Mobile TV's Business Case Yet To Be Proven

According to Digital-Lifestyles.info, "after two days of debate, mobile TV's leading players can't agree a way forward for the technology. London's Mobile TV show closed its doors leaving more questions than answers:

-- Claire Tavernier, Freemantle Media, thought it most likely that content producers would launch their own channels rather than go with pay-per-view clips or advertiser-funded models.

-- Hyacinth Nwana, speaking for Arqiva, and Jeremy Wright of Enpocket, both saw advertiser funded content - whether programming or entertaining video ‘spots' - to be the key driver.

-- Riccardo Donato, Channel 4, said the broadcaster was hedging its bets, with branded content available via both mobile operators' portals and Channel 4's own ‘off-portal' wap site.

-- Eirik Solheim of Finnish state broadcaster NRK, (pictured above left) said their mobile TV trials had seen some success with pay-per-view.

-- BT Livetime's Emma Lloyd, whose ongoing trials with Virgin Mobile and Digital One started in July, said peak consumption came when participants travelled to and from work (not surprisingly). Users were watching an average 10-15 minutes per sessions.

It was revelaing that throughout a day filled with many case studies, not a single speaker would reveal revenue figures.

Clearly it's early days in this fledgling industry, but with such shyness of the financials, it doesn't bode well".

US War Photos

Following yesterday's post on US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan having posted on the Internet "several hundred" photographs of mutilated corpses from "the real war," in exchange for free online pornography, Stay Free! Daily quotes journalist Richard Ehrlich e-mail interview with the site owner:

"This is an uncensored view of the conflict going on in Iraq and Afghanistan," 27-year-old Christopher Wilson, owner of nowthatsfuckedup.com, said in an e-mail interview. "These pictures are taken directly from the cameras of the soldiers and uploaded to my site.

The website in question - nowthatsfuckedup.com - remains online, where nestled between "Amateur Wives and Girlfriends" and the "Foot Fetish Forum" are some of the most disturbing images of the war imaginable. All of them appear to have indeed come from soldiers' digital cameras, and come complete with bloodthirsty comments from the troops.

... An Army spokesman, Col. Joseph Curtin, said the military's Criminal Investigation Division recently began investigating the matter, according to A.P."

[via unmediated]

CBS Mulls Taking CSI to Web, Mobile

According to Media Week, CBS is exploring the possibility of producing original short-form episodes of its top-rated CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series for either its Web site or for distribution on mobile devices.

"Larry Kramer, the president of CBS Digital Media, said that he has been in conversations with CSI producers to begin developing original episodes of the popular series in the range of 8-minutes episodes.

The short episodes would be self-contained, rather than complementing existing episodes of the series, as has been the case with the "Mobisodes" of the Fox series 24', which air on the Verizon V Cast platform."

Beheading video man sent to jail

A man who used his mobile phone to replay footage of a beheading in Iraq to a hotel shop worker has been jailed for 60 days, reports the BBC.

"Subhaan Younis, 23, played the images to shocked Charlotte McClay last September at a hotel in Glasgow.

The part-time shop worker said he had downloaded the images onto his mobile phone from the internet.

The magistrate told Younis: "I struggle to understand why you had images on your phone entailing the death and degradation of another human being, regardless of their religion or race.

"Miss McClay was shocked, upset and distressed by the images. This is a serious offence and something she will remember for a long time, perhaps for the rest of her life."

Related article: - Mobile video footage of a hostage beheading

Lens For Your Cameraphone

This is not compeletly new, but finally they look like real lens! According to Oh Gizmo!.

"Mini size wide-angle lens, telephoto lens and macro lens for your camera phone lens.

Instead of screwing them onto your lens, there is a magnet built-in and they will stick on to the lens. The telephoto lens offers up to 2X zoom power, the macro lens offers up to 4X zoom and the wide angle lens allow you to zoom out 0.5X.

Each comes with a cellphone strap, when you are done using it, they turn into a charm!"

