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:
The Piracy ‘Problem’ With Periscope Really Isn’t One
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/periscope-piracy/
Piracy is a serious issue. Live-streaming apps like Periscope and Meerkat have plenty of sticky societal implications. These are two indisputable facts! Let’s not make the mistake, though, of assuming that they overlap.
This week, HBO confirmed that it sent takedown notices to Periscope, the Twitter-owned emporium of bored iPhone owners showing off their cats in real time. At issue were several streams of the network’s Game of Thrones season five premiere that had found their way onto the service, thanks to a handful of unscrupulous users.
No matter how big a Periscope pirate’s TV is, it’s going to look mighty small on your smartphone’s display. Streaming quality has come a long way over the years, but trusting both your connection and a Periscoper’s to hold up for a full hour is a fool’s game. And unless you’re dealing with someone who has either a smartphone tripod or wrist supports, you’re going to be shaking all the way from King’s Landing to Winterfell.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple buys LinX and its thin, multi-sensor camera tech
http://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-buys-linx-for-its-camera-sensor-tech/
Summary:Apple reportedly bought its second camera sensor company in as many years, bolstering the camera potential for future iPhones.
Cameras in future iPhones could bring DSLR-like features and the ability to capture depth information thanks to new sensors from a company called LinX. Apple reportedly bought LinX on Tuesday for an estimated $20 million according to the Wall Street Journal.
Israel-based LinX specializes in camera sensors that are thinner than competing products but that’s not all it offers.
LinX also creates sensors with multiple lenses to help capture several images at the same time. The pictures can then be blended together into a single image, allowing for changing the image focus afterwards. The different sensors can also record data on the distance between the photographer and various subjects in the picture. Using these sensor arrays, a 3-D image is also possible.
For years, Apple has relied on Sony camera sensors inside its iPhone products. It could continue to do so, however, this is the second imaging company Apple has purchased since 2013. Two years ago, Apple bought PrimeSense for a reported $360 million; that company created the 3-D image technology used in Microsoft’s Kinect product.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Virtual-Reality Projects Get Hollywood Treatment
Directors like Steven Spielberg are creating content for immersive offerings ahead of consumer headset push
http://www.wsj.com/article_email/hollywood-plays-to-virtual-reality-1429125999-lMyQjAxMTI1NDE3NTYxMzUyWj
LOS ANGELES—Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott have already sold millions of movie tickets. But can they move headsets?
With several virtual-reality companies expected to release consumer headsets this Christmas, Hollywood is developing projects to make sure new buyers have something to actually experience with them.
“The gauntlet has been thrown,” said Chris Edwards, chief executive of Virtual Reality Co., a Los Angeles firm that for the past year has been quietly working on several immersive entertainment offerings.
Analysts say to expect an app store for virtual-reality experiences accessed through the headsets, which can come cheaply and attach to smartphones or run several hundred dollars.
VRC was started by four Hollywood player
The format, which involves stereoscopic headset displays that respond to a wearer’s 360-degree movement, has intrigued producers in Hollywood worried about missing the next big thing. But a breakthrough title has yet to emerge.
VRC’s projects show the various genres and industries toying with the new technology, but also the economic and consumer-behavior limitations the nascent format still faces.
VRC is currently raising nearly $23 million in early funding, and is teaming up with executives in music and museums on virtual-reality applications that include outfitting a venue in Los Angeles where live performances could be recorded for headset viewing.
Virtual reality is seen by some as potentially replacing communal activities, such as concert or moviegoing, with a secluded experience. “The fear is that this is going to be so compelling, that you’ll want to be antisocial,” said VRC’s Mr. Edwards.
But the ghost of 3-D hangs over the entire endeavor. That format made a return to theaters on the success of 2009’s “Avatar,” but a rush toward the concept—and the higher ticket prices it brought with it—led to oversaturation and subpar quality. The share of opening-weekend tickets sold in 3-D quickly fell, from about two-thirds in 2010 to often less than one-third last year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
DTS announces DTS:X – sparks object-based audio war with Dolby
New multi-channel sound technology loves the speakers you already have
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/16/breking_fad_dts_x_object_based_audio/
In a move that could have far-reaching implications for home audio, multi-channel goliath DTS has announced an object-based sound system to rival Dolby Atmos (and the largely ignored Auro-3D). Dubbed DTS:X, the technology is somewhat different in that there’s no prescribed number of audio channels or speaker configuration to accommodate, and it offers content makers some cool new functionality.
DTS:X doesn’t just turn individual elements (a gunshot or explosion, for example), into an individual element, it can also treat the entire dialogue track as a single object, if the content creator wants to. Consequently, with DTS:X you could boost the dialogue level of a movie to suit specific listening conditions. This is apparently a much asked-for feature by users of surround systems.
The DTS:X renderer will simply remap a soundtrack to whatever layout is in use, within a hemispherical layout. If you’ve just installed a Dolby Atmos home cinema system, then happy days. Your DTS:X hardware will adapt to it. If your layout is a little less symmetrical, or indeed is a standard five or seven channel horizontal home cinema configuration, then it’ll accommodate that as well.
Metadata in the DTS:X bitstream will point sonic objects to whatever loudspeaker configuration the render’s been told you have.
DTS:X is built atop MDA (Multi Dimensional Audio), an open platform for object-based audio that DTS has made available to content makers license fee-free. Not uncoincidentally, MDA plays nice with DTS:X. It’s an ecosystem. Creatives like that sort of thing.
DTS will partner with GDC Technology, maker of digital cinema servers, pro-audio system provider QSC, and USL, manufacturer of motion picture audio equipment and sound processors, to engineer its big-screen return. GDC will act as worldwide DTS:X certification agent, making MDA firmware updates available to theatre owners, said to cover an installed server base of more than 40,000 screens.
DTS:X installation and certification for some 350 screens throughout Asia begins in May. Carmike Cinemas, one of the largest exhibitors in the US, has already announced a DTS:X upgrade for theatres this summer. At present there’s no word of any commercial DTS:X installations for Europe
Home hardware is going to be more widely accessible. AV receiver makers can hardly believe their luck.
Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, Integra, Yamaha and Pioneer are all prepping compatible new kit.
Denon and Marantz will offer firmware upgrades for their AVR-X7200W and AV8802 models this summer
As with Atmos, DTS:X is backwards compatible with previous codecs. The DTS:X soundtrack comprises the DTS Core element, plus DTS-HD MA and DTS:X residuals, the latter containing all object metadata. Stereo, 5.1 or 7.1 content can be remapped using a proprietary Neural:X spatial reformatting engine.
Rather predictably, there’s no talk yet of DTS:X software
DTS:X also wants to be part of the high-res audio revolution, supporting lossless encoding in its highest-fidelity mode.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Teardown: Chromecast streams must have gotten crossed
http://www.edn.com/design/consumer/4439195/Teardown–Chromecast-streams-must-have-gotten-crossed?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20150416&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20150416&elq=baa986391459406f89da378a9e63d81e&elqCampaignId=22580&elqaid=25391&elqat=1&elqTrackId=3de66757e199409c8a8070a2da7a9178
I’m not lucky enough to own a set of iFixit’s fancy dissection tools, but a thin flat head screwdriver applied to the gap between the case and the HDMI connector and twisted did the trick:
The paste-obscured chip in the center of the PCB is a Marvell DE3005-A1 SoC, which the company also refers to as the ARMADA 1500-mini. To its right is the equally paste-masked AzureWave AW-NH387, an IC that handles 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM receiver functions (the latter feature isn’t harnessed by Chromecast). And speaking of wireless, in the bottom right corner you can see the PCB-etched antenna.
Flip the PCB over, remove the other Faraday shield, and you can scan the Chromecast’s memories:
On the left, closest to the HDMI connector, is a Micron MT41K256M16 4 Gbit low-power DDR3 SDRAM. Its nonvolatile counterpart to the right is a Micron MT29F16G08 16 Gbit NAND flash memory.
Chromecast Teardown
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Chromecast+Teardown/16069
Tomi Engdahl says:
EyeEm Raises $18 Million in Quest to Sell Your Smartphone Photos
http://recode.net/2015/04/16/eyeem-raises-18-million-in-quest-to-sell-your-smartphone-photos/
EyeEm, a photo-sharing social network akin to Instagram, has raised $18 million in new venture funding, according to CEO Flo Meissner.
On the surface, EyeEm works a lot like Instagram. Users can take photos through the app, add filters and edit those photos, and then share them with their followers.
One major difference, though, is that while virtually anything goes on Instagram — your selfies are safe here — EyeEm labels itself as a network for professional photographers. In other words, a network for people looking to get paid for the photos they take.
EyeEm does this in a number of ways.
“Our next big step is understanding and really thinking about how we can attract people to acquire the images and make money for our photographers,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Off-the-Shelf Video Stabilisation Technology
http://www.eeweb.com/news/off-the-shelf-video-stabilisation-technology
RFEL introduced a new, off-the-shelf solution for real-time, HD video stabilisation. StableEyesHD™ uses RFEL’s multi-award winning, HALO™ video processing technology to remove unwanted camera shake and picture rotation to increase the effectiveness of surveillance, security or situational awareness systems. It is ideal for any surveillance application that is subject to camera or sensor platform movement and will be launched with live demonstrations at Counter Terror Expo 2015 on RFEL’s booth number M70.
Versions of StableEyesHD™ are available for most common video standards and it is simply installed by plugging it into the existing video cable connections. The simplicity of in-line installation means that it provides an easy way to upgrade existing installations and can just as easily be removed should a downgrade be required.
StableEyesHD automatically senses and corrects horizontal, vertical and rotational scene movement, which is irrelevant and tiring for the operator to watch, leaving only the local movement that is of interest making it much easier to notice and respond to.
Versions are now available to stabilise the following video formats – HD-SDI, Cameralink Base and GigE-Vision, priced from less than £4000.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vinyl is not dead: Britain’s own hit list for vinyl
UK vinyl record sales nearing 20-year high official lists of the author (Official Chart Company) launched its own top-lists for vinyl LPs. The list applies to the lp discs and singles.
Of vinyl sales have increased by nearly 70% this year alone, and during the year-end sales may reach two million units. Last year’s 1.29 million sold records is also more than the British pop success in 1996, when sales were 1.08 million vinyl.
Source: http://www.hifimaailma.fi/uutiset/iso-britanniassa-oma-hittilista-vinyylilevyille/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Microsoft launches Office 365 Video for secure enterprise sharing and streaming, debuts new iPhone app
http://venturebeat.com/2015/04/16/microsoft-launches-office-365-video-for-secure-enterprise-sharing-and-streaming-debuts-new-iphone-app/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vessel raises $57.5m funding to expand its ‘first window’ for YouTube creators
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/17/vessel-funding-first-window-youtube-creators
Silicon Valley heavyweight IVP joins US startup’s investors, and predicts it could be as successful as Netflix and Twitter
Vessel launched its iOS app and website in January as a public beta, offering a range of channels from vloggers, musicians, comedians and other media brands, whose videos are exclusive to the service for at least 72 hours before being published elsewhere – “the first window for the web” as the company describes it.
The company is planning to charge a monthly $2.99 subscription for the exclusive videos, although it also has partnerships with companies like music videos service Vevo to offer their videos non-exclusively in its free tier.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Maddie Stone / Gizmodo:
Norway Will Be the First Country to Turn Off FM Radio in 2017
http://gizmodo.com/norway-will-be-the-first-country-to-turn-off-fm-radio-i-1698797593
Norway’s Minister of Culture announced this week that a national FM-radio switch off will commence in 2017, allowing the country to complete its transition over to digital radio. It’s the end of an era.
As Radio.no notes, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) will provide Norwegian listeners more diverse radio channel content than ever before. Indeed, DAB already hosts 22 national channels in Norway, as opposed to FM radio’s five, and a TNS Gallup survey shows that 56% of Norwegian listeners use digital radio every day. While Norway is the first country in the world to set a date for an FM switch-off, other countries in Europe and Southeast Asia are also in the process of transitioning to DAB.
Frequency modulation, or FM, radio was patented in 1933 and has been recording and sharing the human story for nearly a century. But its days are clearly waning. According to a 2012 Pew Study, while over 90% of Americans still listen to AM/FM radio at least weekly, more people are choosing to forgo analog radio for Internet-only services each year. It seems like it’s only a matter of time before many countries follow Norway’s example
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony’s Ultra HD 4K TVs that are thinner than an iPhone 6 will arrive this summer
http://mashable.com/2015/04/19/sony-ultra-hd-4k-tv/
Apple isn’t the only company obsessed with making its electronics thinner and lighter. Sony’s super-thin Ultra HD 4K TVs (UHD TV), which measure 0.2-inches thin at their thinnest point — slimmer than an iPhone 6 — will be available this summer.
There will be two models of the svelte UHD TVs: the X900C, which clocks in at 55 inches and 65 inches, and the X910C at 75 inches.
