Livestation releases online TV Mac player

Online TV company, Livestation, on Tuesday released a Mac player for its Internet service. MacWorld reports.

"Livestation enables users to watch free online TV. Partner broadcasters include Al Jazeera, BBC World News, Bloomberg Television, EuroNews (English, French, Italian and now Spanish), France 24, i>Tele, Russia Today and BBC World Service.

Users can also add their own Web streams to the player or choose one of the channels added by other viewers."

Intel, Yahoo Target Web Services on TV

Intel Corp. and Yahoo Inc. unveiled an ambitious effort Wednesday to marry the TV with the Internet, a goal that has eluded technology and media companies for more than a decade. [The Wall Street Journal]

"The pair outlined software tools, based on Yahoo technology, to help companies deliver Web content alongside TV programming. The software complements a new chip from Intel designed to enable interactive features on TVs, set-top boxes and other gadgets, though it can work with devices that use other chips."

The Race to Unlock a Wider Web

Critics say new technology may hinder TV Signals. The Washington Post reports.

"Broadcasters use adjacent airwaves to beam TV shows to viewers, and they say the technology could interfere with over-the-air signals. Wireless microphone users, from pop stars to mega-church ministers, say using white spaces could blot out their sounds.

White-space backers say their devices will be able to detect and avoid frequencies being used by broadcasters and wireless mics. Critics say the devices are not reliable enough. "

A New Competitor to LCD

A pixel that uses a pair of mirrors to block or transmit light could lead to displays that are faster, brighter, and more power efficient than liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

Researchers at Microsoft Research who published their novel pixel design in Nature Photonics say that their design is also simpler and easier to fabricate, which should make it cheaper.

LCDs corner half of the global TV market and are the most popular technology for cell phones and flat-panel computer monitors. But for several reasons, they do not boast the best image quality.

Read full article in Technoogy Review.

Net TV technology seeks testers

Testers are being sought for technology that may help TV migrate to the net, writes the BBC.

"In a bid to create a system that can support huge audiences, P2P Next's SwarmPlayer draws on the widely used BitTorrent peer-to-peer technology.

In such a system those watching a video share the data they are downloading with others, peers, who want to watch the same show.

The SwarmPlayer lets people download TV shows to watch later, lets them watch video as it is being downloaded and can even cope with live broadcasts.

The P2P Next project now wants thousands of people to install the software to see how it handles large audiences and whether picture quality suffers as the numbers of users rises.

... The EU has put 19m euros into the project hoping the software the team creates will become a Europe-wide standard for broadcasters."

Sharp TV set doesn't need to be plugged in

Sharp has unveiled a prototype for a television set that does not need to be plugged in and comes with its own solar power source.

[via techradar]

Time Warner Cable Launches “StartOver"

Time Warner Cable's “Start Over;” is rolling out in NY. The service lets latecomers start a program over if they show up in the middle, but disables fast-forwarding through the ads.

Look Back is another similar service Time Warner featured that was piloted in South Carolina, giving viewers up to four hours to re-watch an episode.

[TV Decoder via NewTeeVee]

This DVD Will Self-Destruct

"No-return DVD rentals that essentially self-destruct within 48 hours after they are removed from their packaging are now rolling out at airports, travel centers and every Staples store across the country. TIME reports via NewTeeVee.

Each location will offer about 25 new movie releases and, rather than return them, consumers can recycle them for free when they're done watching or just throw them out.

The DVDs, which were created by the Georgia-based company Flexplay Entertainment, look like regular discs, but they are made with a special glue that is sensitive to oxygen. Once the disc is exposed to air, a chemical reaction causes the glue to darken so the laser in the DVD player can no longer read the disc. Sealed discs can last for about one year.

The company hopes these DVDs will appeal to business travelers who don't usually rent movies because their busy schedules make it hard to find time to return them."

You Face as a Remote Control

A UCSD computer science student has done a proof-of-concept demonstration on on video showing that you can use your face to slow down or speed up video playback.FashionFunky.

[via FashionFunky]

Vint Cerf: Video streaming to give way to downloading

Vint Cerf, one of the fathers of the Internet and Google's chief Internet evangelist, expects that video will be downloaded rather than streamed over time. News.com reports on his talk on Beet.TV.

"With gigabit for second speed, users could download an hour of video in 16 seconds. "It's like the iPod--you can download music faster than you can listen to it," he said.

Cerf also said that broadcasting, rather than downloading a separate copy to every user, is a good delivery model, and that users will have more control over which ads to watch."

