Cell phones with build in cameras are replacing cheap pocket size digital cameras and video cameras. Best cell phone cameras can be better in many ways than cheap pocket digital cameras from few years back. And most people do not want to carry separate devices for each function (at least without a very good reason), when a smart phone can handle calls, Internet, photos and video shooting.
CES 2013 fair had more pocket advanced size cameras on display than DSLRs, but the trend on then was that business was going down due cellular phone cameras getting better. So camera manufacturers are integrating more cellular phone like features to their cameras (like Android OS with wireless connectivity to photo sharing sites) and concentrate on building good superzoom and DSLR type cameras. You need to have something clearly different than what cell phone can offer: huge zoom, good performance in low light or works also in harsh environment. Wireless connection is getting more and more common, either built-in or using memory card with WiFi.
As Sales Slip, TV Makers Strain for the Next Sensation because hardware companies want to make their products stand out in a sea of black rectangles that can show the content user want to watch. And one that is particularly acute for television makers. The hardware is becoming kind of boring and exciting things are happening in software. TV manufacturers continue to push the idea of “smart” sets by adding apps and other interactive elements.
Connected TV technologies get more widely used and the content earlier viewable only on TV can be now seen on many other screens. Your smartphone is the screen in your pocket. Your computer is the screen on your desk. Your tablet is a screen for the couch. Almost every major electronic device you own is a black rectangle that is brought to life by software and content.
In the last two years, television makers have tried a push with 3-D sets. But now It’s official: 3D is dead. The tech industry’s annual hot air balloon show is gone. On the one hand, 3D has become ubiquitous enough in televisions that people are unwittingly buying it when opting for a high-end new HDTV to fill their living room.
Post HDTV resolution era seems to be coming to TVs as well in form of 4K / UltraHD. This year, television makers like Samsung, Sony, LG and Panasonic are trying to grab attention by supersizing their television screens and quadrupling the level of detail in their images. They are promoting what they call Ultra High-Definition televisions, which have four times as many pixels as their high-definition predecessors, and can cost as much as a car. It’s a bit of a marketing push. It seems that all LCD makers are looking to move their business models on from cheap mass production to higher-margin, premium offerings. They try to innovate and secure their future viability by selling fewer, but more profitable displays.
4K at CES 2013: the dream gets real article tells that the 4K bandwagon is fully loaded and ready to get rolling. The US TV maker isn’t alone in stepping up to the higher resolution in its new flagship models. Sony, Panasonic and Sharp, Japan’s traditional big-screen TV leaders, are all attending this year’s CES with proper retail products. Manufacturers Need You to Buy an Ultra-High-Def 4K TV. Save Your Money because just as HDTV was slow to take off, the 4K start will be slow. It’s more than the price that’s keeping these things from hitting critical mass. 4K is only for ultra-premium markets this year.
4K resolution TV has one big problem: The entire ecosystem isn’t ready for 4K. The Trouble With 4K TV article tellst that though 4K resolutions represent the next step in high-definition video, standards for the format have yet to emerge and no one’s really figured out how to distribute video, with its massive file footprint, efficiently and cost effectively. Getting 4K content to consumers is hard.
Even though 4K resolution is widely use in digital cinematography, but there is no suitable consumer disk format that supports it and the bandwidth need to stream 4K content would be huge. Given that uncompressed 4K footage has a bit-rate of about 600MB/s. Broadcom chip ushers in H.265 and UltraHD video tells that H.265 video standard, aka HEVC or MPEG-5, squeezes more pixels over a network connection to support new high-resolution 4K TVs.
You should also note that the new higher resolution is pretty pointless for a small TV (where the TV mass market is now). Ultra HD would make a difference only on screens that were at least 80 inches, measured diagonally. For smaller screens, the extra pixels would not be visible to a person with 20/20 vision viewing from a normal viewing distance. Ultra HD TVs can also be a flop. But let’s see what happens in the world where nowadays tiny smart phone screens can have full HDTV resolution.
Keep in mind that 4K is not any absolute highest resolution expected in few years. 8k resolution TVs are coming. Sharp showed a 8K resolution TV with 7680 x 4320 resolution at CES2013. For more details on it read Sharp 8K Super Hi-Vision LCD, 4K TV and Freestyle wireless LCD HDTV hands-on article.
Another development than pushing up the resolution to make high end display products is OLED technology. OLED is another new technology to make expensive products. The much buzzed-about device features next-generation, high-quality OLED screens. OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode, and they offer a bevy of benefits: more energy efficient, cleaner image, wide viewing angle and devices can be made thinner. You can also make TV screen curved in shape. In a race between television titans, LG has beat Samsung in becoming the first manufacturer to introduce a 55-inch OLED television to market: the largest OLED TV panel to date.. OLED products are very expensive (LG TV $10,300 in US dollars). OLED display can also have 4K resolution, so you can combine two expensive technologies to one product. Market analysts say that they believe the technology will not become more affordable until 2015.
The Verge Awards: the best of CES 2013 article lists for example product like Samsung 4K “easel TV”, Sony 4K OLED TV, Teenage Engineering OD-11 Cloud Speaker and Oculus Rift virtual reality gaming.
All your audio, video kit is about to become OBSOLETE article tells that although much of the audio and video technology packed into CES 2013′s 1.9 million square feet of exhibition space is indeed impressive, one panelist at an emerging-technology conference session channeled a little 1974 BTO, essentially telling his audience that “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” Deep-geek soothsayer predicts smart audio, Ultra HD eyewear, much more in coming years. Audio is going to become adaptive, changing its wave forms to fit each user’s personal aural perceptions. Active noise reduction is finding its way into cars. HD audio will be coming to mobile phones. MEMS-based microphones and speakers are also on the runway. Consumer-level video will see in the future much higher resolution devices with much higher frame rates.
903 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Xbox One’s HDMI Pass-Through Can Connect PS4, PCs and More
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/13/09/22/1842241/xbox-ones-hdmi-pass-through-can-connect-ps4-pcs-and-more
“The Xbox One has both HDMI-in and HDMI-out capability. The point of HDMI-in is to allow you to hook up a cable box, with output then running from the Xbox One to your television.”
“Since the HDMI-in port is a standard option, it can accept video input from a PS4 and also accept a video stream from a PC. According to Xbox senior director of product management, Albert Panello, “any application can be snapped to a game… this could be the live TV feed, so if you wanted to play Ryse and Killzone (a PS4 exclusive), you could snap that.””
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coaxial suitable for machine vision
Machine vision has evolved dramatically in recent years. Cameras have become high-speed and image resolution has increased the level of a number of mega-pixels. This brought the problems used in the Camera Link and GigE Vision camera interfaces.
In certain machine vision applications require very high-speed connections over long cables. A few years ago an ideal solution for this was not available, but now CoaXPress technology tries to solve that: up to 6.25 Gbps connection to cameras over one coaxial cable. American Bitflow introduced CoaXPress first time in 2009.
Cabling proportion of machine vision solutions, the total amount can be up to half, so the companies are saving to be able to use the existing cabling.
If the connection is CoaXPress camera, can be a single cable to control the video transfer, the transfer of management (control), power-ups and power consumption. The image can be up to one hundred meters. Camera cable can supply 13-watt maximum power to camera.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=397:koaksiaali-sopii-konenakoon&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
The first trial, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 zoom – with test images
Galaxy S 4 zoom is pretty much another country as a few days ago, tested the Nokia Lumia 1020. Whereas the Nokia device is exceptional camera in about the ordinary-looking smartphone, the Samsung approach is more like Jekyll and Hyde-type.
The front fascia of view, the device is a smart phone, but the back side it looks like a pocket digital camera.
From the very first minutes of use, since it is clear that the S4 zoom the user has to make considerable sacrifices upon the altar of photography, if it is to be used on a daily basis cellular smartphone.
With more than 200 grams of thick heavy equipment and uneven background results in an especially natural one-handed grip on the use of do not want to be found
Implementation of the lens cap is in a word, interesting. It is an automatically closing like in many pocket cameras, but on top of it there is flat glass cover, which, of course, is stained fingerprints while using your phone. The reason for the solution can only speculate
S4 zoom camera, the design is relatively successful. Round capture is responsive, and it manages to orthodox focus lock by pressing the middle – a feature that is missing from most phone cameras. The lens is surrounded by a responsive electric control roll, which by default controls the zoom factor.
Android-based Galaxy camera device familiar, easy and versatile description of the user interface is also present in S4 zoom. Changing settings is quick and easy. Description of functions use the phone eats the battery sometimes downright alarming rate, so in taking photos with it you need to be careful, if you is not going to be the end of the day reach.
It is clear that the Galaxy S4 zoom buyer wants to take a lot of pictures with their phone. First impressions are positive description of the progress: even if the white balance is between the forest, is typically very automatic
Source: http://www.tietokone.fi/artikkeli/labra/ensikokeilussa_samsung_galaxy_s_4_zoom_mukana_testikuvat
Tomi Engdahl says:
Building a digital camera from scratch
http://hackaday.com/2011/11/28/building-a-digital-camera-from-scratch/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Use your new-timey printer to make an old-timey camera
http://hackaday.com/2013/09/08/use-your-new-timey-printer-to-make-an-old-timey-camera/
Here’s something to show people who don’t realize the power of 3D printing. This pinhole camera has one moving part which reveals the pinhole, letting in light to expose the 4×5 film inside.
It’s a near perfect roundup of all the qualities a 3D printer has to offer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Check Out How Much Better The Nokia 1020 Is At Photos Than The iPhone 5S
http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-camera-compared-to-nokia-1020-2013-9
There are many reasons to buy a smartphone.
If a camera is your number one priority, you should probably go with the Nokia Lumia 1020.
Robert Scoble has been taking photos with the 1020 and comparing them to the new iPhone 5S. It’s not even close (at least not to my eyes). The 1020 blows away the 5S.
The 1020′s biggest selling point is its camera, which is a 41 megapixel “PureView” lens system. The iPhone 5S has an 8 megapixel camera.
Apple says megapixels are a misleading indication of the quality of a camera. Instead, says Apple, it’s all about sensors and software and how the phone processes the photos.
Apple is basically correct in that what matters are the results.
But looking at Scoble’s photos, the results for the Nokia phone are great in low-light situations with a flash compared to the 5S.
As I said at the start, there are a lot of reasons to buy a smartphone. Personally, I think the iPhone’s operating system, iOS is significantly better than Windows Phone, which is what’s running on the 1020.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Odeon wants audiences to play multiplayer video games on the big screen
While you wait for the movie to start
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2296159/odeon-wants-audiences-to-play-multiplayer-video-games-on-the-big-screen
BRITISH CINEMA CHAIN Odeon wants to create a multi-player video gaming experience in its cinemas, and has challenged developers to produce an app that will allow audiences to play against one another via their smartphones projected onto the big screen while they wait for the film to start.
Conjured up along with British film studios Pinewood Studios, the idea – if successful – will encourage audience attendance at cinemas in either the 20 minutes of pre-screening before the film starts or when screens are not being used to show films.
Though it’s just a concept, the idea has been put forward as part of the IC Tomorrow’s Digital Innovation games contest
Speaking at the programme’s launch event on Thursday, Odeon Cinemas’ digital development manager Gerald Buckle made clear that the idea is just that, and one that needs developing and thinking through before it can come to fruition.
“We are not in the business; we aren’t exactly sure what we want to see,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft forms Chinese console venture
http://www.polygon.com/2013/9/23/4763650/microsoft-forms-chinese-console-venture
Microsoft has formed a joint venture with Shanghai media giant BesTV to launch a new games device offering streaming entertainment services into China.
The companies posted a note on the Shanghai Stock Exchange today outlining the new operation, which will launch with an initial investment of $237 million. Unconfirmed reports in the Chinese media stated that the new operation would launch a console based on Xbox technology called Bestpad.
Games console manufacturers have been seeking a way into the Chinese market since the government there lifted a long-standing ban on the import and sale of consoles.
“This is the first step of many to come for Microsoft and BesTV,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pandora Falls 10% as Apple ITunes Radio Draws 11 Million
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-23/pandora-falls-as-much-as-12-on-apple-s-itunes-radio-competition.html
Pandora Media Inc. (P), the biggest Web radio service, fell 10 percent after Apple Inc. (AAPL) said it attracted more than 11 million unique listeners to its new iTunes Radio service.
Pandora, with 72 million active listeners, slid to $24.26 at the close in New York. Shares of the Oakland, California-based company have more than doubled this year.
Apple is seeking to challenge Pandora and Clear Channel Communications Inc. (CCMO)’s iHeartRadio for listeners and advertisers after adding the radio feature in updated iOS operating software for its iPhones and iPads. Customers downloaded the iOS 7 software on more than 200 million devices since its Sept. 18 release
“Whenever Apple decides to get into a business, it has proven to be a huge disrupter,” Paul Sweeney, an analyst with Bloomberg Industries, said in an interview.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Downloading Is Mean! Content Industry Drafts Anti-Piracy Curriculum for Elementary Schools
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/09/mpaa-school-propaganda/
Listen up children: Cheating on your homework or cribbing notes from another student is bad, but not as bad as sharing a music track with a friend, or otherwise depriving the content-industry of its well-earned profits.
That’s one of the messages in a new-school curriculum being developed with the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America and the nation’s top ISPs, in a pilot project to be tested in California elementary schools later this year.
A near-final draft of the curriculum, obtained by WIRED, shows that it comes in different flavors for every grade from kindergarten through sixth, to keep pace with your developing child’s ability to understand that copying is theft, period.
“This thinly disguised corporate propaganda is inaccurate and inappropriate,” says Mitch Stoltz, an intellectual property attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who reviewed the material at WIRED’s request.
“It suggests, falsely, that ideas are property and that building on others’ ideas always requires permission,” Stoltz says. “The overriding message of this curriculum is that students’ time should be consumed not in creating but in worrying about their impact on corporate profits.”
The material was prepared by the California School Library Association and the Internet Keep Safe Coalition in conjunction with the Center For Copyright Infringement, whose board members include executives from the MPAA, RIAA, Verizon, Comcast and AT&T.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Valve announces SteamOS, a living-room operating system for games
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/23/4762370/steam-box-os
Valve is done teasing. Today, Valve has revealed SteamOS, its own operating system based on Linux, designed for living room gaming PCs. It’s the first step towards Valve’s Steam Box, its vision for an open video game console. It combines Steam’s preeminent video game digital distribution platform with a user interface designed for TVs, all on top of the Linux platform. It will also be free.
“It will be available soon as a free stand-alone operating system for living room machines,” according to the company.
Incredibly, Valve says that major game devleopers are already on board with Linux, and will be building triple-A game titles that will run natively on SteamOS in 2014. However, SteamOS boxes will also have a workaround for the huge existing library of Windows games: in-home streaming. Not unlike the Nvidia Shield, it will include a method for wirelessly streaming games from your existing gaming computer to your TV, which Valve says will also come to the regular Steam client at some point in the future.
Also coming to both Steam and SteamOS: streaming video and music services. “We’re working with many of the media services you know and love,” Valve writes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IP camera gets UL certification for use in hazardous locations
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2013/08/moxa-ul-cert.html
Moxa recently announced that its VPort 36-1MP-IVA-T surveillance camera received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification for Class 1, Div. 2 hazardous locations. What does that mean, exactly? The company explains, “The camera can be safely deployed in potentially hazardous locations where flammable gases or vapors either are or may be present in the atmosphere in sufficient concentration to produce an ignitable mixture.” Moxa added that the UL certification makes the camera viable in petrochemical plants, onshore and offshore drilling, chemical processing facilities, dip tanks, spray-paint areas and locations with storage and handling of liquefied petroleum and natural gas
The camera also boasts characteristics including intelligent video analytics and image optimization technologies. It provides three simultaneous H.264 and MJPEG video streams with up to 1280×800 HD resolution sent at 30 FPS.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HDMI-over-IP device leverages installed cabling and PoE for AV broadcasts
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2013/08/muxlab-hdmi-over-ip.html
The latest addition to MuxLab’s line of HDMI products is the HDMI-over-IP Extender with PoE—a kit that includes an encoder and decoder that work together to convert an HDMI bitstream into IP, then back to the original HDMI bitstream for playback via an HDMI display. According to the manufacturer, the kit allows an HDMI source to be connected via any Ethernet LAN, thereby allowing AV broadcasts to be set up and changed without the need to install a dedicated cabling system. The kit’s model number is 500752.
MuxLab’s director of research and development, Marc Bohbot, said, “The 500752 extends 1080P HDMI signals up to 330 feet and supports up to 16 transmitters and 200 receivers. We’re expecting a big demand for this product on installations such as training and education facilities and videoconferencing streaming.”
It supports multicasting and broadcasting, the company says
Tomi Engdahl says:
No new TV viewers or newspaper subscribers are being born, BuzzFeed president says
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/224269/no-new-tv-viewers-or-newspaper-subscribers-are-being-born-buzzfeed-president-says/
Speaking at a NewsCred conference last week, BuzzFeed President Jon Steinberg talked about his theory that content, and the ways it is distributed, will be “completely decoupled, I would say, in the next five years.”
“The average television viewer right now, for right now, for network television, late 40s, early 50s. When you look at certain cable news networks it goes even higher. So you have one of two possibilities: Either at 47 years old, everybody starts watching television. Unlikely. Or there’s no new newspaper subscribers being born, for print. And there’s no new television viewers being born. I think that’s probably the likely choice. However, people love great content.”
Pew has consistently found that the audience for news on TV and print has aged, and a recent report claimed that “by 2015, almost half of all television viewing will be done by folks over the age of 50.”
Younger viewers’ viewing habits create a “dilemma for the TV industry, which wants to put more content online but at the same time needs to protect the television screen,” Joe Flint writes.
Writes [media analyst Todd] Juenger: “They can choose to try to capture more online dollars for themselves, but the more they encourage their viewers to eschew traditional TV, the more they hasten the demise of their core business — especially if it ultimately enables cord-cutting.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Iger Sees Little Cord-Cutting, Says Netflix is Good, Not Dominant
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/209843/iger-sees-little-cord-cutting-says-netflix-is-goo.html#axzz2fkR4EV3n
Walt Disney chairman and CEO Robert Iger, appearing at a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York today, no doubt is getting a lot of feedback from his statement that, as far as cord cutting is concerned, “we don’t see evidence of this occurring.”
We’ve been around and around on this. Cord cutting is happening. Cord nevering—not really a phrase that trips of the tongue, but you get the idea—is actually the next non-wave. A generation of young people are growing up without feeling the absolute necessity to get or watch cable television in the traditional sense.
Television, in the “traditional sense” that ABC operates, is a kind of dying idea and Iger would make more headlines—but he’d have a lot of explaining to do if he came close to saying that.
And yet, certainly Iger, like everybody else, knows that broadcast television, without a way to broadcast a live signal (like WatchABC) outside the home the medium is heading toward AM radio-like irrelevance. Likewise, TV without DVRs and TiVos (and before that VCRs) would have surely withered away in different way than it did anyway, and the TV industry waged silly fights with all of them.
But without a way to “save” television the VCR/DVR affords, the idea of television itself was devalued. And now, without a good TV Everywhere strategy, TV will be left behind by all the other video content services that go where consumers want them.
But to sum up, Iger said today TV is strong and the networks are a good value for your cable dollar; that Netflix is good, but not that good, and that cord cutting t’aint no big deal, but apps like WatchABC that allow people to watch ABC stations live, on mobile devices, are very important. Of course, to get WatchABC in the markets where it exists one has to be a cable subscriber but that stipulation seems more like massage therapy to cable operators than anything else.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet Pioneer RealNetworks Seeks Revival
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/24/internet-pioneer-realnetworks-seeks-revival/?_r=0
When a ground-breaking product called RealPlayer was released in its earliest form in 1995, Steven P. Jobs had yet to return to Apple, Google’s future founders had only just met and Mark Zuckerberg was 10 years old.
Almost two decades later, RealPlayer, which practically invented the category of streaming audio and video over the Internet, is not gone, but it is largely forgotten. The same might be said for the pioneering company that created the software, RealNetworks, which helped midwife the Internet into its heady commercial phase.
Now RealNetworks says it has reinvented its venerable software as a cloud service that will make it easier to privately share personal videos among mobile devices, television sets and computers. The change is a test of whether RealNetworks can avoid the tar pits by returning to a product that put it on the map in the first place.
The Internet is not generous to companies seeking rebirth. There are precious few examples of early online businesses losing their way and then finding it again — eBay and Priceline.com are two of them. Many more dot-coms vanished (Webvan, Kozmo, Excite@Home) or were absorbed into bigger companies before gradually fading away (Netscape).
RealPlayer has largely been overshadowed by other software for managing music and video collections on computers, as well as services like Spotify and Netflix that eliminate the need to store media locally. But the software still has 25 million active users a month, about two-thirds of them outside North America, according to the company.
With its new service, RealPlayer Cloud, the company is seeking to eliminate the hassles that can make sharing personal videos a challenge. Incompatible video formats on different devices can be a problem when sharing movies shot on smartphones. Stingy limits on the size of clips that can be sent via e-mail or text message are another.
Uploading clips to YouTube is a possible solution, though people need to figure out how to create a private channel for family and friends if they don’t want everyone to see their videos.
The RealNetworks offering lets people upload videos they shoot on their tablets, smartphones and GoPro cameras to an online service and then share them privately with others. The company is making apps available for the service so that it works on Android devices, iOS devices, computers and Roku set-top boxes, with a version under development for Google’s Chromecast media player.
It’s borrowing from the playbook of Dropbox and others by giving people two gigabytes of free storage for their movies and charging them if they want more space, with plans from $4.99 a month for 25 gigabytes to $30 a month for 300 gigabytes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T will build an LTE-Broadcast network tailor-made for video
http://gigaom.com/2013/09/24/att-will-build-an-lte-broadcast-network-tailor-made-for-video/
AT&T is using old MediaFLO spectrum it bought off of Qualcomm to create a broadcast service. The mobile industry has had little success with multicast video in the past, but it has high hopes for LTE-Broadcast.
AT&T hopes to breath new life into some old airwaves by building a broadcast network, ideal for pushing out live video to many multiple devices with out jamming up its pipes with traffic. The technology is called LTE-Broadcast, and as it name implies it turns what is normally a two-way mobile broadband network into a one-way multicast network similar to those used by TV broadcasters.
Announcing the new project at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said AT&T’s mobile focus is “all about architecting networks to deliver video,”
I’ve written plenty in the past about how LTE-Broadcast works as well as its benefits and limitations, but basically you can think of its as a very dense TV network. Instead of blanketing an entire city with a few high-powered TV towers, LTE-Broadcast turns every cell site into broadcast transmitter. Each cell can use its spectrum to broadcast different content, but every device within the same cell receives the same transmissions. That’s ideal for certain types of real-time content.
LTE-Broadcast’s best use case is for big live events like the Super Bowl, which could be watched by millions of people simultaneously. But the distributed nature of the LTE network could also let carriers tailor individual broadcast content for very specific locations. Cell sites at a stadium could send out a constant play-by-play feed as well as transmit highlights and replays to thousands of phone and tablets simultaneously.
LTE-Broadcast also isn’t limited to data. It could datacast real-time stock quotes, sports scores and news. It could also be used as a very efficient way to deliver subscription content or send out app and OS updates en masse.
The conundrum carriers face, though, is whether they can find enough of these kind of applications to justify the investment in infrastructure and spectrum necessary to support LTE-Broadcast. Unlike other mobile broadcast technologies like MediaFLO, though, LTE-Broadcast doesn’t require a special chip or radio in the phone. It’s part of the LTE standard.
Tomi Engdahl says:
castAR comes to Maker Faire NY 2013
http://hackaday.com/2013/09/24/castar-comes-to-maker-faire-ny-2013/
[Jeri Ellsworth], [Rick Johnson,] and team brought two demos: the tried and true Jenga simulator, and a newer overhead shooter based on the Unity 3D engine. We didn’t see any earth shattering changes from the previous demos of castAR, as [Jeri] has moved into optimization of the Hardware
In addition to her development of castAR’s ASIC, [Jeri] has been hard at work on the optics. The “old” glasses used a solid plastic optical path. The newer glasses use a hollow path for the twin 720p projectors. This makes them even lighter than the previous generation. Weight on the castAR glasses can’t be overstated. They feel incredibly light.
We talked with [Rick] about some of the software challenges he’s faced. One of them was rendering two images for the twin projectors on the glasses. In order to fit everything in the glasses, the right projection path is inverted. [Rick] had to create an inverted optical path to handle this.
[Jeri] spills the beans on her AR glasses
http://hackaday.com/2013/05/31/jeri-spills-the-beans-on-her-ar-glasses/
In the last year, [Jeri Ellsworth] has been very busy. She was hired by Valve, started development of an augmented reality system, fired by Valve, and started a new company with [Rick Johnson] to bring her augmented reality glasses to the market.
[Jeri] and [Rick]‘s castAR glasses aren’t virtual reality glasses like the Oculus Rift or other virtual reality glasses that cut you off from the real world. The castAR glasses preserve your peripheral vision by projecting images and objects onto a gray retro-reflective mat and allows you to interact with a virtual environment with an electronic wand
The electronics inside the castAR glasses are fairly impressive; new frames are drawn on the retro-reflective surface at 100 Hz, positioning accuracy is in the sub-millimeter range, and thanks to [Jeri]‘s clever engineering the entire system should be priced at about $200.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Isolation Improves Samsung Image Sensor
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1319593&
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has announced that it has developed a CMOS image sensor pixel technology that reduces cross-talk between near neighbors, increases light sensitivity, and provides better color fidelity in low light conditions.
The improvement is achieved by including an additional barrier between adjacent pixels and Samsung calls the technology Isocell, Samsung said in a press release. The S5K4H5YB 8-megapixel device is the first image sensor to use the technology. The sensor has 1.12 micron pixels and comes in a 0.25-inch optical format. The S5K4H5YB is currently sampling to customers with mass production scheduled for 4Q13.
CMOS image sensors have been challenged by the twin requirements of increasing pixel counts — for improved resolution — while limiting or even reducing die size to reduce cost. Back side illumination (BSI) was the latest innovation used to try and maximize pixel area and light absorption.
The Isocell isolation technology, which is patent pending, uses BSI but allows more photons to be collected from the lens and absorbed at the correct pixel and increases the so-called full well capacity (FWC) of each pixel.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TV to surf
TV is evolving and more and more will see the TV device, which can be used for more than just disinclined to view programs. Finnish survey respondents 27 percent said they own smart TV.
The most important factor in TV selection to Finnish is the quality. Also, ease of use and the sound quality is appreciated.
For Finns, a traditional remote control is increasingly favorite way to control your TV (87 per cent). The smart phone, tablet, touch, gestures or voice wants to control the TV in each of the approximately one in ten respondents.
Samsung conducted by TNS SIFO survey asked about 4,000 Scandinavians views televisions and smart TV. Responded to the survey in 1002 in Finland.
Up to two-thirds of Finns are interested in renting movies directly on your TV now or in the future. Also, the TV Downloads interested in 59 per cent of the respondents.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/televisiolla+halutaan+surffata/a933427
Tomi Engdahl says:
Time Warner CEO open to bundling online HBO subscription with broadband plans
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/25/4771454/time-warner-ceo-open-to-bundling-hbo-with-broadband-subscriptions
Despite the rampant piracy of its shows and the proliferation of its streaming app across multiple devices, HBO has continued to rule out the possibility of an a la carte subscription for online viewers. However, the CEO of HBO’s parent company said today that he’s open to a broadband-only HBO option — provided that it’s bundled with an internet subscription from a cable or satellite provider, that is. Deadline reports that Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes made the comments at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference in New York, stating that the combination would be an “offer you can’t refuse” and that “we see growth there for HBO in that.”
