Google Readying 3-D Mapping "Tango" Tablets For Developers

Google is reportedly getting ready to release 4,000 prototype tablets that would help advance the company's Project Tango, which is a 3D mapping and modeling effort involving multiple robotics experts from around the world. The story was first published in the Wall Street Journal last week.

Google may provide these specialized tablets to developers attending Google I/O next month. The idea would be to see what sorts of applications and use cases developers would come up with.

According to a description of these "Tango tablets" (not Google's term) in the article the devices would have a 7-inch form factor: 

The device would come with a 7-inch screen and will be equipped with two back cameras, infrared depth sensors and advanced software that can capture precise three-dimensional images of objects, said these people.

There are a range of immediate potential uses for the Tango technology: gaming, augmented reality, environmental or interior design, indoor navigation and assistance for visually-impaired persons (who could listen to auditory cues based on mapping information). There are also commercial and ad-related applications of the technology — however the advertising dimension (so to speak) is further out.

Project Tango could, in one sense, be seen as an indoor Street View equivalent (though the technology doesn't take "pictures"). It could greatly accelerate Google's effort to map indoor spaces with the aid of third parties. I also wonder whether Google would be able to put a version of the Tango technology in special Glass headsets.

 

Best MP4 Players to Play MP4 Files in Windows/Mac

This article mainly discusses convert all kinds of MP4 files to play on Windows/Mac without limitation.

MP4 as the most popular container formats for smartphones and tablets. Now you may have got many MP4 files on your computer and want to play MP4 in Windows Media Player or QuickTime Player. However,due to codec issue, you will find that MP4 files are not supported by Windows Media Player by default and apple products like QuickTime Mac is unable to play MP4 format especially when users to upgrade their Macs to Mountain Lion or Lion. 

In order to make MP4 files working perfectly on Windows and Mac, you may try some effective workarounds. As your player cannot find a suitable decoder for the mp4 file, you may try to download an appropriate codec like MP4 Splitter or Elecard MPEG-4 Codec Pack to playback mp4 format. Otherwise, you can take a look at the top 3 reliable and accessible MP4 players for Windows and Mac listed as below, and choose the best one for MP4 video playback.

Top 3 MP4 Players for Windows:

1. Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate

Supported OS: Windows 2003/XP/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 8.1 

Best integration of a blu-ray ripper, a dvd ripper, and a video converter to quickly complete BD/DVD to video and video to video conversion. Most important it has a built-in player to preview you loaded mp4 videos before conversion.

2. VLC Player

Supported OS: Windows 8/7/XP/Vista/2000

VLC is an open source video player that does bring a lot to the table, as it allows you to listen to radios, watch movies and it even plays streams, webcams or disks. It's the perfect tool for the MP4 format as it can be accessed on all important platforms such as Windows, Mac and Linux. It doesn't require the installation of any codec pack as well, but it does provide complete support for tons of media formats, which surely make it the perfect video and audio player you can find on the market. It's also available as a free of charge solution.

3. GOM PlayerSupported OS: Windows 8/7/XP/Vista/2000

Gom Media Player is a free video player. It has a wide range of built-in codec so it can recognize all regular video and audio formats, including but not limited to AVI files, RealMedia files, Quicktime files and MP4 among other types. 

Top 3 MP4 Players for Mac

1. Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac

Supported OS: Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.7 Lion, Snow Leopard10.6, Leopard 10.5 

An all-in-one solution to backup BD & DVD, rip BD/DVD, and convert video footages to any popular video/audio format. Besides that, it has a built-in player to preview your mp4 video before conversion.

2. MPEG Streamclip

Supported OS: Mac OS X 10.6 or later 

MPEG Streamclip is a powerful free video converter, lightweight MP4 player, editor for Mac and Windows.  Any people can get MPEG Streamclip Mac for totally free. It offers great file conversion features, which make the whole process very simple as well. Operations such as joining, trimming or rotating the video can easily be done with the MPEG Streamclip application.  

More features:

-  Manage audio track

-  Work as a recorder

-  Preview all frames

-  Modify the aspect ratio

-  Work with frames

3. MPlayerX

Supported OS: Mac OS X 10.6 or later 

MPlayerX is an open-source project which aims to be the most powerful, beautiful, easy to use multimedia player on Mac OS X. It is able to decode almost any file format on your computer. Additionally, MPlayer is inspired by QuickTime Player X, with a black interface and in-frame minimal controls. All of this helps users to focus on the contents, rather than software itself.

