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Trade Show Highlights from E-Reader to ToysMarch 4th, 2010CRE Rentals provides news and highlights from two recent trade shows: CES and Toy Fair. 2010 CES Trade Show During the January 2010 CES show, over a dozen e-readers were displayed from both major firms (Audiovox and Samsung) to a number of smaller companies. The devices represented different approaches to the e-reader product. There were various form factors like clamshell cases and ultra-thin tablet PCs, not unlike the tablet PC rentals available from CRE, and different levels of functionality including touchscreens and handwriting capture. There were even choices of connectivity, including Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth, and some with combinations of these protocols. “Content is king” for E-Readers Don’t forget the mantra of the Internet and all connected devices: “Content is king.” Most products in this category will have to go a long way to match the content available from the market leaders, Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader. When considering content along with the tech specifications, and trying to gauge the ever-tickle consumer’s interest, one new entry does stand out. It’s the Skiff Reader, from a subsidiary of media heavyweight Hearst.
When announcing its product, Skiff also announced a comprehensive content strategy to support it. In addition, the Skiff Reader is the first e-ink product (all using licensed technology) built to display magazine and newspaper content, and both its service model and digital store are built to allow swift, simple, wireless consumer access to free and paid content from news organizations, magazines, blogs, books and other publishers. It will all be delivered fast-fast-fast over Sprint’s existing 3G, and upcoming 4G, networks. Big and “bendy” The Skiff Reader is a mere quarter-inch thick, 11.5 inches diagonally, weighs just under pound and is housed in a remarkably flexible magnesium frame. For reading and interacting with the device, the Skiff Reader uses a flexible 1200 x 1600 pixel (UXGA) touchscreen manufactured by LG from stainless-steel foil. In addition to 3G/4G service, the unit is Wi-Fi-capable, lasts over a week on a single charge and will be available at Sprint’s online and retail stores. Pricing has not yet been set. - – - A Few Laughs from Toy Fair 2010 The recent New York Toy Fair 2010 showcased scores of new toys for all ages, a few of which should put a smile on your face. One for example is the Marshmallow Blaster which is the only thing better than Nerf guns and ammo for indoor shoot-outs. The best marshmallow-shooting device at the Fair, it can fire 20 puffy rounds in a five-second burst, with a range of 40 feet. Fun! The new Hot Wheels RC Stealth Rides (image 11 of 20 in this slideshow) are Mattel’s popular radio-controlled (RC) cars scaled down to the size of a domino, and fit in a case the size of a cell phone that doubles as charger and remote control. Is there a better workplace distraction than this? Amazingly (or not), Mattel also makes an electronic dog tag that you hang on Poochie’s neck. Puppy Tweets (image 15 of 20 in the slideshow) will sense the dog’s activity levels, motions, barking and such, and transmit pre-set tweets to its own Twitter feed. You read that right. Now you can teach your dog Stupid Human Tricks! - – - CRE does not rent blasters, RC cars or canine Twitter-enablers, but we have the leading-edge all-in-one touchscreen computer rentals, LCD monitor rentals and other high-tech equipment you need to get your work finished. Deadline moved up? Hire a Final Cut expert, get one of CRE’s potent Mac Pro rentals and get the job done, bing bang boom. Know what you need already? Then use our Quick Rental Quote form and get to work fast, or contact an experienced Account Executive and figure out a solution together. We’re here to take care of business – yours! CRE Looks at “The Year of the Netbook”January 12th, 2010
The move to “pocket computers” follows the trend to smartphones, of which the iPhone and the new Google-powered Droid are prime examples. The phones are truly pocket-sized, can run tons of “apps” that are easily downloaded for low or no cost, and are great for quick messages as well as long talks. The netbooks, most with keyboards between 60-80% the size of a normal PC laptop, offer real e-mail interaction, a normal Web experience with a real browser, memory card slots, USB ports, Ethernet — wow, just like a real computer! Critical mass for netbooks Interestingly, it was the niche players — companies like Acer and Asus that were more business- than consumer-oriented, and also sold motherboards and other components — that drove the development of netbooks. Soon enough, major players like Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba and Hewlett-Packard which makes everything from netbooks to high-power desktops (available as a rental), were in the game. You won’t be doing Vegas Video editing on a netbook, and forget Final Cut Pro as Apple, despite persistent rumors, has