You're The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!
by C.S. Lewis
You were just looking for some decent clothes when everything changed
quite dramatically. For the better or for the worse, it is still hard to tell. Now it
seems like winter will never end and you feel cursed. Soon there will be an epic
struggle between two forces in your life and you are very concerned about a betrayal
that could turn the balance. If this makes it sound like you're re-enacting Christian
theological events, that may or may not be coincidence. When in doubt, put your trust
in zoo animals.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Heh
Me being this book aint too far from the truth, really:
VeohTV - what's that all about then?
My GOD! SHOCKING NEWS! Now you can WATCH TELEVISION ON YOUR COMPUTER! AT AAAANY TIIIIIMEEEE!!
ehh.. well, yes. Just got into work early Thursday having had a farewell-bash for colleague Tommy who's leaving us to go to Stockholm and work with eye-tracking cameras and stuff. So, slightly hungover and very tired, I open my mailbox to find myself invited to betatest VeohTV, internet-based television.
Yet another one, you think? Yeah, that's what I thought too. But VeohTV has got some features that I like. First off, it's a free software. Just install and watch,
basically. What do you watch then? Not broadcast tv, of course, but clips on the web, from all sorts of sources - ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, YouTube, MySpace, Google, Yahoo... you name it. VeohTV has a funky EPG which learns what you usually like to see and recommend stuff that you might also want to check out (haven't tried that yet, will be interesting to see how it works, if it's really intelligent or not) and of course the nifty feature of being able to record the material onto your computer.
Verdict? None yet. But with all the Joosts and Babelgums and Joox and Stage6, I am seriously beginning to wonder who'll come out on top in the end. Perhaps someone will buy them all and mash them up into a great big next-great-big-thing-thing?
Will get back to VeohTV once I've had the chance to try it out a bit more.
On another note - CONGRATULATIONS to fellow Finns Saku et al at Broadcasters / Zodiak! Their format "Pin Code" (basically - there are lots of money on a bank account, the contestants must find out the correct pin code to get to the money) has been optioned into several territories - including the US and Spain. Well done - perhaps the Finnish television business is going somewhere finally?
On the other hand, our format "The Space Trainees" is optioned into three territories, including Australia and Poland, so we're not that far behind :)
ehh.. well, yes. Just got into work early Thursday having had a farewell-bash for colleague Tommy who's leaving us to go to Stockholm and work with eye-tracking cameras and stuff. So, slightly hungover and very tired, I open my mailbox to find myself invited to betatest VeohTV, internet-based television.
Yet another one, you think? Yeah, that's what I thought too. But VeohTV has got some features that I like. First off, it's a free software. Just install and watch,
basically. What do you watch then? Not broadcast tv, of course, but clips on the web, from all sorts of sources - ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, YouTube, MySpace, Google, Yahoo... you name it. VeohTV has a funky EPG which learns what you usually like to see and recommend stuff that you might also want to check out (haven't tried that yet, will be interesting to see how it works, if it's really intelligent or not) and of course the nifty feature of being able to record the material onto your computer.Verdict? None yet. But with all the Joosts and Babelgums and Joox and Stage6, I am seriously beginning to wonder who'll come out on top in the end. Perhaps someone will buy them all and mash them up into a great big next-great-big-thing-thing?
Will get back to VeohTV once I've had the chance to try it out a bit more.
On another note - CONGRATULATIONS to fellow Finns Saku et al at Broadcasters / Zodiak! Their format "Pin Code" (basically - there are lots of money on a bank account, the contestants must find out the correct pin code to get to the money) has been optioned into several territories - including the US and Spain. Well done - perhaps the Finnish television business is going somewhere finally?
On the other hand, our format "The Space Trainees" is optioned into three territories, including Australia and Poland, so we're not that far behind :)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Nokia and DVB-H in Malaysia
The mobile tv circus rolls on and on. Latest news is that Nokia will partner up with Malaysian MiTV to roll out mobile tv offerings on the DVB-H platfom in the second half this year. As is stated, the people of Malaysia will "be able to watch the latest news, engage in music videos and documentaries or even catch their favorite TV series anywhere, anytime directly on their mobile devices".
Have we heard this before? Yes we have.
Furthermore, all the talk about this venture is about the technology - "there's no streaming and lag associated with it. You will be able to switch between channels instantaneously, and on top of that, the picture quality and reception will be better than any video streaming service available today." So it's great, it works, and it's still the same content, on another device.
What I'm personally still waiting for is, however, something that goes the other way around - not implementing a technology that just lets the audience watch the same content on another device, but rather content that has been developed to fit just that particular device. So far, there have been precious few attempts to develop anything new and exciting.
Mobile tv - still needs some tuning, methinks.
Have we heard this before? Yes we have.
Furthermore, all the talk about this venture is about the technology - "there's no streaming and lag associated with it. You will be able to switch between channels instantaneously, and on top of that, the picture quality and reception will be better than any video streaming service available today." So it's great, it works, and it's still the same content, on another device.
What I'm personally still waiting for is, however, something that goes the other way around - not implementing a technology that just lets the audience watch the same content on another device, but rather content that has been developed to fit just that particular device. So far, there have been precious few attempts to develop anything new and exciting.
Mobile tv - still needs some tuning, methinks.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Music, handsets and an iPhone killer.. or is it?
If you buy a new phone within the next 12 months (as many many MANY will do, myself included I hope :) you'll probably find a new icon in the menubar, right next to all the usual Calendar and Gallery icons. It'll be called Music Station, and it will be pretty nice, but a bit nasty as well.
See, iPhone is coming out on the market shortly. It's a really nice device, as can be seen on numerous places all over the 'Net. Now, the drawback is that the iPhone will be tied up to a specific operator. In the US it'll be AT&T, and so on - and in order to avail themselves of all the possibilities iPhone offers, the users must sign up to that said operator. As far as has been reported so far, the iPhone won't be downloading tunes off of iTunes either, which makes Music Station all the more intriguing.
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Thing with Music Station is that it lets you subscribe to all the music available from most major labels and a lot of indies as well, for 2.99€ a month. Download all you want, listen all you want - as long as you subscribe. And here's the nasty part - if you stop subscribing, you can't listen to any songs anymore, not even the ones you've downloaded. But the playlists are stored, so as soon as you start paying again, you can listen again.
What to think of this then? Well, with iTunes being priced at $0.99 per song, it's a helluva lot cheaper. Still, with iTunes you get to keep the song... My gut feeling is that as long as the players behind Music Station can get the telecom industry behind their product (and it's looking good so far) they have a good chance of upheaving iTunes hold of the market. Must see to it that it's included in my next phone ... :)
See, iPhone is coming out on the market shortly. It's a really nice device, as can be seen on numerous places all over the 'Net. Now, the drawback is that the iPhone will be tied up to a specific operator. In the US it'll be AT&T, and so on - and in order to avail themselves of all the possibilities iPhone offers, the users must sign up to that said operator. As far as has been reported so far, the iPhone won't be downloading tunes off of iTunes either, which makes Music Station all the more intriguing.
.jpg)
Thing with Music Station is that it lets you subscribe to all the music available from most major labels and a lot of indies as well, for 2.99€ a month. Download all you want, listen all you want - as long as you subscribe. And here's the nasty part - if you stop subscribing, you can't listen to any songs anymore, not even the ones you've downloaded. But the playlists are stored, so as soon as you start paying again, you can listen again.
What to think of this then? Well, with iTunes being priced at $0.99 per song, it's a helluva lot cheaper. Still, with iTunes you get to keep the song... My gut feeling is that as long as the players behind Music Station can get the telecom industry behind their product (and it's looking good so far) they have a good chance of upheaving iTunes hold of the market. Must see to it that it's included in my next phone ... :)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Know what you're going to be downloa... eh, I mean WATCHING?
Just read some comments that buyers from the Big Companies had made about which new tv series they think are going to become hits in the near future. Some of them were a bit interesting...
Everyone seemed to agree that there was no new Super Hit like "Heroes" or "Desperate Housewives" on the horizon, but nevertheless, there were quite a few interesting ones on their way. One was the reminds-me-quite-a-lot-of-Sex-and-the-City series "Cashmere Mafia", a series featuring amongst others Lucy Liu, about ambitious and sexy women in NYC, forming their own club... well, I for one like to watch series with sexy women, so I'll give it a shot :).
Lucy Liu, soon to be seen strutting her stuff in "Cashmere Mafia".
Another series is "Gossip Girl" featuring Kristen Bell of "Veronica Mars"-fame - a series about young elite adults in upper class NYC, lots of sex and drugs and stuff like that. Well, I like sex and drugs and stuff like that, so I'll give that one a shot as well :)
The cast of "Gossip Girl"
Another series premiering on ABC this autumn is "Dirty Sexy Money", which is a bit more along the lines of old shows like "Dallas" or "Dynasty" - an idealistic lawyer who is connected to the wealthy and powerful Darling-clan (in NYC, of course :) and slowly but surely is drawn into the land of, yeah, you guessed it - dirty, sexy money. Donald Sutherland is in it - on the other hand, name a show where Donald is NOT in the cast... can't think of one. Well, seeing as I like money, I'll probably give that one a shot as well.
Lots of other shows as well, but I'll mention just one more - "The Sarah Connor Chronicles". This is a show that will premiere on FOX in the US in early 2008, reportedly. If the name sounds familiar - well, it should. Sarah Connor is/was in the Terminator movies - you know, getting chased around all the while by Arnie in Terminator, then being protected by Arnie along with her son in Terminator II, and then... she wasn't in Terminator III, was she? Can't remember. Still, this new series is about what Sarah and her son John did in the years between Terminator II and III. Should be action-packed and probably great fun. Sadly, no Arnie in it though - might be he's too busy being the gov'nor. And, seeing as I like terminators, I'll probably watch that as well. (Btw, the one playing Sarah Connor, wasn't she in "300" as well?)
Yeah, we're mean. That's 'cause we're in a Terminator spin-off, that is.
Now my fingers are bleeding. Better do some work as well :)
Everyone seemed to agree that there was no new Super Hit like "Heroes" or "Desperate Housewives" on the horizon, but nevertheless, there were quite a few interesting ones on their way. One was the reminds-me-quite-a-lot-of-Sex-and-the-City series "Cashmere Mafia", a series featuring amongst others Lucy Liu, about ambitious and sexy women in NYC, forming their own club... well, I for one like to watch series with sexy women, so I'll give it a shot :).
Lucy Liu, soon to be seen strutting her stuff in "Cashmere Mafia".Another series is "Gossip Girl" featuring Kristen Bell of "Veronica Mars"-fame - a series about young elite adults in upper class NYC, lots of sex and drugs and stuff like that. Well, I like sex and drugs and stuff like that, so I'll give that one a shot as well :)
The cast of "Gossip Girl"Another series premiering on ABC this autumn is "Dirty Sexy Money", which is a bit more along the lines of old shows like "Dallas" or "Dynasty" - an idealistic lawyer who is connected to the wealthy and powerful Darling-clan (in NYC, of course :) and slowly but surely is drawn into the land of, yeah, you guessed it - dirty, sexy money. Donald Sutherland is in it - on the other hand, name a show where Donald is NOT in the cast... can't think of one. Well, seeing as I like money, I'll probably give that one a shot as well.
Lots of other shows as well, but I'll mention just one more - "The Sarah Connor Chronicles". This is a show that will premiere on FOX in the US in early 2008, reportedly. If the name sounds familiar - well, it should. Sarah Connor is/was in the Terminator movies - you know, getting chased around all the while by Arnie in Terminator, then being protected by Arnie along with her son in Terminator II, and then... she wasn't in Terminator III, was she? Can't remember. Still, this new series is about what Sarah and her son John did in the years between Terminator II and III. Should be action-packed and probably great fun. Sadly, no Arnie in it though - might be he's too busy being the gov'nor. And, seeing as I like terminators, I'll probably watch that as well. (Btw, the one playing Sarah Connor, wasn't she in "300" as well?)
Yeah, we're mean. That's 'cause we're in a Terminator spin-off, that is.Now my fingers are bleeding. Better do some work as well :)
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
When two worlds combine
As a developer of interactive and cross media tv formats, I find it really interesting what production company and format developers Endemol and their partners at gaming firm Electronic Arts are up to at the moment. It's called "Virtual Me" and will "bridge the gap between computer games and television shows", as the companies put it in the release statement earlier this spring.
It's quite simple, really. The viewer can create his or her own avatar online (much like for instance Second Life), through software provided by Electronic Arts. With this avatar, the viewer can then participate in virtual versions of top tv shows, like "Fame Academy" or "Deal or no Deal", as provided by Endemol.
Pretty neat, right? For once, everyone can be on television. Well, virtual television that is. Just goes to say - the imagination is the limit when it comes to the new forms of entertainment, freely crossing over media borders and creating new and exciting possibilities.
Virtual Me will premiere in connection with hit format "Big Brother" soonishly. Keep your eyes peeled!
It's quite simple, really. The viewer can create his or her own avatar online (much like for instance Second Life), through software provided by Electronic Arts. With this avatar, the viewer can then participate in virtual versions of top tv shows, like "Fame Academy" or "Deal or no Deal", as provided by Endemol.
Pretty neat, right? For once, everyone can be on television. Well, virtual television that is. Just goes to say - the imagination is the limit when it comes to the new forms of entertainment, freely crossing over media borders and creating new and exciting possibilities.
Virtual Me will premiere in connection with hit format "Big Brother" soonishly. Keep your eyes peeled!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Babelgum, Joost, Vuze, Microsoft Surface...there are so many of them!
Just started testing Babelgum as well (you all know, that Joost-competitor). Must say that at the moment my bucks are on Joost in that particular battle, as I find the usability of Babelgum a bit less intuitive and straight-forward. Might just be me, but I'm finding it hard to easily get to what I want to look at - or even find anything that I might want to look at. Joost gives a quicker and clearer overview of content on the service, which in my book gives them the clear advantage.
Hadn't noticed, but Azureus, the Bittorrent client that is the most downloaded client of them all, has also gone legit in the past months. Their service - Vuze - has made deals with a lot of content providers, such as Showtime Networks, BBC Worldwide, Bennett Media Worldwide, G4, A&E Networks (including A&E, History, and Biography channels), National Geographic, and Starz Media (this I copypasted from their website, sorry :) - and are offering up SD and HD content to all subscribers. Another competitor to Joost and Babelgum, hooray!
Also,if you want to watch movies, anime, cartoons or tv-series, you can visit Joox. It is a portal to the Stage6 service on the divx.com platform, and my god do they have lots of content. Good quality as well, even on old stuff like Fawlty Towers. LMAO indeed.
Finally, looks like Microsoft have gone all aestethic all of a sudden. Check out the new Microsoft Surface, available later this year, which is a desktop integrated into a 30" table screen. It's interface looks really really neat, and there seems to be lots of nifty details and features in it. Have to get me one soon :)
Microsoft Surface, looking good. But will it bug? ... OF COURSE IT WILL!
Hadn't noticed, but Azureus, the Bittorrent client that is the most downloaded client of them all, has also gone legit in the past months. Their service - Vuze - has made deals with a lot of content providers, such as Showtime Networks, BBC Worldwide, Bennett Media Worldwide, G4, A&E Networks (including A&E, History, and Biography channels), National Geographic, and Starz Media (this I copypasted from their website, sorry :) - and are offering up SD and HD content to all subscribers. Another competitor to Joost and Babelgum, hooray!
Also,if you want to watch movies, anime, cartoons or tv-series, you can visit Joox. It is a portal to the Stage6 service on the divx.com platform, and my god do they have lots of content. Good quality as well, even on old stuff like Fawlty Towers. LMAO indeed.
Finally, looks like Microsoft have gone all aestethic all of a sudden. Check out the new Microsoft Surface, available later this year, which is a desktop integrated into a 30" table screen. It's interface looks really really neat, and there seems to be lots of nifty details and features in it. Have to get me one soon :)
Microsoft Surface, looking good. But will it bug? ... OF COURSE IT WILL!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Eyes on iTV
Summary of the first day of the Eyes on iTV conference:
William Cooper of informitv and BBC fame talked about interactive television, IPTV, broadband video and gave a good, broad overview of the field. Conclusions - lots of things are happening at the moment, what with AppleTV, Joost and other P2P television systems (apparently BBC are set to launch their own version in the near future), IPTV, video on demand over broadband and so on. Television is changing, and changing pretty quickly. The era of television and broadcast is fadeing, while the era of the consumer choosing what they want to watch and when they want to watch it is rapidly on the rise. Mobile television on the other hand... well, William at least remains sceptical.
Frank Alsema gave a number of examples of cross media, UGC concepts, for kids and adults, like The Blackbeard Connection or Moovl. Lots of things happening, all in all.
I did a session as well, a case study of the development process behind The Space Trainees.
Day 2 of the conference has just begun, and we're currently listening to Konstantinos Chorianopoulos from the university in Weimar, about the academic and practical aspects of interactive television.
William Cooper of informitv and BBC fame talked about interactive television, IPTV, broadband video and gave a good, broad overview of the field. Conclusions - lots of things are happening at the moment, what with AppleTV, Joost and other P2P television systems (apparently BBC are set to launch their own version in the near future), IPTV, video on demand over broadband and so on. Television is changing, and changing pretty quickly. The era of television and broadcast is fadeing, while the era of the consumer choosing what they want to watch and when they want to watch it is rapidly on the rise. Mobile television on the other hand... well, William at least remains sceptical.
Frank Alsema gave a number of examples of cross media, UGC concepts, for kids and adults, like The Blackbeard Connection or Moovl. Lots of things happening, all in all.
I did a session as well, a case study of the development process behind The Space Trainees.
Day 2 of the conference has just begun, and we're currently listening to Konstantinos Chorianopoulos from the university in Weimar, about the academic and practical aspects of interactive television.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Spring is in the air
and pollen too. Eyes watering, nose rinning, everything sucks.
On the other hand, I am thoroughly shocked by the news that Snap's line from Rhythm is a Dancer - "I'm serious as cancer / When I say that rhythm is a dancer" - is NOT the worst lyric in the world.
According to the BBC, the single worst lyric in the world is actually this following line from Des'rees song "Life" from 1994:
"I don't want to see a ghost/ It's the sight that I fear most/ I´d rather have a piece of toast/ Watch the evening news"
Well, have to admit, it's pretty crap.
With that said, gotta work. Some format development to be done, methinks.
On the other hand, I am thoroughly shocked by the news that Snap's line from Rhythm is a Dancer - "I'm serious as cancer / When I say that rhythm is a dancer" - is NOT the worst lyric in the world.
According to the BBC, the single worst lyric in the world is actually this following line from Des'rees song "Life" from 1994:
"I don't want to see a ghost/ It's the sight that I fear most/ I´d rather have a piece of toast/ Watch the evening news"
Well, have to admit, it's pretty crap.
With that said, gotta work. Some format development to be done, methinks.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Oh
Been some time since I wrote something. Been a couple of hectic weeks as well - the week leading up to last week was all filled with preparations for MIPTV, whereas last week was filled with... well, you guessed it, MIPTV.
A weekend at the hospital with the astmathic son was also part of the agenda, as well as me staying in Cannes for the following weekend accompanied by the missus - so, both bad'n'good, as always.
MIPTV was interesting. As always, everyone agrees that content is king. But WHAT kind of content? Well, that's another question altogether... Our format, "The Space Trainees", was a storming success. Lots of interest, hopefully some action afterwards as well. Will get back on that later.
As of now - be sure to register for the iTV conference in the end of May! It's gonna be way interesting, with some pretty darn good speakers and a funky cocktail to boot! Come on, register now, places are few! :)
A weekend at the hospital with the astmathic son was also part of the agenda, as well as me staying in Cannes for the following weekend accompanied by the missus - so, both bad'n'good, as always.
MIPTV was interesting. As always, everyone agrees that content is king. But WHAT kind of content? Well, that's another question altogether... Our format, "The Space Trainees", was a storming success. Lots of interest, hopefully some action afterwards as well. Will get back on that later.
As of now - be sure to register for the iTV conference in the end of May! It's gonna be way interesting, with some pretty darn good speakers and a funky cocktail to boot! Come on, register now, places are few! :)
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
OK, even a Nokia has some limitations
Like, for instance, when taking night photos... granted, my 6630 is about 2½ years old now, so not much surprise that the nice "just before dawn"-moment was slightly shady :)
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On the other hand, when taking photos in daytime, it's actually quite alright. Like this picture below, Ufa and Patricia happily bouldering outside of Vasa - looks pretty ok really (except for slight blurriness and other such minor things).
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Pictures were taken 1½ weeks ago at Ufas birthday bash. Swell weekend, all in all :) Loved the bathtub!
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On the other hand, when taking photos in daytime, it's actually quite alright. Like this picture below, Ufa and Patricia happily bouldering outside of Vasa - looks pretty ok really (except for slight blurriness and other such minor things).
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Pictures were taken 1½ weeks ago at Ufas birthday bash. Swell weekend, all in all :) Loved the bathtub!
Monday, April 02, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Sorry... :)
Glömde länka till sidan med alla kvällstidningsorden igår. Den är ju courtesy of Flashback Forum, såklart - läs och njut, och utöka er vokabulär no end!
Register! Register now!
Registration for the Eyes on iTV conference in late May has now opened at the website. Register now! Not only is it cheaper, you also get first pick of the t-shirts :)
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Det Svenska Språket
Ofta tycker jag att det är rätt tråkigt att ha svenska som modersmål. Språket är liksom lite andefattigt på något sätt. Jämfört med till exempel finskan, som är kort och kraftigt och mycket mycket bra att uttrycka sig kärnfullt på, eller engelskan där allt man säger kan utvecklas till en lyckad slogan.
Men så kan man ju utveckla språk också - vilket de svenska kvällstidningarna verkar vara mycket bra på. För en fantastisk lista på ALLA kvällstidningsord, var vänliga och klicka här.
Mina favoriter? För många för att räkna upp här, men exempelvis Vampyrekorre, Tjockisattack, Terrorgranne, Onanischlager och Knarkchoklad är ju alla fina fina ord, ägnade att lugna läsare och på ett nyanserat sätt beskriva omgivningen. :)
Men så kan man ju utveckla språk också - vilket de svenska kvällstidningarna verkar vara mycket bra på. För en fantastisk lista på ALLA kvällstidningsord, var vänliga och klicka här.
Mina favoriter? För många för att räkna upp här, men exempelvis Vampyrekorre, Tjockisattack, Terrorgranne, Onanischlager och Knarkchoklad är ju alla fina fina ord, ägnade att lugna läsare och på ett nyanserat sätt beskriva omgivningen. :)
Monday, March 26, 2007
Day off? Whaddya mean "day off"???
I have a day off. This due to me having vacation days that I haven't been able to spend yet and will have to portion them out before the end of April, so they don't suddenly disappear.
So, a day off. But WHAT TO DO? I have 1,746 things that NEEDS doing, I have about 3-4 things that I WANT to do. Funnily enough none of the 1,746 things match the 3-4 things...
Well, I'll do something, I guess. Not too much though :)
So, a day off. But WHAT TO DO? I have 1,746 things that NEEDS doing, I have about 3-4 things that I WANT to do. Funnily enough none of the 1,746 things match the 3-4 things...
Well, I'll do something, I guess. Not too much though :)
Friday, March 23, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The New Style - Content 360 nominees announced
Well, if you want to have a look at what might be coming to your mobile television or your enchanced television or your webservices in the near future, show up at the (fairly entertaining) pitching sessions at the Content 360 Awards in Cannes in just under a month. They are a part of the MIPTV feat MILIA 2007, and are a cooperation between the BBC, KBS, National Film Board of Canada and Ogilvy (strangely enough), to get new and entertaining content to different genres and platforms.
Loads and loads of people sent in their entries, and now the nominees have been announced - find them here.
The most entertaining IMO? Probably "The Club for Weird and Disgusting Sports" by compatriot Carita Forsgren - sounds like a hit in the making :)
Loads and loads of people sent in their entries, and now the nominees have been announced - find them here.
The most entertaining IMO? Probably "The Club for Weird and Disgusting Sports" by compatriot Carita Forsgren - sounds like a hit in the making :)
Monday, March 19, 2007
Joost the next generation
The more I test (or watch, rather) Joost, the more I would like it to be:
- HD quality
- loadsa more content
- equipped with a much more advance GUI and possiblities to program / record / whatever
- have a lot of funky widgets (the kind that you use twice a year but are really essential to have)
and all sorts of other stuff. With that, I'd be a happier person. At least until I find something else to bitch about.
* * *
Last ice-fishing expedition yesterday was a success (as in "we didn't go through the ice and drown"), yet still a failure (as in "the bloody fish eluded us while the grandpa sitting 20 meters from us was hauling fish after fish")
Well, season's over now, so next time it'll be with some other, more familiar gear.
Our non-existant fishing luck might have something to do with our bait, as the maggotts had somehow died during the night. Quite frankly, were I a fish I wouldn't eat those either :)
* * *
Election day yesterday in Finland. My candidate did not win, but it was fairly close. And no, despite all the results from the "test-which-candidate-thinks-like-you" web tests, I did not vote for the communist party.
* * *
- HD quality
- loadsa more content
- equipped with a much more advance GUI and possiblities to program / record / whatever
- have a lot of funky widgets (the kind that you use twice a year but are really essential to have)
and all sorts of other stuff. With that, I'd be a happier person. At least until I find something else to bitch about.
* * *
Last ice-fishing expedition yesterday was a success (as in "we didn't go through the ice and drown"), yet still a failure (as in "the bloody fish eluded us while the grandpa sitting 20 meters from us was hauling fish after fish")
Well, season's over now, so next time it'll be with some other, more familiar gear.
Our non-existant fishing luck might have something to do with our bait, as the maggotts had somehow died during the night. Quite frankly, were I a fish I wouldn't eat those either :)
* * *
Election day yesterday in Finland. My candidate did not win, but it was fairly close. And no, despite all the results from the "test-which-candidate-thinks-like-you" web tests, I did not vote for the communist party.
* * *
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Beautiful art!
Have a look at this, a most excellent thing to do with your spare time - paint paintings on the back windows of dusty cars! And nice ones, at that!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Babelgum, the new Joost (even though there IS no Joost on the market yet :)
Hi ho Silver!
Funny thing, that. As soon as someone comes up with something, someone else does as well. Just have a look at Babelgum, a service now in Betatesting (just like Joost), that is set to "blend the lean-back experience of traditional TV with the interactive and social power of the Internet" (just like Joost), offering 2cutting-edge peer-to-peer technology to stream video to your PC safely and efficiently at near-TV resolution" (just like Joost) and lost of other stuff (just like Joost).
As I'm not (yet) betatesting Babelgum, I can't comment on the service itself, but William Cooper over at informitv is testing both, and has a pretty good review here. By the looks of it, what the consumer would REALLY like is a blend of the two. Which is about as likely to happen as a sudden and everlasting peace in the Middle East, or some such thing.
