News Stories

Pioneer Aims to Unify Services and Devices

1.8.2011

Pioneer has announced a new platform that is immediately available to developers, and hopefully in the near future to users.

The Platform for the Aggregation of Internet Services (PAIS), will enable users to have a single login that can access all of a user’s social networking, music, video, contact, calendar accounts and much more from multiple content/service providers.

The PAIS API allows users’ devices to seamlessly access and share information among a variety of services, allowing for a new level of interactivity among the various users’ accounts. For example, using a PAIS-enabled TV, a user can look up a restaurant on Yelp and send out an invite with directions to their Facebook friend seemlessly. Then when the users get in their car, the PAIS-enabled GPS would automatically input the address. When the user arrives at the destination, their PAIS-enabled mobile device can let the user connect to friends who have already arrived.

Many in the consumer electronics industry feel that the future of applications and services will always be fractured, and by introducing the PAIS layer, Pioneer hopes to enable mashups from multiple information sources. This is one of the first attempts to consolidate and wrangle the myriad of user accounts and put them in a single place. But what’s the most compelling is the attempt by Pioneer to have PAIS manage and marry the various pieces of information and services into a single seamless user experience. As it stands right now, Pioneer has managed to release PAIS ready built with services from VoiceBox, AccuWeather.com, Yelp, Wcities, Facebook, Twitter, Slacker Radio, Google Calendar, and more to come.

Ultimately it will be up to devices and services developers to enable PAIS, before consumers can even imagine a seamlessly integrated world.

Yahoo! Powers Haier Net Connect TVs

1.8.2011

Haier arrived at CES with a new range of LED displays powered by Yahoo!’s Connected TV platform. These Net Connect displays also feature Wi-Fi.

Augmenting the services on the Yahoo! Connected TV platform include Amazon VOD, Facebook, Twitter, CBS, Showtime, NBC, eBay, YouTube and Pandora, Haier also has Hulu Plus, Blockbuster on Demand, Film Fresh and Netflix.

Buttons specifying Netflix — including some featuring the iconic red Netflix logo — will be situated prominently on remote controls that operate certain new Haier Blu-ray Disc players, and the Netflix one-click button will be included on remote controls for the Net Connect TVs.

Haier is also demonstrating Yahoo! Connected TV’s new broadcast interactivity feature and has plans to participate in the pilot program.

Further details on release date, pricing and additional specs for the TVs were not made available.

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Specification for Naming VFX Image Sequences Released

ETC’s VFX Working Group has published a specification for best practices naming image sequences such as plates and comps. File naming is an essential tool for organizing the multitude of frames that are inputs and outputs from the VFX process. Prior to the publication of this specification, each organization had its own naming scheme, requiring custom processes for each partner, which often resulted in confusion and miscommunication.

The new ETC@USC specification focuses primarily on sequences of individual images. The initial use case was VFX plates, typically delivered as OpenEXR or DPX files. However, the team soon realized that the same naming conventions can apply to virtually any image sequence. Consequently, the specification was written to handle a wide array of assets and use cases.

To ensure all requirements are represented, the working group included over 2 dozen participants representing studios, VFX houses, tool creators, creatives and others.  The ETC@USC also worked closely with MovieLabs to ensure that the specification could be integrated as part of their 2030 Vision.

A key design criteria for this specification is compatibility with existing practices.  Chair of the VFX working group, Horst Sarubin of Universal Pictures, said: “Our studio is committed to being at the forefront of designing best industry practices to modernize and simplify workflows, and we believe this white paper succeeded in building a new foundation for tools to transfer files in the most efficient manner.”

This specification is compatible with other initiatives such as the Visual Effects Society (VES) Transfer Specifications. “We wanted to make it as seamless as possible for everyone to adopt this specification,” said working group co-chair and ETC@USC’s Erik Weaver. “To ensure all perspectives were represented we created a team of industry experts familiar with the handling of these materials and collaborated with a number of industry groups.”

“Collaboration between MovieLabs and important industry groups like the ETC is critical to implementing the 2030 Vision,” said Craig Seidel, SVP of MovieLabs. “This specification is a key step in defining the foundations for better software-defined workflows. We look forward to continued partnership with the ETC on implementing other critical elements of the 2030 Vision.”

The specification is available online for anyone to use.

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