Say What?
by David English on September 3rd, 2009
Do you fumble with your Bluetooth headset because you can’t remember how many times you’re supposed to press the tiny buttons? Or do you find yourself repeatedly taking the headset off your ear because you can’t distinguish the buttons just by touch?
Unfortunately, those are common complaints with Bluetooth headsets. BlueAnt’s Q1 headset promises to remedy those issues by making the commands almost entirely voice controlled.
I was highly dubious about this approach before I tried the Q1. What would I do in an exceptionally noisy environment if the Q1 couldn’t understand me? Would I miss the call? And how would I remember all the different voice commands, especially if I used the headset only occasionally?
BlueAnt has addressed the problem of exceptionally noisy environments — as well as situations where it may be awkward to speak out loud — by providing dual methods for dealing with incoming calls. Using the voice commands, you can say “answer” to accept the call or “ignore” to reject the call. Alternatively, you can press the Q1′s big button once to accept the call or twice to reject it. Both methods worked fine for me.
Remembering the commands hasn’t been an issue either. Hold that same button down until you hear the Q1 say, “Say a command.” Then if you ask “What can I say,” you’ll hear the available voice commands, which include tasks such as “call back,” redial,” “check battery,” and “settings menu.” “Teach me” initiates an audio tutorial. “Pair me” pairs the headset with your phone (it can handle two phones simultaneously and remember as many as eight different devices). “Call speed dial 3″ automatically dials one of your eight stored speed dial numbers.
The only times I ran into problems with the Q1 understanding me was when I was in an exceptionally noisy environment or when I didn’t have the headset positioned properly toward my mouth. You need to have the two microphones lined up for it to understand your voice commands or for the built-in noise suppression to function effectively. The detachable ear hook is handy for when you’re physically active, though I found the two different-sized ear tips did a pretty good job of holding the headset in place.
Most importantly, the audio clarity has been consistently top-notch for both ends of the conversation. If you don’t mind the price (it lists for $129), the Q1 is well worth considering.
Instant Wi-Fi
by David English on August 24th, 2009
If you travel a lot, you’ve probably encountered a hotel, convention center, or remote office that supplies an Ethernet jack rather than Wi-Fi. That’s generally not a problem. Most notebook computers can handle both types of Internet connections.
Sometimes, however, I prefer to connect over Wi-Fi. I might want to use my notebook away from the desk in the hotel room. Or I might want an Internet connection for my iPod Touch or BlackBerry Curve — both are Wi-Fi enabled.
Being able to connect a Wi-Fi enabled phone can be especially handy if you’re traveling outside the country, and your phone isn’t compatible with local cellular standards. With a Wi-Fi phone, you may be able to make and receive calls over Wi-Fi using your regular phone number and be charged as though you’re making a local phone call.
So how do you convert an Ethernet jack into a Wi-Fi access point? You can use D-Link’s DWL-G730AP Wireless Pocket Router. It sells for about $50, comes with a durable carrying case, and supports three wireless modes: Router, Access Point, and Wireless Client.
Set up can be a little tricky, as the documentation isn’t as clear as it should be, though once you have it configured with your Wi-Fi-enabled devices, you can just plug it in and connect. (For tips on configuring the DWL-G730AP, check the comments section for the product on Amazon.com. Here’s a link to the review there that helped me configure it as an access point. Unfortunately, I can’t offer advice beyond that.)
The DWL-G730AP can handle multiple connected devices at the same time, so you could provide Internet access for family, friends, or co-workers. WPA security is built-in, and you can hide the SSID as an additional safeguard. You could configure the SSID and password for your own devices before the trip, and then supply that information to others while traveling.
Next Billion Cameras
by David English on August 23rd, 2009
One of the most interesting sessions at the recent SIGGRAPH 2009 conference was titled “Next Billion Cameras.”
More than a billion image sensors are manufactured each year with the majority going to digital cameras and mobile phone cameras. What are the implications of a billion cameras snapping photos around the world? Have the millions of online photos become a new data source that could be used in instructive or creative ways?
