Mashfest '07
The Buzz: I haven't seen this much noise about mashups since Danger Mouse put out The Grey Album. But rather than mixing Jay-Z tunes with Beatles instrumentation, today's mashups are all about slicing and dicing Web data--a Google Map here, a Craigslist data feed there--to quickly build nifty new Web applications. And with tools such as Yahoo's Pipes and Microsoft's Popfly, you don't need to be a coding geek to start mashing things up. In both tools you can drag and drop data to combine information from various feeds easily, but Popfly has an edge in that its beautiful and simple-to-use interface is more user-friendly.
Bottom Line: Despite its polish, Popfly was still just a private alpha release with limited invitation slots at press time. Until it opens, anyone with a bit of scripting know-how can try out Pipes.
HD Digicam
The Buzz: Here's how accessible HD video is becoming: Panasonic has built it into point-and-shoot digital cameras. Set for release in July, the $399 Lumix DMC-FX100 will be the flagship of Panasonic's Lumix line. This sleek digicam packs a whopping 12.2 megapixels, image stabilization, and a wide-angle lens. Plus, it shoots 720p high-def video clips, though only at 15 frames per second. (That's nine frames fewer than film, for those scoring at home.)
Bottom Line: Purists will claim that 15 fps isn't true HD video, and I'd agree if that were the point. Nobody shoots serious video on a digital camera. What's cool here is that even silly little digicam clips are going HD. Better stock up on your memory cards.
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