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* Wifi / Mobile*
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The Bridge Ratings Report - The Impact of Wireless Internet
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Much has been written about the potential of Wireless Internet and the flexibility that comes with more wireless devices and increasing Wi-Fi locations.
But what about the impact on traditional radio listening of Wi-Fi or its wide-area cousin, Wi-Max, once the technology is available in-car?
During July/August 2007, Bridge Ratings undertook a broad-based national study of this question by interviewing consumers and device and auto manufacturers to better understand the implications of wireless Internet and the availability of Wireless Internet Radio.
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T6 Commentary: While the article centers on mobile wifi applications, specifically in car wifi radio, the findings also show a greater market for municipal wifi and WiMax topologies. The early adaptors and innovators Questioned –(Crossing the Chasm anyone?)- stated that they would be ready to buy cars or have installed to their current car, a wifi radio systems which would supplant satellite and terrestrial radio. The infrastructure for such systems is already being put in place and is expected to experience dramatic growth over the next 5 years. What could drive a new municipal wide ‘off-air’ system to expect?
“…Mobile WiMAX customers will grow at an annual compounded rate of 64% between 2009 and 2012”
Short answer- take anywhere media.
Long answer – With the growth of acceptance for media, both audio and video, on mobile multi-purpose units especially amongst the 18-35 set, the desire for an all in one media device is the philosophers stone. I do not simply mean the current day incarnations such as iPhone, but what an iPhone device could truly become. Imagine being able to start watching you favorite show on a mobile device whilst in the back of cab, continuing to watch as you walk toward your front door, pausing as you stop to chat with the neighbors or get your mail, then placing the device in a cradle which instantly switches to sending out a full HD signal to all the monitors in the house via the 802.11n transmitter in the dock. None of the media would ever have to be stored on the device as the bandwidth and coverage allows for remote storage which you can access instantly. No connecting to a separate computer to choose and load your files, as the device is your computer and entertainment center. The scenario described is where Muni-wifi and WiMax threaten to take over traditional broadcast mediums and can very likely be THE transport medium for all content in less then 20 years.
Think I am full of twaddle? Just look at the huge scramble to by everyone to get their hands in on the FCC spectrum sale and the fisticuffs developing over the ‘Open-access’ rules. For more details see the below article and commentary. .
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Verizon Wireless Suing Over Auction Rules |
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Verizon Wireless has sued the Federal Communications Commission, seeking to overturn auction rules requiring the buyers of some airwaves to make their networks compatible with any device..
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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/technology/14verizon.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin
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T6 Commentary: There is a big brouhaha developing over the allocation rules to govern the use of the soon to be auctioned off 700MHz spectrum, and it is getting ugly. In selling off the soon to be unused spectrum, the FCC wants to promote innovative development of personal and business communications devices and services. The established wireless carriers say they can do this all on their own utilizing the existing model of the current mobile phone industry. The FCC taking a long look at how features and service long available in Europe or Korea have yet to make it here. Even when the US market gets a cool feature like video on demand, usually one can only access files from the carriers’ sites and definitely cannot share with others outside your network. Take iPhone for example. The FCC, in agreement with potential bidders such as Google, Apple and Microsoft, favors requiring that any device designed to work on the frequency and model developed by the spectrum owner MUST be accepted on that network. The current ruling is similar to how those companies who own the physical lines must allow all viable competitors to have access in order to compete. Sprint, Verizon and the gang hate this of course, they argue that this will make system reliability suffer thereby cheating the end user. Verizon argues, as did the Ma Bells, that they will have to pay to repair network issues caused by others who will have no requirements to assist in the system repairs. The FCC sees a great explosion of innovation and new services all of which will require an FCC license fee. For some further details on the players and the stakes see the article Apple eyes frequency auction http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2007/tc20070910_014733.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_computers
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Clothing Shop Tweaks RFID Tech for Hip Shoppers |
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There's no quick phrase that can describe Industry Standard, a business that opened this month near Ohio State University in Columbus.
It's part urban clothing store, part recording studio, part skateboard shop, part art gallery.
It's a pioneer for the in-store application of radio-frequency identification, or RFID, technology that allows customers to communicate with store employees as they shop
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T6 Commentary: Most articles dealing with RFID center on the simple inventory and tracking uses of RFID and it associated derivations for industrial and homeland security applications. Here are some folks with just a bit of fun in their eyes, who think the system can carry a certain hip factor. The RFID chip can allow for an interactive shopping experience where displays and even dressing room mirror can offer complimentary items or accessories. While one of the main functions will still be theft prevention and quicker checkouts –(less time to pull an item off at the last minute), the ability to interact with the item prior to purchase is just cool.
What would you like to see as an interactive RFID feature?
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* audio*
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IP Compatibility Comes To More Custom Speakers
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Polk launched a pair of lower cost IP-ready speakers, the round $175-each SC80 IPR and rectangular $215-each SC85 IPR. The two-way 8-inch speakers operate passively, but their internal passive crossovers can be bypassed at the flick of a switch to connect to NetStreams-provided amplifier/DSP modules mounted nearby. The modules, designed specifically for Polk’s speakers, offer all of the DSP features of the IP-addressable speakers except for DSP-based room-acoustics compensation. Both speakers will carry the StreamNet-Ready logo.
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http://www.twice.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6478437
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T6 Commentary: The installation of IP connected speakers may seem odd to some in the beginning and there are some considerations of sound processing utilized, but the benefits are worth noting. I first encountered the beginnings of such systems with the release of CobraNet, which was taken up whole-heartedly by QSC. Like the professional amplifiers the QSC systems help monitor, IP speaker systems can provide a host of tidbits like current frequency response and driver condition. I suspect will be quite possible to add miniature microphones which could measure room response and provide feedback to a main system which would alter the frequency response and power as needed. Take the example of a large meeting room and the differing sound requirements for an empty room, a half full room and a room near the bursting point. Traditionally a sound person would develop a number of pre-canned settings, which would be a best attempt at altering the sound environments for a range of occupancies. With an IP based system changes could be made dynamically on the fly. Okay and it might also be cheaper to run CAT 5 then traditional speaker wire.
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* Format Wars *
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Warner Remains Loyal To Dual HD Formats
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Despite reports that Warner Home Video has been offered lucrative payments to follow Paramount’s path and become an exclusive HD DVD high-definition disc provider, the company’s president Ron Sanders told TWICE at CEDIA Expo that the company has enjoyed strong sales in both formats and will likely continue to support both until that changes.
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http://www.twice.com/index.asp?layout=articlePrint&articleID=CA6477849
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T6 Commentary: The HD format wars appear to have reached a state of stasis with proclamations and offerings from both sides having little affect on the reach for market dominance. Time-Warner and others having tired of this and having little luck with divination from pig’s bones and sea shells, stands its self firmly on the fence.
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NME’s New Disc Format |
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HD VMD is a true HD format with 1920 x 1080i/p resolution, up to 40 Mbps bit rate playback, DVD up-scaling so users can watch their existing DVD collection and achieve premium picture quality through their HD TV monitors. The HD VMD player is suitable for playback on all HD-capable display devices and will support existing optical disc formats: CD, DVD (DVD 5 & DVD 9). HD VMD players also feature Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and all region codes for greater film viewing flexibility.
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T6 Commentary: Into the quagmire steps a new player and a totally new format. The specifications are interesting and at £179 (approx: $356 US) not a bad price at all. What hope is there for this format to take any hold at all? Well, it all depends on where you are. China has publicly declared its desire to develop and sell a completely separate format then HD-DVD and Blu-Ray and has shown working units at a few Chinese electronic shows. The NME disc could be a relevant format in parts of Southeast Asia or even India. Get one Bollywood studio to sign on and you have an instant standard by sheer number of titles. (have I mentioned my most recent obsession with Bollywood pop music? Not only do I think it is cool, my 2 year old bounces around the room like a pinball to it).
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* New Media *
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Gracenote Unveils DVD Recognition System
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Available in mid-2008, the VideoID-DVD solution will leverage Gracenote’s Global Media Database with in-depth information on more than 195,000 movie titles. This comprehensive catalog will contain more than 50 individual data attributes behind each title, including director, cast members, production crew, studio, genre, keywords, release year, language, awards, and more. In addition to the extensive database, VideoID-DVD will feature Gracenote’s patented media recognition software for accurately identifying individual DVDs and relating them to the Gracenote database.