Well, as a future consumer of TV over broadband, I'll just say that the more people are working on getting these things to work better and better, with niftier and niftier widgets and GUI:s, the better. Keep'em coming!
Funny thing, that. As soon as someone comes up with something, someone else does as well. Just have a look at Babelgum, a service now in Betatesting (just like Joost), that is set to "blend the lean-back experience of traditional TV with the interactive and social power of the Internet" (just like Joost), offering 2cutting-edge peer-to-peer technology to stream video to your PC safely and efficiently at near-TV resolution" (just like Joost) and lost of other stuff (just like Joost).
As I'm not (yet) betatesting Babelgum, I can't comment on the service itself, but William Cooper over at informitv is testing both, and has a pretty good review here. By the looks of it, what the consumer would REALLY like is a blend of the two. Which is about as likely to happen as a sudden and everlasting peace in the Middle East, or some such thing.
Well, as a future consumer of TV over broadband, I'll just say that the more people are working on getting these things to work better and better, with niftier and niftier widgets and GUI:s, the better. Keep'em coming!
Friday, March 09, 2007
Bonk OIF! It's Friday!
What to do over the weekend?
I'll try to come up with a really good idea for a tv format. Otherwise I'll have nothing to pitch during format pitching session on Sunday - first one, might just be fun :)
Off now, since nothing interesting is going on in the field of interactive and cross media television (just a bunch of same-old, same-old... I wonder when everyone involved is going to tire of hypeing new stuff every bloody day, without much substance? Soon, hopefully...)
Also, the pilot for The Space Trainees is soon to be finished. Well happy with that, it's been a long process. Now, let's hope everyone bites!!
I'll try to come up with a really good idea for a tv format. Otherwise I'll have nothing to pitch during format pitching session on Sunday - first one, might just be fun :)
Off now, since nothing interesting is going on in the field of interactive and cross media television (just a bunch of same-old, same-old... I wonder when everyone involved is going to tire of hypeing new stuff every bloody day, without much substance? Soon, hopefully...)
Also, the pilot for The Space Trainees is soon to be finished. Well happy with that, it's been a long process. Now, let's hope everyone bites!!
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Heads up! Book you Finland-flights NOW!
Short ad here :)
Anyone interested in the creation of interactive and cross media, the development process, the testing and all aspects of it - book up the end of May in you calendars already. And book a flight to Vaasa, Finland, as we are hosting a conference on just those things here at MediaCity.
Speakers will include Dr William Cooper from informitv, Christian Fonnesbech from Congin, Frank Alsema of 4xM and the academic Konstantinos Chorianopoulus from EuroITV and UITV.INFO.
Should be interesting, and there will be a couple of wicked parties thrown in as well :)
Welcome!
Anyone interested in the creation of interactive and cross media, the development process, the testing and all aspects of it - book up the end of May in you calendars already. And book a flight to Vaasa, Finland, as we are hosting a conference on just those things here at MediaCity.
Speakers will include Dr William Cooper from informitv, Christian Fonnesbech from Congin, Frank Alsema of 4xM and the academic Konstantinos Chorianopoulus from EuroITV and UITV.INFO.
Should be interesting, and there will be a couple of wicked parties thrown in as well :)
Welcome!
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Joost again...
Just a quick note - hats off to the guys at Joost.
Not so much because it would be the best running thing with streaming media over the internet or anything like that (because it's not, even though it IS quite nifty and nice).
Nah, hats off because they manage to do it all over again. With Skype, their last venture, the buzz and the hype was building on itself, a prime example of viral marketing. With Joost, they've managed to do it again. Lots of people are talking about Joost, lots of people are writing about it, lots of people know someone who is betatesting it and have heard good things about it... and the hype keeps on growing.
With Skype, we customers got a wonderful communicating tool, and the guys at Skype got billions of dollars for it. Win-win-situation, no? Hope the same goes for Joost :)
Not so much because it would be the best running thing with streaming media over the internet or anything like that (because it's not, even though it IS quite nifty and nice).
Nah, hats off because they manage to do it all over again. With Skype, their last venture, the buzz and the hype was building on itself, a prime example of viral marketing. With Joost, they've managed to do it again. Lots of people are talking about Joost, lots of people are writing about it, lots of people know someone who is betatesting it and have heard good things about it... and the hype keeps on growing.
With Skype, we customers got a wonderful communicating tool, and the guys at Skype got billions of dollars for it. Win-win-situation, no? Hope the same goes for Joost :)
Monday, March 05, 2007
Betatesting Joost
Started beta-testing Joost today. First impressions:
- a lot like what I would expect from a well founded IPTV venture
- slightly dodgy on the picture quality, most probably something that will improve. Still way better than other competitors out there.
- EPG needs some working on, suggestions, reviews, ratings etc should help the viewer more
- good feel of the service, nice layout, well constructed as a whole
- some really nice widgets, but I'm sure there'll be lots more around soon
Will look forward to testing it a lot more! As of now it gets the thumbs up, definitely. Let's wait and see what happens.. :)
- a lot like what I would expect from a well founded IPTV venture
- slightly dodgy on the picture quality, most probably something that will improve. Still way better than other competitors out there.
- EPG needs some working on, suggestions, reviews, ratings etc should help the viewer more
- good feel of the service, nice layout, well constructed as a whole
- some really nice widgets, but I'm sure there'll be lots more around soon
Will look forward to testing it a lot more! As of now it gets the thumbs up, definitely. Let's wait and see what happens.. :)
Vacations r00lez ok
I really like my job. It's entertaining, fulfilling, gives lots of space for creativity and for coming up with new and interesting ideas. I get to travel, meet interesting people, work together with dedicated colleagues, generally have a pretty good time.
Even so, it's nice to have some time off now and then :)
Below, some pictures from the short vacation - from top down:
a) when it's steep, it's steep!
b) Snow is nice, especially a four-backed snow horse
c) The road stretches ever onwards
d) just a nice tree :)
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Even so, it's nice to have some time off now and then :)
Below, some pictures from the short vacation - from top down:
a) when it's steep, it's steep!
b) Snow is nice, especially a four-backed snow horse
c) The road stretches ever onwards
d) just a nice tree :)
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Think about it
Off for a short vacation with the family in just a couple of hours, going skiing.
Which is nice.
Just stumbled upon this web page though, and it's just too disturbing not to give it a little bit of added publicity. It's about the aftermath of the Chernobyl catastrophy, and it shows a world where nothing has been the same since 1986, where infants are still born with terrible diseases and disfigurations, where some areas must be closed off for a further 900 (!) years due to contamination... and this is just one place. How many nuclear reactors are there in the world? How much waste is being put into the ground, do slowly decompose for 100.000 years? How on earth can we be this bloody stupid? It didn't work when we were seven years old and told to clean up our room, to just push all the toys under the bed and try to forget about them - how can we expect it to work now??
I'm feeling a little bit upset at the moment. If we could just take, for instance, 1% of the money being shoveled at the disaster that is the current situation in Iraq, and instead use it to try to develop new and environmentally sound ways of generating energy, we could close down most nuclear power plants within five years. SO WHY CAN'T IT BE DONE??!!
Hmrpf. Let's all get together and do something, ok? I'm tired of NOT doing something.
Which is nice.
Just stumbled upon this web page though, and it's just too disturbing not to give it a little bit of added publicity. It's about the aftermath of the Chernobyl catastrophy, and it shows a world where nothing has been the same since 1986, where infants are still born with terrible diseases and disfigurations, where some areas must be closed off for a further 900 (!) years due to contamination... and this is just one place. How many nuclear reactors are there in the world? How much waste is being put into the ground, do slowly decompose for 100.000 years? How on earth can we be this bloody stupid? It didn't work when we were seven years old and told to clean up our room, to just push all the toys under the bed and try to forget about them - how can we expect it to work now??
I'm feeling a little bit upset at the moment. If we could just take, for instance, 1% of the money being shoveled at the disaster that is the current situation in Iraq, and instead use it to try to develop new and environmentally sound ways of generating energy, we could close down most nuclear power plants within five years. SO WHY CAN'T IT BE DONE??!!
Hmrpf. Let's all get together and do something, ok? I'm tired of NOT doing something.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Quite funny
for a different take on the Microsoft vs Mac eternal struggle, look no further than this. Pretty neat :)
Friday, February 23, 2007
The biggest, the best, better (?) than the rest
Who should be afraid of the big bad wolf? Just about anyone, I guess. Analyst firm ZenithOptimedia (what a name! :P) just released a report on the biggest media owners on the planet. Not surprisingly, most are from the US, with Time Warner heading the list (a measly 29 billion $ in revenues). Leading the chase are News Corporation (16,7$ bln), General Electric (who are the parent company of NBC Universal) (14,6$bln), CBS Corporation (13,3$ bln) and Walt Disney Company (13,2$ bln). Google are on the list in a 13th place, Yahoo has squeezed into a 15th place.
Now, these wolves are big, but are they bad? Not per say, but more by default, methinks. See, with all this money floating around, and with the inate hunger of commercial companies to expand and devour (and not necessarily in that order) more and more take-overs will be accomplished in the coming years. The nightmare would be the crisp autumn day in 2019 when Time Warner NBC finally merges with NewsCorpDisneyCBS to form the ONLY media company on Earth. By jove, it will become boring pretty quickly.
Now, these wolves are big, but are they bad? Not per say, but more by default, methinks. See, with all this money floating around, and with the inate hunger of commercial companies to expand and devour (and not necessarily in that order) more and more take-overs will be accomplished in the coming years. The nightmare would be the crisp autumn day in 2019 when Time Warner NBC finally merges with NewsCorpDisneyCBS to form the ONLY media company on Earth. By jove, it will become boring pretty quickly.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
If you're gonna watch mobile TV - watch it on this
Having familiarized myself with the earlier, pretty bulky and unwieldy, versions of gadgets supporting DVB-H (that's Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld, a standard for mobile broadcasting advocated by the DVB project, Nokia, Siemens etc, and in competition with DMB, the Korean version, MediaFLO etc) this next gadget to be out on the market feels like a trip back to sanity. Nokias N77, a new phone in the N-series, is for once a phone that doesn't try to look like anything but a phone. It has still got DVB-H compatibility, though, which means that you can watch mobile television on it.
It's got a 2,4" screen with 320x240 pixels resolution and up to 16 million colors, so it perfectly possible to actually watch something on it as well :) And weighing in at 114g, you can lug it around anywhere.
So, one of those for me as well, thank you. Out Q2 2007, reportedly. For reviews of said phone, please go here or here, to start with.
It's got a 2,4" screen with 320x240 pixels resolution and up to 16 million colors, so it perfectly possible to actually watch something on it as well :) And weighing in at 114g, you can lug it around anywhere.
So, one of those for me as well, thank you. Out Q2 2007, reportedly. For reviews of said phone, please go here or here, to start with.
IPTV World Forum - preview
Well, it's gearing up for one of the specialized IPTV events of the year, the annual IPTV World Forum, to be held at the Olympia in London on the 5-7th of March. Anyone who is interested in IPTV for one reason or another (for my part I couldn't care less about the technologies involved - all I want is working IPTV to everyone on this planet, as it would make my job as a developer of interactive television shows so much simpler. Or, rather, not simpler, but offer a lot more opportunities...)
With over 5,000 visitors and 200 exhibitors, there should be something for everyone at the Forum. Highlights, as far as I'm concerned, are panel discussion such as "Making the most of on-demand and iTV" and "Revenue generators and killer applications". Some of the keynotes might also be worth listening in on - but as for the exhibitors, there is almost exclusively technological companies with set-top-boxes, middleware etc. Content for IPTV is nowhere (on the other hand, MIPTV is coming up in mid-April).
But what would really get me personally going would be some showcases of the possibilities that IPTV can offer, especially when thinking about developing tv formats, as the possibilities for interaction etc are much greater with a broadband connection connection the viewer to the broadcaster. Some of that, please!
With over 5,000 visitors and 200 exhibitors, there should be something for everyone at the Forum. Highlights, as far as I'm concerned, are panel discussion such as "Making the most of on-demand and iTV" and "Revenue generators and killer applications". Some of the keynotes might also be worth listening in on - but as for the exhibitors, there is almost exclusively technological companies with set-top-boxes, middleware etc. Content for IPTV is nowhere (on the other hand, MIPTV is coming up in mid-April).
But what would really get me personally going would be some showcases of the possibilities that IPTV can offer, especially when thinking about developing tv formats, as the possibilities for interaction etc are much greater with a broadband connection connection the viewer to the broadcaster. Some of that, please!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Joost - why not?
Well, Joost is looking good. The project formerly known as The Venice Project (as written about on this blog in mid-December) is generating quite a stir on the IPTV-market.
See, Joost is a Very Good Thing [tm] for PC owners (and Macs as well). It uses the P2P-principles of Bittorrent, for example, to give IPTV to the world. All you need is a 500 Kb/s line and you would have perfect broadcast quality - which is just fabulous. For a pretty good review of the possibilities, the pros and the cons, read this story from The Register. Also revealed today are new content deals for Joost, enabling them to offer content from Paramount Pictures, MTV etc.
Conclusion? This is a pretty darn good development of the home computer, helping to turn it into the media center of the home in a much better fashion than, for instance, Microsofts attempts. But - for television to be good and for television to be something that people want to watch, it's just not good enough with a technologically perfect system. We need good television programs as well. Let's hope the Joost-people remember this.
