Avid Studio launches for iPad

Avid has launched a version of its Avid Studio video editing software for the Apple iPad.

The £2.99 app brings a host of the 'prosumer' features associated with the desktop suite and hopes that iPad owners will use it in collaboration with the full suite for Mac and PC.

Like Apple's own iMovie software, which launched with the iPad 2 back in March, the software will enable users to arrange and fine-tune clips with frame-by-frame edits.

There's also a host of effects and transitions that can be dragged onto clips, while soundtracks can be added from the many built-in options or songs from your iPad's music library.

Once you're done with editing the project, it can be exported to Facebook or YouTube and also to the device's camera roll.

Avid to Avid

It's at this point that Avid hopes that owners of the desktop software can benefit from the on-the-go aspect of the app.

Once the video has been exported, it can be easily brought in to the Avid Studio for Mac or PC, which brings the full-range of editing and exporting options.

"We've seen a shift in how creation is happening, and it's really happening on almost any device," said Avid VP Tanguy Leborgne. "We think the tablet is more than just a consumer device; more and more people are creating on it."

The launch of software like iMovie and the more powerful Avid Studio add more weight to Apple's claims that the iPad is a post-PC device.

After 30 days of using the Avid Studio for iPad app, you'll need to front-up a couple more quid to continue using it on a full-time basis.

Apple launches free iBooks Author for ebook publishing

Apple has revealed its latest app, iBooks Author, that aims to make creating ebooks as simple as pie.

As predicted, it's essentially GarageBand for ebooks, which should make it easier for publishers to format digital books as well as to add smooth interactive elements.

Using a template-based tool, iBooks Author rocks a clean layout with straight-forward drag and drop controls.

Easy peasy

The templates are customisable and there's the option to extend with HTML 5 as well as offering the ability to publish direct to the iBookstore, putting Apple in a position to rival Kindle Direct Publishing.

"If you've ever been involved in an ebook creation before, you know this is a total miracle," said Roger Rosner, Apple's VP of productivity apps, demoing the software.

Good news for aspiring authors without a publishing house footing the bill: the iBooks Author app is free and it's available today from the Mac App Store.

Also launched today is Apple's iBooks 2, which claims to have "reinvented the textbook".

CES 2012: Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook launches

Intel seems to have the entire notebook industry under the Ultrabook's thrall, and Dell is no exception with the launch of the Dell XPS 13.

It might not come with LG's over-enthusiastic Super prefix, but the XPS 13 is a nice bit of kit – 18mm at its thickest point and with a 13.3-inch Gorilla glass display housed in the chassis of a 12-incher it certainly looks the part.

It's an Ultrabook so of course it comes with an Intel Core i7 processor with Intel HD 3000 graphics and fast boot facilitated by Intel rapid start.

The glass touchpad comes with gesture support and the full-size keyboard is backlit for easy night time typing.

Alooominum

The aluminium chassis has a carbon fibre base which makes it easier to grip, as well as allowing for better heat dissipation and general good looks.

You'll notice that there are no annoying Intel or Windows stickers on the body of the notebook either – they're etched on the underside instead. The XPS 13 comes with Windows 7, just in case you're more interested in the OS than the dearth of stickers.

Port-wise, there's one USB 3.0 connector and a USB 2.0 alongside it. The Dell XPS 13 weighs in at 1.4kg and boasts eight hours of battery life plus a slim-line charger for when juice is running low.

On show this week at CES 2012, the Dell XPS13 UK release date set for 13 March with official pricing to be confirmed, although we're looking at around £899 as a starting price.

Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO launches

Star Wars: The Old Republic has launched across the globe – with the MMO hoping to overhaul industry behemoth World of Warcraft with a stellar brand.

The arrival of SW:ToR is a major shot in the arm for PC gaming, bringing the Star Wars brand to the MMO world for the second time following the innovative but ultimately doomed Star Wars Galaxies.

"This is the moment you've been waiting for, Star Wars: The Old Republic is officiallyreleased.
Get your copy today* and join the hundreds of thousands of other players alreadyonline.

This time around it is Bioware that has developed the world – building on the popular single player Knights of the Old Republic franchise – and try to make this a key MMO.

Star Wars fans

"Everyone is coming to this game because they're fans of Star Wars - no-one is a fan of this game because no-one's played this game yet," the game's senior writer Alex Freed told CVG.

"So when people are coming in with these expectations and very strong emotional associations with Star Wars, you don't want to let them down.

"You want to do a story that they're really going to love, that they're going to get excited by, that fits the Star Wars that they want to see while also feeling new and fresh enough.

"Having this many people coming to the game because they love Star Wars... it's a big responsibility. It is something that you worry about now and then."

For the tech world this represents a game that, should it become a success, could be a major boost for the PC, as it battles with the consoles for a share of the gaming market.

AirPort Utility for iOS Launches

When we reviewed the 5th generation Airport Extreme and 4th generation Time Capsule, several people pointed out that the iOS 5 beta included an Airport configuration mode inside settings. This mode allowed for initial setup whenever the iDevice was in range of an unconfigured Airport. 

We heard grumblings later that Airport Utility was coming to iOS, and today Airport Utility for iOS appeared in the App Store. The application works for iPhone/iPod Touch sized devices, and on the iPad 1/2, though iOS 5 is a requirement for the application. This is yet another part of Apple's attempt to make computing possible without the expressed requirement of also owning a desktop, and eliminates another interesting edge case in that puzzle. 

