The problem: The camera flash on your mobile device, while good enough for lighting up quick candids, is mounted on the device itself, right next to the shutter. This inevitably washes out your photos and renders skin tones leprotic and wan. There’s no way around it — unless you move the flash off-camera. But this […]
This article was written on December 05, 2007 by CyberNet.
Just the other day Adobe released Flash Player 9.0.115.0, and the most notable feature is the new H.264 (HD quality) video support. That is pretty big news because H.264 offers better video quality at lower bitrates, which inevitably makes for a better viewing experience. As Wikipedia points out there are numerous benefits to using H.264 for sharing videos.
One site that has already jumped on the bandwagon for supporting the H.264 is Hulu (review). Right now you have to be invited to join Hulu, but if you’re a member they have an HD gallery currently available. Obviously the quality of the trailers and clips that they have on there right now is better than the current Hulu quality, but the selection is still rather limited. For the inquisitive minds out there here are Hulu’s requirements for the HD quality videos:
The system requirements to watch the videos are a bit steep, but newer computers from the last few years should have no troubles. Otherwise you might experience some skipping while watching them.
Let us know if you find any other good HD quality content that is taking advantage of the new Flash 9.
Download the New Flash Player 9
H.264 Demo Video
[via Download Squad & NewTeeVee]
Kudos to “S” for the tip!
Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com
Today, we got a look at the the future of the iPhone camera. Apple’s doubling down on its imaging tech in the hopes that it can catch the eye of the people who really care about the quality of their images. Here’s what you need to know about the future of your memory maker.
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Hobbyist photographers don’t often have the luxury of elaborate lighting rigs. However, Adobe and Cornell University have developed a new software technique that could bring pro-grade illumination to a wider audience. Known as computational lighting design, the solution simplifies a familiar trick that combines shots taken with a camera’s external flash placed in different positions. The software uses multiple sample photos to create composite images that emphasize color, edge lighting and fill lighting; editors just have to balance those three light values to get the desired effect. While the code is still unpolished, it’s good enough that even beginners can produce well-lit masterpieces in less than 15 minutes. Adobe believes that the technique could reach future versions of apps like Lightroom or Photoshop, so don’t be surprised if still-life photography catches on in the near future.
Filed under: Cameras, Software
Via: Phys.org
Source: Cornell University
Rumor has it that Sony is launching a flash-based PlayStation 3 with just 12GB of storage in North America—potentially priced at around $200 and available from the 18th August.
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Well, that was quick. Samsung said it was producing the world’s first 3D vertical NAND memory just a week ago, and it has already started building the first SSDs based on that memory. Unfortunately, they’re not meant for the enthusiast crowd: the new 480GB and 960GB drives are instead designed for enterprise-class servers, where V-NAND’s blend of high capacity and reliability makes the most sense. Don’t be too forlorn, however. Samsung promises that the new memory will eventually reach PC-oriented SSDs, which could bring spacious flash storage to a much wider audience.
Source: Samsung
Hardware makers often sing the praises of their latest and greatest flash memory, but the folks at Crossbar are ready to show them up with resistive RAM (RRAM) that they’ve been quietly working on. Compared to NAND, RRAM comes in at half the size and boasts 20 times faster write speeds (140MB/s), reads data at 17MB per second, guzzles 20 times less power and has 10 times more endurance. Since RRAM is non-volatile memory, it can keep data even when it’s powered off, á la NAND. As if that weren’t enough, 3D stacking construction allows for several terabytes of storage, endowing one 200 x 200mm 200mm2 chip with one terabyte.
Unlike many tech breakthroughs however — we’re looking at you, graphene — this one is just about ready to find its way into finished products. Crossbar has manufactured RRAM within a standard chip factory, and claims that it can be churned out easily with existing production infrastructure. According to the firm, it’s in the fine-tuning process and plans to introduce the tech into the world of embedded SoCs. Sure, the outfit is the exclusive holder of some RRAM patents, but it aims to license its know-how to system-on-a-chip creators.
Update: Thanks to those readers who spotted our error on the silicon area — it’s now been fixed.
Filed under: Storage
Via: VentureBeat
Source: Crossbar
The main challenge in producing higher-capacity flash storage is one of scale — as density goes up, so does cell interference and the chances of a breakdown. Samsung may have overcome that barrier (if temporarily) by mass-producing the first 3D vertical NAND memory, or V-NAND. Instead of putting memory cells on a conventional 2D plane, the company reworked its long-serving Charge Trap Flash technology to create a 3D cell structure with more breathing room. The result is flash that improves both reliability and speed at higher densities; Samsung claims that the new technology is 2-10X more reliable than its ancestors, and twice as quick at writing data. The initial V-NAND chip offers a 128-gigabit (16GB) capacity that we’ve seen before, but its underlying technique should scale quickly when a chip can include as many as 24 stacked cell layers. Although Samsung hasn’t named the first devices with V-NAND inside, we won’t be surprised if our next phone or SSD is particularly spacious.
Source: Samsung
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile
These days, it’s fairly easy to find a PCI Express-based SSD to transform one’s desktop — Angelbird, Fusion-io, Micron and ASUS will sell you one, just to name a few. That said, the last of those three has just revealed a new entrant that will certainly catch the eye of many, as the RAIDR Express claims to be the first PCI-e SSD to be compatible with both legacy and UEFI BIOS. The so-called DuoMode feature is joined by 240GB of storage space, sequential 830MB/s read and 810MB/s write speeds and a reported 620,000 hours mean time between failure (MTBF).
You’ll also find the latest LSI SandForce controller, Toshiba-built 19nm MLC flash, and 100,000 4K read/write input/output operations per second (IOPS). The bundled RAMDisk utility allows users to dedicate up to 80 percent of a computer’s available RAM for use as a high-speed virtual drive, and if you needed any further proof that it’s fast, look no further than in the video after the break. Curiously, ASUS isn’t talking pricing just yet, but it should start shipping in the very near future.
Filed under: Gaming, Storage, ASUS
Via: PC Perspective, Engadget Japanese
Source: ASUS
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