Geek News: Latest Technology, Product Reviews, Gadgets and Tech Podcast News for Geeks

Disney Closing Online Movie Service

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 8:08 PM on November 19, 2012

Today Disney announced that they are closing their online web movie service on December 31. This service allowed consumers to watch any Disney or Pixar movie that were available.

I have to admit I have never used the service and I don’t know anyone who does. However after reading its limitation I am not surprise it failed. The videos couldn’t be downloaded. You could only watch them on a computer through a web browser. No watching them on an Xbox 360, PS3 or other internet connected devices. If Disney wanted to create a service that was guaranteed to fail they couldn’t have done a better job. In an era where consumers want to watch videos when and on what device they want, Disney created a platform that did the exact opposite. It is pretty clear why they did it they wanted to maintain control and prevent piracy. However in their attempt to maintain control, they drove consumer to other options such as Netflix or Amazon Prime.

If you purchased a Disney Combo Pack, you can transfer the Digital copy either to iTunes or Windows Media Player. Disney said they are working on a new service called Disney Movies Anywhere, that would allow consumers to watch Disney and Pixar movies anywhere across multiple devices. No launch date has been announced at this time. Even if Disney has a successful relaunch of their online video service. I wonder if a service that only provides videos from a single studio, even if that studio is Disney and Pixar can survive in an era that include services like Netflix.

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Posted in Information, video

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GoPro Hero3 Black Edition

Posted by Andrew at 12:55 AM on October 18, 2012

GoPro have announced the latest addition to their lineup of action cameras, the Hero3 Black Edition and it’s some camera. Capable of 4k video recording, albeit at 12 fps, and 60 fps at 1080p, this captures adrenalin-fuelled action in all its glory. Other features include burst modes, time-lapse, wi-fi video preview and a wi-fi controller.

GoPro Hero3

 

If you want to show off your extreme adventures, this is the camera to have. It’s pricey enough at $399 (£379) and there are lesser models at $299 (£279) and $199 (£179) for the silver and white variants respectively. As expected, there’s a range of accessories for attaching cameras to machines, helmets, bodies and other sporting equipment. The Black Edition will be out in November.

To show off the features of the Hero3, GoPro commissioned this film which was shot entirely with a Hero3. It’s stunning.

“Mermaids!” says my daughter.

 

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Posted in Photography, snow board, Toys, video, wifi

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YouTube Adds Nearly 100 New Original Channels

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 7:52 AM on October 8, 2012

Early this morning YouTube announced the addition of almost 100 new original channels, this time including non-U.S. locations such as France, Germany, and the UK.  The roll out included two new BBC channels for science and nature, as well as many others, including local cuisine, health and wellness, parenting, sports, music, comedy, animation and news.

Aside from the BBC, there are quite a few other big names included in the list.  You will find Motor Trend, Car and Driver, The Onion, eHow Home, Howcast, Fuse, Slate, the Wall Street Journal, SB Nation, and many more.   In addition, YouTube also provided a little insight into how their original channels have been performing since their launch.

  • Our top 25 original channels are now averaging over a million views every week
  • 800 million of your are watching 4 billion hours every month, that’s up from 3 billion hours earlier this year
  • The number of people subscribing has doubled y/y
  • And partners this year are reaching the 100k subscriber mark 5x faster than they were just two years ago

There is no word on when these will go live, but some of them already are, while others are providing a sneak peak.  You can browse the whole list here.

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Posted in video, YouTube

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Adobe Releases Photoshop Elements 11 and Premiere Elements 11

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 6:46 AM on October 1, 2012

The more creative folks among us will be excited to hear that today Adobe has introduced new versions of both Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements.  The photo and video editing programs, which are stand-alone apps, have both gone to version 11 and are available immediately.

Photoshop Elements 11 features a brand new user interface with Quick, Guided and Expert editing modes, one-click options, action bar and bigger icons.  Users can also organize photos based on people, places (via Google maps geo-tagging) or events, new Guided Edits, new filters and the ability to share photos via email, Facebook and more.

