My picks from audio and video trends for 2016:
Smartphone have increased screen sizes and have finally become mobile TVs: Smartphones have overtaken the tablets as the most popular mobile device for viewing videos. The most watched content were targeted at teenagers videos and animation series for children.
Smartphone cameras are great, or at least close enough to great that you don’t notice the difference. We’ve reached the point where you’ve got to work pretty hard to find a phone with a mediocre camera. Compared to a DSLR, smart phone cameras are lousy because they use tiny sensors, but still the camera in your pocket is crazy good considering the limitations manufacturers work under. The vast majority of top-tier smartphones use Sony sensors for their main cameras. The molded plastic lens elements in many cameras have reached the point where they’re essentially perfect. Smart phones are already deployed in many newsrooms for mobile journalism video shooting as it is easier (and cheaper) to learn how to film and edit on your phone than it is to use a big camera.
For new smart phone camera technologies you could see array of lenses to enable Lytro-like refocusing, create 3-D depth maps, and improve image quality in low light. In many cases smart phone cameras and DSLR are complimentary: Although the smartphones have decimated the point-and-shoot segment, sales of DSLR and other high-end rigs remain.
Live streaming video from smart phone becomes mainstream. Periscope was one of the first apps to really make live streaming events simple and easy enough that people wanted to do it. Many other apps are following the trend. Facebook begins testing live video streaming for all users.
Drone videography will ger more popular as drones become more popular. Many people will learn basic and creative aerial filming techniques for drone video cameras.
Whether or not the 2016 International CES holds any big surprises remains to be seen. This year’s CES will focus on how connectivity is proliferating everything from cars to homes, realigning diverse markets. It is quite probable that 4K TV will be big at this years’ CES show due to growing demand and falling prices. 4K becomes mainstream in 2016. CES will also have some 8K sets, though the market for 8K is at least five years away if not more (Tokyo Olympics in 2020 may be broadcast in 8K). Some new display technology is coming. LG has already demoed rollable 55, 66 and 77-inch OLED-based panels. Avegant’s Glyph technology literally beams video content onto your retinas. Analysts Predict CES 2016 Trends article gives you more ideas what to expect.
We can finally declare that 3D image in TV was a flop. Five years ago, it was estimated that the 3D technique can occupy the rapid pace of living cinemas addition. Then slowed different with technologies. But why the technology is virtually failed even though every new TV set has been added to display the 3D image as an option? Analysts said some people lack the ability to stereoscopic vision and for many, the 3D image caused eyestrain or nausea. Stereo image is to be left to various virtual reality applications.
After a year in which the weakness of smart TVs were exploited, Samsung goes on the offensive in 2016. Samsung’s new Tizen-based TVs will have GAIA security with pin lock for credit card and other personal info, data encryption, built-in anti-malware system, more. Samsung’s betting big on the internet of things and wants the TV to sit at the heart of this strategy. Samsung believes that people will want to activate their lights, heating and garage doors all from the comfort of their couch. If smart TVs get a reputation for being easy to hack, then Samsung’s models are hardly likely to be big sellers.
Whole TV industry need to go through a major transition as in most major developed markets, TV growth is slowing and in some cases stagnating. TV will account for 38.4 percent of the $503 billion global ad market in and will drop to 38 percent of the market in 2016. Digital ad spending will overtake TV as biggest category by 2017 or 2018.
Streaming video will be big in 2016. Almost all of the networks are streaming their content and streaming media is going mainstream fast. Third, 15% of American adults report they have become “cord cutters” – meaning they have abandoned paid cable or satellite television service. Many of these cord cutters say that the availability of televised content from the internet and other sources is a factor in their move away from subscription television services.
There seems to be a strong nostalgic audio trend going in. Whether it’s a sweet portable record player, a tabletop wooden radio or a full-size jukebox, the market for vintage-inspired electronics remains strong. Aside from record players, the vintage trend carries over to radios and speakers.
It seems that Americans were willing to spend on vinyl records. Nielsen numbers show that vinyl record sales rose 260 percent between 2009 and 2014, and sales for 2015 are on track to beat 2014’s total vinyl sales of 9.2 million units. Vinyl records generated more revenue in the first half of 2015 than free-to-use streaming services, but that’s not the full story. Despite vinyl sales increase it’s clear that the future of the music industry is digital. Total revenues from the digital music sector is expected to rise while physical sales will drop. Future is filled with streaming music services – both subscription services and free.
On the other end of audio spectrum High resolution audio tries to push to market at CES (again). Hi-Res Audio is the fastest growing category in music. Apple Music is planning to launch new its Hi-Res music streaming in 2016.
W3C group formed in the summer of 2015 a new working group: The Music Notation Community Group consists of representatives from some of the biggest names in the music notation software business who’ve come together to create a standardised way to display western music notation in your browser. It believes are achievable goals that can be met in 2016.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg: Spotify buries artists with Apple and Tidal exclusives (updated)
The streaming service reportedly makes music harder to find and keeps it out of playlists.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/26/spotify-aritst-exclusives-apple-music-tidal/
Another week has passed with another high-profile exclusive debuting on Apple Music. As it does each time an artist keeps a new album off its service, Spotify reiterated this week that those exclusives are “bad for the whole industry.”
Bloomberg sources indicate that Spotify is retaliating against artists to release their new music on Apple’s service first by making those tracks harder to find when they do become available. Those sources say the strategy includes keeping songs off of featured playlists and burying them in search rankings.
Bloomberg’s sources also indicate that artists who have released new materials exclusively on Tidal are being treated similarly by Spotify, but specific names were not disclosed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kit jumpstarts RealSense camera development
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4442599/Kit-jumpstarts-RealSense-camera-development-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160829&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160829&elqTrackId=f204aea6fbfb499f8c0de1e48e55b054&elq=5b59ff5b71da40cb82574a870dca5d1c&elqaid=33627&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=29397
Intel offers a development kit for its RealSense SR300 3-D front-facing camera to help designers create more immersive games and applications. Aimed at all-in-ones and notebooks, the SR300 is a subassembly camera product that implements a short range, coded-light, 3-D imaging system that delivers 1080p HD video at up to 30 fps and 720p HD video at up to 60 fps.
Along with an infrared laser projector, the subassembly includes a Fast VGA infrared camera and a 2-Mpixel color camera with an integrated image signal processor. Fast VGA depth mode reduces exposure time and allows dynamic motion up to 2 m/s. The SR300 also provides synchronized color, depth, and IR video streaming to the client system. The effective range of depth is optimized from 0.2 m to 1.2 m for use indoors.
http://click.intel.com/intelrrealsensetm-developer-kit-featuring-sr300.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
John Biggs / TechCrunch:
Sonos speakers will integrate with Amazon’s Alexa next year and will let Spotify’s app control audio starting this October
Sonos partners with Amazon, Spotify for enhanced music control
https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/30/sonos-partners-with-amazon-spotify-for-enhanced-music-control/
Wireless speaker system maker Sonos announced two software partnerships today with Spotify and Amazon. The Spotify integration allows users to control their Sonos speakers via the Spotify app, essentially turning each Sonos speaker – or all of them – into a Spotify Connect system.