steadfastly refused to enter the fray with a “Mac netbook.” The processors, although Intel, aren’t quad-core, dual-core or even hard-core (like some tried-and-true Pentiums). More powerful CPUs will not be possible until better battery technology is available, and dissipating heat is always a problem in small spaces where fans don’t fit. “Phone-replacement” computers? Businesses may find a use for netbooks as smartphone replacements, but they are simply not fast enough, and the screens are too small, to be true laptop replacements. If you need a powerful HP or Mac laptop in your line of work, an Atom-powered HP Mini is just not going to cut it. In fact, if you need a few laptops for your department to stay in touch at a conference, take notes, send e-mails and browse prospects’ (or competitors’) sites, you’d be pushing a poor little netbook into a nervous breakdown. As always, get the right tool for the job. If you need help figuring out just what that is, call one of our expert Account Executives today. If you like, explain your situation in an e-mail or, if you know what you need, just send us a Quick Rental Quote form. We will make sure you have exactly what you need to do the job right. Cost-Effective Training Options from CRE RentalsDecember 10th, 2009With the pace of technological change seeming to accelerate all the time, how can SMBs (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) hope to stay current? It’s not just a matter of getting the latest equipment. You also have to keep your employees updated, trained and equipped. It’s not easy, but online education of various kinds may help you. There are companies that run well-structured, highly organized online schools, and you might want to look into these. However, there are also many low- and no-cost ways to keep your employees up to date. If you work in digital media, with audio and video applications like Final Cut or Vegas—on powerful quad- and eight-core desktop computers like the Mac Pro or an H-P XW 8400 workstation—then you already know how much time it takes to stay current.
Use it or lose it? Remember, too, that the software packages you’ve invested in usually come with tutorials, online help files, sample documents and other training aids. It may be that you are well covered for software training without knowing it. In that case, extend your horizons a bit and you will discover that there is as much, or more, business and marketing training available to help you grow and expand your company. It should go without saying that most companies need a strong, compelling and (hopefully) original Web presence or “online strategy” in this day and age. Check out these excellent online webinars and seminars featuring search engine marketing topics that will help your organization “conquer” search. Low-cost training/research station One of the lesser-advertised benefits of a computer rental is training and research. In SMBs, most computers (like their users) are dedicated to certain daily tasks that are interrupted at your peril. Renting a wifi-enabled tablet PC, laptop, or desktop from CRE will keep your own assets invested in ongoing work, and allow you to keep skills updated as you rotate your computer users through a new training workstation—outfitted with free lesson plans that you’ve just learned about. Fill out our Quick Rental Quote form now and our expert Account Executives will help you set up whatever you need to keep you on the cutting edge. Let the training begin! CRE Rentals – Tech Product Update, Part 2 of 2November 5th, 2009Part 1 of this two-part update appeared Tuesday, November 3rd. As we discussed in Part 1, the pace of technological advancement is positively dizzying. How can anyone possibly keep up on all of this? Well, the folks that do—like the folks at Web sites from AnandTech to ZDNet (yes, A to Z)—pore over every announcement from thousands of manufacturers, then summarize their findings by category. That way, another “layer” of editors and helpers, like CRE, can get the info we need to keep the users of our desktop rentals and our interactive kiosks updated on just the “tech they need to know.” Without further ado, here’s more news from the leading edge of technology. HD video in the pocket
New LCD monitor
Wearable display In the “wearable monitor” market, Vizix is set to release its latest video eyewear, the Wrap 310. The new unit features a widescreen display with 428×240 screen resolution, equivalent to viewing a 55-inch screen from about 10 feet away, and runs six hours on two AA batteries. Some of the professionals currently using CRE plasma rentals and other big-screen displays for exacting, detailed work in video, post-production and design work may want to keep an eye (or both eyes) on this developing monitor technology. Even today, this unit supports every 3D video format and connects to portable DVD players, desktop computers, laptops, Blu-ray players, iPhones and iPods. Companies like Vizix claim that, within several years, most highly magnified, detailed visual editing will be done on these kinds of wearable