- Play almost any format of file or stream.

- Multi-touch. Control the player with your fingers.

- Intelligently detecting the encoding of the subtitles. No need for encoding conversion.

- Direct pass through. Connect, play, enjoy your home theater.

- Multi-monitor support. Wanna work while watching your collection? just drag and F.

- Apple Remote support. Watch your favorites in sofa, more comfortable.

-Automatically find the next episode. Enjoy the whole afternoon, with just one click.

- Forget where you stopped playing last time? MPlayerX won't.

- Youtube.com support: MPlayerX could stream youtube audio and video. Just input the URL of the webpage in youtube.com which you may find in the address bar of the web browser, MPlayerX will play it for you seamlessly.

So how can we easily play MP4 Files in Windows/Mac with MP4 Players alternative?

The mp4 players above are a powerful media player for viewing movies or videos on Windows and Mac. While, I find problems with low video quality or incapability of mp4 video playback with some players, and I will meet crashing issues when watching.

An quick workaround I find to solve the issues is to convert the MP4 to common formats (like AVI, MOV, MPEG, WMV, etc) to fit the local media player with Video Converter Ultimate from Pavtube. If you are Windows users, you can try iMedia Converter for Mac. Both are 20% off now on New Site Special.

Below is easy steps for you, you can convert mp4 files to compatible formats for watching on Win/Mac. 

Step 1: Add mp4 video files

Run Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate, and then click "Add Video" add to import the mp4 video files to the converter.

 

Step 2: Choose output format to fit your media player.

In “Format” drop down list box, you may select best video format for plaing.

For example,

You can choose "WMV HD(*.wmv)" from "HD Video" for Windows Media Player.
And select "MOV - QuickTime(*.mov)" from "Common Video" for QuickTime Player.

 

Step 3: Start Convert

Click “Convert” in the main interface to start transcoding mp4 videos.

After conversion, you can use converted MP4 files for playback easiliy and smoothly on your media player. Now choose the best method to play .mp4 extension video files on PC and Mac!

More Tips:

• Best Video Player Apps for iOS & Android devices
• Two Ways to Play VIDEO_TS Files on PC/iMac: VLC Player or VIDEO_TS Converter
• MKV Player for Android - Play MKV movie on Android Tablet/Phone

Best Video Player Apps for iOS & Android devices

Here I just list some top best video player software programs for iOS & Android devices. Read on and pick up one to get the best video experience.

According to eMarketer and mobiThinking (2014), 4 out of 5 global Internet users will be a mobile web user. With the advancement in Smartphone technology, wide ranges of applications that have powerful features are in the market to meet our daily needs of entertainment, working and living trivia. Among which, the best video player apps will play your favorite audio and video files most conveniently on your iOS & Android devices. Here I will introduce the best Video Player Apps for iOS & Android smartphones and tablets.

Option 1: Built-in Video Players

When you got your iPhone, iPad, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Tab 3,etc, you might get some Video Player which are pre-installed already. It can play videos for the formats it supports. These built-in video players
can be trusted as they cause less crash problems and playback issues.

Option 2: Video Player Apps

There are millions of apps in Google Play store (Android Market Place) or iTunes (Apple App Store), you can simply search the one you need and download on your phone. These apps can be a video player app from the official video sites or an external (3rd party) video player app. No matter which one, it comes with more features with supported more fomrat, offering more settings and giving higher compatibility.

A. Apps from the official video sites

If you are just a beginner and not sure which one to choose, you may prefer to search one on the official video site. With the plethora of online video sites available today watching free videos on the web is easy. The only thing that may affect the playback is your Wi-Fi connection. 

Simple list of official video sites:

1. YouTube

You’re probably already familiar with YouTube, the world’s most popular free video sites and the third most popular online video site on the entire Internet. YouTube racks up a staggering four billion video views daily. The appearance and interface of YouTube are straightforward providing a simple, but effective video player in the middle of a white screen. Any registered user can upload their own video to YouTube.

