MEMS mics are taking over. Almost every mobile device has ditched its old-fashioned electret microphone invented way back in 1962 at Bell Labs. Expect new piezoelectric MEMS microphones, which promise unheard of signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) of up to 80 dB (versus 65 dB in the best current capacitive microphones) in 2015. MEMS microphones are growing like gangbusters.
Analysts and veterans of the International CES expect to see plenty of 4K ultra-high-definition televisions, new smartwatch uses, and a large section of the show floor dedicated to robotics. 2015 will be the first year CES gets behind 4K in a big way, as lower price points make the technology more attractive to consumers. Samsung, Sony, Sharp, and Toshiba will be big players in the 4K arena. OEMs must solve the problem of intelligence and connectivity before 4K will really take off. CES attendees may also see 4K TVs optimized for certain tasks, along with a variety of sizes. There will be 10-inch and 14-inch and 17-inch UHD displays.
4K is not enough anymore? 8K – finally come true? Korean giant LG has promised to introduce ehdan 8K TV at CES 2015 exhibition in January. 8K means a total of 33.2 million pixels, or 7680 x 4320 resolution. 4K video material fate is still uncertain, 8K video can not with certainty not available for a long time.
Sound bars will be a big issue at shows. One problem with new TVs — the thinner they are, the harder it is to get sound out.
Open file formats Matroska Video (MKV) and Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) gets more widely used as Windows 10 To Feature Native Support For MKV and FLAC.
Watching shows online is more common now. More people are watching videos on smaller screens. You can use a tablet as personal TV. Phablets and portable televisions have taken off in China, Japan, and Korea, where many people watch videos during long commutes. Tablets now have become so ubiquitous and inexpensive that you can buy them for a specific application. Much of the innovation will be in software, rather than hardware — tuning the tablets to boot up like a television instead of an Android tablet
We’re all spending more time with smartphones and tablets. So much so that the “second screen” may now be the “first screen,” depending on the data you read. It seems inevitable that smartphones and tablets will replace the television in terms of time spent. Many metrics firms, including Nielsen, report on the rapid increase of mobile device usage—especially when it comes to apps. Half of YouTube’s views now come from phones and tablets.
Qualcomm will push this year broadcast LTE. That will be picked up more and more by some vendors in tablets, so they can have broadcast TV signals, but it doesn’t have to be generic LTE.
There will be lots of talking on traditional TV vs new streaming services, especially on who gets which program material and at what price. While it’s possible to create a TV platform that doesn’t deal with live channels, smart TVs and game consoles alike generally try to integrate the content as best they can.
Netflix’s new strategy to take on cable involves becoming best friends with cable to get its app included on set-top boxes of cable, fiber and satellite TV operators. Roughly 90 million U.S. households subscribe to cable or other forms of pay TV, and more than 73 million subscribe to the biggest five operators alone. That’s why Netflix has been working hard to team up with one of these major operators.
Google intends to integrate content best it can. Google Publishes ‘Live Channels For Android TV’ App Into The Play Store. G The “Live Channels for Android TV” app is unsurprisingly incompatible with phones and tablets, maybe because for some reason those markets are intentionally artificially tried to be kept separate.
Virtual reality video is trying to get to spotlight. Samsung’s new Milk VR to round up 360-degree videos for Gear VR article tells that Milk VR will provide the videos for free as Samsung hopes to goose interest in virtual reality. Milk VR service will provide free 360-degree videos to anyone using a Gear VR virtual-reality headset (uses Galaxy Note 4). Samsung wants to jump-start the virtual-reality movement as the company is looking at virtual reality as a potential growth engine at a time when one of its key traditional revenue sources — smartphones — has slowed down. The videos will also serve as a model for future filmmakers or artists looking to take advantage of the virtual-reality medium, as well as build up an ecosystem and viewership for VR content.
Although digital video is increasing in popularity, analog video remains in use in many applications.
1,154 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU creative collection agencies want YouTube et al to pay their wages
But no pan-Europe licensing or the Americans will take over
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/24/hey_oettinger_make_online_platforms_pay_for_authors_rights_say_collecting_agencies/
Collecting agencies for audio-visual creators on Monday urged the European Commission to protect their income in the planned new copyright law and to make online platforms (among others) pay for it.
The Society of Audiovisual Authors (SAA), the association of European collective management organisations, called on digi Commissioner Gunther H-dot Oettinger to create a “collectively enforced unwaivable right to remuneration” for audio-visual authors and said that “all platforms who distribute works should contribute to this remuneration”. That means you, YouTube.
According to the SAA, audio-visual authors do not get any payment for online or on-demand consumption of their work in many European countries. Under its proposals, authors would be banned from accepting a one-time fee in contracts with producers and would instead gain every time their film is viewed.
The SAA has 25 members in 18 countries who manage rights for more than 120,000 authors. In 2013 they collected €452 million for their authors – just 0.37% of film and TV’s €122 billion collective revenue.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pixar Releases Free Version of RenderMan
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/03/23/2327247/pixar-releases-free-version-of-renderman
A year ago, animation studio Pixar promised its RenderMan animation and rendering suite would eventually become free for non-commercial use. This was originally scheduled to happen in the SIGGRAPH 2014 computer graphics conference, but things got delayed. Nevertheless, today Pixar is releasing the free version into the wild. Free, non-commercial RenderMan can be used for research, education, evaluation, plug-in development, and any personal projects that do not generate commercial profits.
Pixar Releases Free Non-Commercial RenderMan
http://www.geeks3d.com/forums/index.php/topic,3857.0.html
EMERYVILLE, CA – (March 23rd, 2015) Pixar Animation Studios today released its Academy Award®-winning RenderMan software for non-commercial use. Free Non-Commercial RenderMan can be used for research, education, evaluation, plug-in development, and any personal projects that do not generate commercial profits. Free Non-Commercial RenderMan is also fully featured, without watermark, time limits, or other user limitations.
Featuring Pixar’s new RIS technology, RenderMan delivers extremely fast global illumination and interactive shading and lighting for artists. Currently in use at many studios, RIS is fast, robust, and changing how movies are made. Today, exactly the same technology is available to all users of Non-Commercial RenderMan.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Buhr / TechCrunch:
Former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar’s Vessel opens to public for $2.99/month, 12 months free if you sign up within 72 hours
Former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar’s Vessel Launches To The Public
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/24/former-hulu-ceo-jason-kilars-vessel-launches-to-the-public/
Vessel, the new online video subscription service built by some of the early team at Hulu, is launching to the public today.
The service — which provides early access to videos from YouTube stars through a monthly subscription fee — has been in private beta since the beginning of the year. It is now available to everyone on both the web and iOS.
Former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar and CTO Richard Tom founded Vessel on the premise that folks would be willing to pay $2.99 per month to get content from popular YouTube stars 72 hours early.
Content that will eventually be free, but delivered early, for a fee. It seems like a hard sell.
But Kilar and his team actually did this six years ago with Hulu.
Hulu hit the 2 million subscriber mark, nearly doubling from the year before, in the spring of 2012. Compare that with movie subscription service Netflix, which had 24.4 million subscribers at the same time and added 610,000 new subscribers in the first quarter of that year.
Kilar and his team hope to recreate that kind of growth with a “millenial” audience on Vessel. Some of that involves signing up popular YouTube stars with faithful followings
“It’s made for a mobile audience,” Kilar said of the advertisement structure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HP dumps Apple’s Beats audio, partners with Bang & Olufsen
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2901272/hp-moves-on-from-apples-beats-partners-with-bang-and-olufsen-on-audio.html
Hewlett-Packard once relied on Beats for audio technology in its PCs and tablets, but that was before Apple acquired it. HP has now found a new audio partner in Bang & Olufsen.
HP will use Bang & Olufsen audio technology to its PCs, tablets and accessories. The companies will “custom tune” audio for each PC model; different models typically have different hardware specifications in order to meet different expectations. For example, a gaming laptop typically delivers more booming sound than a low-cost laptop.
HP will put the Bang & Olufsen brand on the high-end Spectre, Omen, Envy and some other commercial PCs. The B&O Play label will be on lower-cost Pavilion PCs and tablets. The companies will also resell audio Bang & Olufsen accessories for HP hardware.
The first Bang & Olufsen branded PCs will appear this spring, HP said. The PCs will likely have a sticker attached or logo engraved on them to highlight the audio technology
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Information:
Facebook is in talks with several media firms, including Vice, The Onion, and Vox Media, to produce high quality short-form sponsored videos
http://www.theinformation.com/articles/Facebook-Strikes-Deals-With-Vice-Other-Producers-For-New-Video-Offering
Tomi Engdahl says:
Glenn Peoples / Billboard:
Music labels push to limit free streaming as licenses come up for renewal, but Spotify has leverage with large subscriber base and proven revenue growth
Much Ado About Streaming: Why Free Listening Isn’t Dead
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/6509482/much-ado-about-streaming-why-free-listening-isnt-dead
The controversy over free streaming is reaching a boiling point reminiscent of the fever pitch before the turn of the millennium, or the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012. Free streaming is being portrayed, by some, as the end of the music business.
That particular calendar comes to an end this summer, when Spotify’s deals with major labels are likely to expire in the United States. Spotify launched in the United States in July of 2011. Whether Spotify and the labels had two-year deals or four-year deals, the contracts would need to be renewed at that time.
An entertainment attorney familiar with these types of contracts believes labels have four-year deals with Spotify.
The largest label, Universal Music Group, is reassessing its digital strategy. Rob Wells, the president of the global digital business team that negotiated the freemium deals now being scrutinized, and executive vp has departed the company. “There are no regrets about initially supporting that business model,” says one UMG insider. “But it’s time to figure out how to drive up the value of our content.”
And while labels certainly have leverage — after all, they have the content — Spotify has leverage, too. It has biggest subscription market share and is driving the most growth in streaming revenue. Most significantly, Spotify has 15 million subscribers. Labels may be disappointed with that number, but the next-best competitor, Deezer, has 6 million — and although it has escaped criticism, it also uses a freemium model.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Net movie service out of faith, money, or both
Netflix has taken such a firm grip on premium movies and other entertainment-sharing services market, that the other is not easy. One of the industry veterans have now found the situation hopeless.
Swedish Voddler started its journey in 2009.
Elisa was very soon to provide Finnish customers with Voddler by acquiring for themselves a slice of this site.
There were movies, either individually or leased for a monthly fee. Part was able to watch free of charge, by advertising spiced.
Idg.se site according to Voddler has now decided to leave the back to the left. End solution which has made it easier by the fact that the company said to have done 176 million kronor (about 19 million Euros) losses.
Voddler company will try to extend their life by offering their technology to other online entertainment services.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/2015-03-25/Netin-leffapalvelulta-loppui-usko-rahat-tai-molemmat-3218015.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Richard Lewis / The Daily Dot:
Sources: YouTube plans to relaunch live streaming service this year with a focus on gaming, taking on Twitch
YouTube to relaunch livestreaming service with focus on esports and gaming
http://www.dailydot.com/esports/youtube-google-esports-livestreaming/
YouTube is preparing to relaunch its livestreaming platform with a renewed focus on live gaming and esports specifically, according to sources within the streaming industry.
The Google-owned online video behemoth, which tried and failed to acquire streaming giant Twitch last year, has watched the growth of esports with great interest and is looking to acquire broadcast content and talent within the industry.
“Gaming and esports in particular are going to be a big driving force for the new-look YouTube Live,” one source said. “There’ll be huge opportunities for established streamers and organizations soon and I would say that the record numbers of esports viewers are only going to grow when Google start promoting and partnering with these events.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
European Commission Proposes “Digital Single Market” and End To Geoblocking
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/03/25/2227227/european-commission-proposes-digital-single-market-and-end-to-geoblocking
A new initiative from the European Commission proposes a reformed “single digital market”, addressing a number of issues that it sees as obstructions to EU growth, including geoblocking — where services such as BBC’s iPlayer are only available to IP addresses within the host country — and the high cost of parcel delivery and administration of disparate VAT rates across the member states.
European Commission – Press release
Digital Single Market Strategy: European Commission agrees areas for action
Brussels, 25 March 2015
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-4653_en.htm
Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said: “Let us do away with all those fences and walls that block us online. People must be able to freely go across borders online just as they do offline. Innovative businesses must be helped to grow across the EU, not remain locked into their home market. This will be an uphill struggle all the way, but we need an ambitious start. Europe should benefit fully from the digital age: better services, more participation and new jobs”.
Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Günther H. Oettinger said: “Europe cannot be at the forefront of the digital revolution with a patchwork of 28 different rules for telecommunications services, copyright, IT security and data protection. We need a European market, which allows new business models to flourish, start-ups to grow and the industry to take advantage of the internet of things. And people have to invest too – in their IT-skills, be it in their job or their leisure time”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Unveils Immersive 360-Degree Video for News Feeds
http://www.wired.com/2015/03/facebook-unveils-immersive-360-degree-video-news-feeds/
Facebook is testing what it calls spherical videos, part of a new breed of online video you can “move through,” much like a 3-D game.
Company founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the technology this morning during his keynote at Facebook’s annual developer conference in San Francisco. He said these videos are shot with twenty-four cameras working in concert. “You can move around inside the video,” he said, “and view it from different angles.”
The company is demonstrating the new video format for attendees at this week’s F8 conference by showing off a 24-camera-view of the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California. The plan, Zuckerberg says, is to eventually get this kind of “immersive, 360-degree video experience” into your Facebook News Feed.
According to Facebook, the more than 1.3 billion people its on social network view more than 3 billion videos on the service each day. Now it hopes to push these users “inside” this new breed of video. Beginning today, the company is asking third-party publishers to create their own spherical videos for sharing across Facebook.
No Headset Required
The difference with the “spherical video” demonstrated by Zuckerberg is that it doesn’t require a headset. It runs inside standard browsers and on standard phones. That will limit how “immersive” it will be. Plus, as Gartner analyst Brian Blau points out, the specialized hardware needed to produce these videos will limit how prevalent they are. “Is this for consumer creators or professionals?” Blau asks. And he adds that similar videos can already be uploaded to services like YouTube.
Video will likely play a role in our VR future, Blau tells WIRED, but in the beginning, the Oculus and the Samsung Gear VR will be used primarily for games.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook introduces an embeddable video player
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/03/25/facebook-introduces-an-embedded-video-player/
At its F8 conference today, Facebook announced it is introducing a video player that can be embedded onto other sites – finally.
Starting today, users will see an embed option on their videos. They’ll then be prompted to copy and paste the necessary HTML code onto their website.
Previously, pretty much the only way to share a video hosted on Facebook was to link to Facebook page or share it through the platform itself – quite inconvenient if you just want to post a short clip on your blog or website.
The change is part of a greater shift towards improving the video experience on Facebook, and taking YouTube on more seriously.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Instagram’s New “Layout” App Makes Collage Art
The photo-sharing service rolls out its third stand-alone app since Facebook acquired it in 2012.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/brendanklinkenberg/intagrams-new-layout-app-makes-collage-art#.bxWXWbAj
Tomi Engdahl says:
Owen Williams / The Next Web:
New York City explosion shows the potential for mobile live streaming via Periscope to change news, offering mass access to live video seconds after an event
Periscope and live video are changing the internet forever
http://thenextweb.com/opinion/2015/03/26/periscope-and-live-video-are-changing-the-internet-forever/
Today, I saw the future and it is Periscope. The app, which only launched earlier today, had its first moment in the spotlight as an explosion rocked New York City.
Within seconds, feeds started popping up on Periscope with first-person views of the scene. I watched it unfold from afar. Then I jumped into another stream, which was a block away. Then, another stream from right in front of the explosion.
It’s unprecedented to get this kind of footage seconds after an event occurs, even before first responders arrived. As I watched the drama unfold in New York, streamers were replying to questions about what they could see and were experiencing.
It’s almost like next-level Twitter. Information starts flowing in and you can experience it as it happens, in real time. With Periscope, you get a whole new level of access to the events unfolding on the ground.
Periscope has begun to transform the way that news can be accessed and consumed overnight. Meerkat, which came before it, started the change but Periscope has fulfilled instant live video’s purpose, by offering a huge critical mass of users as it launched to great fanfare.
Meerkat isn’t all that different from Periscope but Twitter’s massive user graph is already helping the latter grow even more rapidly than expected. In a way, Meerkat almost guaranteed Periscope’s success by generating hype for the company’s launch.
Don’t get me wrong, Periscope won’t replace the TV news. Watching these streams can be overwhelming and confusing. There is unfettered access to information and scenes that might be cut from live TV, which could be dangerous and those filming don’t have the facts. It’s a whole new level of the unfiltered world.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Stearns / Medium:
Apps like Periscope and Meerkat could help people understand their right to record — Periscope, Meerkat and the Right to Record — I’ve been playing with Periscope this morning and thinking a lot about how it has simplified the the process of livestreaming but also how it has perfected …
Periscope, Meerkat and Your Right to Record
https://medium.com/@jcstearns/periscope-meerkat-and-the-right-to-record-9a9e4cc0baac
During those Occupy protests livestreams and journalists — both mainstream and indie — were being arrested in alarming numbers when they pointed their cameras and cell phones at police. In the years since the power of cell phone cameras and livestreaming apps has only expanded and more and more people are taking up these tools.
As such, there is a real opportunity for apps like Periscope and Meerkat to help people understand their right to record. I would love to see a partnership between these apps and an organization like WITNESS to create in app notifications, guides and best practices for safe and secure citizen journalism and eye witness recording.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Optical Image Stabilizer Platform
http://www.eeweb.com/company-blog/renesas/optical-image-stabilizer-platform
This article presents the optical image stabilizer (OIS) platform of Renesas, a high-performance dedicated LSI with software and other components that offers solution for smartphone designers to include OIS in their products. The document describes the capabilities of the OIS, the platform support, and the future of this technology.
Renesas OIS LSIs became available early in the first decade of the 2000s, and now enjoy wide use in digital still and digital video cameras. We subsequently began development of an OIS LSI—the R2A30515BM—designed specifically for smartphones, and our customers have already started shipping devices that include this new feature.
“The R2A30515BM hardware and its sophisticated algorithms together deliver superlative shake-reduction performance. While most OIS LSIs correct for shake angles only up to about 0.5 degree, the R2A30515BM corrects for angles up to 2 degrees.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
EU announces plans to banish geo-blocking, modernize copyright law
General digital strategy likely to collide with sectoral special interests.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/03/eu-announces-plans-to-banish-geo-blocking-modernize-copyright-law/
At the heart of the European Union lies the Single Market—the possibility for people to buy and sell goods and services anywhere in the EU. So it is ironic that the European sector least constrained by geography—the digital market—is also the least unified. To remedy that situation, the European Commission has announced its Digital Single Market Strategy, which addresses three main areas.
The first is “Better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services” and includes two of the thorniest issues: geo-blocking and copyright. As the EU’s strategy notes, “too many Europeans cannot use online services that are available in other EU countries, often without any justification; or they are re-routed to a local store with different prices. Such discrimination cannot exist in a Single Market.”
There is strong resistance to removing geo-blocking, particularly from copyright companies that have traditionally sold rights on a national basis and which therefore want geo-blocking to enforce that fragmentation.
“Modernising copyright law to ensure the right balance between the interests of creators and those of users or consumers”—a topic even more contentious than abolishing geo-blocking.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Transmitting HD Video From A Raspberry Pi
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/28/transmitting-hd-video-from-a-raspberry-pi/
It’s been a few years since the RTL-SDR TV Tuner dongle blew up the world of amateur radio
Now, we have a transmitting dongle. It’s only being used to transmit live HDTV from a Pi, but that in itself is very interesting and opens up a lot of possible builds.
The key piece of hardware for this build is a UT-100C TVB-T modulator. It’s a $169 USB dongle capable of transmitting between 1200-1350 MHz, and with a special edition of OpenCaster it’s possible to transmit over-the-air TV. There’s no amplifier, so you won’t be sending TV very far, but it does work.
On the Raspberry Pi side of the build, the standard camera captures H.264 video with raspivid, which is converted to a DVB compliant stream using ffmpeg.
Turn your Raspberry Pi into a live HDTV transmitter
http://www.oz9aec.net/index.php/dvb/490-turn-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-live-hdtv-transmitter
In a previous post I wrote about using the UT-100C DVB-T modulator on linux and I promised to follow up how to use the modulator with live video sources. In this post I am going to describe how to setup the modulator on a Raspiberry Pi equipped with a RaspiCam camera module, effectively turning the Pi into a live HDTV transmitter.
The setup can be made small enough to be carried by a medium size drone and the range can be increased using power amplifiers.
Your best bet is to get a ham radio license and use the 23 cm band.
In the example I am using 1.28 GHz carrier frequency which is in the DATV segment of the 23 cm amateur radio band. If you don’t have a DVB-T receiver that works at that frequency you can change it to some UHF frequency and use your regular digital television to receive it provided that it can do DVB-T and you are only transmitting in your lab with very low power. Check the regulations in your country to know for sure what you may and what you may not do.
