UK Online Video Viewing Bites Into TV Viewing

Online Video Viewing Bites Into TV ViewingVideo sharing Websites like YouTube are starting to impact on TV viewing figures, with more people switching off and logging on.

A new survey by the BBC found that 43% of Brits who watch video on their PCs or mobiles at least once a week now spend less time on the sofa watching TV as a result.

Although online mobile viewing continues to rise – three quarters of users say they watch more online than a year ago – it’s got a long way to go before it matches the reach of TV, with only 9 per cent of the population regularly watching Net videos.

Online Video Viewing Bites Into TV ViewingA further 13% of those questioned said they watched online occasionally, with another 10 per cent saying they expected to start in the coming year.

Not surprisingly, online and mobile video is the biggest hit with the young ‘uns, with 28 per cent of those aged 16-24 saying they watched more than once each week, while around one in ten of 25-44 year olds were Net video regulars.

However, citizens of advancing years weren’t too keen on this new fangled online video thing, with just 4 per cent of over-45s watching online.

Online Video Viewing Bites Into TV ViewingThe majority of the population still prefers to watch the old fashioned gogglebox, with two-thirds of the population shunning online TV and saying that had no intention of starting in the next 12 months.

It’s a bit of a different story in the US, where hit TV shows regularly appear on networks’ websites and through services like iTunes, although the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 will all be offering most of their shows on demand over the Internet in the next few months.

BBC report

Engadget: Dafur Gears of Peace Charity Auction

We see that Engadget are offering a charity auction for Save Dafur.

As well as three cheers to them for that organising it, we found it interesting what was being auctioned. The winner of the eBay-based auction will win two hours of online playing time of the video game Gears of War, against the editors of Engadget and Major Nelson.

If you don’t inhabit the world of Xbox 360 it’s more that likely that you’ll have no idea who Major Nelson is, so let us fill you in. Nelson is a pseudonym of Larry Hryb, the Xbox Live Director of Programming, and he runs a popular blog, not surprisingly about the Xbox.

We took a look at the Gears of Peace Auction last night when it had 6 days and 19 hours to go, and bidding was at $300 after 21 bids. Just checking it now shows it at $310 after 23 bids. Early days clearly and we can imagine seeing it going considerably higher, the further the word of the auction spreads – so after you’ve read this, go tell some friends.

Ever self-aware, Engadget also point out they understand the irony of raising money for a Dafur charity, by playing a video game called Gears of War. Their defence is that their readers chose the charity and that they’d already decided what the event was going to be. As some step towards balancing this, Engadget have named the event Gears of Peace.

Gears of Peace Auction
Gears of peace: Engadget & Major Nelson Vs. you and your pals
Engadget charity selection

SMS Doctors Appointment Reminder Live In Ealing

For a long time Health Authorities have been having kittens about the amount of people who miss their hospital appointments – and quite rightly, it’s a tremendous waste of resources, that are already stretched.

Many of the missed appointments are due to genuine mistakes where the person due at the hospital suddenly remembers that where they were supposed to be.

If this has happened to you, you’re part of the 15% that do it too.

Those afflicted with this, will be able to breath a sign of relief thanks to the combined power of Orange, iPLATO with their Patient Care Messaging, and Ealing Primary Care Trust, well, at least if they live in Ealing they will be.

Orange being involved with the project points to the means of delivery. SMS reminders will be sent to patients mobile phones automatically, thanks to the integration with the patient administration systems, already used by GPs throughout the borough.

To take part in the free trial patients register their mobile phone numbers at their surgeries.

Orange is involved through the partnership they’ve had with iPlato since 2003. They’ll be sending out the ton of SMS’s that the system will be spitting out – think of the deal like them having sold the health authority a _huge_ bundle of SMS’s. Although Orange is heading the deal, messages are sent to all networks – be a bit daft otherwise wouldn’t it?

It’s not just appointments that can be handled, Orange tell us that, “Among many benefits, text messaging prompts a better response to health promotion campaigns such as invitations to receive flu jabs or attend asthma clinics.” The word promotion could be worrying if abused.

Set at the right level of frequency, this kind of reminder is currently helpful, but any Doctor’s service that starts to abuse this by sending too many messages can be sure to get their patients unsubscribing from their service.

Mulling this over we thought that while it is a great first step, isn’t it a bit amazing that this hasn’t been done before?

Far smaller organisation have been using this idea for quite a while. Sal, my wife receives SMS reminders from her hairdresser (Jaqs of Newport – BTW can we have her hair cuts cheaper if I plug your shop?) the day before her appointments.

This marks the largest deployment of integrated text messaging in British primary care to date.

The saving for the NHS with success in this area will be considerable. Imperial College estimate that between £240 million and £380 million could be saved with country wide use of SMS reminders.

UK Freeview HD London Trial A Success

UK Freeview HD Trial A SuccessFollowing the trial in London, HD TV over Freeview has been judged as a success after the six months that it’s been running.

The major broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five made joint announcements to tell all the good news.

Not surprisingly 98% of the 450 people who took part think that the over-the-air HD service should be available now. Those people can whistle all they want because the bandwidth just isn’t available. Once digital switch over occurs, there might be a chance, if any of it’s left after the spectrum auction.

Other results of interest include 90% of the trialists felt that the public broadcasters should be responsible for HD development.

It’s clear that once people get their hands on HD, the desire becomes strong, illustrated by their wish to see at least 7 channels, or ideally 10.

UK Freeview HD Trial A SuccessSimon Fell, Director of Technology, ITV Consumer was upbeat, “We have conclusively demonstrated that HD services can run effectively alongside standard Freeview broadcasts. All major technical hurdles are behind us, and collectively we can focus on potentially providing services for the forecasted sales of 10 million flat screen TVs by 2010.”

Five percent of those who took part in the trial didn’t think that the HD experience matched up to their expectations. Many others who have HD screens have said the same as some broadcasters compress the images they’re sending out, to ensure they get as many channels into their bandwidth as possible.

Nintendo’s Wii Starts Shifting Units In The States

Nintendo's Wii Starts Shifting Units In The StatesNintendo’s eagerly awaited Wii games console went on sale yesterday in America, and the sales figures strongly suggest that the company have a winner on their hands.

Stocks quickly sold out in many stores, with sales outstripping its rival PlayStation 3, which hit the shelves two days earlier.

“There were enough people in line to snap up almost all the units of the Nintendo Wii that we had in stock, so it was an instant sellout,” enthused Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb.

Such was the enthusiasm for the new console that some sad obsessed nutters keen gaming fans had camped outside shops in New York and Hollywood for several days, with thousands of fans queuing outside shops on the launch day.

Nintendo's Wii Starts Shifting Units In The StatesThe first punter to get his hands on the shiny new console was the time-rich Isaiah Triforce Johnson, who had sat outside a New York store for more than a week.

Possibly lacking a little perspective and focus in his life, Johnson had already legally changed his name to include a reference to Nintendo’s “Zelda” games, and was pictured wearing a 1989 Nintendo Power Glove as he got to shake the hand of Nintendo’s America president Reggie Fils-Aime.

“I had to get it first,” he said, and I think we can understand why.

Nintendo's Wii Starts Shifting Units In The StatesSony had shipped 400,000 PlayStation 3s in North American stores at the end of last week, but Nintendo boasted that it would have “five to ten” times as many Wiis available at launch, with an end-of-year shipping figure of 4 million units expected.

Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa announced that around 400,000 Wiis will be hit the shelves for the 2nd December Japan launch date, with patience-stretched UK gamers finally getting the console in their grubby mitts on 8th December.

The unit will retail for £179 in the UK.

Nintendo
See the game controller in action

MySpace.com Sued By Universal Music

MySpace.com Sued By Universal MusicAs new media continues to challenge the traditional means of delivering music, video and other digital content, copyright lawyers can expect to get rich in the legal fall out.

Universal are the latest media group to get on the blower to their legal boys, filing a case against the social networking site, MySpace.com.

Universal claims that MySpace, “encourages, facilitates and participates in the unauthorised reproduction, adaptation, distribution and public performance,” and is seeking unspecified damages, including up to $150,000 for each unauthorised music song or video uploaded on to the Website.