The Sonos/Amazon partnership is a bit more interesting. Your Sonos speakers will be able to work with Alexa and you will be able to request songs and modify the audio with just your voice. Given that Sonos doesn’t have an Alexa-capable microphone built in, you can only talk to your speakers through Amazon products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kurt Wagner / Recode:
Twitter expands Amplify Publisher program to individual video creators in the US, giving them 70% of ad revenue; the deal does not require content exclusives — Twitter’s 70/30 revenue split is better than YouTube’s deal. — Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Fullscreen
Twitter is finally paying its best users to create videos
Twitter’s 70/30 revenue split is better than YouTube’s deal.
http://www.recode.net/2016/8/30/12700934/twitter-revenue-split-video-creators-youtube
Twitter wants the kind of video creators YouTube has — and the massive audiences that come with them.
To make this dream a reality, the company is pulling a page from YouTube’s playbook: It’s going to sell ads alongside creator videos and share that ad revenue with the people making the content. And Twitter is offering very appealing terms.
Unlike YouTube, which gives 55 percent of the money to creators and keeps 45 percent, Twitter is using the same revenue split it already offers other Amplify video partners, like the NFL: 70 percent to the content creator and 30 percent back to Twitter, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.
So even with an appealing offer, it’s unclear whether Twitter will be able to entice creators and viewers who already think of other video platforms first, or if the move is too little too late.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
PlayStation Now streaming service that lets you play legacy titles on Windows PCs is launches today with promo price of $100/year, less than half normal price
PlayStation Now streaming service available today on Windows PCs
https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/30/playstation-now-streaming-service-available-today-on-windows-pcs/
You don’t need a PlayStation to play PlayStation games anymore: Sony’s Playstation Now subscription-based game streaming service is now out for PC, and you an grab the app and start playing some of PlayStation’s best legacy titles immediately if you’ve got a Windows machine.
It’ll cost you, of course – but not as much as you would’ve paid for the games available individually. A 12-month subscription to PlayStation Now will run you $99.99 as part of a limited-time promotion to celebrate the PC launch. Normally, a PS Now subscription will run you more than double that.
What does PlayStation Now actually provide? Access to a library of over 50 ‘Greatest Hits’ games
Tomi Engdahl says:
Oriana Schwindt / The Wrap:
SNL Kagan: a record high of 812K pay TV subscribers cut the cord in the April-June quarter, versus 625K in the same quarter a year ago — Another quarter, another not-insignificant loss for the pay-TV market. All told, 812,000 pay TV subscribers cut the cord from April through June of this year, according to research firm SNL Kagan.
Almost a Million People Cut the Premium TV Cord in Last Quarter
http://www.thewrap.com/812000-cut-the-cord-q2-2016-cord-cutting-accelerates-comcast-dish-directv-time-warner-cable-verizon/
Another quarter, another not-insignificant loss for the pay-TV market. All told, 812,000 pay TV subscribers cut the cord from April through June of this year, according to research firm SNL Kagan. That’s up from the industry’s loss of 625,000 in the same quarter a year ago.
It’s worth noting that the second quarter of the year, that April through June period, is typically the worst of the year for pay TV companies
Tomi Engdahl says:
IFA in Berlin: HDR-TV picture
On Friday, start at the Berlin consumer electronics trade fair will present the new television technologies. They are ultra-sharp 4K TVs In addition to HDR and HLG-technologies, which offer a more fuller television image.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology to produce a more detailed TVs and a brighter picture, deeper blacks, a wider range of color shades. All the major television manufacturers are involved in the application of technology.
Berlin HDR image will be introduced, at least for Sony, Samsung, LG and Philips wards. LG intends to provide presentation facilities including the ability to test the Dolby Vision HDR and Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) content.
The new HLG is designed to direct the HDR transmissions and transmission of content HDR-cable network.
HLG applied to the distribution of one of the bit stream, which the HDR-receivers and parents alike receivers can interpret without HDR-aid. LG introduces Hybrid Log Gamma HFR content from the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union EBU with the EU.
HLG HRF-content (100-120 frames per second) works with MPEG DASH streaming and DVB-T2.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/08/30/berliinissa-pian-taytelaista-hdr-televisiokuvaa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
TV Anytime
http://www.btreport.net/whitepapers/2016/07/tv-anytime.html?cmpid=enlmobile08302016&eid=289644432&bid=1513438
Subscribers now expect any and all of their favorite shows available whenever they want it. They want to pause live TV, start a program over if they missed the beginning, and record something that happened in the past. They expect all 5 seasons of their favorite series at their fingertips for a binge-watching weekend, and the ability to find an older film as easily as the latest blockbuster. Meeting these expectations require an adaptable TV service deployed in the cloud.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile TV to Generate $17 Billion by 2024
http://www.btreport.net/articles/2016/08/mobile-tv-to-generate-17-billion-by-2024.html?cmpid=enlmobile08302016&eid=289644432&bid=1513438
According to Transparency Market Research, the global mobile TV market is exceedingly fragmented, and the top 10 players accounted for only 23.3% in 2015. Those companies – Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), AT&T (NYSE:T), MobiTV, Sky, Bell Canada, Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Bharti Airtel, Consolidated Communications, Orange S.A., and Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) – do, however, enjoy a strong foothold in several regional markets and have set entry-level barriers rather high.
The opportunity in the global mobile TV market stood at $7.69 billion in 2015 and is expected to be worth $17.02 billion by 2024. The market is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period. The research house says mobile TV subscriptions will increase at a 40.3% CAGR from 2016 to 2024.
Based on type of service, pay TV services led the overall market in 2015, accounting for a share of 52% that year. Also registering a strong CAGR of 9.7% from 2016 to 2024, the segment is forecast to continue leading the mobile TV market through 2024.
Asia Pacific has been the leading revenue generator in the global mobile TV market and is anticipated to hold a share of more than 42% by the end of 2024.
The growing use of smartphones and tablets globally has helped boost the mobile TV market. Most smartphones and tablets today are TV-enabled
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Best iPhone Camera Add-On Just Learned a Ton of New Tricks
http://www.wired.com/2016/08/best-iphone-camera-add-just-learned-ton-new-tricks/
Point-and-shoot cameras are dead. Those Android-powered Nikons? Kaput. GoPros, well, depends how much you wakeboard. For most people, in most situations, smartphones are the beginning and end of a photography toolkit. And for those who want better pictures than an iPhone can muster on its own, accessories like the DxO One balance quality and convenience, augmenting a smartphone’s camera without getting too much in the way. Today, the DxO One gets even more useful—in even more places.
