Here are some audio and video trends picks for the year 2017:
It seems that 3D craze is over. So long, 3DTV – we won’t miss you – BBC News reports that at this year’s CES trade show, there was barely a whimper of 3D TV, compared to just two years ago when it was being heralded as the next big thing. In the cinema, 3D was milked for all it was worth, and even James Cameron, who directed Avatar, is fed up with 3D. There are currently no major manufacturers making 3DTVs as Samsung, LG and Sony have now stopped making 3D-enabled televisions. According to CNet’s report, TV makers are instead focusing on newer technologies such as HDR.
360 degree virtual reality video is hot how. Movie studios are pouring resources into virtual reality story-telling. 360-Degree Video Playback Coming to VLC, VR Headset Support Planned for 2017 article tells that VLC media player previews 360° video and photo support for its desktop apps, says the feature will come to mobile soon; dedicated VLC apps for VR headsets due in 2017.
4K and 8K video resolutions are hot. Test broadcasting of 8K started in August 2016 in Japan and full service is scheduled for 2018. According to Socionext Introduces 8K HEVC Real-Time Encoder Solution press release the virtual reality technology, which is seeing rapid growth in the global market, requires an 8K resolution as the current 4K resolution cannot support a full 360-degree wraparound view with adequate resolution.
Fake News Is About to Get Even Scarier than You Ever Dreamed article tells that advancements in audio and video technology are becoming so sophisticated that they will be able to replicate real news—real TV broadcasts, for instance, or radio interviews—in unprecedented, and truly indecipherable, ways. Adobe showed off a new product that has been nicknamed “Photoshop for audio” that allows type words that are expressed in that exact voice of someone you have recording on. Technologists can also record video of someone talking and then change their facial expressions in real time. Digital avatars can be almost indecipherable from real people – on the latest Star Wars movie it is hard to tell which actors are real and which are computer-generated.
Antique audio formats seem to be making come-back. By now, it isn’t news that vinyl albums continue to sell. It is interesting that UK vinyl sales reach 25-year high to point that Vinyl Records Outsold Digital Downloads In the UK at least for one week.
I would not have quessed that Cassettes Are Back, and Booming. But a new report says that sales of music on cassette are up 140 percent. The antiquated format is being embraced by everyone from indie musicians to Eminem and Justin Bieber. For some strange reason it turns out there’s a place for archaic physical media of questionable audio fidelity—even in the Spotify era.
Enhance! RAISR Sharp Images with Machine Learning. Google RAISR Intelligently Makes Low-Res Images High Quality article tells that with Google’s RAISR machine learning-driven image enhancement technique, images can be up to 75% smaller without losing their detail.
Improving Multiscreen Services article tells that operators have discovered challenges as they try to meet subscribers’ requirements for any content on any device. Operators must choose from a variety of options for preparing and delivering video on multiple screens. And unlike the purpose-built video networks of the past, in multiscreen OTT distribution there are no well-defined quality standards such as IPTV’s SCTE-168.
2017: Digital Advertising to overtake TV Advertising in US this year article tells that according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, “Ad Spend” on digital advertising will surpass TV ads for the first time in 2017.For all these years, television gave a really tough fight to internet with respect to Ad spend, but online advertising to decisively take over the market in 2017. For details check How TV ad spending stacks up against digital ad spending in 4 charts.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Sasktel Selects Ericsson Multiscreen Platform
http://www.btreport.net/articles/2017/03/sasktel-selects-ericsson-multiscreen-platform.html?cmpid=enl_btr_btrvideotechnology_2017-04-03
Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has been selected by SaskTel in Saskatchewan, Canada, to power its multiscreen IPTV service. SaskTel plans to start to implement the Ericsson MediaFirst solution suite this year, with plans to commercially launch the upgraded service in early 2018.
The deployment is intended to support in-home video, TV everywhere and OTT, including a personalized interface across all screens and the ability to watch live TV and access content on demand on any device.
Ericsson’s MediaFirst suite includes the MediaFirst TV Platform, Video Processing, Video Delivery and Video Storage and Processing Platform (VSPP). The software-defined, cloud-based platform is designed to support all content sources and delivery networks and to provide analytics tools.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rohde & Schwarz to Debut Streaming Video Monitoring
http://www.btreport.net/articles/2017/03/rohde-schwarz-to-debut-streaming-video-monitoring.html?cmpid=enl_btr_btrvideotechnology_2017-04-0
At the NAB Show in Las Vegas in April, Rohde & Schwarz will introduce R&S PRISMON, a monitoring and multiviewing solution for broadcast and streaming video services. The solution is software-based and takes a multistandard, multi-protocol approach. It’s designed to support traditional SDI signals and all relevant IP-based protocols, including MPEG-DASH, AIMS and ASPEN. Future protocols and media formats can be added via software upgrades. R&S PRISMON is available as a standard IT platform and also as a cloud-based solution.
The platform is intended for automatic monitoring of transported broadcast and streaming media content. It supersedes the BMM-810 monitoring solution from Rohde & Schwarz subsidiary GMIT GmbH. The BMM-810 already supports HLS, MSS/HSS, DASH, HDS, RTMP, HBBTV and IceCast, for OTT/streaming services.
A large number of channels – including those in UltraHD – can be monitored in parallel and visualized on a multiviewer video wall. Using a mobile app, a cloud-based service from Rohde & Schwarz subsidiary GMIT transmits the collected monitoring data via a secure connection and displays it on mobile user equipment, allowing technicians to identify and assess the sources and effects of errors without an on-site visit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Only one connection is suitable for 8K video
4K resolution is beginning to be the new high-end TVs already a standard feature, but not for long go, when accuracy is already growing 8K category. It forms a small problem, as well as device manufacturers and interfaces for developers, because at the moment only one interface supports 8K transfer.
The only supporting 8K-transfer cable standard is currently DisplayPort 4.1. Californian Cosemi Technologies is now made of the first fiber-based cable that supports the new speed.
