I’ve been a long time Sony fan, when it comes to camcorders (especially HD ones). So I’m pretty excited about this news bit from Sony!

David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe said, “PLAYSTATION Eye is a great example of how we have moved forward so significantly with our technology. PLAYSTATION Eye has four times the resolution, twice the framerate and double the sensitivity of its predecessor EyeToy USB Camera. With the technology that we now have at our disposal we will be able to dramatically improve the communications experience enjoyed on PS3”.

Here’s the tech specs!

• 4 channel audio input:16 bits/channel, 48kHz, SNR 90db
• 56º to 75º Field of View zoom lens
• 2.1 F-stop, <1% distortion, fixed focus (25cm to 8 at 75º FOV)
• 640 x 480 at 60 frames/second
• 320 x 240 at 120 frames/second
• USB2 high-speed data transfer
• Uncompressed video or optional JPEG compression

The resolution and the frame rate are nothing short of groundbreaking. I’m not sure it will only work with PS3 though, USB 2 makes it PC-ready as well.

Tags: bandwidth, FMS, google video, logitech, media, video, webcam, youtube

bandwidth, FMS, google video, logitech, media, video, webcam, youtube

The article speculates that it’s all related to Google keeping its leading position in search. I think these guys are probably right – though not 100 percent. I bet a lot of this new space will go to some of the new applications that Google is building.

More importantly though, between Google buying Youtube and their own video service, I think Google’s thinking about the future of video. (Don’t forget NBC launched their youtube clone).

Text indexes are one thing. Storing, indexing, analyzing, encoding, hosting, and delivering video is quite another. With the growth of broadband people want to see a lot more than a list of text bits mixed with hyperlinks.

Tags: bandwidth, google, google video, online, video, yahoo, youtube

bandwidth, google, google video, online, video, yahoo, youtube

My webcam is a Logitech Communicate STX (admittedly an USB 1.1 cam). I’ve tested its throughput and the stream hits about 300Kbps on my FMS console at its highest resolution. Is this bad? Or rather, how bad is it?

Low-budget filmmakers’ favorite cam right now is the Panasonic HVX200. Two reasons for this warmth and affection: 1) support for variable frame rates; and 2) ignoring HDV standard and hitting a higher note with DVCPRO HD (100Mbps).

Hmm, comparing 300Kbps to 100Mbps seems insane. Yet, one look at Youtube and you’ll probably see that the next generation of filmmakers will probably go as low as it’s economically possible. When you consider the distribution channel (be it youtube or google video), it’s obvious it doesn’t matter what you shoot with.

Just as a reference though, you need to look at a Canon’s security camera – I’m sure it will work out as a “webcam” as well (above).

Tags: bandwidth, FMS, google video, hvx200, logitech, media, video, webcam, Webcams, youtube

bandwidth, FMS, google video, hvx200, logitech, media, video, webcam, Webcams, youtube

AdSense is already part of my lifestyle

I visited the AdSense blog to find out more and I saw a message from Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO about network neutrality (that I wrote about in my two-tier Internet post).

Here’s a few key points that Eric mentioned:

On the Internet, a business doesn’t need the network’s permission to communicate with a customer or deploy an innovative new service. But the phone and cable monopolies, who control almost all broadband Internet access, want the power to choose who gets onto the high-speed lanes and whose content gets seen first and fastest. They want to build tollbooths to block the on-ramps for those whom they don’t want to compete with and who can’t pay this new Internet tax. Money and monopoly, not ideas and independence, will be the currency of their Internet.

You can support the net neutrality initiative by visiting www.itsournet.org.

Tags: adsense, bandwidth, google, internet, network neutrality, video ads

adsense, bandwidth, google, internet, network neutrality, video ads

Shopping for a webcam

Webcams are much simpler really. Their lenses are so small, it seems it ALL boils down to USB speed. At the same time, Logitech is known to play tricks on users, putting the USB 2.0 logo on USB 1.1 webcams. So I had to become an “expert” on the subject. Here’s what I found out:

Is USB faster? The truth is that USB 2.0 is not necesarily faster because USB 2.0 is simply a standard. It’s not a benchmark. Currently, there are three speeds for transfering data via an USB interface:

• USB High-Speed – transfer speed of 480 MBits/second
• USB Full-Speed – transfer speed of 12 MBits/second
• USB Low-Speed – transfer speed of 1.5 MBits/second

The USB 1.1 specifications cover the full-speed and the low-speed transfer rates. So if your webcam (or any other device) is USB 1.1, it is using low or full speed.

USB 2.0 added the specification for a high-speed data transfer (480 MBits/second). There are MANY webcams out there, however, which boldly sport the USB 2.0 logo but transfer at speeds of 12 MBits/second or even lower. The fact that they’re USB 2.0 compliant doesn’t automatically mean they are high-speed.

To put this into perspective, HDV transfers at 25 Mbps; Panasonic’s DVCPRO HD supports speeds up to 100 Mbps. The end-users’ experience will also depend on broadband penetration.

For the record, I bought a Logitech Communicate™ STX today – a USB 1.1 webcam for test purposes. User-generated content – here I come.

Update: I was wondering what will happen if you hook a Panasonic HVX200 to a capture card and compare the stream to the one coming from a High-Speed USB webcam.

Tags: bandwidth, camera, logitech, standards, usb, webcam

bandwidth, camera, logitech, standards, usb, webcam

A flurry of articles and posts

Back in the day when ISPs simply offered a connection to the Internet, this was a non-issue. It would’ve been a commercial suicide for an ISP to say: “Look, we’re going to block Yahoo! until they pay us a premium.”

When an ISP becomes a part of a telecommunications conglomerate, however, it starts to look for a way to integrate services vertically. And integration is nothing without prioritization – be it VOIP traffic or videos.

The arguments for network neutrality goes both ways. In my mind though, there’s no doubt that consumers will be hurt if networks are allowed to prioritize and even block content. It transforms the free market principle of offering a superior service or product to a golfing buddy principle where companies get a priority treatment if they rub the telcos the right way.

Analogies abound – the one I like best is reserving 2 of the 3 lanes on a motorway for GM vehicles. Come the next city though, the motorway continues with 2 lanes reserved for BMWs.

If telcos want more money for a premium service, let them offer it to consumers. I’d gladly pay for a broadband access to multimedia. In fact, I’m already paying.

Canada is still ahead although the gap is closing. Currently, about 76% of Canadians have a broadband connection at home.

Korea is still in the lead when comparing the ratio of broadband subscribers to inhabitants. Out of every thousand Koreans, 24 have a broadband connection. That compares to 13 in the USA and 18 in Canada.

Audio and video usage are the main reasons for upgrading to broadband. This creates concerns that sites will find it harder to cope with increased demands. Most popular sites have outsourced the content delivery of video to CDN (Content Delivery Networks) like Akamai.

Alternatives to alleviating the situation are the two-tier Internet proposed by telcos and the rise of P2P networks like BitTorrent.

Update: It seems the average US household now spends an amazing $2,000 on telecommunication services (that includes Internet naturally).