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:
PETA monkey selfie lawsuit threatens wildlife photography, warns snapper at heart of row
‘We’ve humiliated the bloke – now let’s grab his money’
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/24/peta_sues_photographer_macaque_selfie/
In the inverted morality of the obsessive copyright hater, criminals are folk heroes, and the innocent must be punished.
The latest internet victim-shaming is directed against British wildlife photographer David Slater, who snapped a macaque grinning at its own reflection in the Indonesian jungle. US animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is suing Slater to seize the royalties from the photo.
The litigation has sent a chill through the nature photography community, as many wildlife images and films (including those shot by the BBC’s world-famous Natural History Unit) are – like Slater’s famous monkey photo – triggered remotely, often by the animals themselves. If composition and intent count for nothing, the BBC could lose some of its most valuable assets.
Slater, who has the law on his side but no money, is dismayed by the litigation and the relentless internet campaign against him.
US Copyright Office unexpectedly revisited the subject and included the line that an animal couldn’t own copyright.
“Photographers have been attaching cameras to animals, the flying geese, trail cameras with pressure pads, with the photographer miles away. That means the animal has pressed the button. Wildlife photographers are now worried.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Happy birthday to you, the ruling was true, no charge for this headline, ‘coz the copyright’s screwed
Warner – boo hoo
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/23/happy_birthday_copyright/
Good news: you can now sing Happy Birthday without fear of someone demanding you get your checkbook out.
A US judge has overturned a copyright claim to Happy Birthday, declaring the seminal number is not owned by a group that includes Warner/Chappell Music, which has been collecting royalties for the song’s performances.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DisplayPort with an FPGA
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/23/displayport-with-an-fpga/
One of the challenges with display technology is the huge increase in bandwidth that has occurred since LCD panels took over from Cathode Ray Tubes. Low end laptops have a million pixels, UHD (“4K”) displays
have 8 million and the latest Full Ultra HD (“8k”) displays have over 33 million pixels. Updating all those pixels takes a lot of bandwidth – to update a 4k display at 60 Hz refresh rates takes close to a gigabyte per second. 8 billion bits – that is a lot of bits! That’s why VGA ports and even DVI ports are starting to vanish in favor of standards like HDMI and DisplayPort.
The current release of HDMI is 2.0, and is tightly licensed with NDAs and licensing fees. VESA, who created the DisplayPort standard, states the standard is royalty-free to implement, but since January 2010, all new DisplayPort related standards issued by VESA are no longer available to non-members.
So after receiving a new Digilent Nexys Video FPGA development board, Hackaday regular [Hamster] purchased a UHD monitor, scoured the internet for an old DisplayPort 1.1 standard, and started hacking.
A couple of months and 10,000 lines of VHDL code later what may be the first working Open Source DisplayPort
implementation is available. The design includes a 16-bit scrambler, an 8b/10b encoder, and multichannel support.
An implementation of DisplayPort protocol for FPGAs
https://github.com/hamsternz/FPGA_DisplayPort
Tomi Engdahl says:
Spotify has recently improved the algorithms used for music recommendations. Now, Spotify wants to connect people to their musical tastes catering.
Mix Mates operates such that two service users about their respective your favorite. After this, Spotify forms the basis of the favorites of the common phoned a list of users.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/eiko-kaverisi-musiikkimaku-miellyta-spotify-ratkaisi-ongelman-algoritmilla-3487117
Two tastes. One awesome playlist.
http://www.spotify-mixmates.com/uk#/start
Tomi Engdahl says:
That’s Business, Man: Why Jay Z’s Tidal Is a Complete Disaster
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-05-28/why-jay-z-s-tidal-streaming-music-service-has-been-a-disaster
He set out to save the music industry from the economics of streaming, and make himself a fortune in the process. So far, Jay Z is doing neither
Jay Z unveiled Tidal at a press conference in late March, flanked by 15 of the biggest acts in the music business
There was a lot of utopian rhetoric about restoring the value of music in the digital age. Less time was spent on new features, technology, or other reasons for listeners to try—and pay for—a Tidal subscription.
The backlash was immediate. Tidal’s detractors weren’t just the predictably vexatious music bloggers, who described the service as little more than a vehicle for musical plutocrats to line their pockets. The haters also included some of Jay Z’s peers. “They totally blew it by bringing out a bunch of millionaires and billionaires and propping them up onstage and then having them all complain about not being paid,”
Tidal is Jay Z’s most ambitious venture yet—an effort to profit in an arena that’s thwarted not only other musicians but startups and venture capitalists, too. Many artists are unhappy with the economics of streaming, notably Taylor Swift, who pulled her albums from Spotify last November. Jay Z wants to do better on two levels. Tidal pays record labels and music publishers a higher royalty—75 percent of revenue, vs. Spotify’s 70 percent, boosting the value of music on the Internet, including his own. And as a large shareholder, he could sell off his stake at a profit if outside investors give Tidal a valuation approaching those of other digital-music platforms such as Pandora and Spotify.
Another possibility is that Jay Z, who declined to speak to Bloomberg Businessweek, will lose his entire investment in Aspiro, Tidal’s Norwegian parent company, which he purchased in March for $56 million.
Spotify, the 9-year-old market leader, is valued at $8 billion, and it loses money. Three-quarters of its more than 60 million members use its free, ad-supported service rather than paying $9.99 for a monthly subscription. Smaller players such as Deezer and Rhapsody also lose money but have managed to stay afloat.
Apple is expected to introduce its own product
In May 2014, Apple announced it was buying Beats for $3 billion from Jay Z’s former colleagues, Iovine and Dre. Apple got a threefer: a popular headphones line; the Beats Music streaming service; and Iovine, who has worked with everybody from Bruce Springsteen to Snoop Dogg. Apple has always had fans in the creative community, but now it had an executive who could get any musical star to take his calls, which is a good thing for a company trying to start a streaming service.
The losses didn’t frighten Jay Z. He offered a 60 percent premium over Aspiro’s market value, according to a filing, and repositioned it as an artist-friendly alternative to Spotify that would pay higher royalties to record labels and artists.
“It’s left brain, right brain,” says Fader’s Stone. “I think his artist side is like, ‘Yo, the artists are getting ripped off. I could really help everyone.’ But his business side is saying, ‘Along the way, I’m going to make a s—load of money.’ ”
Exclusive content might be Tidal’s best hope of luring users away from more established competitors in the streaming space. The people involved in Tidal have made a lot of promises about music that would be unique to the service, but so far, the Tidal-only selection has been paltry
It’s too early to write off Tidal. But if the company does fail, it may be because Jay Z didn’t anticipate the skeptical response to his claim that he was working for some greater good of all musicians.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Doug Aitken’s 30-Day Film Is an Ode to the Creative Process
http://www.wired.com/2015/08/doug-aitkens-30-day-film-ode-creative-process/
Every day for 30 days this summer, Doug Aikten grabbed his camera and shot one 15-second film.
Aitken’s films, which chronicled the goings-on at the Barbican’s recently-closed 30-Day Happening
It was a veritable cornucopia of art, but these segmented bites of footage weren’t the artist’s end game. Aitken wanted to make a new kind of film. A kaleidoscopic film, if you will. His final project, aptly titled 30-Day Film, is exactly what it sounds like: 30 days worth of footage stitched together to form 7.5 minutes of disjointed cultural happenings.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jackie Dove / The Next Web:
Adobe announces Photoshop and Premiere Elements 14 with 4K video editing, motion titles, tools to remove camera shake and haze, and more
Adobe updates Elements hobbyist photo and video apps with more pro-level features
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/09/25/adobe-updates-elements-hobbyist-photo-and-video-apps-with-more-pro-level-features/
As a consumer photo/video editing package, Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements have a long history. The premise is that enthusiasts and hobbyists have a deep desire to create original, compelling visuals, and can gain control over the process with software that specifically targets them.
Now at version 14, the apps have been streamlined to do things like remove camera shake from photos and videos, banish haze from your landscapes and let you create content for the newfangled 4K resolution TVs that are trickling onto the market. More than ever, this version of Elements seeks to be a complete end-to-end workflow for users
Tomi Engdahl says:
Glenn Peoples / Billboard:
Deezer IPO filing shows firm spends 75%+ of revenue on rights holders, fails to make money on 40.2% of subscribers
Deezer’s IPO Filing Shows Both Potential and Problems
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/6707887/deezers-ipo-filing-shows-both-potential-and-problems
The financial information in Deezer’s filing for a public stock offering provides rare transparency into a standalone music subscription service’s challenges and weaknesses. While the public has limited information about Spotify’s financial performance and detailed information about its licensing contract, it hasn’t had this kind of insight since Napster’s last quarterly earnings release back in late 2008 — and that was a different era for subscription services.
Deezer, an on-demand subscription service available in about 180 countries, has filed for an initial public stock offering on the Paris stock exchange. Analysts believe the IPO will value the company at about €1 billion
The big question is will investors put money into a company that currently pays over three-quarters of its revenue to rights holders (more on that below) and doesn’t generate revenue on two out of five subscribers (more on that below, too)? After all, licensed music services are a notoriously tricky business — even for the more successful ones.
The good news is Deezer is growing fast.
The bad news is content costs have eaten nearly all revenue.
To make matters worse, Deezer has been subject to some of the same deal points seen in leaked Sony Music contract with Spotify. Deezer’s deals with labels include minimum guaranteed payments — some paid as advances — that were larger than expected royalty payments from 2012 to 2014
Tomi Engdahl says:
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Sources: YouTube finalizing plans to bundle Music Key and ad-free videos for $10/month, could launch at end of October — YouTube Is Prepping Its Subscription Launch: Two Services, One Price — YouTube, which spent the first 10 years of its life as a free service, is getting ready to start selling tickets.
YouTube Is Prepping Its Subscription Launch: Two Services, One Price
http://recode.net/2015/09/25/youtube-is-prepping-its-subscription-launch-two-services-one-price/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bob Lefsetz / The Lefsetz Letter:
Apple Music broke Clayton Christensen’s rules for disruptive innovation, trying to please old customers as well as new ones
Apple Music’s Functionality Failure
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2015/09/24/apple-musics-functionality-failure/
They broke Clayton Christensen’s rule.
I want a separate Apple Music app for my MP3s and another for my streams. And that’s when it hit me, Cupertino had broken the rule outlined in the “The Innovator’s Dilemma.”
When you encounter disruption, you save your enterprise by building a cheaper, less-profitable operation across the street. And eventually there comes a tipping point when the new enterprise subsumes the old. You don’t mix them together. If you’re trying to placate your old customers, you’re screwing the new, and that’s death.
Steve Jobs never did this.
And now Apple is doing the same thing.
And this is death in tech. If you’re not willing to destroy the old business model on the way to the new, you’re gonna lose in the long run.
The problem with streaming in the United States is that most people just don’t see the need to subscribe. Furthermore, they don’t see the need to experiment. Getting someone to try something is the hardest part. And when they do try something and they get less functionality than before, they’re out.
This is what’s happening with Apple Music, and this hurts not only Apple, but the music business at large.
You leave the past behind.
Streaming is a disruptive technology. It’s already killed purchase. YouTube demonstrated this. The goal is to capture as many people and generate as much money as possible.
YouTube didn’t care about MP3s. Didn’t even care about copyrights at first. And so far, YouTube has won. It’s easy to navigate and easy to play. But Google was protecting no legacy interests, they started with a clean slate.
Apple Music’s interface is too cluttered. Functionality is hampered. And this scares me, Apple was once a fountain of innovation. But now that it’s protecting its past, it’s screwed.
In Silicon Valley, Clayton Christensen’s work is gospel.
P.P.P.P.S. With customers and momentum Apple still might win the music streaming wars, but based on their ignorance of Clayton Christensen’s rules one doubts the company will win in the future. You need someone to say no, you need someone to make the hard decisions. Autocrats lead the best companies, consensus builders fail, pleasing everyone ultimately pleases no one. In other words, Tim Cook knows how to make the trains run on time, but can he get them to the next destination?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Staff to patrol cinemas in night-vision goggles in a crackdown on piracy as new James Bond film is released
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/jamesbond/11884294/Staff-to-patrol-cinemas-in-night-vision-goggles-in-a-crack-down-on-piracy-as-new-James-Bond-film-is-released.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
It sounds like a scene from a James Bond film itself, full of mystery, intrigue and suspicion.
But when the new 007 blockbuster, Spectre, is released next month, cinemas across the country will be on high alert, with security beefed up and staff donning military-style night-vision goggles to patrol the dark auditoriums in a bid to crack down on piracy.
Movie pirates are said to be resorting to increasingly clandestine tactics to avoid being caught, hiding their recording devices in holes cut into popcorn cartons or covering their phones with a sock to hide the lit screen.
The film industry is determined to prevent criminals intent on illegally recording the highly anticipated new film and posting it online.
“The bigger the film and the more anticipated it is, the higher risk it is.”
“They still do the sweeps around the auditoriums with the night vision glasses regardless of the film. But sometimes extra security is put in place for things like Bond.”
The rise of smartphones makes it easier than ever to record films. But while criminals try to use the cloak of darkness in auditoriums and clever tactics to break the law, staff use night-vision goggles to expose movie pirates.
Anti-piracy teams have managed to dramatically slash the number of illegal recordings made in British cinemas since they began training cinema staff who scan theatres for recorders.
Security will be beefed up across the country as experts vow to catch criminals who try to use the cloak of darkness to illegally record new movie
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dante D’Orazio / The Verge:
GoPro’s new budget Hero+ Wi-Fi action cam offers wireless connectivity for $199.99
http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/28/9405705/gopro-hero-wifi-announced-price
GoPro wants to make sure it has the action camera for you no matter how much you’re looking to spend. The company’s announcing a new entry-level action camera today, the GoPro Hero+ Wi-Fi. It’s an action camera that slots in right between the base model Hero+ ($129.99) and the more expensive Hero+ LCD ($299.99), due for release on October 4th.
