Using an iPhone or iPad as a reporter’s wireless camera is becoming a practical proposition thanks to higher-speed cellular networks and the proliferation of mobile apps from broadcast specialists, such as Dejero. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has given the Dejero Live+ Mobile app to 100 of its national and international reporters, for use on breaking or minor news coverage. The app integrates with CBC’s current fleet of Live+ 20/20 Transmitters and Live+ Broadcast Servers that are being used for regional and national news coverage, and is being used to help the broadcaster to increase its media acquisition across all of its distribution platforms. “Like many broadcasters, CBC was seeking a cost-effective solution for increasing media acquisition in the field. The Live+ Mobile App enables reporters to quickly and easily broadcast high-quality live video from an iPhone or iPad that previously would not have been possible,” said Dejero Vice President Paul Friedman. “This technology allows [journalists] to be first on a news scene and bring high quality live footage back to their viewers that previously would not have been possible. Together with the recent launch of the Dejero LIVE+ 20/20 Transmitter, these centrally-managed products form a transmission platform that forever changes the way broadcasters go live,” claimed Dejero CTO Bogdan Frusina. The app gives users the ability to transmit high-quality live or recorded video from an iOS device – and should be perfect for use with the new iPad Mini, which will be easier to edit with than an iPhone, thanks to its larger screen, yet small enough to hold in one hand. The app uses the same patent-pending bonded transmission technology as Dejero’s flagship Live+ 20/20 Transmitter. Although several other manufacturers, such as LiveU and Livewire Digital now have similar mobile apps, Dejero claims its was the first. The app aggregates bandwidth from both the WiFi and cellular connections of the device, resulting in a higher quality live video transmission with lower latency than a single connection would provide. The app can transmit live or recorded HD or SD video using both the front and rear cameras during a single broadcast, enabling reporters to create a complete breaking news story without the need for a camera operator or extra equipment. Testing the waters The app was recently used by BBC 5 Live radio reporter Nick Garnett to deliver a live video report from a mobile phone, to allow BBC News presenters in the studio conduct an interview with someone caught up in flooding. “Quality wise it was nowhere near as good as a satellite but it was far better than some of the other offerings that abound for live streaming,” wrote Garnett in his blog Garnett had been covering the flooding for BBC Radio, had found a good interviewee and had some time between live radio pieces, so he called the TV news intake desk. “With a massive amount of help from Colin Muir of the BBC Edge Group and the technical team in the BBC Comms department we managed to get Dejero working,” he wrote. In order to provide the guest with some sort of talkback so that he could hear the questions, Garnett bought a cheap pay-as-you-go phone with a headphone socket – “In theory the cue could come back down the iPhone, but I feared it would cut into my already borderline bandwidth.” He also bought a cheap tripod for the iPhone in a pawnshop. There was a little breakup in the signal at the start of the interview, but surrounded by fast-moving flood waters, everything then went swimmingly. The BBC is currently testing the Dejero app, alongside rival offerings. The app can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes App Store, and is free, so it can be used by viewers to shoot news events they see or to set up an interview, but it does require a Dejero server at the broadcast end. It is also available for Android devices, and costs $50 per month for a subscription. It should easily achieve 2Mbps connections (up to about 5Mbps on 4G). It can also store and forward full HD. – David Fox www.dejero.com/news/sample_footage