Premiere Elements 11 also features a newly-designed user interface with many of the same updates we mentioned for Photoshop Elements.   The new version also comes with a wider range of  effects, transitions, themes, titles, disc menus and professional-level effects and sound.  A FilmLooks features has been added which Adobe describes as a way to “easily apply slow and fast motion effects; dial-in colors with slider controls; effortlessly integrate blends for seamless transitions; and make adjustments with Quick Presets”.

Both apps can be purchased separately or as a bundle.  While many software updates introduce so few changes that they aren’t worth users shelling out the money for the upgrade, version 11 of the Adobe Elements software seems to make the upgrade a worthwhile move for those who want to make the jump.

Posted in Adobe, Photography, video

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Bill Nye Stands up Against Creationism

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 4:51 AM on September 5, 2012

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and don’t necessarily reflect the site or it’s sponsors.

I am going to step on some toes in this article.  If you feel the need to click away then I understand.  After all I want to accommodate everyone’s beliefs, because everyone has a right to be heard.  That being said, Bill Nye, “The Science Guy”, recently made some comments that have raised a fire storm.  Bill isn’t backing down from them, and I support him 100%.

A video began circulating recently showing Nye demonizing parents for teaching anti-science to their children, specifically anti-evolution.  The video was titled, quite simply, “Creationism is not appropriate for children”.  The video has more than 4 million views, with a mix of supporters and detractors, but the vast majority have been supportive – 66,000 likes vs 13,000 dislikes.

In all seriousness, the U.S. currently has one of the worst track records for science education and creationists are largely responsible for this dismal record.  Religion has crept into our politics and states like Texas have even attempted to pass laws against the teaching of what is, in reality, a solid scientific theory.  Bare in mind that everything in science is a theory because it is always evolving as new evidence is found.  Evolution is every bit as solid of a “theory” as the theory of gravity.

Of course, religious groups have been up-in-arms over Nye’s comments with Ken Ham, who runs the Creation Museum, leading the charge.  Nye, in response, has appeared on CNN to defend his stance.  His views are no different than those of the vast majority of scientists, but he has the means to make them heard by the masses.  Sadly, Nye probably can’t change much, but if he sways just a few people away from trying to tell their children that the world is only 6,000 years old, then it will be a victory.

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Posted in Science, video

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Conan O’Brien Makes Fun of the Apple-Samsung Legal Battle

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 10:23 AM on August 8, 2012

Late night comedian Conan O’Brien recently took on the often talked about legal battle between hardware giants Apple and Samsung.  Apple has claimed that Samsung, among every other Android device maker, stole their ideas and concepts for the Galaxy line of handsets.

Of course, the reality as most people see it is that many patents in technology are simply frivolous and should never have been granted, since the system is supposed to take into account if something is”obvious”.  None the less, that’s where we are in today’s tech world.  Everyone is suing everyone else and there’s no end in site.

However, frivolous lawsuits aside, at least we can still laugh about some of it.  O’Brien took the opportunity to put together a nice parody video.  It doesn’t show Samsung in a very nice light (someone had to be the victim in this), but it’s all in fun anyway.  You can check it out below.

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Posted in Apple, iOS, mobile, video

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Lego SmartBricks Could Bring Computer Integration to Your Creations

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 4:30 PM on June 9, 2012

Before we get started let me just point out that Lego SmartBricks aren’t yet available, but they may be on the way if enough people get behind the product.  The “smart” Lego brick will integrated with a smartphone or tablet to relay their exact configuration.  The blocks have a small chip inserted within each brick that will communicate with both android and iOS devices.

When using the SmartBricks, anything you create with real Lego can appear in digital form on your tablet or phone.  This allows the builder to model something like a racing vehicle in the real world that would then be converted into a digital version automatically so you can test it out against other people’s creations in a sort of Mario-Kart-like game.

The possibilities for this product are endless. The SmartBricks is currently a concept posted on the Lego Cuusoo page and they are hoping for enough attention to get picked up and funded.  That should not be a problem given the already-high interest being given to this potential new product.

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Posted in video

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Video of Home Automation System in a $55 Million Mansion

Posted by Alan Buckingham at 10:21 AM on June 7, 2012

Tech news web site BGR introduced their new BGR Show today and episode one is a big one for tech, home theater, and home automation fans.  The show is slated to run weekly and, in addition to a little cool technology like this week, they also promise interviews with celebrities and some behind-the-scenes segments with manufacturers.