Related articles:

-- Zoom lenses next for mobiles

-- A wide lens for your cameraphone

Army Investigates Photos of Iraqi War Dead on Web

The Army has opened an investigation into whether American troops have sent gruesome photographs of Iraqi war dead to an Internet site where the soldiers were given free access to online pornography, Army officials said Tuesday, reports The New York Times.

"Some photographs on the Internet site show people in American military uniforms standing around what appear to be dead bodies. Other photos include graphic images of severed body parts and what appear to be internal organs spilling from bodies onto the ground.

The images are said to come from Afghanistan as well as Iraq. Their authenticity has not been determined.

... Digital cameras have been ubiquitous in the modern combat zone, and it was digital pictures and videos that provided the first public evidence of the extreme degree to which military police soldiers had abused Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.

In the aftermath of Abu Ghraib and reports of other abuses by American troops, Pentagon and military officials acknowledged that such behavior could severely damage the American war effort in Iraq.

"I think it's really a disturbing phenomenon to see that our military personnel would be engaging in such inappropriate behavior, behavior that brings dishonor to the military," Ibrahim Hooper, the spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a telephone interview."

Real Networks to run Cingular mobile video service

Cingular Wireless, the biggest U.S. wireless service, plans to use RealNetworks Inc.'s video streaming technology to deliver video to mobile phones, the companies said late on Tuesday. [via Reuters].

"The deal is a key win for RealNetworks over its arch-rival Microsoft Corp as both companies try to expand from the desktop into the wireless services market."

Phone crash photos 'invading privacy'

Snap-happy amateur photographers armed with cellphones are invading the privacy of crash victims and capturing disturbing images, police warn. [stuff.co.nz]

"Inspector Gary Knowles said that at a fatal crash in Buckleys Road, Linwood, this month, hundreds of people watched as emergency services tried to help seriously injured victims.

The Linwood crash claimed the life of Rangi Wano, 16, and put four others in hospital, including a couple and their baby boy. Wano was in a car with friends that had sped away from police before the accident.

Wellington lawyer John Edwards, who specialises in privacy cases, said there were no laws to prevent people using the phones at accident scenes.

However, in certain situations the courts could support a legal bid for damages from someone whose image was published after a horrific accident without approval, on the basis that publication was offensive.

"You can view it (the use of cellphones) as an extension of rubbernecking. You try not to turn around, but it's hard to drive past an accident without having a look," he said."

Boys misbehave on school bus with their cameraphones

Four students at Tavares Middle School (Florida) were arrested Friday for inappropriate behavior on a school bus and charged with felonies, according to WESH.com.

Police said the kids, ages 12 to 14, asked girls to reveal their breasts< on a Lake County school bus. When the females refused, police said the boys ripped off their clothes and used camera phones to snap pictures of their breasts.

Then the boys showed off the pictures at school, police said."

Nokia and CHT jointly organize Mobile Film Festival in Asia Pacific

Nokia is working hand in hand with Chunghwa Telecom, the leading operator in Taiwan to organize a Mobile Film Festival in Asia Pacific from September 27th to November 9th, reports Verivox.

"During the festival, Taiwan"s first-ever contest for creative self-directed mobisodes will be held. Mobisodes are brief videos specifically designed to be watched on a mobile phone.

...The ten directors featured at the festival will discuss how the mobile phone, acting as the next-generation media, will impact the creative sector, general audiences, and movie industry.

... Some directors suggest short mobile films will become the trend, which will attract more creative talents to mobile cinematography.

Best of all, the public is free to choose when and where to view mobisodes. Mobisodes will revolutionize creativity and viewing habits to let mobile subscribers truly experience how "Life Goes Mobile".

Korean customers lukewarm to 5 and 7 megapixel cameraphones

According to Telecoms Korea Korean customers remain lukewarm about somewhat faulty 5 megapixel and 7 megapixel phones and are more interested in DMB phones or even simple phones.

"It is more than obvious in Yongsan, the biggest shopping area for IT products including handsets. A merchant there said, “Not only few people buy handsets with higher than 5 megapixel camera module but also few shops have them.” Another shop manager said, “Handset makers were so hurried to release those phones, which inevitably caused many defects. In addition, Samsung fails to supply sufficient amount of those products.”

