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Continue reading G-Technology’s G-Connect offers 500GB of wireless storage, portable WiFi network to smartphone, tablet users

G-Technology’s G-Connect offers 500GB of wireless storage, portable WiFi network to smartphone, tablet users originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Cut Pro was already cheap, but the new version is just $300

Apple has just released the update to its professional-level movie editing app Final Cut Pro for just $300. Previously, the application cost $1,000. Final Cut Pro X is available now, from the Mac App Store.

Remember when Apple completely reworked iMovie, rethinking the way that we would edit our home videos? This is like that, only aimed at Hollywood editors (and presumably not as feature-crippled as the first vresion of New iMovie).

FCPX now runs as a 64-bit application, allowing the use of as much RAM as you can fit into your Mac, and uses GPU to speed things up even more. The app will also render and transcode media in the background so you can keep working.

There are also plenty of new ways of working with your movies, including tools to automatically organize your media, and the neat-sounding “Auditions.” This lets you drop several alternate shots in at one edit point and quickly cycle through them in context. Still, it’s likely that the big UI change is going to wrong-foot or even upset some existing FCP users.

The biggest news, though, is the price and the distribution method. $300 makes this less than half the price of Adobe’s $800 Premiere Pro, and pocket change compared to Avid’s $2,500 Media Composer.

The price isn’t quite that cheap, though. The previous $1,000 Final Cut Studio bundle included four other apps: Color, Motion, Soundtrack Pro and Compressor. Motion and Compressor are now separate apps in the store for $50 each, whereas Color and Soundtrack Pro have been folded into FCPX itself.

Final Cut Pro X [Apple]

See Also:

• Adobe’s New Premiere Elements 4 Picks Up Where Apple’s IMovie Stumbles
• The iPad Falls Short as a Creation Tool Without Coding Apps …
• Mac App Store Launches With Thousand Apps, Big Discounts
• Apple Wrongfoots Pundits With Aperture 3 (Updated)

Considering its adoption of the Windows Phone metro style, its not surprising to hear that Windows 8’s latest leaked build sports a metro-inspired virtual keyboard and traces of code that could bring SMS 3G enabled Windows 8 devices. An App store and feature licensing, however? That’s interesting. Buried in the Windows 8 code, Microsoft enthusiasts have found strings that may hint at a Windows App store, and the ability to activate or deactivate certain OS features through that store. Will this be the end of “Home,” “Pro,” and “Ultimate” editions of Microsoft’s flagship product? We wouldn’t hold our breath. Still, Windows à la Carte doesn’t sound half bad. Hit up the source link to see the code (and speculation) for yourself.

Continue reading New Windows 8 leak hints at SMS support, feature licensing, geo-location

New Windows 8 leak hints at SMS support, feature licensing, geo-location originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 02:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s just one week after Nintendo unveiled dual-screen gaming on the Wii U at E3, but Apple’s iOS 5 beta is already bringing a very similar experience to the living room — many months before Nintendo’s latest console is expected to ship. We installed iOS 5 on an iPad 2 and Apple TV, and took the latest version of Real Racing 2 HD for a test-drive, which enables dual-screen gameplay over AirPlay without the need for Apple’s $39 AV adapter. Other games, like Angry Birds, simply mirror the iPad’s display (and aspect ratio) on your HDTV, but Real Racing streams 16:9 HD video.

For this game (and we imagine many more to come), you use the iPad as the controller — both while navigating through menus and in race mode — while the game appears only on your TV (though the tablet does display some vitals, and a map of the track). There’s noticeable lag between the iPad and Apple TV when using AirPlay, which may be an issue for games where timing is important, such as Rock Band, but didn’t seem to set us back while playing Firemint’s racing game. Overall, AirPlay offered a seamless gaming experience without a single hiccup — surprising, considering iOS 5 just hit beta last week. It’s difficult to do this hands-on justice without a video demo, so jump past the break for an exclusive look at wireless, dual-screen gaming on the iPad and Apple TV.

Continue reading Real Racing 2 HD wireless, dual-screen gaming with iOS 5 on iPad 2 hands-on (video)

Real Racing 2 HD wireless, dual-screen gaming with iOS 5 on iPad 2 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Downcast podcast catcher does what the iPhone (and iPad) should do already

ICloud SchmiCloud. Apple’s new non-syncing sync service might already let us iOS users get new apps and books and — in the future music — pushed to our devices, but it still doesn’t push podcasts. As these are likely the most often updated things on our iPhones and iPads, it’s an annoying oversight.

There are several iOS apps that will grab podcasts directly to your device, but Downcast is the first I have found that has a great interface, and works on both the iPad and the iPhone.

To use the app, you first have to tell it which podcasts to watch out for. This can be done from a built-in directory, or by importing an OPML file. If you already use iTunes for podcasts, you can export this file (right click “Podcasts” in the left-hand source list, choose export and pick “OPML” as the format), put it in your Dropbox public folder and then point Downcast to that file.

In use, Downcast has almost every feature from my previous favorite, Podcaster, but without the annoyances. First, the interface is way, way cleaner and easier to use. Second, it doesn’t refuse to download episodes of the excellent VFX Show. And third, it doesn’t have tiny play/pause buttons that cause you to skip a track instead of just pausing it.

What it does have is automatic downloading (suck it, Instacast), the ability to not have the next episode auto play, a sleep timer, AirPlay support for both video and audio and — here’s the big one — gestures.

Gestures let you control playback without having to hunt down a tiny on-screen button. To play/pause, you double-tap with one finger. Swipe left or right with two fingers to skip 30 seconds back and forward, and swipe up and down to mark a podcast as listened or unlistened.

I’d ask for just one thing: the ability to sync my playback position between devices. At home I use my iPad more, but when I go out I grab my iPod Touch. Not having to find my place would be great, although I understand syncing is a tricky and expensive thing to set up.

But the best part is the price. Downcast is just $2.

Downcast product page [App Store]

See Also:

• App Store is a Goldmine: Indie Developer Makes $250000 in Two …
• Direct Podcast Downloads Coming to iPhone?
• Autocue Turns You Into a Podcasting Pro
• CastGrabber: Standalone Podcast Downloader