February 2006

Opera Web Browser Now On Nintnedo DS
Opera, Opera, everywhere
Opera have had a concerted effort to place their Web browser on _everything_, most recently, with AJAX support on digitalTV.
Nintendo have made an interesting move here. The DS has always been focused on providing gaming, so to take the jump to making it a Web-access device is significant.
Those interested in running it will need to buy a Opera on a DS card and they’ll be away – browsing over Wifi on the dual screens.
GIVING GAMERS TWO WINDOWS TO THE WEB: THE OPERA BROWSER FOR NINTENDO DS
February 15, 2006: Opera Software today announced that it will deliver the World Wide Web to Nintendo DS users in Japan. In Opera’s agreement with Nintendo, Nintendo DS users will now be able to surf the full Internet from their systems using the Opera browser. The Opera browser for Nintendo DS will be sold as a DS card. Users simply insert the card into the Wi-Fi enabled Nintendo DS, connect to a network, and begin browsing on two screens.
Earlier this year, Nintendo reported that 13 million Nintendo DS systems were sold to consumers around the world within just 13 months of its debut in November 2004. Nintendo DS combines unique dual screens, touch screen, voice recognition and wireless and Wi-Fi communications capabilities. According to an independent market research company in Japan, Nintendo DS has become the fastest selling video games machine to top the 6 million sales mark in Japan in just over 14 months since its Japanese debut, breaking the old record held by Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance.
“The incredibly popular Nintendo DS is already Wi-Fi enabled to support real?time gaming, so adding Web browsing capabilities was a natural evolution for this device,” says Scott Hedrick, Executive Vice President, Opera Software. “Gaming devices are growing more advanced and a great Web experience is becoming a product differentiator for gaming manufacturers. Opera is excited to work with Nintendo to deliver a unique dual screen, full Internet experience on Nintendo DS.”
With an on?screen keypad and stylus, users can easily navigate the Web from their Nintendo DS with PDA?like functionality. Based on the same core as the Opera desktop browser, Opera delivers superior speed and rendering of Web pages on the Nintendo DS.
“Within just five seconds of turning on the system, the Nintendo DS is already fully operational. This makes it the ideal device to enable people to swiftly obtain the latest information from the internet, wherever they are,” says Masaru Shimomura, Deputy General Manager of Nintendo’s R & D Department. “Opera exceeded our expectations with its user friendly interface, quick access to all your favorite sites, ease of use and, most importantly, in making the best use of the Nintendo DS system’s unique double screens and touch screen features. Opera is an important partner for Nintendo in our efforts to further expand the users of the Nintendo DS.”>Nintendo Co., Ltd. held a presentation today in Tokyo, Japan, to announce updates for the Nintendo DS. Information on the availability of the Opera browser DS card has not yet been announced.
15 February, 2006
Google To Power Vodafone Mobile Search – Imagination Lacking: 3GSM
The news is coming out of 3GSM thick and fast, so we’re going to be reporting in a slightly different way. When we see a press release that we think it’s of interest to you, Dear Reader, we’ll put it up in full, with a brief comment at the top. Normal service will be resumed post 3GSM – unless you tell us you like this format.
We’re increasingly disappointed about the view of a couple of technologies by the wider market. The primary recipients of over-glowing acceptance in our view are Apple with their iPod and Google with search. OK, they’re good products, but really …. have some imagination. There are other products/services around that are equally good, and we’re sure that it’s only a matter of time before the alternatives exceed what is currently seen as the benchmark.
To fit in with this trend, Vodafone (who for goodness sake should have more confidence and technical expertise) have signed with Google, to have them power search on the Vodafone network.
Vodafone and Google team to create innovative mobile search experience for mobile phone users
Vodafone today announced that it is collaborating with Google todevelop innovative mobile search services for its customers.
Vodafone will integrate Google’s search capability into its consumerservice, Vodafone live!, providing customers with the most relevantinformation, wherever they are and whatever time of day it is.
Google’s search results will be delivered through Vodafone’s high speeddata networks. Combining Vodafone’s mobile expertise with Google’ssearch capability will ensure that customers can quickly and easilyfind what’s relevant to them. The new service will offer simultaneoussearch both on Vodafone live! and the wider Web.
Vodafone’s integration of Google search will take the mobile internetto a new level. Vodafone live! was the first mobile service to makedata services easily accessible to mobile customers. Whether checkingthe weather, looking for a restaurant or getting the most up-to-datenews, consumers want search services that meet their everyday needs.