Designed to vanish while you’re watching them, the X900C and X910C have screens that are virtually bezel-less, and run almost edge-to-edge
While the top half of the television is razor thin, the bottom half is noticeably thicker (the components, as well as HDMI and USB ports, have to go somewhere).
As far as picture quality goes, the 3,840 x 2,160 resolution is stunning.
If you own a smart TV, you’re probably aware of how crappy its smart interface is.
In addition, Sony’s not taking any risks this year. The X900C and X910C come with Google’s Android TV (the same interface on Google’s Nexus Player set-top box); that means full access to Google Play, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon Instant Video and more.
The UHD TVs also support Google Cast, which lets you beam content from smartphones, tablets and computers quickly and easily. And there’s a voice-search function in the new One-Flick remote.
How much will these UHD TVs cost you? Sony’s still not saying
High Dynamic Range 4K TVs
Impressive as the X900C and X910C are, they’re not the crème de la crème of Sony’s 2015 UHD lineup. The X930C (65-inch) and X940C (75-inch) claim that honor, thanks to their ability to display High Dynamic Range (HDR) content.
HDR video allows for a wider range of brightness levels without loss in details. Usually, when you boost a screen’s brightness, details get washed out. With new HDR-enabled content rolling out from content providers such as Amazon and Netflix, you’ll be able to see more details in scenes that would normally be blown out.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digital killed the radio star: Norway names FM switchoff date
Analogue’s reign dear, digital fjorges ahead
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/20/norway_consigning_fm_radio_to_memory_in_2017/
Norway is claiming a world first: having successfully implemented digital radio, the country has announced the dates for a progressive FM radio shutdown.
The end will come during 2017, says the country’s Ministry of Culture, which has announced that the conditions it set down in 2011 have been met.
Instead of the five national FM stations that operate in Norway, there are now 22 digital radio stations in the country, with capacity for another 20.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony’s New High-End TVs Turn Everything Into HDR
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/sonys-new-high-end-tvs-turn-everything-hdr/
The highest-end 4K TV in Sony’s lineup is a 75-inch full-array panel with local dimming that boosts dynamic range for non-HDR video, too. It also has powerful speakers… and an $8,000 price tag
The specs and specialties at the center of this year’s TV turf war are coming into crystal-clear focus. All the major manufacturers are pushing 4K front and center, but each of them is staking claim to their own little slice of the Ultra HD pie.
Samsung is hanging its hat on its own quantum-dot-like color technology. LG is cranking out OLEDs, and it’s also taking on quantum dot with its “ColorPrime” tech. Vizio continues to blast out affordable 4K sets with full-array local dimming. Now Sony is ready to hit stores with its early-2015 sets, and the company is focusing on razor-thin panels and HDR features.
Sony’s new flagship is the 75-inch XBR-75X940C, an $8,000 set that’s the only model kitted out with the company’s highest-end “X-Tended Dynamic Range PRO” contrast-enhancing feature. It’s a full-array 4K panel with local dimming, and Sony claims the extra contrast boost of the Dynamic Range PRO technology makes the LCD panel produce deeper, plasma-like blacks in addition to brighter bright areas. The company is claiming three times the brightness range—the delta between the darkest parts of a scene and the brightest—compared to your run-of-the-mill LED-backlit LCD set.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HBO Targets Torrent Users Over Game of Thrones Leak
By Ernesto on April 19, 2015
http://torrentfreak.com/hbo-targets-torrent-users-over-game-of-thrones-leak-150419/
HBO has sent thousands of warnings to Internet subscribers whose connections were used to share leaked Game of Thrones episodes. While there are no legal strings attached for the affected subscribers, HBO hopes that some will think twice before downloading future episodes.
Last week’s pre-release leak of four Game of Thrones episodes is one of the most prominent piracy cases in TV history.
The first copies, leaked from a review screener, quickly spread across public torrent sites and were downloaded millions of times.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Now TV and BT Sport viewers scuppered by Google’s Silverlight snub
Broadcasters advise to ‘ditch Chrome’ in favour of Firefox
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2383624/google-will-kill-microsoft-silverlight-in-chrome-by-disabling-npapi-plug-in
STREAMING SERVICES including BT Sport and Now TV have gone to borksville as Google presses ahead with plans to kill off support for Microsoft Silverlight in its Chrome browser.
The Microsoft runtime depends on an ageing plug-in protocol called Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI), which Google is currently phasing out support for in its browser.
However, Silverlight remains popular with broadcasters due to its level of encryption, and although the news has been around since November, many are sticking to their guns instead of migrating to HTML5.
“With each step in this transition, we get closer to a safer, more mobile-friendly web,” said Justin Schuh, software engineer and plug-in retirement planner at Google.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Video infrastructure market forecast to grow 37% over next 5 years
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/04/abi-video-market.html
Video infrastructure markets, including broadcast pre- and post-production, video encoding, and VOD and CDN hardware, will continue to grow at a relatively healthy pace of 37% over the next 5 years, despite the impact of virtualization separating hardware and software requirements, according to new data from ABI Research.
“Broadcasters and operators virtualizing their workflow are likely to buy classic IT servers, while continuing to rely on video specialists for their application and software requirements,” says ABI Research Practice Director Sam Rosen.
“The encoder and transcoder market represents the brightest spot in the video industry. Growth in this sub-market is at 9% annually, compared to 6% in the broadcast pre- and post-production market, and between 4% to 5% in the satellite and VOD / CDN markets,” adds ABI Research Analyst Eric Abbruzzese.
Abbruzzese continued, “Both traditional drivers—including increased channel counts in many markets together with encoding density to mitigate spectrum considerations—as well as new applications, including multiscreen currently and truly mobile video services in the next 3 to 5 years, also contribute.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable Cameras Next Boom Market for Image Sensors
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326393&
Annual shipments of wearable cameras will surpass 30 million units by 2020 according to market research firm Tractica.
GoPro rugged and waterproof cameras for sports applications are leading the field at present but more general consumer, enterprise and public safety applications are not far behind and will drive strong growth in the second half of this decade, Tractica claims.
Wearable cameras are a logical extension of the smartphone camera, enabling hands-free functionality that allows users to capture both planned and spontaneous moments by using body or head mounts or by clipping the camera to clothing.
The market for wearable cameras is an early stage and experiencing rapid growth as the use cases for wearable cameras expand. Tractica forecasts that wearable camera shipments will increase from 5.6 million in 2014 to 30.6 million units annually by 2020. That is equivalent to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the period of about 32 percent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
YouTube app to stop working on older Apple TVs, iOS, Google TVs, older smart TVs, and gaming consoles by late May as Google retires YouTube Data API v2
YouTube App No Longer Available on Older Apple TV, iOS Devices
http://www.macrumors.com/2015/04/20/youtube-older-apple-tv-discontinued/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tim Ingham / Music Business Worldwide:
Spotify’s ad revenue increased 53% YoY in Q1, with mobile ads growing 380%
Spotify ad revenue jumped 53% in Q1
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotify-ad-revenue-jumped-53-q1/
Spotify saw a 53% increase in ad revenue year-over-year in Q1 2015, according to internal data at the streaming platform.
The figures come from the Swedish firm’s Spotify For Brands division, which helps advertisers target specific groups of consumers.
Although Spotify hasn’t confirmed what this increase amounts to in monetary terms, the jump is an interesting new moment in the continued debate surrounding the worth to the music industry of Spotify’s ad-funded ‘freemium’ tier.
In addition, Spotify has confirmed that Q1 2015 also saw a 380% increase in mobile ad revenue compared to the same period in 2014.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Salo player manufacturer Soundion to start this summer, Nokia’s old factories of the legendary Elka Synthex synthesizer re-manufacturing. Legendary polyphonic synthesizer are used by Jean-Michel Jarre, Keith Emerson, Stevie Wonder and many many others. In 1981, launched Elka Synthex is Soundionin manufacture instruments first.
Source: http://www.hifimaailma.fi/uutiset/synteettisen-musiikin-historiaa-salosta/
Elka Synthex synthesisers by Generalmusic
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/elka-synthex-synthesisers-by-generalmusic
Tomi Engdahl says:
RIAA, back on anti-piracy warpath, sues song-linking site MP3skull
RIAA says the piracy on a suspected Russian site is “brazen and egregious.”
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/04/riaa-back-on-anti-piracy-warpath-sues-song-linking-site-mp3skull/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arstechnica%2Findex+%28Ars+Technica+-+All+content%29
There’s a new public enemy #1 for US record labels when it comes to online piracy: a website called “MP3skull.”
The MP3skull site, which was sued for copyright infringement by the major US record labels on Friday, is a no-frills listing of hit songs available for download within a few clicks. The site hosts no content, instead linking to MP3 music files that are available on other sites.
“You can find your favorite songs in our multimillion database of quality mp3 links,” the site suggests on its front page. “We provide fast and relevant search… Hope you enjoy staying here!”
The complaint describes how MP3Skull operators actively helped users download “obviously infringing files,”
“MP3Skull is a very popular rogue website devoted to encouraging and facilitating the massive, brazen and egregious theft of millions of copyrighted sound recordings,”
US record labels have taken down numerous file-sharing sites in the past via litigation, although it has often been a long battle.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HBO Cracks Down on Paying VPN “Pirates”
By Ernesto on April 20, 2015
http://torrentfreak.com/hbo-cracks-down-on-paying-vpn-pirates-150420/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Torrentfreak+%28Torrentfreak%29
HBO has started to crack down on paying customers who access the HBO Now service from outside the United States. Subscribers from countries including Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia who use VPNs and other unblocking tools are now being threatened with account terminations.
In an effort to gain more subscribers HBO launched its standalone “HBO Now” service earlier this year.
The subscription allows Americans to access HBO’s content, including Game of Thrones, without the need to have a television subscription.
With the offer HBO hopes to drive people away from pirate sites, but it also created a new form of unauthorized use. As with Netflix and Hulu, many people outside the U.S. signed up for the service through VPNs and other geo-unblocking tools.
Although they are paying customers, using HBO Now from outside the U.S. is not permitted under the company’s terms of use.
HBO is cracking down on VPN and proxy pirates to protect the value of their licensing deals. If millions of foreigners use the U.S. version, local partners in these countries are going to complain.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Iris Scanning Tech Could Identify You from 40 Feet Away
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/new-iris-scanning-tech-could-identify-you-from-40-116671805404.html
Eye-scanning technology could be the new “license and registration, please.”
Carnegie Melon’s Biometrics Center has developed technology that can identify a human from 40 feet away just by scanning the person’s irises. In a video showing off the new tech, Biometrics Center director Marios Savvides sits in the driver seat of a van while colleagues from about a car-length behind him detect his identity by simply pointing a camera at his rearview mirror. The computer system attached to the camera compares the image of Savvide’s iris against its database and correctly pulls up his name and information.
CMU’s description of the projects claims it can work up to 12 meters in distance, or about 40 feet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TV networks peck at sun-bleached skeleton of Aereo, come away with $950,000
A pittance, but it’s better nothing, right?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/22/aereo_broadcasters_settlement/
The skeletal remains of ill-fated TV streaming startup Aereo will pay out $950,000 in a copyright infringement settlement, putting to rest a lawsuit filed by US broadcasters that has already sent it into bankruptcy.
For a couple of years, Aereo operated an online video service that captured live television broadcasts, recorded them digitally, and allowed customers to stream them from the cloud. But when no less than the US Supreme Court found Aereo guilty of violating copyright law, the proverbial writing was on the wall.
The Supremes’ judgment left Aereo facing claims of around $108m in damages for copyright infringement. But on Monday, the streaming startup settled nearly $100m of those claims for just a penny on the dollar.
A group of 19 broadcasters including US TV networks ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and PBS will split up [PDF] the paltry sum of $950,000 to settle claims that collectively account for more than 90 per cent of the judgment against Aereo.
Tomi Engdahl says:
You know HOOQ? We don’t either. But it’s bringing the Asia Pacific OTT fight to Netflix
U.S. network giant hasn’t even ARRIVED yet
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/06/you_know_hooq_we_dont_either_but_its_bringing_the_asia_pacific_ott_fight_to_netflix/
Netflix is used to local spoilers blocking its international expansion as it enters new markets – in Canada it had to face off with Crave TV, in the Nordics it battled with ViaPlay and HBO Go and in the UK it came up against Sky’s Now TV. But in Asia, it faces perhaps its most formidable obstacle yet in HOOQ.
HOOQ was first announced on 30 January 2015 by Singapore-based regional telco SingTel in partnership with Sony and Warner Bros as a pre-emptive strike against Netflix before it arrives, and has just launched its inaugural service in the Philippines. India, Indonesia and Thailand are set to follow this month, ahead of SingTel’s domestic Singapore market, where it is the dominant telco.
But it will be in Australia where Netflix and HOOQ first lock horns directly. Netflix itself has earmarked 24 March as its launch date in Australia and New Zealand, while HOOQ plans to enter soon after.