No company has enhanced the iPhone’s camera better than DxO, longtime maker of high-end photo software, and more recent camera manufacturer. The DxO One is a $500 palm-sized camera with a one-inch, 20-megapixel sensor as good as any point-and-shoot. It’s also an accessory that plugs into an iPhone’s Lightning port, uses your phone as a viewfinder, and dumps its gorgeous shots right into your Photos app for you to filter at will.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia may well say started the trend with a smartphone becomes most ykköskameraksi. The company presented four years ago PureView-up model named “monster camera phone”.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4956:lenovo-sai-oman-hirviokameransa&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hasselblad’s new $250 MotoMod adds 10x optical zoom to the Moto Z
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/8/31/12729838/hasselblad-true-zoom-announced-moto-z
A prestigious brand is joining Lenovo’s MotoMod lineup today: it’s Hasselblad. Confirming some recent leaks, both companies have just announced the new Hasselblad True Zoom. The True Zoom is a camera attachment that magnetically latches onto the back of the Moto Z and expands the phone’s photography prowess by adding optical zoom up to 10x. It will launch in September for $250 when purchased from Verizon, or $299 if you buy it from Motorola.com.
The True Zoom doesn’t use the Moto Z’s camera at all. It’s a completely separate camera with its own 25-250mm (35mm equivalent) lens and 12-megapixel sensor built in. Yes, that’s fewer megapixels than the 13MP Moto Z camera and fewer still than the 21MP Moto Z Force.
Once you attach the True Zoom to any Moto Z phone and hit its power button, the lens juts out and the phone’s camera app automatically opens. There’s a physical shutter button (in Hasselblad’s signature orange), which always feels more satisfying than tapping glass
I just wish that the whole thing could take better pictures. I haven’t been testing it terribly long, and don’t get me wrong: having 10x optical zoom is super neat at times. If you’re traveling, this could be a fun gadget to carry along for outdoor photos. But the variable aperture (f/3.5 – 6.5) is pretty brutal for indoor and low light shots. And the minimum focusing distance can be another annoyance, especially when zooming. Your subject will need to be several feet away, or the True Zoom just won’t lock focus
I think my biggest disappointment is that these still very much look like pictures taken with a smartphone camera, which shouldn’t be surprising since the True Zoom uses a 1/2.3-inch sensor. Perhaps the Hasselblad name set my expectations unreasonably high.
So the Hasselblad True Zoom seems like another cool-but-overpriced MotoMod. Optical zoom can help you get closer than your phone (or feet) could otherwise. But when you remember that the results are something you’ll be sharing on Instagram or Facebook, that $250 price is a bit hard to swallow.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The HDMI connection will be lost from laptops in the future
HDMI connection HDMI Licensing technology developer says it has expanded its connection with a new alternative mode (the so-called. Alt mode). It allows the C-type USB connector equipped devices can move the image directly to the HDMI displays without any adapters.
If your device supports HDMI connection, such as a movie can be transferred to it via HDMI directly to a large-screen on a single physical cable. At the same time the future of small devices can be left out of the one connector, the USB Type-C is sufficient.
According to the association with the HDMI interface displays sold this year to nearly 290 million. Its range of projectors, monitors, and practically one hundred percent of Flat Panel TVs.
There are some limitations with a new HDMI technology is. Alt mode supports standard assay 1.4b, 2.0b, but not the newer standard. via the USB interface to the C-4K to transfer the image quality, the 3D image and the HDMI Ethernet data, the HDR example, but not sound, which is part of the 2.0 specification.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4964&via=n&datum=2016-09-02_09:54:09&mottagare=30929
Tomi Engdahl says:
REPORT: Netflix Saves Children from 150 Hours of Commercials a Year
http://exstreamist.com/report-netflix-saves-children-from-150-hours-of-commercials-a-year/
Services like Netflix save our kids from over 150 hours of ads for sugary cereal, rot-your-teeth soda, over-hyped toys, and more every year.
We get it, it’s really easy to drop an iPad into your kids’ hands and tell them to stream away, no judgement here. Nothing like a little peace and quiet while the young ones are in the back of the car watching ‘Puffin Rock’ for the 19th time, not speaking from experience here or anything…
But thinking back to our own childhoods, it was impossible to watch an episode of ‘Rugrats’ without being bombarded with several minutes of commercials for Cookie Crisp, Sock ’em Boppers, Creeper Crawlers, Gak, and more. And these days there are more commercials per half hour of television than ever.
Last year we ran the numbers on how Netflix saves us adults from 130 hours of commercials a year, and earlier this year, we reported that children between the ages of two and 18 are spending an average of 1.8 hours a day using streaming services.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM Watson Created The First-Ever AI-Made Movie Trailer For ‘Morgan’
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/16/09/02/025239/ibm-watson-created-the-first-ever-ai-made-movie-trailer-for-morgan?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
For a film about the risks of pushing the limits of technology too far, it only makes sense to advertise for it using artificial intelligence.
they’d employ the help of America’s AI sweetheart IBM Watson to build the film’s trailer. IBM used machine learning and experimental Watson APIs, parsing out the trailers of 100 horror movies. It did visual, audio, and composition analysis of individual scenes, finding what makes each moment eerie, how the score and actors’ tone of voice changed the mood–framing and lighting came together to make a complete trailer. Watson was then fed the full film, and it chose scenes for the trailer. A human — in this case, the “resident IBM filmmaker” — still needed to step in to edit for creativity. Even so, a process that would normally take weeks was reduced to hours.
Morgan | IBM Creates First Movie Trailer by AI [HD] | 20th Century FOX
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJEzuYynaiw
Scientists at IBM Research have collaborated with 20th Century Fox to create the first-ever cognitive movie trailer for the movie Morgan.
Utilizing experimental Watson APIs and machine learning techniques, the IBM Research system analyzed hundreds of horror/thriller movie trailers. After learning what keeps audiences on the edge of their seats, the AI system suggested the top 10 best candidate moments for a trailer from the movie Morgan, which an IBM filmmaker then edited and arranged together.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
HDMI Licensing announces Alt Mode, a new standard that will allow USB-C devices to send video to any HDMI display via a single cable
USB-C devices will be able to output to HDMI with new standard
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/9/1/12758384/usb-c-hdmi-alt-mode-cables-specifications
HDMI Licensing, the company that defines hardware rules for HDMI cables, announced today that it’s releasing an HDMI Alt Mode for USB-C products. The specification allows for USB-C-to-HDMI cables to be made with no need for extra dongles or converters, and allow compatible devices to output video directly from a USB-C device to an HDMI display. This means that smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras, and any other devices with a USB-C port can be built to directly output video to any HDMI display with a single cable.
Alt Mode, which stands for Alternative Mode, allows non-USB signals to be carried through a USB-C cable. Other USB-C Alt Modes support DisplayPort, MHL, and Thunderbolt. USB-C devices that support these Alt Modes can then, with the correct USB-C cable, transfer those signals in addition to regular USB data.
There are a few catches to the HDMI Alt Mode, however: the specification uses the older HDMI 1.4b standard, instead of the newer HDMI 2.0b, meaning that HDMI Alt Mode for USB-C connections will be able to output up to 4K resolution, 3D video, and support HDMI-CEC, but won’t offer things like HDR video and other HDMI 2.0b features.
