Telestream on Wednesday released Wirecast 3.5, an update to its live video production software that can be used to create real-time or on-demand streams. Version 3.5 now allows users to stream live video using the popular Adobe Flash platform. New control options provide the ability to turn streams on or off, or automatically recover a lost connection. Users can also turn off the automatic device detection.
MCE Technologies today unveiled the QuickStream SS, a self-powered solid-state drive designed for standard and high-definition video capture. The QuickStream SS is ideal in situations where vibration or other environmental factors contribute to a less-than-desirable shooting environment for standard platter-based capture methods. Size configurations were not mentioned, but MCE will ship both a 2 hour and four hour model, for $1800 and $2800 respectively.
Facebook yesterday unveiled a section dedicated to musicians, designed to allow them to create profiles that demonstrate their music, videos, photos, and miscellaneous data. According to The Hollywood Reporter, artists can provide songs for streaming, a full discography, and sell tickets or merchandise, the latter of which is made available by Musictoday. Music that is posted in this manner also includes a link to allow users to buy tracks from the iTunes store.
Rogue Amoeba has announced Airfoil 3.1, a new release of its AirPort Express extender for Mac OS X. This version includes complete support for sending audio to the Apple TV and Airfoil Speakers for Windows. The Take 2 update from Apple enables the Apple TV to appear as an AirTunes device, just like an AirPort Express, meaning iTunes can send audio to it. Now Airfoil opens the device up to receiving any audio. It can stream media players like QuickTime Player or Realplayer to web-based content like Pandora, Last.fm, Sirius or XM,
Aerielle today launched its i2i Stream Digital Music Broadcaster, a device that allows users to listen to music wirelessly by streaming music content from any audio device. The company will demonstrate the device streaming CD quality sound for the first time at CES next week. "Whether it's friends hanging out and listening to a single iPod or the desire to stream music wirelessly to speakers in the home, the i2i Stream is the perfect solution," said Art Cohen, president and CEO of Aerielle. The i2i Stream is already available for $70, with 2-packs priced at $130.
Despite earlier suspicions that British band Radiohead would release its new album In Rainbows on the iTunes music store, digital shopping mogul Amazon is first to announce digital distribution of the new album, through its online MP3 store. According to Silicon Alley Insider, the band will be promoting the physical release of the album by streaming a free, hour-long concert featuring music from the CD, which frontman Thom Yorke says is a "wee celebration". Pricing for the album and tracks has been released, but prices typically sit at about 90¢ to $1 for tracks, while albums sell for around $10.
The new breed of retail-based internet video delivery devices which has emerged over the last few years is currently led by Apple's set top box -- Apple TV -- according to a new study by ABI Research. What's more, the firm says devices like Apple TV will see shipments of 1.2 million next year. Apple unveiled its wireless media streaming device on September 12th of 2006 during a special event in San Francisco. The device has seen limited success since it began shipping on March 21st of this year, and Apple has turned most of its attention to other areas -- primarily its iPhone cellular handset.
Apple has released QuickTime Broadcaster 1.5.2, an application combining the power of QuickTime with Apple's ease of use that allows average users to produce a live broadcast event. The update offers H.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10 video) live broadcasting, as well as 3G streaming support for sending live broadcasts to multimedia-enabled cellular phones. QuickTime Broadcaster 1.5.2 requires Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later.
Orb Networks has released an application that streams music from a Windows-based PC over the internet to select iPhones, effectively making entire music collections available to iPhone owners on-the-go. Users install the Orb application on a Windows PC where music is stored, then surf to the free service at mycast.orb.com using an iPhone to play any track stored on the home computer. Orb also enables users to send friends text messages with links to music, and the software is available for free.
Two new software-as-a-service media-sharing products are currently in development for iPhone and iPod touch users, MoboVivo and Orb. MoboVivo is a commercial service that has recently finalized iPhone and iPod touch support, allowing users to "Buy and Sync" television shows directly to their device. The service offers multiple channels, such as MoboDiva, MoboDocs, UrbanVivo, and various lifestyle and entertainment channels. The service is also available to a number of different players and gaming consoles from companies like Archos, Microsoft, and Sony. Episodes are available from the service for $2, and the company says that it is the first to make paid TV downloads available to Canadians.
