Well, in much the same way that sites created a mobile, iPhone compatible version of their site, they’re doing the same with the iPad. Unlike the iPhone, the iPad is meant to be a real Internet experience. Anyone who’s ever tried to do any serious browsing on the iPhone knows that, while it’s the best smartphone browser out there, it doesn’t come close to the real thing. So many non-mobile sites have started to eschew plugins on their sites.

YouTube, MySpace and the BBC all use Flash on their sites for delivering audio and video content. For the most part this has worked. It works on (nearly) all platforms, it can be embedded and most people already have Flash on their system. It does have its downsides though. My personal gripe is it’s ridiculously power hungry. On my old laptop a two minute video will completely drain the battery!

The next set of HTML standards (the language the web is built with), known as HTML5 include a video element which is plugin free and supposedly efficient. Both YouTube and the BBC have experimented with HTML5 Video and now, with the iPad’s arrival, we’ll be seeing a lot more of it. Apple has rather helpfully created a list of Flash-free websites and my guess is there will soon be a lot more.

Late last year, Channel 4 held a “3D Week” that was criticised by some in the industry for not being “proper” 3D. So, what constitutes proper 3D? Well, most of the products shown in Vegas use technology from a company called RealD. Basically, you need a 3D TV, a 3D source and some glasses.

For many people the glasses will be the issue. Every viewer will have to wear a pair of glasses– so you’ll need one pair for you, another pair for your wife, two pairs of the kids and a couple of spares for any guests that come round. This is all starting to sound quite expensive! Cynics would say that this is just a way for the technology industry to get us to upgrade our TVs now that we all had HD sets.

Do you want 3D TV? Let me know in the comments.

TiVo’s technology is based arround recommendations for programmes and a clean user interface. More recently, TiVo has built-in functionality for web-based streaming that allows users to watch content from Netflix, Amazon and Youtube.

Neil Berkett, CEO of Virgin Media said:

“TiVo’s proven track record of innovation, strength of its patented technology and experience in developing best in class user environments, make it an ideal strategic partner for Virgin Media as we move aggressively to bring our next generation TV service to market.”

Tech-savvy consumers hoping for a FreeSat or FreeView TiVo will sadly be disappointed as VirginMedia will be the exclusive provider in the UK. VirginMedia expects to lauch its first co-branded box in 2010.

Via: TiVo

There are a few notable omissions in the Digital Economy bill. Namely, the plans for 2mb broadband to be available to all UK households by 2012. The much debated broadband tax also failed to make it into the bill as it would require a new tax to be introduced.

Copyright issues are also addressed in the bill. The idea behind this is that it will be easier for people to use images online and not have to get permission.

The bill also contains Lord Mandelson’s controversial file-sharing plans that would allow the government to cut off people suspected of file sharing.

Via: What Hi-Fi?

The Competition Commission blocked a similar project, known as Kangaroo, earlier this year. Lord MacDonald told Bradshaw that ‘many people in media believe the Commission lives on a different planet’. The US have had Hulu, a single site for on-demand TV, since 2007. Bradshaw has said that the team behind Project Canvas will have to adapt their proposal to meet UK competition rules and the national interest. He did say he was aware of the risk that US players, such as Hulu, could come in and dominate the UK market.

It was reported earlier this week that Hulu were finalising a deal with ITV ahead of their UK launch. The deal would see ITV hold a 25% equity steak in the company.

Via: DigitalSpy

The iPlayer has been available on VirginMedia set-top boxes since June 2008 and according to Rahul Chakkara, the head of TV platforms for the BBC, a quarter of viewing is via the service. The service is also available on the Nintendo Wii and Sony Playstation 3 as well as the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

Earlier this year Richard Lindsay-Davies, director general of the DTG, announced the group were ‘working very hard‘ to get the iPlayer service ready for the upcoming Freeview HD service due to be launched in December.

As with all Internet based Video on-demand services, download speed is a vital factor in the success of the service. The government  promised in its ‘Digital Britain’ report a minimum speed of 2Mbps to every household by 2012. BT’s Vision service already offers an Internet based on-demand service and requires a minimum 2Mbps connection.

Via: BBC News

If a man uses electricity to commit a crime, you don’t cut off his power. Electricity is a utility, not a service. Many groups have called for the Internet to be treated as a utility and recently, Finland have said that 1Mb Broadband is a right, not a priviledge. So, would cutting off persistent file sharers impinge on their human rights?

One issue raised by this is that of false positives. Peer-to-peer, or P2P, technology has been given a bad name over the last decade and perhaps wrongly. The technology itself is not illegal and has many legal uses. Skype, for example uses peer-to-peer technology and in the early days of the iPlayer, the BBC used P2P as a method for reducing bandwidth costs. Checking every single piece of P2P traffic would require the use of a technology know as Deep Packet Inspection. This involves checking each ‘packet’  of data sent between computers on the network. The problem with this technique is it is costly, ineffective and slows internet speeds.

File sharing is a problem for the creative industries worldwide and a solution has to be found. The music and film industries are losing vast sums of money every year to pirates. So what are the government planning?

The current plan would:

• As a first step, illegal file-sharers would have download caps imposed or their speed limited.
• Like the French scheme, there would be a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy.
• Disconnection would be a last resort.

The current plans could be put in place by April 2010 with rules becoming stricter in the Spring of 2011. The European Union would have their say before anything goes ahead. ISPs, including TalkTalk, have said they are prepared to challenge the measures ‘in the courts’.

Via: BBC News

The U.S. has had Hulu, a multi-network TV streaming site– similar to the BBC’s iPlayer– for quite some time and it has been given rave reviews by U.S. media outlets. While a TV service like this may be some way off back here in the UK, we may get a multi-network radio site sooner than you may think.

According to Andrew Harrison, chief executive of the RadioCentre: “I think it’s going to be quite a breakthrough project. The (commercial) sector wants it to happen and we are working in a cross-industry team. I’d hope we would have something ready to test shortly, before Christmas.”

In order for the BBC to be on board, the project must go past the BBC Trust. This is the body that oversees all of the Beeb’s operations and makes sure they use our license fee appropriately. Tim Davie, director of audio and music at the BBC, said that “I think that is essential to the future of radio, Radio is just too important to get left behind.”

The iPlayer, along with 4oD, has changed the way we consume content in the UK. However, there is no uniformity across the industry. If this project goes ahead we could be one step closer to a truly ‘on demand’ and easy to use TV and Radio future.

Via: The Independent