You shouldn’t be surprised to hear that it includes the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities of the more expensive model while ditching the LCD touchscreen. The price is also right between those two models: it comes in at $199.99 — a pretty good place to be in for the holiday shopping season.
On the outside, the new Hero+ Wi-Fi looks just like the base model, but on the inside the camera equipment comes from the better Hero+ LCD.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg Business:
Netflix plans to serve as its own studio for more shows, strengthening its control over distribution rights
Netflix to Make More Shows of Its Own
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-25/netflix-set-to-make-more-shows-of-its-own-including-handler
Tomi Engdahl says:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Samsung to Shutter Milk Video Service in November
http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/samsung-to-shutter-milk-video-service-in-november-1201603957/
Samsung is shuttering its Milk Video service in November. The company announced the shutdown Monday on Google Play, writing: “While we remain committed to providing premium entertainment services, we have decided to end support for the Samsung Milk Video app as of November 20, 2015.”
A Samsung rep declined to comment on how the closure will affect Milk Video staff.
The closure comes almost to the day a year after Samsung launched Milk Video as a mobile-focused service focusing on short-form video content. Samsung at one point envisioned Milk Video as part of a larger suite of content-focused apps for mobile devices, which also includes the company’s Pandora-like Milk Music service.
Samsung struck some deals with Vice, Funny Or Die and others for exclusive short-form content, complemented with videos aggregated from YouTube, Vevo and other sources.
The app was initially just available for download for select Samsung phones, but got eventually also pre-loaded on all of the company’s new flagship phones. Users were informed Monday that the app may disappear from their phone with an upcoming software update.
The Milk Video shutdown comes after Variety exclusively reported on layoffs at Samsung’s content and services unit in March.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jessica Guynn / USA Today:
Facebook making play for TV dollars with new ad products
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/09/27/facebook-advertising-dollars-video-television/72948138/
Facebook is rolling out new advertising products that it says will help marketers better reach consumers on their mobile devices — and they may help Facebook make a big play for television advertising dollars.
The giant social network is targeting marketers who use video ads with a new product for buying online video ads that is similar to the way TV commercials are bought. The lure that Facebook is using: It’s a better way to reach millennials who spend far more time on their phones than watching TV.
Research firm eMarketer projects digital video advertising spend will increase 13% to nearly $15 billion by 2019. TV advertising is expected to grow 2% in the same time period to $78 billion.
“Digital video ad spending is growing rapidly, presenting new opportunities for Facebook,” eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson said in an email.
However, “even as digital video grows by double-digit percentages year over year, TV ad spending is still expected to increase. We are not seeing TV spending falling at the expense of digital video,” Williamson said.
Facebook’s mobile ad business is booming. eMarketer expects Facebook to generate $12.5 billion in worldwide mobile ad revenue in 2015, an increase of nearly 69% over last year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This portable FM transmitter brings information to people in crisis
http://www.niemanlab.org/2015/09/this-portable-fm-transmitter-brings-information-to-people-in-crisis/
“When there is no existing infrastructure that is stable for any kind of media, we thought, let’s come back to good old radio.”
Half the population of Syria has been displaced. Hundreds of thousands have died in the conflict and millions are fleeing. For those who remain in the country, critical infrastructure is unstable and might be under the control of warring factions at a given moment. The Internet is constantly interrupted. Cell phone coverage can be spotty.
Enter Pocket FM, a portable FM transmitter the size of a shoebox that starts working as soon as it’s connected to a small antenna, a power source, and an audio signal.
a single device can air radio programs over a radius of about six kilometers. At its core is Raspberry Pi, an affordable mini computer
Pocket FM was developed by the Berlin-based nonprofit Media in Cooperation and Transition in collaboration with design firm IXDS. MiCT, which focuses on media development in crisis regions and doesn’t usually create hardware
As part of its Syrnet project, MiCT helped design the modular, portable Pocket FM to spread the FM signal to areas where it may not be possible to set up a large FM transmitter. (Syrnet shows can also be downloaded from the Internet, but small Pocket FM transmitters set up in the country broadcast the programs locally.)
“The challenge in Syria is that it can be scary, in some areas, to set up big FM transmitters, because they are easy to detect, easy to destroy, and expensive to run,” said Klaas Glenewinkel, MiCT’s co-founder and director. “We had the idea of bringing in many small ones and creating a mesh of radio transmitters so people can access local information where TV and other means have failed.”
“When there is no existing infrastructure that is stable for any kind of media, we thought, let’s come back to good old radio,” Glenewinkel said. “But FM transmitters have not really developed in past 20 or 30 years.”
“This is not just an app that you can download from the store. It’s still a physical device. If you want to bring equipment from Germany to Syria, into Aleppo, you need a lot of coordination,”
Syria isn’t the only country where MiCT is using radio systems to spread information. The first iteration of Pocket FM is also beta-testing in Sierra Leone in collaboration with the Freetown-based Culture Radio
The team dedicated to Pocket FM has grown quite a bit since it was first piloted, and is hurrying to finish the new version by the end of the year. (A Slovenian company is manufacturing the hardware.) Developers are working to add features that will bolster security for the journalists and activists who might use the device, including the ability for someone running the transmitter to turn it off remotely via a mobile phone. Other new features include a built-in solar panel, GPS, and Internet connectivity. The more powerful version of Pocket FM will cost about $2,000 (USD).
“Right now the twenty to thirty pieces we have are within our control,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube Is Prepping Its Subscription Launch: Two Services, One Price
http://recode.net/2015/09/25/youtube-is-prepping-its-subscription-launch-two-services-one-price/
YouTube, which spent the first 10 years of its life as a free service, is getting ready to start selling tickets.
Google’s video site appears to be finalizing launch plans for its long-in-the-making subscription service, and industry sources say they’ve been told to expect a launch near the end of October.
A blast email from YouTube to content owners who share ad revenue with the site, telling them they have to agree to new terms by Oct. 22 or their “videos will no longer be available for public display or monetization in the United States,” helps support that timeline.
But YouTube, which floated the idea of a new subscription service nearly a year ago, has never publicly committed to a timeline. Last spring, YouTube executives were telling content owners they were aiming for a mid-summer launch. It’s possible the launch could keep slipping, even beyond 2015.
Note that we’re referring to a single service, not multiple ones. Sources say that’s because YouTube intends to bundle two different services into one offering: An update of its music service, which it launched in beta as YouTube Music Key last fall, and another service, yet to launch, that will give users the ability to watch anything on YouTube without seeing ads.
Video industry sources say Google has told them it intends to charge $10 a month for the combined offering. It’s hard to imagine how YouTube will make money at that pricing, since its music service was supposed to cost $10 on its own, with the music labels and other copyright owners pocketing the majority of that.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
TiVo Bolt: 4K-ready with SkipMode ad skip and ability to speed up playback for $300 plus subscription, waived for the first year — TiVo Unveils BOLT, A Modern, 4K-Ready DVR Designed For The Streaming Era — DVR maker TiVo today is announcing the latest addition to its Series 6 lineup of players with the arrival of the TiVo BOLT.
TiVo Unveils BOLT, A Modern, 4K-Ready DVR Designed For The Streaming Era
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/29/tivo-unveils-bolt-a-modern-4k-ready-dvr-designed-for-the-streaming-era/
DVR maker TiVo today is announcing the latest addition to its Series 6 lineup of players with the arrival of the TiVo BOLT.
The BOLT is a uniquely designed, all-white player offering 4K support as well as a revamped user interface that introduces new features like the ability to skip commercial breaks on recorded content as well as the ability to speed up playback 30 percent faster while listening to pitch-corrected audio.
Walt Mossberg / The Verge:
TiVo Bolt review: great $300 solution for cable subscribers, but ad skip only works for recorded shows on select channels
http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/29/9419725/tivo-bolt-review-walt-mossberg
Tomi Engdahl says:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Comcast launches web video service Watchable with 30 partners including Vice, Vox, and Buzzfeed
Comcast Launches Watchable: Can Web Video Help Save Cable TV?
http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/comcast-watchable-launch-1201604855/
Cable giant debuts service with 30 content partners, available on set-tops, apps and online
Americans are steadily watching less TV, with the decline particularly pronounced among teens and young adults who have grown up watching billions of YouTube videos. And cord-cutting storm clouds are already clapping thunder over the TV biz.
So what’s a mammoth cable TV operator to do to stay relevant?
Comcast has decided, 10 years after YouTube’s birth, to try its hand at bringing ad-supported, short-form digital video from Internet creators to tablets, phones, computers and TVs — an attempt to hedge its bets if pay TV implodes.
With the Watchable service, which launched Tuesday, Comcast has lined up 30 content partners who largely produce video for millennial audiences. Those include AwesomenessTV, Buzzfeed, Disney’s Maker Studios, Vice and Vox. (Comcast’s NBCUniversal recently plunked down $200 million into Buzzfeed and another $200 mil into Vox.) And unlike its cable TV service, Watchable is available online and mobile to anyone in the U.S., not just Comcast customers.
Why would anyone choose to go through the Watchable middleman, instead of simply watching on YouTube or directly from, say, Tastemade’s own sites and apps? Comcast isn’t looking to license exclusive or original content — the way, say, Vessel and Verizon’s soon-to-launch Go90 are.
Comcast does have a large installed base of 22-plus million TV subscribers, and Schwartz notes that “many of our Watchable partners have not traditionally had distribution on the TV, and we can give them a path to reach new audiences and further monetize their content on the biggest screen in the home.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Anthony Ha / TechCrunch:
YouTube announces Shopping ads, which overlay the video player, with testing this fall
YouTube Introduces Shopping Ads
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/29/youtube-shopping-ads/#.ojwuxm:NGgW
YouTube videos are going to get more shoppable, with the company announcing a new ad unit today called Shopping ads.
The Google-owned video site has been moving in this direction for the past few months, with the introduction of Cards for related content (including merchandise) and the launch of TrueView for shopping, which allows advertisers to automatically turn their Google merchant data into product cards.
“While both of these features are great for making advertiser videos more shoppable, Shopping ads bring this functionality to all videos on YouTube,” the company says.
The point is, Google really wants advertisers to promote their products on YouTube and to allow consumers to start the purchase process directly from those videos.
So if you’re watching something on YouTube, you might start seeing an info icon on the upper right corner of the video. Clicking on the icons will bring up related Cards, including any product ads, and clicking on the ads will take you to the merchant website.
That’s a different approach from the recently announced Purchases On Google, where mobile advertisers can direct consumers to Google-hosted product pages.
Google says this will run similarly to Shopping ads on Google Search, with an auction model, targeting based on context and audience
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Announces Chromecast 2 And Chromecast Audio To Bring Intelligence To Your Living Room
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/29/google-invades-your-home-with-new-chromecast/?ncid=rss&cps=gravity_1730_905936242355987854#.ojwuxm:t1K0
Google is ready to take over your living room. The company has announced version 2 of its Chromecast product, along with a new Chromecast Audio, which turns any speaker with an AUX in into an Internet-connected device. I got to spend some time with these little devices and they are powerhouses.
The Chromecast originally launched in 2013 to bring a Chrome browser experience to your TV. It was an inexpensive way to fling content onto your TV, essentially turning a dumb one into a smart one.
TVs aren’t the only living-room devices Google wants to reach. With the new Chromecast Audio, the company wants to throw some smarts to your speakers. Think Sonos. Or, rather, Google.
Along with the new physical devices, a new Chromecast app has dropped to let you find all of the content that you might not have known you could watch on your TV before. No remote or game controller needed. Just your phone and some Wi-Fi.
The first thing you might notice about the new Chromecast, which sold 20 million devices in its original incarnation
And the price? The price. Compare the Chromecast to some of its competitors:
Amazon Fire TV: $99
New Apple TV: $139 or $199
XBox One: $349
Chromecast: $35
Yeah.
The ambient photos on your TV can now be driven by Google Photos, Getty Images, Facebook photos, 500 PX and Pixlr giving you a fully customized experience
Your phone drives this bad boy, as it’s the interface that everyone understands the most, Collins says. In Apple’s world, you have to learn an entirely new interface and deal with different versions of your favorite apps built just for the TV.
Chromecast Audio
The codename for this project was Hendrix. Makes sense. This device, which also costs $35, will turn your existing dumb speakers into Internet-connected smart ones. Think of how Sonos works (more on them later). I can’t wait to try out the newly announced Spotify integration.
“Casting” to dumb speakers is the same thing that the Chromecast does for TVs. The Chromecast Audio has high-quality capabilities, 2 watt RMS and optional optical digital out in its hybrid port. The thing is pretty rad.
All you have to do is hook it up and use the Chromecast app to fling your music directly to the speaker. No TV needed, no other special hook-ups necessary. There’s no recompression of audio. Once you hand over the source of content to the Chromecast Audio device, you’re free to use your phone for other stuff. Your speaker, with newly found smarts, will do what it was meant to do — play music.
Goodbye, Jambox and others; as Collins pointed out correctly, “Bluethooth adapters suck.” They do. Ever listen to music playing out of a Jambox and hear a call or iMessage coming through? Yeah, the experience blows. The cost of the Chromecast Audio makes picking up a few of them a no-brainer.
By the end of the year, the Chromecast app will have multi-room support for both Chromecast and Chromecast Audio.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TiVo Bolt review: watching TV faster
Skip commercials with one click, and speed up the rest of the show, too
http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/29/9419725/tivo-bolt-review-walt-mossberg
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nexus Camera Gets Huge Improvements, Slow-Motion Video, Smart Burst (6P Only), Launch Shortcut, And More
http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/09/29/nexus-camera-gets-huge-improvements-slow-motion-video-smart-burst-6p-launch-shortcut/
Remember when the camera on Nexus phones was sort of terrible? Yeah, it looks like that’s about to change.
Google is betting big on photography this year. The Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P include significant enhancements to both the front and rear camera modules. On the back of both phones is a 12.3 megapixel Sony sensor with impressively large 1.55 micron pixels, an f/2.0 lens, laser autofocus, and dual LED flash. The front-facing camera module now sports an 8 megapixel sensor with HDR+, “so you can get the world’s best selfies” on your Nexus phone.
