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:
Meet the Cyborg Teaching Musicians How to Play Color, Not Sheet Music
http://www.wired.com/design/2014/03/cyborg-neil-harbisson-teaches-musicians-play-color-sheet-music/
Neil Harbisson doesn’t see colors, he listens to them. The day I talk to the Spanish-born artist, he is wearing a discordant array of notes: F (red), G (yellow) and C (blue). “It’s not a normal major chord. It’s a bit like “da da da,” he sings.
For the past 10 years, Harbisson has been wearing an electronic eye, his “eyeborg,” to transform his grayscale world into color. This device, implanted directly into his skull, is essentially a camera that captures colors and turns it into sound frequencies that Harbisson can listen to via bone conduction. In Harbisson’s cybernetic world, every color has a corresponding note: Red is F, orange is F sharp, G is yellow, C is blue, A is green and so on. He listens to Warhols, paints with sounds and writes music based on what he sees around him.
Working with the Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica youth choir and the Catalan Quartic String Quartet, Harbisson taught the musicians to play music based not on notes, but on colors. “I wanted to see if musicians would be able to perform light instead of a score,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why Netflix Wants to Keep Binge-Watching All to Itself
http://www.wired.com/business/2014/03/netflix-wants-keep-binge-watching/
For those of us who watch TV online, few irritations compare to the “five most recent episodes” rule. On Hulu and TV-network websites, only the last five episodes to air are typically available for internet streaming. Networks realize this is annoying to viewers, and they want to make binge-watching of current seasons easier. But there’s a surprising source of resistance: Netflix, which would be happy to keep the binge-watching culture it spawned all to itself.
The question of current-season streaming came up again recently in connection with reports that Apple is in talks with Comcast to develop a cable-replacement set-top box. I
Tomi Engdahl says:
Are DVDs Inconvenient On Purpose?
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/03/26/174234/are-dvds-inconvenient-on-purpose
“Why do Netflix and a few other companies keep the DVD format alive, when streaming is more convenient for almost all users? The answer is not obvious, but my best theory is that it has to do with what economists call price discrimination.”
Specifically: Why do movie studios allow Netflix to send out DVDs to their subscribers by mail, but not to allow the same option in the form of “virtual DVDs” that you could “check out” through their website, and stream them while they’re checked out to you? Surely the streaming option is more convenient for almost everybody — no postage fees, no opening and sealing of envelopes on Netflix’s end, no dealing with lost and scratched DVDs, etc.
Well, obviously movie studios would not allow Netflix to let users “check out” a virtual DVD, stream it, and then “return” it and instantly “check out” the next virtual DVD in their queue, since this effectively amounts to unlimited simultaneous access to all of their titles. (That’s now Netflix’s huge online streaming library works, but movie studios don’t currently want to make all of their movies available for instant streaming.)
Well actually, there’s still a clear reason why movie studios would not allow this: a certain amount of revenue comes from impulse buys from users who decide that they want to watch
One possible answer is that this is a form of price discrimination, whereby a seller tries to extract the most that different market segments will pay for essentially the same product. Student discounts for museum admission are a form of price discrimination — extracting more money from non-student adults who have more disposable income, while still gaining some revenue from poorer students who otherwise would have skipped the experience and paid nothing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why Movie Streaming Services Are Unsatisfying — and Will Stay That Way
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/03/27/005213/why-movie-streaming-services-are-unsatisfying-and-will-stay-that-way
“like Napster in the late 1990s, [torrent-streaming app Popcorn Time] offered a glimpse of what seemed like the future, a model for how painless it should be to stream movies and TV shows online. The app also highlighted something we’ve all felt when settling in for a night with today’s popular streaming services, whether Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Hulu, or Google or Microsoft’s media stores: They just aren’t good enough. … In the music business, Napster’s vision eventually became a reality.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
WS2812b Ambilight Clone For The Raspi
http://hackaday.com/2014/03/26/ws2812b-ambilight-clone-for-the-raspi/
For how often the Raspberry Pi is used as a media server, and how easy it is to connect a bunch of LEDs to the GPIO pins on the Pi, we’re surprised we haven’t seen something like Hyperion before. It uses the extremely common WS2812b individually controllable RGB LEDs to surround the wall behind your TV with the colors on the edges of the screen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
De La Soul Drops Brand New Mixtape in BitTorrent Bundle
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2014/03/de-la-soul-bittorrent/
A month after they released their back catalog for free online, De La Soul are continuing to play with online music distribution for their brand new mixtape, Smell the Da.I.S.Y., which the legendary hip-hop group is dropping through BitTorrent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Considers Streaming Media Service
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304688104579465690663213198
Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -1.44% is considering an advertising-supported streaming television and music-video service, a departure from its strategy of linking video to its $99-a-year Prime subscription service, according to people close to the company.
