Digital-Lifestyles – Page 322 – 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

Ofcom Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) Midyear Figures
A number of people have raised concerns as to how open an organisation Ofcom is. It’s a public corporation, set up in many ways like the BBC, but it was setup with the knowledge that the UK Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) would take effect in January 2005. This has led it to define the accessibility of the information that it produces, as it generates it.
We’ve heard many people have applied for information and have been turned down, with the frequently cited reasons being; Not in the public interest (how broad a brush would you like sir); or Commercially sensitive (also pretty broad). Others, who have had their request granted, are nearly always pointed to Ofcom’s extensive Web site, which isn’t always the known as the quickest to locate what you want.
We’ve heard that many applications take the statutory maximum number of days (20) to respond with a reply – even when it’s a refusal. This causes us some confusion – does it really take that long for Ofcom to deduce that it is going to be refused, especially as all information is graded on creation? Ofcom’s response is that if it comes back as a refusal, they will pass it through “internal procedures” to re-examine if they can release it.
Ofcomwatch have been keeping an eye on this for some time. We spoke to Luke Gibbs from Ofcomwatch about their FOIA findings, “This is something we’ve been looking at over the last year. It appears to us that Ofcom is following the letter of the FIOA, rather than the spirit. We’ll be doing further research into this later in the year.”
Russ Taylor, Ofcomwatch co-founder reveals their finding …
Ofcom was kind enough to provide OfcomWatch with some brief midyear statistics on how it is progressing with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), implemented in the U.K. on January 1, 2005. For previous Ofcomwatch posts on this issue, check Ofcomwatch’s Brief Guide to The Freedom of Information Act and its continuation.
* Ofcom is averaging about 130 FOIA requests per month ~ about 800 so far.
* About 70% of FOIA requests are granted. Common reasons for denying a FOIA request: (i) the data is commercially confidential and (ii) the request is overly-broad and could not be completed within the 18 hour / 450 GBP limit.
* 98.5% of FOIA requests are processed within the statutory time limit. Interesting point: Grants are reportedly swifter than denials, because Ofcom internally review proposed denials to determine whether they can be partially granted.
* Ofcom do not categorise FOIA requests because that would lead to prioritisation, which would be ‘wrong and unfair’.
* Overall, Ofcom commented that the FOIA — in ‘philosophical terms’ — is ‘both welcome and in line with our view of the public’s right to expect transparency and accessibility from public bodies’. However, Ofcom noted that FOIA is something of an operational burden because of the volume of requests received.
* * *
So, that’s Ofcom’s take (and progress) on FOIA so far. FOIA is of course a new area of U.K. law and we expect all public bodies–not just Ofcom–to struggle with implementation. OfcomWatch will take a closer look at FOIA in January 2006, as the first-year of the FOIA’s applicability to Ofcom draws to a close.
But, overall (and interim) statistics only tell part of the story:
* We’ve heard some interesting stories about FOIA from some of you, and we’ve filed less than a handful ourselves. Keep sharing your FOIA stories (mail to: [email protected]).
* I suppose we’ll also receive legal clarifications on just how powerful a tool FOIA is as some denials (whether by Ofcom or by others) are tested on appeal.
* Finally, FOIA is only one element of ‘better regulation’ that is being implemented across the U.K. Better regulation means that FOIA requests should be minimised because public bodies otherwise maintain useful websites and publication schemes, always with an eye toward satisfying their ultimate boss: the citizen-consumer. So, we always want your comments on how Ofcom can function better in this regard.
Stay tuned…
Ofcomwatch
Ofcom UK Home Office, FOIA
23 June, 2005
BB Mobile Demo Seamless 3G/Wi-Fi Roaming With Nortel
Nortel NT and BB Mobile are chuffed to bits to have achieved what they claim is the world’s “first seamless handoff of voice and data services between a third generation (3G) cellular network operating on the 1.7 GHz radio frequency band and a wireless local area network (LAN)”.
What this means in English is that in the future users will be able roam securely between 3G wireless networks and Wi-Fi networks or wireless LANs while checking out websites, blasting out emails, downloading files and doing all the other things that connected cats get up to on a high-speed wireless broadband voice and data service.
The triumphant test calls were made on a live Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) 3G cellular network and an 802.11 wireless LAN, with Nortel’s smarty pants software making it all happen.
This latest test follows on from successful wireless data transmission trials by Nortel and BB Mobile earlier this month.
