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There's only one thing I want to see in iOS5.

ImperialX

ImperialX

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 17, 2007
1,339
23
Tokyo, Japan
I've been an iPhone user since 2007. I've owned every iPhone iteration. I loved my iPhone 4. To be honest, all the complaints about the notification system and the lack of widgets didn't make much of a difference with me. The iPhone 4 worked, and worked well. It could do everything I expected my smartphone to do - except one thing:

The decoding of other video formats.

I know Apple wants the user experience to be seamless. I know they believe the installation of codecs or allowing third-party players such as VLC gain access to hardware acceleration may jeopardize the user experience (in terms of battery, most likely). But this feature for a lot of people who see the iPhone and iPad as multimedia consumption devices is just too important.

I was really looking forward to my iPad 2. It technically should be able to play my 720p MKV without a problem given its hardware, but alas, it choked on the first frame no matter what I give it. This is just not good enough. When the Samsung Galaxy S II came out, it is the first Android phone with hardware powerful enough to decode MKV, even at 1080p as if it's butter.

The decision was obvious.

As much as it pains me to say goodbye to my iPhone, this feature is just far too important. Unless Apple implements third-party hardware acceleration APIs, I just can't see myself going back to this platform. The iPad 2 is a perfect example of a tablet powerful enough in terms of hardware, but becomes limited as a result of Apple's tight control.

Video Comparison to finish things off:


And yes, I do own a MacBook Air and an iPad 2. There's no point calling me a hater, so don't even start. I'm just a neutral person who can see the flaws on the iOS platform and moved to a superior one where my needs can be fulfilled.
 
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Wow you're right.
I hope they do implements hardware acceleration, for your sake. We'll find out in a week's time, but it's highly likely that they wouldn't.
 
Reach9 said:
Wow you're right.
I hope they do implements hardware acceleration, for your sake. We'll find out in a week's time, but it's highly likely that they wouldn't.
Click to expand...

Both the Galaxy S II and the iPad 2 uses Cortex-A9. Sure, the Galaxy S II is a bit faster at 1.2GHz, but they should essentially be the same. There's no reason why the Galaxy S II can play 1080p MKV like better while the iPad 2 chokes with the first frame of 720p.

If you look at just how well my Galaxy S II handles that MKV in the video, imagine your iPad 2 doing the same thing! Wouldn't that be amazing!

Apple, you need to make this happen! The hardware is there! Just give us the APIs!
 
Apple wants to be known for having good battery life. With video they get it by having MPEG-4 decoder chips built-in.

They're not interested in spending time working on things that will only make the battery life worse if people were to use them.

Bottom line, if this matters to you then you're smart to leave. Wishing for it from Apple is a waste of time.
 
mkv playback would be AWESOME!!!!!!
and make it output to TV too.
Imagine being able to come to friend's place, connect iphone/itouch to their LCD TV and watch a 1080p mkv movie?
hotness!
 
That's a good idea. I think once Apple improves the battery life a lot, then they'll do the HW acceleration
 
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amdmaxx said:
Imagine being able to come to friend's place, connect iphone/itouch to their LCD TV and watch a 1080p mkv movie?
Click to expand...

My Galaxy S II already does that. MHL is amazing. See 10:45.


Applejuiced said:
And for your phone to die half way thru the movie.
Click to expand...

The MHL charges your phone while it's connected to the TV.

Also, replaceable batteries that are hot swappable. Now that's one thing Apple's never gonna do. xD
 
ImperialX said:
The MHL charges your phone while it's connected to the TV.

Also, replaceable batteries that are hot swappable. Now that's one thing Apple's never gonna do. xD
Click to expand...

Really, I didnt know that the Tv port wether that would be hdmi, usb or regural rci would charge the phone also at the same time. Would it depend on the connection?
Replaceable batteries I dont see it happening either.
 
Applejuiced said:
Really, I didnt know that the Tv port wether that would be hdmi, usb or regural rci would charge the phone also at the same time. Would it depend on the connection?
Replaceable batteries I dont see it happening either.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S_II#Connectivity

"Samsung has also included a new high-definition connection technology called Mobile High-definition Link (MHL). MHL has been noted as being "connection agnostic" in that it can use virtually any interface connection, such as those of HDMI or USB, for sending high-definition uncompressed 1080p video and audio from a mobile device. The main specialty of MHL is that it is optimized for mobile devices by allowing the device's battery to be charged while at the same time playing back multimedia content."

Also, it's true that decoding MKV just eats my battery alive. My Galaxy S II dies in about 3 hours decoding MKV even at 720p. That's why I carry two additional batteries with me whereever I go. xD They only cost $40 each from Samsung.
 
I want to see this iPrint work with more than 4 printers. :mad:

apple boost about OS X 10.6 printing on their Macs and how you don't need the disc to configure... it would be sweet to use. Right now all I can do is print photos from my Canon App.
 
