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.
1,154 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shannon Bond / Financial Times:
European media giant investments in online video networks are growing fast — European media join push to support online video groups — Online video networks are receiving an influx of capital from European investors as the companies behind some of the most popular content on YouTube seek to reach bigger global audiences.
European media join push to support online video groups
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0%2F282d7f2c-3182-11e5-91ac-a5e17d9b4cff.html#axzz3jkEfEMyO
Online video networks are receiving an influx of capital from European investors as the companies behind some of the most popular content on YouTube seek to reach bigger global audiences.
“Traditional media companies who are seeing very low growth in their domestic markets are looking for opportunities to diversify their revenue streams away from domestic, advertising-funded broadcast TV,” said Richard Broughton, analyst at Ampere Analysis, a media research firm that values the total MCN business at $20bn.
The European interest follows a spate of US deals in recent years
Traditional media groups “are all paranoid about the decline and losses of key audience segments, and YouTube is key to their strategy to go recapture audience share, particularly for younger users,” Mr Broughton said. “And MCNs are effectively global businesses.”
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.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cable Runs Affect MEMS Microphone Tests
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1327411&
The explosion of smart devices has meant an explosion of small, low-powered audio components that bring their own special measurement and connectivity challenges.
Virtually all smartphones, tablets, and wearables incorporate multiple MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) microphones both for capturing sound and implementing noise-cancellation features. These small, surface-mounted components are cost effective and provide remarkably good performance. While many MEMS microphones produce only analog signals, a new generation of digital microphones is rapidly overtaking the market. These tiny devices incorporate very simple, low-power analog-to-digital convertors (ADCs) that produce PDM (pulse density modulation) data streams.
PDM is a 1-bit data technology that employs oversampling in order to match the performance of traditional PCM (pulse-code modulation) audio. By greatly oversampling the analog signal (most commonly by a factor of 64, but with a wide range of possible values) the bandwidth of the system is increased, and the inherent noise of a 1-bit system is pushed beyond audibility, where it is easily filtered.
In order to match the performance of a PCM audio system with a 48kHz sample rate, digital MEMS microphones commonly employ a sample rate of 48 kHz x 64 = 3.072 MHz. This high-frequency behavior creates some issues for test and measurement.
Because the microphones are generally mounted in close proximity to destination components in the finished product, signal loss due to capacitive effects are minimal, but the situation changes for the worse when testing MEMS microphones in a lab setting. Even bench cable runs of less than 3 ft (1 m) can present problems.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The scariest chart in the history of cable TV
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/08/scary-cabletv-chart.html?cmpid=EnlCIMAugust242015&eid=289644432&bid=1157834
As reported in Business Insider and Fortune, Wall Street research firm Pacific Crest recently produced the following chart, based on its analysis, which shows that cable TV subscriptions are falling off the proverbial cliff.
“in the first half of 2015, year-over-year growth in MVPD subscribers — ‘multichannel video programming distributor,’ or, in plain English, a cable company like Time Warner Cable or Comcast — went negative.”
“Over the past five years, the percent of households with cable subscriptions has been falling. But with year-over-year subscribers still seeing growth, however modest, cable companies were still able to look past what some had seen as a coming cord-cutting apocalypse. [But] now, that is a reality.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Allison Linn / TechNet Blogs:
Microsoft Research unveils MobileFusion, a new technology that turns any mobile device into real-time 3D scanner
MobileFusion: Research project turns regular mobile phone into 3D scanner
http://blogs.technet.com/b/inside_microsoft_research/archive/2015/08/24/3d-scans-with-mobile-phones-mobilefusion-research-project.aspx
A new Microsoft Research project lets people to create high-quality 3D images in real time, using a regular mobile phone, with about the same effort it takes to snap a picture or capture a video.
“What this system effectively allows us to do is to take something similar to a picture, but it’s a full 3D object,”
The researchers say the system, called MobileFusion, is better than other methods for 3D scanning with a mobile device because it doesn’t need any extra hardware, or even an Internet connection, to work. That means scientists in remote locations or hikers deep in the woods can capture their surroundings using a regular cell phone without a Wi-Fi connection.
The scans are high-quality enough to be used for things like 3D printing and augmented reality video games.
The researchers will present MobileFusion in early October at the International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality.
They found most mobile devices had become powerful enough that they could build a 3D-scanning system just using the computational power found on a regular mobile phone.
“The great starting point was to take a sensor that everyone has in their pocket, which is the camera you have on your mobile phone,” Izadi said.
The researchers then developed an algorithm that allowed the camera to act as a 3D scanner, using a technique of taking multiple images that is similar to how the human eye works, Izadi explained.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The decline of Flash is well and truly underway. Media publishers now have no choice but to start changing the way they bring content to the web. Many of them are not thrilled about the proposition (change is scary), but it will almost certainly be better for all of us in the long run. “By switching their platform to HTML5, companies can improve supportability, development time will decrease and the duplicative efforts of supporting two code bases will be eliminated.
Farewell To Flash: What It Means For Digital Video Publishers
http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/23/farewell-to-flash-what-it-means-for-digital-video-publishers/#.ojwuxm:hzaa
It’s been more than five years since Steve Jobs wrote his infamous “Thoughts on Flash” letter citing the high level of energy consumption, lack of performance on mobile and poor security as the reasons his company’s products would not support Adobe Flash technology. Finally, it appears we’re getting closer to the curtain closing on Flash.
Not too long ago, Flash powered a high percentage of the Internet’s vast array of video content. Today, that number is lower. But make no mistake, there are still many Flash-powered multimedia items on the web, including graphics, videos, games and animations, like GIFs, a preferred method of expression for millennials and adults alike.
We’ve been watching HTML5 impede on Flash for a while, and it’s now taking center stage, establishing itself as a predominant creative format, validated by the recent moves by Google and Mozilla that are only helping to accelerate that transition.
What Does The Change Mean For Publishers?
In spite of all this, for digital-video publishers, excitement may not be the initial emotion evoked by Flash‘s funeral. With the goal of increasing browsing speed and reducing power consumption for users, Google’s Chrome desktop browser announced their formerly opt-in setting that pauses plug-in content that isn’t considered essential to the webpage will become a default setting by early September.
This means that if publishers don’t upgrade their format specification, some or all of their video content may no longer be available for people to view; this will certainly affect viewer loyalty and monetization efforts.
For example, Flash video ads served in a desktop Chrome browser will load in a paused state, then the user will have to click the ad for it to play. These ads will still register as impressions. However, it won’t take long for programmatic buyers to scale back their bids on video ad inventory garnering a high number of impressions with no quartiles.
Publishers need to urge their buyers to prepare for the upcoming Flash-pocalypse because, despite the publishers‘ level of preparation, if their buyers don’t have the proper HTML5 creative assets, it will impact their ability to transact, having an impact on publisher revenue and the ability to successfully implement advertiser campaigns.
How Publishers Can Prepare
The most crucial thing for publishers is going to be ensuring that their advertisers and demand partners (ad networks, ad exchanges and advertisers) are providing and hosting HTML5 ad creatives moving forward.
