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US Open: Worse HD coverage than the World Cup
Did anyone catch the US Open over the weekend? It was a great sporting event that was butchered by piss-poor HD coverage. There wasn't a five minute interval that didn't have at-least three SD camera shots in it. The event was supposed to be in HD but ESPNHD and NBC continually switched to non-HD. This is somewhat of a common thing on a large course like Winged Foot but both stations insisted on presenting us with Stretch-O-Vision. Normally, ESPNHD would put their logo bars on the side, but that didn't happen this time. One of the best SD camera shots was of a golfer teeing off and they switched from their HD feed to an SD feed and you could clearly make out the other high-def camera that was just on. Now we know many of you had issues with the World Cup coverage but there is no way it was worse the the US Open.
RoboCup underway in Germany
Human footballers aren't the only ones in Germany getting a little bit of lovin' this time of year. More than 400 teams from 36 countries have shown up for the annual RoboCup, which pits robot against robot in soccer matches across 11 leagues. The goal, as always, is to have a humanoid robot team capable of beating the human World Cup champs in 2050, but right now a lot of the robots are just happy to stand up. Current favorites in the humanoid competition is a team from Japan, while the returning champs from Germany are expected to do well in the four-legged league. Live commentary for some matches will be provided by Sango and Ami, two robots from Carnegie Mellon who explain rules, analyze fouls and call out the goals with their very own "personalities." No word if former star RoboVie-V will be making an appearance among the robot horde, but the real question is: can they dance like Peter Crouch?
Annoying sound, video problems mar high-def World Cup broadcast
While the guys playing in the World Cup are professionals, it seems the stateside broadcasters are still very much amateurs when it comes to displaying the beautiful game. I've caught a couple games since the tournament started, and while the quality of the broadcast is excellent. You can see everything very clearly and the sport is more fun to watch in widescreen, as you can see the positioning of the players better. While it is almost enough to wipe the nasty taste of the Winter Olympics debacle from my mouth, and doesn't have the HDTV compression problems cited in Korea, there are still some issues to be worked out.
Overcompressed bitstarved HDTV frustrates World Cup fans
It's an unfortunate but familiar circumstance for many high definition television owners, after spending a lot of money on a new HDTV, hooked up the cable/satellite/antenna and settled in to watch the big game, only to get a blurry, blocky mess. While American soccer futbot football soccer fans have commented that they "can finally see the ball" during the World Cup broadcast, Korean watchers are flooding the nations three major broadcasters with complaints that they can't see anything thats moving quickly.The broadcasters have been testing a new multicasting system, MMS to broadcast more channels within the same frequency, lowering the bitrate from 19Mbps to 13Mbps. It looks like viewers noticed the difference, with threats to sue and other complaints posted on the internet. The Korean Broadcasting Commission is going to vote tomorrow on whether to continue the MMS test or not. Korea, we've got our fingers crossed. Whether or not someone will sue ESPN for their poor color commentary during games remains to be seen.
The geek version of the World Cup
Alice spotted this snap of the geek's version of the World Cup from the Electronic Football Challenge '06. I'm sure many gamers are intrigued by the logic behind a football game that doesn't require much more effort than rapid wrist movements and lets players argue with the referee over irc. Also, check out the absent keeper from the nearest team: they must have replaced him with a firewall (sorry).If you're the type that prefers -- slightly more -- real football, then you might be pleased to know that Konami dropped us a line to say that they've signed (according to the press release) "one of the most dangerous strikers in soccer today", Adriano "lightning balls" Ribeiro, to be the figurehead of Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007.
World Cup tech: HD, mobile, and web TV makes Cup hard to miss
With the FIFA World Cup set for kickoff at 11:55AM EST today, most of us Americans are still sitting around scratching our heads trying to figure out how to pronounce Pelé, and whether we'd be offending anybody if we just called football "soccer" so things are less confusing. Turns out we are very alone in this predicament, since in 2002 the World Cup nabbed a total TV viewership of 29 billion, with 1.1 billion people viewing Brazil's defeat of Germany in the finale. The tournament takes place among 32 teams over the course of a month, and is being hosted by Germany this time around -- who have built or retrofitted 12 stadiums to host the 64 matches. Suffice it to say that this is the biggest sporting event in the world, making our American football's Super Bowl look quite minuscule by comparison. And what better way to celebrate this month of sporting excess than to round up all the tech it entails? If you need a bit more convincing, we recommend Larry Dobrow's "The Ignorant American's Guide to the World Cup," and if that doesn't help, might we remind you of the decent chance of celebratory and/or irate crazed-fan rioting -- brought to you live in HD? While there are a myriad of ways to actually receive live TV of the matches all over the world, the main source for all this video is a team-up of HBS and Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems Media&Broadcast. HBS (Host Broadcast Services) is a dedicated organization set specifically to produce TV and radio coverage of the tournament, and they're all set with a staff of 2,000 to produce live 16:9, SD, PAL, and HDTV coverage from all 12 stadiums. The 1080i/50 MPEG-2 signals alone run at 1,485Mbps, with a minimum of 20 HDTV cameras running for each match. That's where T-Systems Media&Broadcast steps in: pumping out all that data. They'll be on the scene with ISDN, Ethernet, WiFi, DSL, EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA to shoot HBS signals to the International Broadcast Centre master control in Munich, and to manage all the other data from the 15,000 or so press people on the scene. From the IBC, the video and audio "pool feed" gets shipped off to more than 180 broadcasters worldwide. You think we're done? Not a chance, click on!
