2010 has been a year that 3D playback smashes into the mainstream. The popular 3-D movie Avatar has also aided in fast forwarding this progress. After resting on their laurels for a bit, Denon have just proclaimed that they will be introducing two new blu-ray players that will be 3D ready. New firmware updates coming in the fall will make them fully 3D capable.

First up is the cheapest model Denon DBP-1611UD  which is priced sensibly at $399. At this price it is surely going to capture a large pie of the 3D market. The step-up model Denon DBP-2011UDCI is more serious in capturing the high end market with significantly better video processing chips from ABT and cutting edge Burr Brown 192khz/32 bit DACs. It costs almost twice as much at $799.

All these are ‘universal’ players that means they play all known 5″ disc formats which includes the high res DVD-Audio and SACD audio formats, which is something not common among consumer products. They feature stable built quality and provide good sound which is the characteristic of Denon systems.

The DBP-1611UD and DBP-2011UDCI also come with YouTube and Netflix streaming which is Denon’s first. Also common is the inclusion of 1GB of onboard memory which makes it hassle-free for accessing BD-Live content. Capabilities like Kodak Picture CD compatibility, as well as DivX HD, MP3 and WMA playback are added to make using it more enjoyable at home. 36-Bit Deep Color support is also included although there are no such encoded media discs that has this. So get one of these players if you intend to future proof your decision to buy a blu-ray player.

SignOfColonCancer.net

Technorati Tags: 3d Market, Avatar, Bd, Blu Ray Player, Blu Ray Players, Burr Brown, Cutting Edge, Dbp, Disc Formats, Firmware Updates, Future Proof, Hassle, High Res, Kodak, Laurels, Mainstream, Netflix, Smashes, Wma Playback, Youtube

Has the big hype over the Apple iPhone been justified? Judging by the enthusiasm of about forty million users, the answer appears to be yes. Ever since the release of the first version of this phone in 2007, to call it a “cell phone” just doesn’t seem accurate. Even that version, which was locked so owners could only use the iPhone applications that came with it, had the revolutionary touch screen controls and many extra features that cell phones simply never had before.

Those two features, the touch screen and the applications, or apps, were what put the Apple iPhone in a class by itself at the time of its first release. There were other phones that made similar internet connections, such as the BlackBerry, which served as a cell phone but also allowed email, texting and internet browsing on a small screen; however, the iPhone release brought those functions to a slightly larger screen, which people could manipulate by moving their fingers on the screen itself. And by adding all those applications, which help users to do everything from order flowers to surf YouTube to make stock trades, the iPhone became something that can hardly be described as a “phone” any longer.

The actual apple company iphone was not really realised world wide in a single swoop, it has been graduel and nicely planned. Of course it’s primary release was in it’s own home, the United states of america, in June of 07. That was then spun out accross other nations around the world in the following months, as promotions were reached with the companies that would possess privileges to be the official suppliers. And almost everywhere the apple iphone media spread, folks carried on lining up and spending high costs to get an apple iphone of their own.

Together with each fresh iPhone launch, Apple has added in features that have held the device well-liked and in great demand. The difference between the 3G and 3GS versions was mainly one of performance and a few additional video capabilitys, but it was the leap in functionality between the 07 Apple iPhone and the 3G edition in 2008 that really sent it over the top. Even with some issue over high prices, the ability to download useful applications has taken the idea of a simple mobile phone and raised into another realm entirely.

The Apple iPhone is an expensive gadget in the UK, subsidiesed my the Network providers, such as Orange and Vodafone. It would well woth be protecting with iphone insurance when you first take out your iphone contract, as you will have to pay in exess of GBP 600 to obtain a new iphone from your network provider, should the worst happen.

A simple search online for iphone insurance could also be worthwhile, as independent agents offer insurance for the iphone for less per month than the big network providers can offer. You can easily save GBP 7 per month, just by shopping arround.

