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BBC iMP Review – A Naughty Little iMP
Despite so much current talk from the UK Telco’s and Sky on the magic that will provide an on demand broadcast TV proposition in the UK, tangible evidence of a working model beyond KiT in Hull and Homechoice is pretty sparse.
The one organisation that is taking it seriously and putting some of their money behind it (sorry, UK TV license payers money) is the dear old BBC.
Digital-Lifestytles has been keeping a close watch on iMP through each stage of its development from its initial announcement by Ashley Highfield at the Digital-Lifestyles theme day at IBC in 2003, through our uncovering that all of its content would be DRM protected back in Feb 2004, to the announcement of the trial, back in May this year.
I’ve been lucky enough to be one of the trialists for the iMP (that’s integrated media player not interactive as so many insist on calling it) and I can tell you it’s not at all bad. Viewing TV on a PC screen is not ideal and that has probably influenced the programmes I’ve chosen – largely factual and quiz. The BBC counters that, a ‘box’, is under development to port the output to your domestic telly and reminds us that it’s already possible to view the content on a selection of mobile devices.
Despite the somewhat limited selection of programmes, which I’m told is largely down to copyright issues, it seems a positive move for a public sector broadcaster actually providing a service and solving the ‘problem’ of letting you see a programme you forgot to record or you later discover is worth viewing.
The operation, as you’d expect from a Microsoft product is ‘workperson-like’ ,if rather un-exciting, but to all intents and purposes, to those with an always-on connection, downloading the content is free. The technology that allows programmes to be downloaded in faster than real time on a 2mb connection is a completely legal (I’m told) peer to peer application – everyone who is running the trial software, shares their content with other on the trial, without their having to do anything.
The built-in DRM expires the programmes after seven days which, when compared to the analogue world, I haven’t noticed happening on my VHS tapes. It’s been necessary to quell the agonies protested by the copyright owners.
The BBC is thinking beyond the present Windows-only solution. Speaking recently in London the BBC’s Project Director for iMP Ben Lavender reinforced the BBC philosophy of platform agnosticism and spoke of the desire to work on Apple and Linux solutions when DRM issues can be satisfactorily dealt with.
For commercial broadcasters there’s an over-riding issue to deal with, should they choose to get involved. How would they deal with the ease which you can move through spot advertising, remains to be seen but that’s an issue they’re’ going to have to face soon one way or another.
My verdict – I give it a thumbs up as long as a large enough library of content can be made available. For drama and the like, I’d want an easy method of outputting to the living room TV.
4 November, 2005
PSP Media Manager Launched By Sony
Sony have launched the PSP Media Manager for the PlayStation Portable, an iTunes-like application designed to make it easy to shunt music, movies, photos and other content off a PC and onto PSPs and synchronise PC content with the PSP.
Although the PlayStation Portable was promoted as an all-in-one lifestyle gadget as well as a gaming system, getting content onto the thing wasn’t an easy task, with no USB cable or conversion software being supplied – although these were easily added by those inclined.
The PSP Media Manager aims to fix that, coming with the necessary USB to PSP cable and software supporting a load of multimedia formats including .mp4, .avi, .mpg, .mov, and .wmv for video files, and .mp3, .wav, and .wma for audio.
Supported image formats include .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .png, and .tif, with a bundled utility to backing up game saves to the PC.
Like iTunes, PSP Media Manager can copy over music tracks via drag and drop from a PC or download from Sony’s Connect online music store.
Other Apple-like functionality includes the ability to search and subscribe to RSS feeds formatted for viewing on the PSP, including podcasts, video blogs, and magazines.
The boxed version containing the USB lead and five free song downloads will be available form Sony’s Connect music from November 22 for $29.95 (~£17, ~e24), with the downloadable version already available (clearly without the USB lead – matter transfer via the Internet is being worked on) from the official Sony Media Software site for $19.95 (~£11, ~e16.5).
With the new software adding full iTunes-like music/video integration to the already-formidable feature list of the PlayStation Portable, we can hear the sound of Sony’s gauntlet slapping down outside Apple’s HQ.
Of course it may not be a long considered move, more a panic move from Sony, after having seen iTunes 6 and the ‘iPod with video’.
There’s two things that will decide – you the consumer and time.
