Technology news

ndmmxiaomayi

22 Dec 05, 04:22

iPod and MP3 players top US Christmas wish lists

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/183712/1/.html

WASHINGTON : Santa's sack will be bulging with iPods and other trendy digital audio devices, according to a new survey of America's Christmas wish lists.

An annual Ipsos Insight poll found that 22 percent of respondents anticipate buying a portable MP3 player or iPod Shuffle or iPod Nano player within three months.

"The portable music device category exploded this year, with interest in MP3 players up nine percent over last year's survey," said Todd Board, leader of Ipsos Insights Technology and Communications practice.

"This big leap reflects the 'sweet spot' appeal of these portable devices, which balance compactness, simplicity, capacity and features while managing to maintain affordable price-points."

The poll found interest rising among Americans in game consoles and interest still high in digitial cameras, but cell phones were less popular gift choices than in previous years.

Ipsos surveyed 511 adults to determine their likelihood of buying specific electronic devices over the holiday season. - AFP /dt

Pitot

22 Dec 05, 04:23

even GWB also has a ipod.. Laughing

ndmmxiaomayi

22 Dec 05, 04:24

Lights, camera, vlog: new video craze hits Internet

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/184553/1/.html

WASHINGTON : From the Internet counter-culture which spawned blogs and podcasts comes the newest thing in new media: vlogging.

In short video diaries and homemade reality shows, vloggers are using the power of cheap online technology to invite strangers into their lives.

Topics range from in-depth discussions on the meaning of the universe to crude and jerky snapshots of everyday life.

In new vlogs uploaded this week, you could take a spin through teeming Mumbai in an auto-rickshaw, drop in on the life of young Filipina vlogger Karen Avila or watch a woman simply tending a kettle in her New York apartment.

Vlogs are an offshoot of "blogs", or weblogs - diaries posted on the Internet which sparked a new wave of "citizen journalism" - and their audio equivalent, podcasting.

Vlogging's time has come thanks to a new generation of cheap cameras, editing programmes and simple software - plus fast broadband connections needed to download content.

It draws on the utopian dreams of pioneers who envisage a network of citizen journalists across the globe, liberated from the "we know what's best for you" patronage of established media firms.

"People are interested in seeing more of real people - they are kind of getting sick of the very flashy content and want something more down to Earth," said Amanda Congdon, co-writer and anchor of "Rocketboom", a wildly successful New York-based vlog.

In one recent edition of another vlog, "The Carol and Steve Show", producer Steve Garfield strolled through Boston's snowy streets, discussing nascent vlog culture with his wife.

"Sometimes writers say video blogs are boring because they are not like TV shows," Garfield mused as he filmed the couple with a camera held at arm's length.

"But they are not trying to be TV shows; they are just capturing fleeting moments of people's lives."

The vlogging craze hints at the coming convergence of the Internet and television, and the soon-to-dawn day when programs will be offered a la carte as Web downloads rather than when a media firm chooses to broadcast them.

It comes as established media companies - newspapers as well as broadcast giants - are starting to post podcasts, videocasts and video news reports alongside written content.

Apple's unveiling in October of its new video iPod was a giant leap for vlogging - as short, basic downloads are ideal for the device's small screen.

Some vloggers glimpsed the true potential of the medium after last December's Asian tsunami disaster, when home videos, many made by tourists, were all over mainstream television stations and many were uploaded to the Web.

"They had their moment in the tsunami coverage, when the BBC and other (established media) opened their websites to them," said Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet and American Life Project in Washington.

Amateur video reporters were also out in force when Hurricane Katrina smashed the US Gulf Coast with a murderous flood surge on August 29.

Vloggers have also posted online travelogues - one man even recorded traffic through the Panama Canal for an entire week, then speeded it up and posted it on the Web.

No reliable estimate is available on how many people are vlogging, but one vlog map program shows sites blossoming in the United States, Canada, Western Europe and Australia. Some are also cropping up in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Rocketboom is the darling of the new vlogging frontier - a sassy digest of quirky news, Web gossip and entertainment five days a week from New York.

The site, which debuted in 2004, now has 100,000 downloads a day and is alerting advertisers to the potential of vlog entrepreneurs.

Those 100,000 pairs of eyes from the United States, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and even Tanzania and Nigeria bring Rocketboom within shouting distance of some of the lower-rated US cable talk shows.

An operation like Rocketboom, with its basic set of a table and a map, does not need millions of dollars to go on the air - unlike TV stations.

"The costs are incredibly lower. It's a mistake to judge distributed media on the same terms as big old media," said Jeff Jarvis, a new media analyst, critic and blogger on BuzzMachine.com.

"Rocketboom needs the advertising revenue, but it doesn't take much to make it profitable. Now the definition of 'big enough' to make it worthwhile has changed."

The site is currently completely free, but Congdon, who operates it along with Web designer and independent filmmaker Andrew Baron, said Rocketboom may soon introduce a subscription package for premium content.

Other possible marketing models for vloggers include advertising, merchandising and licensing.

TiVo said this month that it had a deal with Rocketboom which will enable users to download the vlog on the popular digitial video recorder.

Sceptics of vlogging, and of blogging and podcasting before it, will argue that while the video weblogs are a pleasant diversion, they will never be able to offer the heft, resources and analytic weight of established media.

Vlog devotees say that is exactly the point. - AFP/de

ndmmxiaomayi

22 Dec 05, 04:25

Originally posted by Pitot:
even GWB also has a ipod..

GWB is what?

Pitot

22 Dec 05, 04:26

Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:
GWB is what?

American President..

ndmmxiaomayi

22 Dec 05, 04:27

Draw in the mobile, tech-savvy crowd with a multimedia podcast feed

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/184557/1/.html

There was a time when webcasts were considered an advanced mode of workplace communication. Not any more.

Companies are slowly turning to podcasting as a cheap, convenient way to disseminate information to their intended audience.

Podcasting is based on RSS technology - resource description framework site summary, otherwise known as rich site summary or really simple syndication - a format for distributing and syndicating content, such as news, from an online publisher to Web users.

The user does not have to troll websites for information as content feeds are sent directly to him. He simply connects his portable multimedia player to the computer and the subscribed podcasts are pushed to the device.

There are several areas where podcasting can be used in the enterprise space. For example, management can broadcast internal messages to employees, much like how corporate newsletters are used to relay an organisation's strategic directions, announcements and achievements.

Podcasts can also be used to transmit corporate information to external parties such as partners, customers and shareholders.

Singapore-listed United Test and Assembly Centre (Utac) is an example of a company that has adopted podcasting as a means to reach out to its shareholders and the investing community. It podcast its second-quarter and third-quarter results this year.

"In this contemporary age, with people constantly on the go, we have to move with and adapt to the pace of technological development and information flow, or risk being left behind," said Mr Chong Chow Pin, Utac's director of investor relations and corporate communications.

"The decision to use podcasting was made to allow us to explore more creative uses of technology, to better communicate corporate development announcements to shareholders."

He said that the on-demand availability and mobility offered by podcasting allows the company to reach the masses quickly and efficiently.

"As it is based on RSS technology, information disseminated via podcasting is 'push-delivered' to the subscriber without requiring him to visit our website or the SGXNET to download the content," explained Mr Chong.

"Podcasting is easily accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. In addition, podcasting presents the interested subscriber with a list of announcements and allows him to pick and choose only those that interest him."

However, he stressed that Utac is not forsaking more traditional channels of communication, such as email alerts, Webcasts, conference calls and physical briefings. It merely wants to offer shareholders the flexibility of listening in to its briefings at their convenience.

"With the audio format, relevant information is delivered to you on your portable digital music device and can be listened to wherever you are - be it while walking around town, working out in the gym, or while driving to and from work," Mr Chong said.

"Interested investors do not have to obtain the relevant content by reading a page, being in front of a television set at an appointed broadcast time or sitting in front of a computer and scrolling through a website."

Mr Alan Goh, director of business development at financial portal ShareInvestor.com Ptd Ltd, agrees that podcasting makes information delivery more mobile.

"The company's target audience can download the audio presentation and take it with them as they go out jogging or while travelling to the office. It is hard to think of another multimedia channel that is as versatile," he said.

ShareInvestor has been plugging the benefits of podcasting as an alternative mode of communications to listed companies in Singapore.

"The key thing we often emphasise is that podcasting can increase the company's mind share among its target audience," said Mr Goh.

"This can be achieved as investors can easily listen to a podcast while doing other tasks online or even while running on the treadmill in the gym. We believe that podcasts can increase the awareness of a company and enhance its image and brand value in the minds of its investors and other target audiences."

Companies should take note not to merely extract the audio track from the video footage of a briefing and post that as a podcast, Mr Goh added. As such a podcast would require a copy of the slide presentation, it limits the usefulness of a purely audio format.

Companies should produce their podcasts like a radio talk show or as a speech. This makes it easier for the listener to follow the topics discussed and points raised.

The authenticity of the podcast can also be called into question. Mr Chong told Today that since podcasting pushes a complete audio file to the subscriber, it is possible that unscrupulous listeners might edit the file and pass it off as an original from the company, but with erroneous information.

"While we can control the possibility of having the content illegally edited by deploying a streaming audio format instead of a podcast, it will, however, defeat the purpose of making the information portable and convenient for our intended audience," he said.

Then, there are concerns about copyright issues and possible libellous remarks being made.

"Podcasting could get as big as blogging and therefore open up a can of worms," warned Mr Graham Perkins, specialist consultant, School of Technology for the Arts, Republic Polytechnic.