I have modified the RTL2832, R820T and E4000 drivers to allow tuning to L-band frequencies as supported by these tuners.
Tomi Engdahl says:
OpenCaster 3.2.2: the free digital tv software
http://www.avalpa.com/the-key-values/15-free-software/33-opencaster
Logo OpencasterOpenCaster is a free and open source MPEG2 transport stream data generator and packet manipulator.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Resourceful DIY Brushless Hand-held Camera Gimbal
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/28/resourceful-diy-brushless-hand-held-camera-gimbal/
Holding a video camera while shooting video can lead to finished footage that has some serious shakes. Lucky for us there are some solutions to this problem such as a passive steady cam stabilizer or an active motor-driven gimbal. [Oscar] wanted a smooth-operating brushless motor gimbal but didn’t want to spend the big bucks it costs for a consumer setup so he went out and built his own.
[Oscar] purchased the brushless motors and motor controller which included a gyro sensor on a separate PCB board. The gyro is mounted to the camera mount
http://blog.oscarliang.net/build-brushless-camera-gimbal-handheld-quadcopter/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Our Record Industry Nightmare: Unlocking the Truth’s Journey From Viral Craze to Label Hostages
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/27/our-record-industry-nightmare-unlocking-the-truth-s-journey-from-viral-craze-to-label-hostages.html
Their Times Square metal performance went viral, and a trio of 11- and 12-year-olds were signed to a $1.8 million record deal. Then they realized what the industry was all about.
People tend to romanticize the music industry. Behind every successful band is, it seems, a story of a renegade A&R representative who discovered them cracking away at a dive one night and the rest was history.
The reality is far less enchanting. These days, record labels are more concerned with branding than talent. It’s not a matter of what you can do, it’s a matter of how. Lizzy Grant was a failed singer-songwriter before Interscope rebranded her into a sultry, self-described “gangsta Nancy Sinatra,” while Katy Hudson was a gospel recording artist before Capitol Records and songwriting wizard Dr. Luke helped transform her into the girl-kissing Katy Perry.
“The album is ready, but because our attorneys are talking about us leaving the record label, it’s going to be a whole process of getting our music back.”
That $1.8 million contract, like most music contracts, sounds a lot more lucrative than it is.
“The $1.8 million is what happens if you add up all their advances for five records, and it increases in amount with each successive album,”
in order to go beyond their advance, they need to sell over 250,000 copies of a single album, which these days is a bit of a pipe dream.
“That’s what everyone says about the music industry,” adds Meyer, “it’s got all this glitter on it, but it’s always less flashy than it looks.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Jay Z To Relaunch His New Tidal Music Service Today With Madonna, Kanye, Daft Punk Exclusives In Tow
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/30/jay-z-to-relaunch-his-new-tidal-music-service-today-with-madonna-kanye-beyonce-exclusives-in-tow/
Tidal, the high-definition music streaming service acquired by rapper and music mogul Jay Z, is gearing up for its official relaunch under new ownership later today, and it will be doing so by reportedly making a move to snag new releases by some of the biggest musicians of the moment including Kanye West, Madonna and Daft Punk, ahead of rival services like Spotify and Beats.
What might those artists be doing on Tidal? Not an ordinary streaming deal, it seems.
Tidal’s plan of attack will be to ink first-window deals with the artists, where Tidal would get first releases of tracks from big-name artists ahead of any other digital streaming services. This would be exclusive, but only for a period: Spotify, Deezer and others would eventually also get these tracks, but only later.
What’s the pull for these artists? It’s partly the Jay Z connection. His Roc Nation agency works with a long list of musicians to provide publishing, management, label and other services, with Tidal becoming yet another string on Roc Nation’s bow as a one-stop music distribution shop.
On the other hand, from what we understand, Tidal is also offering a more attractive set of terms to musicians than other streaming services — often agreeing to payouts of twice as much as its rivals.
With many artists complaining that digital music is not providing decent enough returns, the later of these could be a deal maker for Tidal.
right now Tidal has only 35,000 subscribers paying $19.99 per month
http://tidal.com/us
Tomi Engdahl says:
China’s Alibaba signs digital distribution deal with music rights group BMG
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/30/us-alibaba-bmg-idUSKBN0MQ0UH20150330
Germany’s BMG music rights company said on Monday it had signed a music digital distribution deal with China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), as the world’s largest e-commerce firm firms up its bid to become a digital media empire.
The deal, one of the first in China made by a major music publisher rather than a label, will bring more than 2.5 million copyrights to Alibaba
Alibaba has set its eyes on becoming an online-media powerhouse, with music, film and television. The $210-billion firm has touted the potential for selling digital products as well as physical products in China, despite the country’s track record of users not paying for media content.
“Internet and particular mobile media are quickly providing an answer to the music industry’s long-time challenge of how to monetize the vast untapped potential of the Chinese market,” BMG Chief Executive Hartwig Masuch said in Monday’s statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ben Popper / The Verge:
Jay-Z relaunches Tidal with $9.99/month standard and $19.99/month high-quality tiers, with top artists as co-owners
Jay Z relaunches Tidal with music’s biggest artists as his co-owners
Can they find a business model that works for everyone?
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/30/8314833/tidal-jay-z-streaming-music
At a press conference in New York City this afternoon, Jay Z and a huge group of musical stars took the stage to officially relaunch TIDAL, the streaming music service he recently acquired as part of a $56 million deal. The rallying cry was a service that would “turn the tide” and restore the value to music by launching a service owned by artists. Coldplay, Rihanna, Daft Punk, Alicia Keys, Calvin Harris, Jack White, Madonna, Usher, Arcade Fire, Deadmau5, and Beyoncé joined Jay Z in the owners circle.
Turn the tide against what exactly? The unspoken enemies are services like Spotify that offer streaming music for free, supported by advertising. Many artists have accused it of paying only a pittance for the rights to stream their music. TIDAL, by contrast, has promised to pay double the standard streaming royalties
It’s framing itself as a sort of United Artists for the streaming era, a business built in opposition to tech companies that traffic in ads. That sounds like a huge difference, but of course there are some caveats.
It’s easy to understand artists’ frustration and skepticism. The US music industry generates roughly half the annual revenue it did back in 1999. And while there are tens of millions of people listening to Spotify, the revenue from ad supported streaming is smaller than that generated by sales of vinyl records.
The simple truth remains, however, that streaming music is the industry’s best bet for growth.
The battle over how best to build the music business — and best for whom — is going to get very heated over the next year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Hudgins / Google Drive Blog:
Google makes photos and videos from Google+ Photos available in Drive
Your photos and files, together in Drive
http://googledrive.blogspot.fi/2015/03/photosindrive.html
To get started, just look for the new Photos menu in Drive for Android, iOS and the web. From there you’ll be able to manage your photos and videos alongside other types of files.
You’ll start seeing your photos in Drive today—immediately if they’re new, and a few weeks for your entire library—so give it a try,
You can optionally choose to create a Google Photos folder in your “My Drive”, which will allow you to organize your photos and videos into folders.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bob Lefsetz / The Lefsetz Letter:
Tidal is dead on arrival because listeners are cheap, it lacks a critical mass of both users and musicians, and the market is crowded
Tidal
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2015/03/30/tidal/
Now let me get this straight…piracy can be eradicated if artists just band together in the name of money?
