Monthly Archives: April 2012

29 posts

Dropbox adds automatic photo uploads for Windows and Mac

Internet

Dropbox adds automatic photo uploads from just about any camera, tablet, SD card or smartphone — pretty much anything that takes photos or videos! Plus, you can view your uploaded pictures on the web from our spiffy new Photos page!

Automatic uploading from the desktop is designed to work perfectly with the Dropbox Android app. Your photos are copied from your camera to your Dropbox and uploaded, in full-quality and at their original size, to your private Camera Uploads folder. As your photos upload, you can access them from anywhere and move and share them as you see fit.

Read more: http://blog.dropbox.com/?p=1165

3M annouces Cloud Library e-book lending service

Internet

The 3M Cloud Library eBook Lending Service will be introduced to the public today in an open house event from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Sun Ray location of the Saint Paul Public Library. The library is one of a number of beta sites where library staff members have undergone training and are now ready to unveil the system to patrons.

The 3M Cloud Library offers a turnkey system of digital content, in-library hardware, and apps for borrowing and reading, and promises to revolutionize how library patrons discover, borrow and read eBooks. At today’s open house, attendees will be able to test drive the system, which uses several components to allow them to browse the electronic catalog and read on the device of their choice:

3M Discovery Terminals: Patrons at the library can browse the catalog on these electronic kiosks with an intuitive touch-based interface.

3M eReaders: Content from the Cloud Library can be synced with easy-to-use 3M eReaders that can be checked out like any other lendable materials. eReaders can be checked out at three Saint Paul Public Library locations including Central, Sun Ray and Arlington Hills Libraries.

Mobile device compatibility: The service’s eBooks are compatible with PCs, Macs, iPads, Nooks, and Androids. Using their personal devices, patrons can browse, check out and read eBooks all without leaving the 3M Cloud Library app.

“Saint Paul is proud to be one of the first library sites to provide this service,” said Mayor Chris Coleman, who will be on hand at today’s event. “The fact that the system allows eReaders to be checked out along with digital content is a great way to ensure eReading is available to all. For people who have their own eReading devices, the 3M Cloud Library gives them access to thousands of titles. This system has something for all Saint Paul library patrons.”

The Sun Ray location of the Saint Paul Public Library is in close proximity to 3M’s campus, making it an ideal “living lab” for new technologies from 3M Library Systems.

“3M has been an outstanding partner to us, and we are proud to work with them to serve as a leader for other libraries across the country,” said Kit Hadley, director of the Saint Paul Public Library. “With this technology, we are able to offer cutting-edge technology to all our patrons, whether they own their own e-reader or not.”

Along with the Saint Paul Public Library, a number of other libraries across the country have now made the 3M Cloud Library available to patrons, including the Bergen County Cooperative Library System, N.J.; Maricopa County Library District, Ariz.; Douglas County Libraries, Colo.; Darien Library, Conn.; Richland County Public Library, S.C.; and the State Library of Kansas on behalf of the Kansas Digital Library Consortium. 3M will seek feedback from both patrons and staff at these locations on the service’s ease of use and functionality, using their input to continue to refine the system.

For more information about the 3M Cloud Library eLending system, visit 3M.com/Cloud.

Flickr announces new Uploadr feature for image uploads

Internet

Flickr have announce a new feature that will make it easier and faster for you to upload your photos and share them with the people.

New features:
“Easily preview and arrange your photos
We’re utilizing some advanced HTML 5 browser technology to bring you a completely new uploading experience on Flickr. You can now add photos by dragging them into the browser. We also show preview thumbnails, where supported, so you can use the intuitive drag and drop interface to manage and reorder photos before they hit your photostream. You can also easily zoom, rotate or sort your photos by title.

Share the story behind your photo
We’ve made it even easier for you to add titles, descriptions and tags, and you can organize your photos into sets like Death Valley 2012 or Beards of my Life. You can now also tag your friends in photos and change licensing, content type and other advanced options right from the uploadr page before publishing to your photostream. So go ahead and tell everyone about your photos!

Faster is better
You may also notice a huge improvement to our upload speeds – between 20-30% faster on average, and up to 50-60% faster for some of our international users.

File sizes: now more bigger!
You asked for it, and we’ve delivered. We increased the file size limits for our Pro users up to 50MB and for our free users up to 30MB. That’s huge! Now you can easily save high-resolution images to Flickr and see your photos in pixel-perfect detail.”

Read more: http://blog.flickr.net/en/2012/04/25/say-hello-to-the-new-flickr-uploadr/

Google Maps offers photo tours of global landmarks

Internet

Google Maps now offers tours of global landmarks with the introduction of photo tours, a feature of Google Maps that guides you through a 3D photo scene.

