MEMS mics are taking over. Almost every mobile device has ditched its old-fashioned electret microphone invented way back in 1962 at Bell Labs. Expect new piezoelectric MEMS microphones, which promise unheard of signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) of up to 80 dB (versus 65 dB in the best current capacitive microphones) in 2015. MEMS microphones are growing like gangbusters.
Analysts and veterans of the International CES expect to see plenty of 4K ultra-high-definition televisions, new smartwatch uses, and a large section of the show floor dedicated to robotics. 2015 will be the first year CES gets behind 4K in a big way, as lower price points make the technology more attractive to consumers. Samsung, Sony, Sharp, and Toshiba will be big players in the 4K arena. OEMs must solve the problem of intelligence and connectivity before 4K will really take off. CES attendees may also see 4K TVs optimized for certain tasks, along with a variety of sizes. There will be 10-inch and 14-inch and 17-inch UHD displays.
4K is not enough anymore? 8K – finally come true? Korean giant LG has promised to introduce ehdan 8K TV at CES 2015 exhibition in January. 8K means a total of 33.2 million pixels, or 7680 x 4320 resolution. 4K video material fate is still uncertain, 8K video can not with certainty not available for a long time.
Sound bars will be a big issue at shows. One problem with new TVs — the thinner they are, the harder it is to get sound out.
Open file formats Matroska Video (MKV) and Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) gets more widely used as Windows 10 To Feature Native Support For MKV and FLAC.
Watching shows online is more common now. More people are watching videos on smaller screens. You can use a tablet as personal TV. Phablets and portable televisions have taken off in China, Japan, and Korea, where many people watch videos during long commutes. Tablets now have become so ubiquitous and inexpensive that you can buy them for a specific application. Much of the innovation will be in software, rather than hardware — tuning the tablets to boot up like a television instead of an Android tablet
We’re all spending more time with smartphones and tablets. So much so that the “second screen” may now be the “first screen,” depending on the data you read. It seems inevitable that smartphones and tablets will replace the television in terms of time spent. Many metrics firms, including Nielsen, report on the rapid increase of mobile device usage—especially when it comes to apps. Half of YouTube’s views now come from phones and tablets.
Qualcomm will push this year broadcast LTE. That will be picked up more and more by some vendors in tablets, so they can have broadcast TV signals, but it doesn’t have to be generic LTE.
There will be lots of talking on traditional TV vs new streaming services, especially on who gets which program material and at what price. While it’s possible to create a TV platform that doesn’t deal with live channels, smart TVs and game consoles alike generally try to integrate the content as best they can.
Netflix’s new strategy to take on cable involves becoming best friends with cable to get its app included on set-top boxes of cable, fiber and satellite TV operators. Roughly 90 million U.S. households subscribe to cable or other forms of pay TV, and more than 73 million subscribe to the biggest five operators alone. That’s why Netflix has been working hard to team up with one of these major operators.
Google intends to integrate content best it can. Google Publishes ‘Live Channels For Android TV’ App Into The Play Store. G The “Live Channels for Android TV” app is unsurprisingly incompatible with phones and tablets, maybe because for some reason those markets are intentionally artificially tried to be kept separate.
Virtual reality video is trying to get to spotlight. Samsung’s new Milk VR to round up 360-degree videos for Gear VR article tells that Milk VR will provide the videos for free as Samsung hopes to goose interest in virtual reality. Milk VR service will provide free 360-degree videos to anyone using a Gear VR virtual-reality headset (uses Galaxy Note 4). Samsung wants to jump-start the virtual-reality movement as the company is looking at virtual reality as a potential growth engine at a time when one of its key traditional revenue sources — smartphones — has slowed down. The videos will also serve as a model for future filmmakers or artists looking to take advantage of the virtual-reality medium, as well as build up an ecosystem and viewership for VR content.
Although digital video is increasing in popularity, analog video remains in use in many applications.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Hank Green / Medium:
YouTube vlogger Hank Green accuses Facebook of distorting video viewing figures, hosting and encouraging stolen content
— Theft, Lies, and Facebook Video — Facebook says it’s now streaming more video than YouTube. To be able to make that claim, all they had to do was cheat, lie, and steal.
Theft, Lies, and Facebook Video
https://medium.com/@hankgreen/theft-lies-and-facebook-video-656b0ffed369
Facebook says it’s now streaming more video than YouTube. To be able to make that claim, all they had to do was cheat, lie, and steal.
Facebook is an interesting, emerging platform for us. Reaching an audience is valuable, even if there’s no way to turn that value into money. So I’m excited about the potential future of Facebook as a video platform.
But there are a few things that make me wary, not of their ability to grow my business, but of whether they give a shit about creators, which is actually pretty important to me. Let’s go through them one by one.
They Cheat
This is the least important, but it does bug me.
If I embed a YouTube video or Vine on Facebook, only a tiny fraction of my audience will actually see it. But if I post the same video natively on Facebook, suddenly it’s in everyone’s feed everywhere! This data is pretty easy to come by for us, and Facebook is happy to admit the strategy. A SciShow YouTube video embedded on Facebook will reach between 20,000 and 50,000 people and be viewed by hundreds of people. The same video uploaded natively will get a reach of between 60,000 and 150,000 and be “viewed” by tens of thousands (more on what those “views” actually mean later).
Facebook is pushing Facebook video.
What is a view? It’s when someone watches the video. And Facebook counts views significantly before people could be said to be watching the video.
Facebook counts the “view” at the three second mark (whether or not the viewer has even turned on the sound) in the midst of a precipitous decline in retention. At that moment, 90% of people scrolling the page are still ‘watching’ this silent animated GIF. But by 30 seconds, when viewership actually could be claimed, only 20% are watching. 90% of people are being counted, but only 20% of people are actually “viewing” the video.
YouTube, on the other hand, counts views in a logical way…the view is counted at the point at which people seem to actually be engaging with the video and not just immediately clicking away. This is usually around 30 seconds, but of course is different for videos of different lengths.
This might seem a little like this is a victimless crime, but it fundamentally devalues the #1 metric of online video.
When Facebook says it has roughly the same number of views as YouTube, what they really mean is that they have roughly 1/5th of YouTube’s views, since they’re intentionally and blatantly over-counting to the detriment of everyone except them.
They Steal
Welcome to the bit that really pisses me off
According to a recent report from Ogilvy and Tubular Labs, of the 1000 most popular Facebook videos of Q1 2015, 725 were stolen re-uploads. Just these 725 “freebooted” videos were responsible for around 17 BILLION views last quarter. This is not insignificant, it’s the vast majority of Facebook’s high volume traffic. And no wonder, when embedding a YouTube video on your company’s Facebook page is a sure way to see it die a sudden death, we shouldn’t be surprised when they rip it off YouTube and upload it natively. Facebook’s algorithms encourage this theft.
What is Facebook doing about it?
They’ll take the video down a couple days after you let them know. Y’know, once it’s received 99.9% of the views it will ever receive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Justin Ellis / Nieman Lab:NEW!
How AJ+ embraces Facebook, autoplay, and comments to make its videos stand out — It’s been a year since AJ+, Al Jazeera’s bet on a mobile-centric future, debuted. AJ+ eschews a news website in favor of an app and focuses heavily on video, and its strategy for audience growth is dependent on social media.
How AJ+ embraces Facebook, autoplay, and comments to make its videos stand out
http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/08/how-aj-embraces-facebook-autoplay-and-comments-to-make-its-videos-stand-out/
“We think a lot about whether a video works with the sound off. Do we have to subtitle it to keep the audience retention high? Do we need to use big fonts?”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jon Lafayette / Broadcasting & Cable:
With ratings falling, cable networks are adding more ads to their programs — Cable Networks Stuffing More Ads Into Programs — Big increases by channels owned by AMC Networks, Viacom, A+E … With ratings mostly lower, media companies are stuffing more commercials into their cable networks …
Cable Networks Stuffing More Ads Into Programs
Big increases by channels owned by AMC Networks, Viacom, A+E
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/cable-networks-stuffing-more-ads-programs/143026
With ratings mostly lower, media companies are stuffing more commercials into their cable networks in order to keep ad revenues from falling further.
AMC Networks increased its load of ad time by 10% in the second quarter compared to a year ago, according to a new report by Todd Juenger of Sanford C. Bernstein. Also posting big increases were Viacom, up 7% and A+E Networks, up 5%.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Matchstick to refund Kickstarter pledges for its $25 Firefox-OS streaming stick, says DRM issues too great
Matchstick’s Firefox OS-Based Chromecast Competitor Is Dead
http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/matchsticks-firefox-os-based-chromecast-competitor-is-dead-1201555628/
Matchstick is pulling the plug on its Firefox OS-powered Chromecast competitor: The company, which raised more than $470,000 on Kickstarter, told backers in an email Monday that it is going to reimburse them for their pledge. In the email, Matchstick blames copy protection woes for the decision to backtrack on the product:
“After struggling with the DRM development based on Firefox OS for most of this year, we realize continued development of DRM, though showing early signs of promise, will be a long and difficult road. We have come to the conclusion that we will not be able to reliably predict the completion date of the DRM development without significantly more research, development and integration. “
Matchstick launched its Kickstarter campaign for a Chromecast-like streaming stick powered by Mozilla’s Firefox OS last September. The company promised developers a more open product than Google’s Chromecast, and attracted backers by offering pre-orders of its streaming stick for as little as $16.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Laser Cut Your Own Vinyl Records
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/07/laser-cut-your-own-vinyl-records/
[Amanda Ghassaei] has created an awesome hack for making your own vinyl records using a laser cutter from an MP3 file. Her excellent hack uses a Processing sketch that converts a digital audio file into a vector graphics file, which is then burned onto vinyl using a laser cutter. We saw a demo of this at the FabLab11 conference, and it’s an impressive hack.
laser cut record (2013)
http://www.amandaghassaei.com/projects/laser_cut_record/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Extraordinary music and light installation uses Kinect to let people shape what they hear and see
http://news.microsoft.com/features/extraordinary-music-and-light-installation-uses-kinect-to-let-people-shape-what-they-hear-and-see/
Imagine not just listening to music or gazing at art, but becoming a part of it: Having the power to change what you hear and see, simply by moving and interacting with what’s around you.
A ground-breaking music and light installation opening in New York Thursday does just that. The Delqa installation uses Microsoft Kinect technology to give people walking through the New Museum’s NEW INC space the ability to manipulate and reshape the sounds and sights, closing the usual gap between artist and audience.
The fusion of music and technology draws visitors into the music of experimental pop artist Matthew Dear.
“I wanted to compose a sonic dreamscape, fully realizing that dreams are weird and not always black and white,” Dear says. “The music rests between peaceful and chaotic states, allowing the listener to come up with their own story while engaging with the piece.”
Inside Delqa, the transparent mesh walls curve and slope at unexpected angles. Wide-open spaces are interspersed with tapered corridors. Visitors are surrounded with light and music that change in sync with their movements and interactions.
The idea is to let people create their own experience and contribute to what others are seeing and hearing at the same time – a phenomenon made possible by the latest in interactive technology.
“The beautiful thing is that it’s impossible to predict how people will react to Delqa,” Dear says. “A project of this nature is full of unknowns, conjured up in workshops and sound studios. When we open the doors to Delqa for the first time, we’ll finally see where all of our wild ideas got us.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Millions of Satellite Receivers are Low-Hanging Fruit for Botnets
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/09/millions-of-satellite-receivers-are-low-hanging-fruit-for-botnets/
Satellite television is prevalent in Europe and Northern Africa. This is delivered through a Set Top Box (STB) which uses a card reader to decode the scrambled satellite signals. You need to buy a card if you want to watch. But you know how people like to get something for nothing. This is being exploited by hackers and the result is millions of these Set Top Boxes just waiting to form into botnets.
The Hardware in Satellite receivers is running Linux. They use a card reader to pull in a Code Word (CW) which decodes the signal coming in through the satellite radio.
An entire black market has grown up around these Code Words. Instead of purchasing a valid card, people are installing plugins from the Internet which cause the system to phone into a server which will supply valid Code Words. This is known as “card sharing”.
On the user side of things this just works; the user watches TV for free.
[Sofiane] demonstrated how little you need to know about this system to create a botnet:
Build a plugin in C/C++
Host a card-sharing server
Botnet victims come to you (profit)
It is literally that easy. The toolchain to compile the STLinux binaries (gcc) is available in the Linux repos. The STB will look for a “bin” directory on a USB thumb drive at boot time, the binary in that folder will be automatically installed. Since the user is getting free TV they voluntarily install this malware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Camera Uses Sensor with Only 1,000 Pixels to Capture Mega-Pixel Videos
http://www.techbriefs.tv/video/Camera-Uses-Sensor-with-Only-1;Photonics
Sensors in cell phones and single-lens reflex cameras (SLRs) are made of silicon, which is sensitive to the visible wavebands of light and therefore useful for consumer photography. In many wavebands that are outside silicon’s sensitivity, sensing can be very expensive.
Two examples are in short-wave infrared and mid-wave infrared – the cost of a megapixel sensor in both wavebands is typically in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Columbia University have developed a new camera, called LiSens, that uses a sensor with just a thousand pixels, but produces images and videos at nearly a mega-pixel resolution. LiSens takes a low-resolution sensor and by the use of a novel optic makes it capable of sensing scenes at a resolution that is higher than that of the sensor. This is achieved by focusing the scene onto a digital micromirror array (DMD) and, subsequently, focusing the DMD onto the low-resolution sensor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless subretinal implant holds promise for the visually impaired
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/tech-edge/4439986/Wireless-subretinal-implant-holds-promise-for-the-visually-impaired?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20150724&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_funfriday_20150724&elq=63d82a40e22d4d7bb9dc31f4c5a58a1f&elqCampaignId=24089&elqaid=27212&elqat=1&elqTrackId=0f25a1ec32354d39b0fa0bf86a971984
Vision restoration system (VRS) developer Pixium Vision focuses its efforts on active implantable devices that are intended to treat blindness resulting from retinal degenerative diseases, which destroy photoreceptor cells. In individuals with these conditions, the optic nerve usually remains functional. The three components of a VRS are a retinal implant; a pair of glasses incorporating an intelligent mini camera and a system for wirelessly transmitting information to electrodes in the implant; and a pocket processor, which uses a high-speed digital signal processor and tunable software to transform light into electric signals, mimicking the processing function of the retina.
The French company’s PRIMA subretinal system is based on a tiny silicon implant containing several thousand electrodes that is placed just behind the retina—the part of the eye containing photoreceptor cells. The honeycomb-shaped wireless device converts light transmitted from special glasses worn by the recipient into electrical current, which stimulates the retina’s bipolar cells. According to Pixium, this approach “enables a more physiological processing of the visual signal.”
