Wednesday’s tragic (but mercifully accidental) plane crash in New York might have done little to for the nerves of the natives in the Upper East Side but according to Reuters it did demonstrate the growing power and influence of mobile phone technology in delivering the news.
Before full TV camera crews had even had time to head out to the scene, Fox News Channel was able to broadcast live video pictures thanks to a hand-held Palm Treo smartphone carried by cameraman Scott Wilder (who had literally run 20 blocks from covering another story) and a software system called CometVision. Using the new system, the footage was beamed across the regular mobile network and straight into the Fox News control room where it was interspersed with the only other video available (from local traffic helicopters) and broadcast live.
Ben Ramos, Fox News’ director of field operations explained that the network had been experimenting with the system for several weeks but these events provided the justification to try it for real. “We’ve been waiting for the opportunity to get live pictures on the air from inside a cellular network, and we wanted to take it to the next level, make it easy for people and make it portable.”
Whilst this represents one of the first instances of a TV network using video captured via mobile as part of a live broadcast, it’s unlikely to be the last as members of the public join the professionals in snapping and video on-going action.
Indeed on this side of the Atlantic citizen journalism photo agency Scoopt was apparently overwhelmed with an influx of images of the plane crash snapped by members of the public.
(Via Picture Phoning, Reuters)
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