Cosemin OptoDP cable can be moved in the 8K level of the video signal as much as 100 meters distance. The connection cable is suitable, for example, 8K film screenings, photo transfer for future homes 8K TVs and many virtual reality applications.
the transmission rate of the fiber is 324 gigabits per second. OFC exhibition in Los Angeles Cosemi does things with 8K-quality, 60 frames per second video of the live wire transfer.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6131-vain-yksi-liitanta-sopii-8k-videolle
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Walk-In Broadcast Transmitter
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/05/retrotechtacular-a-walk-in-broadcast-transmitter/
As radio station transmitters go, [Mr. Carlson]’s Gates BC-250-GY broadcast transmitter is actually pretty small, especially for 1940s-vintage gear. It has a 250 watt output and was used as a nighttime transmitter; AM stations are typically required to operate at reduced power when the ionosphere is favorable for skip on the medium frequency bands. Stations often use separate day and night transmitters rather than just dialing back the daytime flamethrower; this allows plenty of time for maintenance with no interruptions to programming.
If you enjoy old broadcast gear, the tour of this transmitter, which has been rebuilt for use in the ham bands, will be a real treat.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ben Popper / The Verge:
YouTube says it will only allow channels with 10K lifetime views to monetize videos, to help make sure revenue flows only to those who play by the rules — The rule change is meant to weed out bad actors — Five years ago, YouTube opened their partner program to everyone.
YouTube will no longer allow creators to make money until they reach 10,000 views
The rule change is meant to weed out bad actors
http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/6/15209220/youtube-partner-program-rule-change-monetize-ads-10000-views
Five years ago, YouTube opened their partner program to everyone. This was a really big deal: it meant anyone could sign up for the service, start uploading videos, and immediately begin making money. This model helped YouTube grow into the web’s biggest video platform, but it has also led to some problems. People were creating accounts that uploaded content owned by other people, sometimes big record labels or movie studios, sometimes other popular YouTube creators.
In an effort to combat these bad actors, YouTube has announced a change to its partner program today. From now on, creators won’t be able to turn on monetization until they hit 10,000 lifetime views on their channel. YouTube believes that this threshold will give them a chance to gather enough information on a channel to know if it’s legit. And it won’t be so high as to discourage new independent creators from signing up for the service.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Investing in 3840×1080 and 3840×1200 Curved Displays at 144 Hz
by Ian Cutress on April 6, 2017 8:30 AM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/11249/samsung-investing-in-3840×1080-and-3840×1200-curved-displays-at-144-hz
One of the interesting elements in the new wave of monitor technologies is the types of ideas that panel manufacturers are coming up with. In the enterprise space, custom display configurations occur more frequently than we might expect, but for consumers there tends to be a line of standardization. Samsung, being vertically integrated, gives them the opportunity to experiment more than most. Even then, as a reviewer in the industry, one develops certain expectations of what might be coming in the future. Consider me stumped, as TFTCentral has delved into Samsung’s upcoming roadmaps and panel production schedules to pull out one or two surprises.
49-inch 3840×1080, or ‘Double Full-HD / DFHD’
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lightform: The Magical Little Device That Transforms Whole Rooms Into Screens
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/lightform-magical-little-device-transforms-whole-rooms-screens/
Technology wants to disappear. In computing’s early days, the machines swallowed entire rooms. Today, we wear them on our wrists. Soon, they could vanish completely, their smarts embedding directly into our surroundings.
Raj Sodhi has a name for this last scenario. “We call it the ubiquitous user interface,” he says. Sodhi is a co-founder of Lightform, a startup that’s looking to turn full-room projection mapping into living room technology. Projection mapping, also known as projected augmented reality, uses video projectors to cast light onto irregular surfaces like buildings, faces, and, yes, living rooms. For decades, this technology was too expensive and technically complex for the average person to use, but with Lightform, the company’s eponymous first product, Sodhi and his partners are automating the entire process. The company plans to begin taking preorders on the device this summer, price TBD.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chris Welch / The Verge:
LeEco calls off its $2B purchase of TV maker Vizio, instead forming “partnership” that brings Le app to some Vizio devices and Vizio products to China — LeEco is no longer buying Vizio. Today the companies jointly announced that “the merger agreement to acquire Vizio will not proceed due to regulatory headwinds.”
LeEco calls off $2 billion acquisition of TV maker Vizio
http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/10/15246058/leeco-vizio-acquisition-cancelled
Chinese electronics company LeEco is no longer buying Vizio, a leading manufacturer of televisions. Today the companies jointly announced that “the merger agreement to acquire Vizio will not proceed due to regulatory headwinds.” The $2 billion deal was first announced last July. But months of obstacles with China regulators combined with LeEco’s penchant for burning cash have resulted in the deal being called off entirely. For now, Vizio will remain a private, US-based business that many view as an American hardware success story.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix reaches 75% of US streaming service viewers, but YouTube is catching up
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/10/netflix-reaches-75-of-u-s-streaming-service-viewers-but-youtube-is-catching-up/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&sr_share=facebook
According to new data from comScore released this morning, more than half (53 percent) of Wi-Fi households in the U.S. are now using at least one over-the-top streaming service, with Netflix being the primary choice. While still the leader in the streaming space with a presence in 75 percent of those homes, its service is facing increased competition from others
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
comScore: 53% of over 49M US homes with WiFi use at least one OTT video service, with Netflix reaching 75% of those homes, YouTube reaching 53% and Amazon 33%
Netflix reaches 75% of US streaming service viewers, but YouTube is catching up
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/10/netflix-reaches-75-of-u-s-streaming-service-viewers-but-youtube-is-catching-up/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jamie Feltham / UploadVR:
AMD buys Nitero for low latency wireless streaming tech to make desktop VR headset cables unnecessary — Nitero, a company working in the increasingly prevalent wireless desktop VR sector, has just been acquired by AMD. — AMD is best known for its CPUs that power VR-ready PCs …
AMD Targets Wireless Desktop VR, Acquires Nitero
https://uploadvr.com/amd-targets-wireless-desktop-vr-acquires-nitero/
Nitero, a company working in the increasingly prevalent wireless desktop VR sector, has just been acquired by AMD.
AMD is best known for its CPUs that power VR-ready PCs as well as popular home consoles, but this news sees the company make a surprising move towards wireless VR headsets. This has become an intriguing new area of the industry ever since TPCast’s wireless adapter for the HTC Vive was revealed back in November 2016. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Transition Networks to display alternative cabling, power products for security, surveillance at ISC West
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/03/transition-isc-west.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-04-11
During the conference, Transition Networks will participate in the Security Industry Association’s (SIA) New Product Showcase (NPS), where it will highlight its Ethernet Over 2-Wire Extender With PoE+ solution. GlenNiece Kutsch, product manager with Transition Networks, along with Dennis Troxel, principal sales engineer, will present a brief demonstration of the product to a panel of industry expert judges. The new product, by Transition Networks, extends Ethernet networks at near Gigabit speeds and provides power to security cameras, wireless access points, and other IP devices at distances beyond the typical 100m Ethernet cable limitation.
