Andy Taylor2 CommentsEntertainment, TechtalkRadio, TTR Website, video games, , , , ,

Call to Service – Call of Duty Black Ops

It would appear that the long awaited title Call of Duty Black Ops is exceeding sales figures of the last year sequel release to Call Of Duty Modern Warfare. COD Black Ops, I will call it that because something seem wrong about calling it COD BO. It’s far from Stinky and the sales of the game released this week have exceeded about 5.6 million copies. With a little under a couple of months left for the holidays to wrap up, Call Of Duty Black Ops will no doubt be a continued Best Seller of both Concole and PC titles. Even with strong competition from Fable III and Fallout New Vegas as well as a variety of Bond titles, the first week indications have been tremendous.

At the launch party for Call of Duty Black Ops, the CEO of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick announced the donation of One Million dollars, a portion of the sales from the new title, to go to the Call of Duty Endowment which provides job training and placement for returning veterans of any branch of military service. While the estimates of joblessness for the Veterans is bleak, this endowment continues to educate and inform the American people on efforts within thier own communities and globaly to help our servicement.

The Star studded launch party included Scrubs star Zack Braff and Basketball legend Kobe Bryant who was featured in one of the most creative commercials for a Video Game title to ever air. The Call of Duty Black Ops TV Spot also features an appearance by talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. Activision Blizzard has shared some of the footage from the Launch party which was help November 4th in Santa Monica California, although we didn’t get to see any of the concert footage from Metallica! Check the video out and find how you can help spread the word about the Endowment and learn of ways you can help out from your very home!

–Andy

Andy Taylor2 CommentsBroadband, TTR Website, , , ,

Sprint brings Broadband to your iPod Touch

Photo of the ZTE Peel
Connect your iPod Touch Device

For those of us that love our iPod Touch but dislike the task of not having a Wi-Fi hotspot always available or wanting to use the features while traveling, Sprint has unveiled today a solution for your tethering woes. The new ZTE Peel gives users the ability to put the iPod Touch in a cradle and connect with the Sprint 3G service over Wireless Broadband.

The idea is really a nice one as we may already have Cell service with Sprint but also enjoy our iPod Touch. Now, with the Peel, we can have it all. The device specs state that the cradle will work with second or third generation iPod Touch devices and will also be able to connect to another device while cradling the Apple iPod Touch to provide another Wi-Fi Connection. Have a laptop that needs your own hotspot? You’ll be able to provide you own. This is extremely handy for businesses that don’t have Wi-Fi Hotspots. If the user is in a Hotspot area, Wi-Fi Compatibility can also be handled with the 802.11B and 802.11G Standard without having to uncradle the iPod Touch.

The Peel features a 900 mAH Li-Ion Battery which will give the user about 3 hours of active use time. The product is not officially endorsed by Apple but is compatible with Wi-Fi services for Windows 7, Vista, XP and Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6. The service plan for the broadband which is up to 1GB transfer on the 3G network with no contract, $29 bucks and the ZTE Peel itself will be available for around $79 dollars. Sprint stores should be carrying the Peel starting the 14th of November.

A Photo of the Peel from Behind
Sprints solution for Broadband over the iPod Touch

We also like the fact that owners of iPod Touch device may also be able to utilize third party apps from just about anywhere a broadband connection is available which could include voice type apps!

More info on the ZTE Peel can be found on the Sprint website at http://www.sprint.com We’re hoping to get our hands on a Peel in the next couple of weeks to give you a look at how they work., Check back at our main site http://www.techtalkradio.com for video and follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/techtalkradio

Andy TaylorLeave a commentTTR Website, video games, , , ,

Bond is Back

We just recieved the latest in the Console Bond series title with a Reworking of the popular “Goldeneye.”  The Original James Bond title received an abundance of game time when it was unleased on the Nintendo 64 platform in 1997. The original game title featured the  likeness of Brosnan who starred as Bond in the 1995 film however this new title Goldeneye 007 changes the playing field for Multiplayer and Single player on the Nintendo Wii.

The latest Film Bond, Daniel Craig is featured as the British Agent in the title which allows up to 8 players in a multiplayer environment which also brings in the ability to play classic characters such as OddJob and Jaws along with some other noteable baddies. We’ll be unwrapping the title and a full review posting this week.

Andy TaylorLeave a commentsoftware, , , , ,

Where is Adobe Audition 4

I was sitting here tonight working on an Audio feature for TechtalkRadio thinking about the Adobe Audition program. It seems like a couple of years have gone by since the program I have recommended to several Radio Stations for Production Work was released. It would be great if some of the companies that put out these full featured programs released the new versions similar to the way Hollywood puts out movies! It seems that now when a feature film is on the way, we get to hear about it, see previews and of course talk about it with other fans of films. I remember seeing the trailer for the first Iron Man film in theaters almost a full 6 months before the release date. Even games are using this technique to really wet our appetites for a new title. With Call of Duty Black Ops which arrives next week, we also heard about it months ago with a release date and a preview.

