During a closed-doors gun legislation meeting with 20 religious representatives from around the US, Vice President Biden said that “there’s no legal reason why” the government couldn’t tax media companies for making and distributing violent content, such as video games, movies, etc. It’s said that a majority of reps at the meeting agreed with Biden, and that the government should tax such media companies.

The vice president also said that there needs to be a comprehensive scientific study to research the impact that violent media have on kids. Of course, many studies have been done in the past that attempt to find a correlation between playing violent video games and acting violent in real life, some of which have said that there is no impact, and other studies claiming that there is, in fact, a correlation. We honestly may never come to an agreed upon solution in this case.

Biden wants the tax to go towards a fund that would help the victims of violent crimes, as well as their families. Whether a tax like this will eventually be make it’s way to being a law is still yet to be seen. There’s been a recent influx in the number of lawmakers urging to put an excise tax on violent media, but we’ve yet to hear how much progress these proposed bills have made.

Ever since the Sandy Hook school shooting, Vice President Biden has been focusing more and more on gun violence, and he even recently held a Google+ Hangout to answer questions and state his concerns on the state of gun control and gun violence in the US. However, former House speaker Nancy Pelosi is one of the few politicians that is defending violent video games, saying that the research just isn’t there yet to prove that such media cause violence. However, the fingers will undoubtedly still be pointed at violent video games for years to come, and whether or not steps will be taken to control violent video games is still in question.

VIA: Gamespot

SOURCE: Politico

IMAGE CREDIT: Marc Nozell

However, the HBO Go app still requires an HBO cable subscription, so you’re out of luck if you thought otherwise. Kessler didn’t mention whether or not HBO plans to offer a paid version of HBO Go to users who don’t subscribe to HBO, but as of right now, he says that an HBO Go-only subscription just isn’t economically viable at this point.

The AirPlay feature will be added as an update to the HBO Go iOS app and for Cinemax’s MAX Go App, both of which should be set to go in the iTunes App Store. Kessler says that the company’s long-term goal is for the HBO Go app to be on all platforms, including the Apple TV, so hopefully it’ll only be a matter of time before everyone will have access to the app.

Of course, we’ve heard rumors earlier this month that we might be seeing an HBO Go app arrive on the Apple TV, and now it’s finally happening, although the timeline is still a bit blurry at this point. Apple sold over 2 million Apple TV units during this last quarter alone, so HBO will no doubt get a lot of exposure by releasing its app on Apple’s STB.

[via AllThingsD]

The show will based off the upcoming animated DreamWorks film Turbo, which is about a snail who gains special superpowers after a freak accident that allow him to travel at high speeds, something we’re sure all snails would be thankful for. However, while the series will be based on the new movie, the title will have a slightly different name: Turbo: F.A.S.T. (Fast Action Stunt Team).

The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, and Michael Pena, and it is opening in theaters on July 19, while the original series on Netflix will debut sometime in December. Netflix’s House of Cards is currently a huge hit, and has officially put Netflix on the map of companies creating great original content. Plus, Netflix is currently after HBO, so we’ll definitely see more original shows from the streaming service in the future.

Netflix has started to cater more towards kids in recent years. Back in December, they announced that they will soon offer Disney movies, starting with new films released in 2016. Plus, the streaming service added a “Just for Kids” section to its interface not too long ago that features programming specifically catered towards kids.

Tellem was recently appointed the head of the company’s LA studio, and she believes that Microsoft is at “the start of the next wave of truly interactive entertainment,” so the company is pushing for even more entertainment content for Xbox users, turning the gaming console itself into even more of a media center than what it was before.

Tellem was a former president at CBS, and she noted that interactive television was something that they wanted to play around with, and it would essentially allow viewers to engage directly with a TV show. However, now that she’s heading up an Xbox department, this type of interaction on the Xbox “is possible today.” Tellum uses live shows and children’s programming as examples, which would allow kids to interact directly with the characters on the screen.

The company didn’t say how much they’re spending on original content, but the LA studio responsible for it has 125 people employed, and Microsoft said that they’re going all-in with the new project, saying that they’re “looking at a very robust content production schedule.” Plus, the new content may be just in time for the next-generation Xbox, which Microsoft will most likely tout as an entertainment device rather than just a gaming console.

[via GigaOM]

For starters, the ever-popular media center software now fully supports Android and the Raspberry Pi, making it even more tempting to want one of those $35 mini computers. Other new features to version 12 include HD audio support, including DTS-MA and Dolby True-HD, thanks to the new XBMC AudioEngine (OS X and iOS support not yet available, though).

There’s also support for live TV and DVR functionality, as well as 64-bit support in both OS X and Linux. You’ll also get 10-bit H.264 video decoding and improved AirPlay support across all platforms. Other smaller updates include improved controller support in Windows and Linux, advanced filtering, video library tags, and advanced UPnP sharing.

XBMC has certainly come a long way, and those who passed on it because of its lack of several key features may want to give it a second look now. Plus, with support for the Raspberry Pi, we should be seeing tons of new hardware ideas come to fruition from DIYers everywhere. This may just be the version of XBMC that takes DIY home theaters to the next level and beyond.

The new video format brings one huge benefit, which is the ability to stream high-quality video at half the bitrate that’s normally required with H.264. While H.264 has become extremely popular during the past recent years, the ICU says that H.265 will be relevant for at least the next decade, and it could made 4K streaming less of a burden on bandwidth.

The hope is that H.265 will enable services to stream full 1080p HD video using half as many bits as required normally, which should make streaming HD video much easier, especially on data connections using smartphones and tablets. As far as 4K goes, it’s said that 4K streaming could be easily possible with a 20 Mbps internet connection using H.265. Those kinds of speeds aren’t readily available for everyone yet, but in a few years it may very well be possible.

The new codec will definitely take a bit of time to reach the popularity that H.264 is at now, though, but once it hits, it’s expected to be the de facto format for quite some time. The ITU says that companies like Mitsubishi and Qualcomm have already demonstrated implementations of the new format, so it shouldn’t be too long before we see it in action out in the wild.

If you found that the beta versions were a bit on the complex side to set up, then you’ll definitely want to check out this latest XBMC installment. However, there are still a few steps you’ll have to do before you’re fully up and running, but it’s by far much easier than it used to be. Here’s how to set up the new app.

You’ll first need to install MX Player on your Android device. It’s available in the Google Play store for free, so there’s no up-front costs you’ll have to make. Once its downloaded and installed, you’ll want to launch MX Player and exit it at least once before installing XBMC. We’re not sure why this is, but we’re told that it’s needed in order to continue.

Next, download and install the “XAF Custom Build of XBMC” to your Android device. To do this, you’ll want to navigate to this page on your device’s web browser and then click on the appropriate download link. There are links for both non-NEON and NEON devices. To see which one your device is, navigate to proc/cpuinfo in Root Explorer or other file browser on your handset. If you’re not rooted, you’ll need to download Android System Info.

Once all that’s done, you can now launch XBMC and get started managing and watching your video files. It’s important to note that if you encounter any errors along the way, make sure to enable “Unknown Sources” under Security -> Device Administration in Settings. Again, it might not be as user friendly as you originally thought, but it’s really only a matter of installing a couple of apps before you’re able to dig in.

[via Android Community Forums]

Not only has the Fire been the top selling item on Amazon for almost an entire year, but the top 10 products on Amazon have been Kindle devices and content, as well. This device is a 7-inch tablet with an IPS TFT display at 1024 x 600 pixel resolution running Android with a special Amazon-made user interface over the top. Users have been working with 8GB of memory built-in, wi-fi connectivity, and otherwise cloud storage managed content for many months.

The Amazon Kindle Fire is now officially sold out on Amazon.com if you’re thinking of buying it straight from the source, but it’s certainly still out on the market in used condition. Those of you waiting for the next generation tablet from Amazon will have to wait just a few more days – the big event comes down on the 6th of September – and we’ll be there to let you in on the full experience. What will the next generation of Amazon tablet action be?

We’re expecting something closer to what Google has up for sale in the Nexus 7. Expect a slightly more powerful processor, higher definition display, and a more aesthetically unique situation in the chassis. This next Amazon tablet will likely be attempting to move into more of a unique range rather than replicating the BlackBerry PlayBook as the first generation did, both inside and out. Their unique look at Android will also more than likely be updated bringing on a more advanced appearance and interface. Stay tuned!

Netflix VP of Content Delivery Ken Florance posted the announcement today, saying that the company has reached a point in size and growth where it makes more economic sense to create its own CDN. He noted that the world’s other major internet video provider, YouTube, has long had its own CDN.

The transition should help Netflix save money by streamlining its own data, while also improving its customers’ viewing experience. Similar to commercial CDNs, Open Connect will provide Netflix data at no cost to the locations that ISPs desire, or allow access via a common Internet exchange.

Netflix will continue to use its commercial CDN partners for the next few years, but plans to eventually transition most of its data to its own Open Connect network. About 5 percent of Netflic data is already served through Open Connect.

[via Netflix]

Founder of interactive video company Qwiki, Doug Imbruce, had no luck when he sought investors in New York back in 2009. He did eventually find a California-based investor to back the company, but the condition was that he move to Silicon Valley. Soon after his move he found much more receptive investors and received $10.5 million in funding.

However, Imbruce has been drawn back to New York, relocating into a SoHo loft space now with 15 employees. For his company, the major media giants based in New York offered crucial partnership opportunities to truly grow big. Qwiki recently struck a partnership with ABC that would see the major media company using Qwiki’s tools.

Unlike startups of the past that focused on basic frameworks of computing and the Internet, new startups are increasingly focus on consumer products and applications that would benefit from proximity to the media, advertising, and fashion industries, all major strengths of New York.

New York still has certain barriers that startups are concerned about, especially the ability to hire engineering talent, which all seem to concentrate in Silicon Valley thanks to Stanford and the other major tech companies based in the area.

Local businesses and other industries also know better how to cater to startups. For instance, when fashion e-commerce startup Shoptiques first moved to New York, it quickly grew and needed to find more space, but building owners would ask for five years of financial data when the startup had only been around a few months. In contrast, this would have been a simpler task in Silicon Valley where everyone is more accommodating to young and risky startups.

[via ABCNews]

Now we’re taking multiple pieces of a file, telling the computer to see each similar piece as one piece of information, essentially, and sending. As publisher Devin Coldewey so elegantly puts it: instead of sending a music file over to your friend instrument by instrument, you just stack the sounds on top of one another, this resulting in a single file much more complicated than any of the individuals. This can all be simplified, says MIT researchers working to improve this “discrete” Fourier transform.

What they’ve found, or what they’re showing in the paper about to be published on the matter, is that the level of simplification that can be applied to this process can be rather drastic. For example they have an 8×8 block of values (64) in which 57 can be discarded – this happening without visibly affecting the file at hand, the file in this case being an image. What this could mean for our future is some gigantic things, ironically, especially in the fields of mobile computing and home computing – entertainment to the max. Have a peek at the paper as it’s titled now: Nearly Optimal Sparse Fourier Transform written up by Haitham Hassanieh, Piotr Indyk, Dina Katabi, and Eric Price.

[via MIT]

Eddie Cue, Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Services, is believed to be involved with the event. His presence suggests the announcement will revolve around media, such as iTunes, iBookStore, iAd, iCloud, or the App Store. For instance, it could involve new developments in the company’s iTunes video subscription service.

However, given the location of NYC, which is where Apple last introduced the addition of News Corps’ The Daily, the event could be tied to publishing. This would explain why the event is being hosted in NYC since it’s a major hub of the magazine and newspaper industry.

[via AllThingsD]

This device has two quarter-inch XLR/standard phone combination inputs for any manner of high-quality external microphone or instrument, multi-tracking with two-channel simultaneous recording, and no less than eight-channel playback. If that’s not enough for you, you’ll be happy to know that this model digitally records in 24 bit/96 kHz Linear PCM, audio quality to blast your ears off in a multi-track environment. Frequencies able to be captured by this device range from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, with its microphones able to support sound pressure levels down to 140 decibels – quite the range!

