Read all about it over at my useless Tumblr blog

Yes!!!! Never before was I so excited about a firmware update... This one might even be the best christmas present this year. Funny thing is they incidentally released it just for christmas so they couldn't have chosen a better time. Now I sure there are a lot of you out there that bought a PopcornHour A-110. In fact looking to my site analytics I  know a lot of you have tweaked your A-110 NMT so you can control it with your iPhone or Android smartphone.

Release notes firmware update PopcornHour A-110

So what do you get with this new firmware. Well........ finally some proper .MKV file support! I'm  sure you experienced the hick ups when playing a 1080p full HD movie. It almost made me buy a new NMT. Luckily that is problem of the past. I've updated my PopcornHour A-110 NMT this morning and tested it with Avatar from which I new had really annoying hick ups and I'm glad to announce that because of this firmware update all MKV full HD files are now played flawlessly!!! That's right FLAWLESSLY!!! This update puts this ragged 2 year old NMT right at the top with the other players. Ok I might be exaggerating a bit but where do you get to see such good support on products. On the other hand why did it took so long for them to fix this major issue? Ohh well... all is fine now so you guys better fire up your download machines for some real good 1080p movies.

I'm sure you all know how to update your A-110 if not check this site which has also more info on the firmware update it self.

Check out the release notes if you want see what else got fixed or improved:

Sonos and Spotify joined forces and as a result you can now connect your Spotify premium account with your Sonos music system. This is absolutely one of the best improvements Spotify has made this year. This really shows that even though Spotify got some bad PR about company losses they still are dedicated to their mission: All the Music All the time. Sonos on the other hand, known for it's high quality wifi music system couldn't have made a better choice by adding support for Spotify. Even though their products are in the higher price range this new feature makes you want them even more. High quality music products and high quality online music streaming is simply a match made in heaven.

Sonos & Spotify: How does it work?

Actually very easy... go watch the demo's

System requirements

So what do you need to get this working? Well ofcours it depends on your situation I'll describe two situations for you one with a stereo or home cinema system and one without.

Connect Sonos & Spotify to your existing stereo or home cinema system

• Spotify premium account
• Sonos Zoneplayer 90 or the Sonos Zoneplayer 120
• iOS device like an Iphone 3G, Ipod Touch or Ipad with the Sonos Remote Control App installed

Optional:

• Sonos Controller 200

Stand alone solution:

• Spotify premium account
• Sonos S5 Stand alone player
• iOS device like an Iphone 3G, Ipod Touch or Ipad with the Sonos Remote Control App installed

Optional:

• Sonos Controller 200

Sonos Remote Control for Android?

As you can see there is no support yet for Android smartphones or tablets. Sonos announced nothing is planned for 2010.

SonosSonos

Free music for your Sonos RT @BandsThatJam: New FREE Umphrey's McGee Fall Sampler compilation: http://bit.ly/UM2010FallSampler#freemp3

Aug 26 10FavoriteRetweetReply

Span_DroidCasper Span

@Sonos, are there any plans for an Sonos Controller for Android?

Aug 26 10FavoriteRetweetReply

in reply to @Span_Droid↑

@Sonos
Sonos@Span_Droid we're looking at it along with other mobile devices. Nothing happening this year. ^TM
Aug 26 10 via TweetDeckFavoriteRetweetReply

Until then you'll have to use the unofficial Adronos app to remote control your Sonos sytem with a Android smartphone or tablet.

Scan the QR code to download Adronos

Adronos - Sonos Remote control for Android

One more thing

There is another cheaper alternative to get your spotify music through wifi to your home cinema system. This method however only works for Mac users. If you are on windows and have similar solution feel free to post it in the comments. So this is what you'll need:

• Spotify Basic or Premium
• Spotify Mac Remote - Plugin
• Airfoil for Mac
• Apple Airport Express
• Mac Remote or even better a Logitech Harmony RC

The trick here is Airfoil, this program will send the music from Spotify to your Airport express adapter which normally is only possible with Itunes. Plus it's real easy to switch between sound from the pc or Airport express. Airfoil is also available for windows. So with this  setup you don't get all the features like you have with the Sonos system but at least you're able to skip tracks and also controlling the volume and you'll be saving some money in the proces.

*** UPDATE ***

This post was updated scroll down to get the latest info.

