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roxio posts

Filed under: Peripherals, Video, Odds and ends, First Look

First Look: Roxio Easy VHS to DVD for Mac

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on May 26th, 2009

Those of us who are old enough to remember the VHS versus Betamax wars are also old enough to have a box of VHS cassettes stored somewhere, filled with memories of vacations, birthdays, and weddings. In the jump from the analog media of VHS to the digital world of DVD, many of those tapes were put away and forgotten.

Today, Roxio announced a way to bring those old memories to life on your Mac. The Roxio Easy VHS to DVD for Mac kit (US$79.99) includes a USB 2.0 video capture widget that gets plugged into any USB 2.0 port on your Mac, then connected to your VHS deck or analog camcorder. The Easy VHS to DVD software provides step-by-step prompting for connecting video and audio cables to the capture device, records the video onto your Mac in either standard (4 Mbps VBR) or high-quality (8 Mbps VBR), and then offers you the choice to either edit the movie in iMovie, send it to the included Roxio Toast Basic DVD-burning software, or view it in QuickTime Player.

If you already have an Elgato or Blackmagic video adapter, you can use those to achieve similar ends, without the straight-to-DVD option of the Roxio product.

I think it's finally time for me convert and burn the VHS video I shot back in 1980 in the U.K. with a 21-pound "compact" Panasonic VHS recorder and separate video camera. What old VHS tapes would you want to burn to DVD? Leave a comment below.

Tags: dvd, dvd burner, DvdBurner, imovie, roxio, vhs

Filed under: Audio, Software, Developer

Roxio announces Toast 10 at MacWorld

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jan 5th, 2009

Toast is the granddaddy of CD burning apps nowadays, an act that itself has become relatively obsolete (between iPods, internet radios, FM tuners, and streaming services, do we even really need to put media on a physical format anymore?). Roxio isn't sitting back with their software, though: they've released Toast 10 at MacWorld this week, and they are doing their best to stay on your Mac, whether you use your CD burner or not. They added streaming back in Toast 9, but 10 brings with it the ability to extract and control almost any sound or video that comes through your computer, from DVD footage to web video, exported out to TiVo, your Mac, your iPod, or anywhere else that plays it.

The app is available right now on the website for $79.99 (after a $20 mail-in rebate), or they're offering a "Pro" version that comes with SonicFire Pro (that you can use to piece soundtracks together), Bias SoundSoap SE (which will wipe hums and static from recordings), FotoMagico (slideshows from pictures), and LightZone (photo editor and enhancer), as well as a plug-in for Toast that will let you author Blu Ray and HD DVD discs. All that comes together for $130 (after a $20 mail-in rebate).

Whew. Despite the fact that almost no one is routinely burning CDs or DVDs these days, Roxio seems to be going all out to make sure there's still a need for Toast.

[via Ars]

Tags: authoring, blu-ray, cd-burning, dvd, fotomagico, hd-dvd, mac, macworld, macworld09, roxio, sonicfire, soundsoap, toast, toast-10

Filed under: Multimedia, Software

Roxio releases Toast 9 with streaming

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Mar 17th, 2008

With their newly-updated Toast Titanium 9, it looks like Roxio is really embracing new ways of using media, moving beyond Toast's original disc-burning functionality. New features include AVCHD camcorder video conversion, support for creating Blu-ray and HD DVD discs (though why someone would want to make HD DVDs at this point is anybody's guess), automatic tagging of unknown audio tracks via their "audio fingerprint," internet audio stream recording, and more. Previous support for CD/DVD burning and TiVo video is naturally still included.

Perhaps most interesting is the new Roxio Streamer, which allows video streaming from your Mac to "your Wi-Fi connected iPhone, iPod Touch or to any Internet connected Mac or PC." It seems like Roxio has recognized that disc-burning has a limited future and is steadily moving Toast towards streaming, etc.

Toast 9 is $99.99, but previously registered users are eligible for a $20 mail-in rebate.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Tags: burning, roxio, toast

Filed under: Software, Video

Roxio releases Popcorn 3, adds TiVoToGo support

by Mat Lu (RSS feed) on Aug 30th, 2007

Roxio has released version 3 of their DVD and video conversion utility Popcorn. The biggest new feature is probably the "exclusive TiVoToGo support for the Mac" that lets you burn TiVo recorded shows to disc or convert them for playback on other devices. However, other improvements include the ability to create compilation DVDs and custom DVD menus as well as improved Apple TV and iPhone/iPod support. Popcorn is $49 and is available now.

For my own money, I think the the only compelling feature of Popcorn is the TivoToGo support. Unless that's a big deal for you, I think you'd probably do better with VisualHub ($23.32) plus Handbrake (free), as the ffmpeg based conversion of the former is considerably faster than the QuickTime based conversion that Popcorn appears to use.

