CES 2008: Home video wrap-up
What was arguably the biggest story of CES 2008 occurred three days before the show actually opened for business: Warner Home Video went Blu-ray exclusive, leaving just Paramount and Universal (and smaller DreamWorks) as exclusive HD DVD content partners.Indeed, in the days since, the issue of those studios following Warner's lead seems to be one of when, not if. Blu-ray seems on the verge of a complete victory in the HD disc format war to become the high-def successor to DVD. As a result, combo players--including a newly announced model from Samsung--were greeted more by yawns than by "oohs" and "aahs."Even without HD DVD to nudge it, prices for Blu-ray players seem destined to become more affordable, as evidenced by forthcoming devices from Philips and Funai. That said, with the specification still evolving--Panasonic's DMP-BD50 became the first 2.0 player to be officially announced--there's no reason to rush out and buy one anytime soon.But there's still a big question as to whether or not the future of home video will be one of discs--or, in fact, physical media of any kind.Online delivery of home video seemed to be everywhere: major companies such as Samsung are getting into the game, while upstarts such as XStreamHD are offering intriguing delivery options and increasingly improved video quality.That's on top of existing hardware solutions such as Vudu, Xbox 360's Video Marketplace, and Amazon Unbox on TiVo, not to mention the promise of Netflix stepping up to the plate.Of course, the potential 800-pound gorilla in the online video space won't be unveiling its plans until next week. That's when we'll find out if Apple plans to ramp up its Apple TV into a serious home video contender.If, as rumored, Steve Jobs and company add some long overdue features--iTunes video rentals, direct access to the store through the TV interface, and improved video quality--it could overshadow nearly anything shown in Las Vegas. And while the sort of full HD video quality delivered by Blu-ray's 50GB discs isn't yet available to consumers via broadband (at least in the bandwidth-challenged U.S.), it's only a breakthrough or two away. In other words, watch your back, Blu-ray: HD DVD was just a battle, and the wider war is still raging.We're just about 13 months away from the government-mandated digital transition--at which time analog TV broadcasts are scheduled to cease completely.Those who can't--or won't--get cable or satellite TV now have their first non-TiVo DVR to consider in the form of the EchoStar TR-50. That's good, because traditional manufacturers such as Panasonic continue to offer mostly lackluster recorders--either tunerless DVD recorders (which will pretty much serve as "backup drives" for DVRs) or models with hobbled digital tuners that won't deliver native full resolution HD programming.Elsewhere on the home video front, we saw indications that wireless in-home HD video is getting closer to the mass market.As with wireless audio, standards remain frustratingly elusive, but devices such as the Belkin FlyWire offer the potential for an end-to-end solution to decouple your video sources from your TV--which is increasingly vital to those with wall-mounted flat-screen TVs and projectors. Alternately, companies such as EchoStar's Sling Media are aiming to make it easier to access your home's main DVR on other TVs in the home (via the SlingCatcher), if not outside the home altogether (with the SlingPlayer software coming to BlackBerry smartphones later this year).Looking at it in the rear-view mirror, you get a strong feeling from this CES that 2008 will be a big transitional year in the home video world. It's clear that the public wants more high-def programming and more on-demand video, as well as the ability to watch it where and when they want.Which manufacturers and standards will deliver on those promises?If we're lucky, the answer to that question may be more in focus by the time CES 2009 rolls around.
