studio

Free Studio bundles DVDVideoSoft's numerous free video, audio, and image tools into a versatile suite. Despite its many choices, a well-designed control panel makes it extremely easy to access just what you need.

Free Studio requires at least 278MB of free disk space, quite a substantial package for freeware. The check boxes that set the developer's Web site and search engine as defaults were already selected by the installation wizard (can't blame them for trying); we unchecked them, of course. Free Studio's unique interface is one of the most sensibly designed we've seen. Aside from … Read more

First came the halo effect of computer purchases: iPod or iPhone buyers deciding they'd like a Mac. Now I'm wondering whether there will be a similar trend among programmers.

I started pondering the idea after hearing from MacPhun, the developers of FX Photo Studio, a $1 iOS app that just made the jump to a Mac OS X app that costs $20 for the regular version and $40 for the pro version. If MacPhun is willing to take the leap, perhaps others are?

I see the move as an interesting possibility because of a few factors:

• The Mac … Read more

A little more than three years after opening Pioneer Studios, a skunkworks operation to develop consumer electronics and experiences, Microsoft has closed the unit, CNET has learned.

Pioneer was the brainchild of J Allard, the executive behind the original Xbox launch and chief technology officer of the company's Entertainment and Device division before leaving the company a year ago. A Microsoft spokeswomen confirmed that Pioneer no longer occupies its sleek design office near downtown Seattle, and that many of the Pioneer employees have moved to other Microsoft businesses. Others have left the company.

Though Microsoft made little noise about … Read more

The Studio 360 radio show will broadcast an interview this weekend with Edgar Choueiri, a professor of applied physics at Princeton University. Professor Choueiri is the director of Princeton's Program in Engineering Physics and the chief scientist of the university's laboratory for advanced spacecraft propulsion. Right, he's a rocket scientist, but he's also an audiophile.

Professor Choueiri told Studio 360 host Kurt Andersen that stereo playback over loudspeakers is a deeply flawed concept because crosstalk corrupts the natural transmission to the brain of 3D cues that exist in all stereo recordings. Crosstalk occurs in normal stereo … Read more

Since the release of the 3TB GreenPower drive, it's only been a matter of time before Western Digital incorporated that hardware into a dual-drive external storage device to offer what is currently the largest desktop external hard drive.

The company unveiled its first 6TB drive, the My Book Studio Edition II, last month and I have just finished taking a close look at the drive.

Like previous version of the My Book Studio or the My Book World Edition, the My Book Studio Edition II takes the shape of a closed book standing upright as on a shelf. The … Read more

A month after Hollywood studio executives said that Netflix had declined to post "Buy" buttons on its site, the video-rental service has done just that.

Obscurely posted on the Netflix page advertising the Robert De Niro film "Little Fockers" is a hyperlink that reads "Buy now." Clicking it takes you to Littlefockers.net, the official Web site for the film. The blog Hackingnetflix.com first reported on the button.

Netflix has always declined offers from the studios to sell movies from its subscription video-rental site, sources in the film industry told CNET. CEO Reed … Read more

After a nearly two-year wait, the next major version of Apple's Final Cut Pro could be making its debut this evening.

This month marks the 12-year anniversary of the video-editing software, with the first version being introduced at the National Association of Broadcasters trade show in 1999. Now all eyes are on Apple to show off the latest version of its video production tools. Reports have pointed to Apple planning to do just that at an NAB-related event being held tonight.

Final Cut Pro remains one of Apple's few software applications aimed at professionals. While the company is … Read more

Amazon's new cloud service has generated a lot less angst in Hollywood than it has at the major music labels.

On Monday evening, Amazon announced the Cloud Drive, which enables users to upload e-books, songs, films, and any other digital media to Amazon's servers. Users can then access their content from any Web-connected devices. Among the major Internet companies delivering digital entertainment, Amazon is first to make good on the promise of ubiquitous access to content.

Amazon gave very little notice to the major film studios or record labels that it planned to handle their content this way, … Read more

All the consumers who complain about paying $60 for a video game have an important ally in their corner.

Ben Cousins, general manager of Electronic Arts' Easy Studios, told Rock, Paper, Shotgun it's simply awful that consumers must shell out $60 for a game they may or may not like.

"I can't think of anything more exploitative than gating all of your content behind having to pay someone $60," Cousins told the U.K.-based gaming blog in an interview posted yesterday. "That's a really harsh business model if you think about it objectively.&… Read more