Telemak in the Beijing frenzy

A few weeks ago I got a call from Mobistar, one of the Belgian mobile operators, for who we deliver a live Mobile TV platform. "We might do the Olympics, could you check out the possibilities?" Sure, no problem. We received the final details this morning, 3 hours before the opening ceremony. And now we are there. While typing this post, I watch the opening ceremony on my N95.

Telemak streams the Olympics live to all Mobistar customers that have Mobile TV possibilites. If you have a Mobistar phone, you can check out if your phone is TV enabled on the Mobistar website. If you have your phone ready, surf to wap.mobistar.be and click on the Olympic logo. It's as easy as that. And new is the higher quality we send out. Up to quarter screen resolution (320 x 240). Woaw, it is looking nice. Yiehaa, we are part of the Olympics!. Duh, everyone is, no? I think every company in the world must be present one way or another in Beijing. But we are proud to do this in such a short time frame. Really exciting. Good I have a great team here doing all the work, while I watch TV...

You also want to stream something to mobile phones? Hey, we can do that for you. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3. Almost. Enjoy the games, and might the sports prevail !

The convergence of the market space: a reality

I remember going to NAB in Las Vegas, I think in 1998, and seeing the biggest banner ever: Welcome to NAB, the convergent market space. I was really impressed by the idea that television and web would converge. Going inside, it was not really the convergence of TV and web, but analog and digital worlds that were coming together. Humph, bummer.

10 years later, I'm thinking again of this one liner. And actually we have what 10 years ago was predicted by the NAB organisers: a real convergence of the audio-visual content. and market. As a company we have been working now since 1994 with internet and multimedia and images and sound. We were pioneers in the streaming industry (and I hope we still are). And one thing was certain for us, but many people didn't see or agree: TV, internet and Mobile phones would all become delivery devices for the same content. Shoot and edit once, deliver many. When Telecom operators are proud to present quadruple play, actually they speak of the convergence of the media. Use your media to deliver it everywhere.

The next step is of course to make device adapted content. Who will be watching a feature movie on a small mobile screen? But wtaching news and sports in your travel time is something totally different. Think of (business) news, your hobby TV etc. delivered to your mobile device. Think of business related information or youth programs on your PC. Think of your feature movie rented on the internet playing on your plasme TV at home. We are there. Microsoft's Media Center, and Apple with Apple TV, ipod and iphone are the first to offer the convergence of the media on top of the known PC with browser and media player.

Today I see more and more companies using audio-visual material on their website, adding a podcast here, a media library there. I also see companies starting their own "TV channel" online. What is preventing them from taking the same content to TV?

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Dreaming of a White Easter

no comment!

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A new Telemak service: Make-up by Olivia

Today Telemak launches a new service for our customers: Telemak [Make-up]. If you want to enjoy this service, please contact our sales team. In the meantime, enjoy the video of the first tests done today showing how Olivia is pleasing Manu (our dedicated rabbit) with the first make-up given by Telemak :-)

What is needed to deliver a (good) webcast

One of the things I strongly believe in in our industry is the need for quality delivery. Many start-ups in the streaming industry do think that just by downloading a free copy of Windows Media Encoder or QuickTime Broadcaster they have the knowledge to produce an entire TV show on the web. Unfortunately for them, and their customers, it isn't that easy. 

Many years ago I learned the lessons the hard way. I figured that a good webcast, which should be seen as a TV broadcast using IP delivery, needed good knowledge in 4 areas: IT, audio-visual, networks and telecommunications. Remove one of those and you will see that it gets very complicated to achieve your primary goal: get the image and sound to your audience. And believe me, it isn't that easy. Some people I know well have found out by going face first into the digital wall.

The number of companies that are able to setup and deliver an event webcast to the world wide web are quite low, but increasing. With all the new tools that are available for web 2.0 and television 2.0, on top of the increased expertise of people and companies make it easier than ever to do your thing. But then why are so many web videos of such a low quality or unavailable? The answer is easy: start this article all over again. It needs expertise and a broadcasters mentality to get it done. Not the straight IT talk, but to "go for it" TV walk. You have very strict deadlines, and a large number of points of failure. Keep them under control, and your webcast will succeed. 

