SourceCrowd.com

MacNN reports that Apple’s MacBook took one of the top three sales spots during Amazon.com’s holiday season: Amazon.com announced the results of its 2007 holiday season, revealing Apple’s MacBook as one of the top sellers in the online retailer’s PC category, more exactly in the list of products most frequently purchased as gifts by Amazon.com customers in 2007.

Since its update, as we reported in May, the Apple MacBook surged as one of the best selling notebook Macs and you can see it almost everywhere (Starbucks, college, business room etc.).

Amazon Kindle is an electronic book (e-book) service launched in the United States by Amazon.com in November 2007.
It uses an electronic paper display, reads the proprietary Kindle (AZW) format, and downloads content over Amazon Whispernet, which uses the Sprint EVDO network.
This means that unlike previously existing e-book readers, the Amazon Kindle can be used without the need for a computer.
Whispernet is accessible through Kindle without any fee.
On the release day, the Kindle Store had more than 88,000 digital titles available for download.

The Amazon Kindle isn’t the most elegant looking gadget ever created (in fact it looks like it came out of the 70’s), but it packs an impressive list of features and could finally bring ebooks mainstream.

Amazon isn’t supporting the industry’s open standard around eBooks. Instead they are using their own proprietary format from Mobipocket, a company they acquired in 2005.

As BBC News reports Amazon Kindle sells out on debut:

A notice on the Kindle pages on the Amazon web store said “heavy customer demand” for the device meant it would be out of stock until 3 December.

Sony is rolling out firmware 1.80 for its PlayStation 3. This latest update will add resolution upscaling capability for PlayStation and PlayStation 2 titles, as well as bring DVD playback to full 1080p resolution when viewed on compatible HDTVs. Further enhancements include Remote Play functionality for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), which allows users to access their PlayStation 3 consoles remotely from its portable little brother using any available wireless connection. Moreover, Sony is boosting the PS3 as a media hub for the front room, adding the ability to network the console with home PCs to stream media content on to TV sets.

In related news, VoIP service Jajah has made an update to its website that streamlines it for use on the PS3. As voipstage.com reports, Jajah lets you register with your “home phone number, then when you want to call someone you enter their number into your browser and Jajah will dial your phone and connect you directly”, doing away with headsets as it uses your existing handset (or mobile phone). The service is free between Jajah users.

BT (British Telecom) and Sony have teamed up to offer users of the electronics giant’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) a VoIP option that will enable them to place voice and video calls to other PSP owners and some BT phones. The service, which is then set to expand to allow calls to PCs, fixed lines and mobile phones, will use a new camera and microphone PSP accessory called Go Camera, to be released in the UK on 25 May.

BT is taking care of the software side of the deal, while also offering its 2000 UK hotspots infrastructure to which the initial service will be exclusive. BT said it expects to then sell the software to telecoms in another 100 countries

Square Group Ltd in association with Adobe, Apple and a slew of other partners organized an Adobe Creative Suite CS3 seminar at BFI Southbank in London last Tuesday, May 15, 2007. The seminar featured presentations from both Adobe and Apple about the new features of the many applications that make up Adobe’s new crown jewel, CS3, alongside demonstrations of related products from the likes of Eizo, Wacom, Extensis, HP and G-Tech. SourceCrowd was in attendance and can bring you an exclusive report from the event.
Before the seminar, attendees were able to peruse stands with a few interesting products on show. Eizo wowed the crowd with its stunning professional quality displays like the ColorEdge CE240W sporting hardware colour calibration, 14-bit color processing and easy profiling. Extensis was showcasing two of its software products for asset management: Suitcase Fusion, a font manager to organize, categorize and activate/deactivate fonts on the fly, and Portfolio, a complete multimedia files management tool. HP was showcasing the HP B9180 Photosmart Pro Printer, an eight-tanks pigment ink powerhouse which demonstrated stunning results on some of HP’s custom papers (especially impressive were the results on canvas-textured paper). Wacom had both the A4 Intuos3 graphic tablet and the Cintiq 21UX display available for hands-on demonstrations, making precise editing of pictures a breeze. Last but not least, G-Tech had the whole range of its external high speed hard drives solution on display. The elegant silver enclosures sport the latest in eSata and Firewire connections on the G-Raid2, G-Drive 250GB External FW400/USB2, G-Mini and G-Safe, with high-end fibre-channel RAID solutions also available in the G-Speed models.

Then it was finally time to immerse into the presentation!

The first speaker was Richard West, Apple Business Development Manager for the UK and Ireland. He started by stressing how important it is, in a multimedia communicational landscape, to put to good use the plethora of different ways that businesses have to reach clients, by customizing communications to target and focus on different markets. Adobe Creative Suite CS3, he argued, is the tool of choice to do so, allowing the use of a single creative process for multiple disciplines through its multiplicity of applications. Since output is so important to the designers and developers who use CS3, he then went on to demonstrate how colour calibration devices (in this case, the Pantone Huey Pro MEU113) can work in tandem with OS X ColorSync Utility (found in the Applications>Utilities folder) to prevent disparity between screen output versus print/web output. In particular he showed how it is possible to compare colour spaces graphically, and onscreen proofing of different colour spaces just by dragging and dropping images on the application. Microsoft’s Windows has “borrowed” the same functionality for its latest OS, implemented in Vista under the name Windows Colour System (located in the Control Panel).

Stay tuned for the second part of our report - coming soon!

eJamming AUDiiO is an online tool that allows you to connect to other musicians everywhere in the world and play your instruments together in an online jam session, all for free.

It was deemed one of the top 24 innovators by Fortune magazine, and that is no surprise when you realize the slew of possibilities it opens for both the learning and experienced musicians. Once you set up your account and download the beta (PC and Mac versions available), all that is left to do is to plug in your choice of instrument in your computer, and search for other like-minded musicians to jam with. In this respect eJamming works very much like any other social networking site.

One of the main problems faced by all computer musicians is the interface latency (the time intervening between the note played on your instrument and the processed sound coming out of your speakers). eJamming AUDiiO promises to reduce latency by measuring the relationship (distance, connection speed etc.) between the players connected in an online session, and imposing the minimal necessary delay on each instrument to synchronize the players. A comprehensive FAQ on the website guides you through the setup, and is full of tips to optimize the performance of your system to give a real “live” feel when playing.

eJamming AUDiiO is certainly one of the most interesting ideas to come out of the “Web 2.0″ user experience paradigm that we have seen so far.

“Where do we go now?”sang Axl Rose some years ago.

These days, GPS navigators have gone from being a fancy accessory to essential gadgets in every driver’s car, whether in portable form or integrated in the dashboard, helping people get to their chosen destination with minimum fuss.

Recently some new models have hit the market, together with updates to the software driving these smart devices, so SourceCrowd is presenting you with a small roundup of the latest developments: hopefully you’ll never lose your way again!

Without much fanfare, Palm has dropped the price of its newest GPS Navigator kit. The kit has seen a $50 price drop from the original $300 launch price to $250. Sweetening the deal even more is a $50 mail-in rebate that Palm is offering to customers who purchase the bundle from Palm.com. With an effective final price of just $200, this makes Palm’s self-branded GPS solution a surprisingly strong value in the fiercely competitive mobile GPS solution market.

The GPS Navigator 3 package is a relatively new offering from Palm, having been introduced in February 2007. The GPS Navigator 3 debuted at a $300 price but Palm has almost always offered a $50 mail-in rebate on their GPS kits.

The kit is compatible with the full range of Treos released over the pat few years—650, 680, 700p, 700w/wx, and 750. The latest 6.03 version of the superb TomTom Navigator 6 software is bundled in this package on a pre-loaded 1GB miniSD card with full size SD adapter.

TomTom announced the Tom Tom ONE XL Portable Extra-wide Screen GPS Navigation System with a 4.3-inch touch screen. According to TomTom, the large screen gives drivers a better overview of the road ahead by displaying more streets and information. The device provides turn-by-turn direction in 36 languages with 55 different voices to choose from. The TomTom ONE XL also offers a points-of-interest data base that includes hotels, restaurants, gas stations and museums.

The Tom Tom ONE XL Portable Extra-wide Screen GPS Navigation System has access to up to date traffic information using an RDS-TMC Trafic Receiver accessory or a subscription to TomTom Traffic. The TomTom One XL includes free QuickGPSfix software, which features the latest maps and fast route calculation. Drivers will also have access to all TomTom PLUS services including safety camera alerts, real-time traffic and weather reports, updates on road conditions and the TomTom Buddies feature.

TomTom HOME service is also served up with the ONE XL, which is a free software application that lets users manage, download, store and transfer content from their computer onto their TomTom GPS device. Drivers can use TomTom HOME to plan trip routes, download voices, obtain traffic reports and install maps to keep their TomTom up to date at anytime.

The TomTom One XL will be available in the U.S., Europe, Australia and South Africa by May 2007 and will retail for $400.

Last but not least, Mobilkom austria and Wayfinder announced the launch of the most powerful and easy to use Navigation solution, A1 NAVI, on the Nokia N95 Unlocked Quadband GSM HSDPA 5MP Camera Cell Phone with built-in GPS.

The latest version of A1 NAVI, which is based on Wayfinder Navigator 7 comes equipped with top of the line map 3D map experience, Wayfinder Power Search (patent pending technology) that enables the users to search in many databases simultaneously, night mode that adapts the color and light strength of the screen and other user friendly services that will greatly enhance the user experience.

The offering is bundled into a fixed price per month including unlimited usage of the attractively priced service.

“At Wayfinder we are excited about the introduction of phones with built-in GPS which will greatly simplify the user experience of phone based navigation. It is also becoming more common that operators choose to pre-install our services on phones with built-in GPS”, says Magnus Nilsson, CEO Wayfinder Systems AB.

A1 NAVI will be available on Nokia N95 in June 2007.

Wayfinder Navigator 7 will also be available on Nokia’s E90 phones with built-in GPS from the Communicator series.

A smart Flash interface, cool design and a host of great features: this is Picnik.com

It integrates easily with Flickr and Picasa albums and sports several (simple to advanced) functions for optimizing your pictures:

• One-click photo fixing or in-depth tweaking
• Crop, rotate, and resize in real-time
• Tons of special effects, from artsy to fun
• Works directly with many photo sharing sites
• No download required, nothing to install!
• Works on Mac, Windows, even Linux

Right now it’s free (!) and a premium version is coming soon.
http://www.picnik.com/