Posts Tagged “bbc”
Scientists are developing self-organising swarms of turbines which they hope can be used to tap energy from the Gulf Stream. Read Full Story…
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is suing several high-tech giants for infringing patents held by a Silicon Valley lab he founded in the 1990s. Read Full Story…
The device combines the benefits of a powerful modern smartphone with some of those of an iPadI’ve been a heavy user of Google Calendar and Contacts for a couple of years now, and that is why I first started using an Android phone, the HTC Magic. My boyfriend recently got the HTC Desire which showed me how the Magic was getting dated, so I decided it was time to upgrade.However, as an SMS-addict and avid tweeter I found the small keyboard on my old phone a bit fiddly and didn’t see that improving with the latest incarnations. Added to that, we recently got an iPad and I liked its convenience for reading articles. I didn’t want to be carrying yet another device around in my handbag, though. So, when I heard about the Dell Streak it sounded perfect: one device that combined the benefits of a powerful modern smartphone with some of those of a ‘pad.I ordered it straight from Dell, SIM-free, for £449. Taking it out of the box I was immediately impressed with the look and feel. It is slim and dense, but not too heavy, and sexily sleek all in black. I find it balances surprisingly well in my left hand, naturally lending itself to being held sideways (landscape). It is also not so large that it cannot fit in a man’s suit or shirt pocket.Actually making calls on the phone in public can be a little ‘Dom Joly’ due to its size. However, that is easily addressed with a Bluetooth earpiece and was not unexpected.The 800 x 480, five-inch screen is crisp, clear and bright, and I am now regularly using it to read the Economist or New Scientist on the train. The 1GHz Snapdragon processor is blisteringly fast, as is the HSDPA 3G and WiFi, making the browsing experience similar in speed to that of a netbook. With K9Mail I can even now access my industrial-strength IMAP mailbox (250 folders and more than 200,000 emails), something I have not previously managed on a phone.As for the 16GB storage, I’m barely scratching it despite telling Spotify to download all my playlists. There is plenty of space for downloading films, and the playback quality of those I’ve tried was great. Sadly there is no BBC iPlayer support, yet.Unfortunately there are other issues, though mostly minor. The supposedly near-indestructible Gorilla glass screen has been disappointing. In three weeks my Streak has picked up a number of fine scratches, two of which I now regularly notice when using it.Further, unlike the HTC Desire or Google’s Nexus One my Streak was shipped with the now ageing Android 1.6 operating system, complete with a number of irritating quirks and bugs despite Dell’s customisations. I have even had to remove the battery to force a reset after a particularly bad crash. The keyboard has also been disappointing, mainly because of the software. Unlike my HTC Magic, the auto-correction system seems over-complex and counter-intuitive, and I can no longer blindly touch-type.The default software bundle could also be better. As an experienced Android user I was fine, just downloading my usual set of apps and syncing up with Google. Those used to the intuitive ease of Apple’s products and without previous Android experience may find it a somewhat steep learning curve. However, Android 2.2 for the Streak is coming out soon and I expect that will be a big improvement.In summary, despite some minor niggles, the Dell Streak is an excellent device. I also think my experiment of trying to get the benefits of a ‘pad and a smart phone in one device has worked. It is big enough to be easy to read, watch or interact with for extended periods but small enough to be highly portable, with all the other benefits of a high-end smartphone. It is a little let down by its older operating system, but even Android 1.6 still overall excels. If you like the idea of a hybrid pad-phone then this could be for you, even if not an Android user. The small investment of time to get to grips with Android would certainly be worthwhile in order to get the full benefits of this device.Pros: Big, crisp screen; fast processor and commas; slim, sleek and good-looking.Cons: No Android 2.2 (yet); poor typing auto-correction; weak software bundle.Dell Streak, £449 (SIM-free).Specs: 5″ 800 x 480 multi-touch screen, Android OS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8250 processor. 5MP rear camera, VGA front-facing camera. Browser: WebKit (Android). Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB2.0. Plays: MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, Midi, WAV, H.263 / H.264, .3GP, MPEG4, WMV. Size: 152.9 x 79.1 x 9.98 mm. Weight: 220g.Kate Craig-Wood is CEO of Memset Dedicated Hosting.Mobile phonesAndroidguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions Read Original Story…
A scheme to generate renewable energy by simply pulling electric charge out of humid air sparks debate amongst scientists. Read Full Story…
