Notable New Product News - Thursday, August 12, 2004
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CMS Products Introduces Industry's First Portable 100GB Backup Solution For Mac OS X
LapWorks Expands Laptop Desk Family with New UltraLite
Intuit Quicken 2005 14.0 Financial Management Software
Chronos announces winner of an iPod mini in the SOHO Business Cards Design Contest
Radical Breeze Offers Special Pricing For Olympics
Bandmateloops.com introduces two new Bandmates loop products
Apple Pro Application Support 2.1 for Apple's Professional Applications
Apple Java Update 1.4.2 Update 1 for OS X 10.3.4 or higher
Apple DVD Studio Pro X 3.0.1 DVD authoring tool
NitroAV Premiers Its Product Line With 23GB Professional Disc for Data Optical Solution Products
Diskology Partners with ForensicPC.com to Sell Disk Jockey Into Forensic Market
PointRoll Ends Design Discrimination; Interactive Ad Community Can Finally Create Campaigns on Apple Macintosh Computers
Digital 5 Partners With Gracenote
Picture Wrangler Makes Relinking And Updating Layout Images Faster And Easier[/url]
CMS Products Introduces Industry's First Portable 100GB Backup Solution For Mac OS X
CMS Products, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of a new 100GB capacity for their award-winning portable ABSplus, the industry's first complete, portable backup and recovery solution offering 100GB of storage.
Now for the first time, Mac OS X users have an integrated backup and restore solution that provides automatic backup, single-button restore and now a large 100GB capacity, yet fits in a shirt pocket. The new 100GB capacity ABSplus portable is list priced at $419 and is available directly from CMS Products at http://www.cmsproducts.com/ , as well as through major distributors and corporate resellers.
"The ABSplus, powered by BounceBack Professional, is the world's easiest backup and restore solution," said Ken Burke, president of CMS Products, Inc. "We're pleased to be the industry's first company to provide a 100GB capacity in a complete solution that can fit in the palm of your hand. A must-have for laptop users and mobile professionals, the new 100GB ABSplus is also perfect for backing up large iMovie and iDVD files, big iTunes libraries and irreplaceable iPhoto collections."
Powered by BounceBack Professional software, the ABSplus provides the ability to boot from the device in a single keystroke from any Mac OS X machine. As with lower-capacity portable ABSplus models, the new 100GB ABSplus is shockmounted to withstand up to 1400Gs of force, and comes with a three-year warranty.
ABSplus Makes Backup and Restore A Breeze A complete backup solution, the solid ABSplus hardware is integrated with CMS Products' award-winning BounceBack Professional software to make backup and restore extremely easy. CMS Products' patent-pending "Automatic Launcher" technology makes backing up a breeze by automatically sensing when the ABSplus device is connected and backing up the system. The ABSplus' BounceBack Professional software activates incremental backups automatically, by simply plugging in the ABSplus device. Constantly connected ABSplus devices also conduct automatic, incremental backups on a predetermined schedule.
Bouncing back from disaster is easy too, with capabilities to boot externally in a single keystroke, restore an entire system with one button click, or just drag-and-drop desired files and folders. Booting from the external backup allows users to "run" their system on any Mac OS X machine and quickly restore files or an entire system. To take advantage of this Mac-only feature, simply hold down the Option key while powering-up or restarting the computer.
For more information, visit:
http://www.cmsproducts.com
LapWorks Expands Laptop Desk Family with New UltraLite
LapWorks Inc., specialist in ergonomic mobile computing accessories that reduce the heat in laptops, today announced a thinner, lighter addition to its Laptop Desk family - the Laptop Desk UltraLite. Compared to its heavy-duty counterpart, the Laptop Desk (LTD) v2.0, the UltraLite’s weight has been reduced from one pound 6 ounces to just 14.6 ounces while the thickness has been cut in half to 5/16 of an inch thin. LapWorks’ Laptop Desk UltraLite will retail for $29.95 under the Targus brand later this year, but is now available direct from http://www.laptopdesk.net for an introductory offer of $19.95 after a $10 instant rebate at time of purchase.
“In response to our road warrior customers’ desire for a thinner, lighter Laptop Desk, we engineered the UltraLite for travelers using the less weighty, 5-pound-and-under Ultra Portables and Thin and Light notebooks, Tablet PCs and PDAs with external keyboards,” said Jose Calero, LapWorks’ president.
