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Week
of Feb 9
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Feb
12
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Kodak is voluntarily recalling
120,000 AC adapters that were sold
for use with certain Kodak digital
cameras. When the connector plug of the AC
adapter is not fully inserted in the
camera, the batteries in the camera can
overheat, causing the batteries to leak
acid and explode, possibly causing thermal
and chemical burns or lacerations to
consumers.
These
AC adapters were manufactured by ELPAC
Electronics Inc., of Irvine, Calif. They
were sold separately as optional
accessories for use with Kodak digital
cameras and authorized for use by Kodak.
These AC adapters have model numbers 2534,
2457, MI2008 and M42008. The brand name
and model numbers can be found on labels
affixed to the adapters. These AC adapters
have angled or tapered connector tips.
ELPAC models 2534 and M42008 have an
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) label. The
Kodak digital cameras that use these AC
adapters have model numbers DC25, DC40,
DC50 and DC120. The model number and
"Kodak" are written on the front of the
cameras. Only the ELPAC AC adapter is
being recalled, and not the Kodak cameras.
Department,
electronic, computer and camera stores, as
well as mail-order and web retailers sold
these AC adapters nationwide from March
1996 to August 1998.
Kodak
will replace, free of charge, these
recalled ELPAC AC adapters with
redesigned, UL-listed ELPAC AC adapters.
Kodak also will offer a discount upgrade
program for consumers interested in
returning their recalled AC adapter and
trading in their original camera for a new
Kodak digital camera.
<www.kodak.com/go/acadapter>
Ulead Systems Inc has released
Ulead COOL 360, a tool for creating
panoramas from any digitized
sequence of photos. It has an SRP of only
$39.95 and will be shown for the first
time publicly this week at the
DigitalFocus '99 Event at PMA in Las
Vegas, NV.
The
software guides users through acquiring
images from any TWAIN-compliant scanner or
digital camera. In addition to support for
all traditional camera lenses, Ulead has
pre-defined settings for virtually all
digital cameras and optimizes results for
the type of camera used.
Panorama
projects created using COOL 360 can be
delivered via email as a stand-alone .EXE
file or posted as an HTML-based panorama
for use on the Web (a downloadable Ulead
Panorama Viewer plug-in is required).
Other output options include using
projects for Windows screensavers,
printing or exporting as .MOV (QuickTime)
files.
A
15 day trial version is available at their
website.
<www.ulead.com>
 
Imaging Technologies Corp., is
developing a color management
strategy for improving the viewing and
reproduction of color over the
Internet. ITEC's ColorBlind Color
Management software is a suite of software
tools, utilities, and applications that
allow users to profile every peripheral in
the color workflow (scanners, monitors,
digital cameras, and printers) using
International Color Consortium (ICC) color
standards. ColorBlind processes images
using these profiles to reproduce the
desired colors.
<www.imagetechcorp.com>
Further to yesterdays piece about wavelet
based video technology
<"wavelet-based
streaming video
technology">
Summus Limited has also
demonstrated a wavelet compression based
three dimensional technology that
will be released in May. The software can
be used to create 3D environments, and is
being positioned for use in e-commerce
applications. Little information about
what the technology does -- and how it
differs from other technologies such as
VRML -- is available. Pricing will be
announced in late April, though a press
release says that it will be
"affordable."
<www.summus.com>
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Feb
11
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The Web3D Consortium has initiated
the process to define X3D, a
next-generation componentized 3D
standard that includes integration
with XML. Standing for "Extensible 3D,"
X3D is an interoperable set of
lightweight, componentized 3D standards
that flexibly address the needs of a wide
range of markets, including Internet and
broadcast applications. A draft standard
is expected by mid-1999.
X3D
is building upon the VRML 97 ISO
standard with clearly defined backward
compatibility with existing VRML content.
Initial components include a lightweight
3D runtime engine with state-of-the-art
rendering capabilities, a
platform-independent 3D file format and
advanced XML integration. Additionally, by
integrating real-time 3D graphics with
text, plus 2D graphics and streaming sound
and video, X3D will enable a wide range of
web- and broadcast-based applications
including entertainment, electronic
commerce and enterprise data
visualization.
The
Web3D Consortium is also working to ensure
that X3D will be interoperable with other
standards and technologies such as MPEG-4
and HTML NG, and is working closely with
broadcast-oriented organizations such as
AIC-I, the Advanced Interactive Content
Initiative.
Further
details of the X3D standardization process
can be found at the Web3D Consortium's
web-site.
<www.web3d.org>
For Cosmo Software's (now part of
Platinum) perspective on X3D you
can find a collection of pages on their
website.
