Companies – Page 56 – Digital-Lifestyles

Flick Off AGAIN: Flickr-ites Still Don’t Want Yahoo! Accounts

That’s the response that Yahoo! (the owners of popular Web 2.0 photo sharing site Flickr) were greeted with when they announced that they would be forcing a merging of Flickr accounts with Yahoo! accounts.

Users who joined Flickr before its acquisition in March 2005 are known as ‘old skool’ users, and they use the original Flickr accounts to login, rather than the Yahoo! accounts used for those who joined after the acquisition. Old skool status is heavily valued in the community, and successive Yahoo! attempts to force migration from ‘old school’ accounts to Yahoo! accounts has attracted much controversy.

The migration of accounts is not a technical issue; Old skool members will keep their buddy name and are not forced to use any other Yahoo! services. Given that this is the case, it perhaps seems illogical that there is such a backlash. One old skool user’s view is in a post by Thomas Hawk, a keen Flickr user (and also CEO of a rival service).

Flick Off: We don't want Yahoo! accounts

Raj Parmer writes “I do not like the way Yahoo impose in this manner. I am an old skool member (which I was in a way quite proud of) but when it becomes mandatory to sign up to Yahoo, I will have to delete all my pics and close my account down and join with one of the other similar services on the net.”

The problem seems to be two fold. Firstly, Flickr users simply don’t want to be forced to give up their ‘old skool’ account; they are proud to have been part of one of the archetypal Web 2.0 products before it hit the mainstream, and do not want to see their status lost.

Secondly, there appears to be a wider problem within the Flickr community, namely concern about the direction in which Yahoo! might change the nature of Flickr. Yahoo! recently announced that it would be making use of Flickr images in its new Brand Universe program, a move which has concerned some users, and other attempts to integrate Flickr further into Yahoo! products are likely to be met with concern.

Unlike the last time Yahoo! attempted to merge old skool accounts with Yahoo! accounts (when they bowed to pressure and relented), it appears that this time they are determined. There may be a small number of old skool users who delete their photos, but there will be no major exodus.

Huw Leslie is editor of UK-based Web 2.0 and software blog Gizbuzz, and the co-founder of technology blog network Oratos Media. His personal blog is For Crying Out Loud!

At The w880 Launch – Brief Notes

At The w880 Launch - Brief Notes Brief notes from the launch of the W880.

First in a new line for them – a slim Walkman phone – 9.4mm thin/thick – slimmer than a CD case.

Comes complete with 1Gb memory stick (M2) which can hold 900 full length tracks, with the equivalent to 90 cds. It features the latest version on Walkman player 2.0 (the 850 has it already). They’ve tried to simplify the navigation, which is especially important with 900 tracks and 18 hours of music playback.

Software features: TrackID disc2phone and playnow; 2mpx camera; 3G with video calling too.

It’s already in production – Shipping in February 2007 (* We suspect a dig at Apple).

There’s a W88c with it just for China as there’s no 3G China

It was designed in the Tokyo design studio with the software being done in Sweden.

At The w880 Launch - Brief Notes

Viacom Gets Tough With YouTube

Viacom Gets Tough With YouTube Media giants Viacom International have finally lost patience with YouTube and demanded that they remove more than 100,000 of their video clips that have been posted up without permission.

The company – whose holdings include Paramount Pictures, MTV Networks, DreamWorks and Comedy Central – have calculated that YouTube has served up over 1.2 billion streams of its copyrighted video content.

As a result, Viacom have got out their big pointy DMCA stick and accused Google-owned YouTube of knowingly profiting from material stolen from them, as well as repeatedly breaking promises to filter out copyrighted works.

Viacom Gets Tough With YouTube In a statement, a clearly miffed Viacom said: “Virtually every other distributor has acknowledged the fair value of entertainment content and has taken deliberate steps to concluding agreements with content providers.”

“YouTube and Google retain all of the revenue generated from this practice, without extending fair compensation to the people who have expended all of the effort and cost to create it.”