Broadband Video Evolves

Programmers are fine-tuning their broadband game, introducing more user-friendly video players and experimenting with new ad formats such as graphic overlays and the “skins” forma, which surrounds the video player with branding. Broadcasting & Cable's special report.

"Meanwhile, content providers are trying to raise the video quality of their offerings to deliver a TV-like experience to viewers who are consuming short clips or full-length shows on their PC or laptop screens. Being able to do so without raising distribution costs to the point where broadband video becomes a money pit instead of a source of incremental revenue is the big issue."

Time Warner Cable to add Internet video to TV service

Time Warner Cable revealed Friday it plans to offer a wireless cable modem to subscribers that will allow them to network all of their household electronic devices and bring Internet content directly to their TVs.

The report suggests users will be able to call up Internet TV via their home theater set-ups, with image quality that is optimized for HDTVs.

[via ars elecronista]

Sony, Cable Firms Plan TVs Minus Set-Top Boxes

Sony Corp. and six of the biggest U.S. cable operators announced an agreement to create digital televisions capable of receiving cable service without a set-top box. The Wall Street Journal reports.

"Sony signed a pact with Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Cox Communications, Charter Communications Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp. and Bright House Networks to develop technology that will allow consumers to eliminate set-top boxes, yet still receive basic as well as advanced cable services, such as pay-per-view movies.

The technological standard should enable a new generation of TV sets to include video-on-demand, digital video recording, interactive programming guides and other services."

Death knell for television as we know it

Japanese television technology that will give viewers access to high-speed broadcasts over the internet could render conventional television obsolete and transform the media landscape within years, analysts have predicted, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

"The country's electronics and telecommunications industries are developing a technological standard for a new "internet television" set, which will let users browse websites and watch streaming programs at the touch of a remote control.

Japanese media reports say the new television, which is likely to run on the open source Linux operating system rather than Microsoft Windows to save boot-up time, could be on sale locally by next March.

... Although Japanese consumers already have access to broadband television services, they are presently required to buy television sets and receivers compatible with their internet service providers. This inconvenience will be removed by the new technology, which will enable broadband-equipped televisions to display internet content without a separate set-top box or computer."

Home theater system with golf ball sized speakers

Sony Japan's new HT-IS100 a 5.1 channel home theater system comes with four satellite speakers that are no bigger than a golf ball.

[via New Launches]

Will HDTV Decide the Presidential Election?

A legend of American politics is that TV defeated Nixon and delivered victory to Kennedy—in their televised Great Debates Nixon looked old and haggard, Kennedy, young and tanned. TV viewers said Kennedy won the debate; radio listeners said Nixon did. It was all about looks.

Now, consider HDTV. Every little flaw shows in glorious details. And now consider that John McCain is older than your grandpa, ravaged by a rough campaign and melanoma surgery. One can only wonder. Will HDTV kill McCain?

[via Gizmodo]

Related: - All the Presidential Candidates Look Bad On HDTV (Switched)

Google fuzzes out faces in privacy push

Google has rolled out a new technology which automatically blurs any human face appearing in street-level photographs taken for use in its mapping services by its fleet of camera-mounted vehicles. The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"The blurring technology, which will be retrospectively applied to all existing Street View images and incorporated in all future releases of the popular mapping feature, is intended to mollify concerns about the potentially intrusive nature of the service.

Google will shortly previewed the face-blurring technology on the Street View images found on its Manhattan maps. Detail of the changes were announced on an official Google blog today.

Keskidi. A subtitling tool for video sharing platforms

A new tool for subfans - non US TV fans who translate entire episodes for the benefit of others - as well as anyone else who want their videos to reach an international audience.

Keskidi ("what did he say" in French slang) is a subtitling tool for five video sharing platforms: YouTube, Dailymotion, MySpaceTV, Blip.tv and Metacafe.

Self-hosted videos can be translated as well. For each video, you can type in texts in fifteen languages including French, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese or Turkish.

[via Tubbydev]

TubeStick' brings TV in a USB key

Equinux has launched its "TubeStick," a hybrid tuner that comes in the form of a USB key that includes two receivers for HD broadcasts and digital or analog cable signals.

Also included is an antenna and software for the iPhone and iPod as well as the computer for portable viewing, with some basic TiVo-like functions (scheduling, rewind, etc.)

[via Crave]

TV and the Web: Backchannelmedia

XConomy reviews Backchannelmedia.com, a Boston company that gives broadcasters and advertisers a new marketing channel by adding a Web bookmarking function to TV programming.

"Unless you’re watching carefully, you may not be aware how many times every day TV broadcasters flash Web URLs at you on the screen during their regular programming (not to mention during commercials, many of which also contain Web addresses). The problem is that most URLs are hard to remember, and few viewers have a pad and pencil or an open laptop handy to copy them down.

Backchannelmedia has come up with a fix for that.

Basically, broadcasters insert a code into their programs that causes a special icon to appear on your TV screen alongside a URL or any other “call to action.” If you click OK on your TV remote while the icon is showing, Backchannelmedia will send you the link electronically for later reference. You can view all of your saved links at Backchannelmedia’s portal site, or you can have them e-mailed to you."

Google Knows You Skipped A Commercial

Technology from Google submitted to the US Patent Office shows how they can tell when someone viewing a video skipped an ad, reports WebPro News.

"Plenty of people watch videos online, but successfully making money from their viewing habits continues to prove a challenge. Even Google and its top online destination, YouTube, may not be receiving the results they desire.

They will know who opted to skate over advertising in the video, to a certain extent. A Google patent application about targeted video advertising answers the long-time question, did someone actually watch an ad or not?"

Logo from Marketing.fm.

This DVD will self-destruct in 48 hours

A German company has introduced a disposable DVD that can be viewed for 48 hours, then self-destructs. Register Hardware reports.

"Called 'Einmal' (German for 'once') , the discs incorporate a self-destruct chemical coating to render them unreadable after a pre-set time.

The process begins as soon as the discs are removed from vacuum-sealed packaging. After 48 hours (or longer, depending on the price) the DVD gives a 'No disc' error when put into a DVD player or PC. There appears to be no DRM (digital rights management), so you could copy the disks, if you're quick enough.

Self-destruct DVDs are not a new idea. In 2003 flexplay, an Atlanta, Georgia technology company, introduced disposable DVDs using its own self-destruct technology, dubbed ED-D. This was met with fierce criticism from environmental groups, who slammed the notion of throwaway DVDs."

[via GearFuse]

World's first 3D TV

Spotted on engadget, the world's first 46-inch 3D stereoscopic television by Hyundai.

All the Presidential Candidates Look Bad On HDTV

Ever since the advent of high-definition television (HDTV), viewers see on-screen details in a much sharper and more realistic fashion than is the case with regular TV.

Unfortunately, for some celebrities, HD also reveals how they look in real life, blemishes and all...

Same goes for the presidential candidates, thanks to the increased prevalence of HD in news broadcasts. CNN, for example, is now using CNN for its presidential debates.

[via Switched]

Blinkx BBTV brings Web interactivity to TV, film

Imagine being able to watch movies or TV shows in high-quality, full-screen glory on your computer and being able to jump directly to a particular place in the video based on the transcript and click on a word in the transcript to pull up more information.

That's what blinkz BBTV (Broadband TV) promises when it launches on Wednesday.

[via News.com]

Google wants to fill in the TV white spaces

Google is planning a conference call with journalists on Monday to discuss a company filing with the FCC regarding the use of unused portions of the TV spectrum band, known as white spaces. News.com reports.

"Technology companies want to be able to use the spectrum between the TV channels for Internet access, and the FCC is considering opening up the white spaces for use by unlicensed Internet devices. But broadcasters oppose the move, saying it will cause interference.

The FCC has been running tests to see if the white spaces can be used without interfering with TV broadcasts. Microsoft has submitted a prototype device that would use the spectrum for high-speed broadband access.

Google, which is a member of the White Space Coalition with Microsoft, Intel, HP, and a few others, may have something similar up its sleeve. "

TVs reinforced for those smashing Wii games

TV's have a new problem reports New Scientist. Gamers using the Nintendo Wii are smashing plasma TV screens if the remote slips from their grasp mid-game.

"To make its TV sets less vulnerable, Panasonic is planning to use high-strength CRT glass across its range of flat-screen TVs.

In a demonstration for New Scientist at a seminar in Valencia, Spain, Panasonic hung a 250-gram steel ball on the end of a cord and let it swing 40 centimetres onto a screen to simulate an impact equivalent to the Wii remote being thrown hard at the screen from across a room.

Even after a wince-inducing 1000 strikes on the same spot, the glass remained intact and unmarked."

Download 15 full-length Hollywood movies a minute!

A team of engineers at a British university have developed a device which promises broadband 100 times faster and a quarter the price it is today, reports Fareastgizmo.