Photo tours are available for more than 15,000 popular sites around the world, from famous landmarks such as St. Mark’s Basilica in Italy to scenic treasures like Half Dome in Yosemite. They can be initiated from Google Maps in two ways. First, when you search for a place, such as Trevi Fountain, the results in the left panel will indicate if there is a photo tour available: click either the thumbnail image or the link to start the tour. Alternatively, if you’re browsing the map and click on the label for a particular landmark, the info window that appears will indicate if a photo tour is available.

Please note that using photo tours requires Google Maps with WebGL

More info: http://google-latlong.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/visit-global-landmarks-with-photo-tours.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/SbSV+(Google+LatLong)

Google Introduces Google Drive

Internet

Google has announced Google Drive, a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond, reports the Google Official Blog.

With Google Drive, you can:
Create and collaborate. Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items.
Store everything safely and access it anywhere (especially while on the go). All your stuff is just… there. You can access your stuff from anywhere—on the web, in your home, at the office, while running errands and from all of your devices. You can install Drive on your Mac or PC and can download the Drive app to your Android phone or tablet. We’re also working hard on a Drive app for your iOS devices. And regardless of platform, blind users can access Drive with a screen reader.
Search everything. Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. We also use image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and we expect it to get better over time.
You can get started with 5GB of storage for free—that’s enough to store the high-res photos of your trip to the Mt. Everest, scanned copies of your grandparents’ love letters or a career’s worth of business proposals, and still have space for the novel you’re working on. You can choose to upgrade to 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month. When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.

iHome announces iDM5 Executive workstation for tablets and smartphones

Technology

Making tablets and Bluetooth-enabled smartphones more functional than ever before, iHome announced the availability of its new Executive Work Station, the iDM5. Its compact footprint features a full size QWERTY keyboard accompanied by built-in speakers, a microphone, and two USB ports for charging multiple devices simultaneously. The iDM5 is a space-saving Bluetooth-enabled desktop solution that delivers office quality accessibility wherever you choose to work.

“Whether video conferencing, typing up reports, making calls or streaming music, the iDM5 is the perfect product for the multi-tasker.”

“In addition to using their tablets and smartphones for entertainment purposes, people are relying on them to perform more intricate office tasks as well,” said Evan Stein, Director of Marketing, iHome. “Whether video conferencing, typing up reports, making calls or streaming music, the iDM5 is the perfect product for the multi-tasker.”

A 2012 CE Innovations Honoree, the iDM5 is a full sized, ergonomically angled QWERTY keyboard speaker system that lets you comfortably type on your tablet or smartphone, while simultaneously streaming your favorite music, all via a wireless Bluetooth connection. The built-in mic allows you to use the unit as a speakerphone for video conferencing, while two USB ports ensure your other devices never run out of power. You may also play music from any audio device through the universal 3.5mm aux line-in jack.

The iDM5 is now available for $129.99 at retailers nationwide and on www.ihomeaudio.com. For detailed product information, please visit https://www.ihomeaudio.com/iDM5B/.

About iHome

iHome was established in 2005 as a division of SDI Technologies to develop and market iPod compatible audio products. The first iHome product introduced, the iPod Clock Radio, was an exceptional success that became the top-selling iPod accessory for the year, and firmly established iHome as the premier brand in the iPod electronics market. Since then, iHome continues to be the #1 brand in iPod/iPhone/iPad clock radio and speaker systems according to NPD data and has been at the forefront of design with a growing lineup of award-winning iPod-compatible audio products that includes alarm clocks, clock radios, portable and home speaker systems, and headphones, as well as new licensed lines of computer accessories and New Balance sport/fitness headphones.

Acknowledged for its innovative features, unique designs, and advanced technology, iHome has garnered several prestigious industry awards including CES Innovations Awards, numerous Editor’s Choice Awards and iLounge’s “2011 Clock Radio Speaker of the Year.”

iHome supports its franchise with national print, broadcast and online advertising campaigns, and the company’s products can be found worldwide in 70 countries or on the web at www.ihomeaudio.com, on Facebook (facebook.com/iHome), or follow @iHome on Twitter .

Syncdocs Keeps Files in Sync with Google Drive

Internet

Syncdocs is a new app that turns Google Docs into a free online storage drive. This Google drive is can be accessed using any PC or mobile.

Syncdocs takes full advantage of Google’s reliable, fast online storage – keeping PC folders synchronized with Google Docs and with other users.

Using Syncdocs, Google Docs appears as the G-Drive on the local PC. Files and folders across multiple PCs and mobile devices stay in sync automatically. Anything saved to these folders is automatically mirrored online and shared with all linked PCs and users.

In addition to providing file sync and online backup, Google documents are available right from the user’s Windows desktop. This means that Microsoft Office is no longer necessary to open or create Word, PowerPoint or Excel files on the PC. Moving to cloud computing used to mean abandoning the desktop, but now with Syncdocs, users can work simultaneously in both cloud and desktop environments.

