The future of cameras seem to be heading to is smaller, more portable, more disposable and mirrorless (DSLRs have a mirror). When Nokia’s Executive Vice President Anssi Vanjoki told 2010 that Cell Phone Cameras Will Replace DSLRs, I could not believe that on time. But it really seems to become more and more to truth in 2014: Nowadays you can take professional level (“good enough photos”) using consumer level cameras and smart phones. Technical quality is good enough for majority. There is going on a rampant replacement of point and shoot cameras of all flavors and varieties with smart phones and their built in cameras. Now the market is being effectively gutted. Gone. Non-existent. Same thing is happening to video as well.
Part of the technical race came to a (maybe temporary) end: “How can I match and exceed the quality of conventional metrics that we used to get from medium format film.” There’s nothing else pressing to solve, technically. Many photographers are fully equipped but uninspired to move forward. We have have set down for “good enough.” The engineering idea is that we’ve hit the sweet spot and to go for a Six Sigma improvement would be costly and unnecessary.
DSLR sales were down in 2013, worldwide, by 18.5% according to CIPA. The total decline in the entire dedicated camera market is closer to 43.5%. The decline will continue. Credit Suisse prediction: “Only those who have a strong brand and are competitive on price will last – and only Canon, Nikon and Sony fullfil that criteria”. Mirrorless cameras are not a big market: According to CIPA is the total sales of mirrorless system cameras in N. America was slightly fewer than 39,000 units. Total.
The challenge will be: How do you bridge that gap between high photo-capture quality and high-quality camera devices and the cloud where every amateur photographer’s images live? The company which has the most innovative post-processing, easy to share photos feature set wins! The future of photography is same as future in pretty much everything: software and connectivity. Camera manufacturers have been slow on those: we are just now seeing cameras with full operating systems like Android The advantages to smart phones are size, constant (annoyingly constant) access, multi-task tool set, and the ability to send your images, electronically, to an audience just about anywhere in the world.
Several smartphone makers have clear strategies to take photography to extremes: 40 megapixel camera is already on the market and several manufacturers are playing with re-focus after shooting options.
Consumer video device trend is that separate classic video cameras have pretty much faded from market. New smart phones have high definition video cameras in them, so for most users there is no need for separate video camera. For special uses there are small “action” video cameras that are so tiny that you can place them almost anywhere and they can take some beating while you perform your extreme sports. If the video quality of those do not suffice, many people use their DSLR to shoot higher quality high definition video. For professional video production there is still some market left for professional and prosumer video cameras.
The world seems to be heading to situation where separate DSLRs and separate video cameras will be more like high fidelity audio, which used to be common selling point in 1970s, 80s and early 90s, but now only some geeks care about audio quality. This will more or less happen to photographs and video.
Connected TV technologies get more widely used and the content earlier viewable only on TV can be now seen on many other screens. Your smartphone is the screen in your pocket. Your computer is the screen on your desk. Your tablet is a screen for the couch. This development is far from ready. Gartner suggests that now through 2018, a variety of devices, user contexts, and interaction paradigms will make “everything everywhere” strategies unachievable.
Video streaming has really become mainstream as Netflix And YouTube Account For Over 50% Of Peak Fixed Network Data In North America. Because of the rise in video services like Netflix and YouTube, peer-to-peer file-sharing has dropped (meaning less piracy of movies and TV series). Netflix remains the biggest pig in the broadband python, representing 31.6% of all downstream Internet traffic in North America during primetime hours in September — well ahead of any other streaming service. In other parts of the world, YouTube is the biggest consumer of bandwidth. In Europe, YouTube represented of 28.7% of downstream traffic.
Post HDTV resolution era seems to be coming to TVs as well in form of 4K / UltraHD. It was introduced in the 2013, and the manufacturers start to push it more in 204 because all LCD makers are looking to move their business models on from cheap mass production to higher-margin, premium offerings. They try to innovate and secure their future viability by selling fewer, but more profitable displays. On this road giant curved TVs is gaining ground: LG announces that it will present the “world’s first ” 105-inch curved ultra-hd-TV in January in Las Vegas at CES. Almost at the same time , however, Samsung also announced the proposal at CES “the world’s first and curved” 105-inch ultra HD television.. TV screens are in fact higher resolution the basic 4k level of ultra hd: Samsung and LG screens resolution is 5120 × 2160 pixels in the image (11 megapixels).
4K resolution ecosystem will get more ready for use. Netflix is testing out 4K video streaming and Netflix’s House of Cards was shot in 4K. Amazon Studios also just recently announced that it will shoot all of its 2014 shows in that format as well.
4K and 4K streaming are definitely coming in 2014 regardless of how many people can actually view it. 4K will still require a lot of work “with the compression and decode capability” to be ready for mainstream use. There are a great many things that need to happen before 4K really becomes a reality or needs to do so.
PC hardware with 4G capable graphics cards is already available, so decoding the stream is not a problem. The biggest issue is that the market penetration of 4K-capable televisions needs to grow, but to that happen the prices must drop to ranges for the average consumer. Many users have already fast enough fixed broadband connection, but can the networks handle peak usage 4K streaming? According to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, it won’t require more than a stable 15 Mbps to stream 4K.
