Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
At least just for my own notes here’s some iPad/iPhone user-agent string:
iPad 3.2 beta 2 (7B320c)
mozilla/5.0 (ipad; u; cpu os 3_2 like mac os x; en-us) applewebkit/531.21.10 (khtml, like gecko) version/4.0.4 mobile/7b320c safari/531.21.10 |
iPhone 3.1.3 (7E13) – Simulator
mozilla/5.0 (iphone simulator; u; cpu iphone os 3_1_3 like mac os x; en-us) applewebkit/528.18 (khtml, like gecko) version/4.0 mobile/7e18 safari/528.16 |
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Here’s a list of BlackBerry Smartphones, their model, name, screen resolution and their video playback capabilities.
It’s often difficult to determine the specific H.264 profiles that a BlackBerry can support, such as what’s the max bit-rate the device can handle? Looking at the specification pages for each model can assist; such as Bold 9700 specs
It’s a pretty safe bet to encode for baseline profile for a video, otherwise you might see a blank screen when you try and play it back. Take a look here for more on ffmpeg encoding for BlackBerry.
| Blackberry® Model | Resolution | ||
| BlackBerry 8100 | 240×260 | MPEG4 | Pearl |
| BlackBerry 8110 | |||
| BlackBerry 8120 | |||
| BlackBerry 8130 | |||
| BlackBerry 8220 | 240×320 | MPEG4 | Pearl Flip |
| BlackBerry 8230 | |||
| BlackBerry 8300 | 320×240 | MPEG4 | Curve |
| BlackBerry 8310 | |||
| BlackBerry 8320 | |||
| BlackBerry 8330 | |||
| BlackBerry 8350i | |||
| BlackBerry 8520 | 320×240 | H.264 | Curve |
| BlackBerry 8530 | |||
| BlackBerry 8800 | 320×240 | MPEG4 | |
| BlackBerry 8820 | |||
| BlackBerry 8830 | 320×240 | H.264 | |
| BlackBerry 9000 | 480×320 | H.264 | Bold |
| BlackBerry 9500 | 360×480 | H.264 | Storm |
| BlackBerry 9530 | |||
| BlackBerry 9550 | 360×480 | H.264 | Storm 2. OS 5.0 |
| BlackBerry 9520 | |||
| BlackBerry 9630 | ? | H.264 | Tour |
| BlackBerry 9700 | 480×360 | H.264 | Bold 2. OS 5.0 |
Blank values mean they carry down from the model prior.
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Sometimes ffmpeg just doesn’t play like you’d hope it would. I was trying to re-encode video clips for a BlackBerry Bold (the Bold supports H.264 playback) but every encode would have a blank black screen for video, and the audio would be fine (more on audio later).
I’m currently using SVN release r19352 (and also tested with r21566 (2010-01-31)).
ffmpeg -v 0 -y -i input.mp4 -f mp4 -aspect 2.409 -vcodec libx264 -vpre default -vpre baseline -s 480x200 -r 24 -b 220k -acodec libmp3lame -ab 24kbit/s -ac 1 output.mp4 |
So lets break down these arguments:
-v 0 = Set verbosity level -y = Overwrite existing file -i input.mp4 = The file you want to convert -f = Force the video type -aspect = The magical number to get the resize right -vcodec libx264 = We're going to use x264 for video codec -vpre default -vpre baseline = Magical presets. And ensure BlackBerry compatibility -s = The final dimensions of the clip -r = Video frame rate -b = Bitrate per second (the larger number the better the video) -acodec libmp3lame = See Audio heading below -ab = Audio bitrate -ac 1 = Number of Audio Channels output.mp4 = The output file |
ffmpeg isn’t a Windows only application and looks for its presets in /usr/local/share/ffmpeg/ so if you create a folder structure on your Windows computer c:\usr\local\share\ffmpeg\ and copy all the *.ffpreset files into said folder you won’t have problems with -vpre anymore
In later releases of ffmpeg AAC (or libfaac) was disabled; I assume due to AAC being patent encumbered. There’s ways around turn libfaac back on, or you could just switch to using libmp3lame or the like.
Friday, November 20th, 2009
I’ve recently been looking at hosting a complex JBoss/Apache project at Rackspace Cloud as opposed to our own servers+pipe at work.
I had changed the application to deliver the files from a CDN (in this case Rackspace Files) but thought “well Rackspace Cloud might be on the same pipe(s) as Files and could kill two birds with one stone”.
Essentially I wanted to know the pipe difference between Rackspace Cloud Servers and Rackspace Files and if Cloud was fast enough do away with Files.
The Test
Here’s some very rudimentary results where I download a 9.6 MB zip file.
Rackspace Cloud – Average download speed: 335 kb/s – Time: 27 seconds.
Rackspace Files – Average download speed: 1154 kb/s – Time: 8 seconds.
I used curl -O http://.../content.zip for the download test.
Conclusions
Rackspace Cloud doesn’t use the same “pipes” as Rackspace Files (I’ve never read that Rackspace claim, “Cloud is as fast as Files” I wasn’t expecting the same results, just curious).
A dedicated CDN is the best way to go for delivery of large files quickly. (Rackspace Files uses the Limelight Network). I’ve heard rumours that Rackspace has Australian edge(s) and this seems to be the case.
I will still want to use Rackspace Files for large content delivery.
Misc
I use TPG ADSL2+ at home and never seen downloads faster than 1250-1300 kb/s. Using a 2.16GHz Macbook Pro.
At the time of writing: Rackspace Cloud Server is a cloud server hosting infrastructure. Rackspace Files is a Content Delivery Network.
