# iPlayer hands-on impressions



## shaunj66 (Jun 16, 2009)

*iPlayer hands-on impressions*
GBAtemp exclusive!



We've got our hands on the new *iPlayer*! A new dedicated media player for the Nintendo DS. This flash cart doesn't do gaming, but its built in CPU has other plans.

This slot-1 cart promises to play various video formats without the need to spend time converting them first, which means no more DPG videos. Is this a step in the right direction, or will you be better off sticking to DPGs and Moonshell? Do you really want to watch your DivX, XviD (etc) videos on your DS screen?

While we write up the full GBAtemp review, check out our quick hands-on impressions and see what we think so far!






 Hands-on impressions





 Discuss


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## shaunj66 (Jun 16, 2009)

*iPlayer Hands-On Impressions*

The iPlayer is a slot-1 media player cart that, besides homebrew, doesn't have any ROM loading functionality. The iPlayer is solely intended for playing media files and homebrew, unlike other flash kits on the market that just use this marketing as a ruse to cover their other possible intentions.

Even though most flash kits on the market support media playback, their functionality is often limited to a handful of audio codecs and DPG video - a video format that is optimised for the DS. All DPG videos must be converted on the users PC using software before copying across to what ever slot-1 cart you are using. This is required because the DS CPU is simply not powerful enough to handle playback of the usual file formats you'll find online videos distributed in. 

To combat this issue, the iPlayer has a built in CPU and extra RAM that enables it to decode various file formats on the fly, thus allowing the end user to view them back on the DS without prior conversion. 

The iPlayer supports a variety of codecs including DivX, Xvid, Quicktime, Windows Media video, Realmedia, MPEG, ASF, VOB and Flash video. Other formats actually work, but are either unstable or just playback at a speed too slow to watch (see MP4, h264 etc.). MKV container formats are not available for playback when viewing files under the 'Video' menu but can still be loaded under the 'Files' menu, though most heavy duty formats in such containers, such as h264 for example, are simply not able to run at a decent speed. And for files with multiple audio tracks, only the primary audio track will play. You can not switch between audio tracks. Regarding subtitle support; contained and external subtitle files are not supported.

The majority of standard formats such as XviD, Realmedia etc. unless encoded at a ridiculously high bit rate actually play back surprisingly well. There are a few dropped frames and I've experienced a few sudden skips, but these are far and few between. Audio is also very good, and sound is outputted in stereo on the DS speakers, but the volume is ridiculously low when not using headphones. Fortunately you can increase the volume percentage to 200% to make it play at a level that's comfortable to listen to, but even at that volume it's still only equal to that of most DS games.

Video quality is very good and actually looks rather stunning on the DS Lite/DSi LCD screens, even with the limited colour palette. A good quality video file will look very crisp and clear (even so much that it makes the video compression artifacts so much more obvious!). Video plays back on the top screen, while the bottom screen shows the standard player controls and file info. The screens backlight turns off after a while to focus attention to the top screen. Regarding video frame size, you can choose to make the file play in its native aspect ratio (which, for widescreen movies makes it look ridiculously small), or you can set it to stretch the video window to fill the DS screen, but then this makes widescreen videos look too stretched. There is no option to view widescreen videos in 4:3 mode by cropping to the centre.

I was actually quite impressed at the iPlayer's ability to keep the video and audio synced while I watched a few sample clips. That was, until I started seeking back and forth within the video using either the d-pad or on screen slider. The audio and video then become separated by about a second and make watching quite frustrating, and will stay that way until you completely restart the video. Whether or not this is dependant on the file codec, bit rate or even the speed of the micro SD card is still unclear.

Another feature I assumed would be present, but was surprised to not see, was a bookmark feature, to save your position when watching a long film or podcast for example. 

Audio playback works just as expected and is fine. The formats tested so far include MP3, WAV, OGG, Ape and WMA which all work fine.

DLDI supported homebrew is supported and is automatically patched. Soft-reset is supported.

The Settings menu allows you to change Brightness, Language (Eng/Chi), Skin, Backlight fade time, DLDI patching and soft-reset.

The iPlayer is built off of Acekard 2 hardware and firmware. The GUI is nice and clean and works well, but it would be nice if it showed more advanced details on the files you are playing, such as ID3 tags, codec, bit rate etc. The touch screen responsiveness of the GUI is less than accurate and it sometimes takes several taps of an item to get it to take effect.

Overall, first impressions are pretty good. The cart does what it says on the tin, and does it fairly well. While it may choke on higher bit rate files or certain file formats, it plays a wide variety well (Xvid, DivX, RM) and the ease of use really makes up for the lack of features. Hopefully a software upgrade could further improve file performance and fix issues such as sync-loss after tracking, audio volume and GUI responsiveness issues. The team have told me they do indeed plan to improve the software and our taking our criticism seriously.

