Tools, applications and services to benefit those who produce, deliver or listen to radio have been under the microscope in Geneva this week. RadioHack 2014 brought some 46 developers, engineers and technology experts to the EBU during Digital Radio Week to exchange ideas and knowhow around a range of projects. While some are still in the lab, others are already enabling exciting new services that will help to keep radio relevant for the connected generation.
The twin themes for this year's event were hybrid radio and software-defined radio, two fields that provide fertile ground for doing new things with an old medium. RadioHack is designed to have the kind of relaxed atmosphere found at hackerspace events, where participants are encouraged to share concepts and collaborate on an ad hoc basis. In this way new ideas can emerge and new alliances can be formed.
Among the projects in the room for RadioHack 2014 were many that aim to lower the costs associated with launching digital radio, by building encoders, transmitters and receivers. For example DABerry, a hybrid digital radio receiver based on the Raspberry Pi that demonstrates the power of hybrid radio; or the new developments based on the CRC mmbTools including a prototype ultra low cost DAB transmitter board, SFN support, and a DAB "microcell" based on consumer set-top box and fed by satellite.
Other topics given an airing included automated chaptering of radio content (which can help, for example, with providing listen-again services), visual enhancements to radio (based on the RadioDNS standards), and the new cross-platform authentication protocol from the EBU that was successfully demonstrated with RadioTAG on a hybrid consumer receiver. The event was also a fantastic opportunity for broadcasters and manufacturers embarking on hybrid radio implementation as they were able to meet the experts responsible for developing the specification and the tools.
RadioHack is just one of the many events taking place during Digital Radio Week at the EBU. The Digital Radio Summit takes place on Wednesday 12 February and there are meetings of various groups and associations throughout the week.