Sony's next smartphone will wield 4K video skills

The current Z1S camera app has lots of extras. Will its follow-up also have 4K video?

Hot on the heels of bringing the Xperia Z1S to America, it seems that Sony plans to pull another, bigger smartphone rabbit out of its hat. Code-named Sirius and tagged with the D6503 model designation, apparently Sony's latest creation will boast a powerful digital camera capable of shooting high-resolution 4K video.


The next Xperia flagship might have 4K video capture.

According to reports by close Sony mobile watcher Xperia Blog, this fresh gadget will also feature a large 5.2-inch (1080p) LCD (hopefully using IPS technology), a full 3GB allotment of RAM, and a Qualcomm MSM8974AB chipset. That means the device will harness the power of at least a Snapdragon 800 processor. Indeed the site claims a 2.3GHz quad-core CPU and Adreno 330 graphics run the show.

Onboard software for the Sirius will likely be Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Sony's proprietary skin layered over it. Most interesting though is the leaked screenshot of the phone's camera app that shows a 4K video option front and center.

If you were keeping tabs on the news from CES 2014, you're probably aware that HDTV makers (including Sony) were heavily pushing the ultra-high-definition 4K capabilities of their upcoming TV sets. That's why a phone and HDTV tie-in makes a lot of sense.

I'll also hazard a guess that Sony's upcoming flagship will be branded as the Xperia Z2, replacing the global Xperia Z1. I bet more rumors concerning Sony's upcoming mobile phones, however, will pop up between now and Mobile World Congress 2014 in February. Many handset manufacturers are no doubt planning to announce their big-ticket devices to great fanfare at the show. Stay tuned, as CNET will be on-site in Barcelona, Spain, covering the show live.

The bottom line: The Xperia Z1 S is the most impressive smartphone Sony has ever sold on any carrier, but an inferior screen makes Samsung's Galaxy handsets better deals. Read Full Review
  

How to transfer TiVo videos on iPad Air on Mac Mavericks?

iPad Air is one of the most popular tablets on the markets this year. It has attracted great attention since it released. The Retina Display with 2048×1536 pixels, 9.7 inches, no doubt adds more fun to your digital entertainment. By any means, it is a great portable video player. Most people use it to play games and enjoy videos. But many users got problems when they want to play TiVo recordings on iPad Air.

Question 1: "I bought a high end WD TV to replace an older model. I love it. Recent days, I got some TiVo recordings and I want to add the files to the WD TV and iPad Air for playback, can you tell me the best way? Thanks!"

Question 2: "I got many TiVo recordings and want to play them on my new iPad Air, I use a software called Handbrake to convert TiVo to iPad Air supported MP4, but of low quality. Is there any other software to solve this problem and help me out?"

Have you had the same questions? The reason is that the format of TiVo recordings can not be supported by iPad Air. The most compatible video format for iPad Air is MP4/MOV files encoded with MPEG-4 or H.264 (Learn more about Recommended Formats for iPad Air).

You can end up the incompatibility with the help of the third-party software Pavtube iPad Air Video Converter for Mac (Reach the Windows version here: iPad Air Video Converter). It is a dynamic video convert tool that can help users convert TiVo to iPad Air supported video format with high output video quality and fast encoding speed. Besides, you are allowed to edit the videos by trimming, cropping, adjusting video effects, etc. to get the wanted part and effects as you like.

Moreover, this iPad Air Video Converter can also enable iPad Air play various HD Videos (such as:MKV, AVI, VOB, MPG, WMV, WebM, MTS, EVO, VRO, MXF, FLV, F4V videos, etc.).
 
Tutorials: Converting Tivo to iPad Air friendly format on Mac Mavericks 

Step 1: Load TiVo videos to iPad Air Converter

Launch the TiVo to iPad Air Converter; click the top left two icons to load your TiVo video files. When first loading, the program will ask you to input your Media Access Key. Simply enter your Media Access Key and click “OK” to confirm.

Step 2: Choose MP4 format as output format.

Hit the menu bar of “Format”, choose “iPad” category and find the optimal video format for iPad Air. “iPad HD Video(*.mp4)” is recommended here. You can also choose MOV, MP4, M4V format from Common Video.

Tip: If the default settings do not fit your requirement, you can click “Settings” icon to enter “Profile Settings” panel to adjust video size, bitrate, frame rate and audio channels.

If the TV shows you recorded by TiVo have some advertisements during the video and you want to get rid of it, the “Trim” function in “Edit” may help you.You can cut the part that you do not need.

You also can merge videos into one complete file for output with the help of “Merge into one file” function.



Step: 3 Start TiVo to iPad Air conversion

Click the “Convert” button to start the conversion. Once finished, you can get the output files for your iPad Air via clicking on Open button effortlessly. Afterwards, connect iPad Air to PC, and then sync video files to iPad Air via iTunes 11.

Additional tip:

When you transfer your TiVo recordings to your PC, you need to download and install TiVo Desktop on your PC. Connect TiVo to your home network, and then the TiVo Desktop will provide you with a list of shows for transferring to your PC. Then please transfer the TiVo TV shows you want to PC. Once all the shows you selected have been downloaded from your TiVo, they will appear in the Now Playing list in TiVo Desktop.

Read more:

• Convert TiVo to MPEG without quality loss
• Play TiVo Recordings on Windows Media Player on Windows 10
• How to Watch TiVo Recordings on Android Tablet/iPad while traveling
• Convert 3D Tivo to 3D MP4 for Oculus Rift Watching
• Best Software to convert TIVO files to MPEG
• Play TiVo Recordings on Windows Media Player on Windows 10

How to keep chapter markers when ripping Blu-ray to MP4 for iOS devices on Mac Mavericks?

A guide to show how to keep chapter markers when ripping Blu-ray to Apple iOS devices readable MP4 format on Mac 10.9 Mavericks, so that you can sync the ripped movies to iOS devices like iPhone, iPad, iPod touch with chapter marks for quick viewing.

Now Blu-ray may be the best option to you if you want to enjoy full high definition 1080p movies. However, Blu-ray drive on your computer or Blu-ray player for TV is necessary for watching Blu-ray movies. Since more people choose to watch movies on portable devices, it’s not possible for us to take a Blu-ray player everywhere. Moreover, although these devices are quipped with high resolution displays, there’s still something different from playback Blu-ray movies on computer – that is to say, we cannot skip viewing movies without chapter markers. 

In my experience, there should be lots of Blu-ray ripping tools on the marketplace so you have various choices, but what I’d like to suggest that if you want to rip Blu-ray to MP4 for IOS device on Mac and keep chapter markers intact at the same time, you are in the right place. 

Come and meet this Pavtube ByteCopy for Mac, a magic tool to help you rip protected Blu-ray/DVD to IOS devices acceptable MP4 format with chapter markers, as well as multiple audio tracks (or we say languages when it comes to disc).

Money saving bundles:

• ByteCopy($42) + Blu-ray Video Converter Ultimate($65) 

How to convert Blu-ray to MP4 with chapter markers for IOS devices?

1. Import Blu-ray to Pavtube ByteCopy

Click "Load file" icon on the top left to import the Blu-ray disc.

2. Choose Multi-track MP4 with chapter markers

Under "Format" menu, there are lots of video formats. Go to find "Multi-track Video" option and choose "Multi-track MP4 (*.mp4)" and it will retain chapter markers by default.

Tips: If you want to convert Blu-ray to other video formats or portable devices, just choose the video format you need in the dropdown list.

3. Adjust V/A settings (Optional)

Click “Settings” to change video/audio specs if you are not satisfied with the default settings. Usually the high bitrate you set, the larger file size will be; so is the video quality.

Switch to Audio tab, you can choose wanted audio tracks by checking them. All the audio tracks will be checked if you don’t change them.

4. Start conversion

Click big "Convert" button to start conversion. It won't take much time for conversion and then you will get MP4 file once completed. Hit "Open" button you can open the location of generated files. 

Now you can transfer the MP4 files to your IOS devices.

How to check the movie chapter markers on iPhone? 

Open the movie in your iPhone, click the marked icon as below:

Then you will find all the markers; touch it to skip to corresponding chapter:

Related articles:

• Encode DVD to MP4 retaining chapter marker for iPad/iPhone/iPod
• How to play ripped Blu-ray movies in VLC Media Player by chapters
• Rip Blu-ray to WD TV with chapter info and DTS audio preserved

Encode DVD to MP4 retaining chapter marker for iPad/iPhone/iPod

Watching DVD movies on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch could be such an enjoyment; the workflow is quite common as we now have so many rippers on the marketplace. But since we are talking about DVDs, it's much important to keep the original chapter marker when playback; y'all agree? 

As myself, I own a large collection of DVDs and like to watch them on the subway to work with iPhone, stream DVD movies to my home media server so kids could watch them on iPad, etc. As languages we use German, English and Spanish, so I have to find out a workflow to rip DVD collections to MP4 with chapter marker and it's better to include at least three audio tracks in one conversion.

With such a tough task, I had spent a lot of time searching online, tried several SWs - some ok but always something that does not quite to do what I need. Luckily, I finally got this Pavtube ByteCopy (lol).

Pavtube ByteCopy is a pro version Blu-ray/DVD ripping program, it’s not only able to remove disc encryption and transfer to iPhone, iPad and iPad touch readable format, but also keeps the original DVD/Blu-ray chapter marker and multiple audio tracks, so that you can free switch the language during playback.

You can download a trial version (no time limit) firstly, you can get 30% OFF on Pavtube New Site Special offer.

Tips: 
1. Although this ByteCopy should be able to rip Blu-rays, I have no experience with it as I don’t have an external Blu-ray drive. But one of my friends had a test and said it’s quite worthy a try. (ByteCopy Review)

2. Mac version is also available: Pavtube ByteCopy for Mac

How to rip DVD to MP4 with chapter marker for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch?

Get this ByteCopy installed and let’s start the workflow easily.

Step 1. Import DVD disc, DVD folder, IFO/ISO image files.

Insert DVD disc to your ROM, click “Load files” to import DVD disc directly from ROM. If you have IFO/ISO and DVD folder, choose the corresponding option to load DVD movies from your computer.

