US$199 Amazon Kindle Paperwhite upgrades Hardware and Software - How to find free Ebooks and e-Book Readers for Laptops and PC

As expected, Amazon has launched an upgrade to the popular Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, the first E-reader with a built in Nightlight as per the posting on Amazon’s website on Tuesday September 3^rd 2013 as stated in “Amazon officially announces all-new Kindle Paperwhite”, published September 3, 2013 9:40 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News.

The new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is the 6^th of it’s name, Game of Thrones Style, and has a few improved hardware and software tweaks over the previous version as mentioned in the article “Amazon’s New Kindle Paperwhite Gets Official”, published 09.03.13 1:47 PM By Roberto Baldwin, Wired  and “Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Refreshed with Improved Screen, Software”, published Sept. 3, 2013 By JOANNA STERN, ABC News.

I’d made a passing reference to the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite in my article on the Amazon Kindle Fire HD entitled “Amazon launches Kindle Fire HD and Kindle PaperWhite e-Readers - ACS-Xerox Call Centers in Jamaica ramp up as Kindle Fires begin to Sparkle”.

The new and improved Amazon Kindle Paperwhite has the following Hardware tweaks as noted in “New Kindle Paperwhite hits September 30, starts at $119 (hands-on)”, published September 3, 2013 12:21 PM PDT, by David Carnoy, CNET Reviews:

1.      E-Ink's Pearl 2 display

2.      1GHz processor, a 25% improvement on the 800MHz found in the original Paperwhite

3.      A Brighter LED light

4.      19% more responsive Capacitive Touch

5.      7.3 ounces instead of 7.5 ounces, which isn't really noticeable but is worth noting

6.      2GB of integrated storage ,  which Amazon says stores up to 1,100 e-books

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite also has improved software features:

1.      Page Flip to keep track of pages as you jump ahead or back to get a better feel for the book

2.      Vocabulary Builder that gives on-the-spot app driven definitions of words encountered in your book.

3.      Amazon MatchBook, a Book matching service that allows Amazon users to get the e-book version of any hardcover versions of any book they have ever purchased in e-book format

4.      Kindle FreeTime, a parent nanny service that allows parents to keep track of their kids usage of the Amazon Kindle Fire and filter inappropriate content form their wandering gaze.

5.      GoodReads integration, giving Amazon Readers access to all the content at that Website

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is available for pre-order on Wednesday September 4th 2013 and ships on Monday September 30^th 2013 once you follow my directives on how to shop online ass per my blog article entitled “How to purchase items and subscribe to Magazines online and ship them to Jamaica”, as it’s a very popular item. It comes in the following versions:

1.      US$119 for Wi-Fi with “special offers” (ads)

2.      US$139 without “special offers” (ads)

There is also an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 3G + Wi-Fi version. Those versions ships Tuesday November 5^th2013 and it’s priced at US$189. One thing is for certain, e-Book Piracy is sure to ramp up with this cheaper Amazon Kindle Paperwhite as opined in my Geezam blog article “Piracy and E-Books in a Tale of Two Cities”. 

For those UWI and UTECH students wiling to shell out to get their own personal Tablet as opined in my blog article entitled “Crowdsourced, Teleworking Flex-work Publishers needed for UWI and High School Students with Tablets in 2014 - How Jamaican Writers can make money via ePub Publishing Books”.

So what about free e-books? Aside from Torrenting e-books, which is the same as torrenting Music as explained in my blog article entitled “How to download High Quality Music via torrenting - The Mortal Instruments City of Bones used to get Free Music”, there are legitimate and good sites where you can get free copies of popular books.

First you have to know the correct name for the book. To do this, get the books ISBN (International Standard Book Number), a unique Serial Numbering system that uniquely identifies every publication, periodical or book that has ever been printed on the face of the Planet Earth. That’s the number on the inside or the back of the Book with the words “ISBN”.

