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More and more people are indicating to

part ways with the media players, shifting

towards PC based solutions. When rea-

soning, we do feel they have reasonable

arguments to part ways however, is HTPC

a solution? One of the arguments (we not

fully agree with) struck me,

as if we put it all in one line,

it’s quite upsetting. “The me-

dia player scene is disappear-

ing in a cloud of sadness and

continuous disappointment,

unhappy customers, unfin-

ished immature products with a poorly

supported very short product life cycle,

chip design failures, features promised but

never delivered, stolen firmware's to hide

behind incapacity to create your own and

the list of disappointments goes on and on

and on. ”

Well, the grass isn't always greener else-

where. I can imagine due to limitations of

chips and SDK’s being buggy, there will

always be a level of disappointment but

over the years, we must recognize where

it all started and how much we have

grown. Sure, 2010 was a weak year, but

it’s a dip only as 2011 promises major

steps forward. Yes those steps may be

buggy at first as was SMB and NFS or

24P in the early days, but they aren’t any-

more today which is the point. We are still

in the early stage of reaching the top...

Y OUR PRIVATE MEDIA NEWSLETTER ISSUED >> OCTOBER / 2010

As a manu-

facturer,

you proba-

bly looked

into adding online content and VOD

is a live topic since years, yet only

so many offer a decent option like

Netflix which is troublesome to get

activated, as shown by PopCorn

Hour PopBox and the HDI media

players… Now here’s news you may

not keep into consideration…

In our poll with MPC’s users, it is

shown 60% could not care less about

Netflix and similar options charging

fees based on titles, 20% want it but

are not sure to rent content at all and

the other 20% just wants Netflix and

actively use it… That’s 1 in 5 con-

sumers gained for Netflix if support-

ed.

There’s something else to notice

here, as long as online streaming is

limited in days and asking premium

fees per movie, sometimes running

up to €2 per episode and €5 for a

movie, it won’t work as the user

would have spend €48 for a com-

plete 24 hour series, same price as

buying the damn thing and a movie

costing €5 is just too expensive…

That price would be ok if the movie

is “owned”, sounds like a fair price

without producing DVD’s, shipping

and what not… And there's this

thing people are waiting for: “An all

you can eat” monthly subscription!

Market Watch Time to part ways…?

EXPECTED: NEW PLAYERS! We are expecting new players build-ing around the same concept of the existing players. HDI was the first to release their new models even though they use the same core chip as the ones we already had. It is very likely other brands will do the same shortly and offer different models (smaller, bigger, better casings etc…) to bridge the rest of the year… Stay tuned!!

Now to the facts, media players are

definitely more affordable and

maintainable than HTPC although

the latter offers a wider support for

everything and is more powerful,

yet by somewhat illegal codec packs

and solutions official

brands obviously can’t

use (let alone, the pow-

er inside media players

are insufficient as well).

The major benefit of

media players is the

convenience in general within fami-

lies, it operates as a regular media

player, consumes less than HTPC

but comes with limitations. There’s

always the option to remain within a

certain range of files the unit plays

back perfectly to avoid issues A

media player has a higher “WAF”

factor and usability for our off-

spring. If you don’t mind spending

time with tuning a PC, spend loads

of money to reach HQ playback and

use powerful components (some say

you don’t, we say you do), by all

means, go over to HTPC. Chances

are, you will find issues, maybe not

the same as with media players, but

it does have it’s own issues and

problems that will interfere with

your satisfaction levels.

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Even though it seems only the US is entitled to the service right now, Amazon has started selling

episodes of series for 0.99$. You may thing watching 24 episodes still costs you about $24,

but you’d be wrong as the episodes are yours to keep and never expire. Now that’s

how I like it.. This method of allowing downloads at affordable “cost of owner-

ship” is actually also good news for the makers of media players as the market

to stream music from NAS at home after downloading will only grow. It may or

may not simplify things as far as codec support is required but it is the road follow.

Now we need affordable download pricing for movies on the side and break with the

boundaries of US only for all these solutions. Why is Europe staying so far behind…?

Offers like these are the answer to Piracy! Easy access, easy download… and owned

content after the money spending! I’m up for it!

