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iPad Drives Conference Attendees to Websites

November 30th, 2011

Recent studies show that the popular iPad rental is an increasingly significant source of web traffic in the U.S. With a little planning – and some strategic insight into the ever-busier two-way street of mobile media – you can attend conferences and be confident in your ability to drive attendees to your website with iPad. Here’s how.

Traffic leader

The respected web analytics firm, comScore, reports that smartphones and tablets (from iPhones to WiFi-enabled tablet PC rentals) accounted for nearly 7% of total U.S. web traffic in August 2011. About two-thirds of that was from phones, the balance from tablets. Astonishingly, the iPad grabbed over 97% of tablet traffic.

But the iPad is also driving more web traffic than Apple’s own iPhone – a 46.8% share of all traffic originating from iOS devices (again, in August), as opposed to the iPhone’s 42.6%. Tellingly, the total iOS share of U.S. mobile web traffic that month was 58.5% – that’s market penetration, folks. This is true despite the continuing growth of Android, which just released version 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”).

In the mix of communication

Clearly, the iPad is right “in the mix” when it comes to communications today. What makes it so potent as a marketing device – before, during and after conferences – is its portability, for one thing. But the real power lies in its “double connectivity” (WiFI and cell) and all the great apps that have been customized for it. Although the MacBook Pro is portable, too, Apple’s tablet is supremely flexible, adaptable and focused.

With access to e-mail, social networking sites and the rest of the web, you can use your iPad in real-time from your exhibit booth to draw attendees there. In addition to communications apps, the iPad has a full array of office tools for creating, editing, printing, sending and otherwise managing all of your marketing materials. You can announce breakout sessions, invite participants to interactive presentations powered by Audience Response Systems (ARS) and steer attendees to both your booth and your website.

Bottom line for business professionals

According to comScore, in 2010 over 115 million Americans used mobile devices to browse the web, use/download apps or access content. This is nearly 20% greater than just the previous year – and the numbers are even more impressive among business users. Whether using a PC desktop computer rental or a mobile device, business users have come to depend on the ability to reach their targets – worldwide, around town and in a sea of conference attendees.

When you need more than just an Xserve RAID array or other high-tech tool – when you need a solution, a plan, a strategy – you need CRE. One call or e-mail, or one visit to our Quick Rental Quote online form, and an Account Executive is on the job for you. Just let us know what you need to do!

Happy Thanksgiving from CRE Rentals

November 24th, 2011

Hooray For Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving dinner;
Let’s not be late;
There’s lots of good food,
So fill up your plate.
With pie at the end,
It can’t be beat;
Hooray for Thanksgiving,
There’s so much to eat!
By Karl Fuchs

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving.

Your Friends at

Video Conferencing Options from Free to Customized

November 22nd, 2011

Making video calls is easier and cheaper than ever. Home users can start with just a webcam and headset for video conferencing with family and friends, while businesses can choose from “industrial strength” online services and native, in-house systems. Let’s take a look at the whole range of video conferencing options from free to customized.

Free and low-cost video conferencing

Video Conferencing Skype, one of the first video calling services, is still the most popular VoIP voice and chat application. Only one-to-one communication is supported without adding (and debugging) third-party plug-ins. But Skype runs on everything, from an iPad rental or iPhone, to laptops and desktops running Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.

ooVoo, another free video conferencing service, supports up to six users, plus video mail. Because the service has its own servers, it can offer good quality.

SightSpeed is a free PC-based calling and one-party video-conferencing application. At just $4.95 monthly, the paid service adds video mail, multi-user capability and file sharing. Running on All-In-One Multitouch Display PC, SightSpeed calling is like stepping into a Sci-Fi Channel feature.

Yugma offers free teleconferencing for as many as 10 participants. Like Skype, it is compatible with the three major OS packages, and the paid version supports up to 500 participants.

Tokbox offers free video conferencing with up to six users via your browser, making it the best kind of video conferencing on a PC Desktop Computer Rental – there’s nothing to download or install.

iChat is the messaging, VoIP and video conferencing application installed on all Macintoshes, like a iMac rental. A feature-rich solution, it requires you to have an AppleID or AOL account to do video calling.