HOOQ aims to optimise quality of service (QoS) by delivering just over networks owned by SingTel or its partners. This leaves Netflix with the advantage of not being tethered to any telco – and so free in principle to run over any access network, although it may initially concede something to HOOQ in quality of experience, at least until it builds out its own content delivery network (CDN) or makes suitable arrangements with third-party CDNs as well as local telcos, to ensure end-to-end QoS.
Tomi Engdahl says:
52 megapixels smartphone next year
When Nokia introduced in 2012, Pure View smart phone, with its 41 megapixel camera christened monster camera. New superlatives have to come up with next year, as the market is becoming smart phones with camera resolution reaches 52 million pixels.
Silicon Valley start-up company Light has developed a new camera technology that combines multi-camera image with a software as one of a high-quality, high-resolution digital image.
In demo Light used up to 16 camera matrix – user zoom determines which of the matrix cameras take a picture. The software generates an accurate combination picture of them all, which emulates a much larger sensor captured image.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2720:52-megapikselia-alypuhelimeen-ensi-vuonna&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
How the DMCA made YouTube
Happy birthday YouTube! The Digital Millennium Copyright Act sends its love.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/04/how-the-dmca-made-youtube/
Video-sharing site YouTube has come a long way since co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the site’s first video exactly 10 years ago tomorrow. The unremarkable-turned-remarkable clip focuses on elephants.
“The cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really long trunks. And that’s pretty much all there is to say,” says Karim.
DMCA isn’t just about cat videos
Nobody at the time the DMCA was enacted knew exactly what the Internet would become. In some sense, the law was a matter of prediction.
“Through enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have done our best to protect from digital piracy the copyright industries that comprise the leading export of the United States,” Clinton said.
One critical feature of the DMCA over time has been that it protects Internet companies from copyright liability as long as they remove or “take down” infringing user-generated content at the request of a rights holder. Companies that comply are granted “safe harbor.” The DMCA, in conjunction with other laws like the Communications Decency Act (CDA), freed up Internet companies from worrying about user-generated content—and thus gave birth to a wide swath of today’s Internet services. In fact, it’s hard to see how YouTube or the Web at large would have gotten off the ground if sites were legally responsible for all of their user-generated content.
Law & Disorder / Civilization & Discontents
How the DMCA made YouTube
Happy birthday YouTube! The Digital Millennium Copyright Act sends its love.
by David Kravets – Apr 22, 2015 7:30pm EEST
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Video-sharing site YouTube has come a long way since co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the site’s first video exactly 10 years ago tomorrow. The unremarkable-turned-remarkable clip focuses on elephants.
“The cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really long trunks. And that’s pretty much all there is to say,” says Karim.
The footage lasts 19 seconds; today, “Me at the zoo” boasts a million views for every one of those seconds. In retrospect, Karim’s throwaway video sparked a true watershed moment, the beginning of a technological and cultural phenomena that nobody could have envisioned. YouTube, which debuted publicly days after that first upload, has since evolved (or devolved) to host everything from cat videos to movies to music videos. DIY videos, news clips, and political statements are made by both professionals and amateurs alike—and all are available on a global scale. The site famously has more than a billion users and adds 300 hours of new video every minute.
But as important as Karim’s small step was, YouTube, its competitors, and the Web as we know it likely wouldn’t be here today (or would look awfully different) if it wasn’t for another act—this one from Congress way back in 1998, when it passed legislation called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
DMCA isn’t just about cat videos
Nobody at the time the DMCA was enacted knew exactly what the Internet would become. In some sense, the law was a matter of prediction. “In Congress’ mind, this is what it took to update copyright law for the new millennium,” Eric Goldman, a Santa Clara University School of Law professor, told Ars.
Then-President Bill Clinton signed H.R. 2281 on October 28, 1998. In a signing statement, Clinton said the Act would balance “the interests of both copyright owners and users.” The measure was an outgrowth of international copyright treaties, called the WIPO Internet Treaties, that the United States was participating in. But perhaps more importantly, the DMCA came amid intense lobbying from the entertainment industry. Given the rise of the Internet and devices allowing a la carte entertainment consumption, content creators feared their intellectual property would be undermined by emerging technology. That’s why the DMCA makes it illegal, for example, to market technology enabling the unscrambling of the encryption on DVDs.
“Through enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have done our best to protect from digital piracy the copyright industries that comprise the leading export of the United States,” Clinton said.
One critical feature of the DMCA over time has been that it protects Internet companies from copyright liability as long as they remove or “take down” infringing user-generated content at the request of a rights holder. Companies that comply are granted “safe harbor.” The DMCA, in conjunction with other laws like the Communications Decency Act (CDA), freed up Internet companies from worrying about user-generated content—and thus gave birth to a wide swath of today’s Internet services. In fact, it’s hard to see how YouTube or the Web at large would have gotten off the ground if sites were legally responsible for all of their user-generated content.
“Without the legal protections provided by Congress, YouTube would not exist in its current form and probably would not exist at all,” Goldman said. “We can trace billions of dollars in activity that can be attached to the safe harbor.”
“The safe harbor, even if it was full of holes, turned out to spur enormous innovation in the Internet industry,” Mark Lemley, the director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science, and Technology at Stanford University, told Ars.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Spotify ad revenue jumped 53% in Q1
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotify-ad-revenue-jumped-53-q1/
Spotify saw a 53% increase in ad revenue year-over-year in Q1 2015, according to internal data at the streaming platform.
The figures come from the Swedish firm’s Spotify For Brands division, which helps advertisers target specific groups of consumers.
Although Spotify hasn’t confirmed what this increase amounts to in monetary terms, the jump is an interesting new moment in the continued debate surrounding the worth to the music industry of Spotify’s ad-funded ‘freemium’ tier.
In addition, Spotify has confirmed that Q1 2015 also saw a 380% increase in mobile ad revenue compared to the same period in 2014.
In FY2013, Spotify pulled in €68m in advertising revenue – but this represented just 10% of its total income haul, with the vast majority of cash coming from its premium tier.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amir Mizroch / Wall Street Journal:
European Commission to unveil “single digital market” proposal May 6, to unify laws on tax, data, copyright and more across member states, to compete with US
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/04/22/europes-plan-to-compete-with-silicon-valley/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Facebook Hits 4 Billion Daily Video Views in Q1; Mobile Ad Revenue Grows 80%
http://mediagazer.com/#a150423p6
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Updates: Project Fi, nuked TV networks and Loch Ness monsters
It’s been a huge week for Google
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2405464/google-updates-project-fi-nuked-tv-networks-and-loch-ness-monsters
Google has been in the news so much this week that it’s difficult to know where to start.
