digg / design

digg / design: "Huge pantone to hex color chart

kearstin submitted by kearstin 18 hours 13 minutes ago (via http://www.unimelb.edu.au/webc...)

Oh so handy. Use this chart to check the display of over 900 colors in different viewing environments."

Microsoft Seeing Red With Xbox 360

BetaNews | Microsoft Seeing Red With Xbox 360: "Microsoft Seeing Red With Xbox 360
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
November 23, 2005, 2:03 PM

In order to be first, sometimes you have to pay the price. That's what Microsoft could be doing with its Xbox 360, according to analyst firm iSuppli.

While the firm's teardown of the unit gave a peek into the dominance that IBM will have in the next-generation of gaming consoles, it also showed that the bill-of-materials cost for the Xbox 360 Premium reaches $525 USD, 32 percent higher than the $399 USD retail price of the device.

It should be noted that iSuppli's findings do not include the projected cost of manufacturing each unit, so the total cost to Microsoft likely runs even higher.

According to preliminary findings by iSuppli, the custom-built triple-core PowerPC chip from IBM accounts for 20 percent of the materials cost at a price of $106 USD. In fact, the chip and integrated silicon alone account for $340 USD of the total bill-of-materials cost.

However, the most expensive single part in the new Xbox 360 console is the ATI GPU with embedded NEC DRAM, which cost Microsoft an estimated $141 USD.

But why is Microsoft taking such a big hit on the Xbox 360? More often than not, console makers will take losses on the devices, hoping to make up the difference through software and licensing fees. The lower price also allows for faster adoption of the console.

According to Andrew Rassweiler, manager of iSuppli's Teardown Analysis Service, Microsoft should see at least $50 of savings per unit plus other cost savings as yields improve on the parts within the Xbox 360, such as the CPU and GPU.

No matter what the price, in the next generation of gaming consoles there is one clear winner: IBM. Its chips will power the Nintendo Revolution, Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.

'While it's too early to say whether Microsoft's Xbox 360 will prevail in the gaming market, IBM is a sure win"

BitTorrent, Hollywood Reach Piracy Deal

BetaNews | BitTorrent, Hollywood Reach Piracy Deal: "BitTorrent, Hollywood Reach Piracy Deal
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
November 22, 2005, 6:13 PM

BitTorrent and the MPAA struck a deal on Tuesday that may prevent future legal action against the file sharing network, and will make it tougher for users to find feature films through the service.

In May, Bram Cohen, the creator of BitTorrent, introduced technology that allowed users to search the Internet for Torrent files. A good deal of the content found was legal, the company claims, but searches also found copyrighted material, such as movies and television shows.

Under the terms of the deal, Cohen will add technology to the search engine used by bittorrent.com that would effectively remove content owned by the studios that make up the MPAA.

'BitTorrent Inc. discourages the use of its technology for distributing films without a license to do so,' Cohen said in a statement. 'As such, we are pleased to work with the film industry to remove unauthorized content from bittorrent.com's search engine.'

Cohen may have taken this step to make BitTorrent technology more attractive to the industry. His company recently raised nearly $9 million to develop ways to use BitTorrent legally and commercially.

While the agreement only covers Cohen's site and not other search engines that have been set up to perform a similar function, it removes one of the most popular ways to search for movie downloads on the network.

'We are glad that Bram Cohen and his company are working with us to limit access to infringing files on the BitTorrent.com Web site,' MPAA CEO Dan Glickman said in prepared remarks. 'They are leading the way for other companies by their example.'"

digg / hardware

digg / hardware: "Maxtor's External Drives Hit 1 Terabyte

Fly1m1 submitted by Fly1m1 1 day 11 hours ago (via http://www.extremetech.com/art...)

The company said Wednesday that the new Maxtor OneTouch III Turbo Edition will ship in either a 600-GB or 1-TB capacity point, at $549.95 and $899.95, respectively, beginning in December."

digg / technology

digg / technology: "'NBC Nightly News' to Be Shown on Internet

Bleebleflavin submitted by Bleebleflavin 3 days ago (via http://www.personaltechpipelin...)

