The annual London Media Summit provides a forum for senior media executives to reflect on major issues and trends in the media and entertainment world. Read related news stories – McKinsey’s Five Key Media Trends London Business School London http://www.londonmediaclub.org/summit/
Simon Perry
Nokia’s First NFC Product – Why it’s Important
Nokia has lifted the lid on the world’s first NFC (Near Field Communication) equipped mobile phone by adding the special NFC clip-on shell to their 3220, a tri-band camera phone that is available in two versions (Euro/Asia & America). With its build-in NFC shell, the phone is the latest step in the development of innovative products for mobile communications.NFC is essentially a contactless technology that allows for short-range two-way wireless connectivity using a tag and a reader. Developed jointly by Philips, Sony and Nokia, it is based on short-range (10 cm, 3.9”) radio frequency (RF) technology, an NFC-enabled mobile device lets you access services or operate your mobile device by placing it near a tag or share information by bringing two devices close to each other. When you’re near a tag, your mobile phone reads the tags content by emitting a short-range radio signal that powers up the tag’s microchip, allowing you to execute an action, such as opening a Web page, calling a number, or sending an SMS. The opportunities for the Media business, in particular advertising are immediately obvious. People passing posters, wanting to find out more information are able to directly request it there and then, at the point of impulse. It could them be immediately delivered by bringing up a Web page of info or received via email for later consumption. Vivendi Universal has also trialed selling tickets to films, simply by placing the phone on a NFC spot on a film poster. Similarly, by communicating with an enabled device such as a TV, the mobile device can send a picture to it It is currently unclear to us how much bandwidth will be offered by NFC, but we would assume it will be low, being more along the lines of ZigBee than Bluetooth. If this is the case, transferring a 1Mpx image will be a slow and painful process.
NFC is different from other contactless or RFID technologies in that it has a very short operating distance and also allows two devices to interconnect. The effective distance of an NFC solution depends on the tag design and the reader, but is only a few centimetres in Nokia’s solution.
The potential benefits of the technology include improved usability, easier access to services and content via physical objects, convenient sharing of digital items between devices by bringing them next to each other – such as swapping electronic business cards with clients – and local payment and ticketing capabilities. This has already been trialed in the Frankfurt transport system.
“Touch-based interactions will improve the consumer experience of existing services and create new opportunities for users to benefit from their phones. This technology has the potential to significantly improve the way operators provide and users discover and activate different mobile services,” said Gerhard Romen, Head of Market Development at Nokia Ventures Organisation. ‘By introducing the new Nokia NFC shell, Nokia clearly demonstrates strong commitment to offer users an intuitive wireless experience.” Samsung Electronics has also mentioned that it intends to manufacture NFC phones.
Tech Background to NFC – NFC technology evolved from a combination of contactless identification (RFID) and interconnection technologies. NFC operates in the 13.56MHz frequency range, over a distance of typically a few centimetres. NFC technology is standardised in ISO 18092, ISO 21481, ECMA (340, 352 and 356) and ETSI TS 102 190. NFC is also compatible with the broadly-established contactless smart card infrastructure based on ISO 14443 A, which is supported by Philips’ MIFARE technology and Sony’s FeliCa card.Technology/ Media Writer Required
We are looking for new, passionate writers. If you’ve got a strong background in technology and understand the significant impact it’s having on the creation, distribution and consumption of media, you’re the kind of person we want to hear from. You’ll also get your hands on some of the latest gadgets.
An ability to research a subject, gain a strong understanding and clearly express the key points, while putting it in context of events that have gone before, is vital. You need to be able to demonstrate this to us.
Your physical location is unimportant. All you require is a computer and a broadband connection, and frankly if you haven’t got these, you’re not right for the role.
We’re open to writers who want to work full-time and to those who want to contribute on a part-time basis. Pay will be dependant on experience.
If this sound like something you’d like to be involved with, get in touch with us via email to writers(at)Digital-Lifestyles.info, giving us details of your background on a CV/Resume and pointers to examples of your writing. Let us know which of the areas that we cover is your strongest, whether your preference is full or part time, and if part time, the frequency of your contributions.
BBC Creative Archive: Fuel For A Creative Nation
18:45 for a 19:00 start
Since Greg Dyke first announced the BBC’s intention, in 2001, to give access to some of the BBC’s huge archive there has been fevered speculation about the implementation and boundaries of this exciting, world-leading idea.
Using a computer, the British public will be able to download programming and programming excerpts at no cost. The hope is that this material will then be used to fuel their own creative endeavours, which will in turn be shared – creating new content from old. It is a bold project, with many obstacles to conquer.
Cut through the hype – come and hear the facts from Paula LeDieu, joint director of the BBC Creative Archive project. Paula’s presentation will be followed by Q&A.
