Content

Content in its shift to become digital

BenQ Launches Six Handsets Including The P51
With a veritable orgy of announcements, BenQ Mobile rolled out six new mobile phones at the CeBIT trade show in Germany.
The phones, all going under the BenQ-Siemens brand, include the P51, a quad-band GSM/EDGE GSM/EDGE handset running on Windows Mobile 5.0.
Definitely not one for the pockets of the tight trouser brigade, the chunky P51 wedges in a Treo-like QWERTY keyboard, a large 2.8inch 240 x 320 pixels screen, an integrated SiRF Star III GPS module and a somewhat underwhelming 128MB of memory, along with an SD slot for expansion.
VoIP calls are made possible through the built in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity and pre-loaded Skype software.
The P51 also comes with a music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+) offering a sound equalizer and 3D surround sound and an integrated 1.3 megapixel camera with LED flash.
The handset is due to be made available in Q3, with prices, networks and stockists to be confirmed.
Also announced was the flagship EL71, a tri-band, 16.5mm thin slider phone with a metal casing in brushed aluminium finish. Designed for the “young professional,” the phone sports a 2-inch, 260,000-color QVGA display.
The C81 comes with a built-in multimedia player supporting MP3, AAC, AAC+ and AAC++ formats and an integrated 1.3-megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom. Pictures can be printed directly – no PC needed – by Bluetooth via Pictbridge and the phone has a 1.8- inch TFT 262k screen.
The CL71 slide phone is another slim number (17.8mm) with built-in 1.3-megapixel camera, MP3 player and radio with a 2-inch TFT 262k display offering 176 x 220 picture resolution.
The consumer-oriented CF61 also comes with a music player, Bluetooth and exchangeable covers. The integrated 1.3-megapixel camera allows capture of nine images in quick succession and a voice commentary can also be added to pictures. There’s also a built-in music player supporting the usual formats.
Finally, the wedge shaped E61 comes in orange, yellow, or silver, with a built-in VGA camera with 2x/4x digital zoom.
BenQ Mobile
10 March, 2006
Unlocking the Digital Dividend – Policy Tracker Event
If you thought the switchover to digital television was going to be a challenge, spare a thought for the regulators, policy makers and engineers who are already tasked with trying to figure out the best way of re-allocating the spectrum freed up by switching off the analogue broadcasting signal.
There are a multitude of possible new uses for the spectrum released by switchover, including re-allocating (or re-gifting) it back to the very broadcasters who previously used it in order for them to deliver HD and other services.
Mobile providers are also launching a campaign to ensure an allocation for mobile TV over DVB-H, or extending 3G and rolling out mobile broadband services. Some countries may even look to allocate the spectrum to defence and/or emergency service uses. Or it could well be a mix of all of the above – although the resource is finite – hence the issue.
It was this re-allocation process that provided the focus for an event run today by Policy Tracker. Unfortunately, I was only able to attend the first couple of sessions – but the roster of speakers for the day looked very strong indeed. I hope that Policy Tracker will look to do more events, if they are of this calibre.
The first two sessions focused mainly on the problems associated with harmonisation. It is essential that adjoining states will have to work together to allocate spectrum, if there are not to be interference issues. The ITU’s Regional Radiocommunication Conference (RRC-06) which will be held in Geneva between May 15 and June 16, aims to provide the necessary regulatory framework for national regulators such as Ofcom as they look to re-allocate. This framework will not limit or determine the re-allocation but ensure licence holders meet certain requirements to ensure harmonious use – enforced by national regulators.
It was interesting to note that London’s geographical location – and possible interference in parts of France and Holland – will mean that any allocation for DVB-H services will effectively have to wait until 2012. Ofcom have already stated this – but pressure will surely start to mount when other European cities (where there are no associated interference issues) will start rolling out DVB-H mobile TV starting in 2007.
Interesting comments from Roberto Ercole of the GSM Association, who said that mobile providers were currently unsure about how the reallocation process would work. He said that the industry faced three key issues – regulatory uncertainty, not knowing whether mobile TV would come under the same regulations as broadcasting, and the possible fragmentation of markets due to allocations differing across regions.
Of course regulatory uncertainty is same for all those looking to unlock the digital dividend (although some argue that the broadcasters are well positioned because they already sit on the spectrum). Whatever happens its going to be a complex and highly political interplay between policy makers, regulators and transnational organisations such as the ITU.