Alan Harper, Group Strategy Director, Vodafone, said: “Innovative mobile search will become increasingly important as fastand easy access to information and services are increasingly demandedby customers on the move. Together, Vodafone and Google will focus oncreating the best mobile search service in the market, helping to bringthe mobile internet to life. Our customers will be able to findrelevant information and services faster, making the Vodafone live!customer experience even better. Our intention is to develop ourrelationship with Google to ensure Vodafone customers continue to havethe very best in mobile services.”
Nikesh Arora, Vice President, European Operations, Google Inc., said: “As people become more mobile, it’s increasingly important that we canprovide them with access to information when on-the-go. Googleunderstands that mobile phone users are looking for more than a desktopreplacement – they want directly relevant content, quickly. Vodafonehas long been a pioneer in providing mobile data services to itscustomers and we believe that by working together we will ensure a userfriendly experience for mobile users.”
14 February, 2006
Sony Cybershot DSC-W50, DSC-W30 To Battle Ixus
Ahead of the big PMA (Photo Marketing Association International) show at the end of the month in Florida, Sony has announced two new 6-megapixel cameras in their ‘W’ range.
The ultra-compact Cyber-shot DSC-W30 and DSC-W50 models feature optical viewfinders, Sony’s Clear RAW imaging technology (claimed to produce low noise images up to ISO 1000), a 3x zoom and 2.0-inch and 2.5-inch screens, respectively.
Looking somewhat reminiscent of the Canon Ixus / Elph range, the miniaturised, re-engineered W-series offers a compact, highly pocketable design (89x59x23mm) with a price that’s easy on the pocket too, with the DSC-W30 retailing for $230 (~£132, ~e193) and the DSC-W50 for $250 (~£143, ~e209).
Both cameras follow the trend of offering high light-sensitivity settings (in this case, up to ISO 1000), letting snappers capture fast-moving subjects and take more natural-looking low light shots without flash.
At higher ISO ratings noise can become a real issue, but Sony are claiming that their Clear RAW imaging technology keeps the multi-colour snow-storm effect to a minimum.
Boasting 400 shots on a single charge, the DSC-W30’s batteries should provide enough juice to keep compulsive photographers going all day, while Sony’s Real Imaging Processor circuit claims to deliver quick start-up and fast shot-to-shot times.
Both cameras come with 32MB of internal memory, with Sony sticking with their propriety Memory Stick Duo storage, offering capacities up to 2GB.
To help fumbling newbies and the easily baffled, Sony has added a new function guide which displays a short onscreen text explanation whenever a shooting mode is selected. This can be turned off once the user becomes familiar with the icons on the mode dial.
The Cyber-shot DSC-W30 should be available later this month, with the DSC-W50 following in March.
SC-W30/DSC-W50 specs:
Sensor 1/2.5 ” Type CCD, 6.0 million effective pixels
Image sizes 2816 x 2112, 2816 x 2112 (3:2), 2048 x 1536, 1920 x 1080 (HDTV), 1632 x 1224, 640 x 480
Movie clips 640 x 480 @ 30 / 16fps, 320 x 240 @ 16 / 8fps, 160 x 112 @ 8fps
File formats Still: JPEG
Movie: MPEG VX
Lens 38-114mm, F2.8-5.2, 3x optical zoom, Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar
Focus 5 area Multi-point AF, Single, Monitoring
Metering Multi-pattern, Center-weighted, Spot
ISO sensitivity Auto, ISO 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000
Shuttter speed 1/2000 – 1sec
Aperture F2.8-7.1 (wide) F5.2-13 (tele)
Modes Auto, Shutter priority, Aperture priority
Scene modes Twilight, Twilight Portrait,Landscape,Beach,Snow,Soft Snap
Connectivity USB
Weight (no batt) DSC-W30: 123 g (4.5 oz)
DSC-W50: 127 g (4.7 oz)
Dimensions DSC-W30: 89 x 59 x 23 mm
DSC-W50: 89 x 57 x 23 mm
Sony
14 February, 2006
Mayday! Mayday! UK Digital TV Boxes In Trouble Again
For the second time in a fortnight, coastguards have been scrambled after a digital TV box sent out a signal on a wavelength used by ships in distress.