Business services

Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional combines powerful audio and video conferencing, file sharing and a whiteboard – a “complete web communications solution” – in various pay-per-use plans with flexible pricing. Free trials can be arranged.

AT&T Connect, especially designed for corporate use, has scalable IP software architectures for voice and video communication. Partially hosted and partially on-site, firms negotiate a fixed price for either defined or unlimited usage.

WebEx – a paid video conferencing, chat and file sharing service – works with an installed application. A 14-day free trial lets you work with as many as 10 total participants, and paid solutions can be tailored for small, medium or large companies.

Companies with enough money (and need) can build custom in-house systems. The cost for a wall-size screen and all the other bells and whistles can be six figures or more.

In the meantime, whatever you need in high-tech gear, like a screaming-fast Mac Pro for post-production or some heavy-duty RAID storage, we’re here for you. One call, one-email or a few clicks on our Quick Rental Quote form, and an experienced Account Manager will help you overcome whatever challenges you face!

Top 5 Creative Uses for the Mac mini

November 17th, 2011

Although Apple does not capitalize the model name “mini,” the smallest Macintosh has still earned a reputation as “the little Mac that could.” Although it is always a generation behind in the CPU department, both G4 and Intel minis are popping up in some interesting places. Here are the top five creative uses for the Mac mini.

Mac Mini

1). Network storage – Soon, every office (and home) will need a central hub for storage, so Network Attached Storage (NAS) is going to proliferate. A new iMac would be overkill, but the Mac mini is ideal, with both wireless remote access and Gigabit Ethernet for heavy transfers. Post-production pros require our Xserve RAID with its swift 2Gb Fibre Channel interface, but small-to-medium sized businesses can do well with the mini.

2). Videoconferencing – With a little effort, you can connect an iSight camera and a DVI-to-S-Video adapter to the mini and use a TV set for videoconferencing. You can use it for business, or set it up with a wireless ADSL router and Apple Remote Desktop and run it remotely for less-techie colleagues. You could also insert an iPad rental into the mix as a remote control with the right apps.

3). Office automation – For post-production, you need a potent Mac Pro. But even the “lowly” mini makes a great office automation server. One of the first (and best) basic automation programs is Indigo, and the new version supports both Insteon and X10 devices.

4). Media hub – You can configure the mini as a media server, connecting it to something like our LCD touchscreen monitor rental. Add the Mac’s “cover flow” interface for instant access to music and movies, then enjoy! You can set custom schedules for different playlists based on time of day, weather, etc.

5). Conversion strategy – After upgrading to a new Mac, some mini owners have given their little Macs to parents, siblings or friends to replace Windows PCs. Once they use a Mac, many “PC forever” folks make the change (yes, it’s a two-way street). Minis of any vintage are capable computers if you know their limits (forget gaming and complex 3D work, for instance).

Honorable mentions

• You can attach a Firewire drive to a mini and use it as a file server for storage/streaming of HD video. Even an old G4 won’t break a sweat.

• Presenters can use minis for Power Point presentations, and by attaching a digitizer tablet they can demonstrate solutions right inside Power Point. Great idea!

Here’s another great idea: Call CRE when you need the right solution, right now. From trade show convention rentals to the latest and greatest high-end technology, we’re the one-stop shop. One call, one e-mail or one short visit to our Quick Rental Quote form, and you are ready to knock down those obstacles and get the job done!

Gear & Gadgets: November Update

November 15th, 2011

In our “Gear & Gadget Updates”, CRE Rentals looks for things that are convenient and clever, helpful and hip, new and newsworthy – and this time we are focusing on smart solutions to common problems.

Boogie Board Rip LCD writing tablet

The newest Boogie Board Rip LCD writing tablet from Kent Displays is the first one that can save your notes and sketches. With the introduction of this new model, the firm now offers a comprehensive line of “eWriters” that are viable, paperless alternatives to other media. Unlike Windows-based tablet PC rentals, however, the Boogie Boards do not convert handwriting to text, but save everything as high-resolution PDF files. The addition of handwriting recognition in the future will make the Boogie Boards even more valuable than they already are.