HDMI has already released the specifications for HDMI Alt Mode for USB-C to its manufacturing licensees, so devices and cables supporting the standard could already be in the works.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kerry Flynn / Mashable:
Twitter launches monetization option for Periscope with broadcast sponsorship; live video won’t have ads, but sponsors can create highlights with pre-roll ads — Twitter is opening up its live video app Periscope to more advertising. — Through Twitter’s Amplify program …
Periscope will now feature sponsored live video broadcasts
http://mashable.com/2016/09/01/twitter-periscope-sponsor/#4bOviLm6PuqD
Twitter is opening up its live video app Periscope to more advertising.
Through Twitter’s Amplify program, brand partners can now sponsor a series of Periscope broadcasts and create branded video highlights which can feature pre-roll ads, the company announced Thursday.
Nothing major is changing within the Periscope app experience, except that the broadcast titles of branded videos will have to include the name of the partner. Live videos will not feature pre-roll or ads midstream, a format that Facebook is testing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why Dual Cameras Are Better?
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1330406&
By using dual cameras, smartphone manufacturers are able to support extremely advanced imaging features while keeping the solution slim (below 5mm height), lightweight and robust.
September 7, 2016 is going to mark a significant milestone in the mobile imaging domain. One of the most anticipated revolutions in the upcoming iPhone7 lies in the camera complex. According to recent rumors the large sibling of the iPhone7 will carry a dual camera structure, with the key objective of creating higher quality images.
Dual cameras come in various forms and types, including symmetrical (e.g. 13Mpixel + 13Mpixel), asymmetrical (e.g. 16Mpixel + 13Mpixel), Bayer + Mono (color sensor + B/W sensor), wide + tele (wide lens camera + tele/zoom lens camera) and others. In all cases, such dual camera structures are used to replace the larger sensors, optics and moving parts normally found in advanced DSLRs. By using such dual cameras, smartphone manufacturers are able to support extremely advanced imaging features while keeping the solution slim (below 5mm height), lightweight and robust.
Improved Low Light Performance
One of the most challenging scenarios users face when taking an image is low light scenes – whether we want to savor a moment strolling down a colorful night market, or if we take an image in a dimly lit room.
So how can different dual camera types help us improve low light performance?
Mono (black and white) + Bayer (color) type dual cameras mainly rely on the additional light that comes into the mono sensor.
When fusing the B/W image with the color image the result is significantly enhanced, even in extreme low light conditions. Another interesting fact is that the Mono pixels are sampled in full frequency range as opposed to the Bayer (R, G, B) pixels
Interestingly, Mono + Bayer dual cameras can also help reduce the effect of motion blur. By allowing 2.5x more light onto the mono image sensor, the resulting exposure time of the camera can be much shorter.
However, not all of us are photography buffs that carry around a supersized DSLR camera with a heavy lens everywhere we go. Instead, we all carry around our mobile phones which in fact became one of the most accessible items we possess. When we capture an Image with our existing smartphones, zoom is achieved digitally, which in fact makes the experience and resulting image quality less than optimal.
Dual camera zoom uses a combination of a wide and tele lenses in order to achieve real optical zoom
The wide + tele dual camera topology brings the user the best from all worlds – having the ability to have a wide angle view where a lot is in focus or zooming in with real optical zoom to focus on the object the user desires while the rest of the world is blurred (Bokeh) – same as in professional cameras.
Another major advantage of having dual cameras is the ability to sense depth – similar to the way our eyes operate.
Refocus
Bringing it all together
Whether for optical zoom, depth map or enhanced low-light performance, the toughest part about any dual sensor technology is being able to encapsulate it all into a real-life product that is both robust and provides consistent high quality images. This requires an unusual mix of disciplines, including optics (being able to design your own lenses), actuators (having unique support for focus and image stabilization in dual sensors), image fusion algorithms (be it for depth, zoom or others) and system knowhow (application processors, image sensors, ISP, etc.).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Anyone can sing with Auto-Tune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGiaAiIELME
Tomi Engdahl says:
Famous singers with and without autotune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koQksuxzJ4w
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smarter Than A Card
http://semiengineering.com/smarter-than-a-card/
Why smart cards cannot prevent unauthorized access to 4K and UHD content.
Set-top boxes (STBs) were initially secured by Conditional Access System (CAS) smart cards. However, this approach is no longer effective. Smart cards cannot prevent unauthorized access to premium 4K and UHD content, as they are not designed to protect the interface between the card and box, or the STB SoC itself. This is one of the reasons why cardless CAS set-top boxes, equipped with a hardware-based root-of-trust, are increasing in popularity amongst major operators such as Dish TV India. A hardware root-of-trust, provided by platforms such as Rambus’ CryptoMedia, offers operators robust security protection with an integrated security core that acts to effectively decrease potential attack vectors. Moreover, eliminating the smart card significantly reduces cost, for both short-term BOM and long-term liability in the form of frequent card swaps.
Tomi Engdahl says:
John Paczkowski / BuzzFeed:
Apple execs Greg Joswiak, Dan Riccio, Phil Schiller on why audio jack was ditched: space for camera tech, processors, battery, and to improve water resistance — Apple VP Greg Joswiak is grinning as he holds up what is easily the smallest iPhone adapter I have ever seen. iPod white …
Inside iPhone 7: Why Apple Killed The Headphone Jack
https://www.buzzfeed.com/johnpaczkowski/inside-iphone-7-why-apple-killed-the-headphone-jack?utm_term=.wlJVXd9oKa#.amQ9WN5lXw
The standard audio jack that connects your headphones to just about everything has been around for nearly 150 years. Here’s why Apple thought it was time for a change.
Apple VP Greg Joswiak is grinning as he holds up what is easily the smallest iPhone adapter I have ever seen. iPod white and about the length of a matchstick, it’s designed to connect audio headphones with an industry standard 3.5-millimeter analog plug to the Lightning port on Apple’s newest iPhone, which no longer bears the industry standard jack they require to work.
“This time, we’re putting an adapter in every box,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
iPhone 7 has no 3.5mm jack, comes with Lightning “EarPods” and a Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter; Apple also sells the adapter for $9 and EarPods for $29 separately
Lightning earbuds will come with the iPhone 7
Something to listen to
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12824296/apple-lightning-earbuds-announced-iphone-7
Apple has updated its iconic white earbuds to include a Lightning connector and will bundle a pair with every iPhone 7.
The headphones otherwise appear the same as the EarPod model that Apple introduced in 2012 — they just now end in a Lightning connector instead of the standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FCC scraps its ambitious cable box plan in favor of apps
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/8/12852460/fcc-scraps-ambitious-cable-box-plan-in-favor-of-apps
The Federal Communications Commission is making huge changes to its plan to overhaul cable boxes, scrapping much of the initial idea in favor of having cable companies make new apps.
The plan requires large cable providers to create apps that offer access to all of their programming, including live and on-demand content. Those apps would have to be available on “all widely deployed platforms,” which includes iOS, Android, Windows, and Roku. Both native and web apps will be accepted.
