Quantel took the stage at the NAB Show earlier this week to announce an upcoming upgrade to its Pablo Rio color grading and finishing system. The software improvement will support 8K Ultra HD. “According to Quantel, its software upgrade allows colorists to work and playback their material in real time and at resolutions up to 8K and frame rates up to 60 frame per second, allowing them to complete today’s requirements and, possibly, future requirements,” notes The Hollywood Reporter. Continue reading NAB 2015: Quantel Upgrades Pablo Rio System with 8K Support

In an email to its YouTube Partners sent last week, YouTube confirmed its plans to launch an ad-free monthly subscription service. A YouTube subscription service free of interruptions has been long talked about and will reportedly move forward once the terms on YouTube’s Dashboard Creator have been updated. YouTube has described the service as yet another opportunity for the company and its creators to monetize their video content and provide YouTube users with additional options. Continue reading YouTube Readies its Anticipated Ad-Free Subscription Service

Technicolor and Sinclair Broadcast Group have successfully tested a live broadcast in 4K resolution with high dynamic range through the proposed ATSC 3.0 system. “There’s been a lot of attention on new Ultra HD (4K) TVs, which have the potential to display four times the resolution of today’s HD; and HDR, a feature that increases the range between the whitest whites and blackest blacks for a more realistic picture,” explains The Hollywood Reporter. “But currently, there isn’t a system in place to broadcast these images live and over the air.” Continue reading Technicolor and Sinclair Test Live UHD Broadcast with HDR

The anonymous developers behind Popcorn Time, one of the fastest growing torrent platforms in the world, have figured out a way to get their new app on iPhones and iPads without going through the Apple App Store. Apple’s security team will not approve apps that facilitate copyright infringement, so the developers have created a new software called iOS Installer for Windows. This software will allow people to download the Popcorn Time app without jailbreaking their phones. Continue reading Popcorn Time Circumvents Apple App Store with iOS Installer

Canon has released one of the first “convergence” cameras that can take both high resolution photos and videos. The XC10 can take 12 megapixel stills or 4K video with a one-inch CMOS sensor. The XC10 can also shoot video in 1080p and 8MP still photos can be taken from the video. The photos and video save to an internal CFast card, and the built-in Wi-Fi makes it easy to get photos off the device. Canon is marketing the product to journalists and other multimedia professionals who need different types of media. Continue reading Canon’s New XC10 Camera Shoots Still Photos and 4K Video

Roku has updated its Roku 2 streaming box and is introducing platform enhancements that make it easier to find video content across multiple apps. The new Roku Search allows users to search for movies, TV shows, actors and directors across all apps via the interface. Since the company does not produce any of its own content, it does not include any bias when displaying content on its UI, something that cannot be said of rival streaming platforms. This may be appealing to television manufacturers looking for platform partnerhips. Continue reading Roku Announces Refresh for Streaming Box and Updates Search

For music fans that want to catch acts such as AC/DC, Drake, Interpol, Jack White and Vic Mensa perform at Coachella this weekend, much of the three-day festival will be streamed on YouTube. Three channels of performances, commentary and interactive profiles will be made available as well as a schedule feature that offers updates based on a user’s time zone and channel choice, and a virtual map feature that will include photos taken during the live event. Coachella’s YouTube channel is sponsored by T-Mobile. Continue reading Coachella to Live Stream Performances and More via YouTube

HBO’s standalone streaming service, HBO Now, is expected to launch in time for the premiere of season 5 of  “Game of Thrones” scheduled for April 12. In another effort to target younger viewers, HBO also announced it has plans to broadcast half-hour episodes of Vice newscasts, five days a week, for 48 weeks a year. In addition, HBO confirmed it will continue to run its exiting Vice newsmagazine show through 2018 and promises to further invest in Vice-produced specials. Continue reading HBO to Offer Content for Millennials with Vice Daily Newscasts

Facebook recently launched an app called Riff that enables users to create collaborative videos with their network of friends. Each finished project is a composition of short clips that are added to the video as it gets shared among friends — and friends of friends — on social media. For Facebook, Riff is another attempt to further encourage its users to watch and share video content on its social platform as part of a larger ongoing strategy to better leverage advertising opportunities.  Continue reading New Facebook App Intros Collaborative Video and Ad Potential

In 2002, eBay partnered with Sotheby’s to launch a collaborative online auction endeavor that failed miserably and was almost immediately shut down. With online bidding having grown over the past decade, the two companies recently decided it was time to give their project another go. Last week, eBay streamed two of Sotheby’s live New York auctions online, where it invited eBay users to bid against Sotheby’s clientele for some of the auction house’s most expensive offerings. Continue reading E-Commerce: eBay Partners with Sotheby’s to Stream Auctions

Meerkat and Periscope are two apps that have brought live streaming into the spotlight, and some experts worry that these apps may be a breeding ground for copyright infringement. It may be as simple as someone trying to livestream a TV show or a public performance, but without the proper licenses, these users may be breaking copyright laws. Fair use laws probably will not offer these companies any defense, but constant monitoring should help them avoid potential legal problems. Continue reading Live Streaming Apps Could Face Copyright Infringement Issues

A group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a method to accurately provide measurements for 3D objects using mobile phones. The team members discovered that they could simply make use of the inertial measurement units (IMU) installed and already used in smartphones to change the phone’s view from portrait to landscape. Some foresee this technology being especially groundbreaking in the virtual shopping space and development of self-driving cars.  Continue reading Carnegie Mellon Researchers Develop New 3D Measurement Tool

Digital Domain Holdings Ltd. and Immersive Media are launching a joint venture called IM360. According to the two companies, IM360 plans to produce immersive content and services, including virtual reality content, by combining Digital Domain’s CGI and motion capture expertise with Immersive’s 360-degree video hardware and software. The 360-degree video tech is already being used for live-streaming VR content, and the software can send video to devices including tablets, smartphones and VR headsets. Continue reading Digital Domain and Immersive Media Join Forces for VR Content

Internet users in the U.S. pay more for broadband and have fewer choices than Europeans. According to findings from the Center for Public Integrity, Americans pay 3.5 times the amount that French people do for Internet access, for example, and most U.S. residents can only choose from two Internet providers. That’s because broadband companies carve out their own territories to offer service. Cable providers do the same thing, but Internet TV may finally force them to compete. Continue reading Lack of Competition Means Higher Broadband Prices in the U.S.

Twitter unveiled its new Curator media tool this week designed to make more tweets available to a larger audience outside of its own site — and ideally build upon its base of 288 million users that log in at least once a month. The tool will help media organizations locate tweets and Vine videos that can be posted with stories and broadcasts. Publishers regularly create and share compelling content related to live events and breaking news. Twitter aims to leverage these publishers to help address its slowing user growth rate. Continue reading Curator Tool Will Help Media Publishers Share Tweets and Vines