The proposed service, as Amazon has outlined it to potential partners, could launch in the coming months and could feature original and licensed content, these people said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
If you have to go over the top, then go very high… This boom box can not run on batteries anymore..
Pyle’s Street Blaster Bursts onto the Scene with 1000 watts of Supreme Sound
http://www.pyleaudio.com/LatestNews.aspx
Pyle Audio introduces Street Blaster, a boombox packing a massive 1,000 Watts of power. The Street Blaster is a full range stereo speaker system offering a high output music listening experience, as well as Bluetooth and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology using any iOS and Android device
Tomi Engdahl says:
Man behind famous Windows XP wallpaper wishes he’d negotiated a better licensing deal
The default Windows XP wallpaper containing rolling green hills, blue sky and fluffy white clouds may be more recognisable than the Mona Lisa, but it earned its photographer a pittance.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/man-behind-famous-windows-xp-wallpaper-wishes-hed-negotiated-a-better-licensing-deal-20140326-35ims.html#ixzz2xF5hUrHg
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Launching Video Box Next Week
http://recode.net/2014/03/27/amazon-launching-video-box-next-week/
Amazon’s entry into the set-top box world, which has been delayed for months, is coming next week, according to people familiar with the company’s plans.
Tomi Engdahl says:
UPDATE: Amazon Says It Has No Plans to Offer a Free TV and Music-Video Streaming Service
http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/amazon-is-plotting-free-tv-and-music-video-streaming-service-but-stocked-with-what-1201149147/
Here we go again: Amazon.com denied a Wall Street Journal report Thursday that the Internet retailing giant is working up a free, ad-supported TV and music-video service.
“We’re often experimenting with new things, but we have no plans to offer a free streaming-media service,” Amazon spokeswoman Sally Fouts said in an email.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stop Wearing Your Earphones the Wrong Way
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/11/tnhyui-earphones/
In-ear headphones look like earbuds, but they don’t work the same way. They don’t hang in the crevices of your ear-folds like a traditional bud. They’re meant to be worn fully inserted into your ear, so the squishy tip can form a tight seal with all of the walls of your ear canal — like a cork in a wine bottle
Getting the perfect seal also requires finding the correct tip size. Most in-ears come with a few different sizes of tip, as well as different materials like rubbers and foams. Start with the medium size rubber tip. If that doesn’t give you a great seal, move down one size to the smaller tip and try that first.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Camera re-invented?
Lens-Free Camera Sees Things Differently
An itty-bitty camera could bring sight to the Internet of things.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/525731/lens-free-camera-sees-things-differently/
More intriguing than the low-resolution image of da Vinci’s masterpiece, though, is how the picture was created: with a lens-free camera that, at 200 micrometers across, is smaller than a pencil point.
While digital cameras with lenses can take great photos, it is difficult to get cameras into smaller devices. Miniaturizing lenses only works to a certain point: the smaller they get, the more difficult it is to make their precise curved surfaces.
“Other than pixels getting smaller, we haven’t really seen much progress in camera sensors for a while,”
Gill shows me a prototype sensor at Rambus’s Sunnyvale office that has been etched with 28 different types of diffractive structures—spirals and other shapes like a cross and a pentagon.
