Software – Page 8

Microsoft’s Photosynth released. Photo Stitching On Steroids.

August 21, 2008April 17, 2009 Doug Groves 2 Comments

If you haven’t seen the demos of Microsoft’s Photosynth, it’s a software that takes photos of a location, and maps them into their 3D space, relative to each other. Think of it as the next step in the evolution of building panoramas. Instead of just building a bigger picture, each picture is scaled and rotated in 3D space, to recreate the environment. For example, if you snap some pics of yourself and friends on vacation at the Taj Mahal, and have also got some pics of closeup details, Photosynth will…

iTunes subscription maybe coming…to US. Canadians encouraged to keep stea….er, buying CDs.

August 21, 2008August 23, 2008 Danny X 2 Comments

Apple may be getting ready to introduce a subscription iTunes service in September.. Macrumors has posted an anonymous tip claiming that “iTunes Unlimited” may be launching in the fall. The services include: iTunes Unlimited -256 Kbps music; highest quality digital music subscription service ever -50% of U.S. store available for iTunes Unlimited at launch, U.S.-only launch -Available through iTunes or retail box a la MobileMe, funds applied through iTunes gift cards cannot be used towards subscription purchase -$129.99 stand-alone or $179.99 with MobileMe, current MobileMe subscribers can add iTunes Unlimited…

Coolest. Clock. Ever.

August 15, 2008August 23, 2008 Danny X 0 comment

Some dude named Simon Heys has taken all his free time and put it to good use, so you too can now count your free time. Presenting the Word Clock, a free screensaver that works for both PC and MAC. It’s a word based clock that comes in 2 flavours, Block Text (pictured above) and Rotating Dial. I’d say this goes in the running for coolest screensaver ever. The only thing it’s missing is a groovy jazzy tune and some girls going gymnastics in a library, but I can live…

“The Mojave Experiment” goes public

July 29, 2008August 2, 2008 Danny X 0 comment

As has been posted here earlier, Microsoft recently conducted an experiment in which they gave Vista naysayers an opportunity to be the very first to test drive “Mojave”, the new operating system from the software giant. In a nutshell, people who were vocal about hating Vista but had never tried it for themselves were brought in and asked why they wouldn’t upgrade to Vista, with the near-universal response being “I’ve just heard bad things about it”. Then, after praising Mojave on the highest mountain, it was revealed that these people…

Microsoft’s Mojave OS A Major Hit

July 26, 2008April 17, 2009 Doug Groves 6 Comments

Microsoft recently unveiled it’s ‘Mojave’ operating system to a select group of prominent bloggers in San Francisco just over a week ago. They specifically went out of their way to get people who had been vocal about their dislike of Vista. The results? Over 90% of the group had a positive reaction to the Mojave OS, including one exclamation of “Oh wow!”, which is reminiscent of the Vista OS launch. The real kicker is that the Mojave OS is nothing more than Vista.

Xbox, Vista, Playstation, iTunes, Wii spawn mutant 5-headed baby, dub it “The New Xbox Experience”

July 17, 2008July 25, 2009 Danny X Microsoft, Xbox 36012 Comments

One of the things launched at E3 this week is a brand new dashboard for the XBOX 360, so far dubbed “The New XBOX experience”. Not a great deal is known about it, and precious few (if any) have had actual hands-on experience with it, but if Larry Hryb (XBOX’s very own “Major Nelson”) is to be believed, it’s gonna be, like, totally rad. One look at the new interface and I beg to differ. The UI appears to add nothing new to the gaming universe, and appears in fact…

Symbian goes home to Daddy.

June 24, 2008June 24, 2008 Danny X 3 Comments

As quoted from today’s Macrumors front page: Seemingly in a response to growing competition from Apple and Google, Nokia is buying out Symbian Ltd and will open its mobile operating system for royalty free use. Nokia will pay $410 million to buy the remaining 52% share of the company that it does not already own and establish the Symbian Foundation. “This is a significant milestone in our software strategy” said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia. “Symbian is already the leading open platform for mobile devices. Through this acquisition and the…

3D Movie Created Entirely with Open Source Tools: Big Buck Bunny

June 3, 2008July 25, 2009 Doug Groves open source3 Comments

Big Buck Bunny from Blender Foundation on Vimeo. Blender.org and the Peach open movie project recently released it’s animated short Big Buck Bunny, which you can watch above, and is available under a Creative Commons license… Big Buck Bunny tells the story of a giant rabbit with a heart bigger than himself. When one sunny day three rodents rudely harass him, something snaps… and the rabbit ain’t no bunny anymore! In the typical cartoon tradition he prepares the nasty rodents a comical revenge. (c) copyright Blender Foundation | www.bigbuckbunny.org Besides…

Bell’s VideoStore and Net Neutrality

May 22, 2008July 25, 2009 Doug Groves Bell5 Comments

Over the past month or more, there’s been an uptick in Net neutrality issues in the Canadian ISP space. Over the decades, Bell Canada has received untold millions in government subsidies to build out it’s infrastructure. In return, it’s is mandated by the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission) to lease wholesale to 3rd party companies to run their own services on Bell’s physical infranstruction. Back in March of this year, Bell announced that it would start packet shaping, or throttling bit torrent transfers ‘during peak hours’, even on these…

DAZ Studio 2.1 Update

May 21, 2008July 25, 2009 Doug Groves DAZ3 Comments

DAZ Productions recently released an update to their popular 3D software DAZ Studio. If you’re not already familiar with DAZ Studio, a simple way to describe it is playing with 3D paper dolls, but don’t let that description deter you. The software allows you to bring in character models, and clothing, then pose them for rendering. There are supplied models, but there’s also a large user community of free and paid content, both characters and clothing to expand your cast. Studio also works in conjunction with most major 3D software,…

Nuendo 4 Released – Press Release

November 23, 2007July 25, 2009 James Moore Nuendo3 Comments

From the Nuendo 4 Press Release: Steinberg is proud to present the latest version of its award-winning Nuendo audio production environment. The Nuendo 4 Advanced Audio and Post Production System enhances audio production for audio post, studio production and live recording with new tools to accelerate workflows, boost creativity and save valuable production time. Among the new features are a world-class automation system, new VST3 plug-ins, the MediaBay file management system, new audio post editing commands, routing and recording enhancements and much more. NOV 30th Vancouver Film School in the…

Newtek’s SpeedEDIT 1.2

September 20, 2007February 22, 2010 Doug Groves newtek, SpeedEdit0 comment

For those who don’t know, Newtek ushered in the video desktop era with the Amiga based Toaster, and later the Toaster Flyer, which added NLE capabilities to their already brilliant “studio in a desktop” concept. They continued after the demise of the Amiga by working on the Video Toaster for Windows, which was later shortened to the VT, which offers a suite of software, combined with an uncompressed video I/O card and switcher.They recently separated the editing software TEd away from the VT hardware, and given the user a software…