LiveCast Blog

LiveCast wins ‘Best 4G WIMAX Enterprise Solution” award by judges from Intel, Sprint, Clear, Cisco, Comcast at Stanford Symposium

Our sincere thanks goes out to Arogyaswami J Paulraj, Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, and Allen Flanagan, Clear 4G WiMAX Innovation Network for organizing the event and supporting LiveCast's participation in the competition.

Yesterday, the world's wireless leaders in 4G WiMAX from industry (e.g. Sprint, Clear, Cisco, Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable) and Stanford faculty responsible for the development of this technology converged to discuss new ideas on how to create, develop, and apply this next generation mobile internet.

LiveCast's presentation to the audience and judging panel included live streaming from the HTC EVO 4G phone with an enterprise ready 1 sec latency. We demonstrated our Dispatch Lightning solutions for monitoring and switching of many live feeds from the field, and showed off metadata, GPS, and biometrics integration available to our customers such as NBC, Post Newsweek, BBC, Homeland Security Agencies, and healthcare organizations.

"LiveCast is just what the doctor ordered for healthcare organizations striving to improve patient care, while reducing costs -- LiveCast enables live video streaming from the ambulance to a physician's phone or laptop for real-time consultations. Same goes for any organization who needs to stand in the shoes of their teams in the field."

We'll be making announcements soon regarding new media company customers licensing LiveCast to leverage Sprint's new 4G WiMAX network in key cities!

LiveCast’s 4G Live Mobile Video Solutions Showcased at Verizon's booth (#SL3309) at NAB

Come see LiveCast's industry-leading live mobile video solutions for 4G in Verizon’s booth (#SL3309) during the 2010 NAB Show through Thursday, April 15.  

Among the ground-breaking 4G solutions that we are demonstrating, include:

• Company’s Flagship Low Latency Solutions and SDI Playout

LiveCast will showcase live video streaming from mobile phones and netbooks in the field, featuring two-way live communications using LiveCast Duo, viewing on computers and phones, and LiveCast’s low latency viewing and SDI playout system.

LiveCast SDI also allows for real-time monitoring of many mobile streams in the field simultaneously, switching to master output feed, tracking of live streams on a map, live chat, photo snapshots, much more.

• New Cutting-Edge Mobile Broadcasting Backpack System

LiveCast’s new ProPack live mobile broadcast system for 4G will also be demonstrated at the booth. An integrated component to the LiveCast platform, it enables professional, near HD-quality live video streaming from a light-weight, extended battery-powered wireless backpack unit.

The system gives individual journalists the ability to cover breaking news and live events where deploying traditional broadcast technologies might be impossible or too costly.

LiveCast ProPack is uniquely remote controlled using a mobile phone to eliminating the disruptive “opening and closing” of the backpack to start and stop system, verify streaming, monitor battery usage and to modify settings.

To schedule a meeting in advance, please contact Jennifer Blome at 604.844.2263 ext 2#, or jb@livecast.com.

Sony Showcases LiveCast End-to-End Metadata and Live Video Delivery Platform at NAB

LiveCast is proud to announce its partnership with Sony to bring end-to-end metadata workflow to broadcasters. By working closely with Sony's talented development team, LiveCast will unveil a beta version of its "HeavyMeta" solution in Sony's booth (#C11001) at NAB Show next week (Apr 12-15).

Download LiveCast HeavyMeta Product Sheet

Here's a brief overview of how it works...

STEP 1: A producer in the studio creates a new assignment using an Outlook task plug-in, clicks ‘send’ and the camera operator's mobile phone receives the message with the new assignment. The HeavyMeta mobile app will then instantly auto synch metadata between the phone and SonyXDCam PDW-700.

 

STEP 2: Once shooting begins, a preview video is displayed on the phone, and the camera operator or crew can use pre-defined tags and categories to mark-up video with essence data on-the-fly.

 

STEP 3: In locations where high-speed data networks like 4G are available, LiveCast HeavyMeta will transmit a high-quality live stream from the Sony XDCam PDW-700 back to the studio. Producers can watch in real-time using LiveCast’s Lightning SDI application. Live streams can also be directly ingested into Avid systems.  