This was just a quick hands-on impressions, and we plan to release our full written review some time in the future. Stay tuned to *GBAtemp.net* for the latest exclusive news and information on the latest DS hardware.

Note: This is a production sample iPlayer. The label is a temporary one and is subject to change, as is the plastic casing. 



 

 





 

 




Quick messy hands on video (sorry)


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## NeSchn (Jun 16, 2009)

Oooo looks sexy.


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## wchill (Jun 16, 2009)

I WANT!
No seriously. But it'd be awesome if they rereleased the iPlayer when/if DSi mode becomes unlocked so that we have even greater potential than before.


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## Toni Plutonij (Jun 16, 2009)

Thanks VERY MUCH shaun 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Answered all my questions I had for now! Looks very good and promising!


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## FireEmblemGuy (Jun 16, 2009)

Very cool, if I ever re-upgrade from the Phat I'll be looking into this. I'd like to know the price range for this, though, although I guess it won't be more expensive then a new MP4/MP5 players.


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## raulpica (Jun 16, 2009)

Thanks for the vid, Shaun!

Overall? It's MORE THAN AWESOME 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Too bad to see how it fares with h264, but other than that, it is incredible! 
With this the DS is officially more powerful than a PSP in the media department


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## Splych (Jun 16, 2009)

Awesomeee~! That is so freakin awesome ^^

I wants one... But... Sticker is sorta plain xD


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## Deleted User (Jun 16, 2009)

Hopefully they release some sort of library to allow us to take advantage of this extra CPU. Unfortunately, I do not have a working slot-1 in my DS so I wouldn't be able to use it anyway.


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## Nerdii (Jun 16, 2009)

TeenDev said:
			
		

> Hopefully they release some sort of library to allow us to take advantage of this extra CPU. *Unfortunately, I do not have a working slot-1 in my DS so I wouldn't be able to use it anyway.*



That's sad man!!!

Anyway, best thing ever!! I've got hardly any money, so it better be cheap!!!


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## wolfmanz51 (Jun 16, 2009)

Meh unless the Extra power can be used for home brew I'll stick with Moonshell 2 it has more features and better video playback (after conversion) plus In moon shell I can read books while listening to music


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## Zarxrax (Jun 16, 2009)

Some of the videos were not playing at the correct aspect ratio. Is there any way to correct the aspect ratio during playback?

Also, I wonder if this is capable of playing h264 video if you reencode it to the DS' native resolution first?

*Ah, nevermind, I noticed now that you can change the AR.


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## Islay (Jun 16, 2009)

What the processes power/ battery needs ?

p.s: I saw no subs in the video, how it at handling them ?


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## Finishoff (Jun 16, 2009)

Looks cool, can't wait to see the full review.


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## HBK (Jun 16, 2009)

This looks sweet. I only wish the PSP could play other formats than it's .MP4, which, surprisingly, did not work on the iPlayer. The screens are the big limitation, but that's DS-specific, as well as the color palette, which I found to be quite lacking, but that's the DS for ya. Audio, well both consoles suck at this, so get headphones. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I was quite impressed with the hands on, thanks Shaun! To me, the PSP is still the king of (my) portable media (I have both consoles), but this might raise the bar a bit for the DS and possibly taunt its competitor. If it weren't for the 7" screen and great graphics the PSP offers, I'd buy this.

It is a good solution for those who only have a DS. Now let's hope it's cheap.


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## Toni Plutonij (Jun 16, 2009)

wolfmanz51 said:
			
		

> Meh unless the Extra power can be used for home brew I'll stick with Moonshell 2 it has more features and better video playback (after conversion) plus In moon shell I can read books while listening to music


Well, that's just the point, Moonshell DOESN'T have better video playback (not even after the best conversion you make)..at least not from what shaun showed!

Yes, you can listen to music and read e-books in Moonshell, but you still don't know if that's the case with this cart or not.....I'm just trying to say..Don't jump to conclusions, we'll see when the proper review comes!


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## geokilla (Jun 16, 2009)

Can't wait for the full review! The iPlayer looks to be very promising!


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## webjedi (Jun 16, 2009)

HBK said:
			
		

> Now let's hope it's cheap.



Yeah, anyone hear rumors on the price range of this item?  Would be a nice add-on for giggles but not if it'll cost me an arm and a leg... which I fear it will with the onboard CPU...


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## Deleted User (Jun 16, 2009)

Nerdii said:
			
		

> TeenDev said:
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It makes DS development rather tedious and difficult (Just because it works in my very well made SuperCard miniSD Slot-2 does't mean it works well on someone's CycloDS)


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## vergilite (Jun 16, 2009)

at least without rom support it won't be on big N's assassination list


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## bollocks (Jun 16, 2009)

jjc1992 said:
			
		

> at least without rom support it won't be on big N's assassination list


but given that its supposedly based on Acekard hardware, how long before someone adds it?
AKAIO might even work.


