The future of cameras seem to be heading to is smaller, more portable, more disposable and mirrorless (DSLRs have a mirror). When Nokia’s Executive Vice President Anssi Vanjoki told 2010 that Cell Phone Cameras Will Replace DSLRs, I could not believe that on time. But it really seems to become more and more to truth in 2014: Nowadays you can take professional level (“good enough photos”) using consumer level cameras and smart phones. Technical quality is good enough for majority. There is going on a rampant replacement of point and shoot cameras of all flavors and varieties with smart phones and their built in cameras. Now the market is being effectively gutted. Gone. Non-existent. Same thing is happening to video as well.
Part of the technical race came to a (maybe temporary) end: “How can I match and exceed the quality of conventional metrics that we used to get from medium format film.” There’s nothing else pressing to solve, technically. Many photographers are fully equipped but uninspired to move forward. We have have set down for “good enough.” The engineering idea is that we’ve hit the sweet spot and to go for a Six Sigma improvement would be costly and unnecessary.
DSLR sales were down in 2013, worldwide, by 18.5% according to CIPA. The total decline in the entire dedicated camera market is closer to 43.5%. The decline will continue. Credit Suisse prediction: “Only those who have a strong brand and are competitive on price will last – and only Canon, Nikon and Sony fullfil that criteria”. Mirrorless cameras are not a big market: According to CIPA is the total sales of mirrorless system cameras in N. America was slightly fewer than 39,000 units. Total.
The challenge will be: How do you bridge that gap between high photo-capture quality and high-quality camera devices and the cloud where every amateur photographer’s images live? The company which has the most innovative post-processing, easy to share photos feature set wins! The future of photography is same as future in pretty much everything: software and connectivity. Camera manufacturers have been slow on those: we are just now seeing cameras with full operating systems like Android The advantages to smart phones are size, constant (annoyingly constant) access, multi-task tool set, and the ability to send your images, electronically, to an audience just about anywhere in the world.
Several smartphone makers have clear strategies to take photography to extremes: 40 megapixel camera is already on the market and several manufacturers are playing with re-focus after shooting options.
Consumer video device trend is that separate classic video cameras have pretty much faded from market. New smart phones have high definition video cameras in them, so for most users there is no need for separate video camera. For special uses there are small “action” video cameras that are so tiny that you can place them almost anywhere and they can take some beating while you perform your extreme sports. If the video quality of those do not suffice, many people use their DSLR to shoot higher quality high definition video. For professional video production there is still some market left for professional and prosumer video cameras.
The world seems to be heading to situation where separate DSLRs and separate video cameras will be more like high fidelity audio, which used to be common selling point in 1970s, 80s and early 90s, but now only some geeks care about audio quality. This will more or less happen to photographs and video.
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. This development is far from ready. Gartner suggests that now through 2018, a variety of devices, user contexts, and interaction paradigms will make “everything everywhere” strategies unachievable.
Video streaming has really become mainstream as Netflix And YouTube Account For Over 50% Of Peak Fixed Network Data In North America. Because of the rise in video services like Netflix and YouTube, peer-to-peer file-sharing has dropped (meaning less piracy of movies and TV series). Netflix remains the biggest pig in the broadband python, representing 31.6% of all downstream Internet traffic in North America during primetime hours in September — well ahead of any other streaming service. In other parts of the world, YouTube is the biggest consumer of bandwidth. In Europe, YouTube represented of 28.7% of downstream traffic.
Post HDTV resolution era seems to be coming to TVs as well in form of 4K / UltraHD. It was introduced in the 2013, and the manufacturers start to push it more in 204 because 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. On this road giant curved TVs is gaining ground: LG announces that it will present the “world’s first ” 105-inch curved ultra-hd-TV in January in Las Vegas at CES. Almost at the same time , however, Samsung also announced the proposal at CES “the world’s first and curved” 105-inch ultra HD television.. TV screens are in fact higher resolution the basic 4k level of ultra hd: Samsung and LG screens resolution is 5120 × 2160 pixels in the image (11 megapixels).
4K resolution ecosystem will get more ready for use. Netflix is testing out 4K video streaming and Netflix’s House of Cards was shot in 4K. Amazon Studios also just recently announced that it will shoot all of its 2014 shows in that format as well.
4K and 4K streaming are definitely coming in 2014 regardless of how many people can actually view it. 4K will still require a lot of work “with the compression and decode capability” to be ready for mainstream use. There are a great many things that need to happen before 4K really becomes a reality or needs to do so.
PC hardware with 4G capable graphics cards is already available, so decoding the stream is not a problem. The biggest issue is that the market penetration of 4K-capable televisions needs to grow, but to that happen the prices must drop to ranges for the average consumer. Many users have already fast enough fixed broadband connection, but can the networks handle peak usage 4K streaming? According to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, it won’t require more than a stable 15 Mbps to stream 4K.
Extreme overkill resolution will also push to tablet and smart phone markets. There are already smart phones with full HD resolution. In high-end smartphones we may be moving into the overkill zone with extreme resolution that is higher than you can see on small screen: some makers have already demonstrated displays with twice the performance of 1080-progressive. Samsung is planned to release devices with 4k or UHD resolutions. As we have seen in many high tech gadget markets earlier it is a very short journey to copycat behavior. And we will see also see smart phones that can shoot 4K video.
For a long time music has been listened mainly with small portable MP3 player and such, which for most users provide “good enough” audio quality. The market had already shifted from separate MP3 players to the same functionality included to other devices (smart phones and tablets), so sales of music players sales have plummeted in year 2013 as much as as one-third. Separate music players mostly only used for listening music during fitness hobby, and growing popularity of fitness hobby is full of players saved the market from total collapse. Uncompressed music player to appreciate the need of a decent storage capacity, so some hifi people buy some high-end separate players, but that’s a small market.
