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Tag: content-providers

  • Opera Mini Updated And Working On Android


    The final release of the Opera Mini 4.2 browser is now available – and it works on Google’s Android phone.

    Opera Mini 4.2 is the first browser alternative for the Android platform, which comes preloaded with Chrome light.

    Already known for its fast internet access, Opera claims this has increased in speed by more than 30 per cent for users in the US since the previous beta version launched.

    It says the improvemnt is largely due to the opening of a new Opera Mini server park in the US – the Java ME-based browser works by rendering pages on a server and then sending them to the device, so reducing the connectivity demands of the phone.

    As well as being available for the T-Mobile G1 – as a download from the Android Market – Opera Mini also works with some Blackberry and Windows Mobile handsets.

    Opera reports that 21 million unique users browsed five billion pages using the Opera Mini beta in October 2008 alone, totaling a 490 per cent increase since October 2007.

    Other improvements to Opera Mini 4.2 include:

    • More than 90 language versions, including the recently added Amharic, Armenian, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kirghiz, Lingala, Marathi, Malayalam, Mongolian, Oriya, Punjabi, Pashto, Sinhala, Tajik, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Uzbek, Khmer, Kashmiri, Lao and Turkmen
    • Funky new skins for personalizing the look of Opera Mini
    • Opera Link support for notes, allowing users to sync their notes between the PC and Opera Mini
    • Improved real time streaming protocol (RTSP) handoff. This increases the number of phones with support for mobile video.

  • Blockbuster Launches On-Demand Service


    Blockbuster is rising to the challenge posed by cable companies and Netflix by launching a movie rental service via set-top boxes.

    It is offering a STB made by 2Wire that plays movies downloaded over a broadband line.

    Available only in the US, Blockbuster is offering the MediaPoint digital media player for "free" if you pre-pay for 25 movies at the cost of USD $99.

    It claims the movies available will be "hot new releases".

    After the initial 25 rentals, films will be available from USD $1.99 each.

    Able to use either Wi-Fi or Ethernet, Blockbuster says the set-top box delivers DVD quality to your screen.

    Since it’s a download rather than streaming, users will get full quality even if slower internet connections mean downloads will take longer.

    It will be interesting to see how Blockbusters’ decision to avoid a monthly subscription works, especially with regard to the timing of new movie releases.

    Netflix’s service is both streaming and by subscription.

  • Orange Brings Mobile HDTV to Hybrid Phones


    Orange is to offer high definition mobile TV to users of hybrid mobile/fixed Unik handsets.

    From next month, its customers in France will have access to more than 60 HD mobile TV channels, 20 of which will be with unlimited access.

    In September, Orange announced the world’s first 3G+ UMA platform, combining the two technologies to allow customers with hybrid phones to connect whether at home, near an Orange WiFi hotspot or on the move through the 3G network.

    Initially, the mobile HDTV service will only be available through LG’s KF757 handset or on the Sony Ericsson G705u.

    Orange currently has one million Unik subscribers.

    The channels are available on the Orange TV Player or, if the handset does not support the software, on the Orange World portal.

  • YouTube Offers Widescreen HD Videos


    YouTube has finally moved to a default widescreen player with an HD-friendly 16:9 aspect ratio.

    Perhaps not coincidentally, the announcement follows the video sharing giant’s recent decision to start hosting full-length Hollywood movies.

    Not that anyone will be complaining.

    YouTube has long lagged behind competitors such as Vimeo and Blip.tv.

    They have offered HD and widescreen players for some time now – but they don’t have the audience figures of YouTube.

    So this certainly opens up the options for video fans that steadfastly refused to compromise on quality by submitting to YouTube.

    A YouTube spokesman said that by expanding the page width to 960 pixels the new, wider player would provide viewers with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience.

    The change does mean that since the majority of videos on the site were uploaded as 4:3, they will now appear with black bars on the sides.

    Quite why YouTube hasn’t either given users the option to select a player depending on aspect ratio or, better still, to auto-detect it, is anyone’s guess.

  • REVIEW BoinxTV: Mac-based Live Video Recording Studio

    Jordi Duran i Batidor, co-founder & CTO, of Biz-News.com, has road-tested Bonix Software’s new tool for video podcasters.

    In his interview with hdtv.biz-news Oliver Breidenbach, CEO and co-founder of Bonix Software, explained that he believed BonixTV is a “game changer” providing tools to create “TV-style” quality recordings at an affordable price.

    We had the opportunity to play with the application and here you have our first insights.

    As with any Mac Application, installation is straightforward – you simply have to drag & drop the application into the application folder.