Extreme overkill resolution will also push to tablet and smart phone markets. There are already smart phones with full HD resolution. In high-end smartphones we may be moving into the overkill zone with extreme resolution that is higher than you can see on small screen: some makers have already demonstrated displays with twice the performance of 1080-progressive. Samsung is planned to release devices with 4k or UHD resolutions. As we have seen in many high tech gadget markets earlier it is a very short journey to copycat behavior. And we will see also see smart phones that can shoot 4K video.
For a long time music has been listened mainly with small portable MP3 player and such, which for most users provide “good enough” audio quality. The market had already shifted from separate MP3 players to the same functionality included to other devices (smart phones and tablets), so sales of music players sales have plummeted in year 2013 as much as as one-third. Separate music players mostly only used for listening music during fitness hobby, and growing popularity of fitness hobby is full of players saved the market from total collapse. Uncompressed music player to appreciate the need of a decent storage capacity, so some hifi people buy some high-end separate players, but that’s a small market.
Apple’s iPod continues to lead an ever-shrinking market of portable media players with a staggering 72 percent of the market for standalone music players. Apple has never been afraid of reducing demand for one of its devices by creating demand for another, in this case iPhone. The future of separate music players looks bleak.
Smartphones have taken the music player market. The growing popularity of smart phones and music streaming services will rise in the future to eat even music players sales. If smart watch will become a hit, the music player may be lost in exercisers shopping list.
1,214 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
The rise of internet video news
More and more young people get their news from online video, which is not necessarily a bad thing
- See more at: http://www.cjr.org/news_literacy/kids_these_days.php?page=all#sthash.VsVqdYdi.dpuf
Tomi Engdahl says:
What happens if broadcasters lose the Aereo case?
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2014/04/21/what-happens-if-broadcasters-lose-the-aereo-case/
Ahead of Tuesday’s Supreme Court hearing on the legality of Aereo, experts weigh in on the so-called nuclear option.
On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that could very well reshape the entire broadcast TV business. The major broadcasters — led by ABC (DIS), CBS (CBS), Fox (FOX), and NBC (CMCSA) — are challenging the legality of Aereo, a startup streaming service backed by IAC (IACI), chief Barry Diller.
Should Aereo win the right to retransmit the OTA signals, other operators could use similar technologies to also avoid paying the retransmission fees, and that, say some legal experts, could undermine the entire broadcast business model. The rumors of the death of broadcast TV could be greatly exaggerated however.
“In the long run, broadcasting will go away, and Aereo will go away with it,” said James Grimmelmann, professor of law at the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law. “The FCC’s incentive auctions are the writing on the wall: Broadcasting is a terrible use of spectrum compared with the other things we’re now capable of doing with it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix Beats Expectations With 4M New Subscribers, Earnings Of 86 Cents Per Share
http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/21/netflix-q1-2014-earnings/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix opposes Comcast–TWC merger over ‘anticompetitive’ concerns
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/21/5637420/netflix-opposes-comcast-purchase-of-time-warner-cable
Netflix has come out in opposition of Comcast’s proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable, writing in a letter to shareholders that the merger would give the combined service provider “even more anticompetitive leverage” to charge businesses “arbitrary” fees before they can access customers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Joss Whedon releases new film on demand
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27102294
Avengers director Joss Whedon has surprised fans by releasing his latest film online at the same time as it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Whedon, whose Avengers film made $1.5bn (£892m) at the box office, made In Your Eyes available to rent for $5 (£3).
It is the second release from his “micro studio” Bellwether Pictures, after 2013′s Much Ado About Nothing.
It is available to rent on video streaming website Vimeo, where fans have already left reviews.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Supreme Court to decide on Aereo, an obscure start-up that could reshape the TV industry
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/aereo-case-goes-to-supreme-court/2014/04/21/50bbd1e8-c59d-11e3-9f37-7ce307c56815_story.html?hpid=z1
An obscure Internet start-up is roiling the television industry with an old-school technology: the antenna.
The start-up, Aereo, uses thousands of tiny antennas to capture broadcast television programs, then converts the shows into online video streams for subscribers in 11 cities.
What Aereo does not do is pay licensing fees to the broadcast networks that produce the programs. And that has put Aereo at the center of a debate over the reach of copyright laws, the accessibility of public airwaves and the future of television.
“Aereo has a shot at changing the TV business model,”
An Aereo victory could dramatically change the way people watch their favorite programs. Live sports and other popular shows that are available only on broadcast TV or cable television could be accessed more conveniently and cheaply over the Internet.
Aereo argues that it is no more than an antenna rental service. Its customers pick the shows they want to watch, and Aereo assigns them an antenna and positions it to capture the desired show from local airwaves.
“Broadcasters can’t double-dip,” he said. “They had the same complaints when the VCR came. The sky didn’t fall then, and in fact a huge business around VCRs and DVRs bloomed from that technology. The same will happen with our technology, and the sky won’t fall on broadcasters today, either.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rounded corners? Pah! Amazon’s ’3D phone has eye-tracking tech’
Now THAT’S what we call a proper new feature
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/15/amazon_3d_phone_rumours_and_technology/
Amazon is reportedly planning to launch a smartphone with an active 3D display. It is claimed the device has been shown to developers in California ahead of an official unveiling in June, and that the tech will go on sale in September.
Mobile phones (and devices like the Nintendo 3DS) that use lenticular 3D have been around for the best part of 20 years, and were popular in Japan in the late 1990s.
Toshiba spent around $100m to develop a technology which tracks the position of the eyes and dynamically moves the sweet spot to maintain the 3D image.
The project was abandoned after a few prototypes and the (discontinued) Qosmio F750 laptop had been made, but not before a few Tosh engineers who had worked on the project formed a company called Liquid 3D. The firm produces a 15.6-inch 1080p glasses-free monitor with a built-in camera that motion-tracks the viewer’s eyes.
If the new Amazon phone does indeed use the same technology, it could be a spectacular differentiator for the mobe-maker, and would explain why Amazon is courting games developers
Tomi Engdahl says:
Face Recognition Algorithm Finally Outperforms Humans
http://slashdot.org/story/14/04/23/1229219/face-recognition-algorithm-finally-outperforms-humans
“People grow beards, wear make up and glasses, make strange faces and so on, which makes the task of facial recognition tricky even for humans. A well-known photo database called Labelled Faces in the Wild captures much of this variation.”
” a new algorithm called GaussianFace that outperforms humans in this task for the first time”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Face Recognition Algorithm That Finally Outperforms Humans
https://medium.com/the-physics-arxiv-blog/2c567adbf7fc
Computer scientists have developed the first algorithm that recognises people’s faces better than you do
Tomi Engdahl says:
Look behind you, ‘declining’ sub-$5bn iPod. The iWatch has come… to EAT YOU
Apple’s baby set to kill its big brother, says analyst
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/24/iwatch_set_to_cannibalise_the_older_ipod/
The semi-mythical iWatch is set to make the iPod extinct, an analyst has predicted.
Christopher Caso, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group, prophesied the death of the iPod, which will be supplanted in Apple’s product range whenever the new wearable computer comes out.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Much Data Plan Bandwidth Is Wasted By DRM?
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/04/23/174208/how-much-data-plan-bandwidth-is-wasted-by-drm
“If you watch a movie or TV show (legally) on your mobile device while away from your home network, it’s usually by streaming it on a data plan. This consumes an enormous amount of a scarce resource (data bundled with your cell phone provider’s data plan), most of it unnecessarily, since many of those users could have downloaded the movie in advance on their home broadband connection — if it weren’t for pointless DRM restrictions.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Will Now Offer Old HBO Content For Prime Customers
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-hbo-2014-4#ixzz2znFJ5mJ4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon Makes a Big Move, Snags Older HBO Shows for Web Streaming
http://recode.net/2014/04/23/amazon-makes-a-big-move-snags-older-hbo-shows/
You still can’t get new HBO shows, like this season’s “Game of Thrones,” without paying for TV.
But starting in May, you’ll be able to get some of the premium cable channel’s older stuff online — via an Amazon Prime subscription.
That means Amazon Prime subscribers will be able to see shows that have already run on HBO, like “The Sopranos” and “The Wire.” And they can also watch older seasons of some shows that are still on the air, like “Girls,” three years after they air.
It’s the first time HBO has offered access to its catalog via a streaming video service that’s not its own HBO Go. And it gives Amazon an important bragging right/differentiation point as it tries to gain ground on rival Netflix.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How to Ditch Netflix and Still Watch (Almost) Everything You Wan
http://gizmodo.com/5821684/how-to-ditch-netflix-and-still-watch-almost-everything-you-want
Here’s how to replace Netflix in your life, from streaming to shiny plastic discs.
Here’s what you get with the new Netflix: Unlimited streaming is $8 a month. Unlimited, one-DVD-at-a-time rental is $8 a month. Together, that’s now $16 to stream movies and rent discs.
So let’s take a look at the viable alternatives to both the streaming and DVD services. (Options are kept to subscription services, since we assume most people watch/stream more than 10 movies a month. And presumably, you don’t need a guide to buy movies a la carte from iTunes or Amazon.)
Premium Streaming:
Amazon Prime
Hulu
HBO GO
Crunchyroll
Fandor
Free Streaming:
Crackle
Snagfilms
Tomi Engdahl says:
Go back in time with Street View
http://googleblog.blogspot.fi/2014/04/go-back-in-time-with-street-view.html
Starting today, you can travel to the past to see how a place has changed over the years by exploring Street View imagery in Google Maps for desktop.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony Xperia Z2: 4K vid, great audio, waterproof … Oh, and you can make a phone call
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/23/sony_xperia_z2/
The latest premium phone to hit the market is Sony’s Xperia Z2.
Sony has cribbed some knowledge from its TV boffins to create what’s called Live Colour LED. Instead of the over-saturated colours found in some OLED screens, this gives more faithful, realistic hues. It’s worlds away from the previous phone’s screen quality.
This time, it’s very nearly on a par with the stunning display on the Samsung Galaxy S5 and it looks more natural than Samsung’s does.
The camera is a 20.7MP model, again.