MySpace’s botty-covering tactic of making users agree to grant the Website a license to publish uploaded content isn’t washing with the Universal legal team, who insist that they have no such authority over works they don’t own.

“A willing partner in theft”
The complaint, filed at the US District Court, claims that “MySpace is a willing partner in that theft,” observing that most of the media slapped up its pages aren’t generated by users, but purloined from copyright owners.

MySpace hit back in a statement, insisting that they are in full compliance with copyright laws:

MySpace.com Sued By Universal Music“We have been keeping UMG closely apprised of our industry-leading efforts to protect creators’ rights, and it’s unfortunate they decided to file this unnecessary and meritless litigation,” the statement said.

“We provide users with tools to share their own work – we do not induce, encourage, or condone copyright violation in any way.”

Universal were having none of it, claiming that their, “music and videos play a key role in building the communities that have created hundreds of millions of dollars of value for the owners of MySpace.”

“Our goal is not to inhibit the creation of these communities, but to ensure that our rights and those of our artists are recognised,” the statement added.

UK Web-rage Man Gets 2 Years Jail

UK Web-rage Man Gets 2 Years JailThe UK first case of Web-rage to go through the courts has reached sentencing.

Paul Gibbons, 47, of Bermondsey, south-east London has been handed a two year jail stretch.

It all started when Gibbons took an extreme dislike (to put it lightly) to some of the online discussion comments put forward to John Jones, 43, who lived in Essex. This grew to the point where Jones taunted Gibbons.

The normal course of events in this type of occasion, would be a flame war as the various parties attack each other over a series of posts – then, eventually it would fizzle out.

Not this time. Gibbons took such affront, that he gathered details online about John Jones’ address and went to pay him a visit, complete with a pickaxe handle and a friend with a machete.

UK Web-rage Man Gets 2 Years JailWhen Jones opened the door of his house – with a knife of his own, he was severely attacked.

There have been previous examples of people being attacked for online conflict. In China, one player of online game “Legend of Mir 3” killed another over a dispute over ownership of a virtual sword.

As Investigating Officer Det Sgt Jean-Marc Bazzoni of Essex Police said, “The dangers of giving personal information out in a chatroom environment must never be underestimated.”

(via)

UK Broadband Consumer Satisfaction Hits New Low

UK Broadband Consumer Satisfaction Hits New LowA new YouGov survey has found that “free” broadband deals have resulted in lower customer satisfaction levels.

The figures released by the uSwitch Customer Satisfaction Report show that most providers aren’t managing to keep their increasing customer numbers happy, with a 9% drop in broadband satisfaction levels registered among the 11,000 customers surveyed.

The report also puts consumer’s trust in their Internet suppliers at an “all time low”.

Scraping along the bottom of the customer satisfaction levels is the notorious TalkTalk service run by Carphone Warehouse, which could only muster 70% of punters happy with their service.

UK Broadband Consumer Satisfaction Hits New LowThe service was the subject of a recent BBC Watchdog investigation after thousands of customers failed to get connected and were forced to endure lengthy waits on costly pay-per-minute helplines.

Orange fared just as badly, coming joint bottom, while Virgin.net scored the highest customer satisfaction levels at 85%, ahead of Telewest and Tiscali.

uSwitch said that despite1.5 million new customers signing up broadband over the past ten months, providers had failed to match the growth with improvements in customer service levels.

UK Broadband Consumer Satisfaction Hits New Low“It’s disappointing to see that the majority of providers are failing to accompany the growth in customer numbers by sufficient growth in customer service operations and the required investment in their technology to ensure that they are looking after customer needs in an acceptable manner,” said Steve Weller, communications chief services at uSwitch.

“These results should provide a clear signal that customers are demanding a more comprehensive, sophisticated range of services, and it is becoming more important than ever before for providers to offer value for money in terms of both price and service,” he added.

uSwitch.

US Is The World’s Worst Spammer

US Is The World's Worst SpammerThe US is responsible for a fifth of the world’s spam, according to security firm Sophos.

Based on their figures for Q3 2006, the US was responsible for a whopping 21.6 percent of relayed spam, making it the worst country on the planet for originating spam.