Apple’s iPod continues to lead an ever-shrinking market of portable media players with a staggering 72 percent of the market for standalone music players. Apple has never been afraid of reducing demand for one of its devices by creating demand for another, in this case iPhone. The future of separate music players looks bleak.
Smartphones have taken the music player market. The growing popularity of smart phones and music streaming services will rise in the future to eat even music players sales. If smart watch will become a hit, the music player may be lost in exercisers shopping list.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Kills Aperture, Says New ‘Photos’ App Will Replace It
http://www.wired.com/2014/06/apple-kills-aperture/
Heavy-duty photo-editing Mac users may not be happy this morning. Apple told news website The Loop that it has decided to abandon Aperture, its professional photo-editing software application.
“With the introduction of the new Photos app and iCloud Photo Library, enabling you to safely store all of your photos in iCloud and access them from anywhere, there will be no new development of Aperture,”
The new Photos app, which will debut with OS X Yosemite when it launches this fall, will also replace iPhoto.
Apparently the development of Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro, two of Apple’s other professional app offerings, will continue as normal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inspection Rejection: Why More Is Less in a Vision System
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=30&doc_id=1322601&
Albert Einstein has been quoted as saying, “Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.” I would never claim to have his level of insight — or such an awesome head of hair — but as an engineer, I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.
It definitely applies when it comes to computer-controlled vision systems for parts inspection. When designing a system, it can be tempting to try and include every inspection that could possibly be done.
Wrong. You rarely get anything extra for free. Engineers who work on vision systems know what I am talking about. But sometimes other people erroneously believe that just putting a camera on it constitutes an effective inspection setup.
When adding tasks for a vision system, a major challenge is lighting and camera position.
Another drawback of piggbacking features on to a vision system is that troubleshooting becomes harder with each additional inspection.
As for making things as simple as possible, but not simpler, an inspection camera shouldn’t physically be more adjustable than necessary.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Indie labels: 5 reasons why we’re hauling YouTube before Euro antitrust watchdog
Music bizes reveal dominance complaint
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/27/indies_to_eu_complaint/
Independent music association Impala has disclosed to The Register a little more detail about its complaint to the EU competition authorities on YouTube’s new music contracts.
The five areas where the group alleges Google breaches EU law are:
tying distribution through the free service to distribution through the new premium service;
leveraging a dominant position in video-streaming distribution into wholesale music-streaming distribution;
imposing “unfair or disadvantageous” licensing conditions on the independents;
terminating or threatening to terminate the supply of video-streaming distribution services to independent companies as well as potentially to UGC distribution and monetisation services in relation to the platform;
and applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions, which puts the independent companies at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis the majors.
The extraordinary terms in the proposed contract disclosed earlier this week require indies to promise that they would never sue an uploader of their work. In theory, then, Google could accept “user-generated” copies of a label’s music, make money off the advertisements, and refuse to pay the label. “Safe harbour” provisions would apply whether the owner wanted Google to use its work or not.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless Headphones
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/cirrus_logic/wireless-headphones/
The Wireless Headphones application of the SoundClear Technology offers solution such as full duplex and echo-free operation. It’s a simple and fast tuning system feature with automatic level and volume control.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fox moves to use Aereo ruling against Dish streaming service
Fox has cited Wednesday’s ruling – which found Aereo to be operating illegally – to bolster its claim against Dish
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jun/26/fox-aereo-ruling-against-dish-streaming
A day after a surprise US supreme court decision to outlaw streaming TV service Aereo, US broadcaster Fox has moved to use the ruling to clamp down on another internet TV service.
Fox has cited Wednesday’s ruling – which found Aereo to be operating illegally – to bolster its claim against a service offered by Dish, America’s third largest pay TV service, which streams live TV programming over the internet to its subscribers and allows them to copy programmes onto tablet computers for viewing outside the home.
Tomi Engdahl says:
World average speed of 3.9 megabits per second, which is increased 24 per cent on the previous year. Only top ten countries have average internet speed of 10 Mbps or more.
Akamai report highlights coming to do 4K Ultra HD, or high-definition standard, and reflects the current rates of such a requirement to 10 to 20 Mbps.
Source: http://www.digitoday.fi/yhteiskunta/2014/06/27/suomalaisten-internet-on-yhdeksanneksi-nopein/20149015/66?rss=6
Tomi Engdahl says:
4K Readiness: Given the growing interest in the streaming delivery of 4K (“Ultra HD”) video, we thought it would be interesting to begin tracking a “4K readiness” metric in the State of the Internet Report. With 4K adaptive bitrate streams generally requiring between10–20 Mbps of bandwidth, starting with this issue of the report, we’ll be providing insight into the percentage of connections to Akamai from a given country/region with an average connection speed above 15 Mbps, similar to the high broadband (>10 Mbps) and broadband(>4 Mbps) rankings that we have published for the last several years. The rankings presented within the report are not intended to specify who can/cannot view 4K content, but rather which countries/regions have higher concentrations of 4K “capable” connectivity, resulting in a larger complement of subscribers being able to enjoy a quality experience when streaming 4K content.
Source: http://www.akamai.com/dl/akamai/akamai-soti-q114.pdf?WT.mc_id=soti_Q114
Tomi Engdahl says:
Aereo presses pause on ‘tiny antenna’ TV-streaming service
Vows to fight on after US Supreme Court ruling
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/30/aereo_suspends_operations/
TV-streaming biz Aereo suspended its services over the weekend, after the Supreme Court ruled last week that its operations breached US broadcasters’ copyrights, but the firm has vowed to fight on.
In a letter to users on its website, Aereo chief and founder Chet Kanojia said that the firm was just “pausing services temporarily” while it worked out its next move.
Aereo argues that its cloud-based record-and-retransmission service is no different to folks using their own antennas to pick up live public broadcasts. But the court decided that Aereo was rebroadcasting, not just supplying equipment.
“Aereo is not simply an equipment provider,” the court said. “Aereo sells a service that allows subscribers to watch television programmes, many of which are copyrighted, virtually as they are being broadcast.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Study: Finnish copyright organizations are harmful
Competition and Consumer Protection Office of the copyright market ambiguity to strengthen Gramex, Kopiosto ja Tuotos monopoly. Regulatory arbitrage and market confirms the complexity of the copyright monopoly position in the market, states Competition and Consumer Protection Office in a recent report.
According to the report copyright organizations increase their influence in shady from the definition of copyright based on the market by expanding the concept of intellectual property on the sly. In this way, organizations end up disrupt the operation of the market. The report calls for the treatment of intellectual property as a means of defining the concept of a transparent manner.
Development of the sector are detrimental to such pricing practices, which impose competing technologies unjustifiably discriminate between. For example, the use of the same content can be priced differently on a TV or a mobile phone.
The SCA also eventually call into question the “certain copyright” terms of fairness. These include, inter alia, requirements, as well as exclusive rights over the limits.
The study is part of the Government’s program for the promotion of healthy competition, and it was investigated the relationship between copyright works on users, such as television and radio broadcasters, tourism, hotel and restaurant sector enterprises and telecom operators.
Sources:
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/digi/art-1288708389790.html
http://www.kkv.fi/globalassets/kkv-suomi/julkaisut/selvitykset/2014/kkv-selvityksia-2-2014.pdf
http://www.verkkouutiset.fi/talous/kilpailuvirasto%20tekij%C3%A4oikeus-22737
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Glass to be banned from all UK cinemas
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-glass-to-be-banned-from-all-uk-cinemas-9570686.html
If you’ve just acquired a Google Glass headset for £1,000, don’t show it off at the movies. UK cinemas are to ban the headsets over fears that the gadgets can be used to make pirate copies of Hollywood blockbusters.
However, the ability to record people without their knowledge, with the stroke of a finger over the spectacle frame or a voice command, has prompted privacy concerns. And cinemas are alarmed that criminal gangs could use Glass to distribute pirate copies of blockbusters movies – recording in cinemas is the source of more than 90 per cent of all illegally copied films in their release form.
Phil Clapp, chief executive of the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association, said: “Customers will be requested not to wear these into cinema auditoriums, whether the film is playing or not.”
The Vue cinema chain said it would ask guests to remove the eyewear “as soon as the lights dim”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Secret Little Problem With Amazon’s Fire TV
http://liisten.com/the-secret-problem-with-amazons-fire-tv
If you don’t know, most Internet services allow a monthly limit of data that you can download each month. Even if it’s not advertised, most services usually have a data cap in there somewhere. With the particular speed of service I’m signed up for I get 250GB/month. That data allotment has always been enough in the past, even streaming all TV, movies, music and having 10+ connected devices in the house.
the tool actually said usage went up to its peak of ~80GB in one day.
Out of desperation I unplugged the Amazon Fire TV I had been testing and reconnected a Roku streaming media box. Magically, the problem went away.
This seemed weird until I went back through some of the Fire TV’s features and realized ASAP – the feature to predictively cache shows you watch – was the culprit.
Some of the initial criticism of this feature was the creepiness of Amazon actively learning your viewing habits, but it turns out ASAP is a data hog. The worst part? There’s no way to turn this feature off.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SAM: Devialet reinvents your speakers
http://en.devialet.com/technology/devialet-sam-en#sthash.LtUmK6Qq.dpuf
In 2014, Devialet reinvents your speakers with its breakthrough Speaker Active Matching technology. Devialet creates the first amplifier which adapts the signal to the speakers. Your speakers can now reveal the full extent of their potential.
SAM processes in real-time the musical signal, ensuring that the sound pressure reproduced by the speaker matches exactly the one recorded by the microphone.
This audiophile’s dream is working through the very powerfull DSP implemented in each Devialet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google acquires music streaming service Songza for undisclosed amount, will keep product intact for now
Google Buys Songza
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/01/google-buys-songza/
Google has acquired music streaming service Songza after weeks of speculation around a potential buyout.
Songza uses information about the user and context to determine the best playlists for you at any given time, all of which are curated by music experts (DJs, Rolling Stone writers, etc.).
Very few services look to human curation to enhance the music experience — Pandora, Spotify, and other big players rely heavily on algorithms — making this one of the key selling points of the service.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Twitter takes on GOOGLE, swallows wannabe YouTube firm
Buys user-generated vid platform Snappy TV
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/02/twitter_buys_social_tv_platform_snappytv/
It looks like Twitter is going head to head with YouTube.
Twitter, with the acquisition of SnappyTV, a video platform that lets users edit and share clips from live TV broadcasts.
This gives Twitter new video opportunities for both organic user-derived sharing and from Twitter’s sponsored-content platform Amplify. SnappyTV already has deals in place with American mega broadcaster Fox, which are used for sponsored sports highlights.
Other partners include Nascar and the US Open, which use the platform to format live video for embedding in posts on Twitter and other web sources.
Networks of friends sharing a high-quality video with an unintrusive pre-roll could reach a larger and more engaged advertising audience than any original broadcast, especially if the shared footage is of a spectacular event and ends up “going viral”.