In response, IR Team at Samsung Electronics said, “We are reducing the supply of high resolution camera phones as customers attention has shifted to satellite DMB phone or slime phones".

RFID to Help Prevent Bird Flu

Due to its promising capability in livestock tracking, the Thai government recently considered the adoption of RFID technology for its poultry identification program in connection with the bird flu outbreak. [via RFID News]

"One of the advantages in using RFID is the ability to track the movement of livestock or human beings without interrupting any normal activities. The tracking data can be fed automatically to any database systems for further analysis. In the event of any emergency situation it would be possible to trace back the history stored in a database."

MTV to use Warner music videos for mobile phones

MTV Networks on Monday said it would license Warner Music Group'smusic video catalog to create programming for mobile phone networks wworldwide, featuring videos by such performers as Green Day, Sean Paul and Twista. [via Reuters]

"MTV plans to create short programs based on shows like "Driven" and "You Oughtta Know" on VH1, and programming designed for high-speed Internet users.

The pricing for the service will be determined by the mobile network. It will be available either by subscription or on a video-on-demand basis.

Warner is the first of the major labels to sign a mobile deal with MTV."

Smile, You're on Photobucket

The WSJ reports on online photo destination site Photobucket.com, emerging as the most popular online photo destination in recent months, drawing more visitors than established sites from companies like Eastman Kodak Co. and Yahoo Inc.

"The company's meteoric rise offers some insight into the changing world of digital photography. Photobucket doesn't sell prints. Instead, it provides so-called "image hosting" by wooing Web users who are less interested in printing copies of photos and more interested in showing them off on their blogs and social-networking Web pages.

Photobucket said it is targeting a younger audience, including teenagers looking to dress up their blogs. Blogging sites like LiveJournal and Xanga don't allow users to upload photos to their blog entries unless they pay up to $4 a month for premium services.

Photobucket acts as a sort of virtual middleman. It provides a free service that lets users store hundreds of snapshots in photo albums on its site and link to them from anywhere on the Internet, from blogs to eBay auction pages. It does this by giving users the Web code needed to insert their photos on other Internet pages. When people visit a blog that is using this code, the images are automatically pulled from Photobucket's stored albums and displayed.

"Young people, in my mind, drive innovation," said Alex Welch, the 29-year-old founder of Broomfield, Colo.-based Photobucket. "Kids are always uploading photos. Every time they take new pictures, they want to upload them."

RFID "Marketing Board"

This device is designed for jewelry stores, but could be used at other places. When sales agents show items selected by customers, the agents place the items on a tray (or a "marketing board") that reads RFID tags attached to the items.

The store can capture detailed information about customer behavior using this system. The system can record information about items customers selected (but did not purchase), how long each item was on the tray, which items are never put on any trays, etc.

It was developed by FJB and tested at a jewelry store chain earlier this year.

reBlogged from wonderful RFID in Japan-

High-tech cheating on the rise in high schools

Cheating on tests has come a long way from writing notes on the back of your hand -- and it's getting harder for schools to police as technology advances, reports The Sacremento Bee.

"It's a huge problem," said John Becker, principal of West Campus High School in Sacramento. "It's been going on pretty much since text messaging was born."

The number of high school students who admit cheating has steadily increased. 70 percent of students at public and private high schools admit to some form of cheating on tests.

... One option to keep kids from cheating on tests would be to change the tests themselves, by substituting multiple-choice or fill-the-blank-style questions with in-class essays or discussion questions, which demonstrate students' grasp of the information and are difficult to cheat on.

According to The New Jersey Media Group, today's well-equipped cheater is armed with high-tech tools that have ushered in a new age of digital deception.

Camera phones can take and transmit pictures of tests or send silent text messages to request or provide answers. MP3 players can hold downloaded notes as easily as they can hold music.

Scanners and computer editing programs can turn the ingredients section of candy wrappers into customized cheat sheets. According to reports in technology magazines, Mentos is often used because of its long paper label, which can be unrolled, flattened and easily scanned.