While adding several new improvements, the UltraLite retains the key design features of the award-winning, dual-purpose LTD v2.0 that take the hassles and hazards out of using laptops on a desk or while mobile.
As a lap tray, the UltraLite creates a spacious 22 x 11 inch workspace (1.5 inches longer than v2.0) that:
- Prevents "hot lap" and the tensed body posture otherwise necessary to balance a laptop.
- Includes a larger, more workable mousing area than the LTD v2.0.
- Cools laptops by 8% to 10% via ventilation channels that allow increased airflow beneath the computer.
As a desktop stand, the UltraLite folds into a wedge shape that, like the LTD v2.0:
- Offers 5 typing angles that incline the notebook’s keyboard for more ergonomically comfortable use than when set flat on a desk.
- Elevates the screen 3 1/4 inches closer to eye level at maximum incline.
- Cools laptops by 15% - 20% by allowing more hot air to escape.
The UltraLite also:
- Grips the computer with strategically positioned non-skid rubber pads.
- Folds in half to 11” x 11” and a thickness of 5/16” for easy traveling in any computer bag.
- Stabilizes an external PDA keyboard to type on a lap or inclines it to type on a desk.
- Is made of the same durable polycarbonate material as the LTD v2.0, and is a steel gray color.
“We’ll continue to offer our LTD v2.0 which was designed to support any notebook, including heavier desktop replacements,” said Calero.
Killeen, Texas Independent School District’s Campus Instructional Technologist, Helen Mowers said, “The LTD v2.0 helps our teachers and students elevate the laptop's screen closer to their eyes, and incline the keyboard for more comfortable typing. We want the kids to have good posture. The desk keeps them from straining to see things at the bottom of the screen, and lets them type naturally with arms resting by their sides."
Today, LapWorks’ Laptop Desk UltraLite is available exclusively from http://www.laptopdesk.net Later this year, it will also be sold under the Targus brand at many retail locations both domestically and internationally.
“With a minimal research-and-development budget, we rely on mobile accessory inventors like Calero for products to satisfy customers’ demand for the next great gadget,” said Ron Smith, chief marketing officer for Targus Inc. “LapWorks’ LTD v2.0 has been a good seller so we look forward to picking up the UltraLite.”
Targus currently sells the LTD v2.0 in the USA as the “Notebook Portable LapDesk” at Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Fry’s Electronics, Office Depot and Office Max. Internationally, Targus sells it in the UK at:
http://www.targus.com/uk/product_details.asp?sku=PA243U
For more information, visit:
http://www.laptopdesk.net
Intuit Quicken 2005 14.0 Financial Management Software
Now it's easier than ever to see your complete financial picture in minutes! New improvements to investments make Quicken 2004 for Mac the most powerful tool for managing your overall finances. Plus, download your bank, credit card, and brokerage transactions right into Quicken ? instead of typing them in by hand. Schedule regular online updates, and it will be handled for you automatically! It's easier than ever to monitor your portfolio's performance with over 25 new investment indicators. Plus, you'll appreciate the ease with which Quicken handles mergers, stock splits, and tracking cash in your investment accounts.
Save, invest and track your profits in minutes. Express Account Setup* makes it faster and easier to set up new accounts in Quicken, while exclusive tools help you minimize taxes, manage your investments and track your home inventory.
Key Advantages
• Easily connect to online accounts. (Improved!) Connect to banks, credit card and brokerage companies in fewer steps. Now creating new accounts in Quicken is a breeze, because we cut the number of steps by up to 50%!*
• Track your home inventory. (New!) Create a visual record of all your valuables by using pictures from your iPhoto library – perfect for insurance purposes.**
• Get the tax deductions you deserve. (Improved!) The updated Tax Planner helps you minimize and estimate your taxes and makes tax prep faster and easier.
• Reach your financial goals. Dozens of charts and graphs give you instant answers to long-term financial questions.
• Manage investments and optimize returns. Optimize investment sales and estimate capital gains before you make trades.
