Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, August 08, 2008

Bringing 3D TV to the Home

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/358743014/

Forget HD. In its perpetual quest to provide bigger and better entertainment (and to sell new gear), the consumer electronics industry is pushing 3D televisions. But first it needs to figure how to deliver the 3D tech and what types of standards need to be set so the experience is the same as that of 3D movies. The Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California said it has formed a 3D working group to solve some of these issues, and plans to make an announcement regarding the group in the coming days.

The effort, chaired by a representative from Dolby Labs, will also involve the major movie studios and consumer device makers. A spokeswoman for the ETC said each year the center focuses on a new technology, and this year that focus will be 3D for televisions. “3D is going to become more and more pervasive and we need to know how to carry it all the way from the theater into your home and what products will be best for the consumer in the end,” she said.

We’re eager to learn more, and 3D is certainly on the minds of movie makers. Last month, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers formed a 3D task force to address the appropriate standards to deliver 3D content to the home via cable, DVDs, the web and other formats. My guess is if we think HD content requires a lot of data, 3D is going to blow our bandwidth caps out of the water.

Hat Tip to EEtimes

photo courtesy of nickstone333 via Flickr

Google Sites to Replace Google Page Creator

Source: http://www.labnol.org/internet/google-sites-replace-google-page-creator/4086/

google Google Pages is still a part of Google Labs but this web page creator software will never get a chance to graduate from labs as it is getting replaced by Google Sites - a new product similar to Google Pages but with a wiki.

Google has stopped accepting new sign-ups for Google Page Creator though existing users can continue using the product like before.

However, all your files, images and web pages stored in Google Pages will get shifted to Google Sites later this year. This may be a concern for some as it will lead to broken links because Google Sites and Google Pages follow a different URL structure.

A big difference between Google Page Creator and Google Sites is that the former lets you upload HTML pages that are created externally - this is something you’ll really miss when the Google Pages to Google Sites transition is complete. Thanks Satish.

Google Sites to Replace Google Page Creator - Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal

Show Large Images with Deep Zoom Composer - Video Tour

Source: http://www.labnol.org/software/tutorial-deep-zoom-composer/4094/

Deep Zoom Composer is a free software from Microsoft that lets you place high resolution photographs and other large images in a web page without resizing them.

Your viewers can then navigate through the images using standard zoom and pan controls similar to what we have in Google Maps. The only thing they would need is Silverlight*.

It take three steps to create a composition (or collage) in Deep Zoom Composer.

Step 1: Import your pictures into Deep Zoom Composer.

Import Pictures

Step 2: If you have just one picture to showcase, you are ready to go. Else your may arrange and resize the pictures in any manner you like. There’re are helpful on-screen guides to help you with the alignments and resizing.

Arrange Pictures

Step 3: The last step is to export your composition. You can either export them onto your local drive or let Deep Zoom Composer upload it to Microsoft’s PhotoZoom website from where anyone can view your pictures.

Export Deep Zoom

You may also watch this screencast video on how to quickly create a composition with Deep Zoom Composer.

With Deep Zoom Composer, you can not only put high-res images on the web but the software can also be used for stitching panoramas on the fly. Just select the images that are part of the panorama, right click and select "Create Panoramic Photo."

Deep Zoom Composer | Get Silverlight | Photo Zoom | Team Blog

If you have Silverlight on your machine, check this photo gallery of Vista wallpapers made with Deep Zoom Composer. Click anywhere inside the image and use your mouse to pan or zoom.

*If you are looking for some non-Silverlight options for embedding large photos, check out Google Maps Viewer and Zoomify.

Show Large Images with Deep Zoom Composer - Video Tour - Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal

Website Not Loading in Firefox? Try Again, Automatically

Source: http://www.labnol.org/software/website-not-loading-try-again-firefox/4146/

website loading When browsing web pages in Firefox, it often happens that the site you’re trying to access doesn’t load in one go.

May be the web server is down momentarily or there was too much load or maybe your own Internet connection dropped. Whatever be the case, such issues are often temporary and get resolved as soon you press F5 to reload the same web page.

connection timeout If you work with too many browser tabs, a better alternative to F5 could be Try Again. This is a Firefox add-in that will continuously try connecting to web pages that didn’t open successfully in the first instance.

TryAgain v 3.2 - Thinks of this as robot pressing F5 every 5 or 10 seconds.

And if the web server fails to respond even after several tries, you can always see a copy through Google Cache or the WayBack Archive.

Website Not Loading in Firefox? Try Again, Automatically - Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal

Toshiba Flash Chips Doubled to 32GB, Good for PMPs, Cellphones [Flash]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/359276182/toshiba-flash-chips-doubled-to-32gb-good-for-pmps-cellphones

Toshiba has announced it's beefing-up its line of NAND flash storage chips to 32GB sizes. The new package combines eight 4GB 43-nanometer chips into one—double the previous generation's capacity—and is specifically aimed at the portable device market. Since it can be dropped into existing slots, manufacturers have to make no specific changes to accommodate the new chips. Toshiba, of course, doesn't name its clients, but suffice it to say Apple is on the list. The new chips will be available as samples in September, with bulk production starting soon after. [Electronista]