think d2c

Comupter assisted gardening

2008-10-20T10:26:00.007-05:00

Neat toy I saw this weekend, the easyBloom plant sensor, helps you pick the right plants for your specific growing area and helps diagnose plants that are in trouble.

The senor is first plugged into your computer's usb port and allows you to register for the service. The you plant the extended device into the ground where you want to plant or where you have already planted something.

Over a period of 24 hours the device records various details about the soil composition and the growing zone.

The company has a database of over 5,000 plants that it then compares results against and provides recommendations.

From the site:

Plant recommendations. Use our sensor and web site to find out exactly what plants will thrive in any location - indoors or out.
Plant monitoring. Find out what is wrong with an ailing plant and get expert advice on how to bring your plant back to health.
Plant Library. Search our 5,000+ plants, create a personal library of your plants, add notes and other information - all with our easy to use website.

Giant plans and small boxes

2008-10-11T12:33:00.011-05:00

Its been a year since I last posted. It feels like even longer. Scanning for inspiration today I stumbled across a post by Chris Brogan that seemed timely. Here are the main points:

"Decide what matters most. Articulate it in the largest possible way. It’s easier to drill down when you have the larger goals in mind.
Put constraints around HOW you’ll accomplish the goals you’ve set out to accomplish. Include accountability in the constraints.
Figure out what you need to help you achieve those goals. In my case, I need two other people and some more education. You’ll need something else.
Make your goals public in some form or another. (This helps with accountability)."

He continues, "If you can put your giant plans into small boxes it will help you move towards your goals."

One goal I have is to get back to creating content, be it written or otherwise. My content creation experiments got pushed to the back seat along with the blog last year and I want to change that.

Looking back on those efforts they seem dated now. In the gap I missed out on the whole Twitter explosion and I don't really have any regrets about that.

I have been deeply involved with Flex and AIR desktop applications but some of those projects could have used some small boxes along the way too.

I finally got an iPhone. I have played the waiting game with Apple since I got my first SE in 1988 and I wanted to wait for the 3G network.

The iPhone is sharp. It looks good, feels good and provides a portable computing platform unlike anything else I have seen. Its ok as a phone but I knew that going in. I like the headphones and try to use them when I can but in regular use sometimes its hard to hear the other person and hard for them to hear me.

Call management and especially voice management is awesome. Being able to delete voice mail without having to listen to a menu system is great. I have used the speaker phone and it works fairly well too.

Like everyone says I only turn on 3G when I have to get data and am not on a wifi connection because it does drain the battery. Hitting the "find me" button on Maps is super cool.

My favorite app Art Envi Deluxe:

The main thing the iPhone has done is freed me from a desk by putting a computer in my hand. You may say, "I've been getting email on my Blackberry for years."

I say, "whatever, fraking Blackberrys..."

Maps and mobile data are gradually finding their way to automobiles, the last human environment to be enabled. With the new XOHM WiMAX and the whitespace projects I expect one of the next big things to be a mobile broadband cloud. Fast access everywhere is going to change things, just like the iPhone has changed things for me.

So as I think about content creation in the year ahead I am going to focus on small projects that involve mobility and connectivity.

My last goal is to have fun. Its been a hard couple of years.

(Oh yeah, transfer blog to wordpress!)

Second Life...the street finds its own use for things

2007-10-11T10:05:00.000-05:00

TechCrunch hasn't been that excited about Second Life, until now.

From TechCrunch:

"Last Saturday night I noticed that Australia’s answer to Robert Scoble (in a good way) Microsoft’s Nick Hodge was in Second Life chatting to The Podcast Network’s Cameron Reilly via Twitter. I jumped into Second Life to join the conversation, making it the three of us. I Twittered my presence and provided a link. Within 30 minutes three had blown out to around 15 people, or 20 different people over 3 hours. With voice in Second Life we discussed a variety of topics, from Second Life itself, to Web 2.0, politics and the environment."

AT&T buys Aloha's 700MHz

2007-10-10T12:26:00.000-05:00

Tired of waiting for the auction, AT&T buys Aloha's spectrum.

