The esports hype is at a fever pitch after Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) launched its much anticipated Overwatch League in January. Management has said that Overwatch League will turn a modest profit in 2018. It’s still uncertain exactly how big esports will become for the gamemaker, but in his 2017 annual letter to shareholders, CEO Bobby Kotick gave investors some clues. Let’s review what he had to say.
Apple’s commitment to professionals was impressively underscored at NAB18 with the reveal of ProRes RAW and yet another significant (and free) update of FCPX. That said, Apple’s future direction has become much more uncertain with official-seeming leaks about a switch to ARM, a rethink of the iOS / Mac divide and more.
“In broadcast markets of every size, news operations are replacing traditional, pedestal-mounted studio cameras with pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) models.”
In fact, PTZ camera performance is so strong that some stations are using them side-by-side with traditional studio cameras for weather sets, while others have replaced all their studio cameras with PTZ models.
I could fill this entire article with quotes from the smartest, most knowledgeable people of by-gone eras, with predictions that were completely wrong, even laughable today. And the fact that I have spent more than 50 years in broadcasting—the last half of those working for Belden—gives me no real clairvoyance about the future of broadcasting.
Like many of us like to do, Gary Bettan from VideoGuys.com in the New York metro area, takes a look back at the year just ended and selects his choices for the top products introduced in 2017.
It’s another great year for the live streaming world. From major events to video gaming to high school graduations and even live news from major news outlets, the widespread adoption of live content as a broadcasting form shows that it’s quickly becoming a mainstream way to deliver content.
George and Dan discuss video and technology trends to watch for and make some predictions of their own.
2017 was the first year when VR was a consumer reality. Headsets were available from a variety of vendors and at a variety of price points. Commercial markets for design and manufacturing began to adopt VR as a visualization too.
Get a Samsung Gear VR, connect to the Samsung VR service on August 17, and experience the magic of Coldplay’s performance at no additional cost, while sitting comfortably at home.
Studios already have plans for viewers to become immersed in popular films via first-person experiences as an ape in ‘Planet of the Apes’ and Matt Damon’s character in ‘The Martian,’ among others.