That’s what this is all about, cash. For the misguided artists who believe this is their financial savior but primarily for Jay Z, who’s using OPM (other people’s money) to have a big score.
But it don’t really happen that way at all.
Did Jay call Peter Thiel?
Then he would have learned to go where there’s no competition. That’s how you win in the tech space. But Spotify’s got traction, Apple has a ton of cash and Deezer and Rdio are players. If you think Tidal’s gonna walk right in and get huge market share, you probably believed iTunes Radio was gonna neuter Pandora. But it did not. Hell, even Jimmy Iovine couldn’t neuter Spotify. Beats Music was a disaster in its initial incarnation. Give Jimmy credit for selling the enterprise to Apple, but without the profit-making headphones, there wouldn’t have been billions involved.
Headphones… A market where the usual suspects were asleep. Sennheiser, AKG, even Sony, they could not see the opportunity right under their noses. So Jimmy walked right in and gained market share, hell, built a MARKETPLACE, and the established entities are still trying to catch up.
And why was Spotify successful? Because of the deep pockets of the owners, who were willing to lose on the way to winning. Beats Music did not have these deep pockets, and Tidal certainly does not. Unless the artists are all willing to kick in double digit millions, out of their fortunes, to turn the tide.
But that’s what a VC does. That’s his area of expertise. To see Jay Z try to triumph in tech is like watching WME and CAA and Universal lose cash on their investments/incubated projects. IT’S NOT THEIR BUSINESS, NOT THEIR AREA OF EXPERTISE!
So first and foremost you’ve got to pay for Tidal.
And therefore it’s dead on arrival. Just like Apple’s new music service. Because people are CHEAP! They love their money more than their favorite artists, never forget it. And the kind of person who pledges devotion to Tidal artists is the same kind who’s home alone, broke, waiting for their parents to put cash on their debit card. Now if Tidal had a free tier… But it doesn’t.
And what about future artists? How do they get a share of the pie?
And let’s say a new Hozier comes along, and Spotify outbids you, they certainly have deeper pockets. Then your monopoly on exclusive content falls apart, you Balkanize the landscape and you hurt everybody in the ecosystem.
And artists can’t get along with themselves, never mind others. True artists are singular. Come on, when’s the last time you saw Madonna compromise, or do a solid for another performer? Suddenly, everybody’s gonna play nice and get along?
That’s what we’ve learned in the internet era, it’s about staying power, not the launch. Tidal is news this afternoon, by tomorrow no one is talking about it, never mind next week. Then the hard work begins.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why MediaTek Pushes Cross-Device Sharing
CrossMount links, shares resources among TVs, handhelds
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326154&
MediaTek, the world’s third-largest chip designer, is aiming to create a technology standard that will link and share software and hardware resources of televisions and handheld devices in ways that would fulfill their unrealized potential.
The Taiwan-based company, whose chips each year go into about 400 million smartphones, 100 million smart TVs and 50 million tablets, sees an opportunity to use its CrossMount technology, announced earlier this month, to unify the components of consumer devices in ways the company has only started to imagine.
At MediaTek’s headquarters in Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park, the company demonstrates a few examples to tease the imagination. A smartphone controlling the large display of a TV. A TV mounting a smartphone camera, making it a remote baby monitor. A TV turning a smartphone touch panel into a remote control for the TV. A smart television mounting the microphone of a smartphone to enable a voice search on the internet for images of Lady Gaga.
“The most unique aspect of CrossMount is the ability to use components in other devices,”
MediaTek has scheduled the commercial rollout of the technology this year around October 1, on China’s National Day, when a number of PRC tech companies traditionally launch new products.
CrossMount will be inside smart TVs and smartphones from Chinese brands including Lenovo, TCL and Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. The new technology will also debut in all of China’s second-tier smartphones around the same time, according to Hsieh.
“We want to light a fire,” Hsieh says.
“Few companies in Asia want to create standards, but we want to try,” Hsieh says.
MediaTek Sails Uncharted Waters With CrossMount
It’s ‘way more than DLNA,’ says CTO
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325865
MediaTek, on the eve of the Mobile World Congress, has revealed a new cross-device sharing technology called “CrossMount.”
CrossMount, a “new industry standard” that’s royalty-free and open to all comers, makes sharing of multimedia content easy among multiple devices, said MediaTek. More important, it allows the hardware and software resources in devices — smartphones, tablets and TVs, for example — to be shared and combined to add features or improve performance, explained Kevin Jou, MediaTek’s chief technology officer.
“We aren’t just talking about Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) type of applications such as sharing content by pairing two devices. We are talking about connecting multiple devices (more than one) and enabling something way better than DLNA,” Jou told EE Times.
Just as DLNA leverages UPnP, CrossMount uses UPnP as its foundation for media management, discovery and control. CrossMount’s new wrinkle is the ability to share and combine resources among multiple devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Neural Networks Take on Embedded Vision
Synopsys convolutional neural network coprocessor lowers power for vision processing.
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326162&
The growth in embedded vision systems—systems that extract meaning from visual inputs—is driving demand for more performance- and power-efficient vision-processing capabilities. Many companies have risen to respond to this demand: AMD, CEVA, Imagination, Intel, Nvidia, and various ARM licensees. They use a variety of hardware: FPGAs, FPGA/MPU combinations, graphics processing units, and specialized heterogeneous multicore designs optimized for the task.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Who Wants Night Vision Eye Drops?
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/30/who-wants-night-vision-eye-drops/
A team of adventurous biohackers have successfully played with an interesting type of chlorophyll, called Chlorin e6 by putting it in their eyes… and the result? Well, they kind of obtained night vision.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tony Gervino / Billboard:
Jay Z Talks Tidal, Jimmy Iovine, Rewriting the Music Business Rulebook
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6516928/jay-z-tidal-jimmy-iovine-interview
While it would be easy to dismiss the idea that a small company with 500,000 subscribers and a twice-the-price high-definition capability could ever compete on a cursory level with Goliaths like Spotify (60 million subscribers, 15 million of them paid) and the soon-to-relaunch Beats Music, one must consider the possibility that what he’s proposing isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. According to Jay Z, and judging from the #TIDALforALL social media campaign that launched in March 30’s early morning hours, his primary goal is to change a broken compensation system and to bend the accepted limits of what’s offered for streaming, including song snippets, loose ideas and video. And by offering more money he will, in theory, force other streaming companies to follow suit. Much like his music that has occasionally served as a social agitator, Tidal, which is initially a playground for A-list performers, is Jay Z’s way of resetting music’s value proposition. None of the top-tier artists, who all reportedly own an equal share of the company, need the money, which make them the perfect delivery mechanism for his message: that musicians have had enough of streaming’s microscopic payouts and the labels’ helpless shrugs. Whether the industry itself has had enough remains to be seen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Periscope smeared by streaming security SNAFU
Live vid titles leak from Twitter’s new app for the Bong! crowd
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/31/periscope_smeared_by_silly_snafu/
Twitter’s Meerkat-strangling live streaming app Periscope has had its first privacy SNAFU, leaking the titles (but not the content) of videos meant for private circulation only.
Periscope allows users to stream live video into their Twitter feeds. The app debuted mere days after a very similar app, Meerkat, became the Bong! crowd’s latest darling.
The flaw in Twitter’s app means audio and video of a private broadcast will remain private: only the title leaks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook’s new “Scrapbook” feature lets parents tag their children in photos, giving kids an official presence without full profiles — Facebook’s New Photo “Scrapbook” Lets Parents Give Kids An Official Presence — For the first time, children under 13 are allowed to have an official presence on Facebook.
Facebook’s New Photo “Scrapbook” Lets Parents Give Kids An Official Presence
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/31/step-1-identify-baby-photo-step-2-hide-baby-photos/#gypjlZ:x6PD
Tomi Engdahl says:
Infinit’s New Mobile Apps Might Be The Best Way To Transfer Those Pesky HD Videos
http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/31/infinits-new-mobile-apps-might-be-the-best-way-to-transfer-those-pesky-hd-videos/
French startup Infinit just released its mobile app for both iOS and Android. In addition to providing a simple way to send files to your friends and colleagues, it is now a full-fledged AirDrop replacement as well. As a reminder, Infinit is a file-sharing service that differs from WeTransfer or CloudApp as it uses peer-to-peer technology to boost file sharing between two users. And there isn’t any file size restriction.
Until now, many video game developers or post production specialists were using Infinit to send big files to their colleagues. For instance, Infinit can handle a huge uncompressed 100GB video file without breaking a sweat. You don’t need to leave your computer open as Infinit can pause and resume your uploads.
At first, the company didn’t see how a mobile app would be useful for these particular use cases. But chances are that your phone is now your primary camera. You might want to send a few HD videos from your last vacation. Right now, it is very complicated to send those files to your friends, or even to your computer. Infinit makes this a little easier.
Finally, Infinit is a great way to share files between your own devices. Maybe you are using a Windows PC, an Android phone and an iPad — Infinit now runs on all these platforms. And I find the user experience much more effective than using AirDrop, uploading a file to Dropbox or sending an email to myself.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This looks like April Fools day joke but could be real:
Soundwagon – portable VW Bus record player
http://www.dj-rooms.com/soundwagon-record-player/
This is the world’s smallest portable vinyl record player, also known as Soundwagon or Vinyl Killer. The VW Bus is driven with a 9V battery and comes with a needle on the bottom and speakers on the top. You can place the wagon on a vinyl record pull the antenna for ON and it plays the sound
http://www.soundwagon.jp/
Tomi Engdahl says:
North Korea’s must-have gadget is a $50 media player
http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/27/north-korea-must-have-gadget/
In North Korea, the gadget you’d probably want is a Notel. Or a Notetel, a word that attempts to shoehorn notebook and television together, describing a pretty unassuming, very popular, Chinese-made media player. According to estimates from Reuters, up to half of all urban-based North Koreans have a Notel stashed somewhere in the house. Now, until recently, the device was only found on black markets, but the device has now been legalized and is apparently available in state-run shops and markets for just fifty bucks.
Residents are apparently watching South Korean dramas, foreign movies, music videos and more on the device: generally things that Pyongyang prohibits.
Notel’s multifunction capabilities that made it ideal for watching banned content, while pretending not to
Tomi Engdahl says:
B & O’s car audio business is transferred to Harman
Among other things, Audi, Aston Martin, BMW and Mercedes Benz models excellently appointed address solutions implemented Bang & Olufsen has sold the entire car audio side racing partner of Harman International Industries.
The transaction price has been notified of EUR 145 million, and it gives Harman’s use of the license throughout the B & O’s in-car sound
Source: http://www.hifimaailma.fi/uutiset/b-autohifibisnes-siirtyy-harmanille/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Megan Geuss / Ars Technica:
Flickr adds public domain and Creative Commons Zero designations
Flickr offers new public domain licensing in wake of SpaceX photo release
Creative Commons Zero—the CC licensing with fewest restrictions—now an option.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/03/flickr-offers-new-public-domain-licensing-in-wake-of-spacex-photo-release/
On Monday afternoon, Yahoo’s photo-sharing platform Flickr announced that it would add public domain and CC-Zero licensing options for users who want to share their work freely with the public. Both options allow others to reuse photos licensed in that manner in any way they wish.
In a blog post yesterday, Flickr said that Elon Musk’s private space flight company, SpaceX, was one of the first accounts to change the licensing on its photos.
Musk put hundreds of SpaceX photos up on Flickr last week, initially releasing them under a Creative Commons license, which does leave some restrictions on reuse of the photos (commercial use is not permitted, for example). But when pressed by Twitter followers, Musk agreed to put his company’s photos in the public domain, free for all to use. Still, on Flickr’s platform, Musk had to list his photos as CC-BY, which allows for any type of reuse as long as attribution is maintained, because a less-restrictive option was not available.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The coming of DAB+: Stereo eluded the radio star
Could the end finally be in sight for first-generation DAB?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/01/breaking_fad_dab_plus_is_coming/
But lest you become too enthusiastic, there aren’t any plans to phase DAB out just yet. Ofcom has in fact just awarded a second national digital radio multiplex to a consortium called Sound Digital, which is made up of Arqiva, Bauer Media and UTV Media. The existing commercial DAB mux is full
What’s particularly interesting, however, is that one of the channel slots on the mux is earmarked for a DAB+ service. For those who are new to the whole thing, DAB+ is an upgrade to the original DAB specs, which uses a more advanced audio codec plus better error correction. It is, in theory, around three times as efficient as the DAB that we’re used to. That means better quality sound
The technology behind DAB means that it’s possible to mix DAB and DAB+ services on the same multiplex – a set that doesn’t understand the newer stuff will just ignore it. In that regard, this is slightly different to the need to have a separate mux for DVB-T2.
Sound Digital will be providing just one DAB+ station – the content of which has not yet been decided. Strikingly, the proposal shows it as a 32kbps stream in mono.
three slots for DAB+, each of which was planned to be in stereo at 48kbps
You might even argue – and a cynic like me wouldn’t disagree – that there’s little incentive for people to invest in a new radio. Perhaps if Ofcom mandated the use of DAB+ for the new smaller-scale services, that might make people more willing to buy into the technology.
Although there’s been little song and dance about it, the Digital Radio tick mark for the UK does actually require support for DAB+, and two of the most well-known makers of sets, Tivoli and Pure, tell me that all their current models – as well as some older ones – will be able to get the new station when it launches, expected around this time in 2016.
We are still, by any measure, a long way away from being able to remove major radio services from FM and make them digital-only. We could even be slowing down. Ofcom’s digital radio report for 2014 reveals that around 36% of all sets sold are digital. However, the number of sets sold overall fell by 11.3%, and in absolute terms sales of DAB sets fell by 9%. For the year to Q2 of 2014, there were three million analogue sets sold, and 1.7 million digital. That’s a lot of people still not buying into the digital dream.
