BBC News Channel conducts live video interview over smartphone, goes where satellites can’t (update with video)

Posted on 27/09/2012 by Jon Fingas

We usually associate smartphones in news reporting with citizen journalism, not full-time journalists. However, a confluence of events has just led to the BBC's Nick Garnett becoming a pioneer for mobile broadcasting on the professional level. When a shortage of satellite trucks prevented Garnett from getting the usual video feed for the BBC News Channel, he successfully arranged the British network's first live video interview piped through a smartphone. The key, Garnett says, was Dejero's Live+ iPhone app: while live streaming apps are already commonplace, Dejero's let him merge the 3G and WiFi connections together, getting enough bandwidth to make a TV-worthy broadcast in a country where LTE is still very new. Combined with some very ad hoc staging and help from the BBC's technical teams, the coordination resulted in a surprisingly smooth interview about flooding in northeastern England with relatively few hints of the extra-tiny recording equipment involved. It's unlikely that broadcast crews will reach to their pockets for live coverage solutions before anything else, but the BBC is actively testing Dejero and other apps that could make smartphones as much a part of the field reporting arsenal as a camcorder and an eye for a good story. ~~As we can't embed the clip, check the source link to see it for yourself.~~

Update: We've now managed to embed the clip after the break.

Continue reading BBC News Channel conducts live video interview over smartphone, goes where satellites can't (update with video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Alt

BBC News Channel conducts live video interview over smartphone, goes where satellites can't (update with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Livestream announces Studio HD500 all-in-one video switcher, ships October 15th for $8,500

Posted on 05/09/2012 by Edgar Alvarez

Earlier this year, Livestream quietly entered the hardware business with a real-time streaming puck known as the Broadcaster -- an adequate moniker, to say the least. Now, some five months after that camera add-on made its intriguing debut, Livestream's introducing the Studio HD500, an all-in-one video production switcher aimed at both hobbyists and pros. Most notable, however, is the fact the company's entering this fresh market in good pricing fashion, given the Studio HD500's appealing tag of $8,500 -- which may still seem like a hefty amount, but ends up feeling light when compared to other similar tools that start off at a cool $15-$20k, such as, say, one of NewTek's TriCaster offerings. At any rate, those near $9,000 for the Studio HD500 will get you a switcher loaded with live audio / multi-camera mixing capabilities, a built-in DVR and media player, one-click live streaming to the outfit's own platform, plus a handful of inputs and outputs -- including HD / SD, SDI, S-Video and HDMI. It's also worth noting the Studio HD500 isn't fully attached to Livestream's site by any means, making it possible to use with other competing sites such as YouTube, Ustream and many more.

While kindly speaking to us, Livestream's CEO Max Haot said, "Our goal is to get multi-camera switching equipment into as many hands as possible," adding that the "key is to make it easier and more cost effective." The Studio HD500 is available for pre-order today and set to start shipping on October 15th -- which could be around the same time the free-of-charge, software-based variant makes an appearance, though all we know about that so far is it'll be coming at some point "later this year." In the meantime, there's a couple of extra pics for your viewing pleasure down below, and the detailed presser from Livestream right after the break.

Gallery: Livestream Studio HD500

Continue reading Livestream announces Studio HD500 all-in-one video switcher, ships October 15th for $8,500

Filed under: Misc, Portable Audio/Video, Internet

Livestream announces Studio HD500 all-in-one video switcher, ships October 15th for $8,500 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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YouTube live streaming this year’s London Paralympics in the US and Canada

Posted on 31/08/2012 by Edgar Alvarez

Now that the Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps show in London is well behind us, it's time for this summer's Paralympics to get started -- in fact, they've been underway since this past Wednesday, August 29th. But in case you've been missing out on all the action due to shortage of viewing options, YouTube just announced it'll be streaming over 500 hours of live competitions to folks in the US of A and Canada. The real-time streams are being brought to you via the ParalympicSportsTV channel, which will also offer more than 1000 hours of on-demand content, such as daily highlights, behind-the-scenes footage and athlete interviews. The only thing left to do now is grab some popcorn and hope your country of choice leads that glorious medal count -- so far, it's China with the celebrated number one spot.

Filed under: Internet, HD

YouTube live streaming this year's London Paralympics in the US and Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Livestream Broadcaster hands-on

Posted on 17/04/2012 by Richard Lawler

According to CEO Max Haot the logical next step for Livestream -- now well established as a reliable service for bringing live video feeds to the internet -- is just to get more people distributing live video by any means necessary. To that end, the company is jumping into the hardware business with this palm-sized Livestream Broadcaster unit that just went up for preorders a few days ago. With a subsidized price of $495, it connects to video cameras directly over HDMI then reencodes and uploads the video on the fly to the company's servers (unlimited streaming costs $45 per month, each encoder comes with three months free) via Ethernet, WiFi or a 3G / 4G USB dongle. Even on the wireless-internet challenged LVCC floor it was sending several streams and enabling user control via buttons on the unit itself, or remotely from a PC or iPhone / iPad. These boxes are still on target to ship at the end of May and and showed off everything those without the backing of a tech / media conglomerate (cough), like small businesses or independent bloggers, would need to make their productions available for viewing as they happen.

Gallery: Livestream Broadcaster hands-on

Continue reading Livestream Broadcaster hands-on

Livestream Broadcaster hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Livestream Broadcaster pre-orders available now, shipping at the end of May for $495

Posted on 13/04/2012 by Edgar Alvarez

A vivid memory of Cisco's would-be FlipLive streaming camera is all we've got, but thankfully there's existing devices out there like the Livestream Broadcaster to help fill that void. Priced at a whopping $495, Livestream's Broadcaster allows it to be paired with an array of shooters via HDMI and used to stream live high-def vids to any Livestream-equipped device over Ethernet, WiFi, or with a 3G / 4G USB dongle. Aside from being capable of sending out 1080i waves, the Broadcaster can also push 720p and 480i resolutions (in case you don't feel like being a bandwidth hog), while all video and audio encoding is done with H.264 and ACC, respectively. It's also worth noting that the near 500 bucks includes a three-month sub to Livestream's service, which usually costs an extra $45 per month. For now, this bright red streamer's only available to Euros and Americans, with shipping set to commence by May 31st.

Gallery: Livestream Broadcaster press shots