Indie labels take e-commerce into their own hands Mar 16, 2008
"We are also able to do things like automatically upgrade songs without any cost to the buyer once the song becomes available at a higher bit rate. And of course, all the songs are (digital-rights-management)-free.". CHANGING BUYERS' HABITS. (Scientific American)
Microsoft shows IE 8 at Mix Mar 6, 2008
In IE 8 users can subscribe to parts of Web page," Hachamovitch said. He showed an where users can use Web slices to subscribe to a single eBay auction. Apple has its own Web-clipping subscription method that is part of Mac OS X. Separately, Microsoft said it was making available a beta version of Silverlight 2, which will move the technology further beyond delivering video and into creating rich Internet applications. Among the features of Silverlight 2 is what Microsoft calls adaptive... (CNET News.com)
MS releases Silverlight 2 beta Mar 6, 2008
"Basically, it can automatically pick the appropriate bit rate and encoding to use," said Scott Guthrie, general manager in the Microsoft Developer Division. He had recently. (InfoWorld)
Your rocks off as digital kills the radio star Feb 15, 2008
Rather than get other new stations to fill the space, increase the bit rate to 192kbps or, even better, to 224kbps on these two stations, plus Virgin and Classic FM. The quality of transmission would then equal or better that of FM stereo. I like Planet Rock and Alice Cooper has just about the only decent breakfast show on the radio. (Times Online)
'Free voice' forecast for mobile Web, but no 'free lunch' Feb 14, 2008
Said Balsillie, "When you 10x the bit rate, you 10x the system requirements." He warned that every operator who opens its pipe to users who do everything from managing corporate e-mail accounts, streaming video-on-demand and supporting MySpace and Facebook accounts, must have a "data plan." He added, "There's no free lunch in physics.". Son concurred. (EETimes)
On2 Licenses Video Technologies to MediaTek Inc. Feb 12, 2008
From low bit rate to high definition, On2 provides optimized video compression technology enabling innovative solutions for application developers, content and service providers, chip vendors, device manufacturers, digital signage companies and beyond. Through continual innovation, On2 satisfies the toughest quality, bandwidth, and power requirements for video. (PR Newswire)
ARM and On2 Technologies Demonstrate the First High-Performance Video CODECs Optimized With ARM NEON Technology Feb 11, 2008
From low bit rate to high definition (HD) video, On2 provides optimized video compression technology enabling innovative solutions for application developers, content and service providers, chip vendors, device manufacturers, digital signage companies and others. Through continual innovation, On2 satisfies the toughest power, bandwidth and quality requirements for video. (PR Newswire)
64-bit RFID tag could replace bar codes Feb 7, 2008
The tag represents a five-fold increase in bit rate performance compared to state-of-the-art plastic RFIDs. The achievement could pave the way for low-cost, high-volume RFID tags to replace bar codes. (EETimes)
Two Views of Digital Music Subscriptions Feb 5, 2008
I like the Yahoo service music files are of a higher bit rate and the price is right. BUT the Yahoo music machine might be one of the worst examples of software that I have used in years. (New York Times)
Ambient Intelligence: Snowboarding To The New Frontier Jan 17, 2008
It is a toolbox of protocol elements which can easily be connected to other elements, in order to have the most efficient protocol stack for your specific application, in terms of energy consumption and bit rate. The defined architecture also extends to beyond-3G systems and platforms, specifying an innovative interface and middleware solution. (Science Daily)
ColorChip Announces Meteor II GPON Class A+ Transceiver Release Jan 16, 2008
"This is a great opportunity for operators that would like to get a GPON system with similar costs as GEPON," said Moshe Price, CEO of ColorChip, "our new Meteor II GPON Class A+ transceiver was designed to provide a low cost transceiver for GPON networks with a requirement of a 10km reach." This low cost, high performance transceiver includes a Fabry Perot (FP) laser, with a typical output power of +1dBm and a receiver with a typical sensitivity of -25dBm, for a downstream bit rate of 2.... (PR Newswire)
