Book N Tech

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Skytab S Series $499! Black Friday

One of my favorite Windows Slate's just got cheaper! The Skytab S Series was just reduced to $499 on their website for Black Friday. This is cheaper than an Ipad 2 or the first generation. I know this is a great deal in the market of tablets/slates for most people because in this economy we hold tight to our purses. This deal is exclusively available on their website though. This company has been in the shadows for a while now. With the emerging of Android and Window slates they have been making affordable good products. They have made their signature product the Skypad Alpha which is an Android mini tablet. They have a small 4.8 inch media player the Skytex Primer. They also have an e book reader and soon to come a touch reader. This slate is just another budget slate most other big bloggers say. I disagree to the fullest. Why does every good product that is offered lower than a bigger slate like the Samsung 7 a budget slate? This device is to me a better build, and better features than all the others. Here is the link to go get it!            Skytab S Series 9.7'' on sale link

Monday, November 21, 2011

Windows 8 Future of Mobile Computing!


  Recently Microsoft has revealed their newest app based creation: Windows 8. Currently the developer preview is open to the public in two options with or without developer tools. This operating system is available to anyone via a free download. Just make sure you have a spare disk or flash drive to download it to because it comes in .iso form. Okay now you have downloaded Windows 8 now how to use it? First of all there are some distinct differences from Windows 7. One is their is no more classical Start menu it is a field of apps and shortcuts. Another thing is the whole Metro user interface which is built around the Start menu. A clean simple interface with some beautifully written apps such as, a simple piano with recording functions, a neat flash card maker for students, an up to date  weather application which is known to use a lot of energy, and a customizable stocks application. Internet Explorer has been redesigned to make dun da dun IE 10! A touch friendly browser that is much quicker and is also another part of the Metro UI. Windows 8 is a complete revamping of Windows 7 with their Metro UI which as said by Microsoft "flows with the OS." Included in the final build will be the Windows Store where you buy all of your apps from. Also as a well appeasement for some they have added a classic desktop view with IE9. Now that we know what Windows 8 is what devices can we see this new OS on? One thing for sure is the Windows Phone. With the rising popularity of the Iphone and Android mobile phones Windows is going to have to make it's move fast. Another thing which is confirmed by Samsung is on mobile slates. A slate is similiar to a tablet but is powered by a desktop OS such as Windows. Samsung has recently confirmed it will be making a Windows 8 slate and we can be sure all of the others will jump on the bandwagon. Another obvious is desktops and laptops. Even though this is a touch friendly OS it is still possible to use the operating system on a desktop. Hopefully they will make computer screens with touch input. Already the Dell Inspiron Duo is a touch friendly laptop. Even still it will be hard to sell against rising competition from Android, Apple, Linux, and Blackberry. Well That is all I have to say goodbye!

              Oh and before I forget here is the Video of Windows 8!
                                                   
    Thanks for Reading!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Stop Motion Animation at work

Today I am going to look at the lesser known ways to animate in animate objects Stop Motion. I am actively involved in Stop motion and have made some videos for different demonstrations. Most people who are active in animation usually use computer animation for better quality. I still prefer stop motion for its simplicity and ease to use. I have some sample videos to show you of some cool little tests.

1. The flying man hanging by string
A secret agent kicking in a door using a rope from a Lego agent set with a helicopter. I like this one because it looks very smooth in my perspective and the vid went very well.

2. Blood And the sword!
I have made another small short with a pirate vs a soldier. the soldier wins and  kills the pirate drawing blood. Only bad thing was the blood was not a good red but more pinkish.

3. Walking and Shooting Test
  I did for my last test the pirate man walking two steps and shooting a gun. This video has some flaws such as no white background and my hand appearing. My next walking and shooting test will feature a Russian guard with a machine gun and walking the full distance.

That is all I have for tips I will be featuring the return of an old mini movie (2:30 long) called The Shovel is Mightier than the Sword. That is a great movie. Thanks for reading, Voley

