March 2005

Windows XP Home Edition N: MS and EU Finally Agree Nomenclature
Microsoft has agreed – with all the enthusiasm of a child being made to eat spinach – to adopt all the “main changes” requested by the European Commission to its new version of Windows without Media player components.
The company were found guilty by a court in 2004 of breaking EU monopoly laws, with the ruling compelling Microsoft to sell a stripped down version of Windows XP without all the embedded Media player widgets.
“Earlier today we contacted the Commission and have informed them that we have accepted all the main changes they have requested we make to the version of Windows without Media Player,” grumbled Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s associate general counsel for Europe.
According to Gutierrez, Microsoft will make several modifications to the OS including technical changes to registry settings, removing references in product documents and packaging that warn certain products won’t work without Media Player and creating a software package allowing consumers to replace the absent media files.
In what some may think was a deliberate move to make the reluctantly-created product sound as appealing as last night’s kebab, Microsoft wanted to call the new version of Windows XP “Windows XP reduced Media Edition”.
The Commission was having none of it, forcing the software giant to use the name, “Windows XP Home Edition N”.
Horacio Gutierrez, a lawyer for Microsoft, was clearly not too happy, telling Reuters that the company has “some misgivings about the chosen name, as we fear it may cause confusion for consumers about the product, but we will adopt the Commission’s name in order to move forward and accelerate the pace of the implementation process.”
Gutierrez added that the new version would be available to European consumers within a “matter of weeks”.
Microsoft hasn’t finished battling with the Commission, as they are yet to comply with another part of the EU judgment which stipulates that the company must open up access to server protocols.
Lawyers are wrangling over terms of the license which was prohibitive to open source software makers.
And there’s more! Microsoft are also in disagreement with the EU over plans to appoint a trustee to monitor Microsoft’s compliance (or the complete lack of) – if the company fail to comply with the Commission’s decisions, they could face a daily slapdown of up to US$5 million – the equivalent of a cup of coffee in Bill Gates’ world.
Microsoft
EU
29 March, 2005
BPI: UK CD Sales Beat The World
New figures released by the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) confirm that UK music fans are the numero uno, mad-for-it music buyers in the world, with each tune-loving Brit buying on average 3.2 CDs per person per year.
The announcement comes after the UK record industry announced its best ever year for album sales, with British-signed newcomers the Scissor Sisters and Dad-pleasing rocksters Keane topping the album charts in 2004.
The figures confirm that the UK rules the sound waves with each resident buying on average 3.2 units in 2004, followed by the USA (2.8), Germany (2.2), France (2.1) and Japan (2.0).
Incredibly, the UK releases around 26,000 albums per year – second only to the US in the number of releases – with the UK market recording an overall 3.0% increase in volume sales over 2004, helped by a robust albums market.
With a record 174.6 million units sold, the UK CD albums market continued to outperform its international counterparts in 2004, growing by 4.5%.
These latest statistics follow recent BPI research showing 55.4% of the UK population between 12 and 74 shelled out for at least one album last year.
After a massive increase in online and offline unauthorised access in recent years and doomsayers lining up to predict the end of record companies, this represents a significant achievement for the UK recorded music industry.
It also raises questions about recent BPI lawsuits against alleged P2P file-swappers and the promotional role the networks may be playing.
BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson says: “The strength of the UK market in the face of worldwide decline is a testament to the skills and courage of UK record companies who have never stopped taking risks in signing and developing some of the best talent in the world.
Improving prospects for recorded music internationally is also good news for the UK since after the US we remain the world’s biggest exporter of music.”
Jamieson added: “The UK is a nation of music lovers, so it’s not surprising to see the UK at the top of this list. A slew of great new British artists have met UK music fans’ demand for great music.”
The growth in digital sales has played a major part in helping the global music business tackle its five year slump, with 200 million downloads sold in the world’s four leading digital markets (US, UK, France and Germany) last year.
The arrival of high-profile legitimate digital music services such as iTunes helped lift UK single-track sales by 4.0% in 2004 with 5.7 million downloads sold, breathing life into the British singles market.
With album bundles and sales of digital EPs also doing good business in the UK, the Official UK Charts Company estimate that the total UK market for downloads topped 9 million units in 2004.
