ravenous

When online image-editing site Aviary released Raven on Monday, the Holy Grail of image-editing tools had finally hatched. If you're new to the term, vectors are what allow graphic designers to create an image and scale it to any size without pixelation or degradation of quality. The Wikipedia vector entry does an excellent job of going into more detail about the differences between vectors and rasters, which degrade as you change their scale.

Beautifully, Raven only requires a Web browser and the latest version of Flash. In the words of Michael Galpert, co-founder of Aviary, "If you can … Read more

It's a rare sight to see a functioning first or second-generation iPod out in the wild these days. If your vintage iPod's battery hasn't lost its ability to hold a charge, then there's always the chance of a failed hard drive, a broken screen, or an intermittent headphone jack. Sure, the latest crop of iPods are thinner, cheaper, and longer lasting than your bulky heirloom iPod, but if you have a soft spot for the old guy, or just resent gadget obsolescence, there's a new repair option for you.

Blue Raven, a manufacturer of DIY … Read more

Sourcefire just announced its acquisition of ClamAV. ClamAV is by most estimates the most commonly used open-source antivirus product on this planet, with over 10 million downloads (and a significant percentage). Great, great move by Sourcefire.

There's just no end in sight of this open-source M&A market, friends, and this time it was one open-source project buying another. I like that. Keep it in the family.

Nick Selby over at The 451 Group has a great analysis. He writes:… Read more

Blue Raven Technologies just announced the release of a substantial 2.1-channel iPod speaker system called the Maestro 1070. With a composite video output, auxiliary input, and a remote control, this 70-watt, 18-pound speaker box looks like it could do some serious damag--and for only $200. Might this be a worthy, chromed-out adversary to the Apple Hi-Fi?

Today we have some pictures of a bad, bad MP3 player. So bad our editors gave it a 2.3 rating. Poor thing. It looks so sleek and spacey. We also have pics of a gigantic wide-screen PVP with built-in DVR capabilities, as well as a slide show of a good entry-level car stereo. And we have two slide shows on the Canon PowerShot S5 IS. One shows its features and design, and the other presents some image samples. Check them all out below.

Photos: Coby MP-C7082

It is a rare day indeed that we come across a piece of … Read more

We've just wrapped up our review of the BlueRaven MediaMate 7000 PVP over on CNET Reviews. The thing is gigantic! If you're in the market for a wide-screen PVP with built-in DVR capabilities, but the Archos players are out of reach, the MediaMate might be an acceptable alternative. It's bulky, and could really use a higher screen resolution--but it'll get the job done. Here's our slide show.

Need that next on-the-go gaming session to go all night? The new Extended PSP Battery from Blue Raven Technology may be your dream product. The snap-on, lithium-polymer, 4,500mAh battery pack aims to deliver as much as 15 hours of PSP playtime--a big step up from the 3 to 5 hours offered by the PSP's default battery. But the increased playtime comes at a cost: The Extended PSP Battery is about the same size and weight as the PSP itself (5 ounces for the battery vs. 6.2 for the PSP), and it costs a whopping $90. On the … Read more

iPod battery replacement kits are nothing new. Manufacturers like Sonnet Technologies have offered reasonably priced do-it-yourself battery replacement kits for the past few years. What distinguishes the latest line of Blue Raven iPod batteries from previous efforts is a boast of 30 to 50 percent better battery life over the factory original (depending on your iPod model). The Blue Raven batteries are also much more attractively packaged than other replacements I've seen, which seems silly to mention, but I think packaging can have a huge effect on how intimidating a DIY project appears. Kits are available for around $30 … Read more