Kodak's KZone at CES 2010 with the WebTV panel and our interview with Illeana Douglas. The text for this post will follow.
ViodiTV is produced by Roger Bindl and Ken Pyle.
Posts Tagged video
The K-Zone in the Korner
Jan 14
“Consumers are going to drive what applications are successful,” said Doug Wenzlaff of Solarus, in this video interview with Roger Bindl. Wenzlaff points out that one of the big changes in the telecom industry is that providers have had to shift from a culture of “build it and they will come” to one where the “customers build the services they want”. Wenzlaff points out that telecom companies need to build networks that are flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen customer-driven applications.
Wenzlaff describes how this philosophy is not much different than when Wood County Telephone, Solarus' former name, started its operation more than 100 years ago. The focus on customers, service and improving community was the impetus for launching Wood County Telephone and those same motivations were behind its offering of video and broadband products more than 10 years ago. In this video, Wenzlaff explains some of the lessons learned as they have transitioned to a broadband company and that they have enjoyed, "interesting times," this past decade.
Michael Koons of Cisco discusses how service velocity is an increasingly important factor in a telco’s ability to remain competitive. He also talks of how the video headend is morphing into a video data center. Michael touched on these points and more as a keynote speaker at OPASTCO’s 2009 Tech and Marketing Symposium. ViodiTV is produced by Roger Bindl and Ken Pyle.
Jerky video is the bane of television on mobile devices. Craig Lee of Ortiva Wireless talks about their technology and how it optimizes the transmission of video between wireless base stations and mobile handsets. More than just improving the quality of the video, Lee says that their product also allows carriers to increase the effective increase their coverage area. This technology has been deployed by Vodafone and is being deployed by an unnamed carrier in North America. The extremely intriguing thing is how the information Ortiva Wireless gathers could be used for optimizing content or advertisements for the individual viewer. Watch this video shot at Parks Associates’ Connections Conference to learn more.
What's New with Vegas Pro 9
Jun 16
Matthew Brohn, Product Manager Sony Creative Software, discusses some of the strengths of Vegas Pro video editing, and what’s new with Vegas 9… things like small footprint, direct editing of AVCHD and XDCAM, plus new effects. The video includes screen captures of real-time editing in Vegas.
I am not a big gadget person – really. I have had the G1 Phone for a couple of months and other than the electronic whoopee cushion application and the Shazam application (listens to music and identifies the song and artist), all of the applications I have downloaded from the Android Market have been ones intended to enhance productivity. So, at the Connections Conference, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the latest version of the Android software enables the recording of videos on my G1 Phone.
The video quality of the G1 can be marginal, especially in low light conditions and especially compared to the Creative or Flip camera I normally use. It cannot be beat for efficiency and ease of distributing the video either on YouTube or via email. The only thing I haven’t figured out is why the share feature doesn’t always work, which is probably just as well, as the world doesn’t need to see most of the videos I take.
The following video was shot while taking an early morning walk through downtown Colorado Springs. When I started my walk, my only plan was to get a little exercise in the brisk Colorado air. As I saw the various monuments and museums, along with the natural beauty of Pike’s Peak, I felt inspired to share what I saw with others, particularly since the upcoming OPASTCO Summer Convention finds its way to Colorado Springs next month. Additionally, I decided it would be kind of fun to present my impromptu creation during my presentation on Local Content (I didn’t).
Hopefully, we will see you in Colorado Springs at the OPASTCO event (July 25th-29th).
Click the image above for sponsorship opportunies at WSTA… but do it now, May 11th is the deadline.
Not only will sponsors get recognition on the Grand Geneva hotel channel during WSTA, but they be noted in WSTA’s newsletter, in Viodi View Newsletter, on ViodiTV, AND sponsors will get a short pormotional video they can embed on their own website.
Or call Roger for details… 608-268-5704.
The key takes from a CableFAX webinar on monetizing web video, social networks, and other on-line activities for me was that success come from various places, they were likely based on a plan, and the plan included a means to insure success.
Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried of EQAL, the producers of Lonely Girl 15, are great examples of how video producers come from unexpected walks of life. They had a vision, a plan, and ability to carry television formulas over to the web… with a twist. Curtis Hougland of Attention PR elaborated on the use of social networks to promote, resolve, and insure success, while Miguel Monteverde of Discovery Communications discussed the need for building content resources, getting them found, and generating ad revenue. This video only touches on points from a 90 minute webinar that were keys to each of their successes with monetizing.
Voice narration isn’t necessary to make the point of this two minute video as it notes the progression of IP in telecom and the progression of Video and TV over the Net. IP displaced ATM in an industry that would have said "no way" ten years ago. And now, Video and Television over the Net have progressed to a point where few are questioning or doubting, but many are jumping on the band wagon to provide products and service.
IPTV took a bit of a hit in December 2008 when SES announced it was backing out. Yet, at that same time, Vudu announced the addition of Web to TV episodes to it’s service. LG announced a box for Netflix movies delivered over the Net to the television, and then announced a TV that didn’t need a box. Roku and VuNow also have a box for video to the TV while XBox, Playstation, and Wi already do Internet video on the TV, and then Ninetendo announced an Internet channel that struck fear in the Japanese TV industry.
Even before these Internet to TV boxes came along, there was writing on the wall with the aggregation of network, studio, and film content. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Comedy Central, Disney, and many others have been streaming programs over the net for quite some time. It was a logical progression for companies like Hulu, Boxee, and even TV Guide to aggregate.
The missing link for television video on the net, and the aggregation of that content, for watching on the TV, was a box. Today there are many with many more likely to show up in 2009. My conclusion in the video above is that operators need to learn more about these activities by watching, uploading video content and experimenting, learning to create video playlists, and embedding customized players on a website. The tools for learning are free – YouTube, BlipTV, Revver, Metacafe, Facebook, and the many others – so it seems very logical that using these, and observing will help realize how to partner in these ventures.
ViodiTV has been posting video’s for the past 6 years and learned many things by expermenting. We’ve learned what’s good and bad about various services, about generating ad revenue through new avenues, about creating playlists for linear on demand viewing, and customizing players to embed on a website. We’ve learned why CDN’s are important for video, and about many start-ups and stealths at various conference that focus on video over the net.
To use an abstract analogy I’d conclude with the phrase… In 2008 "Wii" got "Fit" on TV; In 2009 TV is getting Fit for Us. I also want to point out that the music in this video is Creative Commons License 
downloaded from ccMixter.org. "Pulsing Piano Bit for Goodby December" by Kaer Trouz.
Throw out the $100,000+ video production truck, it is now possible to use 3G/WiFi or, in the future, WiMAX as a low-cost video uplink. At Streaming Media West, we caught up with LiveU, which has a pay as you go ($1,500 to $2,500 per month) solution to allow anyone with a video camera to transmit video in a portable manner.
Unlike other solutions, the LiveU’s approach is a self-contained unit that accepts DV inputs or, optionally, composite or SDI. Those inputs are compressed to between 64 Kbs to 2 Mbs using H.264 compression to provide quality level of QCIF to D1. It contains between 6 and 9 3G modems, has batteries and fits in a backpack, allowing anyone with a camera to become a roving reporter.
Used by NBC in the recent Olympics, this solution provides a much faster and lower cost alternative than the traditional broadcast production truck and opens up new applications for live video.
