Josh Bancroft's TinyScreenfuls.com » idf

Bonus Video: My First Hands-On with a MID (Mobile Internet Device)

Josh Bancroft — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:54:30 +0000

A few days before IDF, I met Holly from Intel via an email thread on who was going to Shanghai to blog, etc. She let me know that there was going to be a MID (Mobile Internet Device) photoshoot at some point, and invited me to come, shoot video, and check it out. Well, it turned out that the photoshoot took place at 8 PM the first night after IDF started, and didn’t finish until 8 AM the next morning. These devices are pretty much the only ones in the world right now, and they were needed for the keynote addresses both days of IDF. So the middle of the night was the only time they were available for a photoshoot. I passed.

But! On Day 2 of IDF, Holly came by the Upload Lounge with one of the MIDs – a unit from Gigabyte. She was supposed to do some “man on the street” video, showing people in Shanghai the MID, and asking them to show what they had in their pockets. But her video crew wasn’t available for some reason. SInce I was there with all my gear, and had time before the next session, I happily accompanied her out onto the streets of Shanghai (with Helen, our translator) to do the man on the street video.

But before we hit the streets, I shot this short clip with my Apitek Go-HD, to commemorate my first ever hands-on experience with a real, live MID. Here’s the video – about a minute and a half, not long enough to go into any depth. But it should be enough to give you a glimpse of what they’re like to actually use.

Holly is hard core – she was up all night long for the photoshoot, and still came around to do this. I would have chickened out and hidden in my soft warm bed for a few hours. Hats off to you, Holly! Hope you got some rest! And thank you for letting me touch the MID!

More Video from Shanghai: Josh’s IDF Video Diary

Josh Bancroft — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:36:19 +0000

Here’s another collection of video clips from the two days of IDF Shanghai. Highlights include a look around the IDF venue (Shanghai International Convention Center), the Huangpu riverfront at night (gorgeous!), a peek at Chinese TV in my hotel room, a look at what websites are blocked in China and which aren’t, some “man on the street” video with Intel’s new Mobile Internet Devices, a look at the terrifying chaos that is pedestrian and vehicle traffic in Shanghai, and a cameo appearance by Celene Dion.

Like the walkabout video I posted before, these little clips were all shot in HD on my little Aiptek Go-HD video camera, then pieced together in Quicktime Pro and rendered down to 640×360 on my Elgato Turbo.264. And then converted to low quality Flash by YouTube. The video is about 10 minutes long, and I’ll probably post a higher quality version than what I can get from YouTube when I get home.I’ll probably keep shooting and posting these while I’m in Shanghai. I’m here until next week – going to spend a few days working with some of the Intel Software Network team here at Intel Shanghai. And I kind of like the style/technique of these videos. I’ve had lots of people ask me how I’m doing this. It’s very simple: I turn the screen on the camera so I can see myself, then hold it out at arm’s length, pointed at me, and pivot around in place to show what’s around me, while keeping myself on screen. Kind of fun to shoot, and I like the results.You know the drill – leave me a comment and tell me what you think. Want to see more like this? Hate it? Have something about Shanghai that you want me to shoot? Drop me a line, and let me know. And thanks for watching!

A few iPhone photos from Shanghai

Josh Bancroft — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:28:22 +0000

It’s been a whirlwind two days. IDF just got over, and for the last two days, I’ve been shooting video of keynotes, sessions, demos, and other interesting stuff. Since all my video gear is kinda heavy to lug around, I haven’t bothered taking my Nikon D40 DSLR with my, to take many photos. Now that I’m done with the heavy duty video stuff, I’ll have my camera with me much more while I’m here in Shanghai, and will take and post some more photos.

In the mean time, here are a few that I’ve managed to shoot with my iPhone. Some of these turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. As always, I love it when you comment on my stuff, so let me know what you think, and enjoy!

You can, as always, see all of the photos I share on Flickr.

Video: Josh’s Shanghai Walkabout

Josh Bancroft — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:02:25 +0000

I’ve been in Shanghai for about a day and a half now, for the Spring 2008 Intel Developer Forum conference. I’m here to shoot video of stuff that’s interesting and useful for software developers and generally cover the event for Intel Software Network.

Yesterday was “Day 0″ of the event – badge pickup, etc., but no real events scheduled. I took the opportunity to escape my hotel, and do a little walkabout exploration of my surroundings in Shanghai. I’ve been shooting tons of pictures and video, and I could write thousands and thousands of words about how cool Shanghai is. For now, enjoy this little video I put together of my “walkabout” in Shanghai.

Features include: about 100 people offering to sell me a “Rolex”, some of the great Shanghai architecture, exploration of the “Super Brand Mall”, including the Chinese versions of McDonalds and Toys R Us, a supermarket, and more.

Later that evening, my ISN China colleagues (and Shanghai natives) Richard and Welles basically showed me the town. They took me to PC Mall, which is a 5 story mall full of nothing but computers, electronics, cameras, and games. It’s like Fry’s on crack, and I’m DEFINITELY going back there before I come home. There’s a bonus clip of PC Mall at the end of the video.

I also ran into my first “blocked in China” site while trying to upload this video – blip.tv. I love Blip, for lots of reason – video quality being one of the top. So I was bummed to not be able to use it for this video. Instead, it’s on YouTube (strange that Blip is blocked but YouTube isn’t – what’s up with that?), with the accompanying quality loss. But at least you can see it. And the quality isn’t super high anyway – it was all shot handheld in HD on my Aiptek Go-HD, then reencoded to 640×360 on my trusty Elgato Turbo.264. I’ll put up a high quality version when I get home.

Here’s the video – enjoy!

Gearing up for Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in China next week

Josh Bancroft — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:15:27 +0000

Some of the stuff I’m getting ready for my trip to IDF Shanghai (no, my drink and my Nerf gun aren’t going – they live on my desk ). Most, if not all, of this stuff will be on my person in my cargo pants pockets for the duration, ready to capture audio and video on the spur of the moment:

Aiptek Go-HD camcorder
Zoom H4 digital audio recorder
Elgato Turbo.264 USB video encoder
GorillaPod
Lots of SD cards and MiniDV tapes, rechargeable batteries, cables, etc.

Of course, this isn’t all I’m taking. The “big” stuff not pictured includes my Canon XH A1 HDV video camera (with the accompanying mic, light, tripod, etc.) and my Nikon D40 DSLR camera. (Those are all affiliate links.)

I’ll be shooting video of some of the keynote and demos at IDF – the Intel Developer Forum – in Shanghai next week. I’ll also be spending some time with the Intel Software Network team there.

This is my first time to China, and I’m excited and nervous. Mainly because I always get nervous/anxious before a trip. I worry that something will go wrong, I won’t have the right gear/paperwork/etc. I’m sure it will all be fine, though.

I may not have very good Internet access (I know a lot of services I use are blocked in China, but I will have VPN access back through Intel’s proxies), and I know I’m going to be really busy, so updates might be sporadic. But I’ll definitely be posting stuff to Twitter, etc. So if you want to follow me on my trip use Twitter, and watch my blog (www.tinyscreenfuls.com) and my lifestream (www.joshbancroft.com).

Shanghai here I come!