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FlipShare TV arrived today, and works very well!
Fri, 12/11/2009 - 16:18
FlipShare TV arrived today. This is no unboxing movie -- just closeup pics, which actually reveal more. Sitting in front of my HDTV, I watched full HD (720p) video streaming wireless from my computer upstairs. The remote control is very simple. Here it is, as it came out of the box.
Click any picture you want to see a larger version.
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FlipShare TV right out of the shipping box and plastic bag. |
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Slip off the outer cover. |
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Open the box, see brochure on top. |
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Open brochure, and get your head around the idea. |
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This is the "set-top" box, although it probably won't sit on top of very many HD TV sets. It has the size and appearance of a smoke detector. |
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Composite video and audio connectors on the left, HDMI input and AC adapter connection on the right. |
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The FlipShare TV Quick Start Guide. About 10 pages of actual content. |
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FlipShare TV Quick Start Guide Table of Contents |
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On the left is the remote control, which is smaller than a MinoHD. The USB dongle is on the right. I defy anyone to look at it and not think "Flip your Bick." |
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The cable on the left combines stereo audio and compositve video connections between the box and your TV set. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with an HDMI cable, but you can get one very inexpensively. (I ran down to BestBuy only to remember why I didn't buy one there before: They start at $30 at BestBuy, when you can get them online for $5-10 shipped. |
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After you plug in the dongel, FlipShare will probably update. When the update is finished, it's time to connect the set-top box to your TV, via an HDMI cable (or composite/stereo, if you must), and then to power. Turn on your TV, select the device, and after a minute or so, you should see a blue light (better visible in the larger image) indicating a strong signal. |
I'll have more on this soon: Actual video. I'm having to swap out my Blu-Ray player with the FlipShare TV set-top box, because that's the only HDMI cable that I have. I shot some video of my HDTV today, actually playing video from my computer, but there was too much daylight coming into the room, creating reflections from the screen. I also need to play with the menus and the remote a little more to fully grok the navigation, but I did get all that working, and the video looks terrific.
I'll post more as soon as I can take the video and edit it down.
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FlipShare TV brings your entire Flip Video library into the family room and onto the TV screen over a wireless connection, and lets you share video instantly with other FlipShare TV owners. The $149.99 price includes free shipping. Click the ad on the left to buy FlipShare TV from the Flip Store now, or you can pre-order from Amazon |
. Following either of these links will get the best price and gets us a small commission, which will help support this site. (Thank you!)
You didn't mention the cost of Flip Share TV. Is it like the Apple TV that can pick up music from your computer and photos as well?
FlipShare TV lists for $149, and probably won't be discounted anytime soon. You can import videos and photos from other sources into FlipShare software (which comes with FlipShare TV -- you don't even need to have a Flip camcorder to be able to watch videos and photos from your kids who have either a Flip or FlipShare TV.) FlipShare Channels are completely private. You decide who gets to see them by providing a list of email addresses for each channel you create.
There is another device which we just bought that will allow you to a) backup every computer in your house automatically, and b) to keep all media in one location and watch it from any computer in the house. That includes music, and it allows you to access the media with iTunes. It holds a terabyte of data (1,000 gigabytes.)This device is the Western Digital My Book World Edition. That device currently runs $109 or so at Amazon. Click here to read an article I wrote about it.
It's supposed to allow remote access as well -- i.e., when I'm in Atlanta, I can get access to all of my media and other files on the device. I don't know yet exactly how this works, yet, but will learn about it soon. I also believe that it's possible that I can watch/listen to the media on my TV because I have TiVo. It's also supposed to work if you have something like an XBox or Playstation hooked up to your TV.
I'm running out of time to do more research on these devices before our Christmas trip, but I'll be writing more about both of them when Iget back from my Christmas trip to Baltimore and Atlanta.
I stayed up last night to finish rendering and uploading this video, in which I pointed my Canon HF10 at my HDTV to show you the experience of watching FlipShare TV.