Microsoft is investigating how an eagerly anticipated Xbox game appeared on the internet three weeks ahead of its official release. Read Full Story…
The move will speed up access for people using the site via iPhones or AndroidMobile users in the UK, Europe and Middle East can now access an HTML5 version of Google’s YouTube video site, speeding up access for those accessing it via iPhones, Android or other mobile devices with browsers able to render HTML5 video content.The launch comes as mobile use of the web is growing rapidly: Google says that YouTube’s mobile site, m.youtube.com, gets more than 100m video playbacks a day – roughly the number of daily views youtube.com was getting when being acquired by Google in 2006 – and every minute an hour of video is uploaded to the site from a mobile device. Mobile video playback also grew by 160% in 2009 on the previous year, along with an increase in adoption of devices able to stream video.The US version of the HTML5 site for mobiles was launched last month.Across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the UK consumes the most YouTube videos on mobile devices, followed by France, Italy, Netherlands and Switzerland.The original mobile version of YouTube launched in 2007, but relied on versions of Adobe’s Flash for playback – which was too taxing for most devices. Since then, the development of the HTML5 web standard, and of mobile browsers – notably WebKit, used by Apple in the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, and by Google in Android – able to play back embedded video content using the H.264 codec, rather than Flash’s usual Sorensen or VP6 codecs, has meant that HTML5 video use has become feasible.Google says the decision has been driven by the dramatic growth in mobile access to YouTube, which is more than doubling every year.Several short-form video sites are building players in HTML5: Vimeo brought out a hybrid HTML5 version of its player earlier this month, designed for better mobile playback. But when US-only TV and movie streaming site Hulu unveiled a major revamp of its display earlier this year, it did so using Adobe Flash, saying HTML5 “doesn’t meet our customers’ needs”.The use of HTML5 does not mean that Flash is shut out of YouTube’s mobile version: Adobe’s product can encode video in H.264 as well. But the growing use of desktop browsers such as Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari, which can render H.264 video – and with the forthcoming Internet Explorer 9 also offering it – poses a long-term question about Flash’s continued widespread use.Brightcove, the video hosting service for many media organisations, began offering an HTML5 version of its site in March this year. The New York Times and Time Inc were among the first media outlets to integrate it – allowing playback on Apple’s popular mobile devices, which do not use Flash.Closer to home, Erik Huggers, director of BBC future media & technology, recently defended the corporation from accusations that its widespread use of Flash – on the iPlayer, in particular – betrayed a commitment to open standards.”Our use of Flash is not a case of BBC favouritism, rather it currently happens to be the most efficient way to deliver a high quality experience to the broadest possible audience,” Huggers said, adding: “The fact is that there’s still a lot of work to be done on HTML5 before we can integrate it fully into our products. As things stand I have concerns about HTML5′s ability to deliver on the vision of a single open browser standard which goes beyond the whole debate around video playback.”Though the BBC does deliver H.264-encoded video to Apple mobile devices, it does not do that for Android devices, citing concerns about copying of content via the Android platform, and instead serves Flash-based video to them.However YouTube has said that HTML5 is still some way from becoming the new standard for streaming long-form video content, such as BBC iPlayer content. “While HTML5′s video support enables us to bring most of the content and features of YouTube to computers and other devices that don’t support Flash Player, it does not yet meet all of our needs,” said John Hardin, software engineer at YouTube, in a blogpost published in June. “Today, Adobe Flash provides the best platform for YouTube’s video distribution requirements, which is why our primary video player is built with it.”Microsoft has put its eggs in the HTML5 basket with next year’s release of its internet Explorer 9 browser. Ryan Gavin, Microsoft’s senior director of internet Explorer, said in May this year: “We’re all in on HTML5. We’ve been co-chairing the HTML5 working group, and we’re actually leading the HTML5 testing group.”YouTubeHTML5Mobile phonesSoftwareComputingTelecomsInternetJosh Hallidayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions Read Original Story…
An arrest warrant for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on rape accusations is abruptly cancelled by Swedish authorities just hours after it was issued. Read Full Story…
Hackers claim they will release the first product to allow gamers to play homemade and pirated games on the PlayStation 3. Read Full Story…
Aug
19
2010
 