Asus Eee Slate

ASUS Eee Slate 12.1-Inch Tablet PCThis is one of those let me look at this again tablets. Even at the high end price of $1,109.00 it should not have been able to make it. It still persevered, and according to Amazon it has received a strong average of 4 star reviews. I have personally spent many hours researching and gathering details for this extraordinary product. This is a one of a kind product featuring the Asus Vibe app market not forgetting the Windows Live market. First my favorite part here are some specs:
Specifications
Display
12.1" LED Backlit WXGA Screen Capacitive and Electromagnetic Panel (1280 x 800) with AFFS
Processor
Intel® Core™ i5-470UM
Memory
4GB DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM, expandable up to 4GB (1 slot total, 1 slot occupied by a 4GB module)
Storage
64GB SSD
Operating System
Windows®7 Professional (64 bit)
Wireless
802.11b/g/n; BT3.0
Camera
2.0 Megapixel (front)
Interface
1 x Digitizer pen; 2 x USB 2.0 port; 1x 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Head Phone /Mic-in);1 x mini HDMI port;1 x Card Reader: MMC/ SD(SDHC/SDXC);1 x DC-IN
Battery Life
Battery life: 4.5 hrs; Play 1080p video: 2.4 hours /34 Whr polymer battery
Size/ Weight
12.28" x 8.16" x .67" ; 2.56lbs
Accessory
1 x User Manual; 1 x Warranty Card; 1 x support DVD; 1 x Folio (with support function) 1 x Power Adaptor; 1 x Bluetooth Keyboard ; 1 x Cleaning Cloth; 5 x Refill Nips; 1 x Nip Remover; 2 x AAA Battery for KB
Security
Trusted Platform Module, Computrace®LoJack® (service sold separately)
        Now here is my personal review the main meat about the Asus Eee Slate
The Eee Slate was made for Productivity. With the modern b/g/n Wireless system and a quality efficient lithium polymer battery with 4.5 hours of use. First complaint is the 2.56 lb. of weight. To me that is pretty heavy for a tablet pc and can really hurt your hands. Second the storage only 64 gigabytes on a Solid State Drive is pretty low. I have to admit this does not have as many good features as the Skytab I reviewed earlier. One thing is it has the Asus Vibe Market. I have not heard much about it, but that it is an entertainment store exclusively for Asus products. Another thing I saw was of course the price tag. When I saw this product was for over a grand and was from a virtually unknown company it can’t sell. Sadly I was mistaken. Take the similarly priced Samsung slate. Samsung is known all over the world and is the leading maker of smartphones. Taken that most customers will post reviews I compared the number of them. The Samsung Slate 64 gigabyte Windows 7 Home Premium had a mere 3 reviews. Compared to the Eee Slate packing 166 reviews. Weird isn’t it? For my last thoughts on this intriguing product I say it is pretty good for entertainment and productivity, but that price tag would have most kids stealing piggy banks. Thanks for reading, Zeke

Friday, October 28, 2011

Exo PC User Interface Layer for Windows

This is the new generation of mobile computing. No it is not one device, but a layer for one to get apps and use them on your Windows 7 slate an option all of the other expensive slates do not have. It has an app market close in number to the freeware lovers.com market with 1,278 to date. Updated weekly this market will expand to over 2,500 apps coming straight at you! With some pretty impressive apps like the exo radio, exo TV, a bald eagles nest, camera app, some books and magazines, flash chess, putt putt, painting Jackson Pollock style, Fruit Ninja and Clash and Slash, over 40,000 recipes with air, and plenty more to keep you always busy. Currently this is still a work in progress with some of their premier apps such as the Exo Business app. In this review I will look at the Good, the bad, and the ugly. First for the good!

The Exo PC UI was made for people of course not robots. It is made uniquely for the Windows 7 touch slates that comply with it’s standards. The Exo UI for me had one appeal its apps. When I look at Samsung’s Slate I felt bad that they did not have the Exo layer. The Exo store is filled with 1,278 apps such as their exo TV with genres like Sports, Children, Education, Cinema, and local, exo radio with a wide variety of stations, the exo browser an uncomplicated touch ready browser just waiting for you, the exo player their new 1080p high definition video and music files player, a whole collection of games, a good group of productivity, and plenty made for kids and education. Another thing that is useful is their easy to use Apple like keyboard. I know some people on YouTube have said it did not work and they were right. There newest bug fix has fixed this problem. Another benefit is say you go to the Intel App up Market you can get angry Birds and make a shortcut to use when in the UI. Also the UI is loaded with all types of fun things to do which makes it very useful.

The bad I can think of very few things. So far I have only heard people specific problems. Depending on who you are, and what you would want to use this for I would suggest putting in some more research into it. Go on their website, check out their forum, see what others have to say. i can only say I personally think this is going into the right direction by far. So my last words are GO EXO!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

An Ereader with a purpose

Skytex has made a wonderful creation a joy to use the Primer 7”. A color e-reader with a built in microphone, ability to expand to 16 GB of storage, and an excellent price of $80. Is their some downsides well yes sure, but of course the first generation Kindle does not have a touch screen or a camera, but this device is packing some punch. The main operating system is a minimal using the Linux OS. It can support video and music playback and also read Adobe DRM protected books. Much better than some of the competition out their like the first generation Kindle. Another thing is this device has is a FM radio, and microphone for taking notes and stuff. I am going to take this and an extremely similar device called the EB101P Digital Text Reader by Ematic, and let them butt heads. These devices have nearly identical beings such as an FM player and microphone. The body is same and so is the keyboard. One difference is the company. When i spoke to Skytex they were so nice, they spoke in English, and helped me right away, for the Ematic customer service customers on Amazon have raved on how bad they were and could only get an automated response. Also on the flipside it is hard not to be able to get books straight from my device, but it would be worth it for the price of 80. I mean that is rock bottom cheap! I have to say I like the looks of this product, and love the company.
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