November 2006

Big Brother Heading to Second Life
Reality TV programme, Big Brother, is moving to Second Life on 1 December, or “First virtual piglet Brother” as the BabelFish translator put it.
Starting today, Second Life players can apply to take part in it with fifteen participants being selected from three time zones.
The players will live in a glass-walled building, so other Second Life players will be able watch what goes on. The demands on the players is pretty heavy, given they have to spend at least eight hours a day playing the game.
The format of the Virtual BB will be the same as the TV show, with contestants being voted out until there’s only one left. The final will be on 31 December
How do you temp a Second Life player to take part when they’re likely to not like, or possibly hate TV? Give them something they’d love … a tropical island in Second Life. Reuters report the value of it being worth about US$1,675 (£883).
Endemol Netherlands Managing Director Paul Romer told Reuters, “Big Brother Second Life represents a fantastic opportunity to amass knowledge of the virtual world. In the future, we will use this experience to develop specific content for online communities.”
Given Endemol will have to take a certain degree of trust, as they won’t actually be able to meet the contestants, we’re hoping that some Second Lifers will get together and make some mischief by applying to get in.
As much as we’ve been tempted, we at Digital-Lifestyles have stayed away from Second Life – frankly we’re a little afraid of it. It’s the kind of thing we could see getting completely absorbed in – if not utterly obsessed.
The TV version of Big Brother has been dragging on for years now, so all we can assume is that they’re desperate to try to get people involved who have faded away from the TV show. One thing for sure is that the production costs of the Second Life version will be considerably cheaper that the over-blown TV show.
Endemol Holland (In Dutch obv)
Second Life
7 November, 2006
Love TV In The Living Room, Hate Paying For It
A new survey has revealed that UK consumers are way down with streaming and downloading audio-visual content into their living room, but they’re not so keen on paying for the stuff.
Research from the Olswang Convergence Consumer Survey 2006 showed that some 40% of UK consumers are already streaming or downloading audio-visual content onto their PCs, with nearly half of that total settling down to watch the content in their living room.
Of the content watched, it was found that punters preferred to watch full-length feature films and TV programmes on their PCs rather than shorter clips and trailers.
While the growing influence of the PC in the living room should spell good news for content creators and distributors, it seems that punters are definitely not warming to the idea of paying to receive the content on their home PCs.
The report found that half of those questioned weren’t prepared to pay a single Goddamn bean extra for streamed/downloaded content, with a further 18% only willing to cough up £2 per month for content, and 22% only happy to pay between £2 and £5.
Matthew Phillips, media, communications and technology partner at Olswang, commented, ” As broadcasters, rights holders and service providers continue to negotiate control over media rights, the key challenge is to offer a range of content which is broad enough for consumers to find something they want to watch and are willing to pay for.”
It seems that the battle isn’t just about getting people to pay for the content, but also getting them to actually pay attention.
According to Olswang’s research, easily-distracted, multi-tasking consumers are paying less attention to watching programmes, with 46% of respondents busy emailing and 43% web surfing while watching television.
A bit like us then. Whoops!
Olswang
6 November, 2006
Google To Trial Print-Based AdWords Service
Google is set to announce a new advertising partnership with over 50 American newspapers, in an initiative designed to create an online marketplace to help Ye Olde Printe Media sell advertising electronically.
Big newspapers like The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post are already onboard for the trial, with Google planning to expand the service internationally.
Under the scheme, Google will offer some of its AdWords customers the opportunity to advertise in print newspapers in much the same way as they buy advertising on the web.
Newspapers signed up to the scheme enter demographic details about their titles and give example advertising rates, while advertisers list how much they’re prepared to pay for classified space in specified titles.
Publishers then decide whether to accept the offers.
Launching as an early “alpha” trial, Google has said that it won’t initially charge for hosting the service, but expects to levy a ‘relatively modest commission’ if it takes off.
