Nero 8 Ultra Edition Enhancements and Visual Tour Dec 2007

    by Douglas Dixon, www.manifest-tech.com

A summary of the new Nero 8 Ultra Edition -- 
    Key new features and enhancements, plus a visual tour of the interface and applications.

New Features Summary

Nero has focused the Nero 8 Ultra Edition digital media suite on "easy-to-use features for the creation, management, and protection of multimedia projects." Nero has reworked the interface for consumer ease of use, and focused on "extending content beyond the PC" -- to create and edit, convert and share, rip and burn, and backup and protect digital media.

The roots of the Nero suite are in the deep Nero Burning ROM application for CD and DVD burning, plus a variety of helpful tools for drive testing and information. But Nero also has bulked up its suite of media editing and disk backup applications. And it has continued to emphasize media management and sharing across a home network.

The suite has core tools for media editing -- Nero WaveEditor, Nero PhotoSnap, Nero Vision -- plus separate tools for related tasks, such as Nero SoundTrax for audio mixing and Nero Recode for video conversions. The result is a broad suite with deep features and options, particularly for disc burning, but sometimes confusing inconsistencies in how you deal with similar operations on different media types -- viewing, editing, converting, and sharing.

The suite also specifically encourages the use of Nero's flavors of MPEG-4 audio and video, called Nero Digital (www.nero.com/enu/technologies-nerodigital.html). These are versions of the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video and MPEG-4/AAC audio standards, branded and licensed to enhance media compatibility, and scaling from desktops to set-tops to small portable devices to high-def.

See earlier article on Desktop Digital Media Trends 2007 -- with Roxio Easy Media Creator 9

    Find Nero 8 Ultra Edition on Amazon.com

Features and Enhancements

    Key new features and enhancements in Nero 8 Ultra Edition.

• Designed for consumer ease of use

• Direct access to all features from the project launcher

• Extends content beyond the PC - easily create and edit, convert and share,
      rip and burn, backup and protect digital media

• Enjoy content at home, on-the-go, and online

• Copy disc with one click

• High Definition video format support

• Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD burning support

• Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 streaming

• SecurDisc data protection support

• Built to ensure data integrity and reliability

• Optimized for Windows Vista

• Continual free updates

Launcher (Nero StartSmart)

• Efficient one-stop solution for creating and managing digital media projects

• New - Access common functions directly - copy discs, burn and rip audio and data discs

• New - Integrated newsfeed system for updated information

        Nero StartSmart launcher - Main screen

Create and Edit Multimedia

• Create music mixes and jukebox discs

• Enhance photos, create slide shows

• Edit video, including high definition (and AVCHD), create movies and DVDs

• Burn HD video in Blu-ray BD-AV and HD DVD formats

• Convert content to play on mobile devices

View and Manage

• Manage and view media, photos (Nero Home)

• Play video, audio, slideshows, TV (Nero ShowTime)

• View photos (Nero PhotoSnap Viewer)

• New - Windows Vista integration
      Live icons preview file without opening,  Rich Preview pane within Windows Explorer

        Nero Home interface

Audio

• Rip and convert CDs (Nero Burning ROM)

• Edit audio (Nero WaveEditor), Mix and compose music (Nero SoundTrax)

• Create audio CDs, MP3 and Nero Digital Audio (mp4) Jukebox discs

Video / DVD

• Edit and author video and DVD (Nero Vision)
      Improved menu authoring and templates

• Convert video / DVD - to DVD, Nero Digital (MPEG-4 / H.264 AVC) (Nero Recode)

        Nero ShowTime player

Photos

• Edit photos (Nero PhotoSnap)

• Convert and Share

• Convert audio to MP3 and Nero Digital Audio (mp4)

• Convert and recompress DVDs

• Convert for mobile devices, including iPod and Sony PSP

• One-click Web import and share on YouTube, MySpace

• Share and view from MyNero.com

Home Entertainment (Nero Home)

• Organize and manage multimedia files

• Share to devices on home network with UPnP

• New - Use Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 to stream High Definition video surround audio

• New - Manage networked TV media adaptor

• Record and share TV broadcasts

Disc Burning (Nero Burning ROM, Nero Express)

• Rip non-protected CDs and DVDs

• Burn audio, video, photos, and data to CD, DVD

• New - Burn HD to Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD (with plug-in)

• Capture video directly from camcorder to Blu-ray Disc (in BD-AV format).

• New - Nero DiscCopy gadget for Windows Vista - copy disc with one click

• New - Windows Vista integration

Data Backup and Security  (Nero BackItUp)

• New - SecurDisc data protection support - www.securdisc.net

• New - HD discs - Blu-ray Disc, AVCHD, HD DVD (with plug-in)

• New - Nero RescueAgent

• Restore deleted files and recover data from CDs and DVDs
      lost due to scratched discs, interrupted recording, poor recording quality

Top

Visual Tour -- Interface and Features

    A visual tour of Nero 8 Ultra Edition interface elements and associated features.

Control Panel / Launcher

The Nero StartSmart application launcher features a new cleaner interface to help you get to work on your tasks. The new built-in tasks on the left run directly from StartSmart.

