The unveiling of Boeing’s newest high-tech jetliner, the 787 Dreamliner occurred with great fanfare and the world watching yesterday. Tom Brokaw, of NBC Nightly News anchor fame, emcee’d the official rollout ceremony Sunday from the Boeing facility in Everett.
The event was Webcast in nine languages and available to 45 countries via satellite TV. A peak at www.airliners.net shows interest in the aircraft is intense and far-flung.
Boeing’s 787 series is the first major launch of a new craft from Boeing in more than 13 years ago. Three models will eventually get off the ground, starting with the 787-8, which is engineered using exotic lightweight composite components, letting the craft fly longer on less fuel.
Jim Haas, Boeing marketing director, calling the aircraft environmentally progressive, adding that some 45 customers have ordered 634 planes at a cost of $98 billion. It is the fastest-selling aircraft in the company’s history.
Amazon.com and Microsoft Team Up to Help Indie Filmmakers Jump Into HD DVD
Amazon.com has teamed up with Microsoft to announce the 1,000 HD DVD Indies Project, designed to lower the barriers to entry for filmmakers to produce and distribute movies in the HD DVD format. The project will provide free authoring and setup services for up to 1,000 selected indie titles.
“This collaboration with Microsoft is a great opportunity for independent filmmakers to reach Amazon customers with their films via the HD DVD format,” said Peter Faricy, vice president of music and movies at Amazon.com. “By working together with Microsoft and leveraging the proven CustomFlix DVD on Demand model, we can lower the barriers to entry for independent filmmakers and dramatically increase the selection we offer our customers.”
The project will be spearheaded by CustomFlix, which will bring as many as 1,000 feature-length independent films to Amazon customers using the CustomFlix DVD on Demand technology, which produces and ships DVDs only as they are ordered. This model greatly improves the cost structure for independent filmmakers by eliminating the need for costly inventory.
“From a technical standpoint, we found that the HD DVD format fits our business model perfectly,” said Dana LoPiccolo-Giles, co-founder and managing director of CustomFlix. “With retail shelf space at a premium, our model eliminates the risk of carrying inventory and immediately expands the number of great HD DVD titles available to consumers.” [24×7]
Do-It-Yourself Web Video Ads in Minutes
New software from Seattle-based EZ Show enables advertisers and ad producers to use an online DIY Video Ad-builder Center to create professional quality 30 or 60 second video ads in minutes. The online ad-builder can be seen in a video overview at http://www.ezshow.com/
This one-of-a-kind DIY Video Ad Center enables creation of affordable high quality video ads for small and mid-size advertisers and, through online mass production, offers internet web properties the opportunity cash in on the current popularity of web video in a very big way.
EZ Show’s ‘wrapper’ which surrounds the online video player and can brand it to the advertiser and publisher, makes it very easy for the viewer to respond at any point during the ad, either by clicking on a weblink, e-mailing the ad, or phoning the advertiser using the number that can be permanently displayed while the ad is playing.
The advertiser can publish the ad to any chosen website or email it to any address and then easily track the number of views at any chosen destination. [24×7]
