Google political move stifles web video distribution & complicates our workflow

In case you didn’t hear yet, Google recently announced the elimination of support for H.264 in HTML5 video in its popular Chrome web browser within the next few months, in favor of WebM (VP8) and Theora video códecs. Despite Google’s official justifications for the move in the name of openness, many analysts (including myself) see this as a political move against Apple, and even hypocritical since the Chrome browser has contained (and will continue to contain) an embedded Flash player. Our logical conclusion is that Google’s next step will be to drop support for H.264 in its Android operating system too. This happens after H.264 already has achieved support from Adobe, Apple, and even Microsoft. Up until now, Google’s Chrome browser has directly supported H.264 with HTML5’s video tag. Before this shocking below the belt punch, many content producers were well along the way of offering HTML5 video with H.264, playable as raw or automatic fallback to the same file embedded in Flash if the browser didn’t support it in HTML5, as I have covered in my seminars. However, as we see the writing on the wall, this will likely no longer be sufficient for the ever popular Android devices as they likely become updated to newer versions which would purposefully exclude H.264 playback, especially considering the poor Flash performance on most of the current Android devices that even support it at all. So within a short time, the preferred video códecs for Android devices will likely be WebM (VP8) or Theora, while for Apple iOS devices (AppleTV, iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch), it will remain to be H.264.

TecnoTur 6 (Castilian): interviews with Escuchalibros, RAMM Animation, and actress Carla Sánchez

TecnoTur episode 6 in Castilian (aka “Spanish”) is now available. In episode 6, we learn about Venezuelan actress/model Carla Sánchez’s latest projects, and we briefly discuss Allan Tépper’s book Unleash GoogleVoice’s hidden power for 3G, WiFi, and free international roaming. Then we present the 2nd part of our interview with Rafael Andreu of RAMM Animation, whose projects have included the Castilian version of Sesame Street (Plazo Sésamo in Latin America or Barrio Sésamo in Spain). Finally, we discuss audiobook production with Victoria Mesas García of Escuchalibros of Spain. Here are details about how to hear TecnoTur free, or become a subscriber.

TecnoTur 5 (English): interviews with SingularSoftware (PluralEyes + more) and OWC (iMac w/eSATA)

TecnoTur episode 5 (English) is now available. In episode 5, Carla Sánchez and Allan Tépper discuss RIM/Blackberry’s new podcast consumption application. Next comes Larry O’Connor of OWC (Other World Computing), creator of the revolutionary eSATA modification for certain Apple iMac computers, as well as SSDs (Solid State Drives) and other products. Finally, we converse with Bruce Sharpe of Singular Software about 3D/stereo editing workflow, PluralEyes, DualEyes and their latest application, Presto. Here are details about how to hear TecnoTur free, or become a subscriber.

An open letter to Apple’s iTunes Podcasting Team

Dear Apple’s iTunes Podcasting Team:
We love podcasting, and we love the fact that Apple’s iTunes has helped to facilitate the growth of this relatively new medium since 2005 with iTunes 4.9. Congratulations on releasing iTunes 10 now, in 2010. This letter is to point out three key areas where you need to improve the user experience of podcast subscription and commenting, especially with regard to podcasting in worldwide markets and with its use with mobile devices, and in some cases where some of your competitors (i.e. Google/Android and RIM/Blackberry) already offer podcast subscription apps which are much more user-friendly than the current iTunes podcasting experience. Oh, and of course, there will be one more thing!

GoogleVoice improves its functionality on the iPhone

GoogleVoice has recently improved its functionality on the iPhone by upgrading its optimized iPhone website, both esthetically and operationally. In light of the misinformation published by some other tech journalists, I must clarify that GoogleVoice has been working fine on the iPhone for many months, at least with three of its features. I have been using GoogleVoice on my iPhone since July 2009 to place inexpensive outgoing international calls, which has been my main reason for using it. Since that date, GoogleVoice has also worked for incoming calls to the iPhone, although I don’t regularly use that feature for now. Even though I don’t regularly use the incoming call feature —or GoogleVoice’s other features so far— I do cover all of them in this article, in addition to explaining specifically how GoogleVoice has improved when placing outgoing international calls from the iPhone as a result of this recent update. I’ll also cover how I expect the GoogleVoice service to grow even further in the coming months.

Apple approves voice & video over iPhone’s 3G/Fring + iCall beat Skype

Apple recently approved voice over iPhone’s 3G data connection, and now Fring and iCall have beaten both Skype and Truphone in updating their respective iPhone applications to take advantage of the newly approved feature. The other two possible voice conduits —which already existed for the iPhone and some other smartphones— are GSM and WiFi. In this article, I’ll review what these two applications have done so far, and what they’ve added with this newly approved third option. I’ll also cover Fring’s new video calling over 3G option.

Connect your pro XLR microphone to your iPhone

Starting with software version 3.0 of the iPhone, Apple includes an audio recorder application called VoiceMemo. Many people who have used it have been quite impressed with the quality it offers. There have been other audio recording applications for the iPhone, but nothing is more tempting than using one that’s already there, especially one with an attractive icon and slick graphical interface. Given its simplicity and high-quality, Apple’s VoiceMemo covers almost any purpose. However, no matter how well it sounds with the iPhone’s internal microphone, for a professional journalist, image is also very important. That’s why I searched for a special cable that allows connecting a professional XLR microphone into an iPhone.

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