To match the new hardware, Google has also announced updates to the camera app as well. We found out about many of these in our last two camera teardowns, but there’s still plenty of new information.
Support for slow-motion video is probably one of the features users have been most clamoring for, and now it’s here on both the Nexus 5X and 6P. Videos can be recorded in 120fps on the Nexus 5X and up to 240fps on the Nexus 6P, allowing playback to be slowed down by up to a factor of 5 at 48fps.
The new camera app now also has an upgraded HDR+ mode, which automatically detects when high-dynamic-range should be enabled based on lighting situations.
Google Camera v3.0 Sneak Peek – Part 2: Camera2, Slow Motion, Dirty Lens Detection, Auto HDR+, And More [APK Teardown]
http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/09/15/google-camera-v3-0-sneak-peek-part-2-camera2-slow-motion-dirty-lens-detection-auto-hdr-and-more-apk-teardown/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Romain Dillet / TechCrunch:
Google Introduces Google Play Music Family Plan, $14.99 For Up To 6 People
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/29/google-introduces-google-play-music-family-plan-14-99-for-up-to-6-people/
Google is expanding its Google Play Music service with a new family plan. The company announced at its big event today that families will be able to subscribe to Google Play Music for $14.99. For this price, you get six different profiles so that you can get music recommendations that work for your tastes. These plans will be available “later this year.”
It looks like Google was aiming for the same price as Apple Music. As a reminder, Apple Music works the exact same way as you can subscribe to Apple Music for your entire family for $14.99. And yes, just like Google Play Music, Apple Music family plans work for up to six people.
Google Play Music is available in 58 countries on Android and iOS. You can also stream songs using your web browsers, a Chromecast, an Android TV device and other players. This is key to understanding Google’s advantage with this service.
Apple Music works great if you only use Apple devices. Google Play Music works on your Android phone and your iPad.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Today, consumers expect to have the most advanced display and audio features in their multimedia devices like tablet, set-top-box or digital TV. To meet such expectations, product developers must allow their devices to transmit high-definition (HD) data through the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI). HDMI IP plays a critical role in enabling HDMI 2.0 features, making 60 frames per second UHD video and audio possible in multimedia system-on-chips (SoCs).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eye measurement on HDMI signals with the R&S VT-B2380 TMDS time domain analyzer
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4439889/Eye-measurement-on-HDMI-signals-with-the-R-S-VT-B2380-TMDS-time-domain-analyzer?_mc=NL_TOL_EDT_TOL_featuredtechpapers_20150930&cid=NL_TOL_EDT_TOL_featuredtechpapers_20150930
The high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) standard is the leading standard for the transmission of uncompressed video data within the home. Because of the technology used for HDMI and the associated high data rates, compliance tests require complex and cost-intensive T&M equipment. This paper describes an efficient alternative in the form of a sampling oscilloscope.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eye measurements on HDMI signals
with the R&S VT-B2380
TMDS time domain analyzer
http://cdn.rohde-schwarz.com/pws/dl_downloads/dl_common_library/dl_brochures_and_datasheets/pdf_1/Eye_Measurements_on_HDMI_signals~1.pdf
HDMI is a wired transmission standard for uncompressed video signals between
consumer home electronics equipment.
Uncompressed video requires a high data rate. For example, an HDTV picture displays
1920 * 1080 = 2 073 600 pixels, with each pixel consisting of 3 color values (red, green and blue)
with 8-bit quantization.
For historical reasons, a synchronization frame with
free data ranges (e.g. for audio) is added along with additional bits for transmission
coding. An increase in the quantization (“deep color”) is also possible, which naturally
requires an increase in the data rate.
In total, HDMI transmission requires a data rate ra
nge of 3 * 250 Mbit/s up to 3 * 3.30 Gbit/s for all conven
tional aspect ratios and refresh rates.
This range is specified by HDMI 1.4b.
For UHDTV (4k) with refresh rates of 50 Hz or 60 Hz
, the data rate was extended in
HDMI 2.0 to 3 * 5.94 Gbit/s.
The factor 3 is used here because HDMI is equipped with 3 data lines
Data on HDMI cables is transmitted serially on one
wire pair using current mode logic.
The spectrum of the HDMI data signal corresponds to
that of digital NRZ signals and is
made up primarily of signal components up to the bi
t rate and additional components
up to 2 and 3 times the bit rate. For signal analys
is at 5.94 Gbit/s, this translates into a
required measurement bandwidth of up to 18 GHz.
To ensure connectivity of devices from a wide varie
ty of manufacturers, the HDMI
Forum has prepared the Compliance Test Specificatio
n (CTS). This specification
assists in assessing the characteristics of HDMI components or consumer electronics
equipment. Manufacturers are authorized to use the HDMI logo for devices that pass these tests.
A portion of the tests is based on the electrical characteristics of HDMI signal sources.
Typical test equipment required for measuring the signal quality of an HDMI source
includes a real-time oscilloscope (RT scope) connected to the HDMI source under test
via an HDMI test point access adapter
A sampling rate of 40 Gsample/s and an analog bandwidth of > 12.5 GHz for HDMI 2.0 signals
or a minimum of 20 Gsample/s and 8 GHz bandwidth for HDMI 1.4b are the basic requirements.
A less time-consuming an d less costly alternative is eye diagram measurement using subsampling.
The HDMI standard assumes that the measurement is performed using a real-time oscilloscope (RT scope).
The Rohde & Schwarz VT-B2380 TMDS time domain analyzer solution, on the other hand, presents an alternative approach to the RT scope: subsampling. Subsampling makes use of the fact that the data is recurring and the statistical characteristics remaining fairly constant over the duration of the
measurement.
In contrast to the RT scope, for subsampling the CRU must be implemented in hardware. A later software calculation is no longer possible because the Nyquist criterion is intentionally violated.
The intentional violation of the Nyquist criterion means that subsequent signal processing of the eye diagram is possible only to a very limited extent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A high resolution photo taken at a Football game clearly shows every single fan in the stands. 68,756 people
https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/3mrx3x/a_high_resolution_photo_taken_at_a_football_game/
https://patriots.fancam.com/20150927/?atv=-4.657061231780097&ath=110.5475431565097&fov=18.010016292706528&scene=main
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC joins war against Flash, launches beta HTML5 iPlayer
Aunty confident you’ll ditch third-party plugin
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/30/bbc_iplayer_html5/
It may not be the definitive decision which propels humanity towards our inevitable end, but in a post on the Beeb’s internet blog, James East, the Media Playout Product Manager, stated that his team is now confident they can “achieve the playback quality you’d expect from the BBC without using a third-party plugin.”
HTML5 has already been used to deliver video to iOS devices. However, the Beeb has been hesitant to share this rollout to desktop services.
This was not an act of spite, East assures readers, but because Aunty felt “that the consistent experience and efficient media delivery offered by Flash outweighed the benefit of moving to HTML5″.