displays. Need answers for your own technological challenges? Contact one of our experienced Account Executives—by phone or e-mail from our Contact Page—or fill out our Quick Rental Quote for a swift reply. We’re here to answer questions, offer solutions and reduce your crunch-time stress, and we’re good at it. Let us know how we can help you today. CRE Declares “Peace” in Mac-PC WarOctober 20th, 2009When Apple announced its new Macintosh in the legendary “1984” commercial during the 1984 Super Bowl, it positioned the diminutive computer as the “anti-PC.” It boasted point-and-click simplicity with its novel “mouse,” a graphical user interface with “folders” and “windows,” and the desktop “look and feel” that redefined the relationship between humans and computers. Now, 25 years later, that little breadbox with the 9-inch grayscale screen has evolved into the potent Mac product line of laptops. iMacs, servers—and the creative pro’s number one favorite, the Mac Pro. Add Apple’s Final Cut software and an AJA Io HD rental from CRE Rentals and you have an editing and post-production solution that puts you in the big leagues. There are certainly some cutting-edge PCs out there, and some very good Windows software, too, but somehow the Mac made a splash with creative types, from art directors to filmmakers. Chips and dips
And today? Today, all new Macs have Intel CPUs, and powerful ones, at that. On Intel Macs, like the iMac rental available from CRE, you can run Windows both natively and under virtualization (with such products as VMware and Parallels Desktop). If you have a business and you’re upgrading workstations, you only need a couple of iMacs to replace whatever office PCs you’re running. Covering all the bases If your demands are a little greater, upgrade to the Mac Pro rental to keep all your work going forward in both OS environments. The quad- or 8-core Mac Pro will fill the bill no matter how much horsepower you require—for animation, video and audio work, Web and publishing layouts, 3D, texture mapping and the whole range of high-intensity creative jobs. In fact, no matter what the job—on a Mac or PC, for office applications, interactive presentations or video editing—CRE has got you covered when you need a potent computer workstation rental. Truce time There is little left of the bitter Mac-PC war. Apple’s devices, from its computers to its non-Mac products like the iPhone, iPod and iTunes money makers, prove their productivity every day. In addition, all tech professionals respect the power, affordability and utility of the best PCs, like the powerhouse HP XW 8400 that CRE rents. Macs are shining so brightly these days that they may steal a little bit of the late-October limelight that Microsoft was hoping to keep focused on its Windows 7 release (learn more about Windows 7 features). Apple sales are big, for Macs, iPhones and iPods, and ongoing improvements to the MacBook line (like MacBook Pro rentals) have lifted Apple’s laptop sales figures to double that of its desktops. Our expert Account Executives can show you how two former foes, the Mac and the PC, can work together to bring you solutions for events, trade shows, rush jobs and creative “crunch time.” Contact one of our Account Executives by e-mail or phone, or use our online Quick Rental Quote form, today. Who do you think won the battle? We would love to hear from you. Making Hit Movies With MacsSeptember 1st, 2009What we now know as Apple Final Cut Pro, now in version 7 while the Studio package is in version 2, was actually created by Macromedia. That’s the company that took over the venerable FreeHand vector drawing program way back when, and also brought Dreamweaver (née GoLive), Flash and a few other goodies along when Adobe absorbed them in 2005. Long story short, Macromedia brought a beta version of a program called KeyGrip to the National Association of Broadcasters convention in 1998 (NAB1998) but found no takers. In somewhat of a strategic move, Apple bought up the KeyGrip code and the team that birthed it, added Firewire and DV support, continued developing the product and released it at NAB1999 as Final Cut Pro (FCP). Meanwhile, its old code and low optimization took Adobe Premiere’s Mac market share steadily downward, to the point that Premiere Pro became a Windows-only product at about the turn of the millennium. Starting then, however, FCP began making serious inroads into the Hollywood movie scene, and by 2007 it had just about half (49%) of the domestic professional editing market, compared to 22% for Avid. It began with a teen flick Demonstrating the power and potential of a consumer (more like “prosumer”) product, the teen movie Rules of Attraction was edited on a beta release of FCP3 in 2001. This made the film’s director, Roger Avary, something of an unofficial spokesman for Apple’s editing software, which caused a few industry pros—editors, directors of photography, directors, producers—to take notice. The entertainment world as a whole then noticed, and FCP won an Emmy in 2002 for its “impact on the television industry.”
