Industry News for Digital: Technical
High speed broadband could boost e-commerce by £1.4 billion
The Digital Britain high-speed broadband initiative could boost British e-commerce by £1.4 billion, according to the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA). If the Government’s Digital Britain Universal Service Commitment (USC) to ensure that every home in the UK has access to 2Mbps broadband by 2012 goes ahead, an additional £1.4 billion revenue may be generated through website sales. Figures from the Office of National Statistics... [Read More...]
toptable iPhone app locates nearby restaurants
Online dining and reservation community toptable has launched a free iPhone app, offering augmented reality- based locations services, a tip calculator and even a wine recommendation tool. The app developed in conjunction with Mobile Commerce is now downloadable for free from the Apple iTunes, App store and gives users access to the toptable service where ever they are enabling them to view and book restaurants nearby. Carl Lyons, Marketing Director... [Read More...]
BBC to develop news, sport and iPlayer mobile apps
The BBC will launch a range of free mobile applications to deliver its online content to mobile devices, with the possibility of an iPlayer application for smartphone users ready by the end of this year. The broadcaster is reportedly planning to launch mobile apps for BBC News in April followed by apps for BBC Sport in May. The BBC will launch both apps in a UK and a global version. The news app will first be available on the iPhone from April, with... [Read More...]
Microsoft bets mobile market share on Windows Phone 7
Microsoft has announced its Windows Phone 7 operating system, which features integration with connected gaming service Xbox Live and media player Zune. The computing giant wants to turn around its fortunes in the mobile industry with the launch of a range of phones in partnerhship with handset manufacturers this year. HTC has already committed to building devices which use Windows Phone 7. Microsoft has rival operating systems, such as Android,... [Read More...]
Mobile operators unite to simplify apps development
Twenty-four mobile operators from around the world, including Deutsche Telekom, Orange and Vodafone, are partnering to offer developers an open platform for apps in a bid to claw back market share from Apple. The Wholesale Applications Community is backed by operator trade body the GSMA and handset manufacturers LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. Its aim is to allow developers to create apps that will work on the phones of more than 3bn subscribers globally. The... [Read More...]
Google to launch instant speech translator for smartphones
Google is set to launch a new smartphone translator tool that will be able to hear speech and translate it instantly. The Times reports that the software would take the information learned from the company’s text translation software, and Google’s existing voice recognition tools for smartphones. At launch, the software will only be able to analyse small segments of speech before translation, but Google is aiming to develop the technology... [Read More...]
Microsoft launches Silverlight campaign to rival Flash
Microsoft has launched a Silverlight ad campaign with EA Games in a bid to rival the established Flash ad format. The three-week campaign for flagship Xbox and Windows action game Mass Effect 2 comprises an expandable MPU which contains around 500Mb of rich content including high-resolution images that can be zoomed into by up to 30 times and buffer-free HD video trailers. The ad is delivered dynamically depending on the speed of visitors’ broadband... [Read More...]
UK government data: Open access for developers at data.gov.uk
The government is today launching data.gov.uk, a website it hopes will enable developers to create new applications by offering free access to data collected by public bodies. The site will offer reams of public sector data, ranging from traffic statistics to crime figures, for private or commercial use. The target is to kickstart a new wave of services that find novel ways to make use of the information. World wide web founder Tim Berners-Lee,... [Read More...]
Virgin Media begins monitoring customers downloads
Virgin Media is testing new technology that can identify whether its broadband customers are illegally downloading, but is not tracking individual users- yet. The ISP is using Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to identify the type of traffic a broadband connection is being used for, such as email, web surfing, instant messaging or gaming. Any file-sharing activity will be then be checked against a database of music and films. According to Detica, which... [Read More...]
Vimeo takes its site mobile
User-generated video site Vimeo has developed a mobile service to tap into the growth of mobile video by allowing users to view content on their phones. Vimeo will automatically convert videos uploaded by its Plus members for viewing on mobile phones by all consumers. Android, iPhone and PalmPre users can also convert any videos uploaded to the site from their own phone. Andrea Allen, community manager for Vimeo, said, “We’re really excited... [Read More...]