The RED Scarlet, if you don’t know, is a compact professional camera being released by RED as a more portable alternative to the more full-featured modular system that’s been brewing for so long. Key word here is professional! Many are under the impression that this is their consumer offering, but RED is not a consumer-oriented company. The Scarlet may be cheaper and more compact, but it is still an extremely serious camera and creates footage that a layperson would have trouble editing. That said, this thing looks pretty bad-ass, and I might have to go halvesies on it with a certain RED owner who’s on a trip to Poland right now. Yeah, you know who you are.

We heard about some of this stuff about a month ago, but these specifics are good to have.

It’s being offered with a fixed 8x zoom or an regular interchangeable mount; the spec sheet actually doesn’t note the F values of the lens, which suggests it’s not finalized. I’d guess it’ll be T/2.8 or thereabouts. There are a lot of specs and modes listed in the announcement which you can read there, but the price is quoted at $4750 at the moment for the fixed lens and $2750 for the brain only. The fixed lens version comes with an LCD, battery, and other accessories however, so for a filmmaker on a budget it might be a good unit. Plus, everything about it is compatible with the Epic modules, so you’re not wasting money on two different systems if you’re going for both.

There are other devices outlined as well — a new pro Redmote, the Red Ray Professional, and others. Head on over to the announcement thread to get the whole story.

Mmm… I’m liking the look of those new primes.

If you’re one of the 600,000 people who bought a Samsung Intensity (SCH U-490) or Samsung Trance (SCH U-450): good news! You’ve got an over-the-air update coming your way. One of our sources just came through with the patch notes for both handset’s respective updates, which are scheduled to begin as early as tomorrow.

Automotive Fixed Ops consulting will help you evaluate a plethora of different things about your dealership in order to come up with a game plan to increase your companies overall revenue. The consultants touch base on a wide array of subjects however, they specialize in helping with fixed operations as well as increasing profitability and ensuring that all of your customers are adamantly satisfied with their investments.

Automotive Fixed Op’s Consulting will ensure that your dealership continues to get the attention that it deserves. You will inadvertently be able to increase your customer retention which will in turn improve your company’s overall revenue as well.

The automobile industry has inadvertently taken a big hit with the economic downfall that the world has been facing. Do not let this economic downfall inadvertently be your businesses downfall as well. Hiring a Automotive Fixed Op’s Consulting service will give you the right tools to keep your business in positive standings even with the economic decline in the automotive industry.

Normally there is a evaluation of two days that goes with choosing a firm. During this visit they will compile as much information as they can about your dealership in a means to tell you different ways that you can improve the outcome of it.

The analysis touches base on the service that your employees give to clients, their selling skills will be evaluated. The evaluation will also go into depth about the means that the repairs should be documented and how the vehicles that are setting on your lot should be maintained. It will also go over customer satisfaction analysis, and allow you the opportunity to set a game plan for your business inquire about things that you could change in order to increase your profits.

People are finally starting to purchase vehicles presently, and you should be able to take advantage of these sales as much as you possibly can. Automotive Fixed Ops consulting services will give you all the tricks of the trade that you need to know in order to assure that your vehicles will sell and customers will adamantly be happy with their investments.

You will have an experienced consultant that already knows all of the tricks of the trade taking you around aimlessly and showing you step by step certain things that you need to improve on in order to get the type of business that you wish for your business to see.

Your dealership should not stand at a stand still when it comes to selling vehicles. Maintenance and proper repairs of the vehicles are essential to selling them. A Automotive Fixed Ops consulting firm will show you how the vehicles should look as well as operate in order to get people to inadvertently buy them like hot cakes.

Simply imagine seeing the profits of your dealership increase significantly. When you set a game plan up and follow through you will be utterly surprised at the results that you will see. You will learn everything that you need to know and be able to teach your employees what they need to know in order to assure that your dealership is successful.

There are many automotive fixed op’s magazine services that even offer their training courses via the internet for anyone that is interested in finding means to increase their dealerships profitability and inadvertently retaining more customers then they had before. All you need to do in order to get the results that you want to see from your dealership is ensure that everyone is trained in the correct manner by fixed op’s.

So I made a big deal about the supposed $10,000 premium Apple was charging to make an iTunes LP. As it turns out, that wasn’t the case, and Apple responded to the controversy by saying “Hey buddy, we’re going to be releasing all this stuff for free in a little bit anyway. Chill out.” Or something like that. Well, two months later, they’ve done it: you can now roll your own iTunes LP or Extras, and it costs no more than a click.

It looks remarkably straightforward and there’s no flimflam to be found on the iTunes LP for Developers page, so I think that it really is what it looks like. They’ve included some templates and design guidelines as well, and you better stick to them; Apple will be scrutinizing all submissions, and once it really opens up in Q1 2010, you better be ready for as long a wait as if it were an app.

[via Gizmodo]

A hands-on review of Ilford’s Gold Fiber Silk inkjet photo paper.

There’s already been quite a bit of ink spilled over the demise of the CrunchPad but I thought I’d add a few drops. My opinion is this: the CrunchPad was a testament to the power of online media and a fascinating study in the ability of new media to enact real changes on the real world. While the product faltered, it’s fascinating that the project went as far as it did given the forces arrayed against it.

Think about what happened: if we reduce this to its component parts you have some dudes in California who talked to some dudes in Singapore and who agreed to work together on a piece of hardware. I’ve seen the prototypes and the thing worked and worked well. Most hardware manufacturers can barely take each others meetings let alone coordinate a massive project while separated by a culture and an ocean.

I won’t speak on the problems with Fusion Garage but up until a few hours ago the entire TC/CG team expected to see the CrunchPad at some point in our lives. This is a massive change in this industry. A few years ago a blogger couldn’t get a press pass to CES let alone enough attention to build out a massive and mass-market hardware project.

Other organizations should learn from this or ignore it at their peril. It would behoove the New York Times, for example, to build something like the CrunchPad for consumption of the newspaper. They won’t do it because it is seemingly off-mission. This is what separates new media from old – the acceptance of risk. You can inject that instinct into old media but, as Devin wrote, “old” media can’t make the same mistakes we can.

Trust me: I’m not patting TC on the back here. I had very little to do with the design of this thing and I was as excited – and incredulous – as you were in regards to this product. It was great being part of the organization that began it and it’s sad to see it go.

Michael wanted to make a CrunchPad. It very nearly happened. This marks a sea change in what our media can accomplish as well as a testament to the good will it has engendered in its readership. In the end, a harsh accident intruded. This is an important distinction because from where I sit this clearly wasn’t a case of harsh reality striking down this project but something far stranger.

So goodnight, sweet CrunchPad. Some day your time will come.