Thus far I've spent a while poking around inside the Airport Utility release and am impressed with the depth of configuration options present. While the desktop Airport Utility analog for OS X or Windows still has more options, the big things are here, including network setup, WiFi configuration (everything from SSID to wireless channels), a list of wireless clients and their RSSI, ability to reboot AirPorts, and even perform firmware updates. I've put together a gallery with most of the important menus below.

Gallery: AirPort Utility for iOS

Source: Apple Store

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Dell launches Inspiron One 2320 all-in-one desktop PC

Dell's latest all-in-one PC, the Dell Inspiron One 2320, comes packed in to a slim, 23-inch display without scrimping on specs.

Your processing options range from Intel i3 to i7 second gen Core i processors, with an option to include the Nvidia GeForce GT 525M discrete graphics chip too.

The 23-inch WLED display comes in at Full HD resolution (1080p), and if you're feeling tactile, you can opt for the touchscreen model – if you're interested in upgrading to Windows 8 next year, that might be a smart move.

It goes one, two, three, FOUR

Also crammed in behind the display is 4GB of DDR3 memory as standard, although you can go up to 8GB if you want the extra punch – storage-wise, you're looking at 500GB to 2TB, depending on how many notes you want to drop.

Dell suggests that you can use the Inspiron One 2320 to finish you homework or keep track of household expenses, but we'd favour the multimedia options, which include Dell Stage which offers easy tiled access to files and music, videos, favoured webpages and the like.

You can also opt for a DVD+ and Blu-ray combo, to take advantage of the high res screen; your call.

If the Inspiron One 2320 has you feeling inspired, you can pick it up from today with UK pricing starting at 3699.

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Asus launches new ROG motherboards

Taiwan component and computer manufacturer Asus has launched its ROG Maximus IV Gene-Z/Gen3 and P8Z68/Gen3 series motherboards.

The motherboards are said by the company to be the first in the industry with "genuine compatibility for PCI Express 3.0 support."

PCI Express 3.0 is the latest upgrade to the popular add-in card format, and boosts performance from 16GB/s to 32GB/s via the same 16x physical connection.

This requires an upgraded set of components, such as PCI Express 3.0 switching integrated circuits.

The motherboards also pack future-proofed hardware and UEFI BIOS support for Intel's upcoming 22nm processors, while being backwards-compatible with PCI Express 2.0 hardware.

Quality Street

Asus says it's "committed itself" to a quality assurance process before shipping its motherboards, in order to ensure everything works as it should.

Asus' latest motherboards also include all the bells and whistles we'd expect, such as four SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports, eight-channel audio, Bluetooth 2.1 and 12 USB 2.0 ports.

In addition, Asus has announced that more than 80 of its current non-SLI motherboards can also take advantage of PCI Express 3.0 and Intel's 22nm processors - presumably in a more limited capacity - thanks to a BIOS update.

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Buffalo launches nippy DriveStation Velocity hard drives

Buffalo Technology's latest hard drives, the DriveStation Velocity range, claim to have the ability to transfer 1,000 digital photos in under than 7 seconds.

That's all thanks to the 7,200 RPM drive along with the TurboPC Ex utility for Windows PCs which add up to a data transfer rate of 5Gbps. So while it's not the fastest hard drive we've ever heard of, it's not bad for a desk buddy for your average joe.

Unsurprisingly, it's a USB 3.0 affair but it is backwardly compatible with USB 2.0 if you're yet to upgrade and don't mind the slower speeds.

Looker

It's not a bad looking device either, coming in shiny piano black and a fairly compact frame.

Spies and other secretive sorts will be pleased to hear that it comes with 256-bit AES Full Disk Encryption to keep all those secret files and photos safe from prying eyes.

The Buffalo DriveStation Velocity is available to buy now, and will set you back the fairly reasonable prices of £89.99 for 1TB, £112 for 2TB and £164 for 3TB.

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Syabas Launches Popcorn Hour A-300

Syabas launched the next generation member of their immensely popular Popcorn Hour A-series today.

The previous version were all based on Sigma's chipsets, and the A-300 is no different. It uses the SMP 8647 SoC with a 800 MHz MIPS CPU at the core. We finally get true GbE (part of the core SoC package) in a media streamer. The A-300 has an aluminium body and is also fanless, ensuring quiet operation. Best of all, Sigma is finally supporting Real Media decode in the 8647, and A-300 now gets the same codec compatibility as the countless other Realtek based media streamers. Like every other media streamer today, we also have an apps market for premium video services. Note that we still don't get HDMI 1.4 or 3D Blu-ray ISO because the SMP 8647 doesn't support it.

The A-300 is expected to ship on Oct 18th, 2011. Head on over to the source link for more information and videos of the UI in action.

Source: Networked Media Tank Forum

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Apple launches Micro-USB adapter for iOS devices

Amid a host of high profile Apple launches on Tuesday, the company quietly outed an official adapter to allow iOS devices to be charged using a Micro-USB cable.

The £8 add-on arrived on the UK Apple Store when it came back online following the launch of the iPhone 4S and refreshed iPod touch and nano models.

The tiny accessory simply pop onto the end of your existing Micro USB cable will be shipped on the same day as the iPhone 4S - October 14th.

Setting the standard

The quiet launch of the accessory comes a couple of years after Apple pledged to abide by European standards and cater for Micro-USB charging.

There have been several third-party solutions available for quite some time now, but this is the first time Apple has launched an adapter of its own.

Although it's listed as £8 on the website, we'd hope that Apple would be kind enough to bundle one of these guys in with the iPhone 4S.

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