It’s the first day of the Lunar New Year today. Happy New Year to all the people from cultures that celebrate this traditional festival!
Original photo taken with Nikon 1 V1. Watercolour painting effect using Wacom Bamboo Fun graphics tablet with Corel Essentials 4.
And to all Chinese around the world, Happy Chinese New Year!
Looking to improve efficiency in your photo-editing workflow? Or want to inject some fun and realism into your digital sketching? Check out the Wacom Bamboo series of graphics tablets.
Wacom Bamboo Fun graphics tablet
I’ve been trying out the Wacom Bamboo Fun graphics tablet for some time, using it with a whole spectrum of software during daily use, from photo-editing to digital sketching and painting, and as a replacement for the trusty old mouse – for navigating and interacting with Windows 7.
Bamboo Fun is compatible with both Windows (7, Vista, XP SP3 or later) and Macs (OS X 10.5.8 or later, Intel processor).
The graphics tablet measures 352 x 209 x 9.8mm with a relatively large active area of 217 x 137 mm.
Digital artwork
Something I wrote using the pen with Bamboo Fun in Painter Essentials.
When it comes to precise cursor-work, such as during digital drawing, sketching, tracing, colouring and painting – where fine precision is needed – the stylus pen is the undisputed tool-of choice.
The Bamboo Fun comes bundled with Corel Essentials 4 drawing/painting software.
The pen allowed detailed strokes impossible with the mouse.
Moreover, the pen is pressure-sensitive up to 1024 levels so you can use pressure to vary parameters such as the darkness of the drawing stroke, the amount of paint to apply, or the thickness of the stroke etc.
The pen comes with a pressure sensitive eraser as well, just like a real pencil!
It's the dragon year, so here's the Chinese character for dragon, with embellishments.
The only hassle I find is having to pick up and put down the pen when I need to use my right hand to type or press a key on the computer keyboard.
With the mouse, you just let go and it stays in place, ready to be moved the next time you need to do something.
With the pen, you need to place down the pen flat on the table and make sure it doesn’t roll off the table if your worktop is not flat.
And when you next need to use it again, you need to pick up the pen, and place the tip to the graphics tablet before you begin. With the mouse, once you touch the mouse, you can start moving the cursor.
This is a niggling hassle characteristic of all stylus pen-based graphics tablets.
I find the performance of the pen much better than those of graphics tablets I’ve used before – in terms of precision, pressure sensitivity and lag between moving the pen and the appearance of the stroke on the computer screen.
Replacement for the mouse
As a replacement for the mouse, it was equally capable and more intuitive, and less strenuous for the wrist.
The 14-megapixel compact digital camera from Nikon goes on sale today at S$179.
Nikon COOLPIX S2600 goes on sale today at S$179.
First announced last week, the ultra-slim 19.5mm COOLPIX S2600 is the latest addition to the COOLPIX two thousand series.
The 5x NIKKOR lens goes from 26 mm wide-angle coverage (35 mm format equivalent) to 130mm.
The Nikon EXPEED C2 image processing engine reduces image processing time, while specialised functions include electronic VR image stabilisation, upgraded auto noise reduction and scene auto selector.
Decorative Black, Decorative Purple has been added to the original basic colours.The Lithium-ion rechargeable battery is light and compact, and is more eco-friendly than alkaline batteries and more energy efficient than Ni-MH batteries.
The camera comes in plain black, silver, pink, red and blue. Two new “Decorative Purple” and “Decorative Black” colours with floral patterns have also been added.
Main tech specs are listed below:
Bose has introduced the Bluetooth Headset Series 2. It is available in Singapore for S$249.
Bose Bluetooth Headset Series 2 (S$249)
The Bose Bluetooth headset Series 2 assures conversations remain clear and natural – even in challenging environments, or when surrounding noise levels change suddenly.
The headset integrates Bose full-range audio and A2DP, and comes in either right or left-ear versions.
Availability
The Bose Bluetooth headset Series 2 is available for S$249, and includes a portable zipper case, a one-foot USB cable, and three StayHear tips (small, medium, large) for a personal fit.