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Wireless subretinal implant holds promise for the visually impaired
Amy Norcross -July 22, 2015
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Vision restoration system (VRS) developer Pixium Vision focuses its efforts on active implantable devices that are intended to treat blindness resulting from retinal degenerative diseases, which destroy photoreceptor cells. In individuals with these conditions, the optic nerve usually remains functional. The three components of a VRS are a retinal implant; a pair of glasses incorporating an intelligent mini camera and a system for wirelessly transmitting information to electrodes in the implant; and a pocket processor, which uses a high-speed digital signal processor and tunable software to transform light into electric signals, mimicking the processing function of the retina.
A photovoltaic wireless subretinal implant uses infrared light to both stimulate images in the wearer’s brain and power the entire device. Source: Pixium Vision
The French company’s PRIMA subretinal system is based on a tiny silicon implant containing several thousand electrodes that is placed just behind the retina—the part of the eye containing photoreceptor cells. The honeycomb-shaped wireless device converts light transmitted from special glasses worn by the recipient into electrical current, which stimulates the retina’s bipolar cells. According to Pixium, this approach “enables a more physiological processing of the visual signal.”
Results of a study published in the journal Nature Medicine demonstrated PRIMA’s ability to restore partial vision in rats with retinal degeneration.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Oscilloscope software validates MHL 3.0 devices
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4440060/Oscilloscope-software-validates-MHL-3-0-devices?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150804&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150804&elq=4d516fbc137d40f2989f8ec9fd6a8de3&elqCampaignId=24210&elqaid=27345&elqat=1&elqTrackId=b105b65615e04a94925932a5c0b23aca
Analysis and compliance software from Tektronix supports the Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) 3.0 standard and the MHL Compliance Test Specification (CTS) 3.2, allowing the validation of source, sink, and dongle devices across all three data rates: 6 Gbps, 3 Gbps, and 1.5 Gbps. The MHL 3.0/CTS 3.2 standard supports 4K (UHD), HD video, and 7.1 surround-sound audio, while simultaneously charging the connected device.
Option MHD3 software teams with Tektronix DPO/MSO70000 oscilloscopes to perform the full range of MHL transmitter and receiver electrical tests.
Other features include TMDS (transmission-minimized differential signaling) and eCBUS eye-diagram support with auto-mask fit for easy debugging and automatic mask adjustment. Engineers can perform BER tests with calibrated patterns for the transmitter input test.
Prices for the automated Option MHD3 software start at $10,000 MSRP.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Farewell, Windows Media Center
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/brians-brain/4439967/Farewell–Windows-Media-Center?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_consumerelectronics_20150722&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_consumerelectronics_20150722&elq=fa79d8b1019f4bb4bd70ab61c4deea05&elqCampaignId=24056&elqaid=27165&elqat=1&elqTrackId=49b777da052241d1819ab7fd06c33022
Microsoft offered halfhearted Media Center support in Windows 8, via an additional-cost add-in pack that was a straightforward port of the Windows 7 precursor (no “Metro” user interface support, for example). And when a company can’t even keep its content database current across daylight saving time transitions, as I recently experienced, it’s another indication that project resourcing is lacking.
Still, the sooner-or-later end of Media Center is now a definitive “when” versus “if.” And that’s too bad; with sufficient investment, Media Center really could have been a cable box killer, and I’m confident that at least a fair number of other folks agree with me.
Alternative home theater server software packages like Kodi (formerly XBMC) and Plex exist, but as far as I know they can’t comprehend the content protection schemes put in place by my service provider, Comcast, far from the additional activation and authentication handshaking demanded by my particular CableCARD-based setup. The most likely Media Center successor, my so-far research suggests, doesn’t yet exist. It’s HDHomeRun PVR, a Kickstarter-funded project by SiliconDust, the developer of my HDHomeRun Prime CableCARD tuner. The HDHomeRun PVR server-side software as currently defined will unsurprisingly interoperate with the Prime and other HDHomeRun tuner variants, but runs not only on Windows systems but also Macs and Linux-based PCs, along with several NAS product lines. And playback options include hardware running Windows, Mac, and Android operating systems, along with (eventually) iOS, Kodi and (most recently) Plex.
SiliconDust’s Android support aspirations bring hopes of playback not only to conventional smartphones and tablets but also to Android TV-based devices and (particularly interesting to me) Amazon Fire TV variants.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video test platform enables 12G-SDI analysis
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4439961/Video-test-platform-enables-12G-SDI-analysis?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20150723&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_analog_20150723&elq=4218c63f695f403980bee0e794ada592&elqCampaignId=24045&elqaid=27154&elqat=1&elqTrackId=6511b4e5d41f4491a69aee2839f24e38
Offering a single-box platform for the analysis, generation, and conversion of Ultra HDTV video formats, the Ultra 4K Tool Box from Omnitek now includes a toolset that permits 12G-SDI physical-layer analysis and generation. The video format converter is capable of up, down, and cross conversion, as well as color and image manipulation, for all current and anticipated 4K video formats up to 4096×2160/60 via four 3G, two 6G, 12G-SDI, and DisplayPort connections. It allows manufacturers, designers, researchers, broadcast stations, networks, and systems integrators to build, test, and commission 4K products and systems with confidence.
ULTRA 4K Tool Box
Ultra High Definition Tools for new TV standards – SD to 12G-SDI
http://omnitek.tv/ultra
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ariha Setalvad / The Verge:
Facebook makes it hard to find and take down copyright-infringing videos as it tries to establish itself as the go-to platform for viral videos
Why Facebook’s video theft problem can’t last
Angst over a platform in progress
http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/7/9114149/facebook-freebooting-video-copyright-infringement
Earlier this year, Facebook’s increased focus on video — which began with it introducing autoplay video in 2013 — began to show real results. In April, the company reported that it received more than 4 billion video views every day. If you make videos or want to sell advertising against them, this is great news: a giant platform with unparalleled reach is finally paying attention to you.
But then popular YouTuber Hank Green leveled a number of allegations at Facebook’s video team, including a charge of rampant copyright infringement from Facebook users who are uploading videos from YouTube and other platforms without creators’ consent. Facebook has responded that it has measures in place to address copyright infringement, including allowing users to report stolen content and suspending accounts guilty of repeated violations.
But that has done little to satisfy content creators, whose support Facebook needs as it works to challenge YouTube’s dominance. Green and other video makers are increasingly disgruntled, and Facebook’s weak denials could lead to expensive lawsuits.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tom Maxwell / 9to5Google:
Sources: Google to launch affiliate program for Google Play, initially movies and music, apps and hardware to come later
Exclusive: Google planning an affiliate program for Google Play, starting with Movies & Music
http://9to5google.com/2015/08/10/google-play-might-soon-get-official-affiliate-program/
Google is working on launching an affiliate program for Google Play similar to the one Apple runs for its own digital content stores, a source briefed on the matter has told 9to5Google.
Affiliate programs provide content creators with a way to monetize their work beyond traditional methods like display ads and subscriptions, by allowing them to link to product sales pages and earn a commission each time someone purchases the product using their unique link.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Zynq and the OPL3 Music Synthesizer
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/10/zynq-and-the-opl3-music-synthesizer/
We’re big fans of the Zynq, which is an answer to the question: what do you get when you cross a big ARM processor with a big FPGA? So it isn’t surprising that [GregTaylor’s] project to emulate the OPL3 FM Synthesis chip in an FPGA using the Zynq caught our eye.