Runaway success
Google online AdWords campaign has been so successful that they’ve been able to keep up with the demand from advertisers, with Tom Phillips, Google’s director of print advertising, commenting about the print service: “This is money that our advertisers would spend with us if we had the online inventory for them to spend it on.”
Philips added that Google wanted to help the newspaper business, but was still chasing the dollar, “We are not just doing this to be friends with print media. We are doing this because there is a big business opportunity here providing value to media properties,” he added.
Google’s turbo-charged revenue increases (up 70 per cent in the third quarter) continue to give traditional media outlets the heebie-jeebies, as advertising revenues continue to crash in tabloid and regional titles across the UK.
Last week, research revealed that Google is now coining in more cash from advertising than Channel 4 in Britain, with the Internet Advertising Bureau saying that online ad spending in the UK had soared 40% in the first half of 2006 compared with the same time period last year.
Google AdWords
6 November, 2006
Printer Ink: More Costly Than Human Blood
If ever you were in any doubt of the painfully high price of printer ink, a feature on tech website Gizmodo shows a graph representing the relative values of various liquids compared to blood.
According to the statistics, a $30 HP No45 black ink cartridge comes with just 42ml of ink, giving punters a price of $0.71 per millilitre for the ink.
Penicillin comes in at around $0.6/ml, followed by vodka at $0.2/ml, bottled water at $0.1/ml and finally crude oil at something like $0.05/ml (it’s hard to be precise because the graph doesn’t come with a text breakdown).
We’re not taking these figures entirely seriously (it’s a Monday after all, and we’re still waiting for the coffee to kick in) but, as a comparison, human blood knocks out for $200 for 500ml, according to uncited Red Cross figures.
This works out at to $0.40/ml, getting on half the price of printer ink.
Punters have long complained about the outrageously high cost of printer ink – a 2003 study by the Consumer Association’s Which? Magazine found out that the humble smudgy stuff was priced ‘My Printer Hell’.
Meanwhile, those with a keen interest in the pricing of bodily fluids can examine the price of bull semen here, or perhaps peruse a comprehensive comparison of liquid costs from penicillin to ‘punky colour hair dye’ here.
Gartner: Printer ink costs more than perfume
[From Gizmodo]
6 November, 2006
Camera Phones Account For Nearly Half Of All Phones Sold
Global sales of camera phones are set to make up nearly half of the total of all mobile phone sales this year, with the figure expected to rise to 81 percent of all phones by 2010.
The figures, from research firm Gartner, show that 48 percent of phones sold so far in 2006 were equipped with a phone, and that worldwide sales of camera phones are on course to reach 460 million by the end of the year.
This amounts to a thumping 43 percent increase from 2005, with sales of camera phones expected to hit one billion by 2010.
Bumping up the pixels
Gartner anticipates that the ‘pixel race’ – as seen in recent years in the digital camera market – will have an impact, with punters being lured by higher resolution camera phones.
Carolina Milanesi, principal research analyst at Gartner, said, “Consumers’ perception that a higher pixel count translates into a higher quality device will encourage mobile phone manufacturers to continue to increase this.”
Since 2003, the camera phone market has been dominated by sales of phones with low resolution, one mega pixel snappers, which accounted for 51 percent of total mobile phone sales in 2006.
With phone manufacturers beefing up the resolution, Gartner predicts that more than half of the camera phones will have at least one or two mega pixels by this time next year.
“In 2006, 1.3 and two mega pixel resolutions will become the minimum requirement for mid-tier to high-end phones and a 3.2 mega pixel resolution will be used for flagship products. This will increase to five mega pixels in 2007,” Milanesi said.
Western Europe remains the biggest market for camera phones with sales likely to surpass 122 million this year (up 28 percent from 2005), while the US should reach 106.8 million units in 2006 (up 41 percent from 2005).
In Japan, the punters are really sharing the love for camera phones, with sales expected to make up 95 percent of all sales in 2007.