In the Marketing sence, this can be good or bad. The most recent addition of Medal of Honor features warfare similar to what we would find in the new Call of Duty. Did they get the jump in putting out the title and taking the 50-60 bucks out of the pocket of a consumer that may have been saving up for COD? Apple seems to never talk about a product officially until it is actually available. This works for them in the sense of excitement about a product and speculation of an announcement but we really are never quite sure. I remember some years ago waiting for another version of Adobe Pagemaker  but at the same time, Adobe had this new program that worked similar to Pagemaker called InDesign. User to Pagemaker forums and chats were sounding the death knell for the program which seemed to have a huge user base but really couldn’t do more than it already was doing. That’s not good for the software industry isi it? A Product with a huge life cycle, one that does all it needs to do in a simple basic easy layout?

Generating sales is how even these large companies can continue to develop and produce solutions for a variety of products. For those that use Adobe Audition, it should be hard to argue that there is more that they could really do with it without making clutter of the program itself? The boards are beginning to talk and similar to the chatter heard during the “Pagemaker Crisis” we are hearing comparisons to Adobe Soundbooth. After careful digging I did find a light at the end of the tunnel with a Blog from Adobe Evangelist Terry White which last June he focused on the Adobe Audition package available for the Mac and gave a preview of a version he says should be avialable for both platforms. It looks like there still could be life to the Adobe Audition program and with more users taking the plunge to 64bit programs, this might be a welcome new version. 

Take a look at Terry’s blog post on Adobe Audition and visit often, he always provides some great information without the rumors. His blog for me was like seeing a trailer to Star Trek 2, Can’t wait!

http://terrywhite.com/techblog/archives/5618

Andy TaylorLeave a commentFeatured, software, , , , , , , , , , ,

New Video FX Plugins – Great Price and Features

Logo for NewBlueFX
NewBlueFX - Easy to Use and Inexpensive

I was fortunate through my years growing up to have attended a high school in Southern California that offered a video production class to which I became a TV Nerd spending time before and after the actual class creating shows and segments for the TV news-feed at school. We had much fun creating Wipes and Dissolves and getting our fellow classmates in front of the Blue Screen and Chroma Keying them into strange backgrounds. It was very basic but fun to do. Our editing was done on a Sony RM440 3/4 inch system, much different that what is available today.

With the lower cost of Digital Video cameras and the availability of faster computer systems, the classrooms of today create productions that not only tell a story but also are visually competitive to programs you might find on cable television. When a student leaves school, they can either move on to college or try to get a job professionally in the industry with some of the skills they can pick up in the schools. For a short time before moving out to Tucson, I taught Computer Education at a night school for parent of children wanting to learn what makes them tick. Many adults in the class that wanted to learn about the computer also wanted to see where they could go with it and what great presentations they could create. Video and Photo editing was one of the areas I was questioned about often. 

It seems as thought the numbers are growing and consumers would like to use Video programs and create DVD’s or Online Videos to share with friends and family but haven’t had access to programs that could do more than just basic edits. Many of these users have wanted to incorporate video effects and features to give the videos a step above in the quality of the finished product. But as times have changed since when I started working with video to where the basic user is now, software can now do more with even the good home editing programs we have.

Adobe, Sony, Avid and Apple both have delivered great video editing platforms for the Consumer and the Professional. Many consumers have looked at whats available for the Pro users and have wanted these features in the lower cost home suites. All of these companies have worked hard to include as many features as possible and have done a great job at it. To extend features to the user on both skill sets is NewBlue Inc with its NewBlueFX line of products for professional looking Video Effects.

The most recent product from the company NewBlueFX Video Essentials IV offers 10 different effects with over a hundred different types of presets for a desired look and feel. We talked with Vice President of Marketing of New Blue Inc about the latest suite of effects and what can be achieved with the plugin’s which work into not only professional software packages but also the consumer level users.

Tune into TechtalkRadio and Listen Now to the Audio interview with Sandy Berman about how these features work and how you can save a few bucks ordering online. Need to Shoot at daytime but need it to look like night? Put a Clock on your screen to wind down to a particular event? Easily remove wrinkles and blemishes of your host or talent? The NewBlueFX package is capable of doing these and many other features.  Listen in at http://www.techtalkradio.com/software/newbluefx.html 

Be Sure to Visit the NewBlueFX Blog for Tutorials, Demos and Tips at

http://www.newbluefx.com/blog/category/tips-and-techniques.html

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