In those trials, boffins were able to notch up Japan’s first 14.4 million bits per second (Mbps) wireless data transmission via the 1.7 GHz radio frequency band for mobile communications and Nortel’s high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) technology.
This managed to ratchet up speeds 30 times faster than commercially deployed networks using UMTS.
Peter MacKinnon, president GSM/UMTS, Nortel, throbbed: “This second demonstration with BB Mobile is an important step in meeting the demand for ubiquitous wireless broadband voice and data services regardless of network or device”.
“The results of these tests with BB Mobile also highlight the level of technological innovation we will continue to bring to Japan’s wireless industry to help drive network convergence and bridge the gap between wireline and wireless 3G networks,” added Nick Vreugdenhil, country manager, Japan, Nortel.
As an aside, we have to commend Nortel on producing the longest disclaimer message we’ve ever seen.
A note at the end of the press announcement: “Certain information included in this press release is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events….”
Nortel then went on to cover every possible eventuality including – probably – an invasion of bug eye monsters, in a 700 word yawn-a-thon guaranteed to be ignored by anyone who sees it.
Oy! Company spokesperson! Shut it!
Nortel
Softbank
22 June, 2005
Skype for Pocket PC Review
As you probably know, we’re big fans of the Internet-based telephony application Skype, and when we got our grubby hands on an imate JAM PocketPC phone (with SanDisk Wi-Fi card), we couldn’t wait to start reaping those free VoIP calls with Skype for Pocket PC, v1.1.0.6.
A quick visit to Skype’s website bagged the free 2.5 meg download, and told us that our machine was up to the job.
Skype recommends a rather beefy 400 MHz processor or above, so our JAM phone (also known as the T-Mobile MDA Compact) should be fine for the job with its sprightly 416 Mhz CPU.
Seeing as most PDA/smartphone users typically operate their devices in power saving modes running the processor significantly slower than top speed, there is a danger that Skype’s demanding CPU footprint may turn into something of a battery hog, so be warned
Making Calls
The interface will be very familiar to Skype PC users, offering a near-identical feature list, including chat messaging. Once logged in, your phone contacts appear as usual although we found the online notification a bit flaky, often failing to correctly indicate that friends were online.
Using Skype to place voice calls to Skype users or via SkypeOut was simplicity itself, with almost all attempts to connect calls successful first time. Sadly, once connected, things weren’t quite so rosy.
My first call was encouraging; with the other person’s voice coming over reasonably clear with no problems their end either.
The second call, however, was a catastrophe, with a distorted, intermittent signal making me sound like Norman Collier doing an impression of the Daleks. It was unusable.
Other calls have resulted in recipients being subjected to buzzes, clicks, pops, complete silences or weird dub remixes of my voice, while I’ve been treated to random snippets of audio, whirring clicks and, in once case, words spoken some time previously coming back in a spooky loop.
At times, it was a bit like trying to communicate over a children’s walkie-talkie at the limits of its range or hearing disconnected voices through the fug of mind bending drugs.
But I battled on, and found subsequent Skype calls to be a veritable potpourri of good, bad and indifferent, with more terrible calls than good ones.
In didn’t help that Skype defaulted to using the JAM’s speakerphone, making a headset essential for any kind of clarity (and privacy).
Although you can buy natty headsets with boom microphones that make you look like an Air Traffic Controller, I’ve yet to see a Pocket PC with a dedicated mic input, so you’ll still have to bark your words into the device’s integrated microphone.
For the greater part, the IM element of Skype worked fine, and if you’ve got a wide circle of chums using Skype, is worth the download alone.
Conclusion
With the fast growth of VoiP and Wi-Fi access, there’s no denying that the software has huge potential.
As we reported in March 2005, there’s free Skype access provided at hundreds of airports, railways stations etc through The Cloud’s network, which – in theory – means you could be ringing up associates worldwide for nowt.
But no business client is going to be impressed with a phone call full of buzzing noises, weird clicks with the caller sounding like Sparky the Magic Piano on a bad day.
Seeing as almost all of the problems encountered were specific to the PocketPC version, it’s hard to work out whether it’s the limitations of the platform holding back Skype, or that the software hasn’t matured yet.
The good news is that Skype for Pocket PC is a free download, so it’s definitely checking it out to see how it works on your device.
The company are aggressively developing the product, and with luck many of the issues we encountered may be resolved in the near future.
For now, we can only give it a mixed review. We love the technology and we – naturally – love the idea of free VoiP calls on a smartphone, but until calls become more reliable – and usable – we’ll be sticking to conventional networks for important calls.