Multi-tasking media consumption on rise among Britons, says Ofcom studyPosted by in Mobile News
16 to 24-year-olds particularly adept at juggling act, cramming nine and a half hours of media into six and a half hours of actual timeBritons are juggling several types of media at the same time to sate their appetite and leave enough time for everything else in their lives, the Ofcom study reveals.The average media consumer’s digital day is seven hours and five minutes. From breakfast radio to peaktime evening TV, via surfing and texting at home or at our desks, media takes up 45% of our time.The actual amount being consumed is even higher, Ofcom believes, with the boom in mobile computing helping Britons to multitask. “The ability of people to surf the web on their laptop while also watching TV has given people a licence to roam while staying connected,” said Peter Phillips, Ofcom’s strategy and market developments partner. A fifth of our media time is this kind of “simultaneous” consumption.Those aged between 16 and 24 are particularly adept at this juggling act, and are mopping up more media than any other age group. They cram nine and a half hours worth of media into six and a half hours of actual time – data that suggests the cliche of the youngster loafing in the lounge is an unfair one.”Sixteen-to-24-year-olds go out more, and spend less time watching TV,” Phillips commented. He also acknowledged that this multitasking can mean we devote less attention to any one media source, although this was more pronounced when using new technology. It appears we are simply better at combining reading, landline calls or TV watching with another activity without our attention drifting.Discovering that teenagers are happier than their parents to combine web surfing, phone calls, tweeting and TV is not exactly a revelation, and Ofcom’s research does show that some other truisms also still apply. The over 55s are still wedded to their TVs and radios (67% of all the media they consume), while computers, mobile phones and handheld gadgets make up 58% of 16- to 24-year olds’ media diet.But there are also plenty of surprises in this latest snapshot of the UK marketplace. The gap between the way different generations use old and new media is closing fast. For the first time, more than 50% of over-55s have broadband at home, and a third are sending and reading emails each day.There have also been some interesting changes in the importance people give to different media activities. Half of all adults said they would miss TV the most, up from 44% in 2005, followed by 15% who cited the internet (up from 8%) and 11% who would pine for their mobile phone (up from 10%). Hi-fi equipment and CD players have fallen most sharply in our affections with a mere 2% of people saying they would miss them the most, down from 13% four years ago. For the 16 to 24 age group, though, the mobile phone would be missed nearly as much as the telly.But the death of television as the dominant media platform appears to be far away as ever. TV continues to take centre stage in the evenings, partly due to the success of talent shows. However the box in the corner of the room is increasingly likely to be a high-definition flatscreen. More than five million households now have a HD set, up from 1.9 million in March 2009.”Television still has a central role in our lives. We are watching more TV than at any time in the last five years,” said James Thickett, Ofcom’s research director.While Simon Cowell can take some credit for maintaining the nation’s TV fix (measured at three hours and 45 minutes per day), another factor is the growing demand for time-shifted viewing, thanks to digital video recorders as well as catch-up TV services such as the BBC iPlayer or ITV Player.”The ability to watch what we want when we want it is bringing people back into the living room, said Phillips. Commercial broadcasters should not rejoice too much, though, as DVR owners have the option to skip through the adverts.While TV appears to have maintained its ability to hold our attention, 17% of viewing is still taking place alongside another media format – typically a computer or mobile phone.Smartphone sales have risen rapidly in the UK in recent years, up 81% in the 12 months to May. The research shows this led to much more media consumption “on the go”, although in many cases people appear to be heading straight for Facebook and staying there.The social networking site makes up 45% of the total time spent online on mobile phones during December 2009, Ofcom said. This may have been skewed by a surge of family photos or amusing Christmas party pictures, although the regulator also cited more recent data that illustrates Facebook’s remarkable “stickiness”.”The average user spent around six hours and 30 minutes on Facebook in May 2010, compared with nearly one hour 30 minutes for users of Google, and nearly two hours for users of MSN [Microsoft] services,” said the regulator. Twitter holds second place on the social networking ladder ahead of MySpace and LinkedIn, with traffic to its website up 56% in the past year.Increased adoption of high-powered mobile phones also means that more young