Digital-Lifestyles

Distribution

The new digital ways content was becoming distributed

  • More details of BBC iMP revealed – All content DRM’d

    More details of the intriguing BBC interactive media player, iMP, first made public at IBC 2003, were revealed this evening at a AIGA meeting in London. Sara Watkins, Executive Producer, Broadband, BBC New Media gave the audience further details of what iMP will do and importantly, what it will not.

    The most significant revelations were concerning the protection of the content. All content will be DRM’d, only available for a limited period time, once downloaded. As expected, it will also only be available to UK broadband users. In a break with the BBC’s long-standing support of Real, Microsoft DRM will be used for the technical trial, but it appears that no final decision has been made.

    Sara started by running a video giving an overview of what the BBC hope the iMP will be and where it might go.

    As was known previously, the EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) will cover fourteen days; seven looking forward and seven backward. The programs that have been broadcasted will be downloadable to the computer simply by clicking on them. A preview of a piece can be watched before committing to download a complete show.

    Although it was not mentioned in this presentation, in previous discussion we have had we understood that upcoming programs could be selected to download, once they have been broadcasted.

    People will also be able to recommend programmes it to friends.


    The iMP, originally envisaged by BBC man Ben Lavender, will be a PC-only application that will be downloaded from the BBC website.

    Further into the future they are looking forward to having the content on other devices, such as portable music players and even further forward, towards mobile phones. This portable content will initially be limited to audio, as the rights to these programmes are nearly all owned solely by the BBC.

    Running through the demonstration version of the product, we were shown the player would have four sections

    _Library area

    A list of the content residing on the computer will be shown, as you would expect from any filing system. A new revelation was that the rights information for each show would be displayed on the right hand side of the screen.

    Each separate show will be capable of having its own DRM setting, primarily how many days it will reside on your machine and therefore, how quickly you will need to watch the show before it become unavailable.

    The examples given were

    Eastenders (most popular UK soap) might be available for two weeks
    An episode of Blue Planet (recent super budget natural history programme) might be available for two days.

    The amount of compression applied to each piece of content will vary, so the video quality will vary. More popular programmes will be lower quality but programmes that would benefit from better quality will receive it, such as Blue Planet.

    _Traffic area

    As per standard peer-to-peer (P2P) packages – showing what is being transferred to and from your machine at any time.

    It was reiterated that P2P file sharing technologies would be used to automatically exchange content between broadband-connected computers running iMP, thus saving the BBC a considerable amount of money on individually serving each files.

    _TV and radio guide areas

    No real details were given about this.

    Stages of development

    The BBC plan to carry out an internal technical trial, where they will work out the logistics of how to get the content from its original source (tape, etc), how to will be encoded, archived and make it available.

    Later in the year, possibly around Easter, a closed network of users will be given the product to test it. During this phase they hope to understand how effective the interface design is.

    Following these stages they will enter a product development mode – taking all of the learning and re-polishing the product. No date was mentioned for a public release.

    During the Q&A session another interesting revelation concerning the Greg Dyke’s idea floated at RTS Edinburgh 2003, the Creative Archive. The content that makes up the Creative Archive will be downloaded using a similar application, but will not be restricted by DRM enabling people to re-edit it, or use it to make other programmes. Importantly it will not be the complete BBC archive, the examples given was – it will be nature programmes but it will not be show such as Dad’s Army (An old very popular comedy show first show in the 1970’s).

    AIGA London

    Transcript

  • Vodafone’s Connect Card Wins at Cannes

    Vodafone’s Mobile Connect Card, launched in April 2003 has won the Best Mobile Application or Service: Corporate Market at the 2004 GSM Association Awards in Cannes.

    The card is essentially a rebadged Option Globetrotter with a Vodafone data service and software suite. The package is designed to provide simple and secure access to company networks and the internet, and is plug and play thanks to the Vodafone dashboard and software.

    Vodafone’s new version of the card, the Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS datacard will be available in many areas of Europe in the next month.

    ZDNet’s review of the card

  • Ofcom Chair: UK with True Broadband by 2010

    Fifty days in to Ofcom’s existence, its Chair David Currie delivered a speech to the Communications Management Association conference. He recapped on what Ofcom had been doing, then outlined where he felt it was going, focusing mainly on broadband.

    We feel the most exciting part of the speech was, in his words, True Broadband.

    Anyone with a real understanding of why broadband is such a vital part of the future will be hugely encouraged by his words. In summary, what is currently being sold as broadband to the UK consumer and many other around the world, a 512k connection, is not broadband. It is the equivalent of a 1200/75-baud modem.

    We heartily agree with Currie view that ‘DSL at 512k is a convenience product’. He argues that it is not practical or possible for the UK to lurch from a 512k connection to something much faster – the current copper-wire based system we have simply would not support it.

    Instead a target of 10Mbps should be set for 2010 and that it should be provided competitively. We read this as; the long lasting monopoly that BT has, and does enjoy will be removed. His comparison with the multi-supplier mobile market bears this out. In our view BT consistently hoodwinked Oftel. At first glance it looks like they will not have the same joy with Ofcom.

    This was further underlined by his praise of the Parliamentary Trade and Industry Select Committee point that

    ‘[we must] make certain that the regulatory framework ensures that commercial decisions by private companies are aligned with the wider economic and social needs of the country.’

    He and his colleagues clearly recognise and understand what is required for a proper broadband service. With connections being symmetric rather than the slow transmit, asymmetric we have now, he identified the need for the network to enable distributed system, not just central services delivering to the ends of the network. We also find it encouraging that he reiterated the pursuit of wireless connections.

    Currie states his aim is ‘Liquid bandwidth; all you can eat; always on. No contention.’

    Very encouraging.

    Full text
    David Currie, Ofcom chairman, Communications Management Association Annual Conference, 16 February 2004

  • Telewest Float Surf & Sniff Smell Generator

    It being Friday and we thought we would bring you a light-hearted piece.

    UK cable company, Telewest, has suggested that they may release a computer add-on that generates aromas that can be controlled software. Sound like an urban myth/joke, but it is not without precedent. The first time a computer-controlled device was suggest was in 1999 by a start-up called DigiScent. Prior to that it was on the grander scale of whole cinemas, when in the last 50’s two similar ideas, AromaRama and Smell-O-Vision, were introduced to US cinemagoers.

    AromaRama used the theatres ventilation system to get their scents out and Smell-O-Vision far more expensive approach was to place units under each cinema seat.

    DigiScent was a serious, scientific approach to the subject that was started by two Stanford graduates that had made some serious fortunes from software for genetic databases.

    One of the founders, Joel Lloyd Bellenson looked into previous scientific research around the subject to discover how humans perceived smells. His explanation was detailed in an article by Wired at the time.

    “The explanation for this proved relatively simple. When odour molecules drift into the nose, each of them binds with a particular protein on the surface of a neuron. There are about 1,000 odour-matching proteins, each with a slightly different configuration, scattered across a human’s 10 million odour-detecting neurons. (By comparison, a mouse has about 1 million neurons of this type, while a pig boasts 100 million.) When the shape of an odour molecule matches the shape of a protein, the molecules lock together, triggering the neuron, which sends a signal that the brain recognizes as a smell. DNA is relevant because its instructions – its genes – tell the body how to build the proteins that receive odour molecules and activate the neurons. ”

    Calling on his previous software experience, Bellenson wrote software to simulate the binding of odour molecules with proteins. By using this he felt he could generate billions of odours simply by selecting different proportions of 100-200 “scent primaries.”

    DigiScent’s business was to licence its software to the creators of  other media, to synchronise aromas with them. Web pages would be able to trigger them, as would TV shows, video games and films. The scent generators would be plugged into the serial port and sit on the desk – Reekers, instead of speakers.

    Like many ideas around 1999, sadly DigiScent is not around anymore. One possible reason for that could have been is the name they chose for their product – iSmell.

    Telewest say they have tested the idea in their labs, calling email using the device ‘ScentMail’, or on a wider scale, ‘Aromanet’. They plan to bring out a domed device that plugs in to the serial port of a computer or set top box, that takes dispoable cartidges to generate the aromas. They say the intial range of smells will be around 60 by mixing the palette of 20 oringial aromas.

    Appearing to be designed to get them a few column inches for their broadband service, it is not clear how serious Telewest are about it. When discussing the cost of the dome they are less than exact, ‘Hardware for a surf & sniff set up might cost around £250 for the basic equipment’. We are sure Telewest is not trying to create news during the time their managing director, Charles Burdick, has left the company to “pursue other opportunities.”

