iPhone vs Sony Ericsson W950i vs Nokia N95 vs LG Prada

Apple - iPhone

There are some great mobile phones available now, or in the next few months, that could well give the iPhone a run for its money. They won't have that special Apple smugness, but they'll play your music, let you browse the Internet and even do a few tricks the iPhone can't manage.

For those of you unfamiliar with the iPhone's specs, or those of you who just love reading them over and over again, here's a quick roundup. The iPhone measures 61mm wide by 115mm tall by 11.6mm deep. It runs a version of Apple's Mac operating system, OS X, and includes Widgets, Google Maps, the Safari browser and iTunes with CoverFlow. Apple has partnered with Google and Yahoo to bring maps and email to the device.

It has a large 89mm (3.5-inch) touchscreen with multi-touch capabilities that lets you do things like enlarge photos using two fingers. The screen adjusts the brightness depending on the ambient light and turns itself off when you're making a phone call to save power. It will also automatically change from portrait to landscape mode as you turn it, so you can take advantage of the widescreen.
There's a built-in Web browser that can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi or EDGE connectivity. It has a 2-megapixel camera on the back, a 3.5mm jack so you can use your own headphones, Bluetooth connectivity and of course, it's also a widescreen video iPod with a capacity of 4GB or 8GB.

Sony Ericsson W950i
First up is the Sony Ericsson W950i Walkman phone. It measures 54mm wide by 106mm tall by 15mm deep. It runs on the Symbian OS v9.1 and uses the UIQ 3 user interface, which means you can run a variety of Symbian software on it including translators, maps and games. It also supports push email and while there's no Wi-Fi, it does have 3G connectivity, which the iPhone doesn't, meaning you can connect to the Internet much faster than over the iPhone's EDGE connection.

It has a 2.5-inch (63.5mm) colour touchscreen that doesn't have multi-touch capabilities, but it does have handwriting recognition and there's also a stylus at the back of the phone when you don't want to use your finger. There's also a built-in Internet browser that you can use in landscape mode, but you have to change the mode in the settings menu.

There's also a handy scroll wheel on the side of the phone for navigating the menu or scrolling through your music when you're using the music player. The music player will play almost any audio format and lets you see album art, in addition to letting you set a track to a certain mood and select your music via moods rather than playlists. The W950i has 4GB of on-board memory so you can store about 1000 songs.

Unfortunately, the W950i doesn't have a 3.5mm jack for your headphones, but it does come with an adaptor so you can connect one via the headphone port at the bottom. It also features stereo Bluetooth, which Apple has yet to announce for the iPhone, and that lets you listen to music wirelessly with a compatible pair of headphones.

One important thing to note is that the W950i supports 3's new X-Series flat-rate data plan, which gives you unlimited Web browsing and free Skype-to-Skype calls to any PC or other X-Series user worldwide, as well as the ability to search on Google and Yahoo, send MSN instant messages to your friends, watch your TV from a Slingbox, access your computer at home with Orb and buy or sell stuff on eBay.

The W950i is available now for free on a monthly contract or for about £360 SIM-free.

Nokia N95
Next up is the Nokia N95, which runs on the Symbian OS and measures 53mm wide by 99mm tall by 21mm deep. It's a two-way slider phone, so slide it one way and you get media keys and slide it the other way and you get a keypad. There's an iPhone-beating 5-megapixel camera on the back, with a Carl Zeiss lens, auto focus and a lens cover. You can also view your photos and video clips on a compatible television using the TV-out feature.

Music lovers get an FM radio, an MP3 player, expandable storage using microSD memory cards and a mini-USB port for easy file transfers, neither of which the iPhone features. There are also stereo speakers, a standard 3.5mm audio jack and support for stereo Bluetooth, which Apple has yet to announce for the iPhone.

As for connectivity, the Nokia is an absolute beast, featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, infrared and HSDPA. The iPhone has Wi-Fi but lacks 3G connectivity, which has caused some concern among smart phone users who need high-speed connectivity on the go. There are no concrete details as to whether a 3G iPhone will be available, but we hope there will be one in the future.

