Digital-Lifestyles – Page 224 – Digital-Lifestyles pre-empted and reported thousands of articles on the then-coming impact that technology was to have on all forms of Media. Launched in 2001 as a research blog to aid its founder, Simon Perry, present at IBC 2002, it grew into a wide ranging, multi-author publication that was quoted in many publications globally including the BBC, was described by the Guardian as 'Informative' and also cited in a myriad of tech publications before closing in 2009

Digital-Lifestyles pre-empted and reported thousands of articles on the then-coming impact that technology was to have on all forms of Media. Launched in 2001 as a research blog to aid its founder, Simon Perry, present at IBC 2002, it grew into a wide ranging, multi-author publication that was quoted in many publications globally including the BBC, was described by the Guardian as 'Informative' and also cited in a myriad of tech publications before closing in 2009

KTF SPH-V9900 Ultra Slim Mobile Is World’s Thinnest
Thinner than a very thin thing on a crash diet, KTF’s new ultra-slim SPH-V9900 looks set to grab the crown as the World’s Thinnest Mobile.
Measuring a pencil-thin 6.9mm wide, this really is a tiny puppy and it looks pretty desirable – and practical too.
Unlike the lipstick-sized KTF EV-K130 phone we featured earlier this week, this phone actually looks like it can be used by people with fingers bigger than chop sticks.
Styled like a conventional phone from the front, the V9900 measures up at 113 x 50 x 6.9mm and weighs just 63g.
The front of the phone is dominated by a sizeable 1.9″ 262k TFT LCD display, with a familiar keypad design below.
Flipping the camera over, there’s a 2.0 megapixel camera module at the top, with a teensy lens lurking in a raised piece of casing.
There’s also an MP3 player wedged into its super lithe frame, with 128MB of onboard memory for storing tunes and photos.
We’re still battling with the Korean translation, but we don’t think there’s any kind of memory expansion on board, which is a bit of a shame (but we guess you can’t have it all with a phone this slim!).
We’ve no idea about pricing on European availability yet, but this phone looks like an absolute winner to our eyes – so long as you don’t sit on the thing, of course.
V9900
6 July, 2006
ITN Manoeuvres For The Future
The news that ITN’s shareholders have agreed to shore up the embattled UK commercial news provider to the tune of £1 million, might be thought to inspire confidence in the organisation’s long term future.
Not so long ago, ITN’s management were expecting that given time they’d be subsumed into ITV on a regulatory nod through, but recent developments at the UK’s leading commercial ITV company have made this look far less likely.
ITN has been caught in the crossfire around ITV and although it now proclaims that linear 24-hour news channels are a thing of the past, it was undoubtedly a body blow when it was announced before Christmas, that it was to lose its own around the clock TV news channel.
History may prove this an astute move, the BBC’s only 24-hour UK competitor, Sky News, had a costly revamp that failed to deliver the proclaimed audience pulling ‘appointment to view’, it had hoped for and the channels supremo, ex-ITN producer Nick Pollard paid the price with his own resignation.
So ITN has been off and had a think about what it should do to stop its operation being marginalised. It’s come back with a suite of ITNs. ITN will now have 6 divisions along with the catchy byline ‘Right Content. Right Now’, the units will be:
ITN News the TV news broadcast division servicing ITV, ITV London and Channel 4
ITN Source is the new name for ITN archive and its own Website will allow online purchase of content
ITN On will be the multimedia operation including web, mobile phone content and radio.
ITN Consulting will maintain it’s role of marketing consultancy broadcasting expertise
ITN Factual and Visual Voodoo will continue to provide documentary and factual entertainment respectively.
As well as the divisionalisation funding will be used to propel ITN into the HD future.
The position of ITN’s current shareholders is far from clear but with ITV committed to returning cash remaining shareholders may get an opportunity to increase their holdings and 20% shareholder Daily Mail & General Trust has been so effusive of late in its own publications commentaries on ITN cynics might imagine the organisation wants to offload its own holding.
Mark Wood ITN’s current Chief Executive is a former Editor-In-Chief of Reuters editorial who might see some synergies with the former mothership if they wish to grow their curent 20% holding.
6 July, 2006
YouTube Brookers Signs TV Deal
OK, you’re used to us breaking news here, but here’s one that slipped through without us noticing. We think it’s sufficiently important for us to swallow our pride and report it anyway.