    On the extras folder we can find a great introductory video (link to the video), some  interesting links and some sample files (Basketball Scores and Bonix Crawler).

    When starting the application for first time, it will run the installer, request a licence be installed, accept terms and conditions and we are done.

    The normal start-up screen shows several templates from which to choose. Some of the default ones are great, with everything from chroma, lower thirds, logo, ticker, and closing
    credits.

    We can also set up the output size, where they have conveniently pre-set the most common video formats.

    The application is devised in five zones:

    • a header zone with the logo of the company
    • a control button to manage the layers
    • a central clock to manage the timing with a record button
    • the sound bars and audio adjustment.

    • At the bottom of the application there is a folded window that allow users to find and define sources and layers.


    The central part of the application is split into three columns: on the left we can define the parameter of the current layer, in the middle we can see, organize and control the layers, and on the right there is a video player displaying the output.

    The system is really simple to understand and is based in layers that are applied one on top of the other, adding or modifying the previous signal. It is similar to what you find in photoshop.

    Each layer it has a red button or switch. When clicking on it we activate or deactivate the functionality of this layer. Also layers can be reorganized and we can save our layout as a template for future usage.

    There are plenty of layers in the default installation of BonixTV. We can find layers to manage: Video Input (Single video, Video Switcher up to 4 cameras, Interview with 2 simultaneous videos), Backgrounds, video backgrounds, Transitions, Efects, 3D effects Audio only, Clocks, Lower thirds,headline tickers, RSS tickers, Logo, etc

    Two promising layers are the Basketball scores and Weather Map. Those layers are made with the idea of demonstrating the possibilities of BonixTV. But the current customization interface for the layers doesn’t allow you to, for example change, the background map, so unless you want to do the forecast of Germany it will be useless for you.

    The good news is that those layers are programed in Quartz Composer – a free and easy to use developer tool that you can get if you are member of the Apple ADC program.

    Also if you don’t want to learn Quartz, Bonix has an option to request a customized layer for an introductory price of USD $999.

    Every layer has its own parameters, for example the weather layer asks conditions and temperature for the four regions in Germany, while the lower third lets us define the background image, the animation, position, text…

    Every layer can be activated via a shortcut, that can be defined. Also the layers can be activated via trigger, for example, when we click on "stop recording" the layer of credits can be activated automatically.

    Sources

    We have tested the application with two cameras, and several other sources like video files, images and audio files. Defining a new camera is quite easy, we connected a firewire camera while the program was running, clicked on sources, added devicdes, and then selected the video and audio device.

    A great addition to this program would be the possibility to use Internet video streams as sources. For example, if we want to interview somebody via skype, use the Skype video-in as source for the program. If Skype is too complex, they can use streaming protocols mostly used in live broadcasting site like Ustream.tv, or Kyte.tv, for example.

    Creating your own studio

    Hidden in the Extras / Links folder, there is a gem, a link to the Studio Equipment page. At that page, they feature two interestingoptions:

    • The first is the PowerKeys for iPhone, to remote control BonixTV by assigning keyboardshortcuts on a virtual iPhone keyboard.
    • The second one is a Firewire repeater or extender, allowing to connect firewire devices up to 65m from your computer thanks to a ethernet conversion (it uses a cross cable).

    Conclusions

    BonixTV is a great application, easy to use and powerful. We like the extensibility of the layers via Quartz Composer, but we would love to see sooner rather than later a less complex tool to manage weather maps, and basketball scores inside the BonixTV application.

    A missing functionality, is a strong streaming capability, in our opinion this tool is for live broadcasting, and has to make it easy to plug the output of BonixTV into Ustream.tv, kyte.tv and others.

    And as said before, it would be great if streaming video could be also used as camera. This could be used to do remote interviews, but also to use wireless webcams as input source.

  • Threat To Gaming If Operators Don't Follow Apple's Lead


    Mobile game sales are "flatlining" across North America and Western Europe despite increased interest from consumers, according to a report from Juniper Research.

    It says that unless more operators adopt an Apple-like approach to rewarding games publishers, they will be driven away from the sector – and the number and variety of games available will decline.

    The report highlights the "universally positive" response with which mobile games publishers and developers greeted the arrival of the iPhone, but adds that the volume of paid-for mobile game downloads has nonetheless levelled off across North America and Western Europe.

    It found that although the retail value of the global mobile games market is expected to rise from USD $5.4bn in 2008 to more than $10bn in 2013, the potential for growth in many key markets is being dampened.

    This is attributed to a combination of limited on-portal revenue share for publishers – meaning that some are exiting the mobile games industry – and poor games marketing.