people are abandoning their fixed broadband line.Ofcom’s research also shows the impact of the recession. Revenues in the telecoms industry were badly hit in 2009, falling for the first time since the regulator started tracking this data in the early 1990s. Ofcom said this was also due to increased price pressure as operators try to lure customers to take a bundle of services, and a tailing-off in the boom in mobile phone and broadband connections.With TV revenues contracting, it was little surprise that the amount consumers spend on communications fell again to £91.24 per month. Five years ago we spent an average of £100.71 per month. “Consumers are using communications services more – including phone calls, texting and the internet. Yet they are paying less despite getting more, partly through buying in bundles,” said Ofcom.Digital mediaSocial mediaSocial trendsOfcomInternetMobile phonesGadgetsGraeme Weardenguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions Read Original Story…
Chief Executive Eric Schmidt says people will change their names to distance themselves from embarrassing content on the net. Read Full Story…
Facebook users are being targeted in a scam that offers them a chance to install a “dislike” button, security researchers say. Read Full Story…
About 100 protesters march on Google’s headquarters to denounce its open internet plan and urge it to honour its “don’t be evil” motto. Read Full Story…
Blackberry maker RIM has responded to India’s ultimatum for it to provide access to its services or face being shut down. Read Full Story…
India sets a deadline of 31 August for the maker of BlackBerry phones to provide access to its services or face being shut down. Read Full Story…
Pay-for service, on mobile site and through Android and iPhone apps, promises video of every goal – usually within minutesThe sports broadcaster ESPN is launching a mobile phone service that promises video footage of every Premier League goal, “usually within minutes” of the ball crossing the line.ESPN Goals will offer news and live scores free, with the complete video service priced at £3.99 a month or £29.99 for the season. It will be available to UK users as an app on the iPhone or Android and through ESPN’s mobile site. Service via other mobile stores, such as Nokia’s Ovi, is expected to follow.ESPN, which is owned by Disney, has the television rights to 23 Premier League matches this season, but UK mobile highlights rights for all the league’s games for the next three years.It is positioning the mobile video service as the first place to see all goal highlights, “usually within minutes of the action on the pitch”, ahead of TV programmes such as Match of the Day on the BBC and BSkyB’s Football First. The mobile highlights are also ahead of the window for online rights, which are held by Yahoo.The broadcaster said it can push out goal highlights swiftly after goals are scored, except during the “protected TV window” from 2.45pm to 5.15pm on Saturdays.”Mobile media has seen dramatic growth in recent years and has proven to be a significant and important part of the way people connect to the sport they love,” said Tom Gleeson, vice president of digital media for ESPN International. “ESPN Goals will serve as a fantastic complement to our television business in the UK.”• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”.ESPNDigital mediaSports rightsTelevision industryCharging for contentAppsMobile phonesAndroidiPhonePremier LeagueMark Sweneyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions Read Original Story…
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Web marketplace Craigslist is under increasing pressure over its adult services section, which critics say aids sex trafficking. Read Full Story… |
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If you think net neutrality sounds boring, think again. While the debate has been bubbling along for years, it is a concept that could mean the open, free and equal internet of today that we take for granted. So what does it mean?Net neutrality is the principle that all internet traffic – content, platforms, and websites – should be treated equally by the networks that deliver them. The internet today is, mostly, a level playing field. We pay a fee to have access to the internet. Web services pay to host their content and to for that content to be accessible. And internet service providers pay for the bit in between – the connection. What telecoms firms want is the right for companies to pay a premium to have their content delivered faster than rival content, or to establish new layer or faster internet on which to to serve paying, premium services. That would leave non-commercial sites on a poorer, slower web where they would find it harder to attract readers – changing the democratic nature of the internet. It would also mean poorer users, or those in the developing world, would find it harder to access the “full” internet experience.Photo by JasonWalton on Flickr. Some rights reserved.Against net neutralityAgainst net neutrality are the big telecoms networks in the US – Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and others – because they want to