Author: Terry White

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To get my movie rental business…

Yes, we’ve been hearing the rumors that Apple "may" launch a movie rental service via iTunes. So this got me thinking as to what it would take to get my movie rental business? It also got me thinking about the possibility of one vendor doing it all. Currently I do the bulk of my movie renting via Netflix. They won me over years ago by having a service with NO LATE FEES! Netflix has been just about perfect for me as I’m able to now rent the movies I want in Blu-ray, HD DVD and standard def DVD. Of course the biggest downside is actually having to wait for a disc to show up in the mail. It’s not that big of a deal, because I’ve been so busy lately that there is always a movie or two here to watch that I haven’t seen yet. However, there are those times when someone says, "you have to see _________!" They get me excited and I want to watch that movie right then and there that evening. Luckily with TiVo HD and Amazon Unbox, I can usually satisfy that need with a download directly to my TiVo box. However, there are some gotchas there too. Amazon doesn’t have everything available for rental. For example, I wanted to see the first National Treasure movie again before seeing the new one. So I figured I’d fire up Amazon Unbox and rent it and watch it that night. However, the movie couldn’t be found! I didn’t feel like going out to pick it up (even though Hollywood Video is walking distance from my house), so I bought it via iTunes and was watching it a few minutes later via my Apple TV. Also I don’t currently have a rental service that allows me to rent a movie and watch it while I’m traveling. There have been many times that I would like to have had the option of renting a movie, downloading it to my MacBook Pro and watching it on the flight home.

 

 

Apple could get my business, but here’s what it will take to get it all…

I really want to like Apple TV, but the biggest thing it’s missing (besides rental/HD content) is 5.1 surround sound (at least with the current content). This is a deal breaker for my home theater. So unless they come out with a new box or a firmware upgrade that adds it, it won’t ever be my first choice for watching a feature film on. Of course we have to also consider High Def. With Netflix if the movie I want is available on Blu-ray or HD DVD, that’s what they automatically send me. So I get to enjoy the movie rental (at no additional cost) at the highest possible quality with DVD extras (not a big deal to me, but some enjoy the extras). If Apple offers HD movie rentals my only concern will be the download size. Granted they could stream it directly to Apple TV so that you can start watching a few minutes after the download/stream starts so it may not be an issue, but what if I just want to rent a movie and watch it on my iPhone? Then an HD version would be a waste. So it would be great to be able to choose between standard def and HD for rentals.

Rumor has it that a New Apple TV is coming. Let’s hope it does the job. Once the hardware problem is solved, the next problem will be content. Steve has been doing a good job in rallying the movie houses, so this probably won’t be a problem. A large catalog of movies will be the key though.

Now let’s get to the really important stuff: Terms and Pricing. The $3.99/rental price has been kicked around. That’s not a bad price, however it would have to be that or less. Anything over $4 and you aren’t price competitive anymore. If I download a rental how long will I have to watch it before it disintegrates? With Amazon’s Unbox, you have 30 days to start watching it. Once you start watching it, you have 24 hours to finish watching it. So far this hasn’t been an issue. So Apple would at least need to match these terms.

I would really like to see the Netflix approach as an option as to where I pay a monthly price for all I can watch.

 

A killer iTunes movie rental service would be:

  • New or upgraded (don’t screw 1st gen buyers – Steve you promised updates along the way) Apple TV featuring 5.1 surround sound and 1080p resolution
  • A LARGE collection of titles with streaming trailers
  • HD Content as an option!
  • Liberal terms: 30 days to start watching/24 hours to finish
  • Decent pricing: $3.99 or less per movie/a monthly subscription option
  • Performance! It can’t take forever for the movies to download or stream.
  • Watch on any device: Apple TV, Mac/PC, iPod/iPhone, etc.

 

None of the above is rocket science and Apple could easily pull this off. So let’s hope that I have a new rental service to use next week!

 



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Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac

Adobe has officially announced Photoshop Elements 6 for Macintosh. This new version is the Universal Binary version (native to both Intel and Power PC based Macs) that Mac users have been waiting for. I’ll be showing this new version at Macworld Expo next week and who knows, if time permits I may even record a sneak peek podcast before then on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast. So stay tuned. In the meantime, check out all that’s new here.

This new version is slated to ship early in the second quarter of 2008 and will sell for $90 ($70 upgrades).

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Apple pushes out faster Macs before the big show

Yesterday, Apple rolled out faster Mac Pro systems now with 8 cores standard starting at $2,799. I generally skip at least one generation of Mac towers and lucky for me that was the last one. So that means I’m up for a new desktop Mac this year and these new systems are screamers. However, I just configured the one that I would buy and it tipped the scales at over $6,000. So I will at least wait to see what comes out next week at Macworld before making a final decision and placing an order. My current Mac Pro is pretty beefy and I’m not feeling any slowness, but I’m always up for faster render times for video editing. Usually by skipping every other update, I end up with one that is at least twice as fast as the one I had and this one should be no exception.

