Category: Video

Continue reading Wikitude Drive AR nav app beta announced, available in Android Market (video)

Wikitude Drive AR nav app beta announced, available in Android Market (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 17:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dashing away from the Google I/O keynote as fast as our feet would carry us, we scored the very first look at Logitech’s Google TV companion box. While we’ll share full details when we catch a breath, here’s the scoop: the box extends the full functionality of a Logitech Harmony remote and a WiFi access point to your TV, providing not only Google TV but also allowing you to control your entire entertainment system (including DVR) with a still-in-development keyboard / touchpad remote or an iPhone or Android smartphone app over WiFi. Hit the gallery below for a taste of what the little set-top box can do, and rest assured we’ve got more info on the way.

Update: Now with video, after the break.

Update 2: Details and specs after the break, too.

Continue reading Logitech’s Google TV companion box includes smartphone apps, we go eyes-on (updated: video!)

Logitech’s Google TV companion box includes smartphone apps, we go eyes-on (updated: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 May 2010 16:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s plan to open-source the VP8 video codec it acquired when it purchased a company called On2 hasn’t exactly been a secret, and the company’s finally made it official today as part of a new format called WebM. The WebM container is based on Matroska, with VP8 video and Ogg Vorbis audio streams packed inside — Google says the format is efficient enough to support playback on lower-power devices like netbooks, tablets, and handhelds, while the encoding profiles are simple enough to limit complexity when you’re trying to create WebM files. WebM is open-sourced and licensed royalty-free under a BSD-style license, so all those H.264 patent licensing concerns shouldn’t be an issue — and as you’d expect, Mozilla is supporting WebM right off the bat, with support in Firefox nightly builds as of today. Chromium nightlies will also support WebM as of today, with Chrome early access builds getting support on May 24 — and Opera is listed as “coming soon.”

Google’s also going to be supporting the format as an option for YouTube playback, so that should drive adoption in a big way — if you’re running these latest Firefox or Chromium nightlies you can actually try it out now. The big question, of course, is whether Apple and Microsoft will roll WebM support into Safari and IE and onto their mobile platforms. We’ll see — Google definitely has the ability to push a format into the mainstream.

Update: Industry support announced at I/O — including Adobe, who’ll be rolling VP8 support into Flash Player. Take note of the hardware partners, though: AMD, ARM, Broadcom, Freescale, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and TI, among others. Missing in action? Intel.

Update 2: The always-reliable Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet says she’s heard Microsoft will be supporting WebM in IE9. That’s a big deal if it’s true, but we’ll have to wait for confirmation — IE9 isn’t due out for a year, so a lot can change in the meantime. Fingers crossed.

Update 3: Microsoft’s made an official statement on its blog — while the company is “all in” with HTML5, IE9 will only come with H.264 installed be default due to technical and IP concerns. HTML5 / VP8 playback will be supported, but users will have to download and install the codec separately, which doesn’t bode well for widespread adoption. Here’s the money quote:

In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video as well as VP8 video when the user has installed a VP8 codec on Windows.

[Thanks, Sean]

Continue reading Google launches open WebM web video format based on VP8 (update: hardware partners and Microsoft statement)

Google launches open WebM web video format based on VP8 (update: hardware partners and Microsoft statement) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canon reported on Monday that the season finale of “House” has been shot entirely on a high-end digital SLR, the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. The episode marks the “first network prime-time drama” to be shot on a digital SLR.

Based on a preview clip I saw, the finale involves some sort of disaster trapping House and the case beneath a building. I’m not entirely sure if the video actually plays a role in the plot or not, or if it’s strictly incidental.

In any event, shooting a high-profile show like “House” on a digital SLR should validate the HD video capabilities that manufacturers like Canon have begun adding to their high-end and even mod-range cameras – even if Canon didn’t specifically say that the video shot was in HD.

In
addition to shooting the episode on the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF lenses
were used for a complete Canon workflow for image capture, Canon said. “Recording every
second of footage to compact flash cards, the crew for HOUSE took full advantage
of a completely digital workflow and was able to complete filming the entire
episode in just 10 days,” the company said.

The finale ends tonight at 8:00 PM ET/PT on Fox.

We’ve heard it before, now Microsoft’s Syed Bilal Tariq is repeating the October launch date for Natal. Speaking to GamerTagRadio, Microsoft’s marketing manager for Saudi Arabia says that the Natal launch,

“is going to be somewhere in October and we will be in a position to confirm the date at E3, which is in June, but definitely it is going to be October 2010.”

So there you have it. While we’d prefer to see an official press release on the topic, there’s little reason to doubt what you can hear for yourselves after the break.

Update: It’s not as clear-cut of a statement as we’d probably, but Microsoft has responded via email, telling G4, “Syed Bilal Tariq is not a [Microsoft] employee… He is a vendor employed through a third-party company on behalf of the Microsoft subsidiary in Saudi Arabia.” Sure, that downplays his realm of knowledge, but it doesn’t completely discredit. No comment was given as to the October date. At least E3’s a few hours closer now, right?

Continue reading Microsoft confirms Natal launch in October (update: Microsoft responds)

Microsoft confirms Natal launch in October (update: Microsoft responds) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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