FutureWire - futurism and emerging technology

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Norweigan TV Uses Video Phone to Broadcast Live Ski Race

Norway's state-owned TV network NRK claimed a technological first last week when it broadcast a ski competition live via a 3G video phone.

An NRK reporter, who participated in Sweden's 90-kilometer Vasaloppet cross-country ski marathon, used the video phone broadcast the race live from a racer's perspective... not unlike the in-car cameras used by NASCAR. As expected, the images were of lesser quality than those captured by professional-grade TV cameras, but the video phone offered the advantages of small size, light weight and low cost.

NRK is encouraged enough by the experiment to consider using video phones in the future to cover breaking news and sports events -- situations in which heavier gear might be unavailable or impractical.

The reporter, incidentally, finished the race in 2,119th place.

Source: AP (Excite)