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NAB scolds cable companies for downconverting HD locals
We've certainly seen the head honchos give the cable companies a piece of their mind before, but this time the carriers are receiving a fairly stiff scolding care of the National Association of Broadcasters. David Rehr made sure to make every moment of his speech segment count, as he ripped cable providers for "downconverting" the signals of local channels in order to boost the bandwidth available to "their own high-definition signals." Mr. Rehr even went so far as to call the process "broadcast discrimination," and we can only presume that certain providers -- such as Time Warner, who has ties to HBO and Comcast, which is strongly linked to Versus / Golf Channel -- are the targets of recent battles. Unsurprisingly, anonymous cable services have reportedly denied the claims of delusion, but how do the actual end-users see it? Let us know folks: is your cable company giving preferential treatment to channels it has vested interest in?[Via HiDefster]
Video pros weigh in on Final Cut Studio 2
I'll admit that some of the new features in Final Cut Studio are a little bit over my head, as a non-pro-video guy. OK, pretty much all the new features are over my head, so I asked a couple of pro-video friends for their expert opinions on the NAB announcements.First, Josh Apter from NYC's Manhattan Edit Workshop, a top training facility for Final Cut: Three words - open timeline editing. Two words - color correction. One word - wow. From a training standpoint, MEW is going to offer discounted upgrade classes on this new package as soon as it hits the street. From a practical standpoint, users have one hell of a toy to unwrap.Second, my colleague Matt Paleologos, video post supervisor at MJM:Wow! Color is as good as a $50K color grading system and It's included in FCS 2. Motion has now officially grown a pair. 3D, motion ramping, better workflow. This is looking like a banner year for Apple and the death of Avid. And, we have to have Final Cut Server!!!! $1000 for 10 concurrent users, $2000 for unlimited. Runs on OS X Server and requires 1 Xsan client. Must have this! MUST!"Wow." Works for me.
Stealth Imaging unveils 120GB PCMCIA NAND hard drive
By now, it's probably safe to assume that you've found a peripheral or two to occupy your previously lonely ExpressCard slot, but if you're still miffed when it comes to the oh-so-overlooked PCMCIA slot, Stealth Imaging's got your answer. During NAB 2007, the firm announced that it would be offering up a 120GB NAND solid-state hard disc drive in the form of a CardBus Type II adapter, which would check in at 86-millimeters long and 5-millimeters thick. Furthermore, the device will reportedly sustain 132Mbps read / write rates, sport random seek times of under 50-nanoseconds, and consume "less than one-third of the power used in a typical spinning HDD." Unfortunately, there was no word on when the Windows / OS X compatible device would grace store shelves, but you can start cleaning the dust out of that PCMCIA slot now in preparation.[Thanks, Kevin]
Panasonic comes to NAB bearing P2 HD goodies
As Apple's keynote no doubt illustrated, NAB is for the most part concerned with one thing: HD video. Panasonic doesn't seem to have missed that point one bit with its slew of announcements, including a good amount of P2 HD products for us flash-memory fanboys to drool over. Panasonic is going to be releasing its 16GB P2 card in May for $900, and promises a 32GB version by the end of the year. If you haven't been tracking with this stuff, P2 is a PCMCIA-based storage format that allows for large amounts of flash memory to be swapped in and out of pro digital video cameras on the fly, perfect for quick turnaround jobs such as news editing. Along with the new cards, Panasonic is announcing the AJ-HPX3000 1080p, five-slot P2 HD camera, for $48k, and the AG-HPX500 four-slot 1080i / 720p camera (pictured) for $14k. Other related products to be released this year include a pair of "specialty cameras," and a portable P2 HD viewer going for $4k.
