Software – Page 53 – Digital-Lifestyles

Hantro Claim Better Mobile Video Compression

Finland-based Hantro has made further advances in the mobile video market with its new H.264 hardware accelerated video decoder. The technology can be implemented into regular consumer mobile handsets and promises to enable a dramatic improvement in the quality of video clips.

Hantro’s H.264 player runs on Series 60-powered handsets and is based on the 6100 software decoder and PlayEngine middleware. Running on a Nokia 7610 handset, full-screen video is capable of being played back at a resolution of 208×176 pixels (supports resolutions up to 720×576 pixels) at up to 15 frames-per-second. Unfortunately, the frame rate is still half of that of standard video playback, but it provides an important step forward in the development cycle of technology that will soon become standard on all phones.

H.264 is the latest video coding standard for improved compression over existing standards, such as MPEG-4 and H.263. With comparable bitrates, the increase in visual quality is significant, according to the company, which also means that you can maintain acceptable video quality (comparable to MPEG-4) with up to a 50 per cent reduction in file size. This makes the application ideally suited for wireless transmissions as it expands the potential of applications such as streaming video to mobile over GPRS, video downloads and mobile TV.

For instance, with improved transmission speed and playback quality, businesses could leverage their marketing to potential customers by sending short video clips instead of SMS alerts. By adhering to the existing file size limitations for MMS, the improved compression ratios should allow for approximately twice the length of video clip at the same visual quality to that of MPEG-4.

The software’s multimedia engine provides a high level API for fast application development, a completely modular design, support for both hardware and software MPEG-4/H.263 video codecs, as well as GSM-AMR speech and AAC audio encoding/decoding. Compatible with 3GPP streaming protocols (RTP/RTCP/RTSP/SDP), its core modules and application logic are OS independent, and are therefore easily ported to numerous operating systems and devices, if multimedia APIs are available. It can also encode 4-megapixel JPEG still images, which will further appeal to manufacturers of battery-operated handheld devices.

“We are very pleased with the performance that we have achieved with this product”, said Sami Niska, Product Manager, Hantro. “This software implementation clearly demonstrates the capability of H.264. By providing a short time-to-market, the 6100 software decoder is an ideal solution for device manufacturers and network operators looking to leverage the immediate potential of applications made possible by this new coding standard.”

Decoding H.264 with general purpose microprocessors and digital signal processors (DSPs) is much more complex than that of existing video standards, which can lead to trade-offs in supported image sizes and power management. To overcome this problem, Hantro has also developed silicon designs which, once integrated into a chip, support higher resolutions and will reduce power consumption considerably when compared to software implementations.

Hantro

Opera browser is about to get even faster

Oslo-based Opera Software, best known for its Opera Web browser, has announced that it plans to integrate SlipStream Data’s Web and e-mail acceleration technology into the next release of its desktop Web browser. Set to integrate into Opera 7.60, Opera claims that it will enable users up to six times faster browsing on dial-up and wireless connections, a particularly neat feature for those with limited bandwidth.

SlipStream Data’s Web Accelerator technology only accelerates certain text and graphics on Web pages, so it won’t speed up everything you do on the Internet. However, both companies claim that with Web Accelerator you will notice a significantly faster experience when you visit Web sites, send and receive e-mail, and perform other Web-based activities. To achieve this speed up, proprietary lossless compression is applied to text, HTML, XML, JavaScript and style sheets. Proprietary image compression is applied to GIF and JPEG images, as well as to Flash content.

SlipStream also accelerates e-mail traffic (POP3 and SMTP) using lossless compression, but does not speed up file downloads (over FTP or file sharing programs), streaming audio/video and HTTPS (secure Web sites). If you have a slow Internet connection (such as a dial-up or wireless connection) with a bandwidth of less than 300Kbit/s, you should experience a significant degree of acceleration using SlipStream, boldly claims the company.

However, SlipStream Web Accelerator does not increase the speed of file downloads such as music files, or streaming video or audio media. Opera 7.60 is set to usher in more innovative browsing features – something we’ve come to expect from its developers. The public release of v7.60 is planned for the end of 2004.

SlipStream is currently supported by over 900 ISPs worldwide, according to the company, with its popularity due to that way that it allows service providers to offer a faster and more flexible way of rolling out value-added services. SlipStream SE (Secure Enterprise) further optimises bandwidth and improves the performance of Web-based applications, accelerating secure access to e-mails, FTP and other critical business data.