In addition to the Ethernet Over 2-Wire Extender With PoE+, the company will also showcase its Ethernet Over Coax Extender With PoE+, which reduces cost and accelerates time to service by utilizing existing coaxial cabling infrastructure to connect and power IP devices, such as in analog to IP surveillance camera upgrades.
Security and surveillance equipment is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and legacy cabling or power infrastructure can make implementation of these innovative solutions costly and time consuming,” said GlenNiece Kutsch. “We’ve designed a variety of PoE+ extenders and switches to overcome those challenges so that security integrators can quickly and cost-effectively implement these solutions without installing new power runs and while maximizing the value of existing cabling infrastructure.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cell Phone Bus expands to cars
CSI-2 is generally developed by the MIPI alliance, a camera interface for smart phones. The new second-generation bus standard will expand the use of, for example, IoT devices and drones. The real goal, however the ADAS-car camera systems.
Old CSI two bus four support virtual channel when the new number has been increased to 32. This means an increase of security, the ADAS system is able to fuse the data of several sensors.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6164-kannykkavayla-laajenee-autoihin
Tomi Engdahl says:
Old liquid crystal disappears from mobile devices
Even in 2014, three out of four smartphone based on the LCD monitor. However, the OLED panel is growing rapidly and this year is already 40 per cent. Next year OLEDista will become the dominant technology. LG Display company’s chief technology officer Kang In-Byeong estimates that in 2018 OLED panels share of smart phones will increase to 58 per cent.
Why move to smartphones OLED display technology? The reason is simple: they are brighter, more energy-efficient (because the backlight is not needed), thinner and allow for faster refresh rates. In addition, the organic medium may be bent, which allows the implementation of, for example, curved displays.
Largest OLED display manufacturers are LG Display and Samsung.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6165-vanha-nestekide-katoaa-kannykoista
Tomi Engdahl says:
NASA and Amazon will stream from space in 4K for the first time on April 26
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/11/nasa-and-amazon-will-stream-from-space-in-4k-for-the-first-time-on-april-26/?sr_share=facebook
The live stream will take place at 10:30 AM PDT (1:30 PM EDT) on the 26th, as part of a show from the annual NAB convention for broadcasters, as reported by Variety. It’ll also be made available afterwards as a 4K recording from NASA’s website directly.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is Video the ‘Killer Platform’?
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1331587&
High-quality video and mobility are the two big trends prompting the Video Electronics Standards Association to become more engaged in the mobile device industry.
The past year has seen a dramatic increase in emphasis on display quality as the core value of mobile devices.
At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016, Netflix reported that half of all of its users watched video via the company’s streaming service on their smartphones. Since then, studies have indicated that even greater numbers of people are viewing digital content over mobile devices, and this trend will only escalate.
At this year’s MWC, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings predicted that within the next 10 to 20 years, all video will be on the Internet, while Sony debuted its first smartphone with a 4K high dynamic range (HDR) display to further enhance the small-screen viewing experience.
High-quality displays and now even virtual reality (VR) are moving mobile device communication to a new level.
With smartphone cameras, chips and displays now supporting 4K video, and external displays going to even higher resolutions, external VR displays will also require higher performance. VESA is creating standards that allow these devices to connect and work together, so that OEMs and content creators don’t need to worry about doing so.
Case in point: in a few years, VR will require the equivalent of over 200 Gbps (200 billions of bits per second) in bandwidth, which is about eight times the video bandwidth offered today. VESA is working on this problem now, which is one of the reasons we developed the VESA Display Stream Compression (DSC) standard, which provides video compression for the display interface. Updated last year, DSC 1.2 can be utilized both for mobile displays and for emerging HDTVs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MIPI Goes Beyond Mobile, Camera
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331589&
The specification originally designed to connect a mobile-phone camera to a host processor has come a long way. After earning universal respect within the mobile ecosystem, this successful spec is moving decisively beyond mobile.
The MIPI Alliance just last week unveiled MIPI CSI-2 v2.0. The new spec, according to the industry group, can now respond to complex imaging needs of IoT, wearables, AR/VR, drones and automotive systems.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Berlin Startup Holoplot Tests Steerable Sound in German Train Stations
http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/consumer-electronics/audiovideo/holoplots-steerable-sound-beams
A Berlin startup named Holoplot has built a premium audio system that it says can send one song or announcement to one corner of a room, and an entirely different message or tune to another area of the same room—without any interference between the two.
Holoplot is testing its technology in major train stations throughout Germany, where it says the system can send up to 16 message to separate gates at once, all at the same frequencies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook launches augmented reality Camera Effects developer platform
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/18/facebook-camera-effects-platform/
Facebook will rely on an army of outside developers to contribute augmented reality image filters and interactive experiences to its new Camera Effects platform. After today’s Facebook F8 conference, the first effects will become available inside Facebook’s Camera feature on smartphones, but the Camera Effects platform is designed to eventually be compatible with future augmented reality hardware, such as eyeglasses.
While critics thought Facebook was just mindlessly copying Snapchat with its recent Stories and Camera features in Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg tells TechCrunch his company was just laying the groundwork for today’s Camera Effects platform launch.
“the first augmented reality platform that becomes mainstream isn’t going to be glasses, it’s going to be cameras.”
Facebook is now allowing developers to apply for access to the closed beta of the platform’s AR Studio tool. It will allow developers to use precise location, object recognition and depth detection to create their effects. Facebook’s camera will be able to recognize specific objects like a coffee cup, and bubble up related effects to users like steam coming off the cup or sharks swimming inside the coffee.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Casey Newton / The Verge:
Snapchat introduces World Lenses, live filters for the rear-facing camera that add AR elements like a cloud, rainbow, and more — Menlo Park, start your photocopiers — Snapchat today is rolling out world lenses, a new twist on its popular face filters that continues to the company’s exploration of augmented reality.