The Impact
For publishers, one of the biggest wins of Flash‘s depreciation comes in the form of engineering resources saved. Historically, video publishers have always wanted to pick a standard, but the reality is, they haven’t been able to because of the aforementioned VPAID issue.
They’ve essentially been forced to use Flash to keep their ads business running — but also support an HTML5 code base. This means that any software management, maintenance and updates they make, like bug fixes, must be addressed in both code bases, which is very time-consuming from an engineering standpoint.
A major concern for publishers today is the amount of media consumption that’s occurring in mobile environments. They need to prioritize providing the best possible experience on mobile, and the decline of Flash and movement to HTML5 will do just that, as Flash has never worked well on mobile.
Time spent on mobile devices is still climbing steadily; according to eMarketer, U.S. adults will spend more than 5.5 hours per day with digital media in 2015, the majority (2:51) of which will be spent on a mobile device.
Popular desktop browsers, like Chrome, revoking their support for Flash, is a catalyst for HTML5 becoming digital-video advertising’s format for the future.
A Win-Win-Win
I believe that a Flash-free world will be better for everyone. HTML5 is conducive to the direction media consumption is heading and will positively affect people’s digital-video viewing (a primary concern for today’s digital publishers), creating a better overall Internet experience. It also takes less bandwidth than Flash to run, making it much more efficient for battery life on consumer’s devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Meet the little-known “Soundblaster” Keyboards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLJSdNYcdpk
Synths that use the YM3812
Yamaha PSR-11 49-keys 16-sounds (1986)
Yamaha PSR-12 49-keys 32-sounds (1987)
Yamaha PSR-31* 61-keys 16-sounds (1991)
Yamaha PSR-32* 61-keys 32-sounds (1987)
Yamaha PSS-460 49-keys 21-sounds (1986)
Yamaha PSS-470 49-keys 21-sounds (1987)
Yamaha PSS-560* 49-keys 21-sounds (1986)
Yamaha PSS-570* 49-keys 21-sounds (1987)
*While it does use the YM3812, it also uses an additional chip for drums.
Synths that use the YM2413 (cost reduced YM3812)
Yamaha PSR-6 49-keys 100-sounds (1994)
Yamaha PSS-140 37-keys 100-sounds (1988)
Yamaha PSS-170 44-keys 100-sounds (1986)
Yamaha PSS-270 49-keys 100-sounds (1986)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Patrick Foster / RadioTimes:
Two-thirds of viewers opposed to the licence fee changed their minds after just nine days without BBC services
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-08-25/two-thirds-of-viewers-opposed-to-the-licence-fee-changed-their-minds-after-just-nine-days-without-bbc-services
“Being without the BBC was absolutely dreadful, just awful,” said one man involved in the ‘deprivation study’. “I just didn’t realised how much we watched it…”
More than two-thirds of those originally opposed to paying the £145.50 licence fee changed their minds after being cut off from BBC services for a nine-day period, according to a study commissioned by the corporation.
Seventy families across the country agreed to have their access to the BBC’s television, radio and online services suspended, as part of a “deprivation study” designed to test the reactions of those who said they would prefer not to pay the licence fee.
Many of those who took part in the trial said that they became frustrated by having to watch adverts on commercial TV channels, and the O’Donnells were no different. “The adverts just drove me nuts,” said Mr O’Donnell. “I lost track of what I was watching.”
A perceived lack of quality from the BBC’s rivals was also a common complaint. Mr O’Donnell said: “The weather on ITV is Mickey Mouse. You can tell that the person who’s reading it doesn’t understand it. Whereas when you watch it on the BBC they clearly know what they’re talking about and put the script together from the research they’ve done. It’s quite a profound difference. I now think the BBC is incredibly good value. I’d probably willingly pay even more. I’m actually quite a good ambassador for the BBC now.”
The BBC commissioned the study to dig deeper into existing research that suggests that around 30 per cent of people are opposed to paying the licence fee. It would appear to confirm suspicions held at a high level in the corporation that many viewers do not realise how much they depend on the broadcaster’s output.
At the conclusion of the experiment, families were given £3.60, a rebate for the nine days of BBC access they had foregone. For many, that was a watershed moment. “That’s what, £12 a month,” said one unnamed participant, who was initially against the licence fee. “And we pay £70-odd a month for Sky. That’s a bit of a shock to be honest.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Au unnaturale: why CGI nudity is here to stay
It’s becoming increasingly easy and affordable to fake on-camera skin
http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/5/9100357/cgi-nudity-game-of-thrones-lena-headey-jessica-alba-machete
The motion picture camera was invented in 1889 — and less than a decade later, it was being used to create After the Ball, the first ever instance of nudity on film. It’s hard to say when the first nude scene gave way to the first nude body double, but the practice dates back to at least 1934, when Olympic swimmer Josephine McKim stood in for actress Maureen O’Sullivan during a nude underwater ballet scene in Tarzan and His Mate. In the decades since, directors have found increasingly creative ways to hide the fact that a film’s steamiest scene might not actually feature the film’s lead actor: including, in recent years, a shift toward the use of CGI to augment, enhance, or completely create on-camera nudity.
Many of us first became aware of this practice last month, during the final episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones.
Over the course of two days, the scene was shot twice: once with a clothed Headey, and once with a nude body double, with the two takes merged in post-production to create the illusion of a naked Headey.
The practice of using CGI to create the illusion of nudity dates back at least five years, when the Machete special effects team digitally removed Jessica Alba’s underwear to create the appearance of nudity. The Machete scene — which initially seemed to contradict Alba’s earlier statement that she’d never do a nude scene — caused a minor stir among fans and media, who began to debate whether Alba had “tricked” audiences with her CGI striptease
In the years since, the practice has appeared in a number of other films
But even as prices of digital effects drop, they’re still more costly than just shooting a performer nude. So why are we seeing such a dramatic uptick in altered nudity? In the years since Machete, numerous theories have been floated. Some have suggested it’s a way to get around nudity banning clauses in performers’ contracts, while others have seen it as a way for performers to have their cake and eat it too, receiving kudos for risks they didn’t actually undertake.
According to one CGI editor, who requested anonymity, the truth of the matter is far simpler: directors offer the CGI option to make performers as comfortable as possible, and, in turn, to create the best scene possible. A performer who feels awkward stripping down in front of not just co-stars and a director, but a crew full of shooters, PAs, film assistants, and anyone else who might be present on set that day, is unlikely to turn in a stellar performance. Far better to shoot them in a more comfortable set up, and digitally add in the more risqué aspects of the scene after.
An enhanced ability to focus on their performance isn’t the only reason performers turn to CGI, however. For some, the same pressure to appear physically perfect that’s caused Photoshop to run rampant in magazine offices has led to more widespread use of CGI as a kind of foundation garment.
With beauty work becoming a more regular part of post-production, it’s not much more effort to offer performers digital breast and butt lifts, or to swap out their nipples for a whole new look. Ultimately, digital effects allow filmmakers to craft a more perfect nude scene — whether by improving a cast member’s performance or by erasing their physical flaws — and for many, the temptation of digital nudity is hard to resist; especially if it represents a small addition to an already sizable CGI budget.
“We would prefer that the actress did her own nude scenes, that would be our number one choice,” he says. But he also doesn’t see digitally enhanced nude scenes as anything new: “It’s no different than when they were doing body doubles through the years… Not every movie actress is going to want to do a nude scene.”
What’s different now, however, is that CGI makes those body doubles more difficult to detect.
That tendency toward secrecy can fuel an audience’s sense that they’re being subjected to trickery — or, when the truth comes out about a digitally altered scene, that they’ve been the victims of nudity-filled bait and switch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Watch out Sonos! Here’s the second coming of Yamaha MusicCast
All singing, all dancing audio system ticking all the right boxes
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/20/the_second_coming_of_yamaha_musiccast/
Ever had a great idea but not everyone seemed to think so? That was pretty much what happened to Yamaha when it first launched MusicCast back in 2003. A CD-ripping music server with wireless client speakers and Ethernet too, if needed. What a great idea.
What wasn’t so great was that you couldn’t load up the 80GB HDD with your pre-ripped MP3s from a PC, and it didn’t stream net music services either.
So, back to the drawing board and some 12 years later, Yamaha unveiled an entirely new MusicCast system in secret to the press in Hamburg recently, that it claims ticks more boxes than any other competing audio streaming kit on the market.
One thing is for sure, Yamaha has stacked up an impressive range of MusicCast devices – 23 at the last count – all featuring Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Ethernet and Bluetooth connectivity, plus Apple AirPlay support.
Users with MP3, WMA and AAC audio files up to 48kHz, Apple Lossless at 96kHz, WAV, AIFF, or FLAC files at 192kHz can stream to any device. If you want to go a step higher to stream 5.6MHz DSD audio, then the supported kit falls into three categories: Hi-Fi active speakers, Hi-Fi receivers and AV receivers.
Talking of support, controlling all of this is the MusicCast app for Android and iOS and Yamaha was keen to show it all in action on its new kit
Having Ethernet on every device enables areas with weak Wi-Fi reception to join in the fun if you’re networked up or have Powerline adapters. And of course, it doesn’t matter which platform you’re using if you’re simply going to rely on Bluetooth for playback, so even Windows Phone users can get streamy
A glance at the spec released today suggests that it’s Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (A2DP, AVRCP profiles) across the board.
Besides being the curator of the music sources, the iOS and Android app side of things also makes light work of configuring the connected zones in the home equipped with MusicCast devices. D
Interestingly, the soundbars and high-end gear can also connect to third-party Bluetooth speakers.
Considering that to stream reliably Bluetooth isn’t likely to function too well through walls, it remains to be seen how useful that will be when you could simply end up with the AV kit blaring away at one end of the room and the Bluetooth speaker at the other.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
YouTube Gaming launches Wednesday on iOS, Android, and web to compete with Twitch
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/08/youtube-gaming-googles-twitch-tv-competitor-launches-tomorrow/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reuters TV pivots, goes free to seek wider audience
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2015/08/8575190/reuters-tv-pivots-goes-free-seek-wider-audience
Reuters TV, the much-anticipated “Netflix for news” app that launched earlier this year, is now available for free in the App store. The app, which was released Feb. 4, was previously only available if users paid $1.99 per month to subscribe to the curated television news service, which Reuters had claimed would revolutionize television for younger viewers.
“Today’s update simplifies Reuters TV’s design while making access free for all users, with limited advertising,” a Reuters spokesperson told POLITICO Media. “Subscribers will receive an ad-free experience. We’ve made this change so that we can reach a larger audience of urban, globally-minded young professionals.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Depth-Sensing Camera Works in Bright Light and Darkness
http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/1198-ntb/news/news/22832-depth-sensing-camera-works-in-bright-light-and-darkness
A new imaging technology from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Toronto operates in both bright sunlight and darkness. A mathematical model programs the device so that the camera and its light source work together efficiently, eliminating extraneous light, or “noise,” that would otherwise wash out the signals needed to detect a scene’s contours.
One prototype based on the model synchronizes a laser projector with a common rolling-shutter camera — the type used in most smartphones — so that the camera detects light only from points being illuminated by the laser as it scans across the scene.
Tomi Engdahl says:
75,000 Popcorn Time Users in Crosshairs of Anti-Piracy Group
By Andy on August 25, 2015
https://torrentfreak.com/75000-popcorn-time-users-in-crosshairs-of-anti-piracy-group-150825/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
The Norwegian division of Rights Alliance says it has gathered data on tens of thousands of Popcorn Time users and is now considering its next steps. A change in the law allows the Hollywood affiliated anti-piracy group to monitor suspected Internet users and it is now warning of “a surprise in the mail” this fall.
Less than 18 months since its original launch in 2014 and the controversial Popcorn Time software is still making headlines. The application’s colorful and easy to use interface has proven a hit with users and now anti-piracy groups in the United States and Europe are fighting back.
Last month Norwegian anti-piracy group Rettighets Alliansen (Rights Alliance) blamed Popcorn Time for a piracy explosion in the country and warned that it was monitoring pirates. More information is now being made available.
Norway has a population of just over 5.1m and it’s estimated that around 750,000 obtain video from illegal sources. However, it’s now being claimed that a third of those – 250,000 – are using Popcorn Time on a weekly basis. Rights Alliance says it has been watching them closely.
“In relation to the legislation we have in Norway, Rights Alliance is fully entitled to collect IP addresses of Popcorn Time users. This is not problematic as we see it,” explains Inspectorate Director Bjorn Erik Thon
“Rights Alliance may collect IP addresses, but to find out the identities of who is behind them requires a trial,” he notes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Emily Steel / New York Times:
Netflix is licensing films from YouTube stars and developing new shows to appeal to teens
Netflix to Add Films and TV Series for Teenagers
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/business/netflix-to-add-films-and-tv-series-for-teenagers.html?_r=0
Netflix is entering the awkward teenage years, at least with its latest programming push.
The company is adding to its streaming service a number of exclusive films and television series focused on teenagers and “tweens,” as part of a strategy to position itself as a digital entertainment hub for the postmillennial generation.
Netflix has licensed two films from popular YouTube personalities, including “Smosh: The Movie” from the creators of the YouTube comedy channel of the same name, which has over 21 million YouTube subscribers; and “Bad Night,” featuring the YouTube stars Jenn McAllister and Lauren Luthringshausen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Joan E. Solsman / CNET:
TuneIn adds $8/month Premium subscription with access to over 40K audiobooks, 600 ad-free music stations, and live MLB broadcasts
TuneIn takes the ads out of your on-the-go real radio
http://www.cnet.com/news/tunein-takes-the-ads-out-of-radio/
The Internet’s main spot for AM/FM radio adds an $8 subscription that swaps commercials out of 600 stations, while also opening up a library of audiobooks (including “Harry Potter”) and streaming every Major League Baseball game.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft releases Snip, a free screen capture app for Windows that lets users annotate with digital ink and voice — Microsoft Snip brings Windows screenshots to life with voice and ink — Microsoft has a new Office tool that’s really useful if you regularly take screenshots.
