Content
It looks like there’s finally some sense coming to the world of User Generated Video Content.
Online video site Grouper, that Sony bought last year for $65m, has bid farewell to trying to compete with the YouTube’s of this world.
Grouper has changed its name to Crackle and also change the type of content it will be making available to punters.
Continue reading Crackle: Sony’s New Content Move After Grouper
Finally the BBC Trust appears to be open to talking about the iPlayer going Open Source.
Good to see that the BBC Trust is to take representation from the Open Source Consortium (OSC) regarding their concerns about the fact that the BBC iPlayer is currently dependent on Microsoft’s Windows DRM.
The OSC made an official complaint to the BBC Trust in January this year but did not hear back from them until now. Quite unlike Ofcom and the old DTI, who they did get replies from.
Continue reading BBC Trust To Listen On iPlayer Going Open Source
We’ve just been pointed to a great site with a face mashup generator. What’s that you’re asking?
Continue reading Monoface Mashup: Hilarious
Vodafone has shaken hands and heartily slapped besuited backs with its chums at the mobile banking service Monilink to secure a deal allowing their customers to access their bank accounts from mobile phones.
Part of Vodafone’s “Internet On Your Mobile” initiative to give access to fully-featured web sites, the service will let customers with Internet enabled phones go online to check their balance, request a mini-statement and top-up their “pay as you talk” mobile phone balance.
The Monilink service is available for nowt for customers of Alliance & Leicester, First Direct and HSBC, with the Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest and Ulster Bank joining the party later this summer.
Continue reading Vodafone Launches Mobile Banking
We’ve just found out about an amazing gadget – a handheld DJ mixer called Pacemaker by a new Swedish company called Tonium.
As soon as we heard about it, we were straight on the phone, as we’d been knocking around similar ideas at the Digital-Lifestyles offices.
Think of it as an iPod, with a built-in DJ mixing booth – and effects box attached.
It’s miles ahead of the clumsy iPod mixing which has been around since 2003 and, by the look of it, it will also fit into your pocket, being it’s 164mm/70mm/23mm (think PSP-sized) and 200g.
Continue reading Pacemaker: Pocket iPod DJ Booth
The online music social network Last.fm have announced a global deal with SONY BMG Music Entertainment to make the record company giants vast catalogue of tracks available for streaming.
The deal will make Sony’s bumper-sized music catalogue available to the 20 million users of Last.fm’s online radio streaming service, with the option to buy the tracks via the music downloads store, 7digital, or through Amazon.
Continue reading Last.fm Signs Up With Sony BMG Music
MSN is claiming that their live streams of last weekend’s LiveEarth gigs attracted the “most ever” online viewers.
By 8pm last evening, MSN said that it had whipped up more than 10 million video streams, earning it the crown of being the most simultaneously viewed online event ever.
Continue reading LiveEarth Registers ‘Most Ever’ Online Views
The US found itself sitting right at the top of the Irish spam charts for June 2007, according to e-mail security statistics from security and e-mail monitoring firm, IE Internet.
Their filtering stats show the US as being a veritable hotbed of steeenkin’ spammer activity, generating 37.4 per cent of all spam during June, miles ahead of the next big spammers, China, who registered 17 per cent of spam sent to Irish firms.
The UK reared its v1ag5a-shifting face with 10.9 per cent of all spam, followed by Mexico (9.9 per cent) and Russia (7.6 per cent).
Continue reading US Hits Top Spam Spot In Ireland
Despite its well documented problems with vandalism and inaccuracies, the Wikipedia has scooped up another 20 million unique monthly visitors in the past year, making it the number one top online news and information website.
According to Nielsen/NetRatings, the online encyclopedia registered 46.8 million unique visitors in May – up a hefty 72 percent from June 2006.
Continue reading Wikipedia Remains The #1 News Site
As we all know Virgin Media and Sky TV have been having a little spat.
Now Virgin Media are taking a leaf out of Sky’s book and signing up rights to distribute sports.
The Football League have signed a deal that will see the Coca-Cola Football League matches will be delivered to Virgin Media’s broadband and mobile phone platforms for the first time.
Starting on 11 August and running for two seasons, the highlights of league 1 and 2 will be available to watch on-demand for up to one week after transmission.
No surprisingly, Malcolm Wall, chief executive officer of content at Virgin Media, earnestly sang, “We’re committed to investing in great content for our customers and this new partnership will give football fans a genuinely value-added service.”
The Championship, as it’s abbreviated to by those who follow it, is the step down from the UK Premier League, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a load of cash involved with it. Deloitte are on record as finding that, in 2004-05, it was the richest non-top flight football division in the world.
Why?
No matter how poor, or not, football teams are, they do a very loyal fans, so much so that making their matches available on on-demand may encourage people to change their mobile or broadband provider. Or that’s the bet that Virgin Media are making.
Commercial terms were not disclosed.