Alexei (Alyosha) Efros, assistant professor at the Robotics Institute and computer science department at Carnegie Mellon University, demonstrated how photos stored on Flickr and the other hosting services could be used to construct three-dimensional models of well-known tourist attractions, such as the Pantheon in Rome.
He also showed how an obstructed view, such as a landscape blocked by a building, could be repaired automatically using fill-in sections from a context-matched shot available online. The result becomes a seamless, idealized version of the original photo.
Eyes to the Future
by David English on August 22nd, 2009
In the distant future, a mathematician discovers that civilization will undergo a 500-year collapse, followed by a 30,000-year period of great pain and suffering. He has calculated a path that could reduce the dark time to just 1,000 years. Unfortunately, the ruling regime has held his findings to be treasonous.
That’s the premise of the Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. It was given a one-time Hugo award in 1965 for “Best All-Time Series,” beating out Lord of the Rings (the first Dune book wasn’t published until that same year).
Based almost entirely on a series of short stories he published in “Astounding Magazine” from 1942 to 1950, Asimov was inspired by Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In the Foundation stories, we view the events through the eyes of the mathematician’s followers, as they attempt to navigate through the treacherous historical currents.
Why hasn’t Hollywood turned the Foundation series into a big-budget movie? The short answer is, they’re working on it. In January, the rights were sold to Columbia Pictures. Roland Emmerich is set to direct, and Robert Rodat is busy working on the script. Rodat is best known for having written the script for Saving Private Ryan.
In the meantime, you can read the books. Or you can listen to an excellent eight-part BBC radio production that captures much of the intelligence, drama, and intrigue of Asimov’s original stories. The radio programs are available free through the Internet Archive. Here’s a link to download the radio series. If you just want to sample the radio programs, you can use this link to stream the first episode.
Print to Metal
by David English on August 17th, 2009
It sounds incredible. You create a file on your computer, and then print that file as a metal object.
I visited the Shapeways booth earlier this month at the SIGGRAPH 2009 conference in New Orleans. Shapeways interfaces with 3D modeling programs to let you transform your 3D creations into plastic or stainless steel objects.
You can use the company’s website to upload your 3D design, as long as the design is in a standard 3D-modeling file format, such as STL, Collada, X3D, or VRML. You pay a fee based on the size of the resulting object, and Shapeways delivers the object globally within 22 business days for metal or 10 business days for plastic.
If you’re a product designer, you can participate in the Shapeways Shops program, which combines production, packaging, shipping, and customer care. That might be an expensive proposition for established mass-market designers who benefit from the lower costs associated with traditional manufacturing, but it could prove useful for less-commercial products or experimental designs.
Non-designers can also try out the technology. Using Shapeways Creator, you can design and purchase ringpoem napkin rings with a personal message, lightpoem lamps with a favorite quotation, or custom cufflinks with a particular style and initials.
This could be the start of a whole new cottage industry, where you would use specialized software to create and manufacture the physical products you want to decorate your home or office.
Relight Your Photos
by David English on July 29th, 2009
Talk about frustration. You snap a photo with your digital camera, and when you look at it later, you notice the subject is darker than it should be. Everything else is perfectly lit, except for the face or object that’s supposed to be the focus of the shot.
You could try to fix it with an image-editing program, such as Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture, but where would you begin? How do you lighten the darkened elements without causing the rest of the image to become washed-out or too bright? What you need is an automated fix that allows for your creative input.
Light Craft’s Aurora may be the answer. It combines a powerful relight tool with an intuitive interface. You can click the Auto Relight button and let the software decide, or move your cursor over bracketed variations of the tool’s results, and select the image you think is best.
Aurora can help you recover photos you might otherwise have chosen to discard, though it can’t perform miracles. It works best with shots where you can still see the subject — if only barely. It can’t draw details out of complete darkness.
This latest version of Aurora (version 1.1) brings Retouch and Punch tools to the mix. This version also expands Aurora’s integrated support for popular photo-sharing sites, adding Shutterfly to a list that includes Flickr, Facebook, SmugMug, Picasa, and TwentyThree.