Snapchat adds world lenses to further its push into augmented reality
Menlo Park, start your photocopiers
http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/18/15333130/snapchat-world-lenses-something-new-for-facebook-to-copy
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video CDN: Build or Buy?
http://www.btreport.net/articles/2017/04/video-cdn-build-or-buy.html?cmpid=enl_btr_btrvideotechnology_2017-04-17
Once upon a time, content delivery networks (CDNs) were put in place to remotely deliver software updates to computers. But now they’re relied on to distribute Internet-delivered video services from some of the world’s biggest content owners. CDNs have quickly become essential to the growth of a business.
Renting space on a CDN is the fastest way to get up and running, delivering TV services to today’s more connected audiences. But content distributors will quickly reach a point where renting space becomes operationally and financially unsustainable and it begins to make sense for broadcasters or OTT providers to build a private CDN to deliver their own TV services.
For many content distributors, the hard part is identifying when this tipping point will occur.
If you’re using a rented CDN service, increasing usage to cope with the amount of bandwidth needed to deliver these formats will quickly become very expensive. When using a private delivery network, users can use all available bandwidth without needing to pay for any more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Artificial intelligence comes to surveillance cameras with new collaboration
http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/2017/04/artificial-intelligence-comes-to-surveillance-cameras-with-new-collaboration.html?cmpid=enl_vsd_vsdnewsletter_2017-04-17
Video surveillance camera company Dahua Technology USA and Intel’s Movidius—a company that develops embedded vision technology—have announced that a collaboration that will result in security cameras with advanced artificial intelligence capabilities that will train the devices to gather, analyze, and retain information similar to the human brain.
Movidius Myriad 2 Vision Processing Unit (VPU) technology will be integrated with a number of Dahua video surveillance cameras. The Myriad 2 VPU, which the company calls the industry’s first “always-on vision processor,” features an architecture comprised of a complete set of interfaces, a set of enhanced imaging/vision accelerators, a group of 12 specialized vector VLIW processors called SHAVEs, and an intelligent memory fabric that pulls together the processing resources to enable power-efficient processing.
“Deep learning is the fastest-growing field in Artificial Intelligence. It can enable computers to interpret large amounts of data in the form of images, sound, and text,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
FLIR brings thermal imaging to vehicles with Automotive Development Kit
http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/2017/04/flir-brings-thermal-imaging-to-vehicles-with-automotive-development-kit.html?cmpid=enl_vsd_vsdnewsletter_2017-04-17
FLIR Systems’ new Automotive Development Kit (ADK), which is based on the company’s Boson thermal imaging camera core, is designed for the development of next-generation automotive thermal vision and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
Thermal imagers are already integrated on vehicles from GM, Mercedes, Audi, and BMW, and enable the capture of images well beyond a car’s high beams, noted FLIR. With the new ADK, FLIR’s Boson thermal core will enable the testing, development, and potential integration of a thermal imaging system in a vehicle, and will do so quickly and easy, according to the company.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Keepixo, IRT to Demo CMAF Streaming Video
http://www.btreport.net/articles/2017/04/keepixo-irt-to-demo-cmaf-streaming-video.html?cmpid=enl_btr_weekly_2017-04-20
Keepixo and IRT plan to conduct a joint demonstration of the CMAF streaming video format at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. IRT is the research center of the public broadcasters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
CMAF, MPEG’s Common Media Application Format, aims to unify Apple’s HLS and MPEG-DASH. Technically, with CMAF, both HLS playlists and DASH manifests are allowed to reference the same fragmented MP4 (fMP4) chunks to allow any recent Apple device (iOS10, tvOS, MacOS) to play back the exact same media segments as DASH players.
CMAF is intended to provide a number of benefits:
Light packaging infrastructure: Only one OTT packaging system is required, and only one flavor of media chunks needs to be built.
Better viewer experience: HTTP caches in the delivery network are much more efficient, as only fMP4 chunks need to be cached, instead of both MPEG-TS and ISOBMFF. The same fMP4 can be shared for viewers on Apple devices or Android smartphones, PCs or tablets.
Lower storage costs: If the operator offers any delinearized services such as nPVR, timeshift, or start-over, storage needs are divided by two, with no later “re-packaging” infrastructure needed.
Improved cross-platform delivery of subtitles and captions in one package.
CMAF also provides a number of technical improvements to HLS devices over legacy TS chunks, such as a framework for Common Encryption (CENC), and extended text- or image-based subtitling modes.
“IRT investigates alternative streaming methods to legacy HLS or MPEG-DASH-delivery to find more efficient and thus less expensive workflows while targeting broadcast quality also for IP-based distribution.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Data-rich 3.5mm jack vies with USB-C for headsets
http://www.edn.com/design/analog/4458279/Data-rich-3-5mm-jack-vies-with-USB-C-for-headsets
The 3.5mm phone jack is a well-established standard in the audio industry and continues to get strong support from users in the market. Originally invented in the 19th century for telephone switch boards, it made its way into mobile phones, tablets, and personal computers to connect audio and communication headsets for phone calls or simply for listening to music. While the phone jack has a rather long evolutionary history, the functionality that the 3.5mm four-pole accessory device provides to its end customers is rather limited.
One particular application requested by many vendors is the support of active noise cancellation (ANC) without the need of a battery inside the accessory.
The driving factors for bundling an ANC headset, for example, are low cost and small form factor. Since there is a lot of redundancy inside the mobile phone and the accessory (audio codec, DSP extension, amplifier, PMU), this is not beneficial for the overall aim to achieve low system cost and enable more functionality.
How ACI allows for lowest system cost and smaller form factor
In order to address this issue and listen to the needs of customers, ams AG invented a new interface standard to be used with the 3.5mm audio jack, offering full backward compatibility to existing legacy headsets and mobile phones. The new interface technology, called Accessory Communication Interface (ACI), is implemented in the ams AS344B and utilizes the microphone signal line out of the four audio jack contacts to enhance the functionality of this well-established connector, and turn it into a digital bidirectional interface.
In order to get rid of the battery inside an accessory, the system supports power extraction on the slave side with output currents up to 100mA. This supply voltage (1.4–1.9V) can be used to power microphones or additional sensors that are connected to the I2C master of AS3445B. An I2C tunneling function allows you to access and read/write these sensors that are connected to the I2C master of AS3445B, directly with the application processor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Greg Barbosa / 9to5Mac:
Apple releases a JavaScript API for Live Photos, allowing playback on the web — Following up on Tumblr’s own implementation of Live Photos for the web, Apple has released an official Live Photos JavaScript API. Developers will be able to use the new API to share Live Photos playback on iOS, macOS, and the web.
