Aftermath which will rein Apple or Android OS

It has been an issue about the Apple vs Samsung case and at the end so far notes that Samsung will actually pay the full $1.05 billion decided by the jury. This was just the primary stage processes that almost certainly involve to appeal by Samsung. While unlikely that any judge overturn the jury’s decision entirely, Samsung’s lawyers have enough ammunition to stand a good chance of pouring down some damages Samsung has to pay.

If we’re getting the larger context here on iOS vs. Android – in this case it’s unlikely to be more than a setback for Google. Taking on the search behemoth straight forwardly it’s a very different outlook from taking on Samsung, and it’s somewhat Apple has avoided so far.

As for Google’s official statement, that the judgment is to infringe upon Apple patents on Samsung specific, not part of the stock Android OS. In a way, the verdict would even help Google to deal with their problems towards fragmentation if those smartphone manufacturers like HTC, LG, (the controversial) Samsung et al stick closer towards the stock Android experience in avoidance of the risk on running afoul over Apple on their proprietary skin like Touchwiz and Sense.

Another factor with more importance is that Android has entered a mythical dominion of “too big to fail”. That’s far more than just an operating system. The public gossips more about the Apple ecosystem but what is regularly forgotten is the Android Ecosystem. Visualizing your daily experience as an internet user; Google really dominates. From Search… E-mail… Calendar… Documents… Maps… Youtube…

The iPad and iPhone might grant access to these services (and says that there will be changes now with iOS 6 getting rid of Google Maps and Youtube no longer a core app), but it’s experience simply isn’t as incorporated and complete as on an Android device. As just the money an iOS user drops into the Apple ecosystem supplies as a blockade to keep us from opting out of it, with the convenience of that integration of an Android user’s web experience.

Who’s going to utilize that? Is it Apple with its limited product established and its high price points? OR Is it going to be the Android OEMs with its huge number of phone models with a various price levels that appeal to let public embrace the use of smartphones due to its monetary value mentality across diverse segments in the market?

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HP Folio 13 "to buy or not to buy"

With the vast announcements in the notebook space HP has been busy this year to create innovations, especially with their ultrabooks.  They had build and announced their Ivy Bridge line of ultrabooks and Sleekbooks a couple of months back. And now HP introduced an Ultrabook that would give some new impression through their HP Folio 13. Let us see how heap it would be against like Dell, Samsung and Tohsiba Ultrabooks.

Build and Design

Folio 13 is not just any laptop but a premium Ultrabook, it has the feel of sublime that you can tell HP has gone to its great lengths to feel that this notebook is an ultra premium. In fact with this nice feel it really makes you want to use the notebook more. The distribution weight is very well done, though it isn’t the slimmest Utlrabook at 18 mm in depth nor the lightest at 1.5 kg.

The cover is made up with a brushed aluminum finish, while its underneath has its rubberized coating for enhanced grip.  Since the notebook has a bit of heft, HP added all the standard connectivity preferences (just lacks a disc drive) but the rest like Gigabit LAN, HDMI, a USB 3.0 and 2.0 port, card reader and headphone jack. Intake vents were placed underneath, while the exhaust sits behind the hinge.  As we go further, the hinge mechanism has its feel of a well-built and durable that doesn’t seem like it’ll loose anytime. And the lid giving you a very flexible viewing it also tilts backs all the way to 170 degrees, no matter sitting position you at.

The 13.3 inch screen has an extremely thin bezel that gives a wider appearance. The speaker grill is placed above the keyboard and it’s never blocked. With it’s Dolby Advanced Audio for better audio fidelity.  HP has been known for their amazing keyboard and no surprise there. HP trackpad is not that said though. The tracking is smooth and responsive but the buttons are so hard and there is no proper click feel to it, it needs to apply a lot of pressure that makes it a terrible experience. But concerning overall design and build it is scored highly for Folio 13.

Features

When we talk about hardware Folio 13 is powered with an intel i5-2467M ULV CPU, 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD. One thing that bothers me that why does they install a standard hard drive and small SSD, since clearly there is a plenty of room inside the chassis. With no dedicated graphic card, of course so you’ll have to make do with the onboard one, which is fine for watching HD movies. It also has a Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OS, along with it.