So after the succesfull digestion of the Nero Essential mix I thought well what the hell why not make it a nice series. So the other day I stumbled upon the Essential mix from Pendulum. Now this mix was already broadcasted in july so you'll have to excuse me for the delay. So I googled around a bit to see what the other blogs posted on the pendulum essential mix but it kinda was the same thing I saw when I was googling for the Nero essential mix. Everybody talks about it but nobody offers a source for the separate tracks. Which are the real gems of the mix if you ask me.

What's in the mix?

Well a lot of stuff from Pendulums latest album/singles but also some great dubstep and even some trance remixes. My personal favorite Pendulum — Witchcraft (Chuckie Remix). Some say you will either love or hate this mix however I think most of you will agree Pendulum did a great job mixing all these tracks together in one mix. Especially when you listen to the separate tracks. For example what they dit with the Polygon track I think is simply amazing.

As before I will offer a download source for the separate tracks and also a Spotify playlist that puts all the tracks in the right order. If you haven't heard the mix then you have missed out on a real beauty. But you can listen to and download it through my soundcloud.com profile.

Pendulum Essential mix tracklist

01. Pendulum — Genesis [Earstorm / Warner]
02. Pendulum — Witchcraft [Earstorm / Warner]
03. Pendulum — Witchcraft (Rob Swire Drumstep Remix) [Earstorm / Warner]
04. Pendulum — Salt In The Wounds [Earstorm / Warner]
05. Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip — Sick (Doctor P Remix) [Sunday Best]
06. Caspa — Marmite (Doctor P Remix) [Dub Police]
07. Pendulum — Set Me On Fire [Earstorm / Warner]
08. Skepta — Rescue Me (Sigma Remix) [3 Beat]
09. Silent Witness & Break — Abtn [Triple Seed]
10. ShockOne — Polygon VIP [Viper]
11. ShockOne — Polygon (Dirtyphonics remix) [Viper]
12. Billy the Kilt & Dani L Mebius — Work this Pussy (DJ Icey re-rub) [Franchise Recordings]
13. Pendulum — Witchcraft (Chuckie Remix) [Earstorm / Warner]
14. Pendulum — The Island: Dawn [Earstorm / Warner]
15. Pendulum — The Island: Dusk [Earstorm / Warner]
16. Foals — Total Life Forever [Warner]
17. Pendulum — Watercolour [Earstorm / Warner]
18. Heist — I Need Killers [Sumo Beatz]
19. Evol Intent — 404 213 [Evol Intent]
20. Rusko — Hold On (feat. Amber Coffman) (Sub Focus Remix) [Mad Decent]
21. Cyantific — Obey [Hospital]
22. Cyantific & Logistics — Brighter Day [Hospital]
23. Pendulum — The Fountain [Earstorm / Warner]
24. Klute — Fools Love [Commercial Suicide]
25. Black Sun Empire & D.Kay — Bullet In The Head (Gridlok Remix) [Obsessions]
26. Ulterior Motive & Jubei — Snoretooth [Metalheadz]
27. Pendulum — Comprachicos [Earstorm / Warner]
28. Chase & Status — Heavy (feat. Dizee Rascal) [Vertigo / Mercury]
29. N.W.A — Straight Outta Compton [Priority Records]
30. Black Sun Empire & Crushington — Shudder [BSE]