 

If you're coming to NAB, please stop by and see it first hand!

 

 

LiveCast Welcomes Enterprise Licensee, NBC...To Our Olympic Hometown City Of Vancouver!

LiveCast is proud to announce that leading TV broadcaster, NBC, has selected LiveCast's end-to-end enterprise solution to enable reporters to stream live from the field to the studio, and into an on-air broadcast. 

We welcome the NBC team to our Olympic hometown city of Vancouver, and wish them the best of luck in bringing America's viewers the excitement and thrills that come with the world's best athletes competing for the gold in the 2010 Winter Games.

NBC has licensed the LiveCast solution enterprise-wide and has implemented the server system on the company's internal network, making it a key part of the breaking news reporting workflow. Whether NBC field reporters' live video feeds go directly on-air, or are previewed and produced into segments for later, LiveCast provides the mobile software and studio tools to make that happen instantly and seamlessly.

As the clock ticks down to the start of the 2010 Olympic Games, NBC makes final preparation for their live telecast and online broadcast. We're sure all will run smoothly in bringing this momentous world sporting spectacular to viewers at home watching on TVs or computers.

Watch NBC's online coverage of the Olympics!

LiveCast enables a GRAMMY first: "live video streaming from cell phones."

It's been an exciting week with the GRAMMY Live! broadcast starting on Friday and running round-the-clock through tonight's 52nd Annual GRAMMY AWARDS ceremony and after parties.

GRAMMY video bloggers are using the DROID by Motorola mobile phones loaded up with the LiveCast Mobile app, letting them stream live from behind-the-scenes, the red carpet, and those favorite up-close-and-personal interviews with the stars. The portable and lightweight cell phones make it easy to capture the spontaneous interview with hard-to-catch celebrities, and to fit into crowded spaces where the action is really heating up. 

The LiveCast team has a long history of providing live Webcast services for some of the entertainment and sporting industries' largest events. And over the past few years, we've been helping organizations provide unique coverage by putting cell phones in the hands of bloggers and fans. One of the obvious lessons we've learned from all this is that when you get hundreds or even thousands of fans in a facility with cell phones, you’re going to be 'sucking up' spectrum. But, thanks to LiveCast's partner, Wilson Electronics, we outfitted GRAMMY video bloggers with cell phone spectrum boosters, which gives them the adrenalin rush of bandwidth they need for quality streaming.

While the video bloggers have been busy on the front lines using LiveCast on their Droid by Motorola mobile phones, the production team is equally a buzz back in the control room monitoring and mixing the many live mobile feeds using the LiveCast's Lightning SDI solution. Working closely with top TV broadcasters customers, LiveCast has developed Lightning SDI, an efficient way for the individual mobile video streams to be integrated with the broadcast workflow.

First, using LiveCast Lightning SDI, the incoming live streams from the video bloggers are viewed simultaneously on the same screen with less than a one-second latency.  

Next, the producer switches between the streams to create a master outgoing feed by simply clicking on the preview window that has the most interesting live coverage at that moment. A key feature of Lightning SDI is that is supports "SDI" output, which is utilized by TV broadcasters for high-quality on-air broadcasts, and will be used by the GRAMMY live production team.

Lots more coverage to go tonight! Read up on Jennifer Blome's Blog at: http://www.grammy.com/blogs/grammy-streaming-a-mobile-grammy-live-experience. Enjoy the show at www.grammy.com/live

LiveCast Shows 2-Way Video Streaming on Nokia N900 at CES

Just in time for the show..LiveCast team delivers the beta build of an innovative 2-way video app for the N900.

LiveCast's "Duetto" is a new breakthrough application that combines video conferencing and live video streaming. (Developed for the N900 first due to awesome support from Nokia Pro Forum team.)

LiveCast Duetto lets you stream live video from your N900 device, while simultaneously viewing a friend's live stream on the same screen.  Plus, your video stream is being broadcast live to the web, so anyone else with a phone or computer can view it.