Of course, most of those digital sets will be capable of DAB+. But a key question is how many old sets are there? Sound Digital had some figures in their application to Ofcom, suggesting 20 million DAB sets sold by the end of 2013, of which 2.9 million were capable of receiving DAB+.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alexis C. Madrigal / Fusion:
A problem with Periscope and Meerkat: broadcasters struggle to keep up with the flood of real-time comments
The interesting problem with Periscope and Meerkat
http://fusion.net/story/111772/the-interesting-problem-with-periscope-and-meerkat/
Periscope and Meerkat are mobile livestreaming apps. Lots of tech people are talking about these apps, and using them feels like exploring a new frontier. Livestreaming isn’t new, but broadcasting video from a smartphone to your Twitter feed is, and maybe that experiences will capture lots of people’s attention and become huge. (Or not.) Stranger things have happened.
But, in any case, neither app is a huge data hog, at least according to the cursory test I ran. I hit 20 megabytes used after 3 minutes on Periscope and 4 minutes on Meerkat
But while running a test on Periscope and Meerkat’s data consumption, I discovered a different, but significant, problem that may hamper these apps’ growth: namely, the difficulty of keeping up with a flood of real-time comments.
While I was testing Periscope, something like 80 people began to watch me. And as the people started piling into the Periscope room and the comments started flying around (most were about my shirt, my hat, and my ears, among hellos and shoutouts), I realized that I could not maintain my line of thought. Anyone who wanted to actually talk about what I was doing was drowned out by randos—and as soon as I tried to respond to one comment, there were three more pushing it off the screen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Peter Kafka / Re/code:
Apple wants TV networks to handle infrastructure and costs of streaming for its video service
Apple Asks TV Programmers to Supply Their Own Streams for Apple’s TV Service
http://recode.net/2015/04/01/apple-asks-tv-programmers-to-supply-their-own-streams-for-apples-tv-service/
Apple wants the TV guys to provide their shows for its proposed streaming video service. But that’s not the only thing Apple wants from the TV guys: It wants them to provide the streams, too.
Apple is asking TV networks to handle the responsibility and cost of the streaming infrastructure associated with its Web video service, industry executives say. That issue is one of many unresolved questions about the proposed service, which Apple would like to launch next fall but can’t until it lines up programming deals.
Apple’s proposal isn’t necessarily surprising, since video services that stream via Apple apps today — including some of the networks Apple wants to work with, like Fox, CBS and Disney — all “stand up” their own streams, by working with content delivery networks like EdgeCast.
Tomi Engdahl says:
European regulators scrutinise Apple over music streaming plans
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0%2F79be3a06-d8fa-11e4-b907-00144feab7de.html#axzz3W9cV7iw4
European regulators are scrutinising Apple’s dealings with record labels, amid an intensifying battle over the future of free, ad-supported music streaming services such as Spotify.
Several labels and digital music companies have been contacted by the European Commission, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CCD image sensor is going to die out
Sony has announced the closure of the CCD image sensor manufacturing in 2020. In practice, the decision means very much the fact that the CCD technique will die off. There are only a few manufacturers.
CCD’s death is not due to the technical characteristics – CCD technology is still has advantages over CMOS circuits in demanding imaging applications
In practice, the Sony’s decision to exclude left only four CCDs, manufacturesr: Teledyne Dalsa, On Semiconductor, EV2 and Fairchild Semiconductor.
http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2636:ccd-kuvakenno-kuolee-pois&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
CCD Image Sensors are Dead, says Yole
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326226&
Pierre Cambou, imaging and sensors analyst at market research firm Yole Developpement, has commented on the end of the line for charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors in an opinion article published by imveurope.
The article was prompted by a move by the market leader Sony to exit the manufacturing of CCD sensor and camera business that has been commented on by Sony customers. The expectation is that Sony will discontinue production of CCD sensors at its 200mm wafer line at the Kagoshima Technology Centre in March 2017 with a phase out lasting until 2020.
Cambou says that CCDs still offer the highest performance and for some demanding applications will not be replaced by CMOS image sensors
End of the line for the CCD?
http://www.imveurope.com/news/news_story.php?news_id=1637
Sony has initiated the process of exiting its charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor and camera business. As is usual in this kind of matter, Sony is currently discussing the move with its main customers and distributors, with a preliminary schedule being 2017, with progressive phase out until 2020.
The timing might not be yet definitive as discussions are ongoing. One thing is certain: this is the beginning of the end for Sony CCDs. This should not astonish anyone in the industry. Those who have been around long enough have witnessed the end of tube technology and then transitions between different CCD technology nodes. Yole Développement, the market research and strategy consulting company, recently covered those transitions in its latest report, ‘Status of the CMOS image industry, 2015 edition’.
The time of CMOS image sensors (CIS) has now come. Volume CCD manufacturers like Sony have to take the necessary steps to get out of this business before their revenues fall below the running cost of their organisation and facilities. The fact that Sony was the leader in CCD means they were mostly dependent on high volume applications like digital still cameras (DSC) and security. Without that volume their CCD business model has vanished, condemning the remaining applications like machine vision.
Indeed, this announcement has a major effect on the machine vision community.
For system manufacturers who were relying on Sony, it is time to make a choice. They must either change to the remaining suppliers such as Teledyne Dalsa, On Semiconductor (Truesense), e2v, Fairchild Semiconductor, or take the big leap to CMOS.
Strategically, this is a very interesting move to watch. Sony has had a singular approach in handling the CCD to CMOS shift and is now accelerating the change.
It is always sad for technologists to watch the creative destruction of technology shifts. I believe this major transition will renew the innovation drive of the industry.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New CMOS Device Could Cut Costs of Night Vision, Thermal Imaging
http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/1198-ntb/news/news/21921
Engineers at The University of Texas at Dallas have created semiconductor technology that could make night vision and thermal imaging affordable for everyday use.
Researchers in the Texas Analog Center of Excellence (TxACE) in the University’s Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science created an electronic device in affordable technology that detects electromagnetic waves to create images at nearly 10 terahertz, which is the highest frequency for electronic devices. The device could make night vision and heat-based imaging affordable.
The UT Dallas device is created using Schottky diodes in Complementary Metal- Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology. “There are no existing electronic detection systems operating in CMOS that can reach above 5 terahertz,” said Zeshan Ahmad, lead author of the work, electrical engineering doctoral candidate and a research assistant in TxACE. “We designed our chip in such a way that it can be mass produced inexpensively, has a smaller pixel and operates at higher frequencies.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Hulu launches GIF search engine for its TV shows, powered by Tumblr and shareable on Twitter, Pinterest or via email
Hulu Launches Its Own GIF Search Engine
http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/06/hulu-launches-its-own-gif-search-engine/#.utwu3c:YOiu
Streaming video service Hulu is today launching its own tool for fans of GIFs, with the debut of its own GIF search engine powered by Tumblr. The new site, dubbed “The Perfect GIF,” isn’t just a standard Tumblr blog, however, but more of customized Tumblr experience where you can search for and discover TV-related GIFs by tag, show, reaction or action involved. The idea behind the new project, it seems, is to help seed social media with high-quality GIFs based on Hulu’s own licensed and original content, then capitalize on those GIFs’ spread to market the Hulu brand to Tumblr’s younger demographic.