With the usual software fluff that HP bundles have along with their notebooks, HP Folio 13 is a CoolSense Technology. These adjust automatically with the fan in the notebook, depending on the system temperature. Including HP TrueVision, HD webcam, QuickLaunch, Intel WiDi support, Support Assistant and Connection Manager.

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The DiC Book Is A Go (To Say The Least)!

DiC fans rejoice! At the end of Friday, September 14, the Ulule fundraising for the French "Art Of" book on the DiC studios ended its run... and it was a resounding success. The original fundraising goal was actually achieved on September 7, but the book went right on collecting, finally totaling at 125%! This is a great thing, of course, as more funds means a product of higher quality. To quote the book's writers Maroin Eluasti and Nordine Zemrak (right after the 100% victory was achieved, in a moment of great happiness on September 8):

Like us, you believed and together we succeeded! In fact, yesterday we reached 100% and more.

Fans of the heart, we thank you for your trust and support that will allow this beautiful project to exist.

As the adventure continues, each additional euro will consider new options:

- Varnish on the cover of the book;

- A collector's version, an edition of 50 numbered and signed books;

And many other things ... ;-) 

You will be told quickly.

Maroin & Nordine

One such bonus-related news piece was actually announced even before the funding was completed, on August 20 on Facebook: Instead of the originally planned 192 pages, the book will be 208 pages long, allowing for more pictures and info! Other than that, it is not yet known which bonuses will end up in the final product... but with 25% more backing than the originally needed sum, the book should definitely benefit one way or another.



In fact, we'll be able to see for ourselves shortly, as the authors still intend to have their work released by the end of October. And then... well, let's just say that all of us "early birds" who donated more than a certain amount can lean back and wait for our copies of the book to arrive in the mail. :) For the rest of you interested DiC fans out there, the writers hope to be able to make the book available "everywhere" when it's officially released... in other words, probably both in book stores and web shops. More details about this will likely follow soon. For day-to-day news about the actual production of the book, I'd recommend following its Facebook page, which has already given us great teasers in the form of cels, merchandise and memorabilia over this past month.



Among all these wonderful news, only one big question seems to remain: What are the prospects for an English-language edition? Right now, there are certainly no news regarding this... understandably enough, I guess, since the project was of course conceived as a French publication first and foremost. And many of the DiC series from the 80s have bigger cult followings in France than they do in other countries. I still believe, though, that an English-language edition of the book could find success (we are talking about a book that celebrates DiC's greatest shows from the 80s, after all), but I'm pretty sure the authors will not consider anything like this until after the French edition is released - and then it will probably be a question of how successful the French edition is. Still, we can always hope. More than a month ago, I actually did ask on the book's official Facebook about the possibilities for an English-language version. Quoted from an August 6 post on the Facebook wall, here is Nordine Zemrak's (fairly enthusiastic) answer:

...if the project became succesful, english language could be possible ! ! (...)

So at least the writers are open to the idea. For my part, even though I'm looking forward to the visual side of the book, it would be fantastic to be able to actually read the interviews and the behind-the-scenes information properly, so I'm gonna keep on hoping for the English-language version to happen. In the meantime, I'll settle for the French book to pop into my mailbox in less than a month and a half...

Above: One of the many Facebook previews of the book's contents, a beutiful Inspector Gadget cel
from "Monster Lake". More previews related to other DiC productions below.

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It's all about the HARDWARE (Samsung Galaxy S3 | iPhone 5) Part 1

The android world is the most popular smartphone platform when it comes to users, Samsung is the leading and most popular android manufacturer. And with the Galaxy S3 is currently the most popular android phone this year.  The iPhone 5 has launched, is it going to be one of the most popular phones? So this emphasize that anyone is in search to buy a new phone would likely end up trying to choose between the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Apple’s iPhone 5. If we’re weighing both smartphones, they are phenomenal devices.  The only thing is the choice that makes it tougher.