2. Metacafe

Metacafe is another online video site specializing in shorter free clips and more popular videos. Whereas YouTube is a giant, endless buffet of videos, Metacafe is more like the Chef’s Special of the Day – fewer overall videos that are well-organized and easy to find free clips in genres like Music, Sports, and TV. Metacafe keeps an outstanding array of current movie trailers, and then pairs them with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes videos related to that particular movie. Metacafe's "Trending on the Web" section curates and collects the Internet’s most popular viral videos of the day. It’s a great place to quickly find a certain popular viral video you’ve heard about.

3. Dailymotion 

One of the largest online video sites in the world, Dailymotion makes finding free clips easy with a nicely organized home page. Dailymotion visitors see a slew of the current videos in categories such as Funny, Geek Out, News, and countless others. Most of the free clips on Dailymotion are less than four minutes. Registered "super users" can upload videos of up to an hour in length and in high-definition (HD), but you don’t have to register to download the longer videos. Dailymotion is easy to navigate, and pulls up galleries of recommended videos that you're likely to enjoy based on your viewing habits.

4. Vimeo
Specializing in HD, Vimeo is an one of the more popular amateur online video sites where the results are anything but amateur. Most of the free clips available on Vimeo are user-submitted; it’s not a site to visit if you’re looking for popular music videos or movie trailers. What you will find, though, are big and beautiful HD videos shot by some of the most skilled up-and-coming directors and animators. The Vimeo video screen is far larger and has a higher resolution than any of the other sites mentioned here. Those who like to upload videos to your cell phone will appreciate that the free clips on Vimeo are optimized for playback on mobile devices.

5. IMDb 

The Internet Movie Database has become more than just a tool for figuring out who's that actress in the movie you’re watching. IMDb has grown into a site that offers movie trailers and free clips from popular talk shows like “The Late Show with David Letterman” – all of which can be downloaded to your computer. There are also full episodes of TV shows that can be watched at IMDb. The online video site even offers a huge gallery of full-length movies and short films made by up-and-coming directors.

B. External or 3rd Party Video Player Apps

The 3rd party video player apps are well-designed to work on top of your current or existing video players without conflicting issues. Then can play various format like VOB, AVI, MKV, MOV, WMV, MP4, MOV and more on Android and iOS devices. All you need is to either set it to default or simply choose to playback with the external app after selecting a certain video.

1. VLC



VLC, it is the most famous free video player, still known as desktop version by the same name. As many video players, VLC continues play back from point at which it was closed.VLC supports different formats such as DIVX, AVI, VOB, AC3, WMV, MKV, 3GP and more.

It plays streaming video and can be downloaded from web server on Wi-Fi from Dropbox, Mega and Yandex.Disk. You need not pay extra for Dropbox and the use of Yandex.Disk and Mega to store video is essential.

2. RealPlayer


RealPlayer is an audio player as well as a video player. It has a handy interface to navigate between media types easily and can even display your photos. Sadly, it’s 3MB and can’t be moved to a SD card, so it’s only useful for users without space issues on their phone. It doesn’t say exactly which files it will play, but it couldn’t play my MP4′s. It played my home videos beautifully though.

3. mVideoPlayer



The mVideoPlayer app comes with rave reviews in the Android market. However, this app will only play whichever formats are already supported by your phone. Its 2.6MB install can be moved to the SD card, which is good news. The first search for video files will take a while, but it should load quicker in the future.

4. CineXPlayer



This app was developed by NXP Software B.V. It is the hands-down best way to view, store and manage digital film library perfectly.

This app allows you to save and watch full videos and films without the need of internet connection, the best feature for people who are looking for some relaxing entertainment in transit.

Also, the app supports HD playback and comes with best functional file management interface with simple rename, delete and folders and playlist tools.

5. Air Video



This application was created by InMethod s.r.o. It is capable of streaming video library to iPhone and iPad through local network and 3G which includes video folders on hard drive and iTunes for different needs of user. Also, it performs conversion on-the-fly for you to watch videos in real time.

This video streaming software for iPhone and iPad does not support streaming music or audio from PC to iOS device, and claims on Apple Store that this video streaming will not play DRM protected videos.

6. Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate



Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate is a solution for you to quickly complete BD/DVD to video and video to video conversion. And meanwhile you can preview your Blu-ray, DVD and video files with its built-in player before conversion.  If your iOS & Android Tablet or smartphone pops up an error message saying unsupported file or plays video in slow motion, you can try it to compress or convert all kinds of media files into fomrat that are playable on your iOS & Android devices. (The Mac version is iMedia Converter for Mac)

Good News! Pavtube Release a New Site - multipelife.com with Product Migration and Name Change. You can get and 20% off Video Converter Ultimate on Windows/Mac platform

Meanwhile, with Pavtube's new site releasing, there are many new money saving software bundles like:

• ByteCopy($42) + Video Converter Ultimate($65) = Only $79.9, Save $27.1
• Video Converter Ultimate($65) + Vidpie($29) = Only $74.9, Save $19.1
• Video Converter Ultimate($65) + DVD Creater($35) = Only $64.9, Save $35.1

Go to find the one you need.

How to Fix and Repair Scratched DVD on Mac

This article will tell you some effective ways to clean and repair scratched DVDs so that they can work again. 

As a DVD stores its data externally on a disc it can easily get scratched, which can affect the data. Scratches are a disc's worst enemy. Whether or not a scratched disc can be repaired depends on where the scratch is located. If the scratch is on the top, shiny part of the disc, the disc is not repairable and all the data is lost. If the scratch is on the bottom, plastic part of the disc, you may be able to repair the disc by resurfacing and polishing it. 

Effective ways to fix scratched DVDs

• Buy a 'CD/DVD repair kit'; 
• Try toothpaste or peanut butter on the surface of DVD; 
• Use furniture polish; 
• Add some abrasive cream onto DVD player. 

These methods seem to leave sticky touch, stinking smell or oily residual behind, and will possibly not work on deep scratches. If they are not so workable for you, and your severely scratched DVDs still go on strike, try the following command on your computer if you are using Windows XP: 

Start with a "chkdsk/R", try Start - Programs - Accessories, access and launch a Command Prompt, run the command. 

But be careful, the use of wrong decoding scheme may even shorten the service life of DVD drive. 

Best way to protect and preserve DVD

In consideration of the safety of DVD drive and player, you have another choice - copying the extremely scratched DVD to DVD using some scratch-fixing oriented DVD copy software. 

In fact, the best way to protect a DVD is to make a copy and put it in a safe place. Pavtube ByteCopy for Mac that can help you convert BD/DVD movies to MKV/MP4/MOV format with multi-track easily. (Windows version: ByteCopy), It's an ideal app for youto remove the strict BD/DVD protection and region restrictions and backup Blu-ray/DVD contents with Multi-track keeping very quickly with great video quality. 

It’s really the best DVD backup tool I’ve met ever; I mean it’s ease of use, not fuss and simple to follow. It can rolls off DVD disc protection, supports loseless 1:1 DVD backup and keeps all the disc titles and chapter structure perfectly. Don’t you like to have a try? Just get the right version and preserve your DVD in a better way.

How to Rip DVD contents to MKV/MP4/MOV with multi-track on Mac Mavericks & Mountain Lion?

Step1: Load DVD movies. 

Launch the best DVD to multi-track converter; import DVD movies into the program. Loaded DVDs can be previewed in the right preview window. 

 

Step 2: Choose output format 

To rip Blu-ray with multiple tracks, click the drop down box of "Format", and choose the "Multi-track MKV/MP4/MOV (*.mp4)" profile under "Multi-track Video". This profile is designed to output videos with multiple audio tracks. 

 

You can check the audios you want to keep and uncheck the audios you don't need. It all depends on your own choices. 

 

Step 3: The last step you need to do is hit the "Convert" button to start the conversion of DVD content to Multi-track MKV/MP4/MOV on Mac Mavericks & Mountain Lion. 

When the conversion is over, just find the folder of your output videos. Then you can play and organize your DVD contents on your portable devices. 

Copying severely scratched DVD is desirable because it can both fix the severely scratched DVD and make a replica of the original one which can be played smoothly. I think it will be an easier and effective way to fix and repair Scratched DVD on Mac

Related articles: 

• Encode DVD to MP4 retaining chapter marker for iPad/iPhone/iPod
• Rip DVD and Blu-ray discs to iTunes for Apple TV 3, iPad Air, iPhone 5S on Mac 10.9 Mavericks
• Transcode BD/DVD to Lossless multi-track MKV for streaming to TV/Projector via STB

How to Change the DVD Region on Mac and PC for Free

How to change DVD region in Windows and Mac so that you can watch DVD movies with different DVD region codes without limitation? This article will give you two effective solutions.