According to Mr Goh, ShareInvestor is seeing "glimpses of interest" in podcasting among Singapore's public-listed companies.

While webcasting - which allows users to view video footage of the briefing synchronised with PowerPoint presentation slides - is still preferred to podcasting, he expects podcasting to become increasingly popular as growing interest in the MP3 audio format by technological-savvy investors means that the potential audience is growing.

"With the proliferation of Internet use and the digital audio revolution being driven by the increasing use of the MP3 format, the trend of companies adopting podcasting as a communications medium can only grow," said Mr Goh.

"Currently, the typical MP3 listener is usually younger and technological-savvy, which may leave out a sizeable segment of the population. But we believe that the increasing trend for mobile phones doubling as MP3 players will boost the popularity of podcasting.

"As the size of the potential podcast audience increases, we expect more business enterprises and public-listed companies to adopt podcasting."

ndmmxiaomayi

22 Dec 05, 04:27

Originally posted by Pitot:
American President..

Bush?

Pitot

22 Dec 05, 04:28

Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:
Bush?

ya.. tt day on FOX news he show them wad song he have inside his ipod.. Laughing

ndmmxiaomayi

22 Dec 05, 04:29

Innovation is in the script

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/technologynews/view/184556/1/.html

SINGAPORE : Gearing up for a share of the Web application development market, home-grown company Vibrasoft has developed a proprietary scripting language called Candle (Common Application Development LanguagE) for developing applications based on Extensible Mark-up Language (XML).

Candle is aimed at unifying the features of XML standards - such as XSchema, XSLT, XQuery and XUpdate - under one consistent language and run-time environment.

According to founder and chief executive officer Henry Luo Wenqiang, XML is becoming the platform for the next generation of the Internet, as well as for desktop applications and services.

"XML is becoming increasingly important in areas like data exchange and application integration, application modelling and development, content and knowledge management, workflow and project management, visualisation and reporting," the 28-year-old Chinese national told Today.

Mr Luo's interest in scripting language began when he was a final-year computer engineering student at the National University of Singapore.

Together with a group of Chinese scholars, he founded a website called www.huasing.org, which sparked off his drive to develop his own language for the site.

Founded in May 2002, Vibrasoft is a partner with Software AG under the Infocomm Local Industry Upgrading Programme by the Infocomm Authority of Singapore.

It is also a Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading partner with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, or A*Star, the government agency responsible for fostering scientific research here.

Candle has two versions: One is open source - available freely to individual developers and students/academics for research purposes - while the other is sold for enterprise use.

"Open source has become such a common practice that it is difficult to push a new technology if you do not follow the trend," said Mr Luo. "As a new company, we need to provide open source software in order for people to adopt our technology and to make it easy for developers to use and popularise Candle."

The Candle Query Engine is open source software that can be downloaded from the company's website, www.vibrasoft.net.

The company's latest product, Candle Runtime Environment, is an engine for end-users to run any application developed in Candle, like what Acrobat Reader is for PDF files and Flash Player for SWF files, said Mr Luo.

It is closed source software, but is free for redistribution and use and can also be downloaded from the website.

Yesterday, Vibrasoft released the second beta version of Candle Runtime, as well as the first beta version of its Candle Developer Suite, an integrated environment on which Web and desktop application developers can create Web-based applications.

"We have plans to popularise Candle globally and make it the de facto scripting language for application development for both Internet and desktop use," said Mr Luo.

ndmmxiaomayi

22 Dec 05, 04:30

Originally posted by Pitot:
ya.. tt day on FOX news he show them wad song he have inside his ipod..

I didn't know he is so advanced... Laughing

Pitot

22 Dec 05, 04:30

Originally posted by ndmmxiaomayi:
I didn't know he is so advanced...

but his songs all oldies.. Laughing

ndmmxiaomayi

22 Dec 05, 04:34

Originally posted by Pitot:
but his songs all oldies..

Maybe he wants to avoid copyright. Oldies copyright maybe expire liao, so download free. Laughing

ndmmxiaomayi

22 Dec 05, 04:39

Google Adds Trends Feature To Personalized Search

http://www.techweb.com/wire/ebiz/175007466;jsessionid=URFY22H2ZSC0IQSNDBCCKH0CJUMEKJVN

By Antone Gonsalves, TechWeb News

Google Inc. has added to its Personalized Search tool a trends feature that provides registered users with a list of their top searches and other history-related information.

Other patterns tracked by the new feature include most visited Web sites, daily activity and other tidbits, the search engine said this week. The information is retrieved through a "Trends" link on a users' search page.

Personalized Search, which is in beta, allows Google's registered users to view and manage past searches, including pages, images and news headlines. The tool provides a search history and the ability to create bookmarks that can be accessed from any computer. Users can delete any portion of a search history.

Pitot

22 Dec 05, 04:40