eking

I still visit DA in limited form and my submissions have been idle for a long time now. Feeling nostalgic and wish I have focused more on DA over the decades.

Nick DePlume of ThinkSecret writes, "The next major upgrade to Adobe's industry-leading graphics editing software, Photoshop, is set to ship in the fourth quarter of 2003. This year will see the release of Photoshop 8.0, code-named "Dark Matter," and ImageReady 8.0, code-named "Taconite." ImageReady will remain a standalone application.

With this forthcoming release, Adobe is targeting the video and digital photography markets. However, its feature set is still subject to change. The Mac OS X version of the new Photoshop will require v10.2, Jaguar.

Specific updates will include: NTSC/PAL/HD preview choices to compliment the existing CMYK Preview, a Histogram palette, nested layer sets, and text on a path. Photoshop 8 will also include "filter layers," allowing for non-destructive image editing and manipulations, similar to Adobe After Effects' adjustment layers."

I still visit DA in limited form and my submissions have been idle for a long time now. Feeling nostalgic!

Audiogalaxy, a popular Internet file-swapping service, agreed Monday to filter copyrighted works as part of a legal settlement with the recording industry.

Under the settlement, Audiogalaxy is required to obtain permission or consent from a songwriter, music publisher and/or recording company to use and share copyrighted works. In addition, Audiogalaxy has agreed to pay the music publishers and recording industry an undetermined amount of money based on Audiogalaxy's assets and interest in resolving the case quickly, according to the RIAA.

The RIAA, along with the National Music Publisher's Association and The Harry Fox Agency, sued Audiogalaxy last month over copyright infringement. The suit was filed in federal court in New York, charging that Audiogalaxy's efforts to filter access to copyrighted songs have been ineffective.

While the settlement clears the way for Audiogalaxy to leave its legal headaches behind, it raises other, equally pressing concerns over the company's future. Audiogalaxy has attracted millions of Web surfers by offering a broad menu of free music--a deal that almost certainly will not survive the settlement.

The tough road to legitimacy for file-swapping companies was illustrated last year by Napster, which added filters aimed at blocking its users from trading unauthorized files, only to shut down voluntarily when they proved insufficient. The company has remained dark ever since. It filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, although it still awaits a chance to come back online, according to its primary backer, German media giant Bertelsmann.

The company has developed a 6.15 million pixel CCD (charge coupled device) image sensor for use in digital still cameras and will begin commercial production of the device in the next few days, the company said Wednesday. The sensor is a generation above the 5 million pixel products used in high-end consumer digital cameras, Sony said in a statement.

In addition to its high pixel count, the new sensor is also physically larger than previous models. At 1.8 inches across the diagonal, the active sensor panel is approximately the same size as APS (Advanced Photo System) film and so camera makers will be able to use their existing optics systems, said Yumi Matsui, a spokeswoman for Sony. That is expected to lead to shorter development times and lower costs for camera makers.

And camera makers will be looking to lower costs if they decide to use the new sensor. Samples of the device carry a cool ¥600,000 (US$4,500) price tag, which is expected to drop to around ¥100,000 when the device enters commercial production shortly, but that is still before the camera is built around it, Sony said.

Still, cameras incorporating the sensor will offer some of the highest resolution digital photography yet available to consumers. Sony said the maximum resolution possible from the sensor is 3,040 by 2,024 pixels which means it is capable of producing images roughly four times the size of those available from today's 2 million-pixel cameras.

Other companies already offer 6 million pixel digital cameras although Sony's new sensor is one of the first targeted at consumer applications. Eastman Kodak Co. already has several professional cameras with 6 million-pixel CCD sensors and FujiFilm Co. Ltd. also sells a camera although it uses 3.3 million pixel sensor with an optical filter and software to produce an output equivalent to 6 million pixels.

Sony is one of the world's largest manufacturers of CCD image sensors, which are also used in digital video cameras and other similar devices. According to company estimates, it has an approximate 50 percent share of the entire market and 60 percent share of the market for digital still camera devices.