<http://www.cosmosoftware.com
web page "X3D
Perspective">
I just saw a demo of Virtus' OpenSpace
3D which provides 3D capabilities
within Macromedia Director and should be
available by the end of the month. It
looks really interesting and I will be
writing up a full report in the next few
days.
<www.virtus.com>
High Speed Net Solutions has an
exclusive license to distribute Summus'
wavelet-based streaming video
technology. The company claims this
technology produces a clearer picture and
transmits more frames per second than Real
Networks.
High
Speed Net Solutions will soon begin
offering the product to those that have
previously utilized streaming applications
from Microsoft and Real
Networks.
The
wavelet-based solution also supplies full
audio/video synchronization on modem to
modem and Intranet transmissions. The
company has also demonstrated the first
full audio/video sync video mail software
ever with small file sizes. The upcoming
version 2.0 product will allow full sync
on windows-based machines that are 166 MHz
or faster, and could open the door to
interactive television programming.
<www.hsns.com>
CD-RW
As I am considering buying a new G3 Mac I
have developed a sudden interest in USB
peripherals. QPS Inc. has
introduced Que!, the first
CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) drive
designed specifically for the iMac
computer (i.e. it uses USB).
The
compact 2x2x24 drive [the press
release says it's 4x2x8, but the website
says it's 2x2x24. Given the pricing I
suspect it's the latter-Ed] is
contoured like the iMac and comes in iMac
blueberry. An optional accessory kit
allows Que!'s colored panels to be changed
to iMac strawberry, tangerine, grape or
lime. Que! comes with Toast for Mac CD
mastering software, rewritable media,
carrying bag and necessary accessories.
Although designed for the iMac, it is also
compatible with any USB-equipped Mac
computer. Que! sells for $299, and its
colored-panel accessory kit is under $30.
Availability is scheduled for early
March.
<www.qps-inc.com>
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Feb
10
|
Agfa Desktop Products Group has
announced the ePhoto CL50 digital
camera. The ePhoto CL50 will be available
in March for the suggested price of
$799.
The
CL50 offers an optical resolution of 1.3
million pixels (1280 X 960) and through
Agfa's PhotoGenie image enhancement
technology, the ability to produce images
of 1.9 million pixels (1600 X 1200). There
are four resolution settings (1600 X 1200
- Super, 1280 X 960 - High, 1280 X 960 -
B/W text, 640 X 480 - VGA) and four flash
modes. In addition, the ePhoto CL50
features a 3X optical zoom lens and a 2X
digital zoom - in both capture and
playback mode.
Other
features include:
- LCD
with SunCatcher: a built-in prism which
directs sunlight behind the LCD screen,
conserves battery power and enhances
its overall brightness.
- Sound:
a built-in microphone for adding voice
or sound to each image.
- Burst
Mode: allows up to 10 continuous
pictures in VGA mode (640 X 480)
resolution at half second
intervals.
- Panoramic
mode: allows users to tag shots for
creating panoramas. Photos marked for
panoramas are "stitched'' together to
create panoramas using PhotoWise
(Version 1.8).
- Automatic
and manual control over exposure, focus
and white balance.
<www.agfa.com>
Terran has posted an informative
section entitled "How to Produce
High-Quality QuickTime." The document
is written for developers and video
professionals and covers many of the
features new in QuickTime 3 (new codecs,
etc) as well as general features and (of
course) how to better use their product
Media Cleaner Pro.
<www.terran.com
article "How
to Produce High-Quality
QuickTime">
[The
following product is too expensive for the
average user, but hopefully the features
it offers will find their way into other
prodcuts-Ed]
Virage,
Inc. has released AudioLogger,
an application that makes the audio
content of video searchable in real time.
AudioLogger identifies spoken words,
speaker names and audio types, generating
an index that allows users to search for
and find specific segments of video.
AudioLogger
generates a keyword index for any speech
sample using IBM's ViaVoice
technology for Broadcast Speech
Transcription. This speech recognition
engine handles continuous speech in real
time and is speaker independent,
eliminating the need for it to be
pre-trained for individual speakers. The
engine also incorporates special filtering
to eliminate background noise and other
signal contamination.
AudioLogger
also generates an audio classification
index that allows users to locate specific
audio cues. For example, a segment might
be classified as speech, music, ambient
noise or silence. Virage AudioLogger 1.0
has a unit price of $15,000 (U.S.)
<www.virage.com>
3D TV?
Chequemate International, Inc., d.b.a.
C-3D Digital, Inc. and PICKSat Inc
have entered into an Agreement to up-link
from the PICKSat gateway facilities in
Miami, an IP broadband satellite delivered
version of C-3D Digital's three
dimensional (3D) satellite channel,
C-3D Digital, now transmitting via the
SpaceNet3 satellite.
