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

  • iTunes and Sony Connect Launched This Month; Napster UK High Pricing Explained

    Although Apple is yet to make an official statement, many sources believe the European version of their iTunes music store will launch in the middle of June. Although Euro iTunes is expected to be more expensive than its American cousin, the price difference is not expected to be as dramatic as the one demonstrated between US and UK Napster.

    Sony has just completed deals with European independent labels, adding another 75,000 tracks to its catalogue. The Connect store uses Sony’s SonicStage software to protect the ATRAC-encoded tracks, and does not serve MP3s. On future developments, Sony US lead Howard Stringer hinted that Connect might feature video content too – which, considering Sony’s huge range of capable hardware, is probably a very smart idea.

    We’re grateful to Napster UK for getting back to us on our query regarding the remarkable disparity in pricing between its US, CA and UK stores. The reason? Greedy labels. Adam Howorth, Communications director at Napter UK told us: “it’s simply down to the higher wholesale price we get from the record companies in the UK. If they would reduce their prices, so would we.”

    Connect Europe

    iTunes

    Napster UK

  • Broadband is Killing Television

    A survey from Wanadoo has revealed that people’s TV viewing and Internet habits are changing as broadband becomes more popular.

    The Fishbowl 2 survey asked 1000 people to keep a diary of their media use over a two week period.

    Broadband subscribers spend 45% more time online than narrowband users, and cite entertainment as their use after 6pm – making the Internet the second most popular media in the prime time slot. Broadband users also claimed that the Internet was the only medium that satisfied all of their media needs (i.e. news, music, information, entertainment etc.) all at one time.

    Key findings from Fishbow 2:

    • TV has declined by 12% (almost 3 hours) in viewing time
    • Broadband users take a higher share of media time at 16%, compared to average Internet share at 12%
    • Broadband users spend 11% less time watching TV than Narrowband users, and 45% more time online
    • This equates to 2.1 hours less time watching TV per week, but 2.1 hours more time online – indicating Broadband’s direct cannibalisation of TV consumption
    • After 6pm weekdays and 2pm weekends, the Internet is the number 2 medium behind TV for all demographic groups
    • TV cannibalisation is occurring at the above times for Broadband users. Weekday evening for example, Narrowband Internet share is 10% and 77% for TV; Broadband Internet share grows to 18% but is only 68% for TV
    • Needs fulfilled online are changing from ‘traditional’ Internet needs. Searching specific information and communication has decreased as a need fulfilled online whereas entertainment is growing
    • Entertainment is the top need fulfilled online after 6pm, as with TV
    • The Internet is the number 2 “prime time” entertainment medium, with Broadband eroding time spent watching TV

    Wanadoo on the report

  • Coming Soon: Ringtone Top 20

    Now that the market is worth over UK£70 million (€105 million), KPMG are compiling a fortnightly chart listing the top 20 ringtones downloaded to the UK’s 45 million mobile phones. The chart will be officially recognised by the British Phonographic Industry and published in the trade news paper Music Week.

    Even scarier, some sources report that ringtones now account for 10% of the global music market – or US$3,000,000,000 (€2.45 billion). There an interesting contradiction here. On the one hand, the music industry say that it’s customers are quite happy to pay for a ringtone sample from a single, yet on the other hand the same labels claim that the public won’t pay to download an actual music track, instead preferring to rob artists. Could this have been because of the easy availability of licensed ringtones to buy as opposed to a complete lack of legitimate music services in some markets, such as Europe?

    Incidentally, it’s a race between Eamon’s “I Don’t Want You Back” and Britney Spear’s “Everytime” to be the top spot on the first chart. Contrast this to Al Martino’s “Here in My Heart” which topped the first singles chart in 1952.

    Too bad panda-headed Digital Lifestyle’s favourites Super Smart don’t really have a look in.

    Music Week

  • Paula Le Dieu on Providing The Fuel for a Creative Nation: With Joint Director of the BBC Creative Archive

    As a follow up to our piece on the Creative Commons licensing of the BBC’s Creative Archive, we were fortunate to get an interview with Paula Le Dieu, Joint Director on the BBC Creative Archive project.

    Why the Creative Commons licence?
    The first thing to make really clear, is that this point in time we are heavily inspired by Creative Commons in terms of the approach that we are taking with our licence. We sincerely hope that we will end up with a Creative Commons licence, but there is a possibility that we will go with a separate licence, with the very real aim to make it at least interoperable.