    Telewest corny press release

    Wired 1999 article on DigiScent

  • ATI Announce HTDV PVR Card

    ATI Technologies have announced they will be releasing a card capable of receiving and storing US-standard HDTV. Called the HDTV Wonder, the add-on card will receive standard NTSC cable as well as free-to-air HDTV broadcasts enabling content to be saved to the computers hard drive. Full PVR functionality will available, as will the ability to burn recordings direct to DVD.

    They plan bundle it with a selection of their All-in-Wonder graphics cards and make it available as a standalone product when they release it in the spring. The price hasn’t been disclosed.

    No word has been received from them as to whether the card will comply with the FCC Broadcast flag requirements.

    Hy-Tek are getting to free publicity, by announcing their will be releasing two wide-screen all-in-one multimedia computers, Tekpanel 300HD and the Tekpanel 370HD which will incorporate the card.

    ATI

    Hy-Tek

  • Akimbo Launch PVR-over-IP Box

    Akimbo Systems launched their television-via-Internet service yesterday at Demo2004. They are claiming the service will start with over 10,000 hours of video content, organised in to 50 categories, will be pulled from a variety of sources. The number of hours available will grow to 20,000.

    The $199 player, which is expected to be in US retail stores in late 2004, receives content via a broadband connection and can hold 200 hours of video, in Microsoft’s WM9 DRM-controlled format on it’s 80Gb drive. Subscription to the service is $9.99 per month.

    This product is the first of released example of the long spoken about idea of distributing content by passing previously used broadcast structures. Akimbo claim a number of factors have now come together to enable the services to become realistic; the cost of transporting a gigabyte of video over the Internet has dropped to around $1 from $20 a few years ago; video compression has improved to the point that DVD-quality video can fit into a 1.5 megabit per second stream; broadband has grown to an audience of 50m people.

    Given it is initially a dedicated box, that we assume will be closed to customer enhancements, it will live or die by the content they can secure for the service. We suspect the service may well morph in to a content channel when more PC’s are connected to the TV in the lounge.

    Akimbo are canvassing for new content from video rights owners and are giving the option for subscription, rental, purchase, or advertising supported model. Their big pitch is niche content direct to the consumer and they will handle transactions, delivering the due fees to the rights holders.

    We feel the other vital component for them to get right is the navigation of the content, enabling consumers to actually find the programmes that they want to watch.

    Akimbo

  • Vodafone launches 3G in Europe

    Vodafone have announced today that it will be starting its 3G service in Europe. Interestingly their first offering will be a data only service using the catchyly named Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G/GPRS data card, rather than a voice service. Slotting one of these into a laptop will provide data speed up to 384kbps.

    It is clear that Vodafone is not just throwing money at bring their 3G service to the public – they are taking a cautious, measured approach to it. The service is launching in seven European countries over the next four weeks; UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. The coverage will not be comprehensive to start, but will focus initially on major cities and grow through transport routes, then expand over the next few years. When the 3G service becomes too weak, the card will automatically fall back to GPRS without interrupting service.

    We feel there may be a number of reasons that Vodafone have launched their initial offering as a data service and not voice as was expected. In short, predictability – of income, subscribers and usage. The data service, aimed at businesses, will more than likely bring in more income than the voice service, for the use of the same infrastructure. It is unlikely that there will be thousands of individuals clamouring to get on to it and signing corporate accounts will give them a far better ability to plan for expansion and usage patterns. In addition, may be something as simple as they do not feel the handsets that are currently available would appeal to their clients.

    Vodafone

  • Phantom Games Console – Round Up

    In the past year or so, there has been a lot of speculation about the Phantom console. The name doesn’t help much, it has to be said. The console was announced early in 2003 and then everything went a bit quiet – no prototypes were seen, the platform itself seemed a bit vague and many regarded Timothy Roberts’, the man behind Infinium Labs, involvement as a bad omen.

    For some months, the only images of the console were 3D renders, and no games developer has yet admitted to having signed up for the platform.

    The console was finally unveiled at the last CES, and we’d like to gather what is known about Phantom to clear up some of the mystery.

    [1] What’s in it?

    Infinium state that the console is PC-based and features a custom N-Force motherboard. The processor is listed as “up to AMD XP 3200+”, though whether that this implies that the box is customisable or upgradable, or they just haven’t finalised it yet, no-one knows. The really important part, the graphics chipset is around the GeForce FX5700 mark. Interestingly, the console does not feature an optical drive, but will feature a hard drive up to 320gb in size.