There is a very difficult balance to strike, ensuring that there is enough incentive for potential users to keep investing and developing technologies whilst also ensuring that the released spectrum will be used in the most productive and efficient manner.
A particularly pertinent question from one delegate – that didn’t get an answer – what is that citizen/consumers will get from the re-allocation? Afterall it is citizen/consumers who are effectively having to pay to release the spectrum. Ofcom’s initial proposals on the issue suggest that this is a question that they will look to answer – so we’ll wait and see.
Luke Gibbs is a co-founder of OfcomWatch
10 March, 2006
M.A.G.I.C Windows Smartphone Has Everything!
Currently hovering betwixt prototype and retail status, Advance Tech Communications new Windows Mobile smartphone market looks hot! hot! hot!
The MAGIC (Mobile Advanced Global Integrated Communicator) comes stuffed to the gills with connectivity and multimedia options, and is powered by a beefy Intel Xscale 624 MHz CPU with graphic accelerator 2700G3 and Video RaM – fast enough to leave all current Windows Mobile phones coughing in the dust.
The 10.5 ounce (300 g) Windows Mobile 5.0 device comes with more connections than a street spiv, offering GSM quad band, GPRS, Wi-Fi 802.11b, EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0, IrDA FIR 4 and, of course, USB.
There’s also a built-in Global Positioning System( GPS) and, apparently, a Biometric Sensor.
On board storage is taken care of courtesy of a generous 8GB hard disk, backed up by 512MB RAM and 512MB ROM, with a micro-SD expansion card slot.
There’s two 2.8″ QVGA (320×240 pixels) displays onboard and – you’ve guessed it – there’s also two cameras, both offering a healthy 2 megapixel resolution.
Wrapping up the extensive feature set is a very useful VGA Out port and a small QWERTY keyboard for the tippity-tap action.
With all this functionality crammed in to the phone, it seems that Advance Tech felt that describing the ultra-premium device as a ‘smartphone’ would be like calling a Leica camera a point’n’shooter.
Instead, the company are proclaiming their new device to be a “laptop computer miniaturised to the size of a handheld device,” which perhaps isn’t the snappiest description they could have come up with.
With its ten-mile long spec sheet, it’s not surprising to find both price and physical size are going to be on the b-i-g side, with the MAGIC measuring up at 125 x 70 x 32 mm and the price hovering around the high end $1,000 mark (£575, €838) .
The MAGIC is expected to roll out next quarter.
www.advancetc.com/
9 March, 2006
Digital Imagine Cup – Be sure not to tell anyone
On balance, the world is probably a better place with Microsoft, than it would be if Bill Gates hadn’t succeeded. But this week, the company is trying to get us to admit something different: that it is an innovative presence in the world, encouraging innovation in others. Specifically, it is running the Imagine Cup, and this week, in the UK, it’s judging 50 students who have entered a programming competition.
Click on the streaming video link and you’ll see why I’m sceptical about this.
The content is fine! It goes on fairly meaninglessly with an animated techno-rabbit running around and flying; and then launches the theme.
As you’d expect from Microsoft, the theme is laudable. Praiseworthy, even: it’s “Imagine a world where technology enables us to live healthier lives.” Well, duh… but how about “imagine a world where I can watch the promo without waiting for the buffer to fill up?” or “imagine a world where I can watch the promo without it stopping and starting and re-buffering?” or even “imagine being able to download this promo and send it to a friend”?
Microsoft’s technology for the Imagine Cup promo is a streaming video technology. Look closely at the link: it’s a standard WMV media file, right? Wrong! – it’s actually a link to a WVX file. And instead of being HTTP:// the file is actually MMS:// – which means, quite simply, you can’t download it.
So naturally, I asked MS why. I got their local expert, and asked: “Why on earth would you copy-protect a promotional video? Surely, the idea is that people mail it around, and it generates viral marketing traction, like the German Coastguard?”
Apparently, the reason it’s not downloadable has nothing to do with copy protection. It’s “because it’s too long,” my expert assured me.
He explained: “We have a policy on web sites, that only short multimedia clips can be downloaded, because of the problems for modem users.”
As excuses go, that is such clear nonsense that I didn’t know what to say. If you have a modem link, you certainly can’t stream a WMV file. I couldn’t stream it with a 10megabit Telewest cable modem! And in any case, both the clips on that page are short! – one is two minutes, and that’s the long one. The other is 30 seconds.
Also, it’s exactly the opposite of what you want. It’s a long file that you need to download, because the longer the file, the more risk there is of network congestion.
So, in order to save you from the problem in the first place, can I point you at SDP Multimedia? The SDP utility will take the streamed video, and save it onto your disk as a WMV file, and you can then send it off to your friends.
As for the Imagine Cup, you’re too late to apply for the software competition. The UK heat is run on Friday 10th this week in Reading. But you’re free to apply for the short film section, or any of the other categories.
9 March, 2006
Origami Smart Display
The London book fair, just finished. At it, there was no sign of an e-book reader from Microsoft – which is odd, because all the stuff Microsoft has been teasing us about with Origami looks exactly the sort of thing that the Book Fair would have got excited about.
Unless, of course, it’s the long-awaited portable XBox? Good question. What is Origami, then?
Origami is another “Smart Display” – but one which imitates the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. You probably missed the Smart Display, anyway; and the 770 was only really revealed last week, at a Linux show, but both are weird devices.
Smart Display: it was a flat display. But instead of being stuck on your desk, it was portable. You pulled the screen out of the stand, and took it downstairs; it had WiFi inside it, and as soon as it noticed it was mobile, it looked for the host computer.
It was back in late 2003 that Microsoft canned Smart display, and at the time I remember writing: “The problem with it was pretty simple. If you got the small one, it was actually smaller than most Tablet PCs – and no cheaper. If you got the big one, it was really too heavy and clumsy to carry around.” And also, if you took it away from the home WiFi, it died. It was ONLY worth playing with indoors, while the WiFi was working. It had zero function out of range.
Origami is smaller still. But it works out in the open. An ideal device for a portable electronic book reader? We’ll find out tomorrow if the hardware is up to it, and one key question will be “can you read it in sunlight?” – but the real reason to be sceptical is “What will be available to read on it?”
That’s where Microsoft loses out. Sony’s Librié may be disappointing, but it will (I promise!) have ten times the battery life of Origami, be readable in bright sun, and easier to read generally. And even if none of that was true, it would still win, because Sony has done an iPod on it, and signed up all the book publishers.
Microsoft can’t do that, because it isn’t making Origami. It has designed it; people like Samsung will actually make it.
So Origami isn’t an e-book reader. It’s not a pocket PC either, and it’s not a phone. It’s a light-weight Smart Display, with a “go anywhere” wireless. Who wants it?
Clue from PopCap Games. Bejeweled 2, Zuma, Bookworm. Is this, finally, the answer to the Playstation Portable by Microsoft?
9 March, 2006
Nokia Launches Lifeblog 2.0
Nokia has launched Nokia Lifeblog 2.0, an updated version of their photo-blogging offering.
Designed for Nokia’s Nseries handsets, Lifeblog lets users create a multimedia diary, with photos, video clips, messages and text notes and store them on their phone and/or PCs.
The material is presented in a chronological manner, with the new version of Lifeblog offering the ability to add audio notes, calendar entries and location information, so that users can add some context to their pictures and video clips.
Well, that’s how we’d describe the process, but Nokia has a more flowery interpretation, insisting that adding the extra information is “rendering them as part of the rich tapestry of items that make up your personal Nokia Lifeblog timeline.”
The new Nokia Lifeblog can be set up to link photos to information about a user’s location, the time or calendar entries, so that any photos taken at, say, a wedding, would automatically be tagged with this information from the user’s calendar.
“With imaging becoming an integral part of mobile devices, the way people approach photography is changing. You are able to capture events and create memories in a spontaneous way as your device is always with you,” gushed Mikko Pilkama, whose job title is surely unpronounceable after five beers: Director, Nokia Nseries See New, Multimedia, Nokia.
Content from the NSeries phones can be transferred to a compatible PC, and photos and video clips can also be shared directly from PCs via email or by blogging to a compatible service.
The PC version of the software lets users import existing digital photo collection from their hard drive to their phone – this software can be downloaded for free from www.nokia.com/lifeblog.
8 March, 2006
Supersites Bloom As Web Users ‘Only Visit Six Sites’
There may be almost 76 million sites stuffed full of six billion pages of information vying for our attention on the Web, but it seems that most surfers only choose to visit six sites on a regular basis.
This rather amazing fact emerged from a survey commissioned by the Cabinet Office to publicise the relaunch of Directgov, the Government’s one-stop Internet Website.
