The number of ways to transfer and enjoy your personal media on any device continues to grow.
Cyberlink this week announced significant improvements to its MediaEspresso transcoding software, which formats PC files for smartphones and portable media players. Or if you prefer streaming media directly from your PC to your portable device, there are new options from PlayOn, ZumoCast and HomePipe.
MediaEspresso 6 claims to be the fastest media converter in the world, though a lot seems to depend on the strength of your hardware.
I was impressed by the way the previous 5.5 version maximised the use of the four cores on my Core i7 desktop PC to quickly reformat them for my iPod touch in a matter of a few minutes, compared to half an hour or more using other software.
The new version is optimised for Intel’s i3 and i5 processors as well and continues to optimise itself for Nvidia and ATI graphics processing units.
New features include Smart Detect, which detects a device connected to the PC, applies the best conversion settings and syncs converted files. Video enhancing software will now reduce noise and improve picture quality.
While its strength is converting large video files, MediaEspresso has added music and photo conversion, including the ability to extract music soundtracks from videos. There is also direct uploading to Facebook and YouTube.
While writing this I have dragged a 500mb .avi video file into a new MediaEspresso desktop gadget and it has automatically converted it for my iPod touch in just under 16 minutes. Presumably, it would have been faster with an Nvidia Cuda-based graphics card and a six-core version of the i7. A downside is the file has doubled in size to a 1Gb .MP4 file – not great for fitting on a 16Gb device.
The range of devices with their own profiles for conversion has grown and now includes the Google Nexus phone, a range of HTC handsets (but not my Evo), the Motorola Droid and every flavour of Apple device.
MediaEspresso 6 can be downloaded from Cyberlink for $40, or $20 as an upgrade.
A number of streaming personal media services have stepped in to fill the gap left by Simplify, since it was acquired by Google and shut down its servers.
Google appears to have plans to use Simplify as part of an iTunes type service in the cloud for Android phones and probably Google TV.
I have been testing PlayOn on my iPod touch which installs a server on my PC and can stream video content to the iPod, ranging from my Netflix instant-play movies to Hulu TV programmes and Pandora personal radio stations. It is a little buggy but impressive when it works. PlayOn has been having problems getting this into the App Store and is introducing an HTML 5 version this Friday accessible through the Safari browser at m.playon.tv.
While PlayOn is free to use, premium channels such as sports can be accessed with a Premium subscription, costing $40 for the first year, then $20 a year or an $80 one-time lifetime payment.
ZumoCast, launching this week in beta, also installs a server on your main PC and allows personal videos and other media to be accessed on an iPad or iPhone. It has yet to show up in the App Store and there is no news yet on premium pricing.
HomePipe is yet another home PC server option, giving remote access to files. It works on both Apple and Android devices and proved best at streaming iTunes music onto my Android phone in my tests.
All of these services need their servers running and your home PC left on for this to work. And all of them are running ahead of Google and Apple’s cloud plans, as well as Microsoft, which is improving access to content on different devices through its Personal Cloud service, demonstrated during Steve Ballmer’s keynote speech to its financial analyst meeting on Thursday.