Like the Samsung Galaxy S5, the Xperia Z2 can shoot in 4K resolution, which as you know is four times that of HD and unusable on all but the most expensive of TVs. Sony calls it future-proofing your memories, a clever phrase to get us to buy into a technology we can’t really use yet. Still, if we don’t mislay the footage before buying a new-fangled 4K telly, the future really will be bright
Waterproofing is a great extra, and one that should be on every phone and gadget.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Band releases album as Linux kernel module
Not likely to be a volume mover, but …
http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/band-releases-album-linux-kernel-module
A Seattle-based band called netcat – not to be confused with the networking tool of the same name – has perked ears in the software community by releasing its debut album as a Linux kernel module (among other more typical formats.)
“Our album is now fully playable as a loadable Linux kernel module.”
So who is netcat and what are they trying to accomplish aside from impressing Linux programmers?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hulu adds Chromecast-like mobile remote control features to Xbox One, PS3 and PS4
http://gigaom.com/2014/04/24/hulu-adds-chromecast-like-mobile-remote-control-features-to-xbox-one-ps3-and-ps4/
Hulu is adding the capability to cast videos to game consoles to its mobile apps. This makes the company the third major publisher to take multiscreen beyond Chromecast.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MIT algorithm predicts how popular your Instagram photo will be
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/24/5647270/mit-algorithm-predicts-how-popular-your-instagram-photo-will-be
Khosla says his algorithm allows him to predict how many views your photo will get before you even upload it. The algorithm considers social factors such as how many followers a user has, the number of tags on the photo, and the length of the title. It also measures content factors such as texture, color, gradient, and objects present in the photo.
You can assess your unpublished photos using a rudimentary tool on Khosla’s website that measures the potential popularity on a relative scale from one to 10.
Research paper: What Makes an Image Popular?
http://people.csail.mit.edu/khosla/papers/www2014_khosla.pdf
On-line demo: What makes an image popular?
http://popularity.csail.mit.edu/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The folks at Ars Technica have discovered evidence that Netflix is actively researching the possibility of using peer-to-peer technology to stream its videos to its customers.
Source: http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/04/26/1424245/netflix-pondering-peer-to-peer-technology-for-streaming-video
Tomi Engdahl says:
Polymer droplets turn smartmobes into microscopes
Boffin nearly threw away first lens before realising it could end the daily grind
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/28/polymer_droplets_create_iphone_microscope_lenses/
An accidental discovery at the Australian National University (ANU) has created a way to deposit-print small, high-quality optical lenses, in something that’s been hailed as “turn a smartphone into an optical microscope”.
Not only that, but they use a material already well-known in optics: polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which is used to make contact lenses.
Instead of the tedious business of lens-grinding to create high-magnification optics, the researchers have developed a deposition process in which a droplet is allowed to flow over a surface and solidify into the lens
Tomi Engdahl says:
VESA and MIPI Announce Display Stream Compression Standard
by Ryan Smith on April 22, 2014 8:45 PM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7958/vesa-and-mipi-announce-display-stream-compression-standard
For some time now the consumer electronics industry has been grappling with how to improve the performance and efficiency of display interfaces, especially in light of more recent increases in display resolution. Through the eras of DVI, LVDS/LDI, HDMI, and DisplayPort, video has been transmitted from source to sink as raw, uncompressed data, a conceptually simple setup that ensures high quality and low latency but requires an enormous amount of bandwidth. The introduction of newer interface standards such as HDMI and DisplayPort have in turn allowed manufacturers to meet those bandwidth requirements so far.
PC and mobile device manufacturers are concerned about their ability to keep up with the bandwidth requirements of these displays, and their ability to do so at reasonable cost and resource requirements.
In order to address these concerns the PC and mobile device industries – through their respective VESA and MIPI associations – have been working together to create new technologies and standards to handle the expected bandwidth requirements.
The focus of that work has been on the VESA’s Display Stream Compression (DSC) standard
DSC is an image compression standard designed to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted.
Since DSC is meant to be used at the final transmission stage, DSC itself is designed to be “visually lossless”. That is to say that it’s intended to be very high quality and should be unnoticeable to users across wide variety of content, including photos/video, subpixel text, and potentially problematic patterns.
DSC is a fixed rate codec
VESA’s standard calls for visually lossless compression with as little as 8 bits/pixel, which would represent a 66% bandwidth savings over today’s uncompressed 24 bits/pixel display streams. And while 24bit color is the most common format for consumer devices, DSC is also intended work with higher color depths, including 30bit and 36bit
On the VESA side, eDP 1.4 will be the first VESA standard to include it, while we also expect DSC’s inclusion in the forthcoming DisplayPort 1.3. MIPI in turn will be including DSC in their Display Serial Interface (DSI) 1.2 specification for mobile devices.
The VESA is primarily concerned with driving ultra high resolutions such as 8K@60Hz, which would require over 50Gbps of uncompressed video
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Challenges Chip Away at Cable’s Pillar of Profit
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/28/business/media/new-challenges-chip-away-at-cables-pillar-of-profit.html?_r=0
For decades, cable television has been an almost magical source of profits, in large part because of the bundle, the packaging of channels that compels subscribers to buy a lot of programming they never watch.
Last week, that bundle seemed to be fraying on all fronts.
it’s worth remembering that the bundle has been a robust generator of profits in all manner of industries. Every time you order a value meal at McDonald’s, you are ordering a bundle. You, um, benefit by getting a lot of food — a container of French fries the size of your head — and McDonald’s benefits by selling you more than you really wanted.
