Both digital song sales and album sales volume are down, year-to-date. 120.9 million albums have been sold in 2014 -- down 15 percent versus the 142 million sold a year ago. In terms of digital song sales, 593.6 million have been sold, down 13 percent compared to the 682.2 million last year at the mid-way point.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6143254/frozen-pharrell-williams-lead-mid-year-soundscan-charts-2014

I switched to Apple because I was asked to join a media company and they all used Mac's. So at that time I asked the guy well what is so special about Apple computers because I wasn't impressed. He said watch this he opened up a whole bunch of large photoshop files, video files etc etc and the computer did not crash. I was sold and 2 weeks later purchased my first Mac Pro.

That was then and this is now. Since that time slowly but surely Apple seems to be abandoning the professional market, they are more concerned about selling iPhones/Ipads then catering to the professional community. This makes a lot of sense from a business perspective, but they are also alienating themselves at the same time from the professional community.

I have Final Cut Pro X and Adobe CC on my computer. I prefer Final Cut Pro X because it is faster for me to edit with then Adobe Premiere Pro. However in light of recent events I feel that I should just stop using Final Cut Pro X and switch over to Adobe Premiere Pro. I have a feeling that Apple will do the same exact thing to Aperture cut it and leave everybody high and dry. I won't even get into the changes from Final Cut Pro to Final Cut Pro X lets just say that I wasn't happy about it.

Then the Icing on the cake is the new trash can Mac Pro with the what you see is what you get mindset from Apple, because don't forget Apple knows whats best for you whether you know it or not. LOL... Ok so I am going to spend at minimum $3000 + for the trash can computer but yet the graphics card is not upgradable? I don't think so! I don't mind spending $3000.00 on a Retina MacBook Pro and realize that what you see is what you get but not a desktop workstation.

Note: I really don't want to switch back to PC's I purchased Apple computers for my whole family along with iPhones/iPads, Apple TV's, Airport Extremes the whole bit so we are all in with the Apple ecosystem. However the righting is on the wall so I might as well jump ship before it sinks rather then get caught with my pants down.

Let the flames begin ;-)

It'll have only fully controlled touch oriented mode. And you won't be able to run your old apps or application developed for desktop mode. And could only install signed applications from Windows Store.

It seems like decision is based on rising popularity of small Windows tablets and sad facts that instead of buying things from Windows Store people just get them at developers sites and install themselves.

Android 5.0 adds a huge list of features to the API that will enable developers build richer applications than before. The improvements in Camera API allow developers to achieve full Manual control over each camera parameter.

Android would now support DNG (or RAW) images out of the box. What this means is upcoming Android camera apps would be able to create RAW image along with PNG, JPEG for each shot.

The Camera 2 API delivers full resolution images in Realtime (i.e. same line speed of the camera), enabled by a fully synchronized pipeline. In layman’s terms, it can take the best out of the camera hardware, despite what OEM might set limits for in software. e.g. Nexus 5 can capture photos at 30 FPS, at it’s hardware maximum resolution of 8 megapixels.

Full Manual control

http://geeknizer.com/android-5-0-l-supports-pro-photography/

Pioneer Corp has agreed to sell its audio-video operations to Hong Kong-based Baring Private Equity Asia and Pioneer's Japanese rival Onkyo Corp.

Baring will own a 51 percent stake in Pioneer Home Electronics Corp, which makes and sells DVD players, digital photo frames and other audio equipment. The three parties will decide who will own the rest, Pioneer and Onkyo said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

The news, first reported by the Nikkei business daily, sent Pioneer shares up 4 percent to close at 229 yen on Tuesday. Shares in Onkyo surged as much as 12.6 percent to 168 yen.

The three parties aim to close the deal by the end of August with details, said a Tokyo-based spokesman for Baring Private Equity.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/24/pioneer-offer-baring-idUSL4N0P51MY20140624

Nikon Corp said it has set aside 200 billion yen ($1.96 billion) for mergers and acquisitions in medical and other growth fields.