Rating: 3/5
Skype
22 June, 2005
iRiver Knocks Out Four MP3 Players
In a deluge of announcements, iRiver has paraded four new flash-memory based music players before the SEK exhibition in Seoul this week.
Most interesting is the U10, a strikingly designed multimedia player, operated through a 2.2in, QVGA (320 pixel by 240 pixel), landscape-oriented touch screen.
Looking like something that’s escaped the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the curvy white player device packs in a ton of features, with MP3, WMA, ASF and Ogg music playback supplement by Mpeg4 video support (but no DivX). Apple’s FairPlay protected AAC music files can’t be played on iRiver devices.
Also lurking within its compact 69mm x 47mm x 16 mm form is a FM radio, a voice recorder and a photo viewer.
The U10 comes in 512MB and 1GB capacities and will be priced at $283 (~£155, ~€232) and $335 (~£275, ~€232) respectively in the US. No UK launch date or prices have been announced.
The second player is the H10 Junior, a flash-based Mini Me version of the popular H10 player, which some patronising marketing genius has declared as “One For The Ladies”.
Served up in 512MB and 1GB capacities, the player complements iRiver’s existing hard disk-based H10 range – currently available in 5GB, 6GB and 20GB capacities – and offers a FM tuner/recorder, voice recorder and line-in encoder.
The Junior offers a 1.2″ (260k) colour LCD panel on the top part of the fascia with and an up-down scroll bar beneath it.
Replacing a (comparatively speaking) chunky hard drive with flash memory means that the dimensions can be slimmed down to a teensy weensy 42mm x 72mm x 16mm, with the unit weighing a feather-threatening 50 grams.
Availability in South Korea is scheduled for late June, but we haven’t heard a peep about pricing or international distribution.
Wrapping up iRiver’s latest product shifting marathon is the T20 and T30 flash music players.
Both the diminutive players can churn out MP3, WMA, ASF and Ogg Vorbis audio formats and come 256MB, 512MB and 1GB varieties. Battery life is quoted as up to 20 hrs, powered by a single AAA battery.
The T20 features a built in sliding USB plug that lets users hook it up directly to a computer’s USB port, while the T30 sports a natty Toblerone-esque triangular styling.
Pricing and international launch details for the T20 and T30 were – you guessed – not announced either. They just want to tease us, I guess.
(Writer congratulates himself on writing an article on no less than four MP3 players and not mentioning the phrase “iPod Killer”)…
iRiver
22 June, 2005
Hello? I’M ON THE PLANE!!!!
A survey by technology researchers IDC revealed that passengers aren’t too keen on the prospect of spending long flights listening to fellow passengers bellowing into their mobile phones.
The comprehensive survey was set up in response to reports that the US Federal Communications Commission was considering lifting its in-flight cellphone ban.
IDC discovered that a mere 11 percent of its 50,000 survey respondents wanted the ban lifted, but a hefty 64 percent approved of the use of mobile phones for purposes besides voice calls.
“While the passage of this proposal appears to offer solutions to the wireless industry, it has spawned disapproval among some consumer groups as the potential for in-flight usage would create disturbances to passengers,” IDC commented.
The growth of clever-clogs smartphones phones like the i-mate JAM and PalmOne Treo would allow connected passengers to check their email and surf the web during flights.
IDC’s survey aimed to identify which wireless services were most appealing and, not surprisingly, of the eleven activities offered, text messaging was the most popular activity.
As you might imagine, the market would love to see the in-flight ban lifted as it would provide a party pack of opportunities for wireless carriers and airlines to brand and market mobile commerce, provide new channels to squeeze more cash out of consumers and send smart phone manufacturers into mobile heaven.
“Whether a mobile-device vendor is interested in the in-flight market or not, the key finding from this survey remains the same: By comprehending the needs and criteria specific to the user segment and location, mobility companies can enhance their products to better serve and target the desired customers and market segments,” said Dana Thorat, IDA research manager/mobile users, in a suitably analytical manner.
IDC
21 June, 2005
LA Times Abandons Its “Wikitorial”
In a bold, nay brave, nay reckless move, the LA Times offered readers the chance to edit its editorials on their website via a “Wikitorial”.
Floating in a fluffy cloud of philanthropy, editors at the LA Times invited readers to comment on an editorial urging a better-defined plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, suggesting the sacking of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld if those goals were not met.
The paper hoped to display the original editorial and interim versions along with the readers’ final product on their website.