Unlike the iPhone, the Nokia N95 doesn't have a touchscreen, so you have to browse the Web using the navigation buttons. The Web browser features an overlay mode similar to the iPhone's zooming function, which lets you see the whole page while you scroll over particular parts. This means you can look at detailed text and at the same time see where you are in relation to the rest of the page.

Impressively, the features don't stop there, as the Nokia N95 also has built-in GPS with maps of over 100 countries. Apple's phone does feature Google maps but not satellite navigation, which gives the edge to the N95 when it comes to finding your way home.

The Nokia N95 is supposedly going to be available some time soon, but as with most of the N-Series range, it might take a little longer than expected. Now that the iPhone has launched, we're pretty sure Nokia will try and rush this on to UK shelves as soon as possible.

LG pradaFinally, there's the LG KE850 Prada phone, a tri-band phone that many are calling the iPhone killer, mainly because it bears more than a passing resemblance to this year's Macworld darling. The Prada phone measures 54mm wide by 99mm tall by 12mm deep. It's a candybar handset that features a 76mm (3-inch) colour touchscreen similar to the one found on the iPhone, but it doesn't have multi-touch capabilities.

The LG KE850 features a Macromedia Flash-based user interface that has cute icons to display all the KE850's functions. These include a video player that supports MPEG-4 and H.263 formats and a music player that supports MP3, ACC, ACC+, WMA and RA files. There's also an expandable microSD slot for storing all your favourite music and videos.

The KE850 boasts a document viewer that supports Microsoft's PPT, DOC, XLS formats, PDF and TXT. Connectivity-wise, it offers Bluetooth 2.0 and EDGE, but no Wi-Fi. There's no mention of a 3.5mm headphone jack in the specs, which suggests you'll have to use an in-line adaptor rather than just being able to plug your headphones straight in.

According to LG's press release, the LG KE850 will be available next month. We assume that it will be free on a monthly contract and might be available SIM-free at some point too.

Overall, if you're not bothered about features then the LG KE850 Prada phone should keep you happy. If it's music you're into then the W950i is a worthy contender, but if you want something to firmly stave off any iPhone needs until you can get your hands on one, then the Nokia N95 is definitely worth checking out.

Multimedia Development Process

Multimedia Development Process

• Multimedia development Process can be described as the use of many different communication medias, technologies and delivery platforms. A multimedia production can be expensive. Their preparation requires a team of people, each with a special skill set. Instructional designers explain how people learn and how materials should be structured. Producers coordinate the development process. Subject matter experts bring their knowledge of the subject. Interface designers are in charge of the onscreen navigational system. Writers work on scripts and any text that appears on the screen and documentation. Designers work on the program's graphics, it's overall look and feel, and interface design. Artists create graphics. Programmers put together all these elements using development software.

Multimedia Developer

• The multimedia developer has communication medias such as color, text, images, graphics, music, sound, narrations, video, 2d animation, 3d animation, interactivity and light at his disposal. A multimedia developer can design, build and implement strategies that make effective use of the medias and the technology used to produce and deliver the final systems.

Multimedia Storage Cabinet

• Multimedia storage solutions are available in plenty for your Compact Disc, DVD, VHS Tape and cassette collections. Holders are available in library, rack, cabinet, desktop, portable and tower styles to store from 10 to over 1500 CDs and other media. The highest quality of wood and metal are used to create the multimedia storage units. All of the pieces required for assembling the multimedia storage cabinet are provided. The time required for assembly will be 1-3 hours. For some of the larger units, two people may be necessary for assembling.

Multimedia Servers and Databases

• Universal servers are databases that store multimedia elements. Different fields store the text, images, sound and video files. These powerful databases can be accessed over the network and function as organizational libraries.

• High performance multimedia storage server software supports both streaming media data (e.g., video, audio) and conventional data (e.g., text, binary, images). It can be used as a next-generation file system as well as a stand alone video or audio on-demand server. Example for such a multimedia storage server is Fellini.

• Computers are now able to handle continuous media. Continuous media data has real-time requirements. A traditional file server cannot distinguish between continuous and non-continuous media. A multimedia storage server must be able to handle a large number of real-time requests with different rates. A multimedia storage server should support non real-time requests without violating the requirements of the real-time requests. It should support the storage and retrieval of multimedia data like: text, images, and other binary data.