"Using existing telecommunications but channelling the data more efficiently, the machine will be able to download 15 full-length Hollywood movies a minute, the team says.

The scientists at Bangor University are now set to build a prototype of their machine. The new device works with the existing fibre optic technology and so there is no need to rip out the cabling which runs the country's telecommunications network. It is too early to predict the high-street cost of the device, which will look very much like a DVD player and will sit between the broadband outlet and computer."

Divx To Shut Down Stage6

The Web video portal shakeout continues: DIVX will shut down Stage, its would-be YouTube rival, to focus on its video encoding software/licensing business. The company tried to sell/spin off the site last July, but couldn't find a buyer. Instead it will shutter the service on Thursday.

Why? Because unless you can reach massive scale, which Stage6 didn't, hosting Web video is a money-losing proposition. "The continued operation of Stage6 is a very expensive enterprise that requires an enormous amount of attention and resources that we are not in a position to continue to provide," the company said this morning on its blog.

Europe funds internet TV standard

According to the BBC, the European Union is spending 14m euros (£10.5m) to create a standard way to send TV via the net.

"An additional 5m euros (£3.7m) is being contributed to the project by 21 other partners including the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union.

The project will create a peer-to-peer system that can pipe programmes to set-top boxes and home TV sets.

It will be based on the BitTorrent technology many people already use to share movies and music.

Dubbed P2P Next, the four-year research project will try to build a system that can stand alongside the other ways that broadcasters currently get programmes to viewers."

Will the digital transition delete millions of viewers?

A year from Sunday, television for many Americans will cut to black. Analog signals will stop transmitting, older sets will become useless and millions of TV-watching households will simply disappear. [via The Hollywood Reporter]

"At least that's the doomsday scenario confronting the TV industry as a government mandate forces all U.S. stations to convert to digital from the analog signals that have been broadcast on the same frequencies since the 1930s.

... For viewers who don't upgrade to digital-ready TVs or set-top converters, Feb. 18, 2009, will begin with a blank screen instead of a smiling Meredith Vieira. For TV executives, that day could be catastrophic."

You can star in a famous band's music video

BigStage's custom avatar system will allow users to upload their image into rock bands' music videos or clips from Hollywood studios' films.

"BigStage's technology allows anyone with a digital camera to create an avatar using their own image.

"... BigStage CTO Jon Snoody pointed out that this would be a good viral marketing campaign because it wouldn't cost the studios much to produce the clips. Already, BigStage has produced demos for one giant Hollywood studio.

[via News.com]

Digital photo frames a threat to flat screen TV?

According to C/net Asia, WiFi digital photo frames - if they took off - could become a threat to flat TV screens.

"Controlled from far away devices, the digital frames can grow into the center piece of large wall space. Video clips from YouTube, reproduction of classic pictures from Renaissan Italy, sepia portrait of your granduncle who died in far Guadalcanal, or even silly TV show or two; all kinds of images could be displayed and turned off easily.

Thus, the WiFi digital photo frame with larger display (and an aditional tuner) has a fair chance to topple the reign of large size flat TV. If a cheaper and simpler digital frame could do a job perfectly, who would want to buy an expensive LCD TV?"

Watching TV online while singing in the rain

Watching TV online while singing in the rain will soon be possible thanks to scientists at Tokyo's Keio University who are working on a prototype umbrella that connects to the web via a wireless connection, and then projects images from the internet onto the underside of the canopy.

Known as Pileus, the umbrella allows you to watch videos from online video sites as you walk.

[via the BBC]

TV for the Visually Impaired

Using a new algorithm, researchers are trying to enhance picture quality so that those with macular degeneration can enjoy television. MIT Technology Review reports.

"Enjoying a favorite TV show can be difficult for someone with macular degeneration. Like many kinds of visual impairment, macular degeneration makes the images on the screen seem blurred and distorted.

The finer details are often lost. Now researchers at the Schepens Eye Research Institute have developed software that lets users manipulate the contrast to create specially enhanced images for those with macular degeneration.

... The new software is running on a computer in their lab, but they're expecting to receive a prototype system built by Analog Devices in April 2008."

UK homes to get super-fast fibre

UK homes in certain towns will benefit from 100Mbps broadband, delivered via the sewers. The BBC reports.

"Fibre firm H2O provides super-fast broadband via the sewers and either Bournemouth, Northampton or Dundee will be offered the service first.

It will compete with more established companies, such as Virgin Media, which is speeding up its cable network.

