Filed under: Feature, TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Bicycle, Bike, Cycling, Dumbo, Flickr, Global Positioning System, M.I.A., Nokia N95, Paper plane, Sports, Uncommon Projects, Yahoo
BIKING: GEEK FABULOUS STYLE
Yesterday afternoon, I got a chance to catch up with Tarikh and Josh from Uncommon Projects and ride the GPS-enabled Yahoo bike. They worked with Yahoo’s Buzz Marketing team to develop 20 of these bright purple bikes loading each with geek fabulous technology that this little blogstress can’t get enough of. Here’s a look at the on board tech:
Tech Out Your Roll
- Nokia N95 phone with GPS and camera (lives within this box on the handlebars): The camera automatically snaps pictures every 1 -2 minute intervals on your ride. I particularly love the “Ride like a girl” sticker its former owner in Maine affixed to the bike. Rock on girl. The photos are automatically uploaded to a flickr account. Check out my Dumbo ride’s photo set here. Considering how much the bike shakes while in motion (especially on the cobblestones of Dumbo), the clarity of some of these photos was incredible.
- Solar-Powered Battery System: Solar Panels on the back of the bike keep the N95 charged for up to 2 weeks on a single charge. Very nice.
My only request would be some speakers. I rode with a guy in Cali who had an iPod connected speaker which fit snuggly into his water bottle holder. I think we listened to M.I.A.’s Paper Planes at least 10 times from San Francisco to LA. Rolling ghetto blaster. Loves it.
The Ride
This photo was taken from the bike’s N95 camera. Click on either photo above or below for the entire trip’s Flickr photostream. First thing, perhaps don’t attempt a Yahoo bike ride wearing heels and a dress. Here lies my first mistake. Secondly, don’t attempt to ride down a cobblestone street and then try to cross exposed rail. Blarg! I bit it on the streets of Dumbo within 2 minutes of test driving the bike. Luckily, the bike took a sweet picture of the road after my fall (see below) and more importantly, I didn’t ruin the bike. Sigh.
The Fall
Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge
I first saw the bike last year when I noticed some pictures of the bright purple monster on a friend’s photo stream. Since then, I have begged Yahoo for my own, a request I have been assured will be fulfilled for the upcoming Bike NY in May. 40 miles, the bright purple monster, and me. Stay tuned for the photo stream and honk if you see bright purple, two wheels, and a Daily Marauder sticker. And perhaps don’t drive too close. I’m prone to fall…
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
TBS is entering the late-night talk show fray in November with an as-yet-untitled show featuring comedian-actor George Lopez as host. The series, which will run at 11 p.m., will differ from standard late-night talk shows in that it will allow audience members to interact with celebrity guests, according to the network. Mediaweek (3/24)
Chelsea Handler signed a new multi-year agreement with Comcast Entertainment Group, keeping her as host and executive producer of E! Entertainment’s Chelsea Lately through 2012. (Cynopsis 3/25)
FOX ordered six additional scripts of its crime drama Bones from 20th Century Fox TV, reports TV Week. This is not considered an official renewal, though a step toward a likely fifth season approval. (Cynopsis 3/25)
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes must decide how to replace Barry Meyer and Alan Horn, who have jointly presided over the company’s Warner Bros. studio and are to step down in 2011. Bewkes also must grapple with a business that is being undercut by new technologies. (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cotown-warner25-2009mar25,0,4142678.story 3/25)
Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn, above, has jointly presided over the studio with Chairman Barry Meyer.
Spike TV picked up the ten-part World War II miniseries Band of Brothers originally produced for HBO and now distributed by HBO. The award-winning miniseries will debut on Spike in third quarter this year. (Cynopsis 3/25)
HBO’s finale of Big Love last Sunday topped its third season with 2.7 million viewers. (Cynopsis 3/25)
While more than 70% of Americans feel the country is in a recession, 95% of viewers in cable-modem households said they planned to retain their current cable TV service, according to a new survey from CTAM. “These are uncertain times, and consumers are not only cutting back on out-of-home activities, they’re cocooning with family and friends in their homes,” said Char Beales, the organization’s president and CEO. “This has led to increased reliance on cable’s valuable entertainment, information and communications services.” Multichannel News (3/24) , Cartt News Service (subscription only) (3/24)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Live video on the Web is starting to take off, judging by the massive jump in traffic that Justin.tv is witnessing. According to comScore, the live video site’s global audience saw a massive jump from 9.3 million unique visitors in January to 15 million in February, which is about the same number of people who went to Veoh and nearly twice as many as visited Hulu.com. Of course, Hulu is only available in the U.S., where it is fourth most popular video site, and its videos are watched on other sites as well. In the U.S., ComScore only shows Justin.tv attracting 1.4 million people in February. So most of its audience and growth is global, with particular strength in Spain, Brazil, Germany, and the UK. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/25/justintv-is-bigger-than-hulu-overseas 3/25)
Hoping to blunt the success of rival Netflix, Blockbuster today is expected to announce a partnership with TiVo that will deliver Blockbuster’s films over the Web to viewers with TiVo DVRs. The service, which will launch in the second half of the year, will be available only to homes with broadband Internet connected to TiVo. The New York Times (3/25) , USA TODAY (3/25)
As Facebook users remain in a huff over the site’s new layout, it appears change may be coming. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggests in an update posted to his public fan profile that he is “looking at some updated designs that include ideas from people’s comments.” (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/03/24/facebook-preparing-to-tweak-site-design 3/24)
A new study from IBM reveals a “growing rift” between advertisers, consumers and content owners, as media companies “struggle to keep pace” with the new demands of tech-savvy audiences. IBM is calling on traditional media to make “fundamental” changes. (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://www.worldscreen.com/articles/display/20283 3/24)
The TV-Web barrier is falling, partly as the result of a Yahoo! widget engine currently operational on Samsung’s LED TV 7000 and soon to be compatible with Sony and Vizio sets. The service allows the user to view Web content, including Flickr photos, news stories and other content accessible by various widgets without zapping away from TV programming. The Wall Street Journal (3/25)
Google is making changes to its search results pages. The search engine giant is launching a technology to better understand what people are looking for. It also will give longer snippets after the search title, with relevant words in bold. The point is to make searchers more “relevant.” (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-google25-2009mar25,0,128658.story 3/25)
Music search and streaming service Project Playlist may finally be turning the tide in its ongoing battle with the music industry. EMI Music, one of the three major labels which was suing Project Playlist for copyright infringement, dropped out of the litigation and is announcing today that it has licensed its entire catalog to the service instead. EMI joins Sony BMG, which was never part of the lawsuit, in licensing its digital catalog of music to Project Playlist. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/25/emi-drops-lawsuit-against-project-playlist-licenses-catalog-instead 3/25)
Google’s YouTube is inaccessible in China for a second day after Tibet’s government-in-exile released video it says shows Chinese police beating protestors. YouTube is working to resolve the shutdown. The government says that it “manages the Internet according to law.” (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aTZHJepUj.1E 3/25)
Google is getting some major national exposure for both its AppEngine platform and Google Moderator, a simple tool that helps groups determine which questions should be asked at all hands meetings, conferences, Q&A sessions, etc. The White House is using Moderator, hosted on AppEngine, to determine which questions President Obama should answer at an online Town Hall meeting on Thursday. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/24/white-house-using-google-moderator-for-town-hall-meeting 3/24)
Although Google CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin remain among the world’s wealthiest people, their fortunes plunged by a combined $25.8 billion in 2008, as investors began to fret that the Internet giant would be hurt by the faltering economy. (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090325/ap_on_hi_te/google_executive_compensation 3/24)
Pixazza, an online advertising company started by former Netscape execs Bob Lisbonne and James Everingham, is raising $5.75 million in funding for a service that lets consumers click on products within pictures. Backers include Google and Facebook finance chief Gideon Yu. (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a6iddfQ_rmVs 3/25)
Filed under: WIRELESS
As consumers grow more comfortable with using mobile devices such as e-book readers, Research in Motion has joined with Barnes & Noble to offer BlackBerry users a free electronic-reader application that will give them access to more than 60,000 titles online, the companies said. In other e-book news, a federal court will ponder the question of whether an iPhone is also an e-book after a Swiss company sued Apple for patent infringement over its iPhone technology. The Wall Street Journal (3/24) , PC Magazine (3/24)
An increasing number of smartphone users are ditching their other consumer-electronic devices, such as digital music players and cameras, because technological advances have almost made some CE products redundant, according to a published report. The article notes that after rising 73% last year, sales of portable navigation devices are expected to climb just 15% in the U.S. in 2009, according to CEA. The Wall Street Journal (3/25)
Dell CEO Michael Dell confirmed Tuesday that the computer maker has a smartphone or mobile Internet device on the drawing board. “We already have agreements with many mobile carriers around netbook devices, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect that we would have smaller mobile Internet devices or smartphones in the future,” he said in a speech in Tokyo. InfoWorld/IDG News Service (3/24) , BusinessWeek (3/25)
Filed under: GAMING
A new service from startup OnLive promises to let players buy or rent the latest video games online and start playing within seconds on their television or computers. OnLive, whose investors include Warner Bros., says that disc-only games “will be the dinosaurs of the future.” (Iwantmedia 3/25, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cotown-games25-2009mar25,0,2697390.story 3/25)
I’ve seen a demo of this. No separate gaming consoles. No games. Cloud based gaming at speeds fast enough to satisfy the Very hot.
Nintendo is planning to make its DSi handheld available in Europe and the U.S. shortly to combat the popularity of the iPhone, which has become a popular gaming device. “The iPhone was a kind of dark horse,” said Bryan Spaulding, senior director of Boston-based Optaros, a mobile game-development company. “Over time, it will threaten stand-alone game devices.” The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (3/25)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
Consumers are open to the idea of viewing 3-D events and programs on their TVs. More than half of U.S. adults said they wouldn’t be turned off to the concept despite having to wear special glasses and not being able to move their heads while viewing it, a poll from the Consumer Electronics Association and the Entertainment and Technology Center at the University of Southern California has found. Some 26 million U.S. households expressed interest in using in-home 3-D technology, according to the report. Broadcast Engineering (3/24)