In an inevitable move, an LA production company, Carson Daly Prods, has signed talent/development deal with Brooke “Brookers” Brodack, who has made quite a name for herself on YouTube. We’re sure you do, but just in case you don’t know what YouTube is, it’s a phenomenally popular Web site that holds videos watched at the rate of about 40m per day.
While it is predictable (yes, we’re surprised this type of deal hasn’t happened sooner too), it doesn’t make it any less significant. What was previously known as ‘the entertainment industry’ (music, films, tv, etc) has been very slow on the uptake to even notice that the ‘people’ have been madly creating their own entertainment and sharing it online. It finally looks like they’ve started to notice … and not only that, but guess what? It’s a pool of cheap talent to plunder, one without agents and prima-donna salaries and demands. That should get them listening.
Brookers, as she’s known as by tens of millions of YouTube viewers has been posting videos for about nine months, mostly featuring her doing pieces to camera, often miming to sound tracks.
The one that brought her to wide attention was her homage to Gary Brolsma’s Numa Numa.
It’s clear that Brookers has gone a number of steps beyond just plonking herself in front of her Web cam (as many homages do), they’re more of a production, using changing camera angles and locations.
Of course it’s not all about TV deals, realising the size of her audience, she’s recently posted an entry asking for people to donate to her car fund. Very cheeky.
How many people will continue to be able to show their talent like this in the future isn’t clear as various music industry voices have been talking about stopping ‘their music’ in personal videos. Strange – we thought it actually promoted the music.
Variety cover the story
5 July, 2006
BlueBird BM-300 T-DMB PDA Announced
No relation to the fabulous football team known as the Bluebirds, the Korean electronics company Blue Bird have announced their shiny new BM-300 T-DMB Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).
A slim and sleek affair, the PDA is kitted out in an all-black finish with a red strip running around the traditional 5-way D-controller.
Running on Windows Mobile 5.0, the big news for this PDA is its support for T-DMB – that’s Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting donchaknow – which lets perambulating punters tune into digital TV when they’re out and about.
Although the 2.8 inch touchscreen TFT-LCD (QVGA) display looks like a bit of a whopper, it can only support a miserly 240 x 320 pixel resolution -a bit of a disappointment for a PDA and hardly likely to enhance the TV watching experience,
Looking inside the gubbins of the unit, we can see that the BM-330 is powered by a nippy Intel Bulverde CPU, purring along at 520 MHz with 64MB RAM and 128MB ROM onboard memory.
Memory can be further expanded via an SD SDIO card slot.
Although the lack of a built in phone has seriously piqued our interest, there’s still a few connectivity options on board, with WLAN 802.11b/g, Bluetooth (v1.2 Class2), USB, and – if we’re not mistaken – IR.
The BM-300 is a pretty pocketable affair, measuring up at 110 x 60 x 13.8 (mm) and it’s scheduled to be released in Korea during October 2006, with – as usual – no news on a European/US release or pricing.
BlueBird
5 July, 2006
MobiBLU Ultra Slim US2 Media Player
We’re getting very excited by what we’ve seen of mobiBLU’s new ultra, ultra-slim US2 media player.
Sporting an unusual – and rather fiddly, to our eyes – necklace design (where the headphones are routed through the neck cord), the US2 packs a ton of functionality into its lard-free form factor.
Clad in a silver/grey metallic finish, the 7mm thick phone features a RAZR-style flat function pad controlling volume up/down, track skip and play/pause, with a 1.5-inch OLED colour display above.
Naturally, MP3 file support comes as standard, although we’ve no idea what other music formats are playable on the machine yet.
Similarly, we’ve no details about the specifics of the advertised “Audio, Video, Photo support,” but we can guess that it plays back MPEG4 files and can display JPEGs.
We couldn’t see a camera on the thing though, but we can tell you that it comes with built-in FM Tuner and recording, supported by SRS WOW Audio Processing onboard, activated by a small switch near the top of the device.
The mobiBLU US2 is set to be released in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB flash memory flavours with a scheduled August 2006 release for Korea.
MobiBlu
5 July, 2006
Ofcom GPS Repeaters Ruling May Hit Mobile Phone GPS
Ofcom has just issued guidance that GPS repeaters are probably illegal in the UK, both in their use and their sale.
