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Saudi TV selects Harris for HD studio upgrade
France 2 isn't the only network gearing up to undergo an HD upgrade to its studios, as Saudi TV has just awarded Harris a contract to freshen up its Dammam facility. Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture & Information has tapped Harris for a fourth time in order to construct a facility packing a pair of HD studio control rooms for news and production. Furthermore, the project "marks the first Middle East application of the Harris Intrinsic Mirroring SAN-based fault tolerance technology, the latest advance in NEXIO server storage protection." Sadly, there's no timeframe given for when residents of the area can look forward to seeing a difference from the upgrade, but rest assured, it's on the way.
France 2 getting new $3.1 million HD studio in Paris
Though quite a bit of broadcast news is flowing from the States right about now, Thomson is out boasting of its involvement with France 2's forthcoming HD upgrades. The "first public television broadcaster" in France has indeed chosen Thomson to construct a new high-definition facility (studio and control room) in Paris, which will set the network back a cool $3.1 million. Reportedly, the new France 2 HD project will include system design, installation, staff training and around the clock customer service. Among the new equipment is a pair of Kayak HD video production switchers and a Trinix HD router -- both of which should be well-oiled and ready to rock when the studio goes on-air by late August.
Toshiba to showcase "world's smallest HDTV camera" at NAB
Granted, Toshiba Imaging's IK-HD1 3CCD HDTV Camera may not matter much to the consumer as-is, but we're all about the progress. Ready to make its grand, er, wee entrance at NAB Show later this month, the aforementioned unit touts the planet's "smallest" HD camera head (1.6-inches; 2.3-ounces), which should give program producers in tight spots one less reason to not capture content in high-def. In that vein, Tosh even notes that its ability to capture at 1,920 x 1,080 at 30fps makes it "highly suitable for reality TV (you getting this, producers?), specialty broadcast, sports, news and commercials." We know, this totally opens the door for an HD version of Punk'd, but hey, you can't win 'em all.[Via Engadget Spanish]
NBC celebrates opening of new world headquarters
We already knew that CBS was giving its New York studios a major overhaul, but for those clocking in at NBC, you can look forward to a freshened workplace right now. After six months of work, NBC News and MSNBC will finally be under one roof when it opens the doors to its new world headquarters on October 22nd. The facility itself has 8,500-square feet of space and packs such niceties as "280 high-definition monitors and 6 HD projectors," which reminds us -- we should really see when Engadget HQ is due for an upgrade of its own.[Via BroadcastingCable]
Skinkers LiveStation: P2P live TV broadcasting service demoed
In the live television streaming / placeshifting realm, Sling Media is likely the first name to come to mind, but now a new competitor is gearing up to enter the market sans the use of a box. Based on the Microsoft Silverlight platform, London-based Skinkers is in the early stages of readying a new product dubbed LiveStation, which looks to provide users with live television access on their internet-connected machine via a basic P2P setup. During an interview with Matteo Berlucchi from Skinkers, he did mention that the program would remain in beta for "the next few months" as kinks were gradually worked out, but also noted that it would be Mac and PC compatible when launch day comes. Go on, hit the read link to hear it from the developers mouth.[Via TechCrunch]
Linux-based Audiobot Pro broadcasts your own radio station
Streaming internet radio through the home most certainly isn't new, but Tables Turned is making good use of its name by flipping the sequence in reverse and allowing users to create their own radio stations and blast them back to the web. The aptly-named Audiobot Pro is a Linux-based device which enables customers to "distribute audio to radio stations and music venues." Made for those who adore simplicity, you simply connect up an audio source and it "automatically records, formats, and uploads MP3 recordings to any website." Moreover, it can also broadcast an actual internet radio stream for others to tune into, and each Audiobot operator can control the device by inserting their own "uniquely encoded USB key into the front of the device." Don't expect to crank up your own pirate station without a bit of up-front costs, however, as the Audiobot Pro will set you back $1,200 right from the start.
D-PA relaunches to hasten 2011 DTV cutover in Japan
Yes, the beginning of the end if officially upon us, and yes, the Japanese are still probably more interested in colonizing the moon with robots than worrying over that pesky DTV cutover, but "a stronger and larger Association for Promotion of Digital Broadcasting (D-PA) will be relaunched next month, merging two separate organizations" in an effort to "speed up" the adoption of Digital TV. The newly-formed entity is now supported by "local broadcasters, mobile phone service providers, and TV manufacturers," and essentially hopes to broaden the marketing efforts in order to "achieve a target goal of 30 million DTV sets sold in Japan by March 2008, or about 63-percent of the country's 48 million households." Of course, the D-PA should probably get started on fleshing out an actual set of guidelines for making the switch by 2011 if they hope to garner any sort of following, but they should really take heart in the fact that they've got an extra 24 months to get things in order compared to we Americans.
