For what seemed like ages, wireless technology was either considered too slow or obtrusive for regular use in video workflows. Instead, users were forced to use USB cables, FireWire cables, and recently, to plug their media straight into the computer. While transfer technology has definitely improved over the years with FireWire 800 and USB 2.0, there is still a sense of somehow being chained down to the computer. I mean who wouldn’t want to skip an entire step in their video workflow? Enter Eye-Fi and Toshiba. When Eye-Fi introduced their wireless SD card technology back in 2007, they showed every SD card manufacturer that there was a real demand for wireless storage devices. So with Toshiba’s announcement to put together a standard for wireless SDHC memory cards, it finally seems as if the wireless data age has definitely arrived for both stills and video.

Getting rid of the cables would be great, but  in order to be a complete wireless storage solution, Toshiba will have to agree on not only a standard for SD cards (which work on AVCHD camcorders), but also a standard for CF cards (which work on DSLRs). The only real solution to this problem right now is to use a wireless SD card set inside of a CF card adapter. However, if companies can fit a wireless adapter into something as small as an SD card, can you honestly tell me that they can’t also fit one into the much larger form factor of a CF card? It seems like only a matter of time.

At the same time, if you’ve ever hauled around both a monitor and a camera at a run n’ gun shoot for a client, you know just how much of a hassle cables can be. They can get in the way of your controls, trip up both the operator and the client, and drag equipment precisely when you don’t want it to. That is why having an affordable real time wireless video transfer system would be the icing on the wireless cake for video enthusiasts. There are already wireless video transmission solutions for some camcorders, but unless you have a serious amount of cash just lying around and a really expensive camera, they are usually impossible to get. That’s why it would be a huge game changer if companies like Eye-Fi or Toshiba could make wireless storage cards that could monitor video. Maybe with the addition of Toshiba to the wireless storage market, we’ll start seeing these kinds of cards soon. Either way, it’s about time that other manufacturers joined the wireless media revolution. With the advances that result, we may finally be able to put away our cables for good.

Getting content from the laptop as well as online content to the TV once required a tangle of cords and a degree in electrical engineering in order to make sense of the array of connections and what to plug them into. Another obstacle was cable length which limits users’ ability to sit away from the TV with their laptop, creating an inconvenient and uncomfortable user experience until now. Wisair introduces the Wireless USB A/V adapter the solution to “cutting the cord” and wirelessly streaming all your content to any monitor without the headache. The connections on board the adapter include USB, VGA, a 1/8 audio jack and a HMDI port, stream HD resolution movies up to 720p.

With more and more devices crowding the airwaves it can be hard to find an available frequency without interference while setting up your wireless mics. Sennhesier has a solution, an audio tool for finding open frequencies that incorporates the FCC TV broadcast database.  Simply enter either a City or Zip Code and the application provides you with a list of available and used frequencies. This is another one of those must have tools for any filmmaker serious about getting great audio without spending time looking for an open frequency which we all know can be very time consuming.

Well this was a long time coming. When Internet speeds went from dial-up 56kbps to broadband in the late 90′s, content providers the world over realized the huge potential for delivering video, information, and rich applications to users. This led to a huge boom in internet activity only rivaled by the introduction of quick and easy to use internet on cell phones. However as with any heavy traffic situation, you eventually get jams and the internet is no exception.

With the vast number of users downloading large video and application files over the internet, speeds and bottle-necking became a huge issue. Additionally, even with the vast improvement of internet speeds (up to 20 megabits per second today), there were still long wait times while downloading large files – which has become increasingly more common as games and applications become more complex and as videos achieve higher and higher resolutions. The problem didn’t stop there however. Even if a person could theoretically achieve internet speeds at 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) or more, getting those speeds from a router to a computer wirelessly would be impossible with current technology. At the moment, the fastest consumer option for wireless transfer is Wireless USB technology which can transfer at speeds up to 480 Mbps; half of the theoretical 1 Gbps speed coming into your home. Read the rest of this entry »