• Stay informed. Get investment news flashes related specifically to your portfolio – like stock quotes, the Morningstar Rating for mutual funds and more.*
(*)Online features require Internet access and are subject to change. Services vary among participating financial institutions or other parties and may be subject to application approval, additional terms, conditions and fees.
(**)Available with Mac OS 10.2.8. iPhoto is available separately from Apple Computer, Inc.
New in this version:
Introduces Express Setup, a feature that means fewer set up steps and faster downloads for customers. The product also includes a new Home Inventory feature that enables users to easily keep a digital photo catalog of their belongings. These and other new and improved features make Quicken 2005 the best tool for managing finances, as well as organizing other important aspects of life for the Mac user. The prospect of setting up accounts and manually entering transactions has prevented many people from automating their finances. Express Setup makes setting up accounts as easy as visiting a financial institution's Web site. There are no paper statements to gather, and no tedious columns of figures to enter. Data from checking, savings, and credit card accounts downloads automatically into the program. In just minutes, users can begin tracking income and expenses, balancing accounts, paying bills and more.
System requirements:
Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher
Intuit Quicken 2005 sells for $69.95
For more information, visit here.
Chronos announces winner of an iPod mini in the SOHO Business Cards Design Contest
Chronos LC has announced the Grand Prize Winner of its SOHO Business Cards Design Contest. The Grand Prize Winner, James Carlson, of Rochester, Minnesota, wins a Apple iPod mini (approximate retail value $250 USD) for the best overall business card design.
Entrants had to exclusively use Chronos' SOHO Business Cards product to create a stunning business card design. James' design was eye-catching, memorable, and humorous. It can be seen at:
http://www.chronosnet.com/designcontest.html
SOHO Business Cards is a complete business card kit and includes everything the user needs to design and print impressive business cards. It comes with a) 13,000+ designer-quality photographs, photos of objects and vector clip art images; b) 50 Bitstream commercial-grade fonts so users can obtain the perfect look for their branding; c) 3,000+ ready-made designs including those with photos and artwork right up to the edge of the card (full bleed); and d) 100+ image masks.
SOHO Business Cards is compatible with over 700 popular cards stocks including virtually all business card stocks from Avery, PaperDirect, Idea Art and more. A wide variety of business card formats are supported including horizontal, vertical, double-sided, folding and CD card formats. Users may print their business card designs on virtually any inkjet, laser or color laser printer. Alternatively, users may submit their design to an online commercial print shop via SOHO Business Cards and have their cards delivered right to their door.
Simple, one-step tools let users quickly draw 30+ shapes, add graphics, arrange and align objects, and rotate objects. Add transparency and realistic drop shadows to text and graphics. Create designer effects with color gradients or clip images to shapes and text. Use over 150 smart-fields to automatically place information from the Mac OS X Address Book directly on business cards. Eight powerful text fitting options can automatically shrink or expand text as necessary or modify letter spacing for full justification effects. Pictures and albums from iPhoto are automatically loaded and accessible from the built-in Clip Art Drawer so users can simply drag a photo right onto their business card.
System requirements:
SOHO Business Cards requires Mac OS X v10.2 or later (v10.3 or later required to use vector clip art); 30MB of available disk space (1.2GB for full clip art collection); CD-ROM drive (software comes on multi-CD set); inkjet or laser printer optional (great results from popular inkjet, laser, color laser printers including HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, et cetera).
SOHO Business Cards has been attractively priced at $29.99 and is available directly from Chronos. It will also be available soon at major Apple retailers.
Chronos believes users should have the opportunity to try the software for free before they purchase. A fully functional 30 day trial version can be downloaded from Chronos' web site at:
http://www.chronosnet.com
Radical Breeze Offers Special Pricing For Olympics
Radical Breeze is lowering the price of all their applications to $10 each between now and Sunday, August 15th in celebration of the beginning of the 2004 Olympic games. In addition all 6 applications (including DiscBlaze and the award-winning Macabinet) can be purchased together as a "6 Pack" for $20.04 (it is, after all, the 2004 Olympics).
These prices are available through the Radical Breeze online store located at :
http://www.radicalbreeze.com/store/index.html
Applications included in the "6 Pack" :
DiscBlaze - CD/DVD Burning.
Macabinet - Award winning, theme-able drawer for storing files.
DoThisNow - Run scripts or configurable actions via hot-key or schedule. RadicalPhoto - Photo enhancer and converter.