I can’t see much about Samsung hardware and you can say that bias is right up front. As when it comes to Android, I would prefer the quality material build by HTC from Samsung, though HTC is not that quiet familiar to some. In the other hand, LCD (HTC) to Super AMOLED PenTile (Samsung) display. And it shows that Samsung has been improving year after year for new innovations.  And with Apple’s states and finish still blazingly bursting to most. Through its roughly 20% thinner and lighter than iPhone 4s, the iPhone 5 is made out of glass and aluminum monolith, to its design from its construction, that is cleverly outclasses the plastic river stone of Samsung.

Talking about performance, it’s hardly difficult to compare Apple to Samsung. The iPhone 5 holds its latest Apple A6 processor, which they simply cite as being “twice as fast” as last year’s Apple A5. Apple takes a huge advantage to its tailoring their own unique software to matched hardware, from its body and soul on just one device. For Samsung, it generically needs to fit Google’s software to their specific hardware. Rumor has it, that the A6 may just be the world’s first production ARM Cortex A15-based processor and that I could say a huge impact. To most, Samsung’s 1.4GHz Exynos quad-core monster will likely be more as impressive.

Apple has a higher build-in storage option at 64GB compared to Samsung’s 32GB, BUT Samsung lets you increase storage up to 64GB of extra storage, using micro SDHC storage. And I give the credit to Samsung the edge here.

Knowing their hardware, it’s pretty much what it always with Apple and Samsung: Apple wins on manufacturing, elegance and also on design and Samsung wins quality of specs, power and size.

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iPhone 5 “iPhone since iPhone”

iphone5 have been announced last Wednesday. Obvious difference is the screen size bigger, fuselage slimmer and run faster. Let’s look at the specifications of the iphone5.

Specs for iPhone 5:

Thinner, lighter and less volume

Weight:  At 3.95 ounces (112 grams)

Height:  At 4.87 inches (123.8 mm)

Width:  At 2.31 inches (58.6 mm)

Depth:  At 0.30 inch (7.6 mm)

 

Display

It has a 4-inch (diagonal) Retina display and a 1,136 x 640 pixel resolution with 326 pixels-per-inch, boosting its color saturation that’s 44 percent greater than before. That makes it vivid and lifelike display.

Processor:
Equipped with apple’s new A6 chip, The processor and graphics processor’s performance is two times faster than the current A5 chip, and can enjoy intensive graphic apps and games.

Connector:
It  has a smaller connector, 30-pin change to new 8-pin that is reversible, and it is called Lightning. That means there’s no wrong way to plug in the cable.

Headphones:
The headphones had a new and improved design. The headphone is designed to produce quality sounds and it is called EarPods.

Camera:
It has an same 8-megapixel camera, Autofocus, LED flash, Five-element lens, Hybrid IR filter and f/2.4 aperture.

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French Book About DiC's Early Cartoons In The Making

...and it needs your support. Read on to see if this is something you're interested in:

This should be exciting news for all DiC fans (especially those who speak French). I just found out that a lavish new book about the early history and TV cartoons of DiC is being prepared in France - as an internet-funded project! It will feature previously unpublished interviews and rare illustrations (ranging from cels and storyboards to vintage photos), as well as a thorough behind the scenes-look at all of the most famous cartoon series produced by the DiC studio.



The book, titled "Ces séries de notre enfance: Ulysse 31, Les cités d'or, Inspecteur Gadget..." (directly translated: These series of our childhoods), is being written by two huge DiC fans named Maroin Eluasti and Nordine Zemrak... and these writers are currently trying to raise money online in order to publish the book this October. So far, 10% of the needed funds have been collected, and they hope to have the entire amount before September 14, the day the fund-raising ends. (In case you wondered: Yes, all donations will be refunded if they don't get enough support and the book is not published.) Visit the book's official site if you want to make a donation and get cool collector's items in exchange for it, or if you just want to read more about the project. They also have a Facebook page where fans can ask questions. Below you can check out the video trailer:







The authors' presentation of the book (brough to you by Google Translate and me, as if you had to ask) sums up the whole project better than I can:

"Who has not dreamed of fighting with Ulysses 31, to help him find his way, of crossing the oceans in search of the Mysterious Cities of Gold in the company of Esteban, Zia and Tao, of fighting monster plants along with Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors? Who has not laughed at the blunders of Inspector Gadget or the jokes of Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats? These series of the 1980s have shaped our childhoods with their mysteries and humor.

