Netbook Users Get Some Attention With YouTube Feather Beta
YouTube has been cranking video quality in recent months, offering a larger screen and HD options for visitors who want a more in-depth experience. However, not all of us have that luxury on our netbooks, where high quality video can look more like a slideshow than anything else.
On the YouTube blog, the site showed that it got the problem:
“A consequence of rolling out higher quality video, HD and, more recently, 1080p, is that playbacks might suffer if bandwidth or computer processing power is low.”
For this reason, YouTube has launched a beta of the all new YouTube Feather, which ditches much of the screen clutter and simplifies the UI for more streamlined use. Video quality is dropped to standard only and only the ten most recent comments are displayed. You can sign up for the beta with your YouTube account now, though in the near future you may not need to.
“There are also a few countries where bandwidth is at a premium and videos can take several seconds to start playing. If we see adoption go up along with improvements in latency, we’ll look to roll this out of TestTube and make it more widely available.”
Amen to that.
Via PCPro.
Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Improves Netbook HD Video
Video can be choppy on older netbooks, especially if you’re bold enough to try for full-screen HD Flash video. However, Adobe’s new Flash Player 10.1 with GPU acceleration, now in beta, has been proven to crank video quality on machines with slimmed down processors.
Flash Player 10.1 even draws upon the power of Nvidia or ATI graphics cards in order to decode video from YouTube or Hulu, so if you dropped cash on more powerful graphics your money won’t go to waste.
PCWorld set up an interesting side-by-side comparison of Flash 10.1 video quality using both IE and Firefox. You should check it out.
Quartics Qvu Brings Netbooks and Notebooks “Beyond HD”
Quartics, Inc. is announcing a new solution designed to improve movies, gaming, and media streaming on netbooks and laptops. It’s called Qvu, and it’s designed to deliver video quality that’s “Beyond HD” while conserving power use.
Qvu is also designed to bring non-HD content up to near-HD levels. It’s already been picked up by a number of OEMs including Acer.
Most netbooks don’t have the hardware to rock HD video, but Qvu means to solve that problem, according to Quartics executive VP Derek Meyer:
“Consumers have raised the bar on the experience they want with video content. Qvu is the only solution to be created with this goal in mind. Any Netbook or Laptop enabled with Qvu will be unique in its ability to provide true enjoyment through incredible video realism and detail like never before.”
Forward Concepts president Will Strauss piped in with his own summary of Qvu:
“Netbooks are one of the hottest new product categories. But they have lacked an ability to deliver an immersive video experience – until now. Solutions such as Qvu from Quartics help fulfill the promise of Netbooks and other portable products as a dynamic platform for the consumption of video from any source. This can only increase their appeal to consumers, and holds the potential to further grow Netbook and ultraportable device markets.”
It will be incredibly exciting to see where this new technology goes and to see how it is implemented in netbooks.
Nvidia And Adobe Team Up For Better Netbook Performance
Credit: Nvidia
Nvidia and Adobe had announced a committment to bring rich web experiences to netbooks through their all-new Open Screen Project. The project is designed to boost the capabilities of Flash Player 10.1 using Nvidia GPUs. Development of Flash through Nvidia could have a beneficial impact on netbooks, especially considering the extent to which Nvidia chipsets have already appeared in netbooks.
HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Acer are all customers of Nvidia that would benefit through the implementation of better GPU and graphics acceleration on their netbooks and other gadgets.
Dan Vivoli, senior VP of Nvidia, explained that “Consumers want the best Internet experience – whether it’s a mobile device in their pocket or a netbook at the coffee shop,” and “[Nvidia's] engineers have worked closely with Adobe to make this a reality.” This will most likely mean smoother viewing experiences of flash platforms using SD and HD video via Nvidia GeForce, Ion, and Tegra GPUs.
Via I4U.
OmniVision Announces Video Sensor For Notebooks & Netbooks
OmniVision Technologies is announcing the new 3mm OV7739 video sensor, designed to “address the low-light sensitivity demands of the [notebook and netbook] market.” It supports multiple interfaces and can be used for tasks like video conferencing and even gaming.
Techno Systems Research notes that “90 percent of notebook PCs and Netbooks will include an integrated camera by 2013,” so OmniVision’s release may be an attractive option for those looking to boost video performance when chatting with friends and colleagues.
Nick Nam, senior product manager for Notebook and Games/Toys at OmniVision, explained what exactly the OV7739 brings to the market.
“Video conferencing and recording is more popular than ever with tools such as Skype and YouTube. Our OV7739 is the first sensor to offer this specific combination of performance, features, versatility and form factor… By providing support for multiple interfaces, system designers can leverage the same electrical design across various products and market segments, significantly improving time-to-market.”
The OmniPixel3-HS architecture in the OV7739 improves performance in low light. High quality video should be more accessible in just about any lighting condition. Additional specs are as follows, according to the press release:
“The OV7739 is capable of operating at 30 frames per second (fps) in VGA resolution and 60 fps in QVGA resolution with complete user control over image quality, formatting and output data transfer. It provides full-frame, sub-sampled, windowed or scaled 8-bit/10-bit images in RAW RGB and YUV formats.”
Gaming and other tasks have been long-neglected in netbooks, so it will be exciting to see what OmniVision brings to the table once the OV7739 hits the market.
Nvidia Tegra Boosts Netbook Video Capability
People are starting to accept that netbooks aren’t DVD players (with a few exceptions), but it would still be nice if netbooks didn’t struggle with YouTube or Hulu. Nvidia has heard the market’s complaints and come out with a new system-on-a-chip named Tegra, set to boost netbook video immensely.
Mike Rayfield of Nvidia’s GPU described the new Tegra chip as “basically a full motherboard on a PCB (printed circuit board) the size of a pack of gum.”
At Computex 2009, Nvidia said that Foxconn, Wistron, Pegatron and Mobinnova are all planning Tegra netbooks by the end of this year. The new chip will need to compete with Intel’s Atom, the Qualcomm Snapdragon, and the VIA Nano if it hopes to get a chunk of the 21 million netbook sales expected this year.
Tegra is basically an 800 MHz ARM CPU, an HD video processor, an imaging processor, GeForce GPU and an audio processor. Nvidia says they can be used independently or in sync, while keeping battery life long. Power efficiency is going to be a strong focus with the Tegra, so much so that Rayfield says that “with Tegra you can get 120 times longer battery life while listening to music than with the Atom processor and about 10 times more than Snapdragon.”
While comparisons may be tempting, the Tegra family is quite different from the Ion, according to Dean McCarron of Mercury Research.
“Ion is a chipset that pairs graphics capabilities with an Intel Atom CPU… Tegra takes the graphics core and combines it with a CPU that is not an x-86 class.”
Regardless of all the hype surrounding the Tegra, it’s possible that manufacturers won’t bite. “In the netbook market, their chances with Tegra are not great,” said McCarron. “So it is possible that we could see them emphasizing Tegra-based devices in geographies such as China that are more receptive to non x-86 architecture.”
Via Wired.
CES: See The MSI X320 In Action
The MSI X320 might be a netbook or it might be a notebook, but whatever it is, it pulls off the look. We found a video over at CrunchGear showing the MSI X320 off, and we knew you’d be interested. With no further ado, here it is:
The netbook looks like it’s running Vista, but we don’t doubt an XP version is on the way as well.
It’s a sleek machine, there’s no doubt. The $699 price tag might make you cringe, but analysts are saying this has little in common with a netbook other than the Atom processor, so the price may be warranted. Personally, I wouldn’t drop 700 bucks on a notebook packing an Atom, but I’m reserving judgement until the full specs are released.
It has a 13.4-inch screen and should be out this April.
Via CrunchGear.