Rambus’s approach instead uses a grating etched with a spiral pattern through which light can enter from every orientation. The sensor below the grating captures a jumble of spirals that a human wouldn’t see as a recognizable image, but software can translate into one.
prototypes is 128 by 128 pixels
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bell Labs Invents Lensless Camera
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/515651/bell-labs-invents-lensless-camera/
A new class of imaging device with no lens and just a single light sensitive sensor could revolutionise optical, infrared and millimetre wave imaging
The traditional method of imaging, which is at least 150 years old, relies on a lens to create an image and a device for recording photons such as an array of pixels, a light-sensitive film or even a retina.
This revolution is based on a technique called compressive sensing, which is based on the idea that many common measurements have huge redundancy. That means it’s possible to acquire the same data with just a fraction of carefully chosen measurements.
The new device is simple in nature. “The architecture consists of two components, an aperture assembly and a sensor. No lens is used,” say Huang and co. It consists of an LCD panel that acts as an array of apertures that each allow light to pass through and a single sensor capable of detecting light three colours.
the sensor recording the light from the scene that has passed through a random array of apertures in the LCD panel
Although seemingly random, each of these snapshots is correlated because they record the same scene in a different way.
Clearly, the more snapshots that are taken, the better the image will be.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hot, young under-25s: Lonely slab strokers who shun TV
Gen Y don’t you switch off the telly, we’re on the interwebs
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/28/millennials_reject_tv_for_solo_tablet_viewing/
The next generation of millennial kids are a lonely group of slab-fondlers who would rather watch films and movies alone in their bedrooms, it has been claimed.
“The idea that TV is only watched on a TV isn’t true any more,” said Gerald Belson, vice chairman of Deloitte’s North American media and entertainment division.
Some 92 per cent of the “matures” group in the survey, being aged above 67, primarily watch programmes or films on the telly, with just six per cent using a laptop.
“Boomers” of between 48 and 66 years old are also big telly fiends, with 88 per cent watching the goggle box.
The “Digital Democracy” survey also found that 37 per cent of Americans are now “digital omnivores” who own a computer, smartphone and fondleslab,
Tomi Engdahl says:
Philips Smart TVs wide open to Gmail cookie theft, other serious hacks
Yes, you can use your TV to browse the Web, but are you sure you want to?
http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/03/philips-smart-tvs-wide-open-to-gmail-cookie-theft-other-serious-hacks/
Internet-connected TVs manufactured by Philips running the latest firmware update are wide open to browser cookie theft and other serious attacks by hackers within radio range, a security researcher has warned.
The hacks work against Philips Smart televisions that have a feature known as Miracast enabled, Luigi Auriemma, a researcher with Malta-based ReVuln (Twitter handle @revuln), told Ars. Miracast allows TVs to act as Wi-Fi access points that nearby computers and smartphones can connect to so their screen output can be displayed on the larger set.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Star Wars movie to start shooting in UK this summer
‘Familiar faces’? PLEASE… NOT Jar Jar Binks
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/19/star_wars_filming_starts_pinewood_studios_may/
The shadowy figures behind the newest instalment of the Star Wars franchise have slipped out a few more details about the movie as they announced that filming will start at Blighty’s Pinewood Studios in May.
Disney and LucasFilm said that Star Wars: Episode VII would be set around 30 years after the events of Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. They also teased that the film would feature “a trio of new young leads along with some very familiar faces”.
Fans of the series will be hoping that means a return for Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford or Carrie Fisher
Tomi Engdahl says:
An optometrist’s take on smartphones for eye imaging
http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/2014/03/an-optometrist-s-take-on-smartphones-for-eye-imaging.html?cmpid=EnlVSDMarch312014
an article describing a system developed by Stanford researchers in which a smartphone (in this case, an iPhone), was used to capture high-quality images of the front and back of the eye.
The device uses two inexpensive adapters that enable the phone to capture images and make it easy for anyone with minimal training to take a photo of the eye and share it securely with other health practitioners or store it in the patient’s electronic medical record. One of the device’s developers, Dr. Robert Chang, even referred to the device as “Instagram for the eye.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphones become ‘eye-phones’ with low-cost devices developed by ophthalmologists – See more at: http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2014/march/eyego.html#sthash.xl5hVsrP.dpuf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook, you fools! Forget Oculus, you could have bought TRON-type headsets
Durovis Dive gives you the same experience for €60
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/31/review_durovis_dive_htc_oculus_facebook/
It’s quite exciting putting on the Durovis Dive virtual reality headset, but watching someone else do it is even better as they coo and gasp at the world in which they have become immersed.
The Durovis Dive from Shoogee contains no electronics.
All the smart stuff goes on in the software. It needs side-by-side images, one for each eye, to generate the 3D effect. There are quite a lot of movies which support this format
The apps rely on motion-tracking to turn the device from a 3D viewer to a fully immersive VR headset. There are lots of demos on Google Play because the 3D middleware Unity supports the Dive.
To get the image looking right there are two stalks with lenses attached. These need to be slid back and forth and in and out to accommodate for where your eyes are, screen size and focus.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Contact Lenses with Infrared Vision? Ultra-thin Graphene Opens Up The Possibilities
http://singularityhub.com/2014/03/29/contact-lenses-with-infrared-vision-ultra-thin-graphene-opens-up-the-possibilities/
Seeing the infrared spectrum has a number of applications that go beyond the nighttime war games glamorized in adventure flicks. Doctors can use the wavelengths to monitor blood flow, and civil engineers can use them to identify heat or chemical leaks. And they may be able to do so without the clunky goggles seen on film.
Researchers at the University of Michigan, led by electrical engineer Zhaohui Zhong, have devised a way to capture the infrared spectrum without requiring the cooling that makes infrared goggles so cumbersome. The method uses the trendy nanomaterial graphene and works on a device smaller than a pinky nail.
“The challenge for the current generation of graphene-based detectors is that their sensitivity is typically very poor.”
“If we integrate it with a contact lens or other wearable electronics, it expands your vision. It provides you another way of interacting with your environment,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digital Eye Strain
What is Digital Eye Strain?
http://www.thevisioncouncil.org/consumers/content_234.cfm?navID=43
Digital eye strain is the temporary discomfort that follows from two or more hours of digital device use. A variety of consumer electronics can cause digital eye strain, including televisions, desktop and laptop computers, smartphones, e-readers, tablets, and gaming systems.
Symptoms of digital eye strain include red, dry or irritated eyes, blurred vision, eye fatigue, back, neck and shoulder pain, and headaches.
The world’s reliance on electronics has proven to be beneficial in many ways but poses a problem for the eyes. Nearly 70 percent of U.S. adults experience digital eye strain as a result of the growing use of these devices. Adults aged 18 to 34 report feeling eye strain at a higher rate (45%) than their older counterparts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HDMI-over-Gigabit IP extender multicasts digital AV signals
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2014/03/nti-hdmi-av-extender.html
Network Technologies Inc. (NTI) has added its HDMI Over Gigabit IP Extender to its existing line of audio/video (AV) extenders. According to NTI, the HDMI Over Gigabit IP Extender multicasts digital video and audio signals to one or more receivers up to 333 feet away over a 1000-BaseT Gigabit Network connected via Category 5e/6/7 cabling. Each extender consists of a local unit that connects to an HDMI source, and a remote unit that connects to an HDMI display. The local and remote units can be connected together for a point-to-point connection via Category cabling or a point-to-many connection via a network switch. Support for multiple transmitters requires a managed network switch.
The HDMI Over Gigabit IP Extender (ST-IPDHMI-L/R-2G) broadcasts real-time HDMI video/audio to multiple display locations and supports HDTV resolutions to 1080p.
NTI’s ST-IPHDMI-L-2G transmitter costs $595; the ST-IPHDMI-R-2G receiver costs $595
Tomi Engdahl says:
Frozen Pi — An Affordable Bullet Time Recorder
http://hackaday.com/2014/03/31/frozen-pi-an-affordable-bullet-time-recorder/
What happens when you strap 48 Raspberry Pi cameras together with nearly half a kilometer of network cables? You get your own bullet time capture rig.
