Companies – Page 48 – Digital-Lifestyles

Apple Final Cut Server Launched

Apple has also announced the summer release of Final Cut Server, a cross-platform (Mac+PC) piece of software designed to serve the Final Cut’s 800,000+ users, alongside its announcement of Final Cut Studio 2.

Apple Final Cut Server Launched We think that given the Mac OS is based on a form of Unix, and Apples dislike for Microsoft, it’s surprising that Apple hasn’t released a Linux-based server.

The software automatically catalogues large collections of assets and lets editors collaborate and share videos with each other, supported by keyword searching of video clips, access controls and workflow templates.

This is an aggressive move by Apple into the area that has until now been dominated by highly specialised video editing packages.

Final Cut Server will cost $999 (£649) for a 10-user license or $1999 (£1,299) for one server and unlimited concurrent users.

It is expected to be released in Summer 2007.

Apple Final Cut Server

Apple Final Cut Studio 2 Announced

Apple has released a significant upgrade to its Final Cut Studio package, a high-end bundle of video editing applications for pros and rich enthusiasts alike and Final Cut Server.

Apple Final Cut Studio 2 Announced The Final Cut Studio 2 package includes Final Cut Pro 6, Motion 3, Soundtrack Pro 2, Compressor 3, DVD Studio Pro 4.2 and a new app called Color, described as a, “professional colour grading and finishing application.”

Also new is ProRes 422, a new full raster, 10-bit 4:2:2 post production format that produces stunning HD quality at “SD file sizes,” with Apple claiming that industry heavyweights like Panasonic, Sony and RED are also feeling the love for the format.

Motion 3 now offers a 3D environment, paint and new drag-and-drop camera behaviours, vector based paint tools, and a match moving tool for mapping images or effect to the path of any other object.

Apple Final Cut Studio 2 Announced The Soundtrack Pro 2 audio editor adds tools for multitrack editing and surround mixing with a new Conform tool which makes it easier to precisely align effects and dialogue with footage.

Apple’s encoding tool, Compressor 3 offers a more streamlined interface with a simplified workflow, and extends support for codecs such as MPEG-2 and H.264 with presets for television, Web, iPod, Apple TV, DVD and mobile phone delivery.

Apple Final Cut Studio 2 Announced Finishing off the package is DVD Studio Pro 4.2 which takes care of SD and HD DVD authoring.

In line with its professional status, Final Cut Studio costs a ruddy packet, retailing for a whistle-inducing £849 (current version users can upgrade for £329, otherwise it’s £449 for all other Final Cut Studio users).

Apple Final Cut Studio 2

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK Pt 3/3

With all of these moves towards digital delivery in entertainment, we thought it would be worthwhile understanding one of the key items in this process – how to get the digital content to UK households.

Steve Kennedy is an acknowledged expert in the telecoms and data networks field, so it was an obvious choice for us to ask him to write an overview of how other IP operators can compete with BT – by creating their own data network. To do this, they need to put their own equipment into the telephone exchanges that connect to peoples houses. That process is Local Loop Unbundling (LLU).

Over three parts, we’ll give you a full background in LLU in the UK.

The two previous pieces gave an overview of LLU and which companies are players in the UK; and LLU Penetration in the UK and the (un)Economics of it.

OpenLLU
The operators should have joined forces and built a single LLU infrastructure between them and then competed on service. This would have meant a second national network to compete with BT’s 21CN allowing operators to compete with BT on their own terms.

Wales First For BT's 21CN Next-Gen Network Rollout Also a single network would have meant it could go to many more of the 5,600 DLEs than the 1,200 everyone’s competing for at the moment.

Unfortunately competition is so fierce between the telecoms operators it will never happen – much to their joint detriment.

Broadband Competition
BT is still the biggest player by far and they’ll try and increase market share when they launch their 21CN. Many operators are underestimating the effect of BT’s 21CN and how quickly BT can launch it.

When they do launch, they are trying to get back to a situation whereby everyone else once again becomes a BT reseller.

Virgin Media have around 4m customers, but they have little money for expansion and are likely to use LLU in future to provide broadband services. They’re stance is even worse now Sky have pulled their basic channels, which is likely to cause customers to migrate to Sky and if enough go, then Virgin Media may be in a sticky situation (the city won’t look kindly on a reduced customer base).

Wireless is the next big hope
Unfortunately there’s very little spectrum available for wireless broadband in the UK, though 2.5GHz is going to be made available for auction later this year, but it wont be cheap. It was reserved for 3G use, so there may be bids from 3G operators but it’s also bang in the middle of the frequencies WiMAX can use (BT have already said they’re interested in bidding for it).

