NAB unveils SPROCKIT startups
WASHINGTON, D.C.–NAB Show organizers have announced the first round of startups selected to participate in SPROCKIT 2014. These startup companies will collaborate with and present before influencers and decision-makers in media and entertainment at the 2014 NAB Show scheduled for April 5-10 2014 in Las Vegas.
Now in its second year, SPROCKIT, a year-round program, will invite up to 30 companies to participate. A committee of industry experts reviewed a competitive pool of companies and selected the participating startups based on their potential to influence the media, entertainment and technology markets. Over the next several weeks, NAB Show will unveil additional selected startups. The first 10 companies are:
–AudioAir creates captivating entertainment, advertising and engagement for patrons of establishments with TV screens allowing users to listen, watch and interact on their mobile device on or off premise.
–Cognitive Networks is a provider of real-time services that power Enhanced TV on Smart TVs, enabling viewers to receive increased engagement and interactions with TV content through their Smart TV.
–ExciteM‘s self-serve platform enables broadcast stations to create custom interactive mobile and social experiences for their audiences in real-time.
–theloop is a social marketplace website, allowing individuals and brands to showcase and deliver services, as well as monetize their online content.
–MAZ is a mobile publishing platform that empowers brands to create better user experiences by transforming their media properties into “mini” social networks.
–Penthera is a provider of intelligent portable video software solutions for TV networks and content distributors.
–ShareRocket is a social media ratings and audience solution that helps media companies and broadcasters quantify their social media equity, benchmark against peers and turn that social market intelligence into actionable insights to drive success.
–Tomorrowish is a social media DVR that syncs and curates a live social media TV experience for viewers where they can participate in real-time conversations about a show whether it’s live or after it’s already aired.
–Wayin provides real-time intelligence into how viewers engage with TV programming and gives producers creative freedom to easily display social content within their own broadcast production workflow.
—WebTuner brings Broadband to television, and with its next generation hardware, innovative content guide, addressable and interactive advertising platform, it creates a unique consumer experience advancing industry growth and creativity.
“SPROCKIT gives up-and-comers an opportunity to work side-by-side with leaders and visionaries to navigate challenges within and find solutions to improve the media and entertainment industry,” said Harry Glazer, creator and co-producer of SPROCKIT and founder and CEO of World Series of Start-Ups, LLC. “Every participating startup is a true innovator in their field, and we look forward to announcing the entire 2014 lineup over the coming weeks.”
Following the NAB Show, the year-long program will continue through SPROCKIT Sync, where startups and industry leaders will convene and collaborate on how to bring the most innovative products, services and revenue models to market.
Created in partnership with World Series of Startups, LLC and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), SPROCKIT is supported by Springboard Enterprises LLC and New Vantage Group. SPROCKIT partners and corporate members include Angel Capital Association, Convergent Wealth Advisors, Hearst Television, infoDev, SmithGeiger and Univision.
Roy Dolby tribute set for CAS Awards
LOS ANGELES–The Cinema Audio Society will present a special tribute to honor the late, Ray Dolby, an American inventor recognized around the world for developing groundbreaking audio technologies, at the upcoming 50th Annual CAS Awards. Dolby was the founder of Dolby Laboratories, an environment where scientists and engineers continue to advance the science of sight and sound to make entertainment and communications more engaging.
His pioneering work in noise reduction and surround sound led to the development of many state-of-the-art technologies, for which he holds more than 50 U.S. patents. He previously worked at Ampex Corporation and was the chief designer of all electronic aspects of the first practical videotape recording system.
Today, Dolby Laboratories’ technologies are an essential part of the creative process for recording artists and filmmakers, who continue to use Dolby tools to bring their visions to life. In the nearly 50 years since Ray Dolby founded Dolby Laboratories, the company has transformed the entertainment experience from the cinema to the living room to mobile entertainment.
Tens of thousands of films and billions of products and devices with Dolby technologies have made their way to theaters, homes and consumers’ hands around the world. The industry has awarded Dolby Laboratories with 10 Academy Awards and 13 Emmy Awards for its groundbreaking achievements throughout the years. Dolby Atmos was awarded the CAS Technical Achievement Award for Post-Production in 2013.
