Content

Content in its shift to become digital

Greenphone Announced by Trolltech
Trolltech may not be well known, but they make a software product called Qt (pronounced “cutie”) which is used by many. It’s a package that allows developers to write code that works across several platforms (Windows, Linux and MacOS X) so only one set of API’s (Applications Programming Interfaces) need to be learnt.
Qt is used both commercially and in the open source community (it’s the basis for the Linux KDE windowing environment). Commercially there are several well known programs using it, including Skype and various packages from Google and Adobe.
Qt has been around for quite a while and more recently introduced Qtopia a complete Linux development environment, using Qt as a basis for its user interface.
Qtopia comes in several editions including a phone edition which is used by several vendors including Motorola. It uses Embedded Linux (version 2.4) and then Qtopia sits on top, offering various standard interfaces (including the user interface and standard Qtopia applications like calendaring, contacts, etc).
Qt and Qtopia are designed to make writing applications easy, however it’s still a relatively complicated task. Supporting lots of flavours of hardware further complicates things.
Trolltech Greenphone
In addition to Qt and Qtopia, Trolltech have come out with a mobile development device, known as the Greephone. Unsuprisingly it has a green casing, just so you don’t forget. The phone only supports GSM/GPRS.
The Greenphone comes with Qtopia Phone Edition 4.1.4 and the Linux kernel 2.4.19.
The hardware consists of a touch-screen and keypad UI QVGA LCD colour screen, Intel XScale 312 MHz PXA270, 64MB RAM & 128MB Flash, Mini-SD card slot, Broadcom BCM2121 GSM/GPRS baseband processor, Bluetooth and Mini-USB port.
Though it’s not designed to be used in production, it is designed to allow developers to rapidly prototype applications that can then be moved on to a real phone before expensive prototypes are made.
Applications, new kernels and versions of Qt and Qtopia can be loaded on to the Greenphone through the mini USB connection.
The Greenphone comes with a complete Qtopia SDK (software development kit) which provides a complete environment for developing and modifying application software for Qtopia Phone Edition. It can produce packages that run on the Greenphone itself or run through the virtual phone included with the SDK.
There are already over 4 million Linux phones utilising Trolltech’s software, this just allows manufacturers to develop Linux applications and get them to market more rapidly.
The mobile phone market is already a crowded space with Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 and Symbian dominating the market. Maybe this will give Linux the mobile boost it needs to push it into the mainstream.
17 August, 2006
Mobile Internet Population Hits 34.6 Million In US
With more Internet-enabled handsets on the market, it’s not surprising that more punters are getting a bit of Web action on the move, with email and weather sites being the top two most visited mobile sites.
According to mobile data spods Telephia, the population of the “mobile Internet” clicked up to 34.6 million users in June 2006, up 6 percent from the 32.7 million users recorded by the company in January.
Their figures also revealed that once punters are hooked up to the mobile Internet, their addiction grows, with users notching up an average 34.3 sessions in June, compared to 31.4 user sessions in January.
Bernard Brenner, director of mobile content for Telephia commented, “Even as the subscriber rate grows, the number of people using the mobile Web is also increasing. It’s an increasing number in an increasing market.”
Top US Mobile Websites (June 2006)
The top ten of the most popular mobile Websites contains the expected big names, with Yahoo Mail being the most viewed, registering a unique audience of 6.51 million mobile users, accounting for 3 percent of subscribers.
This is followed by the Weather Channel with 5.9 million users and a 2.7 percent share, with ESPN.com in third place with 5.3 million users /2.5 percent.
In fourth place is Google Search (4,356/2.0 per cent) and then MSN Hotmail (3,441, 1.6 per cent), MapQuest (3,067/1.4 per cent), AOL Mail (2,907/1.4 per cent), CNN (2,799/1.3 per cent), Yahoo! Weather (2,740/1.3 per cent) and, finally, Yahoo! Search (2,531/1.2 per cent).
When it comes to mobile browsers, Openwave, Motorola and Nokia browsers have the highest adoption rates, with Openwave registering more than a quarter of all mobile Web users.
