Month: July 2010

Orange Wednesdays saves Cinema?

I’ve been going to the cinema quite a lot recently, further proving that file sharers are truly film lovers an will pay for convenience and the film industry should consider this. So far I’ve been to the cinema 4 times in the last 2 weeks. I even bought Empire magazine while waiting in Manchester Hospital for my physical therapy session

Anyway, I went to the cinema today and it was packed. Compare this to Tuesday and even Thursday last week, where it was very quiet.

It got me thinking about the effect of Orange Wednesday.

It seems a lot of people are waiting to Wednesday to go to the cinema which makes sense with it being two for one.

Obviously it was setup with the major cinema chains because Wednesday is officially the last day of the cinema week, so anything to get people in on the last day makes a lot of sense. The weird thing is that a phone company would do this, specially with everything the cinema chains have tried to get people in. Everything they have tried from offering one pound tickets on cinema day to playing computer games on the massive screens.

Orange Wednesdays certainly nets the cinemas a huge amount of money and I wonder how they compare to Saturdays and even Sundays. There’s little secret that the cinemas make almost all there money on Food and drink, the money for films actually mainly go back to the distributor and studio depending on the popularity of the film. Something like 4,3,2,1 which I saw on Monday will typically take all the box office money in the first 2-3 weeks. Something like the dark knight or even avatar will have a longer period set on its return. Maybe even up to 8 or even 10 weeks for a high ranking blockbuster. Which means cinema usually try and hold a film as long as they can or have many theatres as possible (hence things like the 16 screen AMC multiplex in Manchester, my local cinema). Obviously on the flip side they also try and get rid of the films that don’t do so well for them too, quickly.

You could say Orange Wednesdays was a early Four Square or Gowall type system, its just a shame the cinemas are only just catching on to the potential of loyalty schemes. How good would it have been if you could have a home cinema and got points or even prizes if you visited others? Heck they could have bluetooth access points in the box office area where they could do a whole bunch of things.

Orange Wednesday is a very clever concept, and if you look beyond the silly ads you might find its the saver of modern cinema.

Google App Inventor, excellent stuff

Google have really hit it out of the park this time. Google App Inventor (sign up page) allows almost anyone to build a Android application using a simple interface. Now don’t get me wrong, the interface is pretty nasty but heck Google are democratization app development and in my book thats great news for content producers or just people with good ideas and a little time.

This all flies in the face of Apple’s restrictive SLA which prevents apps being made with a application on another system.

I look forward to seeing what other democratization google does in the near future, but boy do google need some good designers, because this looks pretty ugly. Hopefully that won’t put people off. Maybe Google should get Adobe involved in this one?

Why I Turned In My iPhone and Went Android

Louis Grey, A large fan of Apple just turned his back on Apple, why? Well thats best explained by him. But there’s some real good points which I also made in a recent episode of TechGrumps.

For me, more than the over-used phrase of "open", the promise of true multitasking, and the platform’s integration with Google Apps, was one word – "Choice". Choice of handsets. Choice of carriers. Choice of manufacturers. Second behind the word choice has to be "Momentum". I can see that Android has momentum in terms of improved quality, in terms of the number of devices sold and users, and yes, applications, which are growing in quantity, soon to be followed by quality. I really do believe that if Android does not already have a market share lead over Apple yet in this discussion, they soon will. It is inevitable. The growth in the number of handsets, carriers and users will drive more developers to the platform, and the holdouts who are not there will eventually make the move. And yes, third is "Cloud" – the idea that I don’t need to be tied to my desktop computer to manage data on the phone, but instead, the phone is built to tap into data stored on the Web. Fourth is "Capability". The Android platform, as the Droid commercials offer, simply does more. The power of the mobile hotspot cannot be understated, and the iPhone is a zero there.

Agreed.

Why not use Cat5 in your home cinema setup?

Hd baseT

We’ve been lied to. When everyone started introducing HD Televisions there was a new interconnect to get use. That interconnect or port was HDMI. We were told that HDMI was the only connection able to handle all that bandwidth needed for a 1080p signal. Others said rubbish, whats wrong with dv, ethernet and even optical.

Well its stuck we’re not using Hdmi on most things but theres a new challenger and its very familiar.

HdbaseT is a new internet connect standard and as you guessed its based on Ethernet which will make a lot of people happy. Yes you can use your standard Cat5e or Cat6 cables. Not only that, theres a whole range of other extra tricks which come with HdbaseT, but how does it compare to the others types?