Startup Conjures Up Channel-Boosting Gear Jan 14, 2008
The ICE Broadcast System, to be shown at the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Conference on Emerging Technologies here, optimizes MPEG-2 video streams, using Imagine s proprietary processing algorithms to reencode the video at a lower bit rate while supposedly preserving image quality ... But with competitors like DirecTV and Verizon Communications targeting 100-plus HD channel lineups in 2008, cable customers had a more urgent need to maximize linear broadcast programming encoded... (Multichannel News)
Multichannel Newswire Jan 14, 2008
The ICE Broadcast System, to be shown at the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Conference on Emerging Technologies here, optimizes MPEG-2 video streams, using Imagines proprietary processing algorithms to reencode the video at a lower bit rate while supposedly preserving image quality. NESN Tries Stand-Up Series NESN is pushing for laughs as it begins production on a sports-related stand-up series that will premiere this summer. (Multichannel News)
HD DVDs Fall Like Dominoes Jan 11, 2008
Another thing this article misses is that HD over cable or over a dish isn t the same as a blu ray disc or HD DVD. Those signals are compressed so hard, and the bit rates are so low ... I thought that was something I would only see on low bit rate DVDs not an HD broadcast. (New York Times)
NME and VDL to Showcase World's First Ever Multilayer Disc Manufacturing Line January 22nd, 2008 Jan 11, 2008
HD VMD is a full 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 TVs. The HD VMD player is suitable for playback on all HD-capable displays and will support existing optical disc formats: CD, DVD. HD VMD players also feature Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and all region codes for greater film viewing flexibility. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Will Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Prince Follow Radiohead's Pay-What-You-Want Model? Jan 11, 2008
"We would never have put songs out at that bit rate," the manager said. "What's the point?". (VHI.com -- Music News)
Polk Audio's SurroundBar(R)360 DVD Theater: a Complete Theater Experience From a Stunning, Yet Compact System Jan 5, 2008
DTS Digital Surround and Dolby Digital DVDs are both accommodated, as are MPG2, MPG, CD, CD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, MP3 at resolutions up to 384kbps VBR (Variable Bit Rate). The speaker enclosure is magnetically shielded, so it can be mounted as close to the display as conditions dictate. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' Looms For U.K. No. 1 Jan 3, 2008
"In Rainbows" also just went live at the iTunes Music Store, in 256 kbps bit rate. Expected to be trailing "In Rainbows" on the chart, to be published this Sunday, are Take That's "Beautiful World," followed by Leona Lewis' "Spirit," Mika's "Life in Cartoon Motion" and Michael Buble's "Call Me Irresponsible.". (Billboard.com)
Magma Enables PLX Technology to Deliver PCI Express Gen 2 Switch Family On Time and On Budget Jan 3, 2008
0, which doubles the interconnect bit rate over its predecessor, to 5 GT/s (GigaTransfers per second) from 2. 5 GT/s, and are backward compatible with Gen 1, thus allowing ease of migration with existing designs. (Primezone Releases)
RingNett to Expand IPTV Service Reach With Envivio MPEG-4 AVC Encoding Solution Dec 20, 2007
Transcoding these services to MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) more than halves the bandwidth required to achieve the same video quality, and converts the variable bit rate (VBR) satellite feeds to the constant bit rate (CBR) streams required for reliable xDSL delivery ... Envivio is the only company to offer convergence solutions supporting the Three Screens of video TVs, PCs and mobile phones making IP video a reality over any type of network and to any multimedia device from mobile to HD.... (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Xbox makes up a third of HD DVD players Dec 19, 2007
A lot depends on the quality of the source -- its like high quality audio, if the recording or mastering is crap it doesn't matter how high the bit rate is. (Its one of the side effects of HD broadcasting -- the improvement in the production shows even with a SD feed -- they really need to degrade it a bit like they do in the in-store demos that show how much better a HD picture is. (Inquirer)
The face of future broadband Dec 3, 2007
Second-generation VDSL2 systems could provide data rates exceeding 100 Mbps simultaneously in both the upstream and downstream directions, with the maximum available bit rate achieved at a range of about 300 meters. ADSL2. (BBC News -- Technology)
MTV Selects Envivio Encoders for Mobile TV Services in Brazil Dec 3, 2007
We selected Envivios encoding products because of their remarkable encoding performance at low bit rates and resolutions, and because of their compliance with Brazils 1seg specifications, added Pascotto ... Increased bandwidth efficiency combined with high quality video in lower bit rates, allows broadcasters like MTV to expand service offerings while optimizing throughput over their distribution networks ... Envivio is the only company to offer convergence solutions supporting the 3... (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
HD Squeeze Play Nov 24, 2007
The bottom-line metric is the bit rate of compressed video ... Take an HDTV signal down to too low a bit rate and it starts to show artifacts, industry lingo referring to blotches or blurs in a video image ... There's disagreement even among so-called industry experts about what exactly the bit rate should be for HD with any given type of content, said Tandberg Television vice president of technology for compression systems Matt Goldman. (Multichannel News)
Your guide to buying electronics for holidays Nov 20, 2007
More important is a song's audio compression bit rate and headphones/speakers. Look for features such as video capabilities, radio, microphone and overall ease of use. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Lessons to be learned from Whitehaven Nov 16, 2007
video bit rate, audio bit rate, VBR for video only, or for both video and audio. Digital can be of much better quality than analogue, if the bit rate is high enough, and it is encoded efficiently (which needs a cascade of compressors). (Guardian Unlimited)
True High Definition Arrives in India for the First Time With the Launch of HD VMD Oct 27, 2007
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. HD VMD players also feature Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and all region codes for greater film viewing flexibility. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
4 ways to juice the iPod Oct 20, 2007
Songs are typically compressed using an encoding standard, like MP3 or AAC. The key here is the "bit rate." Higher rates mean less compression and thus better sound. For the home, invest in a high-capacity iPod, and go for the higher bit rates and bulkier files. (CNN -- Money)
Sony Talks PS3 Movies + Music Service Oct 18, 2007
With the overwhelming computational power of the Cell processor, PS3 is capable of playing back content from Blu-ray disc at a bit rate of multiplex 48Mbps. Format: PlayStation 3 Release 23 Mar 2007 Developer: SCEI Publisher: SCEE Players: Online PEGI Rating: NUL. (Total Video Games)
Music fans sound off Oct 16, 2007
First, the sound quality is not necessarily optimum, encoded at a bit rate of 160 kbps (kilobits per second), lower than Radiohead's earlier albums (though higher than a standard iTunes track download) ... Some fans criticized the band's failure to disclose the downloadable version's quality and the release date of the CD. "I would've appreciated knowing the bit rate," says David Sandell, 27, a Chicago fan who spent $6 ... "This honor-system gimmick has turned out to be sloppy at best and... (USA Today)
Radiohead Fans Feel Duped By In Rainbows' Poor Sound Quality, Possible Ulterior Motives Oct 13, 2007
(MP3 files encoded with a lower bit rate will generally play back at a lower quality something not readily apparent on tiny iPod earbuds but obvious enough on high-end home stereos ... "Most promo MP3s come at a higher bit rate," wrote the author of U.K. blog. (VHI.com -- Music News)