This positions Twitter as a video aggregator or sorts, as well as being a social TV platform.
Amplify is the main part of Twitter’s ambitions to become a popular mobile news channel attracting major outlets as well as individuals and in becoming the de facto second screen TV service – in which users tweet their reactions to content.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google buys streaming service Songza to rival Apple’s Beats
Will add Songza to Google Play Music and Youtube
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2353181/google-buys-streaming-service-songza-to-rival-apples-beats
GOOGLE ANNOUNCED that it has picked up music streaming service Songza as its latest acquisition on Tuesday, as it looks to challenge Apple’s Beats deal.
“Exciting news today – we’re thrilled to welcome Songza to Google,” the firm said in a Google+ post. “They’ve built a great service which uses contextual expert-curated playlists to give you the right music at the right time.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Third Person Perspective is Guaranteed to Mess With Your Senses
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/02/third-person-perspective-is-guaranteed-to-mess-with-your-senses/
Third person video games are never really that realistic
But what would it be like to have a third person perspective, in real life?
That’s exactly what some hackers in Poland decided to do!
It makes use of an Oculus Rift, two GoPros, a microprocessor and a few servo motors. It’s essentially a glorified camera on a stick that you wear as a backpack
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung to end plasma TV production this year
http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-reportedly-ending-plasma-tv-production/
Following in the footsteps of Panasonic, Samsung says it will end production of plasma display panels by the end of this year.
According to multiple reports, including Reuters, the firm said the reason for the shutdown was a decline in overall demand for plasma TVs. A company statement says it will concentrate resources on its energy and materials business.
“We plan to continue our PDP TV business until the end of this year, due to changes in market demands. We remain committed to providing consumers with products that meet their needs, and will increase our focus on growth opportunities in UHD TV’s and Curved TV’s.”
difficulty of making a cost-effective 4K version — reportedly a factor in Panasonic’s pull-out — and the overall cost of production compared with LED LCD
Tomi Engdahl says:
M-Go to Take Over Samsung’s Movie Business
http://recode.net/2014/07/01/m-go-to-take-over-samsungs-movie-business/
Samsung Electronics has discovered that making great screens and delivering great on-screen entertainment require different skills.
The South Korean electronics giant has turned over its movie business to its partner, M-Go, a pay-as-you-go streaming service created in a joint venture of DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor.
M-Go will assume the accounts of several million customers who purchased movies and TV shows through Samsung’s Video and Media hub. Samsung notified customers that, starting today, they will no longer be able to buy or rent videos through its store.
Consumers will be given the choice of transferring their movie and TV purchases to M-Go’s service. Once they agree, the digital content that they bought through Samsung will appear in their M-Go media collection.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft and Canon cross license mobile, imaging patents
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-and-canon-cross-license-mobile-imaging-patents-7000031168/
Summary: Microsoft and Canon are cross licensing their respective mobile and digital imaging patent portfolios.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HDMI, thy end is near: Qualcomm’s Wilocity gobble will let mobes, tabs beam 4K vid to TVs
WiGig-Wi-Fi crossover to knock your SoCs off
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/03/qualcomm_swallows_wilocity_promises_wigigwifi_crossover_chip/
Qualcomm has snapped up WiGig pioneer Wilocity so it combine traditional Wi-Fi and super-fast 802.11ad on a single chunk of Snapdragon silicon for mobile gadgets.
“WiGig will play an important role in Qualcomm’s strategy to address consumers’ increasingly sophisticated smartphone, tablet and computing requirements,” said Amir Faintuch, president of Qualcomm Atheros, in a canned statement.
“A little-known fact is that WiGig began during a meeting on Microsoft’s campus with several other companies, including Wilocity,”
802.11ad, or WiGig is capable of shifting multiple gigabits of data per second, up to 7Gbps in fact, albeit only within a range of a few feet, thanks to the 60GHz spectrum it uses.
This makes the combination Snapdragon 810 SoC Qualcomm is touting a very handy addition – you can use regular 802.11ac Wi-Fi when you’re away from the router and then get blistering speeds close up.
This is also handy for beaming hi-res video, such as 4K material, from, say, your tablet to your TV, thus dooming HDMI ports to oblivion … perhaps.
Tomi Engdahl says:
We need to talk about SPEAKERS: Soz, ‘audiophiles’, only IT will break the sound barrier
Design, DSPs and the debunking of traditional hi-fi
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/02/feature_the_future_loudspeaker_design/
Today’s loudspeakers are nowhere near as good as they could be, due in no small measure to the presence of “traditional” audiophile products.
In the future, loudspeakers will increasingly communicate via digital wireless links and will contain digital processing. Indeed, the link between IT and loudspeakers is destined to grow.
But no progress can be made when science is replaced by bizarre belief structures and marketing fluff, leading to a decades-long stagnation of the audiophile domain.
It’s a scenario ripe for “disruption”, as they say, and there’s an opportunity for a profitable IT company to move into loudspeakers and deliver products having undreamed-of quality. Digital guru John Watkinson writes for us today with some, er, sound thinking on how IT should rule the waves.
Tomi Engdahl says:
LG drops G3 quad HD Android mobe with FRIGGIN’ LASER camera
Could this be the Android handset of the year?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/27/review_lg_g3_android_smartphone/
This year’s flagship from LG has been designed to put a large, stunning display in your hands. At 1440×2560-pixels
Laser focusing camera enables accurate and rapid snapping
The camera boasts a novel (for a smartphone) infra red laser rangefinder allowing very rapid autofocus – LG says it can focus in 0.276 seconds. The LG G3 also has optical image stablisation (OIS+) along both axes – and this produced a steady video image stream.
