Weather is nice, and 50-50

Went out finshing last weekend. Next to no fish, but good beer, a warm sauna and great company made it really worthwhile. And the weather Saturday evening was bloody marvellous. As we rounded a small island we saw this HUGE storm moving towards usrapidly. Luckily enough, it missed us by a mile or so, but the clouds, the rainbows and the lighting was just overwhelming. The only camera I had was on my phone, so the pictures weren't that good, but here are some...









On another note - look out for the next Millionaire! Yes, 2waytraffic, who bought Celador (the production company who owned Who wants to be a Millionaire) are trying their best to cash in on their investment. Their new format is called 50-50, and is essentially a spinoff of the 50-50 lifeline from Millionaire. Contestants play in pairs to to make choices between two possibilities (read more about it here).

The only question I have is - when will the quiz show fad run out of steam? Not now,it seems, as 50-50 has already scored deals in Japan, Greece, Australia and Italy.

Perhaps I should be doing quiz shows as well...

Beware the Facebook

Well, as many MANY others, I find Facebook strangely addicitive. Play along, do lots of idiotic fun stuff, play Travel Quiz and Texas Hold'em... and find old friends!

But is there something else to Facebook than just the face and the book? For a pretty sinister (albeit slightly conspiracy theoryish) look at Facebook, watch this. Nice voice in the voiceover too, meow..

The art of updating infrequently

Well, what can I say. Between working (and working and working) and not working, there doesn't seem to be any time to update this blog with anything remotely associated with regularity.

What new then? The Space Trainees was pitched at EBU Creative Forum in Berlin last week - along with 20-odd other EBU-projects - and there was some interest in the format. Let us hope it'll take off shortly.

On the telecom / media / television side of the world, MIPCOM might be pretty interesting this year. A whole day is dedicated to the hype of the moment, Green TV (television programs with an ecological twist) - I actually heard the pitch for a pretty good format in the genre in Berlin, made by SBS from Australia. It's called Eco House Challenge, and the website can be found here.

Anyone going to Cannes for the MIPCOM and fancy a chat, let me know :)

On another completely different note, have you ever wondered what you're worth? Here is the place to find out. To my dismay, I clocked in at 2.975$... I think I'm more worth than that!

Hacking an iPhone

Well, disturbing news for a lot of people. Happy news for a lot of other people. Telecoms.com reports that a US teenager, George Hotz, spent his entire summer break hacking the iPhone. This he succeeded in doing, trading the hacked iPhone (hacked so that it can be used on any network, not just the ones it is branded for) during the weekend.

Other people and organizations are also working on cracking the iPhone, which means it'll be some nervous times at, for instance, AT&T, the network that the iPhone is supposed to be solely connected to in the US. As many of the potential customers for the iPhone are pretty technologically aware people, changing operator with the help of a cracking software should pose no greater obstacle. We'll see what happens.

What did he trade it for? A Nissan 350Z and three 8GB iPhones :). Well spent summer break, methinks.

Back (once again)

So, summer vacations over, back at work. Traditional autumn-start-of-school-and-daycare-flu grabbing a hold of the family, coughing and wheezing...

Now, preparing a trip to Berlin and the EBU meeting, where we'll be presenting The Space Trainees to lots of people - hope the flu has gone by then!

Also lots of development work to be done. Phew.

And, if you haven't yet signed up to become an owner of a REAL football club (albeit in the lower echelons of British football), do so now :) I've done it, so it can't be all bad. What? Oh.

Mhm, just a heads-up regarding this...

if you are

a) not on vacation,
b) perhaps on vacation, or at work, but do not have anything to do next Tuesday (10th July) at 1300 GMT and
c) you're interested in the future of mobile television,

you could do worse then signing up for this webinar, organised by WeComm. As it

a) features some key persons from BSkyB and Motorola,
b) it's free and
c) it's only 40 minutes long,

I'd say it was a pretty good way to spend that time. You even get to ask you own questions - like "what's it good for anyway?" and stuff like that. :)

Not gonna see me there though, vacation coming up... puuh.

VeohTV tried and tested

Well, as I wrote earlier, I'm starting to feel a little bit like them animals tucked up in cages that they test new make up products on... only difference is, I've signed myself up for all these tests... silly me.

So - betatesting Joost, Babelgum, and now VeohTV. VeohTV differs from the other two in the sense that it's more web-based, which is both good and bad. It has a more webby feeling to it as well - while both Joost and Babelgum are attempting to be IP-television on your computer, VeohTV feels - to me - more like an attempt to be a smooth and easily managed interface to all the content that is on the web. I mean, at the same time as you can watch episodes of Heroes, 24, CSI or Jericho (the latter only if you're US-based though) you can browse sites like YouTube, VideoGoogle or watch WebcamGirls (woohoo!) - i.e. pretty much everything that the web has to offer.

And here then is part of the problem - the web contains quite a lot. So if you're really trying to kill time, you can just start pretty much anything, bare with the (slightly annoying but obligatory) commercials at the beginning of each and any clip (and sometimes the ads are longer than the bloody clip!) and just watch away.

For me, this does not work. As we all know, the web is full of really shite content, which makes VeohTV an interface to more easily get your hands on really shite content. Not something I need. Added to that, the quality is often abysmal. Pixelation is just the first word, I could come up with a dozen more I think.

VeohTV prides itself on having a funky recommendation feature - it logs what you watch and then recommends stuff that you might want to watch based on that information. Still, for me, as there's so much crap there and I simply click on a couple of links to see what they really are, quickly shutting them down after not liking what I saw, the recommendations get a bit skewed. I believe this could be helped if I could be bothered to ass different clips to my favourites etc, basically showing what I like, but honestly - I can't be bothered.

Some good things though - most clips have a short summary in the title, which helps a lot. The interface is easy to understand and even easier to use - good usability there!

For my money though, so far, it's Joost who's the leader in the IP based television service. Or, if you're feeling like being on the shady side of the law, perhaps Joox instead?

Heh

Me being this book aint too far from the truth, really:

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.

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 :)

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.

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.

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 ... :)

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 :)

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!

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!

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.

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.

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! :)

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 :)



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).



Pictures were taken 1½ weeks ago at Ufas birthday bash. Swell weekend, all in all :) Loved the bathtub!

Wa-hey!

Joost teams up with Ministry of Sound! As an old techno-head, I can't but say "Well done!". Testing Joost just became even nicer.. :)

Sorry... :)

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