2007 MTV Video Music Awards

MTV: Music Television is throwing out all the rules with the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, ushering in unprecedented access and interactivity beyond what any awards show has ever done.

From VMA.MTV.com to MTV Mobile on Sprint TV to the Virtual VMAs to MTV On Demand, MTV is setting a number of important firsts: the first viewer-inspired remix; the first mobile simulcast of the VMAs; the first awards show ever recreated virtually, and the first nearly instantaneous VOD updates.

For the first time ever, MTV Mobile will air a live simulcast of the main show on video-enabled Sprint Vision and Power Vision phones."

Press release

Cameraphone and MMS Combine to Offer Music Information

This is fabulous. A record label is launching a service that enables music fans to get information about music, simply by taking a photo of the CD case and sending it via MMS to their server.

"MMS & Buy is about impulse purchase through picture taking: You are looking at a CD in the store or passing by a promo poster. Aim your mobile, send the picture as MMS, immediately get ringtones, video clips, concert tickets and further information about the music.

The company says that the service is based on image recognition engine and supports recognition of printed and electronic media , TV/ LCD screens, CD/DVD covers, Posters and T-Shirts.

MMS & Buy launches in the UK focusing on Music CD's, starting with the Top 20 UK singles. "

[via Cellular News]

LG Telecom Debuts Pink Colored Mobile TV Phone

LG Telecom has launched a soft pink-colored terrestrial DMB phone (called Pink CanU).

The phone has 2.6 inch display screen, 360 degree swivel folder, and high capacity battery which is double the size of other DMB phones that enables people to watch TV for five hours.

[via Telecoms Korea]

World's TV shows on your cell phone

WhereverTV founded and led by Mark Cavicchia, has developed a Web site that streams live programming from 1,200 international TV channels using high-speed Internet and a computer. Pittsburgh Live reports.

By year's end, users will be able to download the programming using a high-end cell phone, such as a Nokia Nseries, that connects to a TV.

Channels broadcasting shows, news, weather and sports from about 100 countries are available and can be arranged in a guide by language, country or genre.

Interested in Ivory Coast programming? How about English cricket? An Italian movie? It's all on WhereverTV for free -- the company will make money off advertisements, not subscriptions, Cavicchia said.

Other Web sites offer similar streaming services but charge a fee.

By the end of October, Cavicchia will unveil a box that attaches to a TV set and a broadband connection, and streams the channels to that TV. The box, which will cost about $200, replaces the need for a computer to access the programming."

E! Launches Multimedia News Series

E! Entertainment Television will launch E! News Now, an expansion of its online entertainment news content. The multimedia series will cover breaking news with video segments specifically designed for non-linear platforms.

E! aims to produce twelve video news segments a day at two minutes each, featuring reporters Ashlan Gorse and Valery Ortiz. The segments will be made available on broadband, and by mobile phone.

[via Broadcasting&Cable]

Camera phones, fun no more warns Sri Lanka police

With the mobile camera phone now being the ‘in thing’ in Sri Lanka, like in many other countries and as a result of its growing popularity the police cautioned that anyone misusing the technology could be taken to task.

Police spokesman DIG Jayantha Wickramaratne says the public could go as far as filing civil action and claiming damages from a camera phone user if there is a violation of their privacy.

[via Daily Mirror]

Citizens armed with video cameras become watchdogs of police accountability

A video clip on YouTube may have forced Quebec's provincial police to admit undercover officers were involved in a protest this week, and in an age of proliferating cellphones with video capability, ordinary citizens are poised to become watchdogs of police accountability, experts say.

"... The clip showed a union leader confronting three apparent protesters at the North American Leaders' Summit in Montebello, Que., accusing them of being police officers attempting to incite violence at an otherwise peaceful demonstration.

After days of denials, the force admitted Thursday the trio were, in fact, police officers, but not the "provocateurs" protesters made them out to be.

... In the past, such a debate likely would not have progressed beyond the he-said-she-said sphere, but video evidence posted on the Internet for all to see left the Surete du Quebec with few options.

