Look Beyond

The Launch of the $100 Laptop

Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of MIT's Media Lab, unveiled its $100 wireless laptop computer at the United Nations Technology Summit in Tunisia this week.

It hopes to make millions of the devices, the size of a text book, to give to the poorest people in the world with units ready for shipment by the end of 2006 or early 2007.

Michael Parekh's post contains the specifications for those interested.

Google Base

Google, after much speculation, yesterday announced the launch of Google Base.  The service can best be described as a (currently free) hosted database allowing anyone to upload and categorise content on literally any subject.  Google then makes this information searchable online.

There's been much written in the blogosphere about Google's strategy and what it means for online classified advertising sites such as Craigslist and eBay, and other community oriented sites such as Flickr, delicious and Typepad.

In his post, Fred Wilson comments that he believes Google's strategy is to control the posting, subscribing, tagging and search ecosystem.  His bet is that loosely coupled and functionally rich online services, such as those listed above, will win the day.

Michael Parekh considers Base from a different perspective in his excellent post.  He contrasts the evolution of Google with that of Yahoo which began life as a human-powered directory.  Michael and John Battelle (author of The Search) both observe that Google's first objective is to augment its search results.  Though unlike Yahoo, which originally adopted a centralised human-powered directory, Google is aiming to leverage potentially millions of us to contribute content to its universe.  And once it has critical mass it can look to monetise the content in some way.

There are concerns about the potential for Base being overwhelmed by spam which Google will have to overcome.  A number of people (see example) have also commented that unlike the majority of other online content sharing services, there is a short delay (around 10 minutes) from the posting of content before it can be viewed.  And of course, many of people have posted about the rather clunky and functionally poor interface - I agree, but it can only improve.

Regardless, this is a fascinating move by Google and one I'm sure many will be watching over the coming days, weeks and months.  It may yet be seen as a significant event in the development of the semantic web.

Google Announces Personalised Search

Google announced late last week that it has launched a beta version of personalised search.  The service, which requires a Google account, works by serving results based upon both the search query entered by a user and their previously searched terms. 

By analysing a user's search history, the search engine attempts to determine more relevant results, especially when dealing with words with ambiguous meaning such as 'bat' or 'bank'.  Not only does this deliver a better user experience, it allows Google to display more relevant ads.

Although this service has the potential to improve a users experience, it raises privacy concerns as Google will now be monitor a user's search history.  In an attempt to allay these fears, Google offers functionality allowing the user to exclude a page, site or any search result from their search history.

Virgin's "On the Move" Mobile TV

Earlier this summer, Virgin Mobile announced plans to pilot live mobile digital television in the London area.

I got to take a look for myself last night as one of my friends has been asked to participate in a three month trial.  He's been given a Windows-based QTek 8020 smartphone with the capability to receive live TV from Sky News and Sky Sports News as well as 50+ radio channels. 

The system works by broadcasting over the DAB digital radio network and the quality appeared fairly good given the resolution of the phone's screen and its small display, although I did notice the image freeze occasionally.

This service is not designed for hours of continuous use given the limitations of a mobile's screen size, but it enables people to watch snippets of programmes, perhaps when running late home to watch the start of a live football match, or to see the latest weather report.  According to Virgin's press release, they also plan to eventually let customers record programmes for future viewing.

There's no doubting this service warrants entry into the Gadget of the Month (GotM) competition - see the beginning of my prior post for an overview of GotM - not least as my friend has been one of only around 1,000 people trialling the service before it launches.

BT to Launch Broadband TV

BT today announced it is to partner with Philips and Microsoft to deliver TV via broadband, also known as IPTV (Internet Protocol Television).  BT’s service will be a world first combining access to digital terrestrial channels, an extensive video on demand library, “catch-up” TV and a range of interactive services.  BT is planning to offer these services across the UK from late summer / autumn 2006.

Google - The 100 Billion Dollar Company

Last week Google announced record revenues of nearly $1.6 billion for the third quarter ending 30 September 2005, nearly double the same period in 2004.

Since the announcement, the company's market capitalisation topped $100 billion for the first time just 14 months after becoming a public company.  At the time of the Initial Public Offering (IPO), when their shares were priced at $85, Google was valued at $23.1 billion.

This meteoric rise puts Google in an exclusive club of only around 20 companies which have market values of over $100 billion.  This club includes famous names such as Microsoft ($271 billion), Intel ($143 billion), IBM ($135 billion), Coca-Cola ($102 billion).  But as Red Herring reports, none got there as quickly as Google which is just 7 years old.

