bonded cellular

The latest ENG technology is allowing TV stations to go live straight from the heart of breaking news, spurring new opportunity and creativity. Plus, the gear’s inexpensive cost means stations don’t have to flip a coin to decide where to send a satellite truck. And while problems of latency and cellular availabliity exist, its advantages are making a huge difference in how live, local stories get covered.

Now that bonded cellular technology has proved itself as an effective and reliable way to send back live video from the field, the top vendors have begun supplying software for managing and sharing all the incoming feeds.“Broadcasters have gotten over that bonded cellular hump,” says Ronen Artman, VP marketing at LiveU. “Now they want to take control of their devices.”

LiveU, a maker of ENG tools for broadcasters, is preparing a lighter backpack solution heading into this year’s IBC Show that weighs about three pounds, half the weight of its existing model. Additionally, the company will announce LiveU Central, an IP-based routing, switching and distribution solution, that’s geared toward station groups.

The newsgathering cooperative is using LiveU’s bonded cellular technology to provide live, multi-camera feeds for a fuller picture of breaking news as it unfolds. It’s also partnering with Swedish startup Bambuser to give citizens with the ability to be video eyewitnesses on behalf of the Associated Press and stream video via smartphones.

Both companies are working to create an integrated solution that will let broadcasters send out video highlights on Twitter and Facebook through a LiveU bonded cellular device. For now, both companies are promoting each other’s services as referral partners.

The CBS San Francisco O&O purchased Dejero’s LIVE+ VSET, which bonds bandwidth from cellular networks, microwave and satellite and transmits live SD and HD shots.

Hearst Television signed an exclusive deal to deploy TVUPack bonded cellular solutions across its 29 stations. Hearst’s market covers 22 states, one of the farthest-reaching station groups in the country. […]

Ontario-based Dejero unveiled its new LIVE+VSET vehicle-mount bonded cellular transmitter today, aiming to integrate its flagship ENG technology with satellite and microwave trucks. “The LIVE+ VSET is truly unique in […]

The makers of the newsgathering technology are beefing up reliability as well as adding satellite capability, improving the interface between the cellular packs and cameras and enhancing control of the packs from the field or the station. It will all be on display at next month’s NAB Show.

TVU Network’s mobile cellular uplink solution is the first of its kind to integrate with all three major camera manufacturers. On Wednesday, the company will announce its TVUPack Mini camera-mountable […]

Hitachi and LiveU entered into a partnership that integrates the bonded cellular company’s LU40 video uplink pack with all of Hitachi’s professional video cameras, allowing users to view and manage […]

When the hurricane devastated the coastal areas of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in October, broadcasters turned to the cellphone-based technology to get live feeds back to the stations when microwave or satellite delivery systems wouldn’t work. “It continues to improve,” says CBS’s David Friend. “The delays are less, the signals are better, there’s less dropout. When we took the risk of using this technology very early on, it was hit and miss. Now we are more confident in its stability and its performance. We view it as an essential tool in our newsgathering efforts.”

Most of the group’s 23 stations have deployed the LiveU LU60 backpack technology.