RED ONE hands-on, RED NAB booth tour
No way some amateurs like us are ever going to be worthy enough for a RED ONE -- which, as you may recall, was originally announced at NAB last year. But there it was, plain as day in their booth, ready to manhandle for anyone willing to wait in the 45 minute line to get in. The ONE isn't so large on its own, but kit it out with any of the copious amount of accessories RED is launching with it, and you'll get a good idea of how serious a rig it can become. We also caught a glimpse of their REDCINE software, which pre-processes all the raw output video you shot. Check it out; prepare to wish you too possessed the talent to bankroll a movie with one of these bad boys.%Gallery-2605%
8-core Mac Pro hands-on, Apple NAB booth tour
Behold, Apple's mammoth, sprawling NAB booth. Ready to show off all the pro apps it announced yesterday, the Apple complex came complete with two demo theaters, dozens of demo kiosks, a few octo-core Mac Pros (which we finally got our hands on for a hands-on -- not that it looks any different), and a small army of black-clad employees ready to school you in the ways of pro media production. We asked for a Compressor 3 demo showing off the octo-Pro's multithreaded rendering, and while the demo didn't actually successfully wrap, we did get to see those eight cores burn through a bit of HD encoding right quick. Also, be sure to check out Apple's massive, 40 Xserve RAID equipped demo media SAN -- it's almost too much aluminum-clad enterprise gear.%Gallery-2604%
Final Cut details released on apple.com
As Scott and the engadget crew at NAB noted earlier, Apple's introduction of Final Cut Studio 2 and Final Cut Server made quite a splash at the keynote presentation. Now that a bit of the dust has settled, apple.com has been updated with product details: Final Cut Studio product page Final Cut Server product page Studio press release Server press release Apple Store showing FCS2 with a May ship date Video clip of the AJA ioHD breakout unit (AJA site not updated yet) Pricing is set at $1299 for a new Studio license, $499/699 for upgrades from FCS1/Final Cut Pro or Production Suite, respectively; Final Cut Server is $999 for a 10-seat license, $1999 for unlimited clients. We'll be parsing the boatload of new features and tools in Studio over the next few days, hopefully with comments and contributions from video professionals who depend on these products every day.Personally, I'm excited about Final Cut Server. Having seen a demo of the original Proximity artbox product that FCServer is built on (I'm sure about this -- the screenshot is a dead ringer) and knowing the difference between what Proximity was charging and what Apple's going to charge for the product... well, it looks like this is going to be another game changer: Mercedes-quality digital asset management at a Kia-level price point.
Apple NAB event starts, Apple Store down
The NAB event is underway, and Apple has taken the Apple Store down. What could they be updating it with? Soon we shall all know!
Apple NAB event today
That's right, kids, Apple is holding a special event today at NAB (the National Association of Broadcasters) get together in Las Vegas. Will they announce something? Will they just show off existing stuff? I have no idea, but considering 8 core Mac Pros were just released I am thinking there won't be too much hardware news. My money is on a new version of Final Cut Studio.Our friends at Engadget will be liveblogging the event, and we here at TUAW will be posting about whatever is announced as soon as it is announced (assuming there is anything post worthy, of course).The event kicks off at 2pm EST.Update: Engadget has posted their liveblogging post. Let the games begin.
Apple keynote: live from NAB 2007
Welcome, welcome! Things aren't yet underway at Apple's Lights Camera Apple NAB keynote event, but be sure to check back here at this post for updates as things get started. We'll be getting underway shortly.10:30am PST - They've got us in the media corral, we're still a few minutes away from being let in.10:43am - We're in! They're playing the usual top 40 iTunes tracks: Muse, Franz Ferdinand. Haven't yet heard the classic Apple keynote anthem: Feel Good, Inc. by Gorillaz, but the event is young.
Apple NAB keynote tomorrow 11AM PST / 2PM EST
Just a friendly reminder to all the Macsexuals and Macurious in the house that we'll be reporting live from the Lights Camera Apple NAB keynote in Las Vegas tomorrow morning. Having just launched the Mac Pro octo-core and announced the delay of Leopard, we're not expecting a whole lot, but you never know with the people from Cupertino. See you there!08:00AM - Hawaii11:00AM - Pacific12:00PM - Mountain01:00PM - Central02:00PM - Eastern06:00PM - GMT07:00PM - London08:00PM - Paris03:00AM - Tokyo (April 16th)
Satellite CEOs aren't the only ones changing their tune
After witnessing the pair of attempts by the National Association of Broadcasters to discredit the Sirius-XM merger as a monopoly or bail-out, the folks at Orbitcast decided that "two can play" at that game, and created this clever "ad" of their own. We'll let the image do the talking.
Apple removes Final Cut Pro crossgrade option
Recently, Apple removed the Universal crossgrade option for the Final Cut Pro Studio suite of applications from its website. Previously, the crossgrade allowed customers to update their copies of software such as Final Cut Pro to Intel-native versions. And most interestingly, this unannounced move has come just before the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) conference in Las Vegas, which is set to begin on April 14. It has been rumored that Apple will make an announcement regarding a new version of Final Cut Pro at NAB, and this bit of news potentially supports that claim. Anyway, worth keeping in mind, and hopefully everyone took advantage of the crossgrade in time![via MacNN]
It's on: HD radio gets FCC blessing
We have to wonder what the mood is over at NAB headquarters right now, in light of the fact that the FCC has finally given HD radio -- the promised savior of terrestrial broadcasting -- the green-light. On the one hand, radio stations will now be able to offer to multiple streams of higher-quality, digital programming to the commuting public -- good news, indeed -- but on the other hand, XM and Sirius now have another example to wave in front of regulators who will argue that their proposed merger stifles competition. The new sources of revenue, however, combined with a technology that is said to be superior to satellite delivery, probably outweigh any potential effects on the merger, meaning that Clear Channel and friends are likely partying it up as we speak. As you probably know, HD radio allows stations to efficiently divide their spectrum in as many as five (and possibly more) streams, a move which advocates hope will increase programming diversity but detractors fear will just bring more of the same crap. Regardless of whether the increased capacity brings about more non-Top 40 stations, though, this ruling is definitely a plus for consumers; because even if the new content is just as lame as the current stuff, at least we gadgetheads now have an excuse to go out and buy a whole slew of fresh gear.Update: Just to clear things up, yes, certain stations have been broadcasting in HD for some time now, but those were special cases requiring FCC permission. This new ruling allows all certified terrestrial broadcasters to begin the switch over to digital, meaning that we'll soon see a nationwide rollout.
