Services

Service offered

Sony VN-CX1: Skype Mouse Phone
No idea if we’re ever going to see it turning up in Blighty any time soon, but we love this crazy new Sony VN-CX1 USB optical mouse-phone.
The press release is only in Japanese, but we worked out that mouse-phone (‘phouse’?, moune?) is able to notify you of incoming calls via flashing LED and built-in speaker.
When closed, the mouse works like any other with the dial in the middle functioning as a scroll wheel.
The clever stuff happens when a call comes in.
The user can then flip open the mouse to reveal a functional phone, with the mouse-wheel being used to adjust the volume. Pressing the scroll wheel mutes the call.
The built in echo cancellation feature should guarantee decent call sound quality, and finishing the call is as simple as flipping the mouse-phone shut.
A potential problem might arise if you wanted to use the mouse when you’re on a call, but we think you can just switch to speakerphone mode. Or maybe not (the translated press announcement goes on about ‘knitting machines’ so it’s a bit vague).
Being a Sony product, the Sony VN-CX1 looks to please groovy feckers, offering the mouse in 5 trendy colours to match their shade of laptop/shirt/nail varnish.
Although the VN-CX1 doesn’t look like the most comfortable mouse we’ve ever seen, it’s small and light enough (45.5 × 23.9 × 89.2 mm, 67gms) and certainly looks a fun product.
Pricing and availability is to be announced.
Translated Sony press release
11 January, 2006
D-Link Unveil Skype USB Phone Adapter
D-Link’s new Skype USB phone adapter (DPH-50U) is a neat widget that lets users make and receive Skype calls on their existing corded DECT or cordless phone, without the need to have a pesky ‘call centre’ headset stuck on their head.
The DPH-50U lets users take both Skype and regular telephone calls from the same phone with the ability to switch from a Skype call to a landline call (and vice versa) like a conventional call waiting service.
A display on the unit flashes up whether the incoming call is from a Skype or landline connection, and it’s also possible to take part in conference calls between regular telephone and Skype lines.
The concept seems a winner to us – by using your existing telephone you should enjoy better sound quality than a cheapo headset, and D-Link claim that you’ll be able to use your phone’s built-in features such as speed dial, redial, mute and caller ID2 for both Skype and landline calls.
Best of all, if you own a cordless phone, you’ll be able to wander about your gaff while chatting away for free.
“At D-Link, we know that the digital home is all about integration and ease-of-use,” said Keith Karlsen, executive vice president, D-Link. “By extending Skype to be accessible through traditional phones, we can make the benefits of Skype even easier to experience.”
The DPH-50U comes with custom software, two RJ-11 ports and a USB port to connect up the regular phone line, telephone and computer, with the unit drawing power from the computer’s PC port.
The phone adaptor will be available in Europe from February 2006 for around forty quid (~$70 ~e58). I think we’ll be buying one.
DPH-50U Skype USB Phone Adapter
11 January, 2006
Yahoo! Launches Go Services
Yahoo is launching a new service aimed at making it easier for users to connect to Yahoo Internet-based services through multiple Web-connected devices, including mobiles and TVs.
Announced by Yahoo chief executive Terry Semel at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the new Yahoo Go service consists of the Yahoo Go Desktop, Yahoo Go Mobile and Yahoo Go TV interfaces,
Each of the interfaces is optimised for the screen of the specific device, with Yahoo Go automatically serving up the appropriate interface.
So long as the device is connected to the Internet, users will be able to access their personal Yahoo content such as photos, email and address books.
Stating the flaming obvious, Semel commented: “We think the Internet is not a Web page or desktop, [but] an infrastructure and delivery vehicle for communication, experiences, entertainment and any kind of data you use on the Internet.”
“The next generation is about ease of use and open platforms that connect the Internet to any device that you all will be manufacturing. Yahoo is in the perfect position to be a great partner to all of you who are working on devices in the future,” he added.
Yahoo! will be rolling out their Go TV service in the next few months, with the service enabling users to access various other Web based services for TVs, including local movie listing search and personalised MyYahoo! functions.
If you’re a heavy Yahoo! user, we can see the attraction of the new Go services, with the universal internet database ensuring that personal info is synchronised across all your devices.