Microsoft Snip brings Windows screenshots to life with voice and ink
http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/27/9214079/microsoft-snip-windows-screenshot-tool
Microsoft has a new Office tool that’s really useful if you regularly take screenshots. Microsoft Snip, available in beta now, allows Windows users to capture screenshots and then annotate on them and record audio over the top. It can turn an ordinary screenshot into a screen tutorial, or just a neat way to share your thoughts about a document or image over the web. While Windows has long included its own Snipping Tool, Microsoft Snip is a lot more powerful.
Microsoft Snip hovers at the top of the desktop so it’s instantly accessible to create a capture from your desktop screen, webcam, or just a whiteboard to sketch up anything with digital ink.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Sources: iPhone 6S gets 12 megapixel camera with 4K video recording and a flash-like white screen feature when front shutter is engaged for photos — iPhone 6S camera: 12 megapixel photos, 4K video recording, flash for selfies — One of the marquee upgrades to the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus …
iPhone 6S camera: 12 megapixel photos, 4K video recording, flash for selfies
http://9to5mac.com/2015/08/27/iphone-6s-camera-12-megapixels-4k-selfies/
One of the marquee upgrades to the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus will be a major revamp to the camera system. For the first time since the iPhone 4S launch in 2011, the iPhone camera’s megapixel count will be upgraded: Apple will be moving from an 8-megapixel sensor to a custom imager billed as 12-megapixels in both of the new iPhones, according to sources. The 12-megapixel camera will mean that the new iPhones will be able to take larger, higher-resolution photos than before. Because of an upgraded image signal processor that comes as part of the new A9 system-on-a-chip, the new sensor will not wash out or otherwise decrease the quality of photos, according to sources.
In addition to a much-upgraded rear still camera, Apple has decided to make a significant addition to the iPhone’s video recording capabilities: 4K video recording support. The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus will be the first iPhones capable of recording video in full 4K resolution and among the first phones on the market with such capabilities, though Samsung’s Galaxy S5 launched with 4K video recording support in early 2014.
Besides new camera hardware on the rear of the new iPhone, we are told that the front FaceTime camera will also see significant improvements. In addition to an upgraded sensor for higher quality video calls and selfies, Apple will indeed add front flash support.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook says it will give video creators and publishers a way to remove copyrighted videos that have been uploaded to its popular social network without the proper permission.
The company has come under fire from video creators, like YouTube star Hank Green, for allowing users to embed and post videos on the site, even if the content doesn’t belong to them. But this may soon change.
Facebook responded to such concerns in a blog post today, saying that it will soon be testing a “new video matching technology,” allowing video partners to check whether their content has been uploaded without their consent.
Source: http://www.wired.com/2015/08/facebook-wants-crack-pirated-videos/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Witness The Birth of a 36-Lens Panoramic Camera
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/28/witness-the-birth-of-a-36-lens-panoramic-camera/
We are suckers for a teardown video here at Hackaday: few things are more fascinating than watching an expensive piece of equipment get torn apart. [Jonas Pfeil] is going the other way, though: he has just published an interesting video of one of his Panono panoramic ball cameras being built.
The Panono is a rather cool take on the panoramic camera: it is a ball-shaped device fitted with 36 individual cameras. When you press the button and throw the camera in the air, it waits until the highest point and then takes pictures from all of the cameras. Sound familiar? We first coverd [Jonas’] work way back in 2011.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Hands-on with YouTube Gaming: effective for finding and viewing YouTube’s existing gaming content, but it must attract big live audiences to compete with Twitch
YouTube Gaming is a great reminder of everything YouTube already does
http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/26/9212071/youtube-gaming-app-hands-on
YouTube is already a big player in live video. YouTube is already a big player in gaming. As of today, Google is promoting the intersection of the two with YouTube Gaming, a dedicated site and separate app that’s supposed to directly compete with Twitch’s popular streaming platform. YouTube Gaming is a more obviously gaming-focused version of the standard interface; the announcement post billed it as a place where “you can search with confidence, knowing that typing ‘call’ will show you Call of Duty and not ‘Call Me Maybe.’”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alexander Martin / Wall Street Journal:
Japanese mobile game and Internet company DeNA launches Mirrativ for Android to let users livestream anything on their screen — DeNA Goes Live Streaming With Mirrativ — Japanese mobile game and Internet company DeNA Co. is joining the global live streaming race with a new app …
DeNA Goes Live Streaming With Mirrativ
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/08/27/dena-goes-lives-streaming-with-mirrativ/
Japanese mobile game and Internet company DeNA Co. is joining the global live streaming race with a new app that allows users to share literally anything happening on their smartphone screens – be it videos, games, or users simply browsing the Web.
The app, unveiled Friday, is called Mirrativ and is the brainchild of Junichi Akagawa, a producer at DeNA who hopes it will create a unique, intimate streaming experience unlike anything that came before.
DeNA, which made headlines earlier this year when it struck a partnership with Nintendo Co. to develop its video games for smartphones, will enter an increasingly competitive market where live streaming apps like Meerkat and Twitter’s recently-acquired Periscope vie for users. But unlike streaming apps released so far, which were basically specialized in livestreaming video or mobile games, Mirrativ streams anything happening on the user’s screen, without the need to register with other services or devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Micah Singleton / The Verge:
Sources: YouTube to launch Music Key and its unnamed video subscription service this year
YouTube as you know it is about to change dramatically
Would you pay to avoid ads on YouTube?
http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/28/9220377/youtube-as-you-know-it-is-about-to-change-dramatically
The way you experience YouTube may be dramatically different before the end of the year. According to multiple sources, the world’s largest video-sharing site is preparing to launch its two separate subscription services before the end of 2015 — Music Key, which has been in beta since last November, and another unnamed service targeting YouTube’s premium content creators, which will come with a paywall. Taken together, YouTube will be a mix of free, ad-supported content and premium videos that sit behind a paywall.
With the exception of a few video rentals, YouTube has always been a free, ad-supported service. But the company is about to get serious about subscription services, offering new ways for the users that create videos to make money. While two subscription offerings for the same service might seem odd to some — with one music industry source calling it “strange on top of strange” — YouTube’s thinking was likened to that of a cable company offering different packages for sports and movies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Gurman / 9to5Mac:
Sources: Apple TV 4 coming in October for under $200, Apple TV 3 will support streaming service next year, but won’t have App Store or direct Siri controls — Apple TV 4 coming in October for under $200, Apple TV 3 stays & gets new streaming service — Rough mockup of fourth Apple TV vs. third Apple TV by Michael Steeber
Apple TV 4 coming in October for under $200, Apple TV 3 stays & gets new streaming service
http://9to5mac.com/2015/08/30/apple-tv-4-200-october/
With the official debut of the next-generation Apple TV less than two weeks away, sources have provided additional details on Apple’s pricing, availability, and product lineup plans for its set-top devices
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Psychology of Entertainment
http://purplesim.com/index.php/2015/08/11/the-psychology-of-entertainment/
On the private and public forms of entertainment and the psychological mechanisms in entertainment
Entertainment has many dimensions and could be personal/private or more general and public forms of entertainment. When we play with our mates that is a personal form of entertainment and when we sit and watch a movie on the screen that is a more general form of entertainment as we are sharing the experience with many others. There are some differences in our perception of private and public forms of entertainment as personal entertainment will always be based on personal experiences, our personal worldview and will be determined by personal interactions.
