18 August 2009
Vizrt announces that Viz Curious Maps 9.1the latest version of its branded mapping and geographic animation software for broadcastwill be introduced during the companys invitation-only Amsterdam Sessions, from September 10th-15th in the Hotel Okura in Amsterdam. Version 9.1 represents a major upgrade to Curious Maps, which is considered the defacto standard for creating and animating electronic maps.
At a time when breaking news can erupt in any corner of the world, its imperative for broadcast journalists to have sophisticated, intuitive map building software capable of integrating high-resolution global satellite imagery, said Ran Yakir, Head of R&D Israel, Vizrt. Curious Maps 9.1 is unrivaled in its ability to build, label, and animate all types of colorful, appealing maps so that broadcasters can effectively illustrate and convey the geographical locations and terrain impacting todays news events.
Viz Curious Maps 9.1 adds several essential features that make it easier to incorporate high-resolution global satellite imagery from several well-respected providers directly into the map building environment.
With Viz Curious Maps 9.1, users may now access digital satellite imagery from online services offered by Vizrt partner, DigitalGlobe. As a leading provider of high-res global imagery, Digital Globe offers an online library of tiled imagery that can now be accessed and downloaded from DigitalGlobe servers directly into Curious Maps 9.1.
This release also adds the ability to incorporate highly detailed 15 meters per pixel (m/pixel) resolution global and regional datasetssuch as Western Europefrom PlanetObserver. Until now, Curious Maps customers have only been able to use PlanetObserver datasets at 150m/pixel resolution.
Since the native 15m/pixel and 150m/pixel resolution datasets share the same natural color quality, its now possible to effect a dramatic, virtually seamless zoom from 150m/pixel images into closer, sharper 15m/pixel views of the same area, said Yakir.
In addition, Viz Curious Maps 9.1 improves the systems Curious Maps Editor (CME) by adding enhanced search capabilities and other usability updates. It also upgrades the map building process, extends support for 3rd party data and improves vector rendering performance.
By means of the Viz Curious Maps server edition, this solution provides realtime, branded map imagery to several clients embedded within Vizrts control applications. Templates created within Viz Curious Maps can be dynamically accessed through the Viz Trio character generator, Viz Content Pilot for template-based graphics, Viz Weather for the production and playout of advanced, realtime weather visualization , and Viz Artist for animation and visual effects creation. With this functionality, users can seamlessly create branded, animated TV maps and add them to graphics templates or insert them directly into 3D scenes.
14 August 2009
Radio Australia has announced plans to reach audiences in Myanmar including a new special service in Burmese.
Radio Australia Chief Executive Officer, Hanh Tran, said events in Myanmar in recent times, including the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, the extension and detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and the prospect of coming elections, highlighted the need for strong communications into the region.
He said the service to Myanmar in English is imminent with a Burmese language service to follow.
Director of ABC International, Murray Green, said the ABC had been working with the Australian government looking for ways of improving the flow of information to the people of Myanmar.
Mr Green said the move reflected the ABC’s on-going commitment to serving people in those parts of the Asia-Pacific without press freedom.
Radio Australia has served audiences in the region for nearly 70 years but much of that capacity was constrained in the late 1990s as a result of budget cuts.
Mr Green said this latest move to re-introduce Myanmar as a service area was another milestone in the strengthening of the ABC’s presence in the region.
14 August 2009
From the GSMA Mobile Business Briefing:
Ericsson’s outgoing CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg has reaffirmed the Swedish vendor’s commitment to Sony Ericsson, its loss-making handset joint venture with Japan’s Sony.
In an interview with Reuters, Svanberg said that Ericsson is willing to arrange bank financing to support the venture rather than it rely on contributions from its parent companies. “The first thing you do as a company is not to run to your shareholders and ask for more money. The first thing you do is try to arrange normal financing,” Svanberg said, adding that lending conditions have improved from six months ago.