Speaker: Paula LeDieu, joint-director, BBC Creative Archive
Host: Simon Perry, publisher, Digital Lifestyles Free tickets are limited. Please apply to [email protected]
This event is organised by the RTS London Centre events committee. Venue – LWT South Bank, Upper Ground, SE1, London. [Map]
Nearest stations are Waterloo and Southwark.Fifth IEE International Conference On 3G Mobile Communication Technologies (3G 2004)
3G2004 is the premier technical forum for 3G mobile and related technologies, now into its fifth successful year. 3G 2004 will be held at the prestigious headquarters of the IEE on the banks of the River Thames. It will bring together researchers and technologists from manufacturers, service providers, operators, application developers, regulators and standards bodies to share the latest information and promote the development of 3G services, systems and networks. The conference will be a three-day event with a balanced structure consisting of parallel technical sessions and panel discussions by leading experts on 3G technologies. Several hundred delegates from around the world are expected to attend. http://conferences.iee.org/3G2004/
EEBC – East European Broadband Convention
EEBC is an international event for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) combining technical training, seminars, industry conference and exhibition of professional equipment and technologies. EEBC is aiming to create a knowledge and experience exchange center for all aspects of Broadband communications to reach the fastest possible implementation of the technology achievements in the area. As one of the most comprehensive conventions in CEE, EEBC is providing the efficient contacts between industry Associations and Unions in CEE, world’s leading suppliers, content providers, MSOs, state authorities and other industry organizations. International Exhibition Centre, Kiev, Ukraine. http://www.eebc.net.ua/main.php
Web 2.0 Conference
More than 50 thought-leaders and entrepreneurs are slated to present in an interactive format stressing audience participation. Recent additions include Andrew Anker of Six Apart, Brendan Eich of Mozilla, Steve Berkowitz of Ask Jeeves, Trip Hawkins of Digital Chocolate, Charlie Hoffman of Covad, Joe Kraus of Jot, and Michael Weiss of Streamcast. Hotel Nikko, San Francisco http://www.web2con.com/
Interactive TV Advertising & Enhanced TV
Day one – gives a complete overview of iTV advertising from the latest case studies in the market, and the creative and planning aspects of a campaign, to likely response rates, ROI, and the importance of the introduction of PVR’s. Day 2 – focuses on enhanced TV starting to produce new programme formats and linking closely with reality TV programs. This is emerging as a key revenue driving potential for broadcasters, and the integration with SMS and mobile technologies will be covered.CBI Conference center, London http://www.interactive-tv-advertising.com
Virgin Digital launches Yet Another Music Store (YAMS)
As another week starts, Yet Another Music Store (YAMS) gets launched. Virgin Digital today launch their music service in the US.
To raise their head above the other online music stores, Virgin have lined up a number of features that they hope will be differentiators. Their thinking – one million music tracks, an “Ask the Expert” services and “3D browsing”, but more on those later.
They are looking to play on their strengths, taking the approach that they are a music company aiming to sell music, not a technology company trying to sell music and by listening to their customer’s views of online services, they are creating the idea tool for music fans.
Individual tracks are priced at the now-to-be-expected 99c and the subscription service, priced $2 lower than rival service from Napster or Real at $7.99, will offer unlimited streamed access to over 100,000 albums, 60+ radio stations and protected downloads.
The differentiators – “Ask the Expert”, where customers will be able to pose questions about music and technology matters and get an answer without the usual sarcastic grimace from the floppy-haired assistant behind the shop counter. The futuristically named 3D browsing will provide suggestions of other tracks to tempt the music-hungry fan to part with more cash.
MusicNet will be providing the backend and using Windows Media to protect the downloads, while enabling burning to CD and download to over 50 portable music players.
The service will be promoted heavily in their high street stores and in their traditional manner, we imagine that Virgin will be marketing the hell out of this, with their adverts aimed at the ‘yout’, quite possibly featuring a young lad snogging a granny.
Report: Vodafone Group Analyst & Investor Day
The Vodafone Group is today hosting an analyst and investors day at their new offices in Newbury. Arun Sarin, Chief Executive of the Vodafone Group, is fronting the day and opened the session by explaining that Vodafone are living their message. The new office building is a wireless office that enabled total flexibility of working and, except for a small number of emergency fixed phone lines, every other phone line is a mobile phone.
Speaking about 3G, he reconfirmed that Vodafone is committed to releasing it to the public by Christmas this year. The details of how, what and when wouldn’t be discussed today, but would be released in November (which we have already covered). The only clues he gave were that it would be a “sensibly rollout over time” and “not a big bang”.
While commenting on the selection of ten 3G handsets that they announced last week, Arun reiterated that it was “very important to control the terminal” (handset) and underlined this importance of this, as in a poll, 37% of UK mobile consumers have no brand preference. They are working with a larger number of handset providers. With some of these, Vodafone are actually specifying features and the design of the handset. We were them assured that they will continue “pressing down harder on suppliers” to ensure better margins.
Bill Morrow, CEO Vodafone UK, took to the stage next and in a non-stop flow of facts that he didn’t appear to take a single breath for, we learnt among other things that 75% of UK customer pay for Vodafone Live!, the companies content play, with them spending an additional £4.70/month on the service above their basic subscriptions.
Commenting on their web-based content distribution, we learnt that three weeks ago, they launched a ringtone bundle on their site, giving 3 tones a month for £5 per month. With no marketing, the site has already attracted 30,000 subscriptions.
Vodafone were keen to get over that they are “getting ready to change gear” and this brought together under One Vodafone, or VodafOne. They claimed that they would be gaining a £2.5Bn efficiencies by uniting their service platform and IT platforms across all of their subsidiary companies worldwide for all providers. They are reducing their number of data centre from 33 to 27 and are moving to an all IP backbone.
During the Q&A, we felt the most interesting questions was concerning their attitude to UK spectrum trading, which Ofcom wants to start by 2007. Sadly, the answers that came back were completely unenlightening, giving the excuse that it was “too early to tell”, but that they had a very good relationship with the government bodies.
Nokia has lifted the lid on the world’s first NFC (Near Field Communication) equipped mobile phone by adding the special NFC clip-on shell to their 3220, a tri-band camera phone that is available in two versions (Euro/Asia & America). With its build-in NFC shell, the phone is the latest step in the development of innovative products for mobile communications.