Convergência: câmara fotográfica com música

«Convergence takes many forms, and Samsung is offering the latest combination concept. The South Korean electronics giant is readying its NV3 music-enabled digital camera, an idea previously kicked around by Olympus. The Olympus attempt was unsuccessful, though the Samsung NV3 offers a range of newer, multimedia tie-ins. Outside of snapshot and camcorder capabilities, the camera also allows users to upload videos and music files from a PC. And once the music files are loaded, they can be played back through headphones or through on-deck, stereo speakers.

The NV3 also delivers 7.2 megapixel photo resolution, which easily trumps rival solutions from mobile phone manufacturers - and many other stand-alone cameras. That will help to attract more serious photographers, and the MP3 capabilities will offer a nice perk to increasingly media-hungry consumers. The NV3, which is part of a larger NV series, will hit various markets this fall, just in time for the holiday buying season. The NV3, NV7, and NV10 all feature an ultra-slim form factor, and a black exterior.»

fonte: «Samsung Prepares Music-Enabled Digital Camera», Digitalo music news, 10/7/06

Intel reforça WiMax

« "Intel Corp. is investing $600 million in Clearwire Corp., a company led by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw, as part  of a $900 million investment that could help spur adoption of a wireless  technology called WiMAX...

"WiMAX is a longer-range cousin of Wi-Fi, the wireless technology that now comes with many laptop computers. It is expected to deliver service at ranges of one to 10 miles — compared with around 150 feet for Wi-Fi —and is being developed for both stationary and mobile Internet access.

"Unlike Wi-Fi, WiMAX is expected to be used with licensed radio frequencies. Clearwireis believed to be the second-largest U.S. holder of frequencies that are suitable for WiMAX, behind  Sprint Nextel Corp.

"Intel, which already held a small stake in Clearwire, said it hopes the $600 million investment by its venture-capital arm, the largest in that unit's history, could  allow Clearwire to deploy WiMAX-based networks faster...

"The more recent investments in Wi-Fi and WiMAX, by contrast, are designed to stimulate demand for laptops and other portables.... Eventually...[Intel] expects one set of communication chips to handle both Wi-Fi and WiMAX, to enable users to remain connected to the Internet as they move around."

fonte: Wall street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115214498454699023-email.html, via RAIN

Uma solução para a emissão hertziana...

« Pop2Life is in talks with Apple Computer to provide a text-messaging link that connects iTunes to dozens of terrestrial radio stations in major urban markets in the United States. The New York City-based startup, which lists itself as a marketing and promotions agency, recently introduced P1 SMS, a text-messaging system that allows listeners to purchase songs they hear on the radio. When a song comes on the radio, listeners can text a five-digit trigger word, like the station’s call letters. They then receive a menu of items related to the song, such as full-track downloads, ringtones, concert tickets, CDs, and in the future, videos. Listeners set up M-Wallet accounts with the radio stations. Every time they buy something, whether it’s music content on demand or a sponsor’s product, M-Wallet charges the credit card they have on file. 

“There are a lot of advertiser and sponsorship opportunities involved with P1 SMS, particularly radio advertisers and record labels,” said Eric Murphy, president of three-and-a-half-year-old Pop2Life. “The response to the text message can be branded by advertisers, but the real revolutionary part of the system is the M-Wallet piece.” (...)

fonte: «Texting Radio’s iTunes Groove», Red Herring, 7/7/06

Os podcasts portugueses

«(...) O Lusocast dispõe de um directório que inclui, entre programas portugueses e brasileiros, 234 podcasts, num total de 3718 episódios listados até ao dia de ontem (...). O agregador de podcasts do Sapo, no "ar" desde o início do ano, funciona como um blogue e lista um total de 125 podcasