Adobe AIR now available
 Adobe put our AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) out there for the world this Monday. It combines HTML, PDF, and Flash in one environment. It allows a whole community of Flash developers to not only design cool web pages but now, cool applications.
On Adobe’s home page, you now download the AIR runtime. Coincidently, it’s next to the buttons for downloading Flash Player and the Acrobat reader. To me this is an indication of how impactful AIR could be.
Flash CS3 Professional is available at an academic discount price of $245.
Kidspiration 3 Must See Features
The newest version of Kidspiration offers exciting new capabilities including 3000 symbols, keyword symbol search, Word Guide, enhanced auditory support, new visual math tools, and more curriculum materials. These added functionalities work together to give students more opportunities to explore new concepts, discover meaning and express themselves with pictures, text, numbers and spoken words.
Kidspiration 3 is available at an academic discount price of $55.
Shockwaves: GDC and the Director Announcement
Well it’s official, on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at GDC, Director 11 was announced. The announcement featured a demo of a really unbelievably cool game by Lucas Meijer and the Artplant team that features BMX Bike racing across a series of terrains. The new physics look good and the graphics in the game are especially nice.The news was pretty extensively covered. I’ve included links to the various articles and blogs below.
Call of Duty 4: Developers’ Software
The majority of artists do their modeling in Maya. The UVs are laid out either in Maya or Unfold3D depending on which tool the artist feels is best. Texturing can be done in Photoshop, Deep Paint 3D, or ZBrush. In fact each individual artist decides what combination of programs he or she would like to use. Normal maps can also be created in multiple ways, using programs like ZBrush, Mudbox and Crazy Bump. Smaller details like buttons seem to work best with the NVIDIA plugin in Photoshop. Basically, we use whatever program that helps the artists get the results they want.
Sibelius 5 $50 mail-in rebate: Offer good from 2/15/2008 through 4/30/2008. Only $199 after mail-in rebate! (Offer does not apply to Sibelius 5 upgrades.)
 Whatever your musical style, Sibelius 5 makes writing scores a breeze – giving you more time to focus on the music. Stunning new features like Panorama mean you don’t need to think about pages while you’re composing or arranging. You can just let you creativity flow. Ideas Hub is a real first for music software. It lets you instantly capture your musical ideas, and then find them again in a second – so you’ll never lose another idea. Plus new, high-quality, built-in sounds play back your scores with astounding realism, because there’s no better way to perfect your music than by hearing it.
Sibelius 5 MAC/WIN Educational Edition is available at an academic discount price of $249 ($199 after $50 rebate).
 In Gamasutra’s Best of 2007, Knytt Stories was chosen as the top freeware game of 2007. In Knytt Stories, each level is its own little adventure. One level is included with the game, where you have to stop a machine that draws the life out of the planet. An official expansion pack is also featured at the website with four original levels. This free 2D platform game was created with Multimedia Fusion 2.
Multimedia Fusion 2 is available at an academic discount price of $83.
Adobe School Innovation Awards
To honor the hard work of students everywhere, Adobe is pleased to announce the opening of the 2008 Adobe School Innovation Awards competition. High school students in accredited private and public schools in the United States and Canada (except Quebec) can submit their innovative and creative projects and can win exciting prizes, including a trip to the annual National Education Computing Conference (NECC) in San Antonio, Texas, at the end of June 2008.
With the theme My Community — My Planet — My 21st Century, high school students in grades 9–12 (ages 14–19) can submit entries in three categories: Web Design and Development, Film and Video, and Graphic and Print Design. Category award winners as well as one grand prize winner for best overall submission will be chosen.
Submitted projects, dealing with students’ community, the world around them, and their own future, should showcase the most creative and innovative use of technology using Adobe products. The deadline for submissions is May 12, 2008. Winners will be announced at NECC in San Antonio, Texas.
