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Cut the barcode scanning cord with CLZ Barry for iPhone
Did you have a New Year's resolution to organize your book collection (again)? It's definitely on the list in our household, but it's a daunting job; we have thousands of books (literally and literarily) scattered across many shelves, basement boxes and a home office, plus another whole library at my wife's office in desperate need of some database love. A bit of luck, though: bibliophiles have a leg up on most other varieties of packrat, as almost all modern books have an ISBN, a number that purports to uniquely identify them. Capturing that ISBN may be a manual process for older titles, but for anything published in the last few decades there's almost certainly a UPC or EAN barcode on the cover with the ISBN encoded in it. Getting serious about cataloging might prompt you to consider a Bluetooth hardware barcode scanner like the US$149 Intelliscanner mini, which can be used with its own bundled media database or with powerful software tools like Readerware, Book Collector or Bookpedia. One well-known Mac app lets you scan UPC barcodes with your Mac's iSight camera alone. But you've already got a powerful camera attached to your touch and voice-activated pocket computer. Why not scan barcodes with your iPhone, and use them to populate your desktop catalog app? That's where the special talents of CLZ Barry ($7.99 for iPhone, also for Android) come into play. CLZ Barry, made by the same folks behind the Collectorz.com Book Collector and other media database apps, is a barcode scanning app with a twist. The core functionality for scanning codes in Barry is built atop the RedLaser SDK, so it scans quickly and accurately. You can keep a running list of codes locally in Barry, and share them out via email, text message or iTunes download. The magic is in the fourth sharing mode for scans: Barry cleverly pairs with a buddy application running on your Mac or PC. If both the iPhone and the computer are on the same WiFi network, your scans from Buddy instantly appear in the active text field of the foreground app, just as if you had typed the ISBN on the keyboard. Assuming your catalog app has a quick entry or multiple entry mode (all the ones listed above do), you can blithely scan away as you climb the ladders/dig in the boxes/roam the stacks, and have all the cataloging done by the time you get back to your desk. (Bruji's $3.99 Pocketpedia can do a similar trick, but only with the company's own desktop apps.) This sounds a bit Rube Goldberg, but in practice it works extremely well. The iPhone's camera is plenty accurate for scanning, and the Barry app supports older hardware down to the iPhone 3GS and the fourth-gen iPod touch. You get clear audible and visual feedback on a successful scan, so you don't have to glance at your computer to see if the code made it over. I've tested Barry with both Bookpedia and Delicious Library, and it works great; a trifle slower than a dedicated USB handheld scanner, but more than adequate for the task. Now, you could manage your entire book collection on your iPhone, but the biggest source of book catalog information won't necessarily be available. Back in 2009, Amazon began enforcing a restrictive clause in its API agreement that forbade licensees from using "Product Advertising Content" -- book images and descriptions -- on any mobile device app. This immediately put an end to popular iPhone apps like the iOS version of Delicious Library and Bruji's original Pocketpedia. Pocketpedia 2 actually made it back to the store for about two months before Amazon sank it again; it was more than two years before Pocketpedia 3 arrived (with a new model for Amazon search that skirts the earlier issues), and it's coming up on its first anniversary this April.
RED teases 4K REDray player and projector for the theater / millionaire set
We don't deny our unhealthy love for RED's gear, so just imagine the look on our poor-but-aspiring faces when Jim Jannard teased a 4K laser projector coming this year. Now the spec-list is out, we can see that the subtly branded REDray Laser will display 2D or 3D for passive glasses at up to 120fps, while lasting over 25,000 hours and costing less than $10,000. At the same time, there are more details on REDRay, a compatible player that'll throw out 4K content from its internal HD, SD cards or flash media. Wish list. Added.
