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

  • AOL’s Optimised PC

    AOL have launched the AOL Optimised PC – a cheap PC that gets the AOL brand into homes and under people’s noses.

    The base US$300 (€246) cost of the system is subsidised by the AOL subscription purchasers also have to buy with the PC. That adds a further US$23.90 (€19.60) a month for a year to the total cost.

    The base unit is built around a 2GHz Celeron processor, 256Mb of memory and a 40 gb hard dirve. The PC comes with a 17” monitor, printer and speakers and AOL Office – which is essentially Open Office. Naturally, the PC is preconfigured with AOL’s suite of tools and applications with parental controls, Computer Check Up and internet access ready to go.

    “We’re addressing the needs of the millions of Internet intenders who are first-time PC buyers or novice computer users,” said Kenn Turner, Senior Vice President and General Manager, AOL Key Audiences.

    “They’ve told us that affordability and an interest in making one simple buying decision for everything they need to use the computer and get online is important to them. We think the complete AOL Optimized PC solution delivers unprecedented value, while maintaining performance and quality.”

    AOL are supplying the computer in with English and Spanish language options, and it can be easily swapped between them.

    “Fifty-five percent of English language dominant Hispanic households have Internet access at home, compared with only 20% of Spanish language dominant households, according to the Synovate 2004 Hispanic Report,” said David Wellisch, Vice President and General Manager, AOL Latino.

    “The AOL Optimised PC is one of the only widely available PC plus internet solutions that makes it easy to select and switch between language preferences. Combined with an affordable price and a comprehensive PC bundle, we hope to empower these consumers to take advantage of all the resources the Internet has to offer.”

    AOL is also hoping that the PC will raise awareness of their brand and get it into more homes, as Disney has demonstrated recently with their mouse-eared Disney PC.

    The AOL Optimised PC

  • DVD Jon Cracks AirPort

    More bad news for Apple keeping its grip on iTunes and its related technologies – DVD Jon has cracked the encryption behind AirPort.

    Jon Lech Johansen came to fame five years ago when he co-authored DeCSS, an application for decrypting DVD video content. He wrote the software so he could watch his legally acquired DVDs on his Linux PC. I would like to point out that he was just 15 when he managed that. Now the Norwegian programmer has managed to discover the key that AirPort Express uses when sending data between iTunes and Apple’s wireless base station.

    Apple is currently in cat fight with Real Networks over Harmony, a technology that allows Real content to be played on the iPod. DVD Jon has just made it possible for third party software and hardware producers to stream music to AirPort express from other music programs. An example picked from random, I suppose, would be Real Player – music lovers will now be able to stream music from Real Player or Windows Media to their AirPort receivers.

    Johansen has released the source code to JustePort, a command-line tool that demonstrates how music can be streamed to AirPort.

    SoSueMe – Jon Lech Johansen’s blog

  • First Destructive Phone Virus in the Wild

    Cracked copies of Mosquito, a game for Series 60 phones, have a little extra – a dialler that sends SMS texts to premium rate numbers. Pirated software has always been a popular vector for virus and Trojan infections, but this is the first time it’s been observed in mobile phones. Risk of infection is yet another reason why consumers should stay away from copied games and applications – you don’t know where they’ve been.

    In this case, the dialler was actually included and written by the company, Ojom, who produced the game as a form of revenge for pirating it. The dialler was removed as it didn’t work as required – and you guessed it, old copies with the dialler appeared on the internet.

    The dialler is not strictly a virus – it doesn’t reproduce and finds its way onto your system by hiding in something else, so it’s properly identified as a Trojan horse. In this case, the infection can be removed by un-installing the game.

    Ojom Games

  • Blockbuster Launch Online DVD Rental Service

    Blockbuster have launched Blockbuster Online, as service that allows subscribers to choose films from the company’s 25,000 title catalogue – and then have them posted to their home.

    Not quite the giant leap we were all hoping for, and a bit late, but it’s a step forward. This is essentially the same service that Netflix and others have been providing for, well, months. Years, even.

    Blockbuster don’t think they’re late to market at all: “We think now is the opportune time for Blockbuster to enter the online rental business, and we plan to quickly establish ourselves in this arena by aggressively marketing, pricing and combining our online program and in-store capabilities,” said Shane Evangelist, Blockbuster vice president and general manager of BLOCKBUSTER Online. “Very simply, we plan on providing the best online movie rental service available. To this end, the BLOCKBUSTER Online monthly fee is currently priced below our biggest competitor for the three-out rental plan. Plus, we are offering 25,000 new release and catalogue titles. We believe that all of this, combined with our marketing savvy, should help Blockbuster to develop a substantial share of the online rental business by the end of next year.”

    Certainly, recognition of the Blockbuster brand should make it easier for them to gain ground in an already established market.

    Subscribers can rent unlimited films, up to three at a time, for US$19.99 (€16.30) a month. As they’re paying a subscription and can only hold three titles at a time, there are not late fees – so that copy of Three Weeks Notice can sit there unwatched for as long as you like, just because you can’t get to the post office.

    Blockbuster will be offering free rental coupons valid in its stores to encourage subscribers to still pop into the local branch now and again – of course, posting DVDs means that customers won’t be buying so much high-margin popcorn and chocolates anymore.

    Blockbuster Online

  • Protect Your WiFi Network With Wallpaper

    BAE Systems have developed a type of wallpaper designed to secure WiFi networks. The wallpaper uses a Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) to let only some radio frequencies through, whilst blocking others.

    The upshot is that a site using the wallpaper can keep wireless LAN signals inside, but allow mobile phone and other EM signals through. This is much more convenient than turning an office building into a Faraday cage, as staff will still be able to use their mobile phones and emergency services signals will not be blocked.

