Category: Software

Software

European Networked and Electronic Media (NEM) initiative launches

How Europeans receive their digital entertainment in the future could change, following an event in Nice last week. At the launch of the bold and ambitious Networked and Electronic Media (NEM) initiative, the European Commission (EC) announced their intention to form an integrated, interoperable platform. Its broad scope stretches from the way media is created, through each of the stages of its distribution, to its playback.

The EC want its citizens to be able to locate the content they desire and have it delivered seamlessly, when on the move, at home or at work, no matter who supplies the devices, network, content, or content protection scheme.

With interconnectivity as its goal, it is fortunate that over 120 experts were there to share the vision and hear pledges of active support from companies such as Nokia, Intel, Philips, Alcatel, France Telecom, Thomson and Telefonica.

It might initially appear to be surprising that companies in direct competition are keen to work together, but again and again speakers stated they could not see incompatible, stand-alone solutions working. A long-term strategy for the evolution and convergence of technologies and services would be required.

The EC is being pragmatic in its approach. They have identified that many standards bodies have, and continue to, define standards in the areas that NEM encompasses, but recognise that some of these standards overlap. The NEM approach is to take a serious look at what’s available and what’s in the pipeline, pick out the best, integrate them together and identify where the gaps are. Where it finds holes, it will develop standards to fill them.

While the global access to content is not a unique idea, what is significant is that such a large and powerful organisation has stated its desire for it to be fully open and interoperable – not restricting the consumers choice at any stage in the process.

This is bound to please, if not surprise, many individuals and user organisations who feel that the wishes of the holder of rights to content are normally considered over and above those of the consumer. Following the keynote earlier in the week of EC Director João Da Silva, they now know they have a supporter within the higher echelons of the European Commission.

Many feel that the most difficult and challenging area for the EC will be to identify a solution for interoperating Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes. Currently DRM solutions are incompatible – locking certain types of purchased content, making them unplayable on all platforms.

With the potential of having a percentage of every media transaction that takes place globally, the prize for being the supplier of the world’s dominant DRM scheme is huge. This leads the companies who feel they have a chance in controlling it to not be very open to sharing.

Although entertainment is an obvious first step, it will encompass the remote provisions of healthcare, energy efficiency and control of the Smart Home. The over-arching initiative amalgamates the work of many currently running research projects that the EC has been funding for a number of years.

The NEM is a ten-year project, which in the everything-immediately age we live in, might seem like a lifetime away, but it’s important to remember that the digital delivery of media stretches a long way into the future. Decisions made and solutions selected now will have far reaching consequences.

This piece was featured on the BBC Web site.

BT And Blueprint Jointly Develop Innovative Music Distribution Service

In yet another move in the legitimate digital music market, BT and Blueprint have jointly developed a new service based on Blueprint’s Open Royalty Gateway (ORG) and Song Centre software that allows copyright holders to take more control of their material.

The new service for hosting, managing and distributing music and related content online, promises to accelerate the growth of the market by addressing key problems hampering the development of online music businesses, such as time to market, copyright protection, capital expenditure in IT and networking technologies, control of rights and the margin structure of the present models.

BT brings to the table IT, networking and data storage knowledge, while Blueprint offers experience in media management software and music industry relationships. Blueprint will provide the software framework and industry interface, with BT utilising its digital content hosting platform and international network to deliver a global reach.

The solution enables rights holders – artists, writers, publishers and record companies – to host their songs, videos, ringtones and other digital media files while having a direct commercial relationships with retailers. Content can be delivered directly to any number of media-enabled devices, including PCs, digital audio players and mobile phones. Of course, online-only distribution also dramatically reduces the time it takes to get digital files to market, but the system has to be successful in managing rights and digital licences, reporting royalties and sales to rights holders, and offering a wide variety of digital media to consumers using variable pricing structures.

An interesting feature of ORG is that it allows rights holders to actively manage their content, including setting business rules for pricing and location, electronic contract creation, sales tracking and royalty reporting. In addition to handling ‘major label’ music content, ORG allows independent labels and artists, many of whom control their own rights, to encode, package and upload their content to the service and then manage contracts. Blueprint will also work with retailers, letting them mix and match content to create their own offers and campaigns through a service called Song Centre.

On the other hand, the service could, however, let artists or smaller labels bypass the majors and sell their music directly to retailers or consumers. Referral and reward programmes, using viral recommendation, also means that consumers can earn back the cost of the music they purchase, by rewarding them with a commission each time one of their friends buys recommended content.
The service has already been used by EMI for Robbie Williams’ recent No.1 hit single ‘Radio’ with Australia and New Zealand’s leading music retailers, Sanity and Sounds. Audio, video, visual and mobile content was bundled together for sale, and linked into a competition utilising Blueprint’s referral and reward technology to drive additional opportunities to win prizes. The service is now powering the global Robbie Williams ‘Greatest Hits’ digital download store.

Blueprint
BT

Thomson: ContentGuard and Verisign deals

Paris-based Thomson have been busy. They’ve done two deals that will have an impact.They have become a strategic investor in ContentGuard, a closely-held developer of Digital Rights Management (DRM) intellectual property. With this investment, Thomson enters into a partnership with current investors Microsoft and Time Warner Inc.

Digital Rights Management describes a wide range of technologies that have been developed to allow movies, music and other digital content to be accessed by consumers over the Internet while protecting that content from unauthorised copying and counterfeiting – a technology championed by Microsoft and its Windows Media Player software.

Thomson has agreed to purchase an aggregate 33 per cent voting stake in ContentGuard from Microsoft, Time Warner and Xerox, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The announcement follows Time Warner’s April 2004 purchase of most of Xerox’s stake in ContentGuard.

The three companies (Microsoft, Time Warner and Thomson) are using the announcement to promote the development of inter-operable DRM systems, accelerate the deployment of consumer devices that support Digital Rights Management, and encourage content owners to launch new distribution channels.

The move is also interesting because Thomson is a long-standing technology and services provider to content owners and network operators, thus bringing a unique perspective that should complement the interests of ContentGuard and its co-investors. Thomson also has a lot of experience in IP licensing, which should further help to support ContentGuard’s licensing activities and accelerate and broaden the acceptance of DRM and ContentGuard’s intellectual property.

“The development of Web services and new content distribution systems requires a complete ecosystem of participants. Thomson’s investment alongside Time Warner and Microsoft shows that media, software, devices and services companies are committed to developing the infrastructure for Web services to flourish”, said Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect, Microsoft. “This partnership will help propel the licensing of DRM intellectual property. With the participation of Thomson, a recognised leader in IP licensing, we add a European headquartered partner that will make this important technology more accessible in other parts of the ecosystem, particularly services and devices.”

“Today’s announcement marks yet another important step in our work on DRM, and expands our collaboration with key partners on this strategic initiative,” said Ron Grant, senior vice president at Time Warner. “We look forward to working with Thomson, Microsoft and others on offering consumers exciting new digital media products and services while simultaneously protecting content.”

In another move, Thomson and VeriSign have joined forces to create an authentication and authorisation service for movies, music and games delivered over digital networks. The new service, which will likely debut next summer, will be used to process secure transactions and for other back-office functions. It is geared at the subscriber digital entertainment market over broadband networks, which is a fast growing industry.

VeriSign’s Internet transaction authentication and network infrastructure technologies will be used, while Thomson will capitalise on its experience in content security, management and distribution. Both companies also plan to develop proprietary technologies to authenticate and authorise digital content and to build an interface for home networking devices such as video recorders, mobile devices and computers. These features could help protect movies and other content from piracy.

Thomson
ContentGuard
VeriSign

JFK Reloaded Described as ‘Despicable’

JFK ReloadedOn the eve of the 41st anniversary of John F Kennedy’s murder, a dramatic new ‘docu-game’ brought the tragic assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald to life for a whole new generation. However, a spokesman for the president’s brother, Senator Edward Kennedy, called the game ‘despicable’, but has not commented on whether the family was taking any action to stop the game’s release.

JFKReloaded ($9.99, ~€7.70, ~£5.40), recreates the last few moments of the President’s life and challenges participants to help disprove any conspiracy theory by recreating the three shots that Lee Harvey Oswald made from the infamous sixth floor of the Dallas book depository.

