TV Studio in a Box

TV in a Box

If you were impressed when manufacturers began putting home theaters in boxes, wait until you feast your eyes on NewTek’s TriCaster, which packs an entire live television production studio into a comparable cube of space. With minimal training, anyone who can operate a computer can use it to broadcast professional-quality live video over the internet or on television.

“It’s basically a live TV truck in a backpack,” said Philip Johnson, NewTek senior vice president of strategic development. “It’s being used by everyone from the NBA [Development League], to Fox Sports, to Fox News. John Dvorak uses one for Cranky Geeks, and Leo Laporte [and Tom Green] use it.”

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http://www.wired.com

Comcast defends Web traffic methods

Comcast, which is the second largest U.S. Internet service provider with more than 13 million subscribers, said the use of network management was essential to avoid congestion and impairment of some applications such as online video sites Joost and Veoh.

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reuters.com

NanoGeek speaks out: For the record Comcast sucks ass. The area in which I reside Comcast dominates. You are allocated to about three internet providers. Those providers are: Direct TV/Dish with Dial up, Verizon DSL*no FIOS*, or Comcast. My bandwidth usage is sometimes thru the roof. I do noticed when movies and media is downloaded in large quanities all in one day, the next day my internet seems to malfunction. My router dies and I have to reset my modem, router and shut off the device that was trying to connect to the internet. .

Verizon Extends Industry Lead in Broadband and Video With G-PON

NEW YORK – Verizon technicians are upgrading FiOS with next-generation electronics to dramatically enhance the speeds, and thus the capabilities, of Verizon’s all-fiber-optic FiOS broadband, video and voice network.

Known as gigabit passive optical network (G-PON) equipment, the new electronics can increase the line-rate bandwidth on the Verizon fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network by four times downstream to the customer and eight times upstream back to the network. This provides the capability for future enhancements to Verizon’s industry-leading FiOS Internet and FiOS TV products as new applications are developed and as customers demand more bandwidth.

Mark Wegleitner, Verizon Telecom’s senior vice president-technology, said Verizon has already started to deploy G-PON broadly across the company’s FiOS system. The new equipment is being used in communities where Verizon is building FTTP for the first time. “Already, our all-fiber network is proving that it can deliver faster Internet speeds,” Wegleitner said. “G-PON electronics position us for the next level of even faster Internet speeds and even more interactive FiOS TV with new features.

“The G-PON deployment also illustrates the future-proof aspects of FiOS: We can use the same fiber network we use today but enhance the speed and capacity with new electronics in our central offices and at the customer premises.”

The states where Verizon began initial deployment of G-PON are: California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas.

Today’s announcement builds upon the initial announcement made at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exposition and the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference in March 2007, and follows the successful initial field deployments of G-PON in Kirklyn, Pa.; Lewisville, Texas; and Hingham, Mass. Thus far, Verizon has been deploying B-PON (broadband passive optical network) technology to provide market-leading Internet access performance.

“Both B-PON and now G-PON give us all the headroom we need to continue evolving our products to meet growing customer demand for more bandwidth, both downstream and upstream,” Wegleitner said. “However, moving to technologies like G-PON helps ensure that we stay ahead of the competition.”

Delivered over Verizon’s all-fiber network, FiOS TV is a formidable competitor to cable and satellite TV. FiOS TV on Verizon’s FTTP network delivers amazingly sharp pictures and sound, and has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen. The company’s fiber network also delivers Internet download speeds today of up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second) today and upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps, as well as high-quality voice service.

Verizon is building its FTTP network in 16 states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Washington. FiOS Internet is available in all 16 states, and FiOS TV is available in 13: California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Oregon.

Verizon is the only major telecom company building a fiber-optic network all the way to customer’s homes on a mass scale.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America’s most reliable wireless network, serving more than 62 million customers nationwide. Verizon’s Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation’s most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion.

For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com.

NanoGeek Tech: Comcast Needs to be Sued!

FCC to investigate Comcast BitTorrent blocking
By Ryan Paul Published: January 08, 2008 – 11:55PM CT
Courtsey of: arstechnica.com

The FCC is preparing to investigate accusations that cable provider Comcast is disrupting peer-to-peer file-sharing traffic on its network.

A study conducted last year by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and independently verified by the Associated Press revealed that Comcast interferes with BitTorrent and Gnutella sessions by sending TCP “reset” packets to users. Despite the growing body of unambiguous evidence, Comcast still denies allegations that it specifically targets BitTorrent. Comcast vice president David Cohen told us that the company’s traffic control mechanisms conform to the FCC’s definition of “reasonable network management” practices (which are allowed by the FCC), but critics don’t agree that Comcast’s management is anything “reasonable.” The FCC today indicated that “reasonable” practices should be transparent.

“Sure, we’re going to investigate and make sure that no consumer is going to be blocked,” said Kevin Martin at CES today, reports the AP. “The question is going to arise: Are they reasonable network practices? When they have reasonable network practices, they should disclose those and make those public.”

At CES, Comcast reiterated to Ars Technica that it engages in “reasonable traffic management” and said that it looks forward to responding to any FCC inquiries. “We believe our practices are in accordance with the FCC’s policy statement on the Internet where the Commission clearly recognized that reasonable network management is necessary for the good of all customers,” said Comcast executive VP David L. Cohen in a statement. “Comcast plans to work with the Commission in its desire to bring more transparency for consumers regarding broadband network management.”

Comcast has been extremely secretive about the scope and extent of its traffic management activity and has even threatened to fire employees who discuss specific details of the P2P blocking with anyone outside of the company. When it comes to traffic management, Comcast isn’t big on transparency and public disclosure.

Numerous advocacy groups have filed FCC complaints over the issue, and they contend that Comcast’s behavior is a flagrant violation of the network neutrality principles outlined in the FCC’s Internet Policy Statement. A class-action lawsuit against Comcast over traffic blocking is also in the works. Aggravated consumers and digital rights activists aren’t the only ones calling foul. Comcast’s competitors, who have traditionally expressed criticism of network neutrality, have also called for an FCC investigation of Comcast’s BitTorrent blocking.

The FCC’s investigation will have significant implications for the network neutrality debate. Proponents of network neutrality legislation believe that the FCC’s current standards and the manner in which those standards are enforced is largely inadequate to deter Internet service providers from engaging in abusive network manipulation. The Internet service providers and other critics of network neutrality legislation argue that the present system is sufficient and that additional regulatory interference would impose limitations on traffic management practices that the Internet service providers claim are needed to prevent the torrential flood of file-sharing and digital video from clogging the tubes.

Depending on the final outcome, the FCC’s response to Comcast’s practices could either confirm the suspicions of network neutrality advocates or demonstrate the adequacy of the present regulatory framework.