[UPDATE] Dice Player ad-supported version now live on the Market!

We've run a couple of pieces talking about the difficulties that Android developer Inisoft has faced in the last month or so since Google pulled their Google Checkout account, including a wee update regarding Inisoft's plans for tackling their problems a couple of days ago.

Since I made that post Inisoft have actioned one part of their new distribution plan for full versions of Dice Player, and readers who have been unable to get a full version of Dice Player up till now will no doubt be relieved to know that a full ad-supported version of Dice Player is now available in the Android Market.

To get your hands on it hit up the link here, or point your Android devices barcode scanner at this:

ASUS Transformer Prime: Connectivity video demo

So. Another device, another connectivity demo. 

I can't help myself. 

I just love really utilising the full potential of my mobile devices, be they phone or tablet, and I'm always surprised to see just how many users of these devices are unaware of lots of the really cool stuff you can do with them. 

Anyways, it's pretty obvious what the video here is all about, so enough preamble - jump in and check it out! 

Oh, and be sure to use the really useful navigation links in the description beneath the video if you only want to check out certain bits!

Catch you soon with some more Transformer Prime content.

ASUS Transformer Prime: Video playback shootout (and bonus update on the evolving Inisoft saga!)

So does the Tegra 3 have your back for video playback,
or do we have another failed generation of Android
tablet video playback to look forward to?

...a new day, a new Transformer Prime video. Sounds fair right?

This time we're bringing you our standard video playback test, running our wide gamut of test files at the Transformer Prime. While you'll see many other reviews saying "yeah this played everything we threw at it", the truth is many of them have a pretty narrow spectrum of test files to try out. We've tried to gather a range that encompasses a wide variety of resolutions, bitrates, subtitle types, and video and audio encoding formats - our hope is that if there is an archilles heel in the video playback capability of a device we'll be able to uncover it.

This shapes up to be a pretty big test for the Transformer Prime, since the video playback deficiencies of the Tegra 2 based Android tablets (AKA virtually all of them) are quite well known. If that sentence has you scratching your head, here's a precis: Tegra 2 devices can't play high profile video files, support a small range of codecs natively, and can't play 1080p files smoothly. The result? Video transcoding hell, where you have to convert all your space-preserving MKVs into something the Tegra 2 can get on with.

So the big question on my mind is can the Tegra chipset handle video properly this time around? The spec sheet suggests yes, since high profile video is clearly mentioned...             ...but then up until today the spec sheet also said the Prime has GPS, so I guess we'll just have to see now won't we?

Google blocks Market account of popular video player developer Inisoft without notice; needs to up it's game

Readers here are probably familiar the name Dice Player. It's one of my favourite Android apps, and an absolute must for anyone who likes to watch HD video on their Android phone or tablet - if it supports your device then there is no better video player for your device. Period.

You can imagine then my shock when I received this Tweet from Inisoft, the developers of Dice Player:

@NZtechfreak Google block our market account without any notice.

Whoa, what?!

Sure enough I dove straight into the Market and searching for Dice Player brings up only the free trial version of the app. There are already reviews on the free trial from other concerned users unable to install the paid version [Aside: I absolutely hate undeserved one-star reviews, don't give Dice Player one-star reviews for this, and to those who did - please stop rating apps in the Market, you make it a worse place for all of us you jackasses].

I clarified some more with Inisoft, and at this stage they have not been supplied any reason from Google (and won't be able to get any answers from El Goog until Monday, way to leave us all in the lurch good n proper Google).

Maybe I'm alone here, but this strikes me as terrible. Google is hurting a not only a good developer with a great product, but also the end user here. If they'd just given a reason then I'd feel more inclined to cut them a little slack, but they didn't manage even that small courtesy.

It's not good enough Google. Get your house in order.

The Galaxy Note "Real-user" Review: Part 2 - Entertainment and media - Music and video playback, gaming, browser

When all is said and done, can the
Note be the handset to cover all
your entertainment needs? Make
the jump for your answer!