... Technocheating will only worsen as digital technology gets smaller, cheaper and into more hands.

Tag notifies workers so secretaries don't have to

NTT Data and the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems have developed a system that does away with the need for secretaries to track down workers to inform them about meetings and other subjects.

RFID tags are worn by workers and RFID readers are placed throughout the company to keep tabs on their whereabouts and to send them information about meetings and other scheduled events via computer and celphone.

When the time of a meeting nears, the system can notify all workers expected to attend. If a participant does not show up, the system will seek that person out and suggest the appropriate response, such as a phone call if he is at his desk or an e-mail message if he is in another meeting.

reBlogged from we-make-money-not-art.

Big Brother tops ratings on Orange mobile TV

Mobile network Orange has for the first time revealed key statistics from its mobile TV service, launched in May this year. Netimperative Reports.

In the UK, the summer's most popular Orange TV channel was Big Brother, which topped 30% of the audience share at its peak times at the start and end of the series.

... Recent Orange data reveals that Orange customers in the UK mainly watch TV during work breaks (36.1%). They also used the mobile TV service while travelling (18.5%), when waiting for friends or in a queue (12.6%) and at home (10.1%).

Orange found its customers were mainly using the service to “snack” on, as opposed to watching full programmes.

In both France and the UK, the average mobile TV customer watched TV on the mobile for 35 minutes each month.

Wireless phone companies get ready, offer tips

According to USA Today, phone carriers in the US, for the second time in less than a month, are preparing for the arrival of category 5 hurricane, Rita. The article describes some of the measures taken by the operators to secure service and offer assitance.

Cingular also offers some commense sens tips to cellphone customers, such as text messaging if it's hard to place a call, keeping wireless phone batteries charged at all times as well as a spare battery available.

This tip caught my eye: If you have a camera on your phone, use it to take, store and send pictures of damaged property to your insurance company.

Playing FLICKR v2.0

Playing Flickr is a public space installation by Mediamatic on the 11th floor of the PostCS building in Amsterdam (cf Flickr Peep Show)

The diners in Restaurant 11 can use their mobile phones to submit a keyword of their choice, which will later appear on the surrounding screens with corresponding photographs so that while they dine the backdrop of the restaurant will be adapted to their personal wishes.

Playing Flicker is a concept of Willem Velthoven. The software is developed by Cuno de Boer at Mediamatic Atelier."

Major UK mobile TV trial starts

A full-scale UK trial of the technology that will let people watch TV directly on their mobiles has been launched. The BBC reports.

The Arqiva and 02 trial with 400 people in Oxford will test the technology as well as TV watching habits.

"Sixteen channels will be available to the triallists, including BBC One and Two, ITV 1 and 2, and Channel 4.

The technology lets mobiles, which have special requirements because of screen size and battery life, handle TV signals in real-time. It also allows broadcasters to send the same signals to multiple handsets."

Cable Lets Users View Cell Phone Video Clips On Eyeglass Display

Scalar Corp. will market in October a cable that allows users to see moving images stored in a cell phone through a small display attached to their eyeglasses, a company official said. [via Nikkei.net]

The user can view the images without other people seeing them if the screen of the handset is kept out of sight.

The display, called Teleglass, was developed earlier by the Tokyo-based firm."

Until now, Teleglass has been used in conjunction with DVD players."

Vodafone enables one-number ads via MMS shortcode launch

Brands and media companies will finally be able to build a branding campaign around a mobile shortcode number after Vodafone launched MMS shortcodes this week, according to NMA.

"The move means a brand will be able to advertise the ability for consumers to both text or MMS, such as sending in photos and shortly videos, to a single five-digit number.

The move could help drive take-up of MMS as a content medium. Vodafone has also revealed it will soon be launching a drive to push down the wholesale cost of MMS, which has been holding back brands and advertisers from adopting the medium."

NEC creates copyright alarm

Does the new camera phone software created by NEC create copyright issues? According to Blog Fotolia, this might be a concern.

"NEC and Nara Institute of Science Technology have created an advanced Optical Character Recognition or (OCR) software to be used on Cell phones. As camera phones image quality improves so will the OCR technology. But this brings up a question of copyright.