Radiohead sells album online Oct 11, 2007
Some downloaders are complaining about the bit rate for "In Rainbows." The MP3s are being distributed at 160 kbps, a quality lower than the threshold set by many peer-to-peer sites like BitTorrent, which mandates files be encoded at 192 kbps. The move has already had its imitators. (Xinhuanet, China)
George Harrison's Solo Material Debuts Digitally Oct 11, 2007
Fans will be able to purchase Harrison's catalog works from all of EMI's digital distribution partners, and the titles will also be part of EMI's premium download offering (free of digital rights management and in a higher-quality bit rate) from participating retailers. The following albums are now digitally available: -- All Things Must Pass (2001 remaster) Harrison's first release following the break-up of The Beatles in 1970, this multimillion selling set included the worldwide hits "My Sweet... (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Packing a punchThe latest mobile video and web gadgets put to the test Oct 10, 2007
To compare video playback I encoded the same piece of video four different times - taking advantage of the best playback options, the maximum bit rate and screen resolution for each device. I tried to convert files to h.264 for the PSP but with little success and so had little choice but to judge it on straight MP4 playback. (BBC News)
Exploring the Amazon Sep 26, 2007
99 gets you a DRM-free MP3 album encoded at an average bit rate of 256kbps VBR.. Similar selection from majors While you ll find EMI s catalog at the Amazon store, the other major music labels haven t jumped in with both feet. (Macworld)
Try eight free tools to work smarter Sep 21, 2007
BonkEnc can also rip music from CD. Or, use it to lower a file's bit rate. That way, you can squeeze more music onto your player. (USA Today -- Tech)
iTunes update tackles iTunes Plus ringtone errors Sep 18, 2007
29 tracks also encoded at a higher bit rate than the typical 99-cent downloads offered via iTunes. EMI became the first record label to offer DRM-free iTunes Plus downloads. (MacCentral)
HD VMD to Battle Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD Sep 9, 2007
HD VMD discs, which hold up to 30GB on a single side, are encoded with a maximum bit rate of 40 megabits per second; that's within spitting distance of Blu-ray's 48 mbps, and quite a bit more than 36 mbps for HD DVD. The format uses MPEG-2 and VC1 video formats to encode at 1080p resolution for the time being, and will possibly move to the H.264 format in the future. Levich said the video quality is "at least as good" as that of the other formats. (PC World)
DRM free music eases frustrations Sep 8, 2007
Kbps stands for kilobits per second, and is often referred to as the bit rate ... So, a higher bit rate means a fuller, richer sound. (USA Today -- Tech)
Monolith Films Supports the HD VMD Format in Eastern Europe Aug 31, 2007
HD VMD is a true HD format with 1920 x 1080i/p resolution, up to 45 Mbps bit rate playback and DVD upscaling, allowing users to 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. The HD VMD players also feature Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and all region codes for greater film viewing flexibility. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Flash Adopting High-Def Video Technology Aug 23, 2007
If used correctly, he said, video in H.264 should be of higher quality than clips shown now, even if the site does not increase the bit rate, which roughly translates to a video clip's resolution. But unless sites boost the bit rate significantly, he said, video still won't be as sharp as those on high-definition broadcast television or DVD.. (ABC News -- Wire)
NXP Enhances HDTV Viewing With World's First Quad-Input HDMI1.3 Receiver Aug 22, 2007
3 receiver was especially designed to improve the quality of audio-video streaming on an HDTV, by combining 12-bit Deep Color and Extended Gamut to render rich life-like colors, as well as High Bit Rate (HBR) and Direct Stream Transport audio formats. The TDA19978 also reduces the overall cost of an HDTV by embedding EDID memory for each of the four independent HDMI inputs. (BusinessWire)
Apple & The DRM Free Market Madness Aug 22, 2007
