One of the new features of ePresence 6.0 is Screencast mode, which is optimized for software demos and audio-only presentations. It is possible to record a local laptop screen as well as an external laptop screen using VGA output. We used this feature to record a little demo so you can get an idea of how this new feature works. Please hit Play button and enjoy the show 
We have some exciting developments planned in the new year, including a redesign of our Capture Station software, a new Flash-based webcast viewing interface, and the ability to edit presentations on the web!
ePresence 6.0 is scheduled for release in January 2010. It includes many new and exciting features, such as:
What an incredible event… Over 1000 people joined us for the live webcast of TEDxToronto, sponsored by ING DIRECT Canada – some from their homes and workplaces, others viewing at one of the 13 webcast satellite sites across Canada (including one at our home in the Knowledge Media Design Institute). We’re just delighted we could be a part of it.
(See more screenshots on our Flickr photostream.)
We received a lot of great feedback yesterday regarding the webcast production quality, consistency in the streaming video delivery, and the look of our soon-to-be new Flash templates. The whole team is still beaming about it here at the office!
A huge thanks to Tyler Turnbull, Paul Crowe, and the rest of the TEDxTO committee for letting us take part in this incredible, inspiring first TEDx event in Toronto. Tyler and Paul gave us an amazing production team to work with. We’re indebted to Venture Communications for ensuring our webcast needs were accommodated, and the Videoscope production crew for giving us the best sound and camera switching a webcast audience could ask for.
For those who were inquiring as to how we managed to deliver the webcast stream consistently throughout the day, stay tuned for a “behind the scenes” blog post soon!
Keep a look out at TEDxTO.com in the coming weeks for finalized stats and news of video archives.
Also be sure to check out:
We’re excited to announce that the Knowledge Media Design Institute (home of the ePresence Lab) will be hosting one of the live webcast meet-ups for TEDxToronto. Please join us at KMDI on Thursday September 10, from 12:00pm to 7:00pm, at the University of Toronto’s Bahen Centre (Room 7256) for the live webcast.
RSVP at: http://kmditedxto.eventbrite.com. Drop-ins welcome!
What is TEDx?
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx – local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.
What is TEDxTO?
TEDxToronto (TEDxTO) was established by an enthusiastic group of volunteers based in Toronto who are passionate about TED and generating “Ideas Worth Spreading”. The theme of TEDxTO is “What’s Next?” We see it as a challenge: what are the new and as-of-yet undiscovered ideas, projects, and people that will shape the future of our city, and ultimately the world? The event includes:
The main event will be held at the Theatre Passe-Muraille. Because space and tickets are limited, we are hosting a live webcast of the event at KMDI.
Watching the TEDxTO live webcast will also give everyone a sneak preview of new templates that are coming in ePresence 5.1. These new templates are developed entirely in Flash, which gives us some opportunities to do some neat things, like give the user the ability to change how they’d like to view the webcast, as well as offer:
If you’re attending the TEDxTO live webcast on September 10, feel free to let us know what you think!
On July 31st, Adobe released a new version of the flash player (10,0,32,18) that addressed a critical vulnerability in previous versions of the player. This new player introduced some incompatibilities with Wowza H.264 streaming.
Wowza has issued a patch that resolves the issue, which has been applied to our hosting servers. We recommend that all ePresence sites with their own Wowza server update to the latest version of the software.
The latest patch for 1.7.0 is patch 1.7.0-patch21. If you are running Wowza 1.6.0, you will first need to apply patch 1.6.0-patch24. Please read the instructions included with the patches carefully before you begin.
If you have an ePresence support package, please contact us and we will perform the update.
We’re happy to announce that ePresence 5.0 is ready for release! As you may have already read, version 5.0 is a major release that adds two new lightweight capture solutions to the current ePresence system:
Mobile Capture
Use your Windows, Mac, or Linux laptop to present PowerPoint™ and share your desktop with a webcam and mic. Or share the desktop of another presenter with an optional VGA2USB device.
