Rumor Mill: ETC RFU, Meet iPhone

We are not going to say much about this one as we don’t know much of anything about it!  From our spy station located in Madsion WI, we heard over our hidden mic network deep within the walls of ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls) the mention of RFU (Remote Focus Unit) and iPhone in that same sentence.

Now we admit, the spy mics that we picked up from radio shack SUCK and we need to replace them, but the final word that we picked up on this whole conversation was USITT.  So, lets do some speculation here.  RFU+iPhone=perfect combination right?  Let’s think about this a moment.  In order for the iPhone to communicate with the console, it will have to be connected via WiFi or wireless networking… They only console that can do that are the Eos, Ion, and Congo and not the Express, Expression, Insight or the SmartFade series.

So, one step closer, Etc is might be releasing a RFU app for the Eos/Ion/Congo in the near future as early as the USITT Stage Expo in March. My questions are, will the iPhone/iPod touch app be free?!  And will it be small enough in size that it can be downloaded on the fly over the 3G network if needed.  I ask the last question only because some larger applications… ok fine.. GAMES that I have tried to download over 3G say that I can not and have to be connected to a WiFi access point.

No one back in Middleton is saying a thing, I guess mums the word back in the cheese state. We here at iSquint will upgrade of spy mics and possiably some cams too!  ETC still offeres free tours of the factory right?

Update: ETC Rumor Gets Closer

In the past couple of weeks, iSquint has mentioned a rumor about ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls) re-releasing the express console as well as a new design of the Ion board. After more investigation, payoffs, under the table deals and spy cams, iSquint has a confirmation from deep within inside Middleton that there will be a new lighting console announced in the next couple of months.

The details are still lacking as our message was cut off mid-interview as the powers that be realized that company secrets were leaving the building. The image to the left was snuck out of Middleton by one brave soul that wishes to remain anonymous. The image is of a concept of the long rumored express replacement board. The layout looks similar to the current layout of the Ion console only missing a few features such as the LCD screen and encoder knobs and most likely a few other moving light attributes as far as we can tell from the image. Our insider also mentioned that faders will be built directly into the board thus eliminating the need for fader modules. There was no mention of what operating system this new console will implement such as the express or Ion system, but our insider says that “the new console with firmly replace the Express [console]”.

We here at iSquint will continue our investigation with more snooping and hope to have information soon.

Rumor Mill: Vari-lite Working on an LED Wash Unit

It has been heard through the rumor mill that Vari-Lite is working on an LED wash unit. From un-named sources that attended LDI this year in Las Vegas, Vari-lite, one of the top producers of moving lights in the industry is researching and developing a moving yoke fixture that uses high intensity LEDs.  In the back rooms at the show, select persons were allowed demonostrations of this rumored LED fixture.  While details are few and far behind, the new LED fixture is said to out perform Vari-lites own VL5000 wash unit in inensity even when the LED fixture is running at half the capacity of the power supply to drive the LEDs. Once a power supply is ready to fully drive the LEDs correctly, the intersity can only increase.

No time frame has been overheard of when this fixture may be ready for market or even announced to the public.  One can only assume that hints will start to drop mid next year.