RadicalSqueeze - File compression, extraction.
Zephyr - Menu-based task switcher.
These discounted prices will also be honored for bulk purchases. For more information on bulk purchases email
For more information, visit:
Radical Breeze
http://www.radicalbreeze.com/
Radical Breeze Online Store
http://www.radicalbreeze.com/store/index.htm
DiscBlaze
http://www.radicalbreeze.com/blaze/index.html
Macabinet
http://www.radicalbreeze.com/macabinet/index.html
DoThisNow
http://www.radicalbreeze.com/dothisnow/index.html
RadicalPhoto
http://www.radicalbreeze.com/radicalphoto/index.html
RadicalSqueeze
http://www.radicalbreeze.com/squeeze/index.html
Zephyr
http://www.radicalbreeze.com/zephyr/index.html
Bandmateloops.com introduces two new Bandmates loop products
Bandmateloops.com unveiled two new drum loop collections today geared toward modern cross genre rock and hip-hop. Both collections are available via electronic delivery, along with all current Bandmates products via their website.
BMT-007-LPE Bandmates Drummer- Groovebox
In the grand tradition of professional Hip-Hop production comes this collection of highly organic beats. Groovebox features a broad array of funky, uncluttered rhythms that work well in rap, hip-hop and cross-genre environments.
BMT-008-LPE Bandmates Drummer- Brown Out
For those that like their grooves a little more electric and a little more abstract, there is the Brown Out collection. Brown Out features electrified acoustic grooves in breakbeat style where the line is "pleasantly blurred".
Both products are available now via electronic delivery only for $9.95 USD each.
Bandmates for GarageBand are the ideal companion for all GarageBand users interested in creating their own unique musical compositions.
For more information, please visit
http://www.bandmateloops.com
Apple Pro Application Support 2.1 for Apple's Professional Applications
This update provides improvements for Apple's professional applications, and is strongly recommended for all users of Final Cut Pro, Cinema Tools, Compressor, LiveType, Soundtrack, and DVD Studio Pro.
This update improves general user interface appearance and reliability and is required to receive future updates for these applications.
New in this version:
Improvements for Apple's professional applications, and is strongly recommended for all users of Final Cut Pro, Cinema Tools, Compressor, LiveType, Soundtrack, and DVD Studio Pro. This update improves general user interface appearance and reliability and is required to receive future updates for these applications.
System Requirements
— Mac OS X 10.3.2 or later
For more information, visit:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/proapplicationsupport.html
Apple Java Update 1.4.2 Update 1 for OS X 10.3.4 or higher
Java has become the de-facto standard language for developing cross-platform applications.Ă‚ Recognizing this, Apple has made Java a core component of Mac OS X. Mac OS X includes the full version of Java 2, Standard Edition, version 1.4.2 — meaning you have the Java Developer Kit (JDK) and the HotSpot virtual machine (VM) without downloading, installing or configuring anything. And because Apple has optimized Java on Mac OS X, Java applications act as first-class citizens on Mac OS X.
Provides support for JDK 1.4.2_05, improved behavior for applets in Safari, an increased stability for desktop Java applications.
New in this version:
Java 1.4.2 Update 1 for Mac OS X is Apple’s release of a Java virtual machine and class libraries that are compatible with SunĂ‚’s Java 2 Platform Standard Edition, version 1.4.2_05. SunĂ‚’s Java 1.4.2_05 release has included many changes that have also been incorporated in the Java 1.4.2 Update 1 release of Java for Mac OS X. In addition, it adds a few Mac OS X-specific enhancements and addresses some bugs present in earlier Java releases for Mac OS X. Specificially, this update features numerous graphics improvements in the Mac OS X Java implementation
Note: Your OS X computer will be updated to Java 1.4.2 Update 1. If the system currently has Java 1.4.1, it will be removed.
For more details on this update, visit
http://www.apple.com/java/
Product Requirements:
• Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later
For more information, visit:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/javaupdate.html
Apple DVD Studio Pro X 3.0.1 DVD authoring tool
The world?s most comprehensive and flexible DVD authoring package has slick new transitions, superb HD to MPEG-2 encoding, Graphical View, support for all professional audio formats -- including DTS -- and integration with Final Cut Pro HD and Motion.