    [2] What does it run?

    The Phantom runs on a modified Windows XPe kernel.

    [3] What will it cost?

    We’ve seen figures for between ~US$400 and ~US$700, which places it firmly in the “cheaper than a PC for playing games, but considerably more than a console” bracket.

    [4] What can you play on it?

    The Phantom will come with pre-installed games. Some reports have said as many as fifty. Other games will be available for download through the PhantomNet GameService.

    Given the hardware/software platform, the games will be modified versions of PC games.

    [5] What is PhantomNet GameService?

    The console is unique in that it requires a broadband connection to function – players will be able to download new games or activate licenses for those already preloaded on the hard disk. Presumably, the service will also provide other functions as seen on Sony’s Central Station and Microsoft’s Xbox Live.

    [6] Does it stand a chance?

    Well, that remains to be seen. Xbox and Playstation2 are obviously dominating the market (and so will their offspring), and we’ve seen previously unassailable leaders like Sega and Nintendo get badly burned with hardware. However, the Phantom is a essentially a PC (and even more of a PC than the Xbox isn’t), so isn’t entirely proprietary like the GameCube and, to a slightly lesser extent, the Dreamcast. And remember, everybody laughed at Sony in 1995.

    One of the problems we can see is the implication that consoles will be built to order, making standardisation a problem. However, new games can be published to the format without too much redevelopment and, given the absence of an optical drive, piracy will be difficult.

    This could be a terrific distribution channel for games publishers who can’t get space in big retailers, or can’t afford the heavy discounting that’s endemic in the market. It could also be a great service for buying games on impulse, when even Amazon isn’t fast enough.

    Given the dramatic increase in broadband subscriptions, the console could be right on time – but given that many games now have installers measuring 500 mb to 2 gig in size, perhaps popping down the shops to buy Half Life2 might be quicker than downloading it, although that didn’t put someone off in the past.

    [7] What next?

    Curiously, Infinium are reluctant to tell the press much at this stage, even though the project is reportly in advanced stages. They have, however, managed to raise a not inconsiderable amount of venture capital (at least ~US$25 million) on the back of this idea – despite not having really shown anyone anything.

    We’ll keep you posted.

    Wired on the Phantom

    HardOCP on Infinium’s patchy history

    Infinium on the Phantom

  • 4.8 Million Broadband Users by 2005

    “With 12.6m homes now connected to the Internet there is a still a huge opportunity available for telecoms companies to persuade people to upgrade onto faster connections, especially as we are seeing a strong interest and demand by consumers to do so.” said Colin Shaddick, director at Continental Research.

    Ofcom estimate that broadband subscriptions currently stand at 3.2 million (Continental estimate 3.8). Given the rate at which people have been swapping over – because of the range of providers, competitive price cuts, and increase in quality, ease and reliability in the past twelve months – another 1.6 million subscribers by this time next year doesn’t seem too much of a stretch.

    Continental Research

    Ofcom’s Broadband Update, January 2004

  • Freeview and Top-Up TV Lock Horns

    In what is likely to be the first in a long series of bust-ups, the BBC is complaining that Top-Up TV, the new service run by David Chance and Ian West, will detract from the Freeview service, if the new channels are listed alongside the existing free channels.

    The BBC wants Top-Up TV to have its channels grouped together on their own to distance them from Freeview. Chance and West’s new venture will initially carry ten channels for £7.99 a month, bringing subscribers E4, UK Gold, Cartoon Network, UK Style, Discovery, TCM, UK Food, Dscovery Home and Leisure, Boomerang and Bloomberg.

    The whole thing reminds us somewhat of the fuss the BBC made with Sky over the Electronic Programme Guide.

    Of course, the real reason that the BBC is getting sniffy about having their channels grouped with Top-Up Tv might just be that the new service is hoping to offer TVX, Richard Desmond’s porn channel, in the near future for an extra charge.

    The ironic thing about the service is, despite its spangly newness, Top-UP TV can only be received on the old ITV Digital Boxes (the one you should have given back), because they’re the only ones with a smartcard reader slot on them. There are apparently some 800,000 of those boxes out in the wild, and newer hardware will have to be upgraded or replaced.

    Top-Up TV’s new website

    The Freeview Consortium