The OPL3 (also known as the Yamaha YMF262) was a very common MIDI chip on older PC sound cards. If you had a Sound Blaster Pro or 16 board, you had an OPL3 chip in your PC. The OPL3 was responsible for a lot of the music you associate with vintage video games like Doom.
Reverse engineered SystemVerilog RTL version of the Yamaha OPL3 (YMF262) FM Synthesizer
https://github.com/gtaylormb/opl3_fpga
Reverse engineered SystemVerilog RTL version of the Yamaha OPL3 (YMF262) FM Synthesizer. Design is complete and working on the Digilent ZYBO board. Further testing is needed to verify full functionality and coverage. I’ll mostly be adding and working on the software at this point.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Xbox One DVR to initially launch in just three countries
http://www.vg247.com/2015/08/10/xbox-one-dvr-to-initially-launch-in-just-three-countries/
Xbox One’s DVR functionality, announced at Gamescom in Cologne last week, will only be available in three countries at launch next year.
Xbox One’s DVR feature will initially launch in only the US, Canada and the UK, Microsoft has confirmed to VG247.
DVR was shown off in Microsoft’s Gamescom press conference, and was slated for release in 2016.
company would announce release details for other countries, such as Germany and France, “at a later date”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Xbox One’s free TV DVR launch territories confirmed
The subscription-free service will be available in the United States, Canada, and UK next year.
http://www.cnet.com/news/xbox-ones-free-tv-dvr-launch-territories-confirmed/#ftag=CAD590a51e
Currently, the Xbox One allows users to watch live TV, but the system itself does not support recording functionality. Instead, that process is handled by your existing cable box. That’s all changing in 2016, however, when the new TV DVR functionality for Xbox One goes live.
Xbox One TV DVR will also work with the Xbox App SmartGlass app to allow users to schedule recordings on the go.
It also supports Windows 10, allowing you to watch your recordings on a PC or any other connected device. Microsoft has also confirmed that the DVR functionalitywill not work without an external hard drive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Spotify Preparing to Offer Premium-Only Content, Sources Say
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2015/08/08/spotify-preparing-to-offer-premium-only-content-sources-say/
Spotify will soon be shifting towards a premium-only, ‘gated access’ model, according to several sources speaking in confidence with Digital Music News over the weekend. The decision will mean that certain releases will only be available to paying Spotify subscribers, or offered for an extremely limited time to non-paying users, according to preliminary details shared.
Sources cautioned that details on what exactly constitutes ‘premium-only’ or ‘gated’ remain unresolved, and a number of variations are in play. In one scenario, free users would only have access to one or two songs from a high-profile album, while paying subscribers could listen to the entire release without restriction.
Another approach would limit content entirely to premium subscribers, though time-restricted exclusives for paying subscribers are also in play.
One, or several different variations could be rolled out, and sources noted that an ‘early 2016′ transition is the most likely.
the underlying goals of the shift, according to one source, would be:
(a) encouraging greater adoption of the paid, premium tier; and
(b) driving more revenue around the most sought-after superstars.
“They want the free users to feel like they’re missing something, not just forced to listen to ads,”
The decision comes at an extremely high-pressure moment for Spotify, as major label licenses remain unsigned less than two months ahead of renewal.
Throughout its existence, Spotify has stubbornly refused to limit catalog access to paying subscribers, despite blow-ups and defections from the likes of Adele, Taylor Swift, and other superstars. But with less than two months left ahead of critical major label renewals, Spotify now appears willing to acquiesce on this critical sticking point.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Joe Pompeo / Politico Media:
With the rise of podcasts and digital listening, NPR is at a crossroads
Can NPR seize its moment?
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2015/08/8572429/can-npr-seize-its-moment
In December, about half a year after he became president and chief executive of NPR, Jarl Mohn was visiting the public radio institution’s New York bureau.
The bureau’s couple-dozen employees, including the staff of “Planet Money,” a multimedia team that produces a podcast, blog and radio segments about the global economy, gathered in a conference room for an informal, open-ended meeting with their new boss.
It was suddenly an exhilarating time for people who ply their trade in the type of content that you listen to.
Chace invoked a shift in the music industry in which more young people started becoming exposed to new music digitally than over the air. Mohn asked Chace if she knew how many young people had listened to radio the previous week. No, she didn’t, she said, but that wasn’t the point she was trying to make and—well, that’s pretty much when things went south.
NPR, as the gatekeeper of radio’s billion-dollar public trust and a syndicator of journalism to more than 1,000 local stations around the country, has arrived at the most confounding crossroads in its 45-year history, confronted with a boom in podcasts and on-demand digital listening that is both an opportunity and a force to be reckoned with.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Sarah Lumbard, who was NPR’s vice president of content strategy until last October. “Now it’s a matter of whether or not NPR will rise to the challenge and really take advantage of this new era.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:
YouTube Is a Viable TV Alternative For Advertisers, But Some Are Wary of Commitment — Last week was one to forget for the TV industry, which got hammered by mounting fears of cord-cutting and the realization that TV is losing some of its grip on marketers.
YouTube Is a Viable TV Alternative For Advertisers, But Some Are Wary of Commitment
http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/2015/08/09/youtube-is-a-viable-tv-alternative-for-advertisers-but-some-are-wary-of-commitment/
Last week was one to forget for the TV industry, which got hammered by mounting fears of cord-cutting and the realization that TV is losing some of its grip on marketers.
So if TV advertising is currently the biggest loser, does that mean YouTube, the king of Web video, could be the clear winner?
Several advertisers and analysts say that YouTube has become a viable alternative to TV in the minds of top brands, whose ad budgets have typically been focused on TV.
That doesn’t mean that everyone is sold on the idea of Web video warranting a sales market centered on long-term ad commitments like the TV upfront.
Google GOOGL +3.98%, and 3o-plus other Web video outlets have hosted “NewFronts” sales events each spring for the past couple of years, just prior to the TV upfront sales season–as they all aspire to snatch away a portion of the $70 billion that is spent annually on TV advertising. (Web video advertising, while expected to grow at a 30% clip this year, is just a $7.7 billion market, says eMarketer).
With Google Preferred, YouTube has perhaps been the most aggressive in trying to create an urgent, TV-like ad market designed to sell a finite amount of ad space. Essentially, YouTube sets aside its most desirable video content, makes it available for marketers to sponsor, and if they don’t buy in quickly, they’ll get shut out–or at least, that’s the dynamic YouTube is looking to create.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Corey Doctorow Rails Against the Effect of DRM and the DMCA
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/08/corey-doctorow-rails-against-the-effect-of-drm-and-the-dmca/
If you weren’t at [Cory Doctorow’s] DEF CON talk on Friday you missed out. Fighting Back in the War on General Purpose Computing was inspiring, informed, and incomparable. At the very lowest level his point was that it isn’t the devices gathering data about us that is the big problem, it’s the legislation that makes it illegal for us to make them secure. The good news is that all of the DEF CON talks are recorded and published freely. While you wait for that to happen, read on for a recap and to learn how you can help the EFF fix this mess.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EEVblog #595 – World’s Worst Shittiest Camcorder: Teardown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EuBRmfJLSk
What’s inside the world’s worst and shittiest camcorder that costs a whopping $7.50 on Amazon?