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
Scenario: My base machine (mac) hosts all my source code as I want a single code point to backup. My Windows development environment is in a Virtual Machine using VMWare Fusion. (I believe this issue will apply to VMWare Workstation, Player and Fusion).
I am using the VMWare built in “Share Folder” option, and I’m sharing only the “win” folder in my ~\src\ folder.
Issue: When trying to open source using Visual Studio 2008 I’m presented with the dreaded “The project location is not trusted” error.
Solution: Open a Command-Line box (Start > Run > cmd > OK)
cd \Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727 caspol -m -ag 1.2 -url \\.host\* FullTrust |
If you’re not using VMWare or have a share elsewhere substitute “\\.host\*” for your shared folder.
References: The project location is not trusted dialog box and The project location is not trusted dialog box when trying to use a Network Location
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
I wanted a drop dead simple Fluent NHibernate connection to a Sql Compact (.sdf) file and was able to use:
private const string DbFile = "firstProgram.db"; return Fluently.Configure() .Database(MsSqlCeConfiguration.Standard.ShowSql().ConnectionString(c => c.Is("data source=" + dbFile)) ) .Mappings(m => m.FluentMappings.AddFromAssemblyOf<Program>() ) .ExposeConfiguration(BuildSchema) .BuildSessionFactory(); |
Whereas the Sqlite connection was:
private const string DbFile = "firstProgram.db"; return Fluently.Configure() .Database(SQLiteConfiguration.Standard .UsingFile(dbFile) ) .Mappings(m => m.FluentMappings.AddFromAssemblyOf<Program>() ) .ExposeConfiguration(BuildSchema) .BuildSessionFactory(); |
When Googling I wasn’t able to find any samples so I hope to fill that void.
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
I don’t like initialising my UIViewControllers and their associated nib explicitly using a string
FlipsideViewController *viewController = [[FlipsideViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"FlipsideView" bundle:nil]; |
But would rather my UIViewControllers know how to load themselves. This reduces the possibilities of typos, allows for only 1 place in code where your nib is referenced by name, and just looks better.
For example in FlipsideViewController.m I would add:
- (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil { if ((self = [super initWithNibName:@"FlipsideView" bundle:nibBundleOrNil])) { // Initialization code } return self; } |
Now you can simply initialise the ViewController using
FlipsideViewController *viewController = [[FlipsideViewController alloc] init]; |
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Mozketo blog is written by Ben Clark-Robinson about Cocoa development, Apple and my adventures in .net. (A strange mix, yes).
I am a c# .net software engineer by day, though once the sun sets low below the horizon and the Apple startup sequence chimes I am transformed into a Cocoa & Cocoa Touch engineer.
I have a diploma in IT and a degree in IT major Software Engineering.
Websites: Mozketo (this site) or WGA.
Web applications: Servizio (Windows Mobile)
Desktop application: Membership
Macbook Pro with external 22″ Benq LCD, bluetooth wireless Apple keyboard, MS Notebook Mouse 5000, and my well loved iPhone 3G.
CSSEdit
TextMate
Transmit
Aperture
Voodoo Pad
Littlesnapper – Quicksnapper profile
Using a Joyent shared hosting server and Wordpress with a custom Mozketo template.
Thursday, March 12th, 2009
I’m trying to find the best Bluetooth Mouse for Apple Mac OS X. I really like being able to just turn on a mouse and boom it works without having to plug in a dongle. So I’ve compiled a mini-review of the Bluetooth mice I’ve tried to date and hoping you could help me expand the list. (more…)
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
Here’s a mini review for my new 22″ Benq E2200HD LCD monitor I bought from umart.com.au http://tinyurl.com/5jlkqo
I’ve been looking to get a 22″ screen for a while now, but I wanted HDMI (for the xbox) and I really wanted more resolution than the std 1680×1050. Then boom! I see this baby at a fantastic price and at full HD of 1920×1080!!!
So I use DVI for the Macbook Pro and it’s beautiful and sharp, and needless to say nice and widescreen (the wider aspect is awesome) Note: it comes with a DVI & RGB cable, so don’t buy an extra DVI like I did (doh).
Then on the HDMI connection I have the xbox 360 and it looks great. I played Gears of War 1 for about 20 minutes last night and it looks great. My only complaint is that the blacks aren’t very black, but playing with the contrast setting got it a lot better. The speakers aren’t wonderful for gaming, but they do me just fine.
The viewing angles appear to be nice and wide, but not super wide. I wish the blacks were blacker, and the whites whiter. But the screen is big, colourful, with a good array of connectors RGB/DVI/HDMI/3.5mm sound jack.
Telling the screen to switch between the DVI & HDMI can at times be slow, but not impossible.
It displays vista/osx/xbox360 just beautifully and at this perfect price I can’t recommend it enough.
Update 15 December 2008:
After using the screen some more I’m still really impressed and very happy with the purchase. The screen is ultra bright and have to turn the brightness down of a night time, but makes day-time usage just fantastic.
Also being able to plug a headset into the 3.5″ jack (easily found on the left of the screen) is a big win, as xbox 360 playing has to be quiet as my office is surrounded by bedrooms.
I still wish that the blacks were blacker.
When switching between the 15″ Macbook Pro and the 22″ Benq I find the text on the 22″ not as sharp as the 15″. I’m guessing the Macbook Pro panel is higher-quality. That being said, the 22″ sharpness with text is just fine.
Update 13 Jan 2009:
I just used the OS X colour calibration tool (in expert mode) and the colours now pop. The whites are nice and white, photos look great and the text looks a lot better. Totally recommend you try it from: System Preferences > Displays > Color.