Web Capture
Give a live talk via your web browser with just a webcam, mic, and PowerPoint™ presentation – no additional equipment or software installation required.
As well, 5.0 will offer some significant updates to our existing Capture Station solution, including:
- High quality h.264 Flash support
- Ability to create chapters for longer presentations
- Enhanced third party support for Content Delivery Networks
The following ePresence Capture comparison table gives a good technical overview of the three production scenarios we will now be offering with 5.0.
To learn more about ePresence 5.0 and get pricing information, visit our store or feel free to contact us for a quote!
The private beta for ePresence 5.0 is wrapping up now, and we’re planning on shutting down the beta site this Friday (April 24th). A big thank you goes to all beta testers, and everyone else involved in testing!
We will be pushing out a Release Candidate later today, which can be used on the beta instance until the end of the week. If you signed up too late, and didn’t get an invitation to the beta, please contact sales@epresence.tv for information on how to request a trial instance to evaluate.
The ePresence team is pleased to announce that ePresence 5.0 is now ready for testing. This is a major release that adds two completely new ways to capture content — through the web or on-the-go. You can learn more about these new solutions here.
To request a beta invite, please use our contact form, or send an email to beta@epresence.tv. In the body of your message, please include the following details of the computer that you plan on using for capturing content:
Please note that we will be sending out invitations in stages. When you receive an invitation, you will be sent instructions for accessing your own ePresence 5.0 beta site, and links to download desktop capture software.
This lecture on the use of technology for the support of teaching and learning is part of an ongoing lecture series hosted by the Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI) at the University of Toronto. The 2009 KMDI Lecture Series aims to celebrate and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration in digital media innovation.
Webcasts of all talks in the lecture series are archived and available for viewing by visiting the KMDIat13 website. Podcasts of the talks are also available by searching the iTunes music store for keyword “KMDI” or by subscribing to the RSS Feed.
The KMDI Lecture Series continues Thursday, March 26, 4:10pm EDT (UTC-4), with lectures from Professors Nadia Caidi, Megan Boler, and Nicholas Burbules on the theme “Digital Media and the Politics of Truths and Forgetting“. To attend the live webcast, access the KMDI Presentation Portal on the day of the event, or attend in-person at UofT.
Professor Jim Slotta, Curriculum Teaching and Learning, OISE/UT
Watch Archived Webcast | Full Abstract and Bio
Professor Jim Slotta presents a new line of research, funded by CRC and SSHRC, that explores a rich form of learning where students collaborate with peers within and between classrooms to establish a knowledge base that will be used in subsequent scripted inquiry activities. Extensions of this work to the topic of “smart classrooms” are also discussed.
Professor Clare Brett, Curriculum Teaching and Learning, OISE/UT
Watch Archived Webcast | Full Abstract and Bio
Professor Clare Brett’s talk focuses on key issues in how new technologies are impacting upon how we teach, learn and collaborate, and uses an educational research project called GRAIL (Graduate Researcher Academic Identity on-Line) under development to illustrate some fundamental issues in adopting new technologies.
Professor Jim Hewitt, Curriculum Teaching and Learning, OISE/UT
Watch Archived Webcast | Full Abstract and Bio
New information and communication technologies offer exciting new possibilities for higher education. Professor Jim Hewitt reviews research conducted on some of these technologies, and discuss problems, barriers and obstacles, both cultural and organizational, that limit the instructional potential of these new tools.
This release, ePresence Capture 4.2.19, offers two new features that our users have repeatedly asked for: high quality H.264 Flash encoding for on-demand presentations and the ability to automatically upload media archives on 3rd party media servers or CDNs via FTP protocol.
We are very excited to announce that both features are now available. A couple weeks back we demonstrated how amazing H.264-encoded presentations look on the web by embedding Steve Trickey’s talk which was published using the Release Candidate of ePresence Capture 4.2.19.
ePresence Capture 4.2.19 is now available for our customers at http://epresence.tv/