TV providers would also be required to open their catalog up to universal searches. That would allow an Apple TV, for instance, to search through a provider’s live and on-demand programming right alongside Netflix, letting a user see results for both at once.
This updated plan still accomplishes one major goal of the original proposal: freeing consumers from unnecessary cable box rentals, which typically require a monthly fee on top of cable service. While consumers will still be able to buy and rent cable boxes, the commission’s hope here is that consumers will just buy a cheap streaming box and download their cable provider’s app instead. Apps will be required on more than just streaming boxes, too — smartphones, tablets, and game consoles are all eligible.
What’s more in question is how much this furthers the commission’s goal of increasing innovating around TV, which has been painfully stagnant for years. The app model will help to move things forward, as it mandates the inclusion of TV content on other platforms. But the interface largely stays in the cable companies’ control; content remains locked inside of apps, so it’s questionable how much this’ll let companies like Apple, Google, and Roku create interesting new ways of finding and watching TV.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:
Killing the headphone jack is a business decision that helps Bluetooth headphone companies, where Apple’s Beats is the market leader
The biggest winner from removing the headphone jack is Apple
Fun fact: Apple owns the #1 wireless headphone company
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/8/12839758/apple-is-biggest-winner-from-killing-headphone-jack
If you take Apple’s word for it, removing the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 was a pure expression of its desire for technological progress. “Some people have asked why we would remove the analog headphone jack from the iPhone,” Phil Schiller, Apple’s marketing chief, said yesterday. “It really comes down to one word: courage. The courage to move on to do something new that betters all of us.”
Already Apple’s defenders have been echoing that sentiment. The headphone jack is century-old technology
And if you do want to use old headphones, you need to keep a small adapter handy. And that’s just to name a few of the many drawbacks.
The benefits, on the other hand, are surprisingly few. Removing the headphone jack frees up a small amount of space inside the iPhone. And while it’s true that audio over Lightning can produce a higher sound quality, that’s been an option on iPhones for years — now Apple is just forcing everyone into choosing it. There’s no actual improvement to sound in the iPhone 7.
While it’s tough to make the case that dropping the headphone jack is better for consumers, the benefits for Apple are much easier to see. The iPhone 7 will be bought by tens of millions of people during the next few months alone, and its lack of a headphone jack is going to make many of them consider buying Lightning or Bluetooth headphones. Apple profits from both.
Any company that wants to make a pair of Lightning headphones has to go through Apple’s licensing program.
And that’s just Lightning. More likely is that the lack of a headphone jack on the iPhone — and increasingly, on Android phones as well — will lead to an uptick in sales of Bluetooth headphones. And it just so happens that Apple owns the number one Bluetooth headphone company, Beats.
Beats brings in more revenue from Bluetooth headphones than LG, Bose, or Jaybird, according to NPD figures released in July. In terms of unit sales, it controls over a quarter of the Bluetooth headphone market.
Sales of Bluetooth headphones are already growing, with units up 64 percent year over year according to NPD’s US figures. And Apple’s removal of the headphone jack is likely to give them another boost.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Heralds Dawn of Dual Lens Camera
Dual lens smartphones to become the norm, says Corephotonics
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1330419
Apple’s newly announced iPhone 7 Plus, with a dual-lens camera designed to provide both telephoto-zoom and depth of field features, is likely to set a new high in the industry standard for image quality never before imagined for mobile photography.
Although unlikely to completely replace digital single reflex cameras, Philip Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, boasted during the Apple event Wednesday, “This is the best camera ever made in any smartphone.”
Consisting of a 28mm wide-angle lens and a 56mm telephoto, iPhone 7 Plus’ dual lens is designed to offer 2x optical zoom, and up to 10x digital zoom.
Later this year, Apple plans on a software upgrade that enables the same dual lens to provide what’s known as an optical “Bokeh effect” (Bokeh in Japanese means blur).
This effect brings pin-sharp focus to an object in the foreground while blurring the rest of the scene. The resulting image resembles one taken by a telephoto lens with shallow depth of field, a stark contrast to photos taken by the wide-angle lens currently used in smartphones.
The dual-lens camera won’t be just a nice high-end smartphone feature. Rather, it will change the course of the smartphone trajectory, according to Eran Kali, vice president of licensing at Corephotonics
He predicted that the dual lens will soon become obligatory in smartphones, and Apple’s competitors are catching up fast.
Kali told EE Times that Corephotonics is “the inventor of the computational dual camera for smartphones” derived from its own IPs.
Apple isn’t the first smartphone company to launch dual-lens smartphones. Both HTC and Huawei tried it, but neither used a dual lens for telephoto zoom, nor was image quality very good.
Noting that HTC and Huawei lacked Corephotonics’ technology, Kali explained the difference.
HTC used only one of the two cameras as its main camera, deploying the second for real-time processing. Huawei, which reportedly developed its own dual lens technology, used it to capture more light in low-light conditions. “But Huawei’s P9 smartphone produced pictures only marginally better,”
Since a private showing of its concept demo in 2013 and a public debut during the Mobile World Congress in 2014, Corephotonics has been evangelizing benefits of the dual camera zoom among smartphone vendors.
Corephotonics’ technology consists of both hardware (proprietary optics and actuators) and computational software (proprietary algorithms designed to run on a number of off-the-shelf application processors and GPUs).
In Kali’s opinion, Corephotonics’ dual camera solutions — the company has three models — have already progressed beyond iPhone 7 Plus’ current status. He explained that Corephotonics offers 2X optical zoom, continuously seamless digital zoom, an optical stabilizer, better depth of field, and enhanced imaging in low light — all squeezed into the smartphone’s most constrained form factor — the height — at 6.0mm or lower.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Top smut site stops Flashing, adopts HTML5
When even the pornographers think you’ve got a problem, you’ve really got a problem
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/09/pornhub_dashes_flash/
Security sentient smut site Pornhub has decommissioned Flash and will swap to HTML5 in a bid to modernise and protect its estimated 60 million daily visitors.
The site is famed for among other things offering a bug bounty to researchers who disclose security holes in the site upping payments and hiring staff to better compete with industry standards.
Pornhub will now switch to the new industry standard HTML5 which sports better load times, power consumption, and avoids the battery of vulnerabilities that make Adobe Flash one of the exploit kit market’s favourite p0wn platforms.
Pornhub’s part of a colossal web conglomerate called MindGeek that operates several other adult sites, runs an affiliate marketing network, has over 1,000 people on the payroll and millions of paying customers. It’s not difficult to see why an organisation of that scale would be keen to drop a buggy, proprietary plugin and instead adopt a standard.
The smut-streamer’s decision brings the site in line with browsers such as Chrome and Firefox which have moved to sound the death knell of Flash. Most online assets support both HTML5 and Flash while the latter is decommissioned.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Socionext 8K Single-Chip Real-Time Decoding Solution
https://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/socionext/socionext-8k-single-chip-real-time-decoding-solution/
Socionext introduces its SC1400AP2, an 8K ultra high definition single chip solution, for the HEVC compression standard, also known as H.265. The 8K video has four times the resolution of 4K or 16 times the resolution of full HD also known as 1080p.
The Socionext SC1400AP2 is an ideal solution for broadcasters and manufacturers who want to affordably and efficiently deliver high-quality 8K video content. It is capable of decoding 33 megapixel images at 60 fps
The SC1400AP2 measures just 45 mm2 and uses only 15 watts of power under normal conditions, including all the memory associated with the chip.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cable televisions kiss of death in the US
FCC Federal Communications Authority has already for long wanted to increase competition in the cable TV market. Yesterday the chairman of the association, Tom Wheeler released their own proposal as to how the issue should be resolved. When implemented in practice the idea to kill the existing cable TV operators in the United States.
Wheeler according to 99 percent of pay-TV subscribers now rent a set-top-box, because there are no viable alternatives. This lack of competition has led to an increase in prices: the average American household pays $ 231 a year, a mere digital terminal rental.
This system was replaced by the FCC wants a solution, wherein the content is separated from the receiver. Content developers need to enable a viewer app that works on all possible devices. The service will continue to pay a monthly fee, but the terminal does not need to be hired.
The pay-TV service providers are forced to open their source code so that the most popular platforms will create their own applications. Platforms such as Android, iOS and Windows. The FCC also mentions the Roku service to the United States as an internal content provider.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5016:kaapelitelevisiolle-kuolinisku-usa-ssa&catid=13&Itemid=101
More:
Chairman Wheeler’s Plan to Increase Choice and Innovation in Video
https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-wheelers-plan-increase-choice-and-innovation-video
Fact Sheet: Chairman Wheeler’s Proposal To Increase Consumer Choice and Innovation In the Video Marketplace
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tech Talk: Micro-Architecting Power
http://semiengineering.com/tech-talk-micro-architecting-power/
A deep dive into how to save power by leveraging idle time.
Sonics CTO Drew Wingard talks about how to save energy on a very granular level when processing 4K video.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Face of a Robot, Voice of an Angel?
DeepMind’s use of neural networks to synthesize speech could finally make computers sound more human.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602343/face-of-a-robot-voice-of-an-angel/
The last time you heard a computer convert a line of text to speech, it probably jarred. Google’s machine-learning division, DeepMind, has developed a new voice synthesis system using artificial intelligence that it thinks will improve the situation.
Having a computer generate the sound of a voice isn’t a new idea. Perhaps the most common approach is simply to use an incredibly large selection of pre-recorded speech fragments from a single person. In a technique called concatenative synthesis, these are pieced together to create larger sounds, words, and sentences. That’s why a lot of computer-generated speech often suffers from glitches, quirky changes in intonation, and pronunciation stumbles.
The other competing approach uses mathematical models to re-create known sounds that are then assembled into words and sentences. While less prone to glitches, this so-called parametric approach does end up sounding robotic. What unites the two approaches, though, is that they both stitch together chunks of sound, rather than creating the whole audio waveform from scratch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A 3D Printed Camera (Including The Lens)
http://hackaday.com/2016/09/10/a-3d-printed-camera-including-the-lens/
Barring the RepRap project, we usually see 3D printers make either replacement parts or small assemblies, not an entire finished product. [Amos] is the exception to this rule with his entirely 3D-printed camera. Everything in this camera is 3D printed, from the shutter to the lightproof box to the lens itself. It’s an amazing piece of engineering, and a testament to how far 3D printing has come in just a few short years.
35mm film is the most common film by far, and the only one that’s still easy to get and have developed at a reasonable price. This 3D-printed camera is based on that standard, making most of the guts extremely similar to the millions of film cameras that have been produced over the years.
The fun starts with the lens. We’ve seen 3D printers used for lens making before, starting with a 3D print used to create a silicone mold where a lens is cast in clear acrylic, 3D printed tools used to grind glass, and an experiment from FormLabs to 3D print a lens.
SLO: 3D Printed Camera
http://amosdudley.com/weblog/SLO-Camera
Tomi Engdahl says:
Music’s Salvation Might Be Selling Not Songs, But VR
https://www.wired.com/2016/09/future-of-vr-music/
So here’s a strange thing about making VR videos: turns out it’s really hard to show a rough cut. Even once you’ve done the complicated 360-degree shooting, and your computational algorithms have stitched all the footage together into something realistic and immersive, you still need to fine-tune the edits, sound effects, and visuals so you don’t disorient your viewers (or worse). Looking at a two-dimensional version on a laptop doesn’t really do it justice, and if you’re dealing with people in remote locations the chances are basically zero that everyone will have their own Oculus Rift to weigh in on the footage.
Considering all that, Stuart Cripps’ jitters are understandable. The heavyset, soft-spoken British director is working on a VR project for a 20-year-old Irish singer-producer named Jonathon Ng, known to his fans as Eden.
Outside of games, music is almost certainly the most popular content type in VR right now, which makes sense both technically—right now, VR’s best for quick viewing periods, about the length of your average song—and creatively. Both formats trade in experiences, connection, and immersion. You don’t go to a concert for the sound quality; you go to be part of something.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NXP Connects iPhone-7 Earbuds?
Magnetic induction clips last wire
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1330428&
Purchasers of the iPhone-7 will get a pair of wireless earbuds that use near field magnetic induction (NFMI) to eliminate the last wire (the one between the left and right earbud for Bluetooth headsets). Coincidentally, according to NXP, the company announced the most advanced NFMI system-on-chip to date, the NxH2280 NFMI radio for Bluetooth-free earbuds. Earbuds are predicted to be a $30 billion market by 2020 according to WiFore Consulting.
“NXP created the NFMI technology 10 years ago, but now we have put it on a second-generation SoC for the huge emerging hearables market,” NXP product manager Pieter Verschueren told EE Times. “On our second-generation NFMI chip we have also included a Cortex M0, an audio DSP [digital signal processor], an audio-codec, -latency controller, -sample rate converter, timers, non-volatile memory, every kind of I/O [input/output] and the magnetic induction transceiver itself.”
The tiny 10.4 square millimeter SoC running at 10.6 MHz also uses 10X less power than the equivalent Bluetooth Low Power device, plus its signal is absorbed by body tissues 10,000-times less than a Bluetooth radio which critics claim slow-cooks human tissue by running at the same 2.4-GHz frequency as a microwave oven.
The major downside to NFMI is that its range is limited to about a 39-inches (one meter) making its primary use connecting two earbuds together.
“The adoption of wireless earbuds is likely to increase substantially after Apple introduced the iPhone 7,”
In fact, hearing aids have been using NFMI for decades, to synchronize and control the signal quality of both units by pushing buttons on either one of the ear’s units to control both. Many modern hearing aids have added Bluetooth, in order to stream music from smartphones in addition to their normal hearing aid function, unwittingly exposing their users to the controversial 2.4-GHz microwave frequency. And most of the new smart earbuds powered by NXP’s NxH2280 are expected to take the same tact, since very few in the public are afraid of 2.4-GHz radiation.