Users of HBO Go currently need to have a standard subscription to HBO through their television service provider in order to watch programming. Allowing cable and satellite companies to offer an online-only package would work, in Bewkes’ estimation, because it would give customers the access they want while also protecting the relationship between HBO and those very same cable and satellite providers it depends upon for traditional distribution.
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube’s new Audio Gallery gives you 150 royalty-free tracks to use anywhere…not just YouTube
http://thenextweb.com/google/2013/09/25/you-can-youtube-introduces/
YouTube now has an Audio Gallery featuring 150 royalty-free instrumental tracks, which can be used for anything…not just YouTube videos.
The proposed gallery first came to light back in August, though it seems the initiative is only rolling out to everyone now, with each track downloadable as 320 Kbps MP3 files.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Liberty Media CEO Sees Benefits in A La Carte Proposal
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/liberty-media-ceo-sees-benefits-636456
Greg Maffei says a bill from Sen. John McCain has “many positive attributes” and discusses Charter’s cable consolidation plans.
While most TV network owners have spoken out against a la carte pricing of pay TV channels, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei on Wednesday said some kind of industry solution to recent programming disputes was needed if sector players want to avoid government intervention.
“If you don’t have some market-based sensitivity, I think you do risk having intervention” from the government, Maffei told the Goldman Sachs Communacopia investor conference in New York.
Maffei on Wednesday also once again pushed for more usage-based broadband pricing in the cable business, which he called “logical and fair” and a “reasonable proposition.” He argued that “getting consumers attuned to that sooner rather than later” is important.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Uses Bluetooth LE To Enable Apple TV ‘Touch To Set Up’ Via iOS 7 Devices
http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/25/apple-turns-apple-tv-into-an-ibeacon-to-enable-touch-to-set-up-with-ios-7-devices/
Apple is leveraging the Bluetooth LE technology that it has been building into every iPhone since the iPhone 4S to enable automatic setup of an Apple TV 3G. Just touch a device running iOS 7 to a newer Apple set-top box to have it automatically set up Wi-Fi networks, region settings and Apple Store accounts.
This essentially means — as far as we can tell — that Apple is using technology similar to the kind it describes as ‘iBeacon‘, a Bluetooth LE device that broadcasts a data payload to any compatible BT device in the area. This can enable complex interaction without having to be on the same Wi-Fi network or even paired with a target device. But it also may use the iPod Accessory Protocol, also supported by BLE.
The ‘one touch’ setup was discovered by TUAW reader Aaron G and noted in an article earlier today.
To make it work, you enable Bluetooth on your iPhone 4S, iPad 3G, iPad mini or iPod touch 5G and newer. Then, you tap it to an Apple TV 3G that’s sitting on the setup screen. Your devices will enter an out-of-band pairing and you’ll be prompted to enter your Apple ID on your iOS device. You can then choose to have it remember that data for purchases on your Apple TV if you wish.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can You Hear the Difference?
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/rowe-s-and-columns/4421042/Can-You-Hear-the-Difference-
It’s not unusual to use USB to carry digitized audio.
Deep musical involvement? We’re talking a digital cable here. Audiophiles, please get your ears out of the sand and listen to me. USB is a digital bus. As long as the receiver can properly receive the bits and tell the difference between a logic 1 and a logic 0, the digital representation of the audio at the receiver’s output will be a perfect replica of that which was transmitted.
You claim that you can hear the difference between an inexpensive and expensive USB cable? I’m sorry, but you have been deceived.
Tomi says:
VLC Reaches 2.1
http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/09/26/1417217/vlc-reaches-21?
“With a new audio core, hardware decoding and encoding, port to mobile platforms, preparation for Ultra-HD video and a special care to support more formats, 2.1 is a major upgrade for VLC. The popular video player app also features support for 4K video”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Audio pitch-shifting & the Constant-Q transform
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/sound-bites/4421452/Audio-pitch-shifting—the-constant-Q-transform
In the days of audio tape, I would occasionally run across a recording that sounded a bit extraterrestrial, only to realize it was because the tape had been running at a slightly lower or higher speed than it should have. So, I’d reach for the pitch correction knob. That knob would of course adjust two things – the pitch as well as the speed – which was usually fine, because a tape speed drift would have messed up both.
In the DSP age, we’ve been able to manipulate speed and pitch independently. For example, you can increase speed without changing pitch when you don’t want listeners to really comprehend the terms and conditions at the end of an advertisement, or, reduce the pitch if you want to sound like a more masculine rock artist. The possibilities are huge. Let’s look at one of the recent ideas in pitch shifting and what problems it addresses.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix expands Super HD and 3D streaming to all of its members
http://gigaom.com/2013/09/26/netflix-expands-super-hd-and-3-d-streaming-to-all-of-its-members/
Summary:
Netflix has started to serve higher bitrate HD streams to all of its subscribers, but issues around peering and local content caching are far from resolved.
Prepare for your Netflix streams to look better: Netflix is making its Super HD video quality available to all of its members. All members will also have access to 3D titles on Netflix. Both 3D and Super HD were previously only available to members whose ISPs peered with Netflix or placed the company’s Open Connect caching hardware within their networks.
Super HD streams are essentially 1080p HD streams with less compression, which should make for a better picture quality. Netflix recommends that members have at least 7 Mbps of bandwidth available for best results, but the company also serves a less-demanding Super HD version that only requires around 5 Mbps of bandwidth. 3D streams can require up to 12 Mbps of bandwidth, according to Netflix.
Netflix’s 3D catalog is thought to be small
By making Super HD and 3D available to everyone, Netflix has arguably one less carrot in its arsenal to convince ISPs to adapt Open Connect — but the company hasn’t given up completely on the idea to make this more of a public issue. Netflix is continuing to expand its monthly ISP ratings, which highlight the average speed its customers see on various ISP networks.
Netflix is also looking to add 4K streams to its service in the future. CEO Reed Hastings said during a recent public appearance that Ultra HD streams could come to Netflix as early as next year, and that these may require up to 15 Mbps of bandwidth.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Looking for Help from Amazon or Samsung to Keep Its Web TV Project Alive
http://allthingsd.com/20130926/intel-looking-for-help-from-amazon-or-samsung-to-keep-its-web-tv-project-alive/
Intel executives, who have promised to launch a Web-based pay TV service by the end of 2013, are now looking for a strategic backer to help them fund and distribute the service. If they don’t find one soon, it’s possible the project will be scrapped.
People familiar with Intel’s plans said the company has been talking to both Amazon and Samsung in the hope of keeping the service afloat.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Major update to VLC for Mac adds 4K support, improved MKV support, interface improvements and more
http://9to5mac.com/2013/09/26/major-update-to-vlc-for-mac-adds-4k-support-improved-mkv-support-interface-improvements-and-more/
VideoLAN has released version 2.1 of its popular open source video player, VLC. The update — codenamed “Ricewind”
On the video side, the app has ported the OpenGL output to OpenGL ES, making ports to iOS and Android much easier. Notably, VideoLAN says that VLC is now ready for Ultra-HD content (otherwise known as 4K). The app update has also focused heavily on improving MKV compatibility, including better seek performance and subtitle metadata support.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel and Sony Ambitions for Internet TV Services Meet Skepticism
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/30/business/intel-and-sony-ambitions-for-internet-tv-services-meet-skepticism.html?pagewanted=all
Television services delivered via the Internet by companies like Intel and Sony could someday transform how Americans watch TV shows. But the services have to get off the ground first, and there are new doubts about whether that is going to happen.
Intel’s consumer-friendly plan for a version of cable television that is streamed to paying subscribers — the same way Netflix is streamed — has been scaled back recently to satisfy channel owners, and its goal to introduce the service, called OnCue, by the end of this year has been scrapped. Intel says it now hopes to introduce it in 2014.
Sony’s plan has been shrouded in mystery. Like Intel, it has yet to announce licensing deals for any channels — and without those deals, the companies have nothing.
“This time it is really true that content is king,”
Earlier this year, Google showed interest in a so-called over-the-top TV service, too, but those talks have apparently cooled for the time being.
On paper, the pay TV industry in the United States is ripe for revolution. Most Americans subscribe to one of a handful of entrenched providers, like DirecTV, Comcast or Time Warner Cable, but they give the industry dismal scores in satisfaction surveys and they complain regularly about slow customer service. More and more households are supplementing cable or satellite with on-demand streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, which offer movies and episodes of TV shows. A small minority has given up on cable altogether. But most remain subscribed, knowing it is hard to switch providers and believing the others are not much better, anyway.
Intel’s OnCue intends to address those complaints. It would supply customers with the same basic bundle of channels that existing companies do, but it would do so via the Internet and on screens of all sizes, from smartphones to wall-size TVs.
During Intel’s demonstrations of its technology for channel owners, the automatic recordings are frequently an “aha” moment.
Reports emerged last week, first on the Bloomberg newswire, about Intel seeking partners who could help with OnCue
Intel projects that it needs to sign five million customers in OnCue’s first three years to make the initiative worthwhile, according to the people, who insisted on anonymity to speak freely. It needs scale in part because carriage contracts with channel owners usually guarantee certain minimum payments. Intel wants partners that are already in millions of homes, like Samsung or Roku, to better its chances of getting to scale quickly.
The company is in advanced stages of negotiations with Amazon for one such partnership
Sony’s streaming cable service would be sold through its PlayStation video game console at first, and might eventually span Sony’s product lines, from phones to TV sets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Woos TV Networks With More Data
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/09/29/facebook-woos-tv-networks-with-more-data/
acebook is laying down a new gauntlet in its battle with Twitter to dominate online conversation around television: more data for broadcasters.
This week, Facebook says it will begin sending weekly reports to America’s four largest television networks, offering a glimpse of how much chatter their shows are generating on the social network. The reports will reveal how many “actions” — likes, comments, or shares — a television episode has inspired on Facebook and how many members participated in an action.
Facebook, which will not make the results generally available, will share the data reports with ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS, and a small number of select partners.
Facebook and Twitter are in a heated fight to own the Web’s town square, because becoming the go-to hub for real-time events like television shows could draw more user activity and more advertising dollars. A key piece in winning this battle is data — proving to networks and advertisers that the activity on their service is meaningful.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Music Science
New Headphones Generate Sound With Carbon Nanotubes
http://science.slashdot.org/story/13/09/30/2213245/new-headphones-generate-sound-with-carbon-nanotubes
“A new type of headphone heats up carbon nanotubes to crank out tunes. The tiny speaker doesn’t rely on moving parts and instead produces sound through the thermoacoustic effect. When an alternating current passes through the nanotubes, the material heats and cools the air around it; as the air warms, it expands, and as it cools, it contracts. This expansion and contraction creates sound waves.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rocking Out With Carbon Nanotubes
Electronics: New carbon-nanotube-based headphones generate sound through the thermoacoustic effect
http://cen.acs.org/articles/91/web/2013/09/Rocking-Carbon-Nanotubes.html
A new type of headphone heats up carbon nanotubes to crank out tunes. The tiny speaker doesn’t rely on moving parts and instead produces sound through the thermoacoustic effect (Nano Lett. 2013, DOI: 10.1021/nl402408j). The nanotube speaker could be manufactured at low cost in the same facilities used to make computer chips, the researchers say.
Engineers think that the lack of moving parts would make speakers that use the thermoacoustic effect more durable than conventional ones. The problem has been that most conducting materials don’t have a thermoacoustic effect strong enough to produce sound efficiently. However, the effect is enhanced in carbon nanotubes, which are superb conductors of electricity and heat.
The Tsinghua researchers integrated these thermoacoustic chips into a pair of earbud headphones and connected them to a computer to play music from videos and sound files. They’ve used the headphones to play music for about a year without significant signs of wear, Yang says. According to him, this is the first thermoacoustic device to be integrated with commercial electronics and used to play music.
“We found that processing the carbon nanotube film into thin yarn arrays doesn’t weaken the thermoacoustic effect but can greatly improve the device robustness and durability,” Yang says. And the new design mounts the nanotube structures on silicon chips that are compatible with existing manufacturing methods. The thermoacoustic chips could be easily integrated into circuit boards for speakers with other electronic elements, such as control circuits, Yang says.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Delivers Viewer Engagement Reports To TV Networks
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/13/09/30/2240259/facebook-delivers-viewer-engagement-reports-to-tv-networks
“Facebook has started delivering custom weekly reports to select TV networks, detailing the total amount of social interactions related to individual TV episodes.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Carbon nanotubes make for easy listening
‘Hollow. Is it these you’re looking for?’
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2297962/carbon-nanotubes-make-for-easy-listening
A HEADPHONE with no moving parts has been demonstrated using thermoacoustics and tiny tubes called nanotubes.
As you probably learned in Physics GCSE, most speakers work by using mechanical drivers that vibrate the air in front of them to reproduce different frequencies. But not so these, which work by passing an alternating current through a conductor, heating and cooling the air around it and causing the conductor to expand and contract.
The main advantage of this method is that there is almost no wear and tear.
We’ve had no comment on the sound quality of these headphones, and in fact none of the information we have even mentions it, which should immediately start alarm bells ringing.
Ray Baughman, director of the Nanotech Institute at the University of Texas in Dallas, said that while he is impressed, there are still a few bugs to iron out, particularly high power consumption, as the efficiency of nanotubes in turning electrical energy into sound is quite poor.
But in spite of this, if the sound quality is comparable this could one day revolutionise the way we listen to music. It wasn’t that long ago that we listened to radio through tubes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Difference Between Film and Digital Photography (Video)
http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/09/30/1751256/the-difference-between-film-and-digital-photography-video
“Sally Wiener Grotta and her husband Daniel wrote some of the first books and articles about digital photography”
“In this interview, she talks about how to buy a digital camera — including the radical idea that most people really don’t need to spend more than $200 to take quality photos.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ask Slashdot: Can Valve’s Steam Machines Compete Against the Xbox One and PS4?
http://ask.slashdot.org/story/13/10/02/1828227/ask-slashdot-can-valves-steam-machines-compete-against-the-xbox-one-and-ps4
“Valve has announced SteamOS, Steam Machines, and a Steam controller — the components necessary for it to create a viable living-room gaming experience. Valve’s strategy with these releases seems pretty clear: create a platform based on openness (SteamOS is a Linux-based operating system), in contrast to the closed systems pushed by console rivals such as Sony and Microsoft.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
I cheated YouTube for 5 months and finally got caught
http://www.dailydot.com/business/youtube-buy-fake-views-deleted/
After more than five months, $500 spent, and more than half a million views, YouTube has finally deleted the video that I blatantly juiced with fake views all winter.