“The result is a constantly evolving collaboration among readers in a communal search for truth,” glowed the paper in its Friday edition. “Or that’s the theory.”
“Wikis” – derived from the Hawaiian word for “quick – take the form of online communities where users collectively write and edit articles, with the ability to correct, override or even delete other contributors’ work.
Nearly 1,000 users eagerly registered to rewrite Friday’s lead editorial, with many offering opposing viewpoints and hyperlinks to other sites. By early Sunday morning the wiki was gone.
Within hours, one enthusiastic reader had managed to change the headline on several pages to read “F*** USA,” and in their hasty scramble to remove the offensive headline, site editors managed to simultaneously lose several readers’ comments.
At midnight, the site managers left the doors to the candy store wide open and headed home for the night, presenting an irresistible temptation to online wagsters to do their worst, free from moderation.
In the wee small hours, nefarious posters flooded the wiki with “inappropriate” posts, pornographic images and several instances of a well known picture of a man’s naughty bits.
As the porn – and complaints – rolled in, Michael Newman, deputy editor of the editorial page, found himself hauled out of bed at 4am to shut the feature down completely.
Bloodied but undaunted, managers of the newspaper’s editorial and Internet operations said they still might attempt to have another bash at online editorials written collectively by readers.
“As long as we can hit a high standard and have no risk of vandalism, then it is worth having a try at it again,” said Rob Barrett, general manager of Los Angeles Times Interactive.
Steve Outing, senior editor with the journalism think tank Poynter Institute, applauded the LA Times for its “bold experiment” adding, “That being said, I’m not at all surprised (by the problems). Wikis are pretty new, and we don’t entirely understand them and know how they are going to work out yet”.
LA Times
Wiki cooties and the death of editorials
21 June, 2005
iTunes “Essentials cards” In Glastonbury 2005 Promotion
Apple is elbowing its corporate presence onto Glastonbury Festival with a launch at world famous music event later this week, according to a report in MacWorld.
Details are nearly as scarce as festival tickets, but the site cites third-party reports suggesting that all will be revealed on Friday, June 24 at the East Dance stage, where the first act up listed in the official Glastonbury Festival website is called, “iTunes present…”
This will feature winners of a competition run between iTunes and Hit40UK which asked budding musos to create a five-song iMix of tracks they felt appropriate for kick-starting the Dance stage this year.
The competition page ran the blurb: “Runners-up will also bag themselves some great iTunes Glastonbury Essentials cards which get them 75 tracks of the hottest Glastonbury tunes on the iTunes Music Store”. Apple’s Glastonbury Essentials compilation was listed as being worth £19.75 (~€30, ~US$36).
MacWorld mulls over the suggestion that these iTunes “Essentials cards” could auger an extension of Apple’s existing band promo cards.
These take the form of fan-tempting collectible iTunes cards stuffed full of band-specific artwork and special codes that let mustard-keen fans download tracks from a specific artist or album.
These cards have previously been used as tickets to events like Apple’s “Live from London”.
Naturally, we’ll be at Glastonbury trying to get our hands on some of these “Essential cards”, but with thousands of more interesting non-corporate offerings on display, we can’t promise that we won’t get hopelessly sidetracked at the world’s greatest festival.
Hit40uk
MacWorld
21 June, 2005
UK eGovernment – Pressure Builds For Awareness Campaign
eGov Monitor is reporting that pressure is building for a national campaign to spur demand for eGovernment, with the government likely to be asked to fund a large-scale marketing campaign to promote online public services.
According to the article, only around 15 per cent of the public are presently using eGovernment services, a figure so rubbish that senior officials are banging tables and demanding something should be done.
After three tables collapsed under the strain of their repetitive beats, the top brass have arrived at the conclusion that to boost the current low levels of take-up, the Government must dish out the dosh to a dedicated marketing drive for e-services.
However, recent research funded by the government revealed that although marketing campaigns can effectively promote public awareness of eGovernment services, they don’t always result in actual take-up increasing.
The same research, produced for the e-Citizen National Project on Take-Up and Marketing, came up with the more encouraging news that 46 per cent of adults in England are willing to use online public services.
Although growth in the take-up of some e-services has been promising, the eGov article states that the need to drive up public usage across the board remains a major concern for the UK’s eGovernment programme.
Earlier this month an official from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister reportedly gave an eGovernment conference in Washington, DC, mulling and musing over a possible UK e-Government marketing campaign.
