Content

Content in its shift to become digital

vPod: Apple Closer To iPod Video Player?
The rurmour mill continues to hum with speculation that Apple are set to introduce a video playing iPod-like device in the near future.
Apple are already said to be talking to major music labels like Warner, EMI, Vivendi, Universal Music and Sony BMG about acquiring licenses to sell music videos through their hugely popular iTubes online store.
The videos are expected to start appearing on Apple’s online store in September at US$1.99 per download (~£1.15~€1.54)
The Business 2.0 blog reports that Apple is trying to strike similar deals with Disney, ABC News and ESPN.
As ever, Apple are keeping Mum on any proposed new hardware, although Steve Jobs has already commented about how the current iPod screen isn’t ideal for watching videos.
This has led to speculation that the company will be revising the iPod to create something like the ‘vPod’, a concept device created by design firm Pentagram which was published in Business 2.0 Magazine in March.
The magazine’s mocked-up machine looked like a version of the classic white iPod, stretched out to accommodate a wide-format screen.
An oversized iPod form would be unlikely to find favour with Jobs as he has already dismissed larger devices such as the Creative Portable Media Center for being too bulky and cumbersome to be a truly convenient portable player.
In fact Jobs has adamantly said ‘no” to video on several occasions, commenting in October that video on the iPod is “the wrong direction to go … there’s no content” and competitors providing video are “digging in the wrong place.”
Trouble is, Jobs is well known for trying to confuse competitors with double speak and bluff – he made much the same negative claims about Flash-based music players before releasing the Shuffle.
For many, the smart money is on Apple leaving the iPod as it is and introducing a completely different video player that will aim to grab the public’s imagination in the same manner as the iPod captured the music download market by the MP3s.
The big problem with trying to create a multimedia device is that people demand quite different things for mobile audio and video.
Music listeners want a small device that can fit into their sweaty jogging pants, while video buffs want a big wide screen for their moves that won’t be obscured by a few flakes of popcorn.
How Apple can resolve this quandary and come up with a competition-crushing compromise is anyone’s guess, but B2.0 editor Paul Sloan feels confident that they’ll manage it:
“If the past is any measure of what’s to come, Jobs will enter the arena late (as he did with the iPod) only to leapfrog over the competition with some entirely different device. And that could leave everyone from Microsoft’s Bill Gates to Sony’s Howard Stringer once again racing to copy their far smaller rival.”
Business 2.0
20 July, 2005
Champions League Broadcasters To Simulcast Matches On T’Web
Armchair football fans around Europe will soon be able to enjoy live Champion’s League matches over the Internet and mobile phones.
The European Commission has declared its intent to promote the beautiful game over a range of platforms in an attempt to mollify European commission competition authorities who want to see rights owners promoting mobile phone and Internet usage.
A spokesman at football bosses UEFA confirmed that all broadcasters showing games live would be “obliged” to screen them online simultaneously.
By linking live television rights to the Internet package, UEFA hopes to calms the fears of broadcasters who suspect that a separate online deal would cut deeply into their audience figures.
Champions League coverage in the UK is provided by BSkyB and ITV (both of whom look likely to retain their current rights), and the Internet simulcasts could provide a honey pot for new revenue streams with advertising and betting partners.
This may cause some friction with the big clubs like Man Utd and Arsenal who may be planning their own lucrative online propositions.
With media regulator Ofcom reporting that more than 8.1 million UK households now boast broadband connectivity, Internet television on demand is set to become, well, a household name.
BSkyB has already announced its commitment to IPTV – programming delivered over broadband PCs or TV sets – and from later this year, premium package subscribers will be able to access content via a Sky Sports and Sky Movies broadband service.
The service will offer 200 on-demand movies with sports junkies being able to access news, interviews and highlights (like wonderful Cardiff City goals) through the online sports channel
From 2006 the service could be offering Champions League games live, ensuring that only Sky Sports subscribers are able to log on, with non-subscribers having to fork out a pay-per-view premium.
Sky Sports
20 July, 2005
Google Moon ‘launches’
In honour of the first manned Moon Landing back in July 20, 1969, Google have launched an out of this world version of their Google Maps service – Google Moon.
The clever boffins at Google have created a scrollable, zoomable map of the Moon’s surface, adding NASA imagery to the interface.
Google explains that they put together the map because they figured the best way to commemorate the first Lunar landing would be to let their users “surf around the Lunar surface themselves”.
