Engadget http://www.engadget.com Engadget http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif Engadget http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Wolfram launches open CDF format, adds visual pizzazz to charts and graphs]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/wolfram-launches-open-cdf-format-adds-visual-pizzazz-to-charts/http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/wolfram-launches-open-cdf-format-adds-visual-pizzazz-to-charts/http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/22/wolfram-launches-open-cdf-format-adds-visual-pizzazz-to-charts/#comments Amazon's Kindle DX and RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook were supposed to be the business world's answer to an on-the-go office. Turns out, PDFs viewed in e-ink or on a tethered slate don't offer much in the way of interactive app experiences -- they're still just documents, no matter the tablet they're wearing. Well, Wolfram Group's got an open format contender to Adobe's throne and it's hoping you'll adopt it. Introduced today, the Computable Document Format "puts easy-to-author interactivity at its core," breathing animated life into otherwise static infographics. Not a programmer? No need to worry, the company promises the two-way diagrams are "easy enough for teachers, journalists, managers, [and] researchers to... create." We've seen Microsoft's XPS take a similar crack at dethroning the reigning format king, only to find itself in portable document oblivion. We'll just have to wait and see if CDF's a more noble contender. In the meantime, head on over to the source to download the free player and see for yourself the possible future of live textbooks, tables and charts.

Continue reading Wolfram launches open CDF format, adds visual pizzazz to charts and graphs

Wolfram launches open CDF format, adds visual pizzazz to charts and graphs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>AmazonAmazon Kindle DXAmazonKindleDxCDFComputable Document FormatComputableDocumentFormatdocumentdocument formatDocumentFormatdocumentsfile formatFileFormatformatinteractive documentInteractiveDocumentKindle DXKindleDxMicrosoft XPSMicrosoftXpsPDFPDFsRIMrim blackberry playbookRimBlackberryPlaybookWolframWolfram GroupWolframGroupXPSFri, 22 Jul 2011 02:22:00 EST<![CDATA[YouTube starts transcoding all new uploads to WebM, already has a third of its library ready]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/20/youtube-starts-transcoding-all-new-uploads-to-webm-already-has/http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/20/youtube-starts-transcoding-all-new-uploads-to-webm-already-has/http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/20/youtube-starts-transcoding-all-new-uploads-to-webm-already-has/#comments Google's resolve to bring WebM video streaming to the masses doesn't seem to have been weakened by a general lack of interest from the rest of the tech world, and the company's announced that each and every new YouTube upload will now be automatically transcoded into a WebM version. Nearly a third of YouTube's archives have already made the transition to the open source format, though if you think that's a small proportion, you should probably know that those 30 percent account for 99 percent of all views on the site. Apparently, we all have a narrower set of interests than we like to believe. So, with all popular vids encoded and every incoming one getting the transcoding treatment, all you really need now is a compatible browser -- Chrome (naturally), Firefox 4, Opera, or IE9 with a plug-in -- and to enroll in YouTube's HTML5 trial linked below to get rolling with WebM playback. Appending "&webm=1" to a search string or a video's URL will also help you ensure you're getting the good stuff.

