• Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015
Gadgets around us will keep getting smarter, like it or not
This July 29, 2015 file photo made in New York shows Amazon's Echo, a digital assistant that continually listens for commands such as for a song, a sports score or the weather. The company says Echo transmits nothing to Amazon’s data centers until you first say “Alexa” or press a button. A blue light also comes on to let you know it’s active. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Our cars, our homes, our appliances and even our toys: Things around us are going to keep getting smarter. In 2016, we'll entrust even more of our lives and their intimate details to machines - not to mention the companies that run them.

Are we ready for that?

You might, for instance, like the idea of turning on your TV with a spoken command - no more fumbling for the remote! But for that to work, the TV needs to be listening all the time, even when you're not watching. And even when you're discussing something extremely personal, or engaged in some other activity to which you'd rather not invite eavesdroppers.

How much should you worry? Maybe your TV never records any of your casual conversations. Or maybe its manufacturer is recording all that, but just to find ways to make the TV better at understanding what you want it to do. Or maybe it retains everything it hears for some other hidden purpose.

You may never know for sure. At best, you can hope the company keeps its promises on privacy. More important, you have to trust that its computer systems are really secure, or those promises are suddenly worthless. That part is increasingly difficult to guarantee - or believe - as hacking becomes routine.

And here's the chief quandary: Every technological benefit comes with a cost in the form of a threat to privacy. Yet not paying that price has its own cost: an inability to participate in some of technology's greater achievements.

Because smart gadgets thrive on data - data about you and your habits, data about what large numbers of people do or say or appear to want in particular situations - it's difficult not to share pretty much everything with them. Doing otherwise would be like turning off your phone's location services, which disables many of its most useful features.

The consequences aren't restricted to phones and TVs:

- Kids will be able to talk to more toys and get personalized, computer-generated responses. Does the "don't talk to strangers" rule apply if the stranger is the Hello Barbie talking doll or Dino, the dinosaur powered by IBM's Watson artificial-intelligence system?

- Cars will work with GPS technology and sensors in parking meters, roads and home appliances to help route you around traffic and turn on your living-room lights as you approach the driveway. But that can also generate a detailed record of your whereabouts.

- Thermostats from Nest and others will get smarter at conserving energy when you're away. Potential burglars might find that information handy.

- Home security cameras are getting cheaper and more plentiful, but they're sometimes insecure themselves, especially if you set them up clumsily. There's already a website devoted to showing video from cameras with no passwords. Though they are mostly outdoor or business cameras, one was trained on a baby's crib, and another in a living room.

- Wearable health devices will track your heart rate, fitness levels and more - and share achievements with friends and family. But slacking off may carry a heavier cost than those extra holiday pounds, particularly if your insurance company yanks discounts for meeting fitness goals.

- Software from Google and Facebook will get even more refined to help you cut through the noise. That's great if Facebook is showing you posts from friends you already interact the most with, but will a long-lost friend's plea for help go unanswered because you don't see it?

The pending onslaught of privacy trade-offs might seem trivial when it comes to a talking - and listening - Barbie. But maybe it's less so when your phone knows enough about you to remind you it's time to leave for an important interview (if the alternative would be losing a shot at that job) or your smart home can really tell you if you turned off the oven before leaving for an international trip.

"The encroachments on our privacy are often self-inflicted in the sense that we will accept the trade-off one bit at a time," says John Palfrey, co-author of "Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems.

And these trade-offs can be quite subtle. Technological advances typically offer immediate, tangible benefits that, once you've put enough of them together, can indeed revolutionize daily life. Can you imagine living your life without a smartphone? A few years from now, you might goggle at the thought of managing your day without constant advice from Siri or "OK Google."

As for the risks, they'll tend to be diffuse, abstract and often difficult to ascertain even if you're paying attention - and most people won't. In a study released Wednesday, the Pew Research Center says about half of American adults have no confidence that they understand what's being done with their data, and about a third are discouraged by the amount of effort needed to get that understanding.

In short, convenience usually wins. Shiny new things are inherently attractive, and it takes a while for some of us to get uneasy about the extent to which we may be enabling our own surveillance.

Humans have made this bargain with technology for some time. When cameras were invented, legal scholars debated how far you can go snapping pictures of people in public. That's no longer an issue - although the camera on a drone in your backyard is.