Have you considered simple conversion? I know that it's an absolute pain to do a full on re-encode from MKV to anything else, but why not give MKVTools a shot? All it does is rip out the video from the MKV container and drop it into a MP4 container, it doesn't re-encode the video in any way.

I download a lot of TV content in MKV and I bring it to my TV through my 360, but the 360 doesn't play MKVs, thus, I use MKVTools. What's great about it is that in the end it serves the same function as a fullon re-encode like what you might do in Handbrake, but it takes a fraction of the time. In Handbrake, a 2 pass re-encode of a 1gb file might take 15-20 minutes, with MKV tools it takes 5.
 
Honestly, I don't see a difference in battery life between playing mp4's through the iPod app of my iP4 or by using VLC player app to play MKV's, AVI's, etc...Drain is about the same.
 
iCheddar said:
Have you considered simple conversion? I know that it's an absolute pain to do a full on re-encode from MKV to anything else, but why not give MKVTools a shot? All it does is rip out the video from the MKV container and drop it into a MP4 container, it doesn't re-encode the video in any way.

I download a lot of TV content in MKV and I bring it to my TV through my 360, but the 360 doesn't play MKVs, thus, I use MKVTools. What's great about it is that in the end it serves the same function as a fullon re-encode like what you might do in Handbrake, but it takes a fraction of the time. In Handbrake, a 2 pass re-encode of a 1gb file might take 15-20 minutes, with MKV tools it takes 5.
Click to expand...

I have hundreds of episodes and new ones coming in daily. I don't have time for that.

YaBoiD said:
Honestly, I don't see a difference in battery life between playing mp4's through the iPod app of my iP4 or by using VLC player app to play MKV's, AVI's, etc...Drain is about the same.
Click to expand...

That's because the iPhone could never decide anything with hardware acceleration in the first place haha. VLC uses the same battery as the native iPod app because they are the same.
 
You don't have 5 minutes to convert a video into a format that will work perfectly fine for your device? I have videos coming in daily, it's not that much of a hassle to do a quick conversion on them, it's a lot simpler than switching to and getting acquainted to a new device.

It does have a queueing feature as well, you can toss a hundred videos in the app and let it go to town overnight.
 
iCheddar said:
You don't have 5 minutes to convert a video into a format that will work perfectly fine for your device? I have videos coming in daily, it's not that much of a hassle to do a quick conversion on them, it's a lot simpler than switching to and getting acquainted to a new device.

It does have a queueing feature as well, you can toss a hundred videos in the app and let it go to town overnight.
Click to expand...

You're right, but that's not the only thing motivating a switch to the Android platform.

It's an often thing when I download an episode of anime when it came out while I'm on campus and I want to watch it right away or while I'm on the train back to my apartment.

Back when I had the iPhone 4, I would have to download it on my MacBook Air, convert it, then connect the iPhone 4 with a USB cable, transfer it and play it. It's such a hassle, I may as well just wait until I get home and watch it on my MBA.

With Android and the SGS2, I can download the anime straight on my phone regardless whether it's direct download (since there is a file system and the browsers support it) or if it's a torrent (there are BitTorrent Clients on the Android Market). After I download the episode, I can watch it directly on the device without any form of conversion required. Even files up to 1080p play like butter.

The only downside is, as mentioned, the battery. But you know, this phone isn't Apple made so the battery is removable. I carry around two spares and I've never ran out yet! :D
 
ImperialX said:
I have hundreds of episodes and new ones coming in daily. I don't have time for that.



That's because the iPhone could never decide anything with hardware acceleration in the first place haha. VLC uses the same battery as the native iPod app because they are the same.
Click to expand...
Also glad I got VLC before it was pulled. Air Video is also a life savor for streaming/converting on the fly.
 
ImperialX said:
You're right, but that's not the only thing motivating a switch to the Android platform.

It's an often thing when I download an episode of anime when it came out while I'm on campus and I want to watch it right away or while I'm on the train back to my apartment.

Back when I had the iPhone 4, I would have to download it on my MacBook Air, convert it, then connect the iPhone 4 with a USB cable, transfer it and play it. It's such a hassle, I may as well just wait until I get home and watch it on my MBA.

With Android and the SGS2, I can download the anime straight on my phone regardless whether it's direct download (since there is a file system and the browsers support it) or if it's a torrent (there are BitTorrent Clients on the Android Market). After I download the episode, I can watch it directly on the device without any form of conversion required. Even files up to 1080p play like butter.

The only downside is, as mentioned, the battery. But you know, this phone isn't Apple made so the battery is removable. I carry around two spares and I've never ran out yet! :D
Click to expand...

If you're so happy with your Android phone why are you here all the time?:confused:
 
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