This new service was unveiled at the CrewConnect Global conference, in Manila, this week. It enables seafarers to receive richer, more dynamic news, sports, finance, and entertainment content on their personal devices, and builds on KVH’s NEWSlink service, in use on more than 9,000 vessels worldwide.
NEWSlink Live offers crew a powerful digital wireless experience that supports all computers and mobile devices for easy access, while optimising satellite communications bandwidth and costs.
The new service delivers the existing daily NEWSlink print editions in an enhanced digital format, and also provides free access to a 24/7 world news feed, a unique ‘play-by-play’ live sports feed, and additional supplementary feeds and media services. A customised mini-media player is supplied free of charge with every subscription.
“NEWSlink Live creates an improved experience for seafarers and provides a logical ‘next-step’ service to enhance NEWSlink’s existing daily and weekly newspaper service,” said Mark Woodhead, newly appointed KVH senior vice president for training and content. “NEWSlink Live extends KVH’s commitment to provide the best content services at sea. We can now deliver news in whatever format best suits the vessel and its capabilities – NEWSlink print editions, the richer content of NEWSlink Live, or KVH’s unique IP-MobileCast content delivery service, which provides even more with NEWSlink TV.”
In addition to the NEWSlink Live presentation, there was a Videotel demo to showcase a virtual experience using the latest and most powerful technology of the HTC Vive virtual reality (VR) system. The VR demo allowed users to explore a virtual 360 deg engine room space, and be able to perform a maintenance task with the use of wireless motion tracking controllers.
“This virtual reality demonstration is a great example of how Videotel is constantly looking to the future and staying ahead of the industry to provide better services and a better understanding of how crews’ competency and well-being can have a dramatic impact on vessel performance,” said Woodhead.
Woodhead was recently promoted to the newly created position of senior vice president for training and content.
He will succeed Nigel Cleave, who is retiring as CEO of Videotel at the end of this year.
He has been managing director of KVH’s news and entertainment brands since 2013 and his new position will bring KVH’s maritime training, news, and entertainment under one umbrella for the first time.