WASHINGTON – August 12, 2019 – America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) today congratulated telecommunications manufacturers Sonim and Motorola Solutions for demonstrating the ability to receive Next Gen broadcast television and public safety content on smartphone and tablet devices.
The demonstrations, using silicon chips produced by Saankhya Labs, were conducted today at the annual conference of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officers (APCO) in Baltimore.
“America’s Public Television Stations are delighted to see the promise of the Next Gen broadcast standard being made real by pioneering companies like Sonim and Motorola Solutions, “ said APTS president and CEO Patrick Butler.
“With Saankhya Labs and its partner ONE Media/Sinclair Broadcast Group, Sonim and Motorola have today shown us the future, and it’s very exciting. Brilliant pictures and immersive sound are coming to mobile devices, and with them the lifesaving information that public safety officials need to protect their citizens and communities.
“With this new mobile technology, combined with a revolutionary new broadcast standard, the American people can look forward to extraordinary advances in their ability to entertain and inform themselves whenever they want and wherever they are.
“They can also look forward to a compelling new means of protecting themselves from natural disaster and man-made risk, as law enforcement and first responder agencies deploy Next Gen tools to send and receive live video, audio, graphics and text — instantaneously and securely — to meet all kinds of public safety threats more quickly and effectively than ever before.
“The next step is getting these Next Gen chips into the mobile devices themselves, and the sooner that happens, the safer and better informed the American people will be.
“Public television is proud to be a part of this progress, a partner with manufacturers and public safety professionals in the vital work of emergency communications as well as a producer of television programming that educates and reliably informs our fellow Americans.
“As demonstrated today, the future is here, and we welcome its promise and its extraordinary potential.”
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About APTS
America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization ensuring a strong and financially sound public television system and helping member stations provide essential public services in education, public safety and civic leadership to the American people. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
Contact:
Stacey Karp
202-654-4222
skarp@apts.org