In their dry language, “Any person who places this type of apparatus on the market or uses it in the UK is likely to be committing an offence.”
Medium term this action could hit the wave of GPS-equiped mobile phones that are a year or so away, and the location-based services that they’ll bring.
GPS repeaters use radio signals to pass Global Positioning (GPS) or other Radionavigation Satellite system (RNSS) location information between units. Unless the operators have specific licenses, they be breaking the law in the UK.
GPS devices need to be able to receive the positional information from satellites. Initially this involved having line-of-sight to the ‘birds’, but as chip-sets have improved, they’ve become more sensitive, so requiring less direct sight. If GPS units work within buildings, they do so at the sacrifice of accuracy. Even with the chip improvements, GPS will not work within buildings, and certainly not underground.
We spoke to Jenny Bailey, Technical Director of J-Squared to get the low-down. J-Squared were funded by the DTi 3 years ago to develop a GPS repeater system, which they subsequently received a patent.
Jenny told us the major current use for GPS repeaters is by the emergency services. Ambulances stations are equipped with them to ensure their on-board GPS ‘know’ where they are as they leave, speeding them to their location. Police and firefighting services also benefit from being able to locate their personnel within buildings.
In the medium term, Ofcom will create quite a kerfuffle with this ruling. Mobile phones will, within a couple of years, be commonly equipped with GPS, enabling location-based information and services. These will not work within buildings without GPS repeaters, knocking their broad usefulness on the head. We’d imagine that the mobile companies will be on the phone to Ofcom sharpish.
Ofcom is becoming increasingly stringent on the ‘unauthorised’ use of radio spectrum. One of their Big Ideas is to auction off radio spectrum to the highest bidder and if people are using it without paying for it, the whole idea becomes undermined.
Given the inevitability of the march of mobile phones, it could be that Ofcom are acting as King Canute, but in this case attempting to hold back radio waves.
Ofcom GPS or GNSS signal repeaters ruling
J-Squared
Indoor Positioning Limited
4 July, 2006
Retro Handsets For Mobiles And VoIP Calls
If you’re finding the relentless march of technology to be a little too pacey for your liking, perhaps you might like to seek solace with some reassuringly retro handset attachments for your mobile phone and home PC.
Propeller SF
Looking like the kind of thing used by Dixon of Dock Green to despatch police squad cars to break-ins by bungling burglars, the Propeller SF is styled like an old fashioned telephone handset, complete with an old-school curly lead.
The hefty handset plugs into any mobile with a hands-free socket, letting yesteryear yearners recreate their own comforting patch of 1940s nostalgia whenever they take a call.
We know they look daft, but let’s be honest – do they look any sillier than a Bluetooth earpiece stuck on your lughole?
The handset is available from http://www.propeller-sf.com/ for $85 (£46, €67).
Get hip with Hulger historical handsets
One of the pioneers in this retro handset lark is Hulger, who released a similar design in 2003.
The company were originally known as Pokia, but Danish telecom heavyweights Nokia, alarmed at the perceived similarity of their names, flexed their mighty corporate muscle and forced them to change their name.
Hulger now offer a range of five retro handsets, two of which come with a cordless Bluetooth configuration.
They look pretty attractive to our eyes, but all that style and panache doesn’t come cheap, with the Bluetooth models starting from £86.00 ($160, €125) and the wired models setting you back from £40 upwards.
All the phones work with most mobiles and can be hooked up to PCs for VoIP calling with their £8 Y*Cable.
Pulger
4 July, 2006
UK Consumers Are Lapping Up Convergence
Brits are going wild for the latest technological innovations according to market research firm GfK in its biannual ‘UK Technology Barometer report.’
The study rates smartphones, Webcams, communication devices and storage products as the hot! hot! hot! categories registering the fastest growth, while the major overall trends are seen as convergence, the growth of wireless, and the continued tumble of technology prices.
The report highlighted on the site of our dear friends Pocket Lint concludes that UK punters are getting down with the convenience of multi-function devices, as GfK IT Business Group Director Jean Littolff explains, “Not only are we looking at convergence within IT sectors, but also a blurring of lines between IT, consumer electronics, telecoms, and photo areas”.
Wi-Fi usage continues to grow massively across Blighty, with sales of 3G cards soaring by 475%, mostly to the business community.