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## Defiance (Jun 16, 2009)

Personally to me, it looks almost about as useful as the Mario Clock for the DSi..  But hey, what do I know?


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## Anakir (Jun 16, 2009)

Awesome. You answered my question about the .mkv format.

Now I'm awaiting the external subtitles and battery life to be answered. Thanks for the heads up. Looking forward for more answers! 

Thanks again.


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## kohkindachi (Jun 16, 2009)

Hope we'll be able to get a review today or tmr


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## elixirdream (Jun 16, 2009)

It looks very cool.. 
just hope the final review would be good and hope the price tag won't be scary


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## triassic911 (Jun 16, 2009)

If only this thing would play roms and had 3in1 support it would be an automatic sale.


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## Virgil (Jun 16, 2009)

I was waiting for a "impression" topic on this, so I can get a good look and view of the card. Looks pretty promising, but I do hope the card's extra CPU will be able to be used for homebrew apps; does anyone know of how much CPU power and RAM is contained in the iPlayer anyways?


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## The Viztard (Jun 16, 2009)

Is that Up i saw in the vid?!?! haha, it was a good movie though. the cart sounds awesome too.


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## Normmatt (Jun 16, 2009)

If it is indeed based on ak2 hardware adding rom support should be easy assuming they didn't remove anything and simply added stuff.


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## da_head (Jun 16, 2009)

hmm impressive. i wonder if other companies will be able to incorporate this into their flashkarts. but meh, i don't think i'll buy a new card just for videos. moonshell is good enough for that job, and everythin else, i have my laptop.


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## wchill (Jun 16, 2009)

How fast was the onboard processor? Jdbye thinks we can emulate a PSX/N64 with that if it were to be run in DSi mode.


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## imgod22222 (Jun 16, 2009)

When you do the review, please test the battery life difference.

Other than that, ask them if they'll release an API that allows other devs to utilize that hardware.


Hardware Overview:
I can't find a datasheet for the AML3405, nor could I see a model number printed on the chip next to the MicroSD slot.

The 39VF040 is a flash chip that holds 4Mbit (8x512kbit banks) - This is probably where your "kernel updates" are stored... where necessary codecs etc are.
http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf...ST/39VF040.html
The Winbond chip is 256 Mb SDRAM that can run @ 133 or 166MHz [32MB of RAM, up from the DS' 4MB] - probably some of your video is buffered to here.
http://winbond-usa.com/products/winbond_pr.../W9825G6EHd.pdf

The above overview is based off what I've taught myself over the past 2 years, so I could be terribly wrong as to what each part actually DOES, but I do know what they are.


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## Normmatt (Jun 16, 2009)

imgod22222 said:
			
		

> When you do the review, please test the battery life difference.
> 
> Other than that, ask them if they'll release an API that allows other devs to utilize that hardware.
> 
> ...



That winbond chip is most likely the chip that contains the official game that they use to bypass the dsi protection. Same way as ak2i (this being a clone would indicate this works in a similar fashion to the ak2i).


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## shatter (Jun 16, 2009)

thats awesome...aslong as its not expensive im goin for it


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## anaxs (Jun 16, 2009)

man im gonna get this for sure 

hope it's not expensive and i hope that its as good as it looks


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## imgod22222 (Jun 16, 2009)

Normatt, sounds probable--after all that's how old passcards used to work. (I'm sure 80% of this forum's community either doesn't know what passcards are or can barely vaguely remember it)
EDIT: Then why get one that's rewritable? I long closed the PDF, but IIRC its rewritable.


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## Normmatt (Jun 16, 2009)

imgod22222 said:
			
		

> Normatt, sounds probable--after all that's how old passcards used to work. (I'm sure 80% of this forum's community either doesn't know what passcards are or can barely vaguely remember it)



Passcards did nothing but redirect the input and output to the actual ds card and any reads to the card header were altered to jump to the slot2.


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## Cortador (Jun 16, 2009)

raulpica said:
			
		

> Thanks for the vid, Shaun!
> 
> Overall? It's MORE THAN AWESOME
> 
> ...



Dream on lol.

Anyways, good job with this media player. Won't be using it though.
I would rather use my Phone or Psp to watch videos on the go.


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## mrfatso (Jun 16, 2009)

well, at least that answer one of my questions on if the processor will stick out like a sore thumb or something 

well, can't wait for the full review and to see the price range and whether does it appear in different color.


