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Posts tagged ‘apple’

12
Feb

Chocolate, the internet and the BBC engage

I get sent a lot of press releases and I ignore almost all of them. Especially the ones that send me a top ten list and talk of a new groundbreaking methodology behind their results.

But I couldn’t pass by on one that gave a list of brands in an order that isn’t what you’d normally expect to see.

This particular list by Hall & Partners puts Cadbury and Google at the top and measures brands British people most engage with.

In the top five of this lis are a confectionary company, three new edia companies and the BBC.

Google takes the number one slot as the brand British people most engage with and personally I can see that – it’s a lot of people’s homepage, it is almost everybody’s search engine and it’s apps are becoming more prevelant in the mass user base.

Then there’s Cadbury – most people love chocolate.

Amazon takes the third slot in this research and the BBC is in fourth with Facebook taking up the fifth – I thought Facebook may be higher than Amazon as Facebook sucks you in but I guess not.

The rest of the list includes more common consumer brands like Marks & Spencer, Sony and Dove.

But one surprise is Microsoft – I thought they would be a LOT higher, especially as they’re the most used OS by a long way but I guess the ‘average’ user doesn’t notice the OS.

Is it that MS Windows has become so much part of the furniture that people don’t realise who it’s by? Or is the fact that Microsoft is in the top ten and NOT Apple a sign that Windows does hit the mark in terms of user recognition but the iPod doesn’t?

Or is this just yet another silly survey?

Photo credit: by ell brown on Flickr (Creative Commons)

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9
Feb

Thinking about the Apple iPad with ‘man maths’

I’m not going to write a review of the Apple iPad, that would be completely pointless as the most I’ve seen of it is a couple of hands on videos and a few photos.

However, based on that and the spec that’s been released I’ve decided I REALLY want one.

But first let me explain how I came to that conclusion, how I made use of the logic behind ‘Man Maths’ as James May would call it to work out it was good value for money.

First lets take a look at where I think this device sits in the gadget spectrum.

Spectrum: phone

On one side of this spectrum you have the mobile phone – the standard candy bar style of mobile phone – the Nokia, Sony Ericsson etc…

Next to that we have the smartphone – at the moment a whole range of companies have operating systems in this space: Microsoft, Apple, Blackberry, Google (Android)…

But the dominant three (excluding Windows because Windows Mobile is just crap to use) are Apple for the iPhone, Google for Android and Blackberry for … well the Blackberry.

The first is a device that allows you to make phone calls with the internet and simple applications as a sideline – the second group reverses that.

But they are both shades of the same part of our spectrum and so one of these two devices is needed for the ultimate geek kit bag – my device of choice is an Android phone.

The iPod also fits within this area.

I’m going to jump around a bit here by telling you I don’t intend to explain the third part as everyone knows what it is – that’s the full laptop. Instead lets skip back to the middling zone.

Spectrum: Ultra-portable

So lets move on to the second part of the spectrum – again there are two sides to the this part as well – the netbook and the tablet.

The Netbook, described by Steve Jobs as, and I understand I’m paraphrasing a little “not very good at anything”, is the mainstay of the ultra-portal laptop.

I have one and I use it all the time – it’s really light so I can take it away with me without having an extra load on trips to deal with and I’ve got the Samsung NC10 which is powerful enough for everything I need.

However, it’s still a pain in the rear having to pull it out of the bag, open up the screen, turn it on, wait for Windows to load, wait for it to connect and then get started.

Then you’ve got the problems faced with having a smaller screen, the resolution on this isn’t bad but it is still a pain – especially for real estate hungry apps like WordPress and Wave.

So we move on to the tablet – this isn’t really a new idea, Steve Jobs didn’t just pull the concept of a tablet out of thin air – the tablet concept has been around for a while now and in theory it’s a better approach to mobile computing than a small laptop.

However, every time I’ve looked into this in the past the implementation has been universally shit – a laptop without a keyboard attached – not great for quick, on the move web browsing, reading, writing and viewing.

