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China, Electronics Superstore of the FutureSeptember 2nd, 2010At the end of the year, China will become only the third nation ever to boast a $5 trillion economy. The nation is on track to have a 2010 economy worth some $5.36 trillion, behind the U.S. ($14.2 trillion) and slightly ahead of Japan ($5.06 trillion), which it will knock from the number two spot. China’s economic future will affect the whole planet, and every industry from autos to electronics. Computers and electronics China’s economy has grown at breakneck speed for the last 15 years, with the growth rate for the first two quarters of 2010 being downright supersonic. Electronics, computer and communications firms are well represented among China’s top 100 firms, about 30 of which have annual revenues over $1 billion. The largest, named Legend Holdings – the firm that bought IBM’s Lenovo laptop lines – had almost $18 billion in sales for 2006, the most recent year for figures.
The new Japan? From the 1950s through the 1980s, Japan was America’s chief economic rival in certain core industries like computers and semiconductors. A slew of books were published with various predictions of just how fast the Land of the Rising Sun would leave the U.S. in the dust. In 1987, Japan was selling American firms 1MB memory chips for about $400. (If you were to max out the RAM on one of CRE’s iMac rentals at that price, it would cost you $6.4 million for 16GB.) In the late 1980s, newspapers reported economic gloom and doom for the U.S. and proof of Japan’s ascendancy. A decade later and Japan’s economy was toast. Japan squandered all the headway it made in the 1980s and 1990s by strangling its own economy over the last 15 years or so. As the Japanese started their long slide, China was still mainly an outsourcing destination, for getting your widgets mass produced at a good price. Since then, however, China has grown into a nation full of entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators, and everyone knows it: Apple, Oracle, IBM and every other forward-looking U.S. firm has one, three or half a dozen Chinese partners or vendors. What next? On the practical level, expect more and more digital gear to be manufactured (and designed) in China. Before long, Chinese firms will likely be supplying CRE with some of its LCD monitor rentals, and providing American consumers with the digital gear and gadgets needed for both work and play. Who says? In July of this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that total annual growth by the end of 2010 would be 3.3% for the U.S. and 2.4% for Japan. The same report predicts a 2010 growth of 10.5% for China. CRE recognizes a good performer when it sees one, whether it’s an industry, a product or a process. Whether you need top-performing Mac Pro rentals or the extra digital horsepower of AJA Io HD rentals, contact our experienced Account Executives or fill out the Quick Rental Quote online form. We are top performers, too, and when you need our support and expertise, you’ll get our very best, very fast! 42″ Touch Screen LCD Digital Signage DisplayAugust 31st, 2010Hewlett-Packard (HP) has been at the forefront of touch screen technology for some time, and cranks out both touch-based all-in-one PCs as well as touch screen displays targeted at everything from home entertainment to digital signage. Extra dose of inventiveness A capacitive touch screen at this size would have been extremely costly, so HP engineers added an extra dose of inventiveness to the LD4200TM’s digital DNA. The device has a unique way of delivering multi-touch capabilities with an “array of infrared (IR) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), along with photo sensors.” With a native resolution of 1920×1080, you’ve got full HD for lifelike color and clarity, ably assisted by a superior brightness rating and a 1000:1 contrast ratio (with 3000:1 dynamic contrast ratio). It adds up to jaw-dropping graphics and video, and incredibly sharp text, in bright lighting or dim. CRE has LCD monitor rentals and plasmas, too, for all kinds of display purposes, but we’ve added this great touch screen model because of its power, presence and aforementioned people-magnet potential. As an attention-getter in exhibit booths the LD4200TM excels with an ultra-wide 178 x 178 degree viewing angle providing clean, bright views. As opposed to TV screens, Wide range of applications Interactive kiosk rentals can do yeoman’s duty collecting contact information and making small-screen presentations wherever you place them, but for attracting visitors to your booth in an exhibit hall – and thoroughly engaging them – there’s nothing quite like this new HP display. For meetings, corporate presentations and high-end brainstorming, the LD4200TM is also perfectly suited, and teamed with one of CRE’s Audience Response System rentals it could be the star of many productive polling sessions, marketing focus groups and product demonstrations. The LD4200TM’s hardware supports multi-touch gestures, and after the software driver was WHQL certified a slew of applications started to support their use with this big boy. To make its “magic” happen, you will connect the display to your computer via USB (for control and gestures) and send images via an HDMI connection. It can also take VGA (for tiling, too), component video, composite video and S-video signals. The range of its connectivity makes the LD4200TM extremely flexible for a broad array of duties. You can opt for the rear-facing audio amplifier and speakers from HP that give you 20 watts (10w x 2) of sound. Whatever you need to spread your marketing message or capture attention in a sea of exhibits, CRE