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## rockstar99 (Jun 16, 2009)

nice review i might get it if its not too expensive


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## wolfmanz51 (Jun 16, 2009)

Toni Plutonij said:
			
		

> wolfmanz51 said:
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no Moonshell DOESN'T have better video playback But, Moonshell2 Does especially if encoded right with NEW converter included in the stable release My videos have no artifacts no skips no glitches and I can skip to any part of a movie without any hiccups(the Iplayer can't keep the voices synced "at least not from what shaun showed!" . The sound is plenty loud even without headphones or artificial volume boost. plus the size is usually reduced by over half after conversion( which is much faster with the new version) and Moonshell2 has per Video auto bookmarks all done in the background. Lets not forget that Moonshell2 has amazing Audio functions like displaying album covers while playing Music along with ID3tags. Any way I could go on and on About the Advantages of Moonshell 2 V.S. i Player, But you are right I don't know all the functions. After all this is apparently just a beta version of the final software they want our Criticism here it is. Honestly I'm waiting for the Announcement that the Hardware and software is open source so Homebrew can Make use of it because from what I've heard and seen this cart is for people who don't like to convert videos and unless I see otherwise I'll Stick with my AceKard2i and moonshell2.


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## Deleted User (Jun 16, 2009)

Looks pretty cool. I'm most excited for the possibility of running enhanced homebrew with the extra horsepower this thing has. I'm gonna wait until the final review to make my judgement, but I think I'll just stick with my sakura video player. It's so nicely integrated with the GUI, and also has resume functionality which is great. However I still haven't tried the new moonshell yet, maybe that's better than the sakura player. Also, most of the videos I download are anime in h/x264, and also have soft subs, so I'd likely have to re-encode everything anyway.


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## Necromanson (Jun 16, 2009)

That was a well written review which is a pleasant surprise on a site like this (no offense).  Nice job, even for a temporary review.

That being said, this looks interesting.  Like everyone else I'm curious to see the price tag, if it's cheap I'd consider going for it.  The notion of having an on-board CPU makes me curious to see if they are able to utilize this technology to effectively load GBA roms from a slot-1 cart.  I guess we'll wait and see.  If anyone ever pulls that off I'll be sold for sure.


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## DarkMega NT Warr (Jun 16, 2009)

Wow, it's running better than I expected. Will probably get one just for DS showing off purposes...


On a side note.... Yay, Urusei Yatsura! Anyone know what that other anime is though?


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## si_ok (Jun 16, 2009)

Toni Plutonij said:
			
		

> wolfmanz51 said:
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You can always run moonshell off this card.... it DOES do homebrew...


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## Maikel Steneker (Jun 16, 2009)

That's really impressive! I'll be looking forward to this!


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## Evan123456789 (Jun 16, 2009)

i think from the beginning movie playback on DS has been a problem and the main problem was memory if you have a 4gb micro SD it's useless for movies the only ones that would be worth while are the 16 gb and 8 gb but no one owns them because that adds an extra 50 - 100$ AUS I think for this team to have conquered that problem there should have been some onboard memory and micro SD (this is possible we've all seen it with the ACEKARD RPG) or maybe there could have been two micro SD slots for more memory
I will not be buying this


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## redact (Jun 16, 2009)

wchill said:
			
		

> How fast was the onboard processor? Jdbye thinks we can emulate a PSX/N64 with that if it were to be run in DSi mode.



i think jdbye was trolling you....
n64 and psx emulation are still not that great on the wii


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## Deleted-119707 (Jun 16, 2009)

wow. looks brilliant. cant wait for the full review.


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## funem (Jun 16, 2009)

That looks seriously impressive, especially the way it skips forward and backwards with ease ( unlike moonshell ). Unless they can get this to the shops rather than on-line sales I still think, unfortunately, this will remain a niche product, which is a shame as I think this would do well in retail outlets.

One question,  sorry if its been asked I haven't had time to read the whole thread, being a modern card I take it that it supports SDHC cards.


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## paul3100 (Jun 16, 2009)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> being a modern card I take it that it supports SDHC cards.



Iv read all 4 pages and no one has said if it sdhc or not but i would imagine it would be! stupid really to make such a card without it when you think the avarage avi is 700mbs and larger these days...

I for one would like to get this card but not really for the media part but for enhanced homebrew including better emulators :-)

paul


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## Nerdii (Jun 16, 2009)

We need a rom loader straight away!


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## shaunj66 (Jun 16, 2009)

Islay said:
			
		

> What the processes power/ battery needs ?
> 
> p.s: I saw no subs in the video, how it at handling them ?
> 
> ...


Yes it supports SDHC cards. Sorry I should have mentioned it, but it's such a standard now that I forgot.


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## Maz7006 (Jun 16, 2009)

You'd have this for like 2 weeks, and then you'd ask yourself why on earth you got it. 

Still nice to see all the effort put into in


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## shakirmoledina (Jun 16, 2009)

nice review... i wish there would have been amr player cuz it is very small in size


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## layzieyez (Jun 16, 2009)

I can't wait until it is reverse engineered by a competitor and released at a vastly discounted price.  Competition is good (just look at flashcart prices).


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## shaunj66 (Jun 16, 2009)

layzieyez said:
			
		

> I can't wait until it is reverse engineered by a competitor and released at a vastly discounted price.  Competition is good (just look at flashcart prices).