Mrs Donaldson, a 67 year old pensioner in Plymouth, Devon, came back from an evening at the cinema to find investigators waiting outside her door, “holding a massive antenna.”
After picking up the ‘distress’ signal from Mrs Donaldson’s Freeview box, two lifeboats and a police launch spent a fruitless three hours searching 20 miles of coastline looking for what they believed to be a mystery vessel in trouble.
Two weeks previously, a faulty TV digital box in Portsmouth resulted in a coastguard helicopter from RAF Kinloss being scrambled for a two hour search of the harbour area before the signal was traced to a household inland.
RAF spokesman Michael Mulford confirmed that the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Kinloss had detected the beacon – transmitting on the major emergency frequency – from one of five orbiting satellites.
Once the RAF had established that the source wasn’t coming from a nearby vessel or missing plane, they contacted Ofcom who were able to track the signal down to a household.
At the time, an Ofcom spokesman was reported as saying that the signal was a “real one-off”, adding that “digital boxes only receive signals.” When we spoke to Ofcom today, they claimed to have said it was ‘probably’ a one-off.
Beacons not boxes
The frequency used by the digital Freeview set-top box (officially called the Civil Distress Frequency) exactly matched the one reserved for emergency distress beacons.
These beacons are carried by ships, yachts and aircraft, and when they come into contact with water, automatically broadcast a signal that identifies the vessel and its location.
Will the digi-TV rollout be scuppered?
With Digital TV boxes being responsible for two major incidents in just two weeks, some serious issues are being raised for the proposed roll out of digital TV in the UK.
Ofcom officials told us that they think that only two boxes failing out of the ten million Freeview boxes already sold isn’t much of a problem.
But with the cost of the two wasted rescue operations exceeding what has been reported as £20,000, lifeboat crews have warned that such rogue signals could cost lives in the future.
An Ofcom spokesman explained that the faulty boxes are now being examined for malfunctioning components, adding: “Apparently any device capable of receiving a signal can also send a signal if it malfunctions. To the best of our knowledge these are the only two out of millions of Freeview users in the UK to have experienced this problem.”
Confusingly they said that they hoped to have the results of the tests in a ‘couple of weeks,’ but might not make the findings public. They refused to be drawn on who made the Distressing digi-box, or indeed if both boxes were made by the same company. They also wouldn’t reveal the price range of the offending box.
Meanwhile, it looks like they’ll be no shiny digital future for Mrs Donaldson who has said that she won’t be getting a replacement box as she would “hate to cause more bother”. Bless.
14 February, 2006
Vodafone Embrace SIP Internally. Nokia To Supply: 3GSM
The news is coming out of 3GSM thick and fast, so we’re going to be reporting in a slightly different way. When we see a press release that we thinks of interest to you, Dear Reader, we’ll put it up in full, with a brief comment at the top. Normal service will be resumed post 3GSM.
This _is_ an interesting one. Nokia and Vodafone have knocked heads a few times about Nokia and their domination of the handsets market – and Vodafone’s keenness for their relationship with the subscriber not to be lost.
Here Nokia IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) will go Worldwide for Vodafone. The real buzz is that Vodafone will be SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) enabling their core network.
This is the switch to IP for Vodafone and, we judge, an acceptance that they need to fit in to the significantly cheaper IP world, rather than just sticking to their expensive, proprietary cellular networks.
Vodafone awards global contract to Nokia for IMS
Espoo, Finland – Nokia has been selected by Vodafone Group as a preferred supplier, with a contract to begin deploying the Nokia IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) solution to Vodafone affiliates worldwide. The first deployments are expected during 2006.
Under the agreement, Nokia becomes a preferred supplier of Vodafone’s IMS network architecture and the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) technology that will enable Vodafone to pilot next generation services and start interoperability testing. Nokia is also deploying its OMA-compliant Presence and List Management solutions. IMS is an essential element of the Nokia Unified Core Network solution and a key enabler of multi-access methods.
“Vodafone is excited by the enormous possibilities that are emerging with IP Multimedia,” says Detlef Schultz, Head of Global Supply Chain Management at Vodafone. “IMS is going to play a strategic role in our future service delivery. We intend to pilot the next generation of services using this technology and will start interoperability testing with other operators as soon as possible. We have the utmost confidence in Nokia’s ability to deploy IMS on a world-wide scale.”
