Going Loco with my mate ApriPoko

I love my gadgets, and this one is cute as well as cool. Toshiba are developing a voice-activated robot called ApriPoko that learns how you use your infrared devices.

Lil’ ApriPoko, who weighs in at just over 2 kg and stands 11-inches tall, senses the use of an infrared device and learns by asking the user “What did you just do?” and then storing the user response. This then lets the user issue voice commands to activate and control infrared devices.

MyTake – Even PCs and Macs come with remotes these days, so you could in effect get ApriPoko to manage your content aggregation via a few simple instructions (OK maybe I’m stretching a bit there). But, the idea of having a learning bot that understands how you consume and interact with your infrared devices could spawn a number of highly individual uses for Lil’ ApriPoko, like the one mentioned above, or you could get him to turn the air conditioning on..and off….

Surfin’ Safari

Safari, for those not in the know, is the internet browser that comes as standard with all Apple Macs and has a pretty good reputation among Mac users. Until recently, only Mac users got to experience Safari, but that all changed with the announcement last year that Apple was going to make Safari available for PC.

Now that’s interesting and all, but the really interesting thing is the way that they (they being Apple) have distributed it. Jobs and Co came up with the light-bulb idea of delivering Safari as part of its latest software update as well as including it in its iTunes software. Now, I don’t need to tell you about the penetration of iTunes across both Mac and PC – it’s enormous.

MyTake – genius move by the boys at Apple, even if it is a bit of a Trojan horse. Distribution is everything when it comes to content, that’s why I am a firm believer that Apple is going to be a major threat to the likes of Blockbuster in the next few years. However, we have to remember that the power is in the content as well as the distribution model.

Broadcasters tune in

Another day, another digital first. Canadian channel CBC has revealed plans that it will make its new reality show available through BitTorrent, making it the first broadcaster to release an English-language, prime-time show without any copyright restrictions. The show, entitled “Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister” features contestants that battle it out with each other to come up with ideas to make the great country of Canada a better place. There’s been a lot of buzz around the use of BitTorrent lately, most recently with Nine Inch Nails releasing their new album using the technology.

MyTake – It makes sense for government/state funded TV to make a move like this, because its content is already “free-access”. By using BitTorrent, it opens up another channel and therefore more eyeballs. The interesting move is going to come when the advertising-funding or pay-per-view cotton on to it, but the question is – how do you give it away and still maintain its value? Teasers, free weekends?….time will tell.

I'll have an iPod with the lot, thanks....

Is Apple about to change the music game again? Jobs and co are apparently working on a deal to offer fee access to the entire iTunes music library based on a premium-purchase model for the iPod and iPhone. Basically, you pay a bit more cash for iPod/iPhone and you get the music for free…or maybe at a reduced cost. Details aren’t clear at the moment, but it seems to be similar to mobile phone plans as in the more you pay for you plan, the more free stuff you get.

Another rumour doing the rounds is that there could be a subscription model on the cards for the iPhone, again no details have been released, but it would make sense for them to extend their music model into that sector, which is largely dominated by the telcos.

MyTake – Is there no stopping the juggernaut that is Apple? These guys innovate like the rest of us breath. Once again, the power of the platform (iTunes) could breath new life into the record industry by opening another way for customers to purchase music. Companies are finally coming to terms with the actual worth of content and I think that this is something that consumers will welcome. At the end of the day, it’s about empowering us with choices and options, and the more choices and options we have, the more records you’ll sell.

No money for new Nails

Following in the footsteps of the likes of Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails have offered their latest album as a free download and also deliberately leaked it onto file sharing networks. The album, entitled Ghosts I-V, is available as a free download with an extended high-quality version available for US$5. On top of that, fans can also order the CD for US$10 or get tow "deluxe" versions with photography and a blu-ray disk for $US75 and $US300.

On his blog, lead singer Trent Reznor said “We believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them."

MyTake - Not all content is created equal and the recording industry needs to understand this. By offering a number of different variants, the value of the content becomes clearer, you get why you are paying 5 bucks for the high-quality version, you get why you need to pay for the Blu-ray dick - because the content is worth more.

St Paddy goes virtual

The world loves to celebrate St Paddy’s day – usually with a few pints of Guinness. But how about celebrating with a few virtual pints? Tourism Ireland has hosted a virtual St Paddy’s day parade in Second Life featuring up to twenty floats and a treasure hunt around recreated landmarks such as The Guinness Brewery.

MyTake – great move and interesting content, they have really thought about the network and provided residents with something interesting to take part in. We’re seeing a lot more brands getting involved with Second Life, the tipping point can’t be far off.

Normal service will resume soon...

For those of you that regularly read my blog, apologies - I'm actually on holiday. For those of you that are new to it or just dip in from time-to-time.... it's usually a lot more interesting than this! 