Gaining momentum still There is no doubt that FCP’s involvement in the production of the 2008 Brad Pitt hit, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, sent a powerful “get on board” message to filmmakers still undecided about the software. The movie led the year’s Oscar nominations with a baker’s dozen (13, remember?) and was noteworthy for the excellent look and seamless special effects. Renting CRE’s Mac Pro with FCP gets you the same power that brought a bucket of Oscar noms to this well-regarded film. Even before Benjamin Button, however, a long list of first-rate films attested to the growing power and popularity of Apple’s editing package (see Mac Movies List, below), including multiple Oscar-winner Cold Mountain, Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima and the Best Movie of 2008, No Country for Old Men. Big help for small films It’s not only big studios and bankable stars that benefit from the Mac’s creative muscle. Able Edwards, made in 2004 by director Graham Robertson and producer Steve Soderbergh, was shot on a small Hollywood green-screen stage in 15 days on a $30,000 budget. It was edited on a single PowerMac G4 with a mere 2GB of RAM, using FCP alongside Maya, QuickTime and Adobe Photoshop. Five years later, the iMacs that CRE rents have many times the power of that G4, so a low-cost rental can put you in the race for Oscar gold—assuming you have a great script, a talented cast and a distribution deal (YouTube may do in a pinch). As far as a “movie on a shoestring” story, there’s an even better one. Johnatan Caouette made his a 2003 documentary film, Tarnation, on an iMac for a final budget of $281. If you think that’s impressive, he didn’t even use FCP, he did it all with iMovie. Incredibly, the distributor spent over 1,400 times more (nearly $400,000) promoting the flick and bringing it to theaters. Caouette didn’t even have an external hard drive for storage, much less a RAID array like CRE rents, and dealt with iMovie’s limitations by producing 15 minutes of the film at a time. He would then dump each segment onto his Hi-8 tape master, delete it from the iMac and start up on the next piece. Where there’s a will, there’s a way—but where there’s a Mac, it’ll save the day. If you are thinking of giving Universal and Paramount some competition, and need a little extra post-production prowess, CRE is here with the right solutions. One of our specialties is supporting animators, editors and special effect pros in the entertainment industry, so contact us by filling out the CRE Quick Quote Rental Form , calling us toll-free at (877) 266-7725 or sending an e-mail for a quick, courteous and knowledgeable response. - – - – - – - – - - Major films edited with FCP: Black Snake Moan Hollywood Early Adopters Push the Digital EnvelopeAugust 25th, 2009Just about everyone except government bureaucrats has learned that decentralizing operations, facing stiff competition and staying up to speed with new technology makes you more efficient. Being more efficient in business, of course, leads to profitability, which translates to “staying in business.” CRE stays in business, of course, by helping other people get their own business done faster and better. Whether it’s setting you up with a Mackie 16 Channel mixer for your annual meeting, or producing that entire corporate event for you, we’re here with solutions. Hollywood, being a pretty cutthroat business environment, is always seeking the better, faster, more efficient and effective solutions. In fact, the town is a veritable living laboratory of experimentation and progress. From the biggest board rooms to the lowest-rent lofts, the entertainment industry is full of technology early adopters, “idea people” and non-stop dreamers leveraging the newest tech to make the latest Shrek. Plenty of production pros rent Kona-card video-editing workstations from CRE when they need some extra muscle for a big project, while marketing mavens use our Audience Response Systems for focus groups and film feedback. Below you will meet three people who are in the Movie Biz Tech Vanguard, which we would consider abbreviating MBTV except that Monsignor Bonner TV, a club at Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill, PA, already has that acronym. Anyway, let’s meet a few members of the Hollywood tech elite. Steven Soderbergh, Director Since dropping out of college and making sex, lies and videotape, Steven Soderbergh Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group No one used to think of the big, old-line film studios as being early adopters, but one studio has been out front in recognizing the huge upside of DVDs and other digital delights. It’s Warner Bros. Robert Rodriguez, Director Hollywood has really taken to Robert Rodriguez’s “new movie math.” For his first film in 1993, El Mariachi, he took $7,000, added a digital camera and came up with a total of over two million bucks in box office. Since then, he has made Desperado, the Spy Kids trilogy and Sin City, as well as the two-part Grindhouse with his pal, Quentin Tarantino. His cumulative box office over about 16 years totals $600 million or so. A real digital dynamo, Besides these high-profile professionals, there are thousands of artists, writers, designers, animators and even accountants using digital technology to keep the movie biz humming. If you’re an entertainment industry pro, and you need some extra processing power for your latest gig, complete the quick one-click rental quote form from CRE, call us toll-free at (877) 266-7725 or send an e-mail for a quick, comprehensive response. Harvesting Entertainment from Render FarmsJune 4th, 2009Before the present Digital Everything Era, film editing was accomplished with the aid of complex, Rube Goldberg-like electromechanical contraptions—plus seasoned professionals wielding sharp razors. Classic animated films owe their existence to small armies of illustrators, colorists and photographers—plus other seasoned professionals wielding sharp eyes. Both kinds of productions were labor-intensive, costly, time-consuming, repetitive and tedious. We are now three decades into the modern computer era, dating from around the time that serious processing power began landing on desktops. The new personal computers (PC’s) eventually evolved to give these animators and filmmakers, as well as the rest of us running businesses or playing games, capable combos of hardware and software onto which we could dump our labor-intensive, costly, time-consuming, repetitive and tedious tasks. Perhaps the most powerful symbol of how far we have come is the “render farm.” Farms in Hollywood?