RealPlayer SP aims to ease transfer of Web videos to portable devices
RealPlayer SP aims to ease transfer of Web videos to portable devices
Real Networks has unveiled the twelfth iteration of its RealPlayer media playback software. Dubbed "RealPlayer SP," the new RealPlayer includes version 11's capability to grab Flash-based videos from any Web browser (albeit with the usual caveat: the streams can't be copy-protected, which rules out most Hollywood movies and TV shows on sites such as Hulu).The "SP" designation in the name stands for "social and portable." The big upgrade is the capability to easily transcode and transfer those videos to a wide array of portable devices, including many BlackBerry phones, the Zune, and--via iTunes--the iPod and iPhone. It also offers the capability to easily share online video links via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as via e-mail. We were able to get a brief early look at the SP beta. The software made it easy to download several Flash videos from YouTube. It was also simple to choose the preset for converting and transferring the videos to a format compatible with a Palm Pre that we borrowed from a co-worker. However, once we transferred the files to the Pre, we weren't able to play them back. However, an earlier demo from a Real Networks representative successfully transferred videos to a Pre, a BlackBerry Bold, and--via a transfer to iTunes--the iPod Touch, so we're assuming we encountered an isolated glitch. Aside from the Pre playback bug, there were other frustrations. Many of the videos we wanted to save--a "Star Trek" episode on YouTube, anything on Hulu, and even a CNET TV video--were all copy-protected, and thus not able to be saved. And the process is time-consuming: downloading was pretty fast, as was USB transfer to portable devices--but the transcoding process was rather poky for videos longer than a minute or two in length. (To be fair, though, slow transcoding time is pretty much endemic to file conversion software.)The RealPlayer SP beta is available now at Download.com. The Basic version of the software will be free, while the premium Plus version--which offers H.264 video conversion, DVD playback, and DVD burning--will cost $40. It will compete with rival offerings such as Nero Move It, Format Factory, and DoubleTwist (some of which also offer social media hooks). Since the basic version is free, it's at least worth a download to try it out if you have a desire to take your Web videos on the road (so long as they're not copy-protected).Related coverage:RealPlayer 11: A new way to handle online video (December 13, 2007)
Real Networks has unveiled the twelfth iteration of its RealPlayer media playback software. Dubbed "RealPlayer SP," the new RealPlayer includes version 11's capability to grab Flash-based videos from any Web browser (albeit with the usual caveat: the streams can't be copy-protected, which rules out most Hollywood movies and TV shows on sites such as Hulu).The "SP" designation in the name stands for "social and portable." The big upgrade is the capability to easily transcode and transfer those videos to a wide array of portable devices, including many BlackBerry phones, the Zune, and--via iTunes--the iPod and iPhone. It also offers the capability to easily share online video links via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as via e-mail. We were able to get a brief early look at the SP beta. The software made it easy to download several Flash videos from YouTube. It was also simple to choose the preset for converting and transferring the videos to a format compatible with a Palm Pre that we borrowed from a co-worker. However, once we transferred the files to the Pre, we weren't able to play them back. However, an earlier demo from a Real Networks representative successfully transferred videos to a Pre, a BlackBerry Bold, and--via a transfer to iTunes--the iPod Touch, so we're assuming we encountered an isolated glitch. Aside from the Pre playback bug, there were other frustrations. Many of the videos we wanted to save--a "Star Trek" episode on YouTube, anything on Hulu, and even a CNET TV video--were all copy-protected, and thus not able to be saved. And the process is time-consuming: downloading was pretty fast, as was USB transfer to portable devices--but the transcoding process was rather poky for videos longer than a minute or two in length. (To be fair, though, slow transcoding time is pretty much endemic to file conversion software.)The RealPlayer SP beta is available now at Download.com. The Basic version of the software will be free, while the premium Plus version--which offers H.264 video conversion, DVD playback, and DVD burning--will cost $40. It will compete with rival offerings such as Nero Move It, Format Factory, and DoubleTwist (some of which also offer social media hooks). Since the basic version is free, it's at least worth a download to try it out if you have a desire to take your Web videos on the road (so long as they're not copy-protected).Related coverage:RealPlayer 11: A new way to handle online video (December 13, 2007)
Experts say Stuxnet worm could be state-sponsored (podcast)
Experts say Stuxnet worm could be state-sponsored (podcast)