Once you have this number, use one of the following ISBN Search Engines as listed in “Find that hard-to-find book with an ISBN number”, published August 21 2013 By Wendy Boswell, About.com Guideto find the name book you seek or use the name of the book if known to do a lookup:

1.      Amazon Advanced Search

2.      Bookfinder

3.      ISBN Search

4.      ISBN.nu

5.      ISBNDB.com

Hint: Even if you know the Books’ name, it’s best to do a search for the correct name of the book, as sometimes books may have different names or may even be out of print, an explanation for Amazon’s new service of MatchBooks, as many book are not really hard to find they just have very difficult names to locate or they may not be on any of the above databases!

At this point you should have the name of the book. Once you have that in hand, finding the book to download should be a cinch. Then it’s onto yet another list of great websites for free content, condensed into this blog post just for you, dear reader!

This list is for those of you who are not quite comfortable with Piracy, despite the ease of doing it, especially as you can avoid spending unnecessary cash and resorting to Pirating a book that might otherwise be free:

1.      FreeBookSpot

2.      4eBooks

3.      Free-EBooks

4.      ManyBooks

5.      GetFreeEBooks

6.      FreeComputerBooks

7.      FreeTechBooks

8.      Scribd

9.      Globusz

10.  KnowFree

11.  OnlineFreeEBooks

12.  MemoWare

13.  BluePortal

14.  OnlineComputerBooks

15.  SnipFiles

16.  BookYards

17.  The Online Books Page

18.  AskSamEbooks

19.  Baen Free Library

20.  EBookLobby

Most of these books are in PDF format. Some are in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and some of them are in e-Pub format. That being said, you may need more than just your regular *.PDF or Web Browser to read some of these books as noted in the article “Five easy to use desktop ebook readers”, published November 27, 2012, 10:35 PM PST By Jack Wallen in Five Apps, TechRepublic:

1.      Calibre

2.      Adobe Digital Editions

3.      FBReader

4.      EPUBReader for Firefox

5.      Blio

Combined with the above list of free e-books in a variety of formats, this should go a long ways in easing your conscience on the issue of Pirating books. Then again, if you are a UWI or UTECH student, with the tuition now up by 5.5% and you have a tablet as explained in my blog article entitled “UWI'splanning to increase all Tuition by 5.5% come the new Academic Year 2013-2014 -How to Download ANY Video, including Facebook Videos, Convert and Free VideoHosting Online” you would realize that you need carry nothing more to school.

Animation after Kingstoon - How to make a Video Game for PC, Smartphone and Tablet

Animation lends itself to many areas of the Audio Visual World, from Entertainment to Engineering Design as stated in my blog article entitled “Inaugural KingstOOn Animation Competition a boost to local Animation Industry - State Minister Julian Robinson give Graphic Artists the chance to Feel this Moment Pitbull and Christina Aguilera Style”.

But little is known of its use in Video Game Design. Being able to animate images means you can also be a Designer of Video Games, as your ability to edit or draw still images as explained in my blog article entitled “Animation After KingstOOn – Free Photo Editing Software and How to get a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 absolutely Free” or even group them using the right software to make movement means that Interaction with these images, the basis of great Gameplay, is only a matter of learning new programming skills.

Video Games can be even used as a form of Branding and advertising, the latest trend in the Video Game world. This is where companies make Video Game Apps with Promotional Competitions built in to promote their brand as per the article “Harnessing the Power of Social Gaming”, published by Kerry Kimone,  Kerrykimone.com.

A good example of this was the Boom Energy Drink Book Shaka Boom App Promotion, which was a downloadable App you could download to your Apple iPhone or Google Android smartphone and play by catching the falling droplets of Boom Energy Drink. High Scorers were rewarded with a variety of prizes as shown in the video below:

Why do Video Games – Money on the side while Animation continues to Bubble

To get down to the meat of the matter, once you can create a storyline, design and draw images,  create a Script and Storyline on a storyboard, you can branch into Video Games. Just like Animation, there is training and software available that can you can tool around with to help the Game Design process go a little more smoothly.

With this concern out of the way, you can focus on the equiptment, which is similar to that for Animation as described in my blog article entitled “Animation After KingstOOn – Free Photo Editing Software and How to get a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 absolutely Free”.