To create the rig they’ve taken 48 Raspberry Pis, each with a PiFace controller board and the standard camera.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google to focus on portrait shots and effects with improved camera app
http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/01/google-new-android-camera-app/
We know that Google has been looking to bring more advanced photo features to Android for a while, but it may soon be ready to show off what it’s been working on. Sources aware of Google’s plans have confirmed to us that the search giant is currently testing a new version of its camera app that will sport a refreshed UI, a background-blurring effect for portrait shots and improved panorama and Photo Sphere modes. As part of its overhaul, we’re told that Google has finally fixed issues with the default camera’s photo framing
Tomi Engdahl says:
TV-focused Xbox One update tests a DVR button and OneGuide on SmartGlass
http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/01/xbox-one-tv-update-smartglass-dvr/
Microsoft has been hard at work addressing various software shortcomings
Until now, the Xbox One’s TV control features have been extremely focused on live TV
Outside the US, Canada and several European countries including the UK, France and Germany will get new OneGuide and Kinect features.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SmartTV, dumb vuln: Philips hard-codes Miracast passwords
Best not browse smut on this TV
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/02/smarttv_dumb_vuln_philips_hardcodes_miracast_passwords/
Demonstrating once again that consumer electronics companies don’t understand security, ReVuln has turned up a hard-coded password in Philips “smart” televisions.
Shown off in the video below, the vulnerability is simplicity itself: the WiFi Miracast feature is switched on by default, has a fixed password (“Miracast”, for heaven’s sake), no PIN, and doesn’t request permission for new WiFi connections.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Want to see at night? Here comes the infrared CONTACT LENS
Spook tech just got spookier
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/02/want_to_see_at_night_here_comes_the_infrared_contact_lens/
University of Michigan boffins have created a tiny light detector that reaches into the infared, and is already small enough to be delivered as a contact lens.
Their work, published in Nature Nanotechnology (abstract), started with graphene because it is sensitive to a broad range of wavelengths (including the infrared).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple poking at idea of bayonet phone fittings
System could bring new lens options for iOS devices
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/01/apple_poking_at_idea_of_bayonet_camera_fittings/
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Tuesday published patent No. 8,687,299, in which Apple describes a system for “bayonet” mounts on its handheld devices which would allow for the attachment of additional lens hardware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tuesday, April 01, 2014, 01:17 am PT (04:17 am ET)
Apple may use bayonet mounts for interchangeable iPhone camera lenses
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/04/01/apple-may-use-bayonet-mounts-for-interchangeable-iphone-camera-lenses
Apple is investigating the use of bayonet lens mounts — one of the most common lens attachment mechanisms used in modern photography — in its iOS device lineup, suggesting the company is mulling interchangeable lens accessories for its iOS device lineup.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google to focus on portrait shots and effects with improved camera app
http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/01/google-new-android-camera-app/
The camera app’s portrait skills may see some improvements too, with the addition of a new lens-blur mode that will take photos with a shallower depth of field, mimicking the effects you’d typically see in Nokia’s Refocus app and HTC’s new One.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Unveils Video-Streaming Device Fire TV
Fire TV, Priced at $99, Will Compete With Google’s Chromecast, Apple TV and Videogame Consoles
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304441304579477283348851844
The new Fire TV, as it is known, is an ambitious move by Amazon to break into the living room. Amazon offers a streaming-video service to its Prime subscribers, but until now has been largely dependent on other hardware manufacturers to deliver that content to televisions.