So let’s talk about NPAPI plug-in and YouTube depreciation, HTTPS everywhere for adverts, Android Wear going WiFi, the switch off of several outdated log-in protocols, and Google’s Project Fi, and finish off with the Loch Ness Monster. No. Really.
Google to turn off support for NPAPI plug-ins in Chrome.
The problem is that NPAPI powers Silverlight, and Silverlight powers a number of major broadcasters including Sky Go, BT Sport, Now TV and a slew of other multimedia content and a whole bunch of proprietary software.
So was the hate for Google that ensued justified? Yes and no. But mostly no.
We live in an HTML5-led web now and, if Chrome aims to be the fastest browser (after all, isn’t that what every browser wants?), there needs to be a cut off point.
As it is, there is a workaround in the flags page of Google, but only until September, which means that the clock is ticking on getting these services back up and running, although most are issuing the official advice to switch to another browser.
At the same time, Google also switched off the v2 API for YouTube. Version 3 was launched in 2012 and an end of life date has always been on the cards. It means that flash rendering of videos is no longer standard, but it also means lights-out for many embedded YouTube applications.
Smart TVs, some as recent as 2012, have now stopped supporting YouTube as the manufacturers haven’t upgraded the TV firmware for the new API. And it appears that they don’t intend to either, leaving buyers who forked out hundreds for a smart TV only a few years ago facing forced obsolescence.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NVIDIA’s SHIELD Console Becomes SHIELD Android TV
by Ryan Smith on April 23, 2015 6:30 PM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9186/nvidias-shield-console-becomes-shield-android-tv
With today’s site update, NVIDIA has updated the name of the SHIELD Console. All of their branding now refers to the device as the SHIELD Android TV, doing away with the “Console” branding.
Tomi Engdahl says:
4K/60p HEVC Video Encoder Chip
http://www.eeweb.com/company-news/socionext/4k60p-hevc-video-encoder-chip/
Socionext Inc. introduces its new HEVC/H.265 video encoder chip, the MB86M3, along with an evaluation board, the MB86M31-EVB. This device is capable of real time encoding of 4K/60p video using the latest compression technology. Socionext plans to start cvolume production of the MB86M31 in August 2015. This new chipset will also be featured at the NAB 2015 show in Las Vegas.
HEVC achieves the transmission of realistic 4K video at half the cost of the preceding AVC/H.264 technology without a loss of quality.
Socionext is a new company established by the consolidation of the system LSI businesses of Fujitsu Limited and Panasonic Corporation. The company’s video encoder business has a track record of development and delivery of industry-leading encoder products for MPEG-2 and H.264, since the unit was with Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix Eats Into TV Ratings, With Help From the TV Industry
http://recode.net/2015/04/23/netflix-eats-into-tv-ratings-with-help-from-the-tv-industry/
Netflix wants to replace TV, and there’s a growing consensus that Reed Hastings has already started: The new conventional wisdom is that Netflix is the reason behind a mysterious decline in TV ratings that showed up last summer and has stuck around ever since.
Here’s the latest argument in support of that theory: Netflix, which streamed 10 billion hours of video last quarter, now represents close to 6 percent of total TV viewing in the U.S., says analyst Michael Nathanson. More to the point: Nathanson figures that Netflix accounts for 43 percent of the ratings decline the networks experienced last quarter.
The MoffettNathanson analyst figures that trend will continue, and “Netflix as a percentage of traditional TV will steadily rise to the low-double-digit range over the next four years, representing the majority of the declines in traditional TV viewing.”
What makes this more painful for TV networks and the Hollywood studios they work with is that they’ve helped Netflix eat into their own business by selling them their repeats — a very high-margin business they were happy to have.
Hastings has been accelerating his investments in original content — he doesn’t want to depend on the TV guys’ leftovers.
Virtuous cycle for Netflix. Vicious one for the TV guys.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elvis Sees All in Russia
Elvis-Neotek’s smart camera coming to U.S.
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326428&
Elvis has left the building and attached himself to its side in Russia, performing smart analytic camera surveillance there for everything from identifying bad-guys, to counting people to license-plate recognition. The Electronnye Vychislitelno Informatsionnye Systemy (Elvis-Neotek CJSC) (Zelenograd), known as Elvees within Russia, claims to have the first chip designed in Russia that is smarter than its U.S., European and Asian counterparts. Its first video intelligent processor (VIP-1) is the heart of its IP surveillance business which comes in many form factors in Russia, but for the international market they are currently scaling the system-on-chip (SoC) down from 40-to-28 nanometer at TSMC and plan to sell it as a bare-chip overseas.
“The key feature of the VIP-1 is that it is an embedded, dedicated video processor with unique capacity for video analytics and semantic processing of video images,” Yaroslav Petrichkovich, CEO of Elvis-Neotek, told EE Times through his interpreter/spokesman. “We use 40 nanometer, because this is the first chip with our architecture and we need to try out our solutions in silicon, in real systems and on commercial markets, we are already working on a more powerful 28 nanometer chip.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
The history of YouTube and how Google overcame legal, financial and technological problems to build a site that has almost 50 years of video uploaded daily — Cheaper bandwidth or bust: How Google saved YouTube — Leading the Web video revolution was an almost constant battle for survival.
Cheaper bandwidth or bust: How Google saved YouTube
Leading the Web video revolution was an almost constant battle for survival.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04/cheaper-bandwidth-or-bust-how-google-saved-youtube/
The scale of YouTube gets more breathtaking every year. It has a billion users in 61 languages, and 12 days of video are uploaded to the site every minute—that’s almost 50 years of video every day. The site just continues growing. The number of hours watched on YouTube is up 50 percent from last year.
It’s easy to forget YouTube almost didn’t make it. Survival for the site was a near-constant battle in the early days. The company not only fought the bandwidth monster, but it faced an army of lawyers from various media companies that all wanted to shut the video service down. But thanks to cash backing from Google, the site was able to fend off the lawyers. And by staying at the forefront of Web and server technology, YouTube managed to serve videos to the entire Internet without being bankrupted by bandwidth bills.
Before YouTube, Web video sucked. For a time there were three big competing video players: Real Player, Apple’s QuickTime, and Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. All three played different proprietary video formats, which usually meant a webmaster looking to reach a wide audience had to publish a video in three different formats. Sometimes the video files were also available in different sizes to support various connection speeds. This meant even more work for webmasters.
Playback meant either downloading the file and playing it in one of the Big 3 standalone players or using one of their wonky browser plugins that would (hopefully) embed the player right in a webpage. Sharing a video over e-mail usually meant attaching the actual file to the e-mail.
Eventually Flash improved things somewhat by putting a slightly more reliable embedded player in the website
YouTube the company was founded in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees.
