To be honest, the last day of the NAB Show was creepy. Product and marketing managers seemed to be milling around, anxiously waiting for anyone to stop by. The halls were much quieter, and I was even able to take my time stopping by my last few booths because I didn’t have to wade through crowds of people.

The NAB released the numbers, approximately 83,000 people registered, but representatives from many companies were still happy about the show. I asked many people the same question: how has the drop in attendance affected your experience? And the answers were often the same. It’s an issue of quality over quantity. Just because not as many people made it to the show doesn’t mean that there weren’t some serious buyers there. more

Bycast

Is “cloud storage” where storage is heading? Annette Saliken, director of marketing communications for Bycast, is confident that it is. For almost seven years, Bycast has been providing its GRID “business model,” as Saliken put it, but only now are storage experts really starting to talk about it, she said.

The company’s GRID solution (what they call storage virtualization software) is a software middle layer between the storage infrastructure and the end user. Through partnerships with about five other companies, this new “business model,” as Saliken put it, interfaces with various third-party systems throughout the production workflow and provides for user-defined rules for movement of content. more

Rich D’Ambrise, director of technology at Maxell, was super excited about this year’s show because Maxell was releasing a product that’s been two years in the making, the iVDR-Xtreme.

The iVDR-Xtreme is easily portable at only 6.1oz and fits in a shirt pocket (they did that on purpose, he told me). It’s also been tested to meet military specs for temperature resistance and can resist shock from a drop of 4.6ft (1.4) onto tile or concrete. During the testing process, D’Ambrise said, they dropped the cartridge repeatedly to see which end it most often landed on, then they added additional protection to that side. more

With the acquisition of media transcoding whiz kid Rhozet, Harmonic furthered its goal of providing for almost every step in the broadcast workflow, from contribution and distribution to playout. But when I spoke to VP of the now Rhozet Business Unit of Harmonic David Trescot, he stressed that Rhozet was not completely absorbed. The company still maintains its own offices and exists as its own entity, but it is now Harmonic…

Wait… what?

Regardless of what it’s called, the deal enables Harmonic to integrate Rhozet’s technology into its products and provides Rhozet with a significantly greater amount of resources. (In the words of Trescot, it’s kind of like a college kid with rich parents.) But, mind you, Rhozet is not wiling away its time and resources. It’s still very much growing and improving its products, as well as using its name to create some interesting partnerships. more

Genelec

In addition to a nice setup allowing visitors to Genelec’s booth to have a seat and experience its speaker systems first-hand, the company is also showing its smallest speaker to date – the 6010A.

So what are Genelec speakers known for? According to marketing director Will Eggleston, they’re known for reliability, sleek design and power. Designed for computer sound systems, workstations and other close-proximity listening situations, the 6010A is a desktop-friendly 7-1/8in x 4-3/4in x 4-1/2in in size. Despite its small size and intended applications, Eggleston said that people simply can’t believe that such a small speaker can create such a large sound. And the applications very much go beyond what was intended. more

Calrec and 360 Systems

Every vendor at the NAB Show has a niche – a specific customer market it’s aiming for – and yesterday I had the privilege of meeting with two companies that are going for quite different markets.

First I met with Kevin Emmott, marketing manager at Calrec. What they had to offer were some serious, high-end digital audio consoles, most notably the new Apollo console. Despite the shaky economic climate, Emmott had the utmost confidence in Calrec’s client base and equipment. And when asked if the economy had led to any changes as to the company’s presence at the NAB Show he responded casually that if anything their presence had grown – upward, that is, with the addition of a taller, more prominent branded marquis. more

From the Briefing Room…

Aberdeen Captioning, along with software developer CPC, has joined forces to develop the first file-based closed-captioning system that can maximize the benefits of Sony’s XDCAM HD422 tapeless technology. The new workflow is designed to use Sony’s PDW-HD1500 optical deck to make the process more efficient, faster and more flexible.

“Because the XDCAM system is file-based, we’re able to do our work in a much more refined and streamlined way,” said Matt Cook, President of Aberdeen Captioning. “Now, once someone is done with their XDCAM edit, we take their file, caption directly onto that file, and then place it back onto the disc. We’ve eliminated the need to go through a closed-captioning encoder—which can cost up to $10,000—therefore eradicating the requirement to do real-time play-out.” more…

With only a few appointments under my belt today, I’m already getting a feeling for the big buzzwords that I’m going to hear throughout the show. Last year, the buzzwords (from what I gathered, at least) were interoperabilitly, scalability and modular designs. Customers wanted the ability to easily integrate new systems into their existing infrastructures in the sizes and configurations that worked for them. They also wanted to be able to buy parts of systems as opposed to entire systems as cost-savings measures.

This year, it’s all about IP and 3G. This is where the industry is heading, and customers are expecting vendors to be on top of it. more

From the Briefing Room…

Hi5-3G and HDP2 Deliver AJA Reliability and Performance for Increased Video and Audio Format Support

Grass Valley, CA —AJA Video Systems, a leading manufacturer of professional video interface and conversion solutions, is releasing two new Mini-Converters at NAB 2009, the Hi5-3G and the HDP2. These Mini-Converters are designed both more

From the Briefing Room…

Upgraded System Features IP Link to Clear-Com V-Series and Concert 2.0 Products

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, APRIL 20, 2009 ─ Clear-Com® Communication Systems, a Vitec Group brand, is previewing at NAB 2009 (Booth C6521) Eclipse Version 5.1, the latest in the evolution of its popular digital matrix intercom system. Now able to link seamlessly to Clear-Com’s IP-enabled V-Series control panels and Concert Version 2.0 software-based intercom system, Eclipse V5.1 is at the core of Clear-Com’s groundbreaking Hybrid Time-Divisional Multiplexing (TDM) intercom/IP server network concept, which dramatically extends the reach of intercom systems across a broadcast facility. more