The price hasn't even been announced yet.


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## redact (Jun 16, 2009)

Evan123456789 said:
			
		

> i think from the beginning movie playback on DS has been a problem and the main problem was memory if you have a 4gb micro SD it's useless for movies the only ones that would be worth while are the 16 gb and 8 gb but no one owns them because that adds an extra 50 - 100$ AUS I think for this team to have conquered that problem there should have been some onboard memory and micro SD (this is possible we've all seen it with the ACEKARD RPG) or maybe there could have been two micro SD slots for more memory
> I will not be buying this


where the hell do you shop?
i'm an aussie and my 8gb class 6 uSD was like 20-30 bucks


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## Toni Plutonij (Jun 16, 2009)

mercluke said:
			
		

> Evan123456789 said:
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I was about to say that, most of our members have 8GB microSD carts, and I know that fair number of them use 16GB as well!


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## Nerdii (Jun 16, 2009)

Toni Plutonij said:
			
		

> I was about to say that, most of our members have 8GB microSD carts, and I know that fair number of them use 16GB as well!



I have an 8GB!

This card is shaping up to be probably the best so far! (Except for not being able to play r0mz!)

EDIT: Watched the vid! AWESOME!!! Changing the Aspect Ratio to the original is awesome! No squished vids!

MY Good and Bad FEATURE LIST: 

GOOD  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 :
Plays a lot of video formats!
Plays a lot of music formats!
Change the Aspect Ratio of videos!
Looks like it has a good build quality!
Plays homebrew!
BAD  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 :
Can't play r0mz.
Can't run HQ video.
Probably won't be cheap. ('New technology' LOL)


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## Jran Sakarra (Jun 16, 2009)

If they get MKV and AVI working good enough, then I want one.
Most my vids are MKV.


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## shaunj66 (Jun 16, 2009)

Jran Sakarra said:
			
		

> If they get MKV and AVI working good enough, then I want one.
> Most my vids are MKV.


Well of course the MKV container works (even though you have to load them through the Files menu). It's the video codec that it can have issues with. h264 doesn't play very well, but codecs like XviD work fine inside MKV just as I showed in the video. Audio track switching and soft subs don't work though.


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## DsHacker14 (Jun 16, 2009)

Sweet. Ill be getting one of these since im tired of having to convert all of my video files to dpg and dsm. Not to mention how fucking huge the filesize of those are -.- Im not to worried about it not being able to play ROMs though. They did a great job!


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## Wabsta (Jun 16, 2009)

I think I'm getting one, just to be able to say that I can play lot's of mediaformats on my DS.

And I may eventually use it when going somewhere in a car/bus/train.


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## lildaz (Jun 16, 2009)

looks great...but idk if i am going to watch movies on a dsi..who knows. Ill wait for a full review to come out.


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## qlum (Jun 16, 2009)

dpg works for me even if the compression is a bit weak


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## imgod22222 (Jun 16, 2009)

Another opportunity this cart opens up:
Possibly a web browser for DS that isn't just faster, but may also include flash support. Its just an idea, but until we get specs of the hardware used, I don't want to make any assumptions.


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## freshness (Jun 16, 2009)

quite impressing...but i prefer watching videos on my pc...my ds is for playing games and some music....


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## hardy83 (Jun 16, 2009)

I have a question.

What does the homebrew in the menu section do?

I can't find anywhere that lists what it does.


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## Frederica Bernkastel (Jun 16, 2009)

Damn!
The team is ignoring me...
Well, I'll definitely pay close attention to this!


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## soulfire (Jun 16, 2009)

sweet it looks cool and nice

in the youtube movie you see great quality movies.

i think this will become of use if i go to vacation


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## layzieyez (Jun 16, 2009)

shaunj66 said:
			
		

> layzieyez said:
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Doesn't matter.  It will get cheaper when it is coming from more than one source manufacturer regardless of the price point.


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## wanderone (Jun 17, 2009)

This is a good idea actually, but the video still isn't smooth enough for me.  It seems only marginally faster than the best
I've seen under Moonshell2.  And that it can't do h.264 or even mkv is an even bigger letdown IMO.  

Its a good idea to put a powerful chip into the DS to get better features (Heh...an idea stolen right from the glory days of the SNES carts' add-in chips  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 ) but unless these features are primarily geared toward gaming (i.e. getting better emulation support and more powerful homebrew running) its really only a gimmick.

If I wanted video in a small device I'd get a PMP (A Cowon A3 or O2, etc.).  Cowons even support mkv files and subtitles (ACK!, but no h.264!) and have a Comic book reader of sorts (At least the O2 does). 

I'd love to see a new flashcart (One that *does* play roms) with an even more powerful processor (If possible...how much extra juice does the DS's powersupply have to play with?) and more ram than what this one has though.  As for my next gaming device, I'm just gaga over the Pandora.  It has a ways to go, but it just blows everything else away so far in raw potential.  It should even be able to do h.264 and flash without any problems.

