In The News http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php en info@noblestudios.com Copyright 2010 2010-09-07T21:04:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/safari_5 http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/safari_5/#When:21:04:00Z Earlier this month, we discussed the popular Web browser Chrome. This week, we will review another new browser, Safari 5. Safari 5 delivers web pages at greater speeds than before. It works on the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac and PC. It displays your favorite websites at a glance and checks your spelling and grammar. Some additional features of Safari 5 include: Safari Reader removes ads and other visual distractions from online articles More than a dozen new HTML5 support features including full screen video and Geolocation New JavaScript engine which is 2x faster than Safari 4 A smarter address field, tab setting, hardware acceleration for Windows and improved Web inspector Read more: Safari 5 In The News 2010-09-07T21:04:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/chrome http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/chrome/#When:18:34:00Z Google Chrome is proving to be one of the most well-received Web browsers. Chrome combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to provide speed, simplicity, security and more features. Released for Linux, Mac, and PC, Chrome brings exciting new features including syncing of browser preferences, a welcome HTML5-based freshening of the bookmarks manager, and an extensions manager. It also boasts some HTML5 elements like Geolocation APIs and file drag and drop. According to Noble Studios’ developer, Tyler, “I recommend Chrome right now, but it's not without bugs. I like the minimalist design especially for performance. In windows, it loads just about instantly on any machine I run. Things as small and minute like that add up to a lot...” There's a lot to love about Chrome. Some of its top features include: Expanded Sync Run extensions in Incognito Mode HTML 5 Adobe Flash Plugs In Speed Omnibox New Tab Page Themes To learn more about Chrome, visit The Google Chrome Channel or the Google Chrome Features Web page.   In The News 2010-08-11T18:34:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/video_editor http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/video_editor/#When:19:24:00Z Based on user feedback, YouTube recently released a browser-based video editor. It is an experimental tool which allows users to make minor edits to videos and stitch several clips together. The video editor requires Adobe Flash. Here is how it works: 1. Visit YouTube and UPLOAD your video(s) to YouTube 2. Go to YouTube.com/editor and ARRANGE your videos in chronological order 3. CUT your videos into two or more clips or shorten the segment 4. Add AUDIO using YouTube’s AudioSwap feature to add music to your videos 5. Title and PUBLISH your videos Once you have finished editing and stitching your videos together, you can delete your original upload and your new creation will still exist. YouTube is one of the most powerful marketing tools on the web. Your audience is more likely to watch a video or view a picture than read lengthy article posted on your website or social page. Stay tuned as Noble Studios continues to report the latest advances in viral marketing… Read more: CNET.com In The News 2010-07-13T19:24:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/tv_internet http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/tv_internet/#When:22:46:00Z If you missed your favorite TV show or forgot to DVR it, you can catch up on all episodes online using your computer or mobile device. It is free, fast, and on-demand with limited commercial interruptions. You can even connect your TV to the Internet for a high-quality viewing experience from the comfort of your living room. It is television for the Internet generation. Some of the most popular online video services in the United States include Hulu and Revision3. Hulu is a free online video service offering an extensive library of hit TV shows, classic TV series and blockbuster movies on a variety of networks. Hulu is a joint venture of NBC Universal, Fox Entertainment Group and ABC Inc. Revision3 is another free independent Internet television network. Based in San Francisco, Revision3 creates, produces and distributes web TV shows on niche topics. Google TV offers a relatively new television Internet experience. It combines high-quality television with the power of the Internet. With Google Chrome built in, you can access your preferred websites (including YouTube, Noble Studios, etc.) and easily navigate between the TV and web. This changes your viewing experience from a few hundred channels to millions of channels across TV and the web. The Internet has changed the computer and mobile industries and now television. What’s next? In The News 2010-06-29T22:46:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/iphone_4 http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/iphone_4/#When:00:04:00Z Apple gears up to release the next generation iPhone. The new iPhone 4 is said to be the next best thing to happen to the iPhone since its original debut. Some of the new features include:• FaceTime - live video chatting• Two cameras – front and rear cameras allow for two different views• Retina Display - highest-resolution screen available on a phone• Multitasking – use multiple apps at the same time• HD Video Recording and Editing• 5 Megapixel Camera with LED Flash• 9.3mm thick - thinner than the current iPhone• Larger battery - 7 hours of talk time, 6 hours of 3G browsing, 10 hours on Wi-Fi, 10 hours of video playback, 40 hours of audio playback and 300 hours of standby You can reserve your iPhone 4 for pickup at an Apple Retail Store starting June 15. It is scheduled to arrive at Apple Retail Stores on June 24. Costs for the new phone start at $199. Although there have been rumors the iPhone is coming to the Verizon network, a release date has not been announced. According to Verizon’s chief executive, Apple is more likely to partner with Verizon once the cellular company deploys its fourth-generation network. Read more: iPhone 4 In The News 2010-06-08T00:04:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/buzz http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/buzz/#When:15:31:00Z What is the new social media buzz?  