Watching MP4 Videos on Your TV

I've gotten a hold of a series of videos in MP4 format and it has served it's purpose of being quite portable (watching videos on the go sans iPhone or PSP). Occasionally, I'd like to playback these videos at the comfort of my living room over my big screen TV (these videos were converted at 640px or higher). There is probably a million ways to do this nowdays (media PC, network storage, streaming, etc...), but the two methods I've been using has worked out quite well and doesn't require an intensive setup or technical knowledge:

Method 1: MP4 Playback from iPhone to TV via AV Cables
This is a tried and true method which I've done a write up for Griffin's Component Cable. Whats really nice about this method is that if you have to leave the house, you can unplug your iPod or take your iPhone with you and watch the videos on your commute. It does take a bit longer to sync your videos over iTunes and that is just the name of the game.

Method 2: Load in Jumpdrive and Watch via Playstation 3
This method has it's advantages in that loading the videos to a high speed jumpdrive such as my SanDisk Cruzer 8GB (Amazon, $13) is much faster than iPod to sync, I can also fast forward and pause via my Sony PS3 Bluetooth remote which adds many creature comfort over method above.

To set this up, connect your jumpdrive to your PS3 and go to your PS3 video menu and select USB drive; be sure to hit the triangle button to bring up the system menu and select "display all". Otherwise it may not recognize your videos. Some people said it would be better if you created a VIDEO folder and drop your files into there, it's up to you on how you want to manage your file structure. This method even gives you the option to copy your videos to the PS3 harddrive, but it was playing back just fine right off the jumpdrive in my scenario.

Obviously, this method offers a lot of convenience but I will lose the mobility of taking these videos with me while I'm on the go unless I opt for more advanced setup, such as remotely stream the videos from PS3 hard drive to my PSP over wifi.

Costco Sharp LC-52D64U 52" LCD Blowout - $1499

This is a pretty crazy deal, I thought I got a great clearance sale from Best Buy a month ago at $1,699.  Costco has it for a mere $1,499.  They do slap on a $99 shipping charge, so try to find one in your local warehouse and enjoy this amazing set.  

Much Needed Update

My faithful reader and good colleague Yann emailed me today asking me why I haven't posted an update for quite some time, its due to the fact that I have recently moved my family into the Garden State, just across the Hudson river from Manhattan. I'll need to update my PR folks to ensure product review samples are going to be shipped to the new address. As far as some technology and mobile experience goes, here are some updates, I''ll post some pictures later tonight.

1. Downfall of the Griffin Nu Form: the beautiful Griffin Nu Form for the iPhone 3G case I've been sporting did not survive my usage. After a month of usage, I noticed the base of the case (removable portion intended for easy docking) starting to wear down its thin rubber surface revealing the black pastic beneath. Aside from the aesthetics, it also reduces my grip. The unthinkable happened when I dropped my iPhone 3G onto a carpeted surface. To be clear it was at work so the phone hit those commercial grade thin office carpeting which probably has concrete underneath. My iPhone 3G was well-protected however, the trauma proved to be too strong for this case, hence it cracked the top/back panel of the Nu Form. One of the benefits of the Nu Form is it being extrememly thin thus not adding excessive thickness to the iPhone 3G's gorgeous design. However, being so thin took its toll on its ability to withstand impact, I have since moved onto the tried and true WAVE case for the iPhone 3G, I've used the WAVE for 1st generateion iPhone in the past, so I will provide a quick update for the 3G version shortly.

2. More product reviews to come: I am arranging for more products to be reviewed shortly, some of the things to come: Griffin Clarifi, Power Jolt, Air Curve, Simplifi as well as some iPod Touch 2G and Nano 4G accessories. I am also a little behind on some mobile application reviews, hope to get to those soon.

3. My new TV: yup, yours truly finally decided to step up to the world of 1080P high definition goodness. I've been eye'ing on a 46-52" LCD for quite some time, with my move into a place with bigger livingroom, I jumped on a Best Buy clearance deal on a 52" Sharp LC52d64U. At first glance, watching a 52" television felt like it was too big; after a couple of minutes, I slapped myself upside the head and said "one can never have a TV that is too big" and I've been smirking ever since. I've retired my 37" Aquos into my bedroom, and I find myself thinking the 37" looks small now that I am used to the 52" screensize. BTW, I am famous for not wanting to spend a fortune on a TV stand, so for anyone who's looking for a decent looking TV stand capable of handling a big TV set with some room to spare, checkout this Ikea Lack TV stand, get it with the black-brown finish, it looks pretty good (I'll post a couple of pictures later).

4. Mobile Madness: In a whim, handset makers are going nuts to throw out some interesting devices, with BlackBerry Storm, Tombile/Google G1 around the corner, they are throwing up emulators left and right to give us the most interactive previews possible. Meanwhile, HTC Touch HD has been named iPhone killer,this market is getting hot.