The Stuxnet computer worm that may have been designed to attack a nuclear facility in Iran could have been state sponsored, according to two security experts with whom I spoke."We can tell by the code that it's very, very complex to the degree that this type of code had to be done, for example, by a state and not, for example, some hacker sitting in his parents basement," said Symantec security researcher Eric Chien.Chien added, however, that "there's nothing in the code that points to the particular author" or "what their motivation is." (Scroll down to listen to entire Chien interview.)TrendMicro security researcher Paul Ferguson agrees that Stuxnet was likely state-sponsored. "The amount of technical expertise that went into this doesn't appear to have been by some random lone individual person because they would have had to have access to these systems to develop this."Not necessarily aimed at Iran nukeFerguson could not confirm that the target was an Iranian nuclear plant. "That is purely speculation at this point, there have been lots of theories as to what the target was."He said it could also have been aimed at oil and gas facilities or other installations that use Siemens control systems, which were specifically attacked, he said. (Scroll down to listen to entire Ferguson interview.)Serious threatBoth Chien and Ferguson said this type of code is a major security concern. "For the broader population, this is definitely a new generation of attack.We're not talking any more about someone stealing someone's credit card numbers, what we're talking about is someone being able to, for example, cause a pipeline to blow up or cause a nuclear centrifuge to go out of control or cause power stations to go down.So we're not taking about virtual or 'cyber' sort of implications here, what we're talking about are real life implications." Ferguson said "it is a big deal because the utility companies, and manufacturing communities and the power companies and gas and oil companies for years have been using closed propriety systems to manage their infrastructure and over the course of the past few years they've been making business decisions to use off-the-shelf software like Windows." He added that now we're seeing the same threat as with other networks as facilitates are connected to the Internet or allow access to thumb drives. This type of threat, according to Ferguson, is "absolutely new and that's why a lot of people in the intelligence community, in the Department of Homeland Security and different governments around the world are really kind of spooked by this development. It shows the targeted nature and sophistication of the criminal/espionage aspect to this."Podcast interviews with Chien and FergusonClick links below to listen to separate podcast interviews with Symantec's Eric Chien and TrendMicro's Paul Ferguson.Symantec's Eric ChienPodcastYour browser does not support the audio element.TrendMicro's Paul FergusonPodcastYour browser does not support the audio element.Subscribe now:iTunes (audio) |RSS (audio)
The Stuxnet computer worm that may have been designed to attack a nuclear facility in Iran could have been state sponsored, according to two security experts with whom I spoke."We can tell by the code that it's very, very complex to the degree that this type of code had to be done, for example, by a state and not, for example, some hacker sitting in his parents basement," said Symantec security researcher Eric Chien.Chien added, however, that "there's nothing in the code that points to the particular author" or "what their motivation is." (Scroll down to listen to entire Chien interview.)TrendMicro security researcher Paul Ferguson agrees that Stuxnet was likely state-sponsored. "The amount of technical expertise that went into this doesn't appear to have been by some random lone individual person because they would have had to have access to these systems to develop this."Not necessarily aimed at Iran nukeFerguson could not confirm that the target was an Iranian nuclear plant. "That is purely speculation at this point, there have been lots of theories as to what the target was."He said it could also have been aimed at oil and gas facilities or other installations that use Siemens control systems, which were specifically attacked, he said. (Scroll down to listen to entire Ferguson interview.)Serious threatBoth Chien and Ferguson said this type of code is a major security concern. "For the broader population, this is definitely a new generation of attack.We're not talking any more about someone stealing someone's credit card numbers, what we're talking about is someone being able to, for example, cause a pipeline to blow up or cause a nuclear centrifuge to go out of control or cause power stations to go down.So we're not taking about virtual or 'cyber' sort of implications here, what we're talking about are real life implications." Ferguson said "it is a big deal because the utility companies, and manufacturing communities and the power companies and gas and oil companies for years have been using closed propriety systems to manage their infrastructure and over the course of the past few years they've been making business decisions to use off-the-shelf software like Windows." He added that now we're seeing the same threat as with other networks as facilitates are connected to the Internet or allow access to thumb drives. This type of threat, according to Ferguson, is "absolutely new and that's why a lot of people in the intelligence community, in the Department of Homeland Security and different governments around the world are really kind of spooked by this development. It shows the targeted nature and sophistication of the criminal/espionage aspect to this."Podcast interviews with Chien and FergusonClick links below to listen to separate podcast interviews with Symantec's Eric Chien and TrendMicro's Paul Ferguson.Symantec's Eric ChienPodcastYour browser does not support the audio element.TrendMicro's Paul FergusonPodcastYour browser does not support the audio element.Subscribe now:iTunes (audio) |RSS (audio)
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