Project Kangaroo, the collaboration between Britain's biggest broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4 and ITV) unveiled a new video-on-demand download service designed to take on the US giants such as Apple, and the bedroom pirates alike, offering thousands of classic programmes at the touch of a button.
Good article on MediaGuardian to link to here.
There have recently been a few cases where real world laws end up in virtual worlds due to accusations of theft or fraud. These cases are always problematic, because it's impossible to know where to draw the boundaries. If a virtual world allows theft, then is it still a crime in real world?
Some researchers have discovered that, thanks to a flaw in Apple's Quicktime, which is used within Second Life, it's possible to steal money from players within Second Life. This is important, because Second Life money can quickly be converted into real money So, the virtual world "pick pocketing" can have real world implications.
So who is to blame (we live in a blame culture now...)? Some could pin the blame on Second Life and, in fact, they may need to upgrade their security to be more "bank like." Some could pin the blame on Apple, who has yet to patch the flaw in Quicktime. Others, of course, might blame users for keeping "valuable" currency in an unsecured environment like Second Life. And, of course, some would blame the person exploiting the security flaw in the first place.
The point, though, is that it's a bit more complex than many would make it out to be, and future scenarios are only going to get more complex.
This is the queue for the iPhone outside the Apple store last night:
The thing is, it has been possible to buy an iPhone for months. A little more expensive perhaps (for an unlocked version), but if you want to be one of the first (and that's what these geeks normally queue for) the opportunity has surely passed....
Pixoo is a new service that takes a copy of your profile portrait and enhances it to make you look better. You can tan your skin (Brooksy...), lighten your hair, broaden your chin, and even look a little happier if you just take a miserable photo. The average portrait can be improved in about 15-20 ways (apparently) and their stylists can complete the photo upgrade in less than 24 hours, but they will keep working on it until you’re totally satisfied with the new you.
Everywhere has sold out. Amazon, John Lewis, Argos, Tesco, Game, Toys R Us, Currys, PC World - not a single console.
I'll cross it off my Christmas list.
From AdAge in America:
Google's long-awaited "gPhone" has turned out to be not a phone (at least not yet) but Android, an open operating system intended to make the mobile phone as useful a tool for marketers as the PC.
The Android operating system will be developed through the Open Handset Alliance, a multinational alliance of technology and mobile companies Google has put together, including T-Mobile, Motorola and Samsung. The platform "will enable anyone, Google included, to deliver advertising on a mobile device," said Ethan Beard, Google's director of new-business development.
Phones likely will not be available until sometime next year, the announcement said.
New ad models
For marketers, Android promises a number of new models for advertising
on the mobile phone. The service will allow for a host of new
applications, "some subscription-based, some working with carriers,
some ... for download with the advertising [to offset consumer costs],
and I'm sure there are many we have yet to think about," Mr. Beard
said.
Google stressed that the open handset alliance would encourage application development and innovation and that those developers could use a variety of models to monetize their applications, including advertising.
Consumers in many surveys have said they don't want ads on mobile phones, and they only budge from that position if some offsetting value is offered. A number of companies are experimenting with ad-supported services for mobile phones, among them Virgin Mobile, with its Sugar Mama program.
Gaia, the popular animated virtual world, has added a pretty fun
feature that lets you bring online videos into your Gaia world. The new
tool is called Gaia VJ,
and it lets you collect web videos to create your own channel of
streaming content.
Gaia VJ is pulling content from the major video-sharing networks, including YouTube, Metacafe, EyeSpot,
iFilm and Break. It’s own collection system has a bit of networking
itself: you can find content by checking out playlists that other users
have already created.
You can search by video-sharing network, or keyword. A preview of the clip will play to the right, and just drag the clips you’d like in your playlist to the bottom of the screen. Once you’ve created your playlist, there’s an option to view it directly in a private cinema.
What’s fun about Gaia’s implementation of its VJ video aggregation feature is that it exists within the virtual world of Gaia. So once you’ve got your channel of video content, you can play it in your own, virtual private cinema. From there you can invite friends to join you, and then chat it up with each other for real-time commentary while the videos play on.
Gaia isn’t the only virtual world to offer additional tools for the expansion of interactive options within the community. Habbo has been building up its “Habbowood” for some time now, with movie-creation kits for making films within the virtual world. CNN is doing a similar project in Second Life, outfitting residents with press tools for capturing news going on in the virtual world.
Here's a video of Gaia VJ:
Miro is an internet television application developed by the Participatory Culture Foundation (PCF). It can automatically download videos from RSS-based "channels", manage them and play them. It is designed to mesh with other PCF
products such as Video Bomb, a social tagging video website (like delicious for videos), and the Channel Channel, a TV guide for internet television. So I guess in a funny sort of way it's a very different but very real competitor for Joost.
I'm just starting to trial it so more info to follow. In the meantime, if you want to see how it compares to Joost, here's a brief rundown (although a little biased since I got it from the Miro site...) :
It only went public in 2004, but look how big it is:
