While the iPad has been considered primarily a consumption tool, the newest wave of apps are creation tools that focus on authoring and artistic endeavors.
Snapguide gives anyone the tools to easily make their own how-to guides. According to GigaOM, founder Daniel Raffel has been fielding positive responses: “He’s barely been sleeping, staying up to answer a constant stream of feedback emails about his very slick and good-looking iOS app that helps people easily make do-it-yourself guides to just about anything armed with just an iPhone and an idea.”
Additional new apps are appealing to the creative side of mobile users. For example: Paper is a drawing and journaling app, Github shows you how to code, Flickr shows off the pictures you take, and Codea allows you to create iPad apps using its touch-oriented programming language.
Codea’s creator, Simeon Nasilowski, comments on the iPad’s potential as a creation tool: “I didn’t understand why people were saying it’s just for consumption. You can run any tools you like on it, you just have to think about it from a different interaction viewpoint — not mouse and keyboard, you just need tools optimized for touch. Then it becomes quite a good creation tool.”
Google has begun testing its augmented reality glasses in public, calling it ProjectGlass.
Much to the disappointment of Engadget, the glasses are actually very subtle by design and won’t make the user stand out too much in a crowd by looking like Robocop.
“The software giant let it be known that, while it hasn’t quite got a sale date on the wearables, it’s ready to test ProjectGlass amongst the non-augmented public,” according to the post. “The company is also looking for feedback on the project, writing in a post, ‘we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input.'”
“The prototype version Google showed off on Wednesday looked like a very polished and well-designed pair of wrap-around glasses with a clear display that sits above the eye,” adds The New York Times in a related article. “The glasses can stream information to the lenses and allow the wearer to send and receive messages through voice commands. There is also a built-in camera to record video and take pictures.”
Google has provided a video detailing the project’s vision by showcasing how the glasses will work in daily life.
Google’s YouTube will now convert all 1080p video to 3D and allow playback to those wearing 3D glasses.
YouTube launched the 3D beta feature in September 2011. The update also eliminated the 15-minute time limit set earlier to lessen the upload of pirated movies.
“Google processes the original 2D video and creates a ‘depth map,’ looking for a combination of video characteristics such as color, spatial layout, and motion that it has ‘learned’ from other, dedicated 3D videos uploaded to the site,” reports PCMag. “The creation of the depth map adds the second image that’s needed for the 3D video.”
According to the YouTube blog: “With this broader knowledge of 3D conversion, we then apply cloud computing scalability to make conversion possible across even more videos on YouTube. Breaking up a video into tiny chunks of data and processing them in parallel on Google’s cloud infrastructure lets us process these videos, while still producing the quality you expect.”
Take a look at the linked video to see the 3D effect. You’ll need to click on the gear icon and then the 3D selection.
A reporter for Al Jazeera took his iPhone into Syria to report on the fighting between Syrian forces and the revolutionaries.
“The 25 minute documentary, ‘Syria: Songs of Defiance,’ aired on Al Jazeera’s show ‘People & Power’ last month,” reports Mashable. “Al Jazeera has not released the reporter’s name for safety reasons.”
This is a view you will not see on the major news networks. The undercover report provides clarity and perspective for a Western audience that is missing in the raw footage uploaded to YouTube by locals and “citizen journalists.”
The reporter explains that taking a camera into the region would have been extremely risky, but traveling with a phone does not draw as much attention. Precautions are still necessary, however, since the Syrian government recently banned iPhone usage.
Clearly, this video could not have been captured using a traditional news crew. This may represent the future of journalism.
The video is included at the bottom of the report.
The newest Think Quarterly, an online and print magazine Google UK publishes for partners and advertisers, focuses on Creativity.
In regards to YouTube’s New Era: “YouTube is undergoing the most profound shift in its history — licensing original programming from new creative partners. Its mission is to transform all of us into active participants in TV culture.”
“Communities are responding to each other. Someone makes a video, then others respond to it or remix it in some way. That is a different kind of entertainment. There isn’t an analog from 50 or 100 years ago. It’s a brave new world,” suggests Professor Gary Edgerton, media scholar at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and author of “The Columbia History of American Television.”
“We are seeing a convergence in all mediums of storytelling and it’s really exciting. We’re not just looking at more specific content, but also a level of interactivity that is going to be the future of content consumption going forward… I think there will always be original, linear content but what it’s going to turn into is the integration of more user-generated content like multiple endings, or plot suggestions that are contributed interactively and create a daily experience that offers the option to consume linearly but also to ‘gamify’ content in a way that is perfectly apropos with the device you are consuming it on. I want to tell stories that are ‘5D’ in terms of interactivity,” explains Anthony Zuiker, creator of the hit TV series “CSI.”