Setting their shiny crystal ball to 2010, Gartner predicts that camera phone penetration in Western Europe will soon equal Japan’s, rising to 93.6 percent of the market, with North America a smidgen behind at 93.4 percent.
[From Tech 2]
6 November, 2006
VON Autumn Europe
6-8 Nov 2006 As VoIP moves into mainstream, IP communication technology is evolving at a rapid pace. The VON Europe Expo™ – Europe’s VoIP industry trade show since 1998 – is your best opportunity to see, touch and challenge the latest products and services in IP communications. Berlin, Germany http://www.voneurope.com/expo.html
6 November, 2006
Brando USB Christmas Collection
If you’re having problems thinking of that perfect technological widget to make your Christmas go with a seasonal swing, look no further than Brando’s fabulous feast o’ festive trinkets.
USB LED Snowman
First up is a USB LED Snowman, who doesn’t do a great deal apart from add a seasonal touch to your desktop by cycling through a range of colours.
He has got a nice hat mind, and he only costs $10.
USB Fibre Optic Christmas Tree II
Going upmarket a tad, the $14 USB Fibre Optic Christmas Tree II apparently, “actually looks like a miniaturised version of the real Christmas tree” and comes in its own little pot.
Like the USB Snowman, it doesn’t do very much apart from cycle through pretty colours, but it is perhaps a little more dignified than a clattering USB Snowman Drummer (see below).
USB LED Music X’mas Tree
For office workers keen to impress, there’s no denying that the USB LED Music X’mas Tree pulls out the stops, offering 12 – yes twelve – built in Christmas songs, cycling colours and a “shining golden star” on the top. Beautiful.
And it’s yours for just $15, squire.
USB Drumming Santa
The real showstopper of Brando’s collection has to be the top-of-the-range USB Drumming Santa.
Billed as “bringing happiness at Christmas” their $18 USB Drumming Santa Claus (Snowman version also available) looks set to redefine festive tack with an all-out assault of PC-powered lights and music.
Plug him into the nearest USB port and whoop with joy as he drums along to a selection of five Christmas songs, complete with synchronised blue lights.
Imagine the delight of your co-workers when you leave that running all day!
Brando Christmas Collection
3 November, 2006
Gmail Java Mobile IS Available Outside US
You’ve probably seen the news yesterday that Google released a new Java client for accessing Gmail from your mobile phone.
The majority of Digital-Lifestyles writers are UK-based, so we were feeling a little left out by being lead to believe by Google that the application was only available to those who live in the US. Google official press release contained,
It is currently compatible with all J2ME-enabled phones in the U.S. and works with a variety of carrier service plans.
When you pointed your computer Browser at the Web address given by Google to download it, you are indeed met forwarded to Google Mobile with no option to download Gmail Java Mobile.
Being the inquisitive little ferrets that we are, we jumped on to our ever-at-hand mobiles to try the same thing. Not expecting much, as we’re outside the US, you can imagine our surprise when we were given the option of downloading the app – but persisted with the US/Canada only malarky. We were warned that the app might not work correctly.
A little frisson of excitement hit the room (yes, it’s true) as the app flitted over the air, all 112k of it. We were met with the gmail login screen, which after entering the relevant, we crossed our finger (nto before hand, have you tried typing with crossed fingers?).
Argh .. the handset we used fell at the final hurdle, but we pressed on with some others until success! We checked in with Cristian Streng to find out he’d had success too using his Nokia E50 in Romania.
We can confirm that the app is a big improvement on the previous browser-based version with the number keys being used to carry out commonly-used functions.
So non-US, Java-mobile phone carrying, gmail users – with a desire to get your mail on the go (phew), you can rest assured that you can get access to it.
Gmail Java Mobile From your mobile phone browser of course.
3 November, 2006
New iPod Shuffle In Shops Today
Apple has announced that the updated version of their teensy-weensy iPod Shuffle will be ready to tempt your wallet from today.
