Mobile "chick flick" with a twist

If somebody told you that a film was being made featuring mobile phone clips of women from around the world, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it was of the R-rated nature. But, a project underway in the UK called Overheated Symphony is calling for women around the world to make “quick flicks” on their mobile phones, then send them via the internet to a London-based film director who will pull them all together.

It’s all in aid of a film festival taking place in London that showcases the work of female film-makers. Other than the theme of “Overheated”, women can film whatever they want and the call-out on the website says: "Ladies, wherever you are, whoever you are, we want you to join in". Sarah Turner, the British film director who will create the final edit, said the inspiration came from a 1927 film by German filmmaker Walter Ruttmann Berlin - Symphony of a Great City, which used a montage of still pictures from many sources to document city life.

The deadline is 2 March and the film will be aired on 9 March at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts. According to Turner, "Making a film from all these female voices around the world is quite a beautiful thing, but also it's about shooting down the idea that women are not up to date with technology."

MyTake – A damn cool way to share content on a global level and to mash the content together brings a great sense of unity. Mobiles are becoming increasingly popular as “content capturers” with lots of people publishing their experiences to the likes of YouTube. Sharing the content in this way creates an instantaneous network with an actual output – in this case a film. The possibilities of this could extent to “instant networks” creating news reports, mini films – how cool would that be!

iTunes kept from No 1 spot by the Wall

It may seem like it’s been around for ever, but in only five short years iTunes has become the second-biggest music retailer in the US. According to a new survey by NPD Group’s MusicWatch survey, the only retailer to out-muscle iTunes in 2007 was Wall-Mart, aka HD DVD killer.

Apple’s journey into the top three US retailers has come of the back of worldwide take-up of the service, mainly due to the phenomenal success of the iPod. But this is not to downplay what has been achieved in terms of brokering deals with the major record house – not an easy thing to do.

MyTake – iTunes is everywhere and if you think about the power of what is a solid distribution model, Apple are in a pretty sweet spot. In addition, not only do they have a great distribution model, it’s a model that gives you what you want, when you want AND it’s customisable. Thinking about the true nature of content sharing, iTunes is the perfect personal content aggregator, only it’s not run by a (ro)bot, it’s run by you.

Txt 'n' trade

This is a post for my mate Josh, and anyone else who is an avid dabbler in the share market. For the first time Aussies are going to be able to buy and sell shares via SMS through a company called Bell Direct. Some clients have already submitted “Buy” and “Sell” orders via their mobile phone, in a process that the company describes as being very straight forward. According to Bell Direct director and chief operating officer Lee Muco, the service involves using a simple sequence of "buy" or "sell", followed by the quantity, stock code, price and a security PIN number.

MyTake – I hear friends talking all the time about new info they have on the share market, but they don’t always have the opportunity to do anything about it. The phone is just an interface, the same as your PC – you just need to trust. The fact is, you could be having a beer with some mates and make a tidy profit from a couple of tips you pick up before you’ve ordered your second.

Tune out and log on

A new survey by UK-based analyst The Future Laboratory has revealed that nearly 25 per cent of 18 to 25-year-olds have ditched the TV in favour of networking on the web. The research also found that 22 per cent said they wee playing less video games, while 25 per cent spent more time instant messaging.

MyTake – The battle for eyeballs is become fierce and TV is going to lose-out if it can’t offer a bigger variety of content. Since the advent of digital we’ve had a lot more choice in what we watch in terms of free-to-air and the pay-to-view guys have been making inroads for years with movies and sports, but they still can’t offer the depth and breadth of content that the internet can. They need to stop thinking linier and start thinking access – they need to provide content on an “I want” basis, just as the net does. The big thing in TV’s corner – they have some killer content, they just need to change the distribution model.

Are you talking to me?

Speech recognition technology has been around for a long time, in its early days it frustrated the hell out of a lot of people who generally gave up on it after one try. But, according the Microsoft boss Bill Gates, we’re going to be increasingly interacting with our computers using touch screens or speech. One of the big bets for the boys at Microsoft, they reckon in five years more interest searches will be done through speech rather than through typing.