From The Street:

"AT&T got a jump on next year's radio wave auction with a $2.5 billion bid for Aloha Partners' 700-megahertz spectrum licenses. In the deal, AT&T would take ownership of former UHF channels 54 and 59, the so-called C block of wireless spectrum Aloha had acquired in the past few years. Aloha owned the largest swath of licenses covering about 80% of the population in the top 100 cities.

From the press release:

"Customer demand for mobile services, including voice, data and video, is continually increasing," said Forrest Miller, group president-corporate strategy and development. "Aloha's spectrum will enable AT&T to efficiently meet this growing demand and help our customers stay connected to their worlds."

From Unstrung:

"AT&T's experience on deploying UMTS at 850 MHz makes 700 MHz a great fit with its existing network," says Gabriel Brown. "In particular, the carrier should be able to source attractive 3G handsets that work at both frequencies."

Brown says the price AT&T has paid for this spectrum is "full but fair." He calculates that, at a price of $2.5 billion for 12 MHz of spectrum covering 196 million people, AT&T has paid roughly $1 per MHz per head."

How to beat (compete) with Google locally

2007-10-09T09:50:00.000-05:00

Terry Heaton takes a look at how local media can try and compete with Google for local media dollars.

From the post:

"So in order to compete with Google at the local level, we also must become an advertising system. There are a variety of ways to go about this, but here are five things that are required for making it happen:

Define and identify the Local Web.
Organize the Local Web.
Provide tools to help it grow.
Serve it by enabling commerce across the network.
Sell the concept to the community."

I think Terry forgot number 6: Give up.

Turner signs deal with Kaneva (updated)

2007-10-03T12:40:00.000-05:00

I don't see any press releases about this but here is the word from Paid Content:

"Now the Time Warner division will try for a relationship with a little more depth, signing a one-year deal with Kaneva to build and test virtual worlds for its entertainment networks. Turner gets access to Kaneva’s technology and tools to create and use Web communities and “virtual spaces” on Kaneva’s site and in the virtual world of Kaneva .

One of the Turner spaces will act as a virtual portal for the rest. One intriguing twist: each Turner virtual community and “Virtual World” space will include an embedded video player streaming related Turner content. Earlier this year, Kaneva integrated synchronized viewing of YouTube videos, which sounds like a precursor for this."

The full release from 3pointD:

“Our exploration with Kaneva of virtual worlds is yet another example of Turner staying at the forefront of consumer technology trends,” said Blake Lewin, vice president for TBS, Inc.’s New Products Group. “Through this opportunity, we hope to leverage the Kaneva platform to explore how users interact with our brands in a virtual world."

Christopher Klaus, founder and CEO of Kaneva added, “Turner is an ideal flagship media partner for Kaneva. Turner’s high quality programming and credibility is synergistic with our unique focus on delivering entertainment to the masses inside a virtual world. As a result of this partnership, we will provide entirely new ways for audiences to watch, participate and interact around their favorite TV programming.”

Terry's 10 local TV assumptions

2007-10-02T12:06:00.001-05:00

If you read this blog you know that I am a big fan of Terry Heaton. He's not pulling any punches with this post:

"The TV audience for local media isn’t coming back.
News — and especially local news — is being increasingly commodified.
The local weather franchise is moving to The Weather Channel, Weather Underground, and a host of outside providers who’ve made their applications easy to find and easy to use.
Advertisers themselves will put a halt to the blue smoke and mirrors of mass marketing.
We will never, NEVER overcome revenue losses to our legacy platforms through portal websites alone.
The people formerly known as the audience are entertaining themselves and each other. The best we can do in this scenario is to support it — let people show off. Teach them to know what we know.
The network-affiliate system isn’t just changing; it’s history.
A successful internet sale is AGAINST television and all mass media. This is why the lack of dedicated web sales people is beyond problematic.
The local advertising community needs to be taught about internet advertising, and we have to do it.
Local media MUST move forward along two separate paths of profitability, one maturing as rapidly as the other is growing."