The Global New Beginnings DV-136ZB 1.5″ 3.1 MP Digital Video Camera
Tomi Engdahl says:
EEVblog #399 – GoPro Hero 2 Teardown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1nsYd3lG60
What’s inside the GoPro Hero 2 action camera?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cheap Projector Tells Time, Invades Space
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/12/cheap-projector-tells-time-invades-space/
Building a video projector isn’t something that most people do casually, but [Dominic Buchstaller] isn’t most people. As part of an ongoing street art project, he built a rather neat scrap video projector/bedside lamp/clock device he calls Great Balls of Fire. It is made from a Nokia cell phone screen and a small projector mechanism, mounted inside a frosted glass light sphere.
Rather than build one from scratch or tear apart an expensive Pico projector, [Dominic] found another source: a cheap car logo projector from eBay. These are designed to show a car manufacturer logo on the ground when you open your car door.
He tore that apart and replaced the car logo with the phone screen, creating a very cheap projector. It isn’t that bright, but it is bright enough
A story of space invasion and bedside lighting …
http://2dom.github.io/GreatBallsOfFire/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ryan Faughnder / Los Angeles Times:
Rdio to add 460 AM/FM stations owned and operated by Cumulus Media to its service Wednesday amid increasing competition
Rdio cues up traditional radio stations, hoping to get an edge on competition
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-cumulus-rdio-am-fm-stations-20150812-story.html
The increasingly crowded streaming music industry is starting to look a little more like old-fashioned radio.
San Francisco digital music company Rdio Inc., hoping not to be lost amid a sea of new competition, is adding traditional AM/FM outlets to its service. The rollout, which starts Wednesday, includes 460 stations owned and operated by stakeholder Atlanta-based Cumulus Media Inc.
Rdio, like rivals such as Swedish giant Spotify, gives its users on-demand access to millions of songs through their smartphones, tablets and computers. Users get music recommendations based on data the company collects about listeners’ preferences and past listening habits.
“Adding radio feels very natural to me,” said Russ Crupnick, managing partner of research firm MusicWatch. “It recognizes there’s this real diversity in the way people listen. You may want some news or traffic in between listening to a Taylor Swift album.”
Other players in the streaming industry have already embraced the appeal of live stations driven by DJs and music experts rather than computer algorithms.
Rdio, founded in 2010 by Skype co-creator Janus Friis, charges $9.99 a month for unlimited access to its 35-million song library, and it has added new features in recent years to stay competitive.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Privacy Visor’ Can Fool Face-Recognition Cameras
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/08/12/0220230/privacy-visor-can-fool-face-recognition-cameras
Dark shades aren’t enough to go incognito in the age of face recognition camera systems. For that you need the Privacy Visor developed at Japan’s National Institute of Informatics.
How Japan’s Privacy Visor fools face-recognition cameras
http://www.itworld.com/article/2969735/security/how-japans-privacy-visor-fools-facerecognition-cameras.html
If you’re worried about Big Brother monitoring you from security cameras, Japan has developed eyewear that can keep you anonymous.
The Privacy Visor consists of a lightweight, wraparound, semitransparent plastic sheet fitted over eyewear frames. It’s bulky and not exactly stylish, but it could have customized designs.
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It’s meant to thwart face-recognition camera systems through a very simple trick. It reflects overhead light into the camera lens, causing the area around the eyes to appear much brighter than it normally does.
That’s enough to trick standard face-recognition systems, such as the Viola-Jones object detection framework, according to the National Institute of Informatics (NII), which has been developing the visor for years.
“This is a way to prevent privacy invasion through the many image sensors in smartphones and other devices that can unintentionally photograph people in the background,” said NII researcher Isao Echizen, who has been developing the visor through several prototypes. He cited facial recognition apps such as NameTag for Google Glass as an example of how the technology is spreading.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco Developing Royalty Free Video Codec: Thor
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/08/11/2327221/cisco-developing-royalty-free-video-codec-thor
Video codec licensing has never been great, and it’s gotten even more complicated and expensive in recent years. While H.264 had a single license pool and an upper bound on yearly licensing costs, successor H.265 has two pools (so far) and no limit. Cisco has decided that this precludes the use of H.265 in open source or other free-as-in-beer software, so they’ve struck out on their own to create a new, royalty-free codec called Thor. They’ve already open-sourced the code and invited contributions.
World, Meet Thor – a Project to Hammer Out a Royalty Free Video Codec
http://blogs.cisco.com/collaboration/world-meet-thor-a-project-to-hammer-out-a-royalty-free-video-codec
Video codecs remain an area of active research and development. The current generation video codec is H.264 – in widespread usage on the Internet. Cisco has actively worked towards making H.264 the foundation of real-time communications on the web. The next generation codecs are just beginning to emerge. There are two of note – Google’s proprietary VP9 codec, and the industry standard H.265 (HEVC) codec, which is the successor to H.264 (AVC).
Unfortunately, the patent licensing situation for H.265 has recently taken a turn for the worse. Two distinct patent licensing pools have formed so far, and many license holders are not represented in either. There is just one license pool for H.264. The total costs to license H.265 from these two pools is up to sixteen times more expensive than H.264, per unit
These licensing terms preclude usage of H.265 in any kind of open source or freely distributed software application, such as web browsers. They also preclude its usage in freemium products – like WebEx or Cisco Spark – which have versions that users can use for free. Thus, while H.265 is still a good fit for hardware products like our telepresence room systems, it is not something that can serve as a universal video codec across hardware and software. Thus, we believe the industry needs a high quality, next-generation codec that can be used everywhere.
To further those ends, we began a project to create a new video codec which would meet these needs. We call this project Thor. The effort is being staffed by some of the world’s most foremost codec experts, including the legendary Gisle Bjøntegaard and Arild Fuldseth, both of whom have been heavy contributors to prior video codecs. We also hired patent lawyers and consultants familiar with this technology area. We created a new codec development process
As a result, we released project Thor to the community two weeks ago. We open sourced the code, which you can find here: http://thor-codec.org. We also contributed Thor as an input to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which has begun a standards activity to develop a next-gen royalty free video codec in its NetVC workgroup.
Thor Video Codec
https://github.com/cisco/thor
Thor Video Codec
draft-fuldseth-netvc-thor-00
https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-fuldseth-netvc-thor
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Beginning of the End of the TV Industrial Complex
http://recode.net/2015/08/10/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-tv-industrial-complex/
After years of insisting otherwise, investors seem to have decided that the pay TV business is in decline. Last week, triggered by an admission of weakness from Disney and ESPN, Wall Street pounded all of the big media companies, wiping out more than $50 billion in value.
You can debate whether the selloff was an overreaction, or if certain companies are in better shape than others. But here’s a convincing argument for the overall thesis, delivered via a chart from researchers MoffettNathanson
To spell it out: Pay TV subscriber growth has been tailing off for years, and now it has vanished altogether — the number of people who pay for cable TV, satellite TV or telco TV is shrinking.
Per analysts Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson: “A year ago, the Pay TV sector was shrinking at an annual rate of 0.1 percent. A year later, the rate at which the Pay TV sector is declining has quickened to 0.7 percent year-over-year. That may not seem like a mass exodus, but it is a big change in a short period of time. And the rate of decline is still accelerating.”
Again: There are plenty of reasons to argue why the TV business is not the newspaper business, or the music business. For starters, many people consume an enormous amount of TV every week, and something like 100 million people pay (a lot) of money for TV every month.
