Sunday, January 13, 2008

using mio tv with logitech harmony 1000 universal remote controller

i bought the logitech harmony 1000 universal remote controller from tangs orchard third floor (tangs technobay) for about s$900.

i couldnt find the mio tv set top box in the default list of devices, so i created singtel -> miotv and trained the universal remote to learn the ir codes from the mio tv remote control, one button at a time. quite fast and easy to do.

after that i grabbed the channel icons from http://mio.singtel.com/miotv/channels-on-demand_channels.asp and configured them with the logitech software.

and now i have the logitech harmony 1000 universal remote controller working perfectly with mio tv.

13/01/2008

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

how to rent mio tv video-on-demand programmes

to rent video-on-demand programmes, press the “video on demand” button on the remote.


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select the programme.


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select “rent”.


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select “rent now”.


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you’ll see “thank you. your order has been confirmed”.


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the rental ends in 24 hours. you can pause the programme and watch it as many times as you like within the 24 hours.


other programmes on video-on-demand: mei ah movies (includes “death note 1 & 2”).


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sports in high-def.


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hong kong dramas. i bought a 1–month pass to watch hong kong dramas for a month. good for brushing up my cantonese.


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mobtv select, for mediacorp shows. i bought a 1–month pass just to remind myself what “army series” and “under one roof” used to be like.


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pre fta: i think it means pre-“free to air”. you can watch channel 8 dramas before they are shown on tv.


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jetix for anime.


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my favourite video-on-demand programmes: “wild hogs” and “paprika”.


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“wild hogs” because it’s a comedy and it looks great in high-def.


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“paprika” because the visuals and story are amazing, even though it’s dvd quality.


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the future of tv is now on mio tv! all tv programmes should be available on demand like this.


 

how to record mio tv

to record tv programmes, press the “guide” button on the remote to see the programme guide


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choose the programme and click “ok”


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select “record episode” or “record series”.


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you can also search for a programme to record by title. press “recorded tv” on the remote. select “add recording”


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select “search” to search by title and select the programme to record.


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under “recorded tv” you also see the scheduled recordings and recordings by series.


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to watch your recorded programmes, press the “recorded tv” button on the remote and select the programme.


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high-def mio tv channels

channel 5 hd is showing 2 high-def programmes now: life story and csi. hope they have more soon.



equator hd is my favourite channel. it has gorgeous high-def travel shows, interesting art documentaries (artland, collective intelligence) and historical documentaries (chasing history home). when i’m really bored, i watch the fashion shows. everything is truly high-def.



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sling hd is interesting because of the video game reviews, gameplay videos and gaming competitions. they show the entire cutscenes from xbox360 games. they show local basketball games in high-def.



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voom hd got extreme sports like biking and a mix of programmes from equator hd and sling hd channels. they also got live concerts that sound terrific in dolby digital 5.1.



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how to buy mio tv channels

how to buy mio tv channels: press the “menu” button on your remote. select “buy channels”.


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select “single channel”


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choose the channel


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12 months or 1 month?


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buy it


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and see the confirmation


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watching mio tv

watching mio tv is a real joy. press 8 on your tv remote and you will get channel 5 in high-def. a few programmes are in high-def, the others are upsampled to high-def. here’s an upsampled programme:


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handy tip: if you’re ever lost in some other channel or video-on-demand, just press 8 to get back to channel 5 hd.


press the “info” button to get programme info:


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the coolest feature of mio tv: while watching a programme, press the right-button button on your remote


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a small thumbnail pops up in the bottom and tells you how much is left of the programme. there’s a progress bar below the thumbnail.


press the right-arrow button and it shows you the next programme on the channel:


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press the up/down-arrows to see what’s showing on other channels:


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press “ok” to switch to that channel.  you can press the “guide” button to see the channel guide:


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setting up your hdtv


  1. connect the mio tv set-top box to your hdtv using component cables. some people have problems with hdmi cable.
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  2. connect the mio tv set-top box to your sound system using rca cables, or use optical cable if possible.

  3. switch on the mio tv set-top box and the tv should appear

  4. now pay attention, this part is tricky, cant find it mentioned anywhere: how do you turn on the hi-def resolution on your mio tv set-top box? click the “menu” button
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  5. press the right-arrow button till “settings” and click “ok” button
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  6. press the right-arrow button till “channel guide”
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  7. press the down-arrow button till “screen settings” and click “ok” button
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  8. press arrow buttons and “ok” button to select “1080i” and confirm
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took me a while to find this under “channel guide” menu. maybe they should put it under “general” menu instead.


now using blogjet and flickr uploadr to write this blog. so much more convenient!

Monday, October 1, 2007

2nd house visit - im in HI-DEF HEAVEN!!!

adsl guy came today - found my adsl line disconnected in the condo main cable room - connected it back - and omg GLORIOUS HI-DEF MIO TV came alive!!! pics coming soon

Saturday, September 29, 2007

1 house visit. still no dsl for the weekend

the guy who installed by adsl modem and mio tv box came back again today, even though i already told them it was a dsl problem. he says wait for them to fix the dsl.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

still still still no dsl

they called this morning. i told them no dsl. they said they will check back end.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

still still no dsl

no response from them about the dsl problem.

no dsl = no mio tv = no high-def csi, life story tonite

Monday, September 17, 2007

still no dsl

nobody called me back about the dsl problem. this is so depressing.

who killed my dsl??????? whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy??????????

dsl fails

10.18am: called the mio hotline to get an update of the problem reported yesterday, since nobody responded. they said they would call me back.

12noon: the dsl connection somehow dropped. dsl light on dsl modem keeps flashing green. set top box doesnt start up to the mio tv screen any more.

1.25pm: they called me, i reported the dsl problem. they said they will get somebody else to call me.