NBC News said today that it would begin making its 'NBC Nightly News' broadcast available free on the Internet starting next week."

digg / movies

digg / movies: "Peter Jackson will use 'MASSIVE' to render Halo movie battle sequences!!

AlexSucks submitted by AlexSucks 1 day 14 hours ago (via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...)

People are complaining that Jackson won't direct the Halo movie, but producing is all he really needs to do. 'MASSIVE' is an animation tool created by Weta Digital that helped render the massive battle sequences on Lord of the Rings. Imagine that same concept--except with Grunts and Elites everywhere!"

digg / technology

digg / technology: "Jon Stewart approves Internet episode downloads

HitLines submitted by HitLines 1 day 1 hour ago (via http://wired-vig.wired.com/wir...)

Jon Stewart - the wiseacre host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show and Ben Karlin, executive producer, says 'if people want to take the show in various forms, GO.' Stewart: 'Getting it off the Internet is no different than getting it off TV.' Porn still difficult to get, he says."

Dr. DivX™: The Three-Step DivX Encoding Application

Dr. DivX™: The Three-Step DivX Encoding Application: "The doctor is out, but will be back after lunch...

The Dr. DivX™ 1.x encoding application is no longer available. While there will be no new updates to Dr. DivX version 1.x, there is a new open source Dr. DivX 2.0 version in the works and you can still use your existing copy of Dr. DivX 1.x as well as receive any support you may need through DivX.com. For information on encoding with Dr. DivX, consult the Dr. DivX How-To guides.

If you are new to encoding and looking for an easy to use tool, the new DivX Converter™ is here to help you convert your bulky videos into lean, mean DivX� files in just one step. The DivX Converter is available within the DivX Create Bundle.

Registered Dr. DivX users are entitled to purchase the DivX Create Bundle for the reduced cost of $4.99 USD (75% off the regular price) or $9.99 USD for the DivX Create Bundle plus the DivX Converter MPEG-2/DVD Plug-in. The DivX Create Bundle includes the DivX Converter (plus MPEG-2/DVD plug-in if purchased) as well as the latest DivX Pro™ codec and DivX Player™, giving you the ability to create and play DivX� media files with advanced interactive features."

Dolby announces lossless audio TrueHD

Dolby announces lossless audio TrueHD: "Dolby announces lossless audio TrueHD

It's essential for high definition entertainment, you know

By INQUIRER staff: Thursday 08 September 2005, 14:14
DOLBY LABORATORIES announced a new advancement in lossless audio technology, the Dolby TrueHD.

The TrueHD is designed to be paired up with the most recent developments in high-definition optical disc formats, says Dolby. Apparently, the audio is equal to that of the 'highest-resolution studio masters currently available.'

Dolby's latest creation is currently being showcased at it's CEDIA Expo exhibit booth - that's #538 just in case there's a few of you attending. The new technology is being sold as essential for next-gen hi-def entertainment, and has been adopted for use with both HD DVD and Blu-ray disc formats.

It's a step up from the previous MLP Lossless, having introduced higher bit rates, enhanced stereo mix support, additional channels and extensive metadata functionality, which includes both dynamic range control and dialogue normalisation. �"

Glitch Reveals Possible Movie Download Service

BetaNews | Glitch Reveals Possible Movie Download Service: "Glitch Reveals Possible Movie Download Service
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
July 12, 2005, 4:51 PM

A technical glitch exposed what could possibly be a new download service from online DVD rental service Netflix. TiVo has begun to show off a beta version of a new movie download service at recent community gatherings, and it had signed a deal with Netflix in late September to bring a movies-on-demand service to its subscribers.

The glitch has appeared on some users' account info pages with a section for a 'Netflix Player' with the option to register a player and name the 'box.' Some have speculated this may be a TiVo, as the registration page asks for similar information to what TiVo boxes ask for, or it might be a completely new box altogether.

Further fueling speculation, another user discovered a new genre called 'Downloadable,' which has two sub-genres -- foreign and drama.

No additional information was available on the Web site.

Netflix is also hiring a director of product management, who will be tasked with developing a new Internet delivery model for movies. The responsibilities would include 'coordination of internal design and development teams, outside vendors, manufacturers, and partners.'

A request for comment from Netflix was still outstanding at press time."