Technical depth and ease of use make DVD Studio Pro the most complete, flexible and creative tool for DVD authoring professionals. Use DVD Studio Pro 3 to design and build high-impact main event titles, sales and marketing presentations, training, wedding and special-event DVDs. It gracefully unites authoring power and design intelligence.
What’s New in DVD Studio Pro 3.0.1
The DVD Studio Pro 3.0.1 update is strongly recommended for all users of DVD Studio Pro 3. In addition to improving general stability, this update improves compiling when using long MPEG-1 video clips, as well as compiling tracks with a transition on a still image at the end of the track.
Additionally, burned DVDs will mount successfully on Mac OS 9, no longer requiring Command-Option-I.
For more information about DVD Studio Pro 3.0.1, refer to the article at:
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n93878
System Requirements
— Mac OS X 10.1 or later
For more information, visit:
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/dvdstudiopro.html
NitroAV Premiers Its Product Line With 23GB Professional Disc for Data Optical Solution Products
NitroAV.com premiers the "AfterBurner" Series, the latest generation of FireWire 800/1394b blue laser-based Professional Disc for DATA (ProDATA) drives.
Based on blue laser technology, the AfterBurner stores up to 23 GB of native capacity per rewritable or write-one, read-many (WORM) single sided media, delivering an advanced optical storage and archiving solution for professional data-intensive applications. The high capacity and high performance AfterBurner drives are designed specifically for professional audio/video editing/authoring, storage applications, graphic design and medical imaging, e-mail archival, enterprise content management and multimedia projects. The AfterBurner drive features a durable, airtight structure to prevent dust particles from coming in contact with the drive mechanism and disc surface, increasing durability and reliability for critical applications in professional and industrial settings but still offering the convenience of removable optical storage. This optical solution allows for high-speed random access of files, making it suitable for both near-line and archival storage applications.
The line-up includes 2 Bay and 4 Bay customizable external FireWire 800/1394b configurations, as well as an internal SCSI version for Plug-N-Play integration with latest Macintosh OSX, WINDOWS and Linux operating systems. The 5.25-inch internal Ultra-wide 160 SCSI drive is perfect for easy integration into external subsystems, high-end workstations, servers and automated libraries commonly used for storage and long-term archival purposes as well as upgrading existing automated libraries that have older optical mechanisms. In addition to the 23GB per disc optical storage capacity it features up-to 11/MB second sustained read and 9MB/second write transfer speeds. This offers a quantum leap in performance over existing optical storage formats, with an archival life of up to 50 years.
Shipping now, the AfterBurner is available through authorized resellers. External FireWire 800/1394v 2-Bay AfterBurner will have a suggested retail selling price of $3199 (NAVAF20), and $2995 for the internal SCSI kit (NAVAFINT) and $2995 for the external USB 2.0 or SCSI model (NAVAFEXT). Professional Disc for DATA media is currently available at a suggested retail selling price of $45 for both the write-once version (PDDWO23) and the rewritable version (PDDRW23).
For more information, visit:
http://www.nitroav.com/
Diskology Partners with ForensicPC.com to Sell Disk Jockey Into Forensic Market
Diskology announced a strategic partnership with ForensicPC.com today that will help bring their portable hard disk cloning / backup product, the Disk Jockey, to the forensic market.
"We are constantly evaluating new products with specific uses applicable to the computer forensics industry," said Brett Jaffe, ForensicPC.com CEO. "The Disk Jockey fits perfectly into our lineup by providing a secure means to image a suspect hard drive without the use of a separate computer. We found numerous additional uses for the Disk Jockey including the ability to easily attach separate drives on the fly, evaluate disk health, and securely erase drives maintaining information confidentiality."
Optional accessories for the Disk Jockey (ForensicPC.com price $319) include: longer cables, laptop drive adapters and SATA (serial-ATA) adapters. More information on the Disk Jockey can be found at [url=http://www.diskology.com]http://www.diskology.com[/url] or [url=http://www.forensicpc.com]http://www.forensicpc.com[/url] .
"We're excited about the relationship with ForensicPC.com," said Diskology CEO Tony Overbay. "Up until now the forensic market had to find us, and they have based on our feature set and price. But we know that with ForensicPC.com behind us we'll be able to get the product out to a larger audience."