Even better, the remote storage concept means that your data will be safe if a device is misplaced or stolen.
Yahoo! Go.
10 January, 2006
BBC iMP Trial Extended – Trialist React
The BBC has decided to extend the trial for the iMP Player until 28th February 2006, telling trialists that the extra time will enable it to “understand what you want from the service and how you are using it”. A new upgrade of the software is due to be rolled out to the participating trialists in January.
Once this is over, the data from the trial will be processed to form a ‘Public Value Test’. That will then be put to the BBC Governors, who will use this to make a decision on the viability of launching a service.
We’ve had mixed report from iMP trialists, which we found surprising – we thought everyone would be totally wowed by it, watching it 24 hours a day.
The not-watching-24-hours-a-day could be explained by the frustration felt by a lot of trialist – that the content available is somewhat limited choice, and the content’s seven day expiry time.
Content-wonks, like us and we suspect you, are aware that these limitations are a result of the need to negotiate and pay for the rights to distribute Radio & TV content via the Internet. Members of the public, who have other lives to lead, are naturally less aware of the reasons for the restrictions.
Frankly it is easier (and cheaper) to obtain the relevant permissions for BBC content, than independently produced content and brought in content, such as films.
The BBC’s reaction to such sniping is consistent, if not a little bland
- This is a research trial
- Their main focus is to assess the impact that iMP has on viewing habits
- They want to understand if there’s possible appetite for such a service
We think that providing a good range of high-quality content is a key to encourage users to try out the iMP and importantly, keep them using the application during the trial. Otherwise interest will fade – which is the experience we’ve heard from many trialists.
Questions have been also raised on the iMP users forum about the integrity of the Microsoft DRM software, designed to limit the use and copying of the downloaded programmes. Strong security will be key, if the service is to be widened to include non-BBC content.
It will be interesting to see if the service survives, and how the BBC’s own commercial trading unit “BBC Worldwide” reacts, having signed a content deal with BT whose own service is due to launch in 2006.
BBC iMP
21 December, 2005
Doctor Who Interactive TV Christmas Special Planned
The BBC is hoping to get Dr Who fans reaching for their red buttons en masse with a video-rich interactive TV application scheduled to run straight after the airing of the Christmas Day special (7:00PM GMT).
Dubbed “Attack of the Graske,” the application hopes to get sofa-loafing viewers taking part in an interactive adventure with the aim of preventing an evil alien creature, called the Graske, from taking over the earth.
It looks that the BBC has invested muchos cash into the venture, employing live-action video and “state-of-the-art” special effects produced at the high end visual effects studio, The Mill.
Christmas-pud gorged viewers will be tasked with using the arrow keys on their remote controls to perform a series of challenges which will test observation, dexterity, memory and – according to the BBC – their bravery.
There’ll also be an opportunity to fly around in the Tardis with the Doctor “on hand to give advice, encouragement, and even step in when things go wrong.”
Produced in Cardiff by BBC New Media and BBC Wales, producer Sophie Fante commented, “Attack of the Graske gives the viewer the unique opportunity to immerse themselves fully in the world of Doctor Who.”
“We aimed to make the challenge with the same scope and feel of the main series and, in ‘Attack of The Graske,’ the viewer finds themselves not only flying the Tardis with the Doctor but fighting the Graske on the planet Griffoth and hunting him out in Victorian London,” she added.
Filming the program involved creating an authentic Dickensian Christmas scene, complete with snow, in Cardiff.
We can’t wait to watch this latest installment of the highly rated Dr Who series and are hoping to witness another kind of winter wonderland the day after when the mighty Cardiff City FC take on Plymouth.
Dr Who
19 December, 2005
Microsoft And MCI Look To Take On Skype
With a fearful eye on Skype’s runaway success, Microsoft has joined the stampede to offer Internet-based telephony services by announcing a cut price, pre-paid PC-to-phone service, the result of a deal with the US telecommunications group, MCI.
The new service, combining MCI’s existing VoIP network service with Microsoft’s software, will regale under the less-than-snappy title of “MCI Web Calling for Windows Live Call” and is expected to launch in the first half of 2006.
