This is the archive, no???

Rumor Mill: Selecon Prepin’ to Release New Fixture at ProLight + Sound

It looks like the small fortune I invested in a spy mic has finally paid off… well, finally given me something!  Back in early February, I sent a fruit basket to the Kiwi’s at Strand Selecon to celebrate Waitangi Day.  Little did they know a mic was hidden inside! I guess they never found it because it still works. Probably not after today though.

The “fruit Basket” must have been a favorite around the New Zealand office as it was left out during some important talks and picked up some VERY interesting tid bits. From what I was able to decipher from the audio is that Strand Selecon is preparing to announce and show a prototype of a new fixture at ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt Germany at the end of the month.

From there, on, things got a little garbled and I could not understand what was being said.  I hope someone didn’t eat the mic! If so, looks like I need to send another “care package” to New Zealand!

So what does this mean? Look for something new and exciting from Strand Selecon this year at ProLight + Sound.  If we are lucky, we might just see something State side sooner then later.  I’ll keep after the US rep and see what other details I can find out.

USITT Planning Updates to iPhone App

Not to long ago, USITT and Useful Development announced the release of the USITT iPhone App.  Useful Development is the iPhone App developer that worked closely with USITT to design and layout the USITT App that provides the conference and session schedule right on our favorite hand held device.

It looks like USITT and Useful Development are not done with the app.  I have heard through the digital grape vein that development of the iPhone app is not yet done.  While the core of the app is in place and ready, Useful Development has many, MANY more features planned and preparing to release before the Conference and Stage Expo next month.

One of the things that I am excited to hear about is the addition of a floor plan and booth layout of the Stage Expo being added to the iPhone App.  Rather then carrying around a printed copy of the conference guide with the show floor plan, it will be directly accessible via the iPhone App. My under cover operative leaked a couple of screen shots of the next update to the USITT App with “Maps” added. The first of a couple updates to the USITT App are expected to hit the iTunes App Store anytime now with the Maps feature.

There are additional features that will be added to the USITT App, again, before the Conference and Stage Expo next month.  Once my under cover operative is able to sneak additional information out, I’ll be sure to add it here.

If you haven’t done so already, you can download your FREE copy of the USITT app right from the iTunes App Store.  Any and all updates will be free as well.

Here are some screen shots of what the Maps feature will look like when the App is updated.

Rumor Mill: New iPhone App on the Way

While down at the Southeast Theatre Conference, (SETC), I previewed yet another lighting iPhone app.  While I can not say to much about it here as it is still in development and beta testing… I can say it is nice!  It is going to make some lighting folks lives a little bit nicer and easier to function.

The app will be geared towards a select bunch of lighting folks as it is a proprietary app. What does that mean?  Think about controlling your console from the iPhone or iPod Touch. From there, I will leave you to your imagination and own speculations.

There was no mention of cost of the new app, but I can only assume that it will either be free or fall in line with similar lighting apps already on the market.  So when is this new app going to hit the street?  As of right now, beta testing is in full swing and a release date is expected late first quarter, early second quarter of 2010.

Keep your eyes peeled for more information to come here on iSquint.

Rumor Mill: USITT iPhone App in the Works

iSquint Rendering of USITT iPhone App

Everyone loves a good iPhone app.  I have heard through the grapevine that there is another iPhone app for us lighting people.  From the pieces and parts that I have heard, USITT is in development of an iPhone app that will benefit not only those attending the USITT conference and Stage Expo next month, but also those that cannot attend!

If my source is correct, think of what Live Design did with the iPhone Web App for LDI.  From experience with the Live design Web App, you are able to pull up the schedule of events and conference sessions and so forth.  One thing that did lack in the Live Design Web App was a scrollable floor plan of the show.

Is this what we can expect from the USITT iPhone App?  Since the Conference and Stage Expo is right around the corner, one assumes that if this were true, an announcement of this App should happen anytime… That is if it is true!

Keep your eyes peeled for more information in the near future.

The New Step for iPhone Lighting Apps

iPhone Lighting Apps - The Next StepYesterday I mentioned yet another lighting iPhone app being released to the market. It just adds to the growing list of lighting iPhone apps already out there. There are quite a few… less expensive iPhone apps that seem to do the exact same thing, just in a different way or with a different look.  I do not want to say that any of the iPhone apps that are out there are worthless or useless.  In fact they all are quite useful in their own way.  That is why I have bought or received codes for almost all of the lighting iPhone apps in the iTunes app store.

I feel that the lighting iPhone app market is becoming saturated with these one trick ponies.  Then there are all of the “remote” apps for major lighting consoles.  I believe that those are quite useful if you own or operate that console.  But where do we go from here in the lighting iPhone app world?  When will there be a revolutionary lighting app that will be different from the rest?

One app developer I think is on the right track.  While I can not mention to much about the app as it is still in development and not ready for release, I can leave you with some hints.  Think about this, how could you add features and functions to the iPhone, like say check if a DMX cable is wire correctly?  Also, think about this, how do manufacturers tend to make additional sales off the original product?

Something is in the works with lighting iPhone apps for us ladies and gentlemen, and from what little I have heard about it, it is going to be pretty sweet!  Stay tuned, you won’t want to miss this!

Side note: The first one to tweet this exact phrase wins a special prize, “@isquint, I dig Scooby Snacks!”.

