XplanaZine

Here’s our take on news that matters for Wednesday, April 19. Today’s theme is me too!, and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — A University of Miami study shows that playing video games does actually help people burn calories. Okay, don’t take this too far. This is in no way a substitute for the exercise derived from walking back and forth to the refrigerator. Also, a new study shows that a continued increase in cell phone ownership could lead to a majority of people browsing the Web via handheld. Finally, Xbox developer Kevin Bachus opens up about the upcoming console wars in this interview.
• Blogging, mediacasting, and online creations — It seems like everyone wants to get in on the act of putting content online. This time it’s PBS.
  The company is considering making its television shows available on the Internet or portable devices like MP3 players. And, Yahoo is continuing its world-domination ways, this time by acquiring most of DVR company Meedio. From the article:

  “Earlier this year, Yahoo made a big splash with the introduction of its Yahoo
  Go initiative, whose goal is to extend the access to Yahoo online services and
  content beyond the PC to other devices. The TV portion of Yahoo Go isn’t
  available yet, but Yahoo has said it will allow access from TVs to photo albums,
  online radio stations, music clips, as well as search for video on the Web.
  Yahoo does have an existing agreement with TiVo Inc., the popular provider of
  DVR devices and services, to let TiVo subscribers access Yahoo services through
  the TiVo TV-based interface.”

  Feedburner is currently tracking approximately 45,000 podcasts and the number is growing at 15% monthly.
  This compares with the 6,000 podcast feeds the company was managing at the time of its last report in May 2005. These podcast numbers exceed the total number of radio stations worldwide.

• Handhelds – Are you having trouble keeping up with all the new Web 2.0 companies? Me too! But, never fear, there is help in this article as it lists some great directories that can guide us. Also, with the growth of the cell phone market and the evolution of handheld functionality and speed, a new study predicts that cell phones could become the dominant device for accessing the Web, particularly among certain age groups.
• Social Networks – Another reason TV companies should worry about YouTube — the online video distribution site is attracting marketers. ”
  Nike, Warner Bros., MTV2 and Dimension Films are among the firms
  seeding the site with commercial clips. Now, along with consumer-made
  videos of newborn babies, weddings and teens pulling pranks, is a short
  of soccer star Ronaldinho in his new Nike sneakers.” Also, this is the introduction to Sabifoo’s site: “Sabifoo makes it easier than ever to publish to the web. By combining
  href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging”>instant messaging with RSS (Really Simple Syndication), a whole new publishing infrastructure has been born. Now publishing to the world is as simple as sending a message.” There are lots of possibilities here. Beyond publishing to RSS via your IM client, this could lead to some interesting mashups that would make desktop publishing take on a whole new meaning in the office space. Finally, BusinessWeek has this article about Visible Path, a company bringing the power of Social Networking to the corporate environment.
• Technology Talks –

Here’s our take on news that matters for Monday, April 17. Today’s theme is getting there, and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — Game Daily has a nice post on the use of voice in video games. This will become a more pervasive technology in all video games over the upcoming years. Also, look for LucasArts to continue working its way up the video game food chain in the upcoming 18 months.
• Blogging, mediacasting, and online creations — Dave Sifry, the founder of Technorati, has posted his updated State of the Blogosphere. Of note:
  • The number of blogs is doubling every 6 months
  • The blogosphere is 60 times larger than it was three years ago
  • 55% of new bloggers continue to blog after 3 months
  • 3.9 million bloggers update their blogs at least weekly

  Also, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. Or, in this case, for every detractor there is a promoter. First, Forrester reported this podcasting stuff wasn’t so promising. Now comes an Arbitron study that says the future of radio is bright precisely because of … podcasting! Finally, BusinessWeek has this article about creating good Web Buzz. The secret formula? Blogging and solid partnerships.

• Handhelds – Wll, after all the buzz at CeBIT, Samsung is getting ready to launch its first Origami product into the market. Samsung is the first to bring Origami to market. The company is taking preorders now, and has invited journalists to a launch event on May 1. Also, the proof is in the profit for Sony Ericsson. Demand for their Walkman phone that plays MP3s and take pictures tripled profits for the company in the first quarter.
• Social Networks – Microsoft trying to up the ante in social networking apps. It is in talks to purchase
  or partner with two-year old startup Eurekster, creators of the social search tool Swicki. . Also, Om Malik has this interesting take on Web 2.0. He does some nice comparisons between Web 1.0 and the next generation of the Web. Is there really anything new under the sun?
• Technology Talks — One of the bigger gaps between open-source database program MySQL and Oracle has been the lack of a transaction engine. Well, that gap is getting ready to narrow as
  Solid Information Technology has announced that it will create an open-source storage “engine” for the MySQL.

