Web

20 Percent Of Music To Be Digitally Delivered By 2008
Sony BMG’s global digital business president Thomas Hesse was full of optimism about the emerging opportunities brought about by digital distribution channels such as iTunes and ringtones.
Speaking at the Music 2.0 conference, Hesse predicted that digital music was expected to grow to 19-20 percent of the market by 2008, adding that this was “a fundamental transformation.”
Although the single format no longer rules the pop world, Hesse enthused about lucrative new possibilities brought about by digital music technologies which could increase returns on songs.
These might include whetting the public’s appetite with extra bundled content such as exclusive digital sales, artist interviews, video footage and acoustic versions of songs.
The Sony bigwig suggested that the record industry could learn from the movie studios where carefully-timed “release windows” have helped maximise commercial opportunities for new films.
Historically, the record industry has usually shunted everything out at the same time, but Hesse advised that early releases to specific formats like ringtones and iTunes downloads could rake in extra dollars, with the “real” tracks arriving later in a host of other digital and physical formats.
Hesse also expressed his preference for new payment systems for artists, where they get paid a percentage by total revenue sales, rather than unit sales.
Sony BMG Exec Sees Brave New Digital World [Digital Music News]
10 August, 2005
Yahoo Unveils Audio Search Facility
Yahoo is testing a new Audio search facility to let users find audio files on the Web.
The free service, available online at Yahoo Search, claims to have indexed more than 50 million audio files including music downloads, albums, spoken word newscasts, speeches, interviews and, notably, podcasts.
Additionally, the search engine has indexed other audio related information including music videos, album reviews, artist images and artists’ Websites.
Although other internet search engines have the capability to find audio files, Yahoo claims that theirs is the dog’s bollo’s because the company has received permission to index downloadable songs offered by almost all of the biggest mainstream and independent providers.
These include iTunes, Napster, eMusic, GarageBand.com, Napster and RealNetworks’ Rhapsody, letting users click to buy once they’ve found the tunes they’re looking for.
Although the service is still in beta we were impressed with its speedy and simple interface: typing in the name of one of my (sadly) obscure old punk songs immediately brought up the album details, a list of download locations and links to reviews and other released albums.
For many of the songs, you can preview tunes before buying, with a ‘Preferred Audio Service’ option letting users select their, err, preferred music service from a comprehensive list.
Impressive!
This latest offering from Yahoo reflects the growing trend by search engine companies to expand their services into multimedia as well as text-based searching.
With all of the major players already offering some kind of video search facility, the race is on to provide a true, one-stop search engine capable of indexing everything on the Web.
Yahoo Audio Search
5 August, 2005
Hello! WAP Service Launches
Hellomagazine.com, the online version of the ghastly celebrity magazine Hello!, is expanding its existing SMS and JAVA mobile offer with a new WAP portal.
The HELLO! WAP celebrity news service will allow ~~deeply unfulfilled souls~~ fans of the fascinating world of celebrity to trawl through eight of the very latest celebrity tittle-tattle and photos – updated daily – on their mobile phone, Monday to Friday.
Fans of this depressing vacuous nonsense are invited to check out the HELLO! WAP celebrity news site by texting GO HELLOMAG to 85080.
A bookmark directly linking to the portal will be sent by return, with users able to browse the latest headlines for free.
Punters desperate to discover more about the colour of Jennifer Aniston’s new handbag and the name of Brad Pitt’s pet gerbil will then have to subscribe to read the full fascinating story, for £3 (~US$5.31 ~€4.35) per month.
Tree Elven (what the…?!), hellomagazine.com’s Website editor, squeaked: “We’re pumping out great pix and authoritative news every day on hellomagazine.com – people don’t want to miss the latest titbits just because they’re on the go, so a WAP site is the perfect solution.
Celeb-thirsty fans can check the headlines then go in deeper if they want the full story with photos. We’re really happy to be adding HELLO! WAP to our mobile offer and we’ll soon be beefing it up even more with wallpapers, ringtones and other entertaining stuff.”
We’d rather have our privates gnawed by a gang of rampaging ferrets than have this inane drivel downloading on our phone, but no doubt there’ll be a huge market for it….