Apps for Valentine's Day
Image: Shutterstock Today's smartphones are, by their nature, quite versatile. It's impossible to guide every lover on Valentine's Day to the app for their particular needs, because despite the requisite "flowers, chocolate, *something*" expectations, we all do it differently. I tried to round up a few apps that might appeal to just about anyone who participates in tomorrow's festivities. Happy Valentine's Day, if that's your thing! Going out to eat If you're trying to get a reservation, one of the fastest ways to check and make a reservation is with OpenTable (hopefully your area's restaurants are on-board with their system). If you're out and looking for somewhere to eat, I still use one of the first big breakout apps from the App Store, UrbanSpoon. Of course, you can always ask Siri, but if you don't have a 4S, try Yelp. Going out to find someone to love Personally I've had a great experience with OKCupid, probably the least skeevy of the online dating sites and its app is quite excellent. There's also Skout, which I haven't tried, but it has good reviews and features a location-based singles finder in the app. There are also most specific love-finding apps like Grindr for the gay community and Cupidtino for fans of Apple stuff. Buying a gift Don't know what to buy your sweetheart? Apps like El Gifto, and Thoughtful (not yet available in app form) will help you answer that question by asking a few background questions first. You can use Red Laser to comparison shop (you hopeless romantic, you) or Giftiki to pool your money with friends -- the gift that says "I love you enough to beg our friends for money." Setting the mood Yeah we've all heard of Pandora by now, but lately I'm digging the DJ-powered Slacker Radio for less repetition and a wider set of music. Slacker also has several romance-themed stations set up, like this one called Love Songs. If you subscribe to Rdio or Spotify, you can build your own playlist for all-night romance without commercial interruption. My personal preference is Rdio, but it'll be fun to see all the romantic songs being played in Spotify on the night of V-Day thanks to Spotify's in-your-face social mechanisms. Having fun Spending a night at home? Try Scene It? Romance Movies for some lighthearted fun -- although it could be embarrassing if you never watch romance movies. If you want to reminisce about the times you had together and snapped with Instagram, check out Lovestagram, which will bring up all the pics of you and your loved one taken using the social photo service. iKamasutra is the App Store-approved Kama Sutra for the iPhone. You could just as easily buy the real deal in ebook form, but the app provides easy navigation to all your favorite, um, love pretzels. Got any other apps you recommend for Valentine's Day? If you need to call a florist, I'd suggest Google or Siri -- and that you do it fast.
360 Panorama brings sharing, simplicity to iPhone pano photos
We first looked at 360 Panorama back in July when it debuted against other panoramic photo apps, including Boinx's You Gotta See This and Debacle Software's Pano. On sale now for just US$0.99 (regular price $2.99), Occipital's panorama application has been updated to add what developer Jeff Powers calls "streetview sharing." This new sharing feature (a "hosted immersive viewing experience") allows you to upload your panoramas and access them from any web browser, whether that browser supports Flash or not. When viewed, you can flick and drag to see the panorama from any angle. Follow through the "read more" link to view a sample embedded panorama that I created at a local cemetery, which showcases the hosted interaction. You can easily share your panoramic creations with family, friends, colleagues and clients. All they need is a browser.
HD NVD is China's home grown answer to Blu-ray, but does it have a chance?
It's Monday, which apparently means time for yet another Blu-ray fighting Chinese high definition disc format, this time NVD. With China Blue HD barely out the door and EVD conspicuous only in its absence, HD NVD players apparently went on sale today in Wuhan, featuring 12GB of storage on a red laser disc format that -- unlike the Toshiba technology backed CBHD / HD DVD variant -- is not only Made in China, but Created in China, with the hope that owning their own IP can net 4-5 times the profit for its manufacturers. 80% of the world's DVDs and players are reportedly produced in China, so now production lines can switch to NVD HD cheaply -- stop us if you've heard this before. It's clear that these companies are chafing under the royalties of foreign tech, but until we hear something about content support in any major way, it's hard to believe this format war is even worth fighting. Us? We're still holding out for VCDHD.Read - NVD: independent innovation to safeguard national economic securityRead - China's proprietary red-ray NVD makes its debut
Germany's CDA starts production of 3X DVD
Comin' straight outta Thuringia is the first news we've heard in a year about HD DVD's red-laser cousin, 3X DVD. CDA Datenträger Albrechts GmbH has announced its started production of 3X DVDs, which are basically HD content, compressed with VC-1 or MPEG-4 and AACS DRM, on a standard red laser DVD that is readable only by HD DVD players. The advantage is that it costs the same to produce as a regular DVD, and CDA is apparently producing dual-sided DVD-10 discs, with standard DVD content on one side, and HD on the other. Of course, with several German studios dropping HD DVD support (along with a few others you may have heard of) its hard to see who will take advantage of CDA's new capabilities. [Via EMediaLive]
Atmel intros 'industry's smallest' laser diode driver for HD DVD / Blu-ray
Atmel, the same firm known for cranking out uber-small GPS chips, has now created the "industry's smallest laser diode driver solution" for HD DVD, Blu-ray, DVD, and CD formats. The ATR0881 laser diode driver IC is available now and is designed for use in combination drives that play nice with all of the aforementioned discs. Notably, the ATR0881 itself is housed in a minuscule four- x four-millimeter QFN24 package, and should prove extremely useful in half-height combo drives as well as slim drives found in laptops. Smaller optical drives that handle every format harmoniously? Count us in.
