Sony launches updated multimedia suite




Fans of Sony's multimedia production and editing tools get some happy news today with the release of updated versions of Vegas, ACID, and Sound Forge. Vegas Movie Studio HD 10 Platinum ($99.95) is a user-friendly video-editing application packed with all the features of the previous version as well as some handy new tools. Worth noting is Image Stabilization, which allows anyone with shaky footage to quickly and simply even out the shot with a selection of optimized presets. There's also a slideshow creator, new color correction tools, GPU-accelerated AVC rendering, and a feature that lets you burn DVDs directly from the timeline (which eliminates the need for a menu on the disc). The latest version of the software also allows up to 10 video tracks and 10 audio tracks at any given time.
On the audio side of things, Sony has released ACID Music Studio 8 ($69.95) for music and mashup creation and Sound Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 ($69.95), which offers professional tools for mastering audio projects. New features in ACID 8 include a new audio and MIDI-mixing console that offers the appearance of a traditional hardware-based mixer, which provides an integrated view of all tracks as well as time-stretching and pitch-shifting tools and enhanced remixing tools, including Beatmapper, which automatically finds the tempo of a completed song. Sound Forge 10 adds an enhanced vinyl-recording wizard for converting analog formats into digital files; support for 32-bit IEEE float bit-depth and a 192kHz sample rate; and customizable window layouts and floating window docks for creating a personalized look-and-feel.
Sony is also offering a Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Production Suite ($129.99), which--in addition to Vegas--includes DVD Architect Studio 5, Sound Forge Audio Studio 10, Vocal Eraser technology, NewBlueFX audio and video effects, a tutorial DVD, and 400 exclusive original music soundtracks. The Imagination Studio Suite 2 offering adds ACID to the package for $50 more.

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With Safari 5, Apple plugs four dozen holes



(Credit: Apple)
Apple has released the latest version of its Safari browser that includes fixes for four dozen security holes, mostly in the open-source WebKit technology and many of which leave a computer open to compromise by drive-by-download attacks from visiting a malicious Web page.
Safari 5 for Windows and Mac debuted on Monday. The impact on security issues is detailed in this advisory, which applies to Safari 5.0 and Safari 4.1.
The release updates the browser to display a warning before navigating to an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) or HTTPS (secure HTTP) Web address containing user information, to better protect against phishing attacks, removes a heap buffer overflow in the handling of images using ColorSync technology, and addresses an issue in Safari's handling of PDF files.
The software also plugs 44 holes in WebKit alone that could allow for numerous types of attacks and compromises, including: information disclosure from dragging or pasting links or images; cross-site scripting attacks; unexpected actions on other sites caused by interacting with a malicious Web page; data leakage from visiting an HTTPS site that redirects to a less secure HTTP site; data being sent to an IRC server by visiting a malicious Web site; and a plethora of the garden-variety arbitrary code execution attack from visiting a malicious site.
Microsoft on Tuesday issued 10 security bulletins, fixing 34 vulnerabilities in one of its largest Patch Tuesdays to date. Meanwhile, Adobe said it would issue a patch for a critical hole in its Flash technology being exploited in the wild by delivering an update for Flash Player by Thursday, and for Adobe Reader and Acrobat by June 29.

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HTC buys mobile app developer Abaxia



Smartphone maker HTC has bought mobile app developer Abaxia.
Based in Paris, Abaxia creates mobile applications for network carriers and handset manufacturers. The company designs software that allows mobile phone makers to customize and add features to the home screens of their handsets to give them a consistent look and feel. Counting Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, and of course HTC, among its customers, Abaxia said that it has provided software to 60 different handset models.
The acquisition is a way for HTC to boost mobile app development under its own roof.
"The addition of Abaxia deepens and broadens our software development capabilities so that we can innovate at an even faster pace," HTC CEO Peter Chou said in a statement Monday.
Abaxia's CEO, Cedric Mangaud, sees the two businesses complementing each other since the companies have already worked closely together before.
The deal follows HTC's 2008 purchase of design firm One & Co. Design, a move geared toward creating a unique look and feel for HTC handsets.
After a rough 2009, HTC has been eyeing a turnaround this year with a slew of new products in its portfolio. The company is counting on heavy demand for its new Evo 4G, which launched last week as the first 4G smartphone in the U.S.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported Monday that HTC said it would pay $13.2 million for Abaxia, but HTC would not confirm that information.