Sales of streaming media devices such as Roku are expected to grow 24% this year, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. Apple today leads the market, followed by Roku and Google, the firm said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ISPs’ pirate-choking blocking measures ARE effective – music body
Says BitTorrent use down 11% in EU lands suffocating access
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/25/ifpi_claims_website_blocking_is_effective_way_of_curbing_piracy_online/
High Court orders dished out to telcos in the UK and elsewhere in the European Union demanding that they block access to sites serving pirated content have helped to decrease access to BitTorrent trackers, a music industry body has claimed.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry published its annual report on digital music (PDF) on Monday. It said that file-sharing had dropped by 11 per cent in the countries where such measures were imposed on ISPs, based on figures from comScore/Nielsen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Fire TV vs Google Chromecast
We compare Amazon’s TV device with Google’s million-selling dongle
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/feature/2337975/amazon-fire-tv-vs-google-chromecast
HOT ON THE HEELS of the UK release of Google’s Chromecast TV streaming dongle, Amazon announced its entry into the big screen viewing market on Wednesday with the Amazon Fire TV. The two devices take different approaches to projecting content onto the big screen, but which is the better buy?
Amazon has opted for the more traditional set-top box with a handheld remote control, while the Chromecast is a USB stick the size of a standard flash drive.
Both devices run on a customised version of their operating system. Amazon’s Fire TV uses its own fork of Android.
The Chromecast is a much simpler device, a stripped down version of Google’s Chrome web browser that renders apps to beam them onto the big screen, with the hard work being done by the controller.
As a result, the devices are entirely different.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Fire TV Teardown
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Amazon%20Fire%20TV%20Teardown/23856
Yesterday, Amazon announced a tiny black box that supposedly does everything better than all of the other tiny black boxes.
“A stylish — yet hard to disassemble — black box full of fairly ordinary components.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cool video effect:
360° Panoramic Video Creates the Illusion of a Man Riding a Bike around a Tiny World
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/04/tiny-world-bike-jonas-ginter/
German photographer and journalist Jonas Ginter created a sweet panoramic camera rig using 6 GoPro cameras
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rumour: Next Apple iThing to feature 65-inch screen. Four-limb multitouch, anyone?
OMG, how handy is THAT
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/07/apple_makes_65_inch_led_screens_itv_apple_tv_rumour/
Apple is rumoured to have ordered some 65-inch LED panels, which some say might be used to build a huge new iTelly.
“The company is making 65-inch organic light-emitting diode sample panels for Apple’s iTV in collaboration with Apple,” claimed Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at Seoul-based IBK Securities.
Despite years of rumours, no one really knows if or when Apple will release its fabled television.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Roku Streaming Stick (HDMI Version) review: Superior streaming stick, slightly slow
http://www.cnet.com/products/roku-streaming-stick-2014/
The Good The Roku Streaming Stick packs the entire Roku experience into a compact device that lives behind your TV and costs just $50. Over 1,200 apps are available, including Netflix, Amazon Instant, HBO Go, Hulu Plus, Pandora, MLB.TV, Amazon Cloud Player, Vudu, and Showtime Anytime. There’s also a cross-platform search function that combs through several major TV and movie services to find content. And unlike the Chromecast, it has a real remote and an onscreen interface, which tends to work better in the living room.
Design: Roku box in a stick
In terms of internal hardware, the Streaming Stick has 1080p output and dual-band Wi-Fi support, and Roku says the internal chip is similar to the one in the Roku 1
Ultimately, the Streaming Stick gives the best of both worlds, letting you control via smartphone — including “casting” from major apps — but also providing the traditional remote experience. The only major drawback is that the Streaming Stick’s back-of-the-TV placement means it doesn’t work with traditional IR-based universal remotes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google plots Android TV service to rival Apple, Roku and Amazon
Looks to avoid mistakes made by Google TV
Mon Apr 07 2014
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2338368/google-plots-android-tv-service-to-rival-apple-roku-and-amazon
GOOGLE REPORTEDLY plans to launch a television interface based on its Android mobile operating system, following the failure of Google TV.
The Verge reported that, unlike Google TV, Android TV will not aim to turn televisions into giant smartphones. Instead, the leaked documents say, “Android TV is an entertainment interface, not a computing platform. It’s all about finding and enjoying content with the least amount of friction.”