It also would assign 220 billion yen for research and development over three years including the current business year to March 2015. Of that, 50 billion yen will be directed to fields such as medical equipment. Nikon said it was aiming for 130 billion yen in sales from its medical business by the year ending March 2017,

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/17/us-nikon-plans-idUKKBN0ES0MI20140617

So, we're starting up fresh, with the big questions: when and where?

Last year we did Santa Monica and downtown, so I'm (selfishly) rooting for Pasadena. What's everyone else think?

If you want to get up to speed on what the earlier ones were like, check out our old thread at http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/7157/meetup-los-angeles-area/p1

Worldwide graphics card shipments are expected to decline 30-40% sequentially in the second quarter as vendors are suffering from excessive inventories, according to sources from graphics card players.

Graphics card sales have been significantly impacted by Bitcoin's dropping demand recently, the sources said.

Graphics card players and channel retailers have suggested AMD and Nvidia cut prices to boost demand, but both GPU makers have instead focused on reducing their new GPU shipments to maintain profits and a balance between inventory and new shipments.

Trapped by existing inventories, most players' graphics card sales have been impacted since April, the sources noted.

Btw, miners are good source of used cards :-) Btw, it is mostly mining of other coins, not Bitcoin lately. But if you wantch around you can get good card and good discount.

A curved CMOS sensor has a few advantages over a planar sensor. Because of the geometry, it can be paired with a flatter lens and a larger aperture, which lets in more light. Photodiodes at the periphery of a sensor array will be bent toward the center, which means light rays will hit them straight on instead of obliquely. What's more, the strain induced on a CMOS sensor by bending it alters the band gap of the silicon devices in the sensor region, lowering the noise created by "dark current" — the current that flows through a pixel even when it is receiving no external light.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/devices/sony-creates-curved-cmos-sensors-that-mimic-the-eye

ON Semiconductor today signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aptina Imaging, a leading provider of high-performance CMOS image sensors for automotive and industrial markets, which are the key areas of strategic focus for ON Semiconductor. Other markets addressed by Aptina’s products include cameras, mobile devices, and computing and gaming platforms.

The acquisition of Aptina vastly expands ON Semiconductor’s image-sensor business and establishes the company as a leader in the fast growing segment of image sensors in automotive and industrial semiconductor market. According to TSR, an independent market research firm, the worldwide demand for image sensors for automotive and industrial applications is expected to grow at annual compound rate of 16 percent between 2013 and 2016.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140609006455/en/Semiconductor-Acquire-Aptina-Imaging#.U5avE02KCUl

http://euanmearns.com/china-the-coal-monster/

SEL Semiconductor Energy Laborator and AFD Advanced Film Device showcased in co-operation with Sharp a 13.3 inch AMOLED DIsplay with a 8K resolution (7,680×4320 pixel).

That means that this OLED Panel reach 664 pixel per inch, the companies reached that unbelievable resolution by combining white-light OLEDs with three kinds of microcavities to narrow wavelengths down to those of red, green and blue lights and applying color filters to them. Today most OLED panels reach the standard color gamut on NTSC on about 100 percent. This panel has a low red color reproduciblity and reach 84 percent.

http://news.oled-display.net/sharp-and-sel-showcase-a-13-3-inch-8k-oled-panel/

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today announced that it has** successfully achieved the industry’s first 10Gbps Wi-Fi service in laboratory trials** at Huawei’s campus in Shenzhen. This important milestone, which delivered data over Wi-Fi 10 times faster than the fastest existing Wi-Fi capability commercially available today, will enable a new era of big data applications by using ultra-fast Wi-Fi technology based on advanced next generation architecture to boost data rates to 10Gbps.

