Is CEDIA Becoming a Mini-CES?

Many have expressed the opinion that CEDIA EXPO is becoming like a smaller version of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). There’s no question that the focus is custom, custom, custom. But as the custom installation business increasingly involves things like home security, lighting, automation, and music streaming, the breadth of products and technologies on display has expanded considerably.

In fact, two of the most prominent product categories I’ve noticed on the floor this year are media servers, and home security. There’s someone offering up what they deem the latest and greatest in music servers on pretty much every corner on the show floor, from Harman Kardon, to Sony, and Sooloos. In terms of security, I’ve seen everything from the standard video surveillance system, to a neat system that includes a “magic mirror”. Place the mirror in your living room, and a talking genie pops up on its surface to verbally alert you when someone has arrived at the front door. Not only does the genie let you know that someone is a-knockin’, but a security camera outside displays a live feed onto the mirror, so you don’t even need to get up from the couch to see who it is. Nope, I’m not kidding.

The bread and butter of CEDIA EXPO remains custom audio/video. But as things like video cameras, computers, and interior design pieces like drapes, lighting, and furniture, are more often finding themselves part of a system design in the home, the show attracts new and exciting vendors. The consensus among those I’ve asked is that this year's show is better than last, with tons to see and experience.

Industry members, stay tuned to Marketnews Magazine for in-depth coverage of the show.

Adobe Makes Moviestar

High-definition video isn’t just for your TV screen: Adobe now hopes to bring it to the ‘net via an upcoming version of its popular Flash Player that will use the H.264 video standard to stream high definition-quality video on Websites like YouTube.

Cleverly codenamed “Moviestar”, the upgrade for Adobe Flash Player 9 will offer, in addition to higher quality video, things like more enhanced full-screen playback. It could also serve as a stepping stone toward better quality video playback on portable devices that are compatible with the H.264 video format. Audio upgrades will include added support for High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC).

I can absolutely see IT nuts connecting their PCs to large-screen flat-panel displays, then watching streaming video over the ‘net while curled up on the couch or in bed. I'm not saying such an activity would take over regular TV/movie watching, but can you imagine being able to pick and choose specific news broadcasts from a network’s Website, then watching them in high-definition on a large-screen TV; or even a widescreen PC monitor? This move is just one more in the direction toward the merging of the consumer electronics and information technology worlds.

Moviestar is currently available in the beta testing stage at http://labs.adobe.com/, and the full version is scheduled to be available by the fall.

The Majority of Online Leisure Time is Being Spent Playing Games

With all of the media attention as of late, one would think that things like online video and social networking take the cake when it comes to leisure time spent online. But this isn’t the case. According to research firm Parks Associates, casual gaming actually leads the online leisure activity race, with 34% of U.S. adults admitting to playing games on the 'net weekly. Video clip watching is right on gaming’s heels at 29%, followed by social networking, which was surprisingly only cited as a weekly occurence by 19% of those surveyed.

This could be attributed to the age range of the survey sample: I’d guess the majority of the participants were above 30, while the average age of a social networker is undoubtedly much younger. Had they conducted this same survey among 16-30-year-olds, I’ll bet the numbers would have been skewed much differently.

Nevertheless, the study discovered that online gaming has grown 79% year-over-year, compared to 46% growth in social networking. However, video streaming sites blew gaming out of the water when it comes to growth, with an impressive 123% year-over-year rate. Interestingly, although a recent study by Parks’ claimed that consumers weren’t interested in downloading videos online, the results of this new survey imply that they have no problem watching them there!

This survey sheds some light on the often overlooked ‘net activity of “casual” gaming. I’m a victim of this growing trend myself, having engaged in a quick game of MSN Bejeweled 2 every now and then when I’m unwinding at home. It just goes to show that, even in a world with complex, first-person shooter, car chasing, gremlin massacring games, there’s still a thriving market that simply wants to match three shapes together repeatedly until a game board is cleared.

[Photo: MSN's Bejeweled 2, which is accessible via the MSN Games page.]

YouTube Works on Copyright Video Filtering Technology

In an effort to ward off evil, copy-written videos from being posted on YouTube, Google says its working on some sort of video-recognition technology that would be able to detect content that infringes upon copyrights before it is actually posted.

Although I don’t think it’s right to leave a problem to fend for itself, I also wonder how well such a technology would work. It’s no secret that every time a technology is introduced to prevent illegal copying or distribution of content online, some tech geek hacker finds a way to crack it, and we’re back to square one again.

In some ways, the current method of waiting until illegal material has been flagged and promptly removing it might be the most successful way to go. Sure, some content ends up leaking to a small portion of visitors that manage to catch the video in time (like in the case of the movie Sicko, where about 600 people saw it before it was removed). But is preventing this worth the possibility that the new technology could wrongfully identify a personal video and prevent someone from posting their own stuff? What’s more, if someone is anxious enough to view leaked content online, he’s probably just as anxious to get out there and watch the actual movie/show as well.

Trying to control the behaviour of millions and millions of users will indeed be difficult; especially since YouTube sees thousands of videos posted on its site per day. But it’s a move Google must make in order to protect the rights of content owners. This is especially important since several lawsuits have been made against Google/YouTube, claiming that the company allowed thousands of unauthorized clips to be posted.

According to Times Online, a Viacom lawyer (one of the firm’s named in the suit) said that if the filtering mechanism helps, they’d be "very grateful" for it. But, all plaintiffs in the suit feel that YouTube should have acted sooner.

Google says the new filtering technology should be implemented by September. I can’t wait to see how it pans out!

Ready for a Full Meal, or Just a Media Snack?

I’ve heard the term “media snacking” several times over the past month. So what is it? Media snacking is the act of grabbing quick “bites” of content. This can include things like short video clips, text messages, tunes, or even blogs like this one. If you're reading this right now, you're snacking!

Most would think that media snacking on mobile devices in particular is just for kids: after all, what working adult has time to engage in such activity? Think again. According to a survey conducted by Leger Marketing on behalf of Palm Canada, 60 per cent of adults are active in mobile entertainment, nibbling on bits of media more often than they even have time to do.

Ironically, the reason adults are raiding the mobile ‘fridge is because of lack of time, and being so overloaded. Most professionals do not work a typical 9-5 day (27 per cent say they work at least 10 hours!), and are finding themselves more often than not on-the-go. Snacking on media is a way to help unwind during the day.

What are mobile adults snacking on? Survey says: tunes and text messages (44 per cent); video clips (19 per cent); and radio (33 per cent). Social networking Websites like Facebook and MySpace are also being visited from portable devices, which is something I can personally attest to, having logged in many times during lunch or while on the road (only as a passenger, I swear!)
Once they’re at home, it appears that many people still can’t manage to put away the BlackBerry until the morning: the temptation to check and respond to e-mail is far too great for any road warrior to fend off. Almost a third of the people even admitted to responding to e-mails while eating dinner; and close to 40 per cent confess to working while attending social or family gatherings (remember Ari during Yom Kippur on the latest episode of Entourage?).

Media snacking is great. But it’s important to ensure all this techno-wizardry doesn’t consume our lives: 24/7 is too much, 9-to-5 is too limiting. I feel it all boils down to balance. If you know when to shut down your connection, you’ll value the nature of mobile technology much more.