Today, we offer to find them and rediscover them within a single book citing all productions of the same studio: D.I.C. 

Captivated by these legendary series, we want you to discover the secrets of their production. This book will be the culmination of five years of research, documentation, interviews of all parties related to the creation of their series. We performed thus the globetrotting to gather evidence in France, the United States as well as Japan, China and Luxembourg and attempted to reconstruct the puzzle of an adventure more than thirty years old."

The book will concentrate chiefly on the period 1978-1988 - the decade which saw DiC grow from a small, French animation studio making commercials and industrial films into a major, international player in TV cartoon production. More importantly, this was the decade in which (arguably) all of DiC's most memorable cartoon shows were made. Just looking at the characters featured on the cover (and the sneak peeks next to the cover) makes me immediately interested in this book. 

The descriptions of the book's contents makes it sound even better (translated by you-know-what and you-know-who):

"Specifically, what does it [the book] contain? 

The book format of 29.7 cm × 23.7 cm wide will include 192 pages in a beautiful glossy paper. The iconography represents 65% images and 35% text. 

In detail, there will be:
- Interviews with Jean Chalopin, Bernard Deyriès, Bruno Bianchi, Jean Barbaud or even Michi Himeno, Shingo Araki, Mitsuru Kaneko and many others;

- Photographs of productions in Japan, the United States and Canada from 1978 to 1986;
- Photos of generic recording of Ulysses 31 in Los Angeles in 1981 with the memorable Lionel Leroy along with Haim Saban and Shuki Levy;
- Research into the design, characters and model sheets of Ulysses 31, Inspector Gadget, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Lupin XIII, etc.;
- Numerous illustrations: cels, backgrounds, layouts, storyboards, caricatures, products..."

...and perhaps most intriguing of all, this note from co-author Maroin Eluasti about his and Zemrak's approach to writing the book:

"We can confirm that it will be very comprehensive, particularly during the period from 1978 to 1988. An attempt was made through interviews with various players to not merely make a summary of the series or to repeat what has already been seen elsewhere. We wanted to really be comprehensive (while trying not to bore you;-)) 

In addition, all documents of the cartoons in the book are beautiful and totally original! And finally, there will be about fifty pictures just to make a complete immersion into the years 1970/1980. In addition to other things, this is making it a book totally different to what have been done so far;-)"

This all sounds pretty fantastic. Such a History/Art Of book about the DiC studio has never existed before, and I can imagine it will uncover a wealth of interesting information and images related to not only Inspector Gadget, but also to Ulysses 31, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats.....  The only downside - a rather big downside - is of course that the book almost certainly won't be published in English. However, the contents will be divided between 65% images and 35% text, so if the image part is good enough, it might still be very interesting even to fans (like me) who don't speak French. Here are a few more sneak peeks of the book's illustrations:

Oh, that's right: Below is an example of some of the cool stuff you can get in exchange for your donation to this project. (No, you don't have to give 250 euros, by the way; this is just an example. You can go as low as 5 euros if you want to.) Exclusive cels, storyboards, film reels etc.... all making it even more tempting to support an already good cause. As I said earlier, go straight to the book's site (fr.ulule.com/dic/) if you'd like to donate. (The site very conveniently converts the donations to your country's currency, so you can know exactly how much you're giving.) The authors hope to get the book published by October, as I said, but that release date is dependent on whether they can raise enough money in time. Every donation counts; so if you feel like contributing, do it right away and make sure to spread the word at the same time. 

