04.16.2012 – April marked the end of the year-long Mobile Emergency Alert System (M-EAS) Pilot Project sponsored by PBS, LG Electronics, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Dr. Jong Kim, the president of Zenith R&D Lab, a subsidiary of LG Electronics working on the project highlights the importance of the project in his statement "We're showing how mobile emergency alerts might be received by a new generation of smartphones that are equipped to receive mobile DTV broadcasts as well as telephone and Internet access. We think this new system will be extremely valuable to federal, state and local emergency management agencies and the public they serve, while extending the community service role of public and commercial broadcasters alike," The PBS and LG Electronics performed its first public demonstration at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The Vegas PBS transmitted emergency alerts to simulate scenarios such as AMBER Alerts, suspicious packages, and tsunami and tornado warnings. The alerts are transmitted via mobile DTV signals to DTV-equipped mobile devices such as phones, navigation systems, or laptops and contain rich media content such as video, audio, text and graphics. Enhanced emergency alerts are extremely important for people with disabilities, especially in providing improved accessibility. In addition, M-EAS “requires no additional spectrum and is an additional use of existing TV transmitters and towers.” [Source: PR Newswire]