As it relates to promotion of your Video Game, uploading it to a Cloud Drive and then promoting it via Social Media is the best way to go as explained in my blog article entitled “How to use Dropbox, Google Drive and Sound File Sharing Websites to Share and Promote your Content online - Sharing is Caring”.

So at this point you literally have no excuse. Granted, your Video Game probably won’t make it on either Sony Playstation or the Microsoft Xbox, even as Tablet and smartphones kill off Video Game Consoles as predicted in my Geezam blog article entitled Nintendo and Sony vs Smartphones and Tablets: Post – Portable Gaming Era.

Video Game Models – Freemium vs Premium

But with so many platforms for which you can design a Video Game, from Windows to Apple OS to Google Android both on PC’s, Laptops, Smartphones and now Tablets, expanding your animation studio into Video Games is a Natural Evolution of your Animation Group. When it comes to Video Games for smartphones or Tablets as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “Smartphones and Apps – Freemium Games are No. 1”, you can choose to make Video Games that are either:

1.      Premium, meaning the customer has to buy the Game App upfront

2.      Freemium, meaning the customer gets the Video Game free but has to pay either for upgrades in the Game or unlocking higher levels

Hands down, Freemium is the model to go with, being as it’ll get you a wider audience that’s addicted to free. Once they get a whiff of your Game and it has good Gameplay, it’ll attract the Premium buyers.

Planning a Video Game Design – Layers of Soul

According to the article “HOW TO MAKE A VIDEO GAME (EXPERIENCE NOT REQUIRED)”, published April 13, 2013 By Brandon Widder, DigitalTrends, the following steps are needed to Design a build a Video Game:

1.      Create a Storyboard for the Video Game Characters and Environments (very much like Animation)

2.      Acquire Hardware and Software needed for Video Gme Design (which as an Animator you may already have)

3.      Design the Game Characters and Environments (again yet another similarity)

4.      Publish the Video Game
           

In fact, you'll need to have the following people on you Video Game Design Team, the same people you'd need on an Animation Team:

1.      Storyboard Manager

2.      Programmer

3.      Background Artist

4.      Character Artist

5.      Audio Mixer/Musician

The Background Artist and the Character Artist are really one persons, hence your Video Game Design Team really has four (4) persons, preferably with their own Workstation.

At this point it’ll start looking quite possible, as a lot of parallels exist between Video Game Design and the steps needed in making a Successful Animation Project as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “KingstOOn Animation Festival and GG’s “I Believe in Jamaica” Animation Training – Genesis of Animation Outsourcing”.

The first step is obvious and will actually utilize much of the same Photo Editing software that’s listed in my blog article entitled “Animation After KingstOOn – Free Photo Editing Software and How to get a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 absolutely Free”. Alternately, lots of paper can be used to draw characters before rendering them in the Video Game Design Software. 

Video Game Design Software – Free then upgrade to Professional

Software is where the difference between Animation and Video Game Design lies. Also, remember just like Animation, 3D Game Design requiring far more complex Software Design Methodologies and computing equiptment with more storage, memory and computing power.

Below is a list of the Best Free and Proprietary Video Game Software for designing either 2D or 3D Games as listed on the resource article “10 Free Game Development Tools And Other Resources”, published November 4, 2013 at 12:29 pm by Chloi Rad, IndieStatik and “5 Free Game Development Software Tools To Make Your Own Games”, published February 10, 2010 by Joel Lee and Jonathan Bennet, MakeuseOf:

1.      Sploder (Web based Flash Game Builder)

2.      Game Maker Studio

3.      Construct2

4.      Unity3D

5.      Unreal Developement Kit

6.      RPG Maker XP

7.      Ren'Py

8.      Stencyl

9.      PuzzleScript (Web based Platform)

10.  Twine

11.  Inform 7

12.  Adventure Game Studio

There above listing are great Game development Software and tools for both 2D and 3D Games. For tools specific to Apple iOS Platforms and Google Android, I’ll do another article. Of the lot however, from personal Experience, I usually use GameMaker for 2D development and Unity3D for 3D development. And don’t worry; Professional Game Making software usually sells for less than US$100, so it’s not that expensive!

In addition, you can Develop Flash Games without using Adobe Flash. FlashDevelop comes to mind and the excellent ActionScript 3 libraries Flashpunk and Flixel are even easier to recommend!