The game promises to accurately recreate the surroundings and events of 22nd November 1963 in downtown Dallas, using information from the Warren Commission report, and has taken a ten-man team seven months to research and six months to program. The reconstruction enables players to examine the challenges that faced Oswald.

‘This new form of interactive entertainment brings history to life and will stimulate a younger generation of players to take an interest in this fascinating episode of American history,’ commented Kirk Ewing, managing director of Traffic and the creator of JFKReloaded. ‘We’ve created the game in the belief that Oswald was the only person that fired the shots on that day, although this recreation proves how immensely difficult his task was.’

Regardless of the continued passion in the US surrounding the death of one of America’s greatest heroes, Traffic is determined to promote the title respectfully whilst encouraging as many people to play the game as possible. The company has also offered an incentive of up to $100,000 (~€77,000 ~£54,000) for the first person to most accurately recreate the three shots made by Lee Harvey Oswald. A cash reward of this size is the first of its type for a game.

“We genuinely believe that if we get enough people playing the game we’ll be able to disprove once and for all any notion that someone else was involved in the assassination. The computer ballistics model says it’s possible, but players will discover just how hard it is to place those three bullets in exactly the same way that Oswald did.” The site goes live at midnight on the 22nd November 2004 and will run for 3 months.

It’s more than likely that this game will raise the issue in the press of video games containing violence, as was last seen with ‘Manhunt’. Last time the press got the wrong end of the stick and blamed a killer’s obsession with the violent computer game ‘Manhunt’ for the death of a schoolboy, although it actually turned out that the game was present in the victim’s home, not the killer’s. Some are wondering if the release of JFK game around the anniversary of the incident was a calculated move by the development company, Traffic, after watching the sales of Manhunt go through the roof during the last press frenzy.

FCC Approves First Software-Defined Radio (SDR)

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced its approval of the first software-defined radio (SDR) device allowed in the United States. The new equipment will allow users to share limited airspace, increase flexibility, and reduce interference concerns. In a move that may prove to be a radio technology revolution, the industry is now beset with pioneering work to find more creative and efficient use of airwaves in order to offer benefits to consumers.

Software-defined radio, sometimes shortened to software radio (SR), refers to wireless communication in which the transmitter modulation is generated or defined by a computer, and the receiver uses a computer to recover the signal intelligence. To select the desired modulation type, the proper programs must be run by microcomputers that control the transmitter and receiver.

However, the most significant asset of SDR is versatility. For instance, wireless systems employ protocols that vary from one service to another – even in the same type of service – whereas a single SDR set with an all-inclusive software repertoire can be used in any mode, anywhere in the world. Software defined radios can change the frequency range, modulation type or output power of a radio device without making changes to hardware components. This programmable capacity permits radios to be highly adaptable to changing needs, protocols and environments.

The ultimate goal of SDR is to provide a single radio transceiver capable of playing the roles of the cordless telephone, mobile phone, wireless fax, wireless e-mail system, pager, wireless videoconferencing unit, wireless Web browser, Global Positioning System (GPS) unit, and other functions, operable from any location.

The FCC’s approval gives the go-ahead to Vanu, a software development company, for a cellular base station transmitter. Vanu’s Radio GSM Base Station, which is based on a HP ProLiant server running Linux coupled with ADC Telecommunications’ Digivance radio subsystem, can support multiple cellular technologies and frequencies at the same time and can be modified in the future without any hardware changes. The technology has the potential to lower costs and provide new flexibility in wireless networks, thereby changing the entire cost structure over time. The first users will be military and public safety officials.

FCC

Sky Active re-launches with Significant Upgrade

The Sky Active service, which has been around for the last five years, has this week had a considerable redesign. Originally a text-based approach, the new version is significantly richer and takes is into a magazine style. We spoke to Sky to get the details.

Sky Active Front pageThe opening page (example right) has a video background running on the right and a small number of highlighted options on the left hand side. The layout and links on this page change throughout the day, to match the audience that they think will be looking at it. Currently changing twice it will feature items like horoscopes and lifestyles links during the day and betting and dating in the evening.