This device acts as what Olympus calls a “musician’s toolbox” with a tuner, metronome, and Lissajous measurement. For those of you having no idea what that last term could possibly entail, it’s represented by a 2.0-inch backlight LCD on the device and shows the phase difference between the right and left external microphone so that you can get right in the center of the action should you wish to do so. All of your files are able to be saved on the device’s internal 4GB memory or through its port which is able to carry SD (up to 2GB) / SDHC (up to 32GB) / SDXC (up to 64GB) cards.

And that’s only part of the full party! Details on this device are popping up all the time, Olympus letting us know the true full nature of the device as it comes closer to release time in February 2012. The suggested in-store price for this device is set to be $399 at the moment, and again, the first quarter of 2012 will be when you can get it!

So here’s what you do – you open the box, you take the base station and you plug the upright USB stick into it. You plug that base station in with the cord that powers it up, connect it to a power socket that is, then you connect it to your TV with the HDMI cord that’s included with the package. Next you pop the CD from the box in your Windows PC, and click through the installation process which takes less than 5 minutes, and you plug in the other USB stick and hit “OK” for all the drivers which instantly get installed without trouble. From here you click which mode you’d like to be in (I like extended display mode), and BAM. You’re in business.

Now all you’ve got to do is pull that window with Thor playing in it to the extra large and awesome display you’ve got in your HDTV, and you can have a great time continuing to browse your Thor-loving forums in the meantime from your couch. I’ve really truly been looking for such a simple solution to this first world problem of having to get up click a mouse each time I want a new file to play ever since I first got into the wild world of media centers. This means having a computer of some sort control what’s displayed on your television rather than using the cable and a remote control. Take command of your programming!

What you’ve got now is full access to anything you can pick up from the internet, displayed instead on your gigantic television, all controlled from your laptop. Or if you prefer, your PC sitting across the room. Think about this situation: you’ve got a couple of kids that want to watch a new YouTube video every time the last one has ended, but you want your PC to yourself. All you’ve got to do here is move your mouse out to the second display (your TV) and hit the play button instead of having to turn your display around and around per Johnny and Sally’s request. Freedom at last!

Have a peek at all the components above and below and pick the device up right this second (or grab it for your fun-loving PC owner friend or relative for the holidays, they’ll love you for it.) You can purchase the StreamHD at Warpia online for just $159.99 right now!

This event’s invite is one of a yearly celebration that often ends up being more than just a good time had by all. Since not much else about the party can be said other than it appears blue and white are the theme and that the Google Communications Team is excited to have us, let’s have a quick talk about what will be in play by then: the Galaxy Nexus. Whether or not this device will be up and out this month is still up for debate, in a way, but by December we can sure as heck hope we’ve got them in our hands, right? That said, we could just drink the night away with our Samsung Galaxy S II handsets and pretend.

By then we’ll also have the new Google Music setup up and active, that we’ll get more details on later today. We did get a glimpse of what that might look like earlier in the week, but certainly join us at 2PM PST to see all the details. Follow along with us on the YouTube feed at http://youtube.com/android and check out any and all in-house photos and hands-on action we get right here in the main SlashGear newsfeed.

This video is a perfect example of how tech is changing the children of today and that will have a massive impact on the future of traditional media. Children are growing up on tech that is easy, intuitive and they expect everything to be that way. Take this tiny baby working the iPad with her chubby little fingers. Sure, the video is adorable and cute, but it has some massive implications and illustrates my point that I think traditional media’s days are numbered.

The baby tries to use the magazine handed to her like an iPad, finds it doesn’t work and moves on. Even tiny tots expect interactivity it seems. What do you think, are the 20-30 somethings of today the last of the traditional media breed? Are you raising your kids on a diet of digital?

[via Gizmodo]

According to former Borders customers (thanks everyone who sent this in, by the way,) Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch sent them an email [which can be seen here] that the surviving books and media company acquired the customer data which included “the subject matter of your DVD and other video purchases” amongst other tidbits. Lynch wrote that they sought out the purchase of this data in order to “try and earn your business.”

Massachusetts State Attorney General Martha Coakley has released a statement that noted the following as specifically what is included in the data in question:

Information customers shared with the Borders website, including name, address, and e-mail address.

Information collected from customers in the Borders Rewards loyalty program, including customer name, address, e-mail address, and purchase history. This purchase history will not include the titles of video materials (like DVDs or VHS tapes) purchased by customers.

E-mail addresses from customers who requested to receive special offers from Borders.

You should note here, of course, that credit card information and any and all financial-related information is not included in the Borders database nor in this sale of data. To quell fears that they’d just been bamboozled by the companies in the deal, Lynch added the following in the letter to customers:

It’s important for you to understand, however, that you have the absolute right to opt-out of having your customer data transferred to Barnes & Noble. If you would like to opt-out, we will ensure all your data we receive from Borders is disposed of in a secure and confidential manner. Please visit www.bn.com/borders by October 29, 2011 to do so.

Sound good enough for you?

Pricing for the chairs depend on which features you’re looking for. Their basic Sound Egg with 2.1 will feature a 2.1 amplifier, 5 speakers, 1 subwoofer, foam and an uncovered plastic seat and will retail for $1450. Their higher end 5.1 will feature a 5.1 amplifier in place of the 2.1 and will retail for $1850.

When ordering you can customize your color scheme with 11 different colored foam options and 3 shell options. The is currently shipping both the 2.1 and 5.1 systems.

At the time, the message suggested that 90-second previews would only be applied for tracks of 2 minutes 30 seconds or longer; anything less than that would keep its original 30-second preview. Still, industry insiders suggested there was widespread consternation at the move, including talk of Apple actually requiring “performance rights” licensing in order to make their plans legal. No word on when – or if – the longer samples will begin showing up in international versions of the iTunes store.

[via Apple Insider]

Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal’s CEO, pointed all of this out at the Goldman Sachs Investor conference yesterday. He said, “We do not think 99 cents is the right price point for our content.” He went on to add that, “we thought it would devalue our content.” While not everyone agrees with Zucker, especially competing networks ABC and Fox, it seems that even Fox is taking things slowly. News Corp. President Chase Carey, speaking at the same investor conference, said that Fox’s position with launching shows on Apple TV is simply a “short-term test.”

