Matt’s Desk: Editor’s Blog

I use a Sony PS3 as my living room Blu-ray player – not because I play console games, but because it made the most sense to me compared with other players.  Why?  Because the PS3 also plays video files from USB drives, has a wireless Internet connection, an internal hard drive, access to an online video store and unbeatable processing power.  As a BD player, the PS3 has served me very, very well.

My only complaint has been that I couldn’t use my Logitech Harmony remote to control Blu-ray playback.  The console accepts only corded and Bluetooth control inputs, which means Infrared remotes like my beloved Harmony 670 didn’t work – but now there’s a solution.

Logitech has released the Harmony Adapter for Playstation 3, a small add-on that allows all Harmony remotes to control the PS3. The adapter receives IR commands from Harmony remotes and then sends those commands over Bluetooth to your PS3.  It supports all 51 PS3 command inputs and is good for Blu-ray control, navigating the XMB and even powering the PS3 on and off.

Now I can finally control every device in my home entertainment center with a single remote control.

The Logitech Harmony Adapter for PS3 is now available for purchase from the following retailers:

Amazon.com     Logitech Online Store     Buy.com

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while.  I’ve been busy with the iPhone 3GS, working on a Bluetooth headset roundup review… and deleting duplicate files.

If you’re like me, your hard drive is littered with thousands of files, many of which – for one reason or another – are duplicates.  I’ve spent hours manually removing duplicate files, largely because I’m a bit fearful of automatic duplicate file utilities that sometimes delete things you don’t want piled on the digital ash heap just yet.  But I’ve found a better solution: DoubleKiller.

DoubleKiller is a small, runs-without-installing Windows utility that locates duplicate files with ease.  Not only can DoubleKiller locate multiple files with the same name (which can be useless in many cases) it can also compare the size and CRC32-checksum of files to nail down duplicates even if the names are different.  You can scan entire drives or limit your search and destroy mission to specific folders.

Following the scan, you’re presented with a detailed list of files from which you can make deletion selections.  Ahh… full control, and no automatic deletion nightmares.

It would be difficult to calculate how much time this little gem has saved me.  And it’s totally free.

Amazon.com has the Sharp Aquos BD-HP21U Blu-ray Player for $159 plus shipping.  This is the lowest price I’ve seen for a Blu-ray disc player (if you know of a lower price, please pass it along). 

Now, this isn’t the tripped out, network-enabled, Netflix friendly player you’d get for $400 or $500, but if you just want to play BD movies – and standard DVD movies upscaled — this player should to do the trick.  It is firmware-upgradable, which is good news, but without a built-in network connection you’ll have to use a USB thumb drive to do the deed.  Oh, and if you have a Sharp Aquos HDTV, the BD player and TV talk to each other over HDMI with AQUOS LINK.

The change from analog to digital TV has been years in the making and will finally go into effect (if it isn’t postponed again) on June 12.  With the transition only days away, I’m getting questions from friends and family regarding what they need to do for the switch.  The most likely answer is: nothing.

In short, the transition applies only to free, over-the-air TV signals.  If you’re using an antenna of any kind (on your roof, rabbit ears, etc.), your TV must be digital-ready in order to continue getting over-the-air TV starting June 12.  Newer TVs are ready right out of the box, but if your TV is old, you’ll need a digital converter box for a digital antenna to play nice with your TV.

If you use a satellite dish or cable, it doesn’t matter what kind of TV you have; you’re fine! As long as it works now, it’ll work after the switch.  Your satellite or cable service already has already provided you with a converter box (or there’s an adapter in your TV that understands its inputs), and you’re most likely already receiving a digital signal from those services.  But irrespective of what technologies your satellite or cable service use, they won’t be affected by the change.

One more thing: DTV is not the same thing as HDTV.  Digital TV is normal, standard-definition TV sent out with a different technology.  You don’t need an HDTV to get digital TV, and as is almost always the case, HDTVs look best when watching HD channels. Standard definition (SD) TV signals, particularly on 40″+ HDTVs, probably don’t look as good as they do on SD TVs.

Today Microsoft launched the long-awaited reboot of its “me too” search engine, Live Search. The service has also been renamed: Live Search is now Bing.

Also rolled out alongside the rebranded search engine is Bing-411, a feature that’s getting much less attention in the rollout, but is noteworthy nonetheless.  Bing-411 is a direct competitor with GOOG-411, Google’s national 411 information line for mobile and landline phones. 

Call 1-800-BING-411 (800-246-4411) to get contact information for businesses across the United States.  The service also offers driving directions, though you have to provide the service with a beginning address, an intersection, or a city center as a point of origin – there’s no GPS tie-in, in case you were wondering. 

Bing-411 can also text you contact information or driving directions you were given during the call, though this feature errored each time I tried it this afternoon.  The error saved me forty cents, but wasn’t exactly, you know, impressive.  But, it’s only day one, after all. 

Will Bing matter as a search engine?  Probably not.  But it’s nice to see the name change, if for no other reason than it makes using Microsoft’s search engine a verb; it’s much easier to say “I Binged Marxism” than saying “I Windows Live Searched Marxism.”   Plus, Bing-411 may provide impetus for Google to improve its own 411 service.