"It's very rare to find a tool at this price that performs so many tasks," said Jaffe. "We are pleased to offer it to our clients as part of our product line. The Disk Jockey works in stand-alone mode or attached to an Apple Macintosh or Microsoft Windows-based computer.
ForensicPC.com provides a wide variety of hardware and software to the computer forensics industry. With tailored forensic workstations and a multitude of partnerships with other firms, ForensicPC.com has become a "one stop shop" enabling either a single purchase or an entire forensics laboratory setup from a sole source. Experience ranges from corporate to law enforcement on a variety of scales and expert assistance for purchases is readily available.
Diskology, Inc. with headquarters in Lincoln, California, is a leading manufacturer of mid-range to high-end hardware-based hard disk copy and diagnostic tools. Diskology's product lineup includes the Disk Jockey(TM), the revolutionary new "Swiss Army Knife" of hard disk copy, backup and diagnostic products. More information on Diskology can be found on the Diskology web site:
http://www.diskology.com
PointRoll Ends Design Discrimination; Interactive Ad Community Can Finally Create Campaigns on Apple Macintosh Computers
The first rich media company to support Mac, PointRoll, Inc. unveils a significant upgrade to its ad design software, allowing the interactive creative community to design rich media campaigns on Apple Macintosh computers. PointRoll's design system now allows ad campaigns to be designed, reviewed and e-mailed on Macintosh as well as Windows computers. PointRoll is the only rich media company to offer this feature.
Prior to this breakthrough, creatives were forced to move from their preferred tool for ad development, the Mac, to their PC. "The ability to create and review PointRoll ads on a Mac is an important development that we are proud to offer to the creative community," said Mitch Rose, Vice President of Marketing for PointRoll. "This was an inconvenience which they reluctantly accepted. PointRoll has always placed a priority on delivering products, features and services in support of the creative community."
PointRoll provides many features that appeal to creatives such as a format agnostic file structure, a menu of interactive options, easy to use development software and creative support. "The creative community has recognized our commitment to support their needs," said Andy Ellenthal, Senior Vice President of Sales for PointRoll. "They have been our biggest supporters in the past and this will only help to strengthen the relevance of our company as a creative solution for them."
"PointRoll always delivers what we need for our clients," said Jamison Jones, Creative Director at Sharpe Partners, one of several agencies beta-testing the new tool. "It was a real time waster having to jump back and forth between a Mac and PC. This will let us stay more focused on developing great creative as opposed to getting bogged down in production. Also, the fact that I can e-mail the creative within the agency and to clients on my Mac is huge."
"We have always been a big supporter of working with FatBoy expandable and TomBoy 100K+. They are flexible products that let us use engaging features like video, dynamic data, instant e-mail and coupons within the ad. Our only complaint was that we had to move to our PC's to upload, compile and preview the ads before sending them to our clients. Now PointRoll has solved that problem," said Scott McFarlin Senior Art Director at Agency.com.
PointRoll works with more than 400 advertisers and many leading online publishers including Yahoo!, MSN and AOL.
For more information, visit:
http://www.pointroll.com
Digital 5 Partners With Gracenote
Digital 5, Inc., a leading software provider enabling streaming of multimedia content throughout the connected home, today announced a partnership with Gracenote, the worldwide leader in information services for digital music and media. The agreement will provide state-of-the-art music management functionality through the Gracenote Music Management System to all types of digital entertainment devices enabled by Digital 5's streaming media software.
Consumers are discovering that all those gigabytes of digital music files -- whether stored on personal computers or burned onto CDs and DVDs -- are very difficult to sort and search through. Many audio player owners are at a loss to find and play 40 or even 10 songs they want to hear without first tediously constructing time-consuming playlists. Even searching by song title, artist or musical genre often becomes fairly useless when that search yields hundreds if not thousands of songs.
"You don't have to expend energy on managing the little details of your music after you've ripped it and moved it around, because the Gracenote database does that for you," said Susan Kevorkian, an analyst with IDC. "There's potentially a lot of time involved in managing those little details, when what consumers are really interested in is getting their music onto those high-capacity devices and being able to use it."
