Downtown Oakland’s new Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE) will open its first exhibit “The History of 3D” tomorrow, December 3.
According to the museum’s site: “The MADE is a center and museum dedicated to activities that engage participants with all forms of digital art and entertainment. The museum’s primary purpose will be to educate the public about the artistry, craftsmanship and inspiration that go into the creation of videogames and digital works of art, such as programatic visual/audio demonstrations.”
ABC affiliate News10 reports: “Using the crowd funding site Kickstarter.com, the museum raised $20,000 to secure the new location.”
The new exhibit will focus on “the history of 3D in games and will feature playable demonstrations of games displayed.”
“3D is such a broad topic in video games. Our exhibit creators, Jason Cutler and Nealon Leadbetter evaluated hundreds of games and types of 3D, from voxels to vectors, from pre-rendered sprites to normal mapped polygons,” explains director of the MADE Alex Handy. “They’ve chosen a wonderfully varied set of examples from the rich history of video gaming on consoles and computers. We hope this exhibition inspires the next generation of game developers, both young and old.”
ETCentric staffer Phil Lelyveld adds: “This is the seed of a great resource. ETC member companies may want to make product donations!”
Jonathan Yi is a freelance director and cinematographer who works largely in film and advertising. He teaches camera and cinematography at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts film program.
Yi recently posted an impressive six-minute test video of the new Canon EOS C300 that makes comparisons with current DSLRs and reveals a new standard for digital cinematography.
“I believe that Canon made a beautiful camera that is sensible, reliable and portable in a way that I’ve always dreamed a camera could be. It prioritizes great skin tone and has higher ISO sensitivity than any other camera out there,” he writes. “I know there’s nothing I can say to change the minds of the RED fan club. For the rest of the skeptics, I think once you get your hands on it you’ll understand how great this camera really is. Please buy this camera in January and go film some good skin tones in the dark. You’ll love it.”
The EOS C300 and EOS C300 PL are expected to be available in early 2012, at an estimated cost of less than $20,000.
Yi’s (very) detailed review is available on the Canon site, in which he writes: “As Canon’s flagship 1080p HD cameras, the EOS C300 and EOS C300 PL are designed to fit a wide variety of production needs. They are at home as A Cameras for Independent Films, Commercials, Television and Dramas as well as B Cameras on Major Motion Pictures, offering in addition to the more common 23.98P frame rate, several selectable frame rates including a straight 24.00P setting for intercutting directly with film originated material. Full HD 1920×1080 (1080p) is currently the most used and needed deliverable frame size for these applications. The EOS C300 and EOS C300 PL provide easy adoption and simplified workflow that 4K cameras currently cannot deliver.”
Is emailing a thing of the past? Thierry Breton, CEO of the French firm Atos (one of the largest IT companies in the world), believes email is a time-killer and plans to get rid of the practice within his company.
Breton’s 80,000 employees will be asked to make the transition from email to using social media tools, phone calls and face-to-face communication as alternatives.
“If people want to talk to me, call or send me a text message,” said Breton. “Emails cannot replace the spoken word.”
Breton himself has not used email at work for three years, claiming that it’s inefficient and a “burden to the workflow,” according to Engadget.
Forbes adds that Breton cites specific examples of how email wastes time: 1) “The ‘deluge’ of information that plagues organizations,” 2) “The need to review ‘useless’ emails and the time it takes to get focused again on important tasks,” 3) “The ‘pile’ of email that employees end up sorting through after hours and the associated drain on employees’ personal time.”
According to The Daily Mail, Breton quotes a recent study by business watchdog ORSE: “Reading useless messages is terrible for concentration, as it takes 64 seconds to get back on the ball after doing so. Poorly controlled, the e-mail can become a devastating tool.”
YouTube is redesigning its homepage and channel pages to incorporate “better personalized video discovery and viewing, with a notable emphasis on social features,” reports TechCrunch.
A new default Subscriptions feed on the homepage offers users content based on what videos they watch and which channels they subscribe to (the feed can also be filtered). Users can share videos using Google+ or by opting-in on Facebook, both located on the navigation bar.
Channel pages have four new templates that come with a Feed tab showing the channel owner’s activity (highlighting features such as commenting on a video and subscribing to a channel).
“These additions, which are more analogous to template options in Tumblr or MySpace rather than Facebook’s one-size-fits-all style, let producers promote their works in the most natural style for what they offer,” suggests the post.
The homepage and channel changes are the first significant updates, but TechCrunch adds that YouTube is “also introducing a site-wide design upgrade to all the elements — typography, iconography, etc. It’s separately adding new versions of its Xbox and Google TV applications, that feature magazine-style tile interfaces showing various channels. Finally, the company is touting the success of its advertising platform, saying that it’s seeing strong demand for its new cost-per-click style of video ads.”