Winning friends and influencing people with every word, Julian “The Diplomat” Bowrey, the ODPM’s local eGovernment divisional and programme manager, is reported to have told delegates to target the campaign at two key groups of potential users.
The first was “grumpy young men who want to pay their parking fines online and want to complain, preferably at three in the morning” and the second was “women who have an interest in local community services”.
Hmmm. Maybe we can think of some other reasons why take-up has been slow.
Government Faces Call for E-Service Take-Up Drive
Local e-Gov site
21 June, 2005
Google Wallet Looks To Challenge PayPal
It’s not yet confirmed, but it appears that Google is preparing to challenge PayPal with its own online electronic payment system, rumoured to be called ‘Google Wallet’.
The Wall Street Journal website reported Google’s plans late Friday, citing sources “familiar” with the company’s plans. No details about Google’s strategy were revealed.
Analysts have commented that a rival Google payment system would prove a mighty bummer to PayPal’s owners, eBay.
In the last quarter, revenue from PayPal amounted to $233.1 million (~£128m, ~€190m), equal to nearly a quarter of eBay’s revenue during the period.
Diversifying into the online payments business looks a wise move for Google who are currently dependent on advertising, accounting for almost all of its first-quarter revenue of $1.26 billion (~£690m, ~€1bn).
Sellers who run auctions on eBay are major buyers of Google’s ads, which appear alongside search results, so it’s not surprising to see the company angling in for a slice of the payment action.
Rumours about the new Google service heated up after a panel discussion at a Piper Jaffray Internet conference, where Scot Wingo, chief executive of e-commerce consulting firm Channel Advisor, said he believed the payment service would be launched soon.
According to the story in the Wall Street Journal, Wingo said he based his statement on questions from retailers with which his company works. They’d apparently asked him whether his company would be supporting the “Google Wallet” service, thus sending the cat fleeing from its bag.
A Google spokesman declined to comment on the report.
Wall Street Journal
20 June, 2005
Legal UK Music Downloads Grow 75% In Twelve Months
According to a survey by Entertainment Media Research, UK legal digital music downloads have grown by a thumping great 75% in a year.
The 2005 Digital Music Survey also predicts that UK consumers will spend 60% more on buying music downloads in the next six months
Although 40% of UK music lovers are still grooving to music files illegally downloaded to their MP3 players and PCs, the survey found that 35% had bought legal downloads with a further 23% intending to start purchasing downloads soon.
Legal downloads are continuing to find favour with consumers, with over two thirds of illegal downloaders claiming they will download less in the future.
The survey revealed that the dwindling enthusiasm for dodgy downloading was due to user concerns about prosecution (44%), fear of viruses (29%) and inferior audio quality vs legal downloads (21%).
These findings are supported by the news that legal digital downloads have accounted for 8% of Coldplay’s recent album sales in the US – the biggest share for any new release to date.
Dutifully dissecting the digital demographic, we can reveal that the fear of getting into trouble with The Man worried 13-17 year olds (50%) and women (47%) the most, while 35-44 year olds (35%) and women (34%) were most concerned about the prospect of downloading infected and unauthorised files.
Spoddy, EQ-adjusting audio aficionados of the male variety were the most put off by the audio quality of the unauthorised tracks, with the difficulty in finding the exact right track particularly troubling music-obsessed blokes between 25-44.
The survey discovered that legal download demand is being fuelled by immediacy over price, with nearly two-thirds (63%) claiming immediate availability as being the key reason.
The ‘must-have-that-record-now’ ethos was most reflected by men in the 18-24 age group, with the price of downloads relative to CDs seen as a less important factor (43%).
Two fifths of those surveyed preferred digital downloads because they were only interested in one or two tracks, while 29% downloaded music to sample an album before purchase.
The survey revealed that 45% of legal downloaders buy current singles, unlike older consumers (45 years plus) who tended to know what tracks they want and were more likely to purchase 1-2 tracks from an album.
Russell Hart, Chief Executive, Entertainment Media Research, rummaged through the figures, mulled for a moment and then declared, “The findings indicate that the music industry is approaching a strategic milestone with the population of legal downloaders close to exceeding that of pirates.”
The survey was undertaken in association with law firm, Olswang, with their senior partner and Digital Lifestyles chum John Enser, commenting, “Clear deterrents to illegal downloading are emerging with fear of prosecution running high and close behind is the sense that unauthorised downloading is “not fair on the artists,” suggesting that the industry’s messages, led by the BPI, are being communicated effectively.”
Entertainment Media Research
20 June, 2005