Other companies who do have spectrum are: –

* PCCW (UK Broadband) who have a national 3.4GHz license.

* Pipex Wireless who have a national 3.6/4.2 GHz license.

It’s not clear whether the recent Pipex sale announcement covers the wireless side or not.

Future
Content will be key, access will just be a delivery channel for content and broadband will just be a commodity item (making it even more uneconomic to roll-out).

There’s going to be even more consolidation in the industry and BT will win either way (more LLU customers mean BT get more customers, if it fails, BT Wholesale get more customers).

BT will also dominate when they roll-out their 21CN, they want to be the Sky of fixed networks i.e. use them to deliver the content and they take a big chunk for the customer charge for doing so).

The future’s bright – but only for BT.

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK Pt 2

Over three days we’ll give you a full background in LLU in the UK.

Yesterdays piece gave an overview of LLU and which companies are players in the UK.

LLU Penetration
All the large operators are going into around 1,000 DLEs (those being the most densely populated), since there are only around 1,200 of them, all the operators are targeting the same DLEs and there’s a lot of overlap.

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK Pt 2 Since the operators all want to get into the same exchanges, there’s overcrowding and BT have to install new hostel space (the space where operators can put their own equipment into) which causes delays. It can take more than 6 months from when an operator puts an order in to being granted access to an exchange.

LLU (un)Economics
When LLU was announced it was prohibitively expensive, mainly due to Ofcom (or Oftel as it was then) allowing BT to set the pricing models.

Over time the economics have become fairer to operators, with BT being forced to set-up BT Openreach which looks after the physical infrastructure. If they hadn’t formed Openreach, it’s likely Ofcom would have pushed for a split of BT.

Ofcom then made BT not reduce wholesale pricing for their broadband services to give LLU operators a chance to gain a foothold. BT would have to maintain their pricing until April 2007 or 1.5m unbundled lines, whichever came first.

In Dec 2006 there were 1,000,000 unbundled lines and last week Ofcom announced that 1,700,000 unbundled lines had been reached (there was no distinction between Option 2 and 4). BT Wholesale has over 9m broadband customers.

Also Carphone Warehouse (CPW) released their interim results showing they had 2.31m broadband customers, 700,000 utilising LLU.

So out of the 1.7m unbundled lines, CPW have .7m which means there’s 1m split between the rest (mainly the big players, Wanadoo, C&W, Easynet Pipex and Tiscali).

As a rough model that’s 1.7m lines, spread over 1,000 DLEs which makes 1,700 lines unbundled per DLE. There’s 6 big players which means around 280 customers per operator per exchange.

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK Pt 2 Unfortunately the economics of LLU only work if there’s a lot of customers per exchange i.e. massive scale.

Now that the milestone of 1.5m unbundled lines has been reached, BT Wholesale will be allowed to reduce their pricing (which they’ve said they want to do) which will make the economics even worse.

To get the scale, further consolidation will occur which means fewer LLU operators in the future (Pipex has already put itself up for sale with CPW rumoured to be the front-runner for buying them). They need to do this in order to get the customer penetration per exchange.

The next and final section will cover the possibility of competition to BT and what could happen in the future

Images are courtesy of wb-internet and the BBC, respectively.

Joost Invitations Up For Grabs

We’re fans of Joost, the full-screen, P2P TV service still in beta.

Joost Invitations Up For Grabs You’ll know from our Joost coverage that we think it’s definitely one to watch and to that end we want to share the love a little.

We’ve got three invitation available to you, our valued readers and we’re only asking for two things in return.

1 – When you’re posting your interest in the comments below, please complete the following – I’d love the Joost Invite, because …

2 – After you’ve been using Joost for two weeks, write a review for us, giving us your impressions of the service and what you think the impact of it will be.

Simple eh?

Full Version of Wii Internet Channel Now Available

To celebrate the release of the Wii Internet Channel
Digital-Lifestyles now is formatted specifically for
the Nintendo Wii. To see it, just look us up on your Wii.

Since the launch of the Wii there’s been a beta version of the Opera Web browser available for the surprise success active console.

That all changes today when the full version becomes available for download through the Wii Shop Channel – the area on the console where additional applications and services are accessed.