Bud.tv - not dead yet

2007-09-27T09:57:00.000-05:00

Bud.tv gets another year of life.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

"Following a keynote speech Tuesday at the Online Media, Marketing & Advertising Conference & Expo, Tony Ponturo, vp global media and sports/entertainment marketing, also said that Anheuser-Busch decided to end its 25-year title sponsorship of NASCAR's Busch series and its role as the official beer sponsor of NASCAR so it could invest more in entertainment and the digital space.

"We wanted to get through the step of, 'OK, should we continue into '08 as we build our marketing plans?' and that was the decision," he said. "I think it (Bud.TV) is something that could have an ending someday, but I think if we keep learning from it and if we keep seeing assets from it ... then it makes sense to continue the site."

In-car Wi-Fi

2007-09-17T10:18:00.000-05:00

Bridge Ratings has a report that looks at the coming availability of in-car Wi-Fi.

From the report:

"Of the estimated 30 million users of wireless access technology in the U.S., 75% or 23 million have wireless accessed Internet radio. In fact, 48% of those accessing the Internet via wireless technology seek out Internet radio. The number of Internet radio listeners accessing wirelessly will grow to 77 million by 2010 as wireless technology penetrates the average U.S. lifestyle.

ABI Research forecasts that the total number of Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics devices will grow from just 40 mln shipped in 2006 to nearly 249 mln in 2011.

Mobile WiMAX customers will grow at an annual compounded rate of 64% between 2009 and 2012, when telecoms embrace WiMAX as a fixed wireless broadband service, according to Pyramid Research.

By year 5 of in-car Wi-Fi acceptance, traditional radio can expect to see the amount of time spent listening to fall below 19 hours a week and by year 8 when we project that more than 23% of the U.S. public will have adopted wireless Internet technology in-car, weekly time spent listening to traditional radio will fall below 18 hours per week.

The availability of wireless Internet in-car poses a signficant threat to traditional as well as satellite radio. This study projects that the growth of Wi-Fi in-car should reach more than 50% of the U.S. population after nine years of market availability."

Comcast buys BuddyTV

2007-09-17T09:03:00.000-05:00

The acquisitions continue.

From PaidContent:

"Seattle-based BuddyTV, a TV community site, is being acquired by Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA), paidContent.org has learned from sources. BuddyTV took a loan of $250K from the Charles River Ventures’ Quick Start Seed Funding program back in May, before taking a $2.8 million investment from Gemstar-TV Guide this summer.

The site competes with a wide range of TV-related blogs and communities, but co-founder Andy Liu told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer this summer that the site was receiving 3 million uniques per month and that it now has 20 employees. It seems likely that BuddyTV will be used in conjunction with Comcast’s Fancast.com site, as well as Fandango, which it acquired in the earlier this year."

Onow.com: free classified ads

2007-09-14T09:58:00.000-05:00

Onow.com is a classified ad site from KMTV and its five radio stations.

From Lost Remote:

"It is its own brand and does not have the names/logos of the TV or radio stations on it. For now, users can post everything, including pictures and videos, for free. Eventually the site will charge for the pix and video, but the text ads will remain free."

And there is a blog that highlights listing.

Quincy Smith on Hulu

2007-09-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

From Forbes:

"Yes, we're constantly talking to [Hulu]. We'd love the opportunity to do it, assuming that the deals make sense. I don't know Jason [Kilar, Hulu's chief executive], the guy they got from Amazon, though I certainly know a lot of people who know him and respect the heck out of him. If anyone could try and build a next-generation destination, it's probably him, based on his background.

I love everything about the joint venture and the notion of syndicating content with distribution partners that are already proven in the business, both in the video-destination and the widget business. But why--why still hold on to a destination [Web site]? That's a huge amount of infrastructure, that's a huge part of investment and frankly, a huge distraction."

Hulu does something - rumormill

2007-09-13T08:53:00.000-05:00

TechCrunch set off a blogstorm of posts over the rumor that Hulu is buying Mojiti.

From TechCrunch:

"It is surprising that Hulu would use a third party platform for their service rather than build it themselves from the ground up. They’ve already missed their promised Summer 2007 launch date, however, and probably think the acquisition will get them to market faster."

Michael in the comments: "remember when they promised a mostly decentralized platform? no mention of that recently, and mojiti isn’t the right tech for that. I sense chaos and disorganization, not a smart strategic decision to buy v. build. And a new strategy to focus on a centralized, youtube-like site. And remember that Adobe already built all the hard parts of this and put it in the Flex platform. For some reason people are giving Hulu a lot of room before judging them. I prefer to judge them now."

From PaidContent:

"The exact role Mojiti will play technologically is unclear. NBBC’s technology was supposed to be the foundation for the distribution network—the distribution player will be skinned to match various destinations—but, in its previous incarnation, it hadn’t operated on the kind of scale Hulu requires. The destination portal will have its own video player, which is where what Feng and his team have been working on may best fit in.

Feng is just part of the shifting staff at Hulu, which started life with a team borrowed from NBCU and News Corp. Many of those involved at the senior level, including some whose managers expected to stay with the new venture, are in the midst of returning to their respective companies. The mantra I’ve heard: Kilar wants his own team."

FOX: Merchants of Cool

2007-09-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Where do you turn to find the hottest local bands? How about FOX Interactive Media's O&Os! Thats right folks, no longer satisfied with highschool sports, Local TV lashes out at local music.

From Lost Remote:

"FOX Interactive Media and a few FOX O&O’s have launched a few local music websites in connection with MySpace. The sites are an experiment to see if there is an audience for content that focuses on local bands, concerts and fans.

The first round of sites include mymusictwincities, mymusicboston and mymusichouston, with MySpace pages for each (example). The sites include streaming audio, video of performances, concert calendars and links to the bands’ MySpace pages. It’s kind of a flashback to what was a key to the success of MySpace."

Actually this is not as big of a deal as it might seem. FIM recently rolled out a much discussed content management application for its affiliate stations. This is just some additional content in the existing entertainment section.

Regardless of your views on FIM hosting local TV sites and taking half of the revenue, I can't get past the horsey graphics on the user interface. For whatever reason, the sites that use the scrolling updater completely freeze my browser.

First run and syndication end around

2007-09-07T10:49:00.000-05:00

More bad news for local TV stations.

From Broadcast&Cable:

"ABC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Group struck a unique two-year digital-distribution agreement for four shows; Big Shots, Men in Trees, Notes from the Underbelly and Pushing Daisies.

The deal allows ABC to stream episodes of these series online and to retain advertising revenue generated on ABC.com’s broadband player. Episodes of the shows will be available on ABC.com the day after their broadcast premieres and will remain there for up to four weeks following broadcast. ABC can use pilots on alternative platforms to support the launch of the shows.

In the second year of the deal, Warner Bros. has the rights to stream past episodes of the shows that previously streamed on ABC.com. In addition, Warner will offer digital downloads of previous year’s episodes, as well as DVD boxed sets.

Warner can stream episodes to unlimited outlets, but episodes will be branded ABC and promote back to the network."

From Lost Remote:

"So now locals that are used to milking syndicated reruns should be concerned that the networks are going around them twice: once in the show’s original run, and then again in syndication. Get into the original, local production business and you’ll always own your stuff."

Velocity Investment Group

2007-09-05T09:05:00.001-05:00

Two media big shots are starting an internet holding company, backed by General Atlantic LLC and advised by Allen & Co.

From the WSJ:

"Former AOL Chief Executive Jonathan F. Miller and former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn have joined together to start an Internet company, according to people close to the situation.

The new entity, called Velocity Investment Group, is already actively scouting for acquisitions and has signed letters of intent with a few consumer-oriented Internet companies. Velocity aims to purchase start-ups in related content areas and boost their online ad revenue by selling across multiple properties. Velocity is also considering buying out companies that broker ads for other Web sites. It is being advised by the investment bank Allen & Co.

The two executives are considering buying Internet companies in several niches, including online video, according to people close to the situation. The idea would be to buy up several companies in a related area, then possibly spin off the consolidated entity into a public offering or a sale."