Telephia
16 August, 2006
Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival: Strong Lineup
You’ve no doubt have noticed that we had the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival (EIEF)
As a reader of Digital-Lifestyles, you well know that Convergence isn’t just about your mobile phone and toaster becoming one (!), it’s also about content types coming closer together and, in some cases blending. At the extreme, we think it’s arguable that TV could be in a whole heap of trouble when video games become photo-realistic. Why watch TV when you can _be_ in the programme?
We went to EIEF last year and were impressed with the quality of the sessions and the delegates, who were all jolly friendly.
As you’d expect, we’ll be covering it from the ground next week, not hiding in an office waiting for the press releases to arrive like many other publications.
Set over Monday 21st and Tuesday, there’s a host of strong conference sessions arranged, covering a wide range of subjects, not just the obvious. Here’s our highlights.
In the Monday Keynote David Gardner, Executive V-P and COO of EA’s World Wide Studios is delving in to the challenges and opportunity of developing for the next gen consoles, such xbox360, Sony PS3, Nintnedo Wii.
The UK press has occasionally thrown a fit about the realism of video games, in some cases leading to the changing of blood colour in some games. This is basis of the Green Blood vs Red Blood session which will debate the implications of HDTV and photorealistic graphics for the games industry. Wise to debate it in advance, rather than wait for the censors.
Ben Sawyer of Serious Games explores “Games That Heal ï¿½ the medicine of interactive software.” Examining how games are being used to help patients with conditions ranging from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder.
To end off the night, Edge will be holding their Award and networking party at the Jam House.
Tuesday
If you’re living your Digital-Lifestyle, you’ll be aware of Machinima – where computer games are used to create films. One of the original was Red vs Blue where the footage was grabbed from Xbox mega-title Halo and voiced-over to create a drama. This has now grown to have many episodes – at least 83 we’re aware of.
In the session, find out just how far Machinima has gone into the mainstream and yet has managed to retain its rebellious and experimental approach.
The icing on the cake of this session is the world premiere of a live machinima performance from Rooster Teeth, the creators of above mentioned Red vs Blue.
The other session highlight is ‘When Alice Met Elvis’, which explores taking games beyond the screen, into other medias and how it impacts the creative process.
Author Kate Pullinger will unveil the World Premiere of the third part of her Inanimate Alice series, a ‘unique kinetic experience’, part game, part novel, part film.
When you want to bring all of those elements together, it’s not something that’s going to happen if you leave it to the last moment. To bring this into focus the founders of Velvetelvis will share their experiences in trying to encourage the “fusion” of all potential commercial elements ï¿½ film, games, music, web, books – at the very beginning of a new project.
As if all of that wasn’t enough to keep you busy, there’s a series of screenings at the Odeon cinema on Lothian Road of Lord of the Ringsï¿½ Online: Shadows of Angmar; Reservoir Dogs video game; Spongebob Squarepants; and Crackdown from Dave Jones, creator of the Grand Theft Auto series and Lemmings.
We told it was a strong line up, didn’t we? See you there.
EIEF
15 August, 2006
N93 Short Shot By Gary Oldman Released
Hollywood hot shot Gary Oldman is today releasing his new short film, shot on the Nokia N93 we’re told.
He’s taking the short label pretty literally, as the puppy is two minutes long, featuring what is described as “a round reflection in rippling water set to a haunting soundtrack.” Sounds lovely.
We’d imagine that this has cost Nokia a pretty penny, but it all goes towards burning into your brains that Nokia is about film. Creating it as we’ve seen here and watching it on their handsets too.
To that end, completely unprompted (we’re certain), Gazzer said, “Mobile video devices like the Nokia N93 allow us to capture the extraordinary moments in our ordinary days and share them with the world. The image in Donut is one such fleeting moment I happened upon that inspired me to grab my mobile video device out of my pocket and record it to share with others. I hope my film encourages people to do the same and I look forward to seeing the results on the Nokia Nseries Studio.”
Mr Oldman’s short will be premiering online on the neatly mentioned Nokia Nseries Studio, where from today (another coincidence?) anyone can upload short films to share with the world.