“We are extremely pleased to be cooperating with Vodafone in pioneering the benefits of IMS for consumers,” said Giuseppe Donagemma, Vice President, Networks, Nokia. “Vodafone clearly recognizes how important IMS is in providing next generation multimedia services that are rich in possibilities and independent of access.”
Nokia provides to the telecommunications market a complete, end-to-end solution for IMS-based multimedia, including the Nokia IP Multimedia Subsystem solution and application servers for services such as Presence, which are connected to the IMS via the open IMS Service Control (ISC) interface. Nokia is the leading vendor of IMS/SIP enabled terminals, with several models of video sharing and SIP enabled terminals already on the market.
With its IMS solution and wide range of IP multimedia capable devices, Nokia has taken the lead in making IP Multimedia commercial. Nokia has over 70 IMS references, including 48 commercial references for the fully IMS compatible Push to talk over Cellular (PoC) solution and 14 references for IMS Core with mobile and fixed operators globally. Commercial launches include over 20 PoC and several Video Sharing services.
14 February, 2006
BT Movio Partners With Virgin Mobile TV, Endemol: 3GSM
They’ve been busy boys at BT this week, with the UK telecoms giant making two major announcements.
On Monday, BT announced a content partnership with Big Brother producer Endemol to provide original shows and interactive content for BT’s new broadband television service.
Endemol now join a growing list of broadband content providers signed up by BT whose roster now includes recently bagged deals with BBC Worldwide, Paramount, Warner Music, National Geographic, HIT Entertainment and Nelvana.
BT/Virgin mobile TV deal
With the ink still drying on the Endemol deal, BT have also announced a new agreement with Virgin Mobile to offer TV services through its broadcast digital TV and radio service, BT Movio.
Virgin Mobile – Britain’s fourth-largest mobile operator – will use BT’s Movio mobile TV product to give their customers access to a wide range of digital TV content and more than 350 DAB digital radio stations.
Using the UK’s existing digital audio broadcasting (DAB) network, the broadcast service will be offered on a limited exclusive basis to virgin Mobile customers later this year. BT Movio will be available in the future to all mobile operators in the UK.
The announcement of the deal coincided with the unveiling of HTC’s new handset at the 3GSM World Congress 2006.
HTC Trilogy handset
The Trilogy TV handset, the world’s first DAB-IP enabled Smartphone, was developed jointly by BT, TTP and HTC and sports a 2.2″ screen for viewing video content and multimedia-focused features including a removable storage and an integrated 1.3 mega pixel camera.
Emma Lloyd, managing director, BT Movio said: “Bringing the world’s first DAB-IP enabled Smartphone to market is another huge achievement for BT and the beginning of a step change towards open standards in the area of TV broadcasting over DAB.”
“By working with Microsoft and HTC we have been able to develop a handset that provides an easy to view, high quality experience, wrapped into a hi-spec media driven mobile phone. This will be vital in attracting mobile operators to the BT Movio service,” she added.
Microsoft partnership
BT has developed a strategic relationship with Microsoft for delivering broadcast services on a mobile handset, with their Windows Media technologies enabling BT Movio to deliver high-quality audio and video content over a DAB network using minimal bandwidth.
The BT Movio service also comes with Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology for the secure delivery of premium video and music content.
These are certainly interesting times for BT, with their recent activity seeing the company pushing ahead to create an alternative distribution network and channel for existing content to both broadband and mobile devices.
Although Orange, 3, and the Vodafone Group already offer streamed TV channels over their 3G mobile networks, this solution gobbles up precious bandwidth.
Phones on the BT Movio service, on the other hand, simply pick up broadcasted signals. As Virgin’s sales and marketing director Graeme Hutchinson explains: “It’s not downloaded; it’s not looped; it’s real TV just like you get at home.”
BT Movio
14 February, 2006
Nokia 6136 Serves Up Wi-Fi Mobile: 3GSM
Launched at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Nokia’s new 6136 phone is being touted as the handset that brings GSM and wireless LANs together.
Claiming to be “unifying GSM and Wi-Fi connectivity”, the 6136 is a UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) phone giving users the ability to roam seamlessly between GSM mobile and Wi-Fi networks.
Thanks to the wonders of UMA technology, network charges can be slashed as the phone automatically switches to a VoIP connection when one becomes available – so if you’re on the phone as you come home, your mobile will instantly transfer the call to your Wi-Fi network.