The Bose Bluetooth headset Series 2 can be purchased from selected partners, Atlas Experience Audio Visual Boutique at TripleOne Somerset and Bose at Millenia Walk.
The Bose Bluetooth headset Series 2 includes a proprietary dual microphone system to improve speech intelligibility beyond that of conventional Bluetooth headsets, rejecting background noise and tremendously reducing the audible effects of wind.
Bose proprietary signal processing further counteracts the unwanted sounds of a wide variety of places – gusty walkways, commuter rail platforms or airports.
To keep incoming voices clear, Bose TriPort acoustic structure and Bose Adaptive Audio Adjustment technology react automatically as noise levels change so that there’s no need to adjust volume settings or strain to hear a conversation.
The new internal antenna substantially reduces acoustic artifacts – the “pops,” “clicks” and “buzzes” familiar to Bluetooth headset owners – and minimises reception difficulty between the headset and a phone being carried in a pocket.
Compatibility
The Bose Bluetooth headset Series 2 is compatible with devices using the Bluetooth 2.1 (or earlier) specifications that support the Bluetooth hands-free or A2DP profiles.
For consumers who want to maintain an active connection between their headset and two Bluetooth enabled devices, it includes multi-point functionality.
If you’re passionate about photography, why not submit your pictures to a stock photo agency? It might just make you enough money to pay for your next big lens.
iStockphoto workshop at the Canon Imaging Academy
Rather than let your photos collect dust in an old shoe box get lost and forgotten in the hard disk, try submitting them to a photo microstock agency.
The average contributor’s income may not be astounding, but it could be pocket money for that extra drink at the bar.
Canon Imaging Academy at Habour Front Place
I attended a workshop by Jumpei Matsuoka from iStockphoto last weekend at the Canon Imaging Academy (CIA) at Harbour Front Place.
CIA conducts photography courses, organises local outings and overseas trips, and provides free product training for photographers.
The 1-hour session was over-subscribed and the space had to be extended to accommodate almost forty photographers eager to find out how they could put their photos to work.
Jumpei Matsuoka, GM iStockphoto Japan
Matsuoka is the general manager for Japan and South Korea at iStockphoto.
He talked about how photography buffs can sign up as contributors on iStockphoto and make money from their passion for photography.
He also shared tips on what are the top selling images, the trends in the microstock industry, and how contributors can market themselves to potential customers.
iStockphoto is the world’s original source for user-generated, royalty-free stock images, media and design elements.
Its community of more than 7 million members enjoys access to a content collection approaching 10 million photographs, vector illustrations, flash, audio and video files on the site.
iStockphoto pays out US$1.9 million each week in royalty to its contributing artists.More than 50,000 files are approved each week from the site’s rapidly growing group of more than 125,000 contributing artists, with 5,500 submitting exclusively to iStockphoto.
Many iStockphoto artists earn a full-time living from iStockphoto, and many formerly traditional stock artists see micropayment stock imagery as an additional revenue channel.
I had a chat with Matsuoka after the session. The amicable fellow photographer conveyed a strong passion for photography and emphasised that a contributor should first and foremost possess this passion for photography.
With that as the backdrop, whatever income the contributor earns from submitting photos to a photo stock agency becomes an added bonus for the passion. On top of that, the contributor actually enjoys the work.
My own feel from speaking with Matsuoka is that if you’re thinking of becoming a contributing photographer, don’t quit your day job just yet.
The top six categories that bring in the most money:
Start off small by submitting your shots to get a feel of the kind of income you can expect from the endeavour, and whether you have the eye to take photos that the agency will likely approve.
Photographers should know that the emphasis of stock photo agencies is to get photos that their paying subscribers can use – be it for business brochures or other publications.
It’s not so much the usual photo competition where there’s more emphasis on the artistic aspect of photography.
You would have heard wonderful success stories of a handful of contributors who earn big bucks from going full-time as stock photographers. But for the rest of us mere mortals, do test the waters first.
I have included some soundbites from Matsuoka about his perspectives on different aspects of stock photography. Check them out.