Entertainment takes us to a different world and feeds our need for fantasy and an escape from real life. This is especially true for entertainment that is more public or provided by the media and entertainment provided by films, theater, music, and all forms of creative art. Films and theater transposes us to a world of fantasy and grabs our attention so we remain engrossed as almost a part of this alternative reality. Entertainment could also be in the form of magazine stories and gossip or even celebrity culture and the psychology of entertainment could also explain the extreme craze of celebrity culture that we have in the modern world.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Channel surfers and the irresistible rise of Content Delivery Networks
When load balancing just won’t cut it
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/28/content_delivery_networks_why_load_balancing/
Clearly, investors see plenty of demand for CDNs and for new and independent providers. But why?
When you’re delivering content online, speed is king. You can be offering the best website or service in the world, but in our always-on, instant-access consumer culture waiting is beyond unacceptable.
If your content isn’t instant, in that five/ten/fifteen seconds (or worse) the chances are a good portion of your audience has gotten sick of waiting and gone elsewhere.
Your content may be good, but be honest with yourself: is it so good it will defy even the shortest of attention spans? Didn’t think so. Then you may well benefit from a CDN.
A CDN (sometimes called a Content Distribution Network) is a specialist infrastructure, network or system for the high performance delivery of information and services.
How you achieve it may vary (and we’ll get onto that later). It might comprise a super-low latency routing platform or exceedingly intelligent load-balancing, backing onto a vast and distributed – or at least flexible and scalable – server infrastructure, and will probably offer some form of DDoS mitigation due to its capacity and scale, but the net result is fundamentally the same: you want to get whatever you’ve got, to whoever needs to receive it, as quickly as possible.
Most of us are using CDNs every day, and probably don’t even realise it.
If you’ve downloaded a piece of software from Adobe or Apple, then you’ve been using the Akamai Content Delivery Network. AMD use Akamai for delivering driver updates, Rackspace Cloud Files runs over Akamai for its Dropbox-type services, and Trend Micro even operates its House Call on-demand remote virus scanning from it.
Then there’s the video and audio content that have used Akamai over the years: BBC iPlayer, China Central Television, ESPN, MIT Open Courseware, NASA, NBC Sports and even the Whitehouse use the Akamai Content Delivery Network – yes, even Barrack Obama uses a CDN – to deliver Presidential webcasts while the 2009 Presidential Inauguration was delivered by Limelight Networks.
Limelight Networks has delivered some similarly ostentatious events for MSNBC including the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympic Games, provided the backbone delivery platform for other major sporting events (including the Six Nations rudby and the Wimbledon tennis championships), and content for Facebook and Netflix.
CDNs aren’t just big boys toys for high bandwidth systems, though; there are a number of free options out there to speed up static web delivery, and WordPress even offers their own in-house CDN for the fast delivery of images and videos on WordPress blogs.
Thinking back then, you may have already used a CDN today, and will probably be using one later. You might even be using one right now. But how do they work?
On their most simplistic, basic level, a CDN is concerned with delivering some form of content to you as quickly as possible.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Telcos’ revenge is coming as SDN brings a way to build smart pipes
Wanna watch the Olympics in 8K with no jitter? Hand over your credit card, kid
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/06/telcos_revenge_is_coming_as_sdn_brings_a_way_to_build_smart_pipes/
Telcos, terrified of being consigned to eternal status as ‘dumb pipes’, keep coming up with crazy ideas for over-the-top (OTT) high-value services. In America, they’re buying entertainment properties.
All of these services rest on an unquestioned assumption that a pipe is simply a series of tubes that transport bits from one point to another across the global Internet. That’s never been particularly true – for instance, some points are far better connected than others – and now it threatens to be utterly at odds with reality.
TCP/IP kicked over those traces, giving us the perception of a hypercloud of connectivity as every point virtually connected to every other point. The truth is always far more complex
All networks for the past twenty-five years have grown up around the assumption that all services are equally accessible across the network. That’s rarely the case; as any network engineer knows, a network is only as fast as its slowest span. These days, networks are composed of many, many spans.
But there’s a problem: No matter how close these points-of-presence become, they’re confronting a network architecture passively hostile to them. In order to service the needs of all, networks have never been able to satisfy the demands of all.
That’s about to create some big problems.
The Japanese will be broadcasting the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 8K resolution. Yes, you read that right – 8x the resolution of our current generation HDTV tellies. (I’ve actually heard the Japanese will be ready for 16K broadcasting in 2020, but have yet to make that announcement.)
The Japanese will be spitting out multiple multi-gigabit UUHDTV streams to their broadcasting partners around the world, who will, in turn, be sending it out to billions of viewers worldwide.
Somewhere in there is where the network as we know it breaks.
Terrestrial broadcasting will suffice for an HDTV Olympics. But broadcasting, driven by Moore’s Law, grows geometrically in resolution and bandwidth requirements. That means the network – not the cameras or the televisions – begins to fall over.
Already, Australia’s network struggles under HD Netflix content. 4K is beyond the pale. And in America, Comcast will lease you a sufficiently capacious 2 Gbps fibre connection – for a hefty $300 a month, so you could watch the broadcast – if you had any money leftover to pay for content.
Various upstart networking vendors have been spruiking Software Defined Networks (SDNs) as the panacea for large data centres. Using SDNs, corporates can reconfigure their networks on-the-fly, adapting them to needs and desires at minimal cost.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lights, Camera, Experiment!
http://science.slashdot.org/story/15/08/30/1436206/lights-camera-experiment
The New Yorker’s Jamie Holmes takes a look at How Methods Videos Are Making Science Smarter, helping scientists replicate elaborate experiments in a way that the text format of traditional journals simply can’t. The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JOVE), for instance, is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that now has a database of more than four thousand videos that are usually between ten and fifteen minutes long, ranging in subject from biology and chemistry to neuroscience and medicine.
How Methods Videos Are Making Science Smarter
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/how-methods-videos-are-making-science-smarter
The videos can be of particular help to researchers who are not naturally aware of the dexterity that a specific laboratory procedure requires. As Jonathan Butcher, of Cornell’s School of Biomedical Engineering, put it, “Not everybody is intrinsically a good gardener.” Recently, for example, Butcher’s colleagues sent him an e-mail indicating with skepticism that they couldn’t replicate some of his results. The procedure in question required gently swabbing off cells from the lining of blood vessels in the valves of the heart. When Butcher invited the researchers to his lab and watched them try it, he realized that they were oblivious as to how to do it delicately. “They just thought that scraping is scraping,” he said. After they observed a visual demonstration, they were able to replicate the procedure. Rather than repeating this process for numerous investigators, Butcher published a video in JOVE. Since then, he hasn’t been contacted by other doubters. Indeed, Pritsker said, the journal’s sweet spot is anything that requires animal surgery, in which the convenience of visuals veers toward necessity.
Since 2013, JOVE’s user base has grown by thirty per cent per year, and last year the journal, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, opened subsidiaries in London and Melbourne.
