Geographic

BT Vision Buys From BT/Entriq
BT Media and Broadcast the business to business outfit within BT’s Global services division has announced an alliance with Entriq.
It’s a change for BT Media and Broadcast (BT M&B), who’ve in the past received coverage at Digital Lifestyles for their efforts to offload their satellite TV interests to have some positive news to announce.
The BT Media and Broadcast/Entriq combination has already landed an important customer in the shape of BT Vision, who as well as planning to roll out of a ipTV customer proposition to the home at the end of this year, have a live ‘download to own service’ at www.downloadstore.bt.com.
Barry Bonnett BT M&B’s CEO, aware that some cynics may think BT signing with BT rather convenient, noted that the tender was “highly competitive,” and that, “BT Vision recognised the quality of service and cost effectiveness of our overall network based capability.”
Entriq, who are in the business of developing and managing Pay Media infrastructure, is part of the South African publishing and media conglomerate Naspers. Naspers, as well as having the successful consumer TV platform Multichoice in South Africa, has technology interests that include the Conditional Access company Irdeto.
Headquartered in San Diego, California, Entriq have offices dotted around the world and have a host of existing big name broadcast customers that includes MTV Networks, NBC Universal and the UK’s Channel 4 television.
29 August, 2006
Fox Plays With “Blinks”: Super-Short Advertising
We’ve all known for years that PVR’s have been eating TV advertising. Murdoch has been on top of this for ages too, which makes it all the more interesting to hear that his Fox network is using 2-second Blinks, adverts. Digital Music News covers what is happening.
Clear Channel Radio realigned its advertising strategy last year by structuring shorter spots, a move designed to spark greater listener stickiness. The strategy, dubbed “Less Is More,” has now gone into overdrive with the “blink,” an incredibly short spot that runs about two seconds.
The ultra-fast slot is now being used by Fox to promote several shows, including “Prison Break,” “House,” and “The Simpsons.” The quick punch is designed to create an instant connection, and drive subsequent viewers. “Like our breakthrough programming, these spots are one-of-a-kind, and through the power of radio, they will be heard across the country,” said Kaye Bentley, senior vice president at the Fox Broadcasting Company.
Overall, Clear Channel Radio has experienced mixed results following Less Is More, though recent quarters have shown positive revenue increases. Clear Channel executives have credited those jumps to the shortened advertising slots, which address a major source of radio listener irritation.
From a broader perspective, the concept is also designed to discourage listener migration towards competing formats like satellite radio subscriptions and even iPod collections. Blinks have already run for “Prison Break,” and get started for “House” and “The Simpsons” early next month.
25 August, 2006
Casio GPR-100: World’s Smallest GPS-Enabled Watch
Most GPS enabled watches we’ve seen so far have been so ridiculously chunky that you’d need the muscles of Mick McManus to stop your arm dragging to the floor under the weight.
However, Casio’s sleek’n’slinky new GPR-100 is a GPS-enabled watch that manages to pack in all that clever satellite positioning technology into something that actually resembles a normal watch.
Designed for hi-tech sporty types with an appetite for stats, the waterproof wristwatch checks in with GPS satellites to calculate the time, speed, distance and pace of your run, with the ability to set performance-related goals while you distribute sweat all over the neighbourhood.
We’re working from a Japanese translation here so the details aren’t entirely clear, but it seems that positional points can be inputted, with the watch able to calculate the direction and distance from your present location.
There’s also a calendar, a stopwatch offering lap/split, running time, travel distance, average pace, distance inside lap, pace inside lap, an alarm and a backlight inside the 64g watch.
It’s not designed for marathon runners though, with the rechargeable LiOn battery only managing a mere 2 hours in “normal operation,” although this can be stretched out to 4.3 hours in “low power mode.”
Despite its GPS abilities, the watch can’t display maps or offer latitude or longitude information on its tiny 49×72 full dot LCD screen, so there’s no chance of the bleeping t’ing guiding us home after a heavy session in the pub.
There’s no denying that it’s a mighty feat of miniaturisation to wedge in so much functionality into the Casio’s diminutive proportions (63.1mm×49.5mm×17.1mm), but – yowch! – that cool portability comes at a jogging pants-tightening price: ¥54,000 ($476).
Casio [Japan] (sort of translated)
23 August, 2006
Pub Landlords Get One Over On Sky
Sky TV has a strong market presence in providing big screen football to the drinking public in licensed premises in the UK. This virtual monopoly has long been a bone of contention for ‘Mine Hosts’ keen to encourage soccer imbibers to their premises for the big games, but over a proverbial barrel in terms of the price they have to pay.