YouTube starts transcoding all new uploads to WebM, already has a third of its library ready originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>file formatFileFormatformatgooglehtml5onlineonline videoOnlineVideoopen sourceOpenSourcestreamstreamingstreaming videoStreamingVideotranscodetranscodingvideovideo formatVideoFormatwebmyoutubeWed, 20 Apr 2011 04:11:00 EST<![CDATA[Sharp's XMDF format looks to bring e-books into the next generation]]>http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/20/sharps-xmdf-format-looks-to-bring-e-books-into-the-next-generat/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/20/sharps-xmdf-format-looks-to-bring-e-books-into-the-next-generat/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/20/sharps-xmdf-format-looks-to-bring-e-books-into-the-next-generat/#commentsSharp's XMDF format looks to bring e-books into the next generation When it comes to boring 'ol text and images, there are plenty of formats that modern e-readers can manage -- your EPUBs and OPFs and the like. But, when it comes to integrating multimedia content into a kind of next-gen e-book experience, the sort Wired is pushing on the iPad, things are rather less standardized. Sharp wants to be on the forefront of bringing that style of content together under a single standard: XMDF, or ever-eXtending Mobile Document Format. It enables video and animations and flashy presentation to be mingled in with the text, surely with the intent of distracting you from actually having to read anything. Of course, XHTML can manage all this stuff too, but it never was particularly great at the sort of precision text layout publishers crave, and presumably that's also being addressed here. Naturally we're a little more excited about hardware, and Sharp showed off two prototype readers measuring 5.5- and 10.8-inches respectively... though it didn't have much to say about them otherwise. More details later this year, supposedly.

Sharp's XMDF format looks to bring e-books into the next generation originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>e booke bookse readere readerse-booke-bookse-readere-readersfilefile formatFileFormatsharpsharp xmdfSharpXmdfstandardstandardizedxhtmlxmdfxmlTue, 20 Jul 2010 07:06:00 EST<![CDATA[Major labels show eagerness to fail with new CMX digital audio format]]>http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/11/major-labels-show-eagerness-to-fail-with-new-cmx-digital-audio-f/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/11/major-labels-show-eagerness-to-fail-with-new-cmx-digital-audio-f/http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/11/major-labels-show-eagerness-to-fail-with-new-cmx-digital-audio-f/#comments
Let's think about this, shall we? How did Sony's ATRAC format do? How did all those DRM-laced formats fare? Call us zany, but we've got a feeling an all new format developed by the astoundingly brilliant (ahem) minds at the world's largest record labels is apt to follow the aforementioned formats right on down to Irrelevant Boulevard. According to Times Online, Sony, Warner, Universal and EMI are currently looking to go head-to-head with Apple's own "Cocktail" by introducing a CMX format (codenamed) that will "give music fans a computerized version of the sleeve notes that come as standard with a CD, including lyrics and artwork, and videos." Reportedly, the format is expected to launch in November in an effort to boost whole album downloads (as opposed to singles), and while the labels approached Apple in order to gain its support, the Cupertino-based company purportedly decided to concoct its own mixture. Oh, and you can pretty much consider this extra DOA should iTunes not support it; fair or not, that's just the way it is.

[Via Guardian]

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Major labels show eagerness to fail with new CMX digital audio format originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>audioCMXcocktaildigital audioDigitalAudioDRMemifile formatFileFormatlabelsmusicportable audioportableaudiorecord labelsRecordLabelsRIAAsonyuniversalwarnerTue, 11 Aug 2009 08:39:00 EST<![CDATA[DivX Connected v1.5 now friends with MKV / H.264]]>http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/22/divx-connected-v1-5-now-friends-with-mkv-h-264/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/22/divx-connected-v1-5-now-friends-with-mkv-h-264/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/22/divx-connected-v1-5-now-friends-with-mkv-h-264/#commentsDivX Connected v1.4 brought us the highly anticipated addition of Hulu support last September, and now v1.5 is bringing a few extras that are also quite delicious. The v1.5 Beta, which is out this very moment, adds in support for Matroska (MKV) and H.264, though you'll need the newly unleashed DivX 7 installed in order to experience the magic. The entire changelog is surprisingly lengthy, so we'll point you to the read link for those details as well as a download URL. A demonstration vid is just past the break.

[Thanks, Karolis]

Continue reading DivX Connected v1.5 now friends with MKV / H.264

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DivX Connected v1.5 now friends with MKV / H.264 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>codecDivxdivx 7Divx connectedDivx7DivxConnectedfilefile formatFileFormatfilesh.264hdMatroskamedia streamingMediaStreamingsoftwarestreamstreamingsupportThu, 22 Jan 2009 04:43:00 EST