Technorati Tags: 3g, 3gs, Apple Company, Apple I Phone, Apple Iphone, blackberry, Cell Phone, Hype, Internet Connections, Iphone, Launch, Mobile Phone, Order Flowers, States Of America, Stock Trades, Swoop, Texting, Touch Screen Controls, United States Of America, Youtube

Office workers’ attention is being diverted every three minutes by answering the phone, being alerted to an incoming email, responding to an alert on their BlackBerry, reacting to an instant message or a Tweet, or clicking on internet-based distractions such as YouTube or Facebook. These distractions consume much as 28% of an average knowledge workers’ day (Basex research).

As we receive more and more e-mail messages and other technology-based interruptions, it can feel like being hit by a digital deluge. Without the skills to manage e-mail and other devices effectively, many people are wasting time just trying to keep up instead of gaining productivity through technology.

These tactics for distraction management can significantly increase your productivity:

1. Turn off the alarm or visual alerts: You wouldn’t let the postman empty a mailbag on your desk 50 times a day and you certainly wouldn’t let them ring a bell with each delivery. That’s exactly what you are doing if you check each e-mail when it arrives. Turn off the alarm or visual alert and take control of your e-mail and your time.

2. Learn how to turn off or manage alerts on mobile devices: As more and more people synchronize their phones and mobile devices they are being distracted by email alerts, meeting reminders at all sorts of inconvenient times. These alerts can ensure you are being distracted at home as well as work!

3. Treat e-mail like regular mail: Try to check your e-mail at regular times in the day, i.e. early morning, mid-day and late afternoon. Even if you receive a high volume of e-mails, you shouldn’t check more than four times a day. Checking email regularly can give you a very busy feeling but it is deceptive as it is unlikely you are focusing on your key priorities.

4. Take control of your in-box: Subscribe to e-mail services selectively. Ask friends or colleagues who frequently send jokes or huge files to stop. Get a separate e-mail address for personal communication or one that you give just to key contacts, similar to an unlisted phone number. Set up rules to automatically delete or file low priority emails.

5. Focus on your priorities: Commit 10 -15 minutes each day to plan for the next day. Ensure as part of this process you make “appointments with yourself” to focus on key priorities and projects.

E-mail, mobile devices, instant messaging and the like can save businesses considerable time and money, but managing these tools is a skill that’s just as important to acquire as other essential management skills such as communication, planning and prioritizing.

Priority Management is a training company specialises in time management training. Our “Working Smart” series integrates the underlying principles of Best Practice time, productivity, information and workload management into applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, GroupWise, the BlackBerry and paper.

Technorati Tags: Digital Deluge, Distractions, E Mail Address, E Mail Services, Incoming Email, Inconvenient Times, Interruptions, Knowledge Workers, Late Afternoon, Mail Check, Mail Messages, Mailbag, Mid Day, Mobile Devices, Office Workers, Postman, Three Minutes, Tweet, Wasting Time, Youtube

I was reading a thread at a big webmaster forum yesterday which made the claim that “SEO is dead.” Now, it’s hard to say whether or not the original poster was being serious or sarcastic, but he referenced some other news he’d been reading on a few authority sites that made the “dead” claim.

The notion was that, because of the prevalence of Web 2.0 community sites, the idea of needing to optimize for any of the engines was going away — and fast. The idea was also put forth by another poster that, because of the huge number of content management systems that are already setup to be “search engine friendly”, the need to have any additional knowledge to rank well was quickly diminishing.

My answer to all this? Poppycock.

First, while it is true that there are many CMS programs that are search engine friendly out of the box, on-page factors matter so little to ranking (at least in Google) that even if the on-page playing field was leveled, it would make little difference in the current search engine results.

Second, SEO is about far more than just what’s on the page. The way you analyze what keywords are worth optimizing for, the way you write the content around those keywords, and the links you get to the pages that you want to rank for those keywords all have a large role to play in how much traffic you get from the search engines — and that analysis takes specialized knowledge. Anyone can learn to do it, but it does have to be learned.

Third, and most importantly, Web 2.0 is nice, and sites that revolve around that kind of community are huge traffic mongers (e.g. YouTube), but there will always be a need for full-text indexing of the web.

So is SEO dead? Nope. It’s alive and well, and will be for as long as people need to search for information on the web.

Technorati Tags: Cms Programs, Content Management Systems, Google, Notion, Poppycock, Prevalence, Search Engine Results, Search Engines, Seo, Traffic, Webmaster Forum, Youtube