The quad-band Nokia 6136 will be able to connect to GSM networks at 850, 900, 1800, and 1900MHz (so no problems using it in the States as well as Europe) and comes with a built in 1.3 megapixel camera and FM radio.
There’s also a microSD memory card slot for expansion.
So far, there’s only UMA service in operation, the BT Fusion product, which we reported on in June last year.
The technology holds much promise for operators, offering the ability to deliver new voice and data services to subscribers over WLAN access networks.
Because of its limited bandwidth, GSM only supports basic data services, whereas super-fast Wi-Fi can deliver far richer content though support connections of speeds (theoretically) in excess of 50Mbps.
At a press conference on Monday, Jorma Ollila, Nokia’s chief executive said, “We want to help our customers complement their existing mobile services with mobile IP. UMA gives users an alternative to PC-based VoIP,”
He added that UMA devices would appeal to companies who wanted to reduce call costs by moving their voice and data to common IP networks.
The Nokia 6136 UMA phone is expected to be available in Q2 2006, priced around €275 (~$327, ~£188). The company will also release network operating equipment to support the new converged handset.
Orange customers are expected to be the first to get UMA’d up, and there should be plenty of Wi-Fi hotspots about after the company recently took over broadband outfit Wanadoo.
We’ve no idea how much the network charges are going to be, but they should certainly be cheaper than making calls via Orange’s normal network.
Glossary: UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access)
This specification enables the seamless hand-over of voice and data connections between GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) networks and WLANs.
Nokia
BT Fusion
14 February, 2006
XT9, Tegic’s T9 Followup On Samsung Mobiles: 3GSM
The news is coming out of 3GSM thick and fast. To keep up we’re planning to report is a slightly different way. When we see a press release that we thinks of interest to you, Dear Reader, we’ll put it up in full, with a brief comment at the top. Normal service will be resumed post 3GSM.
—
What a coincidence, we’ve been wondering what’s happened to T9, the method that dominates the fast input of text into a ‘normal’ mobile numeric keypad. We thought that the founders must be sitting on a desert island somewhere, having bought it, living the life of Riley.
Well Tegic, who sell T9, is owned by AOL these days and they’re announcing the integration of their follow-on product, XT9, onto Samsung mobile phones.
XT9 been around since October 2005, but it’s the first time we’ve heard of it. and it appears that they’re making a splash at 3GSM. XT9 has expanded to encompass hard and soft QWERTY keyboard with handwriting recognition capabilities using a stylus as well.
—
Samsung to Integrate XT9 Mobile Interface to Drive
New XT9 Debuts at 3GSM World Congress
3GSM World Congress (Barcelona, Spain) – February 13, 2006 – Tegic, a division of AOL, today announced that Samsung Electronics plans to be the first handset maker to integrate the XT9 Mobile Interface (formerly T9 Mobile Suite), a first of its kind, multi-modal user interface, into new handsets.
The XT9™ Mobile Interface, which launched in October 2005, seamlessly integrates popular T9® software for the phone keypad, as well as hard and soft QWERTY keyboard, with handwriting recognition capabilities using a stylus.
This pioneering user interface is designed to enable users to easily toggle between messaging modes, as well as numbers, letters, symbols and languages, and also allows for auto-accenting of words, a benefit for users of many European languages, including French, Spanish and Italian.
“Samsung is a long-standing partner for Tegic so we are pleased to work closely to integrate XT9 into a series of new devices,” said Bill Schwebel, president, Tegic Communications. “We share a common goal, which is to open up new revenue streams for handset makers and operators as voice revenues decline. Our new multi-modal user interface will help realize this potential.”
Today, Tegic also announced new XT9 Mobile Interface features. By making it simpler to type words and phrases, XT9 makes it easier to enjoy popular content and wireless services, driving widespread consumer adoption of mobile web browsing, search and messaging. This new product upgrade adds the following new features:
- Next Letter Prediction: When entering letters by scrolling through an alphabet (up-and-down or side-to-side), XT9 predicts the user’s next letter based on previous letters entered. For example, if a user inputs “l-o-v,” then XT9 will present the next letter as “e” for the word “love” rather than have the user scroll through the alphabet from “v” to “e.”
- * Regional Error Correction: For users of hard QWERTY keyboards (e.g., chiclet), XT9 helps ensure a better messaging experience by compensating for users tapping incorrect keys on the keyboard. For example, if a users inadvertently types in “m-o-o-b,” XT9 will present “moon” since the “b” is just one key away from the “n,” and the word “moon” is a more likely choice.