31. Pendulum — The Vulture [Earstorm / Warner]
32. Doctor P — Sweet Shop (Flux Pavillion Remix) [Circus]
33. Gella — Twinkle (feat MC $pyda) [Sub Slayers]
34. Pendulum — Watercolour (Emalkay Remix) [Earstorm / Warner]
35. Flux Pavillion — Haunt You [Circus]
36. Shockone, Phetsta & Metrik — True Believer (Phetsta Remix) [Viper]
37. Ben Verse — The Wilderness [Crunch Recordings]
38. Spor — Push Me, Pull You [Lifted Music]
39. Redlight — What You Talkin About (feat. Ms Dynamite) [MTA]
40. Dreadzone — Yeah Man (Warrior One Remix) [Dubwiser]
41. Nero — Welcome Reality [MTA]
42. Duoteque — Logo [Boxer Recordings]
43. Congorock — Babylon [Fools Gold Records]
44. Designer Drugs — Back Up In This (Alvin Risk Remix) [Iheartcomix]
45. The City Of Dogs — Absolutely Flawless [Unsigned]
46. Pendulum — Under The Waves [Earstorm / Warner]
47. Sigma — Baltimore (feat. Jenna) [Breakbeat Kaos]
48. Smooth, NC-17 & Nusense — Underwater [Viper]
49. Gridlok vs Dom & Roland — Londons Burning (Prolix Remix) [P51]
50. Need For Mirrors — Scar Tissue [Samurai Music]
51. Prolix — Eruption [Ganja Tek]
52. Vicious Circle — Condors [Quarantine]
53. Pendulum — Self vs Self (feat. In Flames) [Earstorm / Warner]
54. Kavinsky — Nightcall [Record Makers]
55. Koan Sound — Can You Hear Us [No Label]
56. Pendulum — Crush [Earstorm / Warner]
57. Lenzman & Treez — Stellar (feat. Jo-S) [Subtitles]
58. The Funktion — Gyrator (Icicle remix) [Run DNB]
59. Heist — Gauntlet [Calypso]
60. Johnny Jungle — Johnny (Silver Remix) [Nemisis]
61. Crystal Clear & Zen — Gang Related [Cold Blooded Recordings]
62. Chase & Status — No Problem [Vertigo / Mercury]
63. Big Boi & Cutty — Shutterbug [The Island / Def Jam]
64. Giggs — Look What The Cat Dragged In [XL]
65. The Prototypes — Breathless [Formation Recordings]
66. Soul Intent — Rebel Music [MAC 2 Records]
67. Sigma — Stronger [Breakbeat Kaos]
68. Chase & Status — Let You Go (Brookes Brothers Remix) [Vertigo / Mercury]
69. Blokhe4d — Beyond The Void [Bad Taste]
70. Pendulum — Encoder [Earstorm / Warner]

Pendulum Essential Mix in Spotify

I'm finally done putting all the tracks in Spotify if you want them to be in the right order aswell simply subscribe to my playlist here. Now as you might have noticed there are still some tracks missing. Should you have some missing tracks please drop me a message or a link where I can find it so I can add it to the list. Please also let me know if you encounter a broken link.

*** UPDATE **

As you may have noticed the download link are all broken. Luckily someone posted a zip file with all the tracks at megaupload.com. You can find it here.

Or if you want to get fysical on the actual discs you may consider these great albums:

That's it for now. Enjoy!

*** This post was updated scroll down for the important update info ***

On november 13th Nero performed at BBC Radio 1 the essential mix. Their performance was absolutely epic and got a a lot of positive feedback from the scene. This mix consists off some tremendous dubstep, electro and drum 'n base tracks. It's not hard to find the tracklist or the entire mix on the web. However until now it took a lot of googling to download all the separate tracks. So to make life a bit easier I've made a Spotify playlist and placed all the tracks in the right order. All you need to do is download the tracks separately and import them in Spotify.

Therefor this blog post will be the most complete online resource on Nero's essential mix on BBC's Radio 1.

If you haven't heard the mix it's available at Soundcloud.com simply hit play to start streaming.