Hello! WAP
2 August, 2005
Flash 8 Video Set to Take On Microsoft
Back in June, Macromedia started talking publicly about their ambitious plans for Flash. It’s clear that they’re planning to take it up a few gears on all fronts; the creation; the server; and the player side.
For us, the big news is the updating of the video CoDec, taking it from the old H.283 CoDec of the previous release to On2 Technologies, VP6. Both are claiming better performance than Windows Media, with a 10-20% size reduction over it too.
High-quality video running in Flash could be a serious contender to Apple, Real and Microsoft. The Flash player is thought to be installed on 98% of all computers, totalling about 600 million machines.
While some of those involved in producing video for the Web might see this and groan – encoding video in each of the three dominant formats was often seen as a major headache – it could be that Flash could cut across that problem.
For a long time many have thought that Flash could become a dominant development platform, delivering what Java promised and failed to achieve – write once, play anywhere.
As Flash is vector-based, not bit-mapped – its graphics are described in terms of shapes, not absolute positions on a screen – it has the strength that the displays scale. This is of particular benefit when writing applications for mobile phones which have hundreds of variation of screen size and resolution across the market.
Developers of mobile phone content find themselves having to write hundreds of different versions of a programme, if they want to support the whole market.
The rumours a flying as to when Flash 8 might be released. The official word is ‘Summer’, but some are speculating that it might be 8/8, 8th August.
Making the most of the interest that is bound to be heading in their direction, this week On2 have released a new version of their encoding tool, VP7.
On2 Technologies
MacroMedia
Flashmagazine – Interview with Doug McIntyre from On2 Technologies
29 July, 2005
MTV Starzine: Driven By User-Generated Content
MTV is in the mood to get all interactive with its audience with the launch of MTV: starzine, a new online magazine designed to give “music wannabies the opportunity to realise their dreams of becoming an MTV star.”
In a cunning work-avoidance exercise, the editors of the site are letting contributors create and design their own pages.
Wannabe webmeisters are invited to knock out their own layout, shovel in some draft copy and slap on some photographs to create their own page in the mag.
In another cunning ploy to keep users coming back for more, users will earn points for interacting with the magazine and the more material they shunt online and the bigger the audience, the more points they amass.
Sadly, points don’t mean prizes here – instead, users with bagfuls of points will be rewarded by having their page pushed closer to the front of the magazine.
“We’re inviting our viewers to let their creative juices flow and the chance to stand out from the crowd and become a true MTV star,” gushed Tony Robinson, VP, MTV International Marketing Partnerships.
“MTV: starzine is the first online magazine in Europe to be created by its readers for its readers and it will undoubtedly open doors for kids who want to get into photography, journalism or who just want a new way to communicate with other people,” he added.
The all-blinking, Flash-tastic, David Carson ‘tribute’ site lets users upload unlimited images as well as text on to the magazine, with the facility to directly submit photographs taken on a cameraphone.
“MTV: starzine provides an ideal platform for young people who want to get into photography or journalism as it gives people the ability to publish their work and get under the noses of thousands of other people,” continued Robinson.
“Anyone can become an MTV star using this service; all you have to do is get online and get publishing,” he added, looking forward to a new site stuffed full of lucrative product tie-ins and user generated free content.
Naturally, MTV have got a big airbrush on hand to remove anything that might “cause offence” and all content is moderated by The Man.
MTV:starzine
29 July, 2005
Amazon Revenue Rockets, Income Slips
Amazon.com’s revenue soared internationally in the second quarter as electronics and other non-book bits’n’bobs made up more of its business.
The cash tills rang loud to the tune of US$1.75 billion (~£1bn, ~€1.45bn) in the quarter ended June 30, up a healthy 26 per cent from US$1.39 billion in last year’s second quarter.
Amazon’s international segment – which includes its UK French, German, Japanese and Chinese units – climbed 33 per cent from last year to reach US$793 million (~£456m, ~€661m).
The behemoth of online book floggers saw its sales of electronics and general merchandise grow to 26 per cent of its worldwide sales from 23 per cent a year earlier.
Amazon.com’s chief financial officer, Tom Szkutak, announced that third-party sales accounted for 28 percent of Amazon.com’s total items sold, sprightly stepping up from 24 percent for this time last year.