The partnership of Digital 5 and Gracenote solutions offer the consumer a seamless way to securely stream their audio and media files throughout the connected home and automatically assemble myriad playlist mixes based on criteria such as genre, era, place, user rating and global popularity.
Digital 5 will integrate several elements of Gracenote's media management system including Gracenote MusicID(SM), Gracenote Playlist(SM), and Gracenote Clean(SM), to make the experience of listening to music easier and more enjoyable for users. The foundation of the suite is Gracenote's industry standard MusicID(SM) music recognition technology, and the Gracenote CDDB® database of music information, which recognize both CDs and individual music files and labels those files with accurate artist name, album, song and genre to allow for easier navigation and organization of media files. Once files have been correctly identified, Gracenote Clean(SM) automatically sorts and re-tags all the digital files in a person's collection, turning them into fully functional digital music libraries. Finally, Gracenote Playlist(SM) enables automatic and dynamic playlists at the touch of a button by eliminating the need of manually selecting one track, album or artist at a time for playback.
Digital 5 will leverage Gracenote's CDDB music recognition service for identifying the files in a consumer's PC media library and labeling those files with accurate artist name, album, song and genre to allow for easier navigation and organization of media files. The Gracenote CDDB technology compares the arrangements and length of tracks on a CD with the Gracenote online database to automatically provide information about the titles of songs on the disc, the artist, the release date and more. This enables the consumer to create playlists for all their favorite music by a specific artist or every song that was recorded in 1999, as an example.
"We're excited to work with Digital 5 to provide some of the most exciting features for digital music -- including file recognition, reformatting and cleaning files from any source to create digital music libraries, as well as the ability to generate customized music playlists and deliver relevant content," stated Ty Roberts, CTO of Gracenote.
Jodie Hughes, CEO of Digital 5 says, "Mainstream consumers expect the experience of playing network-connected music to be superior to finding, organizing, moving, and losing conventional music CDs. In working with Gracenote, Digital 5 is able to deliver high quality streaming of media content plus quick and simple access to each song and all associated information such as lyrics, album art, and genres that enrich the immersion into the listening experience."
Digital 5 software enables connected Consumer Electronic DVD products from leading OEMs such as Gateway, Apex, Oritron and GoVideo, as well as Digital Media Adapters from NETGEAR. Digital 5 technology incorporates advanced Digital Rights Management (DRM), Quality of Streaming (QoS) and a robust security framework as well as UPnP compatibility into their software offering.
Digital 5, Inc. (Digital 5) is a leading provider of software enabling both wireless and wired sharing of multimedia content among networked consumer electronics (CE) devices. Digital 5's software technology is used to enable new products for existing CE categories, such as DVD players, televisions, and stereo systems, giving them the capability to access media content over a home network and the Internet. These products allow consumers to enjoy their music, digital pictures, or video in the comfort of their various home entertainment locations. Digital 5 software currently enables connected DVD devices from Gateway, Apex, GoVideo and Oritron, and connected audio client from NETGEAR. With headquarters in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and operations in California and India, Digital 5 can be contacted on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.digital5.com
Gracenote is the worldwide leader in information services for digital music and media. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, with offices in Tokyo and Berlin and reseller agreements in Seoul and Paris, Gracenote provides a suite of integrated software and services that enable consumer electronics manufacturers and software developers to provide the best in digital entertainment. Globally, over 30 million users each month rely on Gracenote to provide an enhanced music listening experience.
Gracenote's information services are used by leading consumer electronics manufacturers including Alpine, Clarion, D&M Holdings, Digion, Fujitsu Ten, JVC, Gibson Audio, Kenwood, Matsushita, Onkyo, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, RCA, Rockford Fosgate, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Yamaha; as well as leading media players including AOL's Winamp, Apple's iTunes and RealNetworks' RealPlayer. For more information about Gracenote:
http://www.gracenote.com/corporate/
Picture Wrangler Makes Relinking And Updating Layout Images Faster And Easier
Picture Wrangler provides easy relinking between “placed” FPO and high-resolution images in Adobe InDesign documents. If files have been moved between a server and client machine, Picture Wrangler facilitates image relinking by automatically searching for images, beginning at the top level and descending through any subdirectories.