Before I get on to the iPad – there’s a side market to this, a more recent development in the eBook reader – basically a tablet computer designed for reading large amounts of text relatively easily and in comfort.

The current gold standard, albeit pig ugly, is the Kindle from Amazon – using eInk to make reading more comfortable – it has an always on internet connection so you can buy books on the move without having to be in a WiFi zone.

Man Maths

Now we have the iPad. Some say a giant iPod Touch, some say a heavily locked down and crippled device that is useless for anyone but the most basic users.

Personally, I say it does what I need, it is better than the other options and at $499 for the most basic options – pretty good value for money.

And here is how I justify that claim using the technique pioneered by James May from Top Gear but perfected over many a generation of manhood – Man Maths.

An Amazon Kindle (I can live without eInk as I happily read books on my LCD screen anyway) costs around £311
A new Samsung NC140 costs  around £300
An iPod Nano costs around £120

The iPad can do the same things all of the above can do and is just one device that will turn on quickly and be easy to use.

So, at over £700 for the three separately - even if Apple sell the iPad $ to £ with the basic 3G model costing £630 it’s still cheaper than the three items.

See – man maths in action.

Although I REALLY WANT ONE there are two reasons why I’ll wait until version two or three with two probably out for Christmas and three out by next Easter.

No multi-tasking

Having the ability to listen to music from Spotify (there WILL be an app) in the background while working ona document or even writing a blog post is essential – the iPad currently doesn’t allow that.

However, this is something I expect they’ll introduce eventually under a hail of Apple fanfare as some miraculous and revolutionary new feature.

No camera

My first thought when Steve Jobs started talking about this device was ‘fantastic tool for video conferencing’ but a lack of multi-tasking (writing notes while talking with someone in another office) and a lack of camera makes that impossible.

Also – what’s the microphone like on the device? In fact does it have a microphone?

The camera is obviously held back so they can release version two or even three with an ‘added extra’ and given the track record of doing something OTT – it will probably have at least two camera on front and back.

So in summary – will I get an iPad? More than likely but will I get it as soon as it is released? No. I’ll wait until they’ve had a couple of versions out.

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29
Jan

See how SeeSaw could soon be seen in CI

SeeSaw is the name of the online video service that was born out of the ashes of the fallen Project Kangaroo – purchased from the consortium of broadcast partners by the telecommunications infrastructure company Arqiva.

Arqiva was born out of a history in broadcast infrastructure running transmission faciltities as Crown Castle. Now they’ve moved into online transmission with the launch of SeeSaw, a service that will allow you to watch a raft of old and new television shows online.

The shows are displayed through a flash player, streamed and at the moment support by either advertising or pay per play.

SeeSaw wasn’t the first of its kind to launch in this space, beaten by offerings from both Google (YouTube) and Microsoft (MSN Video Player).

The YouTube offering has content deals with a number of content providers, most notable are Five and Channel 4 and for MSN their content deals are with BBC Worldwide and Channel 4.

SeeSaw has content deals in place with the BBC, Channel 4 and Demand Five as well as hints at a much wider range of content in the future.

Not to mention my favourite of all the online video services, BlinkBox, which has a huge range of content from the BBC, Channel 4 and American networks to view for free, pay per view or to keep forever for a fee.

And then there’s iTunes – a download you can put on your iPod, iPad (more on this in my next post) or iPhone and watch when you like.

This all sounds amazing, something I could easily spend hours using, catching up on shows I already own on DVD but can never be bothered to open – or shows I would like to watch but don’t want to spend money on the DVD.

Six different video players

But it isn’t that simple for me – because I live in the Channel Islands.

I’m not complaining about the fact that I live in the Channel Islands – I love it, I chose to live here and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else – but the perculiar political situation means some things work …. differently.

One of those things is content rights.

Yes we have the BBC in the Channel Islands, we have Channel 4, Sky and pretty much everything people in the mainland UK have – our television and radio is more or less the same.

However, when it comes to the internet things get a little bit more complicated.

