Technology360

NPR's Podcasting Numbers Touch 4 Million Downloads

Update 11/11/2005:
Here's a longer story in Billboard RadioMonitor.  --Dennis

Rafat Ali writes:  "NPR's podcasting numbers are blockbuster: 4 million downloads in the two months since it launched. Since its August 31 premiere, all 17 of the NPR offerings have consistently ranked among iTunes' Top 100 Podcasts, with several appearing daily in the Top 10, says NPR. ..."  Link:  paidContent.org.

Technology could be catalyst for CBC renewal

Michael Geist writes:  "... While the 500-channel universe may have eroded the need for publicly-funded programming choices, the necessity for support of new technologies in the public interest has never been greater. Canada is among the most connected countries in the world, yet lags behind many other countries in using that connectivity in innovative ways. ¶ To its credit, the CBC has taken some baby steps in this direction. CBC Radio offers the equivalent of "Internet timeshifting" by streaming its local radio broadcasts. Moreover, several programs now feature podcasts so that listeners can access the content at their convenience. CBC News employs Really Simple Syndication (RSS), which keeps Internet users instantly updated on breaking stories, while the CBC Archive provides streaming video of CBC news coverage of noteworthy past events. ¶ With its labour woes behind it, the CBC should demonstrate its value to the public by building on these initiatives. Following the lead of other public broadcasters, it should leverage the Internet to provide unparalleled access to content, grant Canadians the right to use its content in creative new ways, and become an active public interest participant in the Canadian Internet policy process. ..."  Link:  Toronto Star.  Thanks to Tod Maffin's iloveradio.org for the tip. --Dennis

Future of TV coming into focus

CNET News.com has a collection of articles, some of which I've already posted, relating to on-demand video over the net.  --Dennis

The Internet and the future of TV

You may soon view TV shows directly over the Web instead of subscribing to cable or satellite services.
October 31, 2005

iTunes store counts 1 million video downloads

Apple Computer's video-downloading service hits the million mark less than a month after its launch.
October 31, 2005

TV: The extra-large, ultra-small medium

Something curious is happening to television: It's simultaneously growing gigantic and minuscule.
The New York Times
October 31, 2005

Samsung readies seventh-generation LCD line

World's top maker of memory and flat screens prepares to begin production of motherglass designed for 40-inch panels.
October 31, 2005

previous coverage

The lowdown on mobile TV

FAQ TV on mobile phones is expected to be a hot new service that will generate lots of revenue for carriers.
October 21, 2005

Senate panel sets end to analog TV broadcasts

Committee rejects attempt by Sen. John McCain to push up the 2009 date by two years to help emergency personnel communicate better.
October 20, 2005

Review of the BBC iMP beta

Ben Metcalfe has an early review of the BBC's Integrated Media Player beta.  Link:  Ben Metcalfe Blog.

Update:  11/5/2005.
Tim Bourne also has one at Digital-Lifestyles.info.  --Dennis

Digital asset management – a report on current trends

Update 11/7/2005.   The presentations for this conference, Managing Digital Assets: Strategic Issues for Research Libraries, are now available online.  Link:  Association of Research Libraries.

Al Cornish of Washington State University (home of my day job) has a nice post reporting on a higher education DAM workshop he attended last week in Washington, DC.  Link: 

Library Technology Issues. --Dennis

Ad dollars for the Star Wars Kid?

John Borland writes:  "Forget Google. The Internet's real killer app has always been the strange little amateur videos, like the Star Wars Kid or the Numa Numa Dance, that find explosive popularity almost overnight.  ¶  A new company launching Monday in Los Angeles, co-founded by Freenet peer-to-peer developer Ian Clarke, aims to give the producers of those videos a way to make money from them at last.  ¶  Dubbed Revver, the company has set up a Web site that starts out as a kind of Flickr for videos, allowing anybody to post their videos online, and letting viewers organize them by adding their own descriptive keyword "tags." But Revver adds a new touch, inserting code into the video itself that adds a small advertisement every time it is viewed, even if the video is downloaded and distributed from another site. ..."  Link:  ZDNet.  The article mentions other on-demand video services, including Open Media Network.  --Dennis

Education Podcast Network

"The Education Podcast Network is an effort to bring together into one place, the wide range of podcast programming that may be helpful to teachers looking for content to teach with and about, and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st century.  ¶  Most of the producers of these programs are educators, who have found an avenue through which they can share their knowledge, insights, and passions for teaching and learning and for the stories that they relish and teach. The directory will grow as more people come forward with their stories and ideas, and we hope that you will start to share your ideas with the larger education community by producing your own program. ..."  Link:  epnweb.org.

The Super Network

Josh McHugh writes:  "... Now, 14 years after [Yahoo! senior director, Technology Development Group, Bradley] Horowitz began investigating video search, a tsunami of video is bearing down on all of us, and his once-obscure quest has become urgent. A household with 300 cable or satellite channels has access to 7,000 hours of programming a day, almost 3 million per year. That's a lot, but it's only a fraction of the 31 million hours of total annual programming. Every major cable company is making investments to allow TV to be distributed over the Internet, giving you access to each one of those 31 million hours. And then there's this year's 36-fold explosion in consumer-generated video on the Internet.  ¶ This onslaught is already turning the entertainment business inside out. More music videos are being watched on AOL than on MTV. Procter & Gamble is cutting down on pricey 30-second TV spots to beef up the online presence of its packaged goods. TV Guide announced in July that it would drastically cut the amount of space it devotes to listings, an acknowledgment that viewers now turn to the Internet and onscreen programming guides. And CBS is squaring off in a content-indexing smackdown with Google. Meanwhile, the guy down the block has turned his backyard into a back lot, his basement into an edit bay, and he's landed a global distribution deal - with his ISP. ..."  Link:  Wired.

The Extra-Large, Ultra-Small Medium

Jodi Kantor writes:  "... For now, television may still mostly be a medium-size medium. Plenty of bedrooms and doctors' offices still have 20-inch sets - and depending on picture quality and where the viewer sits, those screens can be impressively clear. But there is a growing fetish for televisions on the far ends of the size spectrum. Huge, crystalline displays, once the province of wealthy A/V geeks and Hollywood executives, have dropped so far in price that they are within reach of everyday people. And the same audience can buy televisions the size of candy bars. The newest Apple iPods can be loaded with television shows, and nearly every major cellphone carrier is building television capability (live broadcasts, on-demand programming, or both) into its devices, hoping that Americans will embrace the feature the way they did the cameras planted in phones a few years ago. ..."  Link:  New York Times.

BT offers TV 'on demand' service

"BT has announced plans to offer a set-top box that will allow viewers to watch their TV shows on demand.  ¶  The company's 'catch-up' TV service will allow internet customers to watch programmes shown during the previous week without needing to record them.  ¶ From next summer, customers will be able to buy boxes and then pay for certain shows, with others being free.  ¶ Head of retail Ian Livingston said: 'No longer will BT customers be reliant on TV schedules.'  ¶   The system is part of a wider service that will include a library of films and music and a range of digital TV channels, which BT says will be provided with no monthly subscription fee. ..."  Link:  BBC News.

Also see BT takes another major step towards next generation TV.  Link:  BT press release.