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Baidu to bring box computing to Symbian devices


By teaming up with the Symbian Foundation, Chinese search engine Baidu is hoping to bring its vision of box computing to the mobile market.
On Tuesday, the two companies announced a joint venture in which they would develop a wireless box computing system to work with the Symbian mobile platform. First presented by Baidu last year, box computing bypasses a PC's traditional boot-up and operating system and instead offers users a search box as their starting point.
The goal of the new venture will be to provide mobile phone users with a single screen from which they can search the Internet as well as the applications on their smartphones.
To advance their research, Symbian will contribute its expertise with wireless smartphone platforms, while Baidu will supply its experience developing search engines. Under the agreement, Symbian will open up its technology to allow Baidu to develop wireless box computing within the Symbian middleware.
"Baidu has played a leading role in Internet services, especially in China, and we look forward to having them share their expertise with the growing Symbian community," said Lee Williams, Executive Director of Symbian, in a statement. "Additionally, we expect the integration of 'box computing' services in the Symbian platform to stimulate third-party developers worldwide to create a large body of innovative applications, leveraging Baidu's market-leading search and inquiry platform."
To help promote mobile box computing, Symbian and Baidu said they'll provide a box-computing platform to handset makers and carriers and encourage third-party developers to add box computing to their apps. The two also said they'll share the outcome of their Box Computing Joint Laboratory with the whole mobile industry and make it available through Symbian's open-source efforts.
The companies did not reveal details on how much money they would invest or how long the new venture might take to produce a marketable product.

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Renault sets high bar for electric-car sales



he Renault Zero Emissions electric vehicle will be targeted at corporate fleets.
Renault is targeting its Zero Emissions electric vehicle at corporate fleets.
(Credit: Renault)
Renault announced a sales target of 200,000 electric vehicles by 2015, according to an article in La Tribune. The French automaker will introduce its first electric vehicle--a version of a medium-size family sedan--in Israel and Denmark in 2011, followed by an electric version of New Kangoo based on the ZE Concept car for fleet sales.
While its sales goal forecast sounds high for a technology that hasn't yet reached mass production, the Nissan-Renault alliance partnership, which enables the carmakers to share key electric car components, is poised to meet whatever manufacturing demand exists.
The expanded Nissan plant in Smyrna and new battery manufacturing facility has capacity to produce up to 150,000 Leaf electric cars in its first year, and the alliance estimates that the two car companies should have capacity to manufacture 500,000 electric cars by 2013.
Nissan executives estimate that in four years global sales could reach 500,000, and this scaled up production could eliminate the need for government-sponsored sales incentives. Nissan already filled the 20,000 preorder slots for the Leaf this year.
The Renault electric car roadmap
Renault will introduce its first electric vehicle in 2011, followed by an electric version of New Kangoo based on the ZE Concept car for fleet sales.
(Credit: Renault)

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Sony Vaio E series expands, adds Intel Wireless Display



The larger Vaio EC: any color, as long as it's black.
(Credit: Sony)
Remember the Sony Vaio E? When we reviewed it earlier this year, we were quite excited about Sony's more budget-priced multimedia Vaio, both because it had a Core i3 processor and optional Blu-ray. We'll admit it. We were also a little intrigued by the Vaio E's optional neon colors and funky neon keyboard skins.
The only problem? The E was limited to a 15-inch screen size. That's been remedied with new Vaio EA and EC models, in 14 and 17.3 inches, respectively.
The Vaio EA starts at $769 with a Core i3-350M CPU and built-in Intel Wireless Display, with an optional Core i5 upgrade, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics, and Blu-ray that will cost extra. It comes in the same rainbow of colors, from Lava Black to Caribbean Green, as the first Vaio E. For an extra $20, you can pimp it out even further with a removable black, blue, green, pink, or purple keyboard skin that can double as a germ/crumb protector and garish eye candy.
The Vaio EC starts at $819, and only comes in relatively somber black. It comes standard with a Core i3 processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics. Upgrades include a more powerful ATI 5650 GPU, Core i5, and Blu-ray, but no Intel Wireless Display. The option to layer on a neon keyboard skin, however, remains yours.

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Sony low-end all-in-ones updated with touch screens, Blu-ray


We're confused by Sony's press release announcing its new J Series all-in-one PCs. It mentions that pricing starts around $900, but of the two models available for preorder, the most affordable comes in at $1,099.
Sony's new Vaio J-Series all-in-one, available in black and white.
(Credit: Sony)
That higher price encompasses all the benefits of the new models, which include a 21.5-inch, 1080p touch-screen display, a Blu-ray drive, and a Core i3 CPU (Core i7 in the $1,549 model). Perhaps a lower-cost model will emerge without the Blu-ray drive closer to next month's launch.
That $1,549, 21.5-inch model will be tough for consumers to stomach with the 27-inch iMac available for $150 more, and 23-inch Windows all-in-ones available for less than $1,000. The lower-end model is more palatable. All-in-one base touch input isn't too exciting, and a new Apple Genius-style Media Gallery app will be redundant if you use iTunes, but a decent-looking, reasonably fast all-in-one with a Blu-ray drive and a 1080p screen could appeal to the dorm crowd.
Sony's announcement is one of the first for the back-to-school season, and the company has taken a fairly conservative approach. We'll be interested to see if other vendors take more risks when their new announcements hit over the next few weeks.