Sky Active Content pageAnother way to access the content is via a mosaic layout (example right). This shows a checkerboard of 16 video pieces running on loops. As the viewer uses their remote control to navigate between the videos, bring it in to focus, the audio channel associated with that video loop plays. This short-form video programming is designed to draw people in to the interactive content that lies behind and on pressing the Select key takes them to the content.

It’s clear that Sky is putting more resources (read money) into this service. There is a full time editorial team of ten people working on it on a day-to-day basis and with the video running, considerably more satellite bandwidth is required to run the video. Sixty people across the organisation have been involved with the re-launching of the site – twenty of them within the design team.

Sky Active is creating much of the content in-house, as well as commissioning other pieces externally. The content that is being created is unique to Sky Active.

Clearly Sky is making money from their interactive service, and want to make sure that they are ahead of the game (pun intended) as other rival services are launched.

Sky Active

UK Youth Shun TV To Play Games Online

The age of interactive gaming is well upon us. And, if a new survey undertaken on behalf of BT is to believed, traditional forms of entertainment such as the TV and board games are being overlooked in favour of newer, more interactive technology. This is in contrast to those who feel that there’s nothing as exciting as looting from a half-soaked Monopoly banker or finding the missing piece of a jigsaw from the back of the family sofa.

The research shows that rather than relaxing on the sofa in front of the TV watching programmes, over half of all the online console gamers questioned would rather give up the TV than their online games. And it’s not just committed gamers who feel this way – approximately 77 per cent of 11-16 year olds said they would rather play computer games than traditional board games.

The massive uptake of online games is mainly due to the rollout of broadband across most of the country, and the fact that you can play against, and talk to, gamers from all over the world within the same game. Global rivalries are strong online – apparently – with a third of UK gamers (31 per cent) choosing the US as the nation they most like to beat online, followed by the French (18 per cent) and Germans (11 per cent).

An online community atmosphere also attracts and retains gamers. Rather than converse face-to-face in real-life, some 58 per cent like to play online against new people and just over a quarter prefer online gaming as they compete against real people, whilst half enjoy it as it brings people together, according to the survey. Moreover, 17 per cent of online gamers would find a world without online gaming almost impossible to live in. Great in some ways, tragic in others.

The crux of the research comes down to BT attempting to appear as the ones who drive the uptake of online console gaming in the UK with the sole purpose of selling more broadband. Duncan Ingram, managing director broadband and Internet services BT Retail, of BT said: “This research shows that consumers are looking for more interaction when it comes to home entertainment. The advent of broadband brings a whole new social experience to console gaming by allowing gamers to take their consoles online and play against a community of gamers from all over the world.”

BT

Apple Avoids French Courts Opening FairPlay DRM

VirginMega, a joint venture between Virgin France and local media company Lagardère, has failed in its legal attempt to get Apple to license it DRM technology.

VirginMega claims that Apple’s refusal to license its FairPlay technology – the Digital Rights Management (DRM) system that allows songs from the iTunes store to be played only on iPods – is hampering the expansion of its digital music download market. The retailers complaint was ruled to be short on convincing evidence, according to the French Competition Council.

The problem, as VirginMega sees it, is that as its own online music service uses Microsoft’s audio files format (WMA) and is protected by Microsoft’s DRM technology, it isn’t supported by Apple’s iPod digital audio player. Since Apple won’t build WMA compatibility into the iPod, and as the iPod is the number one digital audio player worldwide, VirginMega is obviously miffed. Virgin wants Apple to licence FairPlay so it can incorporate the technology into the tracks it sells, thus making them iPod-compatible. The lack of compatibility between rival music services and players will certainly put VirginMega at a ‘disadvantage’, so it’ll have to look elsewhere to improve its sales to WMA-compatible devices.

Clearly Apple isn’t keen to share. Some feel that Apple may have shot itself in the foot here, as wider content support for FairPlay could help to drive the sale of iPods. By establishing AAC and the FairPlay DRM as a standards, more iPods would be sold and other standards, like WMA, would possibly be left by the wayside. Conversely if other music sites started using FairPlay, Apple would lose the relationship with the music purchaser.

Comcast turns on Microsoft’s TV software

Microsoft’s new TV software, which includes an interactive programme guide (IPG), will support advanced digital cable services, including the launch of dual-tuner digital video recorders to 1 million customers. The move is expected to further attract consumers to video-on-demand (VOD) services.