Apple brings Live Photos to the web with new JavaScript API
https://9to5mac.com/2017/04/20/apple-brings-live-photos-to-web-new-javascript-api/
Following up on Tumblr’s own implementation of Live Photos for the web, Apple has released an official Live Photos JavaScript API. Developers will now be able to use the API to share Live Photos playback on iOS, macOS, and now the web.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In the last 3 years the imaging industry has seen an ever increasing number of announcements of new CCD & CMOS imaging sensors that seem to be chasing a technological holy grail of the highest resolution ever designed. Many of these ultra-high resolution imaging sensors have been made into amazing cameras for industrial machine vision applications.
These ultra-high resolution cameras offer performance needed by many demanding vision applications. The performance also presents challenges in optics and interfaces. Aerial and ground surveillance are among the applications where these new cameras are being used
Source: https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1141858&sti=em2&[email protected]
Tomi Engdahl says:
HDBase-T applications, news and tips
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/print/volume-25/issue-4/features/design/hdbase-t-applications-news-and-tips.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-04-20
In the years since the HDBase-T Alliance’s founding in 2011, the group has produced several specifications, certification programs and member services. Recently the alliance also produced a series of case-study success stories profiling installations of HDBase-T technology in different environments. Among those environments are residential and commercial properties. We’ll summarize a few of them here.
Property developer Luxlo outfitted a luxury apartment in Mayfair, London with HDBase-T gear featuring audio-video equipment from HDanywhere. According to the alliance, the custom install, performed by EasyComp “comprises a total of eight sources, including SKY HD boxes, Apple TV, Blu-ray, CCTV, DVR and AV receivers, and seven displays – both high-definition and 4K – distributed in the living rooms, bedrooms, master bathroom, staff room and kitchen.”
The fact that the residential property has a “staff room” suggests that budget was not a primary concern. The entire installation connected through Category 6 cabling for up to 35 meters. All sources are housed within an out-of-sight equipment rack.
As it does with several of these profiles, the alliance asks and answers the question “Why HDBase-T?” In this case the answer is: “Ease of installation, including running Cat cable; ease of use and management; clean and elegant look, without cable clutter.”
Hospitality applications
HDBase-T technology is also deployed in a number of commercial and retail environments. Among the many other case studies in the alliance’s portfolio are two dining establishments.
Another installation took place at the Wash Park Sports Alley Bar and Grill in Denver, CO. Tech Dwellings installed the system, which featured Key Digital equipment. “Multi-zone video is accompanied by audio and lighting control,” Key Digital and the HDBase-T Alliance explained. “All displays are able to select and view any video source at any time in any combination while also able to view any desired source on all displays.” Key Digital’s Compass Control system “utilizes HDBase-T to send control signals for audio and video over the same wire,” they added. “The HDBase-T KD-HD8x8Lite Matrix Switcher was specified, delivering out uncompressed content for the patrons and enabling the bar and server staff to have complete control of each display with a touch of a button.”
Answering “Why HDBase-T?” they note, “Simplicity and flexibility in installation. High performance and quality with distribution of uncompressed content. Easy control and monitoring. One-cable connectivity for displays around all video zones in the bar.”
Four tips
A document from Leviton titled “Installing HDBase-T in AV Projects: What You Need to Know” addresses the cabling infrastructure chosen for these applications. Within that document the company says, “Large displays are driving the need for higher resolution, moving beyond today’s high of 1080p. Ultra high-definition TV with 4K resolution is regarded as the next standard delivering 2160p format at 3840×2160 pixel density. Digital signals for these displays are increasingly sensitive and consume greater bandwidth; that’s why having the optimal cabling infrastructure in place is paramount.”
Leviton offers four pieces of advice for these installations. First, the company advises us to consider the application and installation environment. Specifically, one should ask and answer the following questions: 1) Should I use HDBase-T Class A or Class B equipment? 2) Are there any power considerations? 3) Where will the AV link go?
Next, Leviton urges, understand the signal characteristics. The company explains, “AV signals over HDBase-T look much like the data signals you encounter every day – they are just a little less forgiving. HDBase-T is packet-based like Ethernet, but it doesn’t have a retransmission mechanism. So there is no recovery from packet errors. You can avoid pixilation or complete video dropout due to packet errors by using the right cabling.”
The third piece of advice from Leviton is to recognize the capabilities of twisted-pair cabling. Category 5e, 6, and 6A UTP cabling – the alliance’s specified media types – “will deliver varying performance results, depending on the type of installation, video resolution, and distance” Leviton explains. “While Cat 5e channels can carry HDBase-T signals in an isolated point-to-point link, they do not support HDBase-T in real-world high-density installations with adjacent data or HDBase-T channels.”
Leviton added that its own testing “finds use of Cat 5e in these applications can lead to high packet error rates and total link loss, as the channels are not designed for resistance to alien crosstalk. Even Cat 6 cables can be limited in carrying HDBase-T signals when adjacent to other cables carrying HDBase-T. We recommend Cat 6A with alien crosstalk prevention technology … to support HDBase-T signals that are in the presence of multiple disturbers, including other HDBase-T signals and 10 GbE.”
“To ensure the best HDBase-T installation, use only HDBase-T-certified components,” Leviton says.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/21/who-will-be-the-pixar-of-ar/?ncid=mobilerecirc_featured
This week’s launch of Facebook’s Camera Effects platform means there are suddenly 1.8 billion people waiting to be entertained by digital overlays on the real world.
Who will be the Pixar of AR? Someone oughta be rounding up Hollywood special effects engineers and animated character designers to build an augmented reality content.
Facebook launches augmented reality Camera Effects developer platform
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/18/facebook-camera-effects-platform/
Tomi Engdahl says:
X-Ray Imaging Camera Lens Persuaded to Join Micro Four Thirds Camera
http://hackaday.com/2017/04/22/x-ray-imaging-camera-lens-persuaded-to-join-micro-four-thirds-camera/
Anyone who is into photography knows that the lenses are the most expensive part in the bag. The larger the aperture or f-stop of the lens, the more light is coming in which is better for dimly lit scenes. Consequently, the price of the larger glass can burn a hole in one’s pocket. [Anthony Kouttron] decided that he could use a Rodenstock TV-Heligon lens he found online and adapt it for his micro four-third’s camera.