Hulu: the hating game

2007-08-31T08:23:00.000-05:00

NBCU gave everyone plenty of time to store up the hate for the newly named Hulu. So let the games begin.

From Techcrunch:

"Congratulations are in order to YouTube-competitor Hulu, which took just five months to come up with a name after announcing itself in March. CEO Jason Kilar says the name “captures the spirit of the service we’re building” in an open letter published today.

Just don’t translate that name to certain languages, because the name may capture significantly more of the spirit of the service than NBC and News Corp., the media giants behind Hulu, intended.

Given the litigious nature of online video, that is some serious irony. And you can bet that Hulu, and its parent companies NBC and News Corp., are going to be sending out one heck of a lot of cease and desist letters as soon as this thing launches."

From Silicon Valley Insider:

"For anyone keeping track, that means the venture now has a $100 million investment from Providence Equity, a $1 billion valuation, a CEO and a name. Great! Only a few more hurdles left! Hulu still has to deal with the fact that it:

hasn't launched
has 120 employees and a big burn rate (call it $10 million a year)
has a deeply entrenched, globally dominant competitor
is two years too late
has been shunned by the other big dogs in the industry (CBS, Disney, Viacom)
is a joint venture between two companies that hate each other."

From Terry Heaton:

"This portal has been so hyped as God’s gift to online video that any name they came up with would likely have bombed, especially with the tech community — which includes the people who’ve written the book on online video without the “help” of the networks or studios. Old media just doesn’t get that new media isn’t created in a board room with fancy consultants (oh shit, I’m a consultant!), because the results are usually just varnished horse crap. Hulu?

The problem is that the fuss over the stupid name casts a pall on what is really a smart move by NBC and Fox, namely creating a single portal for video instead of asking people to come to each branded site. Of course, it would be better if all networks were a part of this, and I think announcing the project without a name or a more complete partner list was a huge tactical error."

From Steve Sarfran: (Lost Remote)

"Three stages in newly named web product:

1. Everyone hates it, makes fun of it
2. People slowly adopt it, forget that they hated it
3. People start to use it either as a verb (”Google that”) or in comparison to inferior products (”It’s no flickr.”)"

Clown Co = Hulu

2007-08-29T13:51:00.001-05:00

Fall is in the air (not really in Atlanta) and the branding exercise is over, NBCU and News Corp present Hulu.

From Techcrunch:

"This morning news broke about NBC Universal and News Corporation’s joint video venture, hitherto dubbed “Clown Co.”, after a press release was sent out by a Hulu.com representative claiming that “Hulu” was the new name for that venture.

Initially, I was a bit concerned that this could be merely a hoax, as no press releases were sent out by NBC or News Corp. themselves. However, after speaking with the Hulu representative, Christina Lee, and seeing the news spread across the circuit like vine, it does appear as though this announcement is authentic."

From Reuters:

"We just wanted a name that is short and easy to spell," Hulu spokeswoman Christina Lee said. "We like the idea that it rhymes with itself. We wanted a fun name."

From Ad Week:

"When it does launch, the site will allow fans to stream episodes of NBC series such as The Office and Friday Night Lights, along with the soon-to-launch remake of The Bionic Woman.

Meanwhile, Fox is planning to offer on-demand episodes of staples like The Simpsons and Mad TV as well as premiering shows such as the New Orleans-set cop drama K-Ville. In addition to Hulu.com, the sweeping venture will see these series distributed across the biggest sites on the Web, including AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo!.

"Why is Hulu the new venture's name? According to a note posted on the site by newly installed CEO Jason Kilar, it's meant to connote fun and simplicity. "Objectively, Hulu is short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce and rhymes with itself," he wrote.

"Subjectively, Hulu strikes us as an inherently fun name, one that captures the spirit of the service we're building. Our hope is that Hulu will embody our (admittedly ambitious) never-ending mission, which is to help you find and enjoy the world's premiere content when, where and how you want it."

