Slashdot Mirror
PSPCasting
ChipGuy writes "Om Malik points out the launch of Sony PSP in US could actually turn Sony's fortunes around and thinks that new unqiue applications like Sajeeth Cherian's latest software, PSP Video 9, might be the real reason. Cherian created Videora bit torrent client's new hack, PSP Video 9. It takes any video and turns it into a format that PSP can read. So now you can download videos using Videora, and then convert them to PSP friendly format within a few seconds.He calls this PSP casting."
Besides the geek factor, how would this be cooler than a standard portable mini tv set, especially given its price ?
Trolling using another account since 2005.
Sony's future prospects would be even more bright if the thing had supported non proprietary MPEG-2/DivX/Xvid and WMW from the get go...
Do you have to burn a mini CD-R / DVD+-R?
Or do you have to connect the PSP to your PC to upload it to it?
Or can you just save it to a memory stick and put in the PSP which will automatically recognize it and play it?
DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
Next: 'Blogcasting' (reading your fave blog on your cellphone), 'bookcasting' (Ebooks on your PSP), and so on.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Its like Podcasting, but your not broadcasting anything, your just playing videos, wheres the casting part of PSPcasting?
castcasting (vb.) - The act of taking a word or acronym and appending "cast" or "casting" to the end to make it sound up-to-date and cool. See also "gategating".
Finally a way to spread the wisdom in my home movies to the whole world.
Now I'm off to register PSPorn.com
Sony's UMD format discs which they're using for the PSP can't be burned yet as far as I know. For now at least, music, movies and pictures can only be put on the memory stick via a card reader or by hooking your PSP up to your PC via USB and transferring it that way.
Mobile Cinema isn't going to work, I don't want to sound like Steve Jobs, but watching Jack Bauer say "Dammit" on a 4,5" screen is not quite as good as on a HDTV plasma(or something more modest), even though the screen is fabulous..
Ofcourse as a PornStation Portable it will do just fine..
As a programmer I can give you the reason we don't add support for any of this stuff and instead developed (well... bought) a proprietary video playback codec. (Actimagine makes a great codec, easy to program with, but a bit expensive)
We hate our users, it is really that simple, we hate them and want them all to die.
Ok, all joking aside, we used Actimagine for one simple reason. To cut down compatibility issues. DO you realize that both Xvid and Divx are based on other codecs and are constantly evolving. What happens in a year or two when the codecs has become obsolete. We can't upgrade so we are stuck with either claiming support for obsolete codecs or never including them in the first place. From a PR standpoint it is better to be proprietary then to be outdated.
The only time portable video is useful is when you're away from home/your computer and you're not walking, driving, or otherwise in control of your motion. Obviously, by this set of criteria it makes sense to watch portable video on a train or bus, but since the average American is either driving, walking, or biking to and from home (a place with existing video sources) to work (a place with computers), it doesn't seem like there's much of a need for portable video. Now, I will say there are some places where portable video make sense-- like on a commuter train in Japan. I saw a guy watching TV on his phone just yesterday and thought, "Wow, that's pretty cool." But when does the average American ever have an opportunity to sit around like that while someone else is steering the vehicle? You can slap portable video onto a product people are already going to buy, like a cellphone, as an optional feature, but it doesn't make sense to make portable video the centerpiece of any technology destined for the US market.
I'm with Steve Jobs on this one-- there's no real demand for portable video in the US.
So, this is an app that converts video clips to mpeg4 and then copies them to whichever drive the PSP is mounted as? Gotta agree with others -- where's the "casting" part here?
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
You put everything on a Memory Stick Duo. Theres no way to write disks for it (yet?)
It uses a MPEG4 format for the videos too, its not some crazy proprietary format just a slightly modified version of mpeg4 IIRC. Makes it easy to transcode. This is why theres already so many converters to toss video onto PSPs
So is that why whenever those little Portable DVD players drop below $100 on sale at Walmart, they're usually sold out by the end of the day? There shouldn't be any question as to whether there is demand for portable video all over the place. There is. It's plainly obvious.
The real question is whether Sony is offering it in an attractive enough package for people to buy [i]this[/i] product. I'm gonna say the will be successful, but I don't think that success will hinge on it's ability to playback video, frankly. People aren't going to run to the stores and drop $250 just for the device's ability to play Spiderman 2 on the go. The price point is all wrong for that function alone, but combined with everything else the PSP does- along with the ipod like design and marketing focus -I don't think it'll have a problem selling whatsoever.
But why we're focusing solely on it's ability to play movies to sell units when that's barely half it's function is beyond me in the first place.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
Sony's console sales have actually been pretty healthy - its the other parts of their business that are shakey. They have sold 100 million PlayStations and 75 million Playsation 2s. The PS2 sales have dipped recently but thats to be expected. When the PS3 comes out it they will be the market leader again. But I don't think PSP casting will change the fortunes of Sony.
Unfortunately, Sony is also a media company and has large interests in protection of intellectual property (audio and video). The feature the PSP needs to be sucessful (the ability to view content you already own on your PSP) will probably not happen. The reason is simple, Sony wants to sell you yet another copy of your favorite movies. Until we as a society find a way allow people to buy content vs. media (which happen to have content on them) then the PSP will never be a major feather in Sony's hat. I was going to buy a PSP, but without the ability to convert DVD titles that I legally own into the PSP media (memory stick is too small and expensive for this purpose) I won't be buying one. Video clips on memory stick = Too Weak
Erm, you guys do know that Sony already has software available for the PSP that will convert any video file you can drag and drop onto it (Yes, DivX, XviD, etc.) into MPEG4 and put it on your PSP....and images as well....
It's called Image Converter. It's bundled with the PSP (At least the pack that comes with the memory stick gets a CD with it, otherwise it's free from Sony with registration). What's the point of this guy reinventing the wheel?
Info on the software is here:
http://forum.lik-sang.com/showthread.php?t=1929
Sure, this works for now. But Sony had the forsight to make their system flash updatable through bios updates via a wireless network or gamepack. They could go the same route that Microsoft did with the X-Box and force firmware updates when you play new games or connect to Sony's network, effectively breaking the ability to play video off a memory stick.
Of course, there will always be "the scene" and people hacking the firmware, etc. But I would count on this ability to be broken at some point because Sony is too short sighted to use it as a marketing gimick.
Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
Besides, if my friend would have used a normal Data CD, like anyone would have, I could have copied it to MiniDisc without problems. Copying a MiniDisc itself has not much sense for music professionals, because it's not a master. I found that the DRM restrictions on MiniDisc were actually reasonable: one digtal copy. More than enough for *personal* use.
I don't care about Britney and Co. Other music gernes still produce CD's that I can write to MiniDisc.
My sister studies Audio-engineering. They are required to use MiniDisc for one reason: the DRM that comes with it. They are not allowed to use the recording material for their own uses, and thus the only way to take home their works is by MiniDisc. Listen: yes... copy no... Very reasonable.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
Let's see a 512MB Pro Duo Memory stick can be bought for $75 or less (about the cost of 1 and a half PSP games).
I converted a 22 minute episode of The Daily Show to PSP format MP4 using ffmpegx (Mac OS X). The file size was less than 50 MB. This works out great for my 25 minute bus ride to work.
I'm not a Troll, it's reverse psychology.