99bytes announces version 1.1 of DVD to Zune / PSP Video Converter

99bytes is glad to announce a new release for DVD to Zune / PSP Video Converter: version 1.1, featuring increased compatibility and a few nice functionality additions.

When getting to review any of the 99bytes products, the first thing that strikes the eye is the nicely structured user interface, and the fine graphics. But that's not enough for convincing people to use this converter, so 99bytes has put a lot of effort in providing customers with a high-performance conversion engine. The 99bytes converter does everything needed to convert one's favorite DVD movies to Zune or PSP.

The PSP console is a highly matured product, if judged by media industry standards: PSP devices have been released by Sony in March 2005, and they still enjoy an increasing popularity on the market. Long after the PSP was released, Microsoft decided to launch their Zune device on the market – it was November 2006. As soon as Microsoft announced the launch date, 99bytes decided to feature compatibility for both devices into just one converter, to provide both PSP users and Zune users with the possibility of transferring DVD movies to their portable devices.

The initial idea behind this product was to let the user transfer to his PSP all the DVD movies that he has already bought. This would mean major savings, since the alternative is to purchase movies featuring PSP compatibility. For example, a UMD movie, compatible with PSP, can cost anywhere between $15 and $40, and online shops that sell downloadable PSP movies will not provide better prices either. So why spend all that extra money, if one has already bought a lot of DVD movies? Wouldn't it be great to take those movies and convert to PSP compatible format, and then just copy on PSP and enjoy the movie on the road – in the car, train, bus or airplane? Well, the 99bytes converter does just that, and it does it in a rapid and simple manner.

The video format supported on PSP devices is called MP4, and the format supported by Zune is called WMV. Even if these 2 formats are related, they are still incompatible, so when converting a DVD the user needs to select either PSP or Zune compatibility.

When users try to decide on using a converter or another, it's important to them that the conversion takes just one step, instead or 2 or 3, or who knows how many. 99bytes DVD to Zune / PSP does satisfy this constraint, as opposed to many other conversion utilities on the market. Take PSP converters for example: some of them ask for input files in AVI format, so users need another software to rip from DVD to AVI, and they need an extra step to convert from AVI to the actual PSP format. With 99bytes DVD to Zune / PSP converter, users just need one step: once the DVD is in the disk drive, the desired content can be converted directly to PSP compatible format. Then the user will simply copy the file on the PSP console, and enjoy the movie.

The Zune situation is similar. The 99bytes utility converts the DVD directly to Zune format, and then the movie can be loaded in the Microsoft Zune utility, which will copy it to the device. Once the converter finishes the job, the movie is fully compatible to Zune format, so that the Microsoft software quickly copies the file to the device. Some rival converters only provide for partial compatibility, and leave the rest of the job on Microsoft software's shoulders (which will need another hour or so, to convert the movie to full compatibility) - so once again, the 99bytes DVD to PSP / Zune Video Converter keeps users from wasting time and effort on needless operations.

In short, this utility can convert any video DVD, commercial or not, original or copy, and allows to preview in the integrated player, to pick a few titles to convert - then just hit Start, to convert to Zune or PSP compatible movies. The converter also supports ISO files, DVDs copied on the hard-disk (VIDEO_TS folders), both NTSC and PAL standards, and converts DVDs from any country of origin - wherever the DVD was published, US, Europe or Asia, this utility supports them all.

99bytes comes with an offer that's hard to refuse: the utility allows to convert 5 DVDs for free. To take advantage of this offer, just go to http://www.99bytes.com/DVD-to-Zune-PSP-Video-Converter/ and check it out. Users who like the converter, and decide to buy it, will get unlimited conversions, and free updates as an extra bonus.