I still prefer to use Lightroom for editing my photos. However, when I encounter a problem photo that needs a relight tool, I’ll try exporting it to Aurora. Previously, I did the same thing with Light Craft’s LightZone, which I reviewed last year for Computer Shopper.
Aurora currently sells for $19.95 (that’s 50-percent off the regular price). There’s a seven-day trial version, so you can try it on some of your own worst-case photos.
Free Cartoon Bubbles
by David English on July 28th, 2009
Want to add cartoon bubbles to your photos? Now you can. Digital Anarchy is offering a free Cartoon Bubble plug-in for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. You can vary the size, shape and position of the bubble, as well as the typeface and font size.
Other features include color selection for both the bubble and its edge, a slider control to adjust the bubble’s thickness, and seven preconfigured bubble styles that include basic ellipse, basic rectangle, emphasis, and thought bubble. You can even create and save your own bubble styles. I found using the plug-in to be simple and straightforward.
What’s missing? There’s no undo function inside the plug-in, though there is a workaround. If you use Photoshop to undo the plug-in’s changes and then reload the plug-in, it will automatically reapply all the previous settings, including the text you typed into the bubble.
You do have to provide an e-mail address to Digital Anarchy in order to receive the link for the Cartoon Bubble download. For what it’s worth, I’ve known the company for many years, and they are well regarded among graphics professionals.
Here’s a link for more information.
Turning Blu
by David English on July 19th, 2009
If you’ve been waiting to buy a Blu-ray player because the technology isn’t quite there yet, take a look at Oppo’s BDP-83. With a $499 list price, it would be considered a mid-priced model. Yet it runs rings around other Blu-ray players, including units that cost a thousand dollars or more.
Remarkably, it doesn’t take forever to load a Blu-ray disc. A major annoyance with other models is the length of time it takes for the Blu-ray copy protection to verify the disc is legit. With the Oppo BDP-83, Blu-ray discs load almost as fast as DVDs.
I have only a handful of Blu-ray discs, so I’ll be using the BDP-83 mostly for DVDs. The BDP-83 provides the best image quality I’ve seen with DVDs, due in large part to the high-quality scaling and de-interlacing provided by the built-in VRS processor from Anchor Bay. My DVDs have never looked better. They have richer colors, deeper tones, and silky smooth movement.
Other standout features include the ability to play most video and audio files directly from a USB thumb drive (also handy for firmware upgrades). There’s support for BD-Live content with 1GB of internal storage. The player is compatible with SACD (Super Audio CD) and DVD-Audio discs, as well as the latest high-end audio formats — Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. You say your receiver doesn’t know how to decode those audio formats? No problem. The Oppo BDP-83 can handle the decoding and route the audio through its 7.1-channel analog outputs.
The only downside I’ve encountered is the lack of multi-region support. Oppo’s DVD players could handle DVDs from other countries, once you’ve input a special code. As a condition for being granted the Blu-ray license, the company has agreed to not allow that loophole with its Blu-ray players. The region-code restriction is for both DVD and Blu-ray discs.
Oppo is one of the most customer-oriented companies around. They provide excellent support and are responsive to users’ needs. I had previously purchased two Oppo DVD players and wouldn’t hesitate to buy another. If you’re shopping for a feature-rich player (as opposed to the least expensive player available), you’ll find the Oppo models often represent the best overall value.
Sonic Scrapbook
by David English on July 17th, 2009
Today, Olympus announced its latest portable high-quality audio recorder, the LS-11. I’m a fan of the LS-10, the predecessor of the LS-11. I use the LS-10 for all the interviews I conduct — either over the phone or in person. Both devices can record uncompressed 24 bit/96 kHz linear PCM format audio for high-quality digital stereo. I sometimes use the uncompressed 24-bit mode to record ambient sounds when traveling.
One of my favorite features is the programmable function key. I have mine set to toggle the LCD backlight on or off. The backlight can turn itself off automatically, but I like to turn it off manually to optimize battery life and eliminate a potential distraction.
Many of the main functions are handled externally with analog controls. That’s a real plus in my book. When you’re fumbling to start or stop a recording, or adjust the volume, you’re better served with proportionally large and clearly marked dials and buttons.
