Microsoft’s pushes for standardization of HD Photo image file format

Microsoft has submitted its HD Photo file format to the JPEG national delegations for approval of standardization. The new file format, which tries to bridge the gap between the high-end RAW and low-end JPEG formats is “tentatively” named JPEG XR.

As part of the submission process, Microsoft said that JPEG has sent a new project to its national body members, which would include JPEG XR as the new standard, if the technology is formally approved. JPEG XR would be the second part of a larger scope of work item called JPEG Systems, which is a forum for standardization of systems integration technologies focused on the current and emerging needs of consumer and professional digital photography.

The deadline for the voting process whether JPEG XR will become part of a standardization process is set as early October 2007. The actual finalization and publication of the standard is expected to take up to one year after that. If approved by the JPEG group, Microsoft said that it will grant royalty-free grant for its patents that are required to implement JPEG XR in devices and applications.

In an earlier review of the beta version of the format, we found that HD Photo, previously also known as “Windows Media Photo” is as simple to use as JPEG. Its compression advantages in acceptable image qualities vary and can be marginal when compared to JPEG. However, as digital photo libraries are piling up on client PCs, even marginal compression advantages can become significant.

We found that HD Photo especially shines in high-resolution images with high color depth. Besides the fact that the format can support 32-bit images, which is expected to become an important factor in high dynamic range photography, the file format is vastly superior to TIFF: Comparable image qualities can be achieved with file sizes that are up to two thirds smaller than TIFF.

CompTIA survey declares Internet Explorer as "most influential" tech product

According to a survey conducted by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), Internet Explorer is the "most influential technology product" of the past 25 years.

CompTIA, a non-profit organization that specializes in providing professional IT certifications, polled 471 information technology professionals for the survey during May and June.

The results showed that Internet Explorer was regarded as the most influential technology product over the last quarter century, with 66% of those surveyed saying it deserved that distinction.

Microsoft Word took second place with support from 56% of the participants. Windows 95 ranked third with half of those surveyed giving it a "most influential product" nod.

A non-Microsoft product didn't come until the end of the top five, as the iPod tied for fourth with Microsoft Excel, each taking 49% support from survey respondents. The iPod was a reactive product sparked by the industry forming Rio player, but has itself reinvigorated the market and was part of the creation of digital music stores. Microsoft's Excel and Word remain the universal productivity applications for spreadsheets and word processing.

The Blackberry took the sixth spot with 39% of participants acknowledging its importance. Adobe Photoshop gained support from 35% of those surveyed, locking it in at #7. The top 10 list was rounded out with McAfee Virus Scan (31%), Netscape Navigator (31%), and the Palm Pilot (31%).

CompTIA is not officially sponsored by any specific vendor, but nonetheless the results seem a bit unnerving.

Though Internet Explorer holds a commanding market share lead today, it was not the first browser. The GUI browser Mosaic, developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, was released in 1993. Infamous IE competitor Netscape Navigator came out in 1994, nearly two years before Microsoft stepped into the game. IE was more of a response to Netscape than it was an innovation in its own right. Netscape held the top browser usage share until 1999, according to early sampling numbers from Georgia Tech.

Also, because the percentage numbers clearly show that people were able to choose more than one answer, the results don't show a selective response. With the exception of the Palm Pilot, computer hardware was not even in the top 10. Processors, graphics cards, and hard drives were seemingly left out.

Samsung working on workout phone with Adidas

Samsung has teamed up with sportswear company Adidas to create a new phone that keeps track of burned calories and the user's heartbeat.

Online German publication Area Mobile reports that the pending Adidas phone will be able to keep track of calories burned from walking or jogging. It will also reportedly have an audio player that will let users listen to their own heartbeat.

It sounds similar to the partnership set up between Nike and Apple last year. The Nike + iPod package lets users wire themselves up with a special sensor in a Nike shoe that lets users track jogging sessions on their portable music player.

A Samsung spokesperson reportedly said, "It's true that we're holding talks with Adidas but we're not yet in the development stage. We're trying to confirm where the specification of the Adidas phone released on the Internet came from."

Four-player online co-op announced for Halo 3

In a surprising revelation, Halo developer Bungie announced last night that Halo 3 will include a cooperative online mode that allows up to four players to team up and battle together over Xbox Live.

Though rumors popped up and many people were hoping for a two-player co-op mode, Bungie would not confirm anything until now. The idea of having four player co-op support is a big move for the series.

Bungie's Luke Smith confirmed in a post on Bungie.net, "Of course we were working on (a co-op mode), but we were also working on something better. Not two player co-op. Not three-player co-op, but up to four player co-op. Online. On Xbox Live, or sure, System Link if you prefer."

Two players will be able to play in a cooperative setting in the same room with the same screen, with the possibility of adding two more teammates through the Xbox 360's online network.

Players who start a single-player campaign will be able to bring in other gamers to join in the adventure from any save checkpoint.