The lens came attached to a Fischer Imaging TV camera
Adapting Rodenstock TV-Heligon Lens to Micro Four Thirds
http://salvagedcircuitry.com/rodenstock-u43
Tomi Engdahl says:
Davey Alba / Wired:
Inside Google’s ads quality rater program, where contractors rush to flag and label inappropriate YouTube content for $15 per hour, while training Google’s AI
The Hidden Laborers Training AI to Keep Ads Off Hateful YouTube Videos
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/zerochaos-google-ads-quality-raters/
Every day across the nation, people doing work for Google log in to their computers and start watching YouTube. They look for violence in videos. They seek out hateful language in video titles. They decide whether to classify clips as “offensive” or “sensitive.” They are Google’s so-called “ads quality raters,” temporary workers hired by outside agencies to render judgments machines still can’t make all on their own. And right now, Google appears to need these humans’ help—urgently.
YouTube, the Google-owned video giant, sells ads that accompany millions of the site’s videos each day. Automated systems determine where those ads appear, and advertisers often don’t know which specific videos their ads will show up next to. Recently, that uncertainty has turned into a big problem for Google. The company has come under scrutiny after multiple reports revealed that it had allowed ads to run against YouTube videos promoting hate and terrorism. Advertisers such as Walmart, PepsiCo, and Verizon, ditched the platform, and much of the wider Google ad network.
Google has scrambled to control the narrative, saying the media has overstated the problem of ads showing up adjacent to offensive videos. Flagged videos received “less than 1/1000th of a percent of the advertisers’ total impressions,”
Because Google derives 90 percent of its revenue from advertisers, it needs to keep more from fleeing by targeting offensive content—fast. But users upload nearly 600,000 hours of new video to YouTube daily; it would take a small city of humans working around the clock to watch it all. That’s why the tech giant has emphasized that it’s hard at work developing artificially intelligent content filters, software that can flag offensive videos at a greater clip than ever before.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitch launching an invite-only affiliate program allowing non-partnered channels to earn revenue, starting with chat-based “Cheering with Bits” tipping feature
Twitch opens up its money-making tools to tens of thousands of non-Partnered channels
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/21/twitch-opens-up-its-money-making-tools-to-tens-of-thousands-of-non-partnered-channels/
On the heels of yesterday’s news about expanded subscription options for partners, video streaming site Twitch today announced another way for its creator community to generate revenue, with the launch of an Affiliate program. Explains the company, the new program will allow non-partnered video creators to gain access to a variety of tools that will allow them to make money from their channels, even if they’re not large enough to gain “Partner” status.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Single-Pixel Camera Mimics Human Eye
Allocates High-Rez to Details
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331632&
The smart single-pixel camera mimics the human eye by focusing on the important details in images, such as faces, and allotting lower-resolution to areas of unimportance such as backgrounds. The invention made by researchers at the University of Glasgow (Scotland, U.K.) appears in Science Advances titled Adaptive foveated single-pixel imaging with dynamic supersampling.
The University of Glasgow has been experimenting with scanning cameras that use a single pixel because of their low cost and the fact that they can more easily target parts of the electromagnetic spectrum inaccessible to megapixel imager chips, namely terahertz and far infrared. But now with the capability of capturing more detail where it counts and fuzzing out areas of little importance, the single-pixel camera should be much more useful to researchers and even lower in cost than before.
For their recent experiments, researchers used their single-pixel to scan a 1,000-by-1,000 pixel area, which by modern standard is very low resolution (just 1-Mbyte). However, since the camera picks out the important parts, scanning them at much higher resolution, its performance matched that of a multi-mega-pixel camera.
Adaptive foveated single-pixel imaging with dynamic super-sampling
https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.08236
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ensuring Content Protection over USB Type-C
https://www.synopsys.com/designware-ip/technical-bulletin/content-protection-dwtb-q217.html?elq_mid=8940&elq_cid=546544
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) 2.2 is a security specification for protecting delivery, recording and subsequent unauthorized copying or distribution of premium audio/video content. As we move into the era of transmitting and providing high resolution content like 4K Ultra-High Definition (UHD), High Dynamic Range (HDR) and 8K UHD, robust security becomes even more important for the protection of premium content. HDCP 2.2 is widely used today by HDMI connections, less often for DisplayPort connections, and very seldom with legacy USB connections. However, as USB Type-CTM connections are getting designed into devices from phones to televisions, keeping premium content secure as it travels through this interface is critical. This article describes the challenges system-on-chip (SoC) developers face in providing a secure solution to deliver UHD content over USB Type-C and the path to finding the right solution.
Securing Content
To deliver UHD content, content providers require higher security to be in place. Organizations like MovieLabs, founded by Hollywood studios Disney, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Universal and Warner Bros provide specific guidelines on how to protect the content as it is moved from the source to the end displays. The MovieLabs Enhanced Content Protection specification requires that devices such as tablets, smartphones, UHD TVs and other media devices, which receive high value content, implement strict security measures to ensure that content cannot be copied or freely redistributed from those devices. Among other items, the MovieLabs specification requires:
Protection of content sent to a remote display using High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) 2.2 link protection (Figure 1)
A hardware root of trust to protect Digital Rights Management (DRM) and link protection keys
A secure computation environment, hardware-enforced, for authenticating code that performs critical operations at power up and during runtime
A protected video processing pipeline
A random number generator compliant with NIST SP800-90C specification
Meeting these security requirements entails significant investment in R&D and is easy to get wrong, leaving an implementation vulnerable to attacks and implementers potentially open to liability.
For example, solutions based on a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) enabled by a single CPU with hardware separation may not be sufficient to face these attacks.
USB is a widely used interconnect standard, and the introduction of the USB Type-C connector is making USB Type-C ubiquitous.
As an SoC developer planning to support the latest multimedia requirements, finding a pre-integrated, well tested, and certified technology for protection against vulnerabilities is imperative. When looking for USB Type-C and HDCP 2.2 IP solutions, you should ask your supplier questions such as:
Are all the features required by the market supported?
How was this solution tested for interoperability?
Is the solution certified by DCP (Digital Content Protection) licensing authority?
Can you explain in detail how robustness criteria were met?