At launch, Hulu’s site features over 1,400 GIFs from dozens of its top shows across major networks including Fox, NBC, ABC, MTV, Bravo, FX, Showtime, and others, as well as those from classic shows like Cheers, Star Trek, Twin Peaks, The X-Files and more.
In addition to Tumblr, Hulu’s GIFs can also be posted to Twitter, Pinterest or shared via email.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AppleInsider:
LG may have accidentally revealed Apple’s 8K iMac plans in a press release about display tech
Apple to release super-high resolution ‘iMac 8K’ later this year, display partner LG says
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/04/06/apple-to-release-super-high-resolution-imac-8k-later-this-year-display-partner-lg-says
In a rather unusual reveal, a supposed “iMac 8K” has been outed in a press release that was published by Apple display supplier LG, suggesting the all-in-one desktop will get an even higher resolution screen this year.
The announcement was actually made by LG a week ago, but AppleInsider was tipped to the press release on Monday. In declaring the “next-generation of high-resolution 8K,” LG detailed its pixel-packing display technology and talked about its partnerships, including its alignment with Apple.
“Apple has also announced that they will release the ‘iMac 8K’ with a super-high resolution display later this year,” the press release states. Apple, however, has not publicly announced plans for a new iMac update.
Apple’s 27-inch iMac was given a super-resolution 5K display in an upgrade that arrived last fall.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Non-Infinite But Arbitrariliy Large Number of Video Feeds
http://hackaday.com/2015/04/06/non-infinite-but-arbitrarily-large-number-of-video-feeds/
It’s pretty common to grab a USB webcam when you need something monitored. They’re quick and easy now, most are plug-and-play on almost every modern OS, and they’re cheap. But what happens when you need to monitor more than a few things? Often this means lots of cameras and additional expensive hardware to support the powerful software needed, but [moritz simon geist] and his group’s Madcam software can now do the same thing inexpensively and simply.
Many webcams mixed in realtime – on the cheap!
http://sonicrobots.com/2015/04/01/a-multi-usb-webcam-approach-with-open-frameworks/
‘Madcam‘ is an open frameworks (C++) based project for mixing USB Web Cameras (e.g. the 10$ cheap PS3-Eye web cam) im realtime. Why this is awesome? Its usually hard and/or expensive to mix many video signals in realtime and display them side by side. We found a way to make it cheap, quick and reliable!
The goal is set up an VJ setup which is based on live webcam material. One webcam? – Boring! 10 Webcams? – “Unlimited” fun!
So far we use 10 web cams, but the amount can probably be extended. The webcam content is mixed onto one screen, in different tilings and with Video-FX, all in realtime.
Tiling and FX can be controlled by Midi and OSC. The system uses Open Frameworks. The allover costs were under 400€ (500$), with the main part being the computer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Rolls Out VP9 Encoding For YouTube
http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/04/07/0129253/google-rolls-out-vp9-encoding-for-youtube
The YouTube engineering blog announced that they’ve begun encoding videos with Google’s open VP9 codec. Their goal is to use the efficiency of VP9 to bring better quality video to people in low-bandwidth areas, and to spur uptake of 4K video in more developed areas.
VP9: Faster, better, buffer-free YouTube videos
http://youtube-eng.blogspot.fi/2015/04/vp9-faster-better-buffer-free-youtube.html
As more people watch more high-quality videos across more screens, we need video formats that provide better resolution without increasing bandwidth usage. That’s why we started encoding YouTube videos in VP9, the open-source codec that brings HD and even 4K (2160p) quality at half the bandwidth used by other known codecs.
VP9 is the most efficient video compression codec in widespread use today. In the last year alone, YouTube users have already watched more than 25 billion hours of VP9 video, billions of which would not have been played in HD without VP9′s bandwidth benefits. And with more of our device partners adopting VP9, we wanted to give you a primer on the technology.
Videos hold a lot of information. If video were stored in the same format that a camera sensor uses when shooting a scene, the resulting files would be enormous — raw 4K is up to 18,000 Mbps!
While VP9 uses the same basic blueprint as previous codecs, the WebM team has packed improvements into VP9 to get more quality out of each byte of video.
This new format bumps everybody one notch closer to our goal of instant, high-quality, buffer-free videos. That means that if your Internet connection used to only play up to 480p without buffering on YouTube, it can now play silky smooth 720p with VP9.
VP9 also has benefits for people with limited bandwidth or expensive data plans.
Where can I use VP9?
Thanks to our device partners, VP9 decoding support is available today in the Chrome web browser, in Android devices like the Samsung Galaxy S6, and in TVs and game consoles from Sony, LG, Sharp, and more. More than 20 device partners across the industry are launching products in 2015 and beyond using VP9.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here we are now, entertain us: Caltech team designs micro, high-res 3D imager
Researchers see bright future in camera chip
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/05/caltech_3d_camera_chip_nci/
Boffins working for Caltech have developed a tiny, high-resolution 3D imager that they hope could eventually be used in consumer devices such as smartphones.
They claimed that it could “soon be possible” to reproduce “a replica accurate to within microns” of an original object snapped on a mobile device.
The research team’s new device – which they dubbed a nanophotonic coherent imager (NCI) – is loaded with a cheap silicon chip that is less than a millimetre square in size.
“Each pixel on the chip is an independent interferometer – an instrument that uses the interference of light waves to make precise measurement – which detects the phase and frequency of the signal in addition to the intensity.”
It uses a detection and ranging tech known as LIDAR – which has been utilised to, for example, get high-res digital elevation models.
“By having an array of tiny LIDARs on our coherent imager, we can simultaneously image different parts of an object or a scene without the need for any mechanical movements within the imager,” said Prof Hajimiri.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Viewing CCTV on every street corner
http://hackaday.com/2012/07/20/viewing-cctv-on-every-street-corner/
2.4 GHz video transmitters are everywhere these days, in many, many products ranging from baby monitors to CCTV setups. Surprisingly, most owners of these video devices don’t realize they’re transmitting an unencrypted video signal, a belief [Benjamin] hopes to rectify.
[Ben]’s project started with him driving around cities recording unencrypted 2.4GHz video feeds. His idea has since expanded to include building metal boxes with an LCD display and attaching them to light poles.
SVEN: Surveillance Video Entertainment Network
aka “AI to the People”
http://deprogramming.us/ai/
SVEN (Surveillance Video Entertainment Network) is a system comprised of a camera, monitor, and two computers that can be set up in public places – especially in situations where a CCTV monitor might be expected. The software consists of a custom computer vision application that tracks pedestrians and detects their characteristics, and a real-time video processing application that receives this information and uses it to generate music-video like visuals from the live camera feed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vivendi Makes Offer for DailyMotion
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/vivendi-makes-offer-dailymotion-786820
French media giant Vivendi has a made a takeover bid for online video company DailyMotion, Vivendi confirmed April 7. Terms of the offer were not disclosed, but media reports put the value of the deal at around $272 million (€250 million).
Vivendi’s bid for the successful video streaming site comes after Hong Kong Telecoms group PCCW group withdrew its own offer Monday following opposition from the French government.