Technology News & Innovation

San Francisco Bay Area Charity Event “Take Heart:” The 2012 Concert to Benefit Bread & Roses, Big & Bold Lineup of Extraordinary Performers March 22 @ the Regency Ballroom

Corte Madera, CA (PRWEB) February 26, 2012

“Take Heart:” The 2012 Concert to Benefit Bread & Roses will feature artists Mitch Woods, Mark Hummel and Maria Muldaur joined by the buttery baritone of jazz/soul singer Nicolas Bearde, the smooth crooning of Phillip Percy Williams formerly of Beach Blanket Babylon, renowned vocalist Cami Thompson and legendary jazz pianist Judy Hall with actress Susan Z as emcee. This once-in-a lifetime lineup will also include a capella youth vocal ensemble ‘Til Dawn, a project of Youth in Arts, as well as classical music by the San Domenico Virtuoso Program Quartet.

Concert-only tickets are $ 75. Concert/dinner tickets are $ 175 and $ 350. Purchase tickets online at http://www.breadandroses.org; or call (415) 945-7120.

In the intimate and beautiful Regency Ballroom, a Beaux arts treasure from 1909, concert-goers will have the unique opportunity to experience the connecting power of a Bread & Roses concert. The benefit event will also feature a live auction with some exciting one-of-a-kind packages including special tickets to this year’s San Francisco Giants home games and “Friends & Family” passes for next fall’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass concert.

All proceeds benefit Bread & Roses ongoing program of bringing hope, healing and joy through live music to isolated Bay Area audiences with over 600 concerts each year. The support is essential to its mission of bringing live music to children, teens, adults and elders living in hospitals, shelters, convalescent homes and other isolated circumstances. The organization was founded in 1974 by the late Mimi Fariña whose 1971 album Take Heart with Tom Jans inspired the name of this year’s benefit.

“Through our live performances, a community is born, as all participants become one from sharing joy.” — Mimi Fariña

Take Heart: The 2012 Concert to Benefit Bread & Roses

Thursday, March 22, 2012 6 – 9:30 pm

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, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Announcing Clik, the First Smart TV Platform Designed to Enable Developers to Create Apps That Connect Smartphones to TVs

Clik

Waterloo, ON (PRWEB) February 16, 2012

The Clik Smart TV platform officially launches today, allowing content providers and app developers to build apps that communicate with any screen with a browser. The platform was developed by the same minds that created Kik Messenger, one of the fastest growing mobile instant messenger applications, now used by millions of consumers worldwide.

Unlike other Device-to-TV solutions that require consumers to own multiple devices made by the same manufacturer, Clik enables developers to build apps that connect iOS or Android smartphones to any screen with a browser. This means, no special hardware or wires are required. And Clik will work on any mobile operator’s network, or even over WiFi. Clik provides a super-fast connection between the devices and the platform does all the heavy lifting, so developers can build their app using Web developer standards, avoiding the time consuming and expensive process of developing for mobile platforms.

The Clik platform is designed to power third-party apps, which showcase TV shows, movies, games, pictures and almost anything else imaginable. When new apps are built using the Clik technology, users can scan a code on any browser to take control of the screen, allowing them to lean back and discover and control content on their phones while enjoying that content on a TV or monitor. Best of all, Clik lets friends join in on the fun with multiplayer mode. Anyone with Clik can scan into the same screen, so people can share control of the screen, and share experiences in a social setting.

“The ability for highly personal mobile devices, like phones, to easily take control of computers, TVs, cars, and other expensive and complex devices is one of the most important megatrends in technology right now,” said Fred Wilson, managing partner at Union Square Ventures. “Clik’s approach to this problem is novel and slick, bordering on magic. You have to see it to believe it. It’s a game changer.”

“The beauty of Clik is both its simplicity and ability to bring almost any content to any screen, anytime,” said Ted Livingston, CEO of Clik. “For consumers, there is no new box to buy, and no extra software to install. With apps built inside Clik, consumers can instantly take control of their friends’ Smart TV and start watching videos, playing games, or listening to their favorite music—you’ve really got to experience it to believe it.”

Clik also is releasing the first app powered by this new technology, a YouTube app now available for download on iOS and Android as part of the Clik download available here. This first app lets users discover and control YouTube content on their phone and wirelessly stream videos to any screen with a browser. The YouTube app also allows users to start, stop, search, browse or create favorites, instantly.

How to use the Clik YouTube App:

1.    Download the app from iTunes or the Android marketplace here.

2.    Go to http://www.ClikThis.com on any browser-enabled screen

3.    Open the app and scan the QR code for an instant connection.

The phone is now your remote control! Start enjoying YouTube videos by selecting them on your phone and watching them on your Smart TV. You can also invite friends to join in by having them scan the same screen, to seamlessly control the video playlist together.

Develop for Clik!

