Mike Slocombe

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
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
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
USB Foot Warmers And Gloves
With the evenings drawing in and artic breezes circulating around your workstation, it may be time to invest in some handy USB-powered warming devices.
First up is the USB Foot Warmers, designed to get your tootsies toastie within minutes.
The USB Foot Warmers are covered in soft brown and white fake fur backed by a ‘leather fabric’ base with the slippers being warmed through a compact, ultra-flexible heat panel lurking in the lining of the base. The heat panel can be removed for washing.
Once the slippers are plugged into a USB port, this panel will immediately begin to heat and will remain at comfortably warm until unplugged. Or your machine crashes.
The foot warmers come with a 107cm-long USB cable (how long before the user wanders off and drags the PC with them?) and it has to be said that the whole ensemble is quite exceptionally unstylish.
The USB Foot Warmers are available from the Gadgetshop for fifteen quid. No thanks Santa!
USB G-Gloves for girlies
Somewhat more attractive – but equally daft – are the USB G-Gloves from our favourite purveyor of frivolous goods, Brando.
In case you didn’t know, the ‘G’ stands for ‘Girls’ who Brando hope will be wooed by their knitted (real wool!) pastel colour schemes on offer.
The gloves feature an open ended design that lets girls show off their nail varnish do some typing, with the gloves offering two USB-powered heating levels.
Each mitten comes with two built-in warming pads that heat by 10 degrees n five minutes, and you can pick up a pair for $22 (£13).
Brando also do a men’s version, but they weren’t the mean’n’macho, black-leather, studded affair we’d hoped for.
2 November, 2006
Boss Micro BR, The ‘World’s Smallest Pro Studio’
Musicians today, eh? Spolit rotten.
Back in the day, whenever the creative muse struck, songwriters would have to write down their ideas on the back of a fag packet or strut around with a bulky cassette recorder which recorded more hiss than a steam train parade.
Thanks to music gear company Boss, all that’s set to change, with their stunning new pocket-sized gizmo letting musicians go one further than just recording basic ideas; with this baby they can record entire songs on the move!
Their new Micro BR – billed as the World’s Smallest Pro Studio – offers a phenomenal amount of power in a package barely bigger than an iPod.
The pint sized marvel offers four simultaneous playback tracks (plus 32 V-Tracks), MP3 compatibility, onboard multi-effects, built-in rhythm patterns, a tuner, USB connectivity and SD expansion card slot.
There’s also a dedicated guitar input for ambling axemen, time-stretch and centre cancel features, 293 rhythm patterns for whipping up a groove and a built-in microphone for ‘laying down’ your ‘vox trax.’
Despite its teensy-weensy dimensions 136.0 mm x 81.0 mm x 21.4 mm (5-3/8″ x 3-3/16″ x 7/8″), there’s a full complement of controls on the device, with a dozen buttons, nine knobs (for that all important ‘tweaking’) and a bundled 128MB SD card, offering 65 minutes of mono audio recording.
The Micro BR is essentially is a four-track studio with four simultaneous playback tracks and two simultaneous record / input tracks, but with each of the four main playback tracks having eight companion V-Tracks, users can record multiple takes and then pick the killer version for the final mixdown.
MP3 files can also be loaded up, with the ability to slow down the tempo without the pitch changing – handy for trying to learn those super fast guitar licks!
Due to start shipping at the end of the year, the price looks pretty competitive too, with one US site offering it for just $230 – a price that wouldn’t even buy you a half-decent drum machine back in our day (mumble, moan, ‘kids have it too easy these days,’ etc etc zzzz).
Boss
1 November, 2006
Sony Unveils The World’s Lightest Notebook PC
Sony has announced that it will be launching what it claims is the world’s lightest notebook computer in December in Japan.
Aimed at the swivel-action, besuited business crowd, the carbon-cased Sony ‘type G’ Vaio lappie weighs in at a fluffy-cloud like 898 grams, with Sony’s boffins still managing to fit in a 12.1-inch LCD screen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a mighty battery life.
Looking closer it appears that they’ve also managed to wedge in a fingerprint reader too.
Sony claims that their new laptop will keep on rocking for 12.5 hours on a single battery charge in Stamina mode – long enough for even the longest haul commuters.
There’s no optical drive onboard, although there’s also an optical drive version available, weighing a pixie-untroubling 984g.
The new lightweight range will be powered by a range of three CPUs (Celeron, Core Solo U1300 and U1400), backed by 512MB of RAM and 40-80GB hard disk drives.
From what we’ve seen of the press photos, it seems that the laptop will be available in grey, blue and carbon finishes, all of which look delightfully natty to us.
Sony said that it currently has no plans to sell this featherweight beauty overseas (which is a real shame because our hearts are a-pumping at this little fella), but has announced that they will be knocking out for about 220,000 yen in Japan ($1,881, £985).
Sony [Japan]
1 November, 2006
Windows Media Player 11 Released
Confidently billed as “a milestone for music fans and the digital entertainment experience on Windows XP,” Microsoft’s shiny new Windows Media Player 11 claims support for more than 200 portable and home networking devices and hundreds of online music and video services and radio stations.
The upgrade to their popular media player comes with a sleeker, iTunes-esque user interface, better online store integration, improved navigation and updated search tools for larger music libraries.
“Windows Media Player 11 is the first media player to be truly designed with the digital entertainment lover in mind,” purred Mike Sievert, corporate vice president of Windows at Microsoft.
“The fresh, exciting new look, the ability to find songs and videos in an instant, and the enhanced capabilities for syncing with portable devices are not only exactly what customers have asked us for, they’re also a preview of what’s to come in Windows Vista,” he added.
New for Media Player 11 is thumbnail and album art displays; shuffle sync and reverse sync options and a library view backed by simplified navigation capabilities and enhanced shortcut options.
Tabs galore
Along the top of the super-slick, Vista-ready interface are six access tabs letting you jump between the currently playing media, the media library, and tools for ripping, burning and syncing up media.
So far so good until you come to the last pointless tab, which offers instant access MTV’s Urge music store. The result of some lucrative MTV marketing tie-in or another, users will have to put up with this unwanted guest forever as there’s no way of getting rid of the thing.
WMP11 can rip audio CDs in the default WMA format or the more popular MP3 format and there’s also support for the beardy audiophiles preferred format, lossless WAV, along with the ability to easily burn all supported file formats onto CD.
The new player is available as a free download to users with genuine copies of Windows XP – which means you’re going to have to go through a pesky validation palaver to install the program.
Windows Media Player 11
31 October, 2006