The consumption of methods videos remains modest compared with that of traditional, print-only journals. Poorly conceived videos can be as unhelpful as inscrutable text, of course, and no video will fully substitute for an in-person demonstration. They also aren’t as cheap to produce as standard journal articles, and there have been complaints about JOVE’s pricing structure. One point of concern is publication costs: researchers pay twenty-four hundred dollars to produce a video that is available only to subscribers, and forty-two hundred dollars for an open-access video.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:
Sources: Apple escalates talks with Hollywood execs, seeking to have development and production teams ready by 2016 to compete with Netflix
Apple Eyes Move Into Original Programming (EXCLUSIVE)
http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/apple-eyes-move-into-original-programming-exclusive-1201582020/
The moment the media and technology industries have been expecting for years may finally be arriving: Apple is exploring getting into the original programming business.
Sources indicate the Cupertino, Calif., colossus has held preliminary conversations in recent weeks with executives in Hollywood to suss out their interest in spearheading efforts to produce entertainment content. The unit putting out the feelers reports into Eddy Cue, who is Apple’s point man on all content-related matters, from its negotiations with programmers for Apple TV to its recent faceoff with Taylor Swift.
An Apple representative declined comment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix Is Becoming Just Another TV Channel
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/15/08/31/2054241/netflix-is-becoming-just-another-tv-channel
Netflix revealed in a blog post that it will not renew its contract with Epix, meaning you won’t be able to watch movies like The Hunger Games and World War Z through the service anymore. With the increase in cord-cutters and more original content, Netflix is positioning itself to be like any other TV channel
Why You’ll See Some High Profile Movies Leave Netflix US Next Month
http://blog.netflix.com/2015/08/why-youll-see-some-high-profile-movies.html
We hear from our members that you wish we had newer movies. So do we. Studio licensing practices means it often takes more than a year before consumers can watch a theatrically released movie when and how they want. Just like we’ve changed the game for TV watchers by releasing entire seasons around the world at the same time, we have begun making movies that will premiere on Netflix globally and in some cases, simultaneously in theaters.
Tomi Engdahl says:
World’s Most Powerful Digital Camera Sees Construction Green Light
http://science.slashdot.org/story/15/08/31/2158256/worlds-most-powerful-digital-camera-sees-construction-green-light
The Department of Energy has approved the construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telecscope’s 3.2-gigapixel digital camera, which will be the most advanced in the world.
According to SLAC: “Starting in 2022, LSST will take digital images of the entire visible southern sky every few nights from atop a mountain called Cerro Pachón in Chile.”
World’s Most Powerful Digital Camera Sees Construction Green Light
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope’s ‘Eye’ Will be Built at SLAC
https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/news/2015-08-31-world%E2%80%99s-most-powerful-digital-camera-sees-construction-green-light.aspx
The Department of Energy has approved the start of construction for a 3.2-gigapixel digital camera – the world’s largest – at the heart of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Assembled at the DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the camera will be the eye of LSST, revealing unprecedented details of the universe and helping unravel some of its greatest mysteries.
The construction milestone, known as Critical Decision 3, is the last major approval decision before the acceptance of the finished camera, said LSST Director Steven Kahn: “Now we can go ahead and procure components and start building it.”
Starting in 2022, LSST will take digital images of the entire visible southern sky every few nights from atop a mountain called Cerro Pachón in Chile. It will produce a wide, deep and fast survey of the night sky, cataloguing by far the largest number of stars and galaxies ever observed. During a 10-year time frame, LSST will detect tens of billions of objects—the first time a telescope will observe more galaxies than there are people on Earth – and will create movies of the sky with unprecedented details.
The telescope’s camera – the size of a small car and weighing more than three tons
Components of the camera are being built by an international collaboration of universities and labs, including DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and SLAC.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The first 4K TVs with OLED panel
4K-precision power little by little the television market and is now beginning for the next wave: OLED-based 4K paneleien entry into the market. Reportedly the first manufacturer gets the LG Eelectronics with OLED-based EF9500-model sales will start in the USA in September.
LG plans to introduce the sale of 4K TVs 55, 65 and 77 inch sizes. The range includes both curved and flat, flat OLED panels.
LG’s 55-inch curved OLED TV costs almost $ 2500. Prices do come down at a rapid pace.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3259:ensimmainen-4k-televisio-oled-paneelilla&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Twitter is testing new photo and video editing tools with stickers, doodles, text, and more
Twitter Is Testing Funky New Photo And Video Editing Tools
http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/31/twitter-is-testing-funky-new-photo-and-video-editing-tools/#.ojwuxm:SqCZ
It looks like Twitter is planning to give its users a lot more creativity in the photo and video department soon. That’s according to numerous images posted by Taylor Swift, Pharrell Williams and others popstars, who appeared to have access to unreleased editing features from Twitter at MTV’s VMA awards show this weekend.
Lara Cohen, who is Twitter’s Director of Entertainment Talent, highlighted the new photos with tweets that implied (and seemingly confirmed) that the stars were roadtesting something new. It isn’t clear if this is a standalone app, or just an extension of the photo/videos features inside Twitter’s mobile apps.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Witness The Birth of a 36-Lens Panoramic Camera
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/28/witness-the-birth-of-a-36-lens-panoramic-camera/
Tomi Engdahl says:
GoPro:
GoPro releases trim and share feature to create short video clips directly on HERO4 and HERO+ LCD, or via app on all WiFi enabled GoPros
GoPro Releases New Trim and Share Feature for Cameras and App
http://gopro.com/news/gopro-releases-new-trim-and-share-feature-for-cameras-and-app
GoPro is very excited to release its latest feature that further enables users to effortlessly share their memorable moments captured on their GoPro devices. This smart new feature allows the user to create short video clips directly on the camera or mobile device for easy sharing. Simply press the Trim icon in playback mode, choose a 5-, 15-, or 30-second clip from any of your recorded content, and save it for sharing, all without transferring entire video files.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Lets Apple, Android Users Download Prime Videos
http://recode.net/2015/09/01/amazon-lets-apple-android-users-download-prime-videos/
Amazon’s Prime Video is a lot like Netflix: Both of the video streaming services have a lot of old TV shows, some old movies and some new stuff the companies make themselves.
Now Amazon gets to boast that it has something Netflix doesn’t have: The ability to let users download some TV shows and movies to their phones and tablets so they can watch them later, without an Internet connection.
Amazon has already offered that feature for a couple of years, but only for its own Fire tablets. Now it’s making a big leap forward by offering the capability for iPhones, iPads and Android devices.
It’s not the kind of thing you’ll want to do all the time, because Wi-Fi connections are pretty plentiful these days. But when you want it — like when you’re getting on a cross-country flight — you may really like it. You might even tell a friend.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Netflix launch Alliance for Open Media to develop next-generation of royalty-free video formats — Amazon, Netflix, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla And Others Partner To Create Next-Gen Video Format — Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel …
Amazon, Netflix, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla And Others Partner To Create Next-Gen Video Format
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/01/amazon-netflix-google-microsoft-mozilla-and-others-partner-to-create-next-gen-video-format/
Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla and Netflix today announced that they have formed a new open source alliance — the Alliance for Open Media — with the goal of developing the next generation of royalty-free video formats, codecs and other related technologies.