“SlipStream is the dominant acceleration solution provider for ISPs in North America, South America, and Europe,” says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “Their innovation and reputation for service, makes them an ideal partner. We are eager to work together to deliver an improved experience in installation, operation, and support to enterprises and users wanting more Web speed and performance.”

“As Opera is known as the fastest browser on earth, the decision to consider the browser for this integration was simple,” says Ron Neumann, President, SlipStream Data. “Our goal is to offer a superior accelerated browsing experience on any platform and Opera’s multiplatform support helps achieve this. This integration gives ISPs increased support and speed for their users, and will also significantly increase the productivity of mobile workers. Such a partnership helps us continue to expand and embed our technology into new markets.”

As well as its speed, another key factor in Opera’s success that the browser is cross-platform and modular, and currently available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, BREW, QNX, TRON, FreeBSD, Solaris and Mediahighway platforms.

MailMender: Putting 1,000+ Vi@gra spams straight

While spam may no longer be on the menu of any self-respecting restaurant, it is taking a free ride on the coat tails of millions of legitimate emails every day.

One of the main groups of offenders is the purveyor of that substance that straightens you right out – not fine coffee but that other drug, Viagra. Now spam filter companies are constantly touting their wares from the rooftops, but it seems that lots of them can do one or two things really successfully, but not one of them can do everything successfully.

MailMender – a new spam filter on the block from Savannah Software, has just received the top award from WhichSpamFilter.com, a spam filter review site. MailMender introduces a clever new technology that automatically finds all variations of words commonly used by spammers, like our friend Viagra, and foils all attempts by spammers to get past it.

The problem is, over the years, spammers have been aware that their messages were being killed by these content filters and began resorting to ever more desperate tricks to try to fool the content filters using spellings like “Vi@gra”, “Mort.gage”, or “L|0|a|n|$”. In fact, a lot of spam messages now are virtually illegible because of their attempts to fool content-based filters, but MailMender can not only see through these methods, but detect that they are being employed in the first place.

WhichSpamFilter.com tested MailMender and found that it fended off 1,009 variations of the word that most frequents our in box, “Viagra”. It was sent every possible permutation and strange combination ranging from “V1@gra” to “V|l|a|q|r@” in an attempt to get it past the filter, but was blocked on each occasion.

MailMender is a content-based filter that works as a proxy, meaning that it filters your e-mail behind the scenes before it reaches your inbox. Its “intelligent search” functionality detects and beats the spammer’s attempts at “obfuscating” words and can automatically perform challenge/response filtering on subject e-mails, requiring that the user confirm any suspect messages.

MailMender
WhichSpamFilter

UK Gov Opens Door to Open Source

Gerald M. Weinberg, author of The Psychology of Computer Programming, came to an interesting conclusion back in 1971 – “If builders built houses the way programmers built programs, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilisation.” So who do government departments trust when it comes to creating software? The proprietary software giants or the open source software alternative?
The UK government’s central procurement agency, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), recently field-tested open-source software in the public sector with results that will please Tux lovers everywhere. The open-source pilots were run at various government agencies using software from IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc. The subsequent report cites progress in desktop products, such as OpenOffice and Sun Microsystems Inc.’s StarOffice, for routine, low level work, but not for “knowledge” or “power users” who require more advanced capabilities.

The softening in attitude towards open source comes not only from an acceptance of its maturing functionality on the desktop – it’s been around a while now, it also comes down to cost. Open-source software requires less memory and a slower processor speed for the same functionality offered by the proprietary applications that are always demanding hardware upgrades to work to their full potential. So, if open source were taken on board soon it would delay expensive hardware replacement.

The report comes just as the OGC is finalising a three-year extension to its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Microsoft Corp., which has basked in the warmth of a long and cosy partnership with the UK government. Now that cash strapped government departments all over the world start taking a closer look at open-source alternatives, companies like Microsoft have to be a little worried.

Could OGC have just been hoping that Microsoft would cut its licensing costs? Hardly, you wouldn’t conduct a major study just for that. Although Microsoft did recently launch a major advertising campaign, ‘Get the Facts’, to repudiate the idea that open source has a lower TCO (total cost of ownership) than proprietary software.

Sony PSP Arrives on 12.Dec in Japan

After months of speculation that the Sony PlayStation Portable would not appear until 2005, Sony have just announced its release in Japan on 12 December, just ten days after Nintendo DS, and at a price that is much lower than expected.

