Digital-Lifestyles

Content

Content in its shift to become digital

  • Apple iTunes passes 200m tracks – And?

    OK … Apple has had over 200m tracks paid for and downloaded on Apple iTMS. Yes, it’s been a success, but now it’s getting a bit like the passing of time. You don’t often hear, Hold the front page, it’s December … we must tell the world.

    Do you know what? The download was part of “The Complete U2”. How very fortunate for the recent US/Apple iPod deal. Did they have a little piece of code running on the server that selected what that 200mth track would be?

    Oh and the other thing. Apple aren’t announcing when this occurred … just the fact that it has happened.

    We’re nearly sure that the timing of this announcement has nothing to do with Christmas being next week, but Apple also very helpfully point out that the iTunes gift vouchers make ideal xmas presents.

    So what’s the next landmark? We’re running sweepstakes on whether it’ll be the quarter billion, 300m, or half billion. Our recommendation? Don’t bother until it gets to 1 billion.

  • Google Suggest – Search Innovation

    Google Suggest BetaTwo Google stories in a day! They’re testing a new interface for their search engine that they’re calling Google Suggest.

    One of the problems for many users of Google has been the huge number of results returned including ones that apparently had nothing to do with the original request. Other search engines have taken the approach of gathering what they feel are related results together to try and assist the searcher. Google Suggest is Google’s shot at it.

    The interface looks the same as it does currently – simple, stripped down and functional – but as you type in your search term, a drop-down box shows a number of suggestions based on what you have entered. It also lists the number of search results would be returned, giving a further guide to searchers.

    As an example of how it works we entered “digital”. This bring up the predictable “digital camera”, but helpfully for novice users, it also lists “digital camera review”, which might be more what they are looking for. There are ten suggestions lists in total, which in this case included “Digital radio” and possibly just for a little variety, “digital blasphemy“, not something we’ve come across before, but as it turns out a site selling computer rendered wallpapers that is well worth a look.

    Selecting the term bring up the expected list of Google results, but with the Google Suggest feature persisting in the search box.

    As ever, Google are innovating in their own way, and given their skill in improving upon innovation, we see no reasons the suggested search terms shouldn’t also list of the audio/video/photo results making searching quicker.

    More importantly it’s key to remember that this is helping Google raise revenue. The more precise the search term, the better the match for displayed TextAds, the more likely the searcher is to click on them and in turn, the more income Google will make.

    Before you rush to the site to test the ‘rude’ words, don’t get too excited, many don’t bring up suggestions. Although we can well see that testing of the limits of this will become a strand of postings on boingboing.net. Google Suggest beta

  • Google File Pay Model Retrieval Patent

    We’ve been slightly slow on the uptake of this one – Susan Kuchinskas at InternetNews has picked up a US patent filing by Larry Page, co-founder of Google, and it makes interesting reading.

    Google News is great for users – we’ve been a news source of theirs for a considerable amount of time and often use its search facilities for research. For Google it’s less great, as they’ve yet to find a way to make money out of it – thank goodness they took the automation path, by throwing tech at it, not people.

    The patent, 20040122811, titled “Method for searching media” was originally filed in September 2003 and its core function is summarised by Susan,

    to enable search of printed material, offer pay-per-view documents, scanned documents with clickable ads and even the ability for print publishers to swap out ads in digital copies of their printed pages.

    There are two key elements of the patent: a method for executing a permission protocol so that the publisher could authorize Google to display more text from the relevant publication; and storing scanned versions of printed documents along with data sets representing the ads that went with them.

    It’s not just online text that is covered. CDs, DVDs, audio books, hard copy magazines, newspapers and journals could all be included.

    So how could Google make money from this? We find the most interesting idea the ability for them to act as the gateway to the content, charging a predetermined fee for access to the information that they would share with the publisher. Micropayment systems like BitPass and BT Click&Buy have been providing the charging mechanism to information publishers for a long time, and to a lesser degree, the ability to locate information you might be interested in. Google already own the search side, the additional income they could gain for collecting payments for content could be considerable.