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iMovie for iPhone 4 and the future of filmmaking


It wasn't too long ago that I was charging batteries for my Sony digital 8mm camcorder so they would be ready to record the latest and greatest ideas my friends and I had scribbled down on a napkin. Those images would then be transferred my 800MHz G4 iMac running Mac OS X 10.4.x and edited using iMovie 4. The resulting video projects were fun to watch but nothing close to professional looking. Fast forward to today's announcement of the iPhone 4 and my how things have changed.
(Credit: Apple)
iMovie for iPhone 4 was, in my opinion, the most exciting part (save the actual iPhone 4 announcement) of this year's WWDC Keynote from Steve Jobs. As afilmmaker myself, I am always interested in new ways to capture high-quality video, especially from unexpected sources.
iPhone 4's ability to record at such a high resolution will, as the Apple tagline for the iPhone 4 suggests, change everything. Yes, we already have small devices that record that sort of quality, but combined with the iMovie App, the iPhone 4 becomes a true mobile editing suite, suitable for significant productions, all from a single device that you'd be carrying anyway.
Think of it this way: Your pocket just got lighter. CNET's David Carnoy asks, "Is HD video in iPhone 4 a Flip Video Killer?" Without a doubt. Not only does the iPhone 4 provide similar-quality video recording, it has an app to edit. And it happens to be built in to the most revolutionary phone device on the planet. Flip is dead.

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Alienware M11x adds Core i5, i7, Nvidia Optimus


(Credit: Alienware)
Good news for people shopping for a small, powerful gaming laptop: the tiny hybrid Alienware M11x has gotten a whole lot better overnight. New Core i5, i7, and Nvidia Optimus upgrades look like they could bring the M11x closer to par with the more fully fledged Alienware M15x laptop.
When we reviewed the M11x earlier this year, we found its combination of low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor, Netbook-like size, and switchable gaming-ready graphics to be pretty compelling for its price. New Core i5 and i7 processors should only sweeten the deal, providing that the battery life remains good. The addition of Nvidia Optimus automatic graphics switching makes a lot of sense here, as the M11x's chief appeal was its capability to switch between a longer-battery portable notebook and a higher-performance machine.
The M11x starts at $799 for a Core 2 Duo configuration, or $949 for the Core i5 version, with an optional Core i7 starting at $1,099. According to Dell's preorder site, new models will ship July 2.

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BMW's 7-series cruiser proves solid, comfortable


2010 BMW 750i(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)
More gentleman than sportsman, BMW's big 7-series is a refined luxury driver, comfortable for long highway cruises but not quite the cornering pro as its stable mates. We enjoyed the solid driving feel, the lush maps on the navigation system, and the very nice-sounding stereo as we covered the miles.
The car is also available with a good set of driver assistance features, including adaptive cruise control and night vision. But we couldn't figure out why BMW limits its top sedan to a six-speed transmission, when the 550i Gran Turismo gets an eight-speed.

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Where we're getting FaceTime with the Apple iPhone 4 (podcast)


The new Apple iPhone 4
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
Don't call it the 4G or the 4HD. The Apple iPhone 4 is here and Gizmodo ruined the surprise. As predicted, the new handset has *almost* all of the rumored features, including a 960X640 resolution display, a bigger battery, HD video recording and editing, a three-axis gyroscope, an upgraded 5MP rear camera, and a front-facing camera for use with Apple's new video chat program FaceTime.

Apple's new Retina display promises 4X improvement over the current screen, and Steve's demo screenshots show significant improvements to text and images, but CNET's own TV expert David Katzmaier takes issue with the claim that viewing HD video on the new device is akin to the HDTV experience.
He emphasizes that users will likely notice a significant difference in text, but the change in photos and video will be subtle, especially since most of the video material out now on YouTube and other sites just isn't scaled to fit the pixels on the small screen. Also, keep in mind that Steve's giant demo projections show a much more substantial difference than you'll see on the actual 3.5-inch handheld.
Regardless, Wilson and I are both excited about AT&T's "favor" to Apple that offers immediate upgrade privileges to any user with a contract ending in 2010, including yours truly. Forget about flipping your old iPhone 3G or 3GS on eBay for a profit, though: Apple also announced that only the 3GS will remain with a price drop to just $100. You can, however, take advantage of RadioShack's trade-in program that'll net you a gift card ($210 for a 16GB 3GS or $122 for a 16GB 3G) that you can use to preorder the iPhone 4.
During yesterday's WWDC Keynote, Jobs also unveiled FaceTime, Apple's proprietary video chat program for the iPhone and optimized for the iPhone 4. Currently, the program only runs on Wi-Fi, but Steve also talked about plans for 3G access coming next year.

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Hello Kitty gets her own Twitter client


Hello Kitty Twitter client(Credit: Digital Garage)
The famous mouthless feline is back, and this time she's prepared to grace your iPhone in the form of a Twitter client.
Probably as recognizable as Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty is an icon that has appeared in a wide range of products including wine, solar charger, PCs, Darth VadarStormtrooper, and even a Taser gun. So it comes as no surprise that the cute cat has made the leap to the competitive iPhone App Store for tweens all over the world--and even guys who want to explore their feminine side.
It's priced at $3.99 and can be downloaded here.

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