Comcast is adding ESPN2-HD in time for the World Cup
Many have complained after seeing the World Cup TV schedule that a significant number of the games are on ESPN2, which does broadcast in HD but most companies don't carry. Comcast has announced they will add ESPN2-HD in "several markets" tomorrow...but they didn't say which ones. So for all the soccer futbol fans out there, you might be in luck...or you might not. If anyone can get ahold of the list of cities or areas where ESPN2-HD will be available or if other carriers will add the channel as well, please let us know in the comments.
2006 World Cup HD Schedule
The 2006 World Cup kicks off tomorrow at 11:55 a.m. EST, I know, I know, everyone knows that. With less than 24 hours to go, I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone of the HD schedule or the where and the when. While it is great news that all the games will be produced in HD, we all won't be able to enjoy them because of our own programming challenges. Here in the US the coverage is split between ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, which are all owned by Disney. It has always been a mystery to us how they decide which network cover which event and the World Cup isn't any different. ESPN-HD is carried by many more companies than ESPN2-HD and ever since the launch of ESPN2-HD viewers everywhere have been crying; Why do they need two ESPN-HD channels when the first isn't full of HD? We am sure they have their reasons and we're pretty sure our best interests are not in mind. As a result soccer fans everywhere are going to be crying to their providers to carry ESPN2-HD, ahh now we see why they have 2. As for the where and the when, head over to HDSportsguide.com for the full schedule here in the states and I know it isn't that popular in the states, but we are going to at least watch one game, if for no other reason than to comment on the production quality. The first US game will be on ESPN2HD at 11:55 a.m. EST on June 12th 2006.
Need a wee during the World Cup final? Just bring your PSP
I'm not exactly what you'd call football's number one fan (that's soccer to Americans), but a lot of my friends are close. That's why I'm slightly depressed to bring you news of a World Cup themed feature for the PSP that I know a lot of my footie-loving friends would love to get their hands on. The aptly named (at least for this post) P-TV, the portable TV service for PSPs, is offering all 64 World Cup matches for viewing on the PSP for around a dollar per game. A visit to the "jardin" during a match will no longer be a problem: if you live in Japan. Yep, the deal's exclusive to the land of the steel phallus.In all seriousness, Sony could sell a bucketload of PSPs in the UK if they combined a "don't miss a single shot" marketing line with this promotion. There's no problem with access either: a lot of pubs now serve up wifi with their pints. Unfortunately, unless Sony ends up bringing this deal out of Japan, then footie fans will have to resort to that other boring, but tried-and-tested method for minimizing water breaks: not drinking so much damned beer!
Plasmas being installed in bus drivers lunch rooms - Australia
Oh World Cup. How people must watch you in high-def. You have even gotten Australian bus social clubs to install plasmas in their members lunch rooms so they can watch you while they eat. You are just so riveting that these groups are afraid that their drivers will stay up all night watching you and they are naturally concerned for their riders. You don't want to hurt any body, do you World Cup Why do you do this to these people World Cup? You are depriving them of sleep and making them spend their well earned lunches watching you on a gorgeous HDTV. Why World Cup...Why?
HDTV World Cup madness sweeps the world...but not South America
With World Cup action just a week away, HDTVs are flying off store shelves and broadcasters are gearing up to provide high definition signals worldwide...but not quite. If you live in the Americas south of Mexico there will be no high-def broadcasts available to you as the governments there have not agreed on a broadcast standard. As the article notes (and we've noted previously), Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Colombia are looking into it, but will not have anything set until well after this summer's sports action has ended. Unfortunately, the people of futbol-crazy South America won't get the same broadcast quality available elsewhere, at least in Europe people will go to bars or even movie theaters to catch the HD game. Our government (with quite a bit of prodding from CE manufacturers) at least has a standard set so we can watch HD, now if they can just work something out so cable subscribers can get more channels.Read (Translated by Google)
DMBO T-DMB receiver works as P2P repeater
With an incredible demand for portable live TV about to hit the world thanks to next week's launch of the FIFA World Cup, onTimetek has figured out a clever way to feed video to the masses using incomplete T-DMB infrastructure and without breaking anybody's bandwidth bill. Their new DMBO device is just a regular USB T-DMB receiver, but it mixes with the DMBO software to provide live video to others via P2P. It seems the system is mainly designed to fill in the gaps for those with poor reception, but we could really go for something like this broadcasting to the rest of the world -- we were always dreamers.