It’s no surprise to me that Apple decided to roll these new systems out before Macworld Expo. Although I’m sure they are blazing fast and all, they are just speed bumps. No new case design takes the excitement down. Nothing really significant that would warrant time during the annual Stevenote. So of course this begs the question: What will Steve have to introduce at Macworld? I’ve given up on this guessing game for the most part. It’s just more fun to sit back and watch from my chair in the keynote address. However, let’s look at some of the speculation and see where everyone’s head is at:

  • iTunes Movie Rentals – I would say this one is probably a go
  • Updated Apple TV – I’m all for it if it has 5.1 surround sound support!
  • New sub notebook – possible, but I don’t really care. So for those that do, I’m pulling for you.
  • New MacBook Pros – Yes, these are due, so bring them on!
  • Blu-ray drives and support in the OS – I’m less likely to believe this now that the new Mac Pros are out without that option, but who knows? This is another reason I’m waiting.
  • 16GB iPhone – possible, but not keynote worthy – unless there is more to it.
  • 3G iPhone – possible, but I think it’s too soon yet. I hope I’m wrong!
  • iPhone 1.1.3 software update – this is a good bet to keep the momentum going.
  • iPhone update for business users, syncing with MS Exchange and being able to add them to AT&T business account plans – I can only dream!
  • Something NEW that no one is thinking of – this is always a good bet

 

As with most rumors, they are more wishful thinking than based upon fact. So just like every year we’ll have to wait and see as to what actually comes out of Cupertino this year. I’ll be on the spot delivering the news to this blog. As usual my goal will be to seek out the really cool and useful items that don’t necessarily get all the fanfare.

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Wacom Cintiq 12WX rocks!

I really took vacation over the past couple of weeks and just really shut down to recharge. However, I did pursue one of my passions and that was digital photography. I worked in a couple of model shoots and of course that meant that I had some retouching to do. Right before the holidays the great folks at Wacom were kind enough to ship me a New Cintiq 12WX to play with and demonstrate at my upcoming Macworld Expo sessions. I was already a big fan of the Wacom Cintiq 21UX and the Intuos line of tablets. However, as much as I love the 21UX, I just don’t find myself at my desk as much as I’d like to be. I’m on my MacBook Pro in different rooms depending on my mood. So until now I would mostly use my Intuos 4×6 which is also a great size to travel with. However, that all changed for me on Friday. I fell in love with the new Cintiq 12WX. It’s just the right size and the built-in LCD is gorgeous! The best way to describe it is to take a Intuos 6×11 and replace the tablet area with an LCD display that is also a pressure senstive tablet and you have the Cintiq 12WX.

I spent all day (and I mean ALL DAY) with it Friday retouching photos in Adobe Photoshop CS3. I had the Cintiq connected to my MacBook Pro via DVI and USB (for the tablet functions). I used it as my main display and the display on my MacBook Pro as the secondary display (yes it also supports mirroring). I kept Adobe Photoshop Lightroom open on the MacBook Pro display and Adobe Photoshop CS3 open on the Cintiq. Although it comes with an easel type stand, I found it most comfortable to just hold it in my left arm while I used the pen in my right hand. There were times also where I just laid it flat on the table and worked.

As with all the latest professional tablets from Wacom, I found the touch strips and side buttons to be indispensable. I configured the left touch strip to change brush size and the right one for zooming in and out. I configured the left buttons to the Brush Tool, Healing Brush, Clone Stamp, Space bar (for quick panning) and Undo. I configured the pen rocker switch for Option-Click. This setup meant that I rarely had to touch the keyboard and NEVER had to touch the trackpad.

The Cintiq performed FLAWELESSLY throughout the day. It did get a little warm, but nothing alarming and no where near hot. My only minor criticism (c’mon you know me. There would have to be at least one, otherwise you wouldn’t think I was doing an honest review) is that the breakout box seems a little cluttered. I don’t necessarily have a better design in mind and I do appreciate the fact that there is only one cable attached to the display itself, but when I looked at the box laying on my table it looked like an octopus. The breakout box is where you connect power, the display, the DVI/VGA cable and the USB cable. These are all necessary, so like I said, I don’t know of a better way to do it. OK, I lied there is one other small thing. I would like to see a way to connect this to a projector at the same time. I have to call the folks at Wacom and see if there is a way to be connected to the Cintiq AND a projector at the same time. Otherwise, I won’t have any way of demoing it to the masses. The breakout box connects to the video out on your Mac or PC, but doesn’t provide a pass-through or video out to go out to a another display or projector. Other than those two minor things (and the second one really won’t affect most), this new Cintiq is PERFECT!

 

The Bottom Line

If you need (OK, want) an integrated display and tablet, there simply isn’t a better choice! I love the Intuos line and the bigger Cintiq, but this new Cintiq 12WX hits the sweet spot on portability AND price. Amazon has it for $985.70 (list is $999). I couldn’t imaging retouching another image without it!

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My 1st Favorite Gadget of the New Year!