Is "3X DVD" HD DVD's secret weapon against Blu-ray?
While the Blu-ray camp is busy claiming victory, recently HD DVD supporters seem to be circling the wagons around an old friend, the -- 'til now -- unused 3X DVD technology. HD DVD has always claimed it holds a price advantage over Blu-ray, by way of offering low cost upgrades for existing DVD manufacturing processes. The 3X DVD spec takes that a step further, while it's a part of the HD DVD format and apparently only compatible with HD DVD players, the discs themselves are physically exactly the same as standard red-laser DVDs. Throw in a software upgrade to support high definition content, HD DVD's UDF 2.5 file structure and AACS and you have a way to deliver HDTV content on a 9.4 GB DVD. By using newer encoding technologies like MPEG-4 and VC-1 and/or lowering the resolution to say, 720p, full length movies easily fit on a standard DVD. Eclipse Data Technologies, a supplier of HD DVD mastering equipment just announced it is offering free upgrades to its customers in order to support 3X DVD manufacturing. This was followed today by DCA Inc. announcing it has mastered the first 3X DVD disc, and that several manufacturers are looking at it as a possible low cost path into HD video. 3X DVD's potential to allow for noticeably lower-priced HD content to come to market is definitely there, but it still remains to be seen if this, like combo DVD/HD DVDs and Total Hi-Def discs will find a home and support in the marketplace. Read - First 3X DVD-ROM Disc Cut with DCA Equipment Read - Eclipse Provides Free HD DVD Upgrade to Replication Facilities
Chinese manufacturers prepared to switch from DVD to EVD in '08
Chinese engineers have been working on homegrown disc format EVD since 2003 with little to show for it, but today 20 firms -- representing 97 percent of the DVD manufacturers in the country -- displayed 80 players and announced plans to switch from DVD to the new format exclusively by 2008. EVD joins VMD as a low cost alternative to Blu-ray and HD DVD, using conventional red lasers combined with advanced compression technology to put high definition movies on discs. This "Red-ray" HD approach promises to support resolutions up to 1080p without a need to increase disc capacity significantly, and will allow them to launch with players at the same price as current DVD -only models. EVD is just one of several recent Chinese initiatives to decrease reliance on outside standards and licenses, but is doubtful to catch on elsewhere. That's really too bad, because with players priced at only $87, we're interested in the group's ideas and would like to subscribe to their newsletter. Additionally, the format's backers plan to sell movies at download-and-burn kiosks and allow users to rip movies to their hard drive -- no hacking necessary. Read - China firms unveil new video playersRead - EVD Substituting DVD Basically in 2008
Sharp announces 16x dual-layer laptop DVD burning laser
Sharp is doing its part in the fight for ever-faster DVD burning speeds, likely to continue until discs start flying out of their drives and someone really gets hurt. The company's latest development is a new red laser semiconductor with a maximum throughput of 350mW, sufficient to burn dual-layer +/- DVDs at 16x speeds. What's more, the laser's designed for use in laptop DVD drives, though Sharp says the drives will have low power consumption and high heat dissipation, so you shouldn't have to worry about it further fanning the flames -- well, not any more than usual. Laptops packing the speedy new drives look like they're still be a little ways off yet though, with samples of the laser just shipping to manufacturers later this month.[Via Akihabara News]
More not-1080p silliness at SINOCES
It's clear to us now, even the manufacturers don't know what is 1080p and what isn't. Well, maybe they just don't care. TWICE's report from SINOCES (Chinese CES) indicates many manufacturers are putting the 1080p tag on everything they can, if a TV can accept a 1080p signal but not display it, and even on displays that don't do 1080p at all. As they note, it's not such a big deal yet in China because until HD DVD and Blu-ray launch there won't be much at that resolution to watch. They also mentioned Chinese manufacturers looking at the US market as a hard one to enter because of low-priced 1080p displays like the Westinghouse LVM-47w1. Hisense, who manufactures the Best Buy house brand and HP televisions, was showing a 71-inch 1080p plasma based on the LG one we've seen before, maybe you'll be getting an in-store demo sooner than you think. Conspicuous in their absence apparently are EVD and VMD based players, targeted as low cost alternatives to HD DVD and Blu-ray using old school red laser technology.[via Home Theater Blog]