PSP Media Manager
3 November, 2005
Guba; Guidepoint; Mobile Vending: Teenage Tech Roundup
I like this … Guba
In these times, there are many options available to us when we choose how we want to consume media. Sometimes, however, it’s the oldest choices that are the best: A company called Guba has developed a superb Usenet interface, with which it is possible to download music videos, MP3s as well as TV shows. The ease of use of this terrific application blew me straight out of the water, and I immediately signed up to it. Great service, just what I had been looking for and well worth my $15 (£8.50 or there abouts).
Now where did I park…
Guidepoint, a company that make navigation and location soft- and hardware, have released a new product, that allows car owners to track their four-wheeled pride and joy using their mobile phone. Although this technology is cool, you might be wondering what appeal it may have to someone of my age, who, at least in the UK, isn’t legally allowed to drive yet.
Well I’ll tell you why this got me a teensy bit excited: I’m a teenager. Teenagers are forgetful, and as such I am forever losing things. Imagine if I could attach small locator tags to items I lose often, and then find these tags using my mobile phone. This sort of technology would stop me losing anything, ever, and would save me countless hours of looking for my keys when they fall down the back of my desk again.
Here’s another examples. Can’t find my graphics folder for school? No problem, just whip out my mobile phone, and I would get a map with a little cross-hair on, telling me exactly where it’s located. If it was closer than, say, 10 metres, I would instead get a small arrow with a distance reading next to it, which would guide me towards the item that I had lost.
I’m not sure how such a technology would work, but a mixture of a flavour of 802.x and bluetooth would be cool, with maybe some GPS thrown in for the maps. Now if only Father Christmas read Digital-Lifestyles, he might bring me one… Sigh…
By the way, Guidepoint has now expanded their mobile service to include remote car starting and door-unlocking. Could come in handy next time I’m planning a bank robbery ;-)
Hope it gives change!
This one just about qualifies as part of the weekly round up. Engadget covered the news that mobile phone giant Vodafone are to start selling mobile phones in vending machines. Interesting idea, but I can’t really imagine it taking off to be honest: When I go phone shopping, I value the expertise of specially trained staff and the advice they have to give.
On the other hand though, a lot of staff in shops seem to lack any knowledge of mobile phones… Maybe it’s just a cost-saving measure, but sometimes I think when I walk into certain phone shops that they might as well be employing monkeys half the time!
Still though, although I personally wouldn’t buy a phone from a vending machine I can see a lot of kids who don’t care what they get as long as it’s a phone buying these.
3 November, 2005
MacExpo UK Review (1/2) – Expo or Shop?
MacExpo has moved to Olympia from the Islington Design Centre and that’s probably the most exciting bit of the show.
Though the new Apple Powerbooks and G5’s were there, a lot of stands were just selling Mac and iPod add-ons, MacExpo is turning into a computer fair. Being generous, it could be the economic conditions that are forcing it in that direction.
The new G5’s are nice, based on the PCI Express architecture with the ability to put some very high-end NVidia graphics to real work. They now support two CPU’s each with dual cores (i.e. 4 cores) though each core only operates up to 2.5GHz rather than the older two CPU systems that operate up to 2.7GHz (but then, in theory, you’re getting 10GHz compared to a max previously of 3.4GHz – real world tests show more like a 67% speed increase). The new NVidia graphics cards are all capable of driving dual displays – so that’s two 30″ Cinema displays … but you’ll need a new desk.
The new 15″ and 17″ Powerbooks have updated displays and all have better batteries offering longer life.
The new iMacs were there too and they are still the sexiest systems on the market.
Slim Devices (makers of the Squeezebox) showed off their 3rd generation systems, rather than long and thin they’re now more squat (i.e. not so wide but taller) with big bright displays which can now display pseudo VU meters, they’ll cost £179 ($320, E265) for the wired version and £229 ($406, E338) for the wireless one. The SLIM Server software is available for Windows, MacOS and Linux/UN*X. They also use a digital output as well as analogue connections for connecting to your HiFi system
Postworx were showing off their balls (and selling them). They are designed for laptop users and attach to the base to increase airflow, keeping the it cool. They also raise the back, and to our initial surprise make it much more comfortable to type. They come in several versions and colours to match your mood or laptop. They either attach by a small velcro-like disk which you stick to the base, or a slightly larger plastic mount onto which the half-ball twists on to and attaches.