The report claimed that Android TV will be similar to competing services, such as Roku, Apple TV and Amazon’s recently announced Fire TV set-top box.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Exclusive: this is Android TV
Google’s plans for the living room come into focus with a simple TV interface, apps, and games
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/5/5584604/this-is-android-tv
Every so often, some enterprising computer company will claim they’ve finally fixed the TV. They’ll talk about how they’ve turned a dumb terminal into a smart computing platform that extends your work and play to a gigantic screen. Then, we’ll watch as the idea flops because they fail to line up content deals or wind up delivering a confusing, haphazard experience. That was the story of Google TV
The proper opening salvo may simply be to put desirable content in front of people who use television the same way as ever.
According to documents obtained exclusively by The Verge, Google is about to launch a renewed assault on your television set called Android TV. Major video app providers are building for the platform right now.
Google’s new vision for Android TV is less ambitious and easier to understand. The company is calling for developers to build extremely simple TV apps for an extremely simple set-top-box interface. While Android still lives under the hood, the interface will consist of a set of scrolling “cards” that represent movies, shows, apps, and games sitting on a shelf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Releases Standard, EVO and PRO SD Cards
by Kristian Vättö on April 7, 2014 10:05 AM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7928/samsung-releases-standard-evo-and-pro-sd-cards
With the rapid decrease of NAND prices in the last few years, the SD card market has more or less become a commodity with very little differentiation.
oftentimes SD cards are marketed using the class system (like class 10), which may not tell much to an average SD card shopper.
As one would expect, the PRO is of course the fastest offering available and provides rather impressive transfers rate of up to 90MB/s. Most SD card use scenarios don’t require that high throughputs but as 4K video is steadily making its way into the hands of consumers, the storage media has to evolve as well.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The technology behind Android TV: how Google wants to reinvent apps for the living room
By Janko Roettgers
http://gigaom.com/2014/04/07/the-technology-behind-android-tv-how-google-wants-to-reinvent-apps-for-the-living-room/
Google is working on yet another platform for the living room, and it doesn’t just want to compete on looks alone: The company has come up with a novel way to develop TV apps and make use of their data. It’s all part of Google’s goal to unlock the information in apps — but it may not be what content providers actually want.
Publishers wouldn’t need to come up with their own user interface, but instead would develop apps that provide data feeds to the Android TV platform.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe debuts Lightroom Mobile for iPad with powerful, on-the-go photo editing
http://9to5mac.com/2014/04/07/adobe-debuts-lightroom-mobile-for-ipad-for-powerful-on-the-go-photo-editing/
After briefly leaking earlier this year, Adobe is finally ready to show off its Lightroom Mobile for iPad software for photographers and photo editors.
Tomi Engdahl says:
4K technology on WFM8300 waveform monitor
http://www.electronics-eetimes.com/en/4k-technology-on-wfm8300-waveform-monitor.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222920730&vID=209
At the NAB show in Las Vegas, Tektronix demos an upgrade of its WFM8300 Waveform Monitor with UHDTV1 (3840×2160) content. The technology helps broadcasters to protect their investment by providing an upgrade path to the 4k imaging technology.
WFM8000 Waveform Monitor
Composite Analog to 3 Gb/s SDI Advanced Digital Video – All-in-One Platform
http://www.tek.com/waveform-monitor/wfm8300-8200
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft targets broadcasters with the new studio-grade Skype TX
http://thenextweb.com/media/2014/04/07/microsoft-announces-skype-tx-target-broadcasters-new-studio-grade-product/
Microsoft is extending its reach into the broadcasting realm with a new product called Skype TX, which it calls “studio grade software that delivers high quality audio and video output to seamlessly connect broadcast and media productions with people around the world.”
Skype TX will be available “in the coming year”, and the product is a result of a recent acquisition of its long-time partner Cat and Mouse. This basically now means that Skype will be better integrated into a professional studio set-up.
So with Skype TX, Microsoft is looking to help broadcasters transform their existing Skype-enabled video feeds into higher-quality broadcasts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Skype Delivers a New Solution for Broadcasters
http://blogs.skype.com/2014/04/07/skype-delivers-a-new-solution-for-broadcasters/
kype TX is studio grade software that delivers high quality audio and video output to seamlessly connect broadcast and media productions with people around the world.
