Joanne Maly: proton T2a

Showing posts with label proton T2a. Show all posts

Thursday, February 15, 2018

ProGrade Digital: A New Memory Card Brand by Ex-Lexar Execs

Say hello to ProGrade Digital, a new brand of pro-grade memory cards and card readers for photographers. The company was founded by former Lexar executives who are aiming to offer the highest quality memory cards on the market.

Micron shocked the photo world in June 2017 when it unexpectedly announced the end of Lexar-brand memory cards. A few months later, Lexar as given a new shot at life when the brand was acquired by the Chinese flash storage company Longsys.

A group of former Lexar executives has now banded together to compete against the likes of SanDisk and Lexar in the camera storage space. The founding leadership team all held managerial or technical leadership positions at Lexar and have over 60 years of combined experience in the memory card niche.

“Leveraging its experience and industry relationships, the team will focus exclusively on developing and marketing memory cards, card readers and software optimized for use within professional cinema and photography markets,” ProGrade Digital says.

“Our goal is to be the professional’s source for top performing, professional grade memory cards and workflow solutions,” says founder and CEO Wes Brewer. “We will be committed to focusing our efforts on the digital imaging pro who is meticulous about his equipment and workflow-delivering the best service, plus best product quality and reliability.”

Memory Cards

The company will start out with lines of CFast 2.0 (550MB/sec) and SDXC UHS-II (200MB/sec) cards at pro-level capacities. The controllers in the cards are optimized for pro-grade cameras, and each card will undergo rigorous full-card testing (component-level down to individual memory chips) for “the highest quality control.”

Each card will also ship with a 3-year warranty when they hit store shelves later this month through the company website, B&H, and Amazon.

The CFast 2.0 cards will be available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities for $230, $350, and $700, respectively.

The SDXC UHS-II cards will be available in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities for $55, $95, and $190, respectively.

Memory Card Reader

The ProGrade Digital memory card reader features dual slots for both CFast and SDXC, and it uses USB 3.0 Gen 2 for transfer speeds of up to 10Gb/second. You’ll be able to multi-task thanks to the fact that the reader supports full-speed data flow concurrently from cards in each slot.

Each reader comes with two 18-inch-long cables (a Type A to Type C cable and a Type C to Type C cable) and a 2-year warranty.

You’ll be able to purchase the ProGrade Digital card reader later this month for $80.

Panono has new CEO, puts focus on software solutions

Professional360 GmbH, the recently re-named company behind the Panono 360-degree camera and software solutions, has a new CEO. Thomas Escher has previously held a number of top-level management positions in media houses such as Axel Springer and ProSiebenSat.1 Media, and managed the French foreign business of the online toy retailer MyToys, among other roles.

With the new CEO at its helm, the company is adjusting its strategy, reducing the focus on hardware and towards customized 350-degree software solutions, with real-estate and construction two key target sectors. Escher explains:

108 megapixels make our camera the highest resolution 360 degree one-shot camera in the market. We will strive to uphold and extend this technological leadership in the future. However, today this is no longer enough: especially among professional users, there’s a growing demand for individual software, cloud and web applications. They desire a first-class virtual presence both for web and mobile applications, as well as the most innovative content solutions.

“At the moment, real estate is still very traditional in its structures and processes, but with digitization moving forward, there are dramatic changes ahead in the next years,” continues Escher. “For one of our customers, we have developed a tool to create virtual tours out of our 360 degree images and to link them to a floor plan. This way, complete houses can be viewed online. Our customers can offer their clients viewings that are independent as to both time and place.”

This is only the latest chapter in Panono's brief but turbulent history, and a stark move away from the more traditional, consumer focused 360° camera industry Panono started in. We had several occasions to have a closer look and test the Panono camera and were impressed by the technology. Hopefully the new CEO and strategy can help get the company back on track, and push 360-degree imaging technology further.

Press Release

MORE THAN JUST A CAMERA: NEW PANONO CEO TO TRANSFORM THE OPERATIONS

- Thomas Escher new CEO of Panono
- New focus on software solutions and services for 360 degree photos
- Strong customer focus

Berlin, 15 February 2018 – In February 2018, Thomas Escher (36) joined Professional360 GmbH as the new CEO. Under the brand name Panono the company offers professional 360 degree photo solutions for businesses and professional users, including its own award-winning camera hardware and customized software, cloud solutions and web integration.

