Aiming to connect families and overcome the complexity often associated with technology, HP has unveiled the HP DreamScreen400, a gateway to the information and services desired by consumers in India. The “developed in India, for India” tabletop product is designed to enhance education, deliver news and entertainment, link families and provide access to the Web via a touch interface. Information ranging from school curricula to Bollywood TV and music is accessible in English or Hindi. Video calls can be initiated by tapping an onscreen number keypad or touching a photo. The HP DreamScreen400 is expected to be available in India shortly at approximately 700 outlets across 60 cities in the country for RS19,999 plus taxes, or about $450. For a limited time, home delivery, setup and a tutorial are included in the price. HP hopes the concept and business model of the HP DreamScreen400 will find favor in other countries and regions.
EDGE Tech has brought out a full line of USB 3.0 products, including DiskGO portable and external USB 3.0 hard drives and USB 3.0 laptop and desktop upgrade cards. DiskGO SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Hard Drives sport the fastest USB connection on the market. With speeds of up to 5Gb/s, USB 3.0 is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 (480Mb/s). For users without access to USB 3.0 ports, EDGE offers laptop and desktop upgrade card solutions that add this capability. The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Laptop ExpressCard adds a USB 3.0 port to any Windows laptop with an available ExpressCard slot, and the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Desktop PCI Express Card adds two ports to any Windows desktop with an available PCI Express slot.
Ninuku Archivist is a service that automatically archives Facebook users’ walls on a monthly basis, enabling users to privately edit and preserve status updates, links and friends’ comments — and then easily delete these from Facebook’s servers. Ninuku Archivist organizes Facebook users’ posts chronologically on a month-by-month, chapter-by-chapter basis, saving each chapter as a PDF file and downloadable XML file. Users can also create chapters from photos they have uploaded or in which they’ve been tagged. Photo, Profile and Monthly Status Chapters can eventually be combined into quarterly, semi-annual, or annual PDF books. Ninuku Archivist also enables users to add private thoughts to their chapters, either as separate journal entries or as private comments to published status updates. PDF chapters of months going forward are created automatically by Ninuku Archivist, starting with the month users first sign up. With a paid subscription, users can create PDFs of months past, starting with those in 2010, as most data is likely to be available from Facebook’s servers. The service costs $24 a year and a free trial is available.
Online talent discovery destination, AuditionBooth.com, has launched in public beta. The site enables aspiring talents, 18 years and over, to audition for TV shows, ad campaigns and other talent searches via webcam. The auditions are then submitted directly to casting directors and brand talent scouts. Former American Idol judge, Paula Abdul, a partner in the venture, claims that the site is all about creating the opportunity for people to be discovered by the right casting agents. AuditionBooth’s partner, Infusion Development, has introduced a technology that allows for an interactive audition process using, “The Booth,” a video capture tool customized for the casting industry. For each opportunity, content partners create an interactive video audition including requirements and criteria that will be searched, sorted, shared and screened. Casting decision makers can then access these videos and submissions using the site’s targeted “Pivot” search engine to find the perfect fit for their show or opportunity. Audition submissions are only open to US residents, but once the site comes out of beta, terms of use may change. Right now, without registration, anyone can be “entertained” by the posted audition videos.
