Archive for July, 2008

MobileMe launches Wednesday night; will it be revolutionary or underachieving?

by Daniel Langendorf

July 8th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

mobilemeWith the launch of Apple’s MobileMe just a day away, I have to wonder: How revolutionary will it be?

Will it be blah like .Mac, the lackluster service it is replacing?

Will it be underachieving like Apple TV versions 1.0 and 2.0?

Or will it be revolutionary, the first service to truly bring the “cloud” and “cloud computing” to the everyday masses?

I’m anxious to find out.

Apple will take .Mac offline Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT, with the unveiling of MobileMe later in the evening. Members will not be able to access mac.com or any .Mac services during this time with the exception of .Mac Mail via a desktop application, iPhone, or iPod Touch.

It’s unlikely, however, that the “cloud” portion of MobileMe will be turned on and operating. For that capability we’ll probably have to wait until Friday, when the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 2.0 software, and the App Store are released.

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What traditional/new media innovation will NBC's "billion-dollar lab" lead to?

by Daniel Langendorf

July 7th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments2 Comments

olympics on nbcWe realize talk about measuring audiences on television or the Web can get pretty dull. But there is something that intrigues us about NBC’s “billion-dollar lab” beyond the sheer size of the effort.

That “billion-dollar lab,” as NBC calls the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, will provide unprecedented insight into how people are using traditional media — television — and new media — the Internet.

NBC, the sole broadcaster, will mine 3,600 total hours of coverage from its network, along with NBC-owned properties Telemundo, USA, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC, and Bravo. The company is also planning to make 2,200 hours of streaming video available on NBCOlympics.com. Consumers also will get video-on-demand to their computers and content through their mobile phones.

“The billion-dollar lab is an extraordinary research opportunity,” said Alan Wurtzel, NBC’s research chief.

“I have no idea how people are going to use the Internet on the Olympics,” Wurtzel said [via New York Times].

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Hope for Flash on iPhone? New Mac version runs 3 x faster

by Steve O'Hear

July 7th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

Hope for Flash on iPhone? New Mac version runs 3 x fasterIt’s something Mac users have lived with for years: the version of Adobe’s Flash Player for OSX runs much less efficiently than its Windows counterpart. Perhaps then, we shouldn’t have been all that surprised to hear Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ explanation of why the iPhone doesn’t support Flash. Simply put, it runs too darn slow, while the cut-down version designed specifically for mobile devices – known as Flash Lite – isn’t fully-featured enough to grace the screen of Apple’s device. However, Adobe could be about to put its house in order with regards to support for the Mac, leading to speculation that the iPhone could be next.

According to Adobe developer Tinic Uro, the latest beta of Adobe Flash Player 10 running on Mac OSX is significantly faster than previous versions. “If you have followed GUIMark at all you will notice that this version of the player runs this benchmark substantially better on OSX than any previous Flash Player version”, writes Uro on his personal blog. “It should be up to 3 times faster”.

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Weekly wrapup, 30 June – 4 July 2008

by Steve O'Hear

July 5th, 2008 | Posted in last100 weekly wrapup | CommentsNo Comments

Here’s a summary of the week’s digital lifestyle action on last100. Note that you can subscribe to the weekly wrapups, either via the special weekly wrapup RSS feed or by email.

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Digital Music news

Rhapsody launches DRM-free MP3 music store

Rhapsody, the joint venture by Real Networks and Viacom’s MTV Networks, is the latest digital music service to launch a DRM-free music download store. Although the company isn’t ditching Digital Rights Management software altogether – its music subscription service still relies heavily on copy-protection technology – the new Rhapsody MP3 Store is selling DRM-free MP3s priced at .99c per track or $9.99 for the complete album, which is pretty much inline with the rest of the industry.

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Google releases new Gtalk Web app; what does it mean?

by Daniel Langendorf

July 4th, 2008 | Posted in Comms, Mobile | Comments1 Comment

gtalk on iphoneWhat does this mean? Google Talk for the iPhone.

Google announced Thursday that it has developed a new Web app version of Gtalk for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Just point Safari to http://www.google.com/talk and you’ll be launched into a much improved, albeit stripped down, interface. From there you can view contacts, send instant messages, update your status, and “go off the record” if you don’t want to store your chats in Gmail.

That’s fine and dandy. But in all honesty, Gtalk users — and users of any chat service — have wanted native chat clients for the iPhone since it debuted a little more than a year ago. More importantly, they don’t want to lose a chat connection when they switch from chat to answer the phone, to send a Tweet on Twitter, or browse the Web using Safari.

This is due to the fact that the iPhone cannot run more than one application at once, other than playing the iPod. Running more than one app at once also drains the battery.

Even so, many iPhone users have hoped that Apple will have solved this dilemma with the upcoming release of the iPhone 3G. For months they’ve been holding out that native chat applications are coming once the App Store opens in a week or two.

But is the new Gtalk Web app an indication that a dedicated client isn’t coming anytime soon — not just for Google Talk but for other chat services on the iPhone? Why would Google spend the time, money, and energy revamping its Web-based chat app if a native client is coming out in a week or two?

