We’ll call that the good news. And the bad? The cloud computing options are seemingly limitless. That a list of just the “top firms” in cloud computing runs to 100 is a sign of just how big this latest top-down paradigm shift might be. For now, though, the whole thing still seems big and a bit unwieldy – and hard to explain in the desktop computing vocabulary most people have learned via basic home and office use.

The real problem with “the cloud”

There is a dizzying array of activities surrounding “the cloud,” but that’s not really the problem – having choices is a good thing. But it gets complicated when you have to decide on vendors, choose commercial vs. open-source solutions, ensure the “portability” of applications among various clouds and so on. For individuals and firms exclusively using the Mac Pro or other Macs, Apple has a top-down solution in iCloud. But for PC users and mixed environments (like most companies), it can be messy.

Running a business has never been more complicated than it is now. Everyone is talking about “cloud projects” but your IT manager (or outsourced service) spends 70-80% of the time (and budget) just keeping things running. Now, if you’re a small post-production firm handling your own IT you may be comfortable with high-tech gear like a Xserve RAID rental but confused by all these cloud offerings. And it’s expensive to acquire the right skills whether you promote internally, retrain, cross-train, get a consultant or hire a full-time expert.

Public or private?

For larger firms a Private Cloud may be worth a look, so study the best practices of current Public Cloud operators like Netflix to see what you can implement. And it’s not just about what happens in the office. If you outfit your conference team with  iPad rentals you’ll want access to your cloud for PDF brochures and other data. Universal access is one of the main reasons to have a cloud.

From chaos and confusion comes opportunity, as long as you’re open to change, new ideas and an incremental (read “cautious”) approach. We’re experiencing an historic change in computing and communications that will affect businesses on many levels. How inventors, vendors, businesses and individuals handle the challenges will chart the course of IT for the next decade or two. It should be interesting!

For event production rentals or post-production gear, CRE is your one-stop shop. We can support your cloud project with a room full of iMac rentals or mass storage. One call or e-mail does it – and if you know what you need already, use the Quick Rental Quote form.

Despite a few years of expensive, celebrity-filled ads aimed at getting folks excited about 3D TVs, monitors, smart phone screens, tablets and mobile gaming devices, pretty much everything “3D” has come up way short of the hype. Frankly, 3D has to be one of the biggest technology flops of the admittedly young 21st century, despite little islands of development or adoption. TV makers went full speed ahead, marketing 3D as if it were as “ready for prime time” as the mature technology in plasma displays, LCD touchscreen monitor rental and other state-of-the-art screens. It wasn’t.

Niches, not riches

Apparently many manufacturers felt that 3D was the natural upgrade path for all the flat screens in the world. Unfortunately, those unpredictable consumers were not ready to replace their still-new HDTVs just to watch the few good 3D offerings. And some of the “active” 3D glasses sell for up to $100, a very expensive proposition for a family. So much for the mass market.

Although 3D technology for TV is still a work in progress, the price and the discomfort are major factors to it not being adopted by everyone. There is also the fact that some users of 3DTVs have complained about feeling sick and having headaches after viewing programming on 3DTV.

There is also a lack of content in 3DTV even though some of the big broadcasters have aired programs especially in 3D. Unfortunately, they were all one-off attempts, and there is no proper 3D channel of programming available. There are DVDs of 3D movies available which allow users to recreate the 3DTV effect at home but not everyone wants to watch 3D movies at home as its cheaper to watch them in the cinema on a larger screen.

3D TV could easily work well for gamers who would go for it but it does not have a place for normal TV viewing or watching movies. The biggest sign to prove that 3D TV is a flop is when the biggest 3D hit of all times “Avatar” came out only on Blu Ray and had no support for 3D.

Although 3D technology isn’t widely used, there are lots of other technology gadgets that are. From HD plasma rentals to renting iPad 2, CRE Rentals has the latest gear in stock and ready to deliver. Complete a Request for Quote or call us so we can help you figure out what works best for you.

Apple’s 2012 strategy

The real action at the Cupertino company in 2011 was with its iOS devices, which will continue to be the firm’s big newsmakers in 2012. One thing we know:  iPad rental will have a “3″ at the end of its model name. It seems pretty clear that Apple’s big-ticket product in the first half of 2012 will be the iPad 3, with the iPhone 5 debuting in the second half of the year. We will take a look at the iPhone in an upcoming blog – the iPad 3 is the first order of business this year.

Despite the proliferation of mobile devices like tablet PC rentals, Apple will doubtless continue to rule the market in tablets (and smart phones). There are literally dozens of iPad-centric sites, but the original is iLounge, and its recent coverage of iPad 3 rumors (and others) is cautious and thankfully un-hyped.

Where was iPad 2 weak?