The study echoed what experts are calling the ‘Supersite’ phenomenon, with over half of UK Internet users (51 per cent) visiting just six or less sites on a regular basis.
It seems that despite the immense choice on offer, most people deliberately restrict themselves to visiting just a handful of sites, preferring to stick with the familiar and the trusted.
The survey also found that three quarters of people questioned declared the Internet to be “indispensable” to their daily lives.
Sadly, it seems that the days of random surfing are coming to a close, with the vast majority of Web users (95 per cent) going online with a specific destination in mind.
For most people, it appears that banking, shopping, travel and holiday Websites are all the Web is good for, with “supersites” now including Ebay, Amazon, Google, Lastminute.com and National Rail Enquiries. And, of course, digital-lifestyles.info and urban75.com.
Naturally, all of this new research ties in perfectly with this relaunch of the www.direct.gov.uk, the government’s very own wannabe supersite.
Bringing together public services from across eleven Whitehall departments, visitors to Directgov can unearth a mountain of useful information and services, from renewing driving licences, car taxes or passports , locating local services like schools, childminders and recycling and even planning journeys on foot, by car or by public transport.
Building up a formidable head of promotional steam, Cabinet Office Minister Jim Murphy enthused, “Directgov makes it much easier for people to get to the public services they need by joining up government to bring everything together all in one place.”
“It’s our response to the changing way that people want to access information, communicate and deal with things online and on the move. Renewing your car tax, learning about benefit entitlement, finding out about training or checking your council’s recycling facilities need not be complicated – it’s all there at www.direct.gov.uk,” he added.
7 March, 2006
Orange Announce Daft Animal Pricing Tariffs
With a bonkers new naming strategy that suggests the creatives may have been on something stronger than caffeine, Orange have launched a new tariff that links customer behaviour with animal characteristics.
Backed by a whopping great £10 million advertising campaign running to the end of the year, Orange’s new pricing scheme comes in four, err, animal type packages.
The ‘Dolphin’ package is aimed at those who “like to text a lot,” The ‘Panther’ package is “for people who like all the extras” and offers inclusive 3G minutes, while the ‘Canary’ deal is for “people who love to chat,” and comes with Orange to Orange off-peak minutes.
Finally, the ‘Raccoon’ package is for grumpy hairshirt types who “want no nonsense basics” and demand a “tool, not a toy.”
Possibly recovering from a hurricane of flip-chart activity, Orange’s Neil Macgeorge, reflected on the lengthy brainstorming sessions which saw finger-clicking creatives initially mull over food types and fabrics as possible tariff names.
As the double skinny cappuccinos flowed, it was eventually decided to run with the animals idea as it – apparently – “really resonated with consumers across the board.”
We’re not entirely convinced that customers will appreciate being labelled a Racoon, but Macgeorge was on-message as he explained their philosophy;
“Over the past year we’ve been looking at the whole market and evaluating exactly how, when and why people use their phones. From that data, we then identified four clear behavioural patterns around which we’ve built our new packages.”
“Consequently, we’re shifting the way we sell services to customers and changing the headlines on the high street from complicated tariff tables to simple messages. We’re focused on offering packages which are designed to meet the different needs consumers have,” he added.
Initially launching to Pay Monthly customers, the animal packages will be made available to Pay as you go customers later in the year.
Here’s some examples of how the pricing tariffs pan out:
For thirty quid (£30), a chattering Canary gets 200 any network minutes, plus 75 texts and 50 Orange off-peak minutes, while a cheapskate Racoon would get 200 minutes plus 50 extra fixed line minutes.
For the same price, Dolphins get 100 minutes and 200 texts, while Panthers can only prowl on to the network for £45/month, which buys them 400 minutes, plus 100 texts and 25% extra anynet minutes if they buy a 3G handset.
To keep the, err, animals grazing on Orange’s pastures, customers choosing to fork out for an 18 month contract will gain access to Orange’s newly introduced “Magic Numbers” deal.
Nothing to do with the indie-pop band of the same name, a ‘Magic Number’ is simply a customer’s most frequently called Orange number and under the scheme they’ll be allowed to make calls of up to an hour to that number and only pay for a minute.
To keep the herd from straying, Pay Monthly customers will be able to choose an additional Magic Number every six months.
