KIC E-News -- -Volume 2 Issue 2

February 12, 1998

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KIC E-News Summary

IN THE NEWS:

Netscape Communicator Now Free

In case you’ve missed the big Internet commotion over the past few weeks, Netscape Announced in Mid January, that all their browsers are now free. This is a big break for anyone who has been looking for an all-in-one browser (other than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer).

Netscape is offering a variety of specials to anyone who’s purchased their browsers during the past 6 months. For more information on these specials, be sure to visit Netscape’s web site at www.netscape.com.

Web.Builder Conference

C|net announced the second bi-annual Web.Builder conference for Spring 1998. The spring conference is scheduled for April 13-16 in San Francisco. This conference is a must-attend for anyone involved in the design, development or management of web sites. For more information visit C|net’s web site at www.cnet.com/Content/Builder/web.builder/

If you can’t attend, rest assured that KIC will be there to report on all the hot topics and new products.

PRODUCT REVIEW

GEO Publishing Inc. through its suite of Emblaze multimedia programs is out to revolutionize the web. Their goal is to eliminate the need for users to download plug-ins before viewing multimedia enhanced web sites. Anyone who has ever visited a web site in search of information only to discover that they need to download a plug-in before they can view the site will appreciate Emblaze. Emblaze uses Java Applets to deliver their multimedia content. This makes it available to any browser, that supports Java.

Emblaze multimedia programs consists of three products Audio, Video and Creator. KIC has reviewed all three products and is delivering the reviews in three parts. The second of these reviews, (Emblaze Audio) is attached. The remaining review (Emblaze Creator) will appear in the next issue of KIC E-News.

  • Emblaze Video by GEO (www.emblaze.com)
  • Suggest Retail Price: $295 USD
  • Audience: Web Site Developers
  • Operating Systems: Windows 95, NT 4.0
  • Rating: 3.5 out of 5
  • Version 1.0

    Just like their audio product, (see KIC E-News 2-1) Emblaze Video allows video streaming on a web site without plug-ins.

    The User Interface and manual are easy to follow. The learning curve is minimal, but Emblaze Video’s performance is anything but quick and easy.

    The manual states that the minimum system requirements for compressing video files are: a 486 with 8 meg of RAM and Windows 95. Performance on a Pentium 100 with 64 meg was slow and sluggish. On average it took 3.5 minutes to compress the sample files. This is almost twice as long as when the same files were compressed on a Pentium 150 MMX with 32 meg.

    Despite it’s sluggishness, Emblaze Video does deliver the goods. The applets produced true video streaming with and without sound.

    Unfortunately, Emblaze restricts users to only uncompressed video formats of AVI files (PC) or Quick Time (MAC). The video frame size is also restricted to one of three preset sizes (128x96, 176x144 or 340x176). Source files in other dimensions could not be imported.

    Users are given a choice for optimizing the video compression based on the expected delivery method. Choices are given based on modem speed. This ranges from 28.8 to T1, there is also a window for setting your own transfer rate.

    File compression was incredible. Results of file compression are:

  • Source File 17,922 KB
  • Compressed File 61 KB (22 KB Audio and 39KB for the video).

    However this compression wasn’t enough to achieve true video streaming over a 28.8 modem. A close approximation was achieved with a 56K modem.

    Emblaze Video (just like Emblaze Audio) lacks a control bar that would allow web site visitors the opportunity to rerun the video without the chore of reloading the page. Overall, Emblaze Video delivers what it promises with an affordable way to deliver video streaming to a web site.

    At the price of $249 USD Emblaze Video is a nice-to-have for any web developer and an affordable tool for anyone wishing to add video to their web site.

    UNDER REVIEW

    K'nechtology Inc. has completed or is currently reviewing the following software products, be sure to look for the next issue of KIC E-News for more reviews.
    • Emblaze Creator by GEO - Final marks 3.0 out of 5
    • Emblaze Web Charger by GEO – Final marks 3.0 out of 5
    • iNET Developer by Pictorius – Preliminary marks
    • Installation – 5 out of 5
    • Documentation 2.5 out of 5
    • Features – 3 out of 5
    • Easy of Use – 2.5 out of 5
    • Emblaze Hot Spots by GEO – Preliminary marks
    • Installation – 5 out of 5
    • Ease of Use 2.0 out of 5
    • Features 2.5 out of 5
    • Performance 3.0 out of 5
    If you have a product you would like to see reviewed in a future issue of KIC E-News, please e-mail us at answers@knechtology.com

    Please feel free to circulate KIC E-News to your friends and colleagues. Commentary is always welcomed and should be directed to answers@knechtology.com.

    If you would like to find out more about K'nechtology Inc. please visit our web site at www.knechtology.com. For more information on any topic covered in KIC E-News, please contact K'nechtology Inc. by e-mail answers@knechtology.com or by telephone at 416.855.6351.

    For Canadian recipients of KIC E-News, be sure to look for regular articles and product reviews by our founder Alan K'necht in Computer World Canada.