FCC Asks TV Stations To Release Certain Frequencies – The Federal Communications Commission wants to take back 120MHz of spectrum from U.S. TV stations in the next five years and reallocate it to wireless broadband providers in a voluntary program allowing stations to share or keep spectrum auction revenues, under a national broadband plan coming out today. The TV spectrum auctions are part of the major goal to free up 500MHz of spectrum. But if the FCC doesn’t get enough volunteers to free up spectrum, it will look for other ways to take back the spectrum – which might include spectrum used for current over-the-air (OTA) telecasting. That’s of course of concern to the growing number of people receiving broadcasts OTA instead of via expensive cable or dish services. During the transition from analog to digital TV that freed up the 700MHz spectrum, broadcasters returned 108MHz – more than a quarter of their spectrum. But FCC officials assert that wasn’t enough due to a looming spectrum shortage. The TV industry is saying they still offer a valuable public service and the FCC proposals could cause gaps in signal coverage. The agency might look into requiring OTA TV stations to broadcast using low-power cellular transmitters; the impact of that on OTA viewers is unknown.
Vuzix Offers 3D DVD Titles for Its Video Eyewear – Vuzix Corporation is selling a series of 3D DVDs at its web site – www.vuzix.com – using the Side-by-Side format. This is one of the formats supported by their video eyewear, and one of the mandatory 3D formats approved by the consumer electronics industry for upcoming 3D displays. These can be played on standard DVD players and viewed on standard HDTV displays, without need for the new 3D players and displays expected to be available later this year. Side-by-Side is basically the same 3D setup as the 3D view cards for stereoscopes, invented in 1838. The initial list of 14 movies is mostly conversions of IMAX 3D films and the 3D version of Jaws – the only well-known feature in the bunch. Most are $30 and the Vuzix 3D eyewear starts at about $250.
3D TV On Its Way – Amazon has begun selling Samsung 46-inch and 55-inch HDTVs capable of showing 3D programming, and Best Buy says 3D sets will be in their stores by this week sometime. Vizio reports its 3D sets will be available in August. Sony’s 3D Blu-ray players should be in stores now. What’s missing is content. There won’t be any 3D Blu-ray discs until this summer, and no launch date for the DirecTV 3D satellite channels have been announced. ESPN and the Discovery Channel also said they would have 3D channels, but nothing so far. Sony’s PlayStation 3 consoles will only be capable of showing 3D Blu-ray discs after they get a free firmware update via the Internet, scheduled for this summer. Sumsung’s sets are being sold without the 3D glasses required for reviewing.
NuVo Technologies’ New Music Port Server – NuVo is accepting orders for its Music Port Server, to be out in August. It consolidates digital audio content (MP3, M4A, WMA & WAV files) from different networked computers in the home into a single, easy to navigate library, while offering the capability to stream audio from online sources – including over 100,000 Netcasters – into a home’s multi-room system. The unit has an internal 320GB hard drive and can store tens of thousands of tracks. It has four independent stereo RCA outputs, allowing it to stream audio content and stored music files as up to four sources fo NuVo’s while home audio systems. Serial control commands can also be send to the NuVo system trom a third party home automation system such as AMX or Crestron. The Music Port Server fits in a single rack space and connects over CAT5 to the NuVo system, and via its Ethernet port, onto the home network. Digital audio content can be browsed with full metadata display, including album art, at NuVo’s in-wall and wireless control pads.