The iPad 2 added some potent new features to the original model, but still failed to live up to several expectations. The dual-core A5 chip was a bona fide improvement, but both cameras in the iPad 2 are somewhat underwhelming compared to some competitors. Not for long. All this will change with third iteration of the iPad, which will likely feature an A6 processor and new, high-definition cameras, probably the same ones that will end up in a revamped MacBook rental line, too.

When the new iPad does launch, it will probably cannibalize sales of the iPad 2. However, this gives Apple the opportunity to place its legacy model in the mid-range tablets market, currently topped by Amazon’s new $199 Kindle Fire. Despite a great deal of speculation about Apple introducing a “mini” version of its hit tablet, or putting the iOS in a downsized MacBook Air, but there has been no evidence of this being seriously considered.

CRE Rentals stays abreast of technology and supports all your important work, from intense post-production tasks with an AJA Io HD to conference breakout sessions with our first-rate trade show convention rentals. Our expert Account Executives will respond swiftly to your call or e-mail, or you can speed things along even faster with our Quick Rental Quote form. When you’re ready, we’ll be here to help!

Netflix

This web innovator was too smart for its own good when it decided to spin off the DVD-delivery service as Qwikster. The move showed the worst possible timing, as the company had just doubled rates on its combo DVD+streaming plan. Netflix had a one-stop shop to order DVD deliveries or stream movies to any web-connected device – HDTV, MacBook Pro, smart phone – but users would now be forced to go to a different website for each service. Netflix reversed its decision within a month, but took a big hit to its reputation.

Google

The high-flying Google axed a lot of products in 2011, often without warning, and suffered some backlash for it. With a presence on every platform from Android tablets to Apple’s iMac, Google has always provided great tools, but when they disappear people are often left with broken workflows. In 2011, Google dumped the following apps and services:

• Android App Inventor, a favorite of computer science teachers;
• Buzz, a bust as a social network;
• Labs, the near-legendary collection of cool, useful, experimental apps;
• Code Search, a developer tool;
• Timeline, a date-range filter for search results;
• Wave, a poorly defined collaborative real-time something-or-other; and
• various other apps and services.

If you depended on the trashed tools, you are out of luck. Fortunately, some of them – App Inventor and Code Search, to name two – went “open source” and are still available.

Hewlett-Packard

HP bought Palm in 2010 and got webOS with it. Tech observers were hoping for a “third way” for tablets, an alternative to iOS and Android, but got the notoriously kludgey HP TouchPad. We see the popularity of our iPad rental and understand why companies want to emulate its success, but HP’s idea of beating the Apple tablet on price ensured the TouchPad’s demise. Soon enough, retailers were sitting on several hundred thousand of them.

In a move that precipitated his replacement by Meg Whitman, then-CEO Leo Apotheker axed the product and blew them out the door starting at $99, a move repeated in mid-December. Although HP appeared to be leaving the consumer PC market altogether, that didn’t quite happen, but after Whitman replaced Apotheker the company released webOS as open-source code. Perhaps “the crowd in the cloud” can finish what HP started.

Don’t want to be on the losing end of technology? For high-end post-production gear like render farms or trade show convention rentals, get the winning solution with CRE Rentals. Simply call or e-mail to get an experienced Account Executive to help. Or use the Quick Rental Quote form if you know what you need. We are always ready with the right solution, right now!

Smarter smartphones

Apple’s iPhone 4S is still a generation or two ahead of its rivals, a growing number of which are getting quite good, like the Samsung Galaxy and Nexus. The iPhone’s dual-core chip (which also powers our iPad rental) and camera technology, front and back, are both much improved. What sets it apart, though, are two future-is-now features: (1) its revamped antenna, which has markedly improved connection rates and call quality on both AT&T and Sprint networks, and (2) Siri, a talking voice-control system that starts out good and learns to be, well, insanely great.

Lighter laptops

Netbooks arrived a few years back and seemed to define a new form factor for lightweight laptops: low-power CPUs, limited RAM, a few gigabytes of flash storage, WiFi, pygmy-sized keyboards and a low price. Manufacturers stepped up, however – Apple with the MacBook Air, Sony with its VAIO line, Samsung with Series 9 – and brought Grade A design, power and style (at higher prices, naturally). Still, as with the iconic iMac, Apple sets the standard. Bottom line for the Air: The 2011 makeover brought a big power boost, it does Windows, the 11- and 13-inch screens are gorgeous and a 15-inch version is rumored to be in the works.

iPad, tablets and apps

In 2011, the “Year of the Tablet,” the second generation Apple iPad arrived with impressive new features, including the fabulous iOS 5 software. But it’s the several hundred thousand fun, productive and/or useful apps that make it numero uno. No other pads or tablets, not even our tablet PC rentals, have the iPad’s extensive library, and if you’re a “creative” type there is really no alternative. For less demanding people, however, a growing number of new tablets – Android no-names, the very good Samsung Galaxy Tab and, in particular, Amazon’s new Kindle Fire – will gobble up all the TV episodes, movies, music, YouTube clips, e-books and other media you care to consume.

Need for speed…USB3.0 and Thunderbolt

Another set of technologies, the protocols for connecting digital devices, kept improving throughout 2011. USB 3.0 on new PCs operates at 4.8Gbps and the new Thunderbolt bus, featured on the Mac Pro and other new Apple computers, runs two 10Gbps channels simultaneously. Apple’s previous high-speed connection, FireWire 800, is less than one-tenth as fast as Thunderbolt and not bi-directional.

If you want to move in a new direction, CRE can help. Find out how new technology can help you blast through production bottlenecks, or how our event production rentals can help you make a dramatic impact at your next conference. Contact us by phone or e-mail, or use the handy Quick Rental Quote form. We’re here, ready to help!

And don’t forget to check out Thursday’s blog, Technology in 2011: The Downside.

Microsoft has leading products in a number of other categories and 2012 promises new versions of many of them. The enterprise market (read “big business”) is huge for Microsoft, and in the coming year the company will release SQL Server 2012 and System Center 2012. IT executives and managers will need to stay on top of these changes, especially as they will be rolling out while the whole “cloud” thing is being settled.

Windows 8 at the gate!

It is the upcoming Windows 8, though, that will affect most people directly. Last Thursday’s blog addressed the fact that the look and feel of “tablet tech” is coming to the desktop OS, and this is nowhere more controversial than with Win8. Microsoft is quite conscious of the “consumerization of IT,” realizing that people want to use a tablet, smart phone, iPad rental or other web-connected device in the office. People also want safe, simple access to their business documents, apps and e-mail when they are not in the office.

Microsoft wants to be in the middle of all of this “cloud action.” The company is positioning itself as the go-to cloud provider, both public and private. Push-button simple, with built-in access and control – that’s the idea. With Windows, SQL Server and the rest, Microsoft provides an inter-operating set of technology services to connect private and public clouds, and enabling easy transitions between them. Users of the Mac Pro and other Apple CPUs can join all the fun by running Windows on their computers, too.

System Center – technology bridge to the future

System Center 2012 will be a core part of the “technology bridge,” with such new features as App Controller for cross-cloud monitoring. Microsoft is developing a major security feature for IT managers, namely, how to ensure access to business documents via cloud-ready devices, whether they’re tablet PC rentals signing in over WiFi or phones on 3G/4G networks.

Maintaining tight security during diverse connections has been problematic, but System Center 2012 holds this promise. In fact, top tech pundits are saying that System Center 2012 is “looking like the real deal.” It may be a few weeks until 2012 but it’s hard not to get excited if you use Windows or Microsoft enterprise software. Remember, when the New Year arrives, the game is afoot!

One call or e-mail puts an experienced Account Executive on the job for you – or use our Quick Rental Quote form to get things going right now. From event production rentals to the latest in high-end post-production gear, CRE is your one-stop shop!

Tablet tech…small is (now) beautiful

When the first practical tablet devices debuted in the early 1990s – Apple’s Newton, the Palm Pilot and other Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) – they weren’t ready for prime time. The CPUs were slow, handwriting recognition was spotty and wireless didn’t exist. Just making room for batteries required a larger form factor, the predecessors of tablet PC rentals. It wasn’t until the first decade of the 21st century that WiFi, faster processors and new battery technology got small and inexpensive enough to usher in the “mobile computing era.”

In the mobile universe, screen space is limited (compared to your desktop’s monitor) so icon-based operation, whether via touchscreens like on an iPad rental or smart phone buttons, is a sensible approach. Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and Windows Phone (7.5 was just released) were all developed with ease of use in mind.

Icons, apps, constant connection

As devices began to proliferate and improve, special software programs (“apps”) were developed to do specific, focused tasks. While WiFi didn’t become a standard feature until just a couple of years ago, every device of every kind (and size) is now built to be “always on.” Expect your desktop OS – Mac, Windows and, to a lesser degree, Linux – to continue making communications and connectivity as easy, simple and fast as a phone. You will get a familiar “look and feel” whether you’re on a phone, a tablet/ipad or an iMac. At long last … convergence!

Many more small-device developments will find their way into both Windows and Mac OS X, but some are already visible in current releases. The latest Mac OS X release is Lion, 10.7, but it’s not the first to use elements of Apple’s iOS (now at version 5). The App Store is now, well, an app, permanently situated in the Dock, and like others in Lion it opens into “full screen” mode. With the newly inaugurated iCloud, which we wrote about recently, you can synchronize everything from work documents to iCal entries among all your devices, from the Mac Pro at your office to the iPhone in your pocket.

Mobile advances really are changing your desktop, and fast. Whether you need high-tech advice, high-tech gear – render farms, mass storage, A/V equipment – or the best trade show convention rentals, one call or e-mail (or a few clicks on our Quick Rental Quote form) will put you on the fast track to a solution!

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!

Solid State Drives (SSDs)

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!

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.