Over time, manufacturers will get better at putting in safeguards, and consumers will get better at setting boundaries and taking charge.

For instance, this holiday season's Hello Barbie talking toy won't listen in until your kid presses its belt buckle. Though it does store conversations between kids and their dolls to improve speech-recognition technology, its maker says there's little personal information tied to those conversations - no first or last names, no ages, no gender.

"We don't need that information," said Martin Reddy, co-founder and chief technical officer of ToyTalk, which developed Hello Barbie with Mattel. "We don't want that information. It just makes it more difficult on our end."

Of course, kids might simply tell their toys personal details about themselves. ToyTalk employees who review such conversations to improve the technology are trained to immediately delete anything sensitive, but they aren't charged with actively monitoring stored discussions.

Step One in managing interactions with our newly smart digital companions comes down to simple attentiveness. Parents, for instance, can be actively involved in what their kids are doing - in this case, by taking the time to review and delete conversations from ToyTalk's website.

Step Two might be learning to say no. Many services ask for birth dates, phone numbers and even income levels just because they can - and few people resist. If enough people rise up, companies will stop. There's precedent: Enough people fed up with online ads have turned to ad blockers, such that websites are taking steps to make ads less annoying.

There will always be a trade-off, but the balance can always shift.

  • Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015
NAB, SMPTE team on "Future of Cinema Conference" set for April 16-17
Richard Welsh, CEO of Sundog Media Toolkit
WHITE PLAINS, NY -- 

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) announced that the newly crafted NAB Show’s “The Future of Cinema Conference: The Immortal Movie,” produced in partnership with SMPTE, will explore how content creators and storytellers combine artistry with motion-imaging technology to thrive today--and especially into the future. Scheduled for April 16-17 during the 2016 NAB Show, the refocused technical conference will examine this topic with an emphasis on the work and inspiration of the industry’s newest generation of filmmakers.

“With this conference, we’ll investigate the limits of what is possible within the cinema environment, look at the new directions being taken by creatives, both established and those early in their careers, and consider how these filmmakers are interfacing with technology to expand their storytelling capabilities,” said program chair Richard Welsh, CEO at Sundog Media Toolkit. “Our aim is that when the conference has concluded, we’ll have provided attendees--both the creative and technically oriented--with inspiration to consider how they are working now, and whether they can push the boundaries of the art and technology of the motion picture. We want to energize our audience with the new possibilities the science and craft of movie-making is bringing us.”

The NAB Show’s “Future of Cinema Conference” will gather the brightest industry minds and talents to discuss the changing nature of storytelling today and into the future as technology evolves, and how the industry will ensure that creative work is preserved in its highest form for generations to come. The two-day conference will feature sessions on forward-looking techniques and challenges related to making content for theatrical release and beyond.

The conference will include sessions on the creative use of high dynamic range (HDR), utilizing content captured on 35mm film to feed into high-end digital exhibition formats, the filmmakers and projects testing the limits of cinema, and the next-generation filmmaking efforts of students and recently graduated filmmakers. Further sessions will address questions related to next-generation distribution, HDR mastering and delivery to the home, and the impact of advanced technologies on event cinema. A session focused on diversity will engage panelists and attendees in a discussion of how to build a richer, more expansive, and more dynamic filmmaking community.

“We’re very excited about the new brand and focus for the annual cinema summit, produced in partnership with SMPTE,” said Chris Brown, executive vice president, conventions and business operations, NAB. “Our aim is to produce a future-oriented, vision-packed event, and ‘The Future of Cinema Conference’ committee has so far met this goal with an extensive program agenda that delves into topics that are top-of-mind for today’s creative and technology professionals.”

In addition to Welsh, the program committee includes Abi Corbin, writer and director; Christy King, consultant; Pat Griffis, executive director, technology strategy, at Dolby Laboratories; Bill Hogan, motion picture consultant; Pete Ludé, senior vice president at RealD; Cynthia Slavens, director of post-production at Pixar Animation Studios; Jim Whittlesey, digital cinema consultant; and Chris Witham, director of digital cinema at The Walt Disney Studios.

Conference registration is now open here. SMPTE members may use code EP01 to take $100 off the NAB nonmember rate for a SMART or Conference Flex Pass registration, or to get a free Exhibits Pass. The offer expires April 1. 

  • Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015
Christie's breakthrough projector debuts in South Korea
CGV's Sphere X theater
SEOUL, South Korea -- 

CGV, a subsidiary of CJ Group and South Korea’s largest multiplex cinema chain, is the first exhibitor in the world to be equipped with Christie’s revolutionary RGB laser projection system featuring increased wavelength diversity to countermeasure speckle on silver screens.

The system consists of a Christie CP42LH 3DLP® 4K RGB laser projector and laser modules that generate white light from multiple combinations of RGB primary color wavelengths. This type of laser system provides better speckle performance than 6P systems when used with silver screens and passive polarization-based 3D glasses. It has been installed by Christie’s Korean partner, Ray & Resources, at SphereX CGV Youngdeungpo in Seoul. CGV’s SphereX is a specially designed, one-of-a-kind curved silver screen to maximize immersive 3D experience. The auditorium at Youngdeungpo has a 19-meter wide curved screen and 387 seats--resulting in a spectacular viewing experience with remarkable speckle performance. This is CGV’s second auditorium in Korea to deploy Christie’s pinnacle cinematic projection technology, following the installation of Christie’s 6P laser projection system at CGV Starium in October 2015.

Nochan Park, sr. manager, Cinema Technology Team, CGV, commented, “Having experienced the impressive brightness and performance of Christie’s 6P laser projection system in CGV Starium, we would like to implement this top-of-the-range laser projection system in our SphereX auditoriums which are equipped with curved silver screens. After much deliberation, we have decided to deploy a Christie CP42LH laser projection system at SphereX CGV Youngdeungpo. It has been optimized with additional laser modules to diversify wavelengths, with the objective of minimizing speckling for this technically challenging, custom silver screen when viewed with passive 3D glasses. This is by far the best solution possible for silver screens and we’re very pleased with the results.”

The installation includes a state-of-the-art Christie 4K laser projection head, RGB laser modules, a modular laser light farm with fiber-optic delivery, Christieintegrated media block (IMB) and Network Attached Storage (NAS). This particular system is designed to achieve exceptional brightness in 3D with a light output of close to 40,000 lumens; and is easily upgradable in the future if more light is ever required. The CP42LH installed in SphereX CGV has been officially commissioned and commenced regular movie screenings December 24.

“While our dual-headed 6P laser architecture has been proven as the most light-efficient 3D technology on the market, we now offer a solution to address the issue of speckle when our laser projection system is used in theaters with silver screens and passive 3D glasses,” said Henry Khang, general manager, Christie Korea. “By configuring the laser modules used for the projection system with even greater wavelength diversity, we can effectively overcome the issue of speckling on silver screens. As a result, exhibitors now have the option of using an existing silver screen without having to replace it when installing our laser projection system, which translates to significant cost savings.”

Lin Yu, VP, Christie Asia Pacific, added, “We’re absolutely delighted that CGV has once again acknowledged the superiority and flexibility of Christie’s revolutionary RGB laser projection system in delivering an unparalleled laser projection and viewing experience. With the world’s first installation of our CP42LH at SphereX CGV Youngdeungpo that uses a curved silver screen, we have demonstrated the versatility of our laser projection system.  We look forward to seeing more exhibitors installing our RGB laser projection system in their premium large format theaters, even if they are equipped with silver screens.”

Anchored by the Christie Freedom® laser illumination system, the CP42LH produces a color gamut that exceeds the DCI P3 color and replicates the Rec. 2020 space, making it the most advanced RGB laser cinema projection system available. It consists of rack-mounted laser modules where each module can produce up to 5,000 lumens of light. Because of the scalability of this platform, up to 12 laser modules can be easily added, removed, activated or disabled depending on the brightness requirements. This provides up to 60,000 lumens per rack. Each laser module is also independently cooled, providing built-in fault protection, improved efficiency and ultimate reliability.

  • Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015
Sinclair opts for Avid in the newsroom
BURLINGTON, Mass. -- 

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., television station operator and a leading local news provider in the United States, has chosen to standardize on Avid’s MediaCentral Platform, the centerpiece of the Avid Everywhere vision, to transform content creation and distribution workflows in every one of its 64 local news producing stations. This agreement represents a record-setting contract for Avid where the company will deliver advanced end-to-end newsroom production and content management solutions under a ten-year comprehensive agreement that uniquely addresses Sinclair’s business needs, and in the process, replaces legacy technology from other vendors.

