What tech is CNN using in Iraq?

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tacojohntacojohn
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I was wondering what type of technology CNN is using while covering the war in Iraq? IE- their video phones and stuff.



How does it all work?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    curiousuburbcuriousuburb Posts: 3,325member
    not exactly the detailed how-it-works you may have been looking for, but try this

    "E-war" coverage depends on working technology - Mar 9, 2003 - CNN



    keyword searches for some of the tools will help



    first try



    first link is a winner, complete with prices Videophone Technology
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  • Reply 2 of 6
    stagflation stevestagflation steve Posts: 294member
    The equipment is pretty pathetic, it's basically a webcam hooked up to a laptop sending video at 56k over a satellite phone
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  • Reply 3 of 6
    tacojohntacojohn Posts: 980member
    hmmmm- I would have thought that they would be using powerbooks with gl2's and apples QT broadcaster or something. I didn't think it was that primative- I guess don't fix whats not broken.
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  • Reply 4 of 6
    stagflation stevestagflation steve Posts: 294member
    They only have obscenely limited bandwidth to work with, the satellite phone technology is stuck in the stone age. We are basically talking about 1960's technology that has been miniaturized.



    They probably have reasonable equipment for the stationary brodcasts, but when they are just bombing around in the back of a tank they are limited to modem over satellite phone
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  • Reply 5 of 6
    dogcowdogcow Posts: 713member
    As I understood it the idea behind the videophone is that it does not require a satellite link, and that it's really small and can be run by just one person with no set up. It might not look great but I don't think there is anything else that is cheap, small, and easy to take its place at this time.
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  • Reply 6 of 6
    jante99jante99 Posts: 539member
    CNN and others normally use g4 powerbooks to edit news reports in the field but in Iraq they had to give them up because there are no Apple service areas in the Middle East. Also the powerbooks are not as durable as Panasonic toughbooks. (they should just use 14" iBooks but I guess they don't have PC card slots). wired.com had an article a couple of weeks ago on this subject.



    Video phones I believe do require a satellite uplink but all the equipment can be carried in a suitcase. The fees are very steep at 1.50 per minute for uplink time.



    Supposibly it costs the networks millions of dollars a day to provide the constant live coverage, especially since they do not run commercials.
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