[via MacMinute]

Tags: handbrake, popcorn, roxio, visualhub

Filed under: iPod Family, Software, Video, iTunes, iPhone, Apple TV

Roxio to announce Crunch, a new video conversion app

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on May 4th, 2007



Looks like VisualHub and iSquint are going to have some competition on their hands, as Roxio on Monday will announce Crunch, their own entry into the software video conversion market. With computer-based video leaving the nest for devices like the Apple TV, the iPod and soon the iPhone, tools that can easily convert video from a plethora of sources and formats are becoming ever the more useful. Roxio looks to make a decent splash in the market with Crunch, as it features their typical UI (which, personally, I detest) and a nice array of features, including batch encoding of multiple files, conversion of DVDs created with Toast, iMovie, and other video editing apps (in other words: it won't rip and encode commercial DVDs), support for a very wide array of video formats including the elusive MPEG-1, presets for specific devices and one killer and rare feature you don't see in many (if any) other apps: encoding from VIDEO_TS files that are ripped straight from a DVD.

Still, all this comes at a price: Crunch will cost $50, whereas similar solutions that don't do DVD or VIDEO_TS conversion, like VisualHub, can be had for half that. Still, we'll have to reserve a final judgment until we can get our hands on a copy. Until then, check out our gallery of Crunch screenshots to get a better perspective on whether you should try out a demo.
[Correction: VisualHub does convert VIDEO_TS folders as of version 1.1; our apologies.]

Gallery: Crunch - Roxio's video conversion utility

Tags: batch, conversion, convert, crunch, isquint, roxio, video, visualhub

Filed under: Software, Video

Roxio says stand-alone TiVo To Go client a "possibility"

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Jan 10th, 2007



I spoke with the folks at the Roxio booth here at Macworld Expo 2007 about that slight complaint many of us have over the much-anticipated new TiVo To Go client being bundled into Toast for the not-so-low price of $99. Obviously, if you're looking for the power of Toast and TiVo To Go, this is a killer deal since the inclusion of this hot new software didn't increase Toast's price at all. For everyone else just looking to score a TiVo fix, Roxio did say the don't have any immediate plans for a stand-alone TiVo client, but they *would* consider it if enough (potential) customers expressed interest.

Obviously, this is by no means a promise, but they at least didn't slam the book on the idea and kick me out of the booth.

Tags: roxio, television, tivo, tivo to go, TivoToGo, tv

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Video

This just in: Roxio charging $99 for free software

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Jan 8th, 2007



Michael posted that Roxio has released a new version of Toast, complete with a highly-anticipated bundled version of TiVoToGo for Mac OS X. While this is certainly a joyous day for those anxiously awaiting the ability to Macify their TiVo content, I can't help but have a severely bitter taste in my mouth from the fact that TiVo and Roxio are essentially charging $100 for what Windows users get to do for free.

Sure, it was probably a painstaking and grueling process to build a Mac OS X client, and it's even likely that many Bothans died to bring us this software. But *bundling* it with a $100 disc burning app and no alternative for a stand-alone purchase? Even accepting the fact that they (for some odd reason) *have* to charge for a Mac client, I call foul - and so do plenty of our readers. I'm sure many of Toast's users will welcome the new 'feature' in this version upgrade, but Roxio and TiVo really need to offer a separate purchase (or free!) option for those who, like me, would rather use burning software that won't break the bank.

With complaints in hand, I'll be sure to bug Roxio about this during our Macworld 07 coverage this week.

Tags: burn, roxio, tivo, tivo to go, TivoToGo, tv

Filed under: Software, Video

Roxio ships TiVo to Go for Mac

by Michael Rose (RSS feed) on Jan 8th, 2007


Engadget and Zatz Not Funny! are reporting that Roxio -- yes, Popcorn, Toast with Jam, that Roxio -- has partnered with TiVo to deliver the long-awaited TiVotoGo for Mac client, built in to Toast Titanium 8. All together, everyone: "Wha?!?"

The new Toast will allow you to browse your TiVo content, play back TV shows, burn to DVD (of course) and also transcode for iPod or PSP. Zatz notes that the included video player appears to have come over from Elgato's EyeTV 2 package, which already features tight integration with Toast. The new version also includes non-TiVo goodness like BluRay support, new audio mastering and conversion utilities, and cross-platform support for spanned disk backups. Toast is normally $99 but there's a $20 rebate in play now if ordered direct from Roxio. I'm sure that some of my colleagues will be running over to the Roxio booth at Macworld to check it out.

Tags: roxio, tivo, tivotogo, toast

Filed under: Multimedia, Peripherals, Software, Universal Binary

Popcorn 2 goes Universal

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (RSS feed) on Apr 12th, 2006

popcorn 2Roxio announced Popcorn 2 is a Universal Binary now.

Popcorn is a little app that'll supposedly move content around to your mobile stuff— a PSP, iPod, or "mobile phone." I couldn't get a list of supported phones, but I'm assuming it won't convert your movies to ASCII so they show up on Nokia's from 2000. Popcorn also says it'll grab your unprotected DVD content. Now, I haven't used Popcorn, but will it just refuse to rip store-bought DVD's? Ugh, I'm beginning to hate DRM too... If anyone knows the answer to these burning questions, leave your experiences in the comments.

Tags: dvd, mpeg4, popcorn, psp, roxio

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