Digital-Lifestyles

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

  • DAB EPG for Bug Launches – Radio TiVo

    PURE Bug with EPGPURE Digital announced today that it’s offering support for an Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) for the Bug DAB digital radio.

    Using the EPG, Bug users will be able to browse the programmes coming up over the next 7-days, read additional information about them and select them for recording. In the same vein as a Personal Video Recorder (DVR), does this make it a DRR – Digital Radio Recorder?

    While the Bug has been able to record and rewind live DAB radio since its release (in May 2004) onto SD memory, the addition of the 7-day EPG provides the another piece to make it perform like a TiVo. It is the first DAB radio to support an EPG.

    The EPG system has been in development for about a year. Back in September 2004, Jonathan Marks highlighted ETSI Doc. number TS 102 818) that is part of the Eureka 147 DAB standard, under the auspices of WorldDAB.

    The final version of the Bug EPG software release is expected in Q1/2005, after completion of the EPG trials.

    The EPG software that runs in the Bug was created by Ensigma and the EPG Management system that runs at the radio stations has been developed by Unique Interactive.

    DAB radio is becoming accepted by the UK listener. Last week it was announced that over 1 million DAB radios had been sold in the UK with a forecast of a further 1.2m in 2005.

    PURE Digital is a consumer products division of Imagination Technologies, who were originally called Videologic many moons ago.

    Buy the PURE Bug from Amazon UK

    The Bug – EPG Trial v1.3; release notes
    Unique Interactive
    WorldDAB

    Bug images, courtesy of Unique Interactive

  • TI Announce Single-Chip Mobile Phones

    mobile phone chip reductionTexas Instruments (TI) has announced they will bring a integrated single-chip solution for mobile phones.

    Based on TI’s Digital RF Processor (DRP), it integrates two basic chips, one that controls sending and receiving radio frequencies, and one that controls basic computing functions.

    It will bring the advantages of lowering the cost, size and power requirements, while raising performance. All of these are vital in producing high-volume, entry-level cellular phones, particularly when selling into high-growth regions such as India and China.

    Currently half of TI wireless business is not that it’s news to them. Back in 2002 TI announced its intention to integrate the bulk of handset electronics on a single chip, for delivery in 2004. It squeezed in to 2004 by providing samples in December 2004.

    The NY Times is reporting that Qualcomm announced (reg. reqd) it had developed integrated technology back in November, but it is unlikely to reach the mass market before TI’s. Clearly TI is excited about it, Bill Krenik, manager of wireless advanced architectures for Texas Instruments said to the NY Times, “This isn’t an incremental step, it’s a big leap forward.”

    Juha Pinomaa, Vice President, Entry Business Line, Nokia is equally sprightly. “By incorporating TI’s DRP technology into a single chip, future Nokia mobile phones will provide the ideal mix of cool features and cost-effectiveness, making them more attractive to the mass marketplace.”

    Not resting on its laurels, TI’s integrated wireless technology roadmap also includes a single chip solution for digital TV for mobile phones, as well as future single chip solutions for GPS, wireless LAN and UMTS.

    TI Nokia

    Image source – The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

  • HomeChoice Doubles Broadband Speeds, Free

    HomeChoice STBVideo Networks Ltd (VNL), who run the UK VOD service, HomeChoice, will be doubling the speed of their broadband service from 1st February, at no extra cost.

    512Kbps will raise to 1Mb, 1Mbps to 2Mbps and 2Mbps to 4Mbps.

    Last week the two UK cable companies, ntl and Telewest, announced they would be offering Video on Demand (VoD) in the UK over their existing connections. They both offer broadband services at a range of speeds, but they are generally distinct from the TV services which are available at extra cost, except from occasional special offer bundles.

    Currently ntl offer “broadband” at 300Kbps (arguable if this is broadband), 750Kb and 1.5Mbps (£37.99/month (~€57.50, ~$75). Telewest offer broadband only services (blueyonder) between 256Kbps and 4Mbps, with the top package being £50/month (~€72, ~$94). As these prices don’t include the TV services, they also won’t include VoD, when it gets rolled out.

    The HomeChoice offering is delivered over a telephone line and includes the TV service; VoD; free evening and weekend phone calls; as well as higher speed broadband connections with their base level service now being 1Mbps. Their 4Mbps service is priced at #45/month (~€65, ~$85).

    Roger Lynch, Chairman & CEO, Video Networks Ltd. said: “Video Networks is constantly looking for ways it can enhance its current suite of services to continue to provide a superb customer experience.”

    It’s taken long enough for competition to arrive in the UK, but it finally appears to be taking root. For the UK consumer, this is all good news, as competing providers clamour to offer better deals to woo subscribers.