I'm sticking with my DS Lite, Moonshell2 and my CyclosDS until then I think (If I don't splurge for a PMP first!).


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## kohkindachi (Jun 17, 2009)

Actually if it does support flv, rmvb, avi, mp4, i'm alright with that


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## EvilSpiderman (Jun 17, 2009)

Sounds great. I may wait for an update or two before buying though.


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## ExDee (Jun 17, 2009)

where is it sold @?


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## mocliamtoh (Jun 17, 2009)

ExDee said:
			
		

> where is it sold @?



Its not yet.

I will probably pick one up.  Homebrew, and media...that's all I would want a flash cart for...seriously.


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## xxRAG3 (Jun 17, 2009)

Any idea as to what the price will be?


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## ahtin (Jun 17, 2009)

xxRAG3 said:
			
		

> Any idea as to what the price will be?



expensive than all DSi flashcart


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## UltraMagnus (Jun 17, 2009)

until this gets a rom loader, it is pretty useless.  but to be honest I never saw the point in watching movies on such a tiny screen anyway.



			
				webjedi said:
			
		

> HBK said:
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well, if my memory serves correctly, it uses an onboard FPGA, which are both quite expensive and power hungry.  So I wouldn't hold up much hopes for price or battery life if I were you.


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## Hit (Jun 17, 2009)

Looks like this simple small card has a better video processor then the DS has


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## Sga (Jun 17, 2009)

What is the homebrew format ?If it's .nds , you can run NDS Rom , be we can't start NDS rom normally , right ?
But if we can't launch NDS rom because the format is too heavy , you can launch the homebrew "Y'S Menu"and with you can start NDS rom !So ...we can lauch nds rom !

PS : if my english suck , it's because i'm french !


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## Vincent T (Jun 17, 2009)

Wouldn't it be easier to just have a Cyclo DS and wait for a firmware similar to this. And wait for their support to bigger GB cards?


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## tajio (Jun 17, 2009)

Splych said:
			
		

> Awesomeee~! That is so freakin awesome ^^
> 
> I wants one... But... Sticker is sorta plain xD



The sticker is just a temporay one, it's still in the works 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 .

Anyways, once I get my DSi I'm so buying it with my AceKard 2i/M3i Zero!


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## wolffangalchemist (Jun 17, 2009)

no roms playability...
sounds like the Datel Games n' Music all over again, but with good video playback this time.


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## antonkan (Jun 17, 2009)

When will the iPlayer flashcart come out?


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## TraumaHoundNDS (Jun 18, 2009)

This looks great and seems to perform pretty much as promised. Extra-thanks for the accompanying video, your write-up is pretty thorough but actually seeing it in-action really helps it sink in.

I'm digging this cart and I hope it comes out soon and with a decent price!


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## Slowking (Jun 18, 2009)

shaunj66 said:
			
		

> DarkMega NT Warrior said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I knew that was Takahashis style the moment I saw it, just couldn't place it, as I've never seen Maison Ikkoku. I should really do that sometime, though I'm still not through Ranma 1/2 (only watched it in german and the network canceled it because the ratings went down after they moved it around timeslots so much nobody knew when it ran anymore) and Inu Yasha. I really need to catch up...

@topic
Really nice. Wouldn't have thought that it would be able such a variety of formats so good. Ofcourse it still has a few flaws that have to be ironed out with firmware updates but for an initial release it's damn good.


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## UltraMagnus (Jun 18, 2009)

Hit said:
			
		

> Looks like this simple small card has a better video processor then the DS has



well, if the processor is on a FPGA, it is a specially designed one just for processing video, something the DS isn't great at, however its processor is far more general purpose.


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## shaunj66 (Jun 18, 2009)

The iPlayer team have just released a new loader that incorporates a bookmark function for videos 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  Now who's great idea was that?

I've also got some *battery life* information to report:

DS Lite, loudest volumes with headphones, brightness level 2 will let you get just over 4 hours of media playback.


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## Maz7006 (Jun 18, 2009)

Thanks Shaunj66 i was kind of apprehensive about the battery life


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## Toni Plutonij (Jun 18, 2009)

Vincent T said:
			
		

> Wouldn't it be easier to just have a Cyclo DS and wait for a firmware similar to this. And wait for their support to bigger GB cards?


No it wouldn't, because if you checked the first post, and also, read trough the thread a bit, you'd see that this cart has it's own processor for handling video, so it isn't possible to just get "firmware working on other flashcarts" and also, what do you mean "support bigger GB cards" if you're talking about microSD cards, they are up to 16B in size, and soon there will be 32GB released..That's as far as current SDHC technology allows..


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## cmonster (Jun 18, 2009)

Sorry for being off-topic but I want to say that you're awesome for watching Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku. My heart literally skipped a beat when I heard the opening for Maison Ikkoku playing since I thought I accidentally opened the file on my computer something.