World Cup causes HDTV selling frenzy
We are sure that some of you could care less about the World Cup then what Martha Stewart had for dinner last night. But then there are some people that MUST watch it and live it. The later type of people are those that are causing HDTVs to fly off the shelves over in England. Check this out. Currys, an UK electronic store, is selling flat-screens at the rate of one every 15 seconds! They have noticed a 50% increase in sales of HDTVs and flat-screens and when you add in the drop in price with the World Cup, anyone can understand why. But the sales increase just isn't in the normal consumer line ether. Bang & Olufsen, über-high end, has experienced a 500% increase in their HDTV sales too! So we have to ask. Has anyone bought a HDTV with the World Cup solely in mind?
Debitel launches Samsung P900, T-DMB in Germany
Productivity everywhere stands to suffer for the next month or so as World Cup Fever sets in, but expect German productivity to take an even stronger hit -- carrier Debitel is using the tournament as the launching pad for its new T-DMB service. No word on how many games will be available for viewing, but we suspect there'll be enough to justify stealing off to the office bathroom at an alarming frequency. The service launches today along with the compatible Samsung P900, which will set you back €199 (roughly $250) with contract.
Microsoft targets Indian market with steep price tag
Microsoft has announced plans to launch the Xbox 360 in India by October. By being the first "second-generation" console available in the country, corporate global sales VP Mitch Koch declared, "[Microsoft is] going to capture 100 percent market share." Did we mention that the Xbox 360 core system is going to retail for 19,990 rupees? That's $440! Ouch.The plan is to lure consumers with a World Cup tie-in incentive. That is, on June 9, the day the World Cup kicks off, Microsoft will begin offering 10% discounts to those who pre-order the console. According to Microsoft's analysis, India's gaming market is poised to explode. Currently, there are about 1.6 million citizens that spend more than two hours per day gaming.The initial launch will target India's major cities, but the Xbox 360 will eventually be available throughout the entire country at over 1,200 retail locations.[Thanks, steve]
Sky HD Launch delayed for many
The BBC is reporting that many in the UK are facing delays in getting high definition set-top boxes installed due to shortages. While thousands of customers have been installed already, many are getting shuffled back as much as three weeks. As our friends at HDTV UK mention, anyone who didn't preorder their install from Sky already can look forward to an install date of August, after the World Cup broadcast that people there are so looking forward to.HDTV UK however was one of the lucky few to get their high definition boxes installed already, and have a few impressions of it up. Now they finally join us in discussing such mysteries as why does every Discovery HD program feature something getting eaten? Honestly we don't know, but you get used to it after a while.
Toshiba's Dynabook 2006 FIFA World Cup laptop
So you've got your FIFA World Cup Xbox 360 and HDTV read to go but, well, you’re still just not feelin’ that World Cup fever? How ‘bout trying on a new, limited edition Toshiba Dynabook 2006 FIFA Word Cup laptop? This pup starts with a Dynabook TX base (1.6GHz Core Duo, 15.4-inch WXGA LCD, 80GB disk, 512MB RAM, and Harman & Kardon speakers), lays on a healthy slathering of gold paint inscribed with the dates and countries of previous World Cup hosts/winners, loads-up a multitude of soccertastic themes, and then slaps on a serial plate just in case your silicon slab gets mixed-in with one of the other 600 units produced. Now the ol' mercury's rising, eh? Ok, maybe not. Still, they'll be shipping May 26 for right around $1700 -- just in time for some hard posing at the pub or heaving onto the pitch should the “Hand-of-God” make its return. [Thanks, Roygbiv]
Adidas sponsoring free week of XBL Gold
Xboxyde has early word that shoe maker Adidas will sponsor a full week of free Xbox Live Gold May 8 -15. The promotion is called the "Xbox Live Football Free-For-All" and is designed to give Silver members a chance to show their online skills at FIFA World Cup 2006 leading up to the Xbox Cup this summer in Germany. There's also going to be a bunch of free XBLM content, which should be pretty good considering it's during E3. More details should follow when the event is officially unveiled tomorrow. Topping Verizon's free XBL Gold weekend by five Midas-touched days is sure to generate good will among soccer fans and non-soccer fans alike. How about slapping a few more shoe ads up there and making online gaming free permanently? [Thanks Tomcats]
London Residents: HDTV trials are starting, apply now!
Remember a few weeks ago when we talked about the BBC trials? Well, the network is taking applications for the trial that will take place in London. So, not to state the obvious, but you have to live in London and the not so obvious is that you have to have Freeview. The network will then provide a select couple hundred households with set top boxes to receive the signal.Not sold yet London residents, this trial would allow you to watch the coveted World Cup games...
Yahoo! Mobile Matchcast brings World Cup to phones
This being a World Cup year, it's only fitting that some of the slickest ways to digest sports stats will be coming our way before the tournament hits in June. Along those lines, Yahoo! has partnered up Everypoint to develop Yahoo! Mobile Matchcast for Java enabled phones. The downloadable app "pushes" scores and stats to a user's handset, along with photos, previews, and tournament news. It all works in real time, and the content is displayed by Everypoint's vector display engine to keep things looking sharp. The app will be available for download at the official tournament site, we're not sure on the price.