Rumor Mill: Wybron to Update iSwatch iPhone App

wybron_iswatch-app_splash_pageWe have heard through the lighting grape vein that Wybron is working on a new update for their popular iSwatch Gel Picker App for the iPhone. Wybron has been working with some of the gel manufacturers that are currently in the iSwatch app to provide a way for users to locate dealers near them based on the GPS or by triangulating your position. And then displaying local dealers of that gel manufacturer within a certain range of your position.

This is very similar to Zinman Software’s ML Finder Pro App to locate rental locations of a certain type of light.  Where could this new feature be useful in the iSwatch app?  While out of tour or traveling show, you may burn out of a certain color and need to locate a dealer of that gel near your location.  Rather then calling the gel manufacturer or visiting their website to find a dealer near you, open up the iSwatch app, select the gel and map it.  This could save huge amounts of time while trying to load in a show.

We haven’t heard when the update might come around, but sooner the better we think!

Strong to Introduce A New Fixture at LDI?

Strong, Something to come

We just received an email from LSA, (Light & Sound America) that Strong Entertainment Lighting is preparing to announce a new something at LDI. We would have to assume that the product line will be called solutions given the logo with in the above image.  The logo also gives us an indication that this just might be an LED fixture of some sort with the pattern typical of LEDs.

We have heard rumors that Strong has “exclusive rights” to a new LED technology that focuses 98% of the output of LEDs. To see this new “solution”, visit the Strong Entertainment Lighting booth, 429, at the LDI Show next week.

Thanks LSA!

Rumor Mill: Vari*Lite to Introduce a New VLX Series LED Fixture?

Vari*Lite VLX LEDsWe have heard from some friends in the industry talking about Vari*Lite and their next step in the LED market. Not to long ago, Vari*Lite introduced the VLX, an LED wash fixture. What is interesting is that on Vari*Lites own website, they have it listed as the VLX Series. This could only mean one thing, that the Original VLX is not the only one in the line up.

We have heard that Vari*Lite is getting ready to announce a new LED fixture at the LDI Show in Orlando this year.  What we have heard is that they are using one LED engine that would possibly be RGBW just like the VLX.

We have a lot of open ended questions that we ourselves wanted answered but are hitting a brick wall. The Vari*Lite booth, 927, is a must visit this year at LDI not only to see the VLX fixture as well as hopefully get more information and possibly see this new fixture.

Mystery ETC Image , New Fixture On It’s Way?

etc_mystry_image-isquint

We received an interesting email this afternoon for one our moles deep within the bowels of Middleton.  We were sent to an interesting link directing us to ETC’s website with just the above image.  Very little was said within the email about the photo, so we cannot say exactly what we are seeing here.

All well know is that almost every lighting manufacturer out there is pushing their R&D departments to produce a reliable alternative energy source ellipsoidal.  So might this be a shot of a “Source 4” LED or Plasma light source? Is this the huge announcement we are waiting to hear at LDI this year?

When we learn more, we will certainly update you here. And yes, we have “hidden” the link in the image as to help protect our source.  The above image has not been altered in any way other then our watermark.

Rumor Confirmed: Wybron Set to Release Cygnus LED Fixture

wybron_cygnus_LED-1We received a bit more information from our inside source at Wybron about their plans for tomorrows announcement at the WFX show in Charlotte, NC.  Wybron is set to announce their first LED fixture in a new series of fixtures called the Cygnus.

The Cygnus uses 23 Cree homogeneous RGBW LEDs to produce over 4500 lumens of output with only 200 watts of power. The Cygnus has a CRI or Color Rendering of 92 and can produce smooth fading between colors while still being able to perform instant color bumps.

The LEDs have a lamp life of 60,000 hours which are cooled by an advanced heat management system which is super quite. The Cygnus weighs in at just under 15 lbs and runs off an auto sensing 100-240VAC power supply.

The Cygnus also has 5 pin DMX in and out as well as RDM control built in.

Look for more information about the Cygnus on Wybron’s website, www.wybron.com tomorrow after they announce it at the WFX Show.

Robert Juliat Set to Release an LED Profile?

We just heard about a couple of interesting YouTube Videos from Robert Juliat, the French Spot Light Manufacturer. Might we see something on the show floor at LDI?  Who knows, there isn’t much more information that we can find other then the “The fisrt ever powerful LED profile by Robert Juliat“.

Thanks Barbizon!

“Playing” With Moving Lights via a Wii Joystick

wii_lighting_remote Most lighting consoles these days are big computers based on some for of operating system such as Windows Embedded and have the ability to add USB devices such as a mouse or track ball.  Users have the ability to control moving lights either by the attached mouse or track ball to control the pan and tilt of the fixtures.

Some genius out there has gone a step further and taken the joystick potion of a Wii control and made it into a “USB Mouse”.  What is so special about a Wii Joystick being turned into a USB device?  The theory is that it can be attached to a lighting console to control moving lights pan and tilt functions.

Now, we have not seen any reliable source information on this.  All we have heard is word of mouth.  We have heard that 2 years ago at the National USITT Conference, the USB Wii Joystick made an appearance of some sort. Other then that, information on the cool idea is scares.  If you have any additional info, we would love to hear about it in the comment section.

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