PlayonHD.com new look 7 July 2009

Yes, PlayonHD.com will be officially launched on 7 July with a new look. While we’ve been busy shipping the Playon!HD to happy new owners, we’ve also been busy working on new firmware and a new website too!

The current site you are seeing is a pre-launch site with essential information. Come 7 July, the site will be “upgraded”, not only cosmetically. The new site will have more “rich media”, screenshots, video reviews, user experience, where to buy and new announcements. Watch out for it.

Playon!HD FAQ published

We have published a FAQ document using google docs. The document can be found via this shortcut www.playonhd.com/faq

It is a compilation of frequently asked questions and will be kept updated with more questions. We hope this will let you understand the Playon!HD, its features, functions and cool abilities. Naturally you are welcome to speak to us whether in person or online via email and forums. We understand that every individual will have different needs and we look forward to answer all your questions.

Questions can be emailed to rotterdam@acryan.com or simply drop your questions here on the comments of this blog.

AC Ryan Playon!HD launched to a flying start at PC SHOW SINGAPORE

Just a week before the PC SHOW 2009 in Singapore, AC Ryan announced an addition to their Playon! productline – the Playon!HD FullHD Network Mediaplayer. While it is known that AC Ryan will be launching a player-only model to go alongside its Playon!DVR TV (a recorder-player model), the early release of the Playon!HD caught everyone by surprise. The first Full HD Network mediaplayer shipping with a consumer-friendly new price level. Initially greeted with a small dose of skepticism whether it could be too good to be true, any doubts were immediately wiped away on the first day of the show as AC Ryan presented the Playon!HD not only as demo but also “first release” stock – not a vaporware but an actual product you can try, and when you like, buy it! Users were invited to bring their harddisk, usbsticks, memory cards with their media files to test and play with Playon!HD. Once word got out, there was no stopping. Originally planned with stock for the full 4-day exhibition, the Playon!HD were totally sold out 2nd day into the show. Users came, tested, bought and went home happy. Those who came too late were equally excited and a queue of reservations has now formed in Singapore for these Playon!HD, doubling what was sold on the first 2 days. AC Ryan staff in Singapore would like to thank all supporters for your understanding and appreciate your enthusiasm.

The Playon!DVR TV also continued its run of success, achieving BESTSELLING DVR at PC SHOW 2009.

Playon!HD shipping to happy new owners

Yes, the Playon!HD is here in Rotterdam! Today we saw a constant stream of users picking up their pre-reserved Playon!HD – nice talking with you, as you can see we’re product people and do enjoy a chat :) Thanks too for supporting our new Playon!HD launch. For those having it delivered to you, packages are also going out today and the coming days. Limited stock, hurry if you have not reserved it with the reservation form on www.playonhd.com “where to buy” section.

Congratulations – you’re the proud new owners of the first in a new generation of Full HD Network Mediaplayers affordable for everyone :)

Have you reserved and not heard back from us?

We received a few emails from users that they have made a reservation in the past few days but have not yet heard back from us. We checked our servers and noticed in the past few days this week, there was a huge surge in the traffic load… don’t worry our servers are totally capable of handling traffic. But our reservation form script was not perfect and it could have dropped a few reservation form submissions. Sorry. We have re-written the reservation forms and they work perfect now.

We reply requests for Playon!HD information and reservations within 1 working day.

So if you have made a reservation in the past few days this week and have not heard from us, please do it again, or contact rotterdam@acryan.com directly. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.

Playon!HD pre-shipment in Rotterdam on Wed 17 June 2009

Already launched and shipping in Singapore with a hot welcome (thanks, guys), and expected to launch in Europe in July, a shipment of Playon!HD arrives in Rotterdam on Wed 17 June 2009. Priority will be first given to reviewers and press, and also our dear friends and fans of AC Ryan who has made reservations. Seeing the surge of reservations we have been receiving, we expect to ship the Playon!HD by mainly reservations until demand “normalises”.

How to reserve? Reservations : http://www.playonhd.com/wheretobuy.php

Should you be interested in seeing the Playon!HD for yourself, make an appointment with us to come by our showroom in Rotterdam – rotterdam@acryan.com – we are cool with your questions.

Thanks everyone for your enthusiastic response – gives us an added drive, feeds our development souls and puts a smile on our faces :)

StorVision.nl’s first look at the Playon!HD

Storvision.nl, community and news site specialising in storage related (mediaplayers, network storage etc), also got a chance to have a first look at the Playon!HD. They tried out the Playon!HD and this is what they have to say:

“Gisteren hebben wij de kans gehad om het apparaat te proberen, en de indruk was zeker zeer positief. Niet alleen konden we geen bestanden vinden die NIET werden afgespeeld, maar daarnaast was de beeldkwaliteit bijzonder goed, en de interface zeer gelikt. Dit in tegenstelling tot bijvoorbeeld de wat ouderwets ogende interface van de NMT’s.

Wat opviel is dat de A.C.Ryan als een van de weinig spelers ook bestanden van en naar een netwerkshare kan kopieren. Zonder hulp van een PC dus. Ook kan hij downloaden via Bittorrent. Als met al een apparaat dat zeer veel kan en goed presteert. En dat voor maar €149,- voor de 0GB versie.”

English translation:
Yesterday we’ve had a chance to try out the device, and the impression is very positive. We could not find ANY files that cannot be played, also the video quality was especially good and the interface nice. This in comparison with the older looking interface of NMT’s.

What stands out is that AC Ryan’s player is one of the few players that can copy files to and from a network share, without doing it from a PC. It can also download via Bittorrent. Already a good device that does much and performs well, and that for only 149 euro for the 0GB model.

Link to original article (Dutch) : http://www.storvision.nl/2009/06/12/nieuw-van-a-c-ryan-playonhd-full-hd-mediaplayer/#more-346