However, even with the fastest individual PC or 8-core Mac Pro, there can be a lack of computing power when it comes to rendering—performing the final output—from one of these software programs. While an editor or artist will use a single workstation to create and modify their movie or animated film, they can avail themselves of a group of networked computers—the render farm—to output their files into the final product we will see on screen. This means that the creative process can continue on a standalone workstation while the render farm crunches the numbers to produce those final, finished images. No more bottlenecks .. rent a PC or Mac CRE has been configuring render farm rentals from fast PCs and Macs for years, supporting the work of animators, filmmakers, video game artists and post-production professionals. When projects start backing up, clients have a rush job or a system goes on the fritz, entertainment industry veterans know that renting a PC-, Mac Pro- or Xserve-based render farm from CRE can be configured, flight checked and on its way to Ground Zero in no time. Considering the price tag on these potent computers and high-end graphics software, a render farm rental is a cost-effective way to get the work done (fast!) without making a five-figure purchase. We have pre-configured our capable “render farm toolboxes” to handle most anything you throw at them. An extra 16GB of RAM in the 8-core Mac Pro rentals and the crystal clear, accurate color of the 23-inch Apple Cinema Display HD monitors add serious muscle to these state-of-the-art workstations (and we have 30-inch displays, too). When you request a render farm rental quote from CRE you can specify exactly what you need, tell us precisely what you’re doing and be 100% sure that our Account Executives will configure and deliver not just hardware and software, but an efficient, effective solution to your production bottleneck. |
The only thing constant is change, right? This past year proved that the computer industry still had product niches left to develop and exploit. The rise of the “netbook” – a low- to medium-power, small-format computer with a bright screen, built-in WiFi, and basic productivity software that will never be confused for a rootin’ tootin’ laptop, like the new 
For your other employees, perhaps working with continuously upgraded software like office applications and operating systems, you can save money by locating some 
JVC’s latest pocket camcorder, the GC-FM1 Picsio, has four video and camera modes. You can record 1440 x 1080p video at 30fps (that’s HD, folks) and take 3264 x 2448 still images. Video is saved in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format to SD/SDHC memory cards up to 32 GB in size. Image stabilization minimizes camera shake even when using the 4X digital zoom, and high-end features include CMOS sensor and HDMI connectivity (currently the top digital transfer standard). In the hands of the kinds of pros that CRE knows, the video is good enough to import to Final Cut Pro for editing with a 
The 1980s and 1990s brought one pitched battle after another, which grew into a war between the Mac and everything associated with the PC. Apple’s CPU maker, Motorola, today a major cellphone maker, was the good guy, and even made 
has won awards while establishing himself as one of film’s frontline innovators. In 2005—eons ago in “tech time”—he shot 
Now that the DVD cash cow is drying up, Warner has chosen Kevin Tsujihara to lead it into the next Land of Milk and Money. Tsujihara was promoted in 2007 to head video on demand, wireless, online operations, games, antipiracy initiatives and other leading-edge matters. Now president of all home entertainment operations, Tsujihara is mixing it up big-time by using state-of-the-art in-house digital departments as well as small specialty firms like 
Rodriguez lives in Austin, TX, relies on broadband to stay in touch with creative folks around the country (including “the suits” in Tinseltown) and has helped convince Tarantino, once a “celluloid purist,” of the wonders of digital technology. Rodriguez is a known 