This actually isn’t the first time NBC has been at the forefront of disagreeing with Apple. They’ve done the same thing in the past with TV shows and music, but obviously they didn’t stay out of the digital retailer for long. The supremacy of the store front, and its popularity are just too hard to ignore for most companies. Even Steve Jobs said as much at this year’s unveiling of the new Apple TV earlier this month. He does believe, though, that more broadcasters will jump onto the bandwagon eventually, even if they continue to balk at the idea now.

NBC Universal, though, has teamed up with Samsung and their Media Hub feature launching on Galaxy S devices, including the Galaxy Tab device. At that announcement, Samsung said pricing for content in the Hub would be “competitive,” but wouldn’t go into details at the announcement event. Does that mean we can already expect the content to be more than $.99 for a standard definition episode? We’ll have to wait and see.

[via CNET]

Several things stuck out to me about the revamped Apple TV. The first was that the device is now without a hard drive. Which means that its primary role  is to consume streaming services. Things like Netflix, which they announced and YouTube as well.  It is great as well that the new Apple TV will stream content from the PC to the TV.  Pictures, videos, etc now don’t need to be synced they simply can stream to the device. Apple’s own iTunes store is now even a streaming service to Apple TV. This will pave the way for more streaming services as well in the future as other content owners and networks get on board.

The second thing of interest was that even though the new Apple TV runs Apple’s own iOS it does not include an App Store. For now, it is strictly and purely an Internet services platform for rich media. Now that does not mean it won’t include apps in the future. What it does do is it allows consumers to become comfortable consuming streaming content from the Internet on their TV’s from the sources they know and love.

Lastly the role of AirPlay will play an important role in the desire for consumers to buy Apple TV.    AirPlay gives all iOS devices the ability to stream content from one to the other.    I could be watching a movie or TV show on the iPad an instantly send that to my Apple TV to enjoy on the big screen.    The same is true of iPhone to Apple TV and even iPhone to iPad etc.

Apple is sending the message loud and clear that putting a web browser on the TV is not the correct approach for consuming Internet services on the big screen. By entering the market at a $99 price point it allows Apple to seed the market before courting developers and working with them to understand how to develop applications for the big screen.    By tying all their devices together as a part of an ecosystem it is an exciting solution that I feel will be quite attractive to consumers.

Which makes their revamping of the shuffle and the iPod Nano completely logical. The new Nano is interesting because they designed the smallest multi-touch device on the market. It looks like it is running iOS as well but does not run apps, all though I wouldn’t rule that out as a possibility in the future.

The updates to the iPod Touch had been talked about on the web and expected for a while now. By adding front and rear facing camera’s and bringing FaceTime to the iPod Touch Apple will inevitably add to the amount of FaceTime capable devices in the hands of consumers. By also adding HD video capture to the rear facing camera as well as HD video uploads over WiFi with the new iOS, I fully expect the new iPod Touch to appeal to the mass market.

To top if off they added another relevant feature to iTunes called Ping. Ping will play an important roll in solving one of the problems with digital music stores, which is discovery. Ping will enable consumers to see what friends of theirs or others, whom musical interests they trust, to make recommendations or simply help them discover new and interesting music. This was in essence what LALA did best by linking you up with people of same tastes and musical interest. This is perhaps the one of the first ways we get to see the LALA acquisition taking shape in Apple’s music strategy.

In a recent interview, Hirai noted that while digital downloads are great, Sony works in areas where solely relying on digitally distributed content just doesn’t make sense. He drives the point home in saying that Sony’s business will always require physical medium. And for those of you who think it’s going to happen anyway, sooner than later, Hirai points out that all software available as a digital download in the next ten years is “taking it a little bit to the extreme.”

We know that Sony’s given all digital content and distribution a shot with their PSP Go, and there’s not much debate one whether or not what was a failure for Sony. It’s been reported that it was one major reason why the company saw major losses. And considering that many physical retailers out there rely on used game sales, having a solely digital media distributor means a lack of sales and re-sale value for those places.

[via Electronista]

Western Digital packed a few interesting things into the compact TV Live Plus HD Media Player. At least its’ not the worst looking box accessory you can buy for your TV. The custom User Interface will help guide you through your listings, as you peruse the services like YouTube, Flickr, Pandora, and Live365. You’ll also have access to the MediaFly network, which will bring you podcasts from places like CNN, MTV, and ESPN. Network wise, you’ll be able to hardwire into the box itself, but you’ll also be able to stream what you want to watch courtesy of your very own (or your neighbor’s) WiFi network.

Playback comes in 1080p HD. You’ll be able to playback music, videos, and even photos from your TV Live Plus HD Media Player, so if you ever get bored of watching endless movies, or TV shows, you can pass the time by plugging a USB drive into the box, and looking over your family photos. You can pick up the HD box right now, if you really want to, and it will set you back only $149.99. It’s available only in select retailers, or WD’s website. Interested?

Press Release:

New WD TV(R) Live Plus HD Media Player Delivers Thousands of TV Episodes and Movies for Netflix(R) Members to Watch Instantly

WD TV(R) Live Plus HD Media Player Enables Consumers to Stream Their Favorite Shows and Personal Content Directly To Their Big Screen TV

LAKE FOREST, Calif., June 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced the WD TV® Live Plus HD media player, which makes it easy for Netflix® members to instantly watch thousands of TV episodes and movies on the biggest screen in their home — their HD television set. The new Netflix interface enables members to browse and add movies to their instant Queue on the Netflix Website right from their TV.

In addition to Netflix, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player also enables users to stream personalized Internet content from YouTube™, Flickr®, Pandora®, Live365™, as well as the MediaFly network which includes daily podcasts from CNN, NBC, MTV, ESPN® and other online content providers(1). Unlike most other Netflix-capable devices, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player also lets consumers enjoy a broad variety of the digital media they already own, creating a unified entertainment experience.

