A US Army programme to deploy Microsoft HoloLens devices that was thought to be worth $22 billion is running into scepticism. Microsoft signed a $480 million contract to supply 100,000 prototype devices to help soldiers train for combat in 2018. The company then announced last year that work had moved…
Government and defence
8k camera drones join ‘live-saving’ police drone squad
A British local police force has announced the purchase of two new lightweight, portable 8K camera drones. Nottinghamshire Police Force said the Autel Evo II 640T camera drones would be used by the force's drones team of 16 highly trained officers which was established in January 2020. The new drones are…
Huge EU framework award to macom-led consortium
The European Commission has appointed the WEAVE AV consortium, led by AV consultancy macom and real estate consultancy Drees & Sommer, to the largest European framework for AV consultancy, technical design and project management in a contract worth tens of millions of Euros over a period of four years. The…
Local council upgrades to premium Panasonic projector
The town halls of Huddersfield and Dewsbury in West Yorkshire are busy municipal facilities operated by Kirklees Council that host a wide variety of entertainment and work events. With the existing projector at the Huddersfield Town Hall, in particular, being over a decade old and failing in terms of light…
NEXO speakers win bid for German town hall business
Designed by architect Carl-Friedrich Fischer, the town hall in Flensburg is the seat of the northern German city’s council, and houses large parts of its administration and archives. A recent public tender to update the sound systems in four meeting rooms within the 17-storey, 1960s building was won by AV…
Microphone on Mars rover ‘reveals two speeds of sound’
A microphone on NASA's Perseverance rover has helped scientists measure variations in the speed of sound in the atmosphere on Mars. Located on a SuperCam, mounted on the head of the rover's mast, the mic was indispensable to new discoveries about the speed of sound on the red planet which…
Council attacked for spending £120K on ‘fancy cameras’
Ards and North Down Council in Northern Ireland has been criticised for plans to spend £120,000 on “fancy cameras” for hybrid council and committee meetings. The money will support two technology installations, one in Bangor Chamber and one in Ards Chamber. Three local councillors have objected to the post-Covid investment,…
Pacific scientific community simplifies videoconferencing
The Pacific Community (SPC), the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, is using DisplayNote's Launcher solution on 40 screens to simply its video conferencing setup. SPC is an international development organisation owned and governed by its 26 country and territory members. It works for the well-being of…
NASA Imagery Experts Group selects AJA KUMO router
When the SpaceX Demo-2 launched astronauts into orbit in 2020, millions of viewers tuned into the NASA-TV livestream and satellite broadcast to watch the monumental crewed spaceflight. From capturing landmark events, like the Curiosity Mars Rover landing, to delivering video feeds from the International Space Station, NASA-TV broadcasts live coverage…
Lawo audio over IP system chosen for Singapore parliament
Lawo Audio-over-IP technology has been installed in the broadcast facilities of the Singapore parliament, in a much-needed change to the audio infrastructure. Based on Lawo's HOME management platform for IP-based media infrastructures, which is natively built on a cloud-ready microservices architecture, the Singapore parliament installation enables users to connect, manage and…