Listeners in Glasgow and Gwent, Northumberland and Nottinghamshire, and Suffolk and the South Downs will benefit from the increased coverage when The BBC’s DAB digital radio network gets a further ten transmitters.

The corporation has also announced that it is to undertake a trial of the digital radio mondiale (DRM) technology. This technology will allow the BBC to explore digital radio using medium-wave frequencies.

The trial will broadcast BBC Radio Devon using the new technology in the Plymouth area and will last for a year from the end of April.

Other countries like Australia have already been looking at using DRM which is more robust and operates on higher bandwidths.

Most of the new transmitters should be in service by the end of April.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

The BBC has said that it was in discussions with the search engine company Google about putting some of the BBC’s programming on the online video site YouTube which was bought last year for $1.65 billion.

The BBC will use Google Video as a vehicle to raise the profile of its content by posting clips of popular programming on the website similar to other broadcasters such as CBS and NBC in the US.

The BBC are looking for viable commercial options such as taking a slice of contextual advertising that will run alongside BBC content.

Since the web giant was bought by Google, YouTube has been approaching broadcasters and other owners of copyrighted material to arrange for the site to carry more authorized material.

Google has been in trouble with other broadcasters such as Comedy Central when users uploaded television shows but Google does delete unauthorized material as and when it notices it.

No deal has yet been signed.

Reference for posting: http://www.iht.com

Planned consultation has been launched today by Ofcom for an online public service publisher (PSP). The service which would be delivered online would compete with the online operations of Channel 4 and the BBC.

Ofcom has anticipated a budget of between £50 million and £100 million per annum which is much smaller than the £300 million price tag originally given.

The PSP would operate via broadband internet, mobile and digital broadcasting platforms. Ofcom hope that the new service would develop content for new media, drive community activity and location-sensitive content, as well as have the opportunity collaborate with third parties.

The idea, which was first considered by the regulator back in 2004, has a consultation deadline for responses of March 23 2007.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

broadband internet, ofcom, psp, service publisher

The so called “celebs” of Big Brother are hoping that their appearance on the grand daddy of reality shows will bolster their image and the publics perception of them in a positive way and more importantly make them some more money. It seems that for one celeb this is already happening.

Dirk Benedict, the star of sci fi classic Battlestar Galactica (the 1978 TV series with the rubbish looking robot dog as opposed to the reimagined series currently showing on skyone) has seen an increase in the volume of sales for his memoirs.

The book titled, Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy is currently sitting at the No. 3 spot on last week’s bestseller list at AbeBooks.co.uk the online marketplace that specializes in used, rare and out-of-print books.

The book details his acting career from theatre productions to iconic television shows such as The A-Team and Battlestar Galactica as well as his claims that he overcame prostate cancer from exercise and a macrobiotic diet.

Dirk Benedict finished in Third Place in this years Celeb Big Brother.

Reference for posting: http://www.abebooks.com

battlestar galactica, big brother, celeb, confessions of a kamikaze cowboy, dirk benedict

The Video sharing giant, Youtube is planning to share its advertising revenues it generates with millions of its users who provide original content for the site.
 
One of Youtube’s founders, Chad Hurley, spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Saturday saying that he hoped to boost the creativity of amateur video makers by sharing its advertising revenue.
 
With more than 70million visitors a month to the site Youtube’s plans may be more successful than another video sharing sites such as Revver who are already sharing ad revenue.
 
Youtube have not released any details as how the program will work and how much creators of original content will be paid. 
 
The video sharing giant also announced that the company was working on “audio fingerprinting” technologies to identify copyrighted material which should help the company to stop being the subject of litigation.
 
Reference for posting: http://www.computeractive.co.uk/personal-computer-world/news/2173644/youtube-share-profits-users

advertising revenues, share profits, video sharing, youtube

A look at some of the coolest devices unveiled at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

consumer electronics show, las vegas, unveiled

The word “plutoed” is used to describe someone who has been demoted or devalued, just like former planet Pluto when its status was downgraded.

The American Dialect Society was founded in 1889. It is a society “dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it”. The Society publishes American Speech, an academic journal.

This is the 17th time ADS members have voted to choose a word of the year. Other winners include “information superhighway”, “metrosexual” and “truthiness” (popularized on The Colbert Report).

Other words in the running for the 2006 prize included “flog” (an advertisement disguised as a blog or web log), “prohibited liquids” (fluids that cannot be transported by passengers on airplanes) and “macaca” (an American citizen treated as an alien).

Macaca is considered by some to be a racial slur and was used by former Senator George Allen (who had a comfortable lead in the polls ahead of last November’s Congressional elections) when he referred to the son of Indian immigrants as a macaca. Mr Allen later lost his senate seat to Democrat Jim Webb.

american dialect society, colbert report, congressional elections, mr allen, planet pluto, senator george, superhighway

The Seattle based software giant, Microsoft, has revealed that its Xbox 360 will receive an IPTV service by the end of this year.

The new on-demand service will allow owners of Microsoft’s latest console to use their Xbox 360 as a digital recorder. The IPTV service will also allow users to record while playing Xbox 360 games and chatting to users on a friends list while viewing TV channels.

