scene

SceneWeaver lets you build 3D virtual worlds

SceneCaster, which I covered from DemoFall 2007, is back at Demo 2008 with an add-on to the product, which it is calling SceneWeaver. The service, which lets you create 3D rooms, now lets you link rooms to each other. So if you click on a door you can hop to the room it opens in to. That's more than just a small feature: It lets users create entire worlds. Not that they will. But they can.

Users can also create links to objects, which might make for cool retail experiences.

Also, the service now adapts its 3D display to … Read more

Go build your room, with SceneCaster

SceneCaster is launching its service today that makes it not too difficult for anyone to build a virtual room and then stock it with furniture and decorations.

It's not a virtual world. There are no in-scene avatars (at least not in this version). All it does it let you build interactive scenes. But it's very interesting, and potentially useful. For example, if you want to create an interactive representation of your retail shop to embed on your store's site, this is the tool for you. Users can then fly around the room and see things from any … Read more

'FRED': a CSI detective's best friend

First, we admit to some potential bias here: We're not huge fans of CSI, in whatever location--Miami, New York, Vegas, Walla Walla--so perhaps we're missing something here. Still, we can't help but think that this product is an indication that some people might be getting a wee obsessed with the whole forensics craze. (The fact that forensics can constitute a craze is disturbing enough as it is.)

Digital Intelligence's "Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device," or FRED to its friends, and its related "On Location" equipment are designed to accompany you to the … Read more

This scene is all-inclusive

Exclusive online content is nothing new, but PalTalkScene gives you a forum to conduct real-time voice and chat interaction with whatever all-singing, all-dancing content has attracted your attention. How it works is so simple that users can create their own chat rooms, a great way to talk to friends or collaborate over long distances. Let's take a look:

… Read more

Now playing: New Paltalk Messenger screens original Web shows

Picking what to watch on TV from the crowd of new season premieres just got more complicated. Webtainment is ramping up in a big way, with content both created by and for the public now playing on various outlets across the Internet. One such notable is the migration of Paltalk from a social network congealed through an IM client, to an online media network.

One with edgy aspirations at that. This fall, Paltalk will show several original series that have been produced to fit the updated chat platform, now called PaltalkScene (download here.) The updated application expands on Paltalk Messenger's existing multimedia capabilities with Screening Rooms--private and public chat spaces of up to 5,000 viewers where users can watch, voice chat, and instant message about uploaded user videos and Paltalk's new shows.… Read more

Behind the scenes: Shooting the "NOC"

When you visit CNET TV, the first video you see is called "What's new on CNET TV." Tom, Molly, Veronica, Brian or I talk about some of cool new videos you'll find on that day's hand-selected play list. We call it the "NOC" for short...as in, "Who's shooting the NOC today?"

This is a cool, behind-the-scenes picture that CNET photographer Sarah Tew took of me and Chris Parker, my videographer and editor extraordinaire, while we were shooting an NOC.

We try to find cool places in New York to … Read more