Amidst the product introductions of the National Association of Broadcasters Show being held in Las Vegas, Adobe announced yesterday that it will be releasing a media player for both the Mac OS X and Windows operating systems.
Designed as a standalone desktop version of the company’s Flash Player web browser plug-in, Adobe Media Player is based on the recently released Apollo platform and is expected to go into beta later this year with the final product arriving towards the end of the 2007 calendar year according to Wired.
Adobe’s Flash Player, which holds a strong market share, is expected to grow, the company gambling on this as major sites such as YouTube rely heavily on the Flash Player format. The desktop version will be compete against Windows Media Player and contain similar digital rights management protections as the ones found in Microsoft’s Media Player in order to appease what the company terms “content publishers”.
Adobe Media Player will incorporate featres such as RSS subscriptions, online and offline video playback, on-demand streaming, live streaming, progressive download and protected download-and-play.
Two features that may prove controversial with the upcoming software are a mechanism that will embed advertising in downloaded clips in a manner that can’t be separated from the content. The second, termed a “security” model, will tie downloaded content to specific machines or users. The company has also announced that it will boost video fidelity on its Flash video format, albeit specific details are sparse for the time being.

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On Sunday, Apple introduced Final Cut Pro, the newest edition of its video production suite as well as new version of its component programs; Final Cut Pro 6, Soundtrack 2, Compressor 3, Motion 3 and a new program called Color.
The suite, which is priced at US$1,299 for the full version and US$499 for the upgrade version from Final Cut Studio to Final Cut Studio 2. Upgrades from Final Cut Pro to Final Cut Studio 2 will run US$699 according to The Mac Observer.
The new version, which hits the shelves in May, offers the following new features and fixes:
-Final Cut Pro 6 has gained the ability to mix and match most video formats as well as their frame rates in a single timeline without transcording. The program now supports ProRes 422, 10-bit 4:2:2 post production format that can create HD quality files at SD file sizes, a SmoothCam feature that removes camera movement and the ability to edit Motion templates.
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On Monday, Microsoft introduced video professionals attending the NAB conference Silverlight, a Mac and PC-compatible web browser plug-in similar to Adobe’s Flash paired with what the company considered video streaming superior to Apple’s QuickTime. The program, which is currently available as a public beta (or “technology preview”), is available for download with a general release planned later this month according to Macworld News.
Previously known as WPF/E, Silverlight is designed around vector-based graphics, text, animation, media and overlays while using existing back-end web and infrastructure tools such as Apache, PHP, JavaScript and XHTML. On the Mac end, Microsoft has stated that the plug-in works with both Firefox and Safari while on the Windows end the plug-in is designed around Internet Explorer 7.
Looking to charge out of the gate upon release, Microsoft has already contracted with several marquee names to distribute content such as Akamai Technologies, Brightcove, Eyeblaster, Major League Baseball and Netflix. The company has also created a Windows-only content development suite called Expression, which is being offered as an alternative to the recently-released Adobe Creative Suite 3.
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On Monday, Intel offered a preview of chips models expected to appear for its mobile markets and also described a quad-core mobile chip expected to appear next year.
The company stated that it would be expanding on its current mobile offerings with a chip based upon the Penryn processor, which functions as a 45 nanometer shrunken design of its current chip designs. The first Penryn chips are slated to go into production later this year and be introduced into devices in the second half of 2008 according to AppleInsider.
An Intel representative stated that the Penryn design could be plugged directly into the same architecture that will ship next May, thus enabling a fast ramp-up process.
The company also unveiled details about a quad-core Penryn mobile processor due for release during the 2008 calendar year. The processor will be targeted towards high-level gaming and mobile workstations, albeit won’t be seen in most notebook devices. Repersentatives commented that the chip’s architecture will differ considerably from the company’s current quad-core server and desktop processors, which are designed around two dual-cor units paired together. The company is considering placing all four cores on a single piece of silicon, thereby increasing speeds and using less energy.