What protection is provided against side channel attacks? Also against code modifications, fuzzing, glitching and fault injection? How have those been evaluated and what were the results?
How many designs and devices in the market use this implementation?
The right solution goes beyond just current specifications and mandates. While compliance is a challenging and necessary requirement, planning for future threats is even more arduous yet imperative to consider.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ginny Marvin / Marketing Land:
Google adding TV ad inventory to DoubleClick Bid Manager, letting advertisers measure video campaigns across digital media and linear TV
Google trying TV ad buying again with DoubleClick Bid Manager
In a new test, advertisers will be able to buy linear TV spots programmatically via DBM.
http://marketingland.com/tv-inventory-access-doubleclick-bid-manager-212884
Tomi Engdahl says:
Just 23% of people now prefer watching TV shows on televisions
Laptops, desktops, and mobile are more popular
http://www.techspot.com/news/69060-23-people-now-prefer-watching-tv-shows-televisions.html
Watching TV shows on devices other than tradition televisions is becoming ever more widespread, and the speed at which people’s viewing habits are changing is increasing. According to a recent survey, only 23 percent of people now prefer to use a TV for watching shows, a drop of 55 percent during the past year.
The 2017 Digital Consumer Survey, from business strategy and technology consulting firm Accenture, asked 26,000 consumers in 26 countries how they prefer to consume their TV content.
42 percent picked their laptop or desktop as the favorite device for watching TV shows, an increase of 32 percent from last year. And 13 percent said they prefer using smartphones, up from 10 percent a year earlier.
People’s preference for watching sports games on TVs has also fallen, down to 19 percent from 38 percent in the 2016 survey.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Accenture Survey Reveals 55 Percent Drop in Consumers Who Prefer to Watch TV Shows on TV Sets
https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/new-accenture-survey-reveals-55-percent-drop-in-consumers-who-prefer-to-watch-tv-shows-on-tv-sets.htm
Signaling an accelerating shift in the digital video market consumer behavior, the percentage of consumers who prefer watching TV shows on television sets plummeted by 55 percent over the past year, from 52 percent to 23 percent, according to findings from the Accenture (NYSE: ACN) 2017 Digital Consumer Survey.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Dish’s Sling Media debuts SlingStudio, a $999 portable TriCaster competitor that can connect with 10 cameras, optimized for Facebook Live, YouTube live streams
Dish’s Sling Media Is Releasing a Cheap Tricaster Competitor for Facebook Live Streams
http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/dish-slingstudio-hardware-for-facebook-live-1202392811/
Sling Media, the Dish Network subsidiary that brought us the Slingbox, is back — with a product no one expected, but some will surely appreciate: SlingStudio, a portable video production system that’s optimized for live streaming to services like Facebook Live and YouTube, for a price that’s far below that of traditional setups.
The base price for SlingStudio, which will go on sale in May, is $999. For that, users will get a device that could pass as a somewhat bulky router, which is not actually that far from what it does: SlingStudio generates its own secure Wi-Fi network to wirelessly connect with up to 10 cameras. These can include smartphones as well as professional cameras, with the latter being networked via an optional $349 adapter dubbed CameraLink.
SlingStudio users can monitor up to four of those 10 feeds, which are automatically synchronized via an iPad app. That app not only makes it possible to switch among different cameras, but also add simple effects, including text overlays and lower thirds. The output can be written to a hard drive or SD card, and also live-streamed to Facebook Live and YouTube.
The idea for SlingStudio was to make multi-camera shoots more accessible, said Dish CTO Vivek Khemka during a recent interview with Variety: “Our goal was to democratize video production.” One part of that is the price point. A Tricaster setup, the industry standard for live video productions, easily can cost $10,000 or more.
The CameraLink adapter automatically transcodes video on the fly to match up different source feeds. Users can also connect a video source directly to the device via an HDMI input, which for example makes it possible to add a desktop PC for Skype calls and the like. SlingStudio could theoretically be used for a video blogger’s home studio, but it’s more optimized for live and on-the-road use via an optional $149 battery pack.
Khemka said that the company is looking to market the device to the long tail of content producers. The target customer base includes schools, churches, startups, companies looking to live-stream corporate events, as well as local TV stations that haven’t figured out how to produce good-looking Facebook Live streams.
Of course, one could also speculate that Dish may one day want to tap into the pool of SlingStudio users to license content for its own platforms, including Sling TV.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NAB 2017: Valossa collaborates with Yle on AI-based broadcast metadata
https://www-rapidtvnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.rapidtvnews.com/2017042446970/nab-2017-valossa-collaborates-with-yle-on-ai-based-broadcast-metadata.amp.html
Aiming to create deep content metadata for broadcasters, artificial intelligence (AI)-based video identification technology provider Valossa is working with Finnish broadcasting company Yle to develop content intelligence tools for future media experiences.
The participation has yielded content intelligence tools that have provided automated ways of analysing and segmenting magazine-style long-form TV content into separate stories for compartmentalised access.
Yle Beta builds the next-generation media experience and the best public digital service in the world. “We have collaborated with Valossa to help them bring AI-powered scene-level intelligence for broadcasting
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://valossa.com/about/
Tomi Engdahl says:
AJ Crane / YouTube Blog:
YouTube Kids now has 8M+ weekly active viewers, expands service to select LG, Samsung, and Sony smart TVs
The YouTube Kids app is now available on even more screens!
http://youtube.googleblog.com/2017/04/the-youtube-kids-app-is-now-available.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Selling Media Players With Pirate Add-ons is Illegal, Says Top EU Adviser
https://torrentfreak.com/selling-mediaplayers-with-pirate-add-ons-is-illegal-161208/
Selling media players with pirate add-ons violates EU law, according to a recommendation from Advocate General Campos Sánchez-Bordona. He issued the advice in a landmark case over the legality of pre-loaded XBMC/Kodi devices, which are widely sold across Europe. Whether users of these players also liable depends on whether they know that the content is infringing.
Online streaming continues to gain in popularity, both from authorized and pirate sources.
Particularly popular are Kodi-powered applications or set-top boxes. While Kodi itself is a neutral platform, there are lots of add-ons available that turn it into a pirate’s heaven.
In Europe, the European Court of Justice is currently handling a landmark case that should provide more clarity on the legality of set-top boxes that are sold with “links” to infringing content.