It is Google Buzz, a social networking and messaging tool from Google. It is designed to integrate into the company's web-based email program, Gmail. With millions of users, Google is one of the world’s largest email services. Whether or not Google Buzz will succeed is to be determined. However, when a search engine giant launches with millions of users, it is important we pay attention. Since the launch of Google Buzz, the company’s product engineers have added 16 new features to the social network in 16 weeks. The latest update is the “reshare” option, similar to Twitter’s “retweet” option. However, Google allows users to reshare items publicly or privately. Google Buzz is familiarly simple to operate. Users can share links, photos, videos, status messages and comments organized in "conversations" and visible in the user's inbox. To get started, follow these five steps:1. If you have a Gmail account, you have Google Buzz2. Create your personal profile page3. If you use Facebook, Buzz will be familiar4. Import your social sites5. Listen and friend first Read more: Google Buzz Reshare In The News 2010-05-28T15:31:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/firefox_4 http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/firefox_4/#When:20:18:00Z Mozilla’s Mike Beltzner presented an early product plan for Firefox 4. Some of the browser’s new features will include HTML5 and CSS support, better security and stability, new developer tools and more personalization options. Mozilla plans to release Firefox 4 late 2010. According to Beltzner, the primary goals for Firefox 4 will be making a browser: • Fast: making Firefox super-duper fast• Powerful: enabling new open, standard Web technologies (HTML5 and beyond!),• Empowering: putting users in full control of their browser, data, and Web experience. All plans are subject to change before Firefox 4 is finalized. More information or to watch the presentation: Firefox 4 In The News 2010-05-12T20:18:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/goog_411 http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/goog_411/#When:07:38:00Z Stop wasting your money on information calls and manually dialing numbers! Google has launched a FREE information service at 1 800 Goog-411 (1-800-466-4411). Here is how it works: 1. After dialing, the operator says, "City & State" 2. You say, "Carson City, Nevada" 3. The operator says, "Business, Name or Type of Service" 4. You say, “Noble Studios" 5. The operator says, "Connecting" and a representative from Noble Studios answers the phone This is a nationwide service at no additional charge! You can also receive the information via text message or voice navigation. All you have to say is “text message” or “map it.” It is time to program 1 800 Goog-411 in your cell, office and/or home phone! For video demonstration: goog411 In The News 2010-05-10T07:38:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/manual_deskterity http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/manual_deskterity/#When:04:34:00Z Microsoft is determined to change the future of UI (user interface) technology. Microsoft’s Manual Deskterity is a prototype digital desk that combines pen and touch input. The role of the pen is to write while your free hand rests on the page. The multi-touch function allows you to manipulate objects by moving images around, flipping between pages, and zooming in and out. The combination of pen and touch yields new tools. For example, it allows you to copy an image and drag it to a new location, shuffle pages, staple multiple pages, exact cut objects, etc. You can imagine this UI technology coming to laptops and tablets in the near future. View prototype: Manual Deskterity In The News 2010-04-28T04:34:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/flip_slide http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/flip_slide/#When:08:12:00Z The Flip Slide HD is the newest Flip camcorder by Cisco. The new gadget features a three-inch touch screen for viewing home movies. With 16GB of storage, it allows users to record up to four hours of footage. The Flip Slide HD is perfect for recording your favorite activities as well as winter sports as you can operate it while wearing gloves. In addition, the latest Flip camcorder has stereo speakers and High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) out. HDMI is an interface standard used for audiovisual equipment including high-definition television and home theater systems. These features make it enjoyable and easy to show off your new videos. Read more: Flip Slide In The News 2010-04-20T08:12:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/google_analytics http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/google_analytics/#When:08:17:00Z You setup your company’s Facebook fan page months ago and your fan list continues to grow. Do you know how many visitors are frequenting your page?  