| MPEG drafts twice-as-efficient H.265 video standard, sees use in phones as soon as 2013 Aug 16th 2012, 01:46  All of that squabbling over H.264 may be rendered moot in the near future. The Motion Picture Experts Group (better known as MPEG) has just let us know that it was quietly drafting a new video standard while everyone was on summer vacation last month: H.265, also called High Efficiency Video Coding, promises to squeeze video sizes with double the efficiency of H.264. As you might imagine, this could lead either to a much smaller video footprint for bandwidth-starved mobile users or a hike to image quality with the same size as before. Imagine fast-loading HD streaming on 4G, or cable TV without all the excess compression, and you've got the idea. Ericsson Research visual technology lead Per Fröjdh anticipates H.265 coming as soon as 2013, when our smartphones and tablets are most likely to play it first. TV and other areas might have to wait, although Fröjdh is offering a consolation prize -- he's teasing a separate MPEG project that could give us glasses-free, compressed 3D video as a standard by 2014. Continue reading MPEG drafts twice-as-efficient H.265 video standard, sees use in phones as soon as 2013 Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Software MPEG drafts twice-as-efficient H.265 video standard, sees use in phones as soon as 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  9to5 Mac | Email this | Comments | | Caption Contest: GoPro gone wrong Aug 16th 2012, 01:19  We've been known to strap on a few GoPro cameras in our day, but our efforts are merely amateur in comparison to this guy, who we can only presume is about to perform a stunt so extreme that no less than seven GoPro cams (and a DSLR) are required to capture it. Don: "GoPro Hero."
Darren: "Amateurs gonna hate."
Billy: "I see your 3D and raise you another 5D. 8D is where it's at."
Jon: "I'm so liveblogging this. And Instagramming this. And..."
Brian: "Someone take a picture of my weird helmet thing! What do you mean you don't have a camera?"
Brad: "Hey bullies! I'm now twice the four-eyes you thought I was in high school. What have you done with your life?"
Edgar: "From now on, you shall call me GoProusa."
Tim: "Anybody have an SD card I can borrow?"
Mat: *BATTERY LOW*
Jamie: "Patent pending..."
Christopher: "A&E Presents Helmet Hoarders: The GoPro Edition"
Sharif: "HQ, are you seeing this?!" Filed under: Digital Cameras Caption Contest: GoPro gone wrong originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Sascha Pallenberg (Google+) | | Email this | Comments | | WSJ: Apple's TV focus changes to putting cable TV in its set-top box Aug 16th 2012, 00:42  Just in case you thought the often discussed / as yet unseen Apple HDTV rumor mill was dead, you were wrong. The Wall Street Journal is reigniting things this evening, with sources claiming that instead of competing with cable providers by starting up its own IPTV offering, Apple has switched to sweet talking pay-TV providers into offering their content through its box. If you're still looking for a Cupertino-embued display you may be in luck, since the anonymous parties also indicate the set-top box tech it's working on could be integrated with HDTVs. That is still an less than certain path at the moment however, given pay-TV operators current preference to control every element of the experience and relationship with consumers, as well as the split of profits. According to the Journal report, Steve Jobs was "dismissive" of attempts to build a cable box since cable operators each only have limited regional exposure and don't own the content they license from studios. Since then however we have seen a few offerings of cable and satellite TV beyond the box as Microsoft offers Verizon and Comcast apps on its Xbox 360, Samsung has brought providers directly to its smart HDTVs and many providers offer streaming access via iPad or other mobile devices. Still, since the rumor doesn't indicate a deal is inked or even on the way, we wouldn't hold our breath for any or all of the listed possibilities to come true any time soon. Filed under: Home Entertainment WSJ: Apple's TV focus changes to putting cable TV in its set-top box originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Wall Street Journal | Email this | Comments | |
