On the 11th of October, a single engine plane collided with a New York Apartment building, killing both it's occupants. Before I begin this post, I want to express our deepest sorrow for the families of Yankees Pitcher Corey Lidle, and flight instructor Tyler Stanger. Our thoughts are with you during this tragic time.

In the aftermath of the accident, correspondents from Fox News brought a confused, and scared public up to the minute video coverage shot on a Palm Treo. The device, operated by a news photographer, is coupled with software from CometVision that allows real-time streaming. Producers at Fox News received an email with a link to the stream and routed it to the control room, where directors switched between it and shots from the traffic helicopter. The Treo's operator was also able to give real time commentary from the ground long before news trucks could arrive on the scene. Essentially Fox had what we in the news business call a "phoner" with live video to match.

The video sent from the Treo was nowhere near the quality typically seen on national news broadcasts. It was simply the best they could do in an emergency. The thing is, News covers a lot of emergencies, and those early images prove to be invaluable.

Fox discovered the CometVision technology earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. the software's manufacturers didn't write it with news gathering in mind, but have been working with Fox since the trade show to make it work. Fox claims the technology is actually capable of better video than was seen on the 11th, but cell phone network traffic has a direct impact on the quality of the stream.

I'm sure Fox News photographers aren't trading in their cameras for Treos any time soon. But it wouldn't surprise me if they all started carrying one after this. Click READ below for a lint to the Washington Post article.