First off let me start this by saying Happy New Year to all of you and your families! I’m looking forward to another exciting tech year and I will try to cover as much of it as I can here. So let’s get started.

I woke up this morning (well actually more like this afternoon), to this wonderful snow (not really! I’m not really a fan of snow, but let’s play along). Shrugging my shoulders, I knew it was time to go fire up the Toro and plow the driveway. Then I remembered that I had gotten in my brand new 180s Tec Stretch Earmuff Headphones for just such a day! So I grabbed them and my iPod nano and I was gone. This otherwise mundane chore went much quicker with warmer ears filled with my jams (I’m dreaming of a White Christmas – NOT!).

My Toro isn’t very quiet (read loud) and I was still able to hear quite well. If you’re into winter activities and music, these are a must have! $24.95 at Amazon.com

 

Happy New Year!

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So what’d you get?

OK, so what new gadgets, tech, photography gear, cool stuff did you get this year?

I know I haven’t posted anything in a few days and I do have a couple cool pieces of gear to review, however, I’ve just been spending time with family and friends and resting up. I was getting pretty burned out and once I just stopped doing stuff, I could really feel it. I do feel much more rested now and wil get back in the game soon. Enough about me, let’s hear what you got and what’s exciting in your world? Hit me with some comments below. I feed off your energy and excitment.

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Your popup flash doesn’t have to suck

One thing I learned quickly in this digital photography game is that the popup flash on most digital cameras is for emergency use only. Ask any professional how often do they use the built-in flash on their digital SLRs and they will look at you as if you’ve just grown a thumb in the middle of your forehead. There are several problems with the popup flash, two of which are it’s location (on top of the camera near the forehead) and it’s too much of a harsh spotlight.

The folks at Lightscoop.com hope to change all that with their $30 Lightscoop. I ordered this after a recommendation from Lesa King. When it arrived, I was thinking "this is never going to work." So of course I fired off a couple test shots (before and after) and I was stunned by the difference. Yes, it does work!

 

How does it work?

It works by sitting in your hot shoe in front of your flash. There is a mirror in the front that bounces your on camera flash off the ceiling/wall up and behind you back down onto your subject.

 

As with most things there are a couple of caveats. For one, it’s not as compact as I wished is was. Yes, it’s small and very light weight, but it doesn’t fold down. Not big enough to fit over a lens (for storage in your camera bag) and a little too big to fit in a pocket. It takes up a lot less space than an external flash, but I’m hoping the next version could fold down flat. The second caveat is that they recommend very specific settings: Manual mode, ISO 800, Spot Metering, widest lens aperture (f2.8, f3.5, or f4.0 depending on your lens), shutter speed of 1/200th, Exposure Compensation set to +1, no curtain sync, slow sync, or red-eye reduction. Some of these settings are a no-brainer, but others seem a little restrictive. However, they are suggestions and not the law. You can experiment and see which settings you like best. Also since it bounces the light off the ceiling/wall it won’t work in all settings such as outside, cathedral ceilings, gymnasiums, churches, etc. All-in-all, it performs as advertised and is a great solution for $30. They models for Nikon, Canon and Pentax as well as a Standard version and a Warming version (I’m using the Standard version). It’s also smaller than most other types of on camera flash workarounds. On camera flashes still suck, but this makes them suck a whole lot less. I took a few test shots with my Nikon D70 (yes, I could have used the D300, but the D70 was closer – lazy, I know).

 

with the built-in flash on a Nikon D70 shot in RAW (hot spots and some blown out highlights)

with the built-in flash on a Nikon D70 shot in RAW and the Lightscoop

with the built-in flash on a Nikon D70 shot in RAW and the Lightscoop and a simple exposure adjustment in Adobe Camera RAW

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I found it!

I can’t believe it! I actually found it. At long last, it really does exist. I recently traveled to Dallas and of course went through the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. I have dubbed DFW as the worst airport I’ve seen for tech travelers. Don’t get me wrong, the place has T-Mobile Wi-Fi throughout. However, I challenge you to find a freakin’ AC outlet!

That’s right, they are practically non-existent! You arrive at your gate a little early figuring you can get some work done. You whip out your laptop and realize that you need to plug-in. You sit there scanning the area figuring they have to vacuum the place sometime right? Well they must have the longest extension cords on the planet. I have gone from gate to gate looking for outlets. However, this trip was different. Coming in I saw a huddle of people sitting on a bench with cords everywhere. Sure enough they had discovered the only outlet known to man in the entire airport. One person sat as lookout for the others to make sure that their position would not be overrun by hoards of travelers. I marked this spot on my map and dipped my Indiana Jones hat. I would have to see if this plug really existed and possibly use it before the flight out. It’s true. It was really there when I returned.

So if you ever have the misfortune of traveling through this technology waste land, head over to gate E6. Casually move over to the bench next to the USA Today vending machine. Make sure no one is watching and plug-in. There’s not one, but two outlets there. Be careful, I saw one of the incoming flights dip down a bit when I plugged in. Luckily the pilot recovered.