Crave

The Zune HD is picky about software.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Q: I received the Sony Walkman X-Series last month as a birthday gift and absolutely love it. I did, however, see you on CNET Live with Donald Bell featuring the Microsoft Zune HD, which I was very impressed with. I also saw the price on Amazon, which I was also very impressed with. My question is does the new Zune work with Windows Media Player 11? Someone told me it doesn't and that all your downloads are through Zune Pass, which I believe is a music store like iTunes.--Ben, via e-mail

A: The Zune operates in a closed environment, much like the iPod. So yes, it is only meant to be used with the Zune Software, and it will not operate correctly with WMP11 (though I have heard rumors of people getting previous Zunes to work outside of the "environment"). The one major difference between the Zune and the iPod, however, is the Zune Pass, which is a subscription music service that lets you download and transfer all the music you want for $14.99 per month. (This plan also includes 10 songs per month in MP3 format, which you get to download and own outright.) You may also choose to pay per song through the Zune Marketplace, which operates like iTunes.

So with the Zune, you have three levels of music management and ownership to consider. At a minimum, you must use the Zune Software to transfer any media to the device, though this can be limited to content you already own. Next, there's the Zune Marketplace, which lives inside the Software and provides content (music and video) for purchase, as well as access to things like podcasts, which are generally free. For the most comprehensive experience, you might choose the Zune Pass, which provides fairly unlimited access for a monthly fee.

"I own a SimpleTech 320GB Black Cherry Hard Drive and needed it to run on both Mac and PC for school. I thought it would be pretty helpful if you made a video showing how to format a disc to run on all OS's using Mac OS X."

First, Here's why there's a difference. All data has to be put in a file format that the operating system can read off the hard drive. OS X uses a file format called HFS+ to write its data. Windows can't read or write HFS+ data natively. However, OS X and Windows both can read and write to a format called FAT32, which used to be used for Windows all the way back into the MS-DOS days. Most modern Windows systems use the NTFS file format, which OS X can read, but not write to.

So your best bet for compatibility is FAT32. Here's how to format a drive as FAT32. First, the Windows way and then the Mac way.

Medium-format digital cameras, which have larger sensors and higher price tags than even high-end SLRs, didn't fare so well in earlier tests of sensor quality by measurement firm DxO Labs, but Phase One's newly tested top-end technology has risen to the top of the DxOMark Sensor test.

Phase One now rules the DxOMark Sensor roost.

(Credit: DxO Labs)

Phase One's 60-megapixel P65+ camera scored 89.1 on the test, edging out the Nikon D3X, which scored 88, according to data released Thursday. In addition, the 51.7-megapixel Hasselblad H3DII 50, an older model than Phase One's, scored 78.2. Click here to compare the two models and Nikon's D3X.

The DxOMark sensor test measures a camera sensor's dynamic range, color depth, and low-light performance. DxO Labs cautions that differences of less than 5 points aren't really distinguishable, and of course many other factors including price, lens quality, autofocus, and resolution factor into overall camera quality.

The P65+ features the best color performance yet, but DxO Labs said its comparatively good performance in low-light conditions helped it carry the day.

If you aligned yourself with the red team during the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war, we wouldn't blame you if you felt a little turned off to the whole idea of high-def discs. Warner's new Red2Blu program is trying to relieve some of the sting for the losers of the format war, giving owners of Warner HD DVD movies the option to trade in their movies for Blu-ray versions of the same movie. The program isn't free--you send in the cover art from your HD DVDs along with $4.95 per movie, plus a $6.95 shipping and handling fee for your entire order--but it's definitely better than having to shell out another $30 bucks for a new Blu-ray. There are some minor restrictions, such as you can only trade in 25 movies per household and only one copy of an individual title, but the biggest restriction is that the offer is only good for Warner titles.

All the home theater editors at CNET already jettisoned their HD DVD collections on eBay, but we're interested in hearing whether any of the HD DVD faithful plan on using this program. Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

(Sources: Warner Red2Blu via Engadget)

Sony got it right with the CD.

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

Betamax was one of Sony's biggest blunders.

The videocassette format was introduced in 1975, and initially sold well. But when JVC's VHS tape cartridge was introduced in 1978, Betamax quickly lost its lead. The media loved Beta for its superior picture quality, but Standard Betamax tapes were only 60 minutes, and VHS 3-hour tapes could record more TV shows.

VHS was more popular, but Betamax refused to die. Production in the U.S. ended in 1993, and the last Betamax machine in the world was produced in Japan in 2002.

Ah, but the Compact Disc was a hit from the get-go. On August 31, 1982, an announcement was made in Tokyo that four companies, Sony, CBS/Sony, Philips, and Polygram had jointly developed the world's first CD system. Talk of the CD's demise are premature, sales are still in the hundreds of millions of discs a year.

