EINSTEIN MAGIC unveiled this week its answer to streaming video both Live and Prerecorded content over the Internet with what they call the DreamStream™ iHD Universal media player. DreamStream™ iHD is a stand-alone plug and play unit that is capable of streaming high definition content under 1 MGPS download speed with no measurable buffering or latency whatsoever viewable in any operating system with nothing to install or download prior to viewing.

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OK, something's fishy here:

First, and perhaps this is just a gross misuse of capitalization, in the title it says 1MBPS. Anyone familiar with bandwidth and computers in general knows that "B" stands for Byte, while "b" stands for bit. Bandwidth is typically measured in "bits per second", not "bytes per second". So if they're saying we'll get high definition streaming in less than 1MBPS (8Mbps) ... they're not saying much. I mean, who has an 8Mbps internet connection?

So I thought, no problem ... perhaps it's just a misuse of capitalization. I'll just read further to see if it's correctly capitalized later in the article ... but later in the article they say "DreamStream iHD is a stand-alone plug and play unit that is capable of streaming high definition content under 1 MGPS download speed...". What the heck is a MGPS?!?!?!? This MUST be a typo.

So I thought, still no problem ... I'll just visit their site ... ummm ... no URL?!?!? Who the heck issues a press release without a URL these days ... ESPECIALLY for a product touting it's ability to stream HD over the internet ... what, they don't have a website?!?!

OK, still no problem ... surely Google can find their website. So I search on "Einstein Magic" ... nothing remotely related except other versions of this press release on other sites.

OK, still no problem ... let me contact their PR company ... ummm ... their PR person has an AOL email address listed?!?!?!?

So what gives? Do you guys have a product or what? Anywhere we can find out about it?

- Miller

I could have an answer but I don't give it out to anyone with a foul mouth.

Jack

jborchel wrote:I could have an answer but I don't give it out to anyone with a foul mouth.

Jack

Sorry Jack, really.

I didn't realize anyone would take objections to my asterisks ... I have edited the post. Now can I have your answer?

Thanks,

- Miller

I said I could have an answer; not that I did have an answer. I guess because I come from a different era I get a little uptight when I see a lot of the wording that is used on the web today. Most points can be made in a different manner. Thanks for the changes.

Jack

I found the url. Go to www.dreamstreamihd.com and there it was. This sucker looks AMAZING

Thank you for the link erics.

Is this supposed to be HD? The compression is horrible, and gets even worse when you stretch it to full screen.

No, thanks.

- Miller

As the first poster pointed out the release is wonky, and on their website the only thing is a flash movie (and a *badly* encoded one at that) that spends 10+ minutes talking about this "amazing" product but actually provides no useful information of any sort.

Seems to me this release should be pulled from this site as it's a bunch of bull and diminishes the otherwise generally useful info I find here. Or better yet, for someone with more time on their hands, dissect their presentation to show how inane it is so others can learn to not fall for meaningless blabber being disguised as technology.

The website is only an image now. Not even a flash presentation.

They appear to be setting an Internet record for continuos streaming. Anyone know how long they have to go to break the record? The footage they are showing looks fantastic and I would love to know more.

The quality doesn't appear to be better than the first time I checked it out ... and now the video appears to be a bit "jerky".

No offense, but who really cares about settting a record for streaming? If I were them, I'd worry about improving the video quality, not setting some meaningless record.

- M

i dont care about any record either but you must have a terrible connection. It says under 1 Mbps and I have 1.3 down here and its absolutely perfect. It might be that you have to be cabled in rather than wireless too. I was told that wireless connections are the same as cell phones which means they are always unstable. If you know of any live internet feet that is full screen and looks as good, please tell me.

erics wrote:i dont care about any record either but you must have a terrible connection. It says under 1 Mbps and I have 1.3 down here and its absolutely perfect.

5MBit/s DSL (6Mbit/s advertised).

erics wrote:If you know of any live internet feet that is full screen and looks as good, please tell me.

It looks fine, but it DOESN'T look like HD. Advertising this as "HD" is where my main complaint is. If you were just advertising it as a streaming video service, I'd have no beef.

This stream, as good as it might be, is NOT HD-quality. Put it side-by-side with Broadcast HD, Satellite HD, Cable HD, Blu-ray, or even the internet download services like iTunes, VUDU and Xbox Live Marketplace ... and it just doesn't compete.

So Eric, may I ask you a personal question? Where do you work? You seem to be the only one here who finds this service "fantastic" and "amazing". And you also somehow knew what the URL was, which I was not able to find initially despite significant Googling. It appears as though you may be a company shill for Einstein Magic. Curious.

- Miller