The cable industry books that inefficiency as profit. It is the lucrative lifeblood of the current entertainment business. Last year, media analysts at Needham & Company estimated that $70 billion — half the total revenue in the television universe — would “evaporate” in an unbundled world, and that all but 20 channels would disappear.
Ms. Martin said that television viewing continued to rise no matter how many screens vied for attention, and cable channels were moving quickly to stay relevant in a smaller-screen environment.
“With the advent of TV Everywhere, we think the TV bundle has never been stronger,”
I’m looking forward to the day when I can buy only what I want to watch, or eat, without economic penalty.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft goes Hollywood as it unveils Xbox Originals television programs for Xbox Live
http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/28/microsoft-goes-hollywood-as-it-unveils-xbox-originals-television-programs-for-xbox-live/
After a lot of anticipation and some major investments in Hollywood, Microsoft is unveiling its original television shows, dubbed Xbox Originals, for its Xbox Live online entertainment network. And yes, there’s going to be a Halo TV show as well as a Halo “digital feature.”
Much like original TV shows from Netflix and Amazon, Microsoft is expanding beyond its core business into television entertainment in an effort to offer exclusive content for its 48 million Xbox Live members in 41 countries. Xbox Originals could make Microsoft into a Hollywood player or send it down in flames.
There’s plenty of competition in TV.
“We’re a bit wary to talk about interactivity because it is experimental,” Levin said. “It’s a buzz word. Everyone talks about extended platforms. But we definitely recognize that this is an interactive platform.”
“We’ll be able to do some things only on Xbox One just because the architecture of 360 has its limitations,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
“In a bid to win regulatory approval for its proposed $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable, Comcast has offered to sell 1.4 million pay TV subscribers to Charter Communications for $7.3 billion.”
Source: http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/04/28/1331221/comcast-offers-to-shed-39-million-subscribers-to-ease-cable-deal
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung’s Galaxy K Zoom smartphone packs a 20 megapixel camera and 10x zoom lens
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2014/04/29/samsungs-galaxy-k-zoom-smartphone-packs-a-20-megapixel-camera-and-10x-zoom-lens/
Samsung made the leap into high-end camera smartphones when it launched the Galaxy S4 Zoom last year, and now it is adding to that range after it announced the Galaxy K Zoom, a smartphone that sports a 10x optical zoom and 20.7 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor.
Aside from the two aforementioned headline features, the handset includes an Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) that helps with low-light conditions and stabilizing scenes with movement, and a Xenon Flash which Samsung says provides a more natural light for shooting imagery than an LED alternative.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yahoo to Stream a Daily Concert From Live Nation
Ad-Supported Web Channel Is Part of Plan to Compete With YouTube
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304163604579530151980994582-lMyQjAxMTA0MDIwMzEyNDMyWj
Tomi Engdahl says:
At Newfronts, Times pitches its video strategy refresh to buyers
Tweet Share on Facebook Share on Tumblr Print
By Joe Pompeo 1:02 p.m. | Apr. 28, 2014
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/04/8544363/newfronts-emtimesem-pitches-its-video-strategy-refresh-buyers
The New York Times has significantly increased its video inventory and distribution channels
Times is now producing more than 430 videos a month. That’s up from around 300 at the beginning of this year and roughly 250 a year before that
Additionally, the Times has forged relationships with six major video distributors, the latest of which, Vimeo, was announced today.
“I think we can now officially say the Times has truly moved beyond words,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix pays Verizon for network connection to speed up video
Netflix confirms deal that’s similar to agreement with Comcast.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/netflix-and-verizon-reach-interconnection-deal-to-speed-up-video/
Netflix today confirmed that it reached an interconnection agreement with Verizon, similar to the one it recently struck with Comcast.
“We have reached an interconnect arrangement with Verizon that we hope will improve performance for our joint customers over the coming months,” Netflix spokesperson Joris Evers told Ars. “It is a paid interconnect agreement.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Diller: 50/50 Odds On Aereo Win
Says IAC Investment Financially Meaningless; Decision Could Have Profound Tech Effect – See more at: http://www.multichannel.com/news/ott/diller-5050-odds-aereo-win/374159#sthash.Z4ZS32pI.dpuf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung’s Galaxy K zoom is a high-end smartphone and an incredible selfie machine
Selfie Alarm is the camera mode you’ve been waiting for
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/28/5661766/samsungs-galaxy-k-zoom-is-a-high-end-smartphone-and-an-incredible
“This is a phone. With cool camera stuff.”
latest attempt to figure out how to fully marry an excellent smartphone with an excellent camera. It’s a technological achievement, with a retractable 10x zoom lens and 20.7-megapixel sensor crammed into the body of a smartphone. A thick, heavy smartphone more than twice as thick (20.2mm) as the new Galaxy S5, but a smartphone nonetheless.