Lagging slightly behind its scheduled October release, the new half-ounce Shuffle is so small that it would fit into the pockets of Santa’s elves, measuring just 1.62 inches long.
That makes it around the size of a matchbook, a significant shrinking from the previous model.
Like its predecessor, the Shuffle comes with a basic set of controls, offering play, pause, skip and volume controls with no display, and an integrated clip.
The Shuffle comes with a 1GB capacity – enough for around 240 tunes – and users can elect to play songs in sequence or randomly.
Apple claims a battery life of 12 hours and the l’il fella is expected to retail for around $79.
David Card, a New York analyst with JupiterResearch was veritably frothing with joy over the new Shuffle, “This version is a huge refinement over the original one. It’s not just a cheap iPod. This is the other device you’ll have. Surveys show a lot of multi-device ownership among iPod owners.”
Apple’s new player comes just eleven days before Microsoft is due to wheel out its Zune portable media player, expected to be the number one rival to the iPod’s dominance.
Apple has sold more than 67 million iPods worldwide in the five years since their launch, with the company currently enjoying a colossal 77 percent share of the US market.
Specifications:
Capacity
1GB USB flash drive
Holds up to 240 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format
Stores data via USB flash drive
Audio
Skip-free playback
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000HzMP3 (8 to 320 Kbps),
MP3 VBR, AAC (8 to 320 Kbps),
Protected AAC (from iTunes Store, M4A, M4B, M4P),
Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4), WAV, and AIFF
Headphones
Earphones
Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Impedance: 32 ohms
Mac system requirements
Macintosh computer with USB port
Mac OS X v10.3.9 and later
iTunes 7.0.2 or later
Windows system requirements
PC with USB port
Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later
iTunes 7.0.2 or later)
Environmental requirements
Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)
Input and output
3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack
Power and battery
Built-in rechargeable lithium polymer battery
Playtime: Up to 12 hours when fully charged
Charging via included USB dock
Full-charge time: about 4 hours
Apple iPod Shuffle
3 November, 2006
Britain: Third Worst Country For Privacy
Britain’s Information Commissioner has published a study concluding that, within 10 years, surveillance of people living in the UK will be all-pervasive.
Alongside the report is a league-table of privacy around the world. Shockingly, Britain currently is the third most surveilled country in the world, behind Russia and China.
CCTV coverage alone is at an all-time high, with an estimated 4.2m CCTV cameras, one for every 14 members of public in the UK.
It’s important to note that this study isn’t published by what some would view as a “pressure group” like Privacy International, but by a civil servant – The Information Commissioner.
This isn’t the first time that The Information Commissioner has raised concern over the way privacy is going in the UK. Two years ago he was on record as saying “we are sleepwalking into a surveillance society.”
His view now? “They (surveillance activities) may be necessary or desirable — for example to fight terrorism and serious crime, to improve entitlement and access to public and private services, and to improve health care. But unseen, uncontrolled or excessive surveillance can foster a climate of suspicion and undermine trust.”
He added: “As ever-more information is collected, shared and used, it intrudes into our private space and leads to decisions which directly influence people’s lives.
“Mistakes can also easily be made with serious consequences — false matches and other cases of mistaken identity, inaccurate facts or inferences, suspicions taken as reality, and breaches of security. I am keen to start a debate about where the lines should be drawn. What is acceptable and what is not?”
Comment
For a long time we at Digital-Lifestyles have been aware of the creeping nature of the loss of privacy in the UK, with our concern extending well before the so called “war on terror.” Since this “war,” the erosion increased exponentially in the name of “protecting” us.
It’s hugely refreshing that someone employed by the government – The information commissioner – has released this information. It must be a pretty serious state of affairs. What’s needed now is some real debate to take place (something increasingly rare in the UK in our view), with all points of view given equal prominence. Let’s get away from this ridiculous view that if you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
Privacy International
2 November, 2006