2012: Going Digital

2012: Going Digital

Digital Al starting the digital rollout to 2012 in Whitehaven

There is no doubt that a lot of companies have got their eye on 2012 becuase in the UK at least this is going to be the year when a brave new world of digital abundance is launched. The opening up of high speed broadband networks offering high speed video downloading will probably change our concept of the mobile phone which is already turning into a mobile entertainments machine which occasionaly functions as a phone.  

This brave new world will be be ushered in by an Olympic fanfare which will provide instant real time content for what will by then be 5 or 6 G wireless telephony doutless played on an "iMulti" which will look like a Kleenex as it unfolds its super hi tech screen. It won't of course be able to keep up with the new broadband networks but it will be fast by today's standards.

In the meantime the devices that are about to become popular amongst the computer commuters is the ultra-mobile PC like the Toshiba one below which will give you a good experience of the Olympics live when on a bus or train or on the move, alternatively, you can play World of Warcraft or be in the depths of Second Life:

about the size of a paperback book and equipped with the latest in wireless technology the best thing is to get a microheadset rather than earphones and you can have a phone as well.  Once the airwaves have been opened up in 2012 the cost of high speed wireless telephony is set to drop dramatically and we will go from a subscription based payments system to an advertising driven one. Of course some of us would like to see a larger license fee being paid to the BBC in order to be able to provide a service of this nature at very low cost without the price of advertising. The pusilanimous New Labour government has enforced cut-backs at the BBC despite its world beating record at delivering new digital services.  Public Service Multicasting is an important issue in the unfolding new media age. 

Where Digits go Advertising Follows

As can be seen from the report summary below advertising futures is developing a 2012 strategy now. It's only four years away and planning and contract negotiation needs to be well under way already. Consultancies and policy research organisations like Jupiter see below are already working on this:

Executive Summary

The launches of Google's mobile search sponsored-links program and Blyk's ad-funded mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), combined with release of best-practices guidelines from the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), highlight growing interest and hope generated by nascent mobile advertising revenues.

Key Questions

• Which audiences can marketers and advertisers target through nascent mobile media?

• How much revenue will mobile Internet advertising generate in 2012? (My emphasis on the question loads is the obvious answer!)

• Which tactics should mobile operators and media sellers deploy to foster advertisers' uptake of mobile marketing?

Wherever you are there's an advertiser waiting to pounce. Are people spending all this money to have great new communications technologies just to have it spoiled by continuous adverts? Support Public Service Multicasting now. Write to your MP and  show your dissatisfaction with the 'New' Labour treatment of the BBC!

: 09 Jan 2008 21:28 |  Tags: 2012 Going Digital British Broadcasting Media Issues And Debates Mobile Internet Advertising Multicasting New Media Technologies Public Service Multicasting |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

BT and X–Box Team Up

Convergence moves on:Xbox will host BT's TV service

Introduction

This BBC story about XBox from Microsoft linking up with BT's online services is a significant development and an important link up in a week which has seen a blow to Microsoft's X-Box and its support of the HD-DVD standard with Bluray seemingly taking a lead in this area however if you look at my comment about if they don't hurry up online services will make both DVD based systems a bit  redundant seems to have been a well-placed one. Here we look at the process of technological convergence which often means that large companies are doing specific deals with other ones in order to try and get ahead in the market place. No single company has technological dominance across the board. 

What Consumers are probably being offered:

On-demand films and sports content from the BT Vision service will be available via the Xbox games console from the middle of this year.

Desparately  Seeking Audiences!

As usual media organisations are desparately seeking new audiences and reinvestment or repurposing of existing technologies is always a likely way forward:  

Sales of BT Vision have been somewhat sluggish according to critics, with BT signing up around 100,000 subscribers since launching in November 2006.

How far is the X-Box developing into a domestic entertainment hub?

Whilst it is likely to make the broadband service gain a higher profile for BT customers must sign up for a 12 month BT Broadband contract. Unlike BT's own V-Box the X-Box is unable to deliver recording facilities because of hard-drive limitations.  However as BT are patently aware of this is seems reasonable to presume that some sort of add-on external video recording hard drive will be made available at a reasonable price. For those household s sporting an X-Box or three then it will presumably be marketed as an attractive service for them. As a core marketing strategy of the X-Box Mind you watch this space if a recession starts to take hold, there are straws in the wind about the Chinese economy !)

Did Sony Pay Warner? If so How Much?

Whilst this week's Economist thought that it was 'game over' for HD-DVD I'm not so convinced. Certainly announcement's were pulled at the hugely important Consumer Electronics Show (CES) by Toshiba / Microsoft but that is hardly surprising given the brilliance of Sony's timing of the announcement. Yes I said Sony's becuase I don't believe for a moment that Warner weren't heavily bribed to make not only this default to Blueray but also to make the timing of the announcement to try and deliver a knockout blow against Toshiba / Microsoft. Toshiba had already pulled off the same trick but their timing wasn't perhaps so good: 

Paramount, which had supported both formats, abandoned Blu-ray last year after Toshiba offered it tens of millions of dollars in marketing incentives. (See Economist link above)

At the root of this game is Microsoft. It's X-Box has a much larger base in the domestic environment than Playstation 3. Whilst the Economist points to twice as many Bluray discs being sold in 2007 this is not very many. They are still very expensive. flooding the market with cheap players and ensuring that HD-DVDs are readily available in rental outlets at a low price could still put Sony in the shade. Sany Vaios with Bluray are still very expensive and the technology was hugely expensive. Toshiba / Microfst still have some cards to play! 

: 09 Jan 2008 20:32 |  Tags: Bluray Hd DVD Microsoft New Media Technologies Toshiba |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem