Xbox 360 DivX/XviD Update Tested

Xbox Live released their fall update for the Xbox 360 today, with the DivX and XviD support that everyone has been waiting for. I can't wait to be able to watch my movies and TV shows that I have on my computers (all legal of course) on my TV set. I've just downloaded the update and haven't had a chance to really play with it, but the guys at Gizmodo have. And they are very happy with it, in fact they say it's nearly perfect. Check out all the listed details that comes with the new update, some of which even Microsoft didn't even tell us about.

Thanks Gizmodo for this info.

DivX And Xvid Support In Xbox Live Fall Update

Oh happy day for Xbox live users who would like to play DivX and Xvid files on their Xbox 360. Come the fall update for Xbox live, your system will now support these files. Check the press release below:

"15. What types of AVI files are supported?

The Xbox 360 supports files encoded using MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple and Advanced Simple Profile. These files are often referred to as Xvid or DivX® video files. Many common PC DVD authoring tools, cameras, and camcorders are capable of encoding files using MPEG-4. Note that some files authored for DivX devices may also contain additional functionality(menus, subtitles, multiple audio tracks, etc). The Xbox 360 will attempt to play these files, but does not support any of the additional functionality and in some cases will be unable to play the file.

16. Why don't some of my older versions of DivX® files play?

Since we only support Mpeg-4 compatible codec implementations, we will not be able to play video files older than DivX® 5.0."

This is a major deal, and a step in the right direction to making the Xbox 360 a full multimedia system.

[Gizmodo]

Ziova CS505 : Better than AppleTV?

This DVD player does a little something that most do not. Not only will it allow you to watch burned Divx movies on DVD, it also will stream it from your computer directly to your TV. No need to burn a DVD beforehand, the ultimate in convenience.

Although the AppleTV and the Ziova CS505 can both stream from your computer to your TV, they're in totally different classes. The AppleTV is for playing back movies and stuff purchased from itunes (unless you encode it). The Ziova is for every other non-Apple format that you what to stream without encoding again.

This thing plays everything.

There's DivX, of course, plus "Windows Media Video 9, XviD, Nero Digital™, MPEG-4, QuickTime MPEG-4, MPEG-2, MPEG-1, DVD and other formats." Audio support isn't taking a nap either, with FLAC, OGG, AAC, MP3, WM9, CD and many others.

It's not as sexy looking, but this may truly be better than the AppleTV.