C-3D
Digital, Inc. has developed stereographic
three-dimensional ("3D''), and
two-dimensional ("2D'') to 3D real-time
conversion and display capabilities, which
will be used by its 3D television network.
Subscribers to it's 3D programming service
will experience 3D effects through the use
of C-3D Digital's technology. C-3D Digital
will offer its subscribers 3D movies,
sports and other programming, specially
produced in stereographic 3D or converted
2D to 3D. PICKSat will use the Microsoft
Windows Media Player application
technology for decoding the C-3D Digital
Channel on end-user PC's.
Cameraid version 1.1.2 has just
been released. Cameraid is a digital
photography utility package that can be
used to download pictures from Agfa, Apple
QT200, Epson, Fujifilm, Leica, Nikon
CP900, Olympus, Sanyo and Toshiba digital
cameras. It also offers simple editing and
viewing functions.
This
minor release improves compatibility with
MacOS 8.5 and 8.5.1. If you have version
1.1.2b2 and you are happy with how it
work, you do not need to download version
1.1.2.
<www.pp.clinet.fi/~jmunkki/cameraid>
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Feb
9
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Feith Systems & Software is
making its DjVuer software
available on a free trial basis, via the
Feith web site. DjVuer (pronounced
day-ja-voo-er) is based on AT&T
Labs' DjVu image compression
technology and compresses images at
ratios as high as 1000:1.
Feith
claims that DjVu files are typically 40 to
80 KB, or five to 10 times smaller than
JPEG files. For black-and-white pages,
DjVu files are 10 to 20 times smaller than
JPEG and five times smaller than GIF. DjVu
technology turns a 25MB TIFF file into a
50KB image and produces files five times
smaller than PDF files taken from scanned
documents.
People
who download DjVuer will be able to create
up to 50 images, in AT&T's DjVu format
at no charge. Feith said DjVuer permits
users to scan or import files, then save
them in the DjVu format. After customers
produce 50 DjVu images using DjVuer, they
will automatically be offered the
opportunity to upgrade to a full version
of the product. It costs $195, and enables
users to create up to 5,000 DjVu
files.
While
Feith's DjVuer is available only for
people using Windows-based computers, free
browser plug-ins available from AT&T
<www.djvu.att.com>
enable cross-platform viewing of the
images created by DjVuer. In addition to
Windows, plug-ins are available for
computers running on a variety of
platforms, including Macintosh OS8,
Solaris, Linux and many varieties of
UNIX.
<www.feith.com>
Credo Interactive Inc says that its
PowerMoves character motion
series will move online and expand to
provide ready-to-use character motions and
models in regularly released, theme-based
modules. Set to launch March 1, 1999,
PowerMoves provides 3D users with
downloadable keyframed character motion,
motion capture data, and ready-to-animate
models.
The
new PowerMoves series will feature such
character motion collections as "Animal
Moves,'' "Sports,'' "Dance,'' "Avatar
Moves,'' and specially designed character
motion "sprites'' for game development.
Individual PowerMoves modules will range
in price from $49US to $249US and be
available in multiple formats, including
Life Forms, LightWave 3D, 3D Studio Max,
PowerAnimator, Maya, SoftImage, Biovision,
Acclaim, VRML 97, StudioPro, Cinema 4D,
trueSpace, and more.
The
first PowerMoves module "PowerPak 1'' -- a
$99US collection of over 50 assorted
keyframed character motions -- will be
available from Credo Interactive's website
beginning March 1, 1999.
<www.credo-interactive.com>
According to IDC, end-user
demand for DVD-ROM was lower than
expected last year due to a lack of
compelling DVD-ROM titles. Additionally,
20-32X CD-ROM drives experienced sharp
price declines, making them the perfect
fit for the lower-end PC segment.
Worldwide shipments of CD-ROM topped 93
million; DVD-ROM shipments came close to 6
million.
IDC
believes OEMs are ready to incorporate
DVD-ROM drives into their consumer PCs and
use the new feature for product
differentiation. However, availability of
the drive will limit its success. IDC
expects CD-ROM to continue to dominate the
market in 1999, but expects shipment of
the drive to slowly decline throughout the
year.
CD-RW
will be a fast grower in 1999. Price,
versatility, and compatibility will be its
main assets in the aftermarket. By
mid-1999, IDC expects CD-RW's OEM prices
to fall below $90. ``At this point, CD-RW
is likely to become a very successful OEM
product and offer an attractive
alternative upgrade path from CD-ROM,''
Schlichting said.
Optical
Storage Market: 1998 Year in Review and
1999 Forecast (IDC #B18045) presents IDC's
yearend estimates for 1998 and a forecast
for 1999.
<www.idc.com>
CD-ROM
MediaFORM has introduced a new
CD-R Duplicator/Printer, the
CD-3706P. This system will simultaneously
duplicate six CDs and then automatically
print the CD-Rs with a thermal transfer
printer. Once a job is started the system
will duplicate and print up to 175 CDs
before the systems needing to be
refilled.