... The major concern here is people actually stealing entire books or newspaper copy with out even paying for it themselves. Unlike music, software, and movie copyright thieves who buy the software then make free copies for everyone.

NEC recognizes this issue and has implemented a audio noise to to alert possible store owners of a scan."

CellJournalist - New agency for citizen reporters

Following Scoopt and SpyMedia, Cell Journalist, is the third agency to offer media outlets access to a vast array of news-related images taken by citizen reporters.

"When breaking news happens, it is much more likely today that the first images will be captured by passers-by with camera phones rather than by professional photographers," says Parker Polidor, President of Cell Journalist. "Cell Journalist aggregates images by camera phone users all over the world to give media services accurate and high-quality photographs." Press Release.

Related article: - More on Scoopt's first sales and the arrival of US competitor Spy Media

Crave privacy? New tech knocks out digital cameras

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have come up with an inexpensive way to prevent digital cameras and digital video cameras from capturing that secret shot, reports News.com.

"The technology they've devised detects the presence of a digital camera up to 33 feet away and can then shoot a targeted beam of light at the lens, according to Shwetak Patel, a grad student at the university and one of the lead researchers on the project.

That means that someone trying for a surreptitious snapshot of, say, a product prototype or an amorous couple gets something altogether less useful--a blurry picture (or a video) of what looks like a flashlight beam, seen head on.

... The technology is a stab at ameliorating the privacy problems that have arisen with the advent, quick ubiquity and tiny dimensions of digital cameras and camera phones..

QRCode tatooed booth babe

This barcoded booth-babe has a QR code tatooed on her back, allowing visitors to the Tokyo Game Show 2005 (TGS) to use their cam-phones to scan for her personal information. [via Taro for news.3yen.com].

The barcoded booth-babe comes from Taro's friends over at Wireless Watch Japan, who have a good video report of all the cellphone game action at TGS 2005.

The dating scene could catch on to this...

Kodak's EasyShare-one camera in the news again

New Scientist has picked up on Kodak's EasyShare-one camera, offering consumers a camera that can email images to friends and store the shots automatically. It was widely posted in January, but here goes for anyone who missed it.

"Kodak is to offer consumers a Wi-Fi enabled camera that can take high-quality digital pictures, then email them to friends and store them automatically in an online image bank – all without the need to use a PC.

The new EasyShare-one camera is a pocket emailer, with direct connection to the internet via a public Wi-Fi hotspot or a home Wi-Fi system."

Picture from Engadget

Related: - The Wi-Fi Cameras are Coming

A World Of Digital Dim Sum

A good read from Tracy McNicoll for Newsweek on how entertainment, increasingly bite-size, intense, portable and on demand, gets shorter and smaller, so do our attention spans.

"The experts call it "snacking," and say there's much more to come. We've become savvy grazers in everything from personal electronics to food to travel. The world is our tapas bar, and mobile TV may just be our next patatas bravas."

"Fox's "24: Conspiracy" is a one-minute version of its real-time one-hour hit "24," but with a different cast and different writers. It has been translated into six languages and will be available in 30 territories by year end. Still, the shorter format doesn't mean skimping on action. "In the first episode, we manage to fit in a seduction, a betrayal, a murder and an identity theft," says Lucy Hood, president of Fox Mobile Entertainment."

... What will all these bite-size programs do to our attention span? U.S. consumer-trend researcher Iconoculture calls it "technomorphing": if rapid changes in technology haven't rewired our synapses, they have at least changed our expectations.

...Yet quick and snappy doesn't mean dumbed down. In his book "Everything Bad is Good for You," author Steven Johnson argues that, while TV's erstwhile linear, single-themed plotlines used to call for passivity, today's increasingly multipronged programs are actually making us smarter."

Onlookers take cameraphone pics of broken leg attack

A man injured in a street fight with students near Community Science College in Dewsbury (UK), claims that onlookers took pictures with their camera phones as he lay on the floor screaming in agony. [via Yorkshire Today]