The main title in your DVD will be checked by default; so let’s move on and choose format.

Step 2. Choose format.

Click the “Format” drop-down list and choose “Multi-track Video>Multi-track MP4(*.mp4)” as below:



Step 3. Adjust video&audio settings (optional)

Click the “Settings” button to check all video&audio settings. By default it will check all the audio tracks (languages), so if you only need some of the languages, just check the unwanted ones.

Btw, video size, bitrate and frame rate can all be changed if you are not satisfied with default settings.

Don’t forget to click OK to confirm all the changes.

Step 4. Start conversion.

Click the big red “Convert” to start converting DVDs to MP4 with multiple languages. The original DVD chapter marker will be kept automatically.

After conversion, hit the “Open” or “Open output folder” icon to quick locate converted MP4 videos, transfer it to your iPhone/iPad/iPod via iTunes. 

OK! We now can watch DVD movies on iOS devices with chapter markers and languages. 

FYI: QuickTime cannot work with all the videos with chapter markers; in case of the problem, you are suggested to download a VLC Player for IOS here.

Money saving bundles:

• ByteCopy($42) + Video Converter Ultimate($65) = Only $79.9, Save $27.1 
• ByteCopy($42) + DVD Creater($35) = Only $44.9, Save $32.1 
• ByteCopy($42) + Vidpie($29) = Only $54.9, Save $16.1
• ByteCopy($42) + MXF MultiMixer($45) = Only $69.9, Save $16.1

Read More:

• Backup DVD to Plex for Watching on tablet/laptop/mobile
• Import DVD to Avid Media Composer With Suitable Format
• Put DVD Collection to Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ for Playing
• Rip and Backup DVD to Xbox One Playable Format
• Top VOB Player/VOB File Converter/Play VOB Files

Play MPEG-2/MPEG-4 AVC/VC-1 Blu-ray Discs or ISO on PC or Laptop

Tips for Blu-ray Playback: this article will share you how to play MPEG-2/MPEG-4 AVC/VC-1 Blu-ray Discs or ISO on PC or Laptop, try best Blu-ray Ripper.

Nowadays, almost any computer can play DVD movies as long as there is drive provided, whatever it’s a PC or Mac, homemade DVD or commercial DVD. But what about Blu-ray movies? DVD only supports the MPEG-2 format, while BD includes MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC and SMPTE VC-1. Many studios choose to use different formats for different data on one disc. Could your PC or laptop play this high definition movie formats with fuss? How to play Blu-ray on PC or laptop?

To solve this problem, the first thing you need to do is to figure out: 

Is your computer hardware ready for playing Blu-ray movies?

Below are the basic system requirements to play Blu-ray on PC or laptop. Check whether your computer meet these requirements.

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8, Window 7, Vista and XP.

Process (CPU): Pentium 4 541 (3.2 GHz), Athlon 64×2 3800+, AMD Fusion E-series & C-series or above.

Graphics Processor (GPU on Card): Intel G45, ATI Radeon HD 2400, NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT or above.

Memory: 2 GB required for Vista and Windows 7; 1 GB required for Windows XP.

Hard Disk Space: 100-500 MB for Blu-ray player installation.

Disc Player: BD-ROM/BD-RE or Super Multi Blu combo disc drive.

Display Device (optional): To play Blu-ray movies, HDCP compliant TV and video cards are required. That means DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort or other connectors are provided on both sides.

What you need to play Blu-ray on PC or laptop

If you have a powerful enough computer on your hand, Pavtube BDMagic is such reliable MPEG-2/MPEG-4 AVC/VC-1 Blu-ray converter that let you experience brilliant video quality on your PC or laptop. It also supports to convert Blu-ray to any formats that your phones or tablets which make it possible to enjoy your Blu-ray movies anytime and anywhere. (Top 5 Blu-ray Ripper Programs Review)

Many Blu-ray movies have multiple audio tracks; do you want to maintain these tracks to have a vivid enjoyment of the original movie? No problem! Pavtube Bytecopy is such a converter that you can easily select your needed tracks, subtitles, as well as chapters.

How to play Blu-ray disc or ISO on PC or laptop?

Since everything is ready, it’s time to start the new era. Launch the Blu-ray converter, if the Blu-ray drive works well and the disc has not damaged, you can load the blu-ray movie smoothly and get the main interface as below:

Then the easiest and suitable way to choose the “Directly Copy” profile under the “Copy” bar. This profile is design to leave out the extras and just copy the movie content. I tried this profile which saves my conversion time and storage space.



Last but not the least, Press the “Convert” button on the bottom right corner and wait for a time patiently. When the conversion is over and finds the output folder, the output movie is over there which can be played in most native player such as Windows Media Player. Read Put Blu-ray movies in Windows Media Center/ Windows Media Player to get details. Then you can enjoy your MPEG-2/MPEG-4 AVC/VC-1 Blu-ray Discs or ISO on PC or Laptop!


Some articles you may interested in:
How to rip Blu-Ray movie to your PC?
Enable BD player play blu-ray movies of Region A, Region B and Region C