According to In-Stat, the city of Glasgow, Scotland, is in the world news because of last week's meeting of global heads of state, but the city has other reasons to "crow." Glasgow is known as a city with a proactive approach to growth, and they are making innovative investments to raise awareness and attract visitors from around the world. They've become the first city to launch a 24-hour TV service that delivers a wide range of features and prerecorded "Content" to anyone with a broadband Internet connection and can play Windows Media. The site is becoming a destination not only for people who are interested in all things Scottish, but also as an example of how the broadband Internet is changing the concept of Television. Normally, it takes a full-time staff of dozens of technicians, producers, directors and talent to create a TV channel and keep it on-the-air around the clock. But Glasgow TV uses low-cost, off-the-shelf technology and local volunteers videotape and edit most of the content. A few local city employees ingest the content and feed it into an automated management and play-out system called "TV Station In A Box." The www.glawsgow.tv site also sets up an automatic link to the City of Glasgow's official web site, which provides a more traditional Internet experience, lots of detailed information about the area, and automatic links to other URLs.
From my vantage point, few areas are evolving as rapidly and with such profound implications as the space sector. For decades, satellites were essentially fixed hardware – powerful, expensive, but ultimately immutable once launched. That paradigm is undergoing a transition driven by Software-Defined Satellites (SDS). A recent market study by ABI Research underscores this transition, painting a picture of technological advancement and a fundamental reshaping of global connectivity, security, and national interests. LEO SDS Market Development The core concept behind SDS is deceptively simple yet revolutionary: decouple the satellite's capabilities from its physical hardware. Instead of launching a satellite designed for a single, fixed purpose (like broadcasting specific frequencies to a specific region), SDS allows operators to modify, upgrade, and reconfigure a satellite's functions after it's in orbit, primarily through software updates. The ABI Research report highlights ...