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It may be Monday and gloomy here on the east coast, but Adobe is chock-full of good news, even with a nor’easter making things difficult out here.
The long-awaited Creative Suite 3 is now shipping, Adobe announcing that its Design Premium and Standard as well as the Web Premium and Standard Editions are out the door.
For stand-alone applications, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended, Adobe InDesign CS3, Adobe Illustrator CS3, Adobe Flash CS3 Professional, Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, Adobe Fireworks CS3 and Adobe Contribute CS3 also shipped today.
The company has stated that its Creative Suite 3 Production Premium and Creative Suite 3 Master Collection editions are expected to ship in the third quarter of this year according to Macworld News.
The currently shipping editions run at the following prices:
-Creative Suite 3 Design Premium Edition: US$1799
-Creative Suite 3 Design Standard Edition: US$1199
-Creative Suite 3 Web Premium Edition: US$1599
-Creative Suite 3 Web Standard Edition: US$999
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In more patent filing fun, Apple has filed for two new patents with respect to its chief input devices; the keyboard and the mouse.
The new mouse, as described in the patent filing by Apple iPhone interface designer Brian Huppy, focuses on a new design that replaces traditional buttons and scroll wheels with a touch/grip sensitive interface while the new keyboard would feature standard keys but a click wheel device in place of a numeric keypad.
Full details can be found over at the Apple Blog.
Definitely cool ideas and if you have any ideas or feedback, let us know.

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Amid controversy regarding expense and allegations that Apple flew three legislator’s at the company’s expense to its campus as part of research to see whether a “one iPod per child” program would have been effective back in March, Michigan lawmakers rejected the proposed legislation according to Macworld UK.
The program, which would have allocated US$38 million towards the purchase of an MP3 player for each student in the state of Michigan, came under fire due to expense, the state’s current and projected deficits and Apple’s having paid for air fare to its headquarters. An article in the Detroit Free Press has revealed that a result of the controversy, the legislators have created plans to pay the U$1,700 air fare back to Apple.
Representative Tim Melton, D-Auburn Hills, was quoted as saying that he hoped the refunded air fare would end the controversy. Melton also commented that the issue has “spun completely out of control”, the disputed US$38 million budget proposal to incorporate more technology in the classroom having been intrepreted as a plan to exclusively buy iPods.
Melton mentioned that Representative Matt Gillard, D-Alpena, ignited interest in the iPod by citing it as a “wonderful learning tool” and saying that House Democrats wanted to put one in the hands of every schoolchild in the state of Michigan.

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Apple has apparently filed for a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office that mentions using a “mobile phone” as a remote control for a Macintosh computer according to MacNN. The patent also discusses Apple’s Front Row remote control and leaves room for other Bluetooth devices to serve the role with the language “Still another solution uses Bluetooth compatible handheld devices, such as a mobile phone, to serve as a remote controller for a Macintosh computer.”
The description is then follow by “Once the software is installed, the mobile phone can be used to control popular programs such as iTunes media management program from Apple Computer, Inc. For example, in controlling iTunes media management program using this solution, the user can use the directional controls on the mobile phone to change listing volume, skip forward and backward, play/pause, etc.”
The iPhone has been theorized as a possible remote control for some time now given its available port technologies as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The device will be released this June and retail for US$499 for the 4 gigabyte model and US$599 for the 8 gigabyte model.

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On Thursday, Apple released a statement declaring that the much-anticipated Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” operating system won’t be released until October due to requirements involved with the release of the iPhone.
The “iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned,” notes the release. The statement then goes on to point out that setting the iPhone’s launch date for June had an unintended consequence of reallocating Quality Assurance and “some key software engineering” resources away from Mac OS X development to finishing work on the iPhone.
Mac OS X 10.5 was originally anticipated for a June release at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco this June.
“We now plan to show our developers a near final version of Leopard at the conference, give them a beta copy to take home so they can do their final testing, and ship Leopard in October. We think it will be well worth the wait. Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we’re sure we’ve made the right ones,” concludes the statement.

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On Thursday, Sierra Sound announced the iN Studio 5.0, a pair of iPod-ready speakers boasting “studio monitoring quality”. The unit functions as a 50 watt amplifier and iPod dock and charger. Additional features include two auxililary inputs, S-video output, 1″ silk tweeters and 5″ drivers, a USB port, infrared port and wireless remote control according to iLounge.
The iN Studio 5.0 retails for US$399 with free shipping and will be available later this month in red, white and black.

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