The whole kerfuffle arose back in December, when the Daily Dot noticed that YouTube had cleaned house on the view counts for a number of major music companies that had allegedly violated the site’s terms of use, which prohibit users from accumulating fake or falsified views. Major labels Sony/BMG and Universal Music Group were among the largest to take a hit, losing a cumulative total of 2 billion views in the process.
Curious as to what specifically served as the breaking point of falsities for getting a video deleted, I purchased 60,000 views for a video
I told a YouTube representative what I was doing before I did it, published the story, and waited—for too long, really—for the site’s cleaning service to come around and take my video down.
But the takedown never happened.
I started to get desperate. I purchased another 345,000 views for $170
That was in late April, more than 150 days before I finally received an email from the Daily Dot’s community manager informing me that our video was no longer active.
Five months is an incredibly long time for such blatantly fake views to remain on YouTube, especially considering I had several frank conversations with company representatives about the matter. If I were a rap artist, for example, just looking to gain some cheap publicity, I’d be long gone onto the next video, using that fraudulent virality to potentially catapult my career to legitimate views and success.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Will We Accept Eye-Tracking Gadgets?
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/09/30/will-we-accept-eye-tracking-gadgets/?WT_mc_id=SA_DD_201310016000
It seems like biometric-enabled gadgets should be a hard sell in the post-Snowden marketplace. When Apple announced the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5s, Twitter lit up with a blaze of NSA jokes. And yet Apple sold some 4 million 5s’s in the first weekend.
This is no surprise, of course. History suggests we’ll learn to accept any new and cool technology the industry throws at us, no matter how initially creepy. In all likelihood, our devices will soon read our prints and recognize our voices and irises. “The integration of biometrics in consumer electronics is really a forgone conclusion,” says Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association.
But I have a theory: If—if—consumers ever draw a line, they will do so when their gadgets start tracking their eyes.
Psychologists and other scientists have long used eye-tracking cameras for research, but the technology is just beginning to move into consumer products.
MindFlash is beta-testing FocusAssist, an eye-tracking feature that, paired with corporate-training software, can let Human Resources know whether you really paid attention to that orientation video.
Tobii Technology, a Swedish firm, is developing eye-tracking technology for use in laptops.
The new Samsung GS4 smartphone pauses videos when you look away (although this isn’t true eye-tracking technology; the phone does this by tracking your face and eyes).
Google has patented gaze-tracking technology that could allow it to charge advertisers literally by the eyeball.
But how important is it that your phone pause videos when you look away? Does the benefit outweigh the potential loss of privacy?
There is something intrinsically creepy about a device—manufactured by a multinational corporation that stands to profit by gathering intimate information about you—that continuously monitors the movements of your eyeballs.
Here’s how eye-tracking works: A diode shines near-infrared light on your eyeball, while a camera continuously takes photos of your eye. “It’s looking for two pieces of information: the shape and the orientation of the pupil, and reflectance from the cornea,” says Michael Hout, a visual cognition researcher at New Mexico State University. A processor then builds a 3D representation of your eye. “If it can figure out how much your eye is rotated, it can figure out where your eye is pointed.” Thus, it can figure out what you are paying attention to.
An eye-tracking gadget knows where you’re looking before you know yourself. It seems to have the ability to spy on the interior of your consciousness.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Instagram To Start Showing In-Feed Video And Image Ads To US Users
http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/03/instagram-starts-showing-in-feed-video-and-image-ads-to-us-users/
Well here it is, Instagram is getting ads and it’s starting with users in the US. In a blog post today, Instagram says that users in the country are going to start seeing video and image ads.
Well here it is, Instagram is getting ads and it’s starting with users in the US. In a blog post today, Instagram says that users in the country are going to start seeing video and image ads.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Burberry Uses iPhone 5s to Capture Spring/Summer 2014 Runway Show
Burberry & Apple Collaborate to Share Runway Show Experience
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/09/12Burberry-Uses-iPhone-5s-to-Capture-Spring-Summer-2014-Runway-Show.html
September 12, 2013—Apple® and Burberry today announced that iPhone® 5s is being used to capture and share beautiful photos and video before, during and after the Burberry runway show in London on Monday, September 16. Using the all-new iSight® camera on iPhone 5s, Burberry is shooting high quality photos and video for runway and beauty looks, product details, and backstage moments. The collaboration is reimagining how Burberry engages consumers, paving the way for significant changes in how they capture and share their content.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Readies Set-Top Box for Holidays
Streaming Video Device Would Rival Roku, Apple TV
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702303722604579113460045828356-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwMzEwNDMyWj.html
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -1.79% is taking steps toward releasing a video-streaming device in time for the holiday selling season, according to people briefed on the company’s plans.
The set-top box, which would pit the online retailer against a host of established rivals, is a small device that resembles a Roku Inc. player and is similarly styled as a platform to run apps and content from a variety of sources, these people said. It would also serve as a delivery vehicle for Amazon’s existing streaming video service—available as part of its Prime membership—which competes with Netflix Inc. and has been expanding lately.
Prior reports about Amazon’s plans have focused primarily on prospects for streaming its own content, which it now delivers to PCs and through other living room devices. But the company also plans to feature varied apps from other companies for streaming video and music, as well as some games, the people briefed on Amazon’s plans said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
W3C green-lights adding DRM to the Web’s standards, says it’s OK for your browser to say “I can’t let you do that, Dave”
http://boingboing.net/2013/10/02/w3c-green-lights-adding-drm-to.html
Here’s the bad news: the World Wide Web Consortium is going ahead with its plan to add DRM to HTML5, setting the stage for browsers that are designed to disobey their owners and to keep secrets from them so they can’t be forced to do as they’re told. Here’s the (much) worse news: the decision to go forward with the project of standardizing DRM for the Web came from Tim Berners-Lee himself, who seems to have bought into the lie that Hollywood will abandon the Web and move somewhere else (AOL?) if they don’t get to redesign the open Internet to suit their latest profit-maximization scheme.
Danny O’Brien from the Electronic Frontier Foundation explains the wrangle at the W3C and predicts that, now that it’s kosher to contemplate locking up browsers against their owners, we’ll see every kind of control-freakery come out of the woodwork, from flags that prevent “View Source” to restricting embedded fonts to preventing image downloading to Javascript that you can’t save and run offline. Indeed, some of this stuff is already underway at W3C, spurred into existence by a huge shift in the Web from open platform to a place where DRM-hobbled browsers are “in-scope” for the WC3.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yle put the gears eye High Definition: Moves the channels ahead of schedule to HDTV distribution in Finland
Promoted to all four TV channels (YLE TV1, YLE TV2, YLE Teema and YLE Fem) to promote the distribution of high definition by early next year. It has previously been said about the extensive distribution of HD 2015. Timetable for accelerating the company says it wants to promote the introduction of HD technology in Finland.