See, Joost is a Very Good Thing [tm] for PC owners (and Macs as well). It uses the P2P-principles of Bittorrent, for example, to give IPTV to the world. All you need is a 500 Kb/s line and you would have perfect broadcast quality - which is just fabulous. For a pretty good review of the possibilities, the pros and the cons, read this story from The Register. Also revealed today are new content deals for Joost, enabling them to offer content from Paramount Pictures, MTV etc.
Conclusion? This is a pretty darn good development of the home computer, helping to turn it into the media center of the home in a much better fashion than, for instance, Microsofts attempts. But - for television to be good and for television to be something that people want to watch, it's just not good enough with a technologically perfect system. We need good television programs as well. Let's hope the Joost-people remember this.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Mobile television - hot or not?
First off, let's examine what we've got:
- hundreds of companies putting untold millions of dollars into mobile television projects
- operators and industry players putting their name on the line, convinced that mobile television is THE next big thing
- researches, each one more optimistic than the next one, promising us millions and billions of mobile tv subscribers within the next few years
- a well placed medium - the mobile phone - which most people in the world have today (albeit not all yet up to the standard demanded for mobile television)
Secondly, let's see what we HAVEN'T got:
- viable content for mobile television, at least not to any substantial degree
- viable research - since the research mentioned above are predictions and guesswork for the most part, I honestly do not put much faith in it
- any consensus regarding the standards for mobile television - at the moment we've got DVB-H, DMB, MediaFLO etc etc etc - it's the VHS/Betamax all over again, but a lot bigger.
William Cooper, editor of InformITV put it quite nicely the other day, when he concluded that "...many of [mobile televisions] proponents appear to have little enthusiasm for, or even understanding of, the television medium...It is still unclear how much people will be prepared to pay to see traditional television on their mobile phones, with so many alternatives competing for their attention. Understanding the user is the key to providing a successful product or service."
My two cents? It's going to get messy before it sorts itself out :) ... this spring everyone is going to be raving on about mobile television, and perhaps still during autumn 2007. By early 2008, when predictions have proven themselves WAY too optimistic, many players will withdraw or cut down on the spending, and THAT may be the time when people with good mobile content can come out and play. Until everyone jumps on the next bandwagon, that is...
- hundreds of companies putting untold millions of dollars into mobile television projects
- operators and industry players putting their name on the line, convinced that mobile television is THE next big thing
- researches, each one more optimistic than the next one, promising us millions and billions of mobile tv subscribers within the next few years
- a well placed medium - the mobile phone - which most people in the world have today (albeit not all yet up to the standard demanded for mobile television)
Secondly, let's see what we HAVEN'T got:
- viable content for mobile television, at least not to any substantial degree
- viable research - since the research mentioned above are predictions and guesswork for the most part, I honestly do not put much faith in it
- any consensus regarding the standards for mobile television - at the moment we've got DVB-H, DMB, MediaFLO etc etc etc - it's the VHS/Betamax all over again, but a lot bigger.
William Cooper, editor of InformITV put it quite nicely the other day, when he concluded that "...many of [mobile televisions] proponents appear to have little enthusiasm for, or even understanding of, the television medium...It is still unclear how much people will be prepared to pay to see traditional television on their mobile phones, with so many alternatives competing for their attention. Understanding the user is the key to providing a successful product or service."
My two cents? It's going to get messy before it sorts itself out :) ... this spring everyone is going to be raving on about mobile television, and perhaps still during autumn 2007. By early 2008, when predictions have proven themselves WAY too optimistic, many players will withdraw or cut down on the spending, and THAT may be the time when people with good mobile content can come out and play. Until everyone jumps on the next bandwagon, that is...
Monday, February 19, 2007
When I grow up
...I'm going to be a tv-chef. Or do something like this guy, the Human Beatbox-in-da-kitchen. He's quite good actually - might be something for Strömsö to have on the show :)
Friday, February 16, 2007
TV
In the US, there have been a coverage of households with television exceeding 95% sine 1970. The 98% mark was breached in 1981, and at the moment 111,400,000 of the 113,410,000 households that the US holds ( :P ) are equipped with a television.
For some reason, I'm a lot more interested in the 2,010,000 households that DON'T have a television. I can't believe that they are excentrics sitting out in the Nevada desert fiddling with their own toenails? Or SUPER-geeks who already have built their own satellite-IPTV-receivers out of an old Commodore 64?
If anyone had any statistics when it comes to households WITHOUT television, please let me know :)
In the meanwhile, here's a picture from my window where I work. The small dots out on the ice are people who are pilk-fishing (dunno the correct English word..) on the frozen sea. Must give it a go myself as well :)
For some reason, I'm a lot more interested in the 2,010,000 households that DON'T have a television. I can't believe that they are excentrics sitting out in the Nevada desert fiddling with their own toenails? Or SUPER-geeks who already have built their own satellite-IPTV-receivers out of an old Commodore 64?
If anyone had any statistics when it comes to households WITHOUT television, please let me know :)
In the meanwhile, here's a picture from my window where I work. The small dots out on the ice are people who are pilk-fishing (dunno the correct English word..) on the frozen sea. Must give it a go myself as well :)
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
An alternative
For those slightly fed up with YouTube and the increasing amount of garbage being touted by mega-businesses from all over on said site (or just the insane amount of crap videos posted by anyone else), there are quite a few alternatives. The one I like the most at the moment is Live Leak, which is a lil' bit like YouTube (well, quite a lot actually :) but it concentrates on leaked stuff from news sources and the like. Lots of unshown material from Iraq and Afghanistan, lots of other stuff as well. The Beta version is up and running now, go have a look!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Mobile industry + the next big thing = mobile tv
Well, if anyone still had any doubts about television - and all sorts of entertainment media - coming to mobile phones just about NOW, all they would have to do is take a quick look at the worlds largest mobile industry summit, starting today. The 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona is more like a television industry congress at times, especially looking at who is talking about what and why. To grab some of the headlines, as examples:
- Mobile Entertainment Summit - How mobile is changing TV forever
- Entertainment Summit - Clash of Cultures: Who wins when entertainment and communications converge?
- How mobile can be the next great information and entertainment channel
- Technology Symposium - Mobile TV
and so on...
Fair enough, lots of talk is of course about what is generating the revenue at the moment - which to a large extent seems to be made up of the developing markets - but mobile entertainment and mobile television is sexxxxxy, and everyone wants in on it.
As a pretty nice way to kick things off, it was today announced that the Sundance Film Festival is contributing with five made-for-mobile short films, which have been made as a part of the Sundance Film Festival Global Short Film Project. Amongst the directors are people like Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift) and Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine).
Here's hoping they'll put them on the web when the congress is finished!
To sum it all up - mobile tv, in one way or another, is on its way. There's no escape, nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. Let's just, for the sake of all that's holy, hope that as much time and money is spent on making good content for them mobiles as there is for hosting congresses about mobile tv and sorting out the technical mumbo-jumbo.
- Mobile Entertainment Summit - How mobile is changing TV forever
- Entertainment Summit - Clash of Cultures: Who wins when entertainment and communications converge?
- How mobile can be the next great information and entertainment channel
- Technology Symposium - Mobile TV
and so on...
Fair enough, lots of talk is of course about what is generating the revenue at the moment - which to a large extent seems to be made up of the developing markets - but mobile entertainment and mobile television is sexxxxxy, and everyone wants in on it.
As a pretty nice way to kick things off, it was today announced that the Sundance Film Festival is contributing with five made-for-mobile short films, which have been made as a part of the Sundance Film Festival Global Short Film Project. Amongst the directors are people like Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift) and Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine).
Here's hoping they'll put them on the web when the congress is finished!
To sum it all up - mobile tv, in one way or another, is on its way. There's no escape, nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide. Let's just, for the sake of all that's holy, hope that as much time and money is spent on making good content for them mobiles as there is for hosting congresses about mobile tv and sorting out the technical mumbo-jumbo.
Friday, February 09, 2007
No waves? Make waves!
This just has to be one of the best ways to surf. I can see it happening in Metviken as soon as the ice breaks :)
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And for some of the bloody weirdest commercials around, check this blog. "It's just like, it's just like... a mini mall! Oh yeah!"
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And for some of the bloody weirdest commercials around, check this blog. "It's just like, it's just like... a mini mall! Oh yeah!"
Can anyone say no to Virgin?
Well, the moment they start offering something alike to their Virgin Media, freshly relaunched in the UK, in my surrounding, I'll be there to snap it up in a second.
Although I myself is into the content-side of the television and interactive business, trying my damndest to come up with new and entertaining (and preferrably attractive and revenue-enhancing) ideas, I cannot but think that my life would be made a little bit easier by, for instance, Virgin Media. Ok, so you pay some, but you do get some as well... Pay £40 a month (that's the four-service VIP package Virgin Media offers, you can go for 2 services or 3 also, £20 and £30 respectively) and you'll end up with "a HD-enabled PVR, 10Mbps broadband, unlimited UK landline calls, and a mobile phone with 500 minutes of mobile airtime per month, 1,000 texts a month and £60 airtime."
One other offering in connection to the above is called Virgin Central, "a hybrid linear/on-demand channel offering up content from Buena Vista International Television and Alliance Atlantis, among other providers." Set to launch in a couple of weeks time, it just might be something to keep an eye on as well.
Any downsides? Nah, apparently not, as long as them £40 don't bother you. Customer support should apparently be up to scratch nowadays, and everything should be rosy and sunny. Go Virgin, go!
...and after that spot of unabashed promotion, for which I'll receive not one cent, a look at some other stuff, more in the television field:
- CBS in the US are launching a "mobile store" and two ad-funded WAP (does that still exist?) sites for sports and news. Perhaps not that impressive.
- Telefónica in Spain, however, are working on a pilot to deliver iTV, radio and music to mobile handhelds. They've elected to use Alcatel-Lucent's "Unlimited Mobile TV" solution for the techie stuff.
- and Endemol is still the king when it comes to game shows and such - two more have been commissioned by ITV1 in the UK, called "For the Rest of Your Lives" (from the brains behind "Deal or No Deal") and "Golden Balls" (nothing to do with Beckham, apparently)
Although I myself is into the content-side of the television and interactive business, trying my damndest to come up with new and entertaining (and preferrably attractive and revenue-enhancing) ideas, I cannot but think that my life would be made a little bit easier by, for instance, Virgin Media. Ok, so you pay some, but you do get some as well... Pay £40 a month (that's the four-service VIP package Virgin Media offers, you can go for 2 services or 3 also, £20 and £30 respectively) and you'll end up with "a HD-enabled PVR, 10Mbps broadband, unlimited UK landline calls, and a mobile phone with 500 minutes of mobile airtime per month, 1,000 texts a month and £60 airtime."
One other offering in connection to the above is called Virgin Central, "a hybrid linear/on-demand channel offering up content from Buena Vista International Television and Alliance Atlantis, among other providers." Set to launch in a couple of weeks time, it just might be something to keep an eye on as well.
Any downsides? Nah, apparently not, as long as them £40 don't bother you. Customer support should apparently be up to scratch nowadays, and everything should be rosy and sunny. Go Virgin, go!
...and after that spot of unabashed promotion, for which I'll receive not one cent, a look at some other stuff, more in the television field:
- CBS in the US are launching a "mobile store" and two ad-funded WAP (does that still exist?) sites for sports and news. Perhaps not that impressive.
- Telefónica in Spain, however, are working on a pilot to deliver iTV, radio and music to mobile handhelds. They've elected to use Alcatel-Lucent's "Unlimited Mobile TV" solution for the techie stuff.
- and Endemol is still the king when it comes to game shows and such - two more have been commissioned by ITV1 in the UK, called "For the Rest of Your Lives" (from the brains behind "Deal or No Deal") and "Golden Balls" (nothing to do with Beckham, apparently)
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Nostalgia in pictures
Dunno if there's much to be nostalgic about when it comes to the old Soviet Union, but there's something profoundly sad and timeless about these old Soviet bus stops, as photographed and documented by Christopher Herwig. It seems like the smallest building in the country - the bus stop - was the only one where creativity and artistic freedom was given free rein, creating the most wondrous creations all over the land.
Have a look, have a sigh, and give small thanks that these remind of old days, not current.
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Hehhheh, for those not faint of heart, but in need of some new underwear - check this out. Marvellous stuff. My favourite - SacFree [tm], hands down. Top of the wish list :)
Have a look, have a sigh, and give small thanks that these remind of old days, not current.
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Hehhheh, for those not faint of heart, but in need of some new underwear - check this out. Marvellous stuff. My favourite - SacFree [tm], hands down. Top of the wish list :)
Friday, February 02, 2007
Mobile market and IPTV
Analysts are always pretty keen on analyzing things, I've noticed. For the most part many of the reports published can be ignored, or at least put in the read-at-some-point-if-there-is-absolutely-NOTHING-else-to-do heap.
A couple of reports this week seem quite interesting, though. First of all, Informa have released a report regarding the mobile market and the high probability that mobile operators will be missing out on the opportunity to get their share of the enormous amount of revenue to be made in that market over the coming years.
The report states that mobile operators should NOT try to be something that they are not - meaning that they should stick to what they know, offering mobile coverage to their customers and billing them for it. To get into the content part of mobile media, the best thing is to form alliances with companies providing such content - not to start developing and offering such content themselves.
Pretty straightforward advice, right? I'd be following it, were I a mobile operator :)
Another report, from Strategy Analytics, states that IPTV will reach 80 million subscribers by the year 2011. This does not contradict earlier reports, but the interesting thing is that this report suggests that more than half of the IPTV subscribers will actually not pay anything for their IPTV. Instead, most will be bundled up in triple-play subscriptions offered by the telcoms, including broadband, VoIP and IPTV all in one package.