For easy collaborative work, Syncdocs also supports merging of changes from various users. It can even merge changes between desktop and cloud users. If multiple users make edits to a document concurrently, these changes are merged. For example, a user can edit a Google Doc offline using Microsoft Word, and then merge these changes back into Google Docs.

“Syncdocs gives you the freedom to access your data where you want it,” said Donald Recsei, Syncdocs’ product manager. “With Google Docs and Syncdocs, it’s really easy to collaborate between desktop Microsoft Office users, and mobile staff on tablets and phones.”

Users can fine-tune their synchronization to Google Drive with many advanced features like:
– full control over which files and folders at synchronized
– versioning and revision history
– mirroring of Google access permissions locally
– real-time collaboration between Google Docs and Microsoft Word users
– concurrent sync of multiple Google accounts
– offline access
– easy file sharing integration into Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and Google +
– scheduled backup

Because all Google data is backed up locally, all files are available even when offline. Any changes made when offline are synced again when the network is available. Syncdocs can also integrate with other cloud storage providers, like Dropbox to sync Dropbox to Google Docs.

The full version of Syncdocs is free, users are only charged when syncing a large number of files. A free download of the latest version of Syncdocs is available at syncdocs.com

Google Docs increases free storage to 5GB

News

Engadget reports “Google Docs bumps up free storage to 5GB, primes servers for Drive?”

Is space at a premium in your Google Docs folder? Good news from Mountain View, then, as it’s just stealth-increased the storage allowance for its cloud-based document editor. Unfortunately, anyone that’s already plumped for a paid extension of their Google Docs storage won’t see an extra 5GB on top. This new storage limit also tallies with what we’re expecting to see from Google Drive — presumably pretty soon.

With free Google Docs you can Create and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations. You can: 1) Access your documents online from any computer with an internet connection. 2) Add collaborators to your document and Docs will send them a link to access the doc online (no need to send email attachments back and forth) 3) Decide who can view and edit each document (only you, some people, or everyone)

For a quick tour, check out: www.google.com Or to get started, visit: docs.google.com

Datalight Announces First Full Featured File System for Android

Technology

Datalight announced that it has released Reliance Nitro 2.7, the first full-featured file system for Android. The new Android file system combines strong read and write performance with fast mount time, rock-solid reliability, a comprehensive tool set, and support by a dedicated team of in-house engineers.

Makers of embedded products need flexibility and access to professional support, as mobile and embedded devices continue to grow in complexity. The pressure is on OEMs to focus on their core competencies and rely on vendors for specialized components and expertise. Device manufacturers require the full catalogue of features to include performance, reliability, flexibility, tools and support as part of the complete file system package.

The Reliance Nitro 2.7 SDK for Android assists developers with every step of file system integration. Standard Linux utilities include tools to validate hardware (DCLTest, DevIOTest, and RelTest), test performance (FSIOTest and FSStressTest) as well as perform standard file system preparation activities such as formatting (relFsVolFormat) and integrity checking (relFsChk). Of particular utility are FSIOTest and FSStressTest – platform independent performance and reliability testing tools that can be used with any file system. Also included is a Reliance Nitro Windows Driver for seamlessly moving data between an Android System and a Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7-based system.

Reliance Nitro has a unique tree-based metadata and transactional extent-based architecture for fast file performance, and employs a system of configurable transaction settings the company calls Dynamic Transaction Point™ technology to balance performance with the amount of user data at risk for a wide variety of different use cases. It is also capable of working with virtually any storage medium, and is highly efficient whether an OEM is designing with hardware-managed or software-managed storage media.

“Our goal was to deliver a comprehensive and compelling set of features to Android developers,” said Datalight VP of Engineering Ken Whitaker. “With Reliance Nitro 2.7, OEMs using Android no longer have to choose between performance, reliability, a full set of tools and professional support.”

Reliance Nitro file system and FlashFX Tera flash media manager comprise the Datalight flash file system solution. Reliance Nitro was designed from the ground up for high performance applications. Dynamic Transaction Point™ technology provides 100% immunity from file corruption, even after unexpected system interruption. Reliance Nitro goes through extensive functional and reliability testing, including 20,000 random power cycle tests without a failure. Embedded applications can benefit from faster boot times that remain consistent for the life of the product, regardless of disk size. FlashFX™ Tera features pre-written support for over 300 flash parts, including MLC, works with virtually any NAND controller, and features wear leveling, bad block management, and background compaction for unrivaled performance. Datalight flash file system products are available on VxWorks, Windows Embedded CE, Linux and many other operating systems.

About Datalight
Datalight, Inc. headquartered just north of Seattle, Wash., develops technologies to enable risk-free mobile data. Datalight file system and device driver software ensures reliability, performance and flexibility, and is used worldwide on many of today’s most well-known devices. For more information, visit our embedded Android solutions page at http://www.datalight.com/solutions/operating-systems/android or call 800.221.6630.

DROPBOX INTRODUCES LINKS FOR EXTREMELY SIMPLE, FAST SHARING

Technology

Dropbox, a free service that lets people bring their documents, photos, and videos anywhere and share them easily, today announced an even easier way for people to instantly share the things that matter most, with just a link. Now documents, photos, and videos can be shared simply by creating and sending a link to friends, family, or colleagues, whether they are Dropbox users or not.

“We’re always looking for ways to make life easier and solve the basic problems people face everyday,” said Drew Houston, CEO and co-founder of Dropbox. “Sending files has always been a painful process, but now with Dropbox, sharing with friends, family, and colleagues is effortless.”

Dropbox links allow people to easily view documents, photos, and videos in a beautiful full-browser display without any setup. Business presentations, home movies, and even entire folders can be opened and viewed instantly without having to sign in, download anything, or open files separately.

How it works
From the Dropbox desktop, web, and mobile applications, the “Get link” button generates a unique link to a file or folder. The link can then be quickly sent to another person. For Dropbox users, opening a link will provide the option to instantly save the file to their Dropbox.

“Today we’re excited to add instant sharing to Dropbox,” said Jeff Bartelma, Director of Products. “We’ve simplified the process of sending files to just a few seconds and eliminated the need for email attachments.”

Dropbox has been refining this feature in beta since last year and today, with many improvements, it is available to all users. For more information, please visit www.dropbox.com/links/features

Investigate Photography in the Cloud New Image Frontiers. Defining the Future of Photography by Matthew Bamberg

Technology

California photographer, Matthew Bamberg guides photographers in learning to use cloud services such as Dropbox, Carbonite, iCloud, Flickr, Picasa and Amazon Cloud Drive to host and publish their photography in the new book “Photography Applications for the Cloud,” which hits the bookshelves in early May.

Topics covered include photo resolution, cropping, saturation, portfolios, hosting, file types (including audio files) and sizes. “’Photography Applications for the Cloud’ is an opportunity for beginning and intermediate photographers to explore how to make all of their photos available online so that they can be accessed with any device—ipads, mobile devices and laptops,” Bamberg explained.

He added, “The book presents information on a variety of photography topics to assist photographers in creating an online venue for their photographs, detailing the best and most affordable ways to manipulate, manage, share and publish new and existing images.”

The book details the best ways to ensure that photos remain at their original resolutions throughout the uploading, editing and downloading process (including working with Raw files). The book explains how the cloud’s hardware and software infrastructure work together to safely store and manage a photography portfolio and how to use various cloud platforms by giving step-by-step directions for a variety of online photo storage, sharing/hosting, editing and management platforms.

Bamberg sees photography storage and hosting as a method to record history and family activities of this and past generations who experienced the photographic process. Also, by taking advantage of state-of-the-art Internet “Cloud” technology, photographers have an excellent opportunity to share their photographic vision to a large audience now and in the future.

Bamberg’s last book, “New Image Frontiers—Defining the Future of Photography” has received outstanding reviews and has had high rankings from Amazon.com for several weeks. He has taught The History of Fine Art Photography and Beginning HDR Photography for UCR-Extension and Cal State-Extension. He has a Masters in Creative Arts from San Francisco State University’s Inter-Arts Center.

This is the eighth book about technology and photography from Matthew Bamberg, a writer and photographer whose company by the same name has produced published products for education and technology for nearly a decade.

Contact:
Matt Bamberg
[email protected]
Palm Springs, CA
Ph: (760) 322-4388
New Book: http://www.amazon.com/New-Image-Frontiers-Defining-Photography/dp/1435458575
www.matthewbamberg.com

Adobe announces CS6 and subscription-based Creative Cloud service

Technology

Adobe is unveiling the next versions of virtually all of the applications in its Creative Suite, and also launching its Creative Cloud online offerings, reports Techcrunch.

“This marks a major change in how Adobe is selling and marketing its flagship product: while the company will continue to offer a shrink-wrapped version of CS6, it’s also introducing a subscription service with this update. For $49/month with an annual subscription or $79/month for month-to-month memberships, users can now get full access to any CS6 tool, including Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and AfterEffects. The suite will also include Adobe’s new HTML5 design and development tools Muse and Edge, and will be deeply integrated into the company’s tablet apps. Users will be able to download and install these apps on up to two machines.

Photoshop, the most popular application in the suite, will also be available through a stand-alone subscription for $19.99/month with an annual membership and $29.99 without.

Adobe will also offer a student and teacher edition of Creative Cloud for $29.99/month. Current CS3, CS4 and CS5.5 users will qualify for a special introductory offer of $29.99/month. In the coming months, Adobe will also launch a version of Creative Cloud for teams, though the price for this one hasn’t been determined yet.