Eric Schmidt on the Spectrum Auction

2007-08-24T08:37:00.000-05:00

The High School sports battle

2007-08-21T08:23:00.000-05:00

On the heels of Hearst's announcement of HighSchoolPlaybook.com comes Belo's HSgametime.com and Emmis' IHSAAsports.org. From a naming standpoint I think Hearst is the clear winner.

From Mediaweek:

"Hearst-Argyle’s HighSchoolPlaybook, an online, on-air and mobile brand that combines social networking with high-definition video, stats, music and merchandising, initially launched on seven of its 26 stations; four also launched YouTube pages. The TV group also plans to syndicate the brand next year in markets where it doesn’t own stations.

Belo launched HSgametime.com covering football in six of its markets, with plans to complete the rollout to all 15 of it stations by September.

“High school sports is an untapped area,” said Chris Campbell, director of interactive media for Emmis and managing director of IHSAAsports.org, which is running the Indiana-wide site as a stand-alone brand with its own staff and sales. “We’ve found an overwhelmingly positive reaction from advertisers who are hungry to reach the multiple demographics that high school sports attract.”

“We’re treating high school sports as a community,” said Terry Mackin, executive vp of digital media for Hearst-Argyle. “You can talk to friends, talk to groups, move pictures back and forth, participate in contests about which school is the most spirited.”

From Lost Remote:

"Belo is in the middle of a multi-market rollout of HSGameTime.com, a national high school sports site with local ties to each of its TV and newspaper properties. Beyond the stuff you’d expect, the site features a social network for both parents and teens, as well as the capability for users to host their own blogs and upload video and photos. Much more later, but in the meantime, check out the Dallas version of HSGameTime, one of the first to launch."

From the old favorite Little Lost Robot!

"I’ve been busy lately, helping train up our small army of high school VJ reporters for football season - “sideline reporters”, we’re calling them. Of course, high schoolers are video sponges these days, with all their YouTubin’ and Facebookin’, so it’s actually been rather smooth going.

Anyway, I’m getting kinda excited about my station/company’s new endeavor and I can’t wait to see what the fledgling reporters come up with. The hardest thing about the whole process was learning the video editing software - after spending most of my career becoming an AVID master, it’s kinda frustrating to learn a $79 over-the-counter editing program that’s completely counter-intuitive. But there’s people smiling on the back of the box who look like they’re enjoying it, so I’m gonna give it another shot."

The Happiness Factory

2007-08-17T12:36:00.000-05:00

Coke is taking a different approach with its new Happiness Factory promotion.

From AdWeek:

"For the sequel to the Cannes Silver Lion-winning (and Emmy-nominated) "Happiness Factory," Coke engineered a Hollywood-style premiere in Second Life.

There is nothing like a movie to be able to tell the story of the world inside the Coca-Cola vending machine and bring the characters to life," said Judith Snyder, a Coke representative. "Through the short film and other promotional elements—including authentically designed movie posters, movie-style trailers, an interactive digital program, promotions and packaging—we are able to extend the life of this campaign."

"The eco-system of the world feels very complete, from the weather to geography to insects to relationships, to magical elixir to archetypal character," said Al Moseley ecd at Wieden + Kennedy in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, of making the spot. "We played to narrative conventions, with the ordinary guy who goes through a right of passage to learn about himself."

"It isn't about disruption anymore, it's about creating a piece of entertainment that people choose to download and own," said Moseley. "That's the difference here: we've created something people will want. It's a commercial, but it's not a spot."

BREAKING: People don't like mobile ads

2007-08-17T08:08:00.000-05:00

No way!

From MocoNews:

"Not great news for the legions of mobile ad firms and the many content companies hoping to graft their ad models onto the mobile platform: a new survey from Universal McCann found that display and video advertising on mobile TV, and the mobile Internet in general, are “irritating.”

In a poll of 9,500 mobile users in 21 countries, 61 percent of people rejected ads that ran alongside mobile TV programs and mobile Internet pages. Meanwhile, paid-for branded content, opt-in Bluetooth downloads and promotional giveaways fared much better, with 71 percent of those polled accepting these formats.

Hearst-Argyle's Highschool Playbook

2007-08-16T10:43:00.000-05:00

Hearst-Argyle launched High School Playbook in seven markets.