Although you can use a sliding scale to zoom into the surface – just like the terrestrial version – and view landing sites, there are limitations to how close to the surface you can zoom because of insufficient NASA imagery.
However, viewers zooming all the way in are in for a treat! We won’t spoil it for you, but do take a look.
The cheeky chappies at Google have also added a fun FAQ:
“4. Is Google Moon a result of your Copernicus initiative?
Glad you asked, and yes, the development of our Lunar hosting and research centre continues apace.
We usually don’t announce future products in advance, but in this case, yes, we can confirm that on July 20th, 2069, in honour of the 100th anniversary of mankind’s first manned Lunar landing, Google will fully integrate Google Local search capabilities into Google Moon, which will allow our users to quickly find lunar business addresses, numbers and hours of operation, among other valuable forms of Moon-oriented local information.”
Google are also advertising jobs at their Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.), offering “high-density high-delivery hosting (HiDeHiDeHo) and de-oxygenated cubicle dwelling.”
Someone at Google must have had a lot of time on their hands, because there’s pages and pages of space-related nonsense available, including references to the “hyperbolic trajectory of Britney Spears” and “projections correctly predicted random spikes in search traffic due to wardrobe malfunctions”.
We like it!
Google Moon
Get an out of this world job – G.C.H.E.E.S.E.
20 July, 2005
Konica Minolta And Sony To Make Digital SLR (dSLR) Cameras
Konica Minolta and Sony Corporation have reached an agreement to jointly develop digital Single Lens Reflex (dSLR) cameras.
The move strikes us as a logical one – Konica Minolta has a long record of producing high quality professional and semi-professional SLR cameras, while Sony has excelled in the digital camera consumer market.
Konica Minolta have already acquired a fine reputation through the autofocus and auto-exposure technologies developed in their Maxxum/Dynax series of film and digital dSLR and, like Sony, are keen to incorporate new technologies in their products (or “push the envelope” in marketing wallah-speak).
As we reported yesterday, Konica Minolta’s are already applying innovation to the burgeoning dSLR market with their new Maxxum/Dynax 5D camera being the first sub $1,000 dSLR to incorporate onboard Anti-Shake technology.
With Sony bringing their award-winning design expertise to the party – and their image sensor, image processing and battery technologies – we can expect some smarty-pants new product design to emerge from the partnership.
The new SLR cameras will see Sony/Minolta shoving a highly competitive oar inbetween the market leaders Canon and Nikon and marks Sony’s first foray into the high end digital dSLR camera market.
Previously, Sony had concentrated on the consumer/enthusiast segment, producing cheap and cheerful cameras for the masses and innovative, upmarket fixed-lens cameras like the well received F717 and F828 Cybershot models.
As prices of dSLR’s plummeted, the writing was on the wall for high-end fixed-lens models, so Sony’s move into the dSLR market was not unexpected.
Acording to IDC, the worldwide digital SLR market totaled 2.5 million units in 2004, and Sony and Konica Minolta have predicted that they expect this to grow to 3.6 million units this year.
And now kindly stand back while the execs get backslappy on the love mat:
“Sony has powerful devices and technologies essential for digital cameras,” praised Tsuyoshi Miyachi, President and CEO of Konica Minolta Photo Imaging. “I am extremely excited to work with Sony. Together with Sony, we will endeavour to create new value in the field of imaging through increasing attractiveness of digital SLR cameras where we are strongly focused.”
“We are excited to co-develop new products with Konica Minolta’s advanced camera technologies represented by its “Maxxum/Dynax series” and our digital audio visual technologies,” smooched Yutaka Nakagawa, Sony’s Executive VP and Personal Audio Visual Network Company NC President. “Sony will further strengthen its digital imaging business through creating new market opportunities with the digital SLR camera field.”
Both companies will immediately begin joint development of the “advanced and feature-rich digital SLR cameras” although there’s no date set for when we may view the fruit of their corporate loins.
We can tell you, however, that the new cameras will use the Konica Minolta lens mount system, which will no doubt please current Minolta owners.
19 July, 2005
Children’s GPRS Tracking Service On Sale In The UK
KidsOK, a tracking service that lets parents locate their child using a mobile phone, has gone on sale in the UK today,
Created by mTrack Services, the firm claim that they can establish the location of a mobile phone within 60 seconds.
Concerned/nosey parents can ‘ping’ their child’s mobile by sending a text message to 60777 including the child’s name (e.g. texting “ping johnny” will instruct KidsOK to identify the position of the child’s phone).
Parents will then receive a text description and map of the location where there little Johnny’s phone currently resides, accurate to within 500m in built up areas using GSM location-based technology..
Richard Jelbert, CEO and co-founder of mTrack Services, says the service will offer parents an alternative to sending “embarrassing” calls or text messages to their children while they’re out playing with their mates.
The service has been endorsed by children’s charity Kidscape and all mobile numbers are encrypted by the KidsOK servers to ensure privacy.
Parents also have to go through Home Office approved security checks during registration before they are able to use the service.
The bit that may strike fear into parents trying to foist these phones on their offspring is that fact that kids have to opt in to the KidsOK service and they can turn off the service any time they like.
Like when they want to have fun.
The KidsOK pack, retailing for £39.95 (~US$70, ~€58), will include the first year’s subscription, three handsets enabled and the first ten pings.
Parents can purchase the packs throughout the UK from outlets such as Arcadia Outfit, Comet Destination, BHS, Boots, Millets, Blacks and The Link.
Larger families can enable further handsets on payment of £4.95 p.a. per handset (~US$8.75, ~€7.25). Further ‘pings’ are purchased in bundles of 20 from KidsOK for £9.95 (~US$17.5, ~€14.5).
So far, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone have enabled the service but presently children’s phones on Virgin and 3 cannot be located.
The service doesn’t require a PC or extra software, but parents using the service need their mobile phones to be enabled for WAP (GPRS).
mTrack Services have stated that each pack sold generates £1 towards the KidsOK Charitable Trust, providing donations to a variety of children’s charities and good causes.
KidsOK
19 July, 2005
SmartTrust Provide SIM-based ‘State ID’ To Finland
In an initiative led by the Finnish Population Register (VRK), a department of the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, mobile specialist SmartTrust is helping mobile users in Finland to securely identify themselves and sign for goods and services across a range of public and private sector providers using just their mobile phone.
Since 1999, VRK has been responsible for issuing State Citizen Certificates to Finns, a national ID card driven by the Finnish Government and seen as an important means of identification within an electronic information society. Now, in the advanced mobile market of Finland, the security functionality contained within these cards (based on the EU Directive for electronic signatures) has been incorporated into the SIM card by SmartTrust, turning the mobile phone into a personal trusted device able to remotely authenticate an individual, protect identities and create a legally binding digital ‘signature’. SmartTrust has signed agreements with three Finnish operators, including Elisa, who will issue new SIM cards – containing the State Certificate – to subscribers.
Using the new SIMs in the handset will enable users to access a range of public and private sector services, including electronic banking and government web and mobile services. With their mobile phones, Finns will be able to authenticate themselves when electronically filing tax returns, registering for social security and paying for goods online. Creating a digital signature from the handset may even be used as proof of identity at a physical point of sale.
“The mobile phone and SIM card have, by default, become the world’s most pervasive smart card / card reader combination,” explains Paul Cuss, CEO of SmartTrust. “Unlike the existing credit-card sized ID cards that Finns carry around in their wallets, the SIM-based certificates do not require the user to be present when authenticating himself via an independent card reader. In this instance, the handset acts as the card reader, requesting the user to authenticate himself through a PIN code request, and sends an electronic digital signature to the service provider.”
“Following the example of Finnish banks, commercial service providers and public institutions are moving their services into electronic channels. The mobile citizen certificate will become a secure, user friendly and cost effective tool for consumers when authenticating themselves for electronic services. The mobile citizen certificate will replace service specific user ID´s and passwords and the one time passwords that are used today. Service providers will now benefit from a government guaranteed identity for the person accessing a service.” states Mikko Saarela, Enterprise Director of Elisa.
“Working within EU guidelines, and the Finnish Parliamentary Act on electronic signatures, the SmartTrust solution is built around Public key Infrastructure [an industry standard security protocol]. This means that when a Finn uses his mobile phone to make a payment, place an order or simply register an application with a public service it is legal and binding,” adds Cuss.
With mobile penetration in Finland currently at 90%, the move to embed the state identification onto the phone is a logical step and one that will help to grow the network of available services for consumers. Each of the Finnish mobile operators working within the scheme will coordinate with VRK and the police to manage the authentication of citizens and the issuance of cards.
