(Credit:
Olive)
Christmas has come and gone, but it's not too late to think about giving yourself a post-holiday treat. And Olive is here to help. The company is offering a free copy of the Beatles Remastered CD collection to anyone who purchases an Olive 4 or Olive 4 HD digital music server. Yes, at $1,500 to $2,000, this is no impulse buy, but if you're in the market for a high-end digital music server, having the Beatles CDs (a $200 value) thrown in for free just might get you to take the plunge. (We liked the previous Olive product we reviewed back in 2006, and we'll be reviewing the Olive 4 in January.)
Update: The deal originally ran until December 28, but Olive has now extended it until December 31. Check it out here, and be sure to read the terms and conditions as well.
(Credit:
Plastic Logic)
So far, Amazon's Kindle has been in a safe position as one of the dominant electronic readers on the market. However, this may be changing because its rival, the Plastic Logic e-Reader, has been busy gaining prelaunch partners.
Plastic Logic, the start-up maker of the possible Kindle "killer" e-reader, announced Thursday that Olive Software will be a key service provider and partner for the Plastic Logic Publishers Program. The partnership means the two companies will develop content-publishing solutions for newspapers, magazines, and Web content providers, as well as other publishers that distribute their content via Plastic Logic's e-reader.
Olive is a prominent digital publishing company that produces hundreds of newspapers and magazine titles across multiple platforms--including electronic reading devices, smartphones, browsers, and Internet-enabled TV.
The Plastic Logic e-reader is an electronic reader designed specifically for mobile users. The device will be about the size of an 8.5-inch by 11-inch pad of paper and weighs less than most magazines. It seems to be an ultrathin, simple, and strong device, gauging from a recent demo.
Differentiating the new e-reader from the Kindle is the fact that it supports both 3G and Wi-Fi. This means you can download new content via wireless on the go, and from your home and office Wi-Fi networks. In addition, apart from published contents, the Plastic Logic e-reader supports popular document formats, including PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents.
Recently, Plastic Logic also hooked up with Barnes & Noble and announced that it will use AT&T's 3G network.
The Plastic Logic Reader is due to launch early next year. For now, it's still unclear how much it will cost.
The 'Fusion'
(Credit: Olive)If peripherals as mundane as cable boxes and portable hard drives can draw the attention of artists and fashion designers, then certainly a home audio system can too. And if the photo accompanying this item is any indication, Olive Media isn't shy to make a splash of its own.
The company has updated its highly regarded line of digital servers with a model that features the artwork of designer Karim Rashid. The "Opus Nš5 Karim Edition" comes in four variations, which are explained in classic art-speak by the creator himself: "I designed four unique digital graphics patterns symbolic of our corybantic digital age. Omni-directional like sound, the patterns emphasize the 'voluminous' beats that radiate from music. The repeated elements are symbolic of binary notation enveloping a perfect container of sound."
We had to look up "corybantic" in the dictionary and got this helpful definition: "being in the spirit or manner of a Corybant." Thanks a lot, Messrs. Merriam and Webster.
Daft Punk
(Credit: Stephane Queme aka DJ Falcon Virgin Records )With three stellar albums under its shiny metallic belts, Homework (1997), Discovery (2001), and Human After All (2005), the helmet-wearing heroes known as Daft Punk continue to win new fans across the globe with the group's bangin' blend of acid-house, funk, electro, hip-hop, and love of a good sample as heard in hits including "Da Funk," "Around The World," and "Harder Better Faster Stronger," among others. Speaking of which, I couldn't believe it took someone like Kanye to discover the talent behind the duo which in turn went on and sampled "Harder Better Faster Stronger" for his hit single "Stronger." Since then, Daft Punk received more publicity in '07 than any other year with sold out shows to prove it.
If you weren't lucky enough to catch Daft Punk on its inexplicably rockin' live arena tour this past summer, check out the next best thing: an official live recording of the duo's June 2007 show in Paris (as if you needed more proof of Daft Punk's subhuman awesomeness).
Listen to the new album "Alive 2007" here!
Watch the video shot by fans during the "Alive 2007" tour in Brooklyn on August 9 here!
Free music download of "Human After All" remixed by Justice here!
(Credit:
Hammacher Schlemmer)
We're somewhat dubious about any machine that serves cocktails but, the way things are going, we may be faced with a robot the next time we belly up to the bar. Still, a martini--now that's something sacred.
So we pray that Hammacher Schlemmer did its research before coming up with "The Perfect Temperature Martini Maker," a digital appliance that shakes or stirs its stainless steel tumbler "until it reaches the optimal drinking temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit, ensuring perfect homemade martinis at the touch of a button."
The ritual of mixing the ingredients, however, is left to human hands. So you'll have only yourself to blame if the martinis are bruised.
Who says magazines are dead? Not Fortune Small Business Magazine, Hearst Magazines, or Red Herring. And certainly not Olive Software, the Santa Clara, Calif., company responsible for creating the interactive digital twins of their print issues.
Fortune Small Business e-zine for November 2007
Like the best discoveries, I stepped into Olive Software's work by accident, while flipping through the digital leaves of Fortune Small Business Magazine. As a champion of downloadable and Web apps for consumers, I wouldn't normally seek out this kind of story, but the experience was too gratifying not to share. After all, would I hold back from you?
Click once and the magazine blooms in its self-contained online reader. Click again, this time on the right arrow, and the cover unfurls to reveal a faithful representation of the magazine's glossy, full-page interior, down to the shadowed hollow where the pages meet the binding. Flip through to read articles horizontally across multiple pages, each one adhering to the original layout, rather than dive-bombing into a vertical scroll that makes do with the Web's predilection for linear storytelling.... Read more
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