Read the second part of the review.
Slim Devices
Post Worx
3 November, 2005
Nokia N92 With DVB-H Receiver, N80, N71 Announced
Nokia has announced three more Nokia N series multimedia devices, the Nokia N92 (the world’s first mobile device with a built-in DVB-H receiver), the Nokia N71 and the Nokia N80.
All three multimedia -tastic handsets support all GSM bands, 3G, WLAN, corporate email access and advanced voice functionality (including IP PBX connectivity over WLAN), and come with integrated security features.
Nokia N92
Most interesting is the Nokia N92, which has the honour of being the world’s first mobile device with a built-in DVB-H receiver, letting users watch and record live TV on the move.
A curious swivelling, flip-top affair, the N92 comes with a large (2.8″) anti-glare QVGA screen supporting 16 million colours and dedicated media keys
The Nokia N92 sports a shedload of functionality for watching and searching for TV programs, with an Electronic Service Guide (ESG) offering information about available TV channels, programs and services
Using the built in software, users can also create personal channel lists, subscribe to TV-channel packages, set program reminders and interact through services such as voting, program feedback and additional web discovery.
For web surfing, the Nokia N92 comes with the new Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map, which displays a semi-transparent zoomed-out view of a web page, enabling users to quickly zip about a large page on a small screen.
Branded as a Nokia XpressMusic device, the handset offers up to 2 GB memory card support, and ships with built-in stereo speakers and stereo headset.
The N92 also comes with a digital music player, FM radio with Visual Radio support (providing interactive information on playing songs and artists) and an onboard 2 megapixel camera.
Connectivity is ably taken care of with Wi-Fi, infrared, Bluetooth and USB 2.0 support.
Based on S60 3rd Edition and Symbian OS, the Nokia N92 is expected to be in the shops by mid 2006 in Europe, with a price tag around €600.
Nokia N80
Sporting WLAN and 3G, the Nokia N80 is being touted as the world’s first handset to feature UPnP technology, and has the ability to be used as a remote control for wirelessly swapping content between PCs, audio equipment and TVs.
So long as all the gear is compatible, images and video stored on a Nokia N80 can be viewed on a TV, while MP3s on the handset can be played through an audio system.
Photos snapped on the Nokia N80 can also be printed wirelessly to any UPnP-enabled printer or photo kiosk.
Nokia N80 is also the first quadband handset designed to work on 3G (WCDMA 1900 or 2100), WLAN, EDGE and four GSM bands (850/900/1800/1900).
The phone features a sliding design with a high definition, 352 x 416 pixels display.
There’s a hefty 3 megapixel camera with capture key, full-screen landscape capture, a close-up mode switch and CIF video capture with inbuilt video stabilisation.
Storage comes in the form of 40 MB of internal memory, with support for miniSD cards of up to 2 GB.
The Nokia N80 has a built in digital music player and stereo FM radio with Visual Radio support.
Available in the first quarter of 2006, the price is expected to be €500.
Nokia N71
Finally, we come to the N71, another member of the Nokia XpressMusic family.
Billed as a “pocket-sized entertainment system”, the Nokia N71 comes with a stereo FM radio, support for digital music and videos and new Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map.
We could only find a teensy-weensy picture of the 3G clam phone as we went to print, but we can tell you that is has two displays and two cameras, one of which is a 2-megapixel camera.
Speaking at the Nokia Mobility Conference, Nokia Chairman and CEO Jorma Ollila bigged up digital convergence:
“We expect the market for convergence devices to double to 100 million units in 2006. Developers, media companies and enterprises are shifting their focus to Nokia’s S60 smartphone platform, as they see the business potential of using it to offer content and ensure secure remote access to corporate applications”
“Convergence is opening up a world of opportunities for our customers and partners, and Nokia is committed to developing the tools, solutions and products to make the promise of the digital industry a reality,” Ollila added.
Nokia
2 November, 2005
BBC Launches Online Film Network Showcase
Not satisfied with its already-almighty online presence, the BBC has launched the Film Network – a growing interactive showcase for new British filmmakers, broadcasting three new short films in broadband quality every week.
Around a third of the content on Film Network has been submitted directly and selected by the in-house team, with the remainder coming via partnerships with film organisations or curated programmes of shorts from distributors, festivals and competitions.