Happy Slapping
Camera phones have been used by some on the streets to make their own films, sadly many with violent overtones. Unfortunately the Hollywood violence that these youth had been subjected to for the whole of their lives (in the name of entertainment) wasn’t staged as it is in films, but real. Happy Slapping video’s stormed around school playgrounds about 18 months and featured members of the public getting assaulted, while those with the camera phones recording it laughed.
DVD quality or not?
Nokia appear to be back tracking a little on their definition of the quality of the onboard camera. When the N93 was first mooted, it was DVD-quality, it’s now being labelled DVD-like.
Nokia aren’t calling the N93 a phone with a camera on it, but a multimedia computer. You may mock, but this isn’t too far from the truth – it’s got a ton of processing power on board and a 3.2 megapixel lens with Carl Zeiss optics, DVD-like video capture and 3x optical zoom.
DV camcorders beware
Discussion of DVD-quality or DVD-like aside, the N93 shows the direction that camera-phones are taking, despite this early example being pretty bulky. The quality of these is approaching that of a standard DV (Digital Video) camera putting pressure on the DV manufacturers. The response to this from them is the introduction of HiDef camcorders. Expect this to become the standard.
Nokia Nseries Studio
14 August, 2006
Tiscali Take Over HomeChoice
HomeChoice have agreed to be taken over ISP Tiscali in exchange for 11.5% of their new owner.
The tenacity of HomeChoice has always impressed us. They’ve been going for years and have just refused to give up. Getting started in the days when Video on Demand meant asking to rent a video from your local video rental shop, they’ve been through quite a number of investment rounds, some so severe that the investors ended up with nothing.
Never hitting big numbers, the writing has been on the wall for them, what with Sky getting into broadband, NTL re-enlivining themselves with Virgin mobile and BT Vision on the horizon.
HomeChoice has been settled on around 45,000 subscribers for quite a while now as they’ve been restricted to operating within London and some areas to its north. They just haven’t had the investment available to unbundle anymore exchanges beyond the 145 they have to spread their service. Their original expansion was hampered by the huge cost BT used to charge them for the Visionstream service they needed to run the service.
The last murmur about HomeChoice was that Sky was casting their eye in their direction, but we suspect that this was floated by the company itself to try and flush potential suitors out of the wood work.
As to why Tiscali has bought them …
It’s likely that Tiscali feels they need to move fast to avoid becoming sidelined by the other companies putting themselves forward as the Big Boys in the ISP/IPTV/Phone market.
By buying HomeChoice they’ll start with something they can build on, rather than having to start from scratch, giving them a time advantage. This is made very real by gaining 145 unbundled exchanges within London taking Tiscali to a total of 330 country-wide.
Homechoice has also spent quite a lot of effort in the last year building up their content relationships, creating niche programming.
As to the backend iron that HomeChoice is using to power the VOD – it may be that is getting a bit long in the tooth these days.
Don’t forget Tiscali don’t actually have to put their hands in their pockets either, just swap stock.
HomeChoice
Tiscali
14 August, 2006
Visual Radio Finally Launches with O2 and Virgin Radio
We’ve been keeping our eyes on Background on how it all works).
Today it’s been announced that two radio stations in the UK, Virgin Radio in London, and GWR FM in Bristol will be launching support for the service, with Virgin Radio leading this week.
There are three partners involved, HP supplying the backend, O2 carrying the data, and the radio stations providing the content.
James Parton, Head of Music, TV and Radio products at O2 comments, “The in-built radios in many of our handsets have always been popular with people who are always on the move, but now visual radio lets you really interact whether that is with the actual DJ themselves or downloading ringtones of your favourite songs over the O2 network.”
In covering the main reason that Virgin Radio are interested in it, James Cridland, Director of Digital Media at Virgin Radio, said “It can also give advertisers a more dynamic platform to communicate their messages.”
As we’ve covered many times before, one of the sticking points is whether the already-burdened mobile subscriber will be prepared to pay extra money to use these services.