Of course, it’s mostly just a camera that connects to the internet. A good one, at that: its 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor is commonly found in mid-range point-and-shoots, and along with the 24-240mm lens that gets as bright as f/3.1, it appeared to take good, sharp photos even in poorly-lit spots. The K zoom also shoots 1080p video up to 60 frames per second, and offers a nifty slow-motion video mode as well.
you turn on Selfie Alarm, then set the spot in the frame for want your face. Then turn the phone around and point the rear camera at your face — when you’re in the frame, the K zoom beeps and then takes three pictures so you can select your favorite later
The K zoom won’t be available in the US at launch, if ever. It appears to still be more a tech demo than a viable flagship smartphone
Tomi Engdahl says:
Using the Raspberry Pi To See Like A Bee
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/01/using-the-raspberry-pi-to-see-like-a-bee/
The Raspberry Pi board camera has a twin brother known as the NoIR camera, a camera without an infrared blocking filter that allows anyone to take some shots of scenes illuminated with ‘invisible’ IR light, investigate the health of plants, and some other cool stuff. The sensor in this camera isn’t just sensitive to IR light – it goes the other way as well, allowing some investigations into the UV spectrum, and showing us what bees and other insects see.
Raspberry Pi NoIR camera module is suitable for IR – but is it for U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gsajzhIPF8
The Pi NoIR camera module can be used with IR light sources for many applications, including security purposes and animal camera traps. But I wanted to know, if it would be suitable for UV photography (mainly used in foreniscs and flower photography). So I took a Baader-U-filter, which blocks visible light, and an deep-UV light source (365 nm, Labino UV torch UVG3 Midlight) to check this.
Additionally, I made a RGB picture to simulate bee view. Bees do not see red, but they see UV.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jeffrey Katzenberg Predicts 3-Week Theatrical Window in Future
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/jeffrey-katzenberg-predicts-3-week-theatrical-window-in-future-1201166052/
DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg thinks the windowing model of feature films will become a “pay by the inch you watch.” During the Entrepreneurial Leadership in the Corporate World panel at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills, Katzenberg explained what he thinks is the future of scheduling and distributing feature films.
“I think the model will change and you won’t pay for the window of availability. A movie will come out and you will have 17 days, that’s exactly three weekends, which is 95% of the revenue for 98% of movies. On the 18th day, these movies will be available everywhere ubiquitously and you will pay for the size. A movie screen will be $15. A 75” TV will be $4.00. A smartphone will be $1.99. That enterprise that will exist throughout the world, when that happens, and it will happen, it will reinvent the enterprise of movies,” he told the crowd.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Katzenberg Predicts Home Movie Viewers Will Pay by Size of Screen
http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/04/28/dreamworks-katzenberg-screen-size/
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg offered his vision Monday of what moviegoing will look like in 10 years
“You won’t pay for the window of availability, you will pay by the inch you watch,” he said.
A movie ticket might cost $15, a big-screen TV option might cost $4.99, and a smartphone viewing experience would be cheaper, at maybe $1.99, he said.
Movies have never been more popular, said Mr. Katzenberg, but the industry “needs to break out” of the current system of release “windows” that dictate how long a movie can play in theaters before becoming available through distribution options like home video or video-on-demand services.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony has said it plans 25 billion yen , or about EUR 175 million write-down to do with the production of disks. n practice, this means that Sony do not like CD, DVD , and Blu -ray discs are no longer as valuable as the business than in the past. The write-down was told the disc faster than expected sales decline. Apparently Blu-ray penetration has been weaker than expected.
The reasons for the sales slowdown in the disc are well known: Music will no longer listened on CDs, and movies are not watched a DVD or Blu- ray Discs.
Advanced digital distribution channels allow the content to watch or listen to almost any device connected to a network.
Source: http://fin.afterdawn.com/uutiset/artikkeli.cfm/2014/05/02/onko_blu-ray_kuolemassa_sony_arvioi_levybisneksen_arvoa_uudelleen
Tomi Engdahl says:
VHS-Era Privacy Law Still Causing Headaches For Streaming Video
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/05/03/1323217/vhs-era-privacy-law-still-causing-headaches-for-streaming-video
“The Video Privacy Protection Act, a 1988 law that made it illegal for a video store to share your rental history, has thrown up roadblocks for modern-day streaming video sites.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
1988 Video Privacy Protection Act rises up and bites Hulu
http://www.itworld.com/personal-tech/417110/1988-video-privacy-protection-act-rises-and-bites-hulu
Way back in 2012 I wrote a post about why (at the time) you couldn’t link your Netflix account to your Facebook account if you were in the US. It was due to a 1988 law, the Video Privacy Protection Act [VPPA], which prevented a company from sharing your video rental history.
As originally written, a company such as Netflix couldn’t even share your rental history with your approval.
Now the VPPA is back and this time Hulu is in the line of fire.
Seems odd doesn’t it? If you click a Like button it seems to me you’re opting-in to share your info, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler disagrees with me.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comcast and EA said to be planning streaming games service
So, the carrier that didn’t have enough bandwidth for Netflix wants to stream FIFA?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/03/comcast_and_ea_said_to_be_planning_games_service/
US cable giant Comcast is reportedly in talks with Electronic Arts about a streaming games platform.
Reuters cited multiple sources familiar with the matter when reporting that the companies would collaborate to port EA games for the Comcast X1 cable box platform.