    Susan covers the innovative ways potential income from the advertising could be raised,

    The patent claims a method for updating advertisement information for the printed documents. For example, it would allow the publisher of a hot news story to resell the ad space to a rotating series of advertisers or let advertisers keep the ad but update prices and product information. One of the claims, covers storing information about products in the ads. This might allow the advertiser to create a special landing page associated with the ad, working like a Web banner ad.

    Internet News
    BitPass
    BT Click&Buy

  • Napster More Recognisable Than iTunes, Survey

    In a recent US survey by Ipsos-Insight, Napster has come out as the most recognised pay-for music download service. When presented with a list of services, Napster scored 79% recognition over iTunes, which hit 46%. More details are in the press release, but RealPlayer Music Store and MusicMatch weren’t that far behind around the 40% level.

    We think that Napster has a huge debt of gratitude to pay to the RIAA and the US recording industry for their original barrage of anti-Napster press. What is surprising is iTunes wasn’t higher, we suspect there’s some confusion in the mind of the consumer with so much noise being made about iPod, iTunes becomes eclipsed.

    Apple workers at 1 Infinite Loop can breathe a sign of relief about the quality of their offering. When asked which was the “best” fee-based service, 31% of the respondents rated iTunes the tops, leaving Napster trailing at 23%.

    IPSOS research

  • European Networked and Electronic Media (NEM) initiative launches

    How Europeans receive their digital entertainment in the future could change, following an event in Nice last week. At the launch of the bold and ambitious Networked and Electronic Media (NEM) initiative, the European Commission (EC) announced their intention to form an integrated, interoperable platform. Its broad scope stretches from the way media is created, through each of the stages of its distribution, to its playback.

    The EC want its citizens to be able to locate the content they desire and have it delivered seamlessly, when on the move, at home or at work, no matter who supplies the devices, network, content, or content protection scheme.

    With interconnectivity as its goal, it is fortunate that over 120 experts were there to share the vision and hear pledges of active support from companies such as Nokia, Intel, Philips, Alcatel, France Telecom, Thomson and Telefonica.

    It might initially appear to be surprising that companies in direct competition are keen to work together, but again and again speakers stated they could not see incompatible, stand-alone solutions working. A long-term strategy for the evolution and convergence of technologies and services would be required.

    The EC is being pragmatic in its approach. They have identified that many standards bodies have, and continue to, define standards in the areas that NEM encompasses, but recognise that some of these standards overlap. The NEM approach is to take a serious look at what’s available and what’s in the pipeline, pick out the best, integrate them together and identify where the gaps are. Where it finds holes, it will develop standards to fill them.

    While the global access to content is not a unique idea, what is significant is that such a large and powerful organisation has stated its desire for it to be fully open and interoperable – not restricting the consumers choice at any stage in the process.

    This is bound to please, if not surprise, many individuals and user organisations who feel that the wishes of the holder of rights to content are normally considered over and above those of the consumer. Following the keynote earlier in the week of EC Director João Da Silva, they now know they have a supporter within the higher echelons of the European Commission.

    Many feel that the most difficult and challenging area for the EC will be to identify a solution for interoperating Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes. Currently DRM solutions are incompatible – locking certain types of purchased content, making them unplayable on all platforms.

    With the potential of having a percentage of every media transaction that takes place globally, the prize for being the supplier of the world’s dominant DRM scheme is huge. This leads the companies who feel they have a chance in controlling it to not be very open to sharing.

    Although entertainment is an obvious first step, it will encompass the remote provisions of healthcare, energy efficiency and control of the Smart Home. The over-arching initiative amalgamates the work of many currently running research projects that the EC has been funding for a number of years.