Now there's an interesting situation - where will the money to make IPTV programming come from then?
A couple of reports this week seem quite interesting, though. First of all, Informa have released a report regarding the mobile market and the high probability that mobile operators will be missing out on the opportunity to get their share of the enormous amount of revenue to be made in that market over the coming years.
The report states that mobile operators should NOT try to be something that they are not - meaning that they should stick to what they know, offering mobile coverage to their customers and billing them for it. To get into the content part of mobile media, the best thing is to form alliances with companies providing such content - not to start developing and offering such content themselves.
Pretty straightforward advice, right? I'd be following it, were I a mobile operator :)
Another report, from Strategy Analytics, states that IPTV will reach 80 million subscribers by the year 2011. This does not contradict earlier reports, but the interesting thing is that this report suggests that more than half of the IPTV subscribers will actually not pay anything for their IPTV. Instead, most will be bundled up in triple-play subscriptions offered by the telcoms, including broadband, VoIP and IPTV all in one package.
Now there's an interesting situation - where will the money to make IPTV programming come from then?
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Mwuhahaha
Heh, cannot but chuckle a bit at the Boston bomb scare caused by Turner Broadcasting Inc. and their "guerilla marketing campaign" for the new show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". Seems like the campaign went a little bit too much guerilla, prompting frightened authorities to basically shut down the whole of Boston to deal with the "mysterious packages with electronic light boards" placed all around town.
Now, if this would've been something planned and executed by some proper terrorists, as a scare, that would've been something. Or by some anti-governmental action group, or the like. But Turner Broadcasting Inc.? Hehh, I imagine some people (like David R. Levy, president of Entertainment Sales and Marketing) in the marketing department are getting a pretty stern talking to right now..
Now, if this would've been something planned and executed by some proper terrorists, as a scare, that would've been something. Or by some anti-governmental action group, or the like. But Turner Broadcasting Inc.? Hehh, I imagine some people (like David R. Levy, president of Entertainment Sales and Marketing) in the marketing department are getting a pretty stern talking to right now..
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Goddamn...
Now, the page this links leads to is in Swedish, but it's just too weird not to comment on. It leads to a Christianity test at a Swedish congregations webpage, which I took - it only took some minutes, but all the questions were quite leading and the answers more so. I was hoping that it would've been an ironically geared webpage - sort of "yeah, you THOUGHT that we were this fundamental and narrow-sighted, but ha! alas not!" - but it turned out that all the questions and all the answers were quite seriously meant.
So, having completed the test I am, according to the test, a Satanist. Something which I strongly deny, of course. I believe the good people of said congregation should take a long, hard look in the mirror, remember the one important message that Jesus spoke - "LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR" - and some minor ones as well, most particularly the one about the one without sin being the one to throw the first stone.
Fundamentalists - one of the most annoying things on earth.
* * *
Update - having become a lil' but suspect about some of the other content on the site, I started searching for more info on said congregation... and, luckily enough, it all turned out to be an elaborate, pretty old hoax. Phew. Scary thing is that even though the congergation and its webpage is a hoax, quite a few people have reportedly wanted to join the congregation... well, fundamentalists still suck :)
So, having completed the test I am, according to the test, a Satanist. Something which I strongly deny, of course. I believe the good people of said congregation should take a long, hard look in the mirror, remember the one important message that Jesus spoke - "LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR" - and some minor ones as well, most particularly the one about the one without sin being the one to throw the first stone.
Fundamentalists - one of the most annoying things on earth.
* * *
Update - having become a lil' but suspect about some of the other content on the site, I started searching for more info on said congregation... and, luckily enough, it all turned out to be an elaborate, pretty old hoax. Phew. Scary thing is that even though the congergation and its webpage is a hoax, quite a few people have reportedly wanted to join the congregation... well, fundamentalists still suck :)
Transparency - new interactive cinema
There are a lot of things happening in the world of interactive content and interactive narrative. New devices and new technologies offers opportunities to do loads of stuff previously unimaginable. Some - like me and my colleagues - work with creating interactive tv formats, which have a potential to sell on the national or international market. Others do something else, equally important, but in a different sense.
A friend of mine, Carlos from Portugal, har just finished his cinematographic project, called 'Transparency', as a part of his research into interactive narrative content. It's a storyline that the viewer himself/herself can influence, to create a number of different storylines and outcomes. It's ambitious, it's complicated, it's nice. Go have a look, while I return to my slightly more commercial products :)
A friend of mine, Carlos from Portugal, har just finished his cinematographic project, called 'Transparency', as a part of his research into interactive narrative content. It's a storyline that the viewer himself/herself can influence, to create a number of different storylines and outcomes. It's ambitious, it's complicated, it's nice. Go have a look, while I return to my slightly more commercial products :)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
How to be a renowned blogger
So, finally, we all know what to do to get lots and lots of hits on our blogs. It's simple, really:
1) Have original and good stuff to write about
2) Build up a massive network
3) Make sure you get some scoops - like the Watergate scandal I presume
4) Advertise ad infinitum
Hm. Original content, scoops, massive network and humongous amounts of advertisement. I wonder what WOULDN'T sell with that combination? Here's the original article about how to get your blog seen (or rather "Become An Internet Source") , in Swedish though.
1) Have original and good stuff to write about
2) Build up a massive network
3) Make sure you get some scoops - like the Watergate scandal I presume
4) Advertise ad infinitum
Hm. Original content, scoops, massive network and humongous amounts of advertisement. I wonder what WOULDN'T sell with that combination? Here's the original article about how to get your blog seen (or rather "Become An Internet Source") , in Swedish though.
Back in business
Back in Vasa, which is nice. Wales was pretty good too. Will upload some photos to my Flickr-page, so's anyone interested can have a look.
Even managed to bring home some cans of Ddraig Dwbl - Double Dragon Ale, which in my opinion is rather nice. But security at airports nowadays, it's just no fun anymore. Having purchased a bottle of 14y Scapa at Heathrow, the clerk forgot to put it in a sealed bag for me, and I forgot to ask for such a bag. Hence, coming to Arlanda, I had to pass through another security check to get to the proper terminal and gate. Alas, though, since the UNOPENED bottle of Scapa was not in a sealed and stamped bag, I could not bring it through security. Since all reasoning fell on deaf ears, I had to go out through customs and check my bottle in separately. Wrapped in acres of plastic it even somehow managed to travel from Stockholm to Vasa wihtout breaking.
Sometimes, it would be good if one could reason with people.
* * *
One of the photos on my Flickr-page is of a huge congregation of starling in the skies above Aberystwyth. For some pretty funky moving images of this phenomena, check Rhodris blog, and the uppermost YouTube-feed.
Even managed to bring home some cans of Ddraig Dwbl - Double Dragon Ale, which in my opinion is rather nice. But security at airports nowadays, it's just no fun anymore. Having purchased a bottle of 14y Scapa at Heathrow, the clerk forgot to put it in a sealed bag for me, and I forgot to ask for such a bag. Hence, coming to Arlanda, I had to pass through another security check to get to the proper terminal and gate. Alas, though, since the UNOPENED bottle of Scapa was not in a sealed and stamped bag, I could not bring it through security. Since all reasoning fell on deaf ears, I had to go out through customs and check my bottle in separately. Wrapped in acres of plastic it even somehow managed to travel from Stockholm to Vasa wihtout breaking.
Sometimes, it would be good if one could reason with people.
* * *
One of the photos on my Flickr-page is of a huge congregation of starling in the skies above Aberystwyth. For some pretty funky moving images of this phenomena, check Rhodris blog, and the uppermost YouTube-feed.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Cymraeg!
This is actually the first time I update this blog via a television set, which is done from a hotel room in Cardiff, or Caerdidd if you happen to be speaking Welsh. (Someone should however do some serious usability testing on these keyboards. Not only are they small and uncomfortable - the arrow keys are thinner than Kate Moss' silhouette and I have yet to find the Tab-key - but the mouse-and-right-click-and-left-click system is just ridiculous.
Still, this is a bit along the way of what interactive television should look like. The system is apparently called eTV - as good a name as any - and functions all in all pretty well. Except you cant get to all the webpages you want to go to, the resolution is like one on a frightened 386 PC with Windows 3.1, there is no sight of IPTV, the possibilites are limited.
Still, better than what I have at home, I must admit. Looking forward to something like this, only better, reaching my neighbourhood.
Caerdidd btw is a nice city. Especially down by the harbor, where lots and lots of new and interesting buildings have sprung up over the past few years - the Assembly, the Red Dragon and of course The Welsh Millennium Centre. Two things though - "Millennium" sounds awfully late 90s, and the gigantic thing on top of the entrance is just plain silly. Must've been a good laugh, though.
Aberystwth tomorrow, looking forward to it.
Still, this is a bit along the way of what interactive television should look like. The system is apparently called eTV - as good a name as any - and functions all in all pretty well. Except you cant get to all the webpages you want to go to, the resolution is like one on a frightened 386 PC with Windows 3.1, there is no sight of IPTV, the possibilites are limited.
Still, better than what I have at home, I must admit. Looking forward to something like this, only better, reaching my neighbourhood.
Caerdidd btw is a nice city. Especially down by the harbor, where lots and lots of new and interesting buildings have sprung up over the past few years - the Assembly, the Red Dragon and of course The Welsh Millennium Centre. Two things though - "Millennium" sounds awfully late 90s, and the gigantic thing on top of the entrance is just plain silly. Must've been a good laugh, though.
Aberystwth tomorrow, looking forward to it.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Orgasmatron!
For everyone wondering what to buy their loved ones for their next birthday, look no further than the ORGASMATRON. No, it's not really excactly what it sounds like - but quite close :)
And, if you haven't got quite enough of stuff already, and feel like doshing out some 10€ on some totally useless bling, go get this little indispensible thingee - who wouldn't want a monkey dancing everytime you receive an SMS?
And for those things you really CAN do without, check out TechEBlogs list of seven gadgets you would NOT want to be seen using. Amazing stuff.
Gadgets. Gotta love'em.
* * *
On another, still funny note - have you ever wanted to write a speech for George W. Bush? Now's your chance! Interestingly enough - however I try to put silly wordcombinations together, it still sounds like the real thing... scary :)
And, if you haven't got quite enough of stuff already, and feel like doshing out some 10€ on some totally useless bling, go get this little indispensible thingee - who wouldn't want a monkey dancing everytime you receive an SMS?
And for those things you really CAN do without, check out TechEBlogs list of seven gadgets you would NOT want to be seen using. Amazing stuff.
Gadgets. Gotta love'em.
* * *
On another, still funny note - have you ever wanted to write a speech for George W. Bush? Now's your chance! Interestingly enough - however I try to put silly wordcombinations together, it still sounds like the real thing... scary :)
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
More on the iPhone
Some enlightening clips with regards to the iPhone and it's impact on the VOIP and telephone market. First off, Microsoft CEO Ballmer, on CNBC-TV, tries feebly to laugh off the threat from the slick new face on the block. I'd say he's a bit worried, though...
For a closer look at the iPhone, have a look at CBS report from MacWorld. Pretty impressive display of the iPhone, but 500$? Hmm... But my Gawd, it's a really nice gagdet.
And, finally, Conan O'Brians take on the iPhone. Even more impressive :)
For a closer look at the iPhone, have a look at CBS report from MacWorld. Pretty impressive display of the iPhone, but 500$? Hmm... But my Gawd, it's a really nice gagdet.
And, finally, Conan O'Brians take on the iPhone. Even more impressive :)
Friday, January 19, 2007
Told you so! (or did I...?)
In October, everything was looking rosy and nice. Vodafone launched their mobile TV channel, in exclusive cooperation with BT:s Movio-service, giving their 4.5 million mobile phone customers in the UK access to loads and loads of mobile TV content (and of course anyone else who'd like some mobile TV as well).
Now? Well, a good thing is that there was a surge of new subscribers around Christmas. A bad thing is that the surge amounted to no more than 2,000 persons, with the total amount of subscribers amounting to no more than 7,000 persons as of yesterday.
There is a nice phrase in the English language to describe a situation like this.
It's called "tits up", and that's what Virgin Mobile TV has gone.
Now? Well, a good thing is that there was a surge of new subscribers around Christmas. A bad thing is that the surge amounted to no more than 2,000 persons, with the total amount of subscribers amounting to no more than 7,000 persons as of yesterday.
There is a nice phrase in the English language to describe a situation like this.
It's called "tits up", and that's what Virgin Mobile TV has gone.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
The next big thing, or the straw that broke the camels back?
Just a quick note to comment on the biggest hype in the mobile industry these past few days - the Apple iPhone, combining internet telephony with the usual iPod stuff, adding internet communication for good measure.
At first glance, it's a nifty thing. Just the stuff we've come to expect from Apple, still frontrunners when it comes to slick and stylish gadgets, with a potential for multi-million-dollar sales.
At second glance, it's still nifty. There is, however, the question of the pricing. The cheaper model retails at about 420 €, which is a helluva lot of cash to splash out on something that most people have - a phone, an mp3-player and an Internetconnection. Only thing is that this time these are all bunched together in this little piece.
My two cents? It'll sell. But it won't sell the 10 million units by 2008 that Apple are hoping for. With internet telephony on rapid rise, there will be an abundance of competitors - and probably cheaper competitors at that. Best of luck to Apple, though, You still make the best-looking gadgets on the market.
A good link, if you want to read about VoIP and internet telephony, is this magazine. Happy reading!