There’s good visual feedback on the focus points, and a simplified camera UI. A little over-simplified in the case of video
LG boasts that it can shoot 4K video which it works a treat with the digital zoom, maintaining a respectable quality in all but extreme magnifications. Playback is on the phone isn’t too smooth though and I’d be more inclined to forego 4K for better access to controls.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Music Streaming Eats Downloads With On-Demand Up 42% Over 2013, Digital Sales Down 12%
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/03/streaming-is-killing-downloads/
Nielsen’s U.S. music report on the first half of 2014 shows digital music consumption rapidly shifting from downloads to streaming. On-demand streaming was up 42% over the first half of 2013, racking up 70 billion play in the first half of 2014. Meanwhile, digital track sales fell 13% to 593.6 million and album sales fell 11.6% to 53.8 million. The report on US trends (not international) makes Apple’s acquisition of Beats looks smart, as its iTunes download sales model is quickly dying out. As a whole, dismal digital and physical sales dragged total music sales plus streaming industry down 3.3%.
While YouTube’s music videos have been strong provider of music streaming for years, the rise of apps like Spotify is pushing on-demand audio music streaming to grow faster (+50%) than video (+35%). The two are now nearly the same size, as 33.65 billion songs were streamed in the first half of 2014, compared to 36.64 billion music video streams. At this rate, pure audio streaming will overcome music video streaming in the U.S. by the end of 2014.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Accenture Consumer Survey Finds Addressable Screens Reshaping the Entertainment Landscape
http://newsroom.accenture.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=6040
The survey found that 25 percent of respondents indicated they intend to purchase a connected TV in the next 12 months. And, another 11 percent intend to replace an existing connected television, while 12 percent plan to purchase a tablet, expanding the market of addressable screens even further.
“If consumers act on these intentions, it will represent remarkable growth in the addressable market for online video,” said Gavin Mann, Accenture’s global broadcast industry lead. “This rapid digital expansion is fostering a new era of personalized TV experiences with the number of video-centric connected devices predicted to surpass the world’s population by 2017.”
The survey also found that close to half (44 percent) of all respondents are viewing full-length movies and TV shows over the Internet on a daily basis, and 39 percent do so weekly. This demand was not hindered by the fact that 86 percent reported streaming interruptions and 71 percent noted considerable slowdowns in the viewing experience.
Battle of the Titans: New Entrants, New Services
Consumers clearly want all of their content to be seamlessly bundled. When asked to express their preference for a non-traditional broadcaster to provide them access to video, respondents selected Google, Apple and Samsung, in that order. The selections were based on the companies’ potential to deliver Pay TV, VOD and Catch-up TV, not the current core capabilities of these companies.
“It is no coincidence that the three most popular brands also have the largest market share of phones and tablets. Consumers clearly value content seamlessly bundled with devices”
“These disruptors are clearly bringing a lot of new technology to our century-old television viewing experience. Today’s incumbents have a great opportunity if they can innovate, while successfully leveraging their core strengths. Tomorrow’s high performers – will be those that combine art and technology.”
Consumers Willing to Take Chances
Consumers expressed growing confidence in Ultra HDTV, with 18 percent looking forward to buying an Ultra HDTV set over the next 12 months despite a lack of content and streaming outlets. This suggests a trajectory similar to that off HD, where strong early adoption of TV sets ultimately drove up the supply of HDTV channels and Blu-ray discs.
Despite more than half (55 percent) of respondents expressing concerns about data security, two-thirds (67 percent) are willing to provide additional personal data if service providers will offer additional services or discounts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
PANDA chomps through Spotify’s DRM
Tough slog to free ogg
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/04/spotify_drm_broken/
Music can be ripped from Spotify using a tool that cracks digital rights management copyright protection, a Georgia Tech University researcher says.
Code dubbed Platform for Architecture-Neutral Dynamic Analysis – aka PANDA – posted to GitHub does the job, says researcher Brendan Doln-Gavitt.
“[The technique] by itself is just the starting point for what you would need to really break Spotify’s DRM,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Buys LiveRail to Grow Its Video Ad Business
Platform serves publishers like MLB, A+E By Garett Sloane
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebook-buys-liverail-grow-its-video-ad-business-158719
Facebook is buying video ad platform LiveRail and giving it control of a network that powers advertising for high-profile publishers—online and on mobile. LiveRail delivers video ads to websites and apps for Major League Baseball, A+E Networks and Dailymotion, among other properties.
“LiveRail also helps marketers by providing them with access to premium video inventory and the information that they need in order to decide where to show their ads,” Facebook said in its announcement. “What LiveRail ultimately offers is a complete advertising solution for video publishers.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Xbox Music opens 3rd party APIs, offers affiliate program
http://www.liveside.net/2014/07/03/xbox-music-opens-3rd-party-apis-offers-affiliate-program/
Music is first and foremost about content. We’ve opened access to our 38 million track catalog in 23 countries. We let you search our catalog for artists, albums and tracks.
Xbox Music started out as a bare-bones service, but has been slowly adding features to its Windows Phone, Windows 8, and web presences.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Methodology
How we verify that an Internet Provider can consistently serve YouTube in HD.
http://www.google.com/get/videoqualityreport/#methodology
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube reveals which US internet providers are best and worst at streaming
http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/29/5761404/youtube-brings-video-quality-report-to-united-states
Starting today, internet providers in the United States will finally be held to account for lackluster YouTube streaming speeds. Google has brought its Video Quality Report — first launched in Canada at the start of this year — to the US, and is now ranking ISPs like Cablevision and Verizon FiOS based on the fidelity of their YouTube streams.