However, he said that Ericsson remained committed to providing financing for the JV if necessary and would not “leave them in the cold if they end up in that situation.” Sony Ericsson’s share of the global handset market has sunk to around 5 percent, but Svanberg said the unit remains an important part of Ericsson’s overall mobile strategy. However, he declined to forecast when the loss-making unit would return to profitability and said there was no timeframe in place for when the unit would move into the black.
Elsewhere in his interview, Svanberg said that mobile operators appear to have stopped cutting spending on network equipment, suggesting a recovery in the market was imminent. “The whole world is suffering from decline that is bigger than anything we’ve seen… [but] it is not our impression that there is further cutting being made,” he said.
Svanberg, who will leave Ericsson to become chairman of UK energy giant BP in January, was in San Jose for the opening ceremony of the company’s new IP and Broadband business division headquarters, the company’s only product group based outside of Sweden. Ericsson’s standing in the North American market has strengthened significantly this year following its managed services deal with Sprint Nextel and its acquisition of key mobile assets from bankrupt Canadian equipment maker Nortel Networks. Svanberg said he expected the Nortel deal to close “very soon.”
14 August 2009
CASBAA today applauded the launch of an Indonesian government campaign to regularize the countrys cable-TV industry. Speaking at an August 10 National Seminar on Pay-TV Broadcasting that launched the campaign, Bambang Subijantoro, Director of Broadcasting in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Depkominfo) noted that Indonesia has a dynamic and rapidly growing pay-TV industry, but that provincial cable companies were largely operating in the informal sector, without proper licenses.
The governments new campaign, Mr. Bambang said, was aimed at correcting that situation, and instilling respect for national laws including intellectual property law into the industry. Dr. Andi N. Sommeng, Indonesias Director-General of Intellectual Property, noted that re-distributing channels without authorization from the rights holder was illegal, punishable by fines and potentially prison terms.
This seminar is an excellent start to putting Indonesias pay-TV industry on a professional, sustainable footing, said CASBAA CEO Simon Twiston Davies. We are very pleased to be part of a public-private partnership supporting this effort. We congratulate our Indonesian partners led by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Depkominfo) on the forthright steps they are taking to deal with the problems of the industry, and set a clear future path for growth and development.
CASBAA is part of a coalition of government agencies and industry players participating in the just-launched campaign. Local lead organisers include, alongside the Depkominfo, the Indonesian industry association APMI (Asosiasi Penyelenggara Multimedia Indonesia) and the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI).
During the seminar, CASBAAs views were presented by leading Jakarta IP expert (and founder of the Indonesian Intellectual Property Association) Gunawan Suryomurcito. Mr. Gunawan told the audience that investment in pay-TV provides Indonesia with the opportunity to develop high quality local content that can drive domestic industry growth, and then in turn be distributed internationally.
In his speech to the National Seminar, Mr. Bambang noted that there are estimated to be over 2,700 pay-TV companies in Indonesia, the vast majority of which are small cable companies in provincial areas. Few had the licenses required by law, he said, but with the final judicial reviews of licensing policy completed in 2007, the government was now ready to move forward.
The current program is designed to educate the provincial operators about their responsibilities under the law, and about the need to avoid illegal re-distribution of content. Next, the campaign moves into an outreach phase, with seminars and discussions planned in 7 major provincial centres between now and the end of the year.
Following that, Depkominfo is gearing up to put its licensing process into high gear, and after a grace period lasting a few months, cable operators will be required to have the requisite licenses, and follow Indonesian IP law on content distribution, or suffer legal penalties.
The National Seminar to launch the event was called by Depkominfo Director-General for Communications and Information Dissemination Freddy H. Tulung. In remarks prepared for the seminar, the Director-General said there are still many pay-TV companies who simply do not understand how to correctly conduct a broadcasting business. The governments aim, he said, was to show the participants in the industry how they could follow the law, and build their businesses.
CASBAA will continue to be a strong supporter and active participant in this process, said Mr. Twiston Davies. We think this initiative by the Indonesian government and APMI represents the best way to set this industry on a sustainable growth path for the future. It should be a model for other governments in Southeast Asia, where several TV markets are enfeebled by continuing piracy.
