NAB 2017 is behind us and the dust has finally settled. As usual, this year proved to be overwhelming. We were able to see a lot of new products and services, but there’s no way you can see everything. Here’s a re-cap of our top finds at NAB 2017.

AJA Helo Streamer & Recorder

AJA’s newest product – the Helo – allows you to send out a single video stream directly to a CDN and record your content at the same time, all of which can be managed from a web interface. Records can be directed to a removable SD card or pushed directly to an external hard drive. The Helo is the perfect appliance for simple multi-camera video streams.

Teradek Cube

Similar to AJA’s Helo, the Teradek Cube allows you to send out a single RTMP feed for live streaming projects. You’ll have to pay extra for a web interface (Teradek is allegedly launching one soon), but given the right application, the Cube could be a handy tool for small streaming projects.

Wowza

Wowza is a cloud based streaming service that allows you to distribute a single live stream to multiple platforms simultaneously. Wowza is compatible with a number of encoders (like the Cube and Helo) and is backed by the Akamai CDN. They offer various monthly or annual service plans based on your anticipated streaming usage.

Ross Inception

We hadn’t seen Ross’ Inception platform until we ventured to their booth at NAB. Inception is a user-friendly newsroom computer system with some powerful social media tools. You can link Inception to your social media accounts and schedule content to post to your feed as you progress through your rundown. You can also use the system to aggregate and pull social content into your program. Inception is a social-focused alternative to ENPS or iNews.

ShowMgr.com

It’s hard to describe exactly what the ShowMgr platform does, because it does it all. This web-based production system allows you to perform budgeting, billing, payroll, crew and resource management and scheduling all from one system. It’s got a hefty price tag, but it checks a lot of boxes.

Verizon Digital Media Services

We’re currently building out 2 OTT platforms for 2 different clients as part of ongoing broadcast consulting agreements, so we were anxious to meet with VDMS. They provide all of the back-end functionality you need for digital content distribution, including playlist creation, ad-insertion, meta-tagging and delivery. VDMS has a lot of horsepower and some very handy tools built into their platform.