I have a large collection of imported DVDs. However, my laptop DVD player only allows me to switch "regions" a fixed number of times. Is there any way around this?
  

Most commercial DVDs use encryption that keeps them locked to one or more "region codes," meaning the discs you pick up in other continents usually won't play on an American DVD player. I think it will be inconvenience for travelers who wish to legally purchase DVDs abroad and return with them to their countries of origin, students of foreign languages, immigrants who want to watch films from their homeland and foreign film enthusiasts. 

What is the DVD Region Code? 

DVDs sold globally are typically encoded to restrict their use to specific locations. That is, a DVD assigned a specific 'Region Code' can only be played within the areas specified in that Region Code. DVD regional locking is used to control which DVD movies play in which countries or groups of countries. Movies are often released on different dates around the world. Region 1 has its own player that will only play Region 1 discs. Likewise, Region 2 players can only play Region 2 discs and not play any of Region 1's discs. 

How to Remove Region Code from DVD, Make DVD Region Free and Play DVD without region code limitation

1. Open "My Computer" and right click on the DVD drive icon. Choose "Properties" from the drop down menu. 

2. Select the "Hardware" tab and choose the DVD drive from the disk drives list. Then click "Properties". 

3. Go to "DVD Region" tab and choose the geographic area you want. Then click "OK" to finish the DVD region changing.How to unlock DVD region on Macintosh 

1. Insert a disc into your Mac's DVD drive. 

2. Set the region code for your Mac following the window the prompts you to choose DVD region code.Other way to play and watch DVD movies with different DVD region codes 

Since the DVD region can be changed for only five times and then the DVD region will be locked permanently, many people are looking for better ways to play and watch DVD movies with different DVD region codes. To solve this problem, get the powerful and professional DVD Ripping software program - Pavtube DVDAid. 

Pavtube DVD Aid is regarded as the best DVD ripping software on the market that provides movie lovers, children and people in any group with the easiest and fastest way to not only remove region code from DVD easily, but also decrypt any copy-protected DVDs, no matter RCE, CSS encryption, Disney New DVD Copy Protection or Sony ARccOS DVD protection and covnert them to MP4/AVI/MKV/WMV and many other video and audio formats with high quality. 

 

It lets you enjoy DVD movies on any portable device like iPhone 5S/5C, iPad Air, iPad Mini 2, 2nd Gen Nexus 7, Transformer Book T100, Surface Pro 2 and Kindle Fire HDX, etc. Moreover, Pavtube DVDAid makes 1:1 copy of original DVD Disc without quality loss with all audio streams, subtitle tracks, extras, etc. For the short time it takes to convert the movie with the help of CUDA/AMD GPU acceleration, and you will get hours of enjoyments. It's simple to use and well worth the investment.

Most important: 

It can support latest DVD, features with adding *.srt and *.ass subtitle, also help you direct copy titles from DVDs. 

The Mac version is Pavtube DVDAid for Mac.

Tips: 

1. Want to rip your Blu-ray/DVD movies to 3D videos for playback? Want to convert or backup your Blu-ray movies and DVDs with keeping original multiple audio tracks and subtitle , trying Pavtube Bytecopy (Windows / Mac), which is the best Blu-ray/DVD Copying & Ripping software for you. 

2. Want to freely convert your DVD videos on Windows or Mac? Like Pavtube at their Facebook Page and get its Free DVDAid for Win/Mac to help you convert any DVDs to MOV, MKV, AVI, MPG, VOB, WMV, FLV, etc. with fast speed. It also helps edit DVD and add SRT/ASS/SSA subtitles to DVD movies. 

If you travel a lot and you are looking for a way to remove region code from protected DVD for playback DVD abroad easily , Pavtube DVDAid is the best choice. 

Trial Download:

• Pavtube DVDAid for Windows (Requires Windows XP/2003/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 8.1) 
• Pavtube DVDAid for Mac (Requires Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.7 Lion, Snow Leopard 10.6) 

See also: 

• Blu-ray Disc Encryptions: Regions and BD Region Hack
• What Are DVD-5, DVD-10, DVD-9 and DVD-18?
• How to make free blu-ray ISO image file from commercial blu-ray discs?