MyTake – We need a leap like this to kick-start a new era in personal computing. I think that the humble PC has developed very little when it comes to the basics – keyboard, screen etc… and just like the their brothers in the automotive industry, the computer giants are going to have to innovate to stay ahead. The funny thing is that touch screen and speech recognition technology have been around for a while now, but we the consumer have been reluctant to embrace it, which I think comes down to a trust issue – “Did I really put that book in by online shopping basket by doing that?”, “What if it misunderstands me and transfers $100,000 instead of $100”. But just like all the other things we’ve gotten used to, we’ll get used to this.

I hope you like Jammin' too

Welcome to the next generation of jamming! Since the dawn of time, mankind has been using everything and anything to make music and that's not set to change any time soon. A bunch of guys have taken two iPhones and a Nintendo DS and created the "iBand". Check out the video below.

MyTake - Music is becoming more and more accessible, letting more people get involved and make music. I wonder how many great artists were never discovered because they couldn't get in a studio, or couldn't afford a guitar. The idea that people could sit around jamming on their iPhones then share the result with pals via Facebook or MySpace is one I think will happen sooner than we think. It's all about content, and sharing that content - the more personal that content gets, the more it’s worth sharing.

...and I am an addict

Yet more research, yet more claims… This time it’s about us being addicted to technology. We’ve probably all heard the term “Crakberry” before, so in that sense we are aware of how addictive certain gadgets can be. I myself can attest to getting sucked in to massive PES or Football Manager sessions and hours just fly by – but hey, I’m having a good time! This new research says that “techno addiction” can get so bad that some people get up several times a night to check their e-mails and text messages.

Not surprisingly, this level of so called addiction can start to interfere with all parts of your life. Professor Nada Kakabadse of Northampton University, who ran the research, reckons the addiction comes from technology becoming more interesting over the past decade and that it has become more portable and accessible. According to her research, up to a third off those surveyed were addicted to some form of technology, the down side of this is that addicts can be withdrawn from their families, suffer axieties and even sickness – and what’s worse is that by the time it’s identified, it’s usually too late! OMG…..

MyTake – Ever heard people talk about an “addictive” personality? I have, and I think it’s true. It’s not the gadget, the sport, the beer, the cigarette – it’s the person. Technology is an enabler, it’s there to make life easier, more interesting and more fun. When you lose sight of this, I think it could become very easy to get addicted. The old saying, “everything in moderation” ;-)

It's all over for Evil Edna and her pals - here comes LCD TV

Another day, another milestone for digital. According to DisplaySearch, worldwide shipments of LCD TV’s have overtaken CRT TVs for the fist time with 56 per cent of the TV market being held by LCD compared to 47 per cent by CRT. The LCD slowly moved from our desktop PCs through to our living room and some would say that it is a natural progression.

A big selling factor for the LCD format is its scalability when it comes to size, going from sizes smaller than 20 inches, right the way up to cinematic living room monster sets fit for the most demanding movie addict.

MyTake - It was always going to happen. The LCD format is so versatile; from the TV set you watch while on a long flight, through to your PC/Laptop screen, through to the LCD TV in your living room. All of this (I think) is pushed by the desire to watch and increasing amount of different content – Digital TV, HD TV, HD movies and net-based content. The more diverse the content becomes (and it will) the more we’ll need for a versatile delivery solution

HD DVD feeling blu

Having been around the first time Sony fought a format war, I kind of thought that they deserved better luck this time around. After losing out with the BetaMax format over 20 years ago, it’s looking increasing likely that the company’s high definition DVD format (Blu Ray) is about to be crowned winner as the biff-up that is HD DVD Vs Blu-Ray draws to a close.

The HD DVD corner has become an increasingly lonely place as more and more of its supporters defected to Blu-Ray, the most notable being Warner Bros and most recently, Wall Mart. The only one still in the HD DVD corner is Toshiba, and it looks like they are about to call it quits with News agency Reuters quoting an unnamed Toshiba source as saying: "We have entered the final stage of planning to make our exit from the next-generation DVD business."

Blu-ray, developed by a Sony-led consortium, looks to be the future of disc-based movies, but is the future in discs? With broadband speeds increasing, movie downloads on the increase, hardware like Apple TV and software like Xbox 360’s Video Marketplace already out there, you have to wonder why we’re still talking discs.