Feature

HDMI 1.4a

DiiVA

DisplayPort 1.2

HDBaseT 1.0

Uncompressed Video/Audio

10.2Gbps

13.5Gbps

21.6 Gbps
(17Gbps data)

10.2Gbps
(can scale to 20Gbps)

Max Passive Cable Length

~5-7m

26m

15m for 5Gbps
3m for 5-21.6Gbps

100m
(plus 8x multiple hops)

Cable type

HDMI

DiiVA

DisplayPort

Cat5e/6

Connector type

HDMI

DiiVA

DisplayPort

RJ-45

Charging power

No

5W

No

100W

Ethernet

100 Mbps

Gigabit

720Mbps

100 Mbps
(can scale to Gigabit)

Daisy chainable

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Installation-friendly

Heck No

No

No

Yes
(can use existing wiring)

USB

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Networking methods

None

Daisy & Star

Daisy & Star

Daisy & Star
(with extended-range)

Power over ethernet, yes believe it or not but they will be able to supply not only data but also power over eithernet/hdbaseT, up to 100watts which is enough to power a 37inch tv. And the cable does not have to be Shielded which is great news for all those people who have laid ethernet in the walls of there house. Imagine running your whole TV off only one cable and nothing else…

Control signals allow remote controls to control anything on that network. And when we say network we mean just that. Switches or hubs can be used to connect devices and route signals around the network. This is like Samsung’s Anynet+ and other systems which allow you to control other related devices over a special cable. Instead of it a special magical cable, a cat5/6 cable will do the same trick.

This might sound a little pie in the sky but in actual fact its a standard and its been accepted by LG, Sony, Samsung and others. HdbaseT 1.0 specification is finished and ready to be used. There already working on the 2.0 spec now which will support up to 10.2gig a second through put. Theres also talk about using wireless too…

I look forward to seeing Hdmi going away and ethernet taking the position it once had.

Google tv redefining TV? Not quite…

I totally missed Google TV and Google IO while I was in Hospital. It was one of the first things I asked for when I woke up, sad but true.

So my manager gave me a cut out about the Google IO event, which seemed to focus on Google TV and the next Android (still exploring). So generally if I was boxee I would be alarmed but not too concerned. They could really take advantage of the standards google’s using to power the remote for example. But lets not forget Google have a massive influence and moving into there area has to be worrysome. Now lets get this all in perspective.

This isn’t about Apple vs Google, its about the open internet vs the closed world of the TV. TV has been tightly controlled for years by the TV producers, etc. Now that wall is falling down.

Other people have written about the hardware and software so I won’t do that, instead I’ll look at the concept.

For a while now the BBC and its content producer partners have been working on spec for the next generation of Television viewing aka Project Canvas. When I first saw this I was surprised because it really lacked the internet and openness. I walked away thinking this is what a broadcast company would put out thinking about the notion of convergence of the web and tv. However this really did my head in because all the clever internet ideas of what Canvas could have been have been picked up Google and the google TV. Which is a shame for the BBC.

However, the weird thing is that although Canvas is what a broadcast company would do. GoogleTV is what a internet company would do if they wanted to converge the TV with the internet. However just thinking about the UK market for now, freeview has a major following and I can’t really see Google TV make much of a dent in that right now. I might be wrong but Google TV is very much a American thing and google haven’t really thought about the other markets as of yet.

So back to Google TV, there partners include Intel, logitech, Sony, bestbuy, dish network, Adobe, plus others. Note none of these are actually Content creaters/producers except of course Sony. The Sony side there talking to seem to be the engineering side rather than the content producing side. There was no deals or even talk about the content side of Sony. There will be a massive push in the states from Best Buy but details about the rest of the world is almost non exist.

Generally GoogleTV is once again interesting (and comes up open trumps here) because it can browse any website instead of the Canvas/XBMC/AppleTV model which is apps or scripts which allow you to access certain sites. There is a real opportunity to make TV aware sites like Youtube TV which was also announced at Google IO 2010. I’m actually very surprised no one has yet wrote a XBMC or Boxee script to take advantage of the new Youtube TV format. Generally this means your site can be viewed by millions and millions of people on there TV while they watch something else. But I wonder with no content producers on board will the likes of Hulu block GoogleTV or provide a crippled experience? In a ideal world I guess Google would suggest that everyone should use YouTube to deliver there content to the world, like channel 4 now do. And thats the killer thing, for everyone who uses youtube and other video sharing sites to distribute there media. Google are tackling the TV problem from both directions. Hardware, software and altering the code of the web.

Its opens the door to all the user generated media out there. TV producers must be somewhat rocking in there seats with a little bit of fear. Google have opened the door to the open web and have the might to keep it open. The problem is the price.

No one knows the price yet but the hardware is going to cost at least £50 or $50 which means its not going to get the penetration it requires. Its mainly going to be a glorified Tivo unless they can get the price down. Those who can afford the box have already got something like a Apple TV, XBMC or Boxee running. It won’t take much for them to adopt the open standards and emulate exactly what a google tv box does.

Theres also a problem when it comes to the social aspect of (or identity of the people watching) TV. Google TV already picks up the bluetooth of the phones of the people watching the TV (in the same room) but is that what you really want? Interestingly in the Google TV primer theres some hints of the problem.