The PSP, Sony’s entry into handheld games machine market will be available in two flavours. The normal edition PSP at $186, (~ £101, €145) will include the handheld itself, an AC adapter, and a battery pack. A value pack $232, (~£126, €181) will be the normal pack plus a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, a set of headphones with a remote control, and a carrying case.

The PSP is more than a mere games machine, it can also be used for watching movies and listening to music files – but not just yet. The standard for films is still under discussion with several movie studios, and a movie line-up and download service won’t be announced for several months. It’s a pity this last task was not completed before announcing the launch, as doubtless much of PSP’s success will depend on it, but we suspect it will be down to rights and DRM protection.

Sony denies that competition from Nintendo DS influenced the PSP price, offering several other plausible reasons. One being that the price was possible because about half of PSP’s parts, including the main computer chip, are produced internally by Sony. Another being that it was apparently set, based on an informal survey of Sony officials who were asked what they would pay for the PSP if they were going to buy it. Whatever the reason, Sony doesn’t expect to make a profit on PSP until well into next year, obviously being prepared to sacrifice it for strong PSP branding.

There will be 21 games available for the PSP launch, including high-profile third-party titles such as Electronic Arts’ “Need for Speed Underground” racing gaming and Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Konami’s “Metal Gear Acid”, and Sega Corporation’s Puyo Pop Fever – Puzzle

In Japan, Sony plans to sell 500,000 PSP machines by the end of this year, and 1 million by 31st March. Dates and prices for the United States and Europe have not yet been set, although overseas sales are being planned for the first quarter of 2005.

Sony

Keyhole bought by Google for 3D mapping

Moving ever closer to its dream of being able to catalogue almost everything in the world, Google Inc. has just bought digital map-maker, Keyhole Corp.

Google had already recently acquired Picasa, a service that helps manage digital photos, but Keyhole is the first it has acquired since its August initial public offering. All of Keyhole’s 29 employees have joined Google, and its current customer base of about 10,000 come mainly from a coterie of government agencies.

Claiming to be the largest 3D, commercial imagery depository online, Keyhole, founded in 2001, maintains a multi-terabyte database of digital images of geographic locations captured from satellites and aeroplanes. Its 3-D technology provides far-away or close-up views of a region, neighbourhood or specific address. Images can be tilted into different positions, and its image resolution in some areas is as fine as half a foot. We previously saw Keyhole’s 3-D maps being used to zero in on the battlefront on CNN news during the early days of the Iraq war.

Keyhole received its initial financing from Sony Broadband but then raised additional money last year from In-Q-Tel, a venture capital company backed, interestingly, by the CIA.

The Keyhole database includes thousands of cities, and images varying in age from two months to three years. It gets these images from a variety of sources, including the private Colorado satellite companies DigitalGlobe and Space Imaging, while some lower-resolution images come from the U.S. government.

One of the first things Google did after the buyout, was slash the price of Keyhole 2 LT, the basic consumer downloadable software by a whooping 57%, reducing it from $70 (~£38) to $30 (~£16). The more sophisticated Keyhole 2 Pro is priced at $599 (~£327).

Yahoo and MSN already provide online mapping services, enabling users to zoom down to street-level scale, while Mapquest is a popular and established site for directions. Now Google users will no longer have to leave the Google site to avail of this type of service.

We wait with bated breath to see the uses Google put it to.

Keyhole
Google

In-Game Ads in the Ascendance

With the effectiveness of TV advertising on the wane other avenues are being pursued. Chrysler Group are doing it, McDonalds are doing it – advertising on game consoles instead of the screen.

The fantasy world of video games is rapidly becoming prime advertising space. According to Nielsen Media Research, TV viewership among men aged 18 to 34 declined by about 12 percent last year, while they spent 20 percent more time playing video games. So, if you want to successfully target a niche market pick the console rather than the screen.

Chrysler Group has already cottoned on to this trend and they are availing of some simple measurement science to see how they can do it better. Nielsen Entertainment and Activision Games have launched a test to measure how consumers react to ads in video games. The test uses audio encoders to identify when and for how long players are exposed to product placements within the game, and to do this they will use the exposure of Chrysler Group’s Jeep in the newly released ‘Tony Hawk’s Underground 2’.

Nielsen also conducted pre- and post-test surveys with 500 male gamers aged 13-to-34 in their research. Two-thirds of respondents actually believed real-world products and advertising in the games made them more realistic. The more highly integrated the brand was in the game the more it was remembered, with 40% even admitting that they would be more inclined to buy the advertised product.

