Author: Stuart Dredge
Quick Pic: If Volkswagen ran the London Underground…
(via Flickr)
Cancer charity holding 'World's Biggest Coffee Morning' in Second Life
At last, a reason to log back into Second Life that doesn’t involve getting spammed by a brand. UK charity Macmillan Cancer Support is holding what it says is the ‘World’s Largest Coffee Morning’ this Friday within the virtual world, at its new virtual cancer information centre.
It’s been created for Macmillan by Second Life creative firms New Business Horizons and Phoenix Film & Television. Visitors to the centre will be served virtual coffee all day, while giant coffee cups are being placed around the Second Life world to attract donations, with every donor getting a free virtual t-shirt by way of thanks.
Analysis: Have music download stores had their day?
It’s the best of times, the worst of times to be a digital music retailer. It’s the worst of times if you’re one of the less popular download stores, even if you’re owned by a big company.
In the last few weeks alone, Sony has announced plans to close its Connect service, Virgin has announced that its Virgin Digital service is for the chopper, and Yahoo is reportedly deciding whether its Yahoo Music service is worth continued support. Meanwhile, independent service AnywhereCD announced yesterday that it too is closing.
Amazon launches AmazonMP3 music downloads store… at last!
Phew. After several months worth of speculation, Amazon has finally cut the ribbon (or whatever the online equivalent is) on its music downloads store. It’s called AmazonMP3, it’s US-only for the moment, and it’s offering over two million DRM-free MP3 files for 89 or 99 cents apiece, with albums priced between $5.99 and $9.99.
Amazon has signed up two major labels for the store – EMI and Universal Music Group – plus thousands of indie labels. The songs are 256Kbps files, and will work on iPods, Zunes, mobile phones, PSPs and any other device you care to name.
Rumours of £299 PS3 gather pace, despite Sony's denial
PS3 is still too expensive. Sony argues the point, of course, but the sales figures show that it’s suffering in comparison with the cheaper Xbox 360 and Wii. So it’s no surprise that when a rumour springs up about a PS3 price cut, it spreads like wildfire.
Such is the case this week, with well-sourced reports claiming that Sony’s about to unveil a cut-down PS3 for £299, with a smaller 40GB hard drive, no USB ports and no backwards compatibility with PS2 and PS1 games.
Top 20 ways to embarrass yourself on Bebo, Facebook or MySpace
It’s a hard life being a British tennis player. You’re constantly being compared unflatteringly to Tim Henman, you have to schlep around the world’s minor tournaments before going out in the first round at Wimbledon, and worst of all, you can’t boast about your burger and cider habits on Bebo without getting suspended by the Lawn Tennis Association. Harumph.
However, it’s not just tennis pros who are getting caught out. Social networks are meant to bring us closer together – which they do – but they’re also a minefield of potential shame and embarrassment. Here’s 20 more ways you can come a cropper – you get a prize if you’ve done more than ten of ’em.
1. Get dropped by your hard-partying kebab-munching friends when they read your Bebo profile and realise you’re really a teetotal fitness-focused tennis professional.
2. Reveal yourself as a two-faced hypocrite by praising both pirates AND ninjas on your Facebook profile. For shame.
Online TV set for steady growth in the UK, but behind music
You can treat many analyst predictions with a pinch of salt, but at least they’re trying to figure out how fast technologies will take off (and who stands to trouser the revenues). Screen Digest has just released a report predicting that by 2011, online TV will be generating £181 million of revenues here.
That includes catch-up and on-demand services from the big broadcasters, but also online telly firms like YouTube and Joost (pictured), and download services like Apple’s iTunes. It specifically says that the tradiitonal broadcasters will be threatened by the rise of these new online firms, too. If I was ITV, I’d be trying to buy Joost right now.
Is Google planning to launch its own virtual world?
Okay, so Google already has a virtual world: it’s called Google Earth. But I’m talking a Second Life style virtual world, with avatars and community features and big furry-penised love machines all over the shop. Well, maybe not that last one.
The rumour’s come from Arizona State University, where students have been asked to sign up to beta test a new product from “a major internet company”, with the signup form mentioning 3D modelling, gaming and avatars, and asking specifically if they have a Gmail account. The university has strong ties with Google in other areas.
Europeans not interested in mobile TV, claims Gartner
It’s fair to say that the mobile TV backlash is well underway, since despite the promotional efforts of the mobile operators, us punters simply don’t seem keen. That’s backed up by a new study by industry analyst Gartner, which found that only 5% of Europeans are interested in watching TV or video on our phones in the next year.
Samsung i560 set to ship with built-in GPS
And the satnav phones keep on coming, with Samsung’s i560 the latest to set the blogosphere buzzing. It’s apparently a slider smartphone running the Series 60 operating system, and will have a 2.4-inch screen, a 3.2-megapixel digital camera, and will be a 3G phone.