NAB still yukking it up at Sirius / XM merger's expense
Since MasterCard wasn't so hip with NAB swiping its "priceless" advertising identity, the National Association of Broadcasters has returned for round two of its anti-satellite radio merger campaign, this time to point out the apparent hypocrisy (above) of Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin's "bizarre" self-contradictions. Sure, it might be pretty clear that the consumers win with a Sirius / XM merger, and NAB is probably being the one getting all anti-competitive on us here, but that doesn't mean we can't all get a few cheap laughs out of it all the same.
Apple sends NAB event invites, 8-core Mac Pro on fanboy wishlists
No surprises here, but Apple is hosting another invite-only media event at next month's National Association of Broadcasters Conference in Vegas, and is almost sure to unveil a new version of its Final Cut Pro editing software. Luckily, Apple's NAB unveils aren't always limited to software, so hopes are high for word on that 8-core Mac Pro that's been squeezed through the rumor mill a few times in the past months. The "Lights Camera Apple" happenings will take place on April 15th at 11am.
NAB ripping off MasterCard with anti-Sirius/XM merger ad: priceless.
Not only is the NAB getting its own panties all up in a bunch over the looming threat of a satellite radio "monopoly", it has also managed to wedgie-fy MasterCard's britches, too. A new anti-Sirius / XM merger copycat ad of MC's signature "Priceless" campaign has been making the rounds -- the irony apparently lost on on the NAB that hiring a would-be-lobbyist for the other side and knocking off someone else's ad campaign smells very much of bad business. It's no surprise that MasterCard cried copyright infringement, which prompted the NAB to stop running the ad altogether. Michelle Lehman, the NAB's EVP of Marketing and Communications and Regulatory Affairs, confirms the cessation but also points out that the ad's already gotten a bunch of attention anyway. NAB losing its cool and cred in front of the industry? Now that's priceless.[Via Orbitcast]
John Ashcroft lobbying for NAB after being rebuffed by XM
So it looks like controversial former Attorney General John Ashcroft is using his remaining influence in the Justice Department to lobby on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters against the proposed satellite radio merger -- though it seems that he's acting more out of self-interest than anti-trust ideology in this debate, as the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Ashcroft's consulting firm initially approached XM before eventually being hired by NAB. As you might imagine, then, Ashcroft's letter the House and Senate Judiciary Committees was decidedly anti-amalgamation, concluding that "the proposed Sirius/XM merger, which reduces the number of competitors from two to one, raises most serious competition concerns." Of course, now that everyone knows Ashcroft originally intended to shill for XM before NAB "opted to pay him to parrot their views" (according to an XM spokesperson), his "professional opinion" on the matter will probably hold decidedly less weight. Still, the WSJ revelation apparently didn't stop Ashcroft from enjoying his weekend, where at various times he was spotted listening to his iPod, jamming out to HD radio, streaming NPR over the Internet, and of course nodding in agreement as Rush Limbaugh espoused his opinions over the free analog airwaves.
Apple NAB lineup and Special Event
Macworld reports that Apple will hold a Special Event on Sunday the 15th of April during the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters trade show. There are no details as yet as to what will be announced, but one guesses the event will have to do with Apple's suite of post-production video tools. In addition, over at BDMetrics, where you can often find corporate listings for major trade shows, there seems to be an early lineup for what will be displayed at Apple's booth.
Harris is showing off 1080p broadcast TV equipment at NAB2007
Is broadcast 1080p content really in our near future? Probably not, but that's not stopping Harris from showing off its broadcast solutions with support for 3Gb/s bandwidth (enough for current 720p, 1080i and of course "full" HD 1080p resolutions) at NAB2007 . The idea is that stations looking to upgrade their equipment can future-proof themselves by purchasing compatible equipment. It still remains to be seen if 1080p will make sense for broadcast TV but if we can get content from more than just Blu-ray and HD DVD players (or PCs) we'll definitely take it.