The onscreen menu brings together all of the users’ available media in an elegant and simple-to-navigate interface, while the network capability enables users to stream movies from PC or Mac® computers, USB storage devices such as My Passport® portable hard drives, My Book® desktop drives, or network-attached storage such as WD’s My Book® World Edition™ and WD ShareSpace™ to their HDTVs. Compatible with Windows® 7, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player enables the Windows 7 Play To feature so users can initiate and control the streaming of video, music or photos to the media player and home entertainment systems from any Windows 7-based PC on their network.

The WD TV Live Plus HD media player fulfills consumers’ growing demand for large libraries of digital videos, photos and music. According to research firm Parks Associates, the average broadband household will see its digital media storage needs grow to nearly 900 GB by year-end 2014. And users are increasingly looking for easy ways to enjoy the content on the big screen. Parks’ findings reveal that the sales of connected consumer electronics devices, such as connected TVs and digital media adapters, is expected to more than double from 57 million units in 2009 to 115 million units in 2013 (Home Networks for Consumer Electronics 2009).

Similar to the popular generations of WD TV HD media players that preceded it, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player connects directly to a users’ HDTV and plays almost any file stored on a connected USB drive such as My Passport portable hard drives. The WD TV Live Plus HD media player features powerful media processing, which enables playback in Full-HD 1080p resolution. WD TV Live Plus HD media player also plays movies, music and photos stored on other popular USB devices such as digital camcorders and digital cameras.

“Netflix has become a ‘must have’ for consumer electronics devices,” said Netflix vice president of business development Bill Holmes. “We’re proud to align with WD to include Netflix on WD’s groundbreaking WD TV Live Plus HD media player.”

“While Netflix can be found on an increasing number of products such as Internet TVs, Blu-ray Players, video game consoles, and other stand-alone devices, the WD TV Live Plus HD media player is unique as it allows digital media buffs to access and play all of their own personal HD media stored anywhere on their network or USB drives. At the same time they can easily stream Netflix, Pandora, YouTube and other Internet favorites to their HDTV,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group.

WD TV Live Plus HD Media Player

Features of the WD TV Live Plus HD media player include:

Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation with the included remote control and crisp, animated navigation menus;
Access to thousands of TV episodes and movies to watch instantly for any Netflix member with an unlimited subscription;
Wireless ready to support wireless network connection to your home network with an optional USB wireless adapter, which is sold separately;
Supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats with no need to spend time transcoding;
Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV and discover new music with Pandora Internet radio or listen to thousands of radio stations via Live365 Internet radio, daily podcasts from the MediaFly network including CNN, NBC, MTV, ESPN and other online content providers;
Ethernet port for wired or WiFi connection(2) to access files anywhere on the network to play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on a home network;
Turns a USB drive(3) into an HD media player and plays content from most popular USB drives, digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices;
Unlimited media collection, just add more USB drives for more space;
Two USB ports that allow seamless media playback from multiple USB drives displayed in a single list and sorted by media type;
Windows 7-compatible Play To feature enables users to stream Windows 7 computer files to the TV through WD TV Plus HD media player;
Transfer files by copying, moving or deleting files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus;
Works with digital cameras, digital video cameras and any other digital imaging device that supports Picture Transfer Protocol;
Advanced navigation options including thumbnail and list views, media library and search;
Photo viewing to create custom slide shows, zoom and pan and search;
Movie viewing with fast-forward, rewind, pause, zoom and pan, view subtitles, and search;
Music playback with fast-forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat and search;
HDMI® 1.3 port, composite video and component video output(4) for the highest quality HDTV or home theater;
SPDIF digital output that sends digital signals to your AV receiver for the best surround sound experience; and,
Ultra-compact design to fit easily into a home entertainment center.

Pricing and Availability

The WD TV Live Plus HD media player is available now at select retailers and online at shopwd.com. Covered by a 1-year limited warranty, the MSRP for WD TV Live Plus HD media player is $149.99 USD.

With the issued update, the WD TV Live HD is the first networked media hub that is capable of recognizing Windows 7. There’s that one and only category. The update itself is just a firmware upgrade, but it allows you to select media from your computer, and not the hub itself, by showing up as a destination for Windows’ Play To feature. That means you won’t have to load the media player before accessing movies, music, or photos. So you’re basically removing the middle man and saving some time.

The WD TV Live HD supports 1080p HD video (as the name should probably surmise), and the system can still recognize the majority of media formats. If you don’t have a WD TV Live HD media player, go pick one up for a cool $150, get the update, and let us know what you think. Oh, and if you’ve got a Mac, you’re supported, too.

Consumers Can Use ‘Play To’ Feature to Stream Music, Videos and Picture Files Stored on Their PCs and Home Network to Their Big Screen TVs

LAKE FOREST, Calif., May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today announced that the WD TV Live HD media player, featuring network capability and Full-HD 1080p resolution, is the first network media player compatible with Windows 7. The WD TV Live HD media player makes it easy for anyone to play media stored on USB and network drives, any PC on the home network, as well as content from popular websites, on the biggest screen in their home — their big screen television.

Using the Windows 7 Play To feature, users can initiate and control the streaming of video, music or photos to the WD TV Live HD media player and home entertainment systems from any Windows 7-based PC on their network. Any compatible media file accessible from the PC – located either on the PC or the network – can be played to the WD TV Live by right clicking on the file name in the folder or directly from within Windows Media Player 12 and choosing the WD TV Live HD media player as the playback device.

Current users of the WD TV Live will need to update their WD TV Live HD media player to the latest firmware in order to use the Windows 7 Play To feature. Instructions for updating the WD TV Live HD media player can be found here: http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/updates/?family=wdfwdtv_live

“Microsoft is pleased that Western Digital has earned the Compatible with Windows 7 logo and is supporting the Play To feature with WD TV Live HD media player,” said Mark Relph, senior director, Windows Ecosystem Product Management at Microsoft Corp. “Now more than 100 million Windows 7 customers will have an affordable and easy way to play files to their HD TVs and other devices from their PC.”