“Moving to a common production platform across all of our news markets provides us the platform to create a content sharing news community across Sinclair increasing efficiency and productivity,” said Scott Livingston, VP of News, Sinclair Broadcast Group. “Having defined and more frequent technology upgrade cycles will enable us to keep our newsrooms current across the enterprise and allow us to respond to rapid changes like new digital distribution models in a more cost effective way.”

Operating efficiency is a major pressure point for media companies, as rapidly evolving technology and audience behavior make staying at the forefront of technology essential.  Sinclair expects to realize meaningful economic benefits through this agreement by standardizing on the Avid platform, driven by efficiencies from a standardized technology and operational footprint across all of its stations. This not only enables Sinclair to keep its newsroom technology consistent, continuously refreshed and on the leading edge across the enterprise, but also provides much greater flexibility in responding to industry changes and new business opportunities.

“Sinclair has always been at the forefront of industry-changing events and technological advances, and this agreement with Avid is another example of that,” added Delbert R. Parks, III, sr. VP and CTO of Sinclair Broadcast Group. “Avid’s forward thinking approach to technology acquisition, deployment and support delivers the agility and scalability we need to deliver a higher value product to all of our news markets.”

“The unique commercial model Avid is applying – along with the enterprise-wide platform approach – allows us to operate in a more cost effective and capital efficient way, yet remain technologically forward in a manner that makes sense for our business today and in the future,” said Christopher S. Ripley, CFO, Sinclair Broadcast Group.

“Our agreement with Sinclair is an outstanding example of how Avid Everywhere can help media organizations overcome the challenges of managing technology, staying competitive, and maximizing the value of content,” said Louis Hernandez, Jr., chairman, president and CEO, Avid. “With our enterprise-wide thinking, innovative commercial approaches to support longer-term business models, and the industry’s leading open technology platform, Avid is uniquely positioned to help media organizations address the business challenges of today – and tomorrow. We are very proud to be working with Sinclair, who is well-known as a technology innovator in the media space. We couldn’t think of a better partner with whom to launch this groundbreaking managed services deployment model.”

Powered by the MediaCentral Platform, the next-generation IP-based workflow for Sinclair’s news producing stations will feature Avid’s Artist Suite, Storage Suite and Media Suite solutions with third-party and custom workflow integrations.  Avid Professional Services and Training teams will provide project and fleet management, commissioning, workflow consulting, and a comprehensive training curriculum. Avid’s Customer Care team will deliver a tailored 24/7 support program across the enterprise.

“We’re excited that the Avid Everywhere vision has led to the largest contract in our company’s history. We expect this contract will have a material positive impact on our bookings for the fourth quarter and may lead to updated 2015 bookings guidance or pre-release in early January 2016,” said John W. Frederick, executive VP, chief financial and administrative officer for Avid.

  • Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015
Virtual reality is finally here, yet still has a ways to go
In this June 11, 2015 file photo, the new Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is on display following a news conference in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

With the launch of Samsung's Gear VR headset a few weeks ago, virtual reality for the masses is finally a thing. Now comes the next big challenge: Who, exactly, will care?

If you're a gamer, the appeal of immersing yourself in a virtual world might be obvious. Strap on a headset and you could find yourself in a three-dimensional death match with opponents who could — almost literally — creep up right behind you. Early trends look promising: The $100 Gear VR briefly sold out at many retailers. Research firm TrendForce projects sales of 14 million VR devices in 2016, mostly for gaming.

The rest of us, though, still need convincing. Sure, the idea of watching a basketball game from courtside seats — without leaving your living room — sounds pretty cool. But you're not going to be doing that any time soon, as there's precious little so far in the way of major sports available in VR. And while bungee jumping off a virtual dam could be a striking experience, it's also the sort of thing you might try a few times, then set aside as you look for something else to do.

The tech world has been down a similar path before. Just a few years back, manufacturers lined store shelves with 3-D TVs capable of projecting stereoscopic images into your living room — and on those shelves the sets stayed. Among the reasons 3-D TV flopped: You had to wear uncomfortable glasses, and the experience made some people dizzy. Perhaps most important, there just wasn't much in the way of good stuff to watch.