And above all, work with people that have really delivered in the past. Ask them to show you their achievements and what part of the production they control, and what part is subcontracted. The more is subcontracted, the more that can go out of control. A one stop shop is in our industry the best bet. Then it is just a question of enjoying the show !

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Telemak 2008 !

The Telemak team finished 2007 with a nice team goal: make our own food. The food was good, the champagne and wine too, and the spirit even beter. Have a look for yourself. Interested in joining the team? Send a mail to jobs@telemak.com. Or if you need our team work to get you sorted out with your (web) video, let us know and we'll make sure you feel the Telemak 2008 spirit.

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Telemak wishes you a happy New Year

All of us at Telemak wish you all the best for 2008.

Happy New Year !

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Telemak is an official Apple QuickTime Service Provider

Telemak is mentioned on Apple's website as one of their QuickTime Service Providers. Telemak is one of the only companies listed in all 3 categories: Content Delivery; Production and Encoding. What Apple says about there service providers:

A host of QuickTime service providers can assist you with any QuickTime task, from content creation to delivery. Whether you need to create a multimedia CD or webcast a corporate speech, these companies can provide valuable expertise.

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Telemak staff at BBQ

Some days you just need the time off. We went for a great BBQ in Ecaussines and had some extra fun. As people say, no comment...

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Christophe Lenaerts at IBC 2007 MPEGIF Master Class

Christophe Lenaerts, Founder & CEO of Telemak, has been asked by the MPEGIF to participate in the IBC 2007 Master Class.

The MPEG Industry Forum (MPEGIF) will present an informational Master Class at IBC2007 focused on “Next Generation Television Technology and Business Models”.

Operators of new IP-based television services and the technologists enabling them will exchange their views on trends and technologies that are changing the way digital multimedia is created, compressed, stored, delivered and monetized. IP is the technology that is finally creating the converged information delivery infrastructure and an ecosystem is emerging, with new video and audio codecs, new middleware and content protection methods and completely new viewing experiences.

IPTV was initially associated with PTT and Telcos video services delivered over DSL. However, cable operators’ implementation of IP-based Switched Digital Video (SDV) provides the same unicast-based personalized services to compete with IPTV over DSL while at the same time, freeing up further bandwidth for High Speed Internet.

However there are still questions surrounding Next Generation Television that delay investment and launch decisions. This Master Class, as in previous years at IBC, will provide information to help organizations make important decisions. Service operators adopting new IP-based video technologies will share their experiences to date. This session will be an interactive session in which heated debates are expected and audience participation is encouraged.

Christophe will join the speakers of the 3th roundtable:
New Video Applications & Services

Next generation media creation and delivery technologies are enabling new services, which include, Improved Video and TV on Demand (ranking, positioning, sponsoring, preferences, interactive, self produced etc), Seamless integration of traditional TV, Personal & anticipated content (local and regional, educational, affinity and special interest etc), Video Advertising (relevant & transactional), Mobile TV, Mobile VOD and many other applications. Can we assume that the most compelling content for video while away from the home or office will be live content? Or is cached content such as movies going to be the way to keep the kids quiet in the back of the mini-van? Can standards really help simplify an increasingly complex ecosystem?

Information:
FREE FULL-DAY CONFERENCE
Room A, RAI Convention Center, Amsterdam

Press release
Thursday, 6 September 2007, 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

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Welcome to the Telemak blog

Telemak has created a new blog. We will use it to post company information and industry news. Come and check regularly.

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Mobiya announces today its strategic alliance with Telemak to jointly develop a European platform for user generated content aimed at the mobile video user. The platform will be made available to mobile operators, broadcasters, publishers and portal giants.

The combination of Mobiya's mobile interactive applications with Telemak's video capturing, formatting and service capability is the industry's first alliance to tackle the explosion of mobile video within Europe.

Also today, mobile media publisher and distributor Player X announced a second round of funding, generating $10 million. The round was led by new investors Nordic Venture Partners and Long Acre Partners as well as original investor Arts Alliance. The funds will be deployed to accelerate its global mobile TV, video and gaming initiatives, with the news following on the heels of the December 2006 launch of its mobile television channel geekTV, available via UK operator 3.

Mobiya blog