Delivering Multimedia

• Many multimedia programs are designed to work on the computer. To show one to a larger audience, you need a projection device like an LCD panel, projector, or a large-screen TV. A cordless mouse is also useful. One use of multimedia is to offer information or services in public places using presentation devices called "kiosks" where you touch the screen to locate information. Kiosks can be seen in museums and other public places.

Multimedia Search

• There are plenty of specialized multimedia search tools available. Some of these covers several types of multimedia content, while some focus on images and specific file types. Major search engines have the ability to search for multimedia files on the web. Many search engines index all kinds of image formats. Some are associated with general search engines; some are stand alone image search engines. Some just index pictures available on the Web. Others have specialized collections of images. The image search engines are much more diverse than the general Web search engines. Copyright is one important issue to consider when searching for images.

Multimedia Web Design

Multimedia Web Design

• A good multimedia web design is one that adds to the overall value of your site. Depending on the kind of services you want to convey using a Multimedia web Design depends on the web site design as per your unique needs. The very last thing you want is to distract your viewer from the key message on your web page through Multimedia web Design.

• Weave your designs around your site theme. Make sure your designs communicate your business objectives in a clear manner. Strive towards creating an appealing, convincing design which informs, entertains, and also sells your products or services. Focus to enhance user experience. Yet, don't overwhelm the user.

• Multimedia web design products will allow you to publish two versions of your content. One version is published strictly with HTML and doesn't include the rich features of the multimedia project, but it allows most users to get to the content they want. The multimedia version will require additional download time or a plug-in, but the viewer will be able to see, hear, and interact with the content exactly as it was intended. Much of multimedia web design software utilizes compression technology to create the smallest possible files, thereby reducing the download time and wait time for the viewer.

• Multimedia software combines text, audio, images and animation. You can publish it to the web as streaming multimedia. Streaming multimedia means that the user does not have to wait for the files to download completely before he can see them. Usually a portion of the content is downloaded, and the remainder is downloaded while the content is being viewed. Multimedia software products allow you to design slide shows, product demonstrations, tutorials, brochures, movies, cartoons, walk-through demonstrations, advertisements, interactive photo albums and more.

• Adding multimedia design to web site greatly enhances the visual experience of the visitor. Multimedia for web design requires the viewer to install a plug-in or player to view the content. However, some products employ technology that is already included with the latest Web browsers. Many Web surfers do not upgrade their browsers or install additional software to view the content they're looking for.

• The Web is a very versatile medium and multimedia enhances the experience. Web pages can display animated graphics and play sounds, even allow for user interaction. These make the web pages more attractive and informative. Many web sites offer great multimedia information and how it is used in day-to-day life.

Computer Graphic Design

• Computer graphic desings are picture images created and manipulated digitally on computers. Using computer graphic designs in video prjects can be an excellent way to convey complex ideas. There are basically two forms in computer graphic design: bitmaps and vector graphics. Bitmap images are widely used. The number of pixels in the image determines the size of these images. They must be printed or displayed at the same size. Any other size distorts the image. Vector graphics are a set of graphical objects stored as coordinates, and mathematical formulas that determine their shape and position. These graphical objects are called primitives. Lines, curves, rectangles, ellipses etc. are all primitives. These are widely used in computer-aided design.

• Computer graphic design entails editing and polishing graphics. 2D or 3D computer graphic design programs can be used to create animations. One of the issues in computer graphic design is choosing the image that will convey the meaning best. The graphic must complement the text on the page.

• The graphic designer must produce a visual communication product for a specific audience. Technology has given us the tools to create finished products quickly with a high level of professionalism. An effective advertising or education campaign does much more than deliver a message; it also influences the audience' response. There is no point in telling people how good a product is if we can't make them start using it.

Multimedia authoring

Multimedia Authoring Tool

• There are many types of multimedia authoring tools (software programs) which can be used for developing instructional multimedia products. However, as technology became more powerful, so did the authoring tools -- permitting more complex instructional design. A multimedia authoring tool enables you to create a final application merely by linking together objects, such as a paragraph of text, an illustration, or a song. Attractive and useful multimedia applications can be produced by defining the objects relationships to each other, and by sequencing them in an appropriate order.