... For consumers, super-fast net connections could create a range of new applications including on-demand high definition (HD) TV, DVD quality film downloads in minutes, online video messaging, CCTV home surveillance and HD gaming services."

TVs to Learn 'Sign Language'

PhysOrg reports on JVC´s "Snap & Gesture" TV technology, enabling users to communicate using a pre-programmed "sign language."

The TV, which is still in the demo stage, contains a microphone to detect clapping, a video camera to recognize finger movements, and a set of sensors that can help the system memorize customized gestures.

To control the TV, a user claps their hands three times to make a menu with icons appear.

To select channels, manage the set-up, and do everything a remote control can do using hand waves, a user claps or finger snaps.

For more immediate control of common operations, such as changing the volume, users can clap a certain way. The system can also be programmed so that specific clapping patterns result in going to specific channels (for example, two claps means switch to Comedy Central).

JVS does not have an expected release date for the "Snap & Gesture" TV. "

TV-B-Gone

TV-B-Gone is an infrared clicker that lets you anonymously turn off TV sets in public places.

Its' been getting full media attention following a Gizmodo prank at lat week's Consumer Electronics Show.

Two-view TV

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Texas Instruments showed off DualView – a projection system that lets two people see different things on the same screen. New Scientist reports.

"A DLP digital mirror projector shows pictures at twice the normal frame rate. The two programmes are shown at the same time by interleaving the frames from the two. Viewers wear LCD spectacles which work as light shutters, rapidly switching so that the viewer's eyes see only one set of frames.

The CES demo showed a car racing game between two cars. Instead of a using a split screen, each player sees only their own car.

The same set-up can also display 3D movies by using the spectacle shutters to show each eye a slightly different scene."

TV glasses

Spotted on The Guardian, technology correspondent Bobbie Johnson at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas watching a movie projected inside a pair of glasses.

The glasses connect to any kind of media device- iPod, cell phone or Zune and enable you to watch big screen TV privately.

BT, Microsoft Team Up to Let Viewers Watch TV on Xbox Console

British telecommunications giant BT Group PLC Monday further expanded its Internet-television service by forming a partnership with Microsoft Corp. to allow customers to watch TV through the Xbox 360 computer-games console. The Wall STreet Journal reports.

"BT broadband customers that sign up to BT Vision, a digital and Internet-TV platform, will be able to play computer games, watch TV and order movies through their Xbox 360 console from mid-2008."

Broadcasters gear up for cell-phone TV

U.S. TV broadcasters will be ready to start transmitting signals for portable electronics like cell phones next year, the developers of the technology, LG Electronics Inc. and Harris Corp., said Sunday.

The technology represents a chance for broadcasters to challenge cell-phone carriers, who are trying to sew up the market for mobile TV with their own transmissions.

[via Cellular News]

Motorola introduces mobile video player

Motorola Inc, the world's third biggest cell phone maker, on Thursday introduced a mobile media player that shows live television, on-demand video clips and programming saved on digital video recorders. [via Reuters]

"The device, which will be showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, is pocket-sized with a 4.3 inch video screen, Motorola said.

It has a five minute memory buffer that allows users to pause live television and also supports memory cards that can store up to 90 minutes of video, according to the company."

Visual Radio

Digital radio means more stations have the ability to broadcast extra information alongside the audio. But some experts are looking at providing some pretty controversial extra radio content - pictures. The BBC reports.

Young audiences expect something on the small screens of their mobile devices while listening to the radio.

As a station for the UK's fashion conscious Radio 1 is already trying to fulfil its audience's visual expectations by providing pictures for the digital TV screen, even filming the concerts they broadcast.

"Glanceability is the phrase the tech-heads use. In other words it can't be content that you must look at in order to get the picture," said Andy Parfitt, controller of BBC Radio 1.

... Many experts agree that something as simple as an electronic programme guide would really enhance the radio experience. Being able to see what is on now and what is coming up.

And lets not forget that if it's pictures we want, there are already plenty of places to get them.

"Sometimes when people are talking about what they might do, they are in danger of inventing television," said Roger Mosey, director of BBC Sport.

"Radio still needs to concentrate on what its core values are, but it can add to them, make them bigger and more exciting and more expansive."

Uploading Speeds Slowly Catch Up

For years, Internet service providers have been cranking up the speed of downloads. Now companies are betting consumers will pay for faster uploads, as a growing number of users post music, videos and photos to the Web.

[via the WSJ]