotes that usually pop up online a few hours after Steve Jobs has stepped off stage, this time we recommend checking out Jonathan Mann’s WWDC 2011: The Musical. You may remember him as the guy who puts up a new song on YouTube every day; in fact, his popular iPhone 4 Antenna song was even featured by Apple at the “Antennagate media event” last year.

The musical edition of the WWDC 2011 keynote is four minutes long, is based off MacRumors Live event transcript and it actually manages to put the right emphasis on the major and less-exciting announcements about Lion, iCloud, and iOS 5. It’s very well done, funny, entertaining. Perhaps Apple will feature it at the next WWDC opening keynote.

Check out the video below.
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Disney Won’t Be Part Of iCloud Launch

Amidst the rumors leading up to Apple’s iCloud and iOS 5 announcements scheduled for Monday, June 6, at the WWDC keynote, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an interview at All Things Digital’s D9 conference that the company won’t be part of Apple’s iCloud “launch” next week. Whilst it’s still unclear whether iCloud will be publicly available on Monday, or be announced as a closed beta for developers, Iger showed his appreciation for “digital lockers in the sky” that will allow users to store content in one place and access it anywhere at any time.

Kara: Are you part of the Apple iCloud launch next Monday?

Iger: No. But on lockers and clouds in general:

Ability to have your content online, accessible all in one place, that’s a better user experience. Believe that impediments to people buying things include storage: You don’t have room on your hard drive to store all this stuff, and you don’t want to throw it out.

(From Wired’s Steven Levy): Cloud makes more sense if you can move your stuff to different platforms, and different devices. Are you demanding that?

A: We haven’t made any deals yet. But we’re definitely focused on interoperability. We need to demand that.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is the largest shareholder in Walt Disney, and the company was among the first ones to support the iPod video when it first came out. iCloud was rumored to include movies and TV shows alongside songs from iTunes by the official launch, though recent rumors and reports have focused on the music aspect of the service, failing to provide additional details on video and other media content Apple will distribute on its new platform.

Video interview is available here.

Netflix CEO: Apple TV Is More Important For Us

At All Things Digital’s D9 conference that’s being live streamed now, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings confirmed that the service is not seeing huge traction on the iPad, with the Apple TV – and Internet-connected TVs in general – being more important for Netflix going forward. From the live-updating full transcript:

Kara: What about mobile, other platforms?

Hastings: TV most important for video, as opposed to music, which works well on mobile. In coming years we’ll be on lots of Web TV app stores.

Kara: What’s up with tablets? It’s a big deal, right?

Hastings: Meh. Apple TV more important for us. Tablets not a revolution. The big deal for us is Internet connected TVs.

Netflix keeps updating its official app for iPhone and iPad every few weeks with new features, but the company had already reported more viewing hours on the Apple TV than the iPad. The second-generation Apple TV released in September 2010 comes with direct Netflix integration on the big screen, whereas iOS devices have to run a dedicated app to download from the App Store.

Another iOS 5 Concept: Lion-like Dashboard

With speculation running wild about Apple’s upcoming software announcements at the WWDC ‘11 – where the company is expected to showcase the next versions of iOS and Mac OS X – it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Internet is exploding with concepts and mockups of what iOS 5 will look like on the iPhone and iPad, let alone the fan-made renderings that aim at giving us a possible glimpse of the iPhone 5. Jan-Michael Cart, the same guy behind the iOS 5 voice recognition concept we posted two weeks ago, has come up with a new interface idea for the Dashboard, available on YouTube alongside his collection of iOS concept videos.

Of all the videos created by Cart in the past weeks, we think this might be the nicest and most interesting one. By taking inspiration from the Lion Dashboard, which retains the same look of the Snow Leopard one but can be launched with a single swipe to the right from the desktop, Cart imagines an iOS Dashboard that resides on the current Spotlight page on the left of the Home screen, and can be activated with an horizontal swipe. Rather than replacing the Spotlight search with the Dashboard, Cart has conceptualized a way to add widgets to this screen and start a new search by simply hitting the box at the top, like you normally would on iOS. When performing a search the Dashboard screen blurs in the background; Cart has also imagined a variety of widgets that can be placed on multiple pages on the left, such as a Facebook box and a Twitter ticker to stay on top of the latest messages from users you follow. In another video posted on his YouTube channel, Cart also describes how widgets could be created from the dedicated Dashboard page, but also dragged to the Home screen. As to how users would be able to swipe between the Dashboards and Springboard pages, Cart believes the Home button would play a key role in both cases, as seen in the screenshots below.