• Multimedia Authoring Tool easy and exciting for beginners... dynamic and interactive for experts... It requires less technical knowledge to master and is used exclusively for applications that present a mixture of textual, graphical, and audio data. Multimedia authoring tool can be used to create anything from simple slide shows to full-blown games and interactive applications. The splendid, yet refined, contents with multimedia materials (text, image, sound, video, animation, Flash, web document and database) with easy and convenient editing can be applied to the web as well as CDs and presentations. A multimedia authoring tool supports a wide variety of multimedia file formats including images, video, and sound. Clip-art and sound libraries are rarely bundled with a multimedia authoring tool.

Multimedia Presentation Software

• Multimedia software comprises a wide variety of software that allows you to combine images with text, music and sound, animation, video, and other special effects. Many kinds of multimedia software are available. Multimedia software is sometimes broadly grouped as:

1. Multimedia Authoring Tools
2. Multimedia Tools for the Web
3. Multimedia Presentation Software

• Multimedia Authoring can be used to create anything from simple slide shows to full-blown games and interactive applications. A professional multimedia development program is called an authoring tool or authoring software. An authoring tool allows you to give the user interactive control over the sequence and timing of videos, graphics and animation. It also provides a scripting language, also called a macro or authoring language to control the action.

• Multimedia presentation software is capable of stunning multimedia slideshows, brandishing dynamic sound, 3D Animation and cinematic quality special effects. Multimedia Presentation can be described as an intuitive book. Each page of the book can include pictures, animations, sounds and other controls. The pages can turn themselves or wait for their users to click on Next. Unlike the pages of a traditional book, they can talk to their readers too. No matter what your particular need may be, whether to e-mail an electronic photograph album to your relatives, allow users of your web page to download a multimedia catalog, show prospective clients samples of your work or make a dull subject come alive in class, multimedia presentation software can transform your ideas into a complete, professional application. In a live multimedia presentation, the slides are commonly projected onto large screens or printed on overhead transparencies. The slides may be distributed in printed form as handouts to accompany the live presentation.

• Multimedia Presentation Software can build self-displaying, interactive slide shows, electronic books and brochures, clickable advertisements, distributable portfolios and all sorts of other multimedia applications. Almost everything it can accomplish requires nothing more than a few mouse clicks. It has a short learning curve. Some multimedia presentation software documents are EXE files - they can be opened on any system. They can be freely distributed on disks and CD-ROMs, and over the Internet. Multimedia Presentation Software has some great features like the ability to:

1. Build and distribute slide show style presentations.
2. Write your own clickable advertisements, to distribute alone or with other products.
3. Design training materials that include pictures, sounds and interactive elements.
4. Compile a distributable portfolio.
5. Completed presentations are frequently published in multiple formats, which may include print, the Web, or electronic files.

• Multimedia Presentation Software requires a faster processor. A display adapter and screen driver capable of displaying more than 16 million colors is needed to get the best out of it.

Multimedia tools

Computer Animation Software Information

• The main goal of computer animation is to synthesize the desired motion effect which is a mixing of natural phenomena, perception and imagination. Animations are mainly used to demonstrate an idea or illustrate a concept. A special and computer animation software are necessary for the creation of computer animation. Some examples of animation software are: Amorphium, Art of Illusion, 3D Studio Max, SoftImage XSI, Alice, and Adobe Flash (2D) ect. Prices will vary greatly ranging from affordable to mind-numbingly expensive depending on target market. In general, computer animation software intended for the novice to enjoy for fun or for simple animation is less costly. Software for more professional animation is not only more expensive, but also more comprehensive. However, even the most basic animation programs are capable of creating some amazing animations.

• There are two types of Computer animation: Cel based and Object based. Cel based computer animation consists of multiple drawings, each one a little different from the others. When these drawings are shown in rapid sequence, the drawing appears to move. Object based computer animation (also called slide or path animation) simply moves an object across a screen. The object itself does not change.