The MiniDisc was introduced January 12, 1992. The recordable music format was originally based exclusively on ATRAC audio data compression, but the format never caught on in the U.S. MiniDiscs were popular in Japan and Asia as a digital upgrade from cassette tapes.

Which reminds me, Sony's ill-fated Elcaset came out in 1976. Like Betamax, Sony was trying to make a higher quality tape format, in this case better than the Philips Compact Cassette. Elcaset was better, but it was too large and cumbersome. Elcaset was a flop.

It looks like Canon and Nikon weren't blowing smoke when they said their high-end SLRs cameras will compete with medium-format digital cameras used almost exclusively by professionals.

Given the image quality advantages that SLRs with larger "full-frame" sensors have over mainstream and much less expensive models with smaller processors, one might have expected another quantum leap from costly high-end medium-format digital cameras with sensors twice the area of top-end SLRs. Not so, according to new DxOMark Sensor test results set for release Tuesday by French test and measurement firm DxO Labs.

In the digital era, Canon's top-end SLRs give medium-format cameras a run for their money. (Click to enlarge.)

(Credit: DxO Labs)

The company tested image sensors from several medium-format cameras--the Mamiya ZD Back, Leaf Aptus 75S, Hasselblad H3DII 39, and Phase One P45+. These are the sorts of cameras used by fashion photographers and others who need lush tones, fine detail, and lots of megapixels to handle big photos such as magazine spreads.

But none outperformed the Nikon D3X SLR, whose score of 88 gives it the current top rank on DxO's sensor tests.

Ding dong, the VCR is dead

I've never been very good at giving up on old technology. I held on to my audio cassettes well into the compact disc era; my old Handspring Visor is still sitting in my desk drawer; and I admit that I still have an old Sony VCR taking up space underneath my TiVo.

And so I had a slightly nostalgic moment when I read this report from the Los Angeles Times that the last major supplier of VHS tapes has shipped its final truckload of the format. I know the VHS tape has been considered dead for years now, but now it is officially the end of an era. Ryan Kugler, the owner of the warehouse, said that he'll end up just giving away the rest of the unused tapes or dumping them into the trash.

The LA Times article goes on to tell a pretty interesting history of the VHS tape, including what it meant for the home entertainment industry and how it was eventually taken over by DVD some time in the mid-2000s. It's a particularly interesting story now, as it appears even DVDs might go the way of the dodo, what with Blu-ray and online downloads gaining in popularity.

So, does this mean I'll give up my VCR? I don't know. There are a lot of cult movies and independent films that never made the transition to DVD, and many of them are still available in independent video rental stores across the country. That said, the format is fragile, and brick-and-mortar video stores are dying a slow death, so maybe I will give it up some day.

What do you make of the end of the VHS? Do you think DVD and Blu-ray will suffer the same fate? I would also be curious to hear what VHS tapes, if any, you might have lying around. (The only VHS tape I have in the house is a copy of the utterly lame Lord of the Rings cartoon.)

Phase One Capture One 4 Pro offers selective color editing controls.

(Credit: Phase One)

Phase One has begun selling Capture One 4 Pro, the newest incarnation of the company's higher-end photo editing software.

The software is designed to handle the raw images from higher-end cameras--in particular Phase One's highly regarded medium-format models with up to 65-megapixel resolution, but other manufacturers' models as well. The pro version costs $399 or 299 euros, compared to $129 or 99 euros for the standard version, the Copenhagen-based company said.

Capture One Pro version has several features missing from the standard version: it can correct some lens problems such as distortion, purple fringing, vignetting, and chromatic aberration for several supported lenses from Carl Zeiss and Hasselblad; it can be used in a "tethered" mode connected directly to a camera as it takes photos; it supports use of multiple monitors; and it can be used to selectively adjust specific colors. And photographers can create customized styles that can be applied later to give a signature look.

(Credit: Leica)

(Credit: Leica)

Leica has announced a new medium-format DSLR camera and lens system, the Leica S2. The S2 uses Kodak's 37.5MP CCD sensor with a 3:2 aspect ratio. The sensor measures 30x45mm--56 percent larger than a 35mm full-frame sensor, which measures 27x36mm, and smaller than the 36x48mm sensor found in some other medium-format digital backs.

The S2's body is dust and moisture sealed, with Leica's new S-system bayonet lens mount, for the new line of S series lenses. The new line of lenses will feature metal construction and weatherproofing. The S2 body will have a focal-plane shutter and certain lenses will have integrated leaf shutters to allow for the faster flash-sync speeds.

Leica has not announced pricing or availability at this time, although it has been suggested that it will sell for around $30,000.