“We regularly engage with WD TV Live enthusiasts in our online community. Many have been asking for a way to “push” media from their PCs to their TV or home theater system, especially from laptops. With the new Windows 7 Play To feature, users can select music or movies from their laptop and play it on an HD TV connected to a WD TV Live HD media player, whether the HD TV is across the living room or in a different room altogether,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group. “WD worked closely with Microsoft on this exciting new feature to ensure the seamless compatibility of the WD TV Live HD media player with Windows 7 PCs and deliver WD TV Live users what they want.”

WD TV Live HD Media Player

Features of the Windows 7-compatible WD TV Live HD media player include:

- Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation with the included remote control and crisp, animated navigation menus;

- Play a wide variety of file formats including support for the most popular file formats with no need to spend time transcoding;

- Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV and discover new music with Pandora® Internet radio or listen to thousands of radio stations via Live365 Internet radio;

- Ethernet port for wired or WiFi® connection(1) to access files anywhere on the network to play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on a home network;

- Turns a USB drive(2) into an HD media player and plays content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices;

- Unlimited media collection, just add more USB drives for more space;

- Two USB ports for seamless media playback from multiple USB drives and ability to access them simultaneously while a media library feature collects the content on all the drives into one list sorted by media type;

- Transfer files by copying, moving or deleting files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, a camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus;

- Picture Transfer Protocol support to show photos and movies directly from digital camera or video camera and/or any digital imaging device that supports Picture Transfer Protocol;

- Advanced navigation options including thumbnail and list views, media library and search;

- Photo viewing to create custom slide shows, zoom and pan and search;

- Movie viewing with fast-forward, rewind, pause, zoom and pan, view subtitles, and search;

- Music playback with fast-forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat and search;

- File copying between USB devices;

- HDMI® 1.3 port, composite video and component video output(3) for the highest quality HDTV or home theater;

- SPDIF digital output that sends digital signals to your AV receiver for the best surround sound experience; and,

- Ultra-compact design to fit easily into a home entertainment center.

Pricing and Availability

The WD TV Live HD media player is available now at select retailers and online at shopwd.com. Covered by a 1-year limited warranty, the MSRP for WD TV Live HD media player is $149.99 USD.

About WD

WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. WD applies its storage expertise to consumer products for external, portable and shared storage applications.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site (http://www.westerndigital.com/) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

Western Digital, WD, WD TV and the WD logo and My Book are registered trademarks; WD TV, World Edition and My Passport are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other companies. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies. One gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. One terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

(1) WiFi adapter sold separately.

(2) WD TV media players are optimized for use with My Passport™ portable hard drives.

(3) Additional composite (RCA), and component outputs ensure compatibility with most television sets.

Crunchgear states that “the UI almost goes without saying: it’s been a long time since you could look at a TiVo and say “Well, that looks good.” It’s built using Adobe Flash, so all of the fancy swoops and swishes you’ve associated with Flash over the years totally applies. I’d almost say Zune HD like, which is a prety big compliment considering what I had to do to get my Zune HD to work”.

Engadget mentions that the UI is “quite responsive and native feeling, with live streams of video playing without a hitch” and that “The new ways to find and promote relevant content are pretty intuitive and helpful. Everything is “connected,” so it’s easy to start from a category like the “Oscars” or an actor like “Jack McBrayer” and end up on the other end of the universe, IMDB style”.

There’s also brief video coverage of the TiVo via Engadget, although it’s not of the best quality (audio-wise), but since the visual interface is what we’re really after, check it out here.

Video demo after the cut

Interestingly, despite the almost unfathomable amount of content available out there, Bonnier R&D discovered that readers prefer to know that their magazines – digital or print – have an end and are not infinite.  People, they claim, like the sense of completion when they reach the end, and they also like knowing how far through the content they are; that’s contrasted with the sense of anxiety triggered by an ever-filling RSS reader.

There’s also search – with an on-screen keyboard – bookmarking and saving of pages, and a clever on-screen “atom” with petal-like options that can be pulled up with a tap-and-hold gesture.  BERG’s renders are incredible, really impressive, and the full overview (the first video below) is worth a view if you have eight minutes to spare.  Following it is just the excerpts of the concept.  Excitingly, Kicker Studio are apparently working on translating the concept into a functional prototype in 2010.

Full overview:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/8217311[/vimeo]

Concept footage excepts:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/8220802[/vimeo]

[via Putting People First]

This is a big step for Blockbuster, in that they’ve been aiming to get their digital footprint everywhere, but they’re not the only ones of course. iTunes has been providing digital downloads of music for a long time, and to many people, digital is the way things are heading one way or another, whether we want it to or not. And through this agreement, select Motorola phones –which means future phones probably, and nothing on the market now– will have the Blockbuster OnDemand Media application pre-installed and ready to go.

“Mobile video entertainment is exploding, as consumers are demanding the widest selection of content: the movies they love in their living room and on their PC, now also available on their mobile phone, while on the go,” said Christy Wyatt, Vice President of Software Platforms, Applications and Ecosystem, Motorola Mobile Devices. “Together with Blockbuster we intend to deliver an unparalleled portable movie experience on our next-generation handsets.”

Truth be told, we’re all for the way of the digital age, as it makes things a lot faster and easier to use. As long as people get their money, and piracy gets thwarted, then it doesn’t matter how we get our books, our music, or even our movies. We’re still entertained and the creators still get paid: that means the world keeps on spinning, and it probably doesn’t get any better than that.

[via Fierce Wireless]

In the Pre’s defense, the SDK provided is built on html/js/css, and this greatly reduces a lot of things/potential, and practically rules out 3D gaming altogether. But Palm wants everyone to know that some level of gaming is possible on their flagship device, and that HTML5 is far from a weak contender in the gaming development process. To show that they’re serious, Palm has posted a “webOS and Game Development” article on their developer website, which details the possiblities of the Pre’s gaming ecoysystem: “puzzles, word games, card and board games, innovative social games, and the list goes on — even simple arcade games.” Also noteworthy, is Palm’s posting of an article that describes the implementation of the <canvas> tag, which provides the capability of dynamically generated 2D graphics.