The HTML5 player is currently being tested on:
Firefox 41
Opera 32
Safari on iOS 5 and above
BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 and above
Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge on Windows 10
Google Chrome on all platforms
In the coming months, the BBC will be working on delivering episodes of the Great British Bake Off through MPEG-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP), the adaptive bitrate system which it has been trialling for two years.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NVIDIA Launches GeForce NOW Game Streaming Service
http://games.slashdot.org/story/15/09/30/2112215/nvidia-launches-geforce-now-game-streaming-service?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
NVIDIA has championed game streaming for a number of years now. Whether it be from a GeForce GTX-equipped PC to one of its SHIELD devices or from its cloud-based GRID gaming beta service to a SHIELD, Today though, NVIDIA is kicking its game streaming business up a notch by launching a new service dubbed GeForce NOW. The service streams PC games from the cloud to SHIELD devices at up to full HD 1080p resolutions at 60 fps. It may be tempting to call GeForce NOW an official re-branding of its GRID game streaming beta but that is reportedly not the case.
NVIDIA sees GeForce NOW as sort of a “Netflix for games.” There is a small monthly fee of $7.99 for a subscription, which gives customers access to a slew of games.”
NVIDIA Launches GeForce NOW Game Streaming Service
Read more at http://hothardware.com/news/nvidia-launches-geforce-now-game-streaming-service#mAh8HgusWheww0k5.99
Tomi Engdahl says:
Evolution of “Selfie”
http://issuu.com/eeweb/docs/08-2015_embedded_developer_pages/5?e=7607911/30371321
2007 MySpace
2009 Facebook gets more traffic than MySpace
2010 Apple iPhone 4 has front facing camera – made “Selfie” market to bebut
2011 Instagram adds hastags and “Selfie Stick” debuts
2013 “Selfie” officially added to Oxford English Dictionary
2015 “Video Selfie” becomes as Q&A Platform
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple pulls iFixit’s iOS app and developer account following Apple TV teardown
http://venturebeat.com/2015/09/30/apple-pulls-ifixits-ios-app-and-developer-account-following-apple-tv-teardown/
iFixit has been tearing apart gadgets for years, helping everyone understand the inner workings of MacBooks, the Apple Watch, Android phones, digital cameras, and more. But now, the California-based company has seemingly fallen foul of the mighty Apple, following a recent teardown of the latest Apple TV.
Apple has a policy against developers divulging details on products that aren’t yet freely available on the market — the $150 4th generation Apple TV isn’t expected to ship to consumers until late October. By pulling apart the Apple TV developer unit and publishing its findings, iFixit quoted Apple as saying, its terms and conditions had been violated, and iFixit’s actions “may hinder the performance or intended use of the App Store, B2B Program, or the Program,” said Kyle Wiens, iFixit cofounder and CEO, in a blog post.
However, not only has the offending developer account been shuttered, according to iFixit, but the iFixit Repair Manual app has been pulled, because it was tied to the same developer account.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chips advance entry-level set-top boxes
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4440451/Chips-advance-entry-level-set-top-boxes?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150929&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150929&elq=0c67c680c17e4c2a89c9e96dbf1daa1c&elqCampaignId=24967&elqaid=28330&elqat=1&elqTrackId=f6082a9a60b9408b90b4444142f75c26
Comprising variants for the satellite (Cardiff3), cable (Palma3), and IPTV (Liege3) markets, STMicroelectronics’s STB chips enable large-scale migration of entry set-top boxes to HEVC (high efficiency video coding). The ARM Cortex-based devices employ a scalable hardware and software architecture providing performance ranging from entry-level 2.5K DMIPS without a GPU through to 5K DMIPS with an embedded GPU, while HEVC reduces memory bandwidth for video distribution.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Logitech announces Logi Circle connected camera for the home, with Wi-Fi, streaming video, pre-order today for $200
Logitech Debuts New ‘Logi Circle’ Home Monitoring Camera
http://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/30/logitech-logi-circle-home-camera/
Logitech today announced its entry into the home security and monitoring market with the Circle Portable Home Connection Camera, which is debuting under its new Logi brand. The palm-sized Circle is a connected camera that’s designed to let users monitor and interact with pets, children, and people at home while away.
Through a companion app, the Logi Circle streams HD video to an iPhone or iPad. It includes a two-way talk and listen feature that works using Wi-Fi, letting it go beyond simple monitoring. According to Logitech, the Circle includes “Scene Intuition” technology that sets it apart from other similar home camera systems. With Scene Intuition, the Logi Circle is able to learn home life patterns to send alerts only when interesting activity occurs to save people from having to sort through hours and hours of footage.
The camera inside the Logi Circle offers a 135 degree wide angle view and an 8x zoom ability.
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU Probes TVs Over Energy Test Scores
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/15/10/02/0155247/eu-probes-tvs-over-energy-test-scores
The European Commission says it will follow up on evidence that Samsung and another TV-maker use software that alters their screens’ power use during tests. The BBC reports: “One study indicates that some Samsung TVs nearly halve their power consumption when a standardised test is carried out. Another accuses a different unnamed manufacturer of adjusting the brightness of its sets when they “recognise” the test film involved.
Comment:
What Samsung did was build a “Home” mode for optimum energy savings and other modes (including changing settings from the defaults in Home mode to give a custom mode) that optimized viewing experience at the expense of power use. The EU’s tests use “Home” mode and don’t test any other modes, while most consumers immediately adjust the TV for optimum viewing regardless of power consumption, so of course TVs in normal use use more power than their test scores indicate.
EU probes TV makers over energy efficiency test scores
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34412501
The European Commission says it is “following up” two reports that raise concerns that software used in TVs may be skewing their energy rating scores.
One study indicates that some Samsung TVs nearly halve their power consumption when a standardised test is carried out.
Another accuses a different unnamed manufacturer of adjusting the brightness of its sets when they “recognise” the test film involved.
Samsung has denied any wrongdoing.
It acknowledged that it used software that altered its televisions’ performance during tests, but said this was the effect of a general energy efficiency feature that came into effect during normal use and had nothing to do with the testing process.
However, one environmental campaign group has likened the accusations to the Volkswagen diesel scandal, in which the German car firm admitted to programming its cars to deliberately cheat emissions tests.
Televisions’ energy efficiency ratings are based on the power they use while screening a 10-minute video, which contains a mix of fast and slow-moving content shown at different brightness levels.
Dimmer picture
The second study was carried out by the Swedish Energy Agency, which wrote to the European Commission to alert it of its findings in January.
“These displays immediately lower their energy use by adjusting the brightness of the display when the standard film is being run,” the report concluded.
“This is a way of avoiding the market surveillance authorities and should be addressed by the Commission.”
‘The European Commission said it now planned to explore the two sets of findings.
“We will first of all verify if the problem has occurred. If it has we will estimate at what scale and whether the use of alleged defeat devices results in products being tested as compliant when they are in fact not.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Android TV gets new apps from Showtime, HBO, CBS, WWE, UFC, and Disney — Google today announced a slew of new content providers for its Android TV, including Showtime, HBO Now, CBS All Access, EPIX, WWE, UFC, and Disney Movies Anywhere. — “So, as the nights get longer and colder …
Android TV gets new apps from Showtime, HBO, CBS, WWE, UFC, and Disney
http://venturebeat.com/2015/10/01/android-tv-gets-new-apps-from-showtime-hbo-cbs-wwe-ufc-and-disney/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Is Banning Apple TV and Chromecast. And That’s Gross
http://www.wired.com/2015/10/amazon-apple-tv-chromecast/
Amazon has quietly informed its marketplace sellers that as of October 29, it will no longer sell the Google Chromecast or Apple TV. In doing so, it will absent the second and fourth best-selling streaming boxes from its digital shelves.
The move, first reported by Bloomberg Businessweek and confirmed to WIRED, comes in advance of the release of the next-generation versions of those products. The new Chromecast is already available for order from the Google Store, while the new Apple TV ships later this month.
Amazon spokesperson provided the following statement:
“Over the last three years, Prime Video has become an important part of Prime. It’s important that the streaming media players we sell interact well with Prime Video in order to avoid customer confusion.”
That logic, which could charitably be described as “unlikely,” and less so as “brazen misdirection,” doesn’t add up, according to streaming media analyst Dan Rayburn.
Amazon’s not the only company to disallow competitive products in its stores. In fact, it’s not even the first company in this imbroglio to do so; nearly a year ago, on the heels of purchasing Beats, Apple removed Bose headphone and stereo products from its shelves.
It’s also notable that Amazon’s not targeting an entire product category here; Roku remains unaffected, as do Xbox and PlayStation, all of which carry Instant Video. It speaks to the power Amazon wields, however, that if a smaller player like Roku had been included in the reaping, it may well have been a fatal blow. As is, it’s more of a healthy swat.
Most people don’t go a lot of places, though. Most people go to Amazon. The company reported sales of $23.18 billion in the second quarter of this year alone, which very roughly works out to about $250 million a day.
All of which is to say that Amazon is the most powerful company in online retail, and has apparently decided to leverage that position of strength to elevate a successful hardware line
Tomi Engdahl says:
Japan Display Squeezes 8K Resolution Into 17-inch LCD, Cracks 510 PPI At 120Hz
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/15/10/04/2327203/japan-display-squeezes-8k-resolution-into-17-inch-lcd-cracks-510-ppi-at-120hz
By any metric, 8K is an incredibly high resolution. In fact, given that most HD content is still published in 1080p, the same could be said about 4K.
We’ve become accustomed to our smartphones having super-high ppi (pixels-per-inch); 5.5-inch 1080p phones are 401 ppi, which is well past the point that humans are able to differentiate individual pixels. Understanding that highlights just how impressive Japan Display’s (JDI) monitor is, as it clocks in at 510 ppi in a 17-inch panel.
Japan Display Wizards Squeeze 8K Into 17-inch LCD To Crack 510 PPI
Read more at http://hothardware.com/news/japan-display-wizards-squeezes-8k-into-17-inch-lcd#rybEF2PH40MtAyyv.99
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sean O’Kane / The Verge:
Light debuts L16 camera, with 16 separate lens modules that can create a single 52 megapixel picture, preorder now for $1299, will ship summer 2016 — This camera is actually 16 cameras in one — It’s not often that you see something truly different when it comes to camera design these days.
This camera is actually 16 cameras in one
The L16 is like no camera(s) you’ve ever seen
http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/7/9473793/light-l16-16-lens-camera-specs-price
It’s not often that you see something truly different when it comes to camera design these days. The meaningful differences tend to show up in the more obscure details — more megapixels here, a better viewfinder there. But on the outside, most are variations on the same idea: a rectangle, some buttons, a screen, and a lens. So how do make a camera that’s different from all the others, both inside and out? You start by cramming 16 cameras into one body.
At least, that’s what a company called Light wants to do with a brand-new camera called the L16.
Light has taken advantage of what founder Rajiv Laroia calls “a silent revolution” in the photography world. Thanks to the need to put better-quality cameras in smartphones, the process of miniaturizing camera modules and molding high-quality plastic lenses has brought things to a place where — with a little computational photography — you can make something like the L16. Light sees it as a DSLR replacement, something that you can throw in your bag to save yourself from lugging around extra lenses and equipment. But really it’s more of an experiment, one that you can preorder now for $1,299, and one that won’t ship until late summer 2016.
Behind each of those plastic lenses is a 13-megapixel camera module, each grouped into three different focal lengths. There are five 35mm modules, five of the 70mm version, and six 150mm modules.
All those different cameras give L16 users an effective zoom of 35mm to 150mm. The L16 can also take the information from all those images and computationally blend it into one high-resolution image up to 52 megapixels big.
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
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.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home> Community > Blogs > Brian’s Brain
Identical hardware with varying software
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/brians-brain/4440473/Identical-hardware-with-varying-software?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20151006&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20151006&elq=0bc0bbd24f0c4bd3999d5d320725496a&elqCampaignId=25072&elqaid=28488&elqat=1&elqTrackId=f3ade0bf27864bec96ab0c4356438577
While recently researching the EOS 300D, also known as the EOS Digital Rebel, I came across mention of the fact that:
It is often compared to the prosumer Canon EOS 10D, which features virtually the same CMOS image sensor and image processing chip. Several 10D features can be unlocked and used in the 300D by using non-official firmware.
And this tidbit reminded me of the broader CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) project
Canon leverages a common image processor across multiple product proliferations at different price, form factor and (factory firmware-enabled) feature points. CHDK ‘turns on’ substantial additional high-end capabilities with my low-end digicam without at all disturbing the camera’s native firmware (or, therefore, any Canon warranty). Instead, the firmware augmentations store on a SD card, which you can either manually load via user screen settings or (as I’ve done) configure to auto-boot on camera start-up.
Tomi Engdahl says:
BBC bypasses Linux kernel to make streaming videos flow
The move to shunt TCP into userspace is gathering momentum
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/10/12/linux_networking_api_showing_its_age/
Back in September, The Register’s networking desk chatted to a company called Teclo about the limitations of TCP performance in the Linux stack.
That work, described here, included moving TCP/IP processing off to user-space to avoid the complex processing that the kernel has accumulated over the years.
It’s no surprise, then, to learn of other high-performance efforts addressing the same issue: both the BBC in its video streaming farms; and CloudFlare, which needs to deal with frequent packet flood attacks.
The Beeb’s work is described by research technologist Stuart Grace here. The broadcaster explains that its high-definition video streams have to push out 340,000 packets per second into 4 Gbps ultra-high definition streams.
With just 3 µs per packet of processing time, the post says, using the kernel stack simply wasn’t an option.
Using the network sockets API, the post explains, involves a lot of handling of the packet, as “each data packet passes through several layers of software inside the operating system, as the packet’s route on the network is determined and the network headers are generated. Along the way, the data is copied from the application’s buffers to the socket buffer, and then from the socket buffer to the device driver’s buffers.”