has it, from this great new HP display to all manner of convention rentals. We are also your productivity partners, with the potent Mac Pro rentals and newly-upgraded iMacs to help you finish that post-production, animation or design work and hit your deadline. Contact a seasoned Account Executive today, or fill out the Quick Rental Quote form right now, and let us know just where you need to go – we’ll help you get there, guaranteed. Top 10 Common Sense Cost-Cutting StrategiesAugust 26th, 2010For any type or size of business it’s always the right time to cut costs. Mobility and Distance Costs 1. Maybe all of your sales calls don’t have to be done in person. Web-based videoconferencing and software like Microsoft Office Live Meeting allow you to make presentations online. Webcams are quite inexpensive compared to travel costs, by plane, train or car. 2. If you exhibit at trade shows and conferences, why pay for transportation or shipping when you can get all of your plasma rentals and other convention rentals from CRE? With locations in many cities, we can get what you need to any location, set it up and tear it down when the show’s over. Consider the same sort of just-in-time strategies in other operational areas of your company. Employees and Management 3. Cross-training employees saves money in several ways. Instead of paying for expensive temporary help when employees are out, the less-costly alternative is cross-training employees so staff can move into support roles when needed. This is common practice among the creative pros that use CRE’s Mac Pro rentals, who know that “the show must go on.” 4. Increased efficiency is always a money-saver. Give your employees the business and software training that makes them more effective. There are loads of free training programs on the Internet, but you can also combine one good teacher with a room full of iMac rentals and educate your employees yourself. Services and Utilities 5. Do a regular review of your core business expenses, the necessities. One example: Today’s many VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services have reduced phone costs dramatically. Do a complete comparison of ones in your area. 6. Online faxing reduces the number of phone lines by using Web-based fax services instead of fax machines – which will also save you money on paper, ink, toner, electricity, etc. 7. Whether you’re in a home office or corporate office setting, you can work with your power company to reduce heating and cooling costs. There are a lot of options you may not know about, starting with a free energy audit. Technology 8. Every company has a Web site now. Hosting costs vary widely, and quality does not necessarily track precisely with pricing. Some so-called bargain hosts boast better offers and uptime statistics than some expensive ones. 9. Consider a “combo” communications plan. As with home service deals, business packages can offer great value. 10. Think creatively and consider every alternative to a purchase. One of the great things about CRE’s computer rentals is that you always work with the current state-of-the-art equipment, without having to tie your money up in a purchase. Do a little creative (and critical) thinking and you can make an immediate, lasting impact on your expenses. You will also help promote efficiency in general when all employees, whether two or 200, follow your lead into this new, improved mindset. CRE’s constant mindset is to be ready with the solutions you need for the obstacles you face. Contact an experienced Account Executive or fill out the online Quick Rental Quote and we’ll put our expertise to work for you. Mac OS X: Built-In Teaching ToolsAugust 24th, 2010You know the old saw about people using only 10% of their brainpower? It’s total rubbish say leading scientists. There is a similar statement about people using software, though, that really is true. Whether it’s Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, or Microsoft Word or Excel, people really do use only about 10% of the available tools. Think about it: Why else are there “light” versions like Photoshop Elements? There are two answers, actually: (1) Because people don’t need all the power offered by the full-boat programs and (2) people don’t know how to use most of the tools anyway. Tailored training on the job We’ve blogged a few times over the past year on employee training, but never mentioned one of the most important decisions to make concerning it: Who needs to know what, and why? Even when you decide to train, say, six of your computer artists on some iMac rentals – which will save thousands on the cost of those name-brand two-day seminars – you need a very specific curriculum for each individual employee/student. The first of several determinants for the participants is this: Do they need to know the entire toolbox, or can they get by with 10%? Your managers that run departments where computers are used – for print, Web, audio, video, post-production, special effects, whatever – will know what each computer artist needs to contribute and, thus, needs to know. One junior staffer may be tasked with converting still photos from a digital camera’s raw RGB files to CMYK for eventual printing, perhaps after the senior artist uses them in a layout. The junior member of the team does not need full Photoshop training for this, just a decent introduction to color space and the appropriate menus and tools in the software. In addition, a senior staffer may have gotten past the 10% threshold but still needs some training in tweaking printing press profiles. A comprehensive and overlapping curriculum can be devised to take each of these artists, and their colleagues of whatever number, where they need to go skill-wise. The veteran artists on staff, along with management, can teach the courses with the help of a touchscreen LCD monitor rentals at the front of the room. The teacher should have an iMac available, too, to take advantage of some great built-in features of Mac’s OS X. Mac OS X for desktop sharing