Four years ago the Chrysler Group did not even have a budget for video game advertising but now it represents 10% of that budget, with Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles featuring in more than a dozen games. Conversely, their spending on TV and print ads has dropped. Chrysler first experimented with this medium a few years ago in the “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2” game where players had to do rail stunts over a Jeep to get points, or go through game levels festooned with Jeep billboards. In “Tony Hawk’s Underground 2” they have gone a step further – players who want game upgrades will have to go to Jeep’s Web site to download them.

Activision and The Chrysler Group have also just announced the Chrysler brand will feature in the upcoming simulation game, The Movies.

Nielson

Nintendo DS – Big US Ad Campaign Due

Its efforts to spread the word about the innovative, touch- and dual-screened Nintendo DS may reach Biblical proportions, and will certainly be the largest launch program ever for a Nintendo product, as well as the first outside of Japan.

Pre-launch television ads for the Nintendo DS started on Oct. 25. And in fairness, a new level of sophistication incorporating voice recognition, wireless features allowing multi-user play using one DS game card, and the PictoChat chat function catering for up to 16 simultaneous users, has been brought to the handheld game console market.

A series of three provocative ads presents a static-filled screen with a female voice-over inviting viewers to interact with two blue boxes on the screen, while MTV have produced a custom ad featuring the stars of Wildboyz using the Nintendo DS wireless features. In December, Nintendo will run ads on more than 5,000 movie screens, and to add the icing to the cake, Nintendo DS is being featured on the multi-city Nintendo Fusion Tour.

While Nintendo DS goes on sale in the US on 21 November and in Japan on December 2nd, Europe must wait until early 2005. It will sell at $149.99 (~£84, ~€122) and comes bundled with a playable demo of Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt.

Before the end of the year, Nintendo DS users will be able to enjoy the following eclectic mix. Super Mario 64 DS, Madden NFL 2005, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2005, The Urbz: Sims in the City, Spider-Man 2, Ping Pals, Feel the Magic XY/XX, Rayman DS, Asphalt Urban GT, Ridge Racer DS, and Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits. In addition to this more than 120 games remain in development for Nintendo DS around the world. New games will come from 100 different companies, while Nintendo itself is developing 20 titles.

Ben Hur won the chariot race and Spartacus ended up being crucified – how will Nintendo DS and Sony PSP fare in battle?

Nintendo

Pocket Streets 2005 Now for Smartphones and Pocket PC’s

Microsoft Pocket Streets 2005 Microsoft recently announced Pocket Streets 2005 as a stand-alone product, although it still remains a component of their Streets and Trips 2005 package. There are two separate stand-alone versions ¯ Pocket Streets 2005 for Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs, and Pocket Streets 2005 for Windows Mobile-based Smartphones.

If you own a Smartphone, you can toss away the compass since the Smartphone version now has GPS support. Previous versions of Pocket Streets only had GPS functionality in the Pocket PC version. If you are looking for routing and driving directions though you will still need to consult Microsoft Streets & Trips or Microsoft MapPoint.

You can generate directions and maps for Pocket Streets using the 2004 or later versions of MapPoint, Microsoft Streets & Trips, and AutoRoute, or you can download Microsoft’s maps of major cities. Pocket Streets 2005 includes more than 300 maps of North America and more than 275 maps of Western Europe, as well as Microsoft ActiveSync 3.7. New maps are available for Australia, Brazil, and Greece, but these will only be compatible with Pocket Streets 2005.

This is an ideal companion for any tourist visiting a city for the first time. You can locate the nearest ATM or service garage, in fact Pocket Streets has an extensive in-built list of bank ATMs and public transportation sites. You can customize maps with personal points of interest, and a new measurement scale feature is expected to determine the distance between locations more accurately.

Two useful features will help the more absent-minded traveller. Pocket Streets 2005 opens with the most recently used map already loaded, and you can search for destinations and addresses by using only partial names.

Pocket Streets is currently only available in English, but you can download maps that are in any language. It will sell for an estimated retail price of $24.95 (~€19.63).