Sports rights owners sell their rights by territory, but radio waves beamed out of the heavens know little of national country borders, and some enterprising landlords have made arrangements to take their soccer from sources other than the UK licensed broadcaster, Sky.
Greek, Czech and Arabic satellite TV channels have signed up with the UK’s Premier League for coverage of the UK’s beautiful game, and the deal they have is at a much better price (as we’d expect), than the one Sky negotiated, in what is a competitive market for commercial coverage of the national game.
British licensed premises can pay up to £6,000 a year for Sky’s football package and the same games, without the irritating commentary, can be received for a more manageable £39 a week from overseas operators.
Sky feel that such arrangements are against their interest and are taking the matter to court, but there’s an argument that the free EU market should permit the Greek ‘grey’ import to be available to the market. While the legal niceties are sorted out, packages designed to satisfy the UK market are clearly available on the Internet and are labelled as ‘legal’ for British pubs, citing the European soccer body EUFA .
22 August, 2006
More PE Takeover Talk At NTL
The much heralded NTL/Telewest merger, expected to be the saviour of the UK cable industry, has become the subject of another Private Equity takeover rumour and the likely winner, if it goes ahead, is Richard Branson.
A quick recap
Branson did a deal with NTL that saw Virgin mobile become part of a four-play (geddit?) proposition, allowing the operation to use the Virgin brand and in return received 10.6% of the company. The merger of the three companies has not yet bedded in, and customers across the country are still waiting for the promised improvements in the notoriously poor levels of customer support.
Flextech the programming arm of the company, which was up for sale at the time of the earlier merger (I hope you’re paying attention), is likely to again be offered up for acquisition to media companies. A great way for potential new investors to make a chuck of their cash back.
Market reaction
The market has viewed the possible takeover positively, as it considered the cable company is still under valued following its 20% share price drop in the last three months. More recently shares in the company, quoted in the US, gained around 8% last week, on the possible fresh takeover.
What would the impact be?
If a takeover goes ahead, then the focus will be on installing a strong management team to leverage the offering against well established competition from BT and the newer entrants to the market, like Tiscali whose purchase of Homechoice has put them in the triple-play space, and Sky who are rolling out a broadband proposition under their own well known brand.
21 August, 2006
Guardian g24, A PDF Newspaper: Overview
The UK’s national leading left newspaper, The Guardian, has been looking at what it thinks is the future of the daily newspaper. Since the successful launch of its Berlin edition in 2005, which rolls out of the presses somewhere between the size of a tabloid and the more traditional ‘quality’ broadsheet, it’s done a pile of blue sky thinking.
As well as producing lively Podcasts on media and business, it now brings the much heralded digital ‘Newspaper of the future’ to your computer – sorry paperboys and girls, looks like your days could be numbered.
The answer to the blue sky thinking that it’s put together is pretty radical and out there (literally) for you to try. A downloadable PDF newspaper. It comes as a group of 5 pdfs that are updated every 15 minutes throughout the day and it can be printed on your standard A4 desktop printer. The editions are compartmentalised as Top stories, World, Media, Business and Sport and offer a fairly amazing step forward for newspaper distribution, cutting out a whole tier of distribution. Only becoming physical when printed by the reader – and at the readers expense.
Since the eBooks.
The challenge for any venture like this is to keep the current revenue stream running while building a new wave stream. It’s a brave move and we hope it’ll give a challenge to the rest of the UK news industry.
Guardian g24
18 August, 2006
UK Analogue Radio Gets A Bashing
DAB in the UK has had a good week with prices dropping to an all time low, with High Street retailers are now making available a DAB radio with CD player for under £50.
To add the icing to the digital radio cake, Dixons the domestic electronics giant that made its name in radio more than 50 years ago, has announced its decision to drop conventional analogue ‘steam radio’ from its portfolio (But they appear to make a habit of grabbing press about this type of thing, having done it with VCRs already).
Although a date has been set for UK analogue TV to closedown, no such decision has been made for radio, and with radios outnumbering TVs at something like 4 to 1 any planned switchover is bound to be some way into the future.
DAB radio coverage in the UK is approaching 85% but the rollout in the rest of the world is patchy, with markets like the USA favouring a pay-model satellite-delivered radio service with brands like Sirius. Competition from the drm (Digital Radio Mondiale) standard and commercial operators like Worldspace are also creating uncertainty in territories that are characterised by dispersed populations across large land masses.
There are now over 270 UK analogue radio transmitting licences issued and they’re still leaving OFCOM’s shelves as fast as they become available, but with a promise of a further national DAB multiplexes and a likely radio presence from Channel 4, the future of radio is looking increasingly digital.
Sky’s satellite hybrid gnome receiver has so far failed to dazzle and, like the semi-portable internet radios, it’s perceived as overly complex for the average punter who prefer the Freeview-like DAB proposition.
Not all retailers of radio see the disappearance of analogue radio as inevitable in the near future. There are important extra features to tempt people, like EPG, pause live and track identification, which make digital services far ‘sexier’ than conventional wireless,
What will show DAB has arrived? We reckon that once the DAB pirates hoist their Digital aerials, the technology will have well and truly arrived.
18 August, 2006
UK Government Jumps On YouTube
The UK Government have put two of their videos up on YouTube – for all the world to enjoy.
Senior executives at the UK Cabinet Office have posted their first two short films – ‘Transformational Government‘ and ‘Sharing the leadership challenge‘, a slightly longer clip concerning Whitehall plans to save money by consolidating service departments and the leadership challenges this poses for managers.
I know, I know … given that description, you all want to shoot over to the see them without a delay, but stay with a little while longer.
Ian Dunmore, Director of Public Sector Forums broke the news saying: “This looks like the first time a government anywhere has used YouTube in this way. It’s a ground-breaking move and one other governments might well follow.” We have to admire the him keeping his head by adding, “However we don’t expect the videos to surge to the top of the popularity chart just yet.”
The Death of YouTube?
Is this the death knell for YouTube? How could a service be any less cool than to have the government using it? The truth is, of course, that YouTube welcomes all no matter how stiff the video provider.
YouTube is becoming a cross-section of society, globally. This is borne out by Peter, the self-declared geriatric1927, the 78 year old widower, living alone in the county in the middle of England. His twelve videos documenting events of his life have been watch over half a million times in the last two weeks.
For a long time Governements have been looking around for way to get their ‘messages’ out to the public without the bothersome annoyance of journalists asking difficult questions. They may see YouTube as the fix for this.
What they may not have taken account of is the video replies or text comments that people can leave in response.
UK Gov on YouTube
18 August, 2006
Extreme Sports Channel Added to Sky Mobile TV
UK satellite operator, Sky is building on their video offerings on the Sky Mobile service, by adding the Extreme Sports Channel.
Sky and Vodafone have been offering video content on their 3G network since October last year.
The latest addition will offer made-for-mobile content including a series covering the best and worst slams and profiles on the ultimate extreme sports legends as well as existing content such as the acclaimed Tips & Tricks series.
Sports has been popular content on Sky Mobile TV, so as Stephen Nuttall, Director of Business Development at Sky says, “we’re giving customers even more of what they enjoy.”
We suspect that Sky is adding the extreme sports to attract a different sort of subscriber to the service, which they’re not increasing the price of, leaving it at £5/month for unlimited access.
All of this content is currently only available to Vodafone 3G subscribers, but it is expected that other networks are in discussions with Sky and it’s expected that they may offer it on their networks.
Sky Mobile TV
17 August, 2006
Dell Recalls 4 Million Laptop Batteries
Dell has announced that it is to recall millions of laptop batteries over fears that they could overheat and pose a fire hazard.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Dell are working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission in what the commission is describing as, “the largest safety recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry.”
This big daddy of product recalls involves 4.1 million lithium-ion batteries manufactured for Dell by a unit of Sony and sold between April 2004 and July 2006.
The recall comes after Dell says it received six reports of batteries overheating, resulting in property damage to furniture and personal effects, although many suspect the figure to be much higher.
The problem hit the headlines in June 2006, when a Dell laptop burst into flames during a conference in Japan.
Photos of the flaming computer were posted on the tech site The Inquirer, with the eye witness reporting that the computer “suddenly exploded into flames” and “produced several explosions for more than five minutes.”
A battery of battery recalls
This isn’t the first time that Dell has issued recalls for its batteries either.
In December 2005, the company was forced to recall 22,000 batteries in the United States after fears that they could overheat and create a fire hazard.
The jumbo-sized recall adds up to 18% of the 22 million notebooks Dell sold during the period, this rather raises questions about about the safety of other laptops using Sony-built batteries.
Inquirer
Images courtesy of The Inquirer.
15 August, 2006