However, NXP has created its NxH2280 to be 2.4-GHz free, enabling the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to make the decision as to whether to use Bluetooth or not.
“The ear canal is also a very good place to locate other sensors to monitor bodily functions, such as vital signs such as heart rate,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shielding 4K2K Display Graphics Connector Solder Tails Mitigates EMI
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4441994/Shielding-4K2K-Display-Graphics-Connector-Solder-Tails-Mitigates-EMI?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160912&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160912&elqTrackId=16acd0df42914b1383495add9a80065f&elq=990c7e07afa14a7caea00f0e05d2c0eb&elqaid=33822&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=29565
4K2K Display Resolution requires high-data-rate (HDR) differential signaling of 4-lanes of eDP at 5.4 Gbps and the emerging 8K resolution displays that require the transfer of 8.1 Gbps data rates. If the embedded display graphics connector is placed in close proximity to the wireless radios and antennas carrier signals, then the radiated electromagnetic interference (EMI) energy of the high-data-rate being transferred across the graphics connector solder tails causes interference with the wireless carrier band frequency bands and causing the communications links to fail to operate properly.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Socionext 8K Single-Chip Real-Time Decoding Solution
https://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/socionext/socionext-8k-single-chip-real-time-decoding-solution/
Socionext introduces its SC1400AP2, an 8K ultra high definition single chip solution, for the HEVC compression standard, also known as H.265. The 8K video has four times the resolution of 4K or 16 times the resolution of full HD also known as 1080p.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wall Street Journal:
Jay-Z’s music streaming service Tidal posted a loss of $28M in 2015, compared to $10M in 2014 — Cash burn shows the challenge the music-streaming service faces in competing with rivals Spotify and Apple Music — STOCKHOLM—In the year rap mogul Jay-Z took control of Tidal …
Jay Z’s Music Streaming Service Tidal Posts Huge Loss in 2015
Cash burn shows the challenge the music-streaming service faces in competing with rivals Spotify and Apple Music
http://www.wsj.com/news/article_email/jay-zs-music-streaming-service-tidal-posts-huge-loss-1473778080-lMyQjAxMTA2NjExMjQxMzI2Wj
In the year rap mogul Jay Z took control of Tidal, the music-streaming service more than doubled its losses, burning cash at a rapid rate and testing the depth of its owner’s pockets.
Over the same period, revenue rose 30% to 402 million Swedish kronor from 309 million kronor.
challenge the music-streaming service faces in competing with much-larger rivals
Despite significant marketing efforts, Tidal is stuck between consumers reluctant to pay for tunes they can easily access free, and record labels, which often demand upfront payment for copyright fees.
Spotify, while also recording a net loss in 2015, expanded much faster than Tidal, doubling its revenue to 1.95 billion euros ($2.19 billion).
In June, Tidal said it has expanded its user base to 4.2 million paying subscribers
However, that still is far behind its main competitors. Apple Music boasts 17 million paying subscribers, while market leader Spotify has 30 million paying subscribers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Scott / New York Times:
New EU proposals would make VOD content from services including Netflix, Amazon Prime, and BBC iPlayer more readily available across all member states
The Winners and Losers as Europe Tries to Erase Borders for TV and Films
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/business/international/eu-tv-online-streaming-bbc-netflix.html
Europeans complain that they cannot view digital content from across the region. But that may soon change.
New proposals published on Wednesday aim to give the European Union’s 500 million consumers greater choice of digital streaming content.
Under the revamp, so-called video-on-demand services from national broadcasters, like the BBC iPlayer; digital players like Netflix; as well as potentially premium movies offered by Hollywood studios, among others, may become more readily available across the European Union. (British broadcasters may eventually not be subject to the rules, once Britain leaves the 28-member bloc).
The copyright proposals will now be debated for two years before becoming law.
Not everyone, though, is happy.
The Winners
Europeans like Mr. Teller could suddenly be able to view streaming content from across the region, giving them access to a huge catalog of movies and television programs that have so far been off limits.
Streaming services like Netflix and Wuaki, a Barcelona-based rival whose offerings are already available across the Continent, could tap into a broader range of content to offer to their subscribers. Currently, these companies must pen licensing deals in individual countries,
The Losers
Hollywood studios and smaller European distributors could see a drop in how much money they can generate if they can no longer sell their content on a country-by-country basis.
National broadcasters and some premium rights holders are likely to face mixed fortunes as Europeans search for the cheapest or most attractive options.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Julia Love / Reuters:
Sources: joint venture between Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment readying NOW Music+ streaming app for UK, priced at £5.99/month — Two major record labels are rolling out a low-priced music streaming service in the United Kingdom, a rare foray by record companies directly …
Labels release cut-rate music streaming service amid shift to flexible pricing
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-music-streaming-labels-idUSKCN11L015
Two major record labels are rolling out a low-priced music streaming service in the United Kingdom, a rare foray by record companies directly into the field and another sign the industry is finally moving toward more flexible pricing.
Now That’s What I Call Music, a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment that releases a popular series of compilation albums, is finalizing a streaming app called NOW Music+ that will offer playlists of hit songs for $6.62 a month, or 5.99 pounds if purchased in Apple’s App Store, people familiar with the matter said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Harry McCracken / Fast Company:
YouTube launches beta of Community, which lets creators share photos, text, more into Subscriptions feed; subs can opt-in to new post notifications
YouTube Is Building Community—And It’s Not Just About Video
https://www.fastcompany.com/3063623/most-innovative-companies/youtube-is-building-community-and-its-not-just-about-video
Text, still images, and GIFs are now part of the mix that the service gives creators to keep their fans engaged.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cadence brought two updates to its Tensilica HiFi DSPs: a new MPEG-H Audio decoder as well as Dolby Laboratories’ AC-4 Decoder
MPEG-H Audio will be the first next-generation audio system to be used for over-the-air TV broadcasting when Korea launches their new ATSC 3.0 transmission standard early next year.
Source: http://semiengineering.com/the-week-in-review-design-53/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pro Audio Design Forum
https://www.eeweb.com/websites/pro-audio-design-forum
Design Forum is a community where audio circuit designers and engineers meet to discuss new and vintage designs for recording, sound reinforcement, broadcasting and related industries.
http://www.proaudiodesignforum.com/forum/php/viewforum.php?f=1
Tomi Engdahl says:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Netflix releases original short film “Meridian” as test footage for codec developers and even competitors to use, open sources tools for new video master format — A deserted cliff. Lightning appearing out of nowhere. A mysterious lady all dressed in white.
The Story Behind ‘Meridian’: Why Netflix Is Helping Competitors With Content and Code (EXCLUSIVE)
http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/netflix-meridian-imf-tools-open-source-1201859416/
A deserted cliff. Lightning appearing out of nowhere. A mysterious lady all dressed in white. Netflix’s latest original program, “Meridian,” is spooky, confusing, and only 12 minutes long.