Microsoft Vista Compatibility – Vista Support in Autodesk 2008 Products
Thanks to the close collaboration between Autodesk and Microsoft, many applications in Autodesk’s 2008 product line are compatible with Windows Vista™. Learn more about the compatibility of specific Autodesk 2008 products with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system:
* AutoCAD
* AutoCAD Architecture
* AutoCAD Civil 3D
* AutoCAD Electrical
* AutoCAD LT
* AutoCAD Map 3D
* AutoCAD Mechanical
* Autodesk 3ds Max
* Autodesk Buzzsaw
* Autodesk Constructware
* Autodesk Inventor
* Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise
* Autodesk Maya
* Autodesk Topobase
* Revit Family of Products
3ds MAX 2008, Maya, and AutoCAD are available at an academic discount price from Creation Engine.
Kerio MailServer 6.5 takes Outlook offline
Major enhancements in today’s release of Kerio MailServer version 6.5 include an open standards based CalDAV server and expanded Kerio Outlook Connector. The new features increase performance, enhance synchronization and provide greater access to data Anytime from Anywhere.
Share calendars and tasks in iCal
Kerio MailServer’s CalDAV server is the first CalDAV implementation to address the lack of interoperability in businesses with mixed platforms. Other calendaring systems limit businesses to certain calendaring applications, inhibiting collaboration and business. Kerio MailServer is a bridge translating proprietary and open calendar standards for multiple scheduling solutions, including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Entourage, Apple iCal or Windows Mobile and Palm Treo smartphones.
With Kerio MailServer’s CalDAV server, Apple iCal users on Leopard gain business capabilities for cross-platform collaboration. Users can view free/busy availability, access and make changes to shared and public calendars, and synchronize calendars and To Dos with other calendars such as Kerio WebMail and smartphones for anytime and anywhere access.
Offline access
The enhanced Kerio Outlook Connector, an extension for Microsoft Outlook, provides users with offline access to email, shared and public folders, and PIM data. Groupware information saved in the new offline data store enables mobile Outlook users to easily transition between places with and without Internet access. The local data store significantly improves the folder switching performance and full-text search capabilities. This new search option allows users to instantly locate messages using keywords in the text or in subject header either directly inside Outlook or using Google Desktop. The offline edition of Kerio Outlook Connector supports Outlook XP, 2003 and 2007. The existing online edition will still be available for Outlook 2000 support.
Other additions include
- New product branding
- Apple iCal To Do / Task synchronization through CalDAV and Kerio Sync Connector for Mac
- The Kerio Sync Connector (formerly iSync Connector) now supports Mac OS X Leopard clients
- Microsoft Entourage 2008 support
- Fedora Core 7 and 8 support
- SUSE Linux 10.3 support
- Windows Vista certification
Watch the What’s New in Kerio MailServer 6.5 Video.
 Kerio MailServer 6.5 Standard (with Antivirus plug-in support) Base 10 user is available at an academic discount price of $299.
Kerio MailServer 6.5 with integrated McAfee Anti-Virus Subscription is available at an academic discount price of $359.
Toshiba Concedes Defeat in the DVD Battle
For two years, Sony and Toshiba have been fighting over the standard for high-definition DVDs, but the battle is now over, and Sony and the Blu-ray format have won out:
Toshiba, the Japanese electronics giant, threw in the towel on its HD DVD technology Tuesday, announcing that it would no longer develop, produce or market disc players for the format. In doing so, it ceded victory to Sony’s competing Blu-ray format, which now looks set to become the global standard for high-definition DVDs.
 You can deliver your content to Blu-ray Disc with Adobe Encore CS3 software, now included with Adobe Premiere Pro CS3. Work with the same Adobe Encore authoring interface and features used to create standard-definition DVDs. Author once, deliver to three formats: automatically convert your high-definition Blu-ray Disc projects into standard-definition DVDs and interactive versions for the web.
Premiere Pro CS3 is available at an academic discount price of $345.
|
Twitter Feeds
|