A beast of a bag

The Bheestie Bag (pronounced “beastie”) is a welcome solution to a very common problem – wet mobile devices. Surely you – okay, someone you know – must have dropped a phone or mp3 player in the sink, toilet or pool. The Bheestie Bag is made to save that electronic gizmo by pulling the moisture out. Unzip the Bheestie Bag and place the drenched device in it, and the special beads do their work.

The company tested the bag (so you don’t have to) with phones and other handheld devices like our digital recorder rentals. The product dimensions are not given, but the testimonials include success stories with cameras, and the bag appears large enough for small tablets with 7″ screens, too. For about $20, it seems like good insurance.

USB chargers for iPod, iPhone and iPad

It’s always smart to have extra chargers for your mobile devices, and two new products worth a look: the InCharge Home USB and the Energizer USB Charger. They both have 10 watts of power, both are designed for the same types of devices and both solve another common problem – staying “powered up” on the go. Whether it’s your smart phone or an iPad rental, you’re covered.

The InCharge model’s thin wall plug has flip-out prongs, making it easy to share wall outlets. (The Energizer’s plug is similar but somewhat thicker.) If you’re a seasoned techie traveling with a MacBook Pro, you can recharge many devices from its USB ports. But millions of people don’t travel with a laptop, so the InCharge and Energizer products are real problem-solvers. The InCharge costs a bit more than the Energizer, but both are affordable if you shop wisely.

At CRE, we know value, just as we know technology, and that’s why we are the premier source for convention, trade show, audio-visual, computer and post-production solutions. From mass storage to Audience Response Systems (ARS), out expert Account Executives can help you achieve your goal, too. One call or e-mail, or a few clicks on our Quick Rental Quote form, and you are ready to roll!

All About Solid State Drives (SSDs)

November 10th, 2011

Solid State Drives (SSDs) store data on flash memory, like a USB thumb drive, instead of on rotating magnetic platters, like hard drives. They are a cool but costly way to give your computer a major performance boost. Because some people have had problems adjusting to this new technology, we are sharing with you the real-world pluses and minuses of owning a solid state drive.

Plus: Speed and Performance

SSDs connect to your computer the same way other drives do – from good old SATA to the new Thunderbolt on the Macbook Pro and other new Macs – so where do the performance gains come from? Simple: No moving parts. It’s almost (not quite) like having your data in RAM all the time, that’s how fast the electronic read/write speeds are. (Here’s a technical discussion if you want it.)

Plus: Ease of Transition and Use

Whether you have a VAIO or an iMac, your computer treats the SSD like any other drive. Some people use SSDs as a boot drive for the operating system (OS) and applications, keeping documents on another drive. Other users have an SSD as their only drive, although prices will have to come down before the average computer owner can do that. The biggest selling SSDs right now are 64GB.

Plus: Innovation

SSDs are larger versions of the flash memory in our iPad rental. Fast, light, dependable and nearly immune to vibration, SSDs are already better than hard drives, and will keep coming down in price (see below), so there may be much greater storage capacity in the iPad 3. We’ll see!

Minus: Cost

A price check done this week found a cost of $1-2 per GB for a bare SSD drive, depending on size and model. A 2TB hard drive sells for as little as $70, or 3.5 cents per GB, so we could outfit a Mac Pro with multiple hard drives for very little money. With volume, the price will come down, but right now SSDs are not economically viable for many users.

Minus: Capacity

Right now, SSDs have far less storage capacity than similarly priced hard drives. There are 500GB models, but they cost up to $1,000. Still, for the time being, any modern computer like CRE’s PC desktop computer rentals can be outfitted with the OS and applications on a (smaller) SSD and store lower-priority files on a different (larger) hard drive.

Bottom line

Gamers, artists, A/V engineers and the kind of post-production professionals that use our render farms can benefit from using SSDs as a boot-and-app drive. Speed gains are impressive for heavy users, so an economic case can be made for their use of SSDs. For everyone else, SSDs will be a viable option when today’s high-end systems become the low-end ones of tomorrow.