Google have said that they’ll get the material down tout de suite, although not without adding a valedictory grumble, commenting, “It is unfortunate that Viacom will no longer be able to benefit from YouTube’s passionate audience which has helped to promote many of Viacom’s shows.”

Viacom Gets Tough With YouTube Removing Viacom’s rich portfolio of popular clips may certainly result in loss of revenue for YouTube, but some media analysts reckon it could be a lose-lose situation all round, as both parties risk naffing off consumers.

Viacom has said that although it’s still down with the idea of distributing clips online via YouTube, it’ll only do so via, “a fair and authorised distribution model.”

Apple Inc and Apple Corps, Now In Love

Apple Inc and Apple Corps, Now In Love Love has broken out between the two Apples – computers and music.

Appropriate with Valentines Day arriving soon – and that it’s the name of the relatively recent Beatle’s album.

We’ve spoken to Apple Corps (music) insiders and learnt that there was genuine shock at them losing the last round of the UK trademark dispute with Apple Inc. (Computers as was – they’ve now dropped the computers part of the name).

Today’s announcement replaces the 1991 agreement between the two and ends up with Apple Inc owning all of the trademarks related to “Apple” with them licensing back certain trademarks to Apple Corps, “for their continued use.”

Apple Inc and Apple Corps, Now In Love The terms of settlement are confidential.

With this trademark dispute out of the way, the tables are now clear for a potential deal between the two Apple’s for selling the Beatles music online through iTunes. Some have spoken about the 14 February being the date of the announcement, fitting in with the Love theme again.

Our Apple Corps insider is keeping his cards close to his chest on this one. But if we hear … you’ll be the first to know.

Apple Tells Vista Upgraders To Wait

Apple Tells Vista Upgraders To Wait Apple has warned Windows-based iTunes users to hold back from upgrading to Microsoft Vista, because the software may not work properly with their iPods.

Citing several issues – including problems with synchronising data and playing purchased files – Apple says that they should have an updated version of iTunes for Vista “in the next few weeks”.

Compatibility issues and suggested workarounds for those crazy folks who dived headlong into an early install of Vista are listed in a support document on Apple’s site.

Apple Tells Vista Upgraders To Wait The problems included poor animation speeds, an inability to play back music and video purchased from the iTunes store and data in media, contacts and calendars not synchronising.

More worryingly, the notice posted on Apple’s web site warned that iPods may be corrupted when they are unplugged from a Vista system using the ‘Safely Remove Hardware’ feature in the Windows taskbar.

In response, Adam Anderson, a spokesman for Microsoft’s Windows division, said they didn’t think that iTunes users should stop using their shiny new copy of Vista.

He added that Microsoft has employed a team of techies to work with Apple to iron out the problems, adding that they will keep at it “until they have the program running to the quality level they’re shooting for.” [insert your own Microsoft joke here].

Apple support

Sony Ericsson W51S Mobile Phone

Sony Ericsson W51S Mobile Phone Sony Ericsson in Japan is launching the snazzy new W51S phone which comes in a striking clamshell package.

The no-fuss, flip out design is pleasantly understated, featuring a textured matt black front with just three icons for notifying the user of an incoming email, call or alarm/reminder.

Sony Ericsson W51S Mobile Phone The Organic Light Emitting Device (OLED) icons look rather dandy to our weary eyes, although work-shirkers probably won’t like not being able to see who’s actually calling before flipping open the phone and getting an irate boss on the line.

Once opened, the phone sports a 2.7-inch display with a 16:9 widescreen which (apparently) employs RealityMAX technology to “enhance picture quality.”

Also bundled on board the phone is a 2-megapixel camera backed up by a fairly healthy 120MB of internal memory and IrDA. As ever, Sony are persisting with their love of all things Memory Stuck, burdening the W51S with a Pro Duo expansion slot.

Sony Ericsson W51S Mobile Phone The W51S measures up at 105 × 48 × 19.3 mm, with talk time quoted at 210 minutes, with a standby time of 270 hours. For the security conscious, there’s also a feature letting users remotely lock and delete data on the handset over the web (Palm Treo users have been able to do this for years via excellent software like Warden)

The phone will be available in black, silver or pink, but there’s been ne’er a whisper from the Sony head honchos about pricing, release dates or even if this funky number will be getting it into the greasy paws of Britlanders.