Despite analyst speculation that video game consoles may be in jeopardy due to the increased capabilities and growing popularity of smartphones and tablets, “Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s Wii sold in record numbers last week as Americans kicked off their holiday shopping,” reports AllThingsD.
Some 960,000 Xbox 360s were sold last week and 500,000 Wiis were sold the day after Thanksgiving. Game consoles are still experiencing strong sales five and six years after they were introduced.
“It’s difficult to imagine any other consumer hardware that could attract that kind of demand after such a long period of time,” suggests the article.
Blockbuster game titles like Activision’s “Call of Duty” game, which grossed $775 million in its first five days, continue to juice the market.
Motion-controls such as Wii and Microsoft’s Kinect open up the market beyond gamers to a family market.
And, as previously reported on ETCentric, game consoles are becoming entertainment centers for streaming video, music and other media content through partnerships with providers such as Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, HBO GO and others.
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter believes Netflix cannot repair itself from the damage inflicted earlier this year after the streaming company raised prices on subscribers.
CNET reports that, “according to Pachter, by year’s end, Netflix will show a loss of 11 million ‘hybrid’ customers that previously rented DVDs and streamed video content. He said he believes that 7 million of those customers will have traded down to the streaming-only option, while another 4 million will have ‘quit the Netflix service altogether.’”
Shareholders also seem uncertain if Netflix can bounce back. “Over the past six months, the company’s stock is down 75 percent,” indicates the article.
Netflix has not given up, and believes things can be turned around. However, the company offered this honest evaluation: “If we are unable to repair the damage to our brand and reverse negative subscriber growth, our business, results of operations, including cash flows, and financial condition will continue to be adversely affected.”
In the wake of a devastating couple of months, the company is looking to rebound “brick by brick” with a strong rebranding, suggests a related Home Media Magazine article.
In addition to ongoing damage control, Netflix is working to increase its content selection, update its interface and improve user algorithms. These changes, the company hopes, will restore credibility after its recent 60 percent price increase led 800,000 people to unsubscribe.
According to the DisplaySearch unit of The NPD Group, 6.6 million 3D TV sets were shipped in the third quarter of 2011, up 27 percent from the previous quarter.
The research firm expects shipments to increase 30 percent this quarter, for a total of 21.5 million units in 2011.
However, DisplaySearch suggests a “lack of 3D content and services” means buyers are mostly watching 2D video.
Additionally, Nielsen released a study last year suggesting consumers were reluctant to wear 3D glasses and nearly 90 percent said that viewing 3D TV would get in the way of checking e-mail or Web surfing while watching television.
The article suggests that marketing and aggressive pricing has made the difference. “Television vendors have been pushing 3D sets on customers all year,” reports CNET. “In fact, companies such as Samsung, Vizio, and Panasonic, among others, have made 3D a key component in a large number of their televisions, making it harder and harder to find sets that don’t come with 3D support.”
Founded by a team of execs and engineers from Intel’s Wi-Fi Centrino group in 2007, Wilocity is developing next-gen 60GHz multi-gigabit wireless chipsets for mobile and peripheral markets.
According to the company’s website: “Wilocity’s Wireless PCI Express technology will enable truly multi-gigabit wireless for a wide range of applications from I/O to networking to video.”
“Wilocity, which is leading the charge for next-generation technology called 802.11ad designed to reach 7 gigabits per second over short distances, plans to show off a variety of devices using its technology at the mammoth CES trade show,” reports CNET.
“In Wilocity’s dream, the company will excite people about the possibilities of wireless networking that’s faster than what typical computers today can do with a wired connection,” explains the post. “For example, a smartphone carried into the office could connect to a keyboard, mouse, and large display. A tablet carried into the den could become a controller for a game shown on the big-screen TV.”
The ever-evolving Viera Connect IPTV system is now available on many of the company’s plasma TVs, LCD TVs and BD players. At a recent press event, the company provided details including updates to the number of available apps.
The Viera Connect Market of interactive apps includes 120 offerings with expectations of growing two to three times that amount by the end of next year, explained Merwan Mereby, Panasonic interactive content and services VP. According to TWICE: “The connected TV trend is on an explosive course, with estimates for worldwide connected TV shipments expected to surpass those of PCs by the end of 2013, he offered.”
The article cites recent additions including a Social TV app, an AccuWeather tracking app and a new 3D car racing game from GameLoft.
“To keep up with the challenge, Panasonic has been actively recruiting app development, and is offering a JavaScript app to help third-party developers create programs for the Viera Connect platform,” indicates the article.
Time Warner Cable is expected to add local broadcasting to its iPad streaming app in the New York City market. The app allows its customers to view broadcast programs on the tablet anywhere in their homes.