Summary: Make a chart of the skills that need to be imparted to each employee, see where they overlap and devise the curriculum to be progressive. With a room, some Macs, desktop sharing enabled and a big-screen display in place, you’re on your way to a better trained staff. Contact an experienced Account Executive (or head to our online Quick Rental Quote form) and let us know what training obstacle we can help you knock down! Tech and Gadget Lovers Unite for Gizmodo DayAugust 19th, 2010For fans of high technology, from hardworking devices like CRE’s Xserve rentals to hard-playing iPads, there is always a good reason to celebrate. Combine this kind of energetic tech love with social networking (another great love affair for a few hundred million folks) and what do you get? You get an opportunity to talk geek-speak with other fluent speakers and use your computer, smart phone or other favorite communications device to text, talk, tweet and e-mail in concert with tech-lovers all over this shrinking globe. Tech day for the globe Gizmodo is a popular and well-respected technology site (they insist on calling it a blog, but that seems a little too humble) that has been covering every electronics-, computer- and future-oriented subject for serious gadget-lovers since 2002. And despite arguments you might get from the entrenched denizens of the rapidly fading print media, Gizmodo is also a journalistic enterprise. Its staff and contributors have nailed some big scoops, making the news most recently by buying and blogging about an iPhone 4 prototype that an Apple employee left behind at a bar. (This led to the editor’s house being raided and searched by the authorities, by the way.) Gizmodo’s content is linked to and republished around the globe in, at last count, eight languages. Gizmodo’s London, New York and San Francisco staffers organized “meetups” for precisely 7PM (EDT) on the 11th, while loyal readers and fellow conspirators organized them in scores of countries around the world. You can probably guess that there are zillions of tech enthusiasts in such hardwired places as L.A., the Big Apple, Hong Kong and Amsterdam (and #1 Seoul, of course), so there were meetups in all languages and cultural settings. The overriding thing that tied everyone together, of course, was love for things like the latest Android devices. Because of its own avant garde image, Apple and its products were also popular topics of conversation, especially the recent Macintosh upgrades (by the way, CRE rents iMacs and other models) and the camera-equipped iPad 2.0 that is supposedly “on the way.” Great Gizmodo gallery People were able to RSVP via the Gizmodo site’s meetup links, and also showed their colors on Facebook, followed faraway events on Twitter and enjoyed what Gizmodo itself termed “equal-opportunity social-media sharing.” The final tallies about participation will be a bit longer in coming, but estimates suggest that there were almost 400 meetups worldwide and some 1500 RSVPs from over 70 countries – and lots of folks sent pictures, too. At CRE, we know and love technology, too, and make it our goal to keep you both informed about it and supplied with it. Whether it’s one of our great plasma rentals for an exhibit booth, or a breakout session setup including our Audience Response System rentals, we’ve got what you need for conventions, conferences and corporate meetings. We also outfit many of the Southland’s film and TV production and post-production firms with the Mac Pro rentals and other high-power tools they need to do their magic. Contact one of our Account Executives, or fill out the Quick Rental Quote form, and we’ll do some of our own special magic for you, too. Is Software as a Service (SaaS) Right for You?August 18th, 2010Technology seems to breed acronyms like nothing else, from company names (IBM, AMD, NEC, etc.) to products and processes (MP3, DVD, VoIP and so on). There are a few newer ones floating around that are supposed to describe a new way of providing companies with high-tech tools, something like a subscription or monthly package deal. It’s got two main acronyms – TaaS (or TAAS) for Technology as a Service and SaaS (or SAAS) for Software as a Service. Check the technology service menu The idea is that you should order tech services like you order food a-la-carte – one from Column A, two from Column B and so forth – and thereby keep your IT expenses (and employee count) at a manageable level. There are many ‘technology service ‘ companies that work with their various vendors and partners to deliver affordable, tailor-made TaaS/SaaS programs to their customers - small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that lack sufficient capital and staff resources to implement and manage their own computer, communications and IT functions. Trade Shows in September: High-Tech to Bike-TechAugust 12th, 2010Oracle OpenWorld
For years, CRE has been providing solutions for presentations, breakout sessions, networking and everything else you need to do at conferences. We have Oracle OpenWorld plasma rentals for dramatic displays and signage if you will be exhibiting, and tablet PC rentals to ensure your conference team captures all the information your firm needs. Our wireless gear will help you take control of session notes, manage downloadable conference materials, save prospects’ contact information – and get maps to find your way around The City by the Bay if you don’t know the lay of the land. Oracle promises “five days of education,” with insights and connections that will “transform your business.” Don’t miss it! Interbike 2010
