Linux Media Center Plays YouTube Content - The first open source Linux-based embedded media center

Neuros Technology, previously known as a division of Digital Innovations under the name Neuros Audio, is a Chicago-based company that produces a number of audio and video devices with the brand name Neuros. A distinguishing feature of the Neuros devices is that they use open source software, the company requiring feedback from the community during the development of their products.

Recently, a cute little product got my attention as it is able to play back You Tube content. This due to the pre-released firmware for the OSD networkable set-top box, based on Linux, developed by Neuros Technology. This firmware allows the OSD to browse and play the entire YouTube video collection on any standard-definition or HD TV. Another amazing feature would be the fact that the little software here also supports keyword searching and browsing by category.

Its UI is not very appealing, but this is not a very important aspect, as the Neuros developers said they are currently working on improvements and many other new functionalities which would be integrated in the future updates.

"And with our Linux-based open source operating system and considerable help from our worldwide community of users and developers, we’re continuously providing new features and benefits via free, downloadable firmware upgrades that you can install in minutes via the user interface", claims Neuros on its website.

If you take a look at the company's website, you'll notice that Neuros OSD is more powerful than you might have initially thought. Just counting here the fact that this media centre is able to record and play to/from memory cards/USB devices, to record from a S-Video or RCA Composite Cable (such as DVD, VCR, CAMCODER, TiVo/DVR, cable/satellite TV), to stream PC media to TV/Stereo through LAN, I think is a good example for what I mean.

Yesterday: Pirated Music Is Dead! Today: Pirated Music Is Alive! - AllofMP3 still alive

Yesterday, the Russian authorities proudly announced that they closed AllofMP3, a website that distributed pirated music although it sustained it offers only licensed content.
Today, Computerworld interviews some old customers of the recently-closed website who mentioned they are still able to download music but not from the main page of the service. It seems like all the users were redirected to allTunes, a separated domain that offers cheap music through a downloadable application.

According to the same source, the program provides instant access to no less than 778.861 songs. The interesting aspect is that you must pay 2 cents per megabyte that means approximately $1 per album. In comparison with iTunes that sells a song for $0.99, this service is quite attractive for the Internet users.

"The allTunes.com software allows you to browse their catalogue, do searches and make purchases. It's quicker than querying a website since it downloads the catalogue to your PC. I gave it a whirl already and it worked fine. The client downloaded, it grabbed the catalogue, I searched and grabbed a song," an anonymous AllofMP3 customer sustained.

Because the new website offers almost the same content as the one that was recently shut down, the authorities might decide to close this website as well. Just like the old page, it sustains that it offers licensed content but the government might have a different opinion about it.

"All materials in the Internet-Audit LLS projects are available for distribution via the Internet in accordance with license # LS-3I-P3I-06-13 of the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society. Under the license agreement, Internet-Audit LLS pays license fees for all materials subject to the Law of the Russian Federation "On Copyright and Related Rights," it is mentioned in the site's Terms of Use as the same source mentioned.

How to Use iPhone with Google's Products - iPhone and Google Calendar in action

Steve Jobs, the Apple CEO, announced a long time ago that iPhone, the next generation handheld device, will be also compatible with Google's products. The long awaited gadget was finally released on June 29 and some of the users are asking themselves how they can sync the device with
Google Calendar. If you're a Google Calendar user then you should know that it's a product powered by the Mountain View company that allows you to organize and track your events. If you're not a fan, now you know.

However, some of the users are looking for help and, since the product was recently released, the Internet is quite useless as no trick is posted yet. The folks from Switched managed to find a way for synchronizing the handheld device with Google Calendar in order to organize your meetings straight from your iPhone and from any location.

First of all, you should log-in into your Google Calendar account, click on Settings and choose the Private Address option. Select the ICAL icon and note the link provided by the function. In your iPhone device, run iCal, open Calendar and click on Subscribe. Write the link provided by Google Calendar in the message window opened on the device.

Please keep in mind that you need an Internet connection to synchronize the device with Google Calendar as the iPhone will try to download the information straight from your account. "The best part is you only need to do this once -- iCal will grab new appointments at your specified intervals and your next sync will be up to date," Switched added.

The iPhone also provides instant access to YouTube, the online video sharing service powered by Google. The announcement was made when an updated version of the Apple TV software was released because it also included support for the popular video product.