"It obviously raises the level of accountability and weakens what, in Ottawa circles, is called plausible deniability, which is a good thing," said Errol Mendes, a professor of constitutional and international law at the University of Ottawa.

"I think plausible deniability is one of the great evils of modern free and democratic societies."

[via The Canadian Press]

All Videos Will Soon Play On iPhone

Just like AT&T, YouTube will soon lose its exclusivity on the iPhone.

When it does, you’ll be able to use the phone to watch videos from all over the Web, thanks to Veveo, an Andover, Mass.-based startup has developed essentially the equivalent of a T9 predictive text input system commonly found on mobile phones that works with their video index.

[via GigaOM]

N.J. teen opens up the phone to overseas users

George Hotz of Glen Rock, N.J., spent his last summer before college figuring out how to "unlock" the iPhone, freeing it from being restricted to a single carrier, AT&T Inc. The Canadian Press reports.

"The procedure, which the 17-year-old laid out on his blog Thursday, raises the possibility of a cottage industry springing up to buy iPhones, unlocking them and then selling them to people who don't want AT&T service or can't get it, particularly overseas.

Hotz demonstrated an iPhone running on T-Mobile's network, the only major U.S. carrier apart from AT&T that is compatible with the iPhone's cellular technology.

Hotz spent about 500 hours on the project since the iPhone went on sale. On Thursday, he put the unlocked iPhone up for sale on EBay, where the high bid was above US$3,000 on Friday afternoon. "

Camera Phone Nabs Perv on NYC Subway

In New York City, a subway pervert has been nailed thanks to a camera phone, reports Switched.

"Jay Arungah is accused of exposing himself and molesting a 30-year-old woman on New York's B and Q subway lines. According to the victim, Arungah stared at her before exposing himself and lighting a cigarette. When she moved, Arungah followed. When the victim tried to escape at the next station, he pressed himself against her.

When the woman was finally able to escape the train, Arungah followed her. She reached a phone and dialed 911, but not before pulling out her camera phone and snapping a photo of Arungah. When police arrived, Arungah was arrested.

.. New York has just introduced a so called 'Peeping Tome Law' that would make leering sexually at another person a crime punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. "

Links to related incidents:

-- Subway pervert arrested in Manhattan

-- Cell phone used to nab subway flasher

-- Mobile Phone Sousveillance In Action Again

-- Perverts beware: female bloggers armed with camera phones are posting your pictures on

Smart posters beam travel info to passengers' phones

A pilot scheme that will see maps, directions and real-time travel advice transmitted from posters to mobile phones has begun in London this week.

"The three-month trial, centered around Blackfriars Underground station, will see Near Field Communication technology embedded in a number of 'touchpoint' posters.

When a NFC-enabled mobile phoned is placed against the smart poster, even if deep underground, it will pinpoint the exact location of the passenger and then transmit detailed information including where to go to make the next stage of the journey, how to get there, how long the transfer will take and when the next service will arrive.

This information includes all modes of public transport in the vicinity of Blackfriars - Tube, National Rail, bus and river services."

[via Transport Briefing

Ecko billboard lets your mobile handle the graffitiing

This brilliantly designed ad by Marc Ecko sports an LCD that can be painted up by your Bluetooth cellphone, as it allows passers to use their mobile as a spray can to decorate the screen as they please.

[ via Engadget]

Studios Cracking Down on Mobile Video Pirates

The motion picture industry is using high-tech night vision devices in order to monitor movie audiences. [via ABC Local]

"Officials say that in many cases criminals can turn a film around in less than 24 hours. With the latest advances in cell phones, it is becoming harder to catch those illegally recording first run movies.

That is where night vision devices are key. Theatres across the country are now using them.

The movie industry loses about $7 billion annually to piracy. "And as you know this industry here in Hollywood is $600 billion industry, but we lose jobs," says Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA).

Experts say that the night vision devices are having an impact. Some theatres are beginning to ban cell phones in an attempt to cut down on the illegal recording of films inside movies theatres."