Labels
can be designed with a Windows-based
Editor application then saveed to a 3.5``
diskette to be used in the CD3706P. If the
CD3706P detects a 3.5`` diskette it will
automatically print during the duplication
process. If no diskette is detected the
system will default to duplication
only.
<www.mediaform.com>
Pervasive Software, Inc has
announced a free Web Jump-Start
Program--offering Webmasters, Web
content providers, and application
developers a comprehensive suite of
software for quickly and easily building
custom Web-based applications.
Pervasive's
Web Jump-Start Program, offered free
through May 31, 1999, via online download
or CD, combines nearly US$1,500 worth of
software--including Pervasive's Tango
3.5 Web Development Studio;
Pervasive.SQL database (Win 3.2); Apache
Web server; ODBC drivers; sample files and
tutorials; documentation; and 60 days of
free Tango technical support. Users can
download Pervasive's Web Jump-Start
applications or order a Web Jump- Start
CD.
In
conjunction with the Web Jump-Start
Program, Pervasive is sponsoring a
Tango-based application design contest.
Product recipients who build and deploy
applications are encouraged to submit them
to Pervasive's panel of industry experts
through May 31, 1999, for judging.
<www.pervasive.com
web page "webjump">
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Feb
8
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The XL1 WatchDog website (dedicated
to the Canon XL1 digital video
camera) has two new articles:
For
anyone with a video camera, Bob Jones
article (The SkyCrane Mini-DV Camera
Boom) covers building a camera boom is
worth checking out.
Michael
Pappas writes about the Optex Pro
Zoom for the Canon XL1. This lens,
based on a 14x Fujinon (T14x5.5 BRM4)
5.5-77mm lens may solve many of the
problems users find with the standard
camera lens.
<www.mediadesign.net/canondv.htm>
Spritz Public Beta 4 has been
released. Spritz is a QuickTime movie
making tool for creating interactive
content. As well as fixing bugs this
version allows you to set the idle
frequency and supports target frames in
the GoToURL.
<home.earthlink.net/~dmcgavran/spritz>
Be Incorporated says that 26 music
and audio developers, including Steinberg,
Emagic, Arboretum Systems, and E-MU
Systems, have announced plans to bring to
market audio applications for the Be
Operating System (BeOS).
The
applications will begin shipping within
the next three months. The BeOS audio
developers include:
Adamation:
Audio Images is a graphic tool for
creating custom effects and audio
processing by connecting "elements"
together into networks.
Arboretum
Systems: creators of Hyperprism and
Ray-Gun. Applications and plug-ins that
allow real-time processing of audio for
effects, sound shaping, clean-up, and
filtering.
Opcode
Systems: readying drivers for the "X
series" of interfaces to provide multiport
MIDI capabilities for synchronizing all
elements in the music studio.
RBF
Software: publishes Octamed, a
multitrack audio recorder and
editor.
Steinberg:
will take full advantage of host-based
processing for real-time effects using its
VST plug-in architecture.
<www.be.com>
According to Cahners In-Stat Group
the flash-based digital film sales
will grow to more than 797 thousand
megabytes by 2002. Calculated average
growth rate from 1998 to 2002 is expected
to be 110%,
According
to Cahners In-Stat Group, competition for
flash-based digital film comes from two
sources: floppy disks and the future
possibility of small form factor hard disk
drive. However, floppy disks do not hold
enough data to store high quality pictures
and it is expected that this type of
digital film will lose market share in the
near future. The more expensive hard disk
drives consume more power than flash and
Cahners In-Stat Group believes their
success will be limited in the affordable
digital camera market.
<www.cahnersinstat.com>
Lexar Media is now shipping the
Lexar Media Pro Series 80MB
CompactFlash (CF) High Performance
Digital Film, the highest capacity and
fastest CF digital film card currently
available. It is available from
professional camera resellers and the
company's website at a price of
$329.00.
Lexar
claims this 80MB CF digital film offers 8X
performance-up to three times as fast as
generic cards currently available.
<www.lexarmedia.com>
Digital Video Systems has
introduced a 6.2X DVD-ROM Drive,
the DVS DSR-600H. Samples of the 6.2X
DVD-ROM. Production of the new drive will
begin in late February.
The
drive operates at 6.2 times DVD standard
read speed, and 32 times CD-ROM speed. It
is backward compatible with DVD-Video,
DVD-ROM, DVD-R, and virtually all CD
formats. The 6.2X DVD-ROM drive also
supports Ultra DMA-33 mode, which enables
the data transfer throughput to be double
the speed of EIDE mode.
<www.dvsystems.com>
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