It’s not often we see these rival companies come together to build a new technology together, but the members argue that this kind of alliance is necessary to create a new interoperable video standard that will work across vendors and platforms. While it goes unmentioned in the announcement, it’s also clear that none of the members involved in this alliance want to have to pay royalties to the likes of MPEG LA.
As Mozilla notes, part of the reason for forming this alliance is not just to share technology, but also to “run the kind of patent analysis necessary to build a next-generation royalty-free video codec.”
There is no dearth of royalty-free next-gen codec projects, of course. Mozilla has Daala, Cisco has Thor, and Google is working on VP9 and 10. It’s no surprise then that the Alliance’s first project is to create a new video codec specification that’s based on the previous work of its members.
The group plans to publish its code under the Apache 2.0 license and it will operate under W3C patent rules, meaning the members will waive royalties from the codec implementations and their patents on the codec itself.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google-led Group Preempts HEVC
‘Alliance for Open Media’ to develop video codec optimized for the web
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1327584&
Internet giants Google and Cisco have banded together with Amazon and Netflix, two large streaming service players, along with Microsoft, Intel and Mozilla, to establish an Alliance for Open Media to develop “open, royalty-free and interoperable solutions for the next generation of video delivery,” the group said Tuesday (Sept. 1).
By coming up with a new video codec of its own “optimized for the Web,” the Alliance for Open Media is issuing a direct challenge to High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265, developed by Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG).
The news came as a surprise to most industry analysts EE Times talked to.
On the surface, this looks like a big new technology battle brewing between HEVC and the Alliance for Open Media. Most likely, said the analysts, there’s more to the story.
Tomi Engdahl says:
You Can Now Use Stephen Hawking’s Speech Software for Free
http://www.wired.com/2015/08/stephen-hawking-software-open-source/
Software created by Intel was instrumental in giving Stephen Hawking a voice. Now, the company has released this same software under a free software license.
The development of the platform, called ACAT for “assistive context-aware toolkit,” was detailed in a WIRED story earlier this year. It’s a system that makes computers more accessible to people with disabilities. And now that the source code for this toolkit is open, it means you can build a system very similar to the one Professor Hawking uses to input text, send commands to applications, and communicate with the world.
So why aren’t you? Well, there are a few things you should be aware of before you go ahead and download ACAT. For starters, it’s PC-only. You will need a PC running at least Windows XP
If you have a PC, though, the rest of the hardware requirements are pretty easy to meet. ACAT uses visual cues in the user’s face to understand commands
To use it, your computer simply needs to have a webcam. However, for users who might want or need more from ACAT, there are possibilities for other types of input down the road.
Of course, ACAT isn’t really meant for the average user to download and play with—at least, not yet.
“The goal of open sourcing this is to enable developers to create solutions in the assistive space with ease, and have them leverage what we have invested years of effort in,” says Nachman. “Our vision is to enable any developer or researcher who can bring in value in sensing, UI, word prediction, context awareness, etc. to build on top of this, and not have to reinvent the wheel since it is a large effort to do this.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony Unveils Smartphone With 4K Screen
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/15/09/02/1615252/sony-unveils-smartphone-with-4k-screen
Sony has taken the wraps off its new Xperia Z5 Premium smartphone, which has a 5.5″ display that operates at 4k resolution. “The company acknowledged that there was still a limited amount of professional content available in 4K — which provides about four times the number of pixels as 1080p high definition video. But it said the Z5 Premium would upscale videos streamed from YouTube and Netflix to take advantage of the display.”
Sony smartphone has 4K screen and new camera module
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34117115
It means the Xperia Z5 Premium can both capture video in “ultra-high definition” quality and then play it back on its 5.5in (14cm) display without downgrading the footage.
Sony’s mobile division loses money, but its camera components are profitable.
Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and Huawei are among rival handset-makers to have used earlier generations of the Japanese company’s photo-capture technologies.
Sony said the 23 megapixel sensor involved was being kept as an “exclusive” to its own devices for the time being.
Sony unveiled its new Android-powered handsets at Berlin’s Ifa tech show.
The company acknowledged that there was still a limited amount of professional content available in 4K – which provides about four times the number of pixels as 1080p high definition video.
But it said the Z5 Premium would upscale videos streamed from YouTube and Netflix to take advantage of the display.
One of the big concerns about high-definition screens is that they run down batteries more quickly.
Sony says its use of a “high capacity” 3,430 mAh battery and memory-on-display tech – which allows a static image to remain on show without requiring extra processing power – should mean the handset lasts for “up to two days” between charges.
But one expert still had concerns.
“I really doubt it will last two days if you watch a 4K movie on the device,” said Francisco Jeronimo from the tech research company IDC.
“There’s not really a need for a 4K display from a consumers point-of-view.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Thermal imager integrates photo camera
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4440238/Thermal-imager-integrates-photo-camera?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20150831&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20150831&elq=fcd4360bb863402195fc2f1ab1823018&elqCampaignId=24577&elqaid=27822&elqat=1&elqTrackId=a50c2d8d6cc1498985dd26f33c47edad
The THT45 thermal imager from HT Instruments displays both thermal and visual images, mixing them together using picture-in-picture technology on its 2.8-in. color LCD
Each IR pixel in the 80×80-pixel array collects temperature information through the lens to create a 2-D thermal image. The THT45 achieves a thermal sensitivity of <0.1°C at 30°C, and it has a minimum focal distance of 20 in. Measurement accuracy is ±2% of reading or ±2°C.
Additionally, the THT45 contains a perfectly aligned 1.3-Mpixel video camera that allows a focused picture-in-picture fusion of visible and infrared images to simplify the detection and analysis of temperature-related issues.
Tomi Engdahl says:
High-speed wireless access to the SD card
Toshiba has presented the Berlin IFA trade fair in the SD memory card, which is connected to the company’s own TransferJet communications. It enables even digital camera pictures can be wirelessly transferred to another device particularly quickly. The transfer requires that the receiving device is TransferJet radio, for example, in the form of a USB stick.
TransferJet-link to any settings, it is sufficient to connect a USB adapter or SD card devices. Data passes to 4.48 GHz UWB frequencies of 375 megabits per second. Toshiba 20, the second high-definition video is transferred at the rate of one second.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3281:huippunopea-langaton-yhteys-sd-kortille&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
As police move to adopt body cams, storage costs set to skyrocket
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2979627/cloud-storage/as-police-move-to-adopt-body-cams-storage-costs-set-to-skyrocket.html
Petabytes of police video are flooding into cloud services
The police department in Birmingham, Ala. has seen a 71% drop in citizen complaints — and a 38% drop in use of force by officers — since deploying 319 body cameras two months ago.
The cameras have been so effective that the department plans to buy another 300 cameras from Taser International.
Birmingham is among a growing number of police departments that are rolling out body cameras, spurred in large part by public pressure in the wake of a series of controversial police shootings of civilians. That pressure first began to mount nationally last year
The Birmingham police initially purchased 5TB of online storage on Evidence.com, Taser’s file management cloud, which is built on Amazon’s Web Service (AWS) platform. In just two months, however, the department has already used 1.5TB of its allotment — and it’s on track to exceed the 5TB limit in about six months.