In addition, Palm announced yesterday via the Palm Developer Network that they have opened up the webOS Game Development Cafe, which is akin to a virtual Starbucks, where developers can discuss tips and tricks, as well as give Palm the feedback they need to further explore the universe of mobile gaming, and improve the SDK in the process. In the end, it looks like Palm is starting to do what they can to make the Palm Pre an even bigger product out in the world, if it wasn’t already. Sure, we’re not looking at robust 3D gaming, but at least it’s a good start. And perhaps most importantly, is the fact the manufacturer is helping, instead of leaving it up to sole third-party developers.

[via PreCentral]

The media portion of the upcoming Zune HD is something of considerable consideration recently, as many people are wondering if the upcoming PMP will strive to defeat the iPod Touch, or even start a fight with it. And, as we’ve seen recently, Microsoft seems pretty determined to get the ball rolling on developers working with their peripheral. But, one question that hadn’t been pressed much, was how the future games of the Zune HD could be developed and implemented.

Microsoft’s road map for a lot f things some times looks pretty convoluted and haphazard, and even as “we see Microsoft try to combine their products,” we can still see that Microsoft might be trying a bit too hard to integrate everything, without actually showing any of the results (as of yet). This time, we’re seeing the development process for gaming on the Zune device, and by that, we mean any Zune device. Of course, the Zune HD hasn’t released yet, but that doesn’t mean that the XNA Zune game development cannot be tuned to create outstanding platforms for the upcoming media device.

Indie Games, which is also hopefully responsible for the development of more casual games that will span the three screens of Microsoft domination, is also part of the XNA Creators Club. So, we can see that Microsoft is gearing up for some strong media presence, well outside the boundaries of their Xbox juggernaut, but will it matter in the long run? Can developers create games strong enough to compete with some of the titles available in Apple’s App Store? We certainly hope so, because the Zune HD is something we don’t want to see fade away without ever really getting a chance to shine.

[via XNA]

Logic Studio gets more than 200 new features, a new Amp Design and Pedalboard plug-ins for improved guitar amp/stompbox effects, plus Flex Time tools for timing/tempo tweaks.  There’s also a new Playback plug-in for MainStage 2, which creates a backing band for realtime performances.  Logic Express also gets an update, with Flex Time and some of the same amp/stompbox models from the more expensive package.

As for Final Cut Studio, that gets new versions of Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Color and Compressor; in fact, Apple claim more than 100 new features overall.  They include extra codec support for better file compatibility, new effects such as 3D shadows in Motion 4, full color resolution in Color 1.5 and improved export features in Compressor 3.5.  Full details in the second press release below. 

Final Cut Studio is available now, priced at $999 for the full version or $299 for an upgrade.  Logic Studio is available for $499, with various upgrade versions, while Logic Express is available for pre-order, priced at $199 (or $99 upgrade) and shipping in August.

Press Release:

Apple Unveils New Logic Studio with Major Upgrades to Logic Pro and MainStage

CUPERTINO, Calif., July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple today unveiled the next version of Logic Studio with major upgrades to Logic Pro and MainStage and more than 200 new features that simplify complex tasks. Logic Pro 9 features new Amp Designer and Pedalboard plug-ins that provide realistic virtual guitar amps and stompbox effects to create amazing custom guitar rigs. A new set of Flex Time tools allow Logic users to manipulate the timing and tempo of audio quickly and easily. MainStage 2, Apple’s live performance application, includes the new Playback and Loopback plug-ins to provide backing tracks and creative, real-time loop recording for performing on stage. Logic Studio also includes the new Soundtrack Pro 3, with new multitrack audio tools for video production, and Compressor 3.5 for encoding in a variety of formats.

“The new Logic Studio is ideal for professional musicians, live performers and GarageBand enthusiasts who want to take their music to the next level,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Guitar players are going to love Amp Designer and Pedalboard and the new Flex Time tools allow you to quickly improve your recordings and create tighter performances.”

The new Amp Designer and Pedalboard plug-ins give guitar players incredible new recording and sound design capabilities. Amp Designer recreates 25 legendary vintage and modern amp heads in beautiful detail with matching controls and 25 paired speaker cabinets that emulate the sound and feel of a guitar running through a real tube amplifier. Guitar players can create their own custom rig by mixing and matching amps, cabinets, reverbs and EQs, and can choose from three different microphone types that can be positioned in 3D space to capture the ideal guitar tone. Pedalboard adds an assortment of 30 guitar stompbox pedals that can be arranged in any order to produce a wide variety of lush, creative effects including overdrive, distortion, fuzz, delay, chorus, flange, phaser, tremolo, treble boost, wah and more.

Flex Time is a new collection of tools that allow musicians to quickly manipulate the timing and tempo of recorded audio, including vocals and instruments, to create tighter performances. Using the Flex Tool, individual beats in a waveform can be moved effortlessly with a mouse click, without the need for tedious slicing and editing. Audio Quantize can instantly fix or adjust the timing of an entire performance by aligning notes and beats to a musical grid with a single menu selection. Varispeed provides the ability to slow down and then speed up an entire multi-track production to help record challenging parts. Flex Time also enables recorded tracks to be moved between different Logic projects and matched together, even if they were performed at different tempos. All Flex Time edits are performed non destructively and in real time, even when using the highest quality settings.

MainStage 2 lets musicians use all the instruments and effects from Logic Studio to turn their Mac into the ultimate live performance rig. The new Playback plug-in provides musicians with a backing band, allowing them to perform with pre-recorded audio, like drums, sound effects and other accompaniments that can be triggered to play while they are performing live. The new Loopback plug-in allows musicians to record, layer and jam along with their own performance so a single musician can lay down a rhythm and then play a lead over it.

Soundtrack Pro 3 adds powerful new audio editing tools including Voice Level Match which extracts volume information from the vocal content of one clip and applies it to another without altering any other audio content, so editors can easily correct mismatched voice levels. An enhanced File Editor includes new tools to make sophisticated edits and fine tune volume adjustments by targeting specific frequencies such as the rustle of a paper or the bump of a desk without affecting dialogue. The new Advanced Time Stretch feature stretches and compresses audio with incredible precision using three Apple-designed algorithms or other algorithms available as third party plug-ins. Soundtrack Pro and Compressor are also available as part of the new Final Cut Studio , allowing Final Cut and Logic users to collaborate and share files.