    According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, the revenue share offered by Apple to games publishers is incredibly attractive.

    "The danger is that if operators do not respond with a similar business model, publishers faced with low margins may simply exit Java completely, thereby reducing consumer choice in the longer term," he said.

    The report also found that while ad-funded downloads have increased markedly in popularity, the revenues accrued from advertising are unlikely to be sufficient to provide developers or operators with a primary revenue stream.

    It argued that, with cost per mille (CPM) rates likely to fall in the face of pressures on advertising budgets, advertising would be largely employed by most publishers as a means of monetising older content.

    On a more positive note, the Juniper study remained optimistic about prospects for growth in regions such as the Indian Sub Continent, Africa/Middle East and South America.

    It reports that in those regions, the combination of increased mobile adoption and low levels of penetration of both games consoles and fixed Internet means that the mobile handset has already become the de facto gaming device.

    Other findings from the Juniper report include:

    • China and the Far East will remain the largest regional market for mobile games throughout the period covered by the report.
    • Global revenues from in-game advertising will rise significantly from 2008 to 2013.
    • Operators need to reduce data charges further for out of bundle customers to encourage casual mobile Internet usage and thereby stimulate the mobile entertainment market

  • How will Xbox's streaming HD Fare Against PS3's Blu-ray?


    For a while now, Sony’s PS3 has done very well out of being the best Blu-ray player in its price range – oh, and you can play games with it too.

    So it will be interesting to see how it fares now that Microsoft’s Xbox is offering US users streaming HD content from Netflix.

    That, and the fact that Blu-ray player prices generally are falling drastically, may have some impact on the Sony console.

    PS3 sales figures for the third quarter showed a very respectable 56 per cent increase year-over-year, even if total numbers were lagging behind Nintendo’s Wii and the Xbox 360.

    There are also now 14 million active PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts worldwide – equalling the number of Xbox Live (XBL) subscribers, according to Sony.

    Registered PSN users have leapt by four million since July, with the total amount of content downloaded shooting up from 170 million pieces to 273 million pieces.

    That said, the Xbox 360 isn’t doing badly. Microsoft forecasts that by the end of this month, 25 million Xbox 360 consoles will have been sold worldwide.

    The NPD Group reported in September that the Xbox 360 was ahead of the PlayStation 3 in sales for the first time in months – even if only by a slim margin.

    So Microsoft will be hoping that today’s Xbox update will add further appeal to its console and keep those totals climbing higher.

    It will be offering HD content from Netflix, the latest entrant to the rapidly growing streaming digital market that has seen a series of set-top boxes begin offering the service.

    Movies from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment subsidiary, Columbia Pictures, will not be available to Xbox 360 users streaming via Netflix, though.

    Shortly before Xbox 360’s update went live, the list of movies available for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming suddenly dropped all Columbia’s offerings.

    All the blocked content can still be viewed online and through all other Netflix enabled TV devices except for the 360.

    Rivalry issues aside, as well as the lure of high-def programming, the Xbox changes offer a new interface with a simpler panel and new customizable avatars to display users in the friends list and certain games.

    A LIVE Party function can be used to virtually host up to seven friends for voice chat, game play, and photo sharing.

    There is also a community games channel which allows users to play games that have been created by private individuals.

    Among the new games to be launched are "You’re in the Movies" and "Lips".

    So, plenty of entertaiment for Xbox users to get their teeth into – but will it be enough to halt the march of the PS3?

  • Vyke Announces Mobile VoIP For Windows Smartphones


    Vyke Communications has announced a beta version of its mobile VoIP software and service for all Windows Mobile 6.0 and higher based smartphones.

    The solution is based on Vyke’s stand-alone proprietary mobile VoIP technology, which the company claims allows it to provide high quality voice service while circumventing any operator handset tampering issues.

    Jan Berger, chief marketing officer, Vyke Communications, said the mobile VoIP software addressed the significant portion of the enterprise market that is Windows Mobile based.

    "As this stand alone software is compatible with a wide cross section of business orientated mobile handsets, it adds significantly to our potential customer base and will be an important tool in helping our enterprise sales team reach its goals," she said.

    While primarily intended for the enterprise sector, Vyke said the beta software will also be available for consumers to download before the end of November.

  • Web Conferencing Coming To Smartphones


    PhoneTopp has announced an online conference and collaboration tool for use with smartphones – initially only for the iPhone and the Blackberry Bold.

    Intended to allow desktop conferencing on high end handset, PhoneTopp currently has an alpha product available and will be releasing a public beta in Q1 2009.