Nero Essential Mix Tracklist

01. Justice — Stress (Nero Version) Unreleased
02. Freestylers — Cracks (Flux Pavilion Remix)
03. The Streets — Blinded by the lights (Nero Remix) 679 Recordings
04. The Streets — In the middle (Nero Remix) 679 Recordings
05. Cassius — I Love You So Ed Banger
06. Plan B — The Recluse (Nero Remix) Atlantic
07. Calvin Harris — You Used To Hold Me (Nero Remix)
08. Claire Maguire — Ain't Nobody (Breakage Remix)
09. Flux Pavilion — I Can't Stop Circus
10. MJ Cole — Sincere (Nero Remix) Prolific
11. Doctor P — Big Boss Circus
12. The Jets — Crush On You (Nero Remix)
13. Downlink — Factory
14. Chase & Status — Let You Go (Nero Remix) Mercury
15. Nero — Welcome Reality MTA
16. Nero — Me and You MTA
17. Alan Braxe — Arena
18. N.E.R.D and Daft Punk — Hypnotize U (Nero Remix)
19. Kavinsky — Pacific Coast Highway
20. Danger — 4h30
21. Justice — Let There Be Light Ed Banger
22. The Kills — Cheap And Cheerful (Sebastian Remix)
23. Muse — Knights of Cydonia (Feed Me Edit)
24. Skrillex — Rock n Roll Mau5trap
25. Deadmau5 and Wolfgang Gartner — Animal Rights Mau5trap
26. Daft Punk — Around The World Virgin
27. Gigi Barocco — Puah Cheaper Thrills
28. Nero — Innocence (Feed Me Remix) MTA
29. Justice — D.A.N.C.E (Live version) Ed Banger
30. deadmau5 — Fml Mau5trap
31. Uffie — Difficult (Sebastian Remix)
32. Sebastian — Threnody (Nero Edit)
33. Thomas Bangalter — Rectum
34. Thomas Bangalter — The End
35. Gustav Mahler — Symphony No.9 (Adagio)
36. Muse — Exogenesis Pt 1
37. Narcosis — Dark Age Of Reason
38. Adam Freeland — Mancry (Nero Edit)
39. The Who — Baba O Riley
40. The Who — Baba O Riley (Sebastian Remix)
41. Beastie Boys — Sabotage (Alex Metric Re-Edit)
42. Sleigh Bells — Tell 'em
43. Wolfgang Gartner — Ill America
44. Swedish House Mafia — One
45. Swedish House Mafia — One (Netsky Remix)
46. Sigma — Paint It Black
47. Chase & Status — Streetlife Ram
48. SpectraSoul — The Four Points
49. DC Breaks — Babyon Viper

50. Metrik — T 1000 Viper
51. Nero — Do You Wanna Viper
52. Sub Focus — Timewarp VIP Ram
53. Sub Focus — Let the Story Begin Ram
54. Chase & Status — No Problem
55. The Beatles — A Day In The Life Parlophone
56. Magnetic Man — I Need Air Sony
57. Chase & Status — Eastern Jam Ram
58. Doctor P feat RSK — Black Books Circus
59. Brookes Brothers — In Your Eyes (feat Johnny Osbourne) Breakbeat Kaos
60. Funtcase — Taking the piss Circus
61. Skrillex — Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites Mau5trap
62. Nero — This Way Z Audio
63. Nero — Innocence MTA
64. Nero — Me And You MTA
65. Prince — Let's Go Crazy Warner Bros

Spotify Playlist

Get the Nero essential mix on spotify here. Simply download all the tracks and import them in Spotify. The playlist is already sorted the same way they appeared in the essential mix.

Missing tracks & broken links

As you can see there are still some tracks missing. Please let me know if you find the track so I can include te link and keep the list updated. Please also let me know if links stop working.

*** UPDATE ***
As you may have noticed all links are broken... However someone to the effort to zip all the tracks in one file and post it online here at megaupload.com so that should save you some time and still get all the tracks

So you all should know Spotify and Foursquare by now . The good folks at Foursquare have released their API so developers now are able to build cool apps that work with the Foursquare platform. You can find all these new apps in the Foursquare App Gallery. Now one off them got my attention straight away...

Best of both worlds

Spotisquare let's you add a spotify playlist to a Foursquare venue. Users that check in to that venue can also add songs to that playlist. The idea is simple but brilliant. I mean every venue with a waiting room now can offer some nice music to make the waiting more comfortable. Or imagine checking in to a movie theatre. They now can offer you all the soundtracks of the movies that are currently playing. Now I realise that their are some legal issues but I thinks this is a great way to enrich venues with cool content.

m.spotisquare.com

Is they URL you should point your mobile device to or just scan this QR-code.

Here are some screenshots:

Go try it out, explore the world and check into some great tunes and offcourse big thanks to the developers!

So today I found this incredible Honda NSX tribute on Vimeo. This one will give you goosebumbs garanteed! I mean the great Jezza once did an honestly great attempt to give the NSX a well deserved farewell. But damn this one raises the bar to a whole new level! Big thnx to Format67 for giving this gift to the world

http://www.vimeo.com/api/oembed.xml?url=http://vimeo.com/13412780

As an added bonus or if you don't know anything about the Getaway in Stockholm project that has been going on for the past 10 years. Please watch the trailer

And finally Jezza's tribute to the Honda NSX.

*** Update ***

I found some new stuff that can't be ignored:

The master and great contributer to the production of the Honda NSX gives an insane demonstration on Suzuka.

Now you might have figured out by now that I own an Android phone (see my other posts on tethering and remote controlling NMT’s). So yeah all apps I try are available for Android and I wouldn’t know if these apps are supported on other platforms. As you might expect there is a connection between Spotify and Android.