Just last week: - a href="http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/2007/08/016958.htm">Pirated Simpsons video filmed on mobile".

Image from Gizmodo

David Letterman and Ferguson appearing on cell phones

Monday night's telecast of "Late Show with David Letterman" and "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" can now been seen on Verizon Wireless's V CAST video service, contactmusic.com reports.

"CBS and Verizon announced Monday that the two late-night talk shows will be available the day following their regular broadcasts -- commercial-free.

They can be viewed on mobile phones as "a series of video shorts," Verizon said in a statement, noting that they'll be replaced every day by the network's latest episode of the late-night shows."

Beijing Olympics could be the making of citizen journalism

An interesting piece from Journalism.co.uk on how the organizing committee has released a hefty guide to foreign journalists covering the Beijing Oylmpics, yet it has so far made no provision for the thousands of visitors - equipped with cameras and cameraphones - who will want to report events - sporting and non-sporting - on their blogs, or send images to citizen-journalism agencies.

"The sheer number of citizen journalists that could descend on Beijing - and with MMS and SMS platforms providing an alternative avenue of publishing - has led some to believe that controlling them could be beyond the notoriously long arms of China's media authorities.

"It's uncontrollable," said Kyle McRae, founder of Scoopt.com. "Partly because the technology is there, and partly because people want to do this. Fundamentally, with an internet connection people can send content; you can't control this information. They [Chinese authorities] will try but they won't succeed."

Despite a great wealth of participants, the Chinese blogging community is one of the most locked down in the world, forbidden from generating their own news or commentary, and supposed only to reproduce censor-approved material that has passed through China's state-controlled media.

The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates there are at least 29 journalists imprisoned in China - of these, 19 are internet writers.

China is an authoritative system used to dealing with a large volume of internet traffic. As a result, the explosion of citizen journalism expected from foreign nationals visiting China could be stymied.

"I would be careful with the suggestion that they can't control it," Hidde Kross, of Dutch citizen journalism site Skoeps.com told Journalism.co.uk.

"Don't underestimate their brilliance in sorting out what's published on the internet. They have the finest brains in the world to work on content publishing, as well as filtering technologies."

Idol goes mobile in Australia

The Idol reality-TV talent series really has become omnipresent, with Telstra in Australia the first telco to offer the program srteamed to mobile phones. Rapid TV News reports.

"Telstra’s NextG third-generation mobile subscribers can sign up to receive each episode of the show streamed to their cel phones, with five minute programs specifically made for mobile subscribers. During the Network Ten advert breaks, extra “behind-the-scenes” live footage will be inserted.

Users will also be able to access on-demand content, have SMS alerts sent to them, download wallpapers and ringtones as well as access a “community” mobile internet site.

Telstra has long been a sponsor of the show in Australia".

Mobile sex video prompts virginity tests in Indonesia

A plan to carry out virginity tests on female high school students in a district in Indonesia's West Java province has been dropped after a public outcry, reports Reuters.

"The head of Indramayu district, Irianto Syafiuddin, is reported to have made the proposal for virginity tests after a video showing two high school students having sex circulated via mobile phones."

"We can't accept this idea. It's unfair as the porn video was just an isolated case," a female student, Gita, said.

Many in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, place high value on virginity, although pre-marital sex is not uncommon among the younger generation."

HP invents printing for your cell phone

According to Tech.co.uk, Hewlett Packard has invented a service that enables you to print documents anywhere in the world using your mobile phone.

"The service, named Cloudprint, works very simply: All you have to do is save a PDF of your document on to HP's servers to retrieve a unique code that is sent by text message to your mobile phone.

You can then retrieve the PDF by accessing the message code, then print the document off at a locally-available printer - a Google Maps directory of which is included in the Cloudprint service".

Hollywood refusing to play Bollywood phone games

The Herald Tribune reports on Bollywood's close ties with cell phones.

"... In India, companies are churning out mobile-specific video clips, while in Hollywood, producers have been largely unwilling to make the investments needed to produce that type of content.