Google's success underlines the huge impact the Internet is having on society as it becomes more entrenched as part of our day to day lives.  In less than 10 years the web has transformed how we research, consumer information and communicate.  And Google, although not one of the original search engines, has been at the heart of this revolution.

But does this make Google worth as much as Coca-Cola, a company founded back in 1886?  I am currently reading John Battelle's book, The Search, which may help to crystallize my view.

Adoption of Mobile Data Services

This week's Sunday Times reports that 3, the mobile operator owned by Hutchison Whampoa has relaunched itself ahead of a potential flotation.  Bob Fuller, 3's CEO declared that 3 was the embodiment of convergence: "we are not a telco, we are not a media company, we are not a technology company... our business is radically different because we are all three."

Does this claim sound familiar?  A throwback to the dotcom era perhaps?

3's data revenues from services such as ringtones, video calling etc. today amount to less than a quarter of its total revenue and widespread interest is unproven.

However, the ringtone phenomenon has the mobile operators and entertainment companies are salivating at the prospect of delivering mobile content such as television and music downloads via 3G networks.    And 3 is betting that mobile phones and not iPods or portable games consoles will be the device of choice for people to consume this content whilst on the move.

I'm yet to be convinced.  The take up of such services, even by early adopters, has been hindered by expensive data tariffs which need to fall considerably, to an affordable "all you can eat" or capped usage fixed price to attract greater experimentation and adoption by the mass market.  And I suspect most premium data services will be less of an attraction than simple mobile web access.

BSkyB's Triple-Play Move

Further to my prior post on its anticipated triple-play strategy, Sky today announced its first acquisition since its £1bn bond issue.  The company has agreed to acquire Easynet, a pan-European broadband ISP for £211m.

The transaction launches Sky into the telecoms business, enabling it to offer a combination of pay TV, telephony and broadband, pitching it against the likes of the soon to be merged NTL and Telewest and Homechoice.  It also provides additional competition for BT and firms such as AOL and Wanadoo.

This deal also takes Sky closer to being able to broadcast programmes over the Internet.  It'll be intriguing to see their strategy evolve in light of Apple's recent TV content deal as outlined in my post last week.

Apple's Drama Making

Apple yesterday announced a groundbreaking content deal with Disney which allows, for the first time ever, popular TV shows to be downloaded via iTunes. Initially the deal encompasses 5 shows, including the hit series Desperate Housewives and Lost, both of which are broadcast on Disney's ABC network.  Episodes from previous and current series are available and the most recent episode can be downloaded the day after first broadcast and watched either on a computer or the newly announced iPod which supports video.  Although the resolution at 320 * 240 is poor for watching on a PC, this will no doubt be improved over time.  Each episode costs $1.99 and is free of advertisements.  It appears these shows are currently only available for iTunes users in the US.

Apple also announced the launch of an iTunes music video store, initially with 2,000 videos as well as the addition of 6 short Pixar movies to its iTunes catalogue.

This move would appear to be the first step for Apple in developing a fully fledged video store encompassing TV programmes, movies and music.  But the challenges are somewhat different from the music industry, with both continued concerns regarding copy protection and the growing popularity of digital video recorders such as TiVo and Sky+.  Additionally, cable companies in the US such as Comcast are also offering customers free shows via their on-demand service.

However, I believe this to be the beginning of an exciting period of change in the distribution of broadcast media and movies, providing consumers with greater freedom to choose where, when, how and what they watch.  This is the future.  Let's hope that like Disney, other content providers soon creatively embrace this technological reality and view this distribution channel as an opportunity rather than a threat.

BSkyB to Buy Into Broadband

The Guardian reports today that BSkyB is to use a significant proportion of the £1bn raised from its recently announced corporate bond issue to fund the acquisition of a broadband service provider, enabling it to offer a triple play package of telephony, broadband access and pay TV.

The article also reports that Sky plans to install its own equipment in local telephone exchanges, giving it a direct line to customers and thereby bypassing BT.  Sky's 8 million subscribers currently have to connect their set-top boxes into a phone line in order to receive the fully interactive Sky service.

Sky's plans are likely to be in response to the recent NTL / Telewest merger announcement, which creates a serious competitor to both Sky and BT.  To date, triple play access via one supplier has been dominated by the cable companies which are able to access homes directly, without needing to utilise BT's infrastructure. 

Homechoice, Easynet and Pipex are named as possible acquisition targets.