O2 have announced the usage charges of Visual Radio. At O2’s standard data rates of £3.00 per Mb dependent on tariff or O2 Browse and Download bolt-ons from £3 for 2mb and £5 for 4mb.
Although the amount of data that will be transferred won’t be that considerable, with small graphics being the most hefty, it will still cost people money to listen to the radio – something they’re not used to.
People may also legitimately ask why they should pay to help enhance people advertising to them.
Earlier this week Nokia bought Loudeye, the company that they partnered with to process their music.
Visual Radio
11 August, 2006
BBC To Take Live Webcam Feeds To TV Shows
A visual communications company, All New Video, have announced a deal with BBC to enable feedback and input into TV programmes from viewers, video calling from 3G phones, Web cams and ISDN. On the voice side, it will add VoIP to its inbound voice channels.
It will open up and encourage the input of BBC viewers into news television programmes, widening the chances for user-generated content. The first show will be ‘Have Your Say’ which is aired on BBC World and BBC News 24, which they hope will before the end of the month.
We think this is a really exciting idea, with the live element being the real revolution. We spoke to David Hogben, General Manager, to get the low down.
Webcam to Live Broadcast
During live shows, the producer will be able to ask viewers to join in with the programme, by connecting with their 3G mobiles (unlikely and expensive for the caller), or far more interestingly, their Webcams.
To get to add their two penny worth, prospective video chatters will go to the BBC News Web site and download an ActiveX control (sorry Windows only currently), which will pick up their Webcam and/or microphone, letting them connect.
As the Application can be downloaded by anyone, input can come from anywhere worldwide.
The system give the assistant producer the ability to carry out a video chat with the viewer letting them ascertain their suitability of the show – frankly, filter out those not relevant. Each person can also be ranked and some notes made about them.
When the assistant producer thinks they’ve got the best of the bunch, they are passed in to a ‘waiting room’ where the producer can also chat with them, and then they decide if it’s time to put them live into the broadcast. As the 3G video is low res and the Webcam quality variable, it’s likely that video feeds will only be broadcast at quarter screen resolution for the time being.
The whole process runs through a Web-browser on All New Video’s servers, until the broadcast, when a server at the BBC is connected with, feeding the video and audio out through an SDI interface.
Video comments
Those old enough will remember UK broadcaster, Channel 4, used to have ‘feedback booths’ in a couple of UK cities where viewers were able to go into a darkened box and share their views with the UK audience.
The new BBC system will let people do the same from the safety of their own bedrooms, where they’ll be able to leave their five minutes of video wisdom in a video mail system.
Background on All New Video
All New Video started in 2002 with the advent of 3G as they thought it would address a lot of the problems the founder, David Atkins, had encountered in their previous video conferencing business.
Their first big business win was a contact with Orange to supply the technology for their video answering service. Any time you can’t get through to someone with a video call on a 3G or 2.5G phone, you’re connected to the All New Video kit, where you can leave up to a 30 second message which is then delivered via MMS.
As we’ve been hearing from Vodafone recently, video calling isn’t being embraced by the 3G owning public, neither, more widely, is 3G. This lead to a rethink for them and a switch to including Webcams and other Internet technologies such as VoIP to be included.
They’ve previously done deals with two UK TV companies ITN and ITV’s breakfast show, GMTV. Neither are advanced as the BBC system advised today, with the ITN handling video messaging and the GMTV allowing video calls going direct to air, both from 3G phones.
All New Video
10 August, 2006
Nikon D80 10 Megapixel dSLR Camera Announced
Nikon has announced their new ten megapixel D80 digital SLR, the company’s successor to the trailblazing D70/D70s cameras.
Along with the beefed up megapixel count, the D80 sports an updated body design with some softening of lines and a slight slimming down of the overall size.
There’s also a new image processing engine, improved menu interface, 3D Colour Matrix Metering II, 11-area AF system and configurable Auto ISO (selectable maximum ISO, minimum shutter speed) and configurable high ISO and long exposure noise reduction.
On the back of the camera, there’s a larger and brighter viewfinder and the welcome addition of a bigger 2.5″ LCD TFT LCD screen offering improved resolution (230k) and a 170 degree viewing angle.
