Seeking Nerdvana

The video store at the end of the street is the creature that just won't die. The promise of high speed internet access for all was supposed to beam the latest flicks directly into our lounge rooms, eliminating the late night dash to return movies. Luckily for video stores, the B-grade horror movie that was Australia's broadband rollout never came close to delivering on this promise. The Attack of the VoD was a pipe dream in need of a fat pipe and, like all good menacing threats, it sank back to the murky depths to contemplate a sequel.

Kids today want to be entertained without leaving the couch.

Read the full post at http://www.hydrapinion.com/index.php/play/2006/11/10/video_ezy_trials_electronic_downloads_bu

* NOTE: This post is on Hydrapinion, an opinion-based, multi-headed blog - or hydrablog - I've started with four other freelance technology journalists. My topic is Play and my day is Friday so from now on I'm going to point to Hydrapinion every Friday, but Friday is also the day I'll post TechVidReviews here at Seeking Nerdvana and reprints of my magazine products reviews that don't appear online elsewhere.

This week, Seeking Nerdvana's TechVidReview looks at Mediagate's MG-350HD wireless digital media player.

Evildoers recently edited an article on the German edition of Wikipedia to include a link to malicious code, disguised as a "fix" for an alleged new version of the Blaster worm. They then sent spam, supposedly from Wikipedia, directing people to the page for more details on the bogus Blaster variant.

You can't trust everything you read on Wikipedia - who would have guessed?

Of course this event is all over the news, but the only surprise here is that it took so long for someone to do it. The price of fame is high on the internet, as sites like Wikipedia and YouTube have discovered of late. Apart from the constant bashing in the media, you also become a target for those up to no good. Of course their task is made easier by the fact that people are stupid. Have you ever had an email from Wikipedia before? Do you think Wikipedia bothers to send email alerts every time there's a virus? These are questions anyone with half a brain would ask before believing such an email but, sadly, having even half a brain is not a pre-requisite for using a computer. As is often the case, the weakest link in the security system isn't the hardware or the software but the wetwear sitting at the keyboard.

If only you could issue firmware updates for users, the world would be a safer place.

Regular readers (yes, both of you) may have noticed my lack of comments about Microsoft's attempt at an "iPod killer", the Zune. The Zune is due for release next week in the US but, as usual, there's no suggestion of when we'll see it in Australia.

Through the Zune, Microsoft wants to live in your pocket as well as on your desktop

Personally I'm not too excited about the Zune because I couldn't see anything coming out of Redmond that

a) came anywhere close to challenging the dominance of the iPod, and

b) offered a user experience that wasn't crippled by draconian Digital Rights Management.

Before you launch a flame war against me, yes I know the iPod has heavy duty DRM as well (which is why I wouldn't buy one) but at least the user experience of the actual device is still pretty good.

Anyway, IT analyst groups love to use such occasions to get themselves in print and one of the biggest - the Gartner Group - dropped its two cents in my inbox the other day. The stuff about content deals is interesting - it's hard to believe Microsoft would ignore the "content is king" philosophy. The other is that the Zune isn't compatible with Microsoft's own PlaysForSure DRM system - screwing over hardware manufacturers such as Creative, Samsung and SanDisk, as well as their customers. If Microsoft is prepared to turn its back on PlaysForSure-device owners today, who's to say they won't do the same to Zune owners tomorrow.

Anyway, here's Gartner's take on the Zune;

1- Microsoft’s claimed differentiation for Zune is based on applying Web 2.0 community concepts to the music experience. With the inclusion of an integrated Wi-Fi/antenna, Zune users can exchange or share songs by transferring them to each other. Whilst Gartner believes this is a good, high level strategy that is potentially market leading, it is not clear that the scenario Microsoft describes is all that compelling. Consumers will not be able to buy songs or videos from the Zune Marketplace direct from the device. Instead users “share” songs and shared songs do not remain on the receiving device permanently; rather they can be played three times in three days.

2- Most notably absent are any deals with studios for content, whether audio or video. The lack of video in particular is surprising given Microsoft’s early lead in video support with its portable media centre (PMC). The company has some content on MSN Video, which is not being leveraged by Zune. Gartner says that a better model would employ a web-based community that extends to Microsoft’s online communities such as Spaces and Xbox Live.

3- With Apple’s latest roll-out of iPods – from low to high end – and a movie download service to complement the TV shows already on iTunes, (while only available in the US now) Microsoft is starting from square one with a music service that will be incompatible with existing Plays For Sure-based services such as Napster. The company is also preventing Plays For Sure hardware made by companies such as Creative, Samsung and SanDisk, among others, from working with the Zune Marketplace.

4- By the end of the year, there will be the iPod/iTunes, a diminished Plays for Sure and the Sony Connect/Walkman ecosystems and a very immature Zune MP3 player. Gartner says that Microsoft will consolidate the Plays For Sure market share under Zune. However, there are doubts that it can generate enough excitement in the marketplace to create a real Christmas season race with Apple. Beyond this period though, Microsoft has a chance.

Recommendations:

For content providers – Look to strike advantageous deals with Microsoft. However, be mindful that Apple’s dominance was built on technical and marketing innovation.

For mobile carriers – Look to partner with providers of devices and communities in the music and video space. Look for solutions that enable consumers to exchange metadata about songs and videos that can be used later to purchase the content via a PC.

Wi-fi has revolutionised the way we work, whether roaming around the office with a Tablet PC, checking email at a wireless hot spot or working in the backyard while watching the kids play...

Read the full review at http://www.theage.com.au/news/upgrade/roam-free/2006/11/06/1162661616402.html

Content is a major driver in any new technology and the two things that bring in eyeballs are sex and sport or, even better, a combination of the two. While the porn industry is credited with having a major influence over the introduction of VHS and DVD, Fin24's Johan Brink makes a strong argument that the porn kings may have lost their pull when it comes to the battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

Everybody knows sex sells, but how much influence does it have?

Brink points out that prominent pornographic movie studio Digital Playground has got behind Blu-ray, but that generally the internet is such a cheap, accessible delivery model for porn that the Blu-ray v HD-DVD war is of less importance than earlier format wars.

The porn industry has always been the one to watch when it comes to new technologies, from VCRs to e-commerce and video streaming, so it would be foolish for new and old media players not to keep an eye on the internet's skin merchants. They may have lost their influence on optical disc formats, which is old tech anyway, but the porn kings still hold the future of media technology in the palms of their hands.

While Australia's Nine Network drags Electronic Program Guide provider IceTV through the courts, manufacturers are building ad-skipping technology directly into new televisions.

The tide is turning on the TV networks, with ad-skipping now built into TVs.

Now an EPG doesn't let you skip ads, it just tells you when shows are on, but most people don't seme to understand the difference and IceTV is regularly referred to as an "ad-skipping" service in the media. It's the PVR hardware, such as Topfield recorders and these new PVR TVs, that do the ad-skipping. Ad-skipping is the real threat to the TV networks, not EPGs, but its seems easier for Nine to chase a tiny company like IceTV over copyright infringement of its program guide rather than pick on multi-national consumer electronics giants like LG, which has just released a 42 inch LCD and 50 inch plasma with built in high definition PVRs. It's very unlikely you'll be able to use a seven day EPG like IceTV with them.

It's been mistakenly reported that these are the first TVs with PVRs in the world, but this is wrong as Loewe and probably others have had them for a while. LG claims it's the first HD PVR, but I couldn't say for a fact. Personally I'd rather a separate box, like those from Topfield, although we're still waiting for Topfield to release a HD PVR. Nerdvana still remains just out of reach.