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

  • China: 300 Million Mobile Users by 2005

    The Chinese Ministry for Industry has released new figures which demonstrate the vast scale of the mobile market in China, and its potential for growth.

    Although the percentage of mobile phone owners in China will still be relatively low at just 24.5% of the population in 2005, this will still mean 300 million subscribers. In contrast, approximately 65% of Europeans own a mobile phone, with the US catching up at 50%.

    Currently, China’s 295,700,000 mobile phones account for half of all money spent communications. There are still another 800 million potential customers to reach, though the barriers of bringing access to rural areas and the cost of services must yet be dealt with.

    Chinese mobile users send 300 million text messages a day – accounting for one third of the World’s total 510 billion of SMS sent every in 2003. Not bad for something that was tacked onto GSM as a afterthought and costs network operators virtually nothing to handle.

    China Mobile

  • eBooks on the Rise?

    For as long as there has been ASCII, there have been electronic books, but every attempt to make eBooks into a commercial product with mass-market appeal has been a disappointment. However, new sales figures from the Open eBook Forum point to a 46% rise in eBook revenues in the first quarter of this year.

    Additionally, Forum President Steve Potash claims that “eBooks represent the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry.”

    Sadly, the titles that are shifting are not the forward-looking science, philosophy literary masterpieces I’d hoped for: Dan Brown’s nonsense numerology pot boiler The Da Vinci Code leads the bestseller chart, followed by Van Helsing by Kevin Ryan at number two.

    Figures are still modest: 421,955 eBooks were sold in Q1 2004, compared to 288,440 for the same period last year. This translates into US$3.2 million (€2.6 million) in revenue, opposed to US$2.5 million (€2 million) for Q1 2003.

    The market is still dogged with issues: competing formats, lacklustre content, over-priced products and expensive reading devices. People still prefer reading printed books, but the sheer convenience of being able to carry a number of titles for consulting at will has prompted people to experiment in the format. There’s still no “killer application” for eBooks (like iTunes was to the iPod), and certainly no “system seller” (for example, the Matrix DVD prompted many thousands of people to buy a DVD player), and there possibly never will, but we hope that this important media format gets the attention it deserves.

    Open eBook

  • European iTunes: 15th June?

    Apple has let major publications know that it intends to make a big announcement on 15th June, but isn’t giving away exactly what it is. The giveaway is that the press conference is billed “The biggest story in music is about to get even bigger”, and the invite carries the iPod dancing people motif. We think it’s going to be European iTunes – but will no doubt be disappointed when it turns out to be the UK launch of iTunes Mini.

    Some websites are already quoting 15th June as an established fact – it’s just wild speculation at the moment, Apple aren’t telling anyone.

    Which countries will get iTunes? How much will it cost? How many songs? Perhaps all will be revealed in the next few days.

    iTunes

  • Mobile Peer to Peer File Sharing with PDAs

    Simedia, a small software publisher in Bucharest, has ported a clone of Apple’s Rendezvous application to PocketPC and teamed it with a web server. The result? A mobile P2P file sharing program.

    The application discovers other devices on the same WiFi network and allows people to share files and documents. And of course, music.

    Simedia themselves give various uses for the application, including using it to “share your music collection with passers-by or listen to their collections whilst sharing a ride on the bus”. Features like these will no doubt have music execs jumping out of windows, whilst RIAA lawyers will be lighting cigars with $100 bills.

    The software will be available from 16 June in two versions: a free version, and a paid version with corporate functionality.

    Simedia already have a history for off-beat PDA products – they are well known for their SounderCover application which plays background noises (trains, the dentist, a errr, circus parade) over phone calls for those wishing to deceive spouses and employers that they somewhere different to their real location.

    Simedia

  • Gizmondo GPS Gaming

    The Gizmondo is an interesting new twist on mobile gaming: the hand-held console has an integrated miniature GPS unit, so games will know where you are. Location-based gaming is new, because the technology just hasn’t been economical until now. Game worlds can be tailored to respond to a users location and fantasy worlds can be “overlaid” onto real-world places.

    The console’s specifications are remarkably similar to many smart phone/PDAs available now, and it essentially looks like an upside down nGage. It’s essentially a tri-band GPRS phone with a 400MHz ARM processor, 240 x 320 pixel TFT screen, Bluetooth and a camera. What makes the unit exciting from a games perspective is the 3D graphics accelerator, providing proper polygon-based graphics rather than 2D sprites.

    Games can be installed via the phone network or through MMC/SD cards. There are currently three titles associated with the console: Colors (an “urban warfare” game), Stunt Car Extreme and Speedgun Stadium (a first person shooter, interestingly single player). A new game, code-named “City” has just been announced, a multiplayer title designed for quick-fix gaming.

    The arrival of the Gizmondo shows that manufacturers are starting to take mobile gaming very seriously indeed, no doubt because of the revenue stream potential: networked mobile games consoles mean that networks can charge for access, charge per game and charge per session. They can also sell add-on levels, outfits and even in-game objects and items.

    The arrival of the Gizmondo will concern Nokia. From the public’s point of view, the two consoles are virtually undistinguishable, both from a purely visual perspective and from functionality – except the Gizmondo has a GPS unit. The Gizmondo is due for a Autumn launch in the UK, with the rest of the World following shortly. Pricing is estimated to be around UK£250 (€373), but will no doubt be considerably less when sold with an air time contract, as seen with the nGage.