We have embedded the video after the break. Whilst recent rumors have claimed Apple is focusing on features like location and smart voice recognition for iOS 5, it’s likely that ahead of the public launch of OS X Lion Apple will consider porting over some functionalities from the desktop to mobile devices. The video below is a good example of that.
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Apple’s New iPad 2 Commercial: “If You Asked”

If you asked a child, she might call it magic. And if you asked us, we’d say it’s just getting started.

Apple just posted a new iPad 2 commercial which, following the lead of the first one posted last month, is aimed at showcasing the various functionalities of the product. The iPad 2 is being promoted as an inspiring device for musicians, a “groundbreaking” tool for doctors, or a powerful machine for a CEO. Again, Apple shoots for simplicity, elegance and minimalism in these new iPad 2 commercials. The iPad 2 sure is lighter and thinner than its predecessor, but it’s all about the software when it comes down to the experience. This is what they believe.

Check out the video after the break. [via YouTube]
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White iPhone’s Proximity Sensor and Death Grip Demoed On Video

The saga is over. The white iPhone 4 is finally launching tomorrow in 28 countries after a 10-month delay, and Apple seems to be pretty happy about it so much that they’ve decided to dedicate a special spot to the device on the company’s homepage. Well then, what’s so different about the white iPhone - you may ask. Not much: it’s white, and it’s got a different proximity sensor design, quite possibly due to the use of white paint. But besides this minor design “feature”, it’s just an iPhone 4 running iOS 4.3.1 by default (you’ll have to upgrade to 4.3.2 if you buy one tomorrow) and coming with a fancy new retail box.

Italian website iSpazio, however, decided to test the white iPhone 4 [Google Translation] they managed to buy yesterday ahead of the official launch, to see whether or not the new proximity sensor works better than the one found in the black iPhone. Together with that, they ran the usual “death grip” test – with the obvious result that the iPhone seems to lose one bar, but signal isn’t compromised. Again, since the software updates Apple released last year the “death grip” hasn’t been much of a problem for anyone: though, it’s become part of the unboxing and testing tradition Apple fans rely on for each new product launch.

The demo videos are embedded below. In case you missed it, check out the first white iPhone unboxing video here.
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Watch Youtube Live Streams On iOS Devices

Youtube has been experimenting with live streams for concerts and other events for a few years now, but it was only earlier this month when the service officially unveiled Youtube Live, a new section of the website that integrates live streaming capabilities into Youtube’s standard interface to allow broadcasters to share their live video content similarly to how other platforms like Ustream and Justin.tv enable users to start a live video recording, and share it with the rest of the world.

Youtube Live, however, has one major limitation: the stream is entirely Flash-based and Live videos don’t work on mobile devices like iPhones and iPads. YTLive, a new web app launched this week, aims at fixing this problem by providing live conversion of the Flash stream to generate an embedded live video that’s playable on iOS devices. To use the web app, you only have to paste the URL of a Youtube Live video here, and wait for the YTLive to process it. Once the service has generated an embedded video like the one in the screenshot above, you can tap Play and start streaming. The live feed is the same, but from what I understand the Flash stream is being converter through YTLive’s servers before it’s delivered to an iPhone or iPad. I don’t know how the service will hold up in the coming weeks as more and more iOS users start using it (the Royal Wedding is going to be an interesting first test), but it works fairly well right now.

Head over Youtube Live, pick a channel, and try it with YTLive on your iOS device now. [via TUAW]

Conan O’Brien Introduces The Apple iDea

Brought to you by the minds of Conan O’Brien and TeamCoco, the iDea is the latest product in Apple’s multitouch line-up – except it’s not clear what it is, yet. Clearly inspired by Apple’s latest iPad 2 promo videos and ads, the iDea commercial touches some key parts of Apple’s marketing machine: gestures, voiceover, higher price point for bigger model, thinner design in the second-gen version. It’s got everything the Apple marketing team would be proud of.

Check out the video below. [via TUAW]
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