Sound at all familiar? Virtual reality requires people to wear large headsets that block out the real world, and immersive video has made some viewers nauseous (although its purveyors claim to have fixed that). It's not exactly a friends-and-family experience, either. If you chafe when your companions are glued to their phones at dinner, you'll want to watch your blood pressure when they start wearing VR headsets in the living room, tuning out other people along with reality.

Another hurdle: VR's initial apps are heavily weighted toward games. Sure, one immersive video puts you on stage with Cirque du Soleil performers as they reach for dazzling heights; another lands you on the set of the horror satire "Scream Queens." But while they're fun to watch, many clips come off more as demos or promos than compelling entertainment in their own right.

Jason Tsai, TrendForce's wearable devices analyst, said companies are reluctant to invest in non-gaming VR media until they're sure there's a real market for it. And that's a big part of virtual reality's chicken-and-egg challenge.

Of course, it's remarkable that we're seeing VR systems at all, after years of flops and stumbles. Sega teased the Sega VR in the early 1990s, but never released it; Nintendo's handheld Virtual Boy was a commercial failure.

The new systems represent "science fiction coming to reality," said Gary Shapiro, head of the group that runs the annual CES gadget show in Las Vegas, which will showcase VR and related technologies in early January. What's changed? Screen and graphics technologies have finally gotten good enough to provide a realistic and responsive VR experience.

Many leading companies are betting on VR. Google, for instance, offers a low-rent, though still effective, virtual-reality system it calls Cardboard — literally a folded-cardboard contraption that holds lenses and a smartphone for playing VR apps. The Samsung headset is a step above that; it also uses a phone to play video, but includes its own motion sensors to better track the movement of your head.

More sophisticated headsets are on their way. Sony's PlayStation VR — formerly Project Morpheus — won't need a phone and attaches to a PlayStation game console. Oculus, which helped develop Samsung's Gear VR, will release its own VR set called Rift next year. HTC's Vive is due by April. Prices for these systems haven't been announced yet, though most are likely to cost at least a few hundred dollars.

And the headset is just the beginning; you'll then need a phone or a high-end companion computer (a PlayStation console in the case of Sony's system). One more potential gotcha: If you buy one VR system and change your mind later, you might have to repurchase any apps and videos you've paid for.

VR's immediate challenge is simply getting people to try VR so they realize it can be much more than games. Bonnie To, a Los Angeles accountant, watched a few minutes of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in VR during a lunch-break demo. She said the ability to look around the concert hall was "really cool" and thought the sound and picture quality was good.

But curiosity won't necessarily translate to sales.

VR makers are working with media companies to expand options for non-gamers, much the way radio maker RCA started the NBC network nearly a century ago to fill the airwaves. Eventually, they figure the new technology will produce new storytelling forms — for instance, choose-your-own-adventure narratives that viewers can influence through their actions. But that's some time off.

For now, the hope is that early owners will show and tell their less tech-savvy friends about the potential of VR — essentially becoming "a virtual sales force," said Richard Marks, who heads Sony PlayStation's research arm, Magic Labs.

Video games have grown so much they're no longer a niche market, says Diffusion Group analyst Joel Espelien, who argues that younger players will likely embrace VR. As they get older, subsequent generations may follow. "It's a decade-long story," he said. "Things don't happen overnight when you're talking about a pretty significant new behavior."

AP Business Writer Ryan Nakashima in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

  • Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015
Kodak rolls out P-200 Film Cleaning System
Kodak P-200 Film Cleaning System
ROCHESTER, NY -- 

Kodak has released a new, groundbreaking P-200 Film Cleaning System that transforms the traditional film cleaning process. The revolutionary design allows the cleaning solvent to be dispersed on the film surface in a unique way. This economical, compact and digitally controlled system, which uses Kodak HFE 7200 Film Cleaner Solution, makes it ideal for today’s archives and libraries.

Proper film cleaning is vital to both archiving and restoration. In most cases, film needs to be cleaned before being stored in a library and prior to being digitized. Now, with the KODAK P-200 Film Cleaning System, institutions responsible for media collections can maintain their valuable film assets to the highest standards for a very small investment and very minimal infrastructure requirements.