The D80 also offers a suite of in-camera retouching tools including shadow / highlight enhancement, red-eye reduction, trimming and monochrome and filter effects.
Upgraders may not be so chuffed with Nikon’s decision to switch from the chunky Compact Flash format to SD cards, but new users will appreciate the adoption of the far more popular storage medium.
Sitting between the entry-level Nikon D50 and the semi-professional / professional D200, the D80 looks a wallet tempting proposition, and should provide fierce competition for Sony’s Alpha 100 SLR.
The D80 will be hitting the shelves in September with a keen body-only price of in £699 ($999), or £949 ($1299) for the kit including the 18-135 mm DX lens.
Nikon D80 specs Sensor 10.2 million effective pixels
Image sizes 3872 x 2592 (10.0 MP), 2896 x 1944, 1936 x 1296, 2240 x 1488, 1504 x 1000
Autofocus 11 area TTL, Nikon Multi-CAM1000
Lens servo Single-servo AF (AF-S), Continuous-servo AF (AF-C), Automatic AF-S/AF-C (AF-A), Manual focus (M)
Metering 420 pixel RGB sensor, 3D color matrix metering II
Metering range EV 0 to 20 (3D color matrix / CW), EV 2 to 20 (Spot)
Meter coupling CPU and AI CPU
Sensitivity ISO 100 – 1600, Up to ISO 3200 with boost
Auto ISO Selectable maximum ISO, Selectable minimum shutter speed
Shutter Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal plane shutter Shutter speed 30 to 1/4000 sec, Bulb
Flash sync 1/200 sec
Built-in flash Guide number 13 (ISO 100)
Wireless flash Nikon i-TTL, can act as commander
Continuous 3 fps, 23 / 6 frames (JPEG / RAW)
White balance Auto, 6 presets, Kelvin colour temperature, Manual preset (
Image presets Normal, Softer, Vivid, More Vivid, Portrait, B&W
High ISO NR Normal, Low, High, Off
Multiple exposures Yes
Viewfinder Eyepoint: 19.5 mm (at -1.0 m-1), Frame coverage 95% (approx.), Magnification approx. 0.94x, B-type Bright View Clear Matte II
LCD monitor 2.5″ TFT LCD, 230,000 pixel TFT, 170 degree viewing angle
Histogram Luminance & RGB histogram
USB USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (480 Mbps max.)
Storage SD / SD-HC card
Battery Lithium-Ion EN-EL3e (7.4 V, 1500 mAh)
Battery status Remaining charge (%), No. of shots taken since last charge, Battery life (5 stage) 3
Dimensions 132 x 103 x 77 mm (5.2 x 4.1 x 3.0 in)
Weight No battery: 585 g (1.3 lb)
Nikon
9 August, 2006
Casio and Kodak Announce New Digital Cameras
Casio Exilim Card EX-S770
First out of the blocks is Casio who have announced their new Exilim Card EX-S770 camera, a cheekily ultra slim, seven megapixel style camera.
As shiny as a highly polished thing with an extra coat of gloss, the new Exilim sports a new smoothed, rounded design and – we have to say – looks a treat.
The camera comes with a 3x optical zoom lens (38 – 114mm equiv, f2.7 – f5.2) a big’n’bright 2.8″ LCD monitor and offers 16:9 format MPEG-4 video capture.
It’s a tiny little fella too, measuring just 95 x 60 x 17 mm (3.7 x 2.4 x 0.7 in) and weighing just 127 g (4.5 oz) without its Lithium-Ion battery.
Casio
Kodak EasyShare V705, C875, C743 and C433
Kodak has also been breaking open the New Camera Bubbly with the announcement of no less than four additions to their highly rated range of EasyShare cameras.
The 7.0 megapixel EasyShare V705 comes with the innovative Dual Lens design and a beefy 8 megapixel sensor, while the more conventional EasyShare C875 sports a 8.0 MP sensor and an all glass Schneider-Kreuznach optical zoom lens with 5x zooming.