    HomeChoice is currently available to over 1.4 million homes around London. VNL have stated that they want to expand their offering beyond London, although details are not yet public.

    Existing HomeChoice customers will be notified of the automatic speed upgrades from 24th January via direct mail.

    HomeChoice

  • Midem 2005

    WHAT IS MIDEM ? – The World’s Music Market The business of music has been expanding. But each year, Midem puts you right in the heart of the action. This January, nearly 9,000 music professionals will meet for another five days of networking, deal making, market information, live music and parties. Palais Des Festivales, Cannes, France http://www.midem.com

  • MidemNet – Music & Technology Forum

    Given its unprecedented star cast, MidemNet 2005 was bound to repeat last year’s sell-out performance. Indeed, nearly 200 more visitors than last year have registered for the 2005 Technology Forum. So to ensure noone misses out, the event has been moved to the Palais’ larger Debussy auditorium. Keynotes include Chuck D and John Kennedy, who will be making his first public appearance as the IFPI’s new CEO. Palais Des Festivales, Cannes, France http://www.midem.com/

  • Telewest Announce PVR for the UK

    Telewest PVRFollowing the release of their Video On Demand (VOD) service earlier this week, UK cable company, Telewest, has announced that they are to offer a PVR later in the year.

    The signing of the deal with Scientific-Atlanta will provide them with a PVR featuring three tuners, enabling the recording of two channels while watching a third. Coming with a 160Gb hard disk, Telewest are quoting a recording capacity of 80 hours.

    When we spoke to Telewest on a more exact release date, they said it would be second half of 2005. Pressing a little harder, they said they hoped it to be the third quarter.

    Given the date of the release isn’t firm, neither were Telewest’s answers to our more detailed questions, but here’s what we got. If subscribers take the service, the PVR will be a replacement for their current STB.

    It will be a Personal VR rather than a Digital VR, as customers will be able to link the recording of series, as possibility more – at this time undecided.

    The existing Telewest service offers a 24-hour Electronic Programming Guide (EPG). They’re currently saying that they don’t know if this is to be extended or not. To us it would be pretty bizarre if it didn’t go to at least a 7-day service – filling up your 80-hour hard drive in a single 24-hours would take some doing.

    The price of the box remains undecided. Internally they haven’t decided if there will be a one off fee or if they will continue with the current arrangement for their Set Top Boxes (STB), rental.

    The PVR will feature as standard high-definition TV (HDTV) support, not that Telewest has HD at the moment but they say it’s coming “in the future”. While we assume everyone will eventually be delivering HD, we would have thought that if they’re paying for a HD capable box, they’re likely to be supporting it soon.

    Eric Tveter president and chief operating officer at Telewest Broadband said “Telewest Broadband’s unique combination of personal video recorder and television-on-demand services will mean our customers have the best of both worlds — freedom from the TV schedule with PVR control, and on-demand access to a wider selection of movies and TV content. It’s not about offering people more TV, but giving them the freedom to watch exactly what they want, when they want.”

    Right on Eric.

    Telewest

  • TiVo effect, TV still doesn’t know what to do

    TiVo with remoteIn a long line of articles where TV execs try to ponder how to stop losing sleep and preserve their once comfortable lives, Meg James in the LA Times covers the impact of PVR’s, in particular TiVo, and how the TV industry is still trying to adjust to its impact.

    It’s warming to see that there are still articles coming out, with quotes from TiVo users such as, “Once you’ve used one, you can’t imagine life without TiVo,” as Charlie Flint of Marina del Rey, California did. It’s somewhat reassuring that the impact is still as great for new users as it was when TiVo was first introduced.

    One thing that doesn’t get mentioned in connection with this, and this is something that TV people should have sympathy with, is that ad breaks, do exactly that, break up the programme. Interrupting its flow.

    This has been more than amply proven in the UK where The Simpsons have moved from commercial-free BBC2 to the advertiser-supported Channel 4.

    Previously used to watching the show from beginning to end, without interruption. When watching the show, on TiVo of course, the story is interrupted by having to skip through the adverts.

    Interestingly the exact opposite of the programmes sponsor desired intention is achieved. I have now come to resent the Pizza chain, as they are associated with interrupting my viewing pleasure.

    One of the reasons that articles like this continue to make press is that estimated figures coming out of research houses and banks make worrying reading for the TV, and therefore the entertainment world.

    By 2010, half the US households with TV sets are expected also to have digital recorders, according to a recent Smith Barney report. The tipping point could come as early as 2007, the report said, when the television industry may lose as much as $7.6 billion — or about 10% of its annual ad revenue — as advertisers seek other ways of reaching consumers.