So dust out your old photos dig out those photos scattered all over your hard disks, and start shooting, you may just discover your ideal full-time job!
Looks like Jerry Yang has quit Yahoo! for good.
Jerry Yang. Photo from www.bloomberg.com.
Bloomberg has just reported that:
Yahoo! Inc said co-founder Jerry Yang resigned from the board and all other positions, two weeks after the company announced new leadership under Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson. The shares rose in extended trading.
I guess the time has come for new blood to lead the company forward.
Don’t think investors will ever forgive Yang for rejecting Microsoft’s acquisition offer for US$47.5 billion in January 2009.
It’s now worth US$19 billion.
LG integrates 3D Sound and Smart TV Technologies into four new 3D Sound home theater systems it introduced during CES 2012. The BH9420PW will hit Singapore stores from April 2012.
LG introduced four new home theatre systems for the year during CES 2012.
LG aims to draw synergy by combining its 3D Home Theater Systems with its CINEMA 3D Smart TVs.
The first of the four systems to launch, the BH9420PW incorporates LG’s own 3D Sound Zooming technology, which constantly synchronizes sound output with the location and movement of the on-screen 3D images on a CINEMA 3D Smart TV.
BH9420PW will hit Singapore stores from April 2012.
3D Sound Zooming is capable of generating variety of depth in sound based on a complex algorithm that analyzes the varying depth of numerous on-screen objects displayed on the 3D TV.
The immersive 3D sound is enhanced further by the BH9420PW’s 9.1 speaker system, which adds four Upright 3D Speakers to the 5.1 channels of a conventional home theater system.
The four Upright 3D Speakers pump sound upward, ensuring that the vertical space is completely filled with sound. Meanwhile, a 360º Reflector inside each of the Upright 3D Speakers reflects sound in all directions, creating acoustics as rich as those in a concert hall.
LG combines its 3D Home Theater Systems with its CINEMA 3D Smart TVs.
In addition, by applying LG’s unique 3D effect DSP algorithm, the Sound Field Expansion technology further expands the horizontal sound field, and works in harmony with the Upright 3D Speakers to create a truly immersive, 360º sound experience.
The audio “sweet spot” is further extended so viewers always feel as if they are right in the middle of the action, regardless of their location in a living room.
In order to provide viewers with a wide range of 3D experiences, the BH9420PW is equipped with a Smart TV function which provides access to LG’s Smart TV ecosystem – with a growing variety and quantity of 3D content through various premium content services and apps, such as LG’s 3D Zone.
Looking for a new notebook computer? Check out Toshiba’s Chinese New Year promotions.
Click to access and download this PDF brochure and then zoom in to 150% to read the fine print.
Brochures are listed here only for those interested. Click on the pictures to access the PDF versions of the brochures. You may have to download the PDFs to zoom in to between 150-300% to read the small print on those brochures.
Click to access and download this PDF brochure and then zoom in to 300% to read the fine print.
Upgrades to BlackBerry 7.1 (dates TBC) and BBM6.1 (available now), and Visa certification for BlackBerry smartphones.
The BBM6.1 upgrade is available now in BlackBerry App World.
The updates were released by Research In Motion (RIM) during CES 2012.
BlackBerry 7.1 upgrade – dates TBC in Asia
For users of the latest BlackBerry 7 smartphones, some of the features of the BlackBerry 7.1 OS upgrade are described below.
Keep smiling with the free BBM6.1 upgrade.
With the addition of BlackBerry Tag, users of NFC-enabled BlackBerry smartphones (incl. Bold 9900, Curve 9360 and Curve 9380) can instantly invite a friend to BBM, exchange contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content, as well as pair their BlackBerry smartphone with an NFC enabled Bluetooth device.
Turn your BlackBerry smartphone into a mobile hotspot that can be shared by up to 5x Wi-Fi-enabled devices, including laptops and tablets.
Free upgrade to BlackBerry Messenger 6.1
Universal Search has been further improved to help users find what they are looking for. The enhancement includes an auto-suggest feature that intelligently filters Bing search results to offer users a variety of relevant Web sites based on their search terms.