Here are a few tips for those who haven’t designed for TV before. In a television environment, you must:

  • Understand that content is king.
  • Get users to the content as quickly and easily as possible.
  • Don’t interrupt when users are watching TV. Instead, make the viewing experience better.
  • Respect the living room context.
  • Think about what users will and won’t want to do when viewing TV with their family and friends.
  • Remember that TV is social.
  • Consider how groups might use your website or application.

Offer ways for individuals to use your site or apps in social settings.

  • Learn the pros and cons of TV screens and audio.
  • TV screens are wider and colors look different.
  • Text must be readable from a distance.
  • Sound is now a viable interface element.
  • Make it easy.
  • Offer simple choices and make actions obvious and easy to select.
  • Provide navigation that is simple enough for a remote control.

Thats only the start of the problem. Its great what Google has done but I can’t imagine what developed applications made for a phone will be like on a TV. Its goes back a little bit to what I said about the Apple TV.

The Living room is a funny place filled with different people and different exceptions. Google really needs to reach out to the content creation community and listen to what they say. Right now Google TV looks like something a Internet company who don’t fully get the dynamics of the TV/living room would build. Fantastic they have taken the standards route and pushed openness as far as it can go into the living room but now its time to consider the content and the experience. Or at least get some partners who do understand the content and experience. If they don’t I can see the Hulu problem growing and it may cause even more paywalls like the current newspaper situation.

Microsoft’s forward vision

I don’t get it.

Ubuntu can be a server or a user system but its certainly not a home server. I have no idea what happened to the ubuntu homeserver project but Microsoft have got the upper hand when it comes to servers in the home.

There is a large enough difference between a server in a home and server in a data centre. Microsoft understood this when they launched Windows Home Sever. They could have just re-bundled Windows Server but no they brought out a different cut of Windows Server focused on the home market. Its also different enough from a NAS (network attached storage device) due to its great range of Apps or Add-ons.

I’m not the only one to say this either.

“95% of the would-be “nixers” are completely stunned, at that point when the Ubuntu Server installation states that it has finished and all that’s offered to the user is a black screen and a prompt line. Users … basically scrap the whole thing, install Windows and use … solutions which lack raw power but come with an comprehensive interface”

Like all the others I’m pleased to see that you decided to continue this project. I’m a new NAS end user: i first bought a Synology DS410j, but i realized quickly that the processor was far too limited for me. So I made a 4 bay NAS by myself, counting on freenas. My problem is that i use linux a lot (I have a Mythtv server), but i don’t know FreeBSD at all. So the promise of a linux based NAS is a very good news. You can’t blame people to defend their chapel. Don’t listen to them, walk and see ! I assure you that i’ll be among the first switchers and the first donators because your work is useful, there’s no doubt about that.

The closes thing to Windows Home server on Ubuntu is maybe Freenas (which requires you to format all your drives into UFS for the best use, oh and its BSd based. Theres also Amahi which takes over too much of your system (it likes to control the dns, which is a pain if you got a good router).

So what makes a home server?

  • Low Minimum System Requirements
  • Simple Storage Space Management
  • Scalable Architecture
  • Cross-Platform Client Support
  • File/Data Server.
  • Backup/Restore
  • Printer Server
  • Network Functions
  • Remote Access from the Internet

Windows home server does all this really well, Ubuntu Server edition falls very short.

What else is out there? Because to be honest I’m very close to installing Windows Hone server on my home server.

Open Media Vault looks pretty good but its not quite mature enough yet.

Canonical really need to get moving with this stuff… Microsoft had the vision to kick this off, now its time for Linux to lead this area. Just like how Android is now stiring up the mobile world.

Why people don’t dance any more?

I can’t be the only one to notice that people don’t have a clue how to dance anymore.

Its just a thing I’ve noticed.

When I was growing up we had expressive arts which was a bit of crap subject but at least you learned how to dance if you couldn’t already dance. I remember learning how to moonwalk in a lesson and how to do forward flip over the course of about 1 month.

I’m not saying we should bring back expressive arts in school but I am saying when I go out clubbing (rarely) I’m shocked at the dancing I’m seeing.

I don’t know whats to blame. My flatmate thinks the music may be to blame. Some tunes are just un-dancable but I’m not so sure thats true.

When I was growing up there was a lot of stimulate for dancing such as House Party 1-3, Normski’s dance energy show on BBC2, Fresh Prince of Bellair, electric boogaloo, breakdance, etc. Now I think the only stimulation comes from So you think you dance and those cinemantic dance films such as step up. So it can’t be the stimulatus because there is plenty of that, no matter what you think of them.

So what is it? Maybe people don’t get to practice enough or something like that? Maybe they don’t get a chance to practice in front of friends and family so they only get the chance to impress there friends with there so called dancing.

I admit theres plenty of different types of music with there own types of dance but I’m talking about what use to be disco dancing, the type of thing you hear and dance to in a nightclub. There use to be a rash of latin dance clubs and recently a lot of them have shut down, not that I’m saying thats to blame but its just interesting.

So whos to blame? I honestly don’t know… Maybe I’m mistaken and its just about the places I’m going which has bad dancers?