According to the report, X1 subscribers would be able to get EA titles streaming directly to their set-top boxes without the need for additional games consoles or subscriptions to other services.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can You Tell the Difference? 4K Galaxy Note 3 vs. Canon 5D Mark III Video
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/05/04/0023217/can-you-tell-the-difference-4k-galaxy-note-3-vs-canon-5d-mark-iii-video
” the new Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Note 3 both have 4K video recording capabilities and decided to compare those to his 1080p 5D MKIII pro DSLR camera – the results are extremely interesting”
May 03
4K Galaxy NOTE 3 V.S. Canon 5D Mark III – Video Comparison
http://lensvid.com/gear/4k-galaxy-note-3-v-s-5d-mark-iii-video-comparison/
What is better – an almost $4000 pro camera (and lens) or a $550 Samsung Galaxy Note III smartphone – when it comes to shooting high res video?
The almost obvious answer would be the Canon – well, after watching this video we are not 100% sure any more.
Do keep in mind that even if you buy a 4K camera now – editing your material is still a serious pain. You will need a very (very) powerful computer to do this (our 4 core computer takes its time encoding 1080p so we don’t even want to think what will happen with 4K video). And most people don’t have screens that support 4K playback so its more of an investment into the future
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why cinema could influence online video journalism
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/why-cinema-could-influence-online-video-journalism/s2/a556610/
Filmmakers and journalists should collaborate more in the same way as coders and journalists, David Dunkley Guimah told delegates at the International Journalism Festival
Tomi Engdahl says:
Web Video Deals Target Teens
Media Companies Circle Startups That Have Struggled to Make Profits
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303948104579538193971682048
Media companies on the hunt for elusive teen viewers are circling startups that produce popular videos for YouTube but have struggled to make profits.
Walt Disney Co. DIS +0.94% ‘s March acquisition of Maker Studios for $500 million sparked a wave of merger talks between deep-pocketed acquirers and young content producers.
AOL Inc. AOL -0.64% and Yahoo Inc. YHOO +0.99% are among several companies that have discussed a potential acquisition of Fullscreen Inc., a producer of popular YouTube videos, said four people familiar with the discussions.
Vevo, a joint venture of Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment that owns the rights to stream music videos on ad-supported services like Google Inc. GOOGL -0.87% ‘s YouTube, also is exploring a sale.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Great Unwatched
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/business/the-great-unwatched.html?_r=0
Some of the biggest names in Internet media have been gathering in New York City at the third annual Digital Content NewFronts, a pitch-a-thon where companies like Yahoo, AOL and Crackle — and, yes, The New York Times — trumpet their digital platforms to brands eager to reach consumers via online video ads.
According to the standard spiel, ads in this medium are alluring because they can be aimed at specific audiences. They can roll in front of content that people want to see. They exist in the digital space where coveted demographic groups are spending more time.
It’s an enticing portrait, but one that glosses over an essential question: Is anybody watching?
By many estimates, more than half of online video ads are not seen, either because they are buried low on web pages or run in tiny, easily ignored video players on those pages, or run simultaneously with other ads. Vindico, an ad management platform company, deemed 57 percent of two billion video ads surveyed over two months to be “unviewable.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
You can finally watch a live video feed of Earth from space, and it’s awesome
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/181740-you-can-finally-watch-a-live-video-feed-of-earth-from-space-and-its-awesome
After being continuously inhabited for more than 13 years, it is finally possible to log into Ustream and watch the Earth spinning on its axis in glorious HD.
This rather awesome real-time video stream (which also includes the ISS-to-mission control audio feed) comes by way of the High Definition Earth Viewing experiment. HDEV is notable because it consists of four, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) high-definition video cameras that are each enclosed in a pressurized box, but otherwise they exposed to the rigors of space (most notably cosmic radiation). The purpose of HDEV, beyond providing us with a live stream of our own frickin’ planet, is to see if commercial cameras are viable for future space missions, potentially saving a lot of money (space cameras have historically been expensive, custom-designed things).
HDEV, which consists of just a single enclosure, was delivered to the ISS a couple of weeks ago by SpaceX CRS-3.
The active video camera is connected to the ISS Columbus module via an Ethernet link, and then beamed down to the ground. From there, it looks like the video feed is combined with the current ISS-to-mission control audio feed, and then simply uploaded to Ustream. It’s an impressively simple (and cheap) setup.
Tomi Engdahl says:
As Netflix Resists, Most Firms Just Try to Befriend Comcast
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/02/business/media/as-netflix-resists-most-firms-just-try-to-befriend-comcast.html
In the middle of an otherwise routine earnings report last week, Netflix took an unexpected detour into the realm of antitrust enforcement: It opposed Comcast’s proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable, it said, because the deal would create a powerful giant with “anticompetitive leverage.”
The statement certainly grabbed the attention of the entertainment and communications industries. What it did not do was rally many others to the fight. Netflix stormed the hill, only to look back and find that almost no one was following it.
The $45 billion merger would transform Comcast into a vastly more powerful gatekeeper, giving it control of 40 percent of the country’s Internet service coverage and 19 of the country’s top 20 cable markets. As such, it could potentially disrupt the entire media and technology ecosystem.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s latest patent application: Smart headphones that recognize your voice
http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/03/apples-latest-patent-smart-headphones-that-recognize-your-voice/
A patent application from Apple, published Thursday and first pointed out by Apple Insider, describes headphones that know when the user is speaking and provide new kinds of noise suppression.