In second place in Sophos’ list o’shame comes China with 13.4 percent, followed by France (6.3 percent), South Korea (6.3 percent) and Spain (5.8 percent).

Us Brits can give ourselves a little pat on the back, as we’ve managed to reduce our spam output enough to drop out of the top ten, into 13th position.

Stratio is a pain in the arsio
Sophos reckons that the reason for the boost in the US’s spamming activities could be down to the emergence of over 300 strains of the Stratio worm.

This pesky bleeder, also known as Stration or Warezov, spreads via email using a variety of disguises, including a cheeky one that warns the victim that their PC has already been infected by a worm.

Of course, if the recipient is daft enough to download the enclosed attachment, they will indeed by infected by a worm.

US Is The World's Worst SpammerMost unsolicited emails are churned out by zombie PCs. These don’t walk towards you, arms outstretched and making funny groaning noises, but are computers that have been silently infected with Trojans, worms and viruses that turn your lovely PC into a spam-spewing beast.

“In the past hackers were very reliant on operating system vulnerabilities to convert an innocent computer into a zombie – now they are turning back to malware to trick users into running their malicious code, and opening the backdoor to hackers,” said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos.

Spammers get sneaky
Sophos has also identified new scams being dreamt up by creative spammers, including a mail asking for email addresses for spam purposes, and another that encourages users to visit a video tribute website – but you’ll only get to see the full video once the user has input their email address (if the video even exists, of course).

“Integrated anti-malware and anti-spam protection is getting the better of illegal spam peddlers – forcing them to get more creative and crooked. However, if people are playing their security cards right, the spammers’ efforts will still be in vain,” continued Theriault.

[From: Infozine]

Info and resources
W32/Stration-A Worm [Sophos]
Why spam is out of control [Guardian]
Podcast: How to Protect Against Spam [Symantec]
Podcast: How to Protect Against Spam [Symantec]
Fight Spam on the Internet!

OverBoard Extreme Pro-Sports Floating Waterproof iPod Case

OverBoard Extreme Pro-Sports Floating Waterproof iPod CaseA UK company specialising in waterproof bags, OverBoard, have widened their selection of waterproof cases to include electronic gear.

As many of you may have found out to your disappointment, electronics goods do _not_ mix with either water or sand where they either short out in the case of water, or start making a horrible grinding sound in the case of sand.

OverBoard already had cases for mobile phones, PSP and various music players including iPod that could be used for “leisure activities,’ such as light swimming or chilling by the pool or knocking around on a sandy beach.

OverBoard tell us that it’s even possible to make a phone call with the case in place.

OverBoard Extreme Pro-Sports Floating Waterproof iPod CaseNot content with just providing their leisure range, they’ve decided to tackle the design problem of a waterproof iPod case for extreme water sports, a range they call pro-Sports. Not only are they more rugged, but float, so your rather expensive music player doesn’t start playing its tunes to the fishes.

I got my hands on them at the WhiteAir Extreme Sports Festival

I’d never seen waterproof ipod cases before and was surprised to see a headphone adaptor pointing out of the bottom of it – quite how else I thought you’d listen to them is anyones guess. The connector is gold to minimise corrosion, but OverBoard recommend washing the unit through with freshwater after use.

Taking the music player in and out of the case is simple. Overboard’s seal on these cases are sliders, so moving these apart gives direct access to the waterproof pouch. Once the headphone plug has been inserted into the player, sealing the bag is just a case of pushing the sliders together again. Controlling the player is simple through the clear section of the case.

OverBoard Extreme Pro-Sports Floating Waterproof iPod CaseThe time I had with it gave me the impression that the case is very tough. There’s two leads supplied, a neoprene velcro sports arm strap (for attaching to your arm – in the photo) and a safety break neck lanyard.

Overboard have good a couple of developments underway. The first is a PSP bag which they’re adding a headphone socket to and they tell me that they’re planning on bringing out some waterproof headphones soon.

The Pro-sport range iPod player (black and white) is available from the OverBoard site for £24.99 (€37, $48).

OverBoard Pro-Sport case
OverBoard
Some more photos of the OverBoard cases