    The wallpaper can even be switched off in an emergency (if only it’d been around when Oscar Wilde needed it), to allow all signals through.

    At UK£500 (€747) per square meter it’s a little pricey for home use but more practical for companies. Of course, wireless networks should be properly secured with user authentication and encryption before resorting to FSS techniques, but the product is a useful precaution against users setting up unauthorised unsecured wifi access points within organisations.

    The wallpaper is composed of a top secret kapton and copper sandwich (kepton is that film that very thin circuit boards and connectors are made out of – prise the back of your iPod and you’ll see what I mean), and BAE are currently working on a thinner version for coating windows.

    BAE Systems

  • eBay Anywhere

    Bad news for people with eBay addictions – Volantis Systems have launched a service that allows subscribers to keep close tabs on auctions from their mobile phones. Bad news for everyone else too, because it means that some of the more extreme eBay junkies might feel liberated to leave the house and wander about a bit.

    The service is currently very simple, but they have big plans to turn it into a full eBay portal. Revolving around SMS text messages, eBay Anywhere sends users text messages when they are outbid on an item, win the auction or an auction ends.

    eBay have offered a similar service for a while, but eBay Anywhere has a feature that stops addicts from having to leap into cybercafes at random times during the day or night: subscribers can text bids straight back if it looks like a long-coveted blackbird pie funnel is about to go to someone else.

    Messages cost UK£0.25 (€0.37) as they are premium texts. Volantis hope to be able to include photo uploads direct from camera phones as well as a fully-featured version of the My eBay portal for providing feedback and checking payments.

    eBay Anywhere

  • P2P Networks Distribute Windows SP2

    Peer to peer activists Downhill Battle have set up a share to distribute Windows XP Service Pack 2. The move is intended to show the positive side of file-sharing networks and to demonstrate how powerful P2P networks can be.

    SP2 has been released to manufacture, but is not currently generally available for download from Microsoft – late August is the expected time. Microsoft will be limiting downloads from its Windows Update site to prevent bandwidth and server problems, as it has predicted that the service pack will be installed on 100 million machines in coming months.

    Downhill Battle have made SP2 available on BitTorrent, but other P2P users have picked it up and the update is now available on a number of peer to peer networks, including eDonkey.

    As Downhill Battle state on the download page: “This website has been setup by Downhill Battle – Music Activism as a demonstration of how peer-to-peer filesharing technology can help distribute files that are too large for centralized distribution to handle. Even Microsoft, which has incredible server resources at their disposal, is limiting downloads of their SP2 release, but filesharing technology can let everyone download it right away. Congress is literally preparing to outlaw filesharing– it is crucial that we rally to defend and promote the technology.”

    The version available is a network install, and definitely not what the average home user needs – particularly as it weighs in at 270 mb. The standard SP2 is about 80 mb.

    Downhill Battle

    The SP2 BitTorrent

  • The Edinburgh International Games Festival – EIGF

    Bigger & better EIGF04 running from 8th-22nd August 2004 will cover an even wider variety of subjects and offer a unique programme for gaming enthusiasts and industry personnel alike comprising of;

    • 2 days of Conference Sessions– 12th and 13th August 2004
    • An all new series of Game Screenings– 11th-14th August 2004. Personal presentations to the public, trade and press by some of the industry’s leading games creators
    • A 2 week public gameplay exhibition, Go Play Games– 8th-22nd August 2004

    In 2004, game creators and publishers from all over the world including the UK, Japan, USA and Canada are expected to attend and participate in this stimulating and unique event.
     
    Conference schedule
    http://www.eigf.co.uk/

  • The BBC’s Digital Olympic Coverage

    BBC Sport have released details of the scale of their coverage for the 2004 Olympics, covering more than 1,200 hours of television and 200 hours of radio. Digital television and broadband internet means that the BBC will be able to broadcast much more Olympic footage than in previous years – so this year you might not miss out on the canoeing after all.

    The Olympic Games generally create about 3000 hours of television – the BBC will broadcast 250 hours on its two main channels, and another 1,000 hours will be shown on digital TV.

    Digital services will include constantly updated results and medal tables, and a scheduling tool so that viewers can see if the softball finals and table tennis events are on at the same time.

    BBC Sport will be showing live and on-demand coverage of events on their web site for UK residential broadband customers. The service will feature the same streams carried on interactive channels, so users will be able to watch five events simultaneously.

    The BBC Sport player can sit on your desktop whilst you’re working with your computer, and the site even includes other activities that you can enjoy whilst the video player is running. The Flash games provided are a nice touch and have a lovely SNES feel to them – I managed to out swim the calamari in 12.1 seconds, but the B and N keys on my keyboard will never be the same.

    Watch the Olympics live online

  • XP Light for Developing Markets

    Microsoft is about to release a stripped-down, low-cost version of Windows XP into five developing markets. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and two unspecified countries will receive Windows XP Starter Edition in October.

    The move is to combat the two main threats to Windows in these markets: piracy and Linux. Microsoft hopes that a low-cost, properly licensed copy of Windows will dissuade users from simply buying a copied disk for a couple of dollars and that the company’s brand and software support will tempt users away from trying out a Linux distribution.

    Aside from major changes to the OS, Microsoft has localised screen savers to include local landscape scenes, flags and traditional designs to encourage users to adopt XP Starter Edition.

    Microsoft may have misjudged the market, however – XP Starter Edition apparently features lower resolution graphics, crippled networking and bizarrely, only allows users to run three programs simultaneously.

    Given that most Linux distributions perform excellently in all of these areas, it is unlikely that Microsoft will be tempting anyone away from the penguin with less functionality rather than more.

    Microsoft on XP Starter Edition