Microsoft already have a whole host of partners in place such as AT&T, BT, Deutsch Telecom and Swiss Telecom with many more trialling the service.

Microsoft hopes to establish the Xbox 360 as a home entertainment system and the IPTV service is just the latest effort. The console has already received a HD-DVD drive attachment and last year it launched a digital download service that allows users to download movies and TV shows to the console’s hard drive (US only). It is currently jostling for supremacy against the Sony’s Playstation 3 which also vies for control of you home’s living room.

Reference for posting: GamesIndustry.biz

The New American Television Network which will replace The WB and UPN has begun broadcasting today. The CW will make its debut with American’s Next Top Model which will be a two hour premier of the show.

"The new CW Network will consist of a six-night, 13-hour primetime lineup including Monday through Friday nights from 8:00-10:00 PM (ET/PT); Sundays from 7:00-10:00 PM (ET/PT); Sunday from 5:00-7:00 PM (ET/PT) outside of prime time as well as a Monday-Friday afternoon block from 3:00-5:00 PM (ET/PT) and a five-hour Saturday morning animation block. Altogether, the network will program 30 hours a week over seven days." (Official website) Tags: CW

The British commercial broadcaster ITV, is not going to buy out TV3, which means that the Irish station, (which also broadcasts on SKY Digital in Ireland) will now be sold to European private equity group Doughty Hanson.

ITV already owns 45% of TV 3 and CanWest owns 45% also, the move comes after a decision by CanWest to see its shares.
Tags: TV3

There is plenty of talk about the new Sky by mobile aplication, which allows you to have the following key features:

* The latest news stories and video updates from Sky News and Sky Sports.
* Live scoreboards giving play-by-play accounts of top sports events.
* Tables, fixtures and results for key sports.
* The ability to personalise a “My Sports” section, to follow the sports, teams and events of your choice.
* Weather forecasts from the Sky News Weather team, including regular video updates and a 24-hour outlook for around 100 UK cities.
* The ability to check odds and place bets with Skybet.**

Stephen Nuttall, BSkyB’s Director of Business Development, said:

“Sky Mobile brings customers the latest news, sport and weather in a convenient and easy-to-use format. This application allows us to build on existing customer relationships and reach consumers wherever they want to access Sky content.”

It looks good on paper but will people bother?
Source: SKY Press Release
Tags: SKY Mobile

Hi there!

We have decided to have a re-launch of Digital Orbit.

We have a new site with some interesting new content for you. Keep an eye out!

COMING SOON…

Daily Tech is reporting today on the release of another interim build of its Vista Windows system. This build offers some improvements over the 5456 build.

Vista in its beta form is pretty taxing on the system. It’s slow and a little non-responsive. That piece of software is now about nine weeks old and that may not sound like a lot but at this stage, that’s an old version in software terms. You’ll see a huge difference [in performance],” said Microsoft corporate VP of Windows client marketing Mike Sievert.

Source

vista

Google Checkout has been launched. But sadly enough, it is not yet available to the UK & Ireland. “At this time, only merchants with a U.S. address and bank account can process transactions through Google Checkout. We look forward to offering more options in the future.”

Here is an extract from the google blog. Heres hoping they give PayPal something to worry about, and cause a bit of a price reduction war. Although the fact the PayPal is owned by eBay, means things will be that much tougher on the playground.

Google Checkout. It’s an easy way to identify fast, secure places to shop when you search. And after you’ve placed your order, Google Checkout provides a purchase history where you can track your orders and shipping information in one place.

Because we see big benefits for shoppers as the service grows, our immediate priority is to help more online stores join Jockey, Starbucks Store, Levi’s, Dockers, Buy.com, Timberland, Zales, and others to offer Checkout on their sites. To keep website integration simple, we’ve built a range of integration alternatives such as cut and paste buy buttons, pre-integrated ecommerce partner offerings, and an API that supports more advanced integration.

If you are a user of Google pages, you will be happy to know or may already know that you can now include your adsense code on those pages! Although I am not a user of the Google Pages service, I have heard it is better than geocities, Yahoos offering! Thanks to problogger.net for the info

We’re happy to let you know that Google Page Creator is now compatible with AdSense. Please feel free to add the AdSense code to your Page Creator web pages. If you don’t know how to implement the AdSense code with Google Page Creator, please follow the instructions below:

1. Log into your AdSense accoun t at www.google.com/adsense

2. From the AdSense Setup tab, customize and generate your AdSense code

3. Copy the generated code from the ‘Your AdSense code’ box

4. Log into your Google Page Creator account

5. Select the web page you’d like to dis play AdSense ads

6. Select the field where you’d like the ads to appear

7. Click ‘Edit HTML’

8. Paste the AdSense code in the HTML source code of the page

9. Save your updated web page

10. Publish your web page

After taking the steps above, your ads should appear shortly. If you have trouble implementing the Ad Sense code onto your web page, please feel free to respond to this email.

Good luck,

The Google AdSense Team

google adsense