Tech Roundup

Now available from Gen Media Partners and Synchronicity.co—a new hardware + distributed computing platform that manages all aspects of a radio station's programming playout. Introducing Sync Harmony, which features technology that is completely integrated with Syncronicity's SyncHD media management platform. The tool is designed to simplify a radio station's audio playout, while delivering a new level of HD sound quality.

Data-driven media marketing, programming and content intelligence provider NuVoodoo Media Services certainly thinks so. Its latest NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study reveals a sharp rise in smart speaker ownership since August 2017. What does this mean for AM and FM stations with streaming audio? NuVoodoo found that 48% of likely PPM participants now own a smart speaker.

Nielsen has unveiled its latest tool designed to help marketers best determine where their target audience will be when marketing and advertising messages are meant to reach them. Now available is Advanced Audience Forecasting, designed to give clients forecasts of TV audiences defined by "advanced audience segments," which have been gaining traction in the marketplace.

A new cloud-based software built to manage the operational needs of smaller facilities has been launched by broadcast, production and media services tech provider Xytech. It's a subscription-based offering that takes three days to install. 

Users of a cloud-based radio automation platform from ENCO have a whole new look to look forward to, should they be attending the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The conference and expo will see ENCO unveil the second generation of its WebDAD automated studio workflow system. The update, says ENCO, allows broadcasters to take full, native control of the radio station from any networked location.

"Significant strides in interoperable audio networking" are on the way for radio and TV broadcasters. The company ready to deliver the tool it believes will accomplish this task is GatesAir.

AM radio station owners planning to attend the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas may wish to set aside some time to visit the Orban booth. The company will demonstrate XPN-AM, "a new way to manage audio processing for AM stations," at the industry conference.

Digital Alert Systems is using the 2018 NAB Show in Las Vegas to introduce what it says is "a one-of-a-kind, highly specialized management system capable of overseeing all encoders/decoders and facilitating command of all connected EAS devices in an enterprise."

Picture this: an in-dash system with a 9-inch touch screen that "hovers" over the vehicle's dashboard is the newest bit of technology to revolutionize the way consumers access audio entertainment.

A German firm known for Test & Measurement, Secure Communications, Radio Monitoring & Radio Location is bulking up its U.S. operations with the hire of a Broadcast Field Engineer and a Broadcast & Media Solutions Architect.

Here's something 2018 NAB Show attendees may wish to make note of: Dielectric, the manufacturer of antennas and RF systems for TV and radio broadcasters, will present a variety of spectrum repack antennas engineered to deliver next-generation broadcast standard signals. 

Video delivery technology and services firm Harmonic has released the latest tool in its VOS stable, with a new tool for OTT and IPTV deployments. VOS SW Cluster, now available, is being pitched as "a comprehensive software application that embeds market-leading media processing, including ingest, playout, compression, encryption, packaging, and origin, and supports both cloud and bare metal compute environments."

The President of Emmis Communications-owned TagStation LLC — the entity behind the NextRadio app and the cloud-based TagStation radio data service — has been chosen to discuss the role of big data in shaping strategic business planning and revenue growth at a South Florida event strictly for CFOs.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee’s ATSC Technology Group will have a new Chairman as of May 2018. Succeeding Triveni Digital Chief Science Officer Dr. Rich Chernock is LG Electronics consultant to the office of the Chief Technology Officer — and a wind synth and keyboard player in a prog-rock band named Eccentric Orbit.