Peter Jamieson commented: “The main choice today’s music fan now has to make is whether to get music legally or illegally. As these figures show, more and more music fans are now making the right choice and helping make great British music.”
These trend-bucking figures reflect the UK’s huge enthusiasm for music, and although the industry must be chuffed with the growth of legally downloaded music, we wonder what impact the exponential growth of broadband in the UK may have on future sales.
BPI
24 March, 2005
Skype v1.2 Update Released
An updated version of the hugely popular Voice-over-IP (VoIP) application Skype has been released.
The skinflint’s phone application of choice, Skype for Windows v 1.2 includes a host of tweaks and new features including a centralised Contact list option and a ‘Getting Started Wizard’ that eases the pain of making that first freebie call.
The program is now able to instantly import contacts from other desktop services and applications such as MS Outlook, Outlook Express, MSN Messenger, and Opera Internet-browser.
“The latest Skype software for Windows builds on previous versions and takes Skype portability, ubiquity and quality to a new standard for modern communications,” enthused and backslapped Niklas Zennström, Skype CEO and co-founder. “We are grateful for the user input that helped shape this latest version, and applaud the Skype development team for the excellence.”
Skype have aimed to make the program less daunting to new users, with a new ‘Getting Started Wizard’ appearing up on start-up, ready and willing to handhold new users into the magical world of free Internet calls.
The wizard acts as a one-click launch pad to Skype’s frequently-used functions, such as importing contacts, searching Skype’s global user directory, editing personal profiles, configuring privacy settings, making test calls and accessing online help.
Another notable improvement is the centralised contact list. Whereas user’s contact lists were previously stored on the user’s home machine, it now resides on an Internet server, accessible over the Web from any Internet-enabled device.
Users can now also initiate multiple file transfers, play around with updated sounds and fiddle about with a feast of additional customisable settings. Skype continues to provide Instant Messaging-style chat, conference calling for up to 5 participants and cross-platform communications.
The soaraway Luxembourg-based company has so far signed up 29 million registered users for its free peer-to-peer based Net phone calling, making it one of the fastest-growing services on the Net.
Customers have – not surprisingly – flocked to sign up to Skype to enjoy VoIP free calls, and the company is now looking to squeeze some cash out of the hordes of freeloaders by offering attractive, paid-for ‘bolt on’ services.
This forms part of Skype’s strategy to make its Net-only product significantly more useful to consumers and potentially a mean competitor to traditional phone providers.
Skype is currently the leading Internet telephony product worldwide, with more than 31.4 million registered users, a figure that the company claims is growing by more than 160,000 new users per day.
We love it!
Skype
Download Skype
24 March, 2005
Cell ID: Orange Claim ‘GPS-Beating’ Location Service
Mobile operator Orange has announced a GSM-based tracking service which it claims is both cheaper and easier to use than GPS technology.
The service – snappily entitled Cell ID – gives the developers of location services details of the Orange GSM network.
When this data is combined with their own location application and other data, Orange claims that it will allow location service providers to offer much more accurate location based services.
Orange has high hopes for the product, boldly predicting that by next year more than 40,000 devices will be tracked using its Cell ID service.
These devices could include farm machinery, train carriages, vending machines and even boats being driven off by drunk holidaymakers.
Melissa Jenkins, M2M product manager at Orange Business Solutions, said Cell ID doesn’t use special antennas or need to be able to see the sky like a GPS system.
“If you are using a Cell ID-type of solution you can chuck it in anywhere and as long as you can get GSM you can get a location. You don’t have the complexity of deploying it – you can use it in much lower cost solutions,” Jenkins said.
The system helps pinpoint devices by their location in relation to mobile phone cells.
“You can see the device is 500 metres from cell A and 800 metres from cell B and work out approximately where it is,” Jenkins explained.
Electronic Tracking Systems (ETS), makers of battery powered security tracking devices under the mtrack brand, is one of the first to pilot the product.
Angela Harvey, Director, Electronic Tracking Systems (ETS), explains how the company is using the service:
”With Cell ID we are able to track assets to within 550m, whereas previously the average distance was around 4.5km and could range up to 11km. As a result our rate of recovery improved from 96% in 2004 to 100% so far this year – that’s around £2m of recovered stolen goods.”
“Cell ID has significantly reduced the time recovery personnel need to spend searching for a missing item, lowering costs and helping us return stolen property faster. It has also given our customers and distributors increased confidence that we will retrieve their stolen items.”
Orange
24 March, 2005
Legal TV Downloads Offered by UK Channel Five
Channel Five yesterday became the first UK broadcaster to launch a legal video download store, offering DVD-quality downloads of some of the most popular features of its flagship car show, Fifth Gear, from its Web site.
Fifth Gear, produced by North One Television, is selling downloadable high-resolution videos of 12 supercar reviews, including the Porsche 911, Ferrari F430 and Mercedes McLaren SLR, all for £1.50.
Payment can be made by debit or credit card with a provision for ‘younger car enthusiasts’ to pay by mobile phone.
To get the ball rolling, the company is offering four free videos available from their Web site.
Car fans will also have access to a selection of Fifth Gear shoot-outs – one of the programmes most popular features, whereby two similarly priced or similarly powered vehicles race around a track to find out which one is fastest.
Powering the UK’s first legal video downloads store is a system developed by 7 Digital, the company behind download stores for a raft of leading music companies including Universal and EMI.
7 Digital’s Managing Director, Ben Drury said: “Broadcasters have seen the revenues attainable from music downloads and are eager to do the same with their own content. TV footage can work so much harder for broadcasters, with the Internet now a commercially sound distribution channel.”
Richard Pearson, Executive Producer of Fifth Gear said, “Ever since Fifth Gear launched in 2002 viewers have regularly asked whether it’s possible to purchase content. It’s great that we can expand the Fifth Gear brand in this way and give people an affordable opportunity to acquire high quality downloads of their favourite moments from the archive.”
Legal music download sites have become hugely popular in recent years, but TV companies have so far not used the same technology to put programmes online – despite British viewers being the biggest downloaders of copied TV shows.
The BBC has already run trials with what it calls its Interactive Media Player (iMP), which allows surfers to use the Internet to download and watch programmes from BBC TV and Radio
Channel 5
7Digital
Fifth Gear
24 March, 2005
London Tube Users To Get Underground Mobile Coverage by 2008
Commuters on London’s Tube network could soon be able to bellow out, “I’M ON THE TUBE!” if trials to introduce mobile and wireless Internet connections underground from 2008 get the green light.
London Underground (LU) is planning to install technology that will give commuters mobile phone coverage in the concourse, ticketing areas and platforms of underground Tube stations – but not on trains rumbling through underground tunnels.
LU will be chatting to suppliers shortly and aims to undertake a trial of the technology at one underground station in 2006 with a view to extending it across all tube stations by 2008.
Tube bosses say there is strong support among passengers for mobile phone access across its network with plenty of companies interested in getting involved, commenting that suppliers faced “unique practical challenges” around space, power and ventilation constraints.
LU director of strategy and service development, Richard Parry commented, “The process we launch today is to start getting information from the market about how we could best provide a mobile phones service”.
Although execs haven’t revealed how revenues would be generated and split between the operator and the Tube, any income generated would be re-invested in the Tube network to fund further improvements for passengers.
The proposals were announced by London Mayor, Ken Livingston, who said in a statement: “We know that many Londoners would like the convenience of being able to use their mobile phones at Tube stations throughout the Underground network. We also want to see how the technology could be taken even further, for instance wireless internet so passengers could receive up-to-the-minute travel information via their laptop or mobile phone.”
An LU spokesman added “Passengers would like to have mobile coverage at Tube stations but they are less keen to have it on trains”.
Photos copyright urban75
Transport For London (The Tube)
23 March, 2005
AFP Sues Google Over News Copyright
A large question mark hangs over the future of aggregated news sites supplied by Web companies such as Google after it was revealed that Agence France-Presse had sued the world’s most popular search engine for alleged copyright infringement.
Google had been making the headline, summaries, and thumbnail photos of news stories available to everyone via a search function. Clicking on the story would then take users to the full story and photos on the original site.
It was this practice that set AFP into a giant hissy fit and before you could say “avocat”, the French news agency were filing a law suit in a Washington court.
The action sought damages and interest of at least US$17.5 million dollars (£9m, €13) and an interdiction on the publication of its text and photos without prior agreement.
