NAB

Television production used to be pretty straight forward. You had huge, heavy cameras three people pushed around. In the control room you had sliders, and magically the signal went over the air.

At home you turned on the set. Had dinner (families ate together then) and a half-hour later the tube was lit and you watched the Sid Caesar or Lone Ranger show. It was so cool. For years we all went to the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) show and the behemoths of the industry dominated the floor. Big, sexy, expensive cameras. Big, gorgeous, expensive control panels. TV sets, big/bigger, gorgeous, expensive.

Then the cable and satellite folks emerged with "a better TV experience." Once you got tired of over-the-air only shows then they "offered" you 50-100 fantastic channels for $100 a month. Suddenly our wife could watch HGTV, daughter could watch the gut-buster infomercial, and son could watch Telemundo (he's practicing Spanish and the skirts are short).

According to Nielsen we started watching more TV -- 4 hours, 34 minutes a day in 2006-07. Not bad for the producers, network, cable operators, advertisers. Read more

April 20, 2009 -- Today at the 2009 NAB Show, Adobe Systems Incorporated is highlighting advances in video and dynamic media software technologies that improve the creation and delivery of content across personal computers, televisions and mobile devices. The show sees the company debut Adobe Flash Platform for the Digital Home, an optimized implementation of Flash technology that brings HD video, interactive applications and services, new user interfaces and online content to Internet-connected televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and other devices (see separate press release).

Adobe also unveiled a software framework, code-named Strobe, that will help establish an open industry standard for media players and accelerate the creation and delivery of high-quality video and interactive experiences for Web audiences (see separate press release).

In addition, NAB 2009 sees the company preview Adobe Story, a new online and offline software application for collaborative scriptwriting, aimed at the film and broadcast markets. Currently in the early stages of development, Adobe Story ties into the pre-production phase of video workflows and will be integrated with other Adobe products, as part of the Creative Suite product family. Read more

"Strobe" to Simplify Delivery of Custom Online Media Players for Content Owners

April 20, 2009 — Today at the 2009 NAB Show, Adobe Systems Incorporated announced a new software framework for building media players that extends the capabilities of the Adobe Flash Platform. Code-named "Strobe," the framework will help establish an open industry standard for media players and offer production-ready software components to streamline the development of custom media players, reducing the time content publishers spend creating their own playback technologies. The framework will enable developers using Flash technologies to quickly and easily add rich functionality—such as advertising, user measurement and tracking, and social network integration—into new custom players that can be branded for individual content owners.

"With Strobe, we're delivering an open framework that enables media companies to focus on their core competency, creating great content that people want to see, instead of developing their own video players from scratch," said Jim Guerard, vice president and general manager of Dynamic Media at Adobe. "Adobe is committed to driving Web innovation and now with Strobe, we are helping to create an open framework for media players, enabling developers and media companies to focus on developing, delivering, and monetizing content so they can extend their online media efforts."Read more

April 20, 2009 — At the 2009 NAB Show, Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced the extension of the Adobe Flash Platform to connected digital home devices with an optimized implementation of Flash technology that delivers high definition (HD) video and rich applications to Internet-connected televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and other devices in the digital living room. Major System on Chips (SoC) vendors, OEMs, cable operators and content providers including Atlantic Records, Broadcom, Comcast, Disney Interactive Media Group, Intel, Netflix, STMicroelectronics, The New York Times Company, NXP Semiconductors, Sigma Designs, and others announced support for the optimized Flash technology today. The Adobe Flash Platform for the Digital Home is available immediately to OEMs and the first devices and SoC platforms with support for the optimized Flash technology are expected to ship in the second half of 2009.

The Adobe Flash Platform for the Digital Home now enables the delivery of HD Web videos to digital home devices via the Flash Video (FLV) file format. Consumers will be able to enjoy rich, interactive viewing experiences and amazing new ways to engage with HD content on televisions. Flash technology-based applications will allow users to quickly switch between television programming and Web content outside the Web browser. With the optimized implementation of Flash technology, content providers are able to extend their reach to millions of connected digital home devices, and cable operators and device manufacturers are able to develop new services and powerful user interfaces that deliver immersive experiences. A preview of Adobe Flash technology for digital home devices is being shown in the Adobe booth (SL3320, South Hall) and during Adobe's NAB Super Session today.Read more