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Télé 80's Second Inspector Gadget CD Is Coming

On July 12, some rather interesting news appeared on Télé 80's Facebook page. I've had no time to blog about this before now, but better late than never (especially as this will not be released until November):

Yep, the second "Inspecteur Gadget" CD is on its way... and it gives the impression of being a bit more special than Télé 80's first lackluster edition. The Facebook post that announced this "Edition Speciale" CD has since been inexplicably deleted, but thanks to Google Cache, I can still share it with you:

The above screen grab is a cached version of the Facebook site from July 18. When the post was deleted (on July 22 or 23, I think), it had gotten even more comments... some of them asking if one could still make suggestions for the contents of the "Special Edition" CD. Télé 80 responded with an enthusiastic yes, but then deleted the entire thread. Talk about mixed signals to the customers. This is not the first time I've seen Télé 80 delete threads from their Facebook site, and I'm still not sure why they do it.



Anyhow, let's look at the facts revealed so far. Here's the written message in French (posted here for reference, as the original Facebook post no longer exists):

INSPECTEUR GADGET : LE CD N°17 " SPECIAL 30 ANS " ! GRACE A VOTRE AIDE ET A SHUKY LEVY , NOUS AVONS MIS LA MAIN SUR UNE GRANDE PARTIE DES TITRES MANQUANTS ! UN CD DE 26 TITRES SERA DONC DISPONIBLE EN NOVEMBRE + 1 REMIX 2013 ' GADGET MIX DANCE ' ! MERCI ! NOUVEAU VISUEL ! LE CD SORTI EN MAI DERNIER DEVIENDRA DONC "COLLECTOR" AVEC 500 COPIES DANS LE MONDE...NOUS DETRUISONS LES AUTRES !

...and here, with the usual aid of Google Translate and my flickering with the translation options, is what I can make out of it in English:

INSPECTOR GADGET: THE 17TH CD [in the series of Télé 80 Cds], "SPECIAL 30 YEARS"! THANKS TO YOUR HELP AND TO SHUKY LEVY, WE HAVE GOT OUR HANDS ON MUCH OF THE MISSING TITLES! A CD OF 26 TITLES WILL BE AVAILABLE IN NOVEMBER + 1 2013 REMIX 'GADGET DANCE MIX'! THANK YOU! NEW VISUAL! THE LATEST CD RELEASED IN MAY THUS BECOMES "COLLECTOR" WITH 500 COPIES AROUND THE WORLD ... WE DESTROY THE REST!

So, to sum up: In November, Télé 80 will release a special "30th anniversary edition" CD of the Inspector Gadget music by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban. This CD will include 26 original tracks as well as 1 new remix called "Gadget Dance Mix". (Unless this remix is by Shuki Levy himself, I couldn't be less interested in that part.) Presumably, the audio will be in good quality and free of vinyl scratches this time around... as Télé 80 promised much better sound quality when Volume 2 was first announced months ago. Télé 80 also mentions that the Gadget CD they released with bad sound quality in May might become a collector's item, as only 500 copies have been sold around the world at this point, and they intend to destroy the rest. Good riddance, I say. (Though I must admit that a small part of the completist in me would like to get that CD now, seeing as it is the first CD release ever of the show's original background music. Damn my collector's instincts!)

The "new" cover art looks pretty awful (awful enough for people to complain about it in disbelief at the Planete Jeunesse forums)... ironically enough because, once again, Télé 80 reproduces the art from a vintage LP cover, in this case the cover of the 1986 Australian LP "Inspector Gadget - The Music". Still, this is slightly reassuring from one perspective. The Australian record (as regular readers know by now) contains a few tracks that were not included on the 1983 French LP... and I had expressed hope earlier that Télé 80 would look at the Australian LP for their second "Inspecteur Gadget" CD, and get the unique tracks on that edition included. (I even sent them a few e-mails about this, but never got a reply.) The cover image certainly indicates that Télé 80 are at least aware of the Australian record... and the fact that this new CD includes 26 original tracks makes it very likely that some of those tracks have been collected from "Inspector Gadget - The Music" (the French LP contained 22 tracks).