For the iPlayer, 4OD (on the Channel 4 website) and Demand Five things are fine – we can access and watch shows on all of those services as if we were in the mainland.

But when those shows move across to YouTube, MSN or SeeSaw – things are a little different.

I recently got a beta invite to SeeSaw – very exciting, couldn’t wait and first impression were good – it’s usable, easy to navigate and seems to have a reasonable selection of content for a beta service.

But when I went to click play I got the same message I’ve become used to from Hulu, MSN and YouTube shows – they allow follow the ‘sorry this content isn’t available in your location’ structure.

My intitial reaction to this message, something I’ve not had confirmed despite several e-mails, is that it’s down to the fact that they’re using a GeoIP list that doesn’t include Channel Island IP addresses.

However, a little bit of research and an actual response from one of the companies involved (SeeSaw) suggests that in fact it is a rights issue.

This isn’t the first time I’ve come across ‘rights’ being used as a reason why a service isn’t available in the Channel Islands.

iTunes isn’t officially available here and an Apple spokesperson told me late last year that it was because they haven’t got rights agreements in place for the streaming of samples for the Channel Islands.

The e-mail from SeeSaw explained that: “Unfortunately, SeeSaw is not currently available in the Channel Islands (or the Isle of Man) as we don’t yet have the rights to show programmes there.”

However all is not lost as the next paragraph in that e-mail explained that they were in negotations with rights holders.

“The good news is that we are currently in negotiations to make our service available to you, so hopefully you’ll soon be able to watch your favourite programmes on SeeSaw.”

What I don’t understand is how I can easily watch the full range of 4OD shows on the Channel 4 website – with 4OD actively going out of their way to fix an issue that blocked access to CI users last year – but I can’t watch it on YouTube, MSN or SeeSaw.

Fortunately I work for a large UK corporation so my computer at work is behind a proxy that IS in the UK – so I got to try SeeSaw out, even if I didn’t have enough time to watch a full show.

My second impressions are that, although it is completely lacking in ANY social or sharing functionality it does have some nice features.

It is EXCEPTIONALLY easy to use and has a couple of nice touches like a fade to back on the background on the player page when focus moves away.

It has a lot of information on the programme you’re watching, the advertising isn’t OTT and it is very easy to find previous and future episodes of the same series.

So for a beta service with a limited user base and no external access (where sharing and social stuff wouldn’t be that useful anyway) I’d say it is pretty impressive.

As long as they work towards introducing social and sharing for launch in March I’d say this is a real contender for the television site of choice crown – especially as they’ve launched so far ahead of a UK release of Hulu.

But if they want to compete with Hulu when it launches - the social, sharing and ratings content will become increasingly important.

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22
Oct

BBC on itunes but not here

With the launch of Top Gear on iTunes in the USA – but not here in the UK I thought I’d take a look at what was on iTunes there but not here.

Top Gear on iTunes

Although it isn’t ‘really’ Top Gear on the iTunes store in the USA – it is in the sense that it includes Jeremy, James, Richard and the Stig – that it has the Top Gear name and that parts of it did appear on BBC Two originally.

But it isn’t in the sense that it is the cut down (for adverts and non-relevant news content) version for BBC America – that also has different music in certain parts to the original.

So first lets look at all the shows from BBC Worldwide on iTunes here in the UK:

Gavin and Stacey
The Mighty Boosh
Life on Mars
Spooks
Ashes to Ashes
I’m Alan Partridge
The Catherine Tate Show
Little Britain
The Young Ones
Planet Earth
Torchwood
Hotel Babylon
Saxondale
The Planets
Spooks Code 9
Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
The League of Gentlemen
Nighty Night
Massive
Dr Terrible’s House of Horrible
New Tricks
Beautiful People
Mutual Friends
Robin Hood
The Keith Barret Show
Michael Palin’s New Europe
I Am Not an Animal
Teletubbies
The Wrong Door
The Secret Show
Merlin

Now we’ll look at the BBC America shows on iTunes in the USA:

Top Gear
Little Britain
Torchwood
Robin Hood
Primeval (not in UK)
Skins (Channel 4 in the UK)
Doctor Who
Gavin and Stacey
Doctor Who: Classic Series

How clearly there isn’t nearly as much there as there is on the UK version – but BBC America is one network whereas BBC Worldwide has four networks plus a massive archive to draw on.