Now broadcasters can use the new Skype TX to develop new formats and creative concepts for live, video on demand and other digital content
Skypeinmedia.com website showcases examples of how Skype has been used in media to enhance the broadcast experience.
Access participants around the globe – Powered by Skype, the unparalleled ability to access and enrich programming content by connecting and transmitting contributors, the world over, right into the heart of the show.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony’s alpha7S Full-Frame Camera Realizes a New World of Imaging Expression
Features newly developed, wide dynamic range sensor with awe-inspiring sensitivity
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sonys-alpha7s-full-frame-camera-realizes-a-new-world-of-imaging-expression-254112431.html
The innovative alpha7S camera features a newly developed, 12.2 effective megapixel 35mm Exmor® CMOS sensor paired with a powerful BIONZ X image processor, allowing it to shoot at a sensitivity range of ISO 50 – 4096002 with unprecedented dynamic range and low noise.
The new model is also the world’s first camera to utilize the entire width of a full-frame image sensor in 4K video acquisition
Wide ISO Sensitivity (ISO 50 – 409,6002) and Impressive Dynamic Range
Sony, the world’s largest manufacturer of image sensors, has developed a unique 12.2 MP sensor with extraordinary sensitivity that allows the alpha7S camera to collect dramatically more light than traditional cameras and to produce beautifully detailed, low-noise images in even the darkest environments.
In video mode, the alpha7S can output 4K video4 at QFHD (3840×2160) to an optional external 3rd party 4K recorder, and can record full HD (1920×1080) at frame rates of 60p, 60i, 30p and 24p directly to a compatible memory card.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bendy or barmy: Why your next TV will be curved
That’s some time during a 10-year refresh cycle, though
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/08/next_television_curved_screen/
For a while it looked like the future of television was fairly clear-cut. Full HD would beget 4K Ultra HD and at some point in the future, presumably when we all owned flying cars and had relatives commuting to Mars, that would evolve into 8K Super Hi-Vision.
Apart from trifling things like resolution, colour gamut and frame rates, nothing much else would change. And then something strange happened. Screens began to curve.
When the first curved panels appeared they seemed little more than curiosities, a symptom of engineering brinkmanship between arch rivals LG and Samsung. Significantly, they involved OLED, the notoriously difficult to manufacture but super-thin display technology.
Then both South Korean manufacturers solved the conundrum of bending an LED backlit LCD screen, and the curve went from idiosyncrasy to ideology.
President and CEO BK Yoon was unequivocal: “2014 will be the year of curved Ultra High Definition TV,” he pronounced.
Sales predictions are probably way too bullish though.
Michael Zoeller, Samsung’s European sales and marketing topper, made it clear that his brand was on a mission change the shape of television.
“There’s a lot of research out there that says the human eye is naturally drawn to strong curves,” he argued.
There are good practical reasons why movie screens curl. Curved screen fabric offers better brightness uniformity and reduces pincushion distortion caused by the throw distance of the projector
LED LCD TVs tend to lose colour and contrast when viewed off angle.
What’s certain is that when you sit in the sweet spot (and there is a clear sweet spot with curved TVs), you’re definitely aware of a wraparound visual effect.
Not every manufacturer seems as committed to a curved future as Samsung or LG. Japanese brands are keeping the faith with flatscreens, at least for 2014
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pro Video Editing with Pitivi
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/pro-video-editing-pitivi
Several decent video editors are available on the Linux platform. Kdenlive, OpenShot, Cinelerra and Pitivi are those that come to mind as “big players” in an admittedly small market.
Although I’m honestly not sure Pitivi is the best choice for Linux-based video editing, I truly can say that its current fundraising push is impressive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Now going: NAB Show
April 5 – 10, 2014 • Las Vegas, Nev.
The NAB Show® is the world’s largest event covering filmed entertainment and the development, management and delivery of content across all mediums.
http://www.nab.org/events/conventions.asp
http://www.nabshow.com/