* * *
As a side note - anyone but me getting a little bit worried about consumer hysteria? We had a brief discussion about this at work the other day - I mean, people are throwing out perfectly good tv-sets, because they need / want / got to have a 42" LCD tv instead. About 100,000,000,000 VCR-players are getting tucked into the wastebin so as to make way for the DVD-player, which in turn is getting ditched for the HD-DVD-player. Now iPhones, so we can get rid of our ancient, two year old iPods and mp3-players, as well as our mobile phones and all other unnecessary stuff.
My point is - it's all well and good that the market is going forward. But without a backwards glance now and again, we risk leaving a trail of waste behind us that'll take generations to clean up.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Well, a short piece
With an absurd amount of stuff to do atm, I will not be in a position to update this blog in the coming few days with anything of real importance.
Well, excluding this little piece of extremely valuable information - every tip there is to give about how to perform the ultimate search on Google. Actually quite handy - there are a lot of other things you can write besides "+" and "OR" if you want to find what you're searching for.
Happy Googling, everyone :)
Well, excluding this little piece of extremely valuable information - every tip there is to give about how to perform the ultimate search on Google. Actually quite handy - there are a lot of other things you can write besides "+" and "OR" if you want to find what you're searching for.
Happy Googling, everyone :)
Friday, January 12, 2007
A change in the power hierarchy?
...or just a small ripple on the water?
Looking to the Scandinavian TV market, which by default is a pretty small one compared to the big ones out there, there are a few relatively big players on the scene. Aside from the public service broadcasters - big in their own right, but not really into the market-side of it all - you have amongst others the fairly big Zodiak Television World, sporting a growing content library, format catalogue and increasing international sales. Now, though, the second person to leave Zodiak and head for competitors Nordisk Film is former Zodiak VP Jan Salling. This coming hot on the heels of Nordisk Film announcing the creation of a new company - Co+TV, in cooperation with advertising agency Co+Hogh - focusing on the development of creative content and tv formats for the international market, it smells like the competition is heating up a bit.
Guess who's leading this foray into new territories? Jacob Houlind, who left Zodiak in 2006 for Nordisk Film. So, expect interesting times in the Scandinavian TV market in the coming months...
Looking to the Scandinavian TV market, which by default is a pretty small one compared to the big ones out there, there are a few relatively big players on the scene. Aside from the public service broadcasters - big in their own right, but not really into the market-side of it all - you have amongst others the fairly big Zodiak Television World, sporting a growing content library, format catalogue and increasing international sales. Now, though, the second person to leave Zodiak and head for competitors Nordisk Film is former Zodiak VP Jan Salling. This coming hot on the heels of Nordisk Film announcing the creation of a new company - Co+TV, in cooperation with advertising agency Co+Hogh - focusing on the development of creative content and tv formats for the international market, it smells like the competition is heating up a bit.
Guess who's leading this foray into new territories? Jacob Houlind, who left Zodiak in 2006 for Nordisk Film. So, expect interesting times in the Scandinavian TV market in the coming months...
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Apologies to all English-speakers...
..this here is going to be a bit more about the Swedish language. See, every year the Swedish Language Board gives out a list of new words that have been incorporated into the Swedish language.
Personal favourites this year have to be:
flexidaritet: kombination av solidaritet och flexibilitet, slagord i centerpartiet; 2006
genuskänslig: uppmärksam på skillnader i villkoren för kvinnor och män; 2006
latteliberal: alltför liberal; oäkta liberal
sverka: klaga på inköpt vara som man är missnöjd med; bildat till Sverker Olofsson i tv-programmet Plus
tjejkött: kött som tjejer brukar föredra (kyckling, kalkon)
For the full list, please visist this page. Fun stuff :)
Personal favourites this year have to be:
flexidaritet: kombination av solidaritet och flexibilitet, slagord i centerpartiet; 2006
genuskänslig: uppmärksam på skillnader i villkoren för kvinnor och män; 2006
latteliberal: alltför liberal; oäkta liberal
sverka: klaga på inköpt vara som man är missnöjd med; bildat till Sverker Olofsson i tv-programmet Plus
tjejkött: kött som tjejer brukar föredra (kyckling, kalkon)
For the full list, please visist this page. Fun stuff :)
Friday, January 05, 2007
More and more mobile television
Looks like everyone and their grandmother are convinced that mobile television is da sh*t, at least if you look at all the new offerings jumping up left and right. In the UK, for instance, you have 3 and mobile media company Player X teaming up to offer the properly named Geek TV. The channel offers made-for-mobile content, but also full length tv shows, like Miami Vice. I'd like to watch that, if I could...
In other news from the mobile tv market, analysts at ABI Research predict that the emerging market in China will have 32 million mobile video users by 2008. That's quite a lot. The major upswing for mobile video in China is thought to be the Olympics in 2008 - I mean, who wouldn't want to watch women shot put qualifiers on their 1,5"x1" screens? I for one will be glued to my mobile.
To conclude - it just doesn't look like mobile tv is going to go away. So for all of us in the content industry, there is just one thing left to do: figure out how to make good content for the smallest of screens. Piece of cake, right? Right.
In other news from the mobile tv market, analysts at ABI Research predict that the emerging market in China will have 32 million mobile video users by 2008. That's quite a lot. The major upswing for mobile video in China is thought to be the Olympics in 2008 - I mean, who wouldn't want to watch women shot put qualifiers on their 1,5"x1" screens? I for one will be glued to my mobile.
To conclude - it just doesn't look like mobile tv is going to go away. So for all of us in the content industry, there is just one thing left to do: figure out how to make good content for the smallest of screens. Piece of cake, right? Right.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Gimme a bandwagon...
...and I'll happily jump on it :)
Fear not, I have not yet started to "express myself" on youtube (although at the rate this is going, it won't be long :) ... no, just thought I'd upload some stuff to the best photo-sharing and -storing website on the net, Flickr.
My aim is to show that it is quite possible to take good photos using sub-standard equipment - in this case, my more-than-two year old Nokia 6630 phone with 1,3 Mpix camera (and a fair amount of scratches on the lens to go).
More to come soon, I hope!
Fear not, I have not yet started to "express myself" on youtube (although at the rate this is going, it won't be long :) ... no, just thought I'd upload some stuff to the best photo-sharing and -storing website on the net, Flickr.
My aim is to show that it is quite possible to take good photos using sub-standard equipment - in this case, my more-than-two year old Nokia 6630 phone with 1,3 Mpix camera (and a fair amount of scratches on the lens to go).
More to come soon, I hope!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Wow...
...and not WoW as in World of Warcraft, but rather Wow as in "Wow, I really would like to have one of those!".
"One of those" is one of the new nifty little thingies developed by Agere Systems, "a global leader in semiconductors and software solutions for storage, mobility and networking markets." While this does not sound exactly interesting, their new offering, the BluOnyx Mobile Content Server certainly does. It is a small, credit card sized storage server, with the size ranging from 1Gb to 40Gb (and the prize ranging accordingly). It allows the user to store material and data, and transfer it to and from just about anything - mobile phones, digital cameras, PCs, Gameboxes etc, using wireless, USB and SD solutions.
So now the little BluOnyx lets you get something you downloaded to your PC, wirelessly transfer it to the BluOnyx server and later on watch it on your mobile phone on your way home from work. Or just about any other combination you can think of. One nifty little thing is their coined "Digital Campfire"-possibility - put the BluOnyx on a table and let all the friends around the table access it with their mobile phones.
Short of the slightly tacky name, it's simply great.
So, please please mr Santa, one of these, ok?
"One of those" is one of the new nifty little thingies developed by Agere Systems, "a global leader in semiconductors and software solutions for storage, mobility and networking markets." While this does not sound exactly interesting, their new offering, the BluOnyx Mobile Content Server certainly does. It is a small, credit card sized storage server, with the size ranging from 1Gb to 40Gb (and the prize ranging accordingly). It allows the user to store material and data, and transfer it to and from just about anything - mobile phones, digital cameras, PCs, Gameboxes etc, using wireless, USB and SD solutions.
So now the little BluOnyx lets you get something you downloaded to your PC, wirelessly transfer it to the BluOnyx server and later on watch it on your mobile phone on your way home from work. Or just about any other combination you can think of. One nifty little thing is their coined "Digital Campfire"-possibility - put the BluOnyx on a table and let all the friends around the table access it with their mobile phones.
Short of the slightly tacky name, it's simply great.
So, please please mr Santa, one of these, ok?
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
What to do this year...
Well, in a strictly professional way of looking at things, there are quite a few interesting conferences and meetings one could attend. If funds would be available, and time as well, that is... :)
A cornerstone in the television industry year is NATPE, the National Association of Television Program Executives, and the biggest industry meeting in the US of the year. This year held at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas on the 15th-18th of January, they will - apart from the usual buying and selling - devote the whole of the first day to mobile television. Could be fairly interesting, with subjects ranging from "lessons learned from the IPTV roll-out" to "Alternative Reality: Does Primetime Still Matter?"
Keeping up the steam nicely is the Mobile TV World Congress, to be held in France on the 23-26.1.2007, concentrating on one of the most hyped things around at the moment - mobile television.
The IPTV World Forum, to be held in London on the 5-7.3.2007 is also mighty interesting. The three days are themed differently - day one is "Making a business of IPTV", day two is "Competitive Services" and day three "Threats and Opportunities". Could be well worth to check it out, seeing that many of the leading figures and companies in the industry will attend.
And then, of course, we have the one to dwarf them all - MIPTV featuring MILIA, this year to be held fairly late in April, on the 16-20.4.2007. With close to 13.000 people attending and business reaching multi-billion dollar levels, this will be quite a good place to be.
That's what the spring looks like - so pack your bags and let's go! ;)
* * *
One more thing - the melding and meshing of media has never been this intense. The latest news report that the Sundance TV Channel will open up a screening room for its offerings in Second Life - an online MMORPG. Pretty neat, and also just another step towards the future, where media itself becomes less and less important (no more "am I hearing this on an mp3-player, on my phone, on the net, or where?" or "hmm wonder if my DVD-player supports .wmv-files?") and the content is what matters.
Bring it on, I say. I, for one, cannot wait.
A cornerstone in the television industry year is NATPE, the National Association of Television Program Executives, and the biggest industry meeting in the US of the year. This year held at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas on the 15th-18th of January, they will - apart from the usual buying and selling - devote the whole of the first day to mobile television. Could be fairly interesting, with subjects ranging from "lessons learned from the IPTV roll-out" to "Alternative Reality: Does Primetime Still Matter?"
Keeping up the steam nicely is the Mobile TV World Congress, to be held in France on the 23-26.1.2007, concentrating on one of the most hyped things around at the moment - mobile television.
The IPTV World Forum, to be held in London on the 5-7.3.2007 is also mighty interesting. The three days are themed differently - day one is "Making a business of IPTV", day two is "Competitive Services" and day three "Threats and Opportunities". Could be well worth to check it out, seeing that many of the leading figures and companies in the industry will attend.
And then, of course, we have the one to dwarf them all - MIPTV featuring MILIA, this year to be held fairly late in April, on the 16-20.4.2007. With close to 13.000 people attending and business reaching multi-billion dollar levels, this will be quite a good place to be.
That's what the spring looks like - so pack your bags and let's go! ;)
* * *
One more thing - the melding and meshing of media has never been this intense. The latest news report that the Sundance TV Channel will open up a screening room for its offerings in Second Life - an online MMORPG. Pretty neat, and also just another step towards the future, where media itself becomes less and less important (no more "am I hearing this on an mp3-player, on my phone, on the net, or where?" or "hmm wonder if my DVD-player supports .wmv-files?") and the content is what matters.
Bring it on, I say. I, for one, cannot wait.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Merry Christmas part II
For that really peaceful festive feeling - check out the classis Cartman version of Oh Holy Night...
Now, over and out!
Now, over and out!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Weird stuff
Seasons greetings all around. Prompt? Quite.
For the festive season, for when you are slightly bored with "taking it easy" and "kicking back and relaxing", but it's not yet late enough for you to say "ok I'm off!" and head down to the pub - here's a couple of odd things.
First of all, the moving thingees. Look at the dot in the middle, move your head backwards and forwards (and by all mean, use a webcam to broadcast it all over :).
Secondly, a pretty funny clip. Helps if you know Swedish, though.
Thirdly, on a slightly more serious note - for every aspiring writer, a really good forum to get a feedback on your stuff. And I mean, every aspiring writer has been saying for the last 3-4 months that "oh, it'll be good to take some time off 'round Christmas and really get some writing done". We ... eh, I mean, THEY never do, however :) The forum is created (I think) and supported by Orson Scott Card, so there's quite a level of professionalism involved as well.
Right, Merry Xmas!
For the festive season, for when you are slightly bored with "taking it easy" and "kicking back and relaxing", but it's not yet late enough for you to say "ok I'm off!" and head down to the pub - here's a couple of odd things.
First of all, the moving thingees. Look at the dot in the middle, move your head backwards and forwards (and by all mean, use a webcam to broadcast it all over :).
Secondly, a pretty funny clip. Helps if you know Swedish, though.
Thirdly, on a slightly more serious note - for every aspiring writer, a really good forum to get a feedback on your stuff. And I mean, every aspiring writer has been saying for the last 3-4 months that "oh, it'll be good to take some time off 'round Christmas and really get some writing done". We ... eh, I mean, THEY never do, however :) The forum is created (I think) and supported by Orson Scott Card, so there's quite a level of professionalism involved as well.
Right, Merry Xmas!
Monday, December 18, 2006
One more IPTV-venture for the road...