For the best of today’s (and tomorrow’s) technology, CRE is your one-stop shop. Call or send an-mail, or, to speed things up even more, use the Quick Rental Quote form. Remember, we’re here to solve problems – yours!

How Mobile Tech Is Changing Post-Production

November 8th, 2011

“The only constant in life is change.” There’s another old saying about life’s promises – something about “death and taxes” – but we’ll leave that for the philosophers. For the present purpose, “change” means “progress,” such as the use of powerful new mobile technologies (“mobile tech”) at both ends of the entertainment media spectrum, creation and consumption.

Mobile Technology

New, smaller “targets”

On the creation side, mobile tech changed entertainment production and post-production by bringing additional target devices to the broadcast/distribution mix. Instead of preparing final output for just movie screens, TV or color print jobs, production pros now have smart phones, tablets, game consoles and iPad rental to consider. People are consuming content by the cyberbushel these days on all these devices.

The pros that produce all this content are doing so in new, decentralized ways because that same mobile tech keeps them plugged in to their production cycles from afar. The main challenge for content creators is preparing the vast majority of media that is going to be broadcast via live streaming. Apple, among many other firms, knows that the future of broadcast is the Internet, and has crafted super-potent hardware like the Mac Pro and flexible software like Final Cut to take us there. In the field of mobile tech, continuing education is not optional.

Enabling technologies

Already a media pro favorite, the iPad has over a dozen apps for remote control of a computer. Other mobile tech advances enable post pros to control their computers remotely via smart phones, Android tablets or a MacBook Pro, as well. And there are plenty of other mobile tech tools that empower the “virtual team” model – audio- and/or video-conferencing, e-mail, instant messaging and collaborative work environments (think Google Docs or iCloud) where project information and documentation can be shared.

Creative work can be done on a PC desktop computer rental in L.A. and integrated into workflows in India, Ireland or Italy, if need be, but when personal contact is required, many teams use video for virtual meetings. Both in-house solutions and “pre-fab” conference websites like LiveMeeting are critical for teams distributed across cities, states and nations. All major operating systems (OS) and environments that connect to the Internet will support this kind of collaboration, so Mac OSX, iOS 5, Android 3.0, Windows 7 and Linux users are all welcome to team up, virtually speaking.

Bottom line

Of course, it bears repeating that managing production and post-production does not depend on what kind of smart phone apps you have, or whether you’re working on a PC or an iMac. It comes down to planning, execution and oversight, all of which depend on good communication. Good communication is good management, all other things being equal.

Mobile tech has changed production in the entertainment industry, it’s true, but there’s another old saying about change that you should remember: The more things change, the more they stay the same. This applies to CRE, because no matter how far technology advances, you can count on us to be right on the leading edge. A call or e-mail is all it takes to get an experienced Account Executive on the job for you, or you can use the Quick Rental Quote form if you know what you need. Whatever the challenge, CRE is here to empower you.

PC Personalities vs. Apple Attitudes

November 3rd, 2011

Some Information Age pundits think that PC and Mac users are innately different kinds of individuals. A 2009 study resulted in some intriguing findings, shedding light on the characteristics of the two main (self-selected) groups of computer users. The differences go far beyond a predisposition toward a certain computer or operating system (OS). So, what are the differences between “Macsters” and “PC people,” and do they matter?

Some major findings

• PC users like well-defined, structured jobs. Mac users like flexible, fluid ones.

• PC users consider “works of art” to be paintings of people or nature. Mac users choose objects or architecture, and consider the award-winning designs of the iMac and other Apple computers “good art,” too.

• PC users think “There’s Something About Mary” is a good comedy. Mac users like “Little Miss Sunshine.”

• PC users consider themselves rational and are oriented toward numbers. Mac users are intuitive, conceptual and geared toward words and images – among the reasons that iPad rental has the new, icon-based iOS.

• PC users typically buy clothes at department or discount stores. Mac users like unique/boutique shops.

PC people: Genetic or tribal?

