Arlington, Va. – PBS, the developer of television and online
content for nearly 360 member stations, said it plans to soon begin testing a
multimedia emergency alert system, which will send video, audio, text and
graphics to cellphones, tablets, laptops and netbooks, as well as in-car
navigation systems.
The pilot project could lead to the first major overhaul of
the nation’s aging Emergency Alert System (EAS) since the Cold War.
"Now
that the transition to digital is complete and mobile DTV is rolling out, PBS
will harness mobile DTV’s powerful distribution system to provide new means of
alerting Americans in the event of an emergency," said John McCoskey, the
CTO of PBS.
The new system will eliminate bandwidth bottlenecks that would
overload a cellular system, and allow for the transmission of many types of
media, such as evacuation routes.
Key partners in the project will include LG
Electronics and its U.S. research and development unit, Zenith, which will
develop handheld mobile DTV devices to receive the new alerts, as well as
provide funding.
Related Links:
http://www.pbs.org/about/news/archive/2011/mobile-dtv-eas
