Rabone Systems

Foxtel Nobbles TV stations EPG Espionage

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:43:13 -0400

Pay TV company Foxtel has taken a big stick to the free to air TV companies who have deliberatly been putting programs to air outside of their advertised time in an effort to disrupt electronic program guides that are being used to record TV programs which consumers then Ad Skip.

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Source: Channel News

KEAOS Update v3.7

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:17:02 -0500

Kaleidescape announces version 3.7 of the Kaleidescape Entertainment Appliance Operating System (KEAOS). Over the next 30 days, KEAOS 3.7 will be installed automatically via the Internet on thousands of Kaleidescape Systems worldwide.

KEAOS 3.7 includes the following new features:

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The New Kaleidescape Mini System!

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:12:49 -0500

Kaleidescape, the market leader in entertainment servers, today announced availability of the Kaleidescape Mini System, an innovative product that puts your entire collection of movies and music at your fingertips.

The Mini System is the first Kaleidescape product to integrate a complete multi-zone Kaleidescape System into a single component, and the first to include a remote control.

Its elegant industrial design is beautifully suited for a living room, and it installs as easily as an ordinary DVD player. Priced about 40% less than the current Kaleidescape System, the Mini System is affordable and well-suited for a variety of projects.

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Dynalite Implements Dealer Certification Program

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:43:06 -0500

Automation lighting specialist Dynalite will unveil a new training framework and dealer accreditation at the Integrated Systems Europe exhibition in February.

Known as Dynalite Dimension, the program will provide standardised training, improved access to technical support, and essential marketing support to all accredited companies and individuals.

At the heart of the program will be a standardised educational syllabus to ensure accredited dealers-- including AV installers, system integrators and electrical contractors - stay up to date with the latest in Dynalite's lighting control and building automation technologies.

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Source: Channel News

The Cost Of Entertainment To Be Decided By Judges

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:51:07 -0500

The recent Australian High Court Copyright appeal in the Ice TV Vs Channel Nine hearing and the upcoming copyright 'Test case' against Perth based ISP iiNet is set to determine the future for content downloads and the delivery of information to an Electronic Program Guide in Australia.

Early next year the full bench of the Australian High Court will hand down a ruling that will determine whether Australians will get access to a full EPG service..

If Ice TV win their case, companies like Cisco, Microsoft and HP will start delivering a full EPG service with their media centre and media centre extender offerings.

In the most recent copyright case bought by the Australian Federation against Copyright Theft, who represent several Hollywood Studio's an academic lawyer at Queensland University says the copyright "test case" against ISP iiNet "stretches" even the widened interpretation of Australian copyright law that resulted from the Sharman (Kazaa) case but hinges on whether the respondents have "responsibility" for ensuring its subscribers do not download pirated material.

You can read the full article here
Source: Channel News

DVD Ripping War

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:05:47 -0400

A DVD ripping war is set to escalate with Hollywood studio's set to go head to head with technology Companies like RealNetworks and Kaleidescape in an effort to stop the copying of DVD?s to storage devices.

A DVD ripping war is set to escalate with Hollywood studio's set to go head to head with technology Companies like RealNetworks and Kaleidescape in an effort to stop the copying of DVD's to storage devices.

Also being sucked into the fight are Companies like Control 4, AMX, Escient and Crestron all consumer electronics companies that have recently released DVD storage or ripping technology.

You can read the full article here
Source: Channel News

Is the unwary consumer being misled?

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:06:36 -0400

Written by Byron Rabone Director of Rabone Systems

I recently reviewed a 92 page essential checklist published by a large electrical manufacturer and it is pleasing to see that the industry is trying to educate consumers on the technologies available today and how best to implement them into the home. Sure it is biased, but this is to be expected from any manufacturer who is looking to increase their market share and develop good product branding.

Whats disappointing is how misleading this information can be and when it comes to Automating a home a large number of manufacturers as well as installers are overselling and under delivering!

In this case, the manufacturer states Our AV Solutions can distribute high definition signals from all of your AV devices to every TV in the home rather than just one TV in the main entertainment area. However analogue RF modulation, the technology used by the manufacturer for the distribution of video and audio is not only limited to an image quality inferior to that of a standard definition video signal, it is a dead end technology due to the introduction of Digital Video Broadcast.

The Australian government expects to complete its shutdown of the analogue Television broadcast by the end of 2013. With this in mind, manufacturers are always looking to reduce the manufacturing costs of High Definition displays to stay competitive in the market and one of the best ways to achieve this is to remove legacy technologies. Much the same way serial ports have disappeared off almost all notebook computers.

Yes there will be some countries less developed than ours that will continue using analogue broadcast for sometime in the foreseeable future and this may convince manufacturers to leave analogue tuners within their products to limit regional based models. However it would be fair to say that HD displays with inbuilt analogue tuners will become limited once the transition to digital is complete.

Regardless of whether analogue tuners will be found in HD displays in the next 5 years, the real question is how does a manufacturer manage to sell a dead end technology into a brand new home and promote flexibility in the future?

Or is the argument whats High Definition? One thing that can be disputed is the apparent Perfect picture quality claimed when using this manufacturers AV solutions.

As a consumer I would be extremely annoyed to find out that in as little as 5 years I could be left with a distribution system no longer supported by current technologies and no easy upgrade path due to limited infrastructure.

A true integrator uses Native signal distribution to deliver Perfect picture quality. This is the delivery of video and audio signals in their original and intended format. It does come at an expense but offers far better future proofing and return on investment.

Consumers sometimes associate automation and audiovisual services with the electrical trade, and although there are some electricians at the top of their field, it would be pretty rare to come across one who was also a professional AV technician.

Video and audio are specialised fields and while there are trades that cross-pollinate this will rarely achieve the best result.

Educating consumers on technologies and implementation is the future of this industry but the blind leading the blind is not the advice consumers need...

Hospitality Venture

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:30:00 -0400

Rabone Systems has expanded their profession and skills sets to provide turn-key solutions for Clubs, Hotels, Pubs, Restaurants, etc.

Resources and partnerships have been implemented to provide the following services for the hospitality industry:

- Audio/Visual Integration
- MATV
- PA Systems
- Conference and Function Rooms
- Security Alarms and Access Control
- Security Surveillance Systems
- Control Systems

Kaleidescape Announces 1080P Players

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:44:24 -0400

Kaleidescape announces availability of the 1080p Player and the 1080p Mini Player. These new Movie Players create beautiful high definition video from ordinary DVDs, providing a viewing experience that rivals Blu-ray. Sharing a common underlying design, the 1080p Player and 1080p Mini Player offer equivalent video and audio performance.

Foxtel HD+ Launch

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:19:28 -0400

This weekend sees Foxtel launch its new HD service with more than 15 000 subscribers already upgraded. Foxtel HD+ will be accompanied by the latest version of its PVR, iQ2.

Foxtel HD+ comes with 5 full time HD channels:

     BBC HD
     Discovery HD
     National Geographic Channel HD
     FOX SPORTS HD
     ESPN HD

HD movies are also available on demand via the new Box Office HD service.

The new iQ2 PVR has a 320GB HDD and supports recording two simultaneous shows while watching a third.