The site went public in May and became an overnight hit. By 2006, it was the fastest growing site around with 20 million viewers a month. Seemingly the whole Internet tuned in to watch viral hits like the “Evolution of Dance,” lonelygirl15, or Saturday Night Live’s “Lazy Sunday.”
That last video is a bit of a sore topic, indicative of a major early problem. YouTube was a haven for piracy.
At that point, many didn’t expect the company to survive. Early Net entrepreneur Jason Calacanis wrote “YouTube is not a real business” and compared it to Kazaa and Napster. Dot-com billionaire Mark Cuban expected the site would be “sued into oblivion” and said that “only a moron would buy YouTube.”
That “moron” was Google. On October 9, 2006, Google bought the then year-and-a-half-old YouTube for a staggering $1.65 billion. It was Google’s biggest acquisition to date by $1.55 billion. Google bought a very popular site that was very expensive to run and lacked a business model. It was staring down potentially billions in lawsuits from music, movie, and TV companies—and Google did it anyway.
First on the agenda was dealing with YouTube’s copyright problems, and the two companies weren’t wasting any time. On the same day the acquisition announcement was made, YouTube announced it had signed content deals with Sony BMG, CBS, and Universal Music Group
Most importantly, at least a month before the acquisition, Google was already hard at work on a silver bullet for YouTube’s copyright problems. It was building “Content ID,” an automated copyright cop for video and audio.
While YouTube’s legal battles continued, the other major problem Google needed to tackle was turning YouTube into a profitable business. Any company could have bought YouTube, paid for bandwidth, and waged legal battles, but Google was singularly important for YouTube because of the cash flow problems it could solve.
YouTube was burning through $2 million a month in bandwidth costs before the acquisition. What few knew at the time was that Google was a pioneer in data center technology, which allowed it to dramatically lower the costs of running YouTube.
While YouTube’s legal battles continued, the other major problem Google needed to tackle was turning YouTube into a profitable business. Any company could have bought YouTube, paid for bandwidth, and waged legal battles, but Google was singularly important for YouTube because of the cash flow problems it could solve.
YouTube was burning through $2 million a month in bandwidth costs before the acquisition. What few knew at the time was that Google was a pioneer in data center technology, which allowed it to dramatically lower the costs of running YouTube.
Originally, the site was heavily dependent on Flash, but it started experimenting with HTML5 videos back in early 2010.
Today, YouTube is poised to lead the video charge into the future. It supports 4K video, 3D, and 360 degree virtual reality videos for devices like Google Cardboard and the Gear VR.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Not so fast on FM switch-off: DAB not so hot say small broadcasters
This Norwegian blue isn’t dead yet
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/27/not_so_fast_on_fm_switchoff_dab_not_so_hot_say_small_broadcasters/
Norway’s plan to ditch FM radio broadcasting has come under fire from that country’s smaller broadcasters.
The Register reported last week that with digital reaching its audience targets, the government set a 2017 date for the death of analogue FM radio in that country – freeing up spectrum for “digital dividend”-style applications
However, the Norwegian Local Radio Association disputes the communications ministry’s figure, pointing instead to Norwegian Government Statistical Bureau data that “listening to DAB radio is presently limited to 19% on a daily basis.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Showcases RealSense 3D Camera Applications and Technologies In New York
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/04/26/1622242/intel-showcases-realsense-3d-camera-applications-and-technologies-in-new-york
Intel gathered a number of its OEM and software partners together in New York City recently to showcase the latest innovations that the company’s RealSense 3D camera technology can enable. From new interactive gaming experiences to video collaboration, 3D mapping and gesture controls, Intel’s front-facing RealSense technology holds promise that could someday reinvent how we interact with PCs. The F200 RealSense camera module itself integrates a depth sensor and a full color 1080p HD camera together with standard technologies like dual array mics, but with an SDK, on-board processing engine and 3rd party software
Intel Showcases RealSense 3D Camera Apps, Devices, Cutting-Edge User Interfaces At New York Event
Read more at http://hothardware.com/news/intel-showcases-realsense-3d-camera-apps-devices-and-cutting-edge-computer-interfaces-at-new-york-event#JmIJO2j5XSaucwHV.99
Tomi Engdahl says:
The World of 3D Portraiture
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/04/27/0338249/the-world-of-3d-portraiture
By now we’re familiar with tales of 3D-printed marvels, from guns to duck prosthetics. But when I traveled to a physics conference in March, I wasn’t expecting to end up with a full colour printout of myself.
‘We print people’: The world of 3D portraiture
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32387587
By now we’re familiar with tales of 3D-printed marvels, from guns to duck prosthetics. But when I travelled to a physics conference in March, I wasn’t expecting to end up with a full colour printout of myself.
However, at a small stall that popped up on Industry Day at the American Physical Society’s March meeting – that is precisely the service that was being offered.
It’s not strictly a selfie, of course, because I didn’t “take” it (or make it) myself. I was scanned on a turntable in San Antonio, Texas, and then a colourful 3D rendering of me was uploaded to the company’s headquarters in Emeryville, California, for manufacturing on their industrial-grade, colour 3D printers.
The company behind this set-up is Twindom. And its co-founder Richard Berwick tells me that over time, he found that the key to the market was not, in fact, 3D selfies.
“To be honest, that market is extraordinarily small. Because it’s just a tchotchke; it really doesn’t mean much to people.”
Instead, Mr Berwick says the business now targets families, parents and pet owners – people who want a keepsake of someone dear to them.
“It’s not usually the people in the frame that have the print. It’s always their friends and family, eventually,” he says.
“Try to hold the same pose without moving. Your head should be square with your shoulders and you should try to keep your eyes looking straight as well. Smile.”
“It’s not 100%. The skin colour is not going to be perfect – it’s a developing technology,” he said. “But it’s pretty good, as you can see. This is me.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Surveillance cameras play increased role for Boston Marathon security
http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/2015/04/surveillance-cameras-play-increased-role-for-boston-marathon-security.html?cmpid=EnlVSDApril272015
This morning, as more than one million estimated spectators and approximately 30,000 runners gather for the 119th annual Boston Marathon, 100 some-odd HD surveillance cameras have reportedly been put in place as an additional measure of security.
In NPR photos, HD PTZ camera from DVTEL are shown perched over street corners. While the specific model isn’t mentioned, the article does say that the cameras installed feature 30x zoom capabilities, which indicates that the camera could possibly be the Quasar CP-4221-301 PTZ from DVTEL, which features a 1/2.8” progressive scan CMOS image sensor, focal lengths from 4.3 to 129 mm, and streams broadcast quality H.264 video.