The announcement is the first major US deployment of Microsoft’s Foundation Edition software. With the launch of dual-tuner DVRs supported by Foundation Edition, Comcast customers will be able to record their favourite programmes digitally using an on-screen interface that Microsoft says is easier to use and navigate compared to the TV Guide Interactive software which dominates the US cable market. Viewers also can pause and rewind live television broadcasts, build a customised list of recordings by using the DVR’s repeat-recording capability to record multiple episodes of favourite shows, as well as record high-definition television (HDTV) broadcasts.

As part of the change, for an extra monthly premium, Comcast will start offering set-top cable boxes with built-in digital recording capabilities and hard disks for storing recorded television – effectively giving the cable box the same functions as stand-alone devices such as TiVo. The price for existing digital-cable customers will be an additional $9.95 per month on top of their current bill. For current high-definition subscribers, the price to upgrade to the digital recording box will be $4.95 per month.

Microsoft TV Foundation Edition software will be available immediately on new advanced digital set-top boxes with dual-tuner DVR technology. The software will be automatically downloaded in phases to all other set-top boxes in Washington state over Comcast’s digital network in the next few months.

“Comcast is a leader in providing new products on our unparalleled two-way digital platform, and we are always looking at new ways to bring our customers more value, choice and control,” said Len Rozek, senior vice president of Comcast’s Washington market. “The Microsoft software will help our customers get an amazing cable television experience. As Comcast continues to roll out advanced video products – such as VOD, HDTV and DVRs – it’s crucial to deliver a user experience that allows customers to easily navigate the many choices they have to find what they want, when they want it.”

Foundation Edition 1.7 helps cable companies maximise revenues by providing a better, more integrated customer experience and better merchandising opportunities for premium TV offerings and managed content services. It gives multiple service operators the opportunity to up-sell new and existing services, whilst striving to improve consumer satisfaction and retention. It also provides consumers with easy access to interactive games and information portals such as local weather, sports and news.

Enhancements to the software include a ‘smart’ progress bar that appears during playback and shows how much of the programme remains and how much buffer space is left, a channel mapping feature that lets you record a series even when it moves from one channel to another, and smart series options that let you record a specific number of episodes, skip rebroadcast episodes and reruns, set priorities for programs in case episodes conflict, and input the start and end times of programs. In addition, buffering lets viewers record the entire show they’re watching even if they don’t start recording until halfway through the program. Knowing Microsoft, there’s also the opportunity somewhere down the road for Media Center PCs to connect to Comcast video services, as well. And if the company manages to strike a deal with other digital TV providers, such as BSkyB, most of us will have Microsoft software in our living rooms as well as our workplaces.

Sales in Virtual Goods Surpasses $100m

Real-world trading based on virtual items is at least three years old, but it’s only now that researchers have estimated that online trading already rivals the gross domestic product of some small countries. According to an article publishing on NewScientist.com, the real figures are likely to be much higher, where virtual worlds are booming in China and Japan

The technology of real-world economies is based on the value of persistent world game characters and items. For example, you can buy Ultima Online and EverQuest characters on eBay, exchanging actual money for ‘imaginary’ game items, such as clothing and weaponry. Nevertheless, trade in these digital goods continues to grow, and it has already gone from being a pastime pursued only by a handful of hardcore gamers, to being a fledgling industry in its own right.

There’s even an online service to help players of online games trade their commodities more easily and freely. The Gaming Online Market (GOM) is a Canada-based online venture founded by Jamie Hale and Tom Merrall that aims to be the first true stock brokerage for online worlds. GOM currently allows players of online games to pay in US dollars, or exchange currency from one game to another at the current going rate. Before now, these have been trades restricted mainly to eBay auctions, along with all the risks associated with such transactions. Having said that, eBay facilitated the selling of $9 million in trades for Internet games last year (excluding Sony’s Everquest).

The coming together of real and online worlds has a far more widespread reach than games. For instance, virtual spaces will increasingly be used as assembly points to carry out business meetings and as physics simulators to experiment with building physical objects. Some companies are also using virtual worlds to try out design products, such as clothes, before attempting to market them in the real world.