Szkutak said that the company was chuffed with the “heavy shopping” undertaken by Amazon Prime customers who have been clicking madly for electronics, tools, kitchen supplies, and health and personal care products.
“Though expensive for the company, Amazon Prime creates a premium experience for customers who join, and as a result we hope they’ll purchase more from us in the long term,” Szkutak said.
It wasn’t all pearly-white grins, as Amazon announced that net income declined to US$52 million (~£30m, ~€43m) from US$76 (~£44m, ~€66.3m) million in the second quarter of 2004.
This includes US$56 million (~£32.25m, ~€46.6m) in income tax expense, which was up from US$5 million (~£2.87m, ~€4.16m) a year earlier.
Amazon’s earnings were US$0.12 per share, slipping down from US$0.18 per share in last year’s second quarter, but still ahead of analyst’s predications.
Amazon said it expects sales to increase of 20 percent to 31 percent in the current quarter compared to last year.
Amazon
27 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
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
Google Adds New Personalised Search Features
Google has launched an updated beta version of its personalised search tool that learns from your history of searches and search results you’ve clicked on, shuffling more relevant results to the top of the page.
Here’s how it works: if a mad keen boozer was always searching for man-sized glasses to sup his ale from, Google would learn from his search history with future searches for the keyword “glasses” automatically serving up glass-related results, while ignoring results for the four-eyed variety.
Similarly, if the surfer was a teetotaller with an Elton John-like obsession with spectacles, Google would only serve up spec-related results and links when they searched for “glasses”.
According to Google’s Marissa Mayer, the more users search and build up a search history the better the results will become.
“We need to have a history of the user,” Mayer added. “When people first sign up they may not see results right away, but it will build over time.”
Consumers need to have a Google account for the free service and those using the previous version of the personalised search service will automatically be switched to the new version.
The service only works when the user is signed on to their Google account.
Clearly, there could be a shedload of potential privacy concerns here with the search history feature compiling a detailed list of every page you’ve ever searched for, but sneaky surfers hoping for a bit of discrete titillation can sign out of the personalised search service, pause it or remove it through their accounts page.
Furtive track-coverers can also remove individual items from their search history as well.
This latest personalised search beta is a refinement of the previous version, launched in March 2004, which only customised searches after users had manually selected categories of interest.
Like all Google public betas, the new personalised search service is currently sitting in Google Labs, described by the company as an “engineer’s playground”.
Mayer said she could not speculate on when a final version will be launched, adding that Google will not be customising advertisements based on the personalised search.
This latest search development reflects Google’s drive to let users customise their Web experiences, and follows on from the personalised Google home page feature introduced in May.
Google labs
29 June, 2005
UK eGovernment – Pressure Builds For Awareness Campaign
eGov Monitor is reporting that pressure is building for a national campaign to spur demand for eGovernment, with the government likely to be asked to fund a large-scale marketing campaign to promote online public services.
According to the article, only around 15 per cent of the public are presently using eGovernment services, a figure so rubbish that senior officials are banging tables and demanding something should be done.
After three tables collapsed under the strain of their repetitive beats, the top brass have arrived at the conclusion that to boost the current low levels of take-up, the Government must dish out the dosh to a dedicated marketing drive for e-services.
However, recent research funded by the government revealed that although marketing campaigns can effectively promote public awareness of eGovernment services, they don’t always result in actual take-up increasing.
The same research, produced for the e-Citizen National Project on Take-Up and Marketing, came up with the more encouraging news that 46 per cent of adults in England are willing to use online public services.
Although growth in the take-up of some e-services has been promising, the eGov article states that the need to drive up public usage across the board remains a major concern for the UK’s eGovernment programme.
Earlier this month an official from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister reportedly gave an eGovernment conference in Washington, DC, mulling and musing over a possible UK e-Government marketing campaign.
Winning friends and influencing people with every word, Julian “The Diplomat” Bowrey, the ODPM’s local eGovernment divisional and programme manager, is reported to have told delegates to target the campaign at two key groups of potential users.
The first was “grumpy young men who want to pay their parking fines online and want to complain, preferably at three in the morning” and the second was “women who have an interest in local community services”.
Hmmm. Maybe we can think of some other reasons why take-up has been slow.
Government Faces Call for E-Service Take-Up Drive
Local e-Gov site
21 June, 2005