“Without AFP’s authorisation, defendant is continuously and wilfully reproducing and publicly displaying AFP’s photographs, headlines and story leads on its Google News Web pages,” AFP huffed and puffed in their lawsuit.
The news agency added that it had already asked Google to stop using its copyrighted work, but that the cheeky monkeys “continued in an unabated manner to violate AFP’s copyrights”.
Since the law suit was announced, Google has embarked on the process of removing all AFP content, but has not released a schedule for when the removal will be complete.
Already some pundits are questioning the wisdom of AFPs litigious action, with the Political Gateway Web site serving up a damning article denouncing the ‘stupidity’ of the press agency:
“AFP has over 600 online clients using their news services, sites like Political Gateway. Being blacklisted by the number one search engine in the world is enough to make a news site immediately drop AFP and go to another news service like AP, Reuters, UPI, and the like. We know this to be true because Political Gateway is looking at options right now.
AFP will lose all its online clients except Yahoo.com (which is a search engine itself). However, Yahoo also syndicates its news out via RSS or ‘XML’ feeds. RSS allows webmasters to place news headlines on their site. This would be an offense to AFP and result in suing of Yahoo.
When the dust settles we believe AFP, the oldest news organization in the world, will have lost most of their online clients, their reputation, and face the worst Internet backlash a news service has ever encountered.
As of this week, all AFP news information will be deleted from Political Gateway and hundreds of other sites in protest against the stupidity of AFP.”
The Google News service was launched in 2002 with the site – still in beta – gathering stories and images from the Web and making them freely available to everyone.
With Google making the vast majority of its revenue through online advertising, the news service looks to be an important sector in the increasingly competitive online arena.
If other press agencies follow AFPs litigious route, we could see a premature end to this fledgling service.
We hope not.
Agence France-Presse
Google news
“Google shows AFP who is boss” (PoliticalGateway.com)
23 March, 2005
UK Is Fourth Most Digitally-Aware Nation In Europe
The UK’s mass adoption of digital TV and broadband has helped make the country the fourth most digitally-savvy nation in Europe, according a new report by Jupiter Research.
Calculated using 40 different variables including Net use, digital TV adoption, wireless, mobile and digital device usage, the European Digital Life Index revealed that consumers adopt different digital products and services in different countries.
Not surprisingly, the digi-savvy Scandinavian countries Sweden, Denmark and Norway came out top in the report, with Greece deemed the digital dunce, rating a lowly 17th place in the index.
“The European Digital Life Index demonstrates that digital lifestyles are common today, but across Europe there is no single digital lifestyle,” said Nate Elliott, Jupiter analyst.
He went on to predict that the trend for gadgets and technologies, such as digital video recorders (DVR), broadband, and video-on-demand will continue across Europe.
Currently, more than six million UK households have broadband Net access and that figure is expected to rise to with 50% of all UK net users by the middle of 2005.
Although the UK is currently dragging its boots in terms of broadband speeds compared to other countries, faster technologies – such as NTL’s ADSL2+ high speed – are expected to significantly improve access speeds.
UK consumers will need that super-fast connectivity if they wish to enjoy bandwidth-hungry services such as high-definition TV (HDTV) and video-on-demand, already popular in France and other European countries.
In a separate survey by GMIPoll last week, it was revealed that the appetite for technology, gizmos and gadgets shows no sign of abating around the world.
The poll of 20,000 people in 20 countries found that 59% slavishly desired more technology, with the computer being the “must-have” gadget for most people (75%).
The trusty old TV set came in at second place (67%), with mobile phones ranked at third position with 54%.
According to the survey, the most popular choice of gadget for 2005 was the digital camera, with nearly 40% choosing this over wireless, home printing and DVR technologies.
In Britain, however, only 25% of Britons said a digital camera would be their top gadget purchase of the year. Almost a quarter, 22%, said they would be buying some sort of wireless device with the largest percentage – 42% – declaring that they would be buying something “other”.
This mysterious “other” result probably reflects the growing consumer interest in digital music players or gaming devices like the Nintendo DS, Sony’s PSP and Gizmondo, but seeing as the survey didn’t bother to ask them that, they could be hell bent on buying electronic cuckoo clocks for all we know.