Smith continued to talk about the feature, saying, "Acting as a team is a fantastic new twist to the Campaign gameplay – something that works as well on foot, in close confines as it does on the battlefield, with large scale vehicle mayhem. Scared of Jackal snipers? Send out a scout to see what dangers lie ahead. Terrified of an open field? Flank your enemies and swipe their rides."

Players will also be able to save videos of battles fought during co-op mode, allowing for on demand replays of the action.

Halo 3 will be available on September 25 in three forms - standard edition, limited edition, and legendary edition - ranging in price from around $60 - $130.

Sony reportedly working on DVR functionality for PS3

Sony is working on a digital tuner that would bring live TV recording to the Playstation 3 in parts of the world next year, according to a recent story in New Zealand editorial publication The Press.

In the story, Sony Computer Entertainment's marketing manager for New Zealand Warwick Light said, "We're also hoping next year – about the same time that Freeview launches its terrestrial broadcasting service – to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder."

Freeview is a new organization set to offer free digital terrestrial television in New Zealand by March of next year.

A similar service under the same name has also made its way to the United Kingdom, where the PS3 tuner capabilities are also speculated to come into play. Last month it was reported that Sony would make an official announcement about the tuners at the Games Convention in Leipzig Germany later this month.

Nothing has yet been mentioned about the service coming to the two top-selling markets for the PS3, Japan and North America.

Music publisher sues Apple over Eminem iTunes downloads

Eight Mile Style, which represents rapper Eminem. has filed a federal lawsuit against Apple, asking for billions of dollars in damages because it claims Apple put up songs for users to download without getting proper permission.

Though Eminem's music is sold under Universal Music's record label, his publisher Eight Mile Style owns the copyrights or has ownership interest in around 70 to 80 of his songs that are on iTunes.

Although Apple has received permission from Universal Music to offer downloads of many of its licensed artists, Eight Mile Style contends it never signed off on a deal with iTunes. "This is a significant issue in the music industry. This occurs with many artists and many record labels," said Norman Ankers, an attorney for the publisher.

Eight Mile Style administrator Joel Martin said that Apple had repeatedly asked to get the license to sell Eminem's music, but the publisher continuously denied these requests, reports the Associated Press.

"Generally, artists want their music sold. We want it downloaded. We request that any provider that's offering downloads license it through the publisher," said Martin.

He claims that Apple is using its agreement with Universal to justify offering the songs. "Apple is not accounting to us. They are accounting to Universal," he said. The AP reported that Apple had no comment on the lawsuit at this time.

Eight Mile Style is reportedly seeking around $75,000 for copyright infringement, unfair competition, and a violation of the Michigan consumer protection act. The publishing company is based in Ferndale, Michigan. In addition, it wants Apple to pay as much as $150,000 for each infringement, or each time a song was downloaded.

Canon announces HD HDD camcorder

Canon will be offering a new camcorder that records video in 1080i and stores them on a 40 GB hard drive.

The new HG10 will be Canon’s fourth high-definition consumer camcorder and the first that can record video to an integrated hard drive. According to the company, the 40 GB capacity of the drive is good for up to 15 hours of high definition video in MPEG4-AVC/H.264 format in 1080i resolution.

The integrated 2.96 megapixel CMOS imaging sensor captures video at 60 frames per second interlaced and 24 frames per second progressive. Standard features of the HG10 include a 10x optical lens, a 2.7” LCD, image stabilization and “instant autofocus”.

As competing camcorders the device also allows users to take still images, in this case with a resolution of up to 3.1 megapixels, which are stored on a miniSD card. The camera function covers the full range of the optical zoom, translating into a 35 mm equivalent from 43.6 to 436 mm. Additionally users can grab images from HD videos with a resolution of 2.0 megapixels (1920x1080).

The HG10 is scheduled to become available in October for a suggested retail price of $1299.

IBM consolidates servers into mainframes

In one of the largest virtualization efforts announced to date, IBM said that it will replace 3900 of its servers with just 30 mainframe systems – reducing power consumption by about 80% or enough to free up enough power to run a small town.

Virtualization certainly has not yet gained the wide-spread attention hardware vendors were hoping for, so the implementation large-scale projects by server and core-component providers to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology were really just a matter of time.

IBM is taking a lead role in this process and said that it intends to ditch 3900 of its servers in favor of just 30 Linux-based mainframe systems. Besides the obvious advantage of space savings, IBM claims that trade of physical through virtual servers will result ion power savings of about 80% compared to the 3900 single servers.

The transition is also expected to lower expenses for software, which is typically charged for on a per-processor basis. IBM said that the mainframes contain significantly fewer processors than the current 3900 servers. Another direct result of the reduction of the number of systems is freeing up support staff from system administration tasks and allocate “higher value” jobs, including designing and building customer solutions, IBM said.

The company hopes that the decision, part of the “Project Big Green”, will serve as “a powerful example of IBM's ongoing transformation toward cutting-edge data center design for large enterprises around the world.” The 3900 outdated servers are expected to be recycled.