Earlier editions are also available, including: The Speed Issue — January 2012, The People Issue — September 2011, The Innovation Issue — July 2011 and The Data Issue — March 2011.
It’s been a year since Larry Page became Google’s CEO. The following are some highlights from his 2012 update published yesterday.
“Google has so many opportunities that, unless we make some hard choices, we end up spreading ourselves too thin and don’t have the impact we want.”
“Creating a simpler, more intuitive experience across Google has been another important focus. I have always believed that technology should do the hard work — discovery, organization, communication — so users can do what makes them happiest: living and loving, not messing with annoying computers! That means making our products work together seamlessly.”
“Getting from needs to actions lightning fast is especially important on smaller devices like mobile phones, where screen size is limited and context really matters. That’s why I’m so excited about Android.”
“We have always believed that it’s possible to make money without being evil.”
“I believe that by producing innovative technology products that touch people deeply, we will enable you to do truly amazing things that change the world.”
Sam Anderson of The New York Times explores the world of addictive games, the people who create them, and how “gamification” is being used in the real world.
The article provides an interesting overview of the popularity and evolution of gaming and what Anderson refers to as “hyperaddictive stupid games.” He also examines the current definition of “games.”
For example, he suggests that Zynga’s games such as “FarmVille” and “FishVille” may need to be defined as something other than games. “They are click-machines powered by the human need to achieve progress by a predictable path and a willingness to pay small amounts of money to make that progress go faster. They are not ‘games,’” wrote Nicholas Carlson of Business Insider.
“But you could argue that games like ‘FarmVille’ are in fact just the logical end of gamification: gamified games,” comments Anderson. “They have the appearance of games, they inspire the compulsions of games, but for many people they are not fun like games.”
Anderson spoke with Frank Lantz, the creator of “Drop7” (which Anderson describes as addictive). “Games, he told me, are like ‘homebrew neuroscience’ — ‘a little digital drug you can use to run experiments on your own brain.’ Part of the point of letting them seduce you, as Lantz sees it, is to come out the other side a more interesting and self-aware person; more conscious of your habits, weaknesses, desires and strengths.”
“It’s like heroin that is abstracted or compressed or stylized,” he said. “It gives you a window into your brain that doesn’t crush your brain.”
Try out the “Asteroids” game embedded on the article’s first page. You can fly across the story!
Samsung is working with OpenX Technologies Inc. to offer an ad service called Samsung AdHub Market that will enable advertisers to run targeted messages on Samsung phones and tablets.
“The move is part of Samsung’s broader push to bring targeted advertising to electronic devices, including Internet-connected television sets,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “It also will pit the company against other mobile-ad services from Apple, Google and Millennial Media Inc., which held an initial public offering of stock last week.”
“This is the first time any device manufacturer has entered the ad tech space in this way,” said OpenX chief executive Tim Cadogan. “It is becoming very clear to the principals in the mobile space that advertising is going to be a very important part of the revenue mix.”
“According to data provided by eMarketer, spending on mobile advertising in the U.S. is expected to reach $10.8 billion in 2016, up from $2.6 billion this year,” reports WSJ. “Cadogan said he expects that OpenX, which has focused on advertising within desktop computers and is now generating more than $100 million in annual revenue, will move further into the mobile market in the future.”
The number of Windows apps is growing steadily. At the current rate of development, the 100,000 milestone could be reached by late May.
According to All About Windows Phone, the Windows Phone Marketplace now adds 340 published apps each day. There is currently a catalog of 80,000 apps for the Windows platform, up from 50,000 in December.
TechCrunch points out that the number of published apps is more than the number of apps available to consumers because Microsoft and developers will remove some applications and because not all apps work in every market. In the U.S., Windows Phone users have access to around 69,123 apps.
Even so, the Windows Phone 7 is “an excellent new mobile operating system” and “it would seem that the Windows Phone Marketplace is growing at a steady pace,” TechCrunch writes.
YouTube is already on set-top boxes and Google TV, bringing free, ad-supported videos to big screen TVs. As of yet, no boxes or even Google TV have offered YouTube movie rentals for viewing on televisions, so the service remains online — with the exception of connecting your PC to your TV.
This may soon change, according to recent rumors that suggest Google TV will support the movie rentals.
“The reality is that, right now, for all the content YouTube is collecting, it simply is not on a level playing field with Apple and Apple TV, Netflix and Amazon’s Prime,” Mashable writes. “These services are on set-top boxes (Apple has its own) that plug directly into your HDTV. No concerns about whether or not DRM rights will prevent movie playback. The experience for renting a movie on any of them is seamless.”
If the rumors are true, it remains to be seen whether other set-top boxes will get access to YouTube movie rentals.