The 10Gbps Wi-Fi prototype achieved a record transmission data rate of 10.53Gbps on 5GHz frequency bands. The success of this prototype development, and the ten folds increase in spectrum efficiency that made it possible, paves the way for the validation of technologies needed to support the creation of next generation Wi-Fi. Huawei believes that ultrafast Wi-Fi could become commercially available from 2018 pending the agreement of global standards requirements and sufficient chipset availability.

http://www.huawei.com/ilink/en/about-huawei/newsroom/press-release/HW_341651

http://petapixel.com/2010/08/05/the-worlds-first-digital-camera-by-kodak-and-steve-sasson/

Harold House

A post on eBay's corporate site said that cyber-attackers accessed the information after obtaining "a small number of employee log-in credentials", allowing them to access its systems - something it only became aware of a fortnight ago.

"The database... included eBay customers' name, encrypted password, email address, physical address, phone number and date of birth," it said.

"However, the database did not contain financial information or other confidential personal information.

"Extensive forensics subsequently identified the compromised eBay database, resulting in the company's announcement today."

http://www.ebayinc.com/in_the_news/story/ebay-inc-ask-ebay-users-change-passwords

Sony's unique high-speed readout technology has made it possible to realize a high frame rate of approx. 22 frame/s in still picture all-pixel scan drive mode regardless of high pixel counts of approx. 20.48M effective pixels.
In addition, the technology enables selection of high-definition still images or high-speed video imaging in various drive modes including high-resolution full HD at 60 frame/s (Mode 1), low power consumption full HD at 60 frame/s (Mode 7), high frame rate (Mode 4: 240 frame/s and Mode 6: 450 frame/s) that best suits the purpose.

http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/new_pro/may_2014/imx183_e.html

Soon it'll be crowd-funding option that lets you contribute money directly through YouTube.

Electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd. has begun selling low-potassium lettuce, which is grown in a special clean room at its semiconductor plant in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture.

Toshiba has announced a similar initiative and has begun construction of a vegetable clean room at an idle semiconductor facility in Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture. Toshiba plans to start shipping lettuce, baby leaf greens, spinach, mizuna, and other vegetables in the summer.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/13/national/science-health/fujitsu-harvests-low-potassium-lettuce-grown-plant-clean-room/#.U3wsIU2KCUk

Japanese multinational Sharp Corporation (TYO: 6753) has made forays into the horticultural industry as it seeks to capitalize on a strawberry production facility where it will grow Japanese varieties with high sugar content.

The electronics designer and manufacturer has announced plans to commercialize the Dubai facility that was built in July on the property of its subsidiary Sharp Middle East Free Zone Establishment (SMEF).

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20130921/304741/

Samsung Electronics has abandoned plans for a new facility to manufacture next-generation display panels for televisions, deterred by the inefficiency of production amid intense price competition in the TV market.

An OLED TV forms a picture on a thin, bendable layer of organic light-emitting diodes. The South Korean company released sets last year at home and in the U.S. But the products did not fare well, in large part because of hefty price tags. A 55-inch model initially went for 15 million won ($14,700).

Samsung makes the OLED panels at a small-scale production facility at its Tangjeong complex. Investment has been called off for a larger facility that would have been in place by the end of the year.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Samsung-hits-the-pause-button-on-OLED-TVs

Using the new Panasonic LUMIX GH4, I'll be taking you through the best options on recording videos using Panasonic's impressive new camera, including the setup, audio, picture setting, and the range of lenses and accessories that will work alongside the camera.

As you know, the LUMIX GH4 is the first stills camera in the Micro 4/3's arena to be capable of filming 4k video. Not only that, it can shoot at 200mb/s (broadcast quality) All Intra at 4:2:2 10-bit colour output. I'll be looking at how personal-view users can make their shoots as best they can for broadcasting purposes and how you can get the best out of the h264 compression plus how to finalise your work for Vimeo/Youtube and Theatre/Cinema release.

During the session, I'm hoping to be able to provide a live demonstration, and show the output on a large 4K monitor. A technical expert from Panasonic UK will also be on hand to answer any queries you might have.

This is a brilliant opportunity for personal-view members in the London and South East to meet me and other members and have a great chat about our experiences.