Sony Ericsson at CeBIT
7 March, 2006
Samsung SGH-i310 – World’s First 8GB Hard Disk Smartphone
Samsung has announced the world’s first 8GB Hard Disk embedded smartphone, the SGH-i310, which is expected to start shipping in Europe during the second half of this year.
With a hefty 8 gig of onboard storage you can leave your iPod at home, with the Samsung offering capacity for around 2,000 songs.
The phone comes in a familiar ‘candy bar’ form (we’re still looking for a UK equivalent of this American phrase – ‘Mars Bar shaped’ doesn’t sound quite right!) and is compatible with the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution).
The i310 is powered by the latest version of Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone which makes it easy for users to transfer their music libraries from their desktop machines via USB 2.0 connectivity and a Plug & Play feature allows the phone to be used as a removable hard disk.
A fully featured smartphone, the i310 comes with a 2 inch, 240 x 320, 65,536-colour display, onboard 2 megapixel camera with flash, microSD memory expansion slot, document viewer and TV output.
The camera can also record video (MPEG4/H.263), and there’s enhanced music functionality, with Bluetooth stereo (A2DP), high quality digital power amp, dual speakers and support for MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, WAV and Ogg music file formats.
The smartphone seems pretty pocketable too, measuring 111.9 x 48.5 x 19.8 mm and weighing 120g.
Will HD-smartphones kill off dedicated music players?
Pundits are expecting an onslaught of mobile phones using hard-disk drives as manufacturers continue to pack in memory-hungry functions and features into handsets.
Cornice, a US-based maker of mini-hard drives used in portable music players and mobiles reckons that the mobile phone disk drive market will explode at a compound annual growth rate of 325 per cent between 2004 and 2009.
The company expects to see around 72 million mobile phones with embedded drives shipped in 2009 out of a global total of around 1 billion handsets – making it bigger than the personal storage and portable audio player markets (Cornice predicts these to stand at 10 million and 43 million shipments, respectively, in 2009.)
The i310 will be shown to public at CeBIT in Hanover, Germany from March 9th to March 16th. No pricing for the handset has been announced yet.
6 March, 2006
Brits Love Online Banking As Alliance & Leicester Introduce New Security
Almost 60 per cent of Britons rely on the Internet to do their banking, according to new research commissioned by the Alliance and Leicester bank.
Surveying around 2,400 people, the study found that just under one-third (29 per cent) use Internet banking between once and twice per week, with just over one in 10 (12 per cent) logging on to their bank everyday
The YouGov survey revealed that there’s been a 63 per cent rise in people managing their bank accounts online since 2003, with balance checks proving the most popular activity (96 per cent) followed by money transfers for payments (76 per cent).
It seems that people still prefer to sort out complex problems by visiting the bank, and of those folks who choose to avoid online banking, over a fifth (21 per cent) said they preferred to deal with people face to face, with 13 per cent expressing concerns about security.
With this in mind, the Alliance & Leicester has announced that it will become the first UK high street bank to give all its customers two-factor authentication technology.
Designed to cut down on identity theft and online fraud, the two-factor authentication compels users to provides two means of identification.
This usually involves something that has been memorised by the user (like a password or special code) along with a physical device that generates random numbers or code.
With this security double whammy, hackers who have managed to capture the first pass code should be unlikely to proceed because the customer then needs to generate a new code to authorise online transactions.
The authentication technology will also be used to prove the authenticity of a bank’s Web site, and this should help clamp down on phishing sites.
The bank hasn’t revealed any further details yet, although it has said that the initiative would be a “simple and robust way” for customers to be confident that “their data online is safe from criminals.”
Other banks are also jumping on the security bandwagon, with Barclays running a new chip card reader trial involving 5,000 customers and staff, while Lloyds TSB is close to completing an exhaustive six-month test of a keyring type device.
The trial involved 30,000 UK online customers, with Lloyds TSB declaring itself well chuffed with the initial findings, which produced a healthy 78 per cent adoption rate amongst users.
Around 95 per cent of people using the device said they found it easy to use with the bank claiming a 100 per cent success rate in reduction of fraud among users.
Despite its success, Lloyds said that the current trial was more about testing consumer response to the technology, and it’s more interested in working to meet banking industry group Apacs’ universal security standard that will eventually be used by all banks.
As more banking activity goes online, the face of High Streets looks set to change forever, with the Economic and Social Research Council recently concluding that the rise of Internet and phone banking has led to more branches being closed.
Alliance & Leicester
3 March, 2006