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ZVRS to support live sign language translation via iPhone 4's FaceTime for calls between deaf and hearing users
While SMS and mobile email are great, they still can't match the emotion, interaction, and intonation of a live conversation with someone -- that's why our phones still ship with microphones and speakers, apparently. Of course, this is much more difficult when one of the parties is deaf or hard of hearing, which is where video relay services come in. With the help of a videophone or your computer's webcam, you can make a call with a live translator, who speaks your signed ramblings out loud to the hearing person on the other end. Of course you're usually stuck at a desk when doing this, but now ZVRS is going to be supporting calls made from the iPhone 4 over FaceTime. It might not be quite as sexy as Apple's goosebump-raising iPhone 4 commercial, since the phone obviously makes two-way sign language calls possible, but if the person on the other end doesn't have an iPhone 4 or doesn't know sign language, ZVRS seems like the next best thing. The new service will launch on July 26th. Check out a video of it in action after the break, the actual call starts at 2:25.
Pioneer adds Anchor Bay VRS scaling to VSX-23TXH, VSX-21TXH and VSX-1019AH-K receivers
Video scaling has been a longtime knock held against Pioneer's AV receivers, but Pioneer is addressing those concerns with the inclusion of Anchor Bay VRS processing in its Elite VSX-23TXH ($899) and VSX-21TXH ($699) models, and also the VSX-1019AH-K ($499). Of course, Pioneer's home market in Japan isn't getting the short shrift -- the VSA-LX52 and VSA-1019AH are getting the same treatment. These models will be getting an ABT1015 to ratchet input signals all the way up to the magical 1080p figure; hopefully an indication that Pioneer will take a page from Denon's playbook and include ABT scaling in all of its AVRs from here on out. Full details after the break. UPDATE: We have sent questions to Pioneer about whether this is a mid-production spec bump, or ABT VRS has been in these models all along. We'll report back with any answers we get. UPDATE: We got official word back from Pioneer -- the VSX-1019, 21, 23, 25, and 27 models have all had Anchor Bay VRS scaling from the initial production, so there's no need to go throwing your AVR out. We can't imagine why both Pioneer and Anchor Bay haven't touted this feature from day one, but if your eyes told you the new Pioneer receivers had great scaling, give yourself a point.