Where do your visitors come from? Facebook Insights provides limited demographic information while the free Google Analytics tool offers a more in-depth report. To add Google Analytics to your page:1. Create a Google Analytics account2. Get your tracking code3. Add the code to Facebook For more detail: Google Analytics In The News 2010-04-19T08:17:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/gps http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/gps/#When:20:36:01Z Real-time GPS and location tracking services are one of the hottest growing trends. Here are a few that can help you find your way: Foursquare, NAVIGON MobileNavigator, and Google Maps. Foursquare: If you haven’t “checked-in” at a location with the mobile app Foursquare, chances are you know somebody who has. The localization of online content is being aided by the GPS functionality of smartphones, and the business uses are just now being conceived. Foursquare is a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a rewards game. It is designed to encourage users to discover new places and challenge them to explore their neighborhood businesses, hotspots and travel. Users can access Foursquare anywhere by “checking-in.” Check-in is where users provide their location using Foursquare apps for iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre. Users can also utilize the Foursquare mobile website or text feature to update their location. NAVIGON MobileNavigator: Another GPS tracking service is NAVIGON MobileNavigator. It is one of the first iPhone apps to offer real turn-by-turn GPS navigation. The latest version of the app has the ability to notify a user’s network their current location via Facebook or Twitter. It also adds an option called MyRoutes, which enables users to create custom routes according to their needs and habits. In addition, Panorama View 3D provides a 3D terrain view, based on NASA’s data. Google Maps: Google Maps is another popular GPS mobile app. It allows users to find business locations and contact information in an integrated view. The user can also research the hours of operation, types of payment accepted, and reviews. Latitude is a feature on Google Maps, which allows users to see their friends on the Map. In addition, Tweet mapping is in the works. Stay tuned for more information… To learn more, visit: www.foursquare.com, www.navigon.com, and/or www.google.com/mobile In The News 2010-03-30T20:36:01-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/flash http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/flash/#When:20:24:00Z Although Flash has been accepted by users and the developer world, Flash has surprisingly not been fully embraced by the mobile web industry. Flash sites are not supported by the mobile community and other handheld devices because of slow mobile performance. According to Daniel Eran Dilger of RoughlyDrafted Magazine in San Francisco, it has to do with the mouseover problem. "Many (if not most) current Flash games, menus, and even video players require a visible mouse pointer. They are coded to rely on the difference between hovering over something (mouseover) vs. actually clicking. This distinction is not rare. It’s pervasive, fundamental to interactive design, and vital to the basic use of Flash content. New Flash content designed just for touch screens can be done, but people want all existing Flash sites to work,” wrote Digler. Right now, all developers can do is make current Flash content visible on mobile and handheld devices using  Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, an open source screen project that enables uncompromised web browsing of expressive applications, content and video across devices.  According to Crisp Wireless, Inc., “while Adobe will provide several popular mobile software platforms with embedded Flash capabilities in the future, expect that iPhone and Blackberry will be the last ones. Apple has QuickTime and they are expected to drag their feet on working with Adobe to support Flash. Blackberry being a Java device for the enterprise would probably have problems providing the low-level OS access. The first movers will be Android, Palm Pre, Windows Phone or Symbian. But Flash for the web and Flash on mobile will still be two different things entirely. Don't expect a regular Flash animation for web to be fully compatible with mobile Flash.  Which means, don’t expect your Flash-based ads or web pages to render on mobile devices seamlessly.  You will still need to optimize for mobile.” Read more: Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 In The News 2010-03-30T20:24:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/tivo http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/tivo/#When:21:32:00Z We all knew it was only a matter of time before the Internet made its way into our family rooms. TiVo introduces two new web-connected DVRs, TiVo Premiere and the TiVo Premiere XL. In addition to cable TV and movies on demand, the web-connected boxes will allow you to play and record web videos from YouTube. Of course, the devices will offer access to a variety of apps from FrameChannel. The boxes will also offer music from Pandora and Rhapsody in the near future. The boxes are slated to go on sale in April. Read more: Mashable In The News 2010-03-03T21:32:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/mobile_web http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/mobile_web/#When:19:27:00Z Do you have a mobile web strategy? If not, it is time to start thinking about creating one. JiWire, a leading mobile audience media company, recently released the stats from its latest public Wi-Fi study. According to JiWire, 56 percent of users connect via smartphones and other mobile devices, and 14 percent claim a mobile device is their primary way to connect to public Wi-Fi. More than half of public Wi-Fi hotspots offer free service. As a result, the usage at these spots increased by 21.9 percent in 2009. JiWire also discovered 49 percent of mobile Wi-Fi users make online purchases on the go. Read more: JiWire In The News 2010-02-26T19:27:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/ipad http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/ipad/#When:19:54:00Z Apple recently unveiled its tablet computer, the iPad. Users can now experience the Web and run movies, music, books, and games in a new way. The latest tech device features a 9.7-inch, LED-backlit IPS display with a multi-touch screen. It can run nearly 140,000 media applications from the App Store and several new apps designed specifically for the new device. Starting at $499, the iPad is 1.5 pounds and 0.5 inch thin, making it easy to carry and use. Also, users can view the screen horizontally or vertically, and browse Web pages as they should be – page by page. Overall, the iPad seems like a dream screen for reading and watching. Read more at The New York Times In The News 2010-02-10T19:54:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/customize_twitter_account http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/customize_twitter_account/#When:00:51:00Z Your twitter background should be consistent with your company’s brand.  It should communicate who you are and what your followers can expect from your tweets.  For example:  The dimensions of your background will be determined by the user’s monitor.  In order to ensure your background will not be cut off, your image should be 1680 x 1200 pixels.  The image resolution should be 72 dpi and the file size should not exceed 800 KB. As shown, twitter aligns the background image to the top left.  Therefore, it is necessary to display your main content to the far left. Your twitter background should feature your company’s logo and complimentary colors.  It is very important not to clutter your background with too much information.  You want your followers to have a pleasant user experience and be able to read your tweets. To add a custom background, go to Settings (in the upper right), Design (see tool bar under site settings), Change background image (near bottom of the screen), Browse (upload background image) and Save Changes. In The News 2010-01-22T00:51:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/nevada_industry_excellence http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/nevada_industry_excellence/#When:04:00:00Z One of our Noble clients recently changed its name. Nevada Industry Excellence (NevadaIE) is the new name for the organization previously known as Management Assistance Partnership (MAP). In The News 2010-01-19T04:00:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/how_to_choose_the_browser http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/how_to_choose_the_browser/#When:16:00:00Z Last month, we had quite a few of our newsletter readers request more information on last month’s web browser recipe (visit Noble Newsletter April 2009). Here are some additional core differentiators that may help you make an educated decision on which web browser is right for you: FIREFOX Pros: Download Speed – has been reported to be the fastest browser when it comes to download speed. Security – has advanced security measures to protect from spyware and supposedly some viruses. Web Tools & Features – Add-on modules for additional tools (web developer toolbars, firebug, etc) and embedded memory if the browser is closed unintentionally. Biggest Con: If one window crashes, the browser will close all windows. With that being said though, it will restore every tab and window when it reopens. INTERNET EXPLORER Pros: Compatibility – some sites are only built to be compatible with IE. Microsoft Updates – need IE to get Windows Updates and comes preinstalled on all PCs. ActiveX and FTP – no need for additional installs for remote desktops and can be used as an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Biggest Con: It has its own web standards and compliances it follows. GOOGLE CHROME Pros: Isolated Tabs - has each tab on its own processor thread, so when a tab crashes, it doesn't take everything with it. Clean – has an unobtrusive, uncluttered design. Quick Javascript – built a custom Javascript environment to help speed up the process. Biggest Con: It is not completely stable with Macs.  Update 1/12/2010: Google is now compliant with both Linux and Mac OS. SAFARI Pros: PreInstalled – comes preinstalled on all Macs included iPhones True Anti-Aliasing – text looks smoother and easier to read on a monitor, because of how the pixels are interpreted. Browsing Speed – (depending on the system and internet speed of course), it is noted that it’s faster than the others when browsing and rendering HTML. Biggest Con: The program takes longer to load than the rest.  It can also be a processing hog. We are trying to be as unbiased as possible, but we are only human. If you are dying to hear what we prefer, we like Firefox (for our web development purposes). With all the new versions coming out though, who knows? We'll let you know as soon as we change our mind. Sources: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-firefox.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer#Features http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/features.html http://www.apple.com/safari/features.html In The News 2009-05-13T16:00:00-08:00 http://www.noblestudios.com/news/page/gamma_pharmaceuticals http://www.noblestudios.com/index.php/site/gamma_pharmaceuticals/#When:21:52:00Z “The overall goal of this project is to develop a more effective online brand strategy for both our U.S. and Asian markets,” said Jake Cunningham, Chief Information Officer for Gamma Pharmaceuticals. “We are very excited to be involved with this project and believe we chose the best firm for implementing the right solutions.” In The News 2008-10-12T21:52:00-08:00