It will be interesting to see what does get into the skies over Beijing. As you may be aware the Chinese have bought a number of police ahelicopters to kick start air support from cold. With the generals controlling the skies will they be able to launch a police mission quickly enough in an emergency? The Beijing police fleet is AgustaWestland based.
Back to your specific post though, a press release was recently issued by...
Axsys Technologies, Inc. announcing that the Bush Administration issued a waiver authorizing the use of Axsys Technologies’ stabilized camera systems at the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games to be held August 8-24, 2008. President George W. Bush has waived the so-called “Tiananmen Square sanctions,” thereby allowing Aerial Camera Systems (ACS) Ltd, an Axsys Technologies customer based in the United Kingdom, to use Axsys Technologies’ V14 High Definition camera systems to provide state-of-the-art footage to viewers around the world. The temporary waiver allows the HD camera systems, which incorporate military-grade stabilizing components, and therefore are normally banned from entering China, to be used during the games.
You may or may not know that there are very strict controls on technology leaving the US and that is why at many 'open' airshows US based manufacturers have to put up with displays of 'empty' sensor pods on booths and seperate secure viewing areas for the 'right' people. It actually gives a degree of advantage to non-US manufacturers that they rarely seem to pull off.
It continues...
During the upcoming Olympic Games, Axsys Technologies’ gyro-stabilized camera systems will be mounted on helicopters, boats, and other vehicles to provide television viewers with a unique perspective of the Olympic proceedings, including the opening and closing ceremonies and a variety of sporting events such as rowing, cycling, and the marathon.
Whether that is what you have seen on that 365 we will have to await. I would have expected that the games will generate more than just a couple of camera ships when it kicks off for real.