Within minutes of Asiana Airlines flight 214 crash landing at San Francisco airport last July, some of the 168 survivors were Tweeting commentary. They included Samsung EVP, and IBC2013 keynote, David Eun whose eye-witness testimony trended online instantly and was picked up by news outlets worldwide. Imagine then, the news value if another passenger or passengers involved in a similar incident today could stream live pictures to websites while onboard?
The scenario is one of many that is intriguing news organisations as the era of wearable computing dawns. Smart watches and voice-activated augmented eyewear loaded with HD cameras, microphones, displays and always-on WiFi, promise to make content creation and dissemination as easy as saying record a video.
Broadcasters are already some way down this route. Journalists can uplink live pictures or store and forward video from camcorders via portable transmission units over the cell phone network, bypassing more expensive and cumbersome satellite systems.
This kit is already standard issue among news organisations including Sky News, AP and Al Jazeera. In a breaking situation where a satellite truck is blocked, crews are able to transmit from heart of the action.
The reach can be extended further using cameras mounted on remote controlled mini-copters. The technology, which has limits of range, as well as privacy and safety concerns, is being trialled for operation in Europe and could provide a unique aerial view of events.
Online news producer for Vice Media, Tim Pool, has used a drone controlled from his iPhone. I often see traditional news organisations with lots of heavy satellite equipment and trucks with satellite dishes and the technology is really expensive and it's hard for them to get to the places I can get to, he told IBC2013 Conference panel Not the nine o'clock news.
Pool explained how he had used a Galaxy smart phone to live stream to 7,500 viewers from a Trayvon Martin protest. He noted that journalists need to be more security-aware with new technologies. A smart phone is like carrying a tracking device, he said. Journalists must beware of protecting themselves and their sources.
Smart phones are fast becoming the swiss army knives of on-the-go production. All the leading bonded wireless uplink suppliers offer phone apps which boost encoding quality, and link vision fast and direct to the relevant news desk.
By attaching inexpensive professional-quality camera lenses, iPhone users can turn their device into a pseudo-DLSR. Other types of lens can be attached to enable 180-degree or 360-degree panoramas. These can then be unwrapped by special software and translated back into a flat image navigable by tablet users. There is also software which automatically synchronizes footage of an event from multiple cameras culled from social media, and turns it into a single interactive video.
Perhaps the technology with the most potential to upend the traditional means of newsgathering are net-connected spectacles. Due for commercial release next spring, Google Glass wearers will be able to view news feeds from EuroNews, CNN, The New York Times, Reuters and ABC News.
CNN has gone a step further and launched its citizen journalist service iReport to the Google Glass user base (some 10,000 just now) offering Glass-wearers the chance to shoot video and upload it to iReport where a CNN editor will take a judgement on whether it supports the days news agenda.
While news organisations look to harvest an exponential increase in the amount of video perspectives captured and aired almost instantaneously, they are wary of the minefield in verifying accuracy. In the aftermath of a plane crash into the Mekong river last month video of a plane appeared on Laos TV and on several international news wires. Associated Press, though, vetted the image and found it to be of a plane that had crashed in 2012.
The crucial next step is to verify that live video streams are what they purport to be. Using a Google+ group and an open Twitter account, Dublin-based Storyful is trying to build a crowdsourced open newsroom that can help verify user-generated content in real time during events like the war in Syria.
News gathering is undergoing a revolution in content and accessibility with as-yet unexplored implications for the news agenda itself. Its a hot topic and sure to be a focus of IBC2014.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
12/07/2025
As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...
12/07/2025
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...
11/07/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...
11/07/2025
If you've ever wondered what might be playing in Clark Kent's headphones...
11/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...
11/07/2025
ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...
11/07/2025
Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...
11/07/2025
LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...
11/07/2025
Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....
11/07/2025
CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...
11/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...
11/07/2025
Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalItaly
Link copied to clipboard
July 11, 20...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Season 1
Season 2
Se...
11/07/2025
AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration launches two papers to guide the future of AI integration, today at the AI for Good Global Summit
The...
11/07/2025
Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia.
From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...
10/07/2025
The current holder of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year Award has been forced to stop reporting over fears for her safety in Afgha...
10/07/2025
Spotify is turning up the volume on Australian music with a multipronged initiative designed to highlight the dominance of Australian artists on the global stag...
10/07/2025
This is not a drill: Oasis is back on the road-marking its first live performanc...
10/07/2025
The music industry depends on fresh ideas, bold voices, and emerging talent. Yet across the U.K., too many young musicians lack the space to develop their craft...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
10/07/2025
Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...
10/07/2025
Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...
10/07/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...
10/07/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. TNDV Television has launched Aspiration 35, a new version of its 40-foot Aspiration truck reimagined for cinematic multicamera productions....
10/07/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Key Code Education, a provider of instructor-led postproduction training, is growing its curriculum with new programs for beginner and intermedi...
10/07/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. Actus Digital will demonstrate how broadcasters can transform compliance monitoring from a necessary expense into a strategic revenue driver at...
10/07/2025
The Federal Register has published a summary of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Notice seeking comments on its ownership rules that lists a d...
10/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Presents the Official Trailer for SuperestarPlay Video
Play Video
Entertainment
10 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard...
10/07/2025
In the race to understand our planet's changing climate, speed and accuracy are everything. But today's most widely used climate simulators often strugg...
10/07/2025
As one of the world's largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its Golden 2045 Vision - an initiative tapping digital technologies and...
10/07/2025
10 Jul 2025
VEON and Cohen Circle Secure Investor Commitments for Kyivstar Listing Kyiv, New York, Dubai, and Philadelphia - July 10, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq:...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
Within minutes of Asiana Airlines flight 214 crash landing at San Francisco airport last July, some of the 168 survivors were Tweeting commentary. They included Samsung EVP, and IBC2013 keynote, David Eun whose eye-witness testimony trended online instantly and was picked up by news outlets worldwide. Imagine then, the news value if another passenger or passengers involved in a similar incident today could stream live pictures to websites while onboard?