Pocket Streets 2005

BBC Spooks Dares to Combine Drama and Interactivity

As more people take up digital television, whether through Freeview, Sky or other means, the enhanced viewing experience becomes the norm rather than the exception. For instance enhanced sport broadcasts, such as BBC coverage of both Wimbledon and the Olympics, offer viewers the opportunity to tailor the broadcast programming to their interests by enabling them to watch events that would not otherwise be available. Likewise Sky’s fenhanced football allows viewers to choose the commentators and camera angles. News multi-screen offers similar flexibility in navigating news content. Yet interactive drama programmes are often regarded as the holy grail of enhanced television. The scripted linear narrative is seen as a barrier to interactivity. So when producers of the Five soap Family Affairs announced that they planned to broadcast an interactive episode in May 2004, pundits were intrigued. Theirs was the Big Brother version of interactivity – viewers were asked to vote, by phone, on the outcome of a love triangle. The phone vote generated extra income for the broadcaster and new viewers for the programme. On the record, the producers were delighted to offer a television first. However, when asked about the interactive episode off the record, a very senior executive involved at all stages of development and production said at the time, “Never again”. It turns out that accommodating even such a limited element of uncertainty in the narrative posed great difficulty for future storylining and production schedules.

BBC Spooks Interactive More recently the BBC has claimed to offer yet another enhanced drama first with interactive Spooks. The third series of this successful spy drama began transmission on BBC1 Monday 11 October. Unlike Family Affairs’ tentative foray into interactivity, viewers will not be voting on Spooks storylines. (If they could, they’d most certainly vote to keep Tom Quinn, the main character played by Matthew Macfadyen who exits the show in Episode 3.) Instead immediately after the programme, digital viewers are invited to find out if they have what it takes to make it as a spy. Led by Harry Pearce (a crossover character from the television series portrayed by Peter Firth), participants take a series of scored tests that examine essential espionage skills such as memory, reaction and observation. From Episode 6 viewers will be able to participate in a mission that was written by Steve Bailie, an experienced writer of television drama. “The aim,” Sophie Walpole BBC’s Head of Interactive Drama & Entertainment told us, “is to offer fans a deeper relationship with both the programme and its characters.” In addition, Walpole pointed out, “fans will get something back – they’ll get to know a little about themselves.”

According to the BBC, the number of unique users for the Spooks Website during the second series “ran into the hundreds of thousands.” The decision to develop and produce the interactive platform was taken because the producers had such a strong proposal. According to Walpole, “ The BBC is always looking at ways to develop its content. But Spooks was not singled out for development in this way. The producers had a really good proposition.” She continued, “ The inspiration and vision of Andrew Whitehouse (the producer of Spooks’ interactive content) was incredible. We had a great producer with a great idea.” The enhanced TV elements are intended to complement the revamped Website so that, although the site also offers a spy training academy, the experiences are completely different. “The Spooks superfan who goes to both the Website and the interactive elements will not feel like they’ve had a similar experience,” said Walpole. Figures for new users of the Website or users of the enhanced television platform after transmission of the first episode are not yet available.

When asked how technology affected the development of enhanced television in general, Walpole stated that while it is technically possible, the BBC opted not to transmit enhanced Spooks via broadband because they wanted it to be seen by as many viewers as possible. “Although they continue to grow, broadband audiences are still small.” Looking to the future Walpole said she was certain that the BBC would make this type of rich content available to broadband users, possibly as soon as next year.

From what I’ve seen so far, the BBC has reason to be proud of interactive Spooks. By recognising that interactive drama doesn’t necessarily infer gimmicky phone votes (aka viewer extortion) or ceding control of the narrative to the audience, they deftly avoided the traps that frustrated at least one Family Affairs executive. The production values on Spooks are really very high indeed. And the spy training modules transmitted after Episode 1 were good fun. Most importantly, they lend themselves quite nicely to a shared experience – an element of the interactive experience that is essential for television audiences. The aim of providing a way for fans to develop a closer relationship with the programme is definitely achieved. If the enhanced Spooks disappoints at all, it is that the enhancements are extremely limited. The spy training takes approximately 30 minutes to complete – that’s a bit too long. Unfortunately, there’s no way to navigate through the game; participants must start at the beginning and move through to the end to get scores. Also, the training modules will be repeated after Episodes 2 through 5 and the narrative mission transmitted after Episode 6 will be repeated after Episodes 7 through 10. While this offers viewers the opportunity to practice their skills it means that, in effect, there are only 2 unique enhancements throughout the 10-week run. That’s a great shame because they’ve done such a good job of creating enhanced Spooks that I really would have liked more!

In the UK, Episodes 3 – 10 of Spooks will be broadcast Mondays at 21.00 on BBC1. Episodes are repeated on Saturdays at 21.10 on BBC3 followed by an advance transmission of the next episode at 22.10. The interactive elements are broadcast immediately after transmission on both channels.

BBC Sppoks site