You’ll know which ISPs are faring best because they’re labeled as “HD Verified.” This means that customers can expect reliable streams of at least 720p; apparently setting the bar at 1080p was too great of a challenge for these companies to meet.
If you can only successfully watch videos at a resolution of 360p, your ISP is offering what YouTube describes as standard definition. But some internet providers are apparently doing even worse than that
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hollywood Director Slams “Pathetic” Anti-Piracy Crusade
http://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-director-slams-pathetic-anti-piracy-crusade-140708/
Movie director Lexi Alexander wants to “occupy Hollywood” by bridging the gap between pirates and filmmakers. Sporting a banner to free Pirate Bay founder Peter Sunde, Alexander says that the criminalization of file-sharing is “pathetic”, while calling out the losses claimed by the MPAA as “bullshit”.
With her support for the Pirate Bay founder who’s currently locked up in a Swedish prison, Alexander hopes to reach out to the “other side” with whom she shares a common goal.
Alexander is not a fan of the anti-piracy crusade the MPAA and other groups are waging against file-sharers. The massive losses that are claimed due to piracy are “bullshit” according to her. In fact, she believes that piracy may do more good than harm.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Say goodbye to the noughties: Yesterday’s hi-fi biz is BUSTED, bro
Are the days of floorstanders and separates numbered?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/10/breaking_fad_yesterdays_hi_fi_business_is_busted/
Breaking Fad In case you hadn’t heard, someone has ripped up your pappy’s hi-fi handbook. Seismic shifts in just about every area of music technology have fundamentally changed the way we use home entertainment.
The once hot items of the noughties – Blu-ray, AV receivers, all-in-one systems – are now on the slide. Meanwhile, sales in network media players, soundbars and Bluetooth speakers are booming. The pace of change has left traditional hi-fi and AV companies reeling.
This is all good news. Audio technology is suddenly interesting again.
There’s nothing new about such evolution.
This year Spotify alone will have 30 million paid subscribers, a leap from 10 million in 2010. And the biggest category in audio hardware now is “multi-room”, a sector created by Sonos.
new multi-room consumer. They’re typically aged between 35-45 and almost all subscribe to a music service (94 per cent). The majority (60 per cent) became multi-room converts after reading about the technology online.
We’ve seen some of the CE brands launch comparable wireless systems, but this is the first time a classic hi-fi major has committed heavily to wresting lost ground back from Sonos.
Where the HEOS platform becomes particularly interesting is when Denon starts to build it into its AV receiver range as well as soundbars and soundbases. Expect that to happen within a year.
If traditional two-channel audio does have a future, then it could be as the preserve of high resolution audio.
Sony has taken the industry lead in High-Res Audio
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloud Solutions for television producing Booxmedia has entered into a significant partnership multinational Euro Media Group in relation to (EMG) from the Dutch with United. Agreement, Booxmedia technology will be distributed in seven European countries.
Company is known in Finland booxTV consumer services, which is an alternative way to look at the video and TV content. Among other things, the DNA Welho MatkaTV Booxmedia based technology. DNA is also Booxmedia shareholder.
In addition, the cloud Booxmedia licensed TV technology to its domestic and foreign partners. The company ‘scheme, is reported to have tens of thousands of users every week.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/kaikki_uutiset/telkkaria+vaikka+auton+takapenkilla++suomalainen+pilvitelevisiofirma+leviaa+euroopassa/a997454
Tomi Engdahl says:
Open Source Chief at Redhat Hit With Bogus Copyright Claims
https://torrentfreak.com/open-source-chief-at-redhat-hit-with-bogus-copyright-claims-149522/
Bogus copyright claims on YouTube are getting more and more prevalent, but they only get exposure when they do damage to high-profile targets. Michael Tiemann is the Chief of Open Source Affairs at Redhat Inc. and apparently he can’t use Creative Commons music in his uploads without being bombarded with copyright claims.
“So now I need to file an appeal, which puts my account at risk of a copyright strike. How many others have abandoned the fight at this point? How many Creative Commons artists are seeing their works abandoned because of this bad behavior on the YouTube frontier?”
While alleged infringers are quick to be punished by the YouTube system, there is no come back on those making the erroneous complaints. This is something that YouTube definitely needs to address.
“Banks got into a lot of trouble for robo-signing mortgages. I think that all this robo-enforcement of copyright is going to end badly for everybody, too,” Tiemann concludes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Music Distributor Claims Right to Monetize JFK Speech
on May 11, 2014
https://torrentfreak.com/music-distributor-claims-right-to-monetize-jfk-speech-140511/
After uploading part of a JFK speech to YouTube, a TorrentFreak reader had a surprise when a music distribution company filed a complaint, claiming full monetization rights on the clip. Why would they do that to material in the public domain ? With the company involved refusing to respond, TF took a closer look.
“A company called Believe Digital has made what I believe to be a fraudulent copyright claim against me for [the speech] I posted on YouTube,” Homer explained. “They’ve threatened no legal action, but have merely asserted ownership for the purpose of monetizing the video via advertising.”
Believe Digital, a digital distributor for independent labels and artists, looks like a professional outfit. However, taking over the monetization rights of what should be a public domain speech and then on top refusing to respond to Homer’s dispute encouraged us to dig deeper.
As pointed out by Adam Holland, a government audio recording of the speech would be in the public domain, meaning that Harley & Muscle could have simply sampled that. However, their use of a separate and private recording would be a different matter.
“It’s possible that someone else, a private individual, made a recording of the speech in question, and the copyright status of that sound recording or A/V work would be more complex, but it’s likely the individual would have a valid copyright in that exact recording,” Holland explains.
Companies like Believe Digital should be made to stand and engage once they have made a claim, not ignore the issue until they come under pressure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Beats sues Chinese counterfeiters for billions as Apple sale nears completion
By Sam Oliver
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/07/11/beats-sues-chinese-counterfeiters-for-billions-as-apple-sale-nears-completion
Headphone maker Beats has filed suit against a number of Chinese counterfeiters, alleging trademark infringement and seeking damages that could run into the billions of dollars just weeks before the company officially becomes an Apple subsidiary.
“This action has been filed by Beats to combat online counterfeiters who trade upon Beats’ reputation and goodwill by selling and/or offering for sale unlicensed and counterfeit products featuring Beats’ trademarks,” the filing reads. “The Defendants create [fake internet storefronts] by the hundreds or even thousands and design them to appear to be selling genuine Beats products, while actually selling low-quality Counterfeit Beats Products to unknowing consumers.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
BitTorrent to Try a Paywall and Crowdfunding
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/business/media/bittorrent-to-try-a-paywall-and-crowdfunding.html?_r=0
BitTorrent, a purveyor of file-sharing technology that is widely used to gain free access to music and films, has come up with a bold proposition for its tens of millions of daily users: Spend $9.95 to help finance a planned new science fiction series and gain viewing rights to its eight episodes. Or fail to pay up, and the shows will never be made.
part of BitTorrent’s latest and perhaps most daring attempt to make paying customers of an estimated 170 million worldwide users. While the site itself eschews piracy, many people employ its open-source file-sharing technology to download music, films and television shows, whether legally or illegally, without charge.
If all goes according to plan, Mr. Weber will distribute the pilot — which he would finance himself with help from private investors — free on BitTorrent in December, while offering to make the full series if approximately 250,000 users pay the asking price.
“I think of it as the perfect hybrid between Kickstarter and Netflix,”
“We saw the opportunity to build what we think will become the leading place for independent content creation,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
LG has produced an 18-inch OLED display that can be rolled into a tight roll. The manufacturer has also developed a screen that is almost completely transparent. By 2017, the manufacturer believes it can combine both features in the same product.
LG plans in the future to produce 60-inch screen, which would be both flexible and transparent, and have 4k or UHD-standard (2160 x 3840 pixels) resolution.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/uutisia/tulevaisuuden+teknologia+alkaa+olla+valmista+rullattava+ja+lapinakyva+naytto+tulevat/a998187
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s the first image taken with Sony’s new curved camera sensor
Fixing the classic round hole, square peg problem
http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/here-s-the-first-ever-image-taken-with-sony-s-curved-camera-sensor-1256467
Curved TVs and phones are already a fad, so why not camera sensors?
Nikkei reports that Sony has released the first image ever taken with a curved CMOS sensor, which Sony developed for compact and full-frame cameras. The new image sensor features a curvature similar to the human eye that helps to fix optical distortions normally created by flat sensors.
Sony also hopes curved sensors will feature greater light sensitivity, provide better image quality and pave the way to simpler lenses.
The first image out of the sensor might not be a high-resolution sample but it’s enough proof to show Sony has something that actually works rather than a concept in early development.
Thus far, Sony has produced a 2/3-inch prototype sensor for use with compact cameras and a full-frame version.
Rumors picked up by The Phoblographer suggested this sensor might make its way into the next Sony RX1 fixed lens, full-frame compact.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony’s first ‘curved sensor’ photo may herald better images, cheaper lenses
http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/08/sony-shows-off-first-picture-taken-with-curved-sensor/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Akemake Creates the World’s First 3D Printed Speaker From Wood – Design is free to download
http://3dprint.com/5188/akemake-first-3d-printed-wood-speaker/
When most people think about FDM 3D printers, they picture these machines printing in PLA or ABS plastic. Recently, more and more people have begun using other materials like nylon. However, a company called Akemake, with the help of a new 3D printing material from Fillamentum, is trying to change this.
Akemake has recently used a 100% natural wood filament called Timberfill to print out a working desktop speaker.
“This 3D printed model is the first speaker in the world printed from Timberfill material made by Fillamentum,” Machal Kandler of Akemake tells 3DPrint.com. “Yes, it is 100% wood!”
The speaker, called the Spirulida, was designed by Ondra Chotovinsky, and is based on a deep sea squid-like species – the Spirulida. Akemake is offering this design completely free for those who wish to print it out at home.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Laser Eye Surgery, Revisited 10 Years Later
http://ask.slashdot.org/story/14/07/24/1716259/laser-eye-surgery-revisited-10-years-later
So my question is: what is holding everyone else back from freeing themselves from contacts and glasses?
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Better, Cheaper Smartphone Thermal Imager
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/24/a-better-cheaper-smartphone-thermal-imager/
For the last few years, the prices of infrared thermal imaging devices have fallen through the floor, down from tens of thousands of dollars a decade ago, to just about a grand for a very high-resolution device. This dramatic drop in price was brought about by new sensors, and at the very low-end, there are quite a few very inexpensive low resolution thermal imaging devices.
The goal now, it seems, is to figure out some way to add these infrared devices to a smartphone or tablet.
Previous ‘thermal imagers on a smartphone’ projects include the Mu Thermal Camera, a $300 Kickstarter reward that turned out to be vaporware. The IR-Blue is yet another Kickstarter we’ve seen, and something that’s actually shipping for about $200.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FLIR ONE
http://www.flir.com/flirone/
Normally, our vision is limited to a very small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Thermal energy has a much longer wavelength than visible light. So long, in fact, that the human eye can’t even see it, just like we can’t see radio waves.