MyTake - When I asked a good mate of mine his opinion, he’s response was: “So that makes 99 per cent of the market standard DVD and 1 per sent Blu-Ray”, he’s got a good point there. Market saturation is a long way off and the hardware is still expensive – and I don’t just mean the Blu-Ray players, you’ll need a HD LCD/Plasma to go with it. There’s still competition in the market for Blu-Ray, they need to pay attention to the life cycle of the DVD and look at the development of downloadable movies – I think it’ll be a photo finish.

The Sleeveface phenomenon

Yes, it's just a fad, but it’s a cool, creative fad. Sleeveface, which started in a Cardiff bar and since become a global phenomenon, involves people putting record sleeves in front of their face and taking a picture - so the face on the sleeve becomes theirs, check out the pic.

John Rostron is one of the original guys behind it and said it all started when he and some mates were DJ-ing at Cafe Bar Europa in Cardiff. They started to mess around with album sleeves, holding a couple of them up in front of their faces. A couple of pictures later, Sleeveface was born.

Now with its own website and a strong presence on Facebook, something that started as a few mates messing around has fans in the USA, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Iceland, Israel and the UK all posting Sleeveface pictures.

MyTake – This is exactly what User Generated Content is all about – fun, inclusive and shareable. I also love the fact that they have started a Social Network within a Social Network through their Facebook page. Older generations often question the worth of the Social Networks, but by asking that question, they have already missed the point – the answer is simple – there doesn’t need to be a point.

Game on for Apple?

It looks like Apple could be about to step into the highly competitive video games console market after the company filed a trademark extension with the US Patent and Trademark Office. It could all be speculation and some experts have dismissed it as being related to the current iPod games on offer, but the extension included: "handheld units for playing electronic games", "handheld units for playing videogames", "stand-alone video game machines", "LCD game machines" and "electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only".

Having worked in the games industry as a consultant, I know first hand how brutal it can be – so, can Apple crack it? Well, some might remember that they’ve been there before with the ill-fated PipPin consoles that struggled against strong competition from Sony, Nintendo and SEGA before being consigned to history as an ugly footnote on the company’s otherwise brilliant record in the product space.

MyTake – tough one this, on one hand Apple has an awesome record in the product space, rewriting the rules and even creating new markets. On the other hand the gaming market is a hard place to succeed. But, if they do enter the gaming market the other boys had better watch-out, gaming is about fun, listening to the consumer and giving them want they want – and that epitomises what Apple is all about.

They tried to make me go to Wiihab….

There appears to be no stopping the juggernaut that is the Nintendo Wii – gaming machine, fitness machine, training machine for surgeons and now….rehab machine. The Wii’s popularity continues to extend at a scorching pace with its latest accolade being in the field of rehab therapy for patients recovering from stokes, broken bones surgery and even combat injuries.

According to the experts, some traditional therapy exercises can be repetitive dull and painful. Playing on the Wii engrosses the patient to the point where they can become totally oblivious to the exercise they are actually doing while playing.

Dr Osborn of Southern Illinois Healthcare, one of the hospitals using the Wii as part of its rehab therapy said. "In the Wii system, because it's kind of a game format, it does create this kind of inner competitiveness. Even though you may be boxing or playing tennis against some figure on the screen, it's amazing how many of our patients want to beat their opponent …. When people can refocus their attention from the tediousness of the physical task, oftentimes they do much better."

MyTake – Score for the Wii, the world is clearly loving this machine. When it launched it had its critics and while it’s not a giant leap forward, I’d say it’s probably a giant leap side wards in thinking – its taken gaming in a whole new direction and this is what innovation is about. There’s something ever so slightly fitting in the fact you wave the wiimote around like a wand…… something magical you might say.

Corey might be on a good Wiki-t after all

He just refuses to go away – and why should he? In age where celebs are made at the click of the finger, or in this case a mouse, it’s probably only right that he make the most of his 15 minutes of fame. This time, it’s the Wikipedia story that has returned again and he looks set to finally get that page he and his fans obviously really, really, like…er…want and stuff.