The smarty-pants dual lens design of the V705 serves up an ultra wide 23mm fixed (35mm equiv) f2.8 view – great for architectural shots and wide open panoramic scenes – as well as a 3x zoom covering 39-117mm (35mm equiv) f3.9-4.4.
Kodak also announced two bargain basement cameras; the C743 and C433.
Try as we might, we couldn’t get excited about them, but we can tell you that the Kodak EasyShare C743 offers a 3X optical zoom and 7.1 MP, while the Kodak EasyShare C433 comes with the same zoom range and a lowly 4.0 MP sensor.
Kodak
9 August, 2006
MySpace To Hit 100 Million Accounts
Currently listed as the fourth most popular English-language Website on the planet and the sixth most popular in any language, MySpace has become a social networking phenomenon, and looks set to notch up an amazing 100 million accounts in the next few days. As we publish, it’s sitting on 99,677,398 after being on 99.4m yesterday.
A little bit of history
The Website first started life back in 1998, offering a small amount of online storage space to members, which increased as they referred new members to the site.
The idea failed to generate enough revenue, and closed down in May 2001, with a senior analyst at Nielsen/NetRatings commenting that online storage sites were “having a hard time surviving.” How times have changed.
The return of MySpace
The MySpace service we all know and (possibly) love now was launched in July 2003 with Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe at the helm, backed by a small team of programmers.
The site quickly became a hit with new bands trying to make a splash, and with music fans looking for new sounds, as well as teenagers looking for a bit of social interaction and networking.
To the chagrin of many of its users, Rupert Murdoch whipped out his fat wallet in July 2005 to the tune of $580 million and added MySpace to his News Corporation empire.
News that he’s signed a deal with Google and extracted a minimum of $900m from them, will be one in the eye for those were asking how he was going to make his money back. He’s nearly doubled his money with that one deal.
MySpace becomes part of pop culture
MySpace’s compelling mix of user-submitted blogs, profiles, bands, photos, MP3s, videos backed up by an internal e-mail system has seen the site become an integral tool for new bands and filmmakers, making it an increasingly influential part of modern pop culture.
In July 2006, MySpace was the most popular site in the United States, accounting for 4.5% of all Website visits and 80 percent of all visits to online social networking Websites.
According to Nielsen//NetRatings, MySpace enjoyed a hefty 45.7 million unique visitors in June 2006, with users spending an average of nearly two hours on the site at a time.
Now boasting 300 employees, MySpace claims 500,000 new members each week.
Commercial synergy ahoy!
With such a high profile, it’s not surprising to see marketing types crawling all over the site, with a popular ruse being to create real-looking profiles for fictional characters in commercial TV and film offerings.
Ricky Bobby’s profile on MySpace has 47,000 “friends” and has a profile listing his favourite music and movies.
Users looking to hook up with Ricky might be in for a disappointment though as he’s a made-up character, with the MySpace profile being used as a marketing tool to promote the movie he appears in.
To further increase the popularity of the page and increase the movie’s profile, Ricky’s page also offers inducements (badges, comps) to get users to add him as a ‘friend.’
Ricky isn’t alone either, with the lady-charming John Tucker character from the “John Tucker Must Die” film also boasting his own MySpace page (as do each of his equally fictional four girlfriends).
All these fake pages bring in extra income for News Corp, who let marketers add extras like longer videos, more pictures and movie trailers for a fee.
Other media outlets have chosen to create profiles to promote themselves, including the new Murdoch-owned television broadcast networks The CW and My Network also looking to get hip with the kids via their own MySpace pages.
It’s also getting quite popular with call girls and purveyors of porn. Surprising that they were so slow on the uptake really – they normally lead the industry in developments.
The future
Although we can’t see MySpace disappearing any time soon, in the fickle world of online social networking things can change every quickly indeed.
Last month, Web measurement site Hitwise were reporting that the fast-growing new boys YouTube had already overtaken MySpace – a site that was virtually unknown this time last year.
With YouTube fast becoming the new place to hang out, recent reliability issues haven’t helped MySpace either.
MySpace
8 August, 2006