 |
|
Jobs |
We
have tech and download news this week, and
exciting announcements of new products, especially
from Apple. David's Blackboard feature of the
week topic is "Discussion Board Controls."
Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is all
about WebQuests. My tech-talk-topic will be an
overview of the two new video download services
announced this week from Apple and Amazon. For
the gizmo this week we present iriver one-ups iPod,
again.
Palomar Tech and Download News
- Both Amazon and Apple have announced this
week deals to distribute video via download.
Amazon's is called "Unbox."
Apple didn't come up with a new catchy name, the
store is still called the
iTunes store (though, no doubt, soon to be
renamed) but now you can get
movies there in addition to TV shows, which
have been available for a long time. For
more, see the tech-talk-topic below.
- To go along with the iTunes movies
announcement, a new version of the iTunes
software was released:
iTunes 7 with Quicktime 7.1.3 included.
iPod games are also now available, like
Tetris and Texas Hold 'em. A
good way to turn your $450 iPod into a $15
gameboy.
- Apple's other
September 12 announcements were:
- A new shuffle, now the world's smallest
digital music player--looking to be about half
the size of the original shuffle, it also has a
new aluminum case (much needed) and a belt clip
(also much needed);
- A new Nano, with aluminum case, 24-hour
battery (!), twice the music capacity for the
buck, and available in silver, pink, green, blue
and black; (SanDisk is still eating into
Apple's profits on the Nano with its terrific
new e280. Can you slay the empire strikes
back?);
- A new 80-gig iPod with a "60% brighter and
more vibrant screen."
- Not to be lost among the flurry of new
hardware, Apple and the NFL announced that game
highlights will be available through iTunes the
day after the game is played throughout 2006.
Watch the webcast of the announcements
(QuickTime required):
- We had the big second Tuesday security
update from Microsoft this week (though nothing
will to the August 8 release):
- Security update for Publisher (KB894542)
- Updates for Windows XP (KB919007
[the XP reliable multicast program],
KB920685 [the indexing service],
KB920872 [an actual bug fix to an audio
pause/playback problem], and
KB922582 [an updater problem related to the
filter manager in XP])
- The Outlook junk mail update (KB921580
[genuine Windows validation required])
- The malicious software removal tool (KB890830)
Among the patches is a patch to the patch to the
patch of the cursed security download
MS06-042. Read more from CNet
here.
-
Lost
in the hoopla from Apple was an announcement
Thursday, Sept. 14, from Microsoft about their
new Zune media player (the next pretender to the
title of iPod killer). Go to
bink.nu to see details. Here is a
quote from the Microsoft suit who made the
announcement:
"The digital music entertainment revolution is
just beginning,” said J Allard, vice president,
design and development, at Microsoft, who is
leading the charge for building the family of
Zune products. “With Zune, we are not simply
delivering a portable device, we are introducing
a new platform that helps bring artists closer
to their audiences and helps people find new
music and develop new social connections."
It is a 30GB music player with built-in wi-fi
(its only real innovation) available in black,
white or brown (!). It should be in stores
for Christmas.
- Windows
media player version 11 Beta 2 is available
for public download (requires genuine Windows
validation). Read the
FAQ to find out more.
- A "technical refresh" and the final release
of the Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows vista
betas are now available.
Click here for more.
Training Opportunities
- Academic Technology Training
- Microsoft webcasts of interest coming up
next week:
Blackboard Feature of the Week - David Gray
David's topic this week is the Discussion Board
controls in Blackboard 7, app pack 1.
Listen to this segment only [mp3 - play time =
9:05]
See
the index of Dave's previous "Blackboard Feature
of the Week" segments.
Note: To get to David's vodcast site,
click here.
Teaching with Technology - Dr. Haydn Davis
Haydn's topic is WebQuests! He answers
the question: "What do Constructivism,
Student Engagement, and fun for online
instructors have in common?"
Resources:
WebQuests [PDF - 22K]
Listen to this segment only [mp3 - play time =
10:32]
See
an index of previous "Teaching with
Technology" segments.
Tech-Talk-Topic - Terry Gray
Downloadable video big-time
Both
Amazon and Apple have announced this week deals
to distribute video via download.
Amazon's
download store is called "Unbox,"
and offers movies, TV, 'Life & Learning,' and
International categories. To download
Syriana, the cost is $15.99 and the terms
are "Price includes both a
DVD-quality video to watch on your PC or TV, and
a video file optimized for compatible portable
video players." A $1.99 instant rebate is
in effect while the business grows. The
portable media devices tested by Amazon are
-
Creative Zen Vision: M
-
Creative Zen Vision
-
Toshiba Gigabeat S
-
Archos AV 500
-
Archos AV 700
-
iRiver PMC (Portable
Media
Center)
Click here for the Amazon Unbox FAQ.