But its interesting that the American version has Top Gear and the new/old versions of Doctor Who available for download.

BBC America

We have none of those on the UK version of the iTunes store.

I guess the main reason is one of rights and I imagine that’s also the reason more shows haven’t been added to the American store.

After all – surely you’d want as bigger stock as possible as the only real cost (I’m assuming) is rights and that would be covered by any download sales.

Actually lets look at costs. Some things are pretty fair – a series of Little Britain will cost you £9.99 or £1.89 per episode.

Top Gear iTunesIn the US store it is $11.94 for the series (six episodes) or $1.99 per episode.

At the current exchange rate that would be £7.28 for the series or £1.21 per episode.

For anyone interested Top Gear series 10 (9 episodes) is currently on the US store for $14.99 (or $1.99 per episode).

Oh and why is Bonekickers listed under ITV – are the BBC that ashamed of it (I actually thought it was pretty good).

6
Oct

iPhone coming to Jersey

We’ve been waiting a whlie – although some of us have already got one from the UK or France and unlocked it – but the iPhone is finally, officially coming to Jersey.

iPhone

The provider: Jersey Telecom and Sure – although neither ‘official, Apple branded retailers’. The islands state owned telco and the Cable and Wireless owned plucky upstart have announced that they will be selling the Apple iPhone – the new 3G version complete with all features.

But JT will only have a very limited number of handsets – so if you want to make sure you get one you’ll have to call JT and register your interest.

Sure have said they should have plenty and so will be selling them in their shop within the next few weeks – apparently.

Interestingly – the handsets sold in Jersey, as with all other phones sold in the island will be available unlocked – so you can buy them through Jersey Telecom or Sure and then put another networks sim card in them.

This is because both of those networks are selling the iPhone curtosy of the European provider who is selling stock to the Jersey networks for them to sell on.

You’ll need to sign up to an 18 month contract to get the phone – don’t have the Sure prices yet but for JT the cheapest iPhone contract set at £35.99 – that will get you the phone for £199.99.

I imagine Sure will offer it on their 800 contract which comes in at £75 per month.

You can also get the phone for just £49.99 with JT but that will cost you nearly £60 per month.

At the moment though, and this is a bit of a downside given the main selling point of the iPhone is data, is that there’s no unlimited data plan for the iPhone deal with JT in Jersey.

You will have to pay 10p/MB for all data you use – apparently JT are looking at unlimited options, or even limited options for an extra monthly cost – similar to their Blackberry deal – but don’t have anything concrete yet.

Sure do offer a unlimited data but it’s only 800kb on their 800 plan – but you could get a booster which is about £10 per month for 1gb of data.

The other interesting side to this story is Airtel-Vodafone. The Bharti Telecom and Vodafone joint Channel Island network.

They’ve told me they WILL be offering the iPhone – eventually – and are currently in talks with Apple and Bharti to offer it as the official Jersey network – with visual voicemail and everything.

But not sure when that’s coming or what it will cost.

10
Jun

The iPhone cheaper than a Nano?

I’ve been pondering whether to jump on board the good ship iPhone for the past year or so and have so far decided to stay firmly on shore with my trust LG.
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25
Apr

5 random tracks


Times Like These – Foo Fighters
Live and Let Die – Guns N’ Roses
Alright in the Morning – Paddingtons
I Get Around – The Beach Boys
Pretty Vacant – The Sex Pistols

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22
Apr

ITV joins iTunes

ITV on iTunes

As I reported on the BBC and Channel 4 joining the iTunes library, I figured I should probably report on ITV doing muhc the same thing. Read moreRead more

23
Feb

How I split my music

Over the last few years I’ve interviewed a number of bands and musicians, from bands just starting out with their first gig up to bands with top ten albums and major recording contracts.

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