“YouTube’s legacy is free, bite-sized content supported mostly by ad overlays, no one will want to pay for content that was originally free on, say, broadcast television on YouTube — unless, of course YouTube offers an ad-free network,” suggests the article. “Then viewers might pay a monthly fee for the privilege.”
Despite YouTube’s deals with studios to gain access to more content — such as the Paramount agreement, announced Wednesday — it is still primarily used for watching viral videos and Google could have a hard time getting consumers to view the site as a competitive alternative to other popular VOD services.
YouTube will provide online rentals of nearly 500 Paramount films under a new licensing agreement. Consumers will be able to rent movies via YouTube ($2.99 to $3.99) or through the online media storefront Google Play.
Terms of the partnership were not released, but in a few weeks consumers in the U.S. and Canada will be able to rent films like “Hugo” and “The Godfather.”
The rental partnership arrives despite long-running litigation. Paramount’s parent company Viacom Inc. is currently trying to overturn a $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube and parent company Google for copyright infringement of programs including “SpongeBob Squarepants,” “The Daily Show,” and “South Park” that it claims were uploaded to YouTube illegally.
“The Paramount deal means that YouTube now has movie rental deals with five of the six major film studios, as well as more than ten independent film studios, giving it access to a catalog of nearly 9,000 films,” reports Reuters.
Grooveshark is hurting. The music streaming site no longer has legal access to the majority of licensed music after EMI terminated its contract.
Of the major music publishers, EMI was the only company that had made licensing agreements with Grooveshark; however, in January, EMI filed a lawsuit against the service, claiming Grooveshark hadn’t paid licensing fees since 2009.
“Grooveshark was recently forced to make the difficult decision to part ways with EMI due to EMI’s currently unsustainable streaming rates and EMI’s pending merger with Universal Music Group, which we consider monopolistic and in violation of antitrust laws,” Grooveshark announced in a statement to CNET. “To date, Grooveshark has paid over $2.6 million to EMI, but we have yet to find sustainable streaming rates. In spite of this, Grooveshark’s dedication to artists and rights holders remains the same.”
Florida-based Grooveshark says it has more than “30 million monthly users who stream more than 15 billion songs per year,” reports VentureBeat. “In November, it rolled out a new design of its online music player that includes a social layer.”
A research report from Toronto-based Convergence Consulting Group Ltd. found around 1.05 million people canceled their pay-TV subscriptions in 2011. Web-based services have led 2.65 million subscribers of cable or satellite TV to cut their services since 2008.
However large the numbers seem, they are only a fraction of total subscriptions. The report suggests that by 2012, 3.58 million will have cut the cord, which only represents 3.6 percent of all subscribers.
The rate that people are opting out will slow this year as pay-TV services will actually see a boost in adopters, Convergence Consulting predicts.
Cable, satellite and services from telephone companies — like Verizon’s FiOS and AT&T’s U-verse — will add a net 185,000 accounts this year, an increase from 112,000 in 2011.
Stuart Green, Rutgers Law School professor and author of the upcoming “13 Ways to Steal a Bicycle: Theft Law in the Information Age,” addresses emerging trends regarding copyright infringement and intellectual property in a recent New York Times op-ed.
In doing so, Green provides a compelling examination of the concept (and evolution) of “theft” in the digital age.
“For starters, we should stop trying to shoehorn the 21st-century problem of illegal downloading into a moral and legal regime that was developed with a pre- or mid-20th-century economy in mind,” writes Green. “Second, we should recognize that the criminal law is least effective — and least legitimate — when it is at odds with widely held moral intuitions.”
“But framing illegal downloading as a form of stealing doesn’t, and probably never will, work,” he adds. “We would do better to consider a range of legal concepts that fit the problem more appropriately: concepts like unauthorized use, trespass, conversion and misappropriation.”
“Treating different forms of property deprivation as different crimes may seem untidy, but that is the nature of criminal law,” suggests Green.
Two analysts are predicting that Apple’s stock will hit the $1,000 mark within a year or two.
Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets says the introduction of the next iPhone and the iTV, paired with expansion into China and the TV market, will surge the stock to more than $1,000 bringing the company’s value to $1 trillion. “Apple fever is spreading like a wildfire around the world,” he said.
“Shares can reach $1,000 based on our belief that Apple will continue to win in global mobile devices,” Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray wrote in a note.
The company has grown over 60 percent since Steve Jobs’ death in October, so these predictions may not be unreasonable. In this year alone, the stock has risen 53 percent.
“Apple investors also are benefiting from a $2.65-a-share dividend, starting in July, and a $10 billion stock buyback plan,” reports Bloomberg. “The company announced both initiatives last month.”