With thermal imaging, the portion of the spectrum we perceive is dramatically expanded, helping us “see” heat.
The patented, exclusive image-blending process called Multi-Spectral Dynamic Imaging combines the photo with the thermal image, producing images of unrivaled clarity and quality.
The most compact long-wave Infrared sensor in existence, Lepton captures detailed thermal images or video at the touch of a button.
Scene range temperature: 32 °F to 212 °F (O °C to 100 °C)
iPhone compatibility: iPhone5, iPhone5S running iOS 7 or above
Tomi Engdahl says:
Flir One case turns Apple’s iPhone into a high-end thermal imaging camera
By Sam Oliver
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/07/22/flir-one-case-turns-apples-iphone-into-a-high-end-thermal-imaging-camera
Thermal imaging company Flir has announced that pre-orders for its new One iPhone case — which will let outdoorsmen, HVAC contractors, and people who simply like to see how hot things are convert their iPhone 5 or 5s into a thermal camera — will begin Wednesday, with the device coming to Apple retail stores in August.
Flir hopes the One’s relatively modest $349.99 price tag — a significant discount from the company’s other cameras, which can run into the tens of thousands of dollars — will inspire even more creative applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
thermocam-raspi
Software to turn a Raspberry Pi, an MLX90614 sensor and two servos into a simple thermography device.
https://github.com/hermann-kurz/thermography-raspberrypi
Wärmebildkamera mit dem Raspberry Pi (4): WLAN, autonomer Betrieb und mehr
http://www.xn--c-lmb.net/2013/12/warmebildkamera-mit-dem-raspberry-pi-4.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Watching TV after work makes you feel ‘guilty and like a failure’
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/watching-tv-after-work-makes-you-feel-guilty-and-like-a-failure-9626840.html
Researchers found that using media after a tiring day can make you feel less relaxed and recovered
You had such good intentions for when you got home from work: go to the gym, call a friend and sort out that paperwork.
But after a hard day in the office you ended up slumped on the sofa in front of the television instead.
If you feel bad about it you’re not alone – scientists have discovered that watching television at the end of a long day can make you feel guilty and like a failure.
They found that those who were especially fatigued were more inclined to feel that they were procrastinating by watching TV or playing games instead of doing more important tasks.
This led them to feeling guilty, which in turn made them feel less recovered and revitalised, diminishing the positive effects of using media.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Expendables 3’ Leaks Online, Pirated Copy Downloaded 189,000 Times in 24 Hours
http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/expendables-3-leaks-online-pirated-copy-downloaded-189000-times-in-24-hours-1201268947/
A DVD-quality copy of actioner “The Expendables 3,” starring Sylvester Stallone, has been downloaded via piracy sites more than 189,000 times over a 24-hour period — three weeks ahead of the U.S. premiere.
The leak of the film on the Internet ahead of its theatrical debut, an unusually rare occurrence, could dampen box office for “Expendables 3.” It’s also worth noting that the target demo for the movie is young males, who are the biggest users of illegal file-sharing services.
With 21 days left to go before the Aug. 15 premiere, the number of illegal downloads of “Expendables 3″ will certainly soar into the millions.
A similar a leak happened in 2009, when a rough cut of 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bose decides today IS F*** With Dre Day: Beats sued in patent spat
Music gear giant seeks some of that sweet, sweet Apple pie
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/25/bose_sues_beats_apple/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Box Can Hold an Entire Netflix
http://gizmodo.com/this-box-can-hold-an-entire-netflix-1592590450
At the heart of the peering argument is something Netflix calls Open Connect. The logic goes like this: people who are watching Netflix generate a lot of traffic. It’s 34 percent of the traffic on the internet in North America at peak hours, i.e. when you get home from work and flop on the couch. And when all that data has to get passed from one part of the internet to another—the places where the internet’s many pipes connect—it needs a lot of room to fit through.
So ordinarily, if you flop down to watch some Netflix, you’re contributing to this tidal wave of data, and you’re pulling video content allllll the way across the internet through various different pipes and chokepoint and junctions, adding to the volume of emails and Skype calls and everything else. If there’s just too much, it can’t all get through, so either something (Netflix, usually) has to get slowed down, or someone has to pay to make bigger pipes.
Netflix’s Open Connect offers another option though. The company will gladly put a box with a copy of itself—which is to say, nearly the entire catalog of its offerings—inside your friendly neighborhood ISP data center.
Each one of Netflix’s Open Connect Appliances (OCAs) is basically a badass connected hard drive. But we’re not talking in GBs of storage here. No, OCAs are measured in TB.
The most basic unit, known as a Rev. A, is a 100TB device.
How much storage is that in practical terms? According to Netflix, HD video streams use 3GB of data per hour, so if you do a little math you’ll find that a 100TB device holds some 34,133 hours of HD video. That’s 1,422 days, or 203 weeks or just under four years of HD video. And for all that, it’s a mere 7″ x 17″ x 23″, about the size of an old-school PC tower, and weighs just 100 pounds.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adding Bluetooth And A Lightning Connector To Beats Pro Headphones
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/30/adding-bluetooth-and-a-lightning-connector-to-beats-pro-headphones/
Not wanting to wait for Apple to step up their game and complete their purchase of Beats headphones, [Carnivore] decided he wanted his own pair of Apple-compatible Beats cans with Bluetooth. He created something that will probably be for sale in the Apple store come Christmas: a pair of Beats Pro headphones with Bluetooth and a Lightning connector for charging.