Customers with a BlackBerry Curve 9360 or 9380 smartphones will find a nice surprise with the BlackBerry 7.1 OS update in the form of an FM radio.
BBM6.1 upgrade – available now in BlackBerry App World
This upgrade offers support for animated avatars (animated GIFs), a dozen new and fun emoticons to spice up conversations, and the ability to customize chat bubbles with different colors.
BBM6.1 is available now on BlackBerry App World.
In addition, the new BBM app allows users to add customized personal messages of up to 160 characters in their online Profile, more than double the length supported in previous versions.
Users can now set the picture for their BBM avatar directly from the camera app – simply snap a picture and select “Set as BBM Display Picture” from the menu.
Read the full press release here.
Visa certifies BlackBerry smartphones for use as Visa Mobile Payment Devices
Following the approval of BlackBerry devices as the first certified smartphones of the MasterCard PayPass program, Visa has certified the BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 as compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.
All the new devices certified by Visa can use the built-in NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to facilitate wireless payments using contactless payment terminals.
Read the full press release here.
Management shakeup at RIM
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012BlackBerry maker – Research In Motion (RIM) – has named Thorsten Heins as President and CEO of the company.
Mike Lazaridis remains Vice Chair of the Board while Jim Balsillie takes on a Director role at the company. This is effective immediately.
Outgoing Co-chairs and Co-CEOs Jim Basillie and Mike Lazaridis
Heins was also appointed to RIM’s Board. He joined RIM from Siemens Communications Group in December 2007 as Senior Vice President for Hardware Engineering and became Chief Operating Officer for Product and Sales in August 2011.
I believe Heins does not have time on his side, given BlackBerry’s rapid loss of market share to rival Android devices and Apple iOS products.
“We have a strong balance sheet with approximately $1.5 billion in cash at the end of the last quarter and negligible debt. We reported revenue of $5.2 billion in our last quarter, up 24% from the prior quarter, and a 35% year-to-year increase in the BlackBerry subscriber base, which is now over 75 million.” – Thorsten Heins, new President and CEO of RIM.RIM’s market share of smartphones in the US declined from a market leading 44% in 2009 to 10% in 2011, according to market researcher NPD Group.
BlackBerry has been growing outside of America but it is facing similar challenges from its competitors in those markets as well.
Coming from within RIM instead of outside, the natural question will be whether Heins will be doling out “more of the same” at RIM.
I’m not sure having been in RIM since 2007 is necessarily something that will be seen as positive for Heins.
Investors will be keen to know if he had his own ideas but could not act on them because he was not the CEO.
Heins will have a very short time to show how different he is from his predecessors, that he has his own vision and roadmap to bring RIM back to its previous success.
Thorsten Heins, new President and CEO at RIM
I’m hoping his “I don’t think that there is a drastic change needed” spiel during his first press conference as CEO is merely paying due respect to his predecessors.
The succession plan was submitted by the two Co-Chairs and co-CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. RIM’s Board of Directors acted on their recommendations after conducting its own own due diligence.
Investors had forced RIM to consider a change in company leadership in 2011 and was stalled with the company’s promise to study the matter.
RIM promised a resolution in January 2012 and I’ve been wondering if they were going to make the move, after their closed-door meeting in mid December.
Mike Lazaridis, who co-founded RIM with Doug Fregin in 1984, has become Vice Chair of RIM’s Board and Chair of the Board’s new Innovation Committee.
As Vice Chair, he will work closely with Mr. Heins to offer strategic counsel, provide a smooth transition and continue to promote the BlackBerry brand worldwide.
Barbara Stymiest, who formerly served as a member of Royal Bank of Canada’s Group Executive and has been a member of RIM’s Board since 2007, has been named the independent Board Chair.
John Richardson, formerly Lead Director, will remain on the Board.
Prem Watsa, Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings, also was named to the Board, expanding it to 11 members.
Tags:BlackBerry, Playbook, RIM, smartphone, tablets
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