    Was it because the decision content has been paid for by the public, so should be there for the public to use?
    We didn’t start from that premise. We started from the premise that we had this fabulous archive and we had a requirement in our last charter, the one that we’re currently operating in, that expressly asks us to open up our archive. There had always been a strong feeling that we hadn’t done that as well as we could. There were many reasons for that, but with the advent of what was seen as more sustainable distribution mechanisms and technologies that would allow us to digitise and distribute that content in a sustainable way, the organisation began to feel that there was an opportunity to genuinely open the archive up and make it more accessible. In doing that it wasn’t a significant leap to think about what people might want to do with this material. Once we started to think about what people might want to do with this material, we then started to realise that one of the key values of this material was as fuel for the creative endeavours of the nation.

    Once you start to understand that you want to provide the building blocks, you want to provide the fuel for creativity, the next question that comes up is “How on Earth do you allow people access and licence that material in ways that allow them to be able create their own derivative works?”

    Of course, at roughly the same time we were thinking about this the folks at Creative Commons were thinking around trying to come up with alternative licensing frame works that would facilitate precisely that kind of activity. It was a really nice meeting of minds there.

    What do you think the BBC’s adoption of this licence for its Creative Archive might mean for Creative Commons?
    I would be purely speculating. What I would hope that it would mean for Creative Commons and indeed for other alternative frameworks is that with the BBC undertaking this activity and with the BBC thinking seriously about using alternative frameworks that we add a legitimacy to it, that we add this notion that being able to access content in ways that are facilitated by Creative Commons-like licences we are actually providing this fuel for creativity. It’s not just about people wanting to get content for free.

    What do you think the BBC’s initiative will mean to other content owners and broadcaster? How do you think it will influence them?
    From our perspective we’d be delighted if there were other people out there in the industry who felt they could take the same step. We hope that many will follow, and potentially overtake us – we hope we provide both the inspiration for others to think seriously about whether this is something that they can and would do, and pragmatically share our own learning and experience with the industry such that they can perhaps feel more confident to take that step.
    Hopefully this will prompt content providers to be as generous with their content as the BBC, particularly in a world where companies are being more restrictive over what can be done with content, though licensing and DRM.This is where frameworks like Creative Commons are so powerful because they offer alternatives. They’re not going to be appropriate for everybody, but they do give alternative and people can see a different way of doing things.

    What’s next for the Creative Archive?
    At this point in time, the next step is to get some content out there, and we’re hoping to do that in September. There are a whole raft of areas that we need to cover off in order to do that and I think the licence is a really significant part of that. We have a number of production areas that we need to address in house also, we need to digitise the content and we need to think about how we’re going to distribute that content. The next big step for me is to get some content out!

    What’s the distribution channel going to be? Are you going to build an massive extranet somewhere?
    Initially, we are going to utilise the existing bandwidth that the BBC has available and not focus too heavily on setting up new or expanded infrastructure. Partly this reflects our interest in how audiences are going to use this material rather than trialling or experimenting with new technologies for the BBC.

    For you personally, what’s the most exciting part of the archive? What are you most excited about seeing made available for people to use?
    This is such a difficult question! It’s difficult for me because there are so many areas that I find thrilling around the Creative Archive. The licensing side of this is one of those areas that I never cease to be amazed and thrilled by. The depth of thinking that is taking place at the moment around alternative licensing frameworks really does start to point to a brave new world. At the other end of it, what that licence facilitates is a new way of the BBC engaging with its audiences and much more importantly, an new way for BBC audiences to be engaging with BBC material. With the Creative Archive, perhaps for the first time, not just invites but actively encourages our audiences to be part of the creative process. That for me is a really wonderful idea – the idea that we’re providing the fuel for a creative nation.

    The BBC on the Creative Archive

    Creative Commons

  • Media Center Xbox 2 On the Cards?

    Microsoft has been investigating options for a new variant in its Xbox games console line, and it might be bringing out a version that’s a PVR/PC hybrid.

    Working with the B/R/S Group, a California-based marketing research company, Microsoft have been conducting focus groups and research on what they’re calling the Xbox Next PC. The proposed unit has a hard disk and CD burner and is a proper PC running Windows.

    Microsoft were keen to emphasise that the Xbox was not a PC when it first appeared, but are perhaps happier to blur this distinction now that multifunction home media centres such as Sony’s PSX are gaining coverage. Microsoft’s XNA software solution, enabling easier porting of software between DirectX platforms may make this goal even easier to achieve.

    It may be that when XBox Next finally appears, there will be two variants: the next generation Xbox console, and its PC/PVR/console cousin. However, poor sales of the PSX in Japan and lack of US/European launch dates for the console may show the concept to be a bit of a lemon.

    For some reason the Xbox Next PC reminds me a bit of those Amstrad PCs you could buy with a MegaDrive built in. Hmmmm – eBay.

    B/R/S groups – making life complicated for URLs

    The Amstrad MegaDrive Computer

  • BT to Offer Itemised Broadband Bills

    BT Wholesale will be offering itemised bills to its customers from 28th May. Subscribers will be able to view each user’s time spent online and the amount of bandwidth used.

    “Previously, BT wholesale gave service providers the start and stop time for each user. With the improved functionality, we are able to record a breakdown of the bytes used both upstream and downstream,” said a spokesperson for BT Wholesale.

    BT

  • pro-music.org: 100 Music Stores and Climbing

    With over a 100 online stores and more to come, the music download business is certainly booming. It seems that everyone has one – from Oxfam to Coca Cola.

    To celebrate it’s first birthday, pro-music.org has published a directory of the legal music download sites and stores on the web today, and it demonstrates just how the industry has grown in just a year.

    Twelve months ago, when pro-music.org launched, there were 20 sites, with an catalogue of about 200,000 tracks. Now that number is over a hundred, and the major sites have catalogues of more than 500,000 tracks – as more and more distribution deals are made, that particular number will rise dramatically.

    pro-music.org has launched sister sites in Germany, France and Italy to reach internet users around the world.

    Jay Berman, Chairman and CEO of the IFPI said in a statement: “Pro-music has achieved over twelve months what its founding alliance partners intended it to be – a successful international educational campaign about online music. Pro-music is supported across the music sector, has attracted tens of thousands of visitors and rolled out in national versions in French, German and Italian. The site spells out in clear and simple terms the legal and copyright concerns around online music. It explains the fight against internet piracy. And, above all, it has tracked the surge of new legitimate services that have come on stream in the last year. Pro-music has a vital role to play in improving awareness in this area, and there seems no doubt that the second year of the campaign will be even more important than the first.”

    pro-music.org

  • California Approves “Anti-GMail” Bill

    The California state senate has approved Liz Figueroa’s email privacy bill, with some revision. “My legislation guarantees that our most private communications will remain just that – private,” said Senator Figueroa.

    The bill was revised at the last minute – it originally required ISPs to seek permission before scanning emails. As it stands, e-mail and instant messaging providers can scan emails to build a profile for delivering adverts, but must abide by strict limits on how the data is used. The data cannot be shared, kept or shown to a “natural person”. We take this to mean that humans are not allowed to peek at your mail, but bots can. GMail now has to permanently delete any email at the request of a subscriber.

    Anti-spam and virus filtering are covered in the bill, and as this is done automatically by software agents, it has never really been a privacy issue.

    GMail

  • International Workshop On Saving Energy In Set-Top Boxes

    The International Energy Agency is pleased to host a workshop examining the energy efficiency of set-top boxes – the term used to describe a wide range of products that allow televisions to receive digital broadcast signals, connect to the internet, or perform a host of other multi-media functions. IEA, Paris, France http://www.iea.org/Textbase/work/workshopdetail.asp?id=103

  • Napster Canada Launches

    Racing out music stores globally to get in ahead of iTunes, Napster have launched their Canadian service. It’s exactly the same as the others – with the small exception that it’s much cheaper than the UK store. Yet again.

    Tracks start at CAN$1.19 (€0.72) and the subscription is CAN$9.95 (€5.98), compared to the UK costs of UK£1.09 (€1.64) per track and UK£9.95 (€14.90) for a subscription.

    Confident pricing, eh? Yes, they have sales tax in Canada, it runs at about 14%, dependent on where you live – so VAT is not to blame.

    Since we can be fairly certain that Napster UK realise that their customers have access to the internet and can check prices and do conversions, I wonder what their thinking is with making the UK store twice as expensive as all the others?

    If anyone at Napster would care to email with an explanation, I’d be delighted to give them a voice here.

    Napster.ca