The issue was raised in a case between Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN and the Filmspeler.nl store, which sells “piracy configured” media players. While these devices don’t ‘host’ any infringing content, they ship with add-ons that make it very easy to watch infringing content.
The sale of a multimedia player which enables films that are available illegally on the internet to be
viewed easily and for free on a television screen could constitute an infringement of copyright
http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2017-04/cp170040en.pdf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Transcribing Audio Sucks—So Make the Machines Do It
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/trint-multi-voice-transcription/
While news organizations have invested heavily in video content, the ability to optimize those clips for search engines remains elusive.
An unprecedented voice-transcription technology can tell you not only what’s being said, but who is saying it.
The web app, named Trint, can listen to an audio recording or a video of two or more speakers (or just one) engaged in natural speech, then provide a written transcript of what was said. Unlike Siri or Google Talk, Trint is designed to transcribe long blocks of text.
Trint’s technology is still nascent, but it could eventually give new life to vast swaths of non-text-based media on the internet, like videos and podcasts, by making them readable to both humans and search engines. People could read podcasts they lack the time or ability to listen to. YouTube videos could be indexed with a time-coded transcript, then searched for text terms. There are other applications too: Filmmakers could index their footage for better organization, and journalists, researchers, and lawyers could save the many hours it takes to transcribe long interviews.
As machine learning and automation technologies continue to transform the 21st century (and especially journalism), voice transcription remains a pesky speed bump.
Transcription Reinvented
https://trint.com/
We go beyond automated transcription to provide the world’s most innovative platform for searching, editing and getting the most out of your audio and video content.
Tomi Engdahl says:
2017 NAB Show sees simplified 8K video transport over SDI cabling
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2017/04/nab-sdi-8k.html?cmpid=enl_cim_cimdatacenternewsletter_2017-05-01
At the 2017 NAB Show (Apr. 22-27) in Las Vegas, NHK and Village-Island announced that they have developed an innovative system, called VICO-8, that makes possible to transport 8K 4:2:2 60p 10bits video on a single 12G-SDI cable using the intoPIX TICO compression technology.
“The gain to bring 8K to a single 12G-SDI is huge,”
“It enables us to achieve 8K with 4K-ready appliances, wherever it is about switching, distributing, transmitting the signal on optical fiber or other support. Dramatically dividing the cost of infrastructure, the gain of VICO-8 is even exponential when considering the matrix switcher where VICO decreased the number of required input by 4, while decreasing the number of required output by 4, dividing the number of required nodes by 16. The gain of using VICO-8 can be dramatic within our 8K OBVAN where the constraints on space, heat, wiring, energy are the most challenging. 8K on a single SDI cable simplify our operations and reduce risks inside the OBVAN.”
According to the companies, the VICO-8 system takes 8K video as 4x 12G-SDI input as compressed by a factor of 4 to 1, in visually lossless quality, generating a single TICO 8K stream output mapped on a single 12G-SDI interface with a delay of few video lines, so less than 1msec.
The companies note that 8K 60p 4:2:2 (10bits) video usually requires 16x 3G-SDI or 4x 12G-SDI for raw quality transport.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Twitter unveils 16 streaming partners for its live video service, including BuzzFeed, Verge, Viacom, WNBA, MLBAM, PGA, Bloomberg, Live Nation, more — Last year: NFL. This year: Bloomberg, the WNBA, Live Nation and our friends at The Verge. — Yesterday, Twitter announced it was building …
Twitter still thinks it’s a TV platform — and here are its dozen new shows
Last year: NFL. This year: Bloomberg, the WNBA, Live Nation and our friends at The Verge.
https://www.recode.net/2017/5/1/15509026/twitter-live-video-tv-shows
Tomi Engdahl says:
FLIR brings thermal imaging to vehicles with Automotive Development Kit
http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/2017/04/flir-brings-thermal-imaging-to-vehicles-with-automotive-development-kit.html?cmpid=enl_vsd_vsdnewsletter_2017-05-01
FLIR Systems’ new Automotive Development Kit (ADK), which is based on the company’s Boson thermal imaging camera core, is designed for the development of next-generation automotive thermal vision and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ethiopia has ATM-like kiosks that load pirated movies on your USB stick
https://thenextweb.com/gear/2017/05/01/ethiopia-atm-movie-pirate-usb-stick/#.tnw_GublLGvY
Move over Blu-Ray: Ethiopia has some killer content distribution vending machines that spit out the latest movies straight to your USB stick – no discs required.
Disguised as unassuming ATM points, the bright yellow kiosks act as full-fledged self-service media distributors and can be readily found in local malls across the country, TorrentFreak reports. As you might guess, the legalities of setting up such machines are highly questionable, to say the least.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shalini Ramachandran / Wall Street Journal:
In its effort to create TV-like content, Snap has signed original show deals with NBCUniversal, Turner, others, and is in talks with CBS and Fox, sources say — Snap Inc.’s ambitious effort to create television-like content has old and new media companies alike clamoring to learn …
Media Companies Line Up to Make Shows for Snap TV
https://www.wsj.com/articles/media-companies-line-up-to-make-shows-for-snap-tv-1493890205
Snapchat doles out creative notes to old media giants on making quick, original shows on a vertical screen for young viewers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Janko Roettgers / Variety:
Facebook says it is closing Oculus VR film studio, canceling all on-going projects, will invest in VR content produced by outside partners — Oculus Story Studio, the award-winning studio behind virtual reality (VR) short films like “Dear Angelica” and “Henry,” is being shut down, Facebook announced Thursday afternoon.
Facebook Is Shutting Down Its Award-Winning Oculus Story Studio
http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/oculus-story-studio-shutting-down-1202409809/
UPDATED: Oculus Story Studio, the award-winning studio behind virtual reality (VR) short films like “Dear Angelica” and “Henry,” is being shut down, Facebook announced Thursday afternoon. The studio’s 50 staffers are encouraged to apply for new jobs within Oculus, but all ongoing projects of the studio are being cancelled.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg:
Source: YouTube to fund more than 40 original shows and movies in the next year, is in talks to produce shows budgeted at $3M-$6M per hour for Red — Online service sees opportunity to lure big national sponsors — Paid Red service gets budgets matching HBO, Showtime programs
With 40 New Original Shows, YouTube Targets TV’s Breadbasket
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-04/with-40-new-original-shows-youtube-targets-tv-s-breadbasket