I've just spent a brilliant week in the Hunter Valley and I am feeling chilled and ready to deliver some more Digiwedoness soon. 

As you can see from the picture (and for those of you familiar with the Hunter Valley) I made it to the Blue Tongue Brewery, very worth while! Also, for those wine enthusiasts out there, I can highly recommend Tranquil Vale as a place to stay and buy some wine.

Anyway, normal service will resume soon.  

Are you sitting comfortably…the wascally wabbit is about to begin

Once upon a time there was a little rabbit called The Nabaztag WiFi rabbit and he liked to read RFTD tagged children’s books. What that mean is that this wascally wabbit responds to books that have a special tag inside them, the end result is that it reads the content of the book (the story) to your child – as a parent, I’d probably say that’s our job, but hey.

There are already a few RFTD tagged books available in France and in the UK, with plans for a global roll-out later. In addition to the books, you can also get "ztamps" for your wabbit, which are basically RFID stickers you can stick on anything you like – i.e. keys, teddy bears. When the sticker is held to the wabbit’s nose, it responds with a pre-set response such as playing music. The other cool thing that it can do is subscribe to RSS feeds and spit them out when prompted.

MyTake – I don’t like the idea of removing the parent from reading time, I think it’s important to bond with your child and encourage them to read, something that the wabbit probably won’t do. On the other hand, the idea the child can interact with the wabbit is very interesting and encourages them to interface with technology at an early age. In addition, the RSS feed function could be a great way to share fresh content with your child instead of pulling out the same old books every night. I like the idea of sitting round the wabbit with your child for your their personalised RSS feed adventure.

i(pod) of the tiger….give me two more!

Personal trainers, love them or hate them, they usually get results for you. But not everyone likes to have some muscle-moulded bloke or whippet of a women screaming “One more! One More!” at them. Well, there could be a new choice on the horizon. As part of the Nike + iPod partnership, the fruit ‘n’ swoosh duo are working with a number of gym-equipment manufacturers, including Fitness, Precor, Star Trac and Technogym, to make their equipment compatible with the Nike + iPod system.

The result would see gym goers hooking up their iPod Nanos to a piece of gym equipment, record their workouts then upload the results to the nikeplus website. Presumably, this would then allow them to analyse the results and help with their next workout session.

MyTake - It’s very interesting to see that more and more personal data is being captured by us, the individual. More and more aspects of our lives are being digitised for us to review, analyse and share as we choose – in this case you could imagine mates gloating about their calorie-busting sessions, or 20 minute sprints, hey, there could even be a Facebook app in there. Through the different tools out there, it seems we are creating almost real-time digital versions of ourselves - what we like, what we feel, what we want, and now, how hard we are exercising. The more of us we have out there, the easier it is for others to interact with us, which is the true power of the social network. “Alan is….”

The goggles never lie

You know those arguments where someone says “I never said that” or “I’m sorry, I don’t remember that meeting”, or even “No, I never touched that”? Well, these phrases could soon be a thing of the past if some researchers at the University of Tokyo have their way.

They have developed a pair of video goggles that records everything that the wearer looks at and recognises objects and assigns names to, then to top it all, another program goes back and creates an easily searchable database of the recorded footage. Ultimately designed to function as a high-tech memory aid, the goggles promise to make losing your keys, wallet or mobile phone a thing of the past.

MyTake – I think the goggles have an even more interesting use beyond that of a memory aid. As I suggested at the beginning of the post, those sticky situations of did they/didn’t they could be easily resolved, plus perhaps a more interesting use could be as a UGC capture device. News crews could be fitted out with them when going to cover a story, or even holiday makers could purchase a pair of “Holiday goggles” to ensure they never missed a second.

Girls geeking it up?

If you ever end up at a tech or games conference, there’s one thing that you’ll notice fairly quickly – the male to female ratio being heavily skewed towards the men. But, according to new research out today from a UK supermarket this could be about to change, with the findings suggesting that girls may now be better at some computing tasks than boys.

The survey of over a thousand 7-16 year olds revealed that girls were more likely to know how to set up a word document, put a profile on a social network or upload a video onto YouTube. In addition, the survey also revealed that 10 per cent of the boys said they weren’t confident with computers compared to just 6 per cent of the girls.

MyTake – As a very strict History Master of mine used to say – Inconclusive. I don’t really think a survey of this nature can predict the number of girls that will end up in IT. As we are required to become more and more hands-on with technology, it’s only natural that our level of awareness increases. The other interesting thing here is the findings that girls are more likely to know how to set-up a profile on a social network or upload a video onto YouTube - So, in essence, they are more likely to engage in socialising using the web, which in my book is simply an extension of their offline behavior. I think a lot of this comes down to preference not ability.