When you press stop, your live stream is automatically stored on a server. Of course, all of LiveCast's social networking auto-posting features work too -- share with Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Duetto is extremely flexible in that the incoming feed can be from another N900 device with Duetto installed, or from any LiveCast enabled device (over 700 phones, PCs, Macs, IP cameras supported).

It's easy to set up your Duetto "Buddy List" and make it available for your incoming stream options. Just log in to your LiveCast account, click on CONTACTS > DUETTO BUDDY LIST > ADD NEW, now enter any public LiveCast username, click save.

LiveCast Duetto is currently in private beta. We expect to make it available on the Ovi store shortly.

Nokia Showcases LiveCast as exclusive live video partner at CES

LiveCast was pleased to be one of only four companies (and only video provider) to demonstrate solutions in the Nokia booth at CES, the world's biggest consumer electronics tradeshow. Thanks to our co-marketing alliance with Nokia, and our Pro Forum Membership as a Premium Developer, we'll be showcasing more innovative technology with Nokia in the near future.

The LiveCast team demonstrated LiveCast Mobile, live video streaming from one N900 device to another N900 device (or any cell phone), and simultanously on the Web. With LiveCast Mobile, live video streaming works reliably over operator data network, as well as WiFi (unique compared to other providers who are limited to Wifi for consistant live streaming).

LiveCast Mobile for the N900 will be available shortly from the Ovi Store exclusively.

LiveCast Dispatch Gains New Features: Group Map & Snapshot

LiveCast team has added two new often requested features to LiveCast Dispatch...Group Map and Snapshot.

 

Group Map allows a user to see the precise location where all video streams previewed in the 4 (or 8) lower windows are being streamed from in real-time. The marker representing the live feed that is currently in the master stream window, will be displayed in a solid color in the front of the map to make it easy to see. Other markers are slightly transparent and are displayed behind the master stream marker.

 

The new Snapshot features allows you to click on the icon and create a jpeg image of the current frame, which is saved with locally saved videos. To access the images, go to My Account, then My Locally Saved Videos.

 

For anyone new to Dispatch, it is a professional low latency solution that provides real-time monitoring and switching of multiple incoming video streams from the field. A switched master stream can automatically be distributed to cell phones for live viewing and to multiple web properties. Dispatch is already being used for live expert commentary for NFL and NASCAR, by healthcare organizations, law enforcement and government agencies.

 

K'Naan Rocks! LiveCast Used for 2010 FIFA World Cup "Pre-Draw" Concert

As any World Cup soccer fan probably already knows, K'Naan's"Wavin' Flag" is the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 

"Wavin Flag" was getting plenty of air play and lots of internet attention, even well before he joined GRAMMY Award winners on stage for the FIFA World Cup pre-draw concert in Capetown, South Africa, on Dec 4th.

As big K'Naan fans ourselves, we connected with his team and together organized a trial livecast of his performance at the high profile Capetown concert.  

We used various LiveCast enabled cell phones, and LiveCast Dispatch to switch the feeds into a master stream that was embedded in his website (http://knaanmusic.ning.com/) and available for anyone with a cell phone to view. The live video was great quality, and now with pre-planning for next event, we'll try to connect into the sound board for even better audio quality.

Stay tune for more K'Naan livecasts!

Billboard.com Selects LiveCast's Consumer Platform for LIVE Mobile Video Streaming Portal

If you’re a music fan, then you’ve probably heard of Billboard. Recently, Billboard launched their new website complete with brand new features including: daily news, uninterrupted streaming music capabilities, interactive chart pages, hundreds of album reviews, social capabilities, photo galleries, interviews with chart-topping artists, games and much more.

As part of the new Billboard.com launch, LiveCast was selected to deliver a live mobile video streaming portal. “Music On The Move,” is an AT&T sponsored contest, where ten qualified recruits with AT&T phones equipped with LiveCast technology compete to bring live music moments to Billboard.com in real time. The “Music on the Move” page on Billboard.com has a variety of options for accessing video streams such as: ‘Most Popular’ on a Showcase page, ‘Most Recent’ on a Gallery page, and by location on a Map page. These talented contestants are capturing all types live music moments, there's something for everyone!

To check out these, and what YOU can do with LiveCast, visit: http://billboarddemo.livecast.com