The application, # 20140093093, specifically describes a “system and method for detecting a user’s voice activity using an accelerometer.”
Voice is detected through a microphone array via earbuds and the headset wire, and by an accelerometer, or “inertial sensor,” also in the earbud.
The accelerometer, placed in the ear canal, can act as a microphone by detecting vibration of the user’s vocal chords through “vibrations in bones and tissue of the user’s head,” which the patent describes as “unvoiced speech.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony Warns Demand For Blu-Ray Diminishing Faster Than Expected
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/05/05/2258254/sony-warns-demand-for-blu-ray-diminishing-faster-than-expected
“Sony has warned investors that it expects to take a hit on expected earnings (PDF), due in part to the fact that demand for Blu-ray Disc media is contracting faster than anticipated. In two weeks, Sony will announce its financial results.”
“Generator Research showed revenue from DVD and Blu-ray sales will likely decrease by 38% over the next four years. By comparison, online movie revenue is expected to grow 260% from $3.5 billion this year to $12.7 billion in 2018, the report states.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
4K OLED: the last status symbol before TV obsolescence?
http://www.electronics-eetimes.com/en/4k-oled-the-last-status-symbol-before-tv-obsolescence-63.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222920758
Ultra High Definition also known as 4K (boasting 3840×2160pixels at either 60 or 120 frames per second) was in pretty much every announcement at the NAB Show which took place this week in Las Vegas.
The content exists or can be digitally upgraded, the displays are ready, but are consumers ready to fork out for a 4K upgrade yet?
Even if LCD or OLED TVs grow larger, flatter and thinner, my impression is that cloud-based services and video compression will eventually kill wall-mounted TVs as a concept.
In fact, the move to 4K could be seen as a desperate attempt by the TV industry to reverse the global market trend: two consecutive years of decline since the 2011 peak of 255 million units shipped worldwide.
4K is a very important strategy for most brands, but particularly those targeting the high-end TV market
But the novelty of OLED and curved TVs will wear off too and even the higher selling prices and higher profit margins of such TVs will certainly fail to compensate for the overall market shrink.
On the bright side for high-end TV makers, China will be the new Eldorado for 4K TVs, with Chinese brands accounting for 84 percent of global 4K TV shipments which totalled 1.6 million units in 2013 according to NPD DisplaySearch. Pricing war is then likely to reduce the high-margin benefit of making such large display units.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung ‘Smart’ Camera Easily Hackable:
“The op-co.de blog has a post about the incredibly poor job Samsung did securing its new NX300 ‘smart camera.’”
Hacking the Samsung NX300 ‘Smart’ Camera
http://op-co.de/blog/posts/hacking_the_nx300/
The Samsung NX300 smart camera is a middle-class mirrorless camera with NFC and WiFi connectivity. You can connect it with your local WiFi network to upload directly to cloud services, share pictures via DLNA or obtain remote access from your smartphone.
the camera provides the Remote Viewfinder and MobileLink modes where it creates an unencrypted access point with wide-open access
Because hardware engineers suck at software security, nothing else was to be expected.
Tomi Engdahl says:
On average, Americans get 189 cable TV channels and only watch 17
A new Nielsen report raises questions about the channel-bundling system.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/05/on-average-americans-get-189-cable-tv-channels-and-only-watch-17/
In a blog post on Tuesday, Nielsen reported that on average, US homes receive 189.1 TV channels, but viewers only watch 17.5 of those channels.
Nielsen’s blog post today showed that the number of cable channels in an average US household has grown dramatically over the last five years, but the number of channels that viewers actually watch has hardly changed at all. In 2008, US households received an average of 129.3 channels but only actually viewed 17.3 channels. In 2013, the number of channels received increased 46 percent, but the number of channels viewed only increased 1 percent.
The data, Nielsen says, “substantiates the notion that more content does not necessarily equate to more channel consumption. And that means quality is imperative—for both content creators and advertisers.”
Cord-cutters have long called for the unbundling of channels from cable subscriptions
Cable companies counter that the price of cable TV wouldn’t change much if channels were served à la carte because content providers won’t sell the most popular programs to cable companies unless the provider’s other channels are also served up
Tomi Engdahl says:
London police to use wearable video cameras in public interactions
Manufacturer says cameras are a “game changer,” cops not so excited.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/london-police-to-use-wearable-video-cameras-in-public-interactions/
The London Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is set to launch a one-year pilot project that equips cops with body-worn video cameras to be used during their interactions with the public. The pilot will include a total of 500 cameras distributed across ten city boroughs.
The MPS chose to purchase 500 Axon body-worn cameras alongside a backend management system from Taser International, a manufacturer of law enforcement products and electrical weapons. The body-worn cameras in question are small, battery-operated devices that can attach to sunglasses, a shirt collar, a cap, or a head mount and can record wide-angle, full-color views of the officer’s visual field, according to a press release. A red “flash” appears on such devices to indicate when the camera is activated.
Privacy advocates like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have argued that the efficacy of police body-mounted cameras as a crime reduction and accountability tool hinges on enforcement of good policies and procedures—including something as basic as preventing officers from being able to deactivate the cameras at their own discretion.