On-topic question: Can it play subtitle files? The only reason why I would want to use iPlayer over my PSP is if it truly can play videos without having to convert them at all. It would be so sweet to just drag and drop videos that I want to watch before leaving the house and not having to plan it hours before hand.

Also, I highly doubt this, but can it play h.264 videos at all?

[edit]

Nevermind, just read the rest of the topic. Sigh, will there ever be a convenient video player that can just do everything? I really hate having to convert everything as it's a waste of disk space.


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## shaunj66 (Jun 18, 2009)

cmonster said:
			
		

> Sorry for being off-topic but I want to say that you're awesome for watching Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku. My heart literally skipped a beat when I heard the opening for Maison Ikkoku playing since I thought I accidentally opened the file on my computer something.


MI is one of my all time favourite shows. I haven't really started watching Urusei yet but plan to.

In the full review I will try re-encoding h264 videos at a lower res and bit rate to see how it handles them, but then if you're going through that hassle you may as well just convert them to DPG really.


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## bubbleboy (Jun 18, 2009)

TeenDev said:
			
		

> Hopefully they release some sort of library to allow us to take advantage of this extra CPU. Unfortunately, I do not have a working slot-1 in my DS so I wouldn't be able to use it anyway.



LOL, me too! I used it for the passme right when the DS was first hacked, then tried an original cart a few weeks ago and the spring mechanism was broken. I've been playing from a Slot 2 Supercard for years now, no problems at all.


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## cmonster (Jun 18, 2009)

shaunj66 said:
			
		

> cmonster said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Maison Ikkoku is probably my most watched/loved show of all time, as well. Good to meet another fan, I don't come by one very often. Urusei is up there but it's very different from Maison Ikkoku. It's more along the lines of Ranma, if I were to compare it to another Rumiko series. You should also check out the Rumic Theater ova, especially Mermaid Forest, if you haven't yet.

But anyways... yea, it would be almost exactly the same as converting them to a different format. If it weren't for the space issue, I would totally convert all my videos/animes into divx.avi or something but that would literally be another 2 TB. At least it could handle all the other standard formats; it's definitely a step into the right direction.


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## Smartpal (Jun 18, 2009)

This is so awesome, can't wait for the review! Thanks for bringing it to us so early! GBAtemp rocks!


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## Szyslak (Jun 18, 2009)

Really nice first impression shaunj66.  Thanks for the write-up while you're working on the review.  The card has definitely got some potential.


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## Beige (Jun 19, 2009)

I so plan on buying one.  Honestly, I'm hoping they release a library for using the onboard CPU and RAM.  It would ease up on emulation a bit, allowing better Genesis and SNES emulation, we could use it for typical applications to allow better file cache, and all sorts of other things.  Actually, because of this hardware, I can see how Soft Reset can work with homebrew.

*I'm going to say it flat out, kudos to these guys on not incorporating a ROM loader.  They said they wouldn't do it to avoid legal issues with Nintendo and I have to agree with them.  This makes it easier for this to hit retail shelves.  If someone does make a ROM loader for this, I will likely track them down and destroy them and the source.  It's that simple.  Everyone who is reading this thread, realize that if a ROM loader is released, it will not be from the iPlayer team themselves.*



			
				Sga said:
			
		

> What is the homebrew format ?If it's .nds , you can run NDS Rom , be we can't start NDS rom normally , right ?
> But if we can't launch NDS rom because the format is too heavy , you can launch the homebrew "Y'S Menu"and with you can start NDS rom !So ...we can lauch nds rom !
> 
> PS : if my english suck , it's because i'm french !
> ...



Don't forget, this will play music in better quality (GnM had bass issues) and will have auto DLDI patching, and probably better Homebrew compatibility at that.


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## Sga (Jun 20, 2009)

We can launch video
But , it say we can launch HOMEBREWS !Whats is the format of the game for it's play only homebrew ?


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## player1244 (Jun 21, 2009)

Sga said:
			
		

> We can launch video
> But , it say we can launch HOMEBREWS !Whats is the format of the game for it's play only homebrew ?



Homebrew has the same extension as a original DS game (NDS). But Homebrew has to be (Auto) DLDI patched.
Original DS games are just not accepted (without a hack). You can launch Homebrew, but no original DS
game (for now).


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## Normmatt (Jun 21, 2009)

ShadoWolF XF said:
			
		

> I so plan on buying one.  Honestly, I'm hoping they release a library for using the onboard CPU and RAM.  It would ease up on emulation a bit, allowing better Genesis and SNES emulation, we could use it for typical applications to allow better file cache, and all sorts of other things.  Actually, because of this hardware, I can see how Soft Reset can work with homebrew.
> 
> *I'm going to say it flat out, kudos to these guys on not incorporating a ROM loader.  They said they wouldn't do it to avoid legal issues with Nintendo and I have to agree with them.  This makes it easier for this to hit retail shelves.  If someone does make a ROM loader for this, I will likely track them down and destroy them and the source.  It's that simple.  Everyone who is reading this thread, realize that if a ROM loader is released, it will not be from the iPlayer team themselves.*
> 
> ...



