Ainol Novo 7 Flame/Fire Review

Nexus 7 and Ainol Novo 7 Flame/Fire

So here’s my Ainol Novo 7 Flame/Fire review. Warning, it’s long. If you’re over 65 don’t bother you’ll be gone before you reach the end.

First a run down of features:
AMLogic AML8726-MX Dual Core Arm Cortex A9 at 1.5Ghz
Mali 400 GPU
1GB DDR3
16GB Storage
1280×800 Super IPS display
2MP Front Camera
5MP Rear Camera
Mini HDMI port
MicroSD card slot
Micro USB port
Bluetooth
Headphone Jack
Power connector for fast wall charging
5000mAH battery(non-user replaceable)

I’m going to do a lot of comparison to the Nexus 7 as that is the tablet I currently own and is among one of the most popular. So if you love something else…buy a Novo 7 Flame and do your own review. Pics of and from the device can be found here. https://plus.google.com/u/0/115872604535305832370/posts/9GPQAWowYA7

Well lets jump in shall we? The device is very presentable. It’s got a nice brushed aluminum back and the tablet standard black plastic bezel around the screen. It appears to be designed to be used primarily in landscape mode because it has a top(landscape) or right(portrait) orientation for both the front and rear cameras. So basically to ensure you are right side up during hangouts you will have to use the tablet in landscape orientation. Over all the build quality feels solid.

Backup!

THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!

Back up your data!

If it’s your PC back it up to an external drive. If you can move that drive off site all the better. Give it to a relative or put it in a safe deposit box. In this day and age of “cloud” there are also numerous internet backup solutions you could use as well.

Backups aren’t just limited to your PC. Your phone, tablet and your video game consoles need to be backed up too.

If your phone has a microSD card slot go pick up an extra card just for keeping a backup. There is no doubt an app for your phone/tablet platform of choice to save a backup to that card. Do the same as before and store it some place safe preferably away from where the data is normally used.

Last but not least and some might be surprised to hear this your video game console can be backed up too. If you have a PS3 go find a USB hard drive that is equal to or larger than the drive in your console and under the Settings > System Settings you’ll find a backup utility. Be warned it compresses your data so it takes a while to run. And then go make sure you sync your trophies.

If you have an Xbox you’re consigned to USB drives no larger than, correct me if I’m wrong, 32GB. I also believe this will be changing in the near future(or has all ready?) so you can plug in any drive. Plug in your drive and go to Settings > System > Storage > Transfer Content and select the items you want to backup. Make sure if you didn’t backup save games that they are at least syncing to online storage.

For a home user I would say do this at minimum once a month to ensure you are never out all your data. Thank you for your time and attention!

Mobile HD Video Recording & Streaming Rig

As streaming and live IP broadcasts gain popularity there’s an increasing desire to make a better and better quality broadcast. Unfortunately most of the time that means you have to invest in bigger better more expensive equipment.  You’ll see professional broadcasters like twit.tv and many of the events captured on twitch.tv being recorded and broadcast with large multi-thousand dollar rigs just to get a good quality broadcast. Well, what if you could shoot 720P, stream it, and record at the same time plus a plethora of connectivity options? What if you could do that with equipment less than $1000 and that you might actually all ready own? I’m about to tell you how to do it.

Things you’ll need:

• A laptop or netbook
• An Android phone or Sony PSP
• An HD webcam
• If you’re using a PSP – PSP diag battery
• If you’re using a PSP – PSP custom firmware
• If you’re using an Android device – Android Sideshow software
• A backpack or laptop bag.

You can use any number of devices to get this working so I’m not going to go in to details. This is the gist, you need storage, view finder and lens. You see where this is going? The laptop functions as storage and communication, the PSP or Android device as the view finder and the webcam as the lens. Microsoft Windows Sideshow allows you to use the sideshow device(psp or android) as a second monitor. Connect the PSP or Android device to the laptop via either wireless or USB. Set Windows on the laptop to sleep the monitor but not the rest of the laptop. Open the monitor application for your camera and then put the monitor video on the sideshow device. Connect your connectivity of choice, wifi, 3g or what ever. Run your streaming management app and connect to your live stream. Now close the laptop and throw it in a backpack or laptop bag. Be sure to leave the bag cracked to ensure heat can escape. Now strap the camera to the back of your PSP or Android device and shoot till your hearts content, your drive gets full or your devices run out of juice.

An additional and interesting thing is that a producer or buddy or whom ever can then use remote management software to manage whats going on on the laptop in the bag if it’s wirelessly connected. In addition if your laptop or netbook can handle it you can also record and stream at the same time. Having processing power closer to the subject matter opens up plenty of interesting possibilities.

If you find this article and idea useful please do share your live stream URL or link to your awesome HD youtube links so we can all check out the outcome!

Google Nexus 7 Unboxing

My Google Nexus 7 unboxing on a live Google+ Hangout. Hopefully we covered most of the bases with the device. If you have questions please leave them in the comments on the blog or on the youtube video and I’ll get back to you. Enjoy!