News Stories

Samsung AllShare for the Home Network

1.8.2011

Digital content has quickly become the norm in a user’s daily life. And the need to be able to share, move, and enjoy the content at home in a seamless unified way is quickly becoming a demand that must be met. If digital is the way of the future, users must feel comfortable and have the means to share and move content around, without having to worry about the logins, IP address, or network settings.

Aiming to make it easier for consumers, Samsung has introduced AllShare, their software platform that uses DLNA to move content around a user’s home network. AllShare will allow many of Samsung new products such as the Galaxy Tab, the Galaxy smartphone, Blu-ray players, TVs, and home router to move content around the network seamlessly.

Using AllShare, a Blu-ray player can stream a movie out to a Galaxy Tab or smartphone. Also, the user can share photos from their Samsung camera or mobile phone and stream a photo slideshow to their TV. The platform even allows cameras to automatically back up photos to a computer, even if the camera is turned off.

Moneual Robot: Clear the Air, Calm your Mind

1.8.2011

The Moneual H1004 intelligent robot is “personal health centered IT at work.” It monitors patients and the elderly, purifies the air, supports web surfing, and plays soothing therapeutic music.

The Moneul H1004 isn’t just your personal robot pal who’s fun to be with. It monitors your health and automatically calls for help if it detects that you are having medical problems.

When it is not providing you with amusement via the removable web-enabled tablet on its head, it is wandering your house looking for dirty air. Yes, this is more than a passive air purifier. It wanders from room to room, staying only as long as it takes to clear the air before moving on.

When its batteries run low it returns to its docking station for a recharge.

Finally, it is a robotic sleep aid. To quote the brochure, “Audio playback of various music contents provides a mentally therapeutic function for your listening pleasure especially for individuals suffering from depression and other mental illnesses.”

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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