• Speed is key to the success of computer animation. To give the illusion of smooth movement, complete images, often called frames, must be shown at speeds of at least 12 images per second. At lesser speeds, the human eye is able to detect a certain amount of jerkiness. Interestingly, however, there is no advantage to showing images at speeds of 70 frames per second or more, as there is no noticeable improvement in movement perception at speeds this high.

• Video is usually taken from life, whereas animations are based on drawings. Vector graphics may be 2D or 3D. 2D graphics show only length and width, whereas 3D graphics show depth too. Shading, anti-aliasing and morphing are other techniques used to make the images more realistic. Manipulating large images eventually destined for movies can be highly processor intensive, which calls for specialized computers and operating system. Clusters of Silicon Graphics computers were used for the amazing visual effects and the CGI for movies like 'Abyss', 'Matrix' and 'Jurassic Park' to name a few. Animation is far reaching. There are the block-busting special effects, which make the Millennium Falcon fly and the Titanic sink. Each of these types of animation has its own difficulties - budget and time constraints, technology limitations, and so on. Skills of imagination, creativity and artistic ability are highly desired in the field of web animation.

Multimedia Computer: Music and Sounds

• A multimedia computer can include sound data and live synthesized music. Various software programs record, play and edit digitized sounds. Sounds are basically analog signals, but they can be easily digitized and stored on disks. This will enhance the performance of computer animation.

• Digitized video files are very lengthy. To store video and play it back at a usable rate, the files are heavily compressed using a video codec (compressor-decompressor).

• A multimedia kit is a package of hardware and software that adds multimedia capabilities to a computer. Typically a multimedia kit includes a CD-ROM or DVD player, a sound card, speakers, and CD-ROMs.

Multimedia Application: Design Training, Entertainment

Multimedia Application

• Multimedia can be used for entertainment, corporate presentations, education, training, simulations, digital publications, museum exhibits and so much more. With the advent multimedia authoring applications like Flash, Shockwave and Director amongst a host of other equally enchanting applications, your multimedia end product is only limited by your imagination.

Multimedia Design Training

• Multimedia presentations are a great way to introduce new concepts or explain a new technology. In companies, this reduces the desi Design and Training time of multimedia. Individuals find it easy to understand and use.

Multimedia Entertainment

• The field of entertainment uses multimedia extensively. One of the earliest applications of multimedia was for games. Multimedia made possible innovative and interactive games that greatly enhanced the learning experience. Games could come alive with sounds and animated graphics.

Multimedia Business

• Even basic office applications like a word processing package or a spreadsheet tool becomes a powerful tool with the aid of multimedia business. Pictures, animation and sound can be added to these applications, emphasizing important points in the documents.

Miscellaneous

• Virtual reality is a truly absorbing multimedia application. It is an artificial environment created with computer hardware and software. It is presented to the user in such a way that it appears and feels real. In virtual reality, the computer controls three of the five senses.

• Virtual reality systems require extremely expensive hardware and software and are confined mostly to research laboratories.

• Another multimedia application is videoconferencing. Videoconferencing is conducting a conference between two or more participants at different sites by using computer networks to transmit audio and video data.

Multimedia intro

• Multimedia (Lat. Multum + Medium) is media that utilizes a com bination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun (a medium with multiple content forms) or as an adjectiv e describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which only utilize traditional forms of printed or hand-produced text and still graphics. In general, multimedia includes a combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity content forms.

• In simple words, Multimedia is one of the most fascinating and fastest growing areas in the field of information technology. Text, pictures, animation, movies and sound - all these varied media are seamlessly blended, resulting in simple slide shows to dazzling, interactive presentations. Before the advent of computers, multimedia projects were difficult to put together. Computers enable to combine the media and can be stored for reuse. Multimedia is widely used in entertainment and education.
  

• Multimedia is usually recorded and played, displayed or accessed by information content processing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, but can also be part of a live performance. Multimedia (as an adjective) also describes electronic media devices used to store and experience multimedia content. Multimedia is similar to traditional mixed media in fine art, but with a broader scope. The term "rich media" is synonymous for interactive multimedia. Hypermedia can be considered one particular multimedia application.