Don’t want to wait until March for Windows Vista SP1, but not feeling the whole torrent thing? Microsoft has posted a disc image to its OEM partner site with a full copy of SP1 on it, and the download is free — if a bit slow at the moment, thanks to all y’all grabbing a copy. The 1.2GB disc image requires you run it as a clean installation, so you’ve gotta ask yourself it’s just worth waiting a few more weeks for an easy peasy update courtesy of Windows Update. Decisions, decisions.

[Via Download Squad; read link is the disk image]

Out of the many jobs in today’s multi-billion dollar consumer electronics industry, the one we’d probably want least right now is writer of press releases for the HD DVD Promotional Group. After each major defection, these poor folks have to whip up a positive-sounding response to what everyone knows is very bad news — but after yesterday’s one-two punches by Netflix and Best Buy, even these paid cheerleaders are having trouble finding the right spin. Here’s what they had to say, as reported by CNET:

“We have long held the belief that HD DVD is the best format for consumers based on quality and value, and with more than 1 million HD DVD players on the market, it’s unfortunate to see Netflix make the decision to only stock Blu-ray titles going forward. While the Best Buy announcement says they will recommend Blu-ray, at least they will continue to carry HD DVD and offer consumers a choice at retail.”

Doesn’t sound like there’s too much fight left there, does it? If the best you can do to support your dying format is to rehash the same canned argument and celebrate your remaining shelf space, well, there would seem to be a bigger problem than you’re willing to admit. At this point, we’re just curious to see how it will all end: after investing so much time, energy, money, and vitriol on this bitter format war, how does Toshiba move forward in a world almost completely dominated by its rival in blue?

[Via High-Def Digest]

Image attribution is big business on this tangled web of ours, but embedding digital watermarks into images is a costly and time-consuming procedure for most photographers — which is why this Canon patent application is so intriguing. The filing describes a “Registration” mode for digital cameras that embeds biometric data captured from your iris in the image automatically as a watermark — you simply set yourself as one of up to five users, look into the viewfinder for a moment so the camera can scan your eye, and start taking photos. The system embeds the metadata in batches to avoid slowing the camera down while you’re out in the field, and it sounds like the system can be modified to simply generate a verification code instead of a true watermark, preserving image quality. Of course, this is just a patent application, so there’s no word on when or where we might see this tech pop up, but you know photographers will be all over this when it finally hits.

[Via Photography Bay, thanks Eric]

Image attribution is big business on this tangled web of ours, but embedding digital watermarks into images is a costly and time-consuming procedure for most photographers — which is why this Canon patent application is so intriguing. The filing describes a “Registration” mode for digital cameras that embeds biometric data captured from your iris in the image automatically as a watermark — you simply set yourself as one of up to five users, look into the viewfinder for a moment so the camera can scan your eye, and start taking photos. The system embeds the metadata in batches to avoid slowing the camera down while you’re out in the field, and it sounds like the system can be modified to simply generate a verification code instead of a true watermark, preserving image quality. Of course, this is just a patent application, so there’s no word on when or where we might see this tech pop up, but you know photographers will be all over this when it finally hits.

[Via Photography Bay, thanks Eric]

Canon’s eye-based biometric photo watermarking system hits the Patent Office

Image attribution is big business on this tangled web of ours, but embedding digital watermarks into images is a costly and time-consuming procedure for most photographers — which is why this Canon patent application is so intriguing. The filing describes a “Registration” mode for digital cameras that embeds biometric data captured from your iris in the image automatically as a watermark — you simply set yourself as one of up to five users, look into the viewfinder for a moment so the camera can scan your eye, and start taking photos. The system embeds the metadata in batches to avoid slowing the camera down while you’re out in the field, and it sounds like the system can be modified to simply generate a verification code instead of a true watermark, preserving image quality. Of course, this is just a patent application, so there’s no word on when or where we might see this tech pop up, but you know photographers will be all over this when it finally hits.

[Via Photography Bay, thanks Eric]

Canon’s eye-based biometric photo watermarking system hits the Patent Office

Image attribution is big business on this tangled web of ours, but embedding digital watermarks into images is a costly and time-consuming procedure for most photographers — which is why this Canon patent application is so intriguing. The filing describes a “Registration” mode for digital cameras that embeds biometric data captured from your iris in the image automatically as a watermark — you simply set yourself as one of up to five users, look into the viewfinder for a moment so the camera can scan your eye, and start taking photos. The system embeds the metadata in batches to avoid slowing the camera down while you’re out in the field, and it sounds like the system can be modified to simply generate a verification code instead of a true watermark, preserving image quality. Of course, this is just a patent application, so there’s no word on when or where we might see this tech pop up, but you know photographers will be all over this when it finally hits.

[Via Photography Bay, thanks Eric]

As part of their investigation into the company’s alleged abuse of its market position at the expense of rival AMD, EU competition regulators have raided chip giant Intel’s offices in Munich, Germany, along with those of Metro AG-owned Media Markt and other unnamed PC retailers. The European Commission has been keeping a close eye on Intel since last summer, when the company was formally accused of offering rebates and making payoffs to customers and retailers in exchange for preferential treatment — charges that Intel has repeatedly, although somewhat obtusely, denied. It’s not clear at this point what material, if anything, was confiscated in these latest raids, which come exactly a month prior to a closed hearing the megacorp faces on this matter in Brussels.

[Via BBC]

At this point all the snazzy new websites and re-focused marketing efforts in the world aren’t going to get Google, Microsoft, and the other members of the White Spaces Coalition anywhere if they don’t actually demonstrate the broadband-in-between-TV-signals tech in action — and it looks like that’s proving to be harder than expected. For the second time in seven months, a prototype device has failed testing at the hands of the FCC, although this time it wasn’t because it was interfering with TV signals — it just wouldn’t stay powered on. Microsoft says the power issue is “unrelated to the technology points we’re trying to prove,” but as usual, those prickly pears at the NAB aren’t being shy about this latest setback, calling it proof that white space broadcasts are “risky technology that has proven to be unworkable.” At this point we’re honestly torn — we hate to side with the NAB and we had high hopes for the white spaces concept, but it just doesn’t look like it’s panning out. Maybe it’s time to move on to bigger and better things, eh?

At this point all the snazzy new websites and re-focused marketing efforts in the world aren’t going to get Google, Microsoft, and the other members of the White Spaces Coalition anywhere if they don’t actually demonstrate the broadband-in-between-TV-signals tech in action — and it looks like that’s proving to be harder than expected. For the second time in seven months, a prototype device has failed testing at the hands of the FCC, although this time it wasn’t because it was interfering with TV signals — it just wouldn’t stay powered on. Microsoft says the power issue is “unrelated to the technology points we’re trying to prove,” but as usual, those prickly pears at the NAB aren’t being shy about this latest setback, calling it proof that white space broadcasts are “risky technology that has proven to be unworkable.” At this point we’re honestly torn — we hate to side with the NAB and we had high hopes for the white spaces concept, but it just doesn’t look like it’s panning out. Maybe it’s time to move on to bigger and better things, eh?

When we actually stopped to think about it, we realized that we’ve waited an awful long time for Cowon’s A3 to finally make its way into our grubby paws, and while you’ve been teased before with unboxing shots and the like, we figured it prudent to snatch one of our own and decide if it really was worth the wait. On paper, this multimedia powerhouse has just about everything you could ask for given it’s sub-$400 price tag, but if you’ve been hesitant to pull the trigger before someone else gave you the low down, head on past the break for all the deets you crave.
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