Pricing & Availability

Logic Studio is now available through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) and existing users of Logic Studio and Logic Pro can upgrade for a suggested retail price of $199 (US). Full system requirements and more information on Logic Studio can be found at www.apple.com/logicstudio. Logic Express, a streamlined and even more affordable version of Logic for GarageBand users who want more power and control, will ship in August for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) and will be available through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, Logic Studio, Logic, MainStage, Soundtrack, Final Cut Studio, Final Cut, Apple Store and GarageBand are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. 

Press Release:

Apple Updates Final Cut Studio with More Than 100 New Features

New Versions of Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Color and Compressor

CUPERTINO, Calif., July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple today announced a significant update to Final Cut Studio with more than 100 new features and new versions of Final Cut Pro , Motion, Soundtrack Pro, Color and Compressor. Final Cut Studio features Final Cut Pro 7 which expands Apple’s ProRes codec family to support virtually any workflow and includes Easy Export for one step output to a variety of formats and iChat Theater support for real-time collaboration. Motion 4 includes enhanced tools such as 3D shadows, reflections and depth of field for stunning motion graphics and visual effects, and Soundtrack Pro 3 features new multitrack audio tools to streamline audio post production. Color 1.5 includes better Final Cut Pro integration and support for full color resolution, and Compressor 3.5 adds new features that make it easy to set up and customize your export options. At $999, the new Final Cut Studio is $300 less than the previous release and is also available as an upgrade for just $299.

“With 1.4 million users and 50 percent of the market,* Final Cut Pro is the number one professional video editing application,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The new Final Cut Studio includes more than 100 new features and dramatically expands Apple’s ProRes family of codecs so editors can work in the studio with the highest quality video or on location at low bandwidths.”

Final Cut Pro 7, the latest version of Apple’s Emmy Award-winning editing software, includes new versions of Apple’s ProRes codecs to support virtually any workflow with the addition of ProRes Proxy, for offline and mobile editing at low bandwidth; ProRes LT, for general purpose editing; and ProRes 4444 for editing and visual effects at the highest quality possible. Easy Export allows users to continue working on projects while encoding is done in the background and the sequence is exported to YouTube, MobileMe(TM), iPhone(TM), iPod , Apple TV , DVD or Blu-ray. iChat Theater support allows real time collaboration by sharing Final Cut timelines or individual source clips with iChat users anywhere in the world, even if they don’t have a copy of Final Cut Pro. Other new features include new speed tools to change clip speed with ease, alpha transitions to create dramatic effects using moving mattes, and native AVC-Intra support for the latest high quality Panasonic cameras.

Motion 4 extends award-winning, easy to use animation tools so video editors can quickly create everything from basic titles to animated credit rolls to stunning motion graphics. Enhancing 3D compositions is faster than ever with new customizable features that add point and spot lights to cast realistic shadows or turn any shape, video plane or paint stroke into a reflective surface. Motion 4 gives editors the flexibility to adjust the depth of field within a 3D canvas by selectively highlighting a single object or using multiple objects to create a racking focus effect.

Soundtrack Pro 3 adds powerful new audio editing tools including Voice Level Match which extracts volume information from the vocal content of one clip and applies it to another without altering any other audio content so editors can easily correct mismatched voice levels. An enhanced File Editor includes new tools to make sophisticated edits and fine tune volume adjustments by targeting specific frequencies such as the rustle of a paper or the bump of a desk without affecting dialogue. The new Advanced Time Stretch feature stretches and compresses audio with incredible precision using three Apple-designed algorithms or other algorithms available as third party plug-ins.

Color 1.5, Apple’s easy to use professional grading application, now works with a greater range of sequences and effects from Final Cut Pro and an integrated workflow allows editors to complete projects entirely within Final Cut Studio. New 4K support works natively with files from cameras such as the RED ONE and outputs directly to ProRes for HD or DPX for film. Expanded support for new high quality formats includes AVC-Intra, XDCAM 422 and ProRes 4444, for grading with the maximum amount of color information.

Compressor 3.5 makes encoding and delivering in multiple formats easier than ever with the ability to automatically detect QuickTime settings and create an Easy Export template or a mini “droplet” on the desktop that automates specific Compressor actions. New, customizable sharing options make it easy to publish to YouTube and MobileMe, or export for iPhone, iPod, Apple TV and mobile phones. For the highest quality HD material, menu templates and encoding presets make it fast and easy to create Blu-ray discs. Final Cut Studio also includes DVD Studio Pro , a powerful DVD authoring environment with drag and drop tools, on screen editing and real time previews.

Soundtrack Pro and Compressor are also available as part of the new Logic Studio , allowing Final Cut and Logic users to collaborate and share files.

Apple today also introduced Final Cut Server 1.5, the asset management and automation tool for Final Cut Studio. Final Cut Server 1.5 includes powerful new features like lightweight, offline editing with ProRes Proxy, production hierarchies to organize media, and support for still sequences to easily view and manage image sequences for graphics and effects workflows. Final Cut Server now includes unlimited client licenses and is available for $999 or as a $299 upgrade for existing users.

Pricing & Availability

Final Cut Studio is now available through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999 (US) and existing Final Cut Studio and Final Cut Pro users can upgrade for a suggested retail price of $299 (US). Full system requirements and more information on Final Cut Studio can be found at www.apple.com/finalcutstudio. Final Cut Server 1.5 is now available through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers and includes unlimited client licenses for a suggested retail price of $999 (US) and existing Final Cut Server users can upgrade for suggested retail price of $299 (US). Full system requirements and more information on Final Cut Server can be found at www.apple.com/finalcutserver.

*Based on data from broadcast and professional video market research firm SCRI International, Inc. showing Apple is the market leader for post-production with 50 percent of broadcast and post non-linear editor purchases in 2008.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack, iChat, MobileMe, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, Final Cut, QuickTime, DVD Studio Pro, Logic Studio, Logic and Apple Store are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.