Ustream's plan is still to get the app on the official App Store, which would make it much, much more accessible to the general public. The good news is that their latency from streaming to watching is pretty good (about 2-3 seconds), which is live enough to be called live. Not good enough, though, for having a conversation with.

When we tried it over Wi-Fi, the video quality was pretty acceptable for streaming video from a phone. There are a couple short sample videos here. You can actually make out the text if I get in close enough to the screen. What does this say? One, the iPhone 3G's camera is decent enough to take video and the processor is fast enough to process and upload it. Two, we're dying to get this in the App Store so everyone can try.

Another really cool feature is the live poll, which you can activate and have all your viewers vote on. It sends an email to your account address when you close the poll.

The tech is there, so all that's left is for Apple to approve it. You can get it now by jailbreaking.

There's a company called Rosum who has been working on this technology for a while, and is finally getting some headway. Their goal is to help devices that spend all or most of the time indoors enjoy the benefits of global positioning. They're currently focused on integrating their TV-assisted geo-location into femtocells—without a GPS lock, these internet-connected cellular repeaters are useless, even though they're totally meant for use indoors.

By locking onto the timecode embedded in TV signals from known locations, they can get a fix. As you probably know, wi-fi networks mapped by Skyhook use this same basic concept. Rosum likes TV signal because it's especially strong, it penetrates walls, and "it's roughly 12,000 miles closer" than GPS.

Anyway, it's all a heady business, so head over to Ars if you want the 202. The point is, everything can be used to get a fix on your location, and in the future, everything will. [Ars Technica]

1. Timing: TBS HD launched with MLB playoffs; CNN HD is covering politics in a year when politics isn't BORING.

2. Pretty Picture: Sports, movies and nature top the list of demanded HD. Apparently Reno 911 isn't even near the top.

3. New Content: Converting old stuff costs $$$$$, whereas shooting in HD from the get go is cheaper and cheaper everyday, hence QVC's all-HD all-the-time pitch.

4. Money: You knew this would come up. QVC pays carriers to put their channel up. Who knows what other deals are going down?

5. Visual Upgrades: Even if the video itself isn't HD, some channels like CNBC HD (seriously?) use graphics and stuff in HD.

6. Promises, Promises: According to a source at Comcast, networks who share big 'n' nebulous HD plans for the future can squeeze by with crap programming at launch. (Hey Comcast, they also took the word "Gullible" out of the dictionary.)

7. Simulcasting: Apparently it's cheaper for a channel to broadcast stuff in HD and SD at the same time, because they save on marketing and can tell everyone to watch at the same time, whereas channels that only broadcast in HD are underpromoted.

8. Smoke-Filled Rooms: All of this comes down to deals, handshakes between suits from the carriers and suits from the content owners. (Occasionally, they have to actually shake their own hands!) Whatever variety of above incentives are offered, a deal's a deal. [Sound & Vision]

5,000,000,000: Viewers expected to watch the games
$100,000,000: Estimated cost of voice and data network deployed by Avaya
3,500,000: RFID embedded tickets
45000: Estimated number of network connections for TV production
2200: Hours of feeds produced
2000: Staff of TV productions
2000: Press, commentators
1300: Kilometers of cable for 12 venues
800: Camera positions
750: kilometers of audio/video cables
736: Players
100: Fujinon HD lenses deployed
70: TV studios
64: Number of matches broadcast in HD for 2006 FIFA World Cup
64: Total number of matches played
48: Matches broadcast in HD for previous World Cup (2002)
25: HD cameras used to cover each match (per stadium)
20: Outside broadcast trucks
14: Panels on current FIFA football
12: Cities hosting matches
9: PanAmSats used to send HD signal worldwide
6: Number of television directors
1: Pool feed for broadcasters
– Charlie White

FIFA World Cup by the Numbers [Audio Video Producer]

ABC Sports Prepares for HD Super Bowl XL [TV Technology]

Super Bowl XL on ABC Sports in SD/HD simulcast [Broadcast Engineering]

Super Bowl XL Ready to Go in Detroit [Broadcast Newsroom]

Super Bowl Gets Supersized Production [Broadcasting & Cable]

If you've got it, flaunt it. That's one mantra that hasn't eluded the Japanese when it comes to technology. And because the country has the cheapest high-speed Internet in the world, as well as one of the best broadband markets, it's nice to see everyone working together to bring people streaming TV on their Internet connections. Softbank and Yahoo Japan are the two companies in charge of this new streaming video service and plan to form a company that will operate it. Called "Yahoo!Doga," it is aiming to be a portal site for about 100,000 different programs. Best of all, the companies plan to work with all the different broadcasters, rather than just a few. A trial is in the works as we speak and the service should be available by March 2006.

Softbank, Yahoo Japan start Internet TV service [Reuters]