        Nero StartSmart launcher - Media applications

Nero StartSmart 8 – One-Click Project Launcher

• Top tabs - Frequently occurring tasks
      Start Page, Rip and Burn, Create and Edit, Home Entertainment, Back Up

• Side - Built-in tasks - Inline features
      Data Burning, Copy Disc
      Audio Burning - Audio CD, MP3 Jukebox Disc, Nero Digital Audio+ Jukebox Disc
      Audio Ripping - to Wave, MP3, Nero Digital Audio (mp4)    

• Bottom - news

• Bottom left pop up - Applications and tools

Home Entertainment

The Nero suite has two main applications for viewing and sharing media clips: the Nero Showtime player to view photos, audio, video, and DVDs, and the Nero Home full-screen interface for accessing your media -- and Internet radio and TV. The Nero 8 suite adds TV viewing and recording though an adapter card.

        Nero Home - Music

Nero MediaHome shares your media content with devices on your home network using UPnP technology. The Nero suite also installs the Nero Scout tool that runs in the background to index media files and Internet sources to be shared.

PC Application

• Play Audio (Nero ShowTime)

• Play Video and Slide Show (Nero ShowTime)

• View Photos (Nero Home / Photos)

TV Application

• Watch Live TV (Nero Home / TV Channels)

• Manage Media Via TV (Nero Home / TV Channels)

• Record from TV (PVR) (Nero Home / Devices)

• Share Music, Photos, and Videos (Nero Home / Share)

• Stream TV

• Manage Internet Services (vidcasts) (Nero Home / Devices)

Nero Home 3 – Media Management System

Nero MediaHome 3 – UPnP Streaming Solution           -- Nero Scout

Nero ShowTime 4 – DVD and Multimedia Player

Create and Edit - Audio

The Nero suite has two audio-specific tools -- Nero WaveEditor for audio recording and editing, and Nero SoundTrax for music composing and mixing.

        Nero WaveEditor  

• Edit and Record Sound Files (Nero WaveEditor)

• Mix, Compose, and Scratch Audio Tracks (Nero SoundTrax)

• Convert Audio Files (Nero Burning ROM / Encode)

Nero WaveEditor 4 – Audio Editing and Recording

Nero SoundTrax 3 – Professional Audio Mixing

Create and Edit - Video

        Nero Vision

Use Nero Vision to capture, edit, and author both video and DVDs, or use Nero Recode to convert and recompress DVDs.

• Author, Edit, and Capture Video (Nero Vision)

• Recode Video Files (Nero Digital)

Nero Vision 5 – Video Editing and Authoring

Nero Recode 2 – The World’s Fastest Video Converter

Create and Edit - Discs

• Create Disc Label or Cover (Nero CoverDesigner)

Nero CoverDesigner 3 – CD and DVD Label Design

Create and Edit - Photos

Use Nero PhotoSnap for editing and enhancing photos.

        PhotoSnap

• Edit Photos (Nero PhotoSnap)

• Make Photo Slide Show (Nero Vision) 

Nero PhotoSnap – Photo Editing

Nero PhotoSnap Viewer – Photo Viewing

Rip and Burn

Use Nero Burning ROM to rip, burn, and copy discs of audio, video, and data. Or use Nero Express for quick and easy tasks.

        Nero Burning ROM

• Rip Audio CD (Nero Burning ROM / Save Tracks)

• Burn Audio CD (Nero Burning ROM)

• Burn Jukebox Disc (Nero Express)

• Burn Data Disc (Nero Burning ROM)

• Burn Video Disc (Nero Burning ROM)

• Copy Disc (Nero Burning ROM)

Nero Express 8 – Easy Interface CD and DVD Burning

Nero Burning ROM 8 – Expert CD and DVD Burning

Back Up

Use Nero BackItUp to create scheduled backups and disaster recovery discs, and restore files from backups.

        Nero BackItUp

• Back Up Data (Nero BackItUp)

• Schedule Backups (Nero BackItUp / Jobs)

• Restore Backups (Nero BackItUp / Restore)

• Create Disaster Recover Disc (Nero BackItUp / Drive Backup)

• Copy Disc (Nero Burning ROM)

Nero BackItUp 3 – Complete Backup Solution

Toolbox

Nero suite includes disc tools for analyzing and optimizing hard disk drives and optical discs. Nero 8 also adds Nero RescueAgent to recover data and restore deleted files from damaged CDs and DVDs.

        Nero InfoTool 

Nero ControlCenter – Simplified Customization and Configuration

Nero DiscSpeed 4 – Improve Optical Drive Performance

Nero DriveSpeed 3 – Complete Optical Drive Control

Nero InfoTool 5 – Drive and Disc Analysis

Nero ImageDrive 3 – Virtual Drive Setup

Nero RescueAgent – Improved File Recovery

Nero BurnRights – Easily Deployable Burning Rights

Plus

Nero Mobile – Media Center for Mobile Devices  (Retail version of Nero 8 only)

Nero Scout – Database Technology

InCD 5 – Packet Writing Solution

SecurDisc Viewer – View SecurDisc protected files

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