    The company plans to charge subscriptions fees, estimated at USD $8 per month.

    Tom Barsi, CEO of PhoneTopp, said that until now, only people sitting at their computer in a pre-arranged meeting could participate in a web conference.

    "Holding back expansion of web conferencing is tying the user to the desk,” he said “The proliferation of smart phones capable of running web conferencing allows PhoneTopp to lead an opportunity that will dramatically change business communication – enabling true ‘adhoc’ mobile collaboration.”

    Gartner estimates the web/audio collaboration market to be USD $5 billion today.

    In 2010, the consultants forecasts web conferencing will be available to 75 per cent of corporate users as standard facility alongside email, presence and calendaring.

    The PhoneTopp system software runs a thin client-computing model, hosted by the company on the Amazon EC2 cloud.

    The architecture off-loads computer intensive tasks to the datacenter, saving on power dissipation and network traffic.

    PhoneTopp said its patent work around adaptive virtualization protocol (PAV) reduces “over the air” latency to an estimated 5 seconds.

    The protocol takes on the difficult task of managing multiple streams to the smartphone while dynamically adapting and optimizing how the content gets pushed based on the available bandwidth.

    From now through the end of 2008, PhoneTopp is encouraging early beta sign-ups with an incentive of three months free service when launched.

    Interested parties should go to www.phonetopp.com and input their email address for follow-up.

    The hope is to also have support for more smartphones by next year, possibly including Google’s Android platform.

    When commercially launched, PhoneTopp will first allow users to host or participate in a web meeting directly from their smartphone, through a simple click-to-collaborate approach that includes the ability to:

    • accept an invitation via text message to join a web conference
    • answer a phone call that launches an application to participate in the meeting, with no phone numbers or passwords to remember
    • navigate and zoom natively with integrated tools, including a PhoneTopp-developed “mobile rewind” capability that allows users to independently go back within the presentation if they missed a slide.

  • Boinx Launches Mac-based Live Recording Studio


    Boinx Software has launched a new tool for video podcasters that turns a Mac into a live video recording studio.

    Called BoinxTV, it’s an audiovisual mixing application that allows one person to edit high quality recordings live.

    Aimed at video podcasters or for providing coverage of events, it works with up to three cameras and allows for on-the-fly camera switching, transitions, lower thirds, graphics, logos, crawlers, graphs, title, and so on.

    Created jointly with The Coding Monkeys, the beauty of BoinxTV for video podcasters is that once filming is finished they have a QuickTime movie that requires no post production.

    Oliver Breidenbach, CEO and co-founder of Boinx Software, said the application was going to give more people access to high quality production software that allowed them to create video content.

    He told hdtv-biz-news BoinxTV was a "game changer" because it made it easy to create professional ‘TV style’ recordings – at an affordable price.

    "It’s going to be much more fun and much more appealing to do videos on a regular basis," he said. "But the price is also making this technology available to a much broader audience than before.

    "We are not going to replace the million dollar equipment used in the broadcasting industry but BoinxTV gives people the ability to make professional-looking shows."

    Breidenbach said they had already received very positive feedback from professionals in the US that provided local content to affiliate TV stations.

    He said Boinx’s software meant, for example, a football game could be coverered using three cameras and edited live from the stadium using a MacBook Pro rather than undergoing a lengthy post-match production process.

    Breidenbach said HD content was an important aspect of BoinxTV and there was no limit to the resolution that could be used in projects.

    However, he said there were still streaming and bandwidth issues to be resolved.

    "My feeling is that many people are looking at HD but no-one really knows where it is going," he said.

    "At the moment they are perfectly content with lower resolution, that is 720p, which is still thought of as advanced.

    "HD is very important for us as a future direction but we made a decision that we did not want to delay shipping BoinxTV.

    "In the meantime, we will keep working on whatever we can do to optimise the code."

    Another HD issue was hardware limitations but that required action from Apple.

    "I would expect improvements to the operating system will help in that direction as well," said Breidenbach.

    "In about 6-9 months we will be able to do full HD and ultimately there will be even higher resolution."

    Another future upgrade to BoinxTV will be live streaming, a feature that Breidenbach said was already possible but not in the most convenient form.

    Currently, it is possible to stream content live using an encoding box or using software.

    "In the future we will provide live streaming from the application," he said. "For now we provide a live streaming solution that’s workable but not very convenient."

    BoinxTV can be downloaded at boinx.com/download for USD $499.

    The BoinxTV Sponsored Edition costs USD $199 (single license) and requires a credit for BoinxTV in every video created with BoinxTV.