After watching Amazon make huge headway in the e-book self-publishing game with its Digital Text Platform, Sony is finally making a real push into this area with a new Publisher Portal and partnerships with self-publishing companies Smashwords and Author Solutions.
While Sony stressed that the portal was for large and small publishers alike, it is clear that the company is targeting the announcement at independent publishers.
"New authors can select a self-publishing path and get their work published and for sale on Sony's eBook Store in as little as 10 days," Sony representatives said. "As Sony completes the conversion of its eBook store to the industry-standard EPUB format, Smashwords and Authors Solution will expand the offer to all existing Author Solutions and Smashwords authors to get their titles up on the Sony site."
Author Solutions, one of the larger self-publishing companies, with several brands under its umbrella offers a full suite of self-publishing "services," most of which are fee-based. Meanwhile, start-up Smashwords is focused exclusively on e-book creation and sales, and it is free to use (you simply upload a Word file, make some tweaks to your formatting based on a style guide, and presto, you have an e-book).
According to Sony, Author Solutions and Smashwords will offer authors the option to publish content in the EPUB format, "the International Digital Publishing Forum's XML-based standard format for reflowable digital books and publications." Amazon, on the other hand, uses its proprietary e-book format.
This is obviously good news for self-publishers. When it comes to e-book stores, Sony may not have the traffic that Amazon does, but it certainly offers a large customer base of avid readers interested in e-books.
(Credit:
GIPS)
Global IP Solutions, a company that provides IP-based voice and video communication for mobile platforms, has now brought its solutions to power Web 2.0.
The company announced Monday that CommuniGate Systems (CGS), a carrier-class mobile unified communications (UC) provider, has embedded GIPS VoiceEngine to power voice communications in its Pronto client UC framework.
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Last year we reported that a Nintendo Wii storage solution was upon us that will allow you to store and load games directly off of an SD card. At today's Nintendo press conference at GDC 2009, the company has just announced that an SD menu has been added to the Wii software, and is actually available right now for download via a system update.
The new feature will allow for SDHC cards up to 32GB to be used to store and play games. You'll also have the option to download games directly to your SD card via the Wii Shop Channel.
(Source: Kotaku)
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(Credit:
Kotaku)
(Credit:
Kotaku)
Tampa authorities will utilize Microsoft's Surface touch-screen device, along with other technologies, as part of Super Bowl Sunday security, according to Ars Technica.
For well over a year now, more than 60 federal, state, regional, local, and municipal authorities have been working with the E-Sponder technology partnership to plan security details for Super Bowl XLIII, one of the only major sporting events that receives national security status.
Beginning this week and continuing past the final game whistle, E-Sponder will connect on-site and remote authorities, allowing them to remotely track all activities in real time with mapping, as well as 3D displays, two-way radio integration, and immediate communication.
Together with Infusion Development's Falcon Eye technology, the Tampa Incident Command staff will use the E-Sponder portal to visualize all aspects of Super Bowl goings-on.
The Microsoft Surface device will display a Microsoft Virtual Earth map of the entire region, tracking events and incidents in real time using its large display and multi-user, multitouch, and interactive capabilities, and also allowing it to communicate with remote devices and PCs.
With a quick hand gesture, the map can zoom in and display a 3D image of the city, including detailed views of buildings and streets and real-time resource tracking.
Last month we reported that the Wii was about to get a storage solution and that it wasn't going to be a hard drive. Nintendo has finally released information on what this solution actually is, and the good news is that you won't need to buy any additional hardware--except for maybe an SD card.
At the fall press conference in Japan, the company announced that in the spring of 2009, Wii owners will have the ability to download, store, and play games directly off an SD card via the console's SD slot. While data can currently be stored on an SD card, you cannot access this content in-game.
But there's a catch: The Wii currently only supports SD cards with a maximum capacity of 2GB. Also, it'll be interesting to see how Nintendo handles the inevitable DRM that will need to be enforced to prevent the swapping and trading of games. Also, will Nintendo expand the amount of channels available on the Wii dashboard? Or will we see an "SD Channel?" What do you think?
(Via Joystiq)
Updated at 2:17 p.m. PDT with number of downloads currently available on CinemaNow.
Dell is out with a new external drive that lets you expand your home movie library (legally) by burning downloads to DVD.
The PC maker has teamed with Sonic Solutions to offer the Qflix DVD burner, which lets you download films and TV shows from movie site CinemaNow and transfer them to multiple digital devices.
(Credit:
Dell )
"Two of the key things holding consumers back in their willingness to purchase movies electronically are worries about long-term ownership and portability of the downloaded file," Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research, said in a statement. "Providing the security of a DVD backup and the assurance that the file will play on the majority of standard DVD players--set-top, desktop, or portable--is a key step forward."