With all of these cameras around town, police can remotely monitor feeds from and control the cameras. The cameras have also been programmed to react to sound—automatically turning toward the sound of gunshots, adding an extra measure of safety.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Example what you can do with modern video effects:
The “Perfect” Body
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsL7W-GHhJA
Tomi Engdahl says:
Speakers are the weakest link in the hifi signal chain, and here is one video on some techniquest trying to correct the shortcomings of traditional speakers with signal processing that correct some non-idealities in speakers:
The DEQX Factor – Why Timing Matters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peQq6BX6jio
The principals of DEQX were pioneers in the concept of speaker correction – not just the inordinate frequency-response errors all speakers make, but even more importantly correcting the extraordinary timing/phase-response errors that only loudspeakers introduce
The rewards are immediate and visceral, far greater than the effect of any cable, cord, power conditioner, or any passive room treatment can provide.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New C-type USB connector is increasing at a rapid pace. Soon it may be the only laptop connection, as is the case of Apple’s new MacBook. Cypress Semiconductor has now presented a solution that devices equipped with a USB-C interface can be equipped to take advantage of DisplayPort interface screens.
This is the EZ-PD solution that is based on Cypress earlier introduced CCG1 control. The solution includes all the iron and software implementation of the new USB interface between the EU and DisplayPort or mini-display port.
In practice, the Cypress USB controller understands Display Port as one of the alternative connection mode (alternate mode). Cypress has already demonnut that the solution works, for example, Apple’s new MacBook, Google Chromebook Pixel laptop and many other devices.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2747:usb-c-yhteys-vanhaan-nayttoon&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Startup Cracks User-Centric Surround Sound
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1326457&
Funded through Kickstarter, the headphones feature advanced 9-axis motion-sensing (comprising gyroscopes, accelerometers, and a magnetometer) to track even the smallest of micro-movements of the wearer’s head.
Movement data feeds the company’s binaural algorithms via Bluetooth to the users sound source (this could be a smart phone, a tablet, a smart TV or even a game console) to process any surround sound formats so that the perceived sound field remains static for the wearer.
This means that when the user looks right or left, he or she can hear and localize the appropriate sounds respective to the original sources, just like in a conventional cinema or home theatre sound system.
Precise motion sensing is critical to bring out the psychoacoustic effects that one perceives when unconsciously moving his/her head. Even a few degrees of orientation shift from micro-movements will give your brain the necessary hints to accurately locate sound sources.
The company has several patents pending on this surround-sound channel discretization and correction. “For now, our software is designed to deliver 25 channels, but then we have tricks to process sound up to the 5th harmonic, and in the future we could deliver more channels”, told us 3D Sound Labs Co-founder and VP of product & operations, Dimitri Singer.
3D Sound Labs launch NEOH on Kickstarter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FRhwu5S_0w
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sean O’Kane / The Verge:
GoPro acquires Kolor, a French virtual reality software firm that specializes in creating 360-degree panoramas and videos for VR headsets — GoPro just bought a virtual reality company — The world’s leading action camera company just took its first major step into the growing virtual reality market.
GoPro just bought a virtual reality company
Welcome to the age of ‘spherical content’
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/28/8509595/gopro-virtual-reality-kolor-acquisition-vr-video
The world’s leading action camera company just took its first major step into the growing virtual reality market. GoPro just announced that it has purchased Kolor, a French company that specializes in virtual reality software. Kolor’s employees will join the GoPro staff, with operations remaining in Savoie, France.
Kolor’s software lets users to combine multiple photographs or videos to make 360-degree panoramas and videos, or “spherical content” as the companies call it. The ability to create interactive content is something that GoPro hasn’t been able to directly offer its customers until now, even though many virtual reality content creators are using the company’s cameras.
Along with the news, GoPro has released a 4K, 360-degree video (shot with its own cameras, of course) to showcase what Kolor’s software can do. It can be viewed on YouTube
“We see that incredible opportunity for GoPro to be at the forefront of the virtual reality movement,”
Adding to that, Woodman went on to say that 360-degree video is complicated to make right now, but that the company plans to make it easier
Alongside the Kolor buy, GoPro announced its first quarter earnings results of $16.8 million on $363 million in revenue, netting the second highest sales in the company’s history.
Tomi Engdahl says:
YouTube’s new 4K, 60fps videos are gorgeous — but probably won’t run on your laptop
The secret is most computers can’t run this Secret video
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/27/8299443/youtube-4k-60fps-videos-star-citizen-k-pop
YouTube is now testing 4K videos at 60 frames per second. Last year, the video streaming company tested both 4K and 60fps videos separately, but this small batch of videos marks the first time both settings have been shown together.
Most viewers won’t be able to enjoy these videos to their full potential. You’ll need both a 4K monitor along with a computer and internet connection powerful enough to stream the footage. I just upgraded to last year’s Macbook Pro Retina, and even with a 300mbps connection, the video is stammering about like it’s drunk and can’t find its house keys.
Tomi Engdahl says:
You Can Now Experience Lip Sync Battle in Virtual Reality
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/lip-sync-battle-virtual-reality/
Today, Lip Sync Battle, which airs Thursdays on the Spike network, is releasing a virtual version of its show on the Milk VR app for the Samsung Gear VR headset. The show, which is exactly what it sounds like with the added bonus of celebrities, has been a viral hit machine with clips featuring the likes of Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt, and Anne Hathaway racking up millions of views on YouTube.
“We chose this show based on its share-ability,”
Ten episodes were filmed for VR.
It might seem excessive to have a 360-degree version of a show that can gets most of its best gags across even in YouTube clips, but Peterson says Lip Sync Battle in VR provides immersion and makes viewers feel like they were at a show very few people made it into. “It’s the ultimate experience that you can’t get any other way,” he says. “It’s exactly what I think virtual reality was supposed to provide.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nostalgia Alert: Hasbro’s ’80s Cartoons Are Now Streaming
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/hasbro-vimeo-on-demand/
’80s animation fans: your days of digging through YouTube to find clips of your favorite classic Hasbro cartoons are over.
Thanks to a new deal with Vimeo, Hasbro Studios—the outfit that helps you see things on TV that you can ask for on your birthday—is collecting of many of its classic cartoons for release through the site’s Vimeo On Demand service
All that nostalgia comes at a price, though. Individual episodes of the shows will cost $2.99 to buy or $0.99 to rent for 24 hours
Tomi Engdahl says:
Awesome Projection Art You Can Play Like Brick Breaker
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/awesome-projection-art-can-play-like-brick-breaker/