Some of these differences may arise from the nature of Microsoft’s and Apple’s founders, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Gates was a child prodigy, scored 1590 on his SATs and went to Harvard University (but dropped out). Jobs wasn’t a brainy type, as Steve Wozniak had that role, but his marketing genius and design sense – from the looks of the original Bondi Blue iMac to the uniquely efficient interior of the potent Mac Pro – account for a huge part of Apple’s success.

Many PC users originally came from a programming background, and PC users still tend to be more down-to-earth if a bit “tribal” or insular. Whether using a standard desktop PC or an all-in-one multitouch display PC, they prefer function over form, like to get the job done and don’t need flash or gimmickry. Practicality reigns in their choice of such things as cars and clothes, too, and the Windows 7 “I’m a PC” commercials suggest a certain ordinariness that some find reassuring.

Mac folks: Just different?

One of Apple’s longtime slogans, “Think different,” urged Mac users to avoid conformity and be themselves. They are more attentive to modern art, independent films and whatever helps them express their unique identities, which are nicely displayed in a Hunch.com infographic.

If Apple continues its mainstream growth, but doesn’t give its loyal customers the feeling of individuality that they want, then all bets are off. On the other hand, CRE is a sure bet. We’re experts in everything from trade show conventional rentals to high-end post-production computer gear. One call (or e-mail) puts an experienced Account Executive on the job for you, or you can use the Quick Rental Quote form if you know what you need. PC or Mac — we’re ready with the right solution, right now!

Hollywood: Greenest of Them All?

November 1st, 2011

Hollywood: Greenest of Them All? Hollywood has been “talking the green talk” in movies and TV shows for some 30 years now, promoting sustainability, energy savings and green ideals like CRE’s all the while. Like any other group of people, of course, not all of them practiced what they preached, and critics still claim that Hollywood productions are plagued with waste and overspending.

With today’s economic challenges, cutting waste by going green is a perfect strategy for a Hollywood that already drives Priuses, eats granola, recycles and loves Apple’s iMac (because it’s green and insanely great). By adopting sustainable production techniques and rejecting waste and excess, is Hollywood now becoming the greenest of them all?

Hollywood Greens get organized

The Environmental Media Association (EMA) started its Green Seal program in 2003. EMA’s president, Debbie Levin, called on some of her board members – actors Wendy Malick and Ed Begley, Jr., producer Bill Gerber, Fox chief Kevin Reilly and others – to come up with energy-saving, waste-reducing ideas that would do some good “without driving the crews crazy.” They did so, establishing a comprehensive EMA best practices guide that continues to evolve to this day.

The EMA guide essentially walks production crews through a detailed process of “greening” their shows, covering everything from set construction to computerized reporting. As experts in post-production, computers, audiovisual equipment rentals and event production services, CRE knows that part of the “green solution” is energy-saving technology. Another important part, of course, is how you use it.

Wide-ranging changes

The general goal of “going green” means cutting inefficiencies, reducing waste and designing sustainable systems, and Hollywood set managers started making changes. Every department and every production step was up for greening – post-production, too, where the efficient use of render farms saves time and money (especially if you rent render farm). Some changes were obvious, some were subtle, but they showed a comprehensive approach that still continues:

Construction chiefs are now sourcing sustainably-harvested lumber and using alternative power sources where possible.

Shooting scripts use many reams of paper and are typically sent via messenger to sets on a daily basis, but tablet PC rentals are just one of the paperless solutions to this distribution challenge.

From actors to electricians, everyone’s drinking bottled water on set, so installing water filtration systems for people with reusable containers is a no-brainer.

“Craft services” (food providers) produce huge amounts of garbage that is compostable (perishable foods) and other trash that should be compostable paper (plates, cups) but are typically plastic and Styrofoam. Our iPad rental can be outfitted with apps showing you how to calculate the quantities, order the compostable supplies and add the resulting waste to your compost heap.

Apple’s ever-greener Mac Pro features the latest, greatest, greenest technology yet, with similar energy-saving changes showing up in PC desktop computer rental inventory. One call or e-mail – or a few clicks on our Quick Rental Quote page – will put an expert Account Executive on the job for you, crafting the perfect “green” solution for your unique challenges.