They’re probably going to keep doing that, in one form or another, for a long time.
Next question: What do the TV guys do now?
Cord-Cutting Contagion! Wall Street Bails on Big Media Stocks.
http://recode.net/2015/08/05/cord-cutting-contagion-wall-street-bails-on-big-media-stocks/
Big media companies used to insist that cord-cutters — people dropping pay TV for Internet video — were a myth. Then they said cord-cutting might exist, but only in edge cases. Then they said they were more interested in cord-nevers — people who had yet to sign up for pay TV.
And all along, investors bought the argument: Even if the number of pay TV subscribers had stalled, the big media companies seemed as though they were going to wring more money out of the customers they did have — and could sell more stuff to Web TV entrants like Netflix and Amazon.
But look what is happening today: Share prices for the biggest TV programmers are all nose-diving. Disney is down 9 percent. Time Warner is down 8 percent. Viacom and 21st Century Fox are down 7 percent.
In the old days — basically, up until a month ago — most people in the video world assumed ESPN was untouchable. It commanded the biggest subscriber fees from traditional pay TV providers, and even if you imagined that one day people would start buying TV over the Internet from people like Apple, it seemed as though it would do just fine in that scenario, too.
But today, investors seem to be looking at any media company that makes most of its money — or at least a lot of money, in Comcast’s case — selling TV shows and TV advertising and saying Screw it! You’re all in trouble.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CBS Says Millennials Love TV. It Just Couldn’t Find Them.
http://recode.net/2015/08/10/cbs-says-millennials-love-tv-it-just-couldnt-find-them/
CBS took a break from showcasing its upcoming fall shows on Monday to the nation’s television critics in Beverly Hills to poke holes in what it described as the “myths” surrounding TV — mostly, that millennials aren’t watching TV.
The network’s chief research officer, David Poltrack, acknowledged a recent Nielsen report showing an alarming 11 percent decline in viewing among viewers ages 18-34. Those viewers aren’t gone, we just couldn’t find them, he said. Until now. Surprise! They’re viewing on tablets, smartphones and screens other than the living room TV, or via streaming services like Netflix. The network is working with Symphony Advanced Media to try to find new ways to quantify viewing.
But will millennials ever watch TV the old-fashioned way? Sure. Poltrack predicts this generation’s viewing habits will mirror the choices of those who preceded them onto the living room recliner. Anti-establishment boomers and MTV-jaded Gen-Xers began spending more time in front of the TV once they got their own homes and families, he said. That’s also true of millennials over the age of 35, whose TV viewing skyrocketed once they moved out of their parents’ homes, according to CBS’s own research.
Oh, and that recent report that suggests viewers spend more time watching Internet videos than TV?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook plans to open Mentions, which houses Periscope competitor Live, to all verified profiles, many of which belong to journalists — Facebook Confirms Live Broadcasting Will Soon Open To Journalists And Verified Profiles — Facebook plans to open up its Periscope livestreaming competitor to more than just celebrities.
Facebook Confirms Live Broadcasting Will Soon Open To Journalists And Verified Profiles
http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/12/facebook-live-livestreaming/
Facebook plans to open up its Periscope livestreaming competitor to more than just celebrities. In replies to requests from Verified Pages about when they’d get access to the VIP-only Facebook app Mentions that houses Facebook Live, the company wrote “In the future, Mentions will be available to verified Profiles”. When I asked if that would include Facebook Live, it told me it plans to roll Mentions out to verified Profiles soon, which includes access to Live.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Create your own realistic digital double with a few selfies
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28019-create-your-own-realistic-digital-double-with-a-few-selfies/
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23
Daily news
7 August 2015
Create your own realistic digital double with a few selfies
Video: Digital avatar created from quick selfie
Ever fancied having your very own digital avatar? You’re in luck – soon you’ll be able to create one with a few selfies.
The process, developed by Alexandru Ichim and his colleagues at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) involves using your smartphone to take selfies from different angles to map out small details such as skin pores and hairs. Next you take short videos of various facial expressions to construct dynamic details like smiles, frowns, yawns and wrinkles.
Once the avatar is ready, you can play around with it in real time on devices such as mobile phones and laptops, says Ichim. The goal is to allow users to create their own “digital double” that you can use in your favourite games, 3D version of skype or in virtual reality meetings.
“Movies and most blockbuster games have absolutely huge budgets,” says Ichim. “We only need 5-10 minutes” with the system, he says.
At the moment, all the processing has to happen on a computer that is connected to the smartphone; the quality of the image depends on the smartphone camera used. The team hopes to develop an app version of the software in the future.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628901-600-body-down-a-wire-living-your-life-in-remote-control/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Aussies turn to comic cat videos for comfort
UK LOL compilation show beats all others, bar the news
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/13/cat_videos_culled_from_net_top_australian_freetoair_tv_ratings/
Internet cat videos really are conquering the world, or at the very least have started doing so in Australia, a nation now stripped of all sporting prowess, where the UK’s Channel 5 production Cats Make You Laugh Out Loud has topped the nation’s free-to-air TV ratings.
First screened in the UK in January 2015, the show is billed as a “compilation of the most hilarious and outrageous cat-themed videos on the internet”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Budget UHD TVs arrive – but were the 4Kasts worth listening to?
Haters begone! You can now buy ‘em with your bangers and mash
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/14/breaking_fad_are_cheap_uhd_tvs_any_good/
When you can buy a 4K telly at the supermarket, along with your bangers and mash, you know Ultra HD has entered the mainstream. Retail giant Asda is now stocking the Polaroid-branded P55D600, a 55-inch Ultra HD screen for just £699. If you want to really push the boat out, you can heft the 65-inch version into your wonky-wheeled cart, for only £300 quid more.
Even without readily available content, we’ve seen an inexorable shift in panel production from 1080p to 2160p. In 2014 there were 235 million UHD TVs, worth an estimated $94bn, which went into retail. The research wizards at Futuresource Consulting are 4Kasting UHD TV shipments will grow 147 per cent this year.
So is the time right to bag a budget 4K telly? I borrowed the aforementioned Polaroid to find out.
But it’s budget-priced for a reason. The Smart platform offers the trinity of YouTube, BBC iPlayer and Netflix (but not 4K Netflix), yet is a creaky user experience. The passive 3D is largely unusable, and picture processing lacks high-end chops.
Beyond that, it’s actually a pretty capable display. Full HD sources look really nice and its 4K presentation is genuinely spectacular.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Still safe as houses: More CCTV for the masses
More app-equipped cameras for you to scare your pets with, apparently
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/15/feature_cctv_for_the_masses_piper_swann/
Last week, I looked at two home camera systems: Arlo from Netgear and Welcome from Netatmo. To recap, Arlo is pretty much a straightforward cloud-based CCTV system, offering you cameras with motion sensors and notification, together with an app to view things on your phone.
Systems like these aren’t, of course, the only option. As several commenters pointed out, you can roll your own system if you want. If you’ve an old PC lying around – or want to splash out on a small micro system like the Acer Revo One RL–85 – you could pop Linux on it, and add Zoneminder.
Zoneminder also supports X.10, which offers the possibility of linking to other automation and security devices. What you don’t get is the sort of simple apps we’ve seen from Welcome and Arlo, with pop-up notifications.
For a less DIY solution than Zoneminder, it’s also possible to use a NAS as the heart of a monitoring system. Synology’s latest Surveillance Station is a flexible package, and will still run on models several years old.