GmiPoll
23 March, 2005
Xdrive Launches Wireless Access To Online Storage
Xdrive has announced an expansion to their service that gives roaming consumers wireless access to their files through any Internet-connected cell phone, smart phone or handheld device.
With a turn of phrase worthy of the cheesiest made-for-TV pilot, Xdrive implores users to “cut the cord and roam freely with your files” and skip gaily into a new digital dawn “liberated from the confines of a wired world” – possibly while “sipping Mai Tai’s on the sands of Bora Bora”.
Eh, what?!
Back in the real world, we can tell you that Xdrive’s new wireless service allows mobile subscribers to access their files and folders, send faxes, email documents, listen to music and view slide shows while on the move.
Users must first upload their files to their Xdrive account, and using WAP (wireless application protocol) technology they can access their files on the company’s secure server.
The service allows people access to a wide range of stored files – Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, digital photos and videos, QuickBooks files, and MP3s etc – through any Web-enabled hand-held device.
“As the Digital Lifestyle continues to become more and more engrained into our everyday life, people are beginning to break away from the concept of one stationary computer,” states Xdrive CEO Brett O’Brien, “People strive for mobility, yet yearn for connectedness. Xdrive’s new wireless features give people just that.”
Xdrive costs US$9.95 (£5.20, €7.6) or US$99.50 (£50.20, €70.6) annually, with subscribers having 5 Gigabytes of online storage space and access to all of the Xdrive applications and services.
The company offers new subscribers a 15-day free trial period at http://www.xdrive.com
Xdrive
23 March, 2005
3G Real-Time Multiplayer Gaming From 3 In UK
With a long parp on their PR trumpets, 3 notched up another first with the launch of “over-the-air” real-time multiplayer games over their network.
The service will go live in April and allows up to four gamer dudes to frag the feck out of each other in real-time over the 3 network.
The first real-time multiplayer games to be made available will be No Refuge, an explosion-tastic, tank battle war game supplied by Mobile Interaction.
Next up will be Synergenix’s Lock ‘n Load, a shoot’em up game with even more explosions, followed by the turn-based multiplayer game, Cannons Tournament, a shoot and fire cannon game supplied by Macrospace. With explosions, naturally.
The real-time multiplayer gaming environment is supported on Terramove, a gaming solution from TerraPlay, allowing publishers to develop multiplayer games for the 3 network.
3 also announced advanced games boasting “near console quality”, which will, apparently, “bring the real gaming experience to UK mobile for the first time”.
The “near console quality” games will be made available to customers through the ‘Today on 3’ service and will include Rally Pro Contest and Lock ‘n Load, both 3D games.
These console-esque games are being supported on the 3 network by the Mophun gaming engine that is being supplied to 3 by Synergenix.
Gareth Jones COO of 3 was on hand to big up the offering: “3 has consistently been the first to deliver the very best on 3G. As the fastest growing UK operator, this is an exciting new development in our service offering. Combined with our great value and market-leading handset portfolio, 3 continues to set the benchmark for the other operators to follow.”
Graeme Oxby, Marketing Director of 3 was quick to join the quote action: “As the success of our music service demonstrates with over 10 million downloads in 6 months, 3 has learnt how to package and deliver compelling products over 3G. In Gaming, we are doing the same thing – picking the right games for 3G and delivering services that are immediate, fun and accessible at affordable prices.”
3 is currently the only UK operator to offer customers the choice of buying and renting games. Game-junkies can either pay 25p for a one game fix or double their money for up to three days of play on a game – this lets them see if they like the gear on offer before buying it.
With the ‘buy’ option customers make a one off payment, of between £3 (US$5.7, €4.3) and £7.50 (US$14.25, €10.8) and then have continuous use of the game on their video mobile till their fingers are reduced to stubs.
The ‘near console’ quality games will initially only be available on certain models and cost £7.50.
The announcement of these advanced handheld games would suggest that 3 is pro-actively targeting the lucrative console market, and looking to lure potential Gizmodo, DS and PSP customers.
We suspect that their success will depend greatly on how the games match up to the ‘near console’ quality claims.
After all, the Sinclair C5 was nearly a great idea….
Synergenix
3
Mobile Interaction
22 March, 2005