Picture Wrangler for InDesign
Picture Wrangler features are found in the “Picture Wrangler” pull-down menu, located under “Plug-Ins.” Users may select images in the document preview, and use either the “Relink Selected Images to fpo” or “Relink Selected Images to Hi” option to update links. For anyone desiring one-click updating of every image in a document, Picture Wrangler provides two more options: “Relink All Images to fpo” and “Relink All Images to High.” And, when used in conjunction with InDesign’s “Package” utility, Picture Wrangler streamlines file exchange between service providers and customers.
Picture Wrangler for QuarkXPress
Picture Wrangler provides a complete replacement for the picture usage and information dialog box, and is specifically designed for use within a FullPress workflow.
When updating placed images, operators no longer have to select them one by one. Instead, operators simply point Picture Wrangler to the top-level of the FullPress volume where the images reside and the links are automatically updated in seconds!
Picture Wrangler makes a dramatic difference in the speed at which operators can handle complex layouts. Although its use is totally optional, anyone who’s tried Picture Wrangler will not want to return to conventional image updating.
Relinking FPOs in QuarkXPress
When a document with placed FPOs enters the workflow from the outside, the “Relink FPOs” button will automatically relink each image to its corresponding FPO on the server.
Relinking high-res images in QuarkXPress
Holding down the “option” key changes the “Relink FPOs” button to “Relink Highs.” Selecting “Relink Highs” will relink all the images in the document to their corresponding high resolution images. This is a useful feature when sending out a job for production at a non-FullPress site.
Through an easy-to-use, resizeable window, Picture Wrangler lets operators update all images in QuarkXPress and Illustrator documents with the click of a button.
Selective relinking in QuarkXPress
Individual images placed in QuarkXPress can by individually relinked or updated by selecting them in the Picture Wrangler window. Groups of images can be selected by holding down the shift key. Individual items can be de-selected by holding down the [apple] key.
Linking to alternative images
Picture Wrangler can selectively replace a placed image with an alternative one. By selecting the image to be replaced in the Picture Wrangler window and using the “Replace” button, a directory window will open allowing a new image to be substituted in place of the old. This shortcut will accomplish the same thing as deleting the older image from its picture box and using “Get Picture...” to import the new image; however, Picture Wrangler will retain all of the picture box specifications such as rotating, scaling and background color.
Updating modified images
Images that have been modified can be updated by either clicking the “Relink FPOs” or “Relink Highs” button a second time or by using the “Update” button. Only images with a “modified” status will be updated.
Collect Hi-Res/FPO for output
Picture Wrangler adds two functions to the QuarkXPress File menu: “Collect Hi-Res...” and “Collect FPOs....” These features will copy and collect all of the images used in the document as well as the QuarkXPress document itself. (As of QuarkXPress 5, you may also include fonts.) Collecting for output is useful when the document and accompanying files need to be moved off-site. “Collect Hi Res...” and “Collect FPOs...” will also generate a report containing details about the QuarkXPress file which might be of interest to service bureaus.
Additional features
Picture Wrangler can sort images by various criteria such as file type and page location, and the window can be resized to display the entire directory path of images. The window’s size and location are saved in the Picture Wrangler preference file for the next use. In addition, Picture Wrangler can generate a text list of placed images and relink images with Scitex APR “.e” and Helios “.lay” files.
Picture Wrangler for Illustrator
Picture Wrangler for Illustrator is a stand-alone application that works in conjunction with Adobe Illustrator. Users can easily relink placed high-resolution images to FPOs and extract embedded EPS images from Illustrator documents. Relinking can also be done to substitute an entirely different image for an existing one. Picture Wrangler will search a directory to relink images found in the top level or any subdirectories which is useful when moving a document to a different location.
Using Picture Wrangler for Illustrator
The images contained in an Illustrator document may be viewed through Picture Wrangler. The “Relink fpo” button automatically relinks each image in the document to its corresponding FPO image on the server. When the “Find file” dialog box appears, Picture Wrangler will automatically locate images in a selected folder or any of its subfolders. Selected images may also be replaced with different images using the “Replace” button, and embedded eps images may be extracted from Illustrator eps documents using the “Extract button.”
Picture Wrangler comes bundled with FullPress.
For more information, visit:
http://www.xinet.com/fullpress/features/fp.wrangler.html
Charles W. Moore
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