Heard about The Venice Project? It's a funky little peer-to-peer IPTV venture, or, as they themselves describe it:
"We are in the process of launching a secure P2P streaming technology that allows content owners to bring TV-quality video and ease of use to a TV-sized audience mixed with all the wonders of the Internet. All content on The Venice platform is provided by content owners directly, and it's all protected with the highest standard of encryption and we are working within the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) framework to ensure that it complies with appropriate content protection and ownership regulations."
Now, one interesting thing - apart from the fact that P2P-IPTV is a nifty idea in itself - is that this project is rumoured to be the new project for the guys behind Skype. That would make some people sit up and take notice, I'm quite sure.
Anyone interested in betatesting The Venice Project, feel free to sign up - I just might do it myself, for the fun of it :)
"We are in the process of launching a secure P2P streaming technology that allows content owners to bring TV-quality video and ease of use to a TV-sized audience mixed with all the wonders of the Internet. All content on The Venice platform is provided by content owners directly, and it's all protected with the highest standard of encryption and we are working within the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) framework to ensure that it complies with appropriate content protection and ownership regulations."
Now, one interesting thing - apart from the fact that P2P-IPTV is a nifty idea in itself - is that this project is rumoured to be the new project for the guys behind Skype. That would make some people sit up and take notice, I'm quite sure.
Anyone interested in betatesting The Venice Project, feel free to sign up - I just might do it myself, for the fun of it :)
Friday, December 15, 2006
There's money to be made online!
This year, the download industry (the LEGAL part of the download industry) with regards to TV shows, movies etc, is worth close to 300 million US dollars. Now, a report from Strategy Analytics, a research firm, predicts that the business will be worth 1,5 billion dollars next year, and continue to grow to 5,9 billion US$ by the year 2010.
This sounds like a lot of money, no? It sure does.
But.. at the same time, we could all do well to remember that these kind of reports a decade ago stated that "interactive television will account commercial activities amounting to billions and billions of dollars", while others stated that "the growth in the IT-industry is just going to continue and continue"... well, the interactive television industry is not quite there yet, and the IT industry had a severe blip around the millenium.
Point is - don't believe everything you read ;)
Believe this though - no research firm, no industry guru, no one in the business knows for sure what the television industry will look like in five years time.
Myself? I believe that the changeover to new forms and ways of watching television will go much slower than people think, or hope for. I believe that in five years time there will be a small minority watching television via portable devices, while for the most part the audience will watch television in their living rooms, just like back in the 50s. I also believe that content is the most important factor, and that less energy and resources should be spent on developing and offer to people gadgets and trinkets they don't want or need, and more should be spent on doing great television shows.
My two cents, as always.
On another note - Depeche Modes "Suffer Well" is simply great. And the video rocks too. I really like Martin Gore in a brides dress :)
This sounds like a lot of money, no? It sure does.
But.. at the same time, we could all do well to remember that these kind of reports a decade ago stated that "interactive television will account commercial activities amounting to billions and billions of dollars", while others stated that "the growth in the IT-industry is just going to continue and continue"... well, the interactive television industry is not quite there yet, and the IT industry had a severe blip around the millenium.
Point is - don't believe everything you read ;)
Believe this though - no research firm, no industry guru, no one in the business knows for sure what the television industry will look like in five years time.
Myself? I believe that the changeover to new forms and ways of watching television will go much slower than people think, or hope for. I believe that in five years time there will be a small minority watching television via portable devices, while for the most part the audience will watch television in their living rooms, just like back in the 50s. I also believe that content is the most important factor, and that less energy and resources should be spent on developing and offer to people gadgets and trinkets they don't want or need, and more should be spent on doing great television shows.
My two cents, as always.
* * *
On another note - Depeche Modes "Suffer Well" is simply great. And the video rocks too. I really like Martin Gore in a brides dress :)
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Yeah, it's that time again..
...time for CHRISTMAS PARTIES, as it happens.
Our first is tonight at work, which I do not envisage will cause much of a crisis or even any minor scandals. Our second is next week, and then just about anything can happen.
However, if you are of the female gender, reading this, and is wondering how to properly prepare for a christmas party at work, look no further than the excellent advice given by the kind Australians. I especially love the "question" no 4 - "I love to drink campaign"?? :)
Right - party on!
Our first is tonight at work, which I do not envisage will cause much of a crisis or even any minor scandals. Our second is next week, and then just about anything can happen.
However, if you are of the female gender, reading this, and is wondering how to properly prepare for a christmas party at work, look no further than the excellent advice given by the kind Australians. I especially love the "question" no 4 - "I love to drink campaign"?? :)
Right - party on!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Sex really really sells
A word of advice to anyone going into the media business, especially the new forms of media like interactive television or mobile television - if you want quick cash and a rocket ride to fame and fortune, go for sex. Don't try to do anything noble or challenging like making interactive edutainment formats for kids or better the world in any way. Just go for sex.
I would presume, for instance, that Playboy TV:s new series "Happy Nude Girls", premiering in the US in mid-January, will be a success. If you look at what people are searching for on Google, the major part has something to do with sex. And for successful stories from the mobile television world, look no further than prize-winning effort "Czech My Tits", where short clips downloadable to your mobile phone shows how Czech girls show their bosoms for 20 euros.
Do I like it? Sex - yes. The über-sexualisation of the media - no. Guess that's why I'll stick to them hard-earned cash to be made in the edutainment industry...
I would presume, for instance, that Playboy TV:s new series "Happy Nude Girls", premiering in the US in mid-January, will be a success. If you look at what people are searching for on Google, the major part has something to do with sex. And for successful stories from the mobile television world, look no further than prize-winning effort "Czech My Tits", where short clips downloadable to your mobile phone shows how Czech girls show their bosoms for 20 euros.
Do I like it? Sex - yes. The über-sexualisation of the media - no. Guess that's why I'll stick to them hard-earned cash to be made in the edutainment industry...
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
What next in the content website-business?
Reports today say that content giants NBC and CBS are in talks about creating a content website to rival YouTube, as an ad-funded effort. At the same time, YouTube are preparing to cough up a lot of money to be able to offer Fox's content on YouTube. Not to mention the countless other, smaller video content websites to be found on the Wild Wild Web.
What we have is a supply that probably will outdistance demand significantly in the near future. There just isn't people enough on this Earth, at least not people with enough time on their hands to be able to look at all the content that is and soon will be available. But Darwinism is a nice thing - most will fail and fall, and at the end we'll have three or four gigantic services with enough content to keep the entire Earths population glued to the screen for their entire lifetimes.
Which sort of gives me the creeps. I just read that the average US teenager spends 72 hours per week on watching media. I can't help but think that should those teenagers spend those hours socializing, talking to people, go out camping, do sports, write novels, fight global warming, help an ant over a tree trunk, whatever... And the world would, perhaps, be a better place.
What we have is a supply that probably will outdistance demand significantly in the near future. There just isn't people enough on this Earth, at least not people with enough time on their hands to be able to look at all the content that is and soon will be available. But Darwinism is a nice thing - most will fail and fall, and at the end we'll have three or four gigantic services with enough content to keep the entire Earths population glued to the screen for their entire lifetimes.
Which sort of gives me the creeps. I just read that the average US teenager spends 72 hours per week on watching media. I can't help but think that should those teenagers spend those hours socializing, talking to people, go out camping, do sports, write novels, fight global warming, help an ant over a tree trunk, whatever... And the world would, perhaps, be a better place.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Liverpool and the lure of the Orient
...or Middle East, to be more precise.
I've been an ardent Liverpool fan since their heydays in the early and mid-80s, when just about anything was possible and giants (well, nearly at least) like John Barnes, Ian Rush and Peter Beardsley roamed the pitch at Anfield.
Since then, my happiest moment football-wise has by far been the magic night in Istanbul in May 2005 when Liverpool overcame a 3-0 deficit in half time to squeeze the win from AC Milan and grab the European Cup Trophy for the 5th time. Truly magic stuff, that was.
Now? Now magic is way out the window, and business has crawled in from the dark. Now the club is being courted by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Or, rather, the club is being pimped rather vigourusly to said Sheikh, who is zipping open his wallet and other open-zippable things as we speak, getting ready for some action.
Not that I mind! I mean, for the right kind of money I'd be happy to sell all I hold dear. Wouldn't you? What's pride and honor in these days? Just words with a best-before date that ran out some 20 years ago. To be able to compete with Chel$ki, Arsenal and ManU "the club needs this money". Well... perhaps it would then be better not to compete.
But at least the Sheikh might have some nice impact on how the club is run. I mean, this is the guy who was recently sued for holding 30.000 (!) boys in captive to use as camel racing jockeys. He might have a positive influence on a number of guys in the Liverpool squad, with his slav.. eh, man-managment skills.
I've been an ardent Liverpool fan since their heydays in the early and mid-80s, when just about anything was possible and giants (well, nearly at least) like John Barnes, Ian Rush and Peter Beardsley roamed the pitch at Anfield.
Since then, my happiest moment football-wise has by far been the magic night in Istanbul in May 2005 when Liverpool overcame a 3-0 deficit in half time to squeeze the win from AC Milan and grab the European Cup Trophy for the 5th time. Truly magic stuff, that was.
Now? Now magic is way out the window, and business has crawled in from the dark. Now the club is being courted by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. Or, rather, the club is being pimped rather vigourusly to said Sheikh, who is zipping open his wallet and other open-zippable things as we speak, getting ready for some action.
Not that I mind! I mean, for the right kind of money I'd be happy to sell all I hold dear. Wouldn't you? What's pride and honor in these days? Just words with a best-before date that ran out some 20 years ago. To be able to compete with Chel$ki, Arsenal and ManU "the club needs this money". Well... perhaps it would then be better not to compete.
But at least the Sheikh might have some nice impact on how the club is run. I mean, this is the guy who was recently sued for holding 30.000 (!) boys in captive to use as camel racing jockeys. He might have a positive influence on a number of guys in the Liverpool squad, with his slav.. eh, man-managment skills.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Viva La France!
In their neverending struggle for world supremacy (a battle they'd never admit they lost about 100 years ago), the French have rolled into the media world as well. Enter France 24, a multi-million euro effort on the part of the French government to take the fight to CNN, BBC, Al-Jazeera and just about anything that is media and not French.
"There's more to news than the anglo-saxon version", is sort of the motto. Well, expect lots of "...after the French invented fire and the wheel, we also, in our spare time, smote our enemies and perfected the art of making wine".. :)
Have a look at France 24!
"There's more to news than the anglo-saxon version", is sort of the motto. Well, expect lots of "...after the French invented fire and the wheel, we also, in our spare time, smote our enemies and perfected the art of making wine".. :)
Have a look at France 24!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Oh ye of little faith
...myself included, of course.
Medical science. Is there such a thing? Sometimes it feels more like medical best-guess. Or medical ok-we've-tried-this-and-it-didn't-work-so-let's-try-this-and-see-what-happens.
Case 1 - my foot has been bothering me for some time. Floorball (sähly in Finnish) was the thing that did my ankle in. Doctors called it a fracture, a pull, an infection, just about everything, and gave me medicine for just about everything too.
Took a couple of years before a physio looked at it, saw that a bone was slightly out of joint and a muscle was way too tight, keeping the bone in that position. He promptly gave me physiotherapy and a set of excersises. Voila - no more pain.
Case 2 - which is the case that leads to this small muttering - our son, last weeked at the hospital, with asthma. More medication, this and that, give medicine with inhaler, not with oxygen - nono, hang on, give with oxygen and not inhaler - nono, wait, inhaler, take away that oxygen mask. Let's try him on this medicine! Yeah! Come back in a month, and we'll see how he feels.
Now, I know this is the way things are done. And that there are next to no other way of doing it - trial and error. But I just wish there was some way for me to start trusting the medical sciences again. As things now stand, with lots of other cases I won't mention here, I find myself having a bit of a hard time finding that trust.
Medical science. Is there such a thing? Sometimes it feels more like medical best-guess. Or medical ok-we've-tried-this-and-it-didn't-work-so-let's-try-this-and-see-what-happens.
Case 1 - my foot has been bothering me for some time. Floorball (sähly in Finnish) was the thing that did my ankle in. Doctors called it a fracture, a pull, an infection, just about everything, and gave me medicine for just about everything too.
Took a couple of years before a physio looked at it, saw that a bone was slightly out of joint and a muscle was way too tight, keeping the bone in that position. He promptly gave me physiotherapy and a set of excersises. Voila - no more pain.
Case 2 - which is the case that leads to this small muttering - our son, last weeked at the hospital, with asthma. More medication, this and that, give medicine with inhaler, not with oxygen - nono, hang on, give with oxygen and not inhaler - nono, wait, inhaler, take away that oxygen mask. Let's try him on this medicine! Yeah! Come back in a month, and we'll see how he feels.
Now, I know this is the way things are done. And that there are next to no other way of doing it - trial and error. But I just wish there was some way for me to start trusting the medical sciences again. As things now stand, with lots of other cases I won't mention here, I find myself having a bit of a hard time finding that trust.
Friday, December 01, 2006
And the lion shalt sleep with the lamb
Going legitimate is the latest fad amongst people and companies in the P2P-business. Just look at the news in today, about the (slightly infamous) BitTorrent - having readily made themselves synonymous with the downloading and P2P-sharing of hundreds of terabytes of copyrighted material, they've now started their U-turn towards working with the industry full time.
From BitTorrents point of view they've never done anything but work with the industry, of course. But ask anyone who's anyone in said industry - especially some months ago - what they thought about BitTorrent and phrases like "the big Satan" and "evil piratism killing the industry" would probably be the first ones to come out.