The Beeb boffins started by getting out of the kernel and into userspace, which let them write what they call a “zero-copy kernel bypass interface, where the application and the network hardware device driver share a common set of memory buffers”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ty Pendlebury / CNET:
Chromecast Audio review: the audio streamer to beat thanks to its easy setup, great sound, support for all popular music services except Apple and Amazon Music — Chromecast Audio review: Affordable, simple wireless music streamer marries phone and stereo — The Chromecast Audio looks …
Chromecast Audio review: Affordable, simple wireless music streamer marries phone and stereo
http://www.cnet.com/products/chromecast-audio/
The Good Google’s budget audio dongle pipes music to any stereo from the most popular streaming apps on your smartphone. It’s simple and works well, with direct compatibility for most major music services, and even more supported via the Chrome browser plug-in and on the Android app. And did we mention it only costs $35 USD, £30 or AU$49?
The Bad Some notable music services, including iTunes, Apple Music and Amazon Music, are not supported on iPhone and iPad.
The Bottom Line The ultra-affordable Google Chromecast Audio is one of the best music-streaming devices you can buy — especially if you’re an Android user.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Teardown confirms improved heat dissipation system in new Chromecasts
iFixit finds gobs of thermal paste, easily replaceable HDMI, 1080p-capped processor.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/teardown-confirms-improved-heat-dissipation-system-in-new-chromecasts/
Exactly how much stuff can Google cram into the tiny hockey puck that is this year’s line of Chromecast dongles? According to the screwdriver-happy folks at iFixit, quite a bit, though seemingly half of the stuff in both the updated Chromecast and its new Chromecast Audio sibling is thermal paste.
According to iFixit, teardowns of both units revealed two gum-sized wads of the blue stuff—one on each side of the electromagnetic shield casing—which is good news for anybody who had issues with a piping-hot original model of the Chromecast, since the device continues to operate without a fan.
Marvell, the company responsible for both the old and new Chromecasts’ processors, including figures such as 512MB of SDRAM in the HDMI-enabled Chromecast, 256MB of SDRAM in the Chromecast Audio, and 256MB of NAND flash memory in both.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony Buys 3D Imaging Startup Softkinetic
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1327957&
Sony Corp. Thursday (Oct. 8) announced the acquisition of image sensor technology provider Softkinetic Systems SA, a company that has appeared on the EE Times Silicon 60 list of promising startups since July. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Softkinetic, founded in 2007, develops sensor-to-software 3D gesture recognition systems utilizing time-of-flight (ToF) technology. It has previously licensed its platform to Texas Instruments Inc. and Melexis SA.
ToF is a technology used for resolving the distance to an object that is used in video gaming by the Xbox One as well as in other applications. ToF distance measurement pixels measure the flight time it takes for light to leave the light source, reflect off the object, and return to the image sensor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
The history of audio interface design, and how Microsoft is reworking Skype’s iconic sounds
Sound Decision
Inside the world of audio branding with Skype’s new pings, bounces, and pops
http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/7/9455159/skype-sound-design-computer-audio-branding-longform
The year that Skype launched its calling service, the world was in the midst of a sonic crisis: the ringtone.
Mobile phones — to which Skype was an indirect competitor — were becoming ubiquitous, and so were the personalized sounds that went with them. Shortly before the company put out the first of several betas in August of 2003, an analyst report predicted that ringtone sales would soon bring in more money than CD singles.
“In 2003, it seems that a person’s most valued and public expression of self seems to be embodied in the customized features of his cell phone,” wrote one woman in a BBC opinion poll. “With priorities like these, it’s no wonder we have so many problems in the world today.”
For the overwhelming majority of humanity’s existence, the tools we’ve used have come with their own set of audio signals, often unintentional ones.
As our tools and machines have become increasingly digital, they’ve also become increasingly silent — and many of those natural cues and signals have disappeared. Instead, we rely on noises that have been selected or created to give a specific effect. Electric cars with silent motors mimic noisy gas-powered vehicles, for example, because a motor gives bystanders surprisingly complex warnings — how near a car is, how powerful it might be, and how fast it’s going. While physical keyboards opt for silent rubber buttons instead of clicky mechanical springs , we put time and energy into creating sounds for the digital keyboards on our touchscreen devices.
There’s no such thing as a “natural” computer-interface sound. But for decades, an entire industry of musicians, engineers, and advertisers has devoted itself to creating these acoustic signifiers, from the moment we boot up a machine to the moment we shut it down.
“Everything, more and more, will need sound.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Snapchat To Shut Down Snap Channel, Laying Off Team, Changing Content Plans
http://deadline.com/2015/10/snapchat-snap-channel-shut-down-layoffs-original-content-strategy-1201577855/
Underscoring the complicated relationship between the tech world and traditional entertainment, Snapchat has done a course correction on its original content strategy, opting to shut down its Snap Channel permanently
Launched in January, Snap Channel had marked Snapchat’s foray into self-generated original content.
The Snapchat development team had been in the midst of talks with major studios and production companies on multiple shows when the shutdown news came today, catching all by surprise.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:
FCC weighs cable, entertainment, and tech industry arguments about who can make changes to UI of TV set-top boxes
Does the Future of Television Belong to the Device or the App?
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/does-future-television-belong-device-830973
This week, the FCC hears reaction to a controversial proposal. The MPAA says it violates the U.S. Constitution. The WGA is in favor.
The past and future of the TV cable box is at the center of a big war-of-words this week at the Federal Communications Commission. The fight has gotten scant press attention, but it’s a subject that’s fueling strong commentary from the likes of tech giants Google and Amazon and even dividing Hollywood. The MPAA is even going so far as to suggest that a proposal to revolutionize the TV device market would violate both the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Writers Guild disagrees.
Upon direction from Congress, the FCC is looking at new standards for “downloadable security” on set-top boxes.
Who controls how television will be presented? Do consumers wants lots of apps to choose from? Or do they want more nimble devices? These are some of the big questions being considered by media regulators.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Teardown: Bluetooth audio dongle keeps it simple
http://www.edn.com/design/consumer/4440547/Teardown–Bluetooth-audio-dongle-keeps-it-simple?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_pcbdesigncenter_20151012&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_pcbdesigncenter_20151012&elq=c39fee3be11a4a8380cfcf173d785401&elqCampaignId=25164&elqaid=28604&elqat=1&elqTrackId=23872f80ba4e430f92e5051034cd2757
The Logitech Bluetooth Audio Adapter is fairly unique among such devices, so say reviewers, in that it offers both 3.5mm TRS and dual RCA analog audio outputs.
Frankly, however, I’m not sure why the company bothered with the latter output set, since it also generously (and seemingly redundantly) bundled a 3.5mm to dual-RCA cable
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video from Audio and Pure Data
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/11/video-from-audio-and-pure-data/
Although graphical programming languages have been around for ages, they haven’t really seen much use outside of an educational setting. One of the few counterexamples of this is Pure Data, and Max MSP, visual programming languages that make music and video development as easy as dropping a few boxes down and drawing lines between them.
A few years ago, [Thomas] and [Danny] developed a very cool Pure Data audio-visual presentation. The program they developed only generated graphics, but though clever coding they were able to generate a few audio signals from whatever video was coming out of their computer. The project is called TVestroy, and it’s one of the coolest audio-visual presentations you’ll ever see.
http://tof.t-o-f.info/?/projects/tvestroy/