SmartTrust
This article is also available at Digital-Lifestyles chums
18 July, 2005
Coast: Barcodes On The Beach With BBC’s New Mobile Content Service
The BBC has teamed up with Hewlett-Packard Labs and Gavitec to provide a digital collaboration based around the BBC TWO series, Coast.
The trial will allow roving ramblers to reach for their phone and call up site-specific extra audio and WAP content from the programme using “visual triggers” and their mobiles phones.
The system employs data codes – which look much the same as your average barcode on a tin of beans – and hikers with Series 60 camera phones will be able to read these codes and connect directly to BBC content.
Although rarely seen on UK streets, data code technology is big in Japan, where it’s used for linking to personal information from business cards and providing extra info from posters and magazine advertisements.
The BBC trial will involve placing the data codes on plaques at 100 locations around the UK. Users will need to download the free HP and Gavitec-developed software from bbc.co.uk to access the service.
Less well-equipped trampling travellers can access a rich WAP site by texting COAST to 81010, while harassed parents may be able to earn some peace by letting their kids take part in the SMS text quiz provided.
For phone-allergic types, the BBC will also make MP3 audio from the project available as a free download from bbc.co.uk.
The content aims to add local information and colour, with simple narrated pieces about the area, short dramatisations and contributions from local people (“Gerrrrofff my land, townie!”).
The audio pieces are short’n’ sweet (less than two minutes long) so users won’t be hit with a tractor-sized phone bill and are designed to stimulate an interest in finding out more about each location.
Mark Jacobs, Executive Producer of Coast Mobile scrubbed down his wellies and enthused: “We’re very excited about this latest trial from the BBC. Not only do we get a chance to use cutting edge mobile technology, but we also get to give our audience an enriched location based multi-media experience exactly where it makes most sense – where they are standing.”
Those taking part in the trial will be invited to participate in a series of questionnaires and interviews on their mobile experience to see if it’s a hiking hit or a meandering miss.
BBC
18 July, 2005
Dynax/Maxxum 5D dSLR From Konica Minolta Adds Anti-Shake
It wasn’t that long ago that digital dSLRs were the sole preserve of well-heeled enthusiasts and the pestering paparazzi, but with prices continuing to fall, digital dSLRs are coming within the reach of the mainstream.
Canon started the revolution, slapping down a hefty gauntlet in the face of their competitors when they introduced their 6.3 megapixel Canon EOS 300D (aka Digital Rebel) in 2003 for around US$1,000 (~£572, ~€828).
The camera immediately found favour with amateur snappers, semi-pros and some newspaper reporters, who wanted the immediacy and flexibility of a single lens reflex camera without the eye-watering price of a pro camera.
Nikon took some time to respond, but hit back hard with the Nikon D70, a well-specified camera that offered the same resolution as the Canon, but with a more comprehensive feature set – and a lightning fast start up time (often the bane of digital cameras).
Pentax, Olympus and Minolta also weighed in with affordable dSLRS and consumers got happier as prices kept on falling.
In February this year, Canon returned with its cheaper-faster-more featured next generation 8 megapixel camera, the EOS350D (Digital Rebel XT) retailing for US$880 (~£503, ~€728) while Nikon’s similarly priced D50 was introduced in April.
Trying to wedge their elbow into the highly competitive and lucrative affordable dSLR market is Konica Minolta’s new Dynax/Maxxum 5D digital SLR, announced last Friday
Aimed more at the beginner market, it’s a smaller and lighter version of their Maxxum 7D camera, with fewer external controls, a bright 2.5″ display, “easy and intuitive” operation and a shedload of exposure presets on hand.
The highlight of the camera is Konica Minolta’s unique in-camera Anti-Shake system, which works by stabilising the sensor instead of the lens element.
This can be of real benefit when shooting in low light and gives the Dynax/Maxxum 5D digital SLR a real edge over their rivals, and it’s the first time this system-wide feature has been seen on a sub US$1,000 dSLR.
The rest of the specs of the camera are impressive but not cutting edge: 6.1 megapixel sensor, JPEG and RAW image capture (RAW: 3 fps, up to 5 frames), white-balance bracketing, 100-3200 ISO, built-in pop flash and USB 2.0.
With its bigger name rivals winning plaudits for their new budget dSLRS, it may be hard for new punters to be won over to Konica Minolta’s new offering, although it looks like a winner for those already using Minolta bayonet mount lenses.
Maxxum 5D will be available in early August, with pricing yet to be announced.