Nintendo are really pushing the Family Web browsing feature of the new setup – wisely in our view. Multiple controllers can be used during a Browsing session, letting many members of the family point out areas of interest

The release version adds features such being able to set the resolution of the browsing to the size of your monitor; having no margins when browsing; two types of zooming when browsing (continual zooming is now included); fonts now remain anti-aliased no matter how deep the zoom; searching Google and Yahoo is offered by default; scrolling using the up-down-left-right control pad. The comprehensive list of these and their description are available at the bottom of this article.

Full Version of Wii Internet Channel Now Available

What’s it like to use?
Travelling to and through the Internet Channel is remarkably easy on the Wii. Given its built in Wi-Fi connectivity and simple menuing, getting it running is simple.

This is added to by navigating the Web pages being a doddle using the position-sensing pointer device known as the Wii-mote. In fact, we found it makes you wish you always had something that simple available when you have to navigate your computer from a sofa.

If you’ve not used the Wii (we recommend that you do, if you haven’t), take a look at the video that Opera has created to show the experience

[QUICKTIME http://www.opera.com/products/devices/nintendo/wii/video/wii-demo.mov 320 240]

Strangely the download is only free until 30 June this year, but once downloaded will remain free for “the lifetime of the system.”

Checkout the feature at the Opera site

New Internet Channel features

Zoom – The Internet Channel features two types of zoom: manual and automatic. The automatic zoom was first introduced in the trial version and allows users to select a point with the remote and zoom into that point at an auto-detected level. Manual zoom now gives the user the option to zoom the entire page at self-determined intervals. Nintendo also introduces the “outline font” feature which prevents fonts from appearing blurred no matter the zoom level in use.
Search – A search button has been added to the start page and to the browser toolbar. Choose between Yahoo! Search and Google as preselected search engines. Your selection can be changed at any time, or a different search engine can be used by typing the address of the search engine you wish to use.

Scroll – To help users understand their scrolling motions, a new scrolling display guide has been added to the Internet Channel that indicates the direction and speed of the scroll. In addition to scrolling by pressing the B Button, users can also scroll by pressing the +Control Pad, for four-directional scrolling. This allows you to scroll the screen without having to point the remote at the TV.
Ease of use – The Internet Channel now offers more user feedback when surfing. Users will encounter new sounds, animations and loading cursor graphics, creating a more complete browsing experience.
Multiple cursors – The Internet Channel now displays the cursors of multiple Wii remotes. The primary Wii Remote can control actions on the screen, while the other Wii Remotes can point out interesting content.
Hide the toolbar – Users are now given the option to display or hide the toolbar in the settings menu. Also, there are new advanced key presses for each toolbar function allowing users to surf with the toolbar off.
.B Button + Left Arrow = Search
.B Button + Right Arrow = Enter web address
.B Button + Up Arrow = Reload
.B Button + Down Arrow = Favorites
.B Button + (+) key = Page forward
.B Button + (-) key = Page backward
Response time – The Internet Channel now sports improved performance and response times upon start up, when loading the favourites menu and in the toolbar.
Parental Controls
Parents who want to control access to the Internet Channel should refer to the Parental Controls options available in the Wii System Settings. To access these settings, return to the Wii Menu and select the Wii icon.

24/24 Video By Orange France Gets Paramount Deal

Orange France have picked up a deal with the US studio Paramount Pictures, to distribute their content in France.

24/24 Video By Orange France Gets Paramount Deal It’s not just old content that will be available, but new productions from Paramount including DreamWorks titles, which will be among the latest films available.

Orange France customers with a broadband digital television package or a High-Speed Internet package will be able to enjoy a Video-On-Demand programming schedule including the studio’s latest releases, such as Mission Impossible III, Over the Hedge and World Trade Center, among others.

There’s over 2,500 films, in French or original language versions with subtitles, available on the 24/24 Video service currently, which costs from 3 Euros to rent for 24 hours. Usual features such as unlimited viewing, pause functions and fast forward and rewind are available.

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK

Over the next three days we’ll give you a full background in LLU in the UK.

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK What is Local Loop Unbundling (LLU)?
LLU is the ability to put equipment into BT exchanges (know as DLEs – Digital Local Exchange) and take over the copper line into the premises.

There are two forms known as Option 2 (metallic path facility as BT call it) and Option 4 (shared metallic path facility).

Option 4 characteristics: –

Operator takes over the line and only offers broadband services (of course they can offer services on top of the basic connectivity).
BT retain control of voice services.
BT send out the “Blue Bill”, this includes line rental and voice traffic which means they can still market their services to the customer.

Option 2 characteristics: –

Operators takes over the line completely.
No BT blue bill.

Once the operator has put the equipment into the DLE, then they have to connect it back to their own network. BT can provide this using BES (Backhaul Extension Services) or the operator can use their own connectivity solution. Most operators don’t have the coverage to provide their own connectivity solutions.

DLEs
BT have around 5,600 DLEs across the UK (i.e. telephone exchanges) and these have customers connected to them. Around 1,200 are in densely populated areas, another 800 or so with medium populations and the rest in rural areas.

Backgrounder on Local Loop Unbundling in the UK Any operator wanting to offer broadband (and possibly voice) has to put their equipment in these DLEs. However there is a cost to unbundling an exchange (around 100,000 including backhaul) which means operators are only targeting the most densely populated ones.

LLU Operators
Operators who have unbundled exchanges are: –

Any operator with a “-” after has been acquired by another player.

* AOL (UK) Ltd – CPW
* Be Unlimited – O2
* Bulldog Communications Ltd – Users to Pipex, LLU C&W
* Cable and Wireless Ltd
* Computacenter PLC
* Easynet – Sky
* Eaton Power Solutions
* eXstream Networks Ltd
* Groestar Ltd
* Kingston Communications (Hull) Plc
* Lancaster University
* Leanwood Communications Limited
* Lumison
* Nestor Electronics Ltd
* Opal Telecom (CPW)
* Pipemedia Ltd
* Pipex Internet Ltd – who knows, up for sale
* Tiscali
* T-Mobile
* UKBB
* Unisys Ltd
* Updata Infrastructure UK Ltd
* Videonetworks Ltd – Tiscali
* Wanadoo
* WB-Internet Ltd
* Zen Internet Limited

Some of the smaller players are conducting trials and some are just offering private services (like Updata who offer connectivity solutions to councils etc).

Tomorrow, the penetration of LLU in the UK and the economics of it.

Skype Call Transfer Feature Shows On Macs First!

Skype for Mac 2.6 beta version has hit the downloads.

Skype Call Transfer Feature Shows On Macs First! While they’ve been tightening out various bits and pieces, they’ve launched an important new feature, Call Transfer on the Mac first, going against the other Skype releases that have dragged behind the PC.

In their words, “You can now transfer ongoing calls effortlessly to other friends and family on your Skype contact list.”

This is a strategic advance for Skype, opening the door for businesses to start using Skype as a central point of contact, then letting the receptionist pass the call over to the intended call destination. Perhaps they thought that business users were far less likely to be using Macintosh, hence launching it on there first.

They also claim to have improved the call quality as well as the other bits added to the latest beta below

Join public chats
Chat typing indicator – see when others are writing a message
Call any Skype Prime premium services provider and pay with Skype credit
Automatic Updates – get new features and updates without having to go to Skype’s website to download
DTMF tones for automatic answering services available also during Skype-to-Skype calls

While they’re working on the bigger things, they’ve also been working on the small things like handling birthday reminders or other notifications that are important for Mac users too.

Download Skype for Mac

Guinness World Records Joost Deal Live

Guinness World Records TV have been in touch to let us know that they’ve just completed a deal with Joost.

Guinness World Record Joost Deal Live We weren’t expecting to be so Joost-tastic today, but when the news arrives, you’ve got to tell it.

Initially 35 hours will be made available comprising of their UK show, Ultimate Guinness World Records. It’s available to Joost viewers globally.

They haven’t hung around either in getting the content out. Checking the latest incarnation of Joost, we see that the content is up there already.

Additional content will be added on a monthly basis, with Guinness World Record (GWR) making the point that they’ll be “controlling its programming line-up on the platform.”

Guinness World Record Joost Deal Live They’ve got 400 hours of it, so there’s plenty more to come.

Both sides are in back-slapping mode with Rob Molloy, Director of Television at Guinness World Records keen to keep the door open to deliver their content to other platforms by saying “We are thrilled to be partnering with a company as exciting as Joost, once again this shows how easily Guinness World Records content can be adapted to fit into so many areas of new media and for such varied audiences.”

Guinness World Record Joost Deal Live Yvette Alberdingkthijm, EVP of content strategy and acquisition Joost took the pun-ing route of “We are delighted to have Guinness World Records on board and look forward to offering our viewers record breaking content.”

It’s interesting to realise that GWR TV is part of the HIT Entertainment who own the hugely popular children’s content Bob the Builder, Barney and Thomas the Tank Engine.

We wonder if this GWR deal is a tester for HIT, opening the doors for a much bigger deal to be coming out.

Guinness World Records TV