Qflix is a legal, recordable DVD standard. Approximately 100 Qflix-ready movie selections are currently available on CinemaNow, which says it plans to expand the number of offerings (a welcome move). Films can be downloaded for $9.95 a pop.
Starting Monday, the Qflix DVD burner is available for $120 as a standalone product, with the bundle (including the drive, which also supports standard DVD read/write functions; two recordable Qflix DVD discs; Roxio Venue and CinemaNow software; and a USB cable) available as an option on most Inspiron, Studio, and XPS laptops. Dell says the package will be available soon on some consumer desktops, as well.
(Credit:
SensoGlove)
Despite witnessing many friends fall under the spell of Tiger Woods, some of us at Crave have resisted learning how to play golf for one simple reason: It's the kind of sport that would drive us nuts. If we ever become tempted, however, the "SensoGlove" might well be the first thing we'd purchase. (Well, maybe after a robo-caddy.)
Made by SensoSolutions, it has a built-in computer that monitors grip pressure and other factors, then supposedly provides advice on how to make adjustments, according to GizmoWatch. Four sewn-in sensors send information for display on a small LCD on the back of the leather glove.
One good thing is that it's definitely less expensive than the $55,000 Full Golf Swing simulator, though no doubt less fun. And it has another essential feature in that it's sweatproof.
Sure, recycled paper is nice, but what about feeding it through a recycled printer?
Not as in refurbished and resold, but a new Deskjet that is composed of 83 percent recycled plastic. Hewlett-Packard is introducing a new green-focused label for some of its peripherals, and one of the first items under that label is the aforementioned D2545 printer.
(Credit:
Hewlett-Packard)
HP hopes to tempt the environmentally conscious as well as those looking for a bargain with the D2545, which retails for $45. Even the ink cartridges it uses are made of recycled plastic resins.
The printer is one of several products that will fall under the HP Eco Highlights label. So far it also includes three LaserJet printers (P4015x, P4515x, and P4515xm models). HP says the label will list the environmental attributes of the product, and will eventually encompass all products the company offers.
HP recycles tons of dead tech products every year, so it makes sense that it's able to make products from the materials it recycles. So while consumers are becoming much more aware of the environmental impact of the products we use, and even businesses are beginning to see the boon that green policies are to their bottom lines, why not make this standard instead of an outlier?
HP responded that by 2010,100 percent of its Deskjet printers will contain some recycled materials, and will increase by three times the number of inkjet printers made from recycled materials.
If HP can do this with printers, why not make their PCs and other products from recycled materials too?
They wouldn't be the first to make eco-conscious PC casings. Fujitsu has been experimenting with corn-based resins in some of the laptops it is selling, and for the same price as the non-corn-based models.
(Credit:
OhGizmo)
Oliver North found out the hard way that erasing e-mail doesn't mean it's gone forever. And in more than two decades since, countless others have shown that they still hadn't learned that lesson.
But there is one foolproof way of confounding even the best IT sleuths: the "Hard Disk Crusher."
This no-nonsense machine from EDR Solutions does exactly what its name says, destroying a hard disk in as little as 10 seconds. "It basically 'drills' through the hard drive's spindles which physically creates ripples in the platters making it impossible to recover any data," OhGizmo says.
The Crusher can even work with an emergency hand pump in case your building is surrounded by enemy forces who have cut off the power. The only problem--and it's a big one--is its $11,500 price tag. For that kind of money, a few medium-range explosives would seem more cost-effective.
(Credit:
Steve Guttenberg)
The Audio Engineering Society was holding court at the Javits Convention Center in New York City last week. The show is aimed at recording industry professionals, but I figured I'd find stuff that would possibly appeal to consumer oriented buyers.
The Audiophiliac and a hefty ATC monitor.
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)I heard a great demonstration of multichannel music at the ATC room. When I strolled in they were playing an Elton John recording, and the five big speakers punched out an incredibly dynamic sound. Classical music was natural and very, very clear. The big monitors are used in recording studios, but ATC offers consumer models as well.
When I spotted Sony's PCM-D50 hand held recorder I flashed back to the Zoom H2 I reviewed here last week. The H2 is a great little machine, but the Sony ups the ante: first of all it's built like a tank; comes with 4GB of built-in flash memory, built-in stereo microphones, digital pitch control than can slow down playback speed without changing the music's pitch, and records 96 kHz/24 bit WAV files. It also has a buffer circuit that can record five seconds of audio BEFORE you hit the record button!
Sony's handy PCM-D1 high-resolution recorder.
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)I dropped by the Acoustical Solutions booth to learn about their products that improve room acoustics and their noise/isolation control solutions. A section of the booth featured was treated with sound absorbing panels that significantly hushed the roar of the crowd on the convention floor. If you have a "problem" room definitely check out their site. it offers a vast range of products.
Sonex sound absorbing panels are an affordable solution for problem rooms.
(Credit: Acoustical Solutions)