Konica Minolta
18 July, 2005
SPB Weather Review, For Pocket PCs (It’s Great)
For travelling PocketPC users unsure whether to pack away a brolly or load up with the sunscreen lotion, Spb Weather could prove to be an essential tool.
The weather forecast plug-in for the ‘Today’ screen on PocketPC serves up a veritable storm of weather-related information in a neat, concise interface.
Spb Weather is designed to display the latest worldwide weather reports from a variety of weather sources including GisMeteo, Intellicast, and Weather.com, with the option for users to specify their own data source.
Installation on to a Pocket PC was straightforward enough using Microsoft Activesync, with no faffing about with firewalls needed for the app to automatically update the forecasts from the web (you can specify when and how often you want updates to occur).
I decided to install it on to the storage card of my XDA Compact (iMate JAM) and it ran with no problems.
Once installed, it’s simply a case of choosing the cities you want displayed (you can manually add unlisted locations), and then having a fiddle about with all the fun display options lurking in the options dialog.
You can rummage through a wide variety of nicely-designed skins, icons and layouts, and decide how you want the information to be presented on your ‘Today’ screen, with options to select a 4 day, 5 day, 7 day or multiline view.
Clicking on a specific day brings up a detailed forecast for the day, with a mass of facts about temperature, humidity, pressure and wind information.
I’ve set the program to show me the weather in various cities around the world – including my home town and locations I’ll be travelling to shortly – and, of course, my lovely Cardiff, where the ‘rain’ icon seems to appear with alarming regularity.
For travellers, tourists and stay-at-homers with a passing interest in the weather, this is a handy, fun application that adds real value to a Pocket PC. Recommended.
Star rating: 5/5
Cost: US$14.95 (~£8.50~€12.30)
Tech requirements: 2.0 MB space on handheld, Pocket PC 2002 or Windows Mobile 2003 device
Spb Weather
15 July, 2005
SMS Usage Rises In The US
Us in UK-land have long been fans of SMS messaging, with button-pushing Brits banging out 3 million text messages every hour, with 2.5 billions text being sent in January 2005 alone.
In the States, it’s a different story, where network inoperability has held back the medium, but new figures show that SMS is finally make an impact in the USA, as messaging soared 59% last year.
The figures emerged in the June 2005 edition of Informa Telecoms & Media’s World Cellular Data Metrics, which pointed out that the value of the US mobile data market has increased by around 80 percent.
Total revenues from non-voice services for the four biggest US mobile operators roared up to more than USD 1.2 billion in Q1 2005, compared to a comparatively miserly USD 689 million in the same period of 2004.
Kester Mann, Senior Research Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media has the answers: “Interoperability is fundamental to the success of messaging and has been the key limiting factor to SMS usage in the States in the past.”
“The near 60% increase in traffic last year would not have been possible if subscribers could have sent SMS only within their own networks”, he added, sagely.
GSM operator T-Mobile was particularly chuffed with its performance as its customers belted out a total of 3.6 billion messages during Q1 2005 – that works out at around 67 texts per subscription per month.
This total is more than double last year’s volume, and SMS traffic looks set to rise as operators like T-Mobile roll out attractively priced “unlimited texting” tariffs.
Just like in Europe, texting in the US has also been boosted by cheesy TV shows offering interaction via SMS.
“Thanks largely to SMS, data now typically contributes 6-10% of mobile operators’ total revenues in the States,” mulled Mr Mann, manfully.
“While this still remains some way below the industry average, it marks a significant increase from the 4% recorded this time last year and less than 2% at the beginning of 2003,” he added.
US text traffic still has a long way to go until it matches Western European levels – where non-voice services form an average of 15-16% of mobile operators’ revenues – and is unlikely to top the 48% of revenue generated by SMS-smitten Filipinos.
And while we’re in the mood to throw around some SMS-related facts, get a load of this UK selection, courtesy of text.it:
On New Year’s Day 2003, the number of text messages sent in one day topped one hundred million for the first time, and on New Year ‘s Day 2004, the daily total reached 111 million messages
On New Year’s Day 2005, the highest daily total ever recorded by the Mobile Data Association was reached, when 133 million messages were sent
UK text message figures for January 2005 topped 2.5 billion, with 2.4 billion sent in December 2004 and 2.2 billion for November 2004
92 million text messages were sent by Britons on Valentine’s Day 2005, compared to the estimated 12 million cards sent.
15 July, 2005