As it stands now, the new Gtalk Web app could be the slickest, greatest, most unbelievable chat solution for the iPhone and it still would be pretty useless. Nothing is more frustrating than engaging in a chat, answering the phone, losing the chat connection, then having to log in to chat all over again.

Do this more than a couple of times and you give up. No matter how good Gtalk for the iPhone is.

How to tune up a tone deaf Rhapsody

by Guest Writer

July 3rd, 2008 | Posted in Audio | Comments1 Comment

This is a guest post by Michael Pinto who is the Creative Director of Very Memorable, Inc. a design firm that specializes in the youth market and interactive media.

Over one year after EMI took the first step to offer DRM-free downloads (April 2007) Rhapsody has decided to play catch up. Rhapsody is a joint venture between Real Networks and MTV, and that’s where its problems start: At this point for the youth market MTV is no longer associated with music – if anything on cable it’s been replaced by MuchMusic and on the web there are upcoming dynamic brands like Pitchfork.tv that are poised for high growth.

The sad reality is that while MTV is doing better than ever before, its original core competency has faded with time. But even if you go with the nostalgia value of MTV, then it’s a poor idea to keep the name “Rhapsody” which carries no branding weight – if anything the service should incorporate the MTV moniker in some shape or form, even if it’s something as simple as download.my.mtv. If Rhapsody is to break out of its generic funk it’s going to need to take advantage of the creative packaging that MTV Networks use to be well known for – but up to this point has been ignored.

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Radiohead teams with Last.fm to offer "In Rainbows" for free, on-demand streaming

by Daniel Langendorf

July 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Audio | CommentsNo Comments

last.fmLeave it up to Radiohead to find every new distribution method possible for their latest effort “In Rainbows.” This time the band has teamed up with Last.fm to offer the album in its entirety for free, ad-supported, on-demand streaming.

radiohead on last.fm“In Rainbows” can be accessed on Last.fm here. Already nearly 1.5 million listeners have streamed the album.

Radiohead is a popular band on Last.fm. Its songs have been “scrobbled” more than 108 million times.

When Radiohead introduced “In Rainbows” in October 2007, it was first made available as a download fans could purchase at whatever they wanted to pay. At the time, Last.fm noticed the interest in Radiohead was high for its community of 21 million music fans.

“Radiohead understand that the Internet is changing music distribution,” said Martin Stiksel, Last.fm’s co-founder. Last.fm is now owned by CBS Corporation.

“We believe that music fans should be able to access music for free, and just as importantly, that artists and rights holders should be paid when their music is listened to. Last.fm makes this possible.”

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AT&T releases official pricing plans for iPhone 3G; total cost of ownership is going up

by Daniel Langendorf

July 1st, 2008 | Posted in Comms, Mobile | Comments7 Comments

att iphone 3gAT&T announced pricing details today for the iPhone 3G, which goes on sale at 8 a.m., July 11. There’s been a little grousing here and there, but for the most part the No. 1 carrier in the U.S. — and its accomplice, Apple — have received a free criticism pass.

Now that official pricing is here, we should be disappointed in AT&T and Apple. The iPhone 3G is going to be a heck of a lot more expensive to own.

In fact, the whole iPhone 3G pricing scheme smacks of corporate America — a product hits it big, so the next time out let’s milk it for every penny possible.

That’s what it feels like.

Here’s a quick review of what it will cost to own a brand-spanking new, faster, sexier iPhone 3G.

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Bono to launch philanthropic (RED) music service

by Steve O'Hear

July 1st, 2008 | Posted in Audio | CommentsNo Comments

Bono and co. to launch philanthropic (RED) music serviceBono and the rest of team behind the non-profit (RED) are to launch a new music subscription service this autumn with half of revenue going towards buying “life-saving medicine for those living with AIDS in Africa.”

For a small monthly fee, subscribers will be sent weekly updates, including tracks from established artists such as U2, Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Emmylou Harris and Death Cab for Cutie, along with up and coming acts. Tracks are download to-own and offered as unprotected MP3s. Additionally, (RED) will pass on regular news of the charity’s work in Africa.

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Warner Music jumps on-board Nokia’s all-you-can-eat music plan

by Steve O'Hear

July 1st, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

Three down, one to go

Warner Music jumps on-board Nokia’s all-you-can-eat music planNokia continues to cozy up to the music industry, announcing today that Warner Music has signed onto ‘Comes With Music’, the company’s all-you-can-eat music subscription plan. The major recording label becomes the third of the Big Four to have agreed a partnership with Nokia, following earlier deals with Universal Music and Sony BMG. The remaining major holdout is EMI.

Announced last December at the annual Nokia World conference, “Comes With Music” will enable customers to buy a Nokia device with a year of unlimited access to “millions of tracks”, and – rather surprisingly – get to keep any downloaded tracks once the twelve month subscription period ends. The only way to then continue accessing the service, however, is to purchase a new “Comes With Music” device (see our follow-up report).

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