The home featured in episode one may be beautiful, but the statistics surrounding it’s internal electronics are nothing short of breath-taking.  Try to grasp these numbers – over 2,000 lights, 48 TVs, 50 miles of wiring, 35 security cameras and hundreds of speakers.  All of this can be controlled from touchscreens, tablets, computers, and smartphones.

The home is located in New Jersey and the show features the man behind implementing all of the electronics – Gabriel Karlis from JD AV Design.  I would try to describe the level of sophistication seen in the video, but it’s really worth just watching to get a real idea of what exactly is possible if you have the money to do what you want, including controlling virtually every aspect of your home from lights to security to HVAC with the click of a button.

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Posted in Home Theater, video

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BlackMagic Intensity Extreme with Thunderbolt Connection [Review]

Posted by J Powers at 11:48 AM on May 9, 2012
Blackmagic Intensity Extreme

Blackmagic Intensity Extreme with Thunderbolt Connection

Two weeks ago, I wanted to bump up my live camera action. Knowing that camera companies like Canon have decided to remove DV and component video connections on their newer lines of cameras, I had to find a solution to pull video from the HDMI output. Therefore, I bought the Intensity Extreme.

BlackMagic Intensity Extreme Advantages

The biggest feature on this device is that I can connect directly to the Thunderbolt™ port on my MacBook Pro. This is the machine I do the majority of my video, using Wirecast to record and broadcast.

The BlackMagic Intensity Extreme can also get video from a composite source, using the breakout cable (included). Therefore, it’s a perfect way to stream your gaming session to uStream or Justin.tv. If you have an SD camera, you can also connect to the Intensity Extreme to broadcast. Therefore, I could connect my Kodak Zi10, or a Flip camera using the composite cable.

Intensity Extreme is compatible with Avid, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premier, DaVinci Resolve, Wirecast, and many other programs. You can even use it for a program like Screenflow, to enhance the video with your face in the corner.

No Windows Drivers – Yet

The Intensity extreme does not have Windows drivers just yet, so you Bootcamp users out there will want to use your Mac for recording. It doesn’t mean you cannot get it to work in Windows, but you will not have support just yet. You will have to purchase the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle to have Windows support.

BlackMagic Intensity Extreme – Overall

The device is simple to set up (camera to Intensity to computer). There is no external power, so you don’t need to worry about a battery or plug. The Thunderbolt cable does not come with the Intensity Extreme, so you will have to drop another $50 for that.

The BlackMagic Intensity Extreme is $284, and is a perfect way to add a 16:9 camera to your mix (like the Canon VIXIA R20 I used). This can give your recordings more depth because you will have focus, white balance, exposure, zoom, and other features a webcam cannot offer.

The Blackmagic Intensity Extreme is also part of Todd’s new High Definition Mobile Broadcast Studio.

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Posted in video

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Google Hangouts Live Opening to the Public

Posted by KL Tech Muse at 7:22 PM on May 7, 2012

Google Hangout Live One of the problems that Google Hangout has it is limited to 10 people and you can’t record or embed it on your Web site or YouTube. Over the next couple of weeks Google is going to open up Google Hangout Live, which was being tested by a limited number of users to the public in countries around the world. Now you can do a hangout and have any number of people watch it live. There is also an embed code so you can have people watch the videos live directly from your Web site or your YouTube account. This will allow people who aren’t part of Google + or even Google to watch the video live. The videos will also be recorded and upload to your YouTube channel and to your Google+ post. In order to start a hangout on air yourself you do have to agree to the terms of services. This will link your Google + account with your YouTube channel.

If you are on Google+ you can see what hangouts are live and you can watch by click on the Google Hangout symbol on the left. The top group are the hangouts that available to watch. It also has a list of hangouts that you can join and participate in. So far the ones I have started to watch have not had any commercials, the question is whether this will continue. If it does then this could be a big blow to sites like Justin TV and Ustream.

It will be interesting to see how this works as more and more people start using it. One problem I see already is that some Google Hangouts that are going live, may not be work place or family friendly. I am not sure how to solve this problem. Also although Google Hangouts Live has opened up around the world, it is still limited to a small group of countries and China is not one of them, although it is available in Hong Kong.

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Posted in google, Information, Media, video

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