You literally have no fucking clue how this actually works do you? it contains no extra ram or cpu, its a multimedia decoder chip which is specifically designed for multimedia with no other purpose in mind. Not to mention no emulators are actually still in current development. A Rom Loader although making it more illegal changes nothing in the fact that this device is still illegal like all other non Nintendo made carts.


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## elixirdream (Jun 24, 2009)

The Retail price for iPlayer in China is RMB 198 after conversion is approximate 28-30 USD


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## cfcpd95 (Jun 24, 2009)

elixirdream said:
			
		

> The Retail price for iPlayer in China is RMB 198 after conversion is approximate 28-30 USD


I have contacted and they have told me it will be 45 USD


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## elixirdream (Jun 25, 2009)

cfcpd95 said:
			
		

> elixirdream said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



thats big different ...
nevertheless, just hope DX will sell it cheap


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## cfcpd95 (Jun 25, 2009)

If we get ROM loader I think a coder should at least try to give us cheat database or RTS as this would leave AK2 and iplayer customers happy !!!, if anyone would be able to do this it would be great

Also does anyone know if this extra power could be used to let the Browser work without the memory pack ?!!!

AND I have herd reports of this memory also being used for a GBA Emulaor ?!!!


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## Deleted-119707 (Jun 27, 2009)

cfcpd95 said:
			
		

> If we get ROM loader I think a coder should at least try to give us cheat database or RTS as this would leave AK2 and iplayer customers happy !!!, if anyone would be able to do this it would be great
> 
> Also does anyone know if this extra power could be used to let the Browser work without the memory pack ?!!!
> 
> AND I have herd reports of this memory also being used for a GBA Emulaor ?!!!



you sir are a noob. the web browser IS a ROM. without a rom laoder how are you expect to load the browser.
GBA emulator? lol. you heard no such thing.

its wwhat i expect from someone new with 6 posts i guess...


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## hardy83 (Jun 30, 2009)

The website just updated recently to include downloads.

They include.
The Iplayer OS
A patch for Moonshell reset whatever that is.
And the Iplayer Dldi source code.

So now I guess someone can fool around with it and see if it can load ROMs or what have you? Or do people need the cart still?


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## Paulieo (Jul 14, 2009)

This looks pretty cool. It would be great if you could watch videos online and stuff.


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## rhanda (Jul 15, 2009)

I just ordered one of these from DX
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26437

I wonder if there are going to be audio sync problems however.  Every time I try a reasonably priced PMP with XviD capabilities the audio lags horribly.  I don't like having to do a lot of file converting cause it's a pain and takes forever.  My PSP has good playback, but again converting is a pain.  I just hope iPlayer got it right, guess I'll find out in a few weeks.


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## Knarf (Sep 17, 2009)

I'll probably buy one once it's 1.4 compatible, and once the emulator is actually released to the public.


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## tylerxian (Sep 19, 2009)

Not for gaming? Not anymore, seems like the emulator for GBA games is out. But great review by the way.


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## nori2nori (Sep 19, 2009)

You know there are two language edition as the iPlayer product line. One of them is *$38.50 *of the English edition as follows:

http://www.psxboy.com/1088_iPlayer-for-DS_...h-Edition).html

Another is *$28.00 *of the Chinese edition as follows;

http://www.psxboy.com/1089_iPlayer-for-DS_...e-Edition).html

Does anyone know what's different between these two editions? If I can use the English language menu in the Chinese edition of iPlayer, I'm going to buy the cheap Chinese edition. 

Your information would be appreciated.


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## freddy pharkas (Sep 21, 2009)

nori2nori said:
			
		

> You know there are two language edition as the iPlayer product line. One of them is *$38.50 *of the English edition as follows:
> 
> http://www.psxboy.com/1088_iPlayer-for-DS_...h-Edition).html
> 
> ...




I think they're probably the same, unless the Chinese language version is a fake(imitation).

Oh BTW, just some info, about the chip AML340, I think this is some kind of PIC or MCU IC in a VQ100 Package, and it's real IC# was intentionally erased.  So, it''s like a SOC(System On Chip).  But then, I may be wrong, because I'm more of a pharmacist, and electronics is just my hobby.  As for the other chips, previous post was quite right, one was a flash chip and the other as a ram (maybe for workspace & buffering, etc.).


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## The Catboy (Dec 6, 2009)

Lol Family guy.
That looks pretty cool though. I might have to pick myself up one if I ever get a DSi


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## Jasper07 (Apr 11, 2010)

I have a different picture on mine, does that mean that I have an old version or something? or doesn't it matter at all?


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