I can already buy a cd and rip it to get drm-free music; so what s the attraction of downloading it (where I can t choose format or bit rate). I guess convenience, but I value format and bit rate more. (GigaOm)
Playstation 3 kills HD DVD Aug 20, 2007
Blu-ray also has a bit rate of 54 mbps compared to 34 mbps making it far more capable of higher resolutions and faster record and read speeds. I have read many reviews about HD DVD movies that agree with what I saw when I bought one last fall, the movies suffer from low bit rate artefacts. (TG Daily)
Lennon Solo Albums Hit iTunes Aug 17, 2007
In a move I'm sure Lennon would have been proud of, all his albums which include 'Lennon Legend' and 'Acoustic' which had not been available to legally download anywhere before will also be sold without DRM restrictions and at the higher 256Kbps bit rate. So is the biggest band of all time about to hit the biggest selling music store of all time. (TrustedReviews)
MP3 gives music the squeeze Aug 15, 2007
The best digital audio, even with increased sampling rates and higher bit rates, still falls short of the natural quality of now-obsolete analog tape recording. EMI Records announced earlier this year the introduction of higher-priced downloads at a slightly higher bit rate, although the difference will be difficult to detect ... The files will have to be stored at higher sampling rates and higher bit rates. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Technology)
Envivio Introduces World's First Reconfigurable Multichannel and Multiplatform IP Video Encoding Architecture Aug 15, 2007
Envivio solutions deliver industry leading AVC/H.264, Windows Media Video (VC-1) and AVS compressed video quality at the lowest bit rate for IPTV, Internet TV, mobile TV and broadcast applications. Service providers worldwide use Envivio solutions to reduce their operational costs while offering subscribers the most compelling and highest quality video services anytime and anywhere. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Facebook Leaks Its Own Code Aug 14, 2007
The server features bandwidth throttling, a feature that enables an administrator to limit the maximum bit rate at which certain types of files may be transferred. "Thttpd is the first server I was able to exploit some six years back, so it brings back memories," said the Hacker Webzine poster. (eWeek)
New VRaptor(TM)-Based ARC(R) Video Subsystems Set the Standard for High Quality Video Encode in Consumer Devices Aug 13, 2007
H.264 BP encode of D1, 30 fps video stream of up to 10 Mbps bit rate, operating under 200 MHz ... 5Mbps bit rate, operating at 160 MHz. (BusinessWire)
A little Blu-ray of sunshine Aug 12, 2007
"We believe so and have put our support with Blu-ray at this time and that's because largely it has the better specifications. It can deliver a better picture because of the bit rate, beyond the fact that the disc has more capacity. So there's two different discs - Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Blu-ray, the dual layer, holds 50 gigabytes of data. The dual layer HD-DVD holds 30. So when you want the best picture, would you rather have 50 gigabytes of information or 30? "So we found this meant Blu-ray had... (Melbourne Herald Sun)
Toshiba Announces Third Generation HD DVD Player Lineup Aug 7, 2007
1 channel analog audio output and High Bit Rate 7 ... 1 channel analog audio output and High Bit Rate 7. (DailyTech)
Imagine Communications Releases Statement and Files Counterclaim in Response to Allegations in Lawsuit from BigBand Networks Jul 27, 2007
Imagine's Quality on Demand Product Suite (QOD Product Suite) incorporates breakthrough next-generation variable bit rate and statistical multiplexing technology (VBR/StatMux), enabling up to 50 percent more streams per QAM versus today's Constant Bit Rate (CBR) approach. Imagine's state-of-the-art ICE-Q(TM) video quality measurement algorithms enable superior video quality at any given bit rate. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
JVC Everio GZ-HD3 Compact HD Camcorder to launch in September 2007 Jul 22, 2007
Apart from this, the new camcorder features an XP mode that records at a higher bit rate for those extra special scenes. And thats not it. (TechShout!)
JVC launches new consumer 3CCD HD camcorder Jul 20, 2007
The XP and SP modes deliver the benefits of variable bit rate capture where as the 1440CBR mode delivers a fixed 27megabits per second (27Mbps) down a Firewire connection. This makes the GZ-HD3 one of the very few hard drive based cameras to offer Firewire connection to a PC.. (Techlogg.com)
Recording Skype Calls Jul 15, 2007
1 KHz and set the bit rate at 64 or 128 Kbps ... You can make custom or call recordings in uncompressed WAV format, or MP3 at sampling rates from 8 to 24 KHz and bit rates of 24 or 32 Kbps. (Datamation)
Pause TV is coming Jul 12, 2007
"It's determined by a number of variables," said Singer, including: the life expectancy of a TV set and the flash memory (measured in write cycles); how much pause time is enough; how often the same memory cell can be rewritten; and the video bit rate used for storage. The crux of the issue is memory life expectancy. (EETimes)
IQue Video Streaming Technology Overcomes Security Challenges at Market Research Firm Jul 9, 2007
"We automatically match the bit rate to the available connection speed every three seconds to allow for a continuously streaming video.". Market Research Dallas put these innovations to work in their focus groups, allowing clients to see the study in progress without flying from New York or Los Angeles to Dallas. (Yahoo News -- Press Releases)
YouTube on AppleTV today, on iPhone on June 29 Jun 22, 2007
At this stage, there are no details on the encoding bit rate or resolution being used by YouTube in its H.264 conversions. The new YouTube Mobile interface has been available on for the last few days and features clean lines that should make it a hit on the iPhone s 3. (Techlogg.com)
C-COR, Harmonic Team Up on Switched Digital Video Jun 20, 2007
The offering stitches together C-COR s nABLE session and resource manager with Harmonic's NSG 9000 universal-edge quadrature amplitude modulation and ProStream 1000, a standard-definition MPEG-2 re-encoding system that converts video to constant bit rate. A C-COR spokeswoman said the joint solution is available now, although no customers have bought the SDV offering yet. (Multichannel News)
Ditech Networks Provides Intelligent Codec Deployment While Optimizing Voice Quality Jun 18, 2007
1, G.726, G.727, G.728, G.729a, G.729b/ab, G.729e/g, Speex, iLBC (Internet Low Bit Rate Codec), iSAC (Internet Speech Audio Codec), GSM-HR (Half Rate), GSM-FR (Full Rate), GSM-EFR (Enhanced), EVRC (Enhanced Variable Rate Codec), SMV (Selectable Mode Vocoder), 4GV (Fourth Generation Vocoder), AMBE, BV16/32 (BroadVoice). Please visit Ditech's booth at the NXTcomm show, No.4819, June 19-21 in Chicago, Illinois, to hear a demonstration of Ditech's products. (Canada Newswire)
PM's broadband vow scorned Jun 18, 2007
They should just spend $4 billion to get fibre out there," he said. Another analyst, Paul Buddle, described the Government's plan as the most realistic way forward in the short term, bearing in mind Telstra's opposition to cooperating with them on a national broadband plan. The spokesman for the Australian Computer Society, Professor Reg Coutts, suggested that the Government's proposed scheme of defining a bit rate and then promise it for every Australian, no matter, where they lived, just... (Melbourne Herald Sun)
The HD dilemma Jun 14, 2007
The various HD camcorder formats support different types of compression and bit rates, which affect video quality ... HDV allows HD video to be stored on older-style MiniDV tapes and uses tried-and-true MPEG-2 compression with a 25-megabit-per-second (Mbps) bit rate (the higher the bit rate the better) ... The JVC uses a variant of MPEG-2 compression with a variable bit rate that can go to 30 Mbps. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Technology)
Apple Announces New Mac OS X Server Leopard Features Jun 12, 2007
Other new features in Leopard Server include: -- Server Admin 4 with new file sharing and permission controls, tiered administration, and options for organizing servers into smart groups; -- iChat Server 2 to securely communicate over instant messaging with others on different systems outside an organization's firewall; -- External Accounts to enable Leopard users to store their home directory on an external FireWire(R) or USB portable drive; -- a new System Imaging Utility that uses a... (PR Newswire)
Apple unveils new Leopard Server features Jun 12, 2007
Other new features include Server Admin 4, now with new file sharing and permission controls, iChat Server 2, offering secure instant messaging with services outside the corporate firewall, a new System Imaging Utility, Xgrid 2, developed for grid computing, and QuickTime Streaming Server 6 with support for 3GPP Release 6 bit rate adaptation. Related Stories. (MacCentral)
Shop and Watch TV at the Same Time? San Antonio Company Creates New Technology for Internet TV Jun 9, 2007
"Our video compression is reducing file sizes by greater than 90% through a variable bit rate encoding capability, while still retaining a high definition experience online.". "We are offering the only full-screen, quick-launch, high definition video streaming capability on the Internet, effectively delivering IPTV without the costly IPTV infrastructure," stated Nakagawa. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