Here’s our take on news that matters for Monday, April 10. Today’s theme is virtual is good, and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has plenty of detractors in Japan. The main complaint isn’t that it’s an American import but rather than it lacks a strong list of compelling, must-have games. Also, Piper Jaffray
  has announced the results of its 11th bi-annual proprietary research survey on teen spending habits. For what it’s worth,
  almost 80 percent of teens indicated that they intend to spend less time playing video games in 2006. Finally, there’s a new version of Mario Brothers coming out soon for the Nintendo DS.
• Blogging, mediacasting, and online creations — While last week’s news from Forrester that podcasting may not be such a big deal might have some scratching their heads, the solutions for better penetration is really simple. We require easy-to-use solutions and better content. This article about PodBop provides a hint at how better content can be distributed in a meaningful manner.
• Handhelds – AP has this article out about VoIP cell phones and the fact that they are closer than ever. And, in another kind of convergence, cable companies are crafting wireless deals to pull of the quadruple threat.
• Social Networks – Digital Video Guru has this analysis and comparison of the different video sharing sites out there. Their numbers show YouTube with more traffic and better community features than anyone else but Vimeo has the fastest and JumpCut offers the best editing tools.And, according to this BusinessWeek article, social networking sites are finding ways to make money.
• Technology Talks — Of course, it was only a matter of time. Someone has successfully managed to install Windows Vista on a Mac using Boot Camp. Also, check out this story about a musician who successfully took her music to the people over the Web. Lots of applications to publishing here.

Here’s our take on news that matters for Thursday, April 6. Today’s theme is keeping the faith, and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — We’re seeing initial pricing coming out for the PS3 in Europe. Considering all the factors, the console could go on sale in the U.S. for approximately $499. With console prices rising, we may be past the days where so many people own multiple consoles.
• Blogging, mediacasting, and online creations — Wired has updated its Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki. According to their research, 27 (5.4%) of the Fortune 500 are blogging as of 4/4/06. Also, it looks like podcasting presents some groups with the same issues for audio as DVR technology did for TV content providers. Some listeners are downloading podcasts at NPR in order to avoid listening to fundraising pushes (kind of like fast forwarding through commercials).
• Handhelds — Looks like Facebook’s services will be available to students via cell phone at more than 2,000 colleges and universities by the end of the month. Finally the Census Bureau will distribute some 500,000 handhelds for the 2010 Census.
• Social Networks – Well, YouTube just snagged another $8 million in financing.
• Technology Talks — Nicholas Negropopnte fired back at critics of the $100 laptop yesterday and also provided further information about the project. Bottom line? The hand crank has been dropped, the real cost per unit in 2007 will be around $135, and he believes that number will drop to as low as $50 per unit by 2010. Also, Apple has jumped on the bandwagon. They have announced that they will officially support installing Windows XP on their Mac Intel machines. And, if you’re having trouble keeping up with all of Google’s new releases, Ars Technica has a nice list and overview for you.

Here’s our take on news that matters for Tuesday, April 4. Today’s theme is going…going…, and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — An interesting discussion with Trip Hawkins regarding his company, Digital Chocolate, and the growing market for mobile gaming. “We see the mobile phone as the social computer. In modern urban environments people have lost the social context they had in the old days when people lived in small villages. So they have become rabid adopters of social computing technologies.” And, Second Life is spawning other companies around it that can provide custom terraforming and construction in its metaverse. This article on one of those companies, Electric Sheep, provides insight on some of the uses companies envision fro Second Life. Finally, Ars Technica has an article on the decline in violent video games. Citing findings from a recent paper by Adam Thierer, a writer for the Progress and Freedom Foundation, “The fraction of video games that are rated “AO” or Adult Only was less than one percent of total sales for 2005. Games rated “M” for Mature comprised only 12 percent of the total, down from the average of 18 percent between the years 2001 and 2005.”
• Blogging, mediacasting, and online creations — A cookbook from the U.S. has won the first literary prize for bloggers turned authors. Also, here’s an overview of Knowledge Management 2.0 using structured blogging. Finally, movie studios and TV broadcasters may be moving quickly into the podcasting space but record labels are still holding back. Chris Anderson has some interesting insights on music industry sales for the past year at The Long Tail.

• Handhelds – There’s a nice article on the iPod Generation over at ExtremeTech. The article’s question focuses on what we gain and miss by being hooked up to media devices constantly. Also, XM Satellite reports that its subscriber base has topped 6.5 million. Finally, you may be interested in a new poll that reveals the many ways young people use their phones. “Almost two-thirds of young adults use their phones to send text messages. More than half use them to take pictures and almost half to play games. They use these features, as well as Internet connections, about twice as often as cell phone users overall.”
• Social Networks – In response to the concerns of Internet advertisers, MySpace has removed
  200,000 “objectionable” profiles from its social network. The site erased profiles containing risque or hate speech content. Also, check out these two Creative Commons photo galleries — EveryStockPhoto and Yotophoto
• Technology Talks — Well, it was only a matter of time, although it took much more time than it could or should have. Hollywood is finally going to begin making movies available for download at the same time their DVD versions go an sale in stores. For a more pointed review of the services, read Om Malik’s review. Two companies will be offering the service and downloads are limited, at least for now, to PCs or specified consoles (Xbox). This is barely the tip of the tip of the iceberg but it is the important starting point.