Amazon sets the example…

I know they say they have an ‘App” for

everything but a little research revealed,

it’s not true… Newsday, a newspaper

somewhere in the world revealed this

while making a commercial for their

iPAD version and posted the video of

the result online…

Newsday Commercial!

Using Google UK may reveal results

you do not expect at all. We came

across a video on YouTube testing the

issues with Google search results…

Google Searches!

We are not seeking to raise doubts but have mixed feelings on the new concepts of HDI play-

ers. Although overly excited and overwhelmed by the announcements, we detected a few

quirks along the way that led to our opinion HDI’s concept is somewhat riddled with incon-

veniences except the Dune HD MAX… Despite our respect and cooperation with HDI, we

have to remain sharing our thoughts to the best of our ability even if not always positive…

Critics can only help built a better future… isn’t it so?

SMART : It turns out to be not that smart and we struggle most with the fact the SMART

units are divided in 3 different units so they fit whatever people want as the official com-

ments. True, but isn’t it the reversed world just a little bit? As the concept is designed, you

must choose the SMART B1 (BD but no display and optional HDD module), SMART D1

(display with optional module BD or HDD) or the H1 (HDD rack, no display with optional

BD module). Now what if the concept was like one SMART unit with display with additional

BD module and HDD module. Wouldn’t it allow you to choose just as much? At least it

would cause you to have a display when buying the BD module which you cannot have

choosing the B1 or H1 model. We must mention, the fact each module uses its own power

not being “daisy chained” is inconvenient not to mention separate power on / off switches.

Lite 53d: The 53D comes without hard drive option you can built-in yourself afterwards so

it must be purchased with hard drive immediately. The reason: because it was not intended as

media player but IPTV box HDI decided to offer in retail as well. The hard drive was added

by a bracket design upon request from an IPTV provider. Is it safe to say it costs more than

most entry level competition with less convenience then…? Would it better have been an-

nounced as a diskless player for €129 instead of HDD player at €179 without the ability to

swap disks or use disks you already own?

I’m have no doubt the players will deliver in ability, but convenience? Also the HDI BD

Prime 3.0 already had the quirky HDD design built in method so we don’t like “the second

time” HDI limits our abilities, no matter how small so we want to inform HDI for the future,

don’t limit our ability or force us to buy hard drives we don’t need and already own! It’s so

promising and yet, so unappealing at times taking above quirks in mind… We welcome the

products with open arms, but it sure will become a love & hate relationship in some ways...

GO 2 AMAZON

HDI love & hate relationship!

iPad Apps!

Google It!

Intel Atom = Qnap’ed! QNAP has kidnapped the Intel Atom Dual Core 1.8GHz chip for their newly announced X59+ range adding the new processor inside their units. The earlier units ran on the 1.66GHz Atom proces-sor. This is however the only change to be found and fits only those who need to squeeze a 7% better performance out of the units. The memory remains limited to 1GB. If the price increase justifies the upgrade or the cost, I leave entirely up to you. No pricing is known to us at the time of writing.

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Our “mods” about Dune HD MAX... What our moderators have to say about HD MAX...

I truly remain respective for HDI and their work as their players are really good in general and HDI did not sit still at times newer chips are postponed time after time counting on the earlier units only. They have delivered hard work on these products but lacked thinking about

the concept for sure and even though they brought us new products that make us happy, every one of them has an avoidable mistake. The PRO isn’t ready for the pro market (fall short in retail disk /music), the SMART sys-tems aren’t smart at all (separate power supply / switch and no need for three base SMART units) and the MAX is only “MAX” in price which we can say for the SMART as well considering the similarity to the Base. I almost feel sad for speaking my mind but it all feels as if the “money mak-ing machine” was the big driver here… (see page 2 HDI love and rela-tionship). I love HDI to death but this is way too awkward even for me and I can’t stand the customer to pay such a high bill at the time new play-ers are so close to pop up for no good reason. Just to clarify a few of the items that upset me is the missing system drive (2GB USB stick or so), the basic fan, basic PSU with added power, low end drive cage and add-on board. We are sorry some feel upset, but it is still the truth we speak! If you want to spend that kind of money on the MAX for no good reason warrant-ing the investment, go for it by all means, but know I feel you are being partially fooled about the finesse and quality the MAX supposedly is intro-duced with. That’s all! Big deal... (Hi-Jack)

MPC Report:

I previously owned the Dune Ultra and am still happily using the Dune BD Prime 1.0 at the moment. Since I never owned the Prime 3.0 I was really looking forward to buying a

new Dune player. When they announced the MAX with its pictures and price, I thought, finally a brand that understands that there are customers out there who want to spend more on a media player than 100€ and who appreciate quality over price. I immediately ordered one. When I saw the unit in real life at HJ's place I felt that the online pictures where fancier and prettier than the real thing. After seeing a photo of the inte-rior, I was even more disappointed. I thought for that price the player would certainly include a high end PSU like seen in the Dune Ultra and high end Audio Dac! Your point in the review is spot on: where is the 'MAX' and the extra cash they ask for this player going? For me, having skipped the Prime3.0, at least it still will be an improve-ment...but for people already owning a prime 3.0: no need to upgrade...I also don't understand why the Max isn't replacing the prime 3.0 unit as it is exactly the same( give or take a SD card reader and an expansion slot). I still am looking forward to the arrival of my new player but with a little less excitement than before. (BuGGeR)

M essage from Lon-don.... Well the review is spot on. Just one remark

though: Not all of us can afford upgrading every 6 months to a new player. Why the MAX now and pay 499€ when in the begin-ning of next year a new chipset will somehow reach the market which will surely rectify the flaws of the current chipset (gigabit,etc..) So if you just spent 4 months ago a huge amount on a media player then it would have to be perfect. Not almost perfect! It's like buying a new car today almost perfect when in six months to be re-placed by a new model com-pletely perfect for a bit more then the price! I would feel dis-appointed ! (Siamsquare)

T he FW parts is what really bothers me. HDI came on as a strong company, and they had ( and still have ) the best

value players in the market. But with the new models coming up and espe-cially the Pro i think they really need to step up to the plate and deliver. As for now they market all their play-ers as full fledged multi-players. But i haven't been able to play a retail audio CD or DVD properly on any of the units I've had. Optical Disc playback has been broken since the release of the first units. No gapless audio cd playback, random DVD stops ( on re-tail discs ). The market where the pro is aimed at will get furious about these things. And since all is built on the same SDK they either need to make a damn good FW, or they will go down

hard. Only time will tell, but my gut says they are biting off more than they can chew at the moment. (Malignant )

T his newsletter is by no means an action by MPC and it’s mods / members to hurt HDI. We just want to share our opinion as market watchers about the HDI Dune

HD MAX concept and how well it was received by MPC Club. Our conclusion was that only the Lite53d is consid-ered as “really” new competition for the entry level scene where the SMART and MAX concept con-flict more with HDI’s own products already exist-ing for a higher price than with the products of oth-er brands and contain few “questionable” aspects about convenience and quality considering the price. Obviously as reporters, we have no business with the definition of concepts and pricing and we did go to far on some occasions discussing Dune HD MAX, never the less, we always stated our true opinion and will remain doing so...

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Mede8er MEDX500 has been evaluated by MPC Club in the early days as the “best value Realtek based player” and it has held it’s position ever since the release, occupying the NR2 spot in our favorite TOP 5. While Mede8er is a brand that makes progress slowly, the changes presented are always mature and the price / feature balance in perfect condition. We are excited to check out Mede8er’s next addition to the MEDX500 units, called the “Video wall”. Running on a custom soft-ware developed by Mede8er using the Yamj backend, the mede8er now allows a more sophisti-cated and fun way of viewing your content. We off course, had to be in front row and check out how it all works. The “Movie Wall” is introduced inside the next public release along with a refreshed inter-face. About time we placed Mede8er in “Focus” F

ocus

Mede8er MEDX500 (BETA) Firmware Update

Soon to be released to the public comes V4 of Mede8er’s firmware for the MEDX500 and with that comes a newly styled interface that looks far better than the earlier one, however remains within boundaries of making the interface more flexible. The overhaul is mainly based on images whilst the menu layout and everything remains the same. In some ways, it is a little disappointing but over-all the new firmware is to bring excite-ment as in “Movie Wall” and several enhancements that should bring the Mede8er even more on top of the rest in performance and ability. Now before we get the wrong idea, I must elaborate on where the little disappointments are and by no means we want to do injustice to the work of Mede8er here but it’s a fact the list of items to use remain unchanged with USB and Card Reader as the first options to select from which in our humble opinion should be the last items on the list (arrange by most often used source). What we consider a step up the ladder, would be allowing people to arrange the items as they see fit. You may not think of this as an issue (we don’t see it that way either) but this is important to know, as we know Realtek delivers quite an inflexible interface, so unless it is completely rewritten from the ground up, there’s only so much you can do!