“That’s the biggest problem with this system…the cost of the storage,” Brewer said. “They do offer unlimited storage, but it’s quite costly — well above $1 million for the package we had looked at.”
Traditionally, police departments saved dash camera footage and other videos on CDs stored away in an evidence room or on an onsite server. But with the increasing use of body cameras, dashboard cams and cameras within the police department itself, the amount of video content now being generated is far more difficult to manage locally.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google-led Group Preempts HEVC
‘Alliance for Open Media’ to develop video codec optimized for the web
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1327584&
Internet giants Google and Cisco have banded together with Amazon and Netflix, two large streaming service players, along with Microsoft, Intel and Mozilla, to establish an Alliance for Open Media to develop “open, royalty-free and interoperable solutions for the next generation of video delivery,” the group said Tuesday
By coming up with a new video codec of its own “optimized for the Web,” the Alliance for Open Media is issuing a direct challenge to High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265, developed by Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Audio Precision Releases LabVIEW DAQ Driver
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1327601&
Audio Precision, has released its latest driver for National Instrument’s LabVIEW software. The new software driver lets you more easily integrate Audio Precision’s APx515 audio analyzer into your automated test applications.
The LabVIEW DAQ driver, a collection of VIs (Virtual Instruments,) initializes hardware and configures APx515 settings such as input and output channels, sample rates, trigger conditions, signal generation, and signal acquisition. The driver adheres to National Instrument’s standard guidelines for instrument drivers, and has a very small memory footprint.
APx515 Audio Analyzer
2-Channel Audio Analyzer
Ideal for production test and entry-level R&D applications.
http://www.ap.com/products/apx515
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wangling my way into the 4K gaming club with a water-cooled whopper
Catching a glimpse of uncanny valley
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/04/feature_4k_gaming/
The other week a Viewsonic VX2475Smhl-4K monitor, boasting a 3840×2160 resolution running at 60Hz – though only 24-inches of it – shows up at my door. I’m happy as a clam until it dawns on me that this isn’t a job my faithful little NUC, the Gigabyte Brix Pro, is up to. I was going to need a rig and a half, probably costing more than my last two cars combined, to make use of this number of Pixels Per Degree of Vision (PPD).
Water cooled and to die for, I was sent the beef cake Infinity Vesuvius gaming PC powered by a quad-core Intel Core i7 4770K overclocked to 4.7GHz, with 16GB of RAM.
4K gaming? No sweat, with its AMD dual-Radeon R9 295X2 GPUs configured in quad Crossfire mode, it pumps out the pixels on cue. Just watch your energy bill, this Corsair H105 closed-loop, water-cooled mosasaurus is as quiet as a mouse but runs from a 1500W Silverstone Strider ST1500 power supply. Needless to say, it arrived on a pallet.
Booting up this monster rig, I’m well aware there are few who have the resources to equip themselves with such high-end gaming hardware. This may be last year’s model that fetched £4,000 at the time but I’m not complaining, as suddenly I’m a member of an elite club.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FTC and Machinima settle YouTube Xbox shill content situation
Videos endorsing the Xbox One were paid for
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2424595/ftc-and-machinima-settle-youtube-xbox-shill-content-situation
THE US FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (FTC) has rained down punishing blows on Machinima, an online video-based gaming business, because of the presence of paid-for Xbox One promotional content.
Xbox One promotional content is pretty widely available – ask anyone who has an Xbox 360 and access to its menu screen – and advertising is an acceptable thing. However, misleading advertorial is not acceptable, and the FTC, a US watchdog that deals with this kind of malpractice, ain’t having it.
The FTC said in a blog post that a cluster of outfits were involved in the deception. It was led by a PR firm called Starcom MediaVest Group and was based on the Machinima promise of some 19 million online views.
“When people see a product touted online they have a right to know whether they’re looking at an authentic opinion or a paid marketing pitch,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “That’s true whether the endorsement appears in a video or any other media.”
The company will, for example, be asked to make any connection between cash and content obvious through onscreen information. Machinima will be under surveillance for three months and had better be on its best behaviour.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon buys video processing company Elemental Technologies to bolster AWS
http://venturebeat.com/2015/09/03/amazon-buys-video-processing-company-elemental-technologies-will-launch-new-aws-services/
Public cloud provider Amazon Web Services today announced that it has acquired Elemental Technologies, a startup with video processing services to repurpose traditional video content into digital formats.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but a report from The Information earlier today pegged the deal at $500 million.
AWS, a fast-growing division of Amazon.com and the biggest public cloud available today, intends to roll out new services based on Elemental’s technology, according to a statement from Amazon.
Customers included ABC, BBC, Comcast, ESPN, HBO, NASA, NHK, and Warner Bros.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Philip Elmer-DeWitt / Fortune:
Adobe survey: 61.9% of streamed pay TV, generally content owned by cable networks, is viewed on Apple devices
Survey: 61.9% of streamed pay TV is viewed on Apple devices
http://fortune.com/2015/09/04/apple-tv-everywhere-share/
Apple already dominates the video entertainment market the new Apple TV is poised to enter.
TV Everywhere (sometimes called authenticated streaming) is the entertainment industry’s clunky term for a business model where broadcasters (chiefly the cable networks) allow customers access to content through Internet-connected devices—tablets, smartphones, PCs, set-top boxes.
It’s not YouTube. It’s not user-generated. It’s not free.
But it’s often where you have to go to see the best shows, and it’s growing rapidly—up 63% in the last year, according to an Adobe study of 159 billion online video starts released Friday.
“TV everywhere is a juggernaut,” says Adobe’s Tamara Gaffney. “It’s coming whether the market is ready or not.”
This is the business Apple is set to re-enter in a big way next Wednesday with a new version of Apple TV.
But it’s also a business that Apple already dominates, according to Adobe, despite weakening Apple TV sales.
Among the other findings in the study:
TV Everywhere viewers are voracious; they watch a lot of TV
Connected set-top boxes (from Apple, Roku, Google, Amazon and others) are taking share from tablets and smartphones
These devices are particular popular among younger viewers (so-called Generation Z)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Los Angeles Times:
Snapchat now draws 4B daily video views, putting it on par with Facebook, and doubling its views in just 3 months — Snapchat’s video push clicks with users — Snapchat’s aggressive push into curated video appears to be paying off. — The social media app, popular with young users …
Snapchat’s video push clicks with users
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-snapchat-video-20150904-story.html
The social media app, popular with young users, has reached 4 billion daily video views, Snapchat spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said.
That puts the app on par with Facebook, which reported 4 billion daily video views in April, and means that Snapchat has doubled its daily views in just three months.
The new numbers follow a series of deals with MTV, Major League Baseball and concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment to include content that promotes the partners in the app’s curated “Live Stories” feature.
Exactly what counts as a view, however, has provoked controversy. Some platforms, such as Facebook, say a view is at least three seconds long. YouTube counts views at about 30 seconds.
The difference matters to advertisers, who want to know that their content is being watched as long as possible.
It’s unclear how much Snapchat charges marketers to appear in “Live Stories.” There are typically four slots for ads in the stories, each ad running 10 seconds.