Developers interested in the Clik Smart TV platform should sign up for the private beta here: partner(at)clikthis(dot)com

Try the Clik YouTube App for yourself:

Download the Clik app on your iPhone or Android device at discover.clikthis.com

About Clik

Clik Interactive provides the easiest way to discover and control content on any screen, using a smartphone. Developed by the creators of Kik Messenger, the viral messaging app that boasts millions of users, Clik will redefine the way people interact with screens and the way developers and content providers deliver user experiences. The company, which was founded in 2009, is based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Visionary Game Designer, Facebook Executive are Featured Speakers at ASTD 2012 TechKnowledge® Conference

Alexandria, VA (PRWEB) December 28, 2011

A gaming expert and the head of L&D at Facebook are among the keynote speakers at the ASTD 2012 TechKnowledge® Conference & Exposition, being held January 25-27 at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. TechKnowledge is one of the largest e-learning conferences and expositions in the learning and development industry, and attracts more than 1,000 professionals every year.

The conference’s opening general session on Wednesday, January 25 will feature Jane McGonigal, the director of game research and development at Institute for the Future, and author of the New York Times bestseller Reality is Broken. McGonigal’s keynote is titled “Learning is an Epic Win.” She’ll show attendees how insights from the world of gaming can be applied to how we learn, problem solve, and develop 21st century skills.

Stuart Crabb, the head of learning and development at Facebook, will speak at the general session on Thursday, January 26. His keynote is titled “What it Means to be Social: Integrating Social Media into the Workplace.”

Lisa Doyle, the chancellor for the Acquisition Academy at the Department of Veterans Affairs, will talk on January 27th about successful measures to infuse technology and improve development methods that ensure behavior change and performance improvement.

TechKnowledge will feature a mobile application to enrich attendees’ conference experience, which will include paperless session materials and evaluation forms. TechKnowledge offers more than 80 sessions, each designed to provide an overview of trends, best practices, case studies, emerging technologies, and hands-on experiences. Conference attendees will have two ways to access information: through the standard program guide and/or their handheld mobile devices.

In addition, digital recordings of conference sessions will be included with paid registration.

For more information about TechKnowledge visit the conference website: http://www.tk12.astd.org

About ASTD

ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to the training and development field. In more than 100 countries, ASTD’s members work in organizations of all sizes, in the private and public sectors, as independent consultants, and as suppliers. Members connect locally in 125 U.S. chapters and with 20 international partners. ASTD started in 1943 and in recent years has widened the profession’s focus to align learning and performance to organizational results, and is a sought-after voice on critical public policy issues. For more information, visit http://www.astd.org.

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, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Gaming Laptop Guide Rolls Out Updated Rankings

BestGamingLaptop.Net

(PRWEB) September 29, 2011

Computer hardware in general and mobile hardware in particular is in a constant state of development. New mobile computer processors (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) are regularly rolled out, with enhanced technology such as smaller production processes, improved power efficiency and greater overall performance.

FullText Media anticipates that the audience has a varying–but in this case generally high–technical knowledge on the subject, and that it is imperative that the editors are equally well versed in bleeding-edge technology. This is what FullText Media has been focusing on and achieved with BestGamingLaptop.Net–both thanks to a team of dedicated, tech-savvy editors and helpful user feedback.

With console gaming being right between two hardware generations, PC gaming is moving forward fast and laptop gaming even more so. The manufacturers that form the base in terms of advanced PC hardware–Intel, AMD and NVIDIA–have all made major leaps forward in miniaturization, improving laptop performance and facilitating lower prices on gaming laptops, prompting a surge of new gaming-capable machines to the market. AMD and NVIDIA are neck and neck in mobile gaming graphics, which AMD also competes on another front with Intel in complete platforms for gaming and general computing, with the latest trend being on-die integrated graphics with major improvements in general performance.

Consequently, gamers are faced with more choices than ever. Although they are still very popular for good reasons, established gaming laptop brands such as Alienware and ASUS’ Republic of Gamers have received competition from unlikely sources in the last couple of years. Compared to the bulky portable machines that have been the expected standard in high-end performance laptops for almost a decade, smaller and average-sized mainstream laptops are also more commonly equipped with graphics processing units that can handle the latest games.

As a result, it is difficult and takes time to navigate the vast amount of gaming-capable products locate the laptops that are more suitable for gaming than others, and this is where BestGamingLaptop.Net aims to help its readers; partly by building and maintaining a list of the (in the editors’ opinions) best gaming laptops at any given moment, but also by keeping track of new arrivals in the U.S. market and worldwide.

The website also welcomes user reviews and participation in an on-going commitment to offer unbiased advice to readers. BestGamingLaptop.Net is more than just a buying guide–the site engages with users to offer specific advice based on its readers’ requirements.

BestGamingLaptop.Net strives to be constantly up-to-date with the developments in the world of PC gaming and will continue to expand with more high-quality gaming notebook reviews and analysis. The target is to achieve and retain its position as the ultimate guide to gaming laptops.

All trademarks mentioned above are acknowledged as belonging to their respective owners.

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.