Those limited abilities play a role inside the Movie Wall as well… As a consumer you can choose to use the Movie Wall or not, but if you do, there’s only so much you can define yourself within the same limitations as the rest of the interface. You can select main category images from the defaults provided or you can add your own. All your movies can be indexed and prepared to contain cover art and IMDB information, however you can not decide how it is displayed as that part is fixed to display at 2 rows X 6 icons. Panning of the Video Wall then comes without vertical scrolling being

limited to left and right navigation of the con-tent. A special soft-ware to be delivered by Mede8er based on the well know Yamj engine will help fine-tune the content for the Movie Wall which is just as good as any to

have, but custom preferences cannot be induced, for instance, what if you want three rows? Despite the “fixed” asset of the Movie Wall, the browsing becomes so much more interesting in general, information is available at the click of a button and the other enhancements inside this new firmware, including the visual upgrade, and performance increase, make the new firmware an absolute superb update that will make Mede8er stand on top for a while to come.

We still figure though, we would not be MPC Club if we didn’t launch a few re-marks the least. • The “repeat commands”, you know

if you keep pressing left arrow but-ton for instance, are registered faster by the player than the interface can handle so if you stop pressing the left arrow button, the interface is still scrolling to the left. Somehow the panning should become in tune if possible…

• We understand the limit of a fixed Movie Wall on the Mede8er, never the less, it could be better by allow-ing preferences somehow for how many icons can be shown.

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Focus Mede8er MEDX500

So how it all works is fairly simple. Re-member currently we are testing a BETA version of the firmware and everything or nothing may change in the final public release. Approach this as an introduction and direction of where Mede8er is head-ing towards. Mede8er releases a software title using Yamj engine called “Y2M” (YAMJ to Mede8er) which helps you tune your collection for cover art use on the Mede8er players. The cover art images are locked at max 75k and recommended “about” info at about half a megabyte that should allow good quality images to be used. Within the player, you can browse the usual way or use the Movie Wall. When choosing the latter one, one must add “folders” with content to the movie wall. These folders can be assigned a “category” from the default list or a cus-tom made one… See the DEMO here that explains and shows you how it works. http://megaswf.com/serve/44912

There is so much more to tell about the movie wall and other gen-eral solutions provided on media players for displaying some form of movie wall. When indexing content on a central NAS or local attached hard drive, browsing those folders will display the con-tent as it reads out the folder itself and obviously everything that is displayed is available. When cataloging / indexing the content as is done with players as NetGear EVA and now also Mede8er MEDX500, you may come across some inconvenience where in-dexed movies are shown for browsing however not available due to their locations not being connected (NAS or external hard drives). A message will be shown the movie is “NOT AVAILA-BLE”. There are obviously mechanisms we could implement checking if sources are available and only list the content that is within reach at the time but the challenge is much bigger as it would need to run on a database, update itself when sources become available requiring resources to continuously poll sources and so on… What we have here with the Mede8er is thus the most practical system possible within reason and within limitations of the Realtek SDK which we are used to get from Mede8er: The best option possible within reason!

All the options explained...

It will mean heavy work for indexing all the content you have gathered so far to fit within the Movie Wall system but it is no different for other players. Mede8er in fact takes it one step further by providing their own software based on YAMJ to aid and batch prepare content. Other than the “inflexible” layout mechanism where we are stuck in a 2 by 6 layout scrolling horizontally, we love the looks and system behind it, be it within boundaries or limited custom preferences that do not go beyond selecting images here and there. Mede8er shows a deep interest into making the best out of the MEDX500 for their consumers and that is simply “Gold Value! With the additional tuning of memory and so on, the new firmware promises to be faster as well for streaming but that was beyond the scope of our newsletter. So in all, expect a great update to come sooner or later! It looks as though, by lack of new players to come, Mede8er understood how to keep the Mede8er in “focus” for months to come! Well done!