The crossover territory between surveillance and wider monitoring is where the two systems I’m looking at this week are venturing.
http://www.zoneminder.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inside Industrial Light & Magic’s secret Star Wars VR lab
ILMxLab isn’t just exploring the future of entertainment… they’re already making it
http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/13/9131805/ilm-ilmxlab-interview-virtual-reality-star-wars-movies
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix Is Ready to Pull Plug on Its Final Data Center
http://www.wsj.com/articles/netflix-is-ready-to-pull-plug-on-its-final-data-center-1439604288
It would be one of the first big companies to run all of its information technology remotely, in what’s known as the public cloud
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Sources: New Apple TV will run a full-blown iOS core, specifically a TV-optimized version of iOS9 — What will September’s new iOS 9-based Apple TV bring to the living room? — Apple plans to hold one of its annual fall media events on Wednesday, September 9th to introduce the new iPhone 6S …
What will September’s new iOS 9-based Apple TV bring to the living room?
http://9to5mac.com/2015/08/17/what-will-septembers-new-ios-9-based-apple-tv-bring-to-the-living-room/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart cameras in Japan will now detect drunken railway passengers
http://www.blicspy.com/2015/08/smart-cameras-in-japan-will-now-detect.html
Those who have prudently decided to not drive when they drink often find that the safest way to get home is by public transportation. However, in Japan, where a lot of commute is done by train, there is an inherent danger for a would-be passenger – falling onto the tracks.
The surveillance cameras will look for clues that the possible passenger is under the influence– such as them swaying while walking across the platform or taking their sweet time sitting on the bench. The cameras will then alert one of the station attendants, who is then required to go see whether this passenger is in need of assistance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kim Dotcom’s New Music Streaming Service Lets Artists Keep 90% of Proceeds
http://time.com/4001191/kim-dotcoms-music-streaming-service-baboom/
Baboom offers two tiers for customers, and streaming on the Web and on iOS and Android
A new music streaming service envisioned by Kim Dotcom, the notorious Internet entrepreneur best known as the founder of Megaupload, finally launched on Monday.
Designed as an alternative to popular streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, Baboom, as it’s called, lets independent artists keep 90% of the proceeds through its “Fair Trade Streaming” agreement. Dotcom originally envisioned the service as an alternative to the music industry through which they could directly distribute their music to fans, but he left the company last fall.
Baboom offers two tiers for customers, and streaming on the Web and on iOS and Android. The free version comes with ads, lets users save up to 100 songs into collections they create, and they have to purchase songs they wish to download. For $10 per month, customers get to skip the ads and save an unlimited amount of songs to their collection. They can also access exclusive content.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Metamaterials Single-Out One Voice
Smartphone’s track you even in a crowd
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1327423&
Researchers at Duke University (Durham, North Carolina) have invented a metamaterial-based voice-locator system that can pick out an individual’s voice even from a crowded, noisy room.
The researchers’ novel technique to solve the classic coctail party problem uses a metamaterial rotunda structure with different depth holes sunk into its pie-shaped unit cells. Sound waves going over them make a sound using the same principle as blowing over the top of a pop bottle, enabling the embedded electronics to distinguish the direction from which a voice is coming.
The voice-zoom option on video cameras and smartphones today can beam-steer to a particular voice, using multiple microphones and sophisticated algorithms to pick out one voice from many. However, the metamaterial rotunda’s unit cells employ a single microphone for acoustic direction location plus sophisticated algorithms to do a superior job, according to Duke.
“Metamaterials are used here to modulate sound waves directly without converting them to electronic signals first,” doctoral candidate, Abel Xie, working with professor Steven Cummer. “Each metamaterial unit cell changes the sound’s amplitude and phase at a specific frequency. The properties of these unit cells are randomized so each sector (or slot) possess a unique modulation for sound wave passing through it. Thus sound waves from different directions will be encoded differently by metamaterials which we can separate with our algorithms.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Is Teaching Its Gadgets to Mimic Humans
http://www.wired.com/2015/08/intel-giving-devices-senses/
Intel has very big plans for RealSense, the technology meant to enable our gadgets to learn and understand us, in order to better do the things we want. And the best way to achieve that? Make them mimic humans.
Today at Intel’s Developer Conference, CEO Brian Krzanich explained the company’s advances with RealSense, calling it the “sensification of compute.” “We want our devices to behave more like humans,” Krzanich said. “We want them to listen to us.” To do that, Intel is increasing platform compatibility to include ROS, Linux, Unity, XSplit, Structure SDK, OSVR, and Google’s Project Tango.
In one the most interesting.developments, Intel and Google are combining Project Tango (Google’s 3D mapping project) and RealSense into an Android SDK.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Germany Says Taking Photos Of Food Infringes The Chef’s Copyright
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/08/21/0058248/germany-says-taking-photos-of-food-infringes-the-chefs-copyright?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
According this article in Der Welt (Google translate from German), in Germany if you take a picture of a dish in a restaurant without prior permission, you are violating chef’s copyright for his creation and can be liable to pay a hefty fine. If this approach to foodporn will become universal, what will we put in our Instagrams?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pause Forecast for CMOS Image Sensor Market
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1327468&
LONDON — The strong annual growth rates of 18.9, 14.8 and 16.8 percent in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively, are due to increasing application diversity after a climb in the first half of the decade on the back of smartphone proliferation, the market analysis company said. Now similar resolutions and lower-resolution sensors are moving into automotive applications, machine vision, surveillance and sensors for Internet of Things, the firm argued.
IC Insights gave no reason for the expected pause in sales growth in 2017 although this may represent an expected market reaction to a potential oversupply of sensors.
In 2015 the CMOS image sensor market will climb 14.8 percent to reach a value of $10.1 billion, IC Insights reckons. CMOS image sensor unit shipments are now projected to grow 19 percent in 2015 to reach 3.7 billion units after rising 20 percent in 2014 and 2013.
In 2014, about 70 percent of CMOS image sensor sales – about $6.2 billion – were for embedded cameras in mobile phones, but that percentage is expected to fall to 49 percent in 2019 or about $7.3 billion, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of just 3.4 percent. In comparison, total CMOS image sensor sales are projected to grow by a CAGR of 11.1 percent in the five-year forecast period to reach $15.0 billion in 2019.
During the same period sales of CMOS image sensors for automotive safety systems will climb at a CAGR of 57.4 percent to $2.1 billion in 2019 by which time they will represent 14 percent of the market’s total dollar volume that year compared to just 3 percent in 2014.
CMOS image sensor sales for security systems and surveillance applications are expected to grow by a CAGR of 38.4 percent in the five-year forecast period to $899 million in 2019, which will represent 6 percent of the market’s total sales that year versus 2 percent in 2014. Medical and scientific imaging applications of CMOS image sensors are expected to enjoy a CAGR of 36.0 percent to $824 million in 2019 or about 6 percent of the total market compared to about 2 percent in 2014.
Toys and video game applications are expected to increase sales of CMOS image sensors by a CAGR of 32.7 percent to $255 million by 2019, which will represent 2 percent of the market’s total revenue compared to 1 percent in 2014.