14 August 2009
Quantel will be showing its range of post, DI and broadcast systems on its new, more environmentally friendly stand at IBC 2009. The emphasis is firmly on innovative new technologies that create better workflows, contain costs and streamline production timescales.
Get Real Go Virtual
At IBC Quantel will be introducing virtualisation and showcasing its benefits for broadcast file-based workflows. Virtual files eliminate typical file-based workflow issues such as latency and managing multiple versions and help file-based operation achieve its full potential. The new virtualisation technology makes the impossible possible.
Final Cut Pro on Quantel
Now broadcasters can have the same fast Quantel sQ Server workflow with Final Cut Pro editors. And there are absolutely no compromises on speed or quality. This exciting new development is the first application of Quantel’s new virtualisation technology and is released at the show. Final Cut Pro editors can be added to existing systems giving Quantel customers even more choice over how they benefit from the fast turnaround sQ workflow.
Stereo3D
Quantel Stereo3D systems are leading the way in Stereo3D post production. At IBC Quantel will be showcasing Stereo3D work already done on Quantel systems. Visitors will be able to see how iQ and Pablo are allowing post facilities to make money from Stereo3D today. Quantel will also be showing how the advanced Stereo3D analysis and correction tools in the 3ality Digital SIP2100 can boost post productivity even further
New Pablo software
The worlds most advanced color correction and finishing system continues to get even better with a raft of improvements throughout the system including the new time and money-saving Cubebuilder feature.
14 August 2009
Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reaching the largest combined audience of any radio broadcaster in Afghanistan, are helping Afghans engage with presidential candidates in the lead up to the August 20 presidential election.
VOA and RFE/RL, overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, both air in Dari and Pashto and will give audiences unprecedented access to the candidates. RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan is hosting call-in shows where presidential candidates take questions from the audience, and is airing interviews with each of the 41 contenders. VOA’s Radio/TV Ashna will also interview the three top prospects, as well as Shahla Atta, one of two women in the running. The BBG broadcasters both produce programming in Dari and Pashto, the most widely spoken languages in Afghanistan.
On August 16, RFE/RL plans to co-host with Afghan State TV a debate among presidential candidates including current president and leading contender Hamid Karzai, who has declined to appear in other debates. Radio Free Afghanistan Director Akbar Ayazi will moderate the debate, which will be seen and heard nationwide.
Three days of live TV shows from Kabul will cap off VOA’s extensive coverage, which also includes live radio shows, while RFE/RL plans 12 hours of live programming around the election, keeping voters informed of the latest developments and analyzing them as they happen.
Broadcast media are critical sources of information for the largely rural and illiterate people of Afghanistan. TV has expanded dramatically since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, but radio remains the nationwide medium of choice for daily news. Only word of mouth, with Afghans turning to friends, family, and tribal elders, rivals radio as a source of information.
VOA and RFE/RL are also highlighting the views and opinions of ordinary Afghans both within and outside the country. VOA will host a series of six talk shows broadcast from Kabul University and from a camp for internally displaced Afghans, and will feature reports from remote locations throughout Afghanistan. In-depth coverage has been examining topics from the role of religious leaders to the effect of young voters.
In addition, VOA’s Deewa Radio, targeted at the Afghan-Pakistan border region, will report the attitudes of the two million Afghan refugees in Pakistan who are ineligible to vote, as well as the perspectives of Afghans living in the United States.
VOA’s Persian News Network and Arabic-language Alhurra TV have sent reporters to Kabul to cover the election for viewers in the Middle East, and broadcasts in many other languages will also focus on the election.
VOA and RFE/RL broadcast to Afghanistan a combined 24 hours a day on radio in Dari, Pashto and Special English, and VOA broadcasts an additional 6 hours a week on television. The programs are also available online. VOA and RFE/RL broadcasts reach over 56% of Afghans each week, almost 10 million people.
VOA also operates Deewa Radio with nine hours daily of live Pashto-language programming targeted at the Afghan-Pakistan border region.