    A number of alternatives are suggested including pay-per-play, product placement in shows.

    In one, viewers would pay $1 to see an episode of a show On Demand, “much as music fans do when they download a song from Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes music store,” appearing to forget that the iTunes users don’t pay another $1 when they listen to the song the following week, as would be that case with a VOD show.

    It’s gratifying that Meg James ends the article with a wise quote from her interviewee, one that the TV industry should be listening to, “I’m now trying stuff that I never would have watched before. I’ll give it a shot and set the TiVo, then watch the show later … when nothing else is on,” TiVo-user Flint said. “I’m watching probably 50% more TV than I used to.

    LA Times – Looking for New Ways to Make Viewers Pay
    TiVo

  • Michael Powell, FCC Chair to Go

    Michael Powell FCCThe Wall Street Journal is reporting that US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman, Michael Powell, will be leaving his position today.

    The rumours of his departure have been circulating for a long time, but what is unexpected is that he is resigning the day after George Bush’s inauguration.

    Powell has had his detractors and his supporters. He’s acted as a liberaliser – opening up the VoIP market, and, in some peoples eyes, a restrictor – last year he authorised fines in excess of $7.7 million for indecent programming.

    He will, for us, for ever be remembered for calling a TiVo “God’s machine“.

    Overall we think he’s been an enthusiastic supporter of technology advances. We hope his replacement will show a similar enthusiasm.

    WSJ – FCC Chairman Powell Plans to Step Down (reg. req.)
    Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Officials: FCC Chairman Powell to resign

  • Paid-for music downloads up 10x in 2004: IFPI Report

    The IFPI, has reported very positive sales figures for the 2004 and have even higher hopes for 2005.

    The IFPI was previously known as the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, but it looks like they’re probably trying to phase the full name out – it’s far from easy to find it explained on their site. They’re the equivalent to the non-US RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), to which it is affiliated.

    Building on their IFPI Online Music Report of last year, they have found some pretty positive figures.

    Online sites that are able to sell music have quadrupled from 50 in the previous year to 230. The tracks that are available to purchase through these sites have doubled to 1 million, and paid-for downloads are up nearly tenfold to 200 million. For the full run down of stats, it’s best to check the IFPA site.

    It’s with the benefit of hindsight that John Kennedy, IFPI Chairman and CEO now says “The biggest challenge for the digital music business has always been to make music easier to buy than to steal.” From our recollection, this was certainly a minority view within the music business previously. Their previous approach had been to try and stop the unpaid-for file sharing, while not being particularly co-operative with companies wanting to sell their music. As we all know, it was the release of Apple iTunes music store that changed their view.

    We’re encouraged to hear they’re now grabbing digital distribution with both hands. “The record industry’s priority now is to licence music – to as many services, for as many consumers, on as many formats and devices for use in as many places and countries as it can,” Kennedy said in a statement.

    Giving further details of the guidelines for signing up distribution services he said, “The straightforward conditions are that the business must be legitimate, the music must be correctly licensed, and record companies and other rights holders must get properly paid.” All good, except there is still some discussion within the industry on what “get properly paid” entails in digital distribution, with many feeling that electronic distribution should bring lower prices than current rates.

    The IFPI say they see the “digital music market taking off in 2005”. If 2004 saw paid-for downloads up more than tenfold to over 200 million, they must be jumping with joy in anticipation of the figures for 2005.

    IFPI Digital Music Report 2005

  • Creative’s Zen Micro – iPod Fight Back Plans Emerge

    Zen Micro Creative Labs

    The word has been going around that Creative Labs intends 2005 to be the year that they unseat Apple as the major supplier of music players. They reported selling 2 million in the last two months and certainly, with the growth of digital music, the prize for success would be large.

    Some of the details of Creative’s marketing plans are now starting to surface by way of UK sales house Emap advertising.

    They’re putting a considerable amount of money behind the campaign, with £3m being muted by Brand Republic (reg. req.). Not only will it run over 13 channels, but Emap’s in-house creative team is making a 70-sec video that has three different endings, targeted at the pop, rock, and urban audiences. The channels are owned by three different operators (Emap, Sky, and Chart Show) and representing 60% of the music channels available to UK Sky satellite viewers.

    By attaching themselves to TV music channels that their 16- to 34-year-old target audience watch, they’re hoping for ‘cool’ association, as well as being permanently in front of them.

    The campaign will focus on the 5/6Gb Zen micro player which, in our view, has the looks to become an object of desire.

    Buy the Zen Micro from Amazon (UK, US)