A couple of articles describing the latest releases of Microsoft’s new visual development tools:

Hands on with ‘Sparkle’ from publish.com

http://www.publish.com/article2/0,1895,1914852,00.asp

Expression Interactive Designer, one of three new software tools aimed at creative professionals and developers. Interactive Designer is being developed under the moniker “Sparkle”.

and

Microsoft’s Sparkle: Is it a Flash Killer? from eWeek.

http://www.eweek.com/…K0000594

The software giant has released the first Community Technology Preview (CTP) of its Microsoft Expression Interactive Designer tool, formerly known as Sparkle, and the company also released the fourth CTP of its Expression Graphic Designer, formerly known as Acrylic, said Forest Key, director of product management for Microsoft’s design tools.

Microsoft’s Expression Suite consists of the Expression Graphic Designer, Expression Interactive Designer and the Expression Web Designer. Microsoft has yet to release a CTP for the Web Designer, also known by its codename Quartz.

Key said that with the Microsoft Vista operating system being “all about user experience,” with the Windows Presentation Foundation and support for rich media and advanced user interface capabilities “we believe professional designers will be fundamental to the growth of the Windows platform.”

The Wacom Cintiq interactive pen display combines the advantages of an LCD monitor with cordless (battery free) pen technology.

This is an active matrix LCD monitor (21″ giving a resolution of 1600 x 1200 - 17″ providing 1280 x 1024) for sharp, flicker free viewing.

For more details visit

http://www.wacom.com/lcdtablets/index_21UX.cfm

A version of an electronic drawing board perhaps. May be a better option than a Tablet PC, although you couldn’t use it on your travels, but you could invest in a powerful desktop machine and interface to it with this.

Now if it were only cheaper (21″ is $2499, 17″ is $1799) and wireless ….

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Still one to watch …

Blender v2.41 is released. Blender is Open Source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback. Available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License.

You can read about features in the latest release at

http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Blender_2_41.731.0.html

or visit the blender home page at

http://www.blender3d.org/

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Adobe stepped further into the 3D world with the announcement of Acrobat 3D, available now. The product incorporates OKYZ technology, which Adobe adquired over a year ago, to convert 3D models to a format that can be embedded in a PDF file. The technology can obtain model data from the OpenGL graphics stream, so no plug-ins are needed for the originating CAD application.

Read more at the Adobe web-site

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat3d/main.html

or view a 3D PDF demo document (needs Adobe Reader v 7.0 )

3d_pdf_demo.pdf

NextEngine have released a 3D scanning device for the desktop, which is integrated with Solidworks, at a price tag of $2495.

Claimed accuracy is +/- 0.005in for models up to 5.1 x 3.8 inches (Macro mode) and +/- 0.015 in for models up to 13.5 x 10.1 inches (Wide mode)

https://www.nextengine.com/indexSecure.htm