After you’ve chosen your Game Development Software of choice, download and installed the Game Engine, you then get do to the fun part - Design Process. This is no different from Animation, except that it’s done entirely by the Game Development Software.

This is where your Storyboard and rough sketches of your characters and environments come into play, as you’ll have to utilize the same Photo Editing software that’s listed in my blog article entitled “Animation After KingstOOn – Free Photo Editing Software and How to get a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 absolutely Free” to design them and import them into the Game Engine.

Promoting your Video Game – Your Game on every smartphone or Tablet

Once you finish making the Game, publishing become a matter of uploading your Game in your Personal Cloud Drive as described my blog article entitled “How to use Dropbox, Google Drive and Sound File Sharing Websites to Share and Promote your Content online - Sharing is Caring” and then plastering the URL Shortened Download link on Social Media:

1.      Social Media i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube

2.      Email

3.      Newsletters

4.      Personal Blog or Website

5.      Business Cards and Flyers

6.      Traditional Media i.e. Radio, Television Newspaper

7.      Google Play Store

8.      Apple App Store

How well your blog does can be determined by how heavily you promote it and the Statistics from your URL Shortener service which’ll indicate the Degree to which it’s downloaded. With more experience using the Various Game Development Software, you may find other that are more professional and most likely not free. As you’re an Animator and a Game Developer, you must by now expect this to be the norm when it comes to Professional Software Tools.

Game Development and Publishing is an expansion of your Animation Skills. It allows you to put your animation skills to practical use by developing Games that may end up being very popular and potentially netting your Animation Studio the recognition and Revenues you seek. 

Samsung Galaxy Gear Launches Wednesday September 4th 2013 - Smartwatches specs need sub-US$199 and Stellar Battery Life to make a Getaway

The Samsung Galaxy Gear is coming on Wednesday September 4^th 2013 as stated in the article “EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT SAMSUNG’S RUMORED ‘GALAXY GEAR’ SMARTWATCH”, published August 29, 2013 by Andy Boxall, Digital Trends. I’ve been hearing whispering about this gadget since March 2013 as stated in my blog article entitled “Samsung’s apparently into Wristwatches along with Google and LG as smartwatch-smartphone Tango Catches Fire”.

With an official unveiling coming on Wednesday September 4^th 2013, details have already begun trickling out, finally, after months of rumours in March 2013 of Samsung, Google, LG and even Microsoft all making plans to launch a smartwatch. And all this brouhaha started because they all heard Apple had plans for an Apple iWatch as predicted in my blog article entitled “Apple iWatch and Apple iRadio coming in the Second Quarter of 2013 - Battery life innovations needed to power the Evil Dead for Apple iCloud Streaming“.

According to AmongTech, SamMobile and Gigaom in the article “EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT SAMSUNG’S RUMORED ‘GALAXY GEAR’ SMARTWATCH”, published August 29, 2013 By Andy Boxall, DigitalTrends and “Samsung Galaxy Gear specs emerge ahead of IFA debut”, published August 29, 2013 11:22 AM PDT by Scott Webster, CNET News, the Samsung Galaxy Gear will have the following Specs:

Hardware and Software

1.      Processor:  1.5GHz Dual-Core Exynos

2.      Operating system:  Android 4.1 or 4.2 aka Jelly Bean

3.      Screen: 1.67 to 2.5-inch OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) Display

4.      Resolution: 300 x 300 pixel  possibly upgraded to a 500 x 500 pixel   

5.      RAM: 1GB

6.      Camera: 2-megapixel Camera

Features

1.      Bluetooth

2.      NFC (Near Field Communication)

3.      Samsung Apps

4.      Accelerometer

5.      Comes in Black, White, Grey, Orange and then Gold

Samsung Galaxy Gear – Color Blocking Chameleon

The Samsung Galaxy Gear will be an extension of your smartphone instead of being a wristwatch phone, Dick Tracey Style. Additionally, interaction with the smartwatch will mainly involve tethering to your smartphone via Bluetooth, suggesting the smartwatch may project its functionality via an App or integration into the smartphone OS, using it as a second screen.