[ From MobileWhack ]

Sony W880i Ai: Tuesday Euro Launch?

Sony W880i Ai: Euro Tuesday Launch? Sony Ericsson have let it be known via press invites that there’s a number of new handsets being released in Europe next Tuesday.

What they are and where it’s going on is currently being held close to the chest, but there’s rumours going around that one of them might be the W880i Ai.

There’s some shots purporting to be it floating around on a Swedish site called Mobil.

If the shots are to be believed, it looks mighty svelte, appearing only just bigger than a Bic lighter and as thin as you like.

It’s understood that it feels really solid, with a covering of metal conveying a feeling of quality.

We think it looks pretty hot, but the only thing that holds us back from near-total lust is the size and make up of the numeric keys, that have more than a passing similarity to a 1970’s calculator. Without having our hands on it, it’s unclear how friendly it will be to texting at high speed.

Specs are unclear, but it looks like two cameras, one facing forward, the other, a 2mpx facing back. Walkman branding makes it pretty clear it has music-ness included.

It looks like it’s 3G, which makes it all the more remarkable that it’s so tiny.

We’re really interested in its almost-neon-type interface.

Last, but not least, it looks like it’s heading to the US, as it’s got FCC approval.

Tune in next Tuesday for more details following the press launch, until then have a look at Mobil for more shots of it – and get a handkerchief to catch the drool.

The official I Want My W880 site.

Well done to those at Mobil for the photo scoop and Thanks to Hugo for the pointer.

220,000 PS3’s At UK Launch

Sony Computer Entertainment UK’s managing director, Ray Maguire, has put a figure on the number of PlayStation 3 machines (PS3) that will be available at its UK launch, on 23 March.

220,000 PS3's At UK Launch Towards the end of an interview with SPOnG (the Super Players On-line Gamebase), he revealed his estimation to be 220,000 units, with the hope of getting a few more units if, “he goes down on bended knee.”

His rough maths to get to this figure is based on one million units being delivered to Europe as a whole for launch, and the UK having a 22% slice of that, making it the single largest market in Europe.

Maguire was keen to point out that it will be the largest launch the games industry has had to date, “Probably over four times PlayStation One, and close to double the amount of PS2s. So, it’s going to be a logistical nightmare – that’s a lot of trucks to get around.”

PS3 fanboys will also be excited to hear that, “Product is already on its way, on ships, at the moment, and there is more being generated every single day.”

The other point of interest will be the confirmation that the UK price for the 60Gb will be £425, despite the wails from prospective UK owners. There will be no lesser model (20Gb) sold in the UK, as there are in other places around the world.

The success of the PS3 is not a done deal however. The xBox 360 has been selling well for over a year and the Nintendo Wii has done pretty well too. Our observations at the GameOn exhibition recently saw much of the public interest directed towards the Wii rather than the PS3.

Sky Anytime on TV Preview: Sky VOD

When is a 300Gb hard disc not a 300Gb hard disc? When it’s in a Sky box. The fruit of Sky’s much discussed drive partitioning was revealed today, with the announcement of a March launch for Sky Anytime on TV.

Sky Anytime on TV is a push video service that will populate users’ Sky HD (and some Sky+) PVRs with shows from the Sky network, plus Artsworld, National Geographic, Disney and the Biography and History channels. In a one-to-one briefing today, we got to sample the Anytime on TV service, not to be confused with Sky Anytime on PC or the yet to surface Sky Anytime on Mobile. For brevity, we’re going to call Sky Anytime on TV, SAoTV.

SAoTV consists of around 20 to 25 programmes, ranging from half-hour comedies to full length movies, chosen to represent the best of the weeks programming. In the wee hours of every night, a number of assets (between 1 to 6 hours of TV) will be pushed to the Sky box. At launch, every subscriber will receive identical content, although personalisation of SAoTV is ‘on the road map’, according to a spokesman.