If you’re exhibiting at this year’s show, CRE has special Interbike plasma rentals to help you make your best impression to buyers, first-tier retailers and product experts from around the world. Get some laptop rentals and you will be equipped to fill an array of monitors with your PowerPoint presentations, Flash animations and digital signage to make booth your a surefire hit. Make sure your team members have the tools they need to interact with the hundreds of journalists expected at the event, like digital recorder rentals for audio notes and office equipment rentals to print, fax or copy press and marketing materials. Whatever you need to succeed at this important venue, which is co-located for 2010 with the Health and Fitness Business Expo, CRE has it, ready to go. Digital Video Expo 2010
The 2010 event dedicates more hours to “show-floor time,” scheduled and ad hoc meetings for building newpartnerships, hands-on product demos and educational sessions right on the exhibit floor. Representatives from the leading publications, blogs and Web sites in the digital video marketplace will cover all that’s new and exciting in videography, broadcasting, digital video, TV and film, computers and display technology. Last year’s Digital Video Expo 2009 made a big upgrade by moving to the state-of-the-art Pasadena Convention Center, a comfortable and classy destination for So Cal’s (and the world’s) legions of digital pros. Among the top focuses this year is networking, so consider both presentation technology (LCD monitor rentals) as well as two-way technology like interactive kiosk rentals that can both make presentations and capture prospects’ contact information. Whatever event you are planning to attend, and whatever you need to accomplish, CRE is ready to support you with a iPad rental or a thoroughly outfitted exhibit area. We’ve got you covered from iMac rentals for your digital control center to audio visual rentals for making a powerful impact. Contact one of our experienced Account Executives today and see what kind of power and control CRE can put in your hands for conquering a convention or two. Event Planners Using “Speed Dating” TechniquesAugust 10th, 2010Participants continue to report that some of the most animated discussions and valuable education at conferences take place during meals, breaks, receptions and other unstructured time. Taking a tip from the growing popularity of speed dating, some conference organizers are getting good results from integrating these accelerated “structured networking times” into the event schedule. In his book Participatory Workshops, Robert Chambers presents the notion of “the buzz,” where participants are invited by speakers and session leaders to “take five” and chat with their neighbors about whatever has just been presented. This simple “learning by talking” approach is based on observed human behavior – like watching conference participants stuck in long, boring speeches champing at the bit to get out to the hallway and talk! (You should consider one of CRE’s digital recorder rentals to capture all the brilliant repartee you’ll find there.) Speed mentoring
Then, the groups stood at different sides of the room, and the inexperienced managers chose veteran partners for a discussion. After 10 minutes, right on signal, the groups would rotate into new combinations of discussion partners, with five of these rotations producing an hour of what most participants described as incredibly useful interaction with excellent results. If you equip your conference team with tablet PC rentals, they could document every mentoring session easily. Or consider polling the audience with an audience response rental to find out what they would like to discuss. Breaks and breakouts? The great thing about this kind of conference model is that it is quite flexible. One possible version of it could reverse the usual keynote/breakout formula where long speeches are followed by quick breakout sessions. In this model, the speechifying would be kept shorter and punchier, and the breakouts may be a bit longer but well paced to keep up the interest and the momentum. With audio visual rentals and plasma rentals and everything else you need for a great breakout session, CRE could help you organize a very successful speed learning conference. You could also introduce elements of the speed methods into your breakout session even if you are at a “conventional convention.” There are lots of ways to leverage these new approaches to learning. CRE has experience in strategizing and equipping companies to host conferences of all sizes, or outfitting you for exhibiting or leading breakout sessions. With everything from self-service interactive kiosk rentals to all varieties of computer rentals, CRE’s got you covered, A to Z. Call or send an e-mail to an experienced Account Executive, of fill out the Quick Rental Quote form, and we’ll help your event be a success. Apple iPhone Unlocked: More Power Unleashed?August 5th, 2010