The service will work through Windows Live Messenger, the soon-come successor to the MSN Messenger instant messaging service which currently boasts more than 185m active global users. It is thought that VoIP technology from recent Microsoft purchase, Teleo, will be used.
In recent months, Google, Yahoo! and eBay’s Skype unit have all chipped in with their own cheapo PC-to-phone VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services.
By teaming up with a powerful ally (PCI is being acquired Verizon Communications), Microsoft are clearly hoping to shove their hefty size nines into the lucrative VoIP market before it runs away from them.
The calling costs of the Microsoft/MCI service will be comparable to their rivals, with users paying 2.3 cents per minute for calls within the US and between the US and other countries.
Yahoo’s service – bundled in with its IM service – is expected to charge 1 cent per minute to call a phone in the United States from a PC outside the country, with calls to about 30 other countries costing about 2 cents per minute.
Similarly, Skype, the current big boys of the PC-to-PC VoIP market, are offering calls for about 2 cents a minute from a PC to a phone in the US other countries.
Taking a leaf out of Skype’s service, Microsoft/MCI customers will also be able to purchase prepaid calling cards and make calls to ordinary fixed line an mobile phones from entries in their contact list.
The service is currently undergoing limited beta trials in the US, with France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom trials expected shortly.
We’ll have to wait until the product officially launches to get the final details and pricing schemes, although Microsoft and MCI have already stated that users will eventually be able to call more than 220 countries.
MCI
14 December, 2005
Search Engines Challenge Email As Most Popular Web Activity
Using search engines has become the second most popular activity for Web users, according to new research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
The figures put search engines second only to email as the numero uno Net application, with reading the news registering as the third most popular Web activity.
The research reveals that an average 41 per cent of Web-connected Americans use search engines on a typical day, a sharp 55 percent rise from the middle of 2004.
In numbers, this equates to a jump from 38 million daily search engine users in June 2004 to around 59 million users in September, 2005.
As expected, email remains the Web’s major attraction, with 52 per cent of Americans checking mail on any given day, up 45 per cent from June last year.
The Pew project looked into the demographics of Web users and discovered that those spending the most time on search engines tended to be in their 30s and well-off.
‘Gen X’ surfers (29-40 year olds, not the Billy Idol-fronted band) were online the most (51 per cent), followed by ‘Gen Y’ users (18-28 year olds), ‘Older Baby Boomers’ (51-59 yrs old), ‘Younger Baby Boomers’ (41-50), ‘Matures’ (60-69) and, finally ‘After work’ (70+). We wonder who makes up these daft categories?
The report commented, “Those who use search engines on an average day tend to be heavy Internet users. They are much more likely to have broadband connections than dial-up connections; to log on to the Internet several times a day; and to have spent considerable time online during the day.”
With Google recently claiming to have trebled its index of 8bn pages and Yahoo! claiming 19.2bn pages, it’s not surprising that the search engines are getting a hammering.
What is interesting, however, is the rise in people searching using ‘local’ qualifiers, like postcodes or addresses, to narrow down their search results.
Google still rules supreme as the king of the Web search tools, registering 43.7 per cent of local searches, with Yahoo! lording it over Internet Yellow Page search sites (where users type in data such as location and business type) with 27.6 per cent of searches.
Pew Internet & American Life Project report [PDF]
22 November, 2005
Search Safe: UK Gov Advises Parents
The Home Office’s Internet Task Force yesterday published guidance aimed at advising parents on how to keep children safe when using the Internet, mobile phones or other means.
The simple document covers:
- What an Internet search actually is, why users sees the results they do and how search is generally made available on the internet
- Advice for parents and carers on safe searching
- Guidance for service providers and what they can do to make searching on the internet as safe as possible for children
The document discusses the variety of searches you can make and how this affects the results you get.
It also provides practical guidance on how to use search effectively but safely, for example, by monitoring or filtering your search results.
Home Office Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet: Good practice guidance for search service providers and advice to the public on how to search safely (PDF)
16 November, 2005
Google Analytics: Where’s The Data Google?
CRASH! Did you hear that? Any idea what it was? That was the sound of the Web traffic analysis market crashing to the floor following the no-charge release of Google Analytics.