The Samsung Galaxy Gear would be able to display and alert the user of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other updates from other social Networks as well as SMS (Short Messaging Services) or texts and emails. It may do this by vibrating or flashing in different colours to alert the user that they have a message somewhat akin to the Embrace+ Bracelet as described in my blog article entitled “Kickstarter Project Embrace+Bracelet lights up for your smartphone notifications - Inspiration for our local Innovators to Shine Like a Diamond Rihanna Style”.

Best of all, the Samsung Galaxy Gear may come with a Proximity Sensor that’ll prevent you from leaving your smartphone ever again or even leaving behind the smartwatch anywhere. In short it may be all and more than the Apple iWatch whose design I’d also predicted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Apple to debut Apple iWatch in March 2013 – iWant one and iCant Wait”.

Apple is slated to reveal its Apple iPhone 5S along with other goodies on Tuesday September 10^th 2013 as predicted in my blog article entitled “Apple to launch the Apple iPhone 5S and a S$199 Contract-less Apple iPhone 5C on Tuesday September 10 2013 - ATL and LIME Jamaica may not get Goldfinger that's Made for China”. They might also reveal the Apple iWatch at that time, which’ll be six (6) days after the Samsung Galaxy Gear makes its debut.

Samsung Galaxy Gear – Time not their side if Battery Life poor

One thing is for sure: This device will be a success purely on the merits of Battery Life and its appearance being close to that of a Regular Wristwatch. Battery life for a smartwatch, bristling with tech, has to have the same Battery Life measured in weeks and Days and not hours as concluded in my blog article entitled “Samsung’s apparently into Wristwatches along with Google and LG as smartwatch-smartphone Tango Catches Fire”.

Anything less than a smartwatch that lasts for several weeks on a single charge and costs less than US$199 will not sell well. Smartwatches specs need sub-US$199 and Stellar Battery Life to make a Getaway (2013) with customers!

Dr. Xiang Liu's Team from Bell Laboratories Develop Noise Cancelling to Regenerate Fiber Optic Signals - The Shining Light at the End of the Tunnel

“At the receiver, if you superimpose the two waves, then all the distortions will magically cancel each other out, so you obtain the original signal back”

Researcher Dr. Xiang Liu and his team from Bell Laboratories speaking with the BBC on their use of Noise Cancelling Techniques to Regenerate Fiber Optic Signals

Telecoms Research is always exciting, even if is late news, so long as it is the latest development, Sometimes it’s development that is very simple, straightforward and Scientific.  The field of Photonics Research, a branch of Fiber Optics within Telecommunications, is wide open for innovation, especially as it relates to the End Termination Technology used to transmit and Receive Signals.

Even the University of the West Indies is getting into Photonics Research, having renamed the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences to the Faculty of Science and Technology as stated in my blog article entitled “UWI's Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences is now Science and Technology as SPIE funds Optics Research - Welcome to the Punch at a multi-billion dollar Optics Revolution”.

Such as the recent development of Noise Cancellation to remove noise from Fiber Optic Signals as was recently tested by Researcher Dr. Xiang Liu and his team from Bell Laboratories as stated in the article “Tapping 'noise canceling' data signals for faster Internet”, published May 28, 2013 2:45 PM PDT by Nic Healey. CNET NEWS.

How their Noise Cancelling Technique works is very simple way to improve the signal Quality of a Fiber Optic Transmission and thereby extend the range without the need for frequent Repeaters. Their technique involves sending two (2) identical beams of light representing the Data being transmitted.

As the beams of light (actually in the IR Spectrum) Travel along the Fiber Optic Cable, it picks up Noise mainly due to imperfections in the Glass Fiber and refection at the points of termination. Remember, Fiber Optics uses Optical Frequencies and as such isn’t susceptible to EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference).

By inverting one of the signals or beams of light at the Receiver and combining them in an Optical Summing Junction, the Noise and the Signal are both cancelled out. Then using Block Coding Techniques and the fact that they know what the signal is supposed to be, they can reconstruct the original Signal sans the Noise, thereby regenerating the Signal without need for further amplification.