Where it’s available, HD subscribers will receive their SAoTV content in High Definition and (in the first phase at least) all content is free from adverts, with the exception of an intro promo hat can be fast-forwarded through, like any Sky recording.

The SAoTV service enjoys its own instant access button – the red key – whose previous occupant (HD Channels) now receives its own menu entry. It’s presented in a similar way to the Planner screen, with the addition of a live video preview window showing a trailer of the highlighted show and some promotional text.

As new shows arrive nightly, older programmes are bumped down the SAoTV listings. Each programme has a clear expiration date, doing a Cinderella-style pumpkin vanishing act at midnight, seven days after its first appearance. If you want to keep a show permanently, you simply hit the Record button any time during that week to add it to your Planner.

The SAoTV service will initially be free and contain only programmes that have been previously broadcast, although Sky hasn’t ruled out charging for content or including exclusive previews in the future.

Sky Anytime on TV will be available to all HD subscribers, as well as owners of the most recent Sky+ boxes (those with partitioned hard drives): currently around 1 million households. Anyone who bought a Sky+ box within the last year should be able to use the service, although Sky will be writing to each subscriber to alert them.

Sky is also rolling out the Anytime brand to cover its Sky by broadband and Sky by mobile services.

Our take? The Sky Anytime on TV services is largely a win-win situation. Sky gets to promote high profile, expensive acquisitions like Lost, 24 and blockbuster movies – and we get to watch them free from adverts and without having to remember to set the timer (or rely on the occasionally erratic Series Link). Of course, it would be nice to see a wider range of channels on board (negotiations are on-going, but don’t expect to see the terrestrial broadcasters any time soon).

However, there will always be the argument that grown-up TV viewers should be free to populate their own hard drive as they see fit – which makes the timing of Sky Anytime on TV all the smarter. HD and Sky+ subscribers have had nearly a year to get to accustomed to their truncated storage space, making the Anytime service seem like less of an intrusion and more of a bonus.

High-k Metal Gates To Give Major Chip Advance

High-k Metal Gates To Give Major Chip Advance Both IBM and Intel have announced what they are calling major jumps forward in the design of microchips.

They both centre on building transistors using so-called high-k metal gates, which after almost seven years of industry research in the area, it’s claimed will lead to increases in the speed and power of chips for another decade.

The high-k metal gates reduce current leakage and will be used to replace the polysilicon gate electrode currently in use. It does this because the new material holds its charge longer.

It is understood that Intel is further ahead in the process, with the release of computers based on the next chip types by the end of the year. A most fortunate dovetail with Vista being released, which requires a lot of horsepower to run at usable speeds.

Intel said its new family of chips, code-named Penryn, will have 410 million transistors, using the new materials combined with the 45-nanometer technology manufacturing process. This compares with about 280 million in current chips. Intel also said electrical leakage will be reduced by about 30 percent.

Batting off the Intel claims of it being in products this year, Bernie Meyerson, chief technologist for IBM Systems and Technology Group retorted, “It’s almost meaningless to say I’m going to ship a chip first. Yes, you can do that. It doesn’t mean that you are actually going to put it into a server; there is a ton of work to get to that.”

IBM said they will be putting it “out the door in a product in roughly in the 2008 time frame.”

Intel are trotting out Moore’s law again (the number of transistors on an IC doubles every two years), claiming that these advantages will enable it to be maintained. Many people view this as somewhat of a marketing message by Intel, rather than a law.

High-k Metal Gates To Give Major Chip Advance

It’s understood that the approach of IBM and Intel differ. Intel are mounting the components on top of the silicon, where IBM are mounting theirs inside the silicon. IBM’s approach potentially gives them the advantage of being able to build many levels on top of each other.

What the heck is a High-K material?
Intel’s view of it is that “High-k” stands for high dielectric constant, a measure of how much charge a material can hold. Example of High-k materials are hafnium dioxide (HfO2), zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) and titanium dioxide (TiO2).