With locked devices, iPhone users were only able to use apps from Apple, while developers had to get their software pre-approved by the Cupertino firm. Apple can still choose to disable jailbroken iPhones – with “hunter-killer” upgrades to the iOS, the iPhone/iPad/iPod touch operating system – but users are exempt from legal liability for unlocking them. Consumers become empowered In addition to jailbreaking, other new exemptions will allow iPhone and other smartphone owners to, among other things, defeat the access controls that tie their phones to a single carrier and bypass the defense systems of apps (often games) to plug security holes. The exemptions are considered a big victory by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which had urged the Library of Congress to base all rules on the simple principle that consumers actually own the high-tech devices that they buy, and should be allowed, even empowered, to modify them. The biggest change will be the arrival of scores of new apps that users can try out, whether a phone’s maker likes it or not. If you are an iPhone aficionado, it is not just about your movie-watching and game-playing. There will be a surge of R&D for apps that turn smartphones into masters of short-range control as well as long-distance calling. Smartphones can be very capable handheld controllers for presentations at conferences and three fairly mature technologies are key. Wireless technologies for communication The three most widely used short-range communications and control protocols are Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and IR (infrared). Apps built for these communication channels will, one day soon, control entire racks of audiovisual rentals from up close, upstairs or half-a-world away. With unlocked phones, even proprietary apps can be developed for a firm’s own private use, while there will likely be a lot of new goodies at Apple’s App Store (and, in the post-jailbreak era, other companies’ stores, too). You can count on all kinds of developers to come up with all kinds of different ideas to give you control over all kinds of diverse devices. With the proliferation of unlocked smart phones and further tech advances with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and IR, it won’t be long before you’ll be reprogramming your interactive kiosk rentals with a smartphone, or using your iPad to control a media player showing your presentation on one of CRE’s plasma rentals. Technology news is breaking 24/7, worldwide, and we will keep you posted on things that will help you work smarter and get better results. Smartphones are not toys to us, but powerful business tools. And when you need trade show rentals or office equipment rentals, CRE is a tool, too – your personal tool for getting the job done, whatever it is. Complete the Quick Rental Quote form, and let us know what we can help you get done. Today, tomorrow or whenever you need us, we’ll be right here – and ready! New iMacs and Other Apple GadgetsAugust 3rd, 2010Apple has done it again – and again! The Cupertino company just recently announced updates to the Mac Pros, but that was just the start, apparently. It has also retooled its iMacs, introduced some “insanely great” accessories and debuted a new, improved LED Cinema Display. Apple has been criticized in the past for over-hyping some relatively underwhelming product changes, but every one of the recent product introductions has been certifiable Big News. New and potent iMacs rental
The base 21.5-inch iMac has a 3.06 GHz Core i3 processor, an ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics card, 4 GB of RAM, a capacious 500GB hard drive and an SD card slot that’s SDXC-compatible. The upscale 21.5-inch iMac begins with a 3.2 GHz Core i3 but has an upgrade path to a 3.6 GHz Core i5 unit – plenty of oomph for running Final Cut Pro with CRE’s Aja Io HD rentals. The 27-inch model’s base unit has the same 3.2 GHz Core i3 paired with an ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics card, and has an optional 3.6 GHz Core i5. The 27-inch line-topping iMac has a 2.8 GHz Core i5 with an ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics card, with an upgrade path to a 2.93 GHz Core i7 chip and even an optional 256GB Solid State Drive (SSD). This is the kind of power and speed that used to require Mac Pro rentals. Prefer a “real world measure” to the technical terms? Put it this way: Many functions are up to two or three times faster on these new iMacs. That’s some upgrade, and it means the work you actually do will get done faster. Other new Apple gadgets Along with your iMac, or any time after you buy it, you can get yourself the new Magic Trackpad (MT), a standalone version of the built-in MacBook and MacBook Pro trackpads. The MT is wireless, like the iMac’s keyboard and Mighty Mouse (MM), and allows users to make the same multi-finger, multi-touch gestures, including swipes and zoom-pinches. To support the MT, MM and the wireless keyboard Apple has released a Battery Charger with six rechargeable batteries to cycle in and out of the units that need them. Apple also introduced its new 27-inch LED Cinema Display, replacing both the 24- and 30-inch models. The new display is, like its predecessor, an LED backlit system that supports the Mini DisplayPort-equipped iMacs, minis, Mac Pros, MacBooks and MacBook Pros. With the same 2,560 x 1,440 resolution as the 27-inch iMacs, the display will be right at home with any Mac user on any platform. It will be available in September, when CRE will add it to our wide-ranging line of LCD monitor rentals and plasma rentals that offer you every type and size of large screen you could possibly need. You know that CRE has everything you could possibly need as far as anything computer-related, but we also have you covered with entertainment industry rentals and even office equipment rentals. Call or send an e-mail to our experienced Account Executives, or fill out our Quick Rental Quote form, and get what you need to get the job done. We’re here for you, to make sure it all gets done on time, on target and on budget. |
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Digital Video Expo 2010
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