That’s because although “Meridian” is available on the streaming service worldwide, it was made not for Netflix’s 83 million subscribers, but for algorithms and their programmers.
“It’s a weird story wrapped up in a bunch of engineering requirements,” said Chris Fetner, the company’s director for content partner operations. Netflix produced “Meridian” as test footage to evaluate anything from the performance of video codecs to the way Netflix streams look like on 4K TVs.
And now, the company is giving the film away for free, so that others can do their own tests with it, be it hardware manufacturers, codec developers or even competitors like Amazon and Hulu. Netflix is using a Creative Commons license for the release of “Meridian,” which is new for an industry that isn’t used to sharing a lot of resources. “They are in the business of exploiting content, not of giving it away,” Fetner said.
https://media.xiph.org/video/derf/meridian/MERIDIAN_SHR_C_EN-XX_US-NR_51_LTRT_UHD_20160909_OV/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sam Rutherford / Tom’s Guide:
iPhone 7, 7 Plus cameras don’t produce as sharp or well exposed images as Samsung’s Galaxy S7 line, but OIS, f/1.8 aperture, 2x optical zoom are major upgrades
It’s Close, but iPhone 7′s Camera Still Can’t Top Samsung
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/iphone-7-vs-galaxy-s7-camera,review-3906.html
While their resolution may have stayed the same, the 12-megapixel rear cameras in Apple’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus look to offer a big improvement in picture quality. Not only does the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus both sport a cameras with optical image stabilization, a larger f/1.8 aperture and an upsized sensor with bigger pixels, Apple has tacked a second camera onto the iPhone 7 Plus with a 2x optical zoom.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fitz Tepper / TechCrunch:
Frame.io, a cloud-based collaboration tool for video creators whose clients include Facebook and Snapchat, raises $10M Series A led by Accel
Frame.io raises a $10M Series A with Jared Leto and Kevin Spacey as investors
https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/14/frame-io-raises-a-10m-series-a-with-jared-leto-and-kevin-spacey-as-investors/
Frame.io is a collaboration tool for video creators and compares themselves to a InVision or Github for video. The service lets video creators upload footage, organize them into storyboards to map out the editing process, and of course comment and share feedback with your whole team. Previously this workflow would have been heavily fragmented with most creators using a mix of apps like Dropbox, Vimeo and email to fill in the gaps.
The service supports annotations, threaded comments on film, and time stamped comments. That combined with the fact it supports 150 different file formats means it can be basically used by any and all video teams.
The company attributes this fast customer adoption to the fact that more and more companies are creating video – they say that 40% of their customers weren’t creating video five years ago.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
After enabling movie ticket sales through Apple’s iMessage, Fandango will start selling tickets through Facebook this weekend; sales on Snapchat coming soon
Buy Movie Tickets on Facebook? Fandango Makes It Possible
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/16/business/media/buy-movie-tickets-on-facebook-fandango-makes-it-possible.html
By making it easy for people to buy movie tickets online or through a smartphone app, Fandango has experienced breakneck growth over the last two years. A couple of taps and presto! The seats are yours.
But that, Fandango has decided, is no longer good enough.
To keep growing — and, with any luck, help theaters and studios entice Americans, particularly young ones, to go to the movies at all — Fandango will alter course. Instead of relying on customers to come to it, Fandango will also go to them: Over the weekend, for instance, Fandango will begin selling tickets to Hollywood movies directly on Facebook.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Google Photos expands on auto-generated montage videos with “concept movies” that have a theme based on content and gets in-app sharing
Google Photos adds themed ‘concept movies’ and in-app sharing
Getting emotional
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/19/12945572/google-photos-concept-movies-in-app-sharing
Since the day it launched, one of Google Photos’ more compelling features has been its automatically generated montage videos. Come home from a trip and within a day or so Google will have stitched your photos and video clips into a mini-movie complete with jaunty music and transitions. Today the company is introducing taking another step in that direction with themed “concept movies”: videos generated algorithmically based on their content.
“Let’s make movies that are emotionally powerful”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kim Masters / Hollywood Reporter:
As Netflix asserts itself, studio and cable channels fret that the streaming company is headed for a near-monopoly in entertainment
The Netflix Backlash: Why Hollywood Fears a Content Monopoly
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/netflix-backlash-why-hollywood-fears-928428
The streaming service is spending $6 billion a year on content, choking basic cable and brusquely rattling the relationship business of the town as fears of a Google- or Apple-sized dominance send a chill down the entertainment industry’s spine.
“Out of the blue Netflix comes into the market and says, ‘We’re going to give you a number [to license a network show],’ ” says one television agent. “For the studios, it was, ‘Holy shit. Do we even need a cable sale?’ They all got addicted to crack. Nobody really thought they’d be a competitor on the originals market. They used stuff from the studios and became important. Now you see the backlash.”
The backlash is real but muted — mostly because few are willing to risk the wrath of a company that is spending $6 billion a year on programming and scored 54 Emmy nominations this year.
Studios and cable channels fret that the company, with its 83 million global subscribers, is sucking up so many eyeballs and bidding up prices for programming so high that they won’t be able to compete. And agents worry that as Netflix elbows out competing buyers, the company’s growing insistence on buying up all rights to its original programming around the world will do away with the profit participations that on breakout shows (such as Modern Family) provide steady income in an unsteady industry.
Still, few can ignore the billions that Netflix has thrown around.
“Anybody who’s going to spend $6 billion or $7 billion a year on library and original content deserves to be applauded,”
Few in Hollywood have the courage to speak publicly about Netflix, and those who have projects there say they are subjected to unusually onerous restrictions on what they are permitted to say, if anything.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ted Sarandos on Netflix Programming Budget: “It’ll Go Up” From $6 Billion
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/ted-sarandos-netflix-programming-budget-915020
The CCO used his time at TCA to address the streaming giant’s ratings secrets, Peak TV challenges and what it takes for a Netflix show to be canceled after one season.
A week-and-a-half after Netflix revealed a slowdown in subscriber growth, Ted Sarandos took the stage Wednesday at the TV industry’s summer press tour to talk about an area in which the streamer is growing at a rapid clip: original programming.
The chief content officer used his platform in front of the Television Critics Association to reveal that he plans to spend more than the already sky-high $6 billion that Netflix has allocated for originals and acquisitions. He also indicated that the company has big ambitions for its kids programming.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Streaming Audio: Follow the Signal Chain
http://www.techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4442088/Streaming-Audio-Follow-the-Signal-Chain?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160919&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_productsandtools_20160919&elqTrackId=21c00ac40c414956af543fcee952c5c3&elq=ea986553477f4ecba593c6b9dcc3aa4c&elqaid=33923&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=29657
Wireless streaming audio is a rapidly growing and very dynamic marketplace, one that presents attractive opportunities and challenges to equipment manufacturers. The system suppliers best able to capitalize on this opportunity will be those that have adopted an agile, system-wide platform approach to product development, one that focuses on the entire audio signal chain. In the end, this will yield a broad range of robust, feature-rich and highly capable audio systems