From Broadcast&Cable:

“We’re targeting three demographics,” says Hearst-Argyle Executive VP Terry Mackin, “teens, the parents of teens, and the [local] adult community that’s interested in high school sports.”

Mackin termed the project a “seven-figure investment, minimally,” that took about a year to create."

From Lost Remote: Michael Gay

"Seven Hearst-Argyle markets launched a new social networking site that is focused around local high school sports. HighSchoolPlaybook.com provides an environment where teens can share video and photos about their schools’ sports teams, cheer leading and bands.

Many of the stations have even hired a group of student sideline reporters who are using HD cameras to shoot local sports stories and reports for the site. According to Broadcasting and Cable, Hearst-Argyle plans to license the service to non-Hearst-Argyle stations in the next year. As part of the launch, Hearst-Argyle also launched five new YouTube channels for the stations involved in HighSchoolPlaybook."

TV ads not on TV

2007-08-14T13:16:00.000-05:00

Advertising HD TVs in a different way. From the comments: Official Aurea site here.

Go take a look at the site. It takes an amazingly long time to load and then... what? Ok, its a reveal site but come on. The only thing you can do is send them your email address. No mention of anything product related; it could be a toaster, a TV, a new sitcom, who knows?

From Lost Remote:

"Phillips Electronics has a new high-end HDTV flat screen line called Aurea it has launched in Europe. They’re not bothering much with TV ads, however. They’re spending their ad bucks by producing five minute, artsy films and then showing the films on the Aurea at fashion and jewelry stores in Europe."

From the NYT:

"The five-minute film is actually an advertisement for a new television from Philips Electronics, a high-end flat-screen model called Aurea. The film, a spy story shot in Shanghai, will be shown in the Paris boutiques of the fashion label Lanvin and the jeweler Lorenz Bäumer — on Aurea televisions, of course.

The decision to produce a short film with an art-house director like Mr. Wong shows how brands are trying to break away from their reliance on 30-second television spots, which some marketers fear have lost their effectiveness. Now, even televisions are being marketed without recourse to television.

“The idea is to be more exclusive, to be very different from your traditional kind of advertising,” said Sandrine Huijgen, marketing director for consumer electronics at Philips. “We don’t see Dior advertising a lot on television.”

Joost: Hindered by American Stupidity

2007-08-13T10:53:00.000-05:00

Not like "you are stupid" stupidity, more like "you didn't pay attention to who you elected or what they did" stupidity. Its not big secret that America, inventor of the internet, is somewhere down the list past Slovenia in terms of broadband speed and cost.

(The US - with broadband penetration at just under 53% - is in 24th place.)

The fact that anyone would consider 3Mps down broadband in 2007 should be an indicator of just how bad the situations is.

Oh wait! I just checked and the official definition is "data transmission speeds exceeding 200 kilobits per second (Kbps), or 200,000 bits per second, in at least one direction: downstream (from the Internet to your computer) or upstream (from your computer to the Internet)."

I guess the rest of the post really kind of writes itself. Joost can't work on a 10 year old, crippled network. Another big win for the USA!

From NewTeeVee:

"The fundamental problem that Joost faces is the fact that the broadband available to North American households simply isn’t fast enough for them to provide image quality comparable to digital cable or satellite, much less high-definition video.

My concern is that with DSL provider AT&T moving into IPTV, and cable Internet providers already delivering video, what little competition there is in America for consumer broadband providers, any incentive to increase speeds (especially the upstream bandwidth) could hit a wall of corporate self-interest. After all, why should companies like Comcast offer the kind of high speed broadband enjoyed in Europe and Asia when it would simply enable companies like Joost to compete with the company’s own digital video offerings?

Even if there is a significant increase in network speed, without any guarantees of network neutrality, Internet providers could simply charge Joost and other independent IPTV upstarts for the bandwidth rights to stream video of comparable quality to their own digital video offerings.

And guess who that cost would get passed on to? That would be you. So while Joost has a lot of potential on other continents, the cards are stacked against the company here in the USA."