For handset makers, XT9 can help speed time-to-market for new mobile devices. Further, this new user interface makes it easier for consumers to access mobile content and services, enabling users to take advantage of all their phone has to offer. Samsung plans to integrate XT9’s full and reduced QWERTY capabilities into new devices to ship later this year.
The XT9 Mobile Interface is currently available in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. Additional Latin- and script-based languages are also available upon request. Later this year, Tegic plans to release XT9 2.0, which will include advanced speech recognition capabilities, as well as Chinese handwriting recognition.
Tegic
13 February, 2006
3GSM Preview: World GSM Congress 2006 in Barcelona
Anyone who’s anyone in the 3GSM world will be hot footing it to the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, which starts tomorrow.
Waving big shiny banners and shouting ‘look at me’ will be a slew of mobile and interactive entertainment companies who are keen to team up with telecom companies and grab a juicy slice of the growing mobile entertainment revenue stream.
In a reflection of where the market is headed, the summit will be stuffed full of speakers from big name entertainment companies like Disney, Electronic Arts, Nokia, Vodafone, Motorola, MTV, Sony BMG, Universal and EMI Music.
The mobile phone industry is desperate to come up with mass market services to entice consumers to use 3G networks, but they’ve got their work cut out, with a recent survey finding that almost 80 per cent of UK users said that mobile services are getting too complicated.
There are high hopes that Mobile TV will prove 3G’s salvation and lure in customers by the bucketful.
Keen to show off the technology’s potential, MTV Networks will be showcasing three mobile TV channels at the event, broadcasting MTV music and shows, Paramount Comedy, Nickelodeon and IFILM, a new MTV brand.
It’s all well and good having the ability to watch TV on the move, but consumers aren’t likely to enjoy trying to watch the big game on a squinty tiddler of a screen, so we can expect to see screen sizes on multimedia mobiles to grow rapidly over the coming year.
BT are also going to be at the show and are expected to launch their new broadcast digital TV to mobile service, BT Movio (formerly known as BT Livetime).
There’s certainly a lot of interest in the show, with record breaking pre-registrations and 962 companies signing up as exhibitors – a hefty 40% increase from last year.
The predicted 50,000 visitors can also be, err, thrilled by a performance from Craig David’s. Lucky them!
We’ll end with Bill Gajda, chief marketing officer for the GSM Association, in full PR mode: “As the world’s leading entertainment companies accelerate their plans to channel their content onto mobile devices, there is no better place to meet and forge partnerships with the world’s buyers of that content – the global operator community – than at the 3GSM World Congress.”
3GSM World Congress
13 February, 2006
NTL And BitTorrent Announce P2P File-Sharing Trial
Major UK consumer broadband providers NTL are teaming up with BitTorrent, the developers of the world’s most popular peer-to-peer (P2P) application.
The download service will offer a large variety of licensed video content for purchase in the UK, including popular films, music videos and TV programmes.
BitTorrent’s enormous bandwidth-hogging qualities has proved expensive for some Internet providers, but NTL are looking to speed delivery and reduce network costs by using CacheLogic’s caching technology which stores frequently downloaded files within the NTL network.
NTL believes that this combination will provide ultra-fast download speeds of broadcast quality content – or, as Kevin Baughan, their director of network strategy liked to call it, a “transformational video downloading experience.”
BitTorrent is already firmly established as the de facto tool of choice for connoisseurs of pirated TV and movie files, with BitTorrent traffic estimated to hog around a third of all internet bandwidth, and an even higher ratio on NTL’s network.
Naturally, rights holders and movie heavyweights weren’t too chuffed to see their content whizzing around the Internet for gratis, and quickly hired in squadrons of lawyers to apply pressure on BitTorrent.
Late last year, a deal was struck with the Motion Picture Association of America to remove copyrighted material from the BitTorrent.com search engine, and the company has since been in talks with movie moguls and Internet service providers to find ways to use the software for the distribution of legal, paid-for downloads.
“NTL has seen a huge percentage of their traffic in the BitTorrent protocol,” said BitTorrent President Ashwin Navin. “But in the past, neither rights holders, ISPs nor BitTorrent derived any economic benefit from it.”
NTL’s trial is expected to start next month and run through the summer, with a small initial sample group of around 100 homes.
BitTorrent
ntl
13 February, 2006