Remote control spotify

Apart from enjoying Spotify on your Android phone you can also use your Android phone as a remote control to control Spotify on your Windows PC or Mac. There now is a free App for Android phones that offers this great extension for your Spotify experience. I must admit you’ll have to go through some installation steps but after that it’s an essential feature you don’t wanna miss.

Please note: you must have a premium spotify account otherwise it won't work. (hey that's another good reason to bump up your account right?!)

Set it up

So here are the steps you need to follow to turn your android phone into a remote control for Spotify:

Go to the android market and search for Respot then download and install it. Or simply scan this barcode:

Now click here and download the server side program for your Windows PC. If you are using a Mac you should also download and install "MONO" software.

Now start Servify and enter the Spotify login information shown on the printscreen (click on the image to enlarge).

Username (Spotify username)
Password (Spotify Password)
Listenport: 1337 (This is the default port used in Respot)
Biterate: 320 (Highest quality possible)

To start Servify on the Mac please follow these steps:

Start the Terminal program on your Mac now goto the location where servify is unpacked in using following command: cd /Location/where/servify/is_unpacked

Enter the following command to launch Servify: mono Servify.exe user pass port bitrate debug
Note that you should enter your account info etc. directly in the commandline.

Now install and start Respot on your android phone. All you need to fill in is the Servify server IP adres (this is always shown in the servify program). Please note and check that you don't accidentally press space after the last digit of the server adress. Otherwise Respot won't find the Servify server. Now enter the same port (default is 1337) that you entered in Servify and hit connect!

And that’s it! You should now be able to remote control Spotify with you Android phone….

Credits go to....

Naturally I'm not the kinda guy to code these apps. All I did was finding a solution for my problem. Luckily Johannes did some brilliant work. So big thanks to Johannes!

Next steps...  getting the sound signal wireless to your home cinema system. Any thought on that? Please let me know.

Locale

Now there are some apps like Locale that switch the Wlan adapter on and off automatically using GPS locations that the user sets in Ilocale. The only drawback is that you still need to have GPS receiver switched on all the time which offcourse uses your battery power… So Locale isn’t a big powersaver.

Recently though I was reading the German PC Praxis and one of it’s editors Christian Fischbach found an app that might be the answer to my problem.

Wapdroid

This free tool registers where you enable and disable your Wlan adapter using you’re location based on the GSM antennas where your phone is connected to. This means that after a learning period Wapdroid knows where your favourite Wlan hotspots are and it will automatically switch on Wlan when you’re close and off when you leave. Switching automatically is possible because the builders thought it would be usefull to let the software run in the background as an additional service... Wow I couldn't agree more with them

Here are some screenshots that give you an Idea off the app interface.

Wapdroid for Iphone?

I haven’t found a similar app for the iPhone yet but I’m sure there will be one somewhere… However I strongly doubt if it will be free like Wapdroid Should you find an Iphone alternative please let me know so I can install it on my girlfriends phone Thxn in advance!

Scan the QR code with barcode scanner or google goggles to go straight to Wapdroid in the Market.

For the first picture we drove to slow on the right lane and because it takes ages for a G1 to make a silly bad quality picture (ok I know it’s not a Canon EOS cam). Still at that moment I wished it had optical zoom and 12 megapixels.

So from behind and from a distance.

The Audi drove by so fast (German autobahn) we had to push hard to keep up so we could finally and slowly pass him and take some more pictures. When we finally where almost in front of the car and getting ready for the front picture the driver spotted us and immediately hit the brakes. The follow car from Audi immediately overtook the Audi and started driving in front of him so we couldn’t take pictures of the front of the car.

We waited and slowed down a bit until they finally had to overtake us…. The follow car drove incredibly close to the car in front so it was hard to take a good picture. I’m not sure what kind of engine it had but it didn’t took more then a second to overtake us. Way to fast for my G1 to make a proper photo.

But back to the Audi. The main thing that struck me is the fact that it had some new sort rear spoiler that comes out at certain speeds and really looked like the spoiler that the Audi TT and Audi R8 have…

Ohh and here's the location where we spotted the Audi

So if you have any thought on specs and when it’s due for launch then please let me know in the comments below! Here's some more info on the Audi A7 sportback.