“Knowing the importance of proper film cleaning to both maintaining and digitizing film content, Kodak has developed a system for the 21st century,” noted Antonio Rasura, technical manager of Kodak’s Consumer and Film Division. “It’s small in size, environmentally friendly, and easy to use, with no need to directly handle solutions. Maintenance is also simplified, so it can be used in both traditional laboratories and in-house by institutions.”

The KODAK P-200 system consists of a compact machine that measures only 31w x 21d x 51h inches with touchscreen controls for navigating the operating modes. It uses Kodak HFE 7200 Film Cleaner Solution, an environmentally safe solvent with a zero ozone depleting classification, and a very low toxicity rating (near zero). Adding to the system’s efficiencies, Kodak is offering the solvent in low quantities for the first time, eliminating the need to invest in large orders of film cleaning supplies.

“The way the machine disperses the solvent onto the film is very unique,” said Rasura. “Solvent is quite expensive, and we didn’t want to use a costly recovery technique for the cleaner solution. The system we have developed atomizes the solvent, utilizing highly efficient delivery jets that ‘fog’ the film with an extremely fine dispersion of the HFE. The results include a huge amount of coverage with very little solvent, and all with no hazard to the operator or the environment.”

The Kodak P-200 Film Cleaning System also offers Variable Speed Precision Tension Control, a laser-guided feature that can operate with speeds of 50–200 fpm while maintaining consistent and even tension throughout the wind of the roll, which is especially beneficial for long-term archiving.

“Film is an integral component of our industry and cultural heritage, and Kodak recognizes the need to support and preserve that content,” added Andrew Evenski, Kodak’s president and general manager of Entertainment & Commercial Films. “Our aim in bringing this new system to market is to ensure that the community’s needs for accessible, quality film cleaning are met at an affordable price point.”

  • Monday, Dec. 21, 2015
Toshiba to cut jobs in consumer electronics amid record loss
Toshiba Corp. President Masashi Muromachi speaks during a press conference at its headquarters in Tokyo Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. (Shigeyuki Inakuma/Kyodo News via AP)
TOKYO (AP) -- 

Toshiba plans to cut 7,800 jobs, mostly in its consumer-electronics business, as it reorganizes in the face of projected record losses for the current fiscal year.

The Japanese conglomerate has been struggling with the aftermath of a major accounting scandal, compounded by troubles in nuclear energy and losses in the business that makes personal computers, TVs and consumer appliances.

The job cuts announced Monday will affect about 30 percent of the consumer-electronics business and represent about 3 percent of Toshiba's overall employees.

Toshiba Corp. said it is also selling its TV manufacturing plant in Indonesia and will sell or seek outside investors for a division that makes electronics for health care.

Despite its well-known brand, Toshiba has struggled to differentiate its products in consumer electronics. Its television business faces stiff competition from low-cost Chinese manufacturers and high-end Korean brands, while demand for personal computers has been falling worldwide.

Toshiba is also wrestling with costs from decommissioning the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which went into meltdown after the March 2011 tsunami. Toshiba said it had not yet fully calculated the impact of the nuclear disaster on its books.

Analysts say the company has been looking to sell or restructure several businesses to generate more money for its mainstay memory-chip business. That's one of the company's strongest divisions but requires ongoing investment to keep pace with technological changes.

The chip business faces "intense global competition and increasing price pressures," according to a recent report from Moody's.

Toshiba is the world's second-largest maker of "flash" memory chips, behind Samsung, but its sales declined slightly last year, according to research firm IHS.

The company projected a loss of 550 billion yen ($4.5 billion) for the fiscal year through March 2016. That means Toshiba is sinking into its second straight year of loss, after racking up a loss of nearly 38 billion yens ($312 million) for the previous fiscal year. Japanese media reports said the latest loss forecast would be a record for Toshiba, surpassing the massive losses during the Lehman financial crisis.

The losses and job cuts come in the midst of an accounting scandal, in which officials have said managers set unrealistic earnings targets, under the banner of creating a big "challenge," while subordinates faked financial results.

Toshiba has repeatedly apologized after acknowledging it had systematically doctored its books over several years to inflate profits by 152 billion yen ($1.3 billion). The scandal at one of the nation's top brands highlights how Japan is still grappling with corporate-governance issues, despite efforts to strengthen independent oversight of companies.