Hollywood has shown it is willing to learn from Bollywood - several studios, including Warner Brothers, are developing Bollywood movies - and industry executives have said the same might happen with mobile phone content. But so far, Hollywood film executives have resisted making content from their movies, even older ones, available on cellphones, either through a pay-per-view model or with advertising.

There are exceptions, notably 20th Century Fox, which released short clips connected to the film "Borat and made ringtones and wallpaper related to "The Simpsons Movie" available just as the film hit theaters last month.* Read full article.

Nigerian state wants film ban after sex scandal

The government of Nigeria's predominantly Muslim state of Kano has called for a one-year ban on local film-making to "sanitise" the industry after a sex video of a local actress circulated widely on mobile phones. Reuters Africa reports.

"The eight-minute clip, recorded for private use by the actress's boyfriend on a mobile phone and showing the two of them naked, caused a public outcry among conservative Muslims in northern Nigeria.

The state's Filmmakers Association expelled 17 of its members for suspected involvement in "immoral acts such as drunkenness and fornication", even though they were not connected to the clip.

The actress in question has gone into hiding."

Beware the onward march of citizen journalism

Digital cameras and mobile phones have made reporters of readers and viewers. But are they more trouble than they're worth? Tony Glover comments for The Independent.

"Old-style Fleet Street watchdog the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has bared its teeth in the brave new world of citizen journalism. Every major news event from the London bombings in 2005 to the recent Mississippi bridge disaster has been recorded by amateurs using mobile phone video cameras, with newspapers and magazines standing in line to upload the best and bloodiest footage on to their websites.

"By upholding a complaint against The Hamilton Advisor, the PCC has made its first ruling on audio-visual content and sparked an industry-wide debate on the best way to police the largely untamed frontiers of the internet."

Related: - Landmark ruling on phone footage

Pirated Simpsons video filmed on mobile

A man from the western Sydney suburb of Prairiewood faces up to five years' imprisonment after he was charged with uploading a pirated copy of The Simpsons Movie on the internet. The Sydney Herald Mrning reports,

"Police alleged the man illegally filmed the movie via a mobile phone on July 26, the first day of release, and within hours had uploaded the footage onto the internet.

The man was arrested in a raid on his home yesterday and charged by Federal Police with copyright theft after information provided to the AFP by the movie's producer, 20th Century Fox in the US.

... The illegal footage was removed within two hours, but not before it was downloaded about 3000 times.

The file quickly spread to BitTorrent sites and other file sharing networks and within 72 hours had been downloaded by another 110,000 people."

Ultimatum For MMS & Picture Recognition

Universal movie ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’, starring Matt Damon, is using mobile picture recognition technology in press ads to promote the film launch, according to 160characters.org.

"Universal is the first brand to use this technology in print media. Previous use of the technology was included in posters to promote Mr Bean's Holiday.

The half page digitally interactive advertisement in national press enables readers to get free mobile content such as movie trailer, wallpapers and screensavers.

Users take a picture of the ad using their mobile phone and send it via MMS to 82222. The algorithm technology then automatically identifies if they have sent the correct image, it will also identify the type of phone they have and then offer them the appropriate free content, optimised for their specific device. If they shoot an incorrect image they will be informed of this and asked to try again.

The consumer’s picture is matched to the promotional image logged on the database and even partial images taken in poor light or at an angle will be recognisable. "

Monkey in Russian zoo refuses to pose, snatches phone cameras

File under silly. Apparently
a monkey in a Russian zoo protects his "family" from visitors trying to take their picture, by snatching away their cameraphones.

The male Japanese monkey, nicknamed Samurai, has already expropriated a dozen expensive mobile phones.

Zoo keepers have managed to return some of the mobile phones intact their rightful owners, but some are in bad shape. Zoo keepers have put up a warning sign.

[via Novosti]

Landmark ruling on phone footage

A newspaper has been criticised in a landmark Press Complaints Commission ruling on the use of video material on its website. The BBC reports.

"The Hamilton Advertiser used mobile phone footage of an unruly classroom, which had been filmed by a 16-year-old student who filmed her unruly mathematics class on her mobile phone in order to explain poor results to her parents.