“In Thomas Escher we have found a CEO with expertise both in media and entertainment and in classical e-commerce,” said a spokesperson of Bryanston Group AG, the company who has acquired the assets of Panono and has been running its business operations since July 2017. Escher has held a number of top-level management positions in media houses such as Axel Springer and ProSiebenSat.1 Media, and, among others, managed the French foreign business of the online toy retailer MyToys. As the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the Allianz affiliate InstaMotion, an online dealer for second-hand cars, he
was responsible for marketing and sales activities.

From “technology first” to “customer first”

Panono aims to continue the expansion of 360 degree solutions. “108 megapixels make our camera the highest resolution 360 degree one-shot camera in the market. We will strive to uphold and extend this technological leadership in the future. However today this is no longer enough: especially among professional users, there’s a growing demand for individual software, cloud and web applications. They desire a first-class virtual presence both for web and mobile applications, as well as the most innovative content solutions”, explained Escher. “With this in mind we will further develop our platform, software
features and services, both independently and via sector-specific strategic partnerships. We have already implemented some exciting features, and there are more on the horizon.”

Focus on real estate and construction

Panono has been giving special attention to the real estate sector. “At the moment, real estate is still very traditional) in its structures and processes, but with digitization moving forward, there are dramatic changes ahead in the next years,” said Thomas Escher. “For one of our customers, we have developed a tool to create virtual tours out of our 360 degree images and to link them to a floor plan. This way, complete houses can be viewed online. Our customers can offer their clients viewings that are independent as to both time and place.” According to Escher, Panono also offers interesting possibilities
for construction and maintenance companies, for example when it comes to the documentation of building conditions and work progress.

Instagram is Now Alerting Users When People Screenshot Stories

Instagram is testing out a new feature that Snapchat helped make famous: users are being notified when other people shoot screenshots of photos and videos in Instagram Stories.

Some users have begun seeing advance notices from Instagram saying that the next time they shoot a screenshot or screen recording of a story, the owner of the story will be notified:

Good bye freedom to screenshot IG stories. 💔 Thank you, Instagram for the warning. pic.twitter.com/y0pEaVR0Jq

— mulan (@__cajb) February 8, 2018

The small percentage of users who have the warning feature activated during this test can see everyone who screenshotted their story by opening up the list of story viewers and looking for the new camera shutter icon next to usernames.

PSA: How you get notified on Instagram when someone took a screenshot of your Stories pic.twitter.com/Iua2QeyskF

— iz reading On the Edge of Scandal 🍑 (@readbyher) February 11, 2018

TechCrunch confirmed the existence of this new feature being tested with Instagram, which stated that, “we are always testing ways to improve the experience on Instagram and make it easier to share any moment with the people who matter to you.”

“To be clear, creators won’t get a specific notification when someone takes a screenshot of their story, it will only show up in their list of story viewers,” TechCrunch writes. “Instagram is likely using this test to see if the feature has any noticeable impact on engagement, before deciding whether or not they’ll roll it out to all users.”

Instagram also currently notifies all users when someone snaps a screenshot of a private direct message.

Lensbaby Unveils the Burnside 35, the First Wide-Angle Petzval Lens

This is What Happens When You Hire a Nigerian Scammer as a Photographer

Here’s an unusual and inspiring 8-minute video by photographer Adam Grumbo of Matters To That One. After he was contacted online by a Nigerian scammer posing as a “hot American girl,” Grumbo decided to hire the scammer as a documentary photographer.

Grumbo tasked the scammer-turned-photographer with photographing the food, surroundings, and homes in his village, and Tobi was promised payment for his photography. So, ignoring all the common sense advice commonly given to Internet users, Grumbo wired Tobi $100 in return for photos from the market.

“He went into town and got some tomato juice, onions, peppers, and fish,” says Grumbo. “He made one of Nigerians’ favorite dishes. I know that Tobi is really struggling to survive in Nigeria. Me and most people watching this video are much more fortunate than he is. I had to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

Tobi also recorded a thank you video.