Manufacturers, broadcasters heart DTV set-top boxes
Two major manufacturing and broadcasting trade associations both endorsed a plan to help the government ensure an easy transition to over-the-air Digital TV today, drafting a resolution to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA -- yeah, we hadn't heard of them either) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which counts as its members basically every manufacturer of electronics; and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), who has representatives from almost every television broadcaster; combined with the Association for Maximum Service Television, Inc. (MSTV), a more technically-focused group of local stations. The three organizations submitted a proposal for the NTIA to take into consideration as it attempts to make rules for providing digital converter boxes to the American public for receiving DTV after the February 2009 cut-off date for analog broadcasts.Some interesting sections of their proposal include not limiting digital-to-analog box coupons to strictly those who get their programming over-the-air (which should include those with satellite and an OTA antenna for local channels), and calls for both simplicity in the program, and the availability of low-cost, high-quality components. Waaait a minute, a call for plainly-marketed, well-built electronics at a low cost? What are we missing here? Oh right, Congress authorized five million dollars for educational campaigns, might as well get in on that now and put it to some good use. As an owner of an OTA set-top box, I can say they have huge potential for making the transition to DTV painless for even the most ancient of televisions, and will hopefully spur most Americans to buy a real HD-capable set, which in turn will push broadcasters and networks to produce all their content in HD so we don't have to worry about turning off channels during football.
Samsung working on atmospheric broadcasting
You never know what you'll find when digging through the US Patent files, and it has been discovered that Samsung has filed one of their own in hopes of using the atmosphere as an antenna. Researchers and employees in Korea are devising a method to use the ionosphere -- the layer of the atmosphere at around 50 kilometers above the Earth's surface -- as a medium for "long distance communication" without the need for expensive satellites. The ionosphere already plays a role in communications as a "radio reflector" that bounces low frequency radio signals from sea to shining sea. But by launching UHF signals behind a 1GHz carrier signal, scientists hope to alter the behavior of the ionosphere to create an alternating current, which can then be modulated at a particular frequency in order to create an antenna of global proportions. While the precise utility of such an antenna is not yet clear, we're glad it's in the works, as this sounds like just the thing to solve those dropped call blues -- or not. [Via Textually]
Should the BBC be doing games?
The British Broadcasting Corporation, as a public service corporation, is in an interesting position with regards to gaming. Broadcasting is moving away from just providing TV and radio programmes towards interactive content; the BBC's remit is to "educate, inform and entertain". With decades of history in entertainment and storytelling, how does gaming fit in?Alice over at Wonderland has some interesting views on the subject -- and as a BBC employee, she's well placed to give her personal view in a lengthy and worthwhile piece. An interesting point ties in with both the BBC's Digital Britain and the recent findings that (unsurprisingly) lots of Britons are gamers:Most importantly though, the BBC has an obligation to reach all of its license-fee paying households. If there are household members who prefer games to television and radio, then the BBC ought to be providing to them on the platforms and mediums they favour.Perhaps we'll end up reliving history: in 1981 the BBC instigated the creation of a microcomputer to be used for educational purposes during the show The Computer Programme. This influenced the microcomputer revolution in the UK; if the BBC gets into gaming in the same way, perhaps the UK's attitude towards games could be similarly revolutionised. The BBC is in a position to turn game development and esports into a national pastime, if it so chooses -- the question is whether it ought to.
"Digital Britain" key to BBC's future
The UK government has published a white paper on the future of the BBC, an organisation described as "unique" by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The BBC is mainly associated with the television and radio channels it produces in return for a licence fee which must be paid by almost everyone watching television in the UK. However, the organisation is not restricted to these platforms, nor is it resistant to changes in technology, as the BBC News video report "Entertainment 'key' to BBC future" outlines.The report focuses on a fairly typical family; the parents watch television regularly, but the children tend to gravitate towards games and digital media, only occasionally turning to TV for specific programmes. As technology attracts television views away from their sets, more ways of delivering the BBC's content are being investigated, from TV on phones to downloadable media.The BBC appears to be moving into games as part of their "Digital Britain" initiative--under the banner of "interactive and web-based services", games (or interactive stories) like Jamie Kane give the BBC the opportunity to try new directions in storytelling and gaming. It's clear from the news report that the BBC acknowledges gaming as a key activity for its licence fee payers; this commitment to interactivity should see more game-based content being delivered to the BBC's customers and help the BBC's games research along a step or two.
