Android TV Box – rising star in the TV market

It is expected that 60 percent of the Internet-based services’ income would be from IPTV on OTT by 2016, when the Android TV Box market would see a boom.

SmartTV Box products have been available on the market since early 2013. The products, run on the Android operation system, connecting with TV via the Internet transmission (fiber or ADSL), allowed TV watchers to enjoy a lot of multi-media services.

The “small box”, priced at VND1.6-3 million only, is “powerful” enough to turn a normal TV into a smart TV. Therefore, experts believe that the products would replace smart TVs and dominate the TV market in the upcoming years.

 

 

There are many reasons that prompt people to use Android TV Box instead of smart TV.

The biggest advantage of Android TV Box is the low price, which is 10 times cheaper than a smart TV. An Android TV Box can be bought at VND1.6-3 million, while a smart TV is priced at no less than VND10 million.

While having the small size, Android TV Box is designed with the configuration powerful enough to allow users surf on Internet, play games, read newspapers and access to social networks without personal computers.

Android TV Box allows users watch HD films and use the film stores with copyrighted films, including the 3D blockbuster films updated regularly by the content service providers.

Android TV Box users can save a lot of money as they can watch tens of TV channels free of charge, or with low fees (VND50,000 a month) and enjoy a lot of other facilities.

Quan of VTC Multimedia quoted the survey of Informa, a market survey firm, as saying that 60 percent of income would be from IPTV services on OTT by 2016. Traditional pay-TV would become cheaper and cheaper, while service providers would focus on collecting fees from added value services.

What a Lightning to 30-pin Adapter Used for?

Since September 2012, Apple’s Lightning connector has been the smaller replacement for the 30-Pin Dock Connector introduced in 2003 -- a reliable plug that has been used in thousands of Apple-specific accessories, including everything from chargers to speakers, video projectors, and blood pressure monitors. Unfortunately, that means any accessories or cables you have that use the 30-pin connector won't fit.

However, the lightning to 30-pin adapter lets you adapt your older gear. According to Apple's site, the adapter will support analog audio output, USB audio, as well as syncing and charging. Video output is not supported, however, and not all 30-pin devices will be supported, either, so you may still need buy new accessories to use with the iPhone 5 and 2012 iPods.

You may disappointed that the lightning to 30-pin adapter only wors for audio, and not video. We tried the adaptor with a 30-pin to HDMI Adaptor and got the “This accessory is not designed for this iPhone” message. Sometimes this is displayed while the video plays, but in this case there is no video (it just continues to play on the iPhone screen as normal). We also tested it with a monitor with a 30-pin dock built-in, so it’s not a compatibilty issue the the HDMI adaptor – there’s simply no way to  get video from it.

Thus, you should keep in mind that lightning to 30-pin adapter will not send video from 30-pin connector to a lightning connector. You also should note that with some very old accessories made for the iPod, charging is not supported because that device used Firewire charging and this adapter only support USB charging. Besides, if you have an accessory that supports the special iPod-out mode in which the iPhone generated a menu that was displayed on a device such as a car, that also doesn’t work with this adapter.

How to Clean Canvas Oil Painting

People like to have some oil paintings for decoration in house. However, when the oil paintings are long exposed in the air, they get dust and colors fade away. In order to keep your canvas oilpainting fresh and vivid, there are some tips for you to clean and maintain the paintings.

 

 

Steps to remove the dust:

1.       While the painting is in the vertical position, gently go over it with a soft brush to remove loose debris. Work from the top down and from side to side in a consistent motion.

2.       Lay the painting on a horizontal sturdy surface.

3.       Remove the crust from a piece of soft white bread.

4.       Press the bread to the surface to get rid of smoke residue, hair, and stubborn dust. Lift and repeat. Replace bread with a fresh piece when it’s soiled.

5.       Stand the painting up and repeat step one to remove any lingering crumbs or remaining debris.

If your canvas oil painting are very old, and need to do some deep cleaning, the best way to clean an oil painting is by purchasing an art restoration kit from the supply store and following the instructions carefully. It is good to avoid the introduction of moisture to the paintings' surface as it can get inside the invisible cracks and cause damages.

How to Connect your Xbox 360 Wireless Controller to PC

A part of Xbox gamers are fond of Xbox 360wireless controller, as you can stand and sit anywhere you want to play games without the limitation of cable. If you got a wired controller, it’s easy to connect the controller to a PC due to the common USB port. However, if you want to connect your wireless controller to PC, it’s not so simple just to plug the device in. First of all, you need to purchase an Xbox 360 wireless gaming receiver.

After you buy the gaming receiver, just plug it into a compatible USB port on your computer. The receiver can syncs the controller to the PC just like the Xbox 360’s internal receivers sync controllers to the console. As soon as you plugged in, if you see a green light appears, which indicate the device is working properly.

The second step is to install software. It’s necessary because the software guarantees the wireless gaming receiver and the wireless Xbox 360 controller to properly sync with one another. You can download it via Microsoft’s website, or the bundled installation disc packaged with the receiver.

 

The final step is to sync your wireless Xbox 360 controller with the receiver plugged into your computer. To do so, first turn on the controller by holding down the Xbox Guide button in the center of the controller and wait for the green backlight to turn on. Then, press the connect button on top of the wireless receiver until it begins flashing green, then press the connect button on top of the Xbox 360 controller. The pairing process will then begin, and when finished, both lights will remain on signaling the connection. If the devices do not properly sync with one another, you can always reference Xbox’s support website, or double check the required software was installed successfully.

How to Connect a Mobile Device to Your TV

If you are tired of watching TV on small screen of the mobile devices, there are two solutions to sending video from your small screen to your big screen. One way is by wireless devices, such as Apple TV, Google Chromecast. However, it obviously will cost a lot. Plus, if your wireless network doesn’t offer a strong signal, the wireless streaming will never be the best option. The other way to streaming video from your phone to TV is by an HDMI cable, and in some cases, an adapter.

 

How to connect an Android smartphone or tablet to TV?

Most Android mobile devices support streaming videos to an HDTV through Mobile High Definition Link, or MHL. In this case, if your HDTV happened to have MHL built in, all you need is a micro USB-to-HDMI cable.

The MHL Consortium publishes a partial listof MHL-supported devices on its website. If you don't see your mobile device listed, check with the manufacturer. Older TV HDMI ports don't include MHL, so you'll need an MHL-to-HDMI adapter to supply the power, such as Koopower’s $8.98 microUSB-to-HDMI MHL adapter. You may need to plug your device's charger into the adapter to provide extra power.

How to connect an Apple mobile device to TV?

Apple sells its Lightning Digital AV Adapter that can help you do that. Actually, it just likes any other HDMI adapter: on one end, there is a lightning plug and on the other end is an HDMI port. Then you only need an HDMI cable to go from the adapter to your TV’s HDMI port and the TV doesn’t even need to support MHL. However, Apple doesn’t sell an adapter for its older devices like iPhone 4/4S. As The $49 Lightning adapters work with all iPhones, iPads and iPod touches with the Lightning port. If you want to stream the video in your iPhone 4/4S to TV, Koopower’s $16.99 30-pin digital AV adapter will meet your demand.