“I know God has plans for everything,” he says. “To even talk to somebody outside my country, it’s really a very big privilege for me.”

Grumbo is now fundraising for Tobi’s next photography assignment and you can support that project on GoFundMe.

Windows 10 is Getting a New ‘Ultimate Performance’ Mode for Pros

Want to squeeze some extra juice out of your Windows 10 workstation? Microsoft has just unveiled a new “Ultimate Performance” power plan that’s coming to Windows 10 Pro.

The new plan is designed for advanced users for whom “High Performance” isn’t enough. It helps speed things up by “eliminating micro-latencies” that come with “fine-grained power management techniques” — instead of thinking about power, the workstation will focusing even more on performance.

“As part of our effort to provide the absolute maximum performance we’re introducing a new power policy called Ultimate Performance,” Microsoft says. “Windows has developed key areas where performance and efficiency tradeoffs are made in the OS.

“Over time, we’ve amassed a collection of settings which allow the OS to quickly tune the behavior based on user preference, policy, underlying hardware or workload.”

You’ll be able to use the new power plan by going to Power Options under Hardware and Sound and selecting Ultimate Performance. As with the other power policies in Windows, you’ll be able to customize the Ultimate Performance policy to meet your personal needs.

“As the power scheme is geared towards reducing micro-latencies it may directly impact hardware; and consume more power than the default balanced plan,” Microsoft warns.

The new Ultimate Performance mode is being tested by Windows Insiders in the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Build (17101). No word yet on when it will be officially released to the general public. It will also be interesting to see what kind of impact the new policy has on intensive tasks done in apps like Photoshop and Lightroom.

(via Windows Blogg via Engadget)

This Crypto-Art Rose Photo Sold for $1,000,000

Kevin Abosch, the photographer who purportedly sold a photo of a potato for over $1,000,000 in 2016, has now become the photographer behind the world’s most expensive crypto-artwork by selling a photo of a rose on the blockchain for $1,000,000.

CNN reports that the photo, titled Forever Rose, was purchased yesterday on Valentines Day by a group of 10 collectors that included investment funds, an advisory firm, crypto projects, and a leading China-based crypto investor. There were over 150 interested buyers, and the 10 collectors who ended up purchasing the photo split the price (paid in GTO and IAMA tokens) evenly 10 ways. The $1 million is believed to be the highest price ever paid for a cryptocurrency artwork.

“The Forever Rose is an ERC20 token called ROSE on the Ethereum blockchain that is based on Abosch’s photograph of a rose,” Crowdfund Insider reports. “The buyers each receives 1/10 of the ROSE token. The purchasers can decide to sell their partial rose.”

Abosch created Forever Rose in collaboration with GIFTO, a decentralized gifting platform that stores its record of collectibles on the Ethereum blockchain.

The photographer and platform have donated the proceeds from the sale ($1 million worth of Ether) to CoderDojo Foundation, which provides free programming programs for kids aged 7 to 17 years old.

[Read More ...]
This Crypto-Art Rose Photo Sold for $1,000,000 was originally posted by proton T2a

Fujifilm Unveils the X-H1: 4K Video and In-Body Stabilization

A Fully Loaded $14,000 iMac Pro vs. a Fully Loaded $6,000 iMac

Is it worth upgrading to the latest fully loaded iMac Pro, which will cost you $14,000? Filmmaker Parker Walbeck recently went hands-on to find out. Here’s his interesting 4-minute video review that looks at the speed comparisons between a fully loaded iMac Pro and a fully loaded $6,000 iMac.

The review shows side-by-side comparisons of each computer running a number of tasks. First off, Walbeck tests playback speeds of RED 8K footage. The iMac Pro plays back flawlessly at real speed while the iMac had to have the resolution reduced to 1/8th to see the same smooth playback.

Walbeck found that the iMac Pro rendered about twice as fast as the iMac, but interestingly the Warp Stabilizer effect in Adobe Premiere performed 25% better on the iMac — apparently a quick that has to do with the number of cores that task utilizes.

“I definitely think there is a point of diminishing returns,” says Walbeck. “You’re going to pay a premium for the latest and greatest tech.”