Park Cameras will also be offering exclusive instore only deals for you to take advantage of, when attending this event. The camera itself will be available from early May.

There's two sessions available one in the morning at 11:00 to 12.30pm and the other in the afternoon at 2.30pm to 4pm. To reserve your place, goto to this page;-

http://www.parkcameras.com/Article/32/Events.html?referrer=events

spred the word if you like it https://www.facebook.com/pages/Asusm-Inqqn/177152852452315

HDMI FORUM RELEASES VERSION 2.0 OF THE HDMI SPECIFICATION

Increased bandwidth provides the infrastructure for new features that will drive the next generation of consumer entertainment

BERLIN, Germany - September 4, 2013 – IFA 2013 – HDMI Forum, Inc., a non-profit, mutual benefit corporation, today announced the release of Version 2.0 of the HDMI Specification. This latest HDMI Specification, the first to be developed by the HDMI Forum, offers a significant increase in bandwidth (up to 18Gbps) to support new features such as 4K@50/60 (2160p), which is 4 times the clarity of 1080p/60 video resolution; 32 audio channels; as well as dynamic auto lip-sync and extensions to CEC. The complete Version 2.0 of the HDMI Specification is available to Adopters on the HDMI Adopter Extranet. HDMI Licensing, LLC will host a press conference to discuss the new features of the HDMI 2.0 Specification at IFA 2013 in Berlin on Friday, September 6 at 12:00pm in the TecWatch Forum area of Hall 11.1.

Version 2.0 of the HDMI Specification, which is backward compatible with earlier versions of the Specification, was developed by the HDMI Forum's Technical Working Group whose members represent some of the world's leading manufacturers of consumer electronics, personal computers, mobile devices, cables and components. The HDMI Forum currently has a membership of 88 companies.

"The introduction of the HDMI 2.0 Specification represents a major milestone for the HDMI Forum," said Robert Blanchard of Sony Corporation, president of the HDMI Forum. "Our members collaborated closely to take the highly successful HDMI Specification to the next level by expanding audio and video features for consumer electronics applications."

The HDMI Forum has chosen HDMI Licensing, LLC to be the Agent to license Version 2.0 of the HDMI Specification. In this role, HDMI Licensing, LLC will provide marketing, promotional, licensing and administrative services, as well as education on the benefits of the HDMI Specification to adopters, retailers, and consumers.

"We are pleased to continue our work in supporting the HDMI Adopter base as well as the entire HDMI ecosystem," said Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC. "Adopters can now continue to develop new product functionality over the HDMI interface as well as look to HDMI Licensing, LLC as their single contact for all their licensing and administrative needs."

Version 2.0 of the HDMI Specification does not define new cables or new connectors. Current High Speed cables (category 2 cables) are capable of carrying the increased bandwidth.

The HDMI 2.0 Compliance Test Specification (CTS) is expected to be released before the end of 2013.

For more information about Version 2.0 of the HDMI Specification please visit http://www.hdmi.org.

Last year had been fun and full of achievements.
We had many member meetings, two video contests (with more to come soon),
work on FAQs is now more regular.

And, of course, we have many new valuable and smart members who came here during this year.

P.S. Remember support us and tell your friends and other people about personal-view :-)

Main idea here is to allow up to 30 meters length with full speed.

• http://www.pcworld.com/article/2144060/usb-30-jumps-to-light-speed-with-new-10meter-optical-cable.html
• http://www.corning.com/opcomm/OpticalCablesbyCorning/products/USB-3.Optical.aspx

Last week multiple sources on the web told that starting of new financial year Panasonic will focus on improving their camera division.

Only last day it become known how deep they will be thanks to leaked recording.

Digital cameras division staff will be significantly increased and focused on improving existing and introducing new amazing m43 cameras and lenses.

Remember to check http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/10019/ask-developers-of-the-panasonic-lumix-gh4-plus-answers-about-the-m43-format#Item_19