The PCC agreed that the story was a matter of public interest - but said the paper should have taken steps to obscure the pupils' identities.

It was the first case involving audio and video to be considered by the PCC.

In recent years an increasing number of national and local newspapers have added video footage to their web content and have begun asking members of the public to send in their footage. The commission's remit was extended in February to cover such material.

The BBC's media correspondent, Torin Douglas, said this was likely to be the first of many such complaints to the PCC."

Click-to-Video Mobile Advertising

Advertisers looking to deliver the mobile video ad campaigns can now use the Click-to-Video landing page service from Nexage, a mobile video solution provider. Mobile Crunch reports.

"This service will make ad campaigns accessible to 550 million mobile phones, including 450 phone models operating on more than 350 wireless networks worldwide.

This self service tool enables advertisers to create mobile Web pages and include videos. The service is based Nexage’s PhoneCast platform, which offers wireless operators and content providers a way to launch mobile video services over 3G networks."

Videoconferencing ties seniors with families

News.com described some of the latest videoconferencing technology, including a 3D system called TEEVE, a telepresence dining experience for seniors called Virtual Dinner, and relevant to cell phones, from HeadThere, a San Francisco start-up, a mobile-videoconferencing device called the
Giraffe. The system includes a video monitor and a camera.

"Although HeadThere is planning to initially sell its device to the commercial market, it has seen increasing interest from family members who wish to use it in the homes of their elderly parents or relatives.

"It would be useful for the elderly, since there are no requirements for technical savvy," said Roy Sandberg, a HeadThere co-founder.

The Giraffe is stationed in a docking bay, and once the phone rings, either the recipient can answer it, activating the Giraffe, or the account holder can activate the Giraffe without user interaction.

The Giraffe is expected to hit the market in the second half of 2008."

Mobile TV Flourishes in South Korea, But Fails to Generate Profit

As Europe and North America try and sort out competing technology standards for mobile television, the digitally advanced nation of South Korea is already watching everything from news to cartoons, and sports to comedy on their mobile handsets. [via Teleclick]

"Approximately 7 million South Koreans, or one in seven of the country’s residents, routinely make use of mobile TV services on cell phones, personal media players, handheld computers, vehicle navigation systems, or other portable devices.

“Pretty soon, phones doubling as TVs will be as ubiquitous as camera phones now,” predicts Song Sang Hoon, the director in charge of mobile TV at South Korea’s Ministry of Information & Communication, which has pushed carriers to offer the service.

The government’s aggressive role in promoting and regulating mobile TV, however, may have caused the service to evolve too quickly for a solid business model to emerge, preventing carriers from generating a profit with the technology.

Details of South Korea’s mobile TV situation were explored by Business Week on August 3."

Mobile operators see 10 times more potential in social networking

The success of social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and even YouTube could represent the next boom for the mobile phone operators. The Guardian reports.

"Revenues from user-generated content -such as videos and blogs created by consumers rather than media organisations - onto mobile phones is expected to rise more than tenfold over the next five years, according to estimates by Juniper Research published yesterday.

Allowing the legion of bloggers, Facebook posters and comedy clip makers to upload and view each other's every movement on their mobile phone could be worth $5.74bn (£2.87bn) by 2012, according to Juniper, from just $576m this year."

Read full article.

Spellbinder reveals invisible art

Scottish researchers are turning to camera phones to help bridge the virtual and real worlds. The BBC reports.

"Using image-matching algorithms the researchers have found a way to adorn the real world with digital content.

The technology has already been used to create a guide of Edinburgh that allows people to find virtual artworks placed around the city using their mobile.

Another related project uses the technology to automatically update a person's blog with their location.

"It's about using a camera phone as a magic wand," said Dr Mark Wright of the Division of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh who came up with the idea.

At the heart of Spellbinder, as the project is known, is a database of all the places that participants have added data to. People query it by taking a snap of a location with their phone then using multimedia text messages to send it to Spellbinder."