The LS-11 expands the LS-10′s onboard memory from 2GB to 8GB. Both models have an SD card slot that can handle the higher-capacity SDHC cards, as well as standard SD cards. The LS-11 adds the ability to place index marks within a file during recording or playback. It also allows for rudimentary file edits. Olympus claims the LS-11 can record up to 23 hours on two AA batteries.
My only complaints with the LS-10: It takes too long for the device to go from being off to being ready to record, and changing the volume level while recording can sometimes be noisy.
These aren’t cheap products. The LS-11 will be available in September with an estimated street price of $399.99. If you look around, you can find the LS-10 for less than $250. Here’s a link for more information on both models.
Pixar Soars with 3D
by David English on May 4th, 2009
Two weeks ago at the NAB tradeshow, I had a chance to see some very impressive 3D clips from Pixar Animation Studios. The company’s latest animated feature, Up, will be released to theaters in 3D on May 29. The clips were presented by Bob Whitehill, stereoscopic supervisor, and Josh Hollander, director of stereoscopic production, both from Pixar. They spoke about how the company is transitioning from 2D to 3D.
“Up was well underway when we started to approach it in 3D,” explained Whitehall. “We just had a great presentation with the creative leadership with Toy Story 3, so we’re thinking about 3D earlier in that pipeline.” The timing for introducing 3D into the pipeline will be determined by the director of each project. “We’re a story- and director-driven studio,” said Hollander. “We’ve found through our testing and production process thus far that beautiful composition equals pretty good 3D.”
What technical lessons have they learned about 3D from Up? “Long lens don’t work,” said Whitehall. “Super-wide lens don’t work. Depth-of-field foreground objects don’t work as well as depth-of-field background objects do. It’s much more effective to have geometry that leads your eye from the foreground to the background.”
Pixar is also learning how to use 3D to enhance, rather than detract from, the story and characters. “Patrick Lin, the director of photography for Up, came up with this great visual structure between a square and a circle,” explained Whitehill. “The square sequences are ones where Carl felt trapped, alone, and confined in his house. The circle sequences were ones of adventure and happiness. So in the sequences when Carl is with his wife Ellie, those are circle sequences. We had more depth there, and the characters felt rounder. When he is alone, Carl felt flatter.”
Extended out to 3D space, a square can become a cube, and a circle can become a sphere. Accordingly, in the trapped sequences, Carl seems to be locked into a cube, because he remains positioned primarily behind the screen. Conversely, in the adventure sequences, Carl and his world become more rounded and fuller, with the sphere of action now extending out from the screen.
“For the first time, Carl starts to emerge out into audience space and has that freedom of movement in space to work with,” Whitehill added. “Whether these things will really hit people or not, it’s still a mystery, but our goal is to use 3D to mirror emotion as much as possible.”
Speed Spelled with a Z
by David English on March 30th, 2009
I’m truly impressed with the new HP Z series workstation. It was announced today.
The Z workstation receives a substantial speed increase from the latest generation of Intel Xeon 5500 series processors. The 5500 has a new integrated memory processor that allows more memory than before (192GB in the case of the Z800). It also features the new Intel Turbo Boost Technology, which boosts the performance of a single processor core when an application doesn’t require multi-core performance. You’ll see those same features in competing desktop computers that are switching to Intel’s Nehalem microarchitecture.
HP has moved beyond the competition, however, by rethinking how a workstation should be configured. With the Z series (Z400, Z600, and Z800), just about every component is contained in a module you can add or remove with your bare hands. No tools are needed.
Even more remarkable, you don’t have to attach or reattach any wires. The fan and power supply slip in and out of the chassis without your having to deal with plugs or wired connections. In fact, you have to look really closely inside to see any wires at all.
How powerful is a Z series workstation? According to HP, the fastest supercomputer in 1993 could perform about 8 gigaflops, or eight billion floating-point operations per second. A Z workstation tops out at about 10 gigaflops. Prices start at $969 for the Z400, $1,679 for the Z600, and $1,999 for the Z800.