Sony, the leading CMOS image sensor supplier, is now aiming at confirming a leading position in the automotive image sensor market just as it has done in the mobile phone market.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hack Your Own Analog Camera
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/20/hack-your-own-analog-camera/
We remember making pinhole cameras as kids out of cigar boxes. The Focal Camera website wants to enable you to make sophisticated cameras from a selection of building blocks. We’re talking cameras with film, not digital cameras (although we wondered if you could mount an image sensor… but that’s another hack).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mariella Moon / Engadget:
Comcast releases its livestreaming app, Xfinity Share, allowing all Xfinity subscribers to broadcast to other subscribers’ TVs and smartphones
Comcast releases its livestreaming app to all subscribers
http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/21/comcast-xfinity-share-wide-release/
Comcast says its livestreaming app did very well during its limited release, so the company’s now making it available to all Xfinity customers. The app, called Xfinity Share, gives you a way to broadcast video streams, photos and even previously recorded videos not just on your own TVs, but on other subscribers’ TVs. It also lets you share from mobile to mobile, though, if that’s more convenient.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Steven Johnson / New York Times:
How creative work in music, TV, movies, and books persists and often thrives in the post-Napster era, contrary to initial fears by some
The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t — In the digital economy, it was supposed to be impossible to make money by making art.
The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/magazine/the-creative-apocalypse-that-wasnt.html
In the digital economy, it was supposed to be impossible to make money by making art. Instead, creative careers are thriving — but in complicated and unexpected ways.
Against all odds, the
voices of the artists seem
to be louder than ever.
How can this be? The record industry’s collapse is real and well documented. Even after Napster shut down in 2002, music piracy continued to grow: According to the Recording Industry Association of America, 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded from 2004 to 2009. American consumers paid for only 37 percent of the music they acquired in 2009. Artists report that royalties from streaming services like Spotify or Pandora are a tiny fraction of what they used to see from traditional album sales. The global music industry peaked just before Napster’s debut, during the heyday of CD sales, when it reaped what would amount today to almost $60 billion in revenue. Now the industry worldwide reports roughly $15 billion in revenue from recorded music, a financial Armageddon even if you consider that CDs are much more expensive to produce and distribute than digital tracks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Transfer Data via YouTube
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/23/transfer-data-via-youtube/
The LVDO project (and a recent Windows fork) says it is steganography, but we aren’t quite sure it meets the definition. What it does is converts data into a video that you can transfer like any other video. A receiver that knows what LVDO parameters you used to create the video can extract the data (although, apparently, the reproduction is not always completely error-free).
The reason we aren’t sure if this really counts as steganography is that–judging from the example YouTube video (which is not encoded)–the output video looks like snow. It uses a discrete cosine transform to produce patterns.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cynthia Littleton / Variety:
Netflix stock slumps over 7% amid broad downturn; big media stocks like Disney, Viacom, and TWC fare better
Netflix, Facebook, Apple Shares Take Hit Amid More Market Volatility
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/netflix-facebook-apple-stock-market-down-1201575692/
The declines for the digital hot-shots are being chalked up to the drag of the broader market and a correction from the spikes that Netflix in particular enjoyed in recent weeks while traditional showbiz stocks slumped.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple says only 1 in 5 people have quit Apple Music
http://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-says-only-1-in-5-people-have-quit-apple-music/
Apple has defended the uptake of Apple Music, saying that 79 percent of those who signed up for a trial are still using the service.
Apple has said that only 21 percent of United States users who have tested Apple Music no longer use it, countering the results of a survey that found defection rates at more than twice that amount.
“Seventy-nine percent of people who signed up for a trial are using the service,” a spokesman for the company said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ASUS Announces A 144Hz WQHD Gaming Monitor With FreeSync
by Brandon Chester on August 19, 2015 12:59 PM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9545/asus-announces-mg278q-wqhd-gaming-monitor-with-freesync
Being a gaming-oriented display, the MG278Q’s focus is on a low response time and a high refresh rate rather than color accuracy. Since it’s a TN panel it’s likely that the panel has a native 6bit color depth per subpixel and uses temporal dithering to emulate 16.7 million colors, although this has not been confirmed. In addition to the 144Hz refresh rate, the MG278Q supports AMD’s FreeSync technology which utilizes the Adaptive Sync feature of DisplayPort 1.2a to enable a variable refresh rate synchronized to the GPU’s rendering of frames.
The AMD FreeSync Review
by Jarred Walton on March 19, 2015 12:00 PM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9097/the-amd-freesync-review
The first time anyone talked about adaptive refresh rates for monitors – specifically applying the technique to gaming – was when NVIDIA demoed G-SYNC back in October 2013. The idea seemed so logical that I had to wonder why no one had tried to do it before.
The impetus behind adaptive refresh is to overcome visual artifacts and stutter cause by the normal way of updating the screen. Briefly, the display is updated with new content from the graphics card at set intervals, typically 60 times per second. While that’s fine for normal applications, when it comes to games there are often cases where a new frame isn’t ready in time, causing a stall or stutter in rendering. Alternatively, the screen can be updated as soon as a new frame is ready, but that often results in tearing – where one part of the screen has the previous frame on top and the bottom part has the next frame (or frames in some cases).
Neither input lag/stutter nor image tearing are desirable, so NVIDIA set about creating a solution: G-SYNC. Perhaps the most difficult aspect for NVIDIA wasn’t creating the core technology but rather getting display partners to create and sell what would ultimately be a niche product – G-SYNC requires an NVIDIA GPU, so that rules out a large chunk of the market. Not surprisingly, the result was that G-SYNC took a bit of time to reach the market as a mature solution, with the first displays that supported the feature requiring modification by the end user.
Over the past year we’ve seen more G-SYNC displays ship that no longer require user modification, which is great, but pricing of the displays so far has been quite high.
When AMD demonstrated their alternative adaptive refresh rate technology and cleverly called it FreeSync, it was a clear jab at the added cost of G-SYNC displays. As with G-SYNC, it has taken some time from the initial announcement to actual shipping hardware, but AMD has worked with the VESA group to implement FreeSync as an open standard that’s now part of DisplayPort 1.2a, and they aren’t getting any royalties from the technology. That’s the “Free” part of FreeSync, and while it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that FreeSync enabled displays will cost the same as non-FreeSync displays, the initial pricing looks quite promising.
The major scaler companies – Realtek, Novatek, and MStar – have all built FreeSync (DisplayPort Adaptive Sync) into their latest products, and since most displays require a scaler anyway there’s no significant price increase.
FreeSync vs. G-SYNC Performance
One item that piqued our interest during AMD’s presentation was a claim that there’s a performance hit with G-SYNC but none with FreeSync.
things may have changed, but even so the difference was generally quite small – less than 3%
It’s probably safe to say that AMD is splitting hairs when they show a 1.5% performance drop in one specific scenario compared to a 0.2% performance gain
Except for a glitch with testing Alien Isolation using a custom resolution, our results basically don’t show much of a difference between enabling/disabling G-SYNC/FreeSync – and that’s what we want to see.
Closing Thoughts
It took a while to get here, but if the proof is in the eating of the pudding, FreeSync tastes just as good as G-SYNC when it comes to adaptive refresh rates. Within the supported refresh rate range, I found nothing to complain about. Perhaps more importantly, while you’re not getting a “free” monitor upgrade, the current prices of the FreeSync displays are very close to what you’d pay for an equivalent display that doesn’t have adaptive sync. That’s great news, and with the major scaler manufacturers on board with adaptive sync the price disparity should only shrink over time.
FreeSync driver that AMD provided (Catalyst 15.3 Beta 1) only allows FreeSync to work with single GPU configurations