Film makers can get feedback from viewers via site tools which allow wannabe critics to comment on and rate films, with filmmakers able to create online profiles and exchange tips, advice and ideas.
The Website aims to expose new talent and create a platform for some great films that are rarely seen elsewhere.
The Film Network was first trialled by the BBC in early 2005, and quickly found favour with the public, notching up an impressive 1,200 viewings per week for its most popular films.
Suitably buoyed up by the positive response, the full service has launched today, with 50 high-quality shorts being made available, including the eagerly anticipated online premier of Joe Penhall’s The Undertaker, starring lovely Welsh boy Rhys Ifans, who also featured in the schmaltzy, hankerchiefs-at-the-ready box office monster, Notting Hill.
It seems that maybe the launch is going a little too well, with the server reporting “too busy” errors this afternoon.
Viewers keen to grab a slice of the free film action will first have to register on the site.
The shorts are streamed in Windows Media or Real Video formats which means that you won’t be able to keep a copy on your home PC or transfer them to a video iPod or handheld video player (unless, of course, you employ a streaming media recorder!).
The BBC will be offering a wide selection of content – comedies, animations, dramas and experimental videos – with three new films being added every week.
It should be noted that the BBC Film Network is not part of the currently in-trials Interactive Media Player (iMP) service which we reported on in May 2005.
BBC Film Network
2 November, 2005
DSC-T9 Cyber-shot Announced By Sony
Sony continues to build on the success of its ultra-slim DSC-T digital still camera range with the release of the six megapixel Cyber-shot DSC-T9 model.
Following in the footsteps of the T3, T5 and T7 models, Sony’s new mini-snapper manages to add optical image stabilisation and high light sensitivity, with the company claiming pictures with “significantly less blur and graininess than typical point-and-shoot cameras.”
The camera shoehorns a smarty-pants lens-shift optical image stabiliser that does it stuff courtesy of two gyro-sensors which detect hand movement and automatically calculate the necessary compensation for a crisp image.
The increased high light sensitivity (64 up to IS0 640) allows punters to grab flash-free, atmospheric shots in low light, although we’ve yet to see how effective Sony have been in keeping the inevitable noise down at high ISO ratings.
“Our T Series set the standard for slim, stylish, point-and-shoot cameras with fine image quality,” said James Neal, director of digital imaging products at Sony Electronics.
“Now the use of this category of cameras is pervasive. With the DSC-T9, we are taking this category a step further by incorporating advanced imaging technologies that ensure that you get the shot, even in unfavourable light conditions, like nightclubs and restaurants,” he added.
As with previous DSC-T models, there’s a whopping great 2.5-inch 230k LCD dominating the rear of the camera, with four playback ‘themes’ letting users display their photos with dynamic transitions shuffling along to user-selected music clips.
The Lilliputian shooter comes with a 3x (38-114mm ) Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar folded-path optical zoom so there’s no whirring lens thrusting out of the camera on start up.
The DSC-T9 offers shutter speeds from 30 to 1/1000 second, Multi-pattern, Centre-weighted, or Spot metering, five white balance presets and 10 scene modes.
There’s also VGA (30 fps) MPEG movie recording onboard, with 58 MB of internal memory and a slot for an optional Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo media card.
Turning the camera on and off is a matter of sliding the camera lens cover, with Sony claiming a battery life of up to 240 shots per charge – an improvement on the fairly dire performance of its predecessor.
The Cyber-shot DSC-T9 camera will be available in January for about $450 (~£254~€374) online at SonyStyle.com
Sony T9
1 November, 2005
iPod Shifts One Million Videos
The video-capable iPod has only been out three weeks, but already Apple are claiming sales of over a million video downloads from their iTunes online service.
Topping the download charts were music videos from the likes of Michael Jackson, Fatboy Slim and Kanye West, while episodes of ABC television shows “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” proved popular with customers.
Other music content available includes music videos from pop dinosaurs like Madonna, U2, Eurythmics, Coldplay and Kanye West (be still our beating heart), with animated shorts provided by the Oscar-winning Pixar, creator of animated hits like The Incredibles and Finding Nemo.
The video content, priced at $1.99 (~£1.12~€1.65) each, can also be played on computers running iTunes software.