introduce tiered, prioritised services. That could mean Yahoo paying to have its search results delivered faster, through a faster network, than Microsoft’s Bing, for example. Computer scientist David Farber is one who has cautioned against net neutrality saying it may hinder the progress of new and improved networks. “An updated internet could offer a wide range of new and improved services,” he told the Washington Post in 2008. “including better security against viruses, worms, denial-of-service attacks and zombie computers; services that require high levels of reliability, such as medical monitoring; and those that cannot tolerate network delays, such as voice and streaming video. To provide these services, both the architecture of the Internet and the business models through which services are delivered will probably have to change.”For net neutralitySeveral high-profile figures from the tech industry, including the internet protocol, co-inventor Vint Cerf and web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, have spoken out in defence of the net neutrality principle. Berners-Lee has said: “Control of information is hugely powerful. In the US, the threat is that companies can control what I access for commercial reasons. In China, companies could control what users access for political reasons. Freedom of connection with any application to any party is the fundamental social basis of the internet.”Where did the term come from?Network neutrality isn’t a new concept in telecoms. In the US, the “common carrier” laws ensured that customers of different phone networks could talk to each other. Regardless of who and how they paid to access the telephone network, once they are on the line, they can call anyone.The term was popularised in the late 1990s but was popularised when the arguments were picked up by the press around 2006. In the US, coverage has centered around the Federal Communications Commission which upheld a complaint against ComCast for illegally restricting paying web users from using filesharing services. In the UK, “traffic shaping” can similarly be seen as a precursor to wider tiers of internet use with ISPs commonly demoting and even blocking P2P traffic, for example. ISPs want to be allowed to charge for services that put pressure on networks, like the BBC’s video, which may lead to them charging.What does this Google-Verizon pact mean?Google has always said it supports net neutrality, whereas Verizon is one of the biggest networks in the US and wants to be allowed to charge for different services. The two agreed a proposal, rather than a formal deal, which listed key principles that business and regulators could work with:• ISPs cannot discriminate against any service in an anti-competitive way.• ISPs cannot block consumers from any legal service. • ISPs have the right to manage and prioritise web traffic.• ISPs must be transparent about how they are managing services.• The FCC would enforce on a case-by-case basis, and have its regulatory powers over broadband services restored.• A fixed part of all phone fees would be dedicated to investment in broadband networks.And the last and most significant two: • ISPs can introduce new and different internet services, such as 3D.• Wireless services are exempt from all these proposals, apart from the condition of transparency.Photo by gt8073a on Flickr. Some rights reserved.First, new types of content and new types of services on new types of network – this is the internet of the future. While the internet today operates as one largely unified planet, the internet of tomorrow will need investment and innovation to build new features and functionality we can only dream of. Second, the desktop is dying and wireless, mobile networks are the future. So the internet of the future will operate on the network of the future – largely a wireless one. Under this proposal, wireless services would be exempt from all these requirements, which means ISPs would be able to discriminate against competitors and would be able to block access to a service even if it was legal. It’s the same principle as your mobile operator charing you more to call a friend on another network – but with everything from video, to email, gaming, music – anything you do on your phone. The FCC wasn’t too pleased that Google and Verizon are trying to dictate policy, however. Commissioner Michael J Copps said: “Some will claim this announcement moves the discussion forward. That’s one of its many problems. It is time to move a decision forward – a decision to reassert FCC authority over broadband telecommunications, to guarantee an open internet now and forever, and to put the interests of consumers in front of the interests of giant corporations.”Net neutrality campaigners say Google’s response is contradictory, hence the negative response to the Verizon pact. Despite its proclaimed commitment to net neutrality, Google has proposed a future where ISPs can build and charge new networks as they wish.Net neutralityGoogleMobile phonesInternetDigital mediaTelecomsJemima Kissguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Terms & Conditions 
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