- The development of television is moving toward higher quality and shopping experience in the image. Finnish public expects that it will be able to enjoy the this development
Until now, HD-image is transmitted to a YLE HD channel, which displays either TV1 or TV2′s program. For the first time HD broadcasts were tested for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Promoted to the primary objective is that its channels are widely available, at least on cable networks. The contents promises to offer the same terms as for the antenna distributors and transmitted through the Internet IPTV sides.
Yle envisages that almost all of its self-produced by the program will be HD quality in 2015.
Yle promises to send the program for years to come also using older normal definition technology as well. Possible maturity comes only in 2026, but it may come in the past, when the world is changing the old-fashioned image no longer needs.
Source: http://www.itviikko.fi/uutiset/2013/10/04/yle-laittaa-vaihdetta-silmaan-teravapiirrossa-siirtaa-kanavat-etuajassa/201313844/7?rss=8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tweets Provide New Way to Gauge TV Audiences
Data Show Differences Between Social-Media Service’s Users, Mass-Market Viewers
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702304171804579119342816300078-lMyQjAxMTAzMDAwNjEwNDYyWj.html
CBS Corp.’s “The Big Bang Theory” and “NCIS” are among the most-watched shows on television, with upward of 20 million viewers each. But in Nielsen’s new ranking of programs with the greatest reach on Twitter, they aren’t even in the top 10.
The Nielsen data, which will be published for the first time Monday, provides new details on the number of tweets about TV shows and the size of the audience that sees them. It highlights that the programs that generate the most Twitter activity often aren’t the ones with the highest viewership.
For TV networks and advertisers looking to exploit the buzz about TV shows on Twitter, the data are a reminder that the social-media service’s user base has a very different makeup than the mass-market TV-viewing audience that marketers spend tens of billions of dollars each year to reach. Twitter’s 49.2 million U.S. users generally skew younger and are disproportionately in cities, for example, according to marketers and media analysts.
“If your show is creating conversations on Twitter, it is more valuable, and you should get credit for that,” said Rachael Horwitz, a spokeswoman for Twitter, which provided information to Nielsen to help create the new Twitter TV ratings
Tomi Engdahl says:
Russia to monitor ‘all communications’ at Winter Olympics in Sochi
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/06/russia-monitor-communications-sochi-winter-olympics
Exclusive: Investigation uncovers FSB surveillance system – branded ‘Prism on steroids’ – to listen to all athletes and visitors
Athletes and spectators attending the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February will face some of the most invasive and systematic spying and surveillance in the history of the Games, documents shared with the Guardian show.
Russia’s powerful FSB security service plans to ensure that no communication by competitors or spectators goes unmonitored during the event, according to a dossier compiled by a team of Russian investigative journalists looking into preparations for the 2014 Games.
But government procurement documents and tenders from Russian communication companies indicate that newly installed telephone and internet spying capabilities will give the FSB free rein to intercept any telephony or data traffic and even track the use of sensitive words or phrases mentioned in emails, webchats and on social media.
“Even as recently as the Beijing Olympics, the sophistication of surveillance and tracking capabilities were nowhere near where they are today.”
Gus Hosein, executive director of Privacy International, which also co-operated with the research, said: “Since 2008, more people are travelling with smartphones with far more data than back then, so there is more to spy on.”
“Business travellers should be particularly aware that trade secrets, negotiating positions, and other sensitive information may be taken and shared with competitors, counterparts, and/or Russian regulatory and legal entities,” the document reads. The advice contains an extraordinary list of precautions for visitors who wish to ensure safe communications, such as removing batteries from phones when not in use and only travelling with “clean” devices.
In the end, the goal is overarching, but simple, says Soldatov: “Russian authorities want to make sure that every connection and every move made online in Sochi during the Olympics will be absolutely transparent to the secret services of the country.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Adds TV Partners Overseas
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/06/facebook-ads-tv-partners-overseas/
The rivalry between Facebook Inc.FB and Twitter Inc. over social conversations around television shows is moving overseas.
Facebook Monday will disclose plans to provide data about its users’ comments related to major television programs to 10 networks in eight countries, including France, the U.K., Germany, Brazil and India.
Tomi says:
How Japan’s Olympics will revolutionize tech
Japanese companies are going all out to impress visitors to the 2020 games
http://www.itworld.com/376902/how-japans-olympics-will-revolutionize-tech
Last month’s awarding of the 2020 Olympic Games to Tokyo could be great news for technology.
Pushed by a desire to showcase their expertise to the world, some of the country’s biggest companies are now targeting 2020 for the deployment of new technologies that could revolutionize mobile telecommunications, consumer electronics, automobiles and even the way people watch the Olympic Games on television.
In a series of presentations at the Ceatec 2013 electronics expo in Japan this week, companies outlined their plans for cell phones that transmit data 100 times faster than today, TV pictures with 16 times as much detail as current high-definition and cars that drive themselves.
They might sound like fanciful dreams, but consider what happened last time Japan hosted the Olympic Games.
And so again in 2020, the Olympic Games might serve to push forward television technology.
While TV makers are currently promoting “4K” or “Ultra HD” sets, which offer four times the level of detail of current HDTVs, Japan’s national public broadcaster NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) is close to beginning trial service of a system with 16 times the level of detail. Called “Super Hi-Vision” or “8K,” the technology has been under development for years and test transmissions are due to begin in 2016.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why Facebook and Twitter Are Fighting Over Your Television
Inside the campaign to take over your living room, screen by screen
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/10/why-facebook-and-twitter-are-fighting-over-your-television/280339/
When the new season of ABC’s hit political thriller Scandal premiered Thursday night, fans cataloged each moment of melodrama in the worldwide living room of Twitter and Facebook. It was a global gabfest.
But is it a business?
Facebook and Twitter certainly hope so. In a crowded market of screens, TV is still the biggest, commanding roughly $70 billion in annual advertising. Although viewers have more choices than ever, most of them are still tuning in live. Nielsen reports that online video accounts for a small portion of time spent watching TV, just over 2%, even after including YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu.
Facebook and Twitter have the same grand strategy to cut a slice of that $70 billion. Unike Netflix and Hulu, their plan isn’t to take attention away from TV, but rather to attract more attention to TV advertising.
Twitter has also partnered with Nielsen, which will soon publish Twitter TV ratings with data from smartphones and tablets.
The ratings system isn’t a business just yet, and some argue it isn’t much of a ratings system, either. But it reflects Twitter’s broad approach to using data and screen-share to edge its way into a $70 billion market.
Facebook has its eye on TV, too. The company announced last Monday that it will offer top broadcasters weekly updates on how conversations about shows translate into comments, likes, and shares. In September, Facebook revealed that it was opening up to select media partners, giving companies like CNN search tools to find out how users are reacting to current events and television shows.