    The NEM is a ten-year project, which in the everything-immediately age we live in, might seem like a lifetime away, but it’s important to remember that the digital delivery of media stretches a long way into the future. Decisions made and solutions selected now will have far reaching consequences.

    This piece was featured on the BBC Web site.

  • Online Documentary Channel Planned by UK Channel 4

    The Chief Exec of Channel 4, Andy Duncan, has been floating the idea of launching an Internet-based documentary channel, that would carry archive footage from previously transmitted shows.

    Duncan also announced that Channel 4 is to “double the amount it spends on ‘public service’ Internet sites”, which he revealed was currently in the low millions, reported Brand Republic.

    We understand from Ofcom that the comments were made during their PSP pitching day.

    Andy Duncan moved from the BBC, where he was the mastermind of the highly successful Free-To-Air service, Freeview. He’s been speaking publicly a lot about re-positioning Channel 4, although not all of his comments have been well received.

    When Digital Lifestyles spoke to Channel 4 today about the Internet-based channel, there were still only sketchy details available; in their words it was “work in progress.” They did confirm that new programmes would be commissioned specifically for the site and that content would be downloadable.

    Channel 4 told us more details will become available in the New Year and the launch is muted for Spring 2005.

    Channel 4
    Ofcom

  • P2P OK with Most Musicians, Survey

    A survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project has revealed that two thirds of musicians that they surveyed felt that peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing poses a minor threat or no threat at all to them.
    The author of the report, Mary Madden said, “What we hear from a wide spectrum of artists is that, despite the real challenges of protecting work online, the Internet has opened new ways for them to exercise their imaginations and sell their creations. To many, this feels like a new Digital Renaissance rather than the end of the world.”
    The findings of this survey are in stark contrast to the published findings of the US recording industry that claim that file-sharing hurts artists.
    We’ve found a drastic difference between the public stance of the record companies and their private actions. In our discussions with operators of file-sharing networks we’ve been surprised to hear that one of their largest paying clients have been record companies, who have become near-obsessed with using the networks to watch the speed to spread of new tracks giving them valuable feedback to the viability of bands.

    Pew Internet & American Life Project survey

  • CNN News Free to Mobiles, Xerox Sponsored

    CNN News to mobiles, Xerox SponsorCNN has launched a news service over Europe that delivers the top ten CNN headlines to mobile phones without a subscription charge.

    The phone owner will receive the 10 top stories of the day as chosen by the CNN.com site editorial team. If the application is kept ‘live’, ie. running on the handset, it will continue to receive news updates. When the GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is turned off, either by the user or because they drop out of range, the news items remain accessible, as they are stored on the handset.

    The process of signing up for the service sounds simple. The phone user sends an SMS requesting the service and a returned WAP link takes the phone to a Java application that is automatically downloaded to the handset. The news is then delivered to it using the data-only GPRS otherwise know as 2.5G.

    Consumers will not have to pay a subscription charge for this service, as Xerox will be sponsoring it. In return Xerox will have their logo displayed as the service starts, on the home page and on the individual news pages. Xerox is paying a fixed price for the deal, which doesn’t vary on the number of people who sign up for it. Although users of the service can click through to a page of information about Xerox, which they have editorial control over, the real driver for their involvement is the association with the CNN brand and a leading-edge application of technology.

    CNN have been pretty adventurous in distributing their news product to many platforms. CNN mobile currently offers a breaking news service to mobiles via SMS, which it charges Euro 4.75/month. In Austrian, Finland, Italy and the Netherlands, mobile owners are able to watch CNN on their handsets via their GPRS video streaming service.

    There will be those in the mobile content world who will find this type of deal a little disturbing. They are currently very pleased that consumers appear to associate mobile content with paying – in stark contrast to Internet based content. If the consumer starts being offered quality content for no money, they might get used to it.

    Expect more deals like this from media owners, as Kevin Razvi, head of CNN International ad sales says, “Our expanding portfolio of wireless businesses exposes advertisers directly to a broad consumer base through a highly relevant service for an increasingly mobile and technically-savvy target audience.”

    CNN
    Xerox

  • Entertainment Now: UK 3’s Deal with APTN

    3, the first 3G network in the UK, are further enhancing their content offering by announcing a deal with Associated Press Television News (APTN). APTN will provide the video show, “Entertainment Now” that will be released twice a week and cover ‘celebrity entertainment’. In their words, it will be “quirky and irreverent, poking fun at the rich and famous, and of course, the infamous.”

    3 customers have two ways to pay for the content. At 50p per clip or they can watch as much video as they like by paying £5 per month for the “video value” add-on.

    We spoke to Deanna Gullery, APTN’s New Product Marketing Manager about the deal. They currently sell a 24 minute version of Entertainment NOW (is it just us or is the capitalisation unnecessary?) that goes to air with a number of broadcasters in various countries on a weekly basis.

    The 3 version will be a cut down version, primarily featuring celebrity interviews, calling on AP’s strong access to the stars. It will be edited in-house down to between 2 and 4 minutes, voiced over and releases on Tuesday and Thursday.

    We think the 3 deal is an interesting example of a content creation company making the most of their assets – “Sweating your assets” as we believe the 80’s phrase for was. AP are all over the world (80 bureaux in 67 countries) shooting this type of material for ‘traditional’ media outlets anyway. Why not make the most of it and edit it together in to custom pieces? We’re strong believers in this type of approach.

    We don’t think this is the kind of content that will drive people to join the 3 services, it’s more about maximising Average Revenue Per User (ARPU, in trade terms). Their current ARPU taking the first 7 months of this year is £43.22 per customer, per month.

    Three
    Associated Press Television News

  • MPAA Judge Finds ‘bulldozer’ approach ‘improper’

    Last week, members of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed 11 lawsuits against hundreds of people they accused of using file-sharing networks to share infringing copies of movies. However, the Federal Judge ruled the ‘bulldozer’ approach improper, ordering that the case should be put on hold for all but one of the defendants.

    The move by the MPAA to group defendants into arbitrarily-joined actions was probably thought of as a ‘neat’ and easy way to get the message across to other US citizens participating in file sharing. ‘Bulk’ suing could also save a heck of a lot of paper shuffling and administration work.

    The MPAA sued groups of “Does” (John Doe) identified by numerical IP address and requested the discovery of names from the users’ Internet Service Providers (ISPs). However, Judge William Alsup ruled that because claims against the 12 defendants were unrelated, suing them together into one big case was improper. “Such joinder may be an attempt to circumvent the filing fees by grouping defendants into arbitrarily-joined actions but it could nonetheless appear improper under Rule 20,” the order states.

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed friend-of-the-court briefs, objecting to similar misjoinder in many of the cases filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against alleged infringers.

    “This decision helps to give due process rights to the Internet users accused of infringement,” said EFF Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer. “Lumping them together makes it more difficult for everyone to defend against these claims.” EFF is also concerned about the movie studios’ failure to produce evidence of infringement against even Doe #1 in this case.

    In a separate case, Warner Brothers Entertainment has secured a $309,600 judgement against an actor for allegedly making promotional ‘screener’ copies of ‘The Last Samurai’ and ‘Mystic River’ available for bootleg DVD copying and unauthorised Internet trading.

    Carmine Caridi, a former recurring actor on ‘NYPD Blue,’ is accused of copyright infringement and is facing a default judgement of $150,000 per film and $9,600 in attorney fees. Caridi and co-defendant Russell Sprague were caught because the screeners were individually watermarked for each recipient.

    According to Warner Brothers, Carmine Caridi, as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, signed an agreement before he received the 2003 awards season screeners promising not to circulate them. It is believed that he immediately sent the VHS screeners to another address where they were copied onto DVD and converted to digital files that were posted on the Internet.