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http://resmagonline.com/articles/publish/article_2044.shtml
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T6 Commentary: It is interesting to note just how these disc recognition systems work. Many think the metadata or at least the hook the Metadata is included in the TOC –(Table of Contents)- section of a disc, often this is not the case. What happens is that the recognition software compares the millions of bit on each recording of which for each piece of music or movie there is only one possible combination. This holds true even when you change the timing or phasing. This method of identifying content helped expose what is considered the greatest deception in classical music. The Case of Joyce Hatto is an interesting study on the unintended results of new technology. Joyce Hatto was a little know pianist who received mild recognition until the release of previously unknown recordings a few years back took the classical world by storm. That is until the day a critic inserted the disc in his computer and iTunes identified “her” piece as another recording altogether; and it was not Ms. Hatto. It appears that Ms Hatto’s husband, eager to give his now dying wife some recognition –(and sell some discs)- combined different performances by cutting an pasting sections which he then speeded up or slowed down to make them sound as if Joyce Hatto had recorded them. The iTunes software had no idea what disc was inserted but did know what all the bits meant, and stated as such in the critics iTune player.
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* H\DTV *
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FCC chairman promotes post-digital TV rule
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Unless the commission acts, some cable customers may actually be harmed by the transition and lose the ability to view some of these channels," Martin told The Associated Press on Monday.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20719817/
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T6 Commentary: So, are Cable customers immune to the analog cut off or not? For cable customers like me who cling to their old analog sets until they die this is a critical issue. I will be happy to use a ‘down converter’ if someone could only tell me what form this box will take. Currently I have a standard cable box with YC video out into my receiver. My cable company has long told me that this would be just fine after the analog cut off date. Now many others and I are not so sure. Considering just how many average cable subscribers have paid little or no attention to the HD offerings, this better work from the get go or companies such as Cablevision will face a serious customer rebellion. (Just for the record- prior to meeting my wife I spent 8 years without a television, even though I worked in the AV install industry and my mother offered to buy me one every X-mas. It was only after moving in with my wife that I had access to a regular TV. Then I only commandeered it for watching hockey games. The TV CC –(my wife) brought to the relationship was 10 years old when we decided to live in sin and it lasted for 4 more years. Our current Television is a 27-inch Sony Wega, the biggest TV I have ever owned. I expect this will last us for 6 or 7 more years, only when it is dead and buried I will convert to some form of HD. This is the quasi luddite in me rearing its ugly head. Regardless of my professional respect for 1080p broadcasts of the NY Rangers games, I just will not retire a device until it has fully served its time. So, if the cable companies will not provide me with a quick solution then expect to see high praise for home built converter boxes from Nuts and Volts magazine in this blog).
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* Tech Arcane *-- Every time I use this heading I still hear Jerry Reed – East bound and Hammer down baby!
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The Flying Toaster Lives !
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UNEASYsilence is proud to announce the release of ToasterClone - the classic flying toasters screensaver raised from the ashes, recompiled, and redistributed for your own personal use.
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http://uneasysilence.com/toast/
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T6 Commentary: I spent way too many hours with this image in the background during my staging days. I feel sometimes watching this screen saver is akin to sitting next to my dead head friends (who saw 60 shows before Jerry died) watching videos of Dead shows and saying to me with a serious face… “dude now they are deliberately trying to make me have a flash back, whoa”. Yeah.
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Rotating Wall Outlets
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Bet you didn’t know these existed, eh? Yup, well, they do, and now you don’t need to get extenders or power strips to get more than 1 of those odd-shaped or oversized power adapters plugged straight into your wall power outlet. Each outlet rotates independently of the other and go around 360 degrees, and clicks into 18 unique positions. .
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http://www.smarthome.com/2241I.html?src=WLS00W00
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T6 Commentary: This just makes me paraphrase of last lines in ‘Go Dog Go’ – I like it, I like it a lot.
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Check out T6’s ‘Culture Corner’ with links to bands you should know and Inspired technical links from those who inspire me.
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Does anyone actually read the liner notes? Let me know, the comments section of T6 is now open. At the end of every issue find the Comments link.
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All quoted material is the copyright of the respective sites and \ or authors- except were noted or comments are clearly mine.
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All T6 commentary opinions expressed are mine alone and are not necessarily those of Crestron Electronics, its employees, associates or even their families. Just my big mouth