It is strictly a Windows XP, Windows media
compatible system. You will only be able
to watch on TV (as opposed to computer monitor)
if you have Windows media center edition, or at
least have the ability to connect your PC to
your TV via an S-Video cable and audio cables.
You can make backup DVDs, but they will not work
in a DVD player.
Amazon's Unbox store is distributing for
20th Century Fox
Fox Searchlight
Lionsgate
Paramount
Sony
Universal
Warner Bros.
The Apple distribution point is, of course,
the iTunes store, which as yet does not have a
catchy new name, like the iMedia store, but its
only a matter of time--and profitability.
Apple has sold over 1.5 billion tunes at 99
cents each, so the big dog gets to name the
store: iTunes it is, for now.
While Amazon is aligned with all the major
studios, except Disney, Apple is aligned only
with Disney, at this time. They are
offering "over 75 movies from Walt Disney
Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax
Films" through the
iTunes store. They
come in 640 x 480 "near DVD quality" files--in
other words, poorer resolution compared
with DVD and very poor compared with HD DVD.
They will look fine on the dinky screen of the
iPod, however.
Release prices range from $9.99 to $14.99. You
can't yet watch the Apple movies on your TV.
It is awaiting the imminent release of yet
another device called iTV, a wireless receiver
that is cabled to the TV and receives a streamed
movie from your computer (the going price should
be around $300).
Click here for a picture spread of a
prototype of iTV by Fosfor. According to
Jobs, referring to the iTV, ""Everyone
who's tried this before has failed." Apple
never announces and shows prototypes, but just
to position themselves for the competitive
onslaught, they did this time. The money
to be made is staggering, and Apple wants to get
the same edge with video that they achieved with
music.
So who is going to win the battle for the
living room, the Windows media center PC, or a
wireless device like the new Apple iTV (that is
only a developmental name, and will likely be
changed when the product is actually released)?
The wireless device the size of a couple CD
cases has it over the PC in the living room, of
course. Windows geeks still don't get that
people do not want a keyboard and CPU hooked by
wires to the TV. The media center PC has
failed to reach the mass market for which it was
intended. The moral: it needs to be
really, really simple. Apple understands
this better than Microsoft, and is working
towards its goal of dominating this market.
At this time, Netflix has nothing to worry
about, but stand by for developments.
Listen to this segment only [mp3 - play time =
9:47]
Gizmo of the week
The
iRiver s10. A day after Apple
announced the "the world's smallest digital music
player," the
new iPod shuffle, iRiver announced its new s10,
2GB music player with a 1.6 x 1.2 inch screen
(compared to the screenless shuffle). It is
pendant wearable, weighing far less than an ounce,
but being 1.9g heavier than the shuffle, making it
the world's second smallest mp3 player?
According to
CNet Asia it also has an FM radio tuner and
voice recording which, if true, will make it
fabulously more sophisticated that the shuffle.
True, battery life is only 8 hours (because of the
screen), but the question is, would you rather be
able to see what you're doing or not? Question
2: Would you rather have 2GB or storage, or 1?
Question 3: would you rather dangle this thing, or
clip the shuffle to your belt or pocket like a piece
of stuck double-bubble? The shuffle goes for
about $80. A price has not yet been announced
for the s10, but will be similar/lower.
The real, real question is, which will look cooler
on your? Clips are ugly, and screenless is
stupid, but the suffle is from Apple, right?
If you want to look right in jr. high, how can you
not have an Apple? The beat goes on...
(Source:
gizmodo)
Music
The
music for today's show was provided by
Magnatune.com,
and is used through their Creative Commons license
for podcasts. Today's album was
Gravity by
Artemis. Here is a quote from her
Magnatune artist web page: "has
a knack for blending acoustic and electronic worlds
and likes to think she can use music, poetry and her
voice to trick people into thinking twice or better
yet, not thinking at all." Worked for me.
We used tracks 1: "Sync or swim; 2:"La
Belle;" 10: "Only Begun;" 4: "Beautiful Life;" 5:
"Lagoon (baba);" 6: "Inception;" 9: "Hypno-Artemis;"
7: "Subterranean;" 3: "Angel."
Visit
magnatune and reward them for their generosity,
and if you like this album, buy it. Magnatune is not evil!
"Doubt is not a
pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." ~
Voltaire
Subscribe |
How? -
Podcast Help |
ATRC Podcast Index
|
ATRC News
Send us your comments
del.icio.us
digg this
Podcast
for September 15, 2006 - Episode 32
