Software

Analog to Digital Converters – Round Up

Audio/Video, Home Theater, Books, Music and Movies, Cameras and Photo, Computers, Gizmo of the Day, Recommended, Software / By /

Slide and Negative to Digital Converter

Here we have a furious round up of some of the many analog to digital converters we’ve featured over the years to persuade you to digitize your precious analog collections of audio cassettes, vinyl records, photographs, slides/negatives and VHS tapes. Let’s go!

Audio Cassettes

With CDs looking like they’re being overtaken by new performance discs and music simply being downloaded and stored on computers, it’s amazing that some people still have audio cassettes – we’ve said our goodbyes, now it’s your turn. The Ion Tape2PC USB Cassette Deck lets you do that by sticking your tape into the slot and transferring it to your computer in MP3 format. Audacity and EZ Tape software suites are included to make make everything run smoothly and is compatible with PC and Mac.

Buy now! – $125

Slides, negatives, photographs, vinyl records and VHS tape still to come. Read on.

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Analog to Digital Converters – Round UpRead More »

#CES09: DeviceVM’s Instant-On Platform

CES, Software / By /

Instant-On computing environment platforms seem to be everywhere at CES. We ran across DeviceVM at ShowStoppers just a day or two after talking with the Hyperspace folks at Digital Experience.

While Phoenix recently released Hyperspace, DeviceVM’s Splashtop software has been shipping since mid 2007 and is embedded on millions of notebooks, desktops, web-centric netbooks and nettops and other devices on manufacturers including ASUS, Acer, Intel, Lenovo and HP.

Splashtop is known as an Instant-On platform and loads and is ready to use in about 6 seconds. The Splashtop application environment is built on Linux. In addition to the Web browser, it includes Skypeâ„¢, IM, media playback tools, and PIM applications. The environment can be extended with native or web-based applications.

For CES, DeviceVM and Lenovo expanded the range of quick start netbooks to include the IdeaPad S10 netbook.

Macworld 2009: Apple iTunes store going DRM-free

Books, Music and Movies, CES, Software / By /

You can now get about 8 million tracks free of DRM (copy-protection software) from iTunes with another 2M by the end of April. You can upgrade your existing set of iTunes tracks, but it’ll cost you – 30 cents per track.

The downside is that the record labels will now get to set pricing as opposed to the fixed per track/per album pricing in the past. I’ll take it; it’s a good thing overall.

#CES09: DisplayLink – video over USB

Audio/Video, Home Theater, CES, Computers, Software / By /

Do you have multiple old monitors sitting around collecting dust. Well with DisplayLink technology, you can use those monitors with some adapters or you can snag some of the new monitors that have DisplayLink tech built into them.

Just imagine being able to use a complete mismatch of up to 6 monitors with one PC. Just download the DisplayLink software and then plug those monitors and/or adapters in via USB. It doesn’t matter what the resolution and/or size of the monitors are.

There are already a bunch of DisplayLink products out there, so you can get those 6 monitors on your desk and office wall going right now!

Apple Announces new 17″ MacBook Pro, iWork ’09 and iLife ’09 at Macworld

Software / By /

Apple unveiled several announcements during the keynote speech at the MacWorld expo including a new 17-inch MacBook Pro, iWork ’09, iLife ’09 and a software Box Set that will save customers 40% combining Leopard, iLife ’09 and iWork ’09.


Apple Store The new 17-inch MacBook Pro is the most powerful Mac notebook ever with a battery that lasts up to 8 hour, and a high-resolution widescreen display. Pre-order available now, ships in 3-4 weeks starting at $2,799 (but you get free shipping).


Apple Online Store iWork ’09 adds powerful new features to each of its popular productivity applications like Keynote ’09, Pages ’09, and Numbers ’09. iWork ’09 is available now at $79 with fast, free shipping. Apple also unveiled iLife ’09, which includes major upgrades to iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand and an updated version of iWeb.


Apple Online Store iLife ’09 has been announced too with upgrades to iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, and iWeb and is currently available for $79 with fast, free shipping.

Finally, a new Mac Box Set was introduced that provides the opportunity for Mac users to upgrade to iLife ’09, Leopard, and iWork ’09 all in one box and save 40%. This box set is available now for $169 with fast, free shipping.


Apple Online Store

Picasa available for Mac

Cameras and Photo, Software / By /

Picasa on a MacOnce again the Geeks must keep an eye on the happenings at MacWorld while at CES as Google announced a Mac version of Picasa.

Previously Google offered only a Windows version of Picasa and placated Mac users with a standalone Picasa Web Albums uploader and an iPhoto plugin. Picasa and Mac lovers can now rejoice as the Mac release finally provides the advanced sharing and sync features of Picasa to the Mac OS X users and the release provides the “it-slices-and-dices” feature list that covers everything from color balance to collages.

Picasa for the Mac works like other platforms by offering some great trademark features including non-destructive editing, and the ability to keep track of photos anywhere on your hard drive, then automatically account for new images as you add them. This last feature finally tackles an issue I have had with iPhoto!

To run Picasa, you’ll need an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.4 and above.

SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry – public beta starts today

Gizmo of the Day, Networking & Internet, Phones, Portable, Software / By /

Sling Media is rolling out a SlingPlayer Mobile for the following Blackberry models: BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900, BlackBerry 8820, BlackBerry Curve 8320, BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220, BlackBerry Pearl 8120.

It’ll probably run on Blackberrys running on EDGE, but it’ll probably suck b/c EDGE networks are just too slow.

Head to the beta site for more info and downloads.

Palm probably announcing new OS, Nova, at CES 2009

CES, Phones, Portable, Software / By /

Palm is set to announce their next generation OS, codenamed Nova, at CES in Las Vegas next month. They’re being a little cagey about the announcement, but all signs point to it happening.

This is a welcome update to Palm’s offerings, with Nova most likely going to be a Linux-based mobile OS, with a focus on Internet and Web applications. Naturally.

I don’t understand why so-called experts want Palm out of the OS business. I think their CEO has it right that having the OS and hardware strongly tied leads to a better product. For now. I’m a big fan of standardization; for example, the PC platform that runs Windows, Linux or Solaris (and now, practically MacOS). But we’re not there yet with smartphones. Android is a good first step in that direction, but it’s not here yet. Over time, Palm will probably switch to making Android work well on their hardware.

I welcome “Palm OS 2.0”. I’m a bit saddened that I may not be able to update my existing Treo to this OS, but excited that there will be a refresh of a cool mobile OS.

Sony Ericsson and Vodafone join Open Handset Alliance

Phones, Portable, Software / By /

Very interesting. 14 mobile phone and chip makers, including Sony Ericsson, & Vodafone Group joined the Open Handset Alliance to support the Android mobile device platform developed by Google Inc.

That means they’re promising to back the Android platform, to make apps, services and even to ensure that the hardware is compatible with Android. Sounds like quite a score for Google.

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