The company said its job cuts in Japan will come through early retirements, but a significant number of overseas jobs will also be involved and steps will vary by each nation. The cuts involve about 6,800 jobs in the consumer electronics, or "lifestyle," segment and another 1,000 positions from Toshiba's corporate staff.

Toshiba said its global PC business will focus on selling to big corporations that buy computers for their workers, although it will continue marketing to individual consumers in the United States and Japan. Analysts say the corporate PC market worldwide has not sagged as much as demand for consumer PCs.

The company also plans to cut back further on TV manufacturing, while seeking more deals to license the Toshiba brand to outside manufacturers. Toshiba already does this for TVs sold in North America and Europe. IHS analyst Paul Gagnon said it's a growing trend among Japanese electronics companies, which are struggling against Chinese and Korean competitors.

Earlier this year, Toshiba said it is selling facilities for making computer chips used in medical imaging systems to Sony Corp. Toshiba says its health-care division is profitable but needs more investment to grow. Rather than put more resources into that operation, Toshiba said it will focus on its energy and memory-chip segments.

AP Technology Writer Brandon Bailey in San Francisco contributed to this report.

  • Monday, Dec. 21, 2015
Avid Pro Tools update accelerates audio editing workflows
BURLINGTON, Mass. -- 

Avid (Nasdaq: AVID) announced a new software update for the industry-standard digital audio software, Avid Pro Tools, available to Pro Tools 12 customers with Avid All Access plans. The latest enhancements further deliver on Avid EverywhereTM by enabling audio and music professionals to collaborate and keep the creative process moving.

Avid continues to provide more value to Pro Tools customers with an update focused on the highly anticipated Track Freeze feature to manage, simplify and speed up processor-intensive sessions, and better facilitate collaborative workflows. These improvements build on the previous Pro Tools 12.3 Commit and Track Bounce workflows, enabling audio professionals to work more efficiently and easily prepare projects for mixing, collaborating with others or final delivery.

With Freeze, Commit, and Track Bounce in Pro Tools 12.4, users have a number of tools to suit any situation and workflow that arises. These include:

    Track Freeze - a great way to quickly free up DSP resources on the fly to keep the creative process moving, and jump back to make a quick tweak if needed.
    Track Commit - another great way to free up DSP resources, but users can also edit and make changes to the newly created clip, and choose what happens to the original track.
    Track Bounce - typically used for making final output renders or stems of tracks for archiving or workflows involving moving audio files to other software platforms.

The new Pro Tools 12.4 update will be available before the end of December and is free of charge to Pro Tools 12 customers with current Avid All Access upgrade plans. New Pro Tools 12 perpetual licenses include a renewable one-year All Access plan that gives customers access to the latest upgrades as well as a new bundle of creative plug-ins for the whole year. All Access plans also come with subscription licenses and are available for the term of the subscription.

Existing customers with older versions of Pro Tools can purchase an All Access annual upgrade plan starting at $99 each between now and December 31, 2015. Plus, through the end of the year, purchases of perpetual licenses, All Access $199 Annual Upgrade and Support Plans, and Annual Subscription licenses come with the acclaimed Eleven® guitar plug-in included (Education products and Pro Tools | HD upgrades/subscriptions not included). Starting in January, prices of All Access plans for customers with Pro Tools 11 or earlier versions will start at $299.

The Annual Upgrade Plan for Pro Tools | HD systems costs $599 for the first year and includes upgrades, access to the HD plug-in bundle and standard support for one year. All new Pro Tools | HDX and HD Native systems come bundled with this plan, which can be renewed for $399 each year thereafter. Starting in 2016, plans that lapse can be reinstated for $999.

  • Monday, Dec. 21, 2015
Quantum’s Alex Grossman to discuss industry challenges, advances at Storage Visions Conference
Alex Grossman, Quantum Corp.'s VP of media and entertainment
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- 

Quantum Corp. (NYSE: QTM) announced that Alex Grossman, the company’s vice president of media and entertainment, will present “How Storage Efficiencies Enhance Content Production” at the Storage Visions 2016 conference. Grossman will examine challenges presented by a changing media production landscape, explain the shortcomings of general-purpose, IT-centric storage in addressing modern workflow demands, and discuss how the latest advances in workflow-optimized storage are aiding companies of all sizes in achieving greater production flexibility and efficiency. He will also share insights on how this new technology enables users to consolidate and simplify the addition of clients, ease configuration and maintenance issues and establish a powerful platform for the tools and applications that support their business.

