NAB 2008: a new era.(editor's note)(National Association of Broadcasters)(Editorial)

Another April, another trip to Las Vegas for the annual National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference and exhibition. This though, it was year, hardly "the same old show."

Consider, for instance, the booths that attendees saw when they entered the South Hall, home to the vendors in the multimedia arena. Rather than encountering Apple and Avid, show-goers were met by Thomson, Matrox Electronic Systems, WSI Corp., Quantel, and Archion. That's because Apple and Avid decided not to exhibit. Avid still maintained a foothold, albeit at the Hard Rock hotel (with some product presence at other vendors' booths), while Apple met with select clients in a tucked-away meeting room. Much to my surprise, Apple forewent its Sunday morning "revival" (aka user event), a longtime staple at NAB. This coming just one year after Apple rocked the room with impressive product rollouts, including Final Cut Server, Final Cut Studio 2, Motion, Compressor, Color, and more--all with enticing price tags. As for Avid, prior to the show, the company had launched its "New Thinking" campaign based on customer feedback. "New," meaning new executives, new lower pricing, and a new streamlined product line.

For the third consecutive year, attendees were seeing Red. Once again, folks were lined up outside the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company booth to get a look at the company's Red One camera, which continued to cause tongues to wag and eager users to salivate. Two years ago, the company whetted appetites with a prototype and a promise; last year, it delivered. This year, it attracted vendors eager to attach themselves to Red One's rising star--among them, Boxx, which released its RedBoxx for viewing 4K footage shot with the Red One camera at full-quality 2K resolution in real time. RedBoxx includes ...