Steve Jobs, Apple’s head honcho, observed that the healthy sales strongly suggested there was a market for legal video downloads.
“Our next challenge is to broaden our content offerings, so that customers can enjoy watching more videos on their computers and new iPods,” he said in a statement.
Not surprisingly, not everyone was keen to shell out for their video fixes, with enthusiasts quick to start sharing and distributing their own music clips and TV programs for the video iPod via peer-to-peer networks.
Robin Simpson, a research director at Gartner, observed that although some illegal copying and downloading would inevitably occur, Apple had provided video customers with a realistically priced model.
“Most people are prepared to be honest if it is not too expensive to do so,” he added.
The cash till-ringing sales underlines dispels concern that people wouldn’t want to watch programs on the iPod’s titchy 2.5-inch colour screen and reflects the growing market acceptance of portable video.
The market was quick to react to Apple’s announcement, with share prices climbing by more than 5% in Monday trading.
iTunes Videos
1 November, 2005
Sky Sniffs Around Homechoice
The wires are hot with rumours that BSkyB is contemplating a bout of wad waving in the direction of the video-on-demand, broadband and telephone company Homechoice, which is reportedly finding things tres tricky in the increasingly competitive TV broadband market.
Homechoice’s parent company, Video Networks, managed to notch up hefty losses of £46.5m in 2004 – £1.5m worse than the year before – and faces an uncertain future of fearsome competition from the likes of Sky, the recently merged NTL/Telewest and BT.
Compared with Sky and NTL/Telewest’s subscription figures (7.8 m and 5.5m respectively), Homechoice’s last reported numbers of just 15,000 subscribers suggest that they could provide a tasty minnow for a major operator like Sky.
Homechoice currently provides a broadband Internet and telephone service, with on-demand programmes covering comedy, drama, music soaps, pay-per-view movies and home shopping.
Although Homechoice recently doubled the amount of homes that could receive their service to a more respectable 2.5m, there’s no guarantee that subscriber numbers will reach anywhere near that amount.
We got on the blower to Homechoice and were, not surprisingly, given the official line that, “There are no current plans to sell the business.”
City analysts, however, suspect that Sky could snap up the company as part of its plans for video-on-demand and broadband.
Homechoice
1 November, 2005
Sky Mobile TV Launched By Vodafone UK and BSkyB
Vodafone UK and British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) have announced an agreement to launch Sky Mobile TV, the UK’s first commercially available mobile TV service available on a wide range of handsets, as we first covered back in September.
The service will be exclusively available to 3G Vodafone live! customers and serve up a total of nineteen mobile channels including Sky News, Sky Sports News, MTV, Cartoon Network, Discovery, Sky One and Living tv.
The deal looks set to turbo-boost adoption of entertainment and information services to mobile phones, with users able to enjoy TV programmes on the move with access to live breaking news and sports reports from Sky News and Sky Sports News.
Available to 3G customers with suitable coverage, some programming will be broadcast ‘as live’ with others delivered as dedicated ‘made for mobile’ channels, featuring regularly updated blocks of programming.
In an attempt to lure in more customers, a special Sky Sports Mobile channel will offer ball-by-ball coverage of all three Test matches and five One-Day Internationals from England cricket team’s tour to Pakistan. But, sadly, no coverage of Cardiff City games.
The Sky Mobile TV pack will be provided free of charge (subject to Vodafone customer fair usage policy) until the end of January 2006, with customers being charged £5.00 (~$8.90, €7.38) per month for each of the Sky Mobile TV packs subscribed to thereafter,
The two Sky Mobile TV packs are:
News, Sport & Factual: Sky News; CNN; Bloomberg; Sky Sports News; At The Races; Discovery Factual; National Geographic Channel; History Channel.
Entertainment & Music: Sky One; Sky Movies; MTV (two channels*); Living tv;Discovery Lifestyle; Nickelodeon; Paramount Comedy**; Cartoon Network; Bravo; Biography Channel.
Additional mobile channels are likely to sign up to the Sky Mobile TV service over the coming months.
“This is a highly significant day for both the mobile and televisionindustries,” trumpeted Tim Yates, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone UK.
“We currently have over 250,000 3G subscribers in the country and 72% 3G population coverage across the UK. Mobile TV will be a mainstream service,” he insisted.
Vodafone
Sky
31 October, 2005