“Within a year of each other, both the Cinema Audio Society, and Dolby Laboratories were born. The mixers who formed the CAS and Dolby’s founder, Ray Dolby, had the same ideals–a commitment to the excellence of sound,” said Cinema Audio Society President David Fluhr. “It seems fitting in the 50th year of the CAS, that as we award the latest in Technical Achievements for production and post-production sound, we pause and remember Ray Dolby, a true pioneer of the sound community.”
The tribute will include rare video footage of Ray Dolby accepting the CAS Life Achievement Award at the 1989 CAS Awards.
The 50th CAS Awards will be held on February 22nd in the Crystal Ballroom of the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Besides Technical Achievement Awards for Production and Post-production, awards for Outstanding Achievements in Sound Mixing in six categories: Motion Pictures, Animated Motion Pictures, Television Movies and Mini- Series, Television Series-One Hour, Television Series-Half Hour, Television-Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or Specials will be presented. During the Awards special honors will go to Andy Nelson as the CAS Career Achievement Honoree and the CAS Filmmaker Award will be presented to Edward Zwick.
NBC Winter Olympics coverage deploys Canon lenses
MELVILLE, NY–Canon U.S.A., Inc., has been selected to provide HDTV portable, field, and studio lenses to NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, during its presentation of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, from February 6-23. The announcement was made today by David Mazza, sr. VP, engineering, NBC Olympics, and Larry Thorpe, sr. fellow, Professional Engineering & Solutions division of Canon U.S.A., Inc.
More than 70 Canon HDTV lenses in total are involved in the production. Models include the XJ100X9.3B AF long-zoom field lens and the XJ27X6.5B AF studio zoom lens, both of which feature sophisticated Canon auto-focus capabilities based on a proprietary HD implementation of Through-the-Lens Secondary Image Registration Phase Detection Method technology. Also helping to provide steady images from telephoto distances will be the portable HJ40X10B super telephoto HD lens featuring Canon Shift-IS internal Optical Shift Image Stabilization, and the compact HJ15EX8.5B image-stabilized HD lens with Canon’s patented Vari-Angle Prism image-stabilizer (VAP-IS) technology.
Additional Canon portable HDTV lenses being used by NBC Olympics during its presentation of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, include the HJ14ex4.3B wide-angle zoom, the HJ22ex7.6B and HJ21ex7.5B long focal length zooms, HJ18ex28B portable ultra-telephoto HD lens, the HJ17ex7.7B high-end field production lens, and the KJ22ex7.6B multi-purpose portable HD lens. The Canon portable HDTV lens complement will also include the KH21ex5.7, KH16ex5.7, and KH10ex3.6 zoom lenses, which are designed for ENG/EFP-style cameras employing half-inch imagers.
Grass Valley enhances K2 Dyno S capabilities with Telestration
HILLSBORO, Ore.–As part of an ongoing investment to provide top-quality replay solutions for live sports and entertainment productions, Grass Valley® announced that its widely-used K2 Dyno S Replay Controller now includes an added optional feature–tOG-Sports telestration developed by RT Software.
K2 Dyno’s integration with tOG-Sports means replay operators have a fast and powerful telestration tool directly available to them on the K2 Dyno S touchscreen interface. With this capability, replay operators can provide compelling content to viewers using split screens, key frame tracking zoom, spot zoom, as well as various other illustration tools such as traditional lines, circles and shaded regions.
Grass Valley’s K2 Dyno S includes a highly intuitive touchscreen interface, the K2 Summit® 3G media server infrastructure, and increased content/metadata integration. It supplies replay operators of all levels with a comprehensive, easy-to-use and extended toolset that provides logging, content management and even full craft editing capabilities, so that operators can produce replays and highlight packages seamlessly and on the fly.
Lee Sheppard named SGL’s director of product management
FAREHAM, UK–SGL, a provider of content archive and storage management software for media and entertainment, has appointed Lee Sheppard as director of product management. Sheppard will oversee the company’s global product strategy.
Sheppard’s career, which spans 25 years, includes founding and leading BSS (Broadcast Systems Software) Ltd., the company that created Broadcast Master, a mission-critical planning and scheduling system still used by TV stations throughout the world. Following the company’s acquisition he continued to lead the same product and team as part of a Fortune-500 company. He also spent 15 years as sr. product line manager at Harris Corporation and Harris Broadcast, leading the strategic design, direction and delivery of the Broadcast Master product suite.