Original cover source: ABC Records' Australian LP Soundtrack, 1986

I find it interesting, by the way, that Télé 80 mentions getting hold of many missing track titles "...thanks to your help and to Shuki Levy". I can understand "your help", as I'm pretty sure a number of fans have helped Télé 80 out with getting good LP copies to rip the music from. But Shuki Levy himself? Does this mean Levy personally helped Télé 80 out with good-quality copies of the original LPs, or with master tapes of his original compositions? I would guess the former, because 26 tracks are no more than what you'd get by simply combining the contents of the French and Australian soundtrack LPs.



In fact, 26 tracks are less than what you'd get if you include every single, unique track from each of those editions... and that worries me a bit. I've calculated that if Télé 80 collects everything that has ever been released of original Gadget music by Shuki Levy, they would end up with 28 tracks! Which leads me to wonder if something is being left out. Let's take a quick look at the tracks that Télé 80 could in theory release, collected from various soundtrack editions and compilations of TV themes:

The French 1983 LP - 22 Tracks

1. Inspecteur Gadget (Inspector Gadget, French vocals). 2:37

2. Le thème de Sophie (Penny's theme, French vocals). 2:30

3. La chanson de Fino (Brain the Dog - the song, French vocals). 2:00

4. Gadget sur Mars (Gadget on Mars). 1:30

5. Le fantôme (Ghost). 1:56

6. Musée de l'art fou (Mad art in Museum). 2:05.

7. Gadget au Japon (Gadget in Japan). 2:02.

8. L'usine de chocolats (Chocolate factory). 2:00.

9. Rodéo (Rodeo). 1:30.

10. Thème du Dr Gang (Mad's theme). 2:12

11. Héros dans la jungle Africaine (Heroes in African jungle). 1:50

12. Gadget chez les Incas (Gadget with the Incas). 1:00

13. Fais gaffe (Look Out). 1:34

14. Gadget en difficulté (Gadget in trouble). 1:11

15. Désert d'Arabie (Arabian desert). 1:15

16. Gadget le sophistiqué (Sophisticated Gadget). 1:40

17. Thème du train (Train Machine). 1:55

18. Le royaume (Kingdom). 2:00

19. La course de voiture (Car race). 1:12

20. Les pharaons (Pharaohs). 1:30

21. Le thème de Sophie (Instrumental) (Penny's Theme). 2:30

22. Thème d'ouverture (Instrumental) (Opening theme). 1:12

The Australian 1986 LP - 5 Unique Tracks (16 in total, but many overlapping with the French LP)

23. Inspector Gadget Theme (US theme song, extended version. Also released on the Australian compilation CD 30 Years of Funtastic TV Toons, 1990). 2:50

24. Brain The Dog (background music track; instrumental theme for Brain). 1:08

25. Mad's Theme (misspelled Max's theme on the back cover, this is an alternate version of  "Mad's theme", orchestrated slightly differently from the version on the French LP). 2:12

26. Italian Gadget (background music track). 1:03

27. Gadget Closing (US end credits theme). 0:41

The Original US Opening Theme, which has circulated on various CD compilations of television themes ever since the 1980s, and is no doubt very easy to find:

28. Inspector Gadget Theme (Opening, US version). 1:12

In other words: If the upcoming CD really contains 26 original tracks, it would seem that Télé 80 is leaving out 2 tracks that could have been included.... and this being a French release, it would not surprice me if these 2 leftovers prove to be American themes. I could easily picture the "Gadget Closing" theme and one of the US themes (either the Opening Theme or the extended "Inspector Gadget Theme") being taken out, as these American theme songs do sound slightly similar to one another. Still, all three of these themes are also different from one another - and all of them are unique, vintage compositions by Shuki Levy. For that reason alone, they deserve inclusion on an official soundtrack CD... especially if that CD wants to live up to the subtitle "Edition Speciale".



But maybe I'm jumping to conclusions here. As Télé 80 mentioned in a Facebook comment, the contents of the CD can still be changed and revised. For all I know, that might be why they suddenly deleted the thread announcing this news... maybe they felt that it was too early to give detailed information, considering these details might change before the release. Whatever the case, I truly hope they will include all of the US themes - or more to the point, all the compositions that have been released from Shuki Levy's original score. It would only serve to make the CD more attractive for fans around the world.

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