    Carrying around a GPS unit also means that network providers’ marketing departments will have fun thinking up new ways to send you location-specific sales messages. All network subscribers at an outdoor festival can be messaged with special offers on CDs, for example. With potential like this, expect GPS units in phones to be a lot more common in phones in future: a drop in price for GPS technologies coupled with better mobile networking and a proven revenue model means location-based entertainment’s time is soon.

    Gizmondo

    Tiger Telematics

  • Microsoft’s New Patent on Clicking

    Microsoft have a new patent, relating to launching applications on PDAs. The patent describes launching different programs according to how many times a hardware button is pressed, for example one press for Contacts, twice for Calendar, three times for Hover Bovver.

    If you still have a digital watch, it’s exactly the same technique you use every six months when the clocks change and you have to remember how to set the damn thing. Thankfully, this MS patent only applies to hardware buttons on PDAs running Microsoft’s PocketPC operating system.

    The irony is not lost on Digital Lifestyles, as we reported last week that Microsoft have just joined a group whose very existence to is prevent obstructive patents and overhaul the US Patent and Trademark Office, renowned for issuing daft patents. We’re also reminded of our very own BT’s claim on owning the patent on hyperlinks.

    Microsoft’s patent and licensing programme

    BT’s hyperlink patent

  • NotCon ’04

    A low budget, high energy event about technology. Details are on the site. Imperial College Union, Beit Quad, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington SW7 2BB UK http://www.xcom2002.com/nc04/

  • Microsoft Scraps Major Online Game Before Launch

    The hugely anticipated MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) True Fantasy Online, seen as a competitor to Final Fantasy X and tool for winning over Japanese gamers has been scrapped after more than three years in development.

    The title had already been delayed three times – it was originally intended to go live in Spring. Role-playing games are enormously popular with Japanese players, and indeed the country is the source of all the best RPG franchises: Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, Vagrant Story, to name just a few. Japan also is home to a phenomena known as “Final Fantasy Flu” where there is a sudden peak in staff calling in sick on major RPG launch days.

    Level 5, developers of the game have an incredible track record when it comes to games – they’re already responsible for the best-selling Dragon Quarter and Dark Cloud series.

    Peter Moore, of Microsoft’s games unit, and formerly of Sega, said: “It was very, very clear to us that there was no way for the quality level we needed that it was going to make winter. We wish that we could just through sheer force of will bring this game to market. It just isn’t happening. We started to be concerned with timetables and milestones in recent months. The developer, who we have the greatest regard for … agreed with us.”

    Since launch, Microsoft have sold just 500,000 consoles in Japan – reasons given revolve around the sheer size of the console (it originally launched with a special controller that was smaller than the standard US/UK issue – now available worldwide) and lack of games designed to appeal to Japanese gamers. By comparison, Sony has sold 15 million Playstation2 consoles, Nintendo has sold 3.2 million GameCubes.

    The MMORPG market worldwide is acknowledged as being difficult to crack – despite being relatively new, there are already well-established games in operation and players are loath to switch between them. Everquest is undoubtedly the most popular with more than 420,000 subscribers paying $12.95 per month to punch rats in the face and steal their whiskers for one experience point.

    Level 5

  • Nvidia Expect Media Centre Shipments to Treble

    One of the leading manufacturers of video cards, Nvidia, has stated that it expects worldwide shipments of media centres – PCs used to play video, music and games in a living room environment – to treble in 2004. This would take global figures to around six million units.

    Huang Jeh-hsun, president and CEO of Nvidia made the statement at Computex 2004, saying that demand was picking up, and further growth was expected as prices fell.

    Most media centres are still based around a PC paradigm – and many home users find PC concepts and interfaces off-putting. Operating systems such as Microsoft’s Windows XP Media Centre Edition are a step in the right direction but are still daunting for casual users, and it’s frankly a pain to have to boot up your PC and navigate menus and settings just to watch K-PAX on DVD.

    Nvidia’s optimism on increased shipments, however is no doubt inspired by their own range of products, principally their nStant Media platform. Currently a laptop-only solution, nStant Media allows users to use digital content without having to boot into an operating system – and consequently uses less power too.

    Nvidia

  • NPD Group: US CD Price Cuts Are Accelerating

    NPD Group’s MusicWatch PriceLab latest information shows that US price cuts to CDs are accelerating. CDs in Q1 2004 were 4% cheaper than in Q1 2003. By Q3 2003, the prices had only fallen 1%, by Q4 2003 they’d fallen 2.5%.

    This means that the average price of a CD in the US has fallen to US$13.29 (€10.90) from US$13.79 (€11.31) in 2003. Titles older than 18 months are cheaper still, averaging at US$12.99 (€10.65).

    “There are several reasons for the accelerating decline,” according to Russ Crupnick, president of NPD Music. “First and foremost the recording industry has had to deal with a changing market over the past few years, which was fuelled in part by file-sharing. But the retail landscape has also changed, and consumers are increasingly exposed to everyday low prices or terrific discount offers. Everyone also recognizes the increasing competition for entertainment dollars, as DVDs and video games are growing at double digit rates. These situational factors are causing the industry to reduce rethink pricing.”

    NPD Group