Well it was until today, when a number of people were finding that the data that should have been collected on site for over 24 hours hasn’t appeared for analysis. Google quote that data should be available after only 12 hours.
The delay in reporting will give some thin hope to charge-for analysis service. We’d imagine that it will be short lived as we’re pretty certain that Google will get the service pumping out the stats soon and suspect that the delay has been due to a huge demand.
How much? Free
The service is generally, of course, available at no charge as it is, as with everything that Google does, designed to drive additional sales for Google’s advertising.
Always remember, Goggle may look like a search engine company, but it is, in fact, an advertising company.
The only exception to free usage of the service is sites with over 5m page views per month. Hey guess what? If you have an active Google AdWords account, you’re given unlimited page view tracking. There is no mention of how much it might cost if you don’t have an active AdWords account. Do you see a pattern here?
It looks like the service is comprehensive both in the breadth of reports available and in its thoroughness of reporting. Examples are that Google enable the tracking of external links, something of great use to many media companies, by simply adding some JavaScript to the link. It even easily tracks events within Flash files.
The history
Google bought Urchin Web Analytics for an undisclosed amount back in March this year. At the time, many in the online reporting world started to tremble.
They already had a number of big name customers like GE, NBC, Procter & Gamble, NASA and AT&T. Prices they charged varied from $495 (only covering 100,000 pageviews/month) to $4,995 for their Profit Suite. Prices increased depending on the number of Websites that were monitored.
Google’s free offering is based on Urchins online reporting offering.
Pressure on reporting companies is coming from other directions like, Microsoft with their AdCenter and eBay which has just launched a subscription-based service.
Google Analytics
15 November, 2005
BBC iMP Review – A Naughty Little iMP
Despite so much current talk from the UK Telco’s and Sky on the magic that will provide an on demand broadcast TV proposition in the UK, tangible evidence of a working model beyond KiT in Hull and Homechoice is pretty sparse.
The one organisation that is taking it seriously and putting some of their money behind it (sorry, UK TV license payers money) is the dear old BBC.
Digital-Lifestytles has been keeping a close watch on iMP through each stage of its development from its initial announcement by Ashley Highfield at the Digital-Lifestyles theme day at IBC in 2003, through our uncovering that all of its content would be DRM protected back in Feb 2004, to the announcement of the trial, back in May this year.
I’ve been lucky enough to be one of the trialists for the iMP (that’s integrated media player not interactive as so many insist on calling it) and I can tell you it’s not at all bad. Viewing TV on a PC screen is not ideal and that has probably influenced the programmes I’ve chosen – largely factual and quiz. The BBC counters that, a ‘box’, is under development to port the output to your domestic telly and reminds us that it’s already possible to view the content on a selection of mobile devices.
Despite the somewhat limited selection of programmes, which I’m told is largely down to copyright issues, it seems a positive move for a public sector broadcaster actually providing a service and solving the ‘problem’ of letting you see a programme you forgot to record or you later discover is worth viewing.
The operation, as you’d expect from a Microsoft product is ‘workperson-like’ ,if rather un-exciting, but to all intents and purposes, to those with an always-on connection, downloading the content is free. The technology that allows programmes to be downloaded in faster than real time on a 2mb connection is a completely legal (I’m told) peer to peer application – everyone who is running the trial software, shares their content with other on the trial, without their having to do anything.
The built-in DRM expires the programmes after seven days which, when compared to the analogue world, I haven’t noticed happening on my VHS tapes. It’s been necessary to quell the agonies protested by the copyright owners.
The BBC is thinking beyond the present Windows-only solution. Speaking recently in London the BBC’s Project Director for iMP Ben Lavender reinforced the BBC philosophy of platform agnosticism and spoke of the desire to work on Apple and Linux solutions when DRM issues can be satisfactorily dealt with.
For commercial broadcasters there’s an over-riding issue to deal with, should they choose to get involved. How would they deal with the ease which you can move through spot advertising, remains to be seen but that’s an issue they’re’ going to have to face soon one way or another.
My verdict – I give it a thumbs up as long as a large enough library of content can be made available. For drama and the like, I’d want an easy method of outputting to the living room TV.
4 November, 2005