TJantunen.com

Plans to take iPlayer-type services to TV sets are being scrutinised by the BBC Trust.

The BBC-backed proposals want to produce set-top boxes that can go online to access on-demand TV services such as the iPlayer and ITVplayer.

The device is aimed at the majority of UK homes that have not signed up for on-demand subscription TV services and do not have a Personal Video Recorder.

Setting up such services rests on getting approval from the BBC Trust.

Public views

In its submission to the Trust laying out its plans for the Project Canvas scheme, the BBC wrote: “the 53% of UK households that do not subscribe to pay television services risk falling behind”.

“Freeview is already failing to offer the full range of BBC licence fee funded television and radio services,” it added.

This situation would only worsen as the internet became the main way that TV programmes are distributed to viewers.

Project Canvas aims to bring together many broadcasters as well as ISPs and web firms such as YouTube to back a common technology that will make all the content accessible via the TV set-top box.

The initial devices are expected to be set-top boxes, with a net connection, that could cost up to £200.

The public – and any other interested parties – are being invited by the BBC Trust to contribute to its two-stage consultation process.

The first stage closes on 17 April. By 8 June, the BBC Trust will publish its preliminary conclusions, at which point the second stage of the consultation will commence.

This next stage closes on 22 June and the Trust said it would aim to deliver its findings by 24 July at the latest.

Subject to approval, Project Canvas is due to launch in 2010.

The consultation comes in the wake of a decision by the UK Competition Commission to block the creation of an on-demand video service, known as Project Kangaroo.

The service proposed to make available current TV shows from Channel 4 and ITV as well as archived material from the BBC.

Declaring that Project Kangaroo “has to be stopped”, the Competition Commission said viewers would be better served by having the three broadcasters as “close competitors” rather than collaborators

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation

Go to Source

By Dave Lee
Technology reporter, BBC News

It remains the elephant in the room. Or, more to the point, the “fail whale” in the room.

Just how are social networks, with their millions upon millions of users, going to make money

The profits should be rolling in: Twitter, which has been catapulted into the public-eye thanks to Stephen Fry and Barack Obama, is currently surviving on multi-million dollar handouts. And Facebook, the global force in social networking, has yet to harness its huge user base to bring in any significant revenue.

Many believe answer may lie in advertising.

Unlike traditional mediums, which were built on the mantra of getting as many eyes on a product as possible, social networking instead allows for targeted ads aimed at ages, interests, hobbies and so on.

Techlightenment, a company specialising in social media advertising, ran the online campaign for the film Tropic Thunder. The firm’s head of media, Richard Ireland, says social media allowed them to not only publicise the film, but also advertise directly at certain types of people.

“We could easily display our ad for people who say they are fans of Ben Stiller,” he says. “Or Dodgeball, Jack Black etc. It’s really about making it relevant.”

He says when adverts are targeted to particular people, the number of users that click the advert goes through the roof.

Other industries, says Mr Ireland, can use more subtle approaches to find the right audience.

“Nobody puts on their profile that they love credit cards, but what they do put on their profile is ‘I love shopping’. That demonstrates the power of the information networks have at their disposal.”

He says advertising agencies, and perhaps even the social networks themselves, have yet to adapt to this new form of reaching a specific audience.

But where do you draw the line on what personal information advertisers have access to The safety and privacy of user data is a controversial issue. Just ask Facebook: Last week it tweaked its terms of service, causing a huge backlash from members. Days later, it bowed to pressure and changed them back again and have now handed over the way it handles personal data over to its users.

It is difficult to imagine how Facebook could implement a change that drives revenues while retaining users. MySpace and Bebo, on the other hand, have adopted a much more aggressive advertising strategy.

Alex Burmaster, communications director at Nielsen Online, says MySpace resembles a more traditional form of advertising, with the homepage often transformed for various promotions much like a classic billboard ad. He also argues that MySpace users are more accustomed, and more accepting, of adverts.

“Their site is a lot about music and entertainment. So if they see music and entertainment advertised on there it’s part of the experience. For Facebook, it’s a Catch 22: The more targeted the ad technology, the more attractive it is to advertisers, but it’s more freaky for the users.

“When Facebook get the technology right, it will make a massive difference. The potential is absolutely enormous.”

Relative newcomer Twitter potentially faces a trickier battle. Like Facebook, it attracts an older user base, but it doesn’t have as much personal and, crucially, sellable data.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone recently blogged that it is looking into building “revenue-generating products”. Whether that is ad-funded or subscription based – like the very successful photo-sharing site Flickr – remains to be seen.

Popularity is no guarantee of success, of course. Friends Reunited, pioneers of social networking in the UK, is rumoured to be going up for sale for £20 million. A fraction of the £175 million ITV paid for it three years ago.

Like all businesses, social networks will soon have to confront the balance sheets. However, if they can weather the economic storm, the future could be extremely prosperous. The real social networking boom may still happen

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation

Go to Source

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has showcased some of its new inventions as part of its Defence Technology Plan.

It is the first time the MoD has unveiled its long-term research needs and demonstrated new technology.

The products are still in their early stages, although it is hoped many will go into service in the next few years.

The MoD hopes to attract more future technology to address its combat needs.

The products unveiled were the first in a number of submissions chosen by the MoD for further development.

D3O

This is a long chain silicon polymer that looks and feels like silly putty. The material can be shaped and squeezed, but a shock impact will cause it to lock together. The idea is to use the material as body armour to protect troops from shock impacts.

It will not stop bullets, but used in conjunction with projectile-protection systems, it can help disperse the energy from a bullet. It is being tested for use within helmets and might become a feature of Peaock, an MoD body armour currently in development.

SATURN

Saturn – the sensing and automotive tactical urban reconnaissance network – is a combination of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that not only examines the battlefield but, say the developers, can actively spot threats.

The idea is that a platoon or company of soldiers would deploy both the ground and air vehicle to perform reconnaissance of a village or part of a town.

The UAV would fly over and spot vehicles or enemy troops moving in the open, while the UGV would roll up to a building, spot which windows were open, then look to see if anyone was behind them.

The developers say the system would then try and differentiate between civilians and possible enemy contacts by looking to see if they were holding an object, such as a rifle or a rocket-propelled grenade.

PIBBD

The developers are calling it a mobile lab in a suitcase, which is only slightly shorter than its full title of portable integrated battlespace biological detection unit.

The purpose of the device is simple – to analyse the air and sound a warning if there is any form of biological threat.

The device works by continuously sampling the air, then mixing it with a liquid and passing it across plates with embedded antibodies. Should the air contain a biological hazard, the antibodies become active, changing the electrical properties of the plate and triggering an alarm.

At present, most mobile detection units are the site of a large van, so something that could be carried by a soldier would be a real advantage.

TESTUDO

Another UGV, this is a robot scout designed to examine hostile areas from a safe distance. The device, not much larger than a skateboard, has the capability to cover almost all types of terrain and can even climb stairs. The developers hope the finished product would cost less than £5,000 and be small enough to be easily carried by a soldier.

TELEDYNE

One of the problems flying helicopters in Afghanistan and Iraq is dust. The down-draught from the rotor blades can kick up huge clouds, blinding the pilots and making landing very hazardous.

Teledyne is a device that uses microwaves to see through dust clouds, smoke and snow, making landings far easier. The developers plan to put Teledyne through full trials later this year

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation

Go to Source

Facebook has responded to criticism over the way it handles user data by handing over control to its users.

Members of the social network will have comment and voting rights over the firm’s future policies regarding how the site is governed.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg said the aim was to “open up Facebook so that users can participate meaningfully in our policies and our future”.

Simon Davies, from Privacy International, said the move was “unprecedented”.<p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation

Go to Source

When managing a series of large client accounts it is extremely important not to get drawn in to look at every individual element of Adwords, Panama or Adcenter. Many of the large clients have campaigns running on all three platforms and really it is unfeasible to manage right down to every individual keyword.

From a high level point of view the best way of making improvements is by looking at where the spend is highest over a monthly period. From there it is possible to make changes on the high cost or non converting keywords. Moving towards a more technical approach it is possible to look at implementing the Pareto principle at campaign level first, then ad group and keyword level.

The Pareto principle suggests that 80% of effects come from 20% of cause. So translated in PPC terms, that means 80% of cost or revenue comes from only 20% of the campaigns, ad groups, keywords or ad text. When you have decided on where to start with the optimization there are several actions to take such as, pausing keywords, increasing or decreasing keyword CPCs and playing around with keyword matching types.

Following on from this try ad text comparisons and use the tools freely available within Google like the Search Query Reports. These are invaluable for discovering new keywords and possible negative keywords.

Essentially what this blog is saying is look at the areas where there is the most potential for opportunity and improvement.

Adam
PPC Consultant

Go to Source