Now, however, things are-a-changing. BitTorrent are closing deals with nearly all major content providers, offering stuff from 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Paramount, MTV Networks etc etc.
As I see it iTunes and all the other download-content-services will have to look out. There are millions and millions of users using BitTorrent as their preferred means to download content - and with bittorrent.com starting to offer a legitimate way of getting this content, I think quite a few will, at least, try the service out. With the technical reliability of torrents, this might be a fairly attractive alternative. Only thing is getting the people to pay their 99 cents for that episode of Jericho, which they can get from The Pirate Bay for free.
Interesting, it will be.
From BitTorrents point of view they've never done anything but work with the industry, of course. But ask anyone who's anyone in said industry - especially some months ago - what they thought about BitTorrent and phrases like "the big Satan" and "evil piratism killing the industry" would probably be the first ones to come out.
Now, however, things are-a-changing. BitTorrent are closing deals with nearly all major content providers, offering stuff from 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Paramount, MTV Networks etc etc.
As I see it iTunes and all the other download-content-services will have to look out. There are millions and millions of users using BitTorrent as their preferred means to download content - and with bittorrent.com starting to offer a legitimate way of getting this content, I think quite a few will, at least, try the service out. With the technical reliability of torrents, this might be a fairly attractive alternative. Only thing is getting the people to pay their 99 cents for that episode of Jericho, which they can get from The Pirate Bay for free.
Interesting, it will be.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Just have to add this
Let me introduce George Galloway, MP in the UK, master of rhetorics and all round entertaining guy. He also happens to be spot on in many of his comments - look at him tear apart a host on Rupert Murdoch-owned Sky News. Good man!
He was also accused of benefitting illegally from the oil-for-food-programme in Iraq in the 90s - check these links, 1 2 3 4 5, if you have some time to spare (it's in 5 parts in chronological order, about 9-10 mins each), for a highly entertaining defence speech, or rather attack on the Bush regime, as he totally flattens senator Coleman, chairman of the hearing that Galloway appears before in the US.
Maybe I don't agree 100% with the man, but still, he speaks some truths. Wonder when he'll end up with a cup of tea filled with Polonium 210?
He was also accused of benefitting illegally from the oil-for-food-programme in Iraq in the 90s - check these links, 1 2 3 4 5, if you have some time to spare (it's in 5 parts in chronological order, about 9-10 mins each), for a highly entertaining defence speech, or rather attack on the Bush regime, as he totally flattens senator Coleman, chairman of the hearing that Galloway appears before in the US.
Maybe I don't agree 100% with the man, but still, he speaks some truths. Wonder when he'll end up with a cup of tea filled with Polonium 210?
It's them little things...
Put aside all thoughts of Mobile television, of tv shows filled with user-generated content, of hype words like "360 commissioning" and stuff like that.
Just think - "mobile phone". Yep, that's right. It's the portable thingee that lets you stay in touch with the rest of the world quite easily (as long as the battery hasn't run out).
Now - operator O2 in the UK have just launched a pretty nifty little thing. It's called My Bluebook, is totally free, and lets the user load up images and text messages to a server for storage and for possible sharing with other people. The upload happens via SMS.
In the future, O2 is planning to include Outlook-synchronization, videoclips, address book backups etc.
In my opinion, this is neat. The worst thing that can happen to your average citizen today - if not counting serious disease or major accident - is that the phone dies or gets nicked. All of a sudden you have no numbers, no contacts, no archived SMS:s, no pictures... it'll take you days and days just to get your new phone on track.
So, the prize for the "Sensible Solution of the Week" goes, hands down, to O2. Congrats!
Just think - "mobile phone". Yep, that's right. It's the portable thingee that lets you stay in touch with the rest of the world quite easily (as long as the battery hasn't run out).
Now - operator O2 in the UK have just launched a pretty nifty little thing. It's called My Bluebook, is totally free, and lets the user load up images and text messages to a server for storage and for possible sharing with other people. The upload happens via SMS.
In the future, O2 is planning to include Outlook-synchronization, videoclips, address book backups etc.
In my opinion, this is neat. The worst thing that can happen to your average citizen today - if not counting serious disease or major accident - is that the phone dies or gets nicked. All of a sudden you have no numbers, no contacts, no archived SMS:s, no pictures... it'll take you days and days just to get your new phone on track.
So, the prize for the "Sensible Solution of the Week" goes, hands down, to O2. Congrats!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Everyone's a star... right?
This just in: YouTube is set to announce the launch of their mobile service later today. They're cooperating with Verizon Wireless, bringing the power of YouTube (over 100 million videoclipdownloads per day (!)) to everyones mobile phones.
At the same time, O2 in the UK has launched a similar service, LookAtMe, while the operator 3 has similar services through their Kink Kommunity and SeeMeTV.
My two cents?
I think there will be an uphill struggle for these services. This mostly due to a) pricing of data transfers (a clip on YouTube, even though it would be downsized for mobile, would still be several Mbs. At a cost of some euros per 10 Mbs, for instance, you don't watch many clips before your monthly allowance is at an end) and b) quality of the downloads (it's just no fun watching a funny videoclip if you can't see what's happening in it, y'know?).
What is needed is affordable prices and made-for-mobile content. Made-for-mobile is not the same as made-with-mobile, mind you.
Even so, this all has the possibility to change the landscape of "regular" television to some extent. Already reality television has made a huge impact on how people see tv - we like looking at each other and ourselves as much or more than we like watching people in dramas or sitcoms - and with more and more user generated content, this becomes more and more accentuated.
Everyone can have their 15 megabytes of fame. What will hopefully happen is that more talent will come to the fore, through channels previously unused. Less and less do people have to "pay their dues" in the tv industry to "get their chance" and make a name for themselves.
Recipe for success? Rack up a great 3-4 minute video, using equipment worth 400€, put it up on YouTube and get 100.000 downloads per day. Then just wait for the phone to call.
Hmm, now where did I put that webcam...
At the same time, O2 in the UK has launched a similar service, LookAtMe, while the operator 3 has similar services through their Kink Kommunity and SeeMeTV.
My two cents?
I think there will be an uphill struggle for these services. This mostly due to a) pricing of data transfers (a clip on YouTube, even though it would be downsized for mobile, would still be several Mbs. At a cost of some euros per 10 Mbs, for instance, you don't watch many clips before your monthly allowance is at an end) and b) quality of the downloads (it's just no fun watching a funny videoclip if you can't see what's happening in it, y'know?).
What is needed is affordable prices and made-for-mobile content. Made-for-mobile is not the same as made-with-mobile, mind you.
Even so, this all has the possibility to change the landscape of "regular" television to some extent. Already reality television has made a huge impact on how people see tv - we like looking at each other and ourselves as much or more than we like watching people in dramas or sitcoms - and with more and more user generated content, this becomes more and more accentuated.
Everyone can have their 15 megabytes of fame. What will hopefully happen is that more talent will come to the fore, through channels previously unused. Less and less do people have to "pay their dues" in the tv industry to "get their chance" and make a name for themselves.
Recipe for success? Rack up a great 3-4 minute video, using equipment worth 400€, put it up on YouTube and get 100.000 downloads per day. Then just wait for the phone to call.
Hmm, now where did I put that webcam...
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Photos with a mobile phone part II
Ok, mobile phones are not the greatest photographic equipment on earth. The new Nokias are, however, starting to look pretty darn good.
But, if you're like me, stuck with a two year old phone with 1,3 Mpix and no lens protection, you just have to make do with what you've got. And sometimes them photos trn out pretty nice after all. Here, for instance, a picture from my hometown Vasa, a partly-cloudy morning when we were going fishing...
On the other hand, the digital zoom-capabilities of the phone-camera are mostly theoretical, as there is no way you can see what you've taken a picture of, after you've taken the picture with zoom. Without it though, it's nigh impossible to see across distances anyhow - like this, the Brazil vs Ghana game at this summers World Cup, played in front of 65.000 spectators in Dortmund (yours truly included)
My point? Gotta get me one of them new Nokias... :)
But, if you're like me, stuck with a two year old phone with 1,3 Mpix and no lens protection, you just have to make do with what you've got. And sometimes them photos trn out pretty nice after all. Here, for instance, a picture from my hometown Vasa, a partly-cloudy morning when we were going fishing...
On the other hand, the digital zoom-capabilities of the phone-camera are mostly theoretical, as there is no way you can see what you've taken a picture of, after you've taken the picture with zoom. Without it though, it's nigh impossible to see across distances anyhow - like this, the Brazil vs Ghana game at this summers World Cup, played in front of 65.000 spectators in Dortmund (yours truly included)
My point? Gotta get me one of them new Nokias... :)
A small step for man, a HUGE step for IPTV
So, here goes - the long-awaited roll-out of British Telecoms (BTs) IPTV-service, scheduled to roll out next Monday. The service has been somewhat delayed, with the first roll-out planned for summer 2006, a schedule that later became the slightly more ambigous "sometime this autumn", which now has been confirmed for Monday December 4th.
The triple-play service will reportedly be slightly down-scale, with broadband access, over-ip-telephone calls and some channels and tv content available on demand.
It'll be available first only to BT broadband subscriber, it'll run on a Philips hybrid set-top-box running on Microsoft software.
Now, this is all new territory for BT. But in the market for IPTV, it's quite a big step - one of the biggest players so far to really start up this seriously, with a plan for the future. During spring 2007, if nothing's gone wrong, expect BT to feature heavily at, for instance, MIPTV, racking up content and distribution deals. The success or failure for BTs Vision-service will be closely monitored by the other players globally - not only "does it work", but also more importantly "are people interested", "will people pay for it" etc.
My two cents? I think we'll see Vision gaining momentum, providing the technology - soft- AND hardware - is up to it. In a years time, they'll have a million subscribers, offering a bundle of live tv channels and lots more on demand. And a jolly time will be had by all.
Except Sky then, of course ;)
The triple-play service will reportedly be slightly down-scale, with broadband access, over-ip-telephone calls and some channels and tv content available on demand.
It'll be available first only to BT broadband subscriber, it'll run on a Philips hybrid set-top-box running on Microsoft software.
Now, this is all new territory for BT. But in the market for IPTV, it's quite a big step - one of the biggest players so far to really start up this seriously, with a plan for the future. During spring 2007, if nothing's gone wrong, expect BT to feature heavily at, for instance, MIPTV, racking up content and distribution deals. The success or failure for BTs Vision-service will be closely monitored by the other players globally - not only "does it work", but also more importantly "are people interested", "will people pay for it" etc.
My two cents? I think we'll see Vision gaining momentum, providing the technology - soft- AND hardware - is up to it. In a years time, they'll have a million subscribers, offering a bundle of live tv channels and lots more on demand. And a jolly time will be had by all.
Except Sky then, of course ;)
Monday, November 27, 2006
Photography with a mobilecam? It IS possible
Part one of my recently (like 2½ minutes ago) launched quest to prove that it IS possible to get some nice photos even though you're using you old, beat up mobile phone camera with only 1,3 Mpix resolution - here's a photo from Bore Place in Kent, UK, where we spent a week in October 2005 developing a show of ours... Pretty nice, huh?
En bild säger mer än 1000 ord
Feast your eyes on some really really nice photos - it's time for the "Digitala Camera Magazine Photo of the Year Award 2006" - and all the contestants are here...
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Det bästa ordet?
Vilket är det bästa ordet på svenska? Jag har en viss förkärlek för "balja", mest på grund av hur snyggt det rullar i munnen... å andra sidan är "sörpla" riktigt riktigt jobbigt...
Impressive animation
I liked the first Animation vs Animator-animation, but this one is even better. Two thumbs up.
Strix in the US
A quick sweep of todays news from the TV industry gives reason to say a big, heartfelt "congrats!" to Swedish production company Strix - no mean feat to break into the US television market.
And, if you haven't got anything to do in early March next year, happen to have a fair amount of cash laying around and are interested in the new forms of TV distribution, why not go to London? Would be really interesting to see and hear what the major players think of the future of the IPTV market... Seeing as we have over 1 billion tv households in the world at the moment, and forecasts for IPTV are looking at 25 million IPTV households in some years time... well, that's still only 2,5% of the total tv market.
What I'm trying to say is that we have new technologies popping up right and left, and everyone going crazy about them. But for the forseable future, the traditional forms of distributing television are still the ones who rule.
So let's all just chill a bit, right? :)
And, if you haven't got anything to do in early March next year, happen to have a fair amount of cash laying around and are interested in the new forms of TV distribution, why not go to London? Would be really interesting to see and hear what the major players think of the future of the IPTV market... Seeing as we have over 1 billion tv households in the world at the moment, and forecasts for IPTV are looking at 25 million IPTV households in some years time... well, that's still only 2,5% of the total tv market.
What I'm trying to say is that we have new technologies popping up right and left, and everyone going crazy about them. But for the forseable future, the traditional forms of distributing television are still the ones who rule.
So let's all just chill a bit, right? :)
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Muahaha
Already a classic - ALWAYS delete the "latest downloaded"-thingee on your computer, especially if Danish Television is coming to interview you.
Another really good'un - our own Marcus Grönholm explaining what really happened to co-pilot Timo Rautiainen. Take it away, Marcus... :)
Another really good'un - our own Marcus Grönholm explaining what really happened to co-pilot Timo Rautiainen. Take it away, Marcus... :)
Nice little camels
A really beautiful picture. The photographers other works are pretty nice too.
Wish I had some pictures like this in my portfolio.
Wish I had some pictures like this in my portfolio.
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