It will expand the local offering soon and extend it elsewhere by early next year, according to Rob Marcus, TWC’s chief operating officer.
The service will also include access to local newscasts and syndicated programming. “We’re moving towards delivering local programming, which is a little more difficult to do technologically,” Marcus explained to investors.
“Marcus reiterated that TWC believes it has rights to offer Viacom-owned networks on its app. The two companies are suing each other over the matter,” reports Media Daily News. “Cablevision has reached an agreement with Viacom, and offers its channels among the 300-plus it provides.”
“Marcus went on to say there is some impetus to move ahead with TV Everywhere-type opportunity extending outside the home, where it has a deal with ESPN and some others, but ‘the process has taken a lot longer than we would have anticipated at the outset,’” suggests the article.
Add the following news to the growing collection of Apple rumors we’ve heard in the last month…
Mashable reports: “Apple’s relationship with Samsung has deteriorated, and the Cupertino giant may be working with Sharp on the next generation displays for upcoming devices such as the iPad 3, iPhone 5 and a little something called iTV, claims Jefferies analyst Peter Misek.”
According to Misek, the mythical Apple smart TV, which has been a popular subject of recent speculation, is not just a rumor. “Sharp is working on modified amorphous TFT LCD panels for the device,” indicates the post.
Misek places commercial production as early as February with a mid-2012 release date. The new HDTV will reportedly feature some use of Siri, Apple’s voice-activation feature.
While Apple has not made an official announcement yet, competitors are scrambling to prepare for another player in the market, suggests a related BGR post.
In a soon to be published survey, Gartner reports that 46 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds would choose Internet access over having their own vehicle.
“The car used to be the signal of adulthood, of freedom,” says Sheryl Connelly of Ford. “It was the signal into being a grown-up. Now, the signal into adulthood for teenagers is the smartphone.”
“Mobile devices, gadgets and the Internet are becoming must-have lifestyle products that convey status,” explains Gartner’s Thilo Koslowski. “In that sense these devices offer a degree of freedom and social reach that previously only the automobile offered.”
Connected cars may help change this emerging trend — cars that can take pictures and make calls and interact with social networks.
“In other words, to entice teenagers, Ford and other automakers need to make their cars more like smartphones,” suggests The New York Times.
Here’s another interesting tech project in the works through funding platform Kickstarter…
Peter Seid and Phu Nguyen of Seattle have launched Romotive to build robots that are “able to learn, grow, and change, both by adding new hardware modules to the platform, and more importantly, by bring to people everywhere a true ‘app store’ for robots, where robots can quickly gain functionalities based on the app they are running (and you can even code your own),” according to their Kickstarter page.
The first is Romo, which offers a platform mount for your iOS or Android phone and treads that allow for mobility. Users can download Romo-specific apps that allow for a variety of games and other abilities.
“Romotive builds accessible, highly functional, and flexible robotics platforms that are powered by a supercomputer already carried by millions — the smartphone,” explain the founders in their vision statement.
Seid and Nguyen have included a short video on their Kickstarter page that describes some of the robot’s possibilities.
Sony PlayStation 3 users will be able to stream movies and TV shows and enjoy them with friends from multiple locations with an updated version of Crackle.
Instead of accessing Crackle via the console’s Internet browser, users can enter a virtual movie theater with custom PS3 controller navigation. “Fire up PlayStation Home — if you’re a free member, that is — and navigate over to the LOOT EOD Theater, the Hollywood Hills House, or the Sunset Yacht areas,” reports PCMag.com.
The streaming service allows users to create avatars and use them to interact with up to 11 friends (or 60 strangers) in a virtual movie theater with access to hundreds of movies and more than 1,000 TV episodes. “Think of it as an opportunity to have a giant recreation of ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ with strangers,” suggests the post.
“We are very excited to bring familiar social experiences from the real world into a virtual environment, so people around the globe can connect and communicate with each other while sharing their favorite movie, show, music, or event,” said Sony DADC VP David Sterling. “This is the next big step in social networking and it will transform the way people consume media.”
Sony is also planning PlayStation Home support for Ustream content and streaming radio service RadioIO later this year.
An exhibit paying tribute to Steve Jobs recently opened in the atrium of the U.S. Patent Office Museum in Alexandria, Virginia.
The exhibit is open to the public, free of charge, and will run through January 15.
It includes a row of 30 giant iPhone panels, designed by non-profit group Invent Now, which display information about more than 300 patents credited to Jobs as co-inventor.
“This exhibit commemorates the far-reaching impact of Steve Jobs’ entrepreneurship and innovation on our daily lives,” said the Under Secretary of Commerce for IP, David Kappos. “His patents and trademarks provide a striking example of the importance intellectual property plays in the global marketplace.”
