Sony has bought 1% of Real Networks to demonstrate how they are getting closer together, in their attempt to fend off Microsoft taking control of digital music.
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
Cricket to be webcast
In contrast to the football World Cup, all international cricket from India will be broadcast live on the Internet to registered users of wisden.com.
Audio webcasting goes silent
Yesterday the audio webcasting industry went silent for the day, as a protest to the recently recommended fee of 0.14 US cents per track played. Webcasters say they already finding it hard to survive and the additional financial burden of paying, what initially looks like a small amount of money, would add about an extra $9,000 to their monthly cost. Clearly the record companies don’t see it that way and by 21.May, we will all find out what the final figure due will be as that’s when the Librarian of Congress is required to set sound recording performance royalty rates for Web radio stations.
World Cup streaming video pricing announced
The details of the online viewing of the Korean-held World Cup have now been announced. For a cost of $19.95 viewers will be able to watch four-minute video packages at up to 300k of each of the 64 matches and listen to bespoke commentaries in either English, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish or German. They will be available two to three hours after the match finish, to keep the TV stations happy I suspect.
Telewest drop broadband pricing
Telewest are running a special broadband promotion in the UK. The 4.3m households that lie within Telewest a franchise will be able to get the first three months of the blueyonder service for £13.48 not the usual £25 charge.
Sony murmur about broadband PlayStation
Just in case we were thinking of buying an Xbox for its broadband capabilities, Sony are reminding us that they are planning a late August launch of their online network and the availability of its competitively priced ~$40 network adaptor.
BT no-frills ADSL pricing announced
BT have today said it will sell its direct or no-frills ADSL service for as little as 27 ukp from autumn this year.
RealNetworks release v9
RealNetworks have updated their video CODEC to version 9. Significantly they are giving the option to play back on a TV screen and a computer monitor. They are also claiming 30% better compression and smoother playback at 56k. I would assume that the smoother play is due to being able to get more data to the viewer – it the 30% better compression.
Xbox sales lower than expected
The sales on the Microsoft Xbox have been lower than expected, so they have now downwardly adjusted the sales targets from 4.5m to 6m to 3.5m to 4m). Where they are different from the game console makers is in the fact broadband and a hard drive are included with the unit, giving them a natural advantage in broadband, multi-user games.
Hawaii to be the first US 3G service
A Maui, Hawaii, USA company is planning to launch the first 3G service in the US. Maui Sky Fibre will offer the $30/month data-only service to the 91k population on the 750 sq. miles island via a PDA -sized modem.