His Storage Visions presentation is slated for Tuesday, Jan. 5, 1 pm PT, at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.

“Today’s ‘always-on’ society, with video expected everywhere, anytime and on any device, places unprecedented demands on content producers and their storage infrastructure,” said Grossman. “The Storage Visions 2016 conference offers media production companies a valuable opportunity to learn about the latest storage technology and the ways in which the right solution can significantly enhance and accelerate the production workflow.”

The two-day Storage Visions 2016 conference will feature keynote presentations from industry leaders, as well as sessions and exhibits highlighting the latest architectures in memory and storage technologies.

  • Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015
Jets developing VR experience to bring fans even closer
In a Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, photo, New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, left, warms up before an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans as cameras film him at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ (AP) -- 

Ryan Fitzpatrick is so close you could tug on the New York Jets quarterback's beard and wish him luck.

Better look out, or you'll be run over by some of those big offensive lineman making their way out to the field.

Well, not in reality, but virtual reality. It's all part of a unique experience — "Jets Virtual Sideline" — the team is working on giving to their fans through some cutting-edge technology.

"Man, it's cool," said fan Phil Dinhofer of Merrick, New York. "It's the wave of the future."

The Jets certainly think that's the case.

Using virtual reality technology from STRIVR Labs, the team conducted a beta test at MetLife Stadium during six home games so far this season. Wearing headphones and Oculus goggles, fans have a choice of six experiences: running out to the field with the team (the most popular); taking part in the coin toss; being on field for the national anthem; standing on the sideline during a touchdown catch by Brandon Marshall; participating in a Flight Crew performance; or being in the crowd for the J-E-T-S chant.

You get 360-degree views and the sounds are vivid, making you feel as though you're right in the middle of the action. It seems like something straight out of "Star Wars."

"Oh, it's great," a smiling Dinhofer said. "I was ready to join the cheerleaders and do the dance."

The Jets purchased the STRIVR technology in the spring and began using it during training camp for on-field drills. Several NFL and college teams have done the same, helping quarterbacks, in particular, train and improve performance by providing a complete field of vision from practices.

"The impetus was the football team," Jets President Neil Glat said. "But we always had in the back of our mind when the decision was made to buy it that we think there's a fan opportunity here as well."

The Jets began filming game day footage during preseason home games in August, using high-tech cameras in various spots.

"We kind of worked out the kinks using it for football and figuring out what are the best ways to shoot things and cut things and how fast we could turn it around," said Tim Tubito, the team's video director. "And then, it kind of opened up to where are the areas where we can use it on game day to really give the fans a different type of experience?"

The team ran its first test in MetLife Stadium's Commissioners Club during the home opener — and it was a hit. The Jets have also given sneak peeks to fans at other locations, including the Coaches Club during pregame.

"People's first reaction is just the coolness factor," said Seth Rabinowitz, the team's senior vice president of marketing and fan engagement. "You've never seen this before, so there's a 'wow' factor. We're still getting a lot of different feedback on what people really want. Do they want to do just a minute, just like a little thrill ride? Or, do they want to do a longer form?"

The team is exploring several options on how to most effectively use the technology before it officially rolls it out. The Jets want to completely learn what the technology can do from a fan experience standpoint, what operation issues are involved and what the fans like.

It could end up becoming a 10-minute attraction, something in the offseason for fans clamoring for football, used in various areas of the stadium before games — or, all of the above.

"I'd say the short-term vision is an enhancement to a segment of fans at the stadium," Glat said. "That's, to me, No. 1. No. 2 is probably something in and around the offseason. And then, we'll see where we go from there. To me, it's how do we make it better when you're coming out to the stadium?"

The technology is constantly evolving and could potentially someday be run on a hand-held device instead of a laptop.

"I think you'll see this a lot in the mainstream consumer marketplace, like video games and other things," Rabinowitz said. "You're going to start to see it very quickly and, by spring, it's going to be all the rage."

And, Jets fans will be able to reach out and — virtually — touch their favorite team.

"This is a walk-before-we-run thing because it's great for a handful of people to check out and get feedback," Glat said. "But if you really want to get hundreds and thousands of people through on game day and we're going to put our name on it, we want it to be really good."

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