The debate ignited once again when another page was set up for Corey and although it was nominated for deletion, Coreyites rallied behind their hat-dwelling leader to keep the site up with the votes 13-9 in his favour. According to one fan: "He's notable according to media all over the world (and has) 245 hits on Google News as Corey Delaney and 171 for Corey Worthington," another user clearly against the idea said "Once again it is time that Wikipedia decided if it is an encyclopaedia or merely a recorder of mildly amusing but ultimately trivial events,"

MyTake – Why can’t an encyclopaedia contain mildly amusing but trivial events? In fact, I am fairly certain that it does…. A quick look at an online dictionary gives us the following: “a reference work containing articles on various topics dealing with the entire range of human knowledge”. Now, it might not be pleasant knowledge or fruitful knowledge, but it is knowledge.

Wii T in your home

Hugely respected as a director and as a producer, Steven Spielberg now brings us another Wii-son to get into gaming with the release of BOOM BLOX, a game he developed in partnership with EA's Casual Entertainment Label for the Wii platform.



Spielberg said - "I am a gamer myself, and I really wanted to create a video game that I could play with my kids,"


"BOOM BLOX features an enormous amount of fun challenges and cool scenarios for your kids to solve or for you to master together."


Check out http://www.boomblox.ea.com/


MyTake - Gaming is good and gaming with your kids is even better. Spielberg’s involvement in developing a game follows similar moves by Peter Jackson, of Lord of the Rings fame, who is developing for the Xbox 360 platform. Gaming is another way of storytelling, offering a different canvas and some would say a more challenging one. When names like Jackson and Spielberg are getting involved it's a huge validation for the industry.

Anyone for a nice bold adds?

The best innovators in the world are kids without agenda, and while this might not be an world changing innovation, it's an interesting direction. Basically, a new language is being developed using the predictive text system. Have you ever been texting a mate to see if they want to go for a beer and ending asking "You up for an adds?" - happens to me more than I'd care to admit. Well, phone addicted kids are putting a new twist on this by relacing key words within a sentence to the first alternative that comes up on the predictive text, which results in what is essentially a new language -

"R U cycle? Book! Fancy an adds down the sub? There's a gr8 new carnage" actually means "R U awake, Fancy a beer down the pub? There's a gr8 new barmaid"

My Take - you wont stop the children of the revolution, no you won't.....well, you could take there phones away. In all seriousness, it's great to see a generation define itself through expression and this generation has done this more than most. Which goes back to my first point about innovation - it's going to be great to see what they do to global business in 10 years time.

The Book beats the Space in Aus

Alright - so I'm a bit late posting on this.  But the news is that it's all about the book and not the space.  What I mean is that Aussies prefer Facebook to MySpace, at least that's what a new survey commissioned by B&T says.  According to the results, 23 per cent of respondents favored Facebook compared to just 11.5 per cent for MySpace, while YouTube came in with 11.5 per cent and Bebo at 2.6 per cent.  Perhaps the more interesting figure from the study is that over 40 per cent of respondents stated that they didn't visit any social networking sites - which basically means there's a hell of a lot of room for growth.  

My Take - Facebook has struck a chord with users offering them a unique blend of functionality, flexibility, privacy and....fun. Build it and they will come, put on a party, and they'll stay.   

Let it be.....heard in space

When the Beatles wrote Across the Universe, I wonder if they thought that someday, someone would take that literarily. To mark NASA's 50th anniversary, the Beatles classic, Across the Universe, will be the first song ever to be directly beamed into space. The song will be beamed out via the Deep Space Network and will be aimed at the North Star, Polaris - 431 light-years from Earth. Sir Paul gave the project two thumbs up sending the following message to the boys at NASA: "Well done, Nasa," he added. "Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."

My Take - I don't think we're going to see any major scientific breakthroughs here, but hey, it's a pretty cool thing to do. And who knows, maybe the Deep Space Network will become the universe's first social network - we share Beatles music and someone sends us back the secret of immortality.

SkypeStationPortable

News from Sony is that the new firmware update for the PSP will allow gamers to make a receive Skype calls from the thier PSPs. Apparently, it only works on the new slim PSP and won't work with the first generation due to hardware differences in the meemory.

To take advatage of this added function, all you need to do is get the firmware upgrade, register for Skype talk and away you go!

My Take - The Sony boys are a smart bunch, years ago they got involved in a number of disctint and separate areas of consumer technology and slowly but surely they integrate them. Building this functionality into the PSP is another step towards a unified digital offering - the way of the future I reckon