In the consumer market, sales of Wi-Fi routers have also shuffled in an upward direction, registering a 77% growth.
Not surprisingly, smartphones continue to set the cash tills ringing with a big increase in sales, while single-function PDAs are carrying on their slow decline, with sales slumping by 38.3%.
Rapidly falling notebook prices have led to more laptop-toting peeps, encouraged by the average price dropping from £808 in the first half of 2005 to £686 in the first half of 2006.
Bursting with tech-tastic confidence, Littolff added, “With price barriers falling, the major obstacle preventing the average consumer from enjoying the sexy technology long enjoyed by business users is gone, and little seems to impede the anti-Luddite sentiment of the British spending public”.
4 July, 2006
Samsung NV Camera Range Announced
Samsung has released the details of their new digital camera range, Samsung NV – New Vision.
There are three cameras in the initial range, the NV3, NV7 OPS and NV10 – boiled down from 500 concept models explored over the two year of development cycle. Each camera is pitched at a different audience and has its own strength.
We’ve had our hands on all of them and can confirm that they’ve got a great feel.
They’re all pixel-loaded with the NV3 & NV7 having 7.2Mpx and the NV10 being the 10.1Mpx heavyweight.
Instantly notable is how thin each of the camera bodies are, with the skinniest being the NV3 a svelte 17.5mm.
In an attempt to address the frustration of digital camera needing increasingly complex and deep menuing, Samsung have developed the Smart Touch interface, fitted to the NV7 and NV10. With seven touch sensitive buttons along the bottom and six up the side of the 2.5″ back screens, menu choices are simply made by running your finger along the buttons until the required option is located. Think selection through cross-hairs.
Despite the NV10 being the pixel-brute, the NV7 is really the Daddy of the range carrying all of the nifty tricks including a 7x optical zoom, OPS (Optical Picture Stabilisation) and ASR (Advanced Share Reduction). OPS detects the movement of the camera and shifts the CCD to compensate for it, leading to a more-still photo. The NV7 also has a rather huge lens on it, ideal for taking picture in low light.
The NV3 is the one that we think will get you most excited dear reader. It’s not only a camera, but an mp3 player and PMP, so it can play films too. It’s equipped with stereo speakers, so you can share you tunes too.
Samsung have pretty ambition plans for the progression of their digital cameras. They currently have 9% of the market and if they stay on course, will have 10% by the end of this year.
Their plans are 13% market share (MS to those in the know) by 2007; 16% by 2008 and 20% by 2009. If they reach this, they will be the top leader in the market.
Given how they’ve come from more-or-less nowhere to such a strong position in mobile phones, it’s highly believable that they can achieve it.
The cameras should be available by September at the following suggested retail prices, NV7 OPS – £299, NV10 – £279 and NV3 – £229
Samsung
4 July, 2006
EV-K130 Lipstick Sized Phone Released By KTF
Korean technology company KTF Technologies have unveiled a teensy-weensy phone, which is “smaller then a lipstick.”
Seemingly designed for bijou ladies (and possibly) ladyboys with pixie-sized fingers, the 8.2cm x by 3.7cm micro handset is a handbag-untroubling 1.69 cm thick and weighs just 73.5 grams.
Despite its diminutive dimensions, the micro-sized phone manages to pack in a fair amount of features, with a 1.3-megapixel camera and MP3 player onboard.
Tune-tweakers can entertain themselves with the music player, which offers user selectable “EVER Remix functions” and a 3D equalizer.
There’s also a built-in electronic dictionary, which contains 330,000 words, a fairly substantial 165 MB internal memory (big enough to squeeze in around 50 MP3 files) and PictBridge support.
KTF Technologies, are the handset-making subsidiary of Korea’s second biggest wireless carrier, KTF, and the company has said that it intends to market the mini-sized slider, EV-K130 from this week, priced at around 370,000 won (approx £210, €305).
In March, KTF grabbed the ‘world’s thinnest phone’ accolade, releasing the 7.9-millimeter-thick EV-K100, which proved a big hit in the domestic market.
They didn’t manage to hang on to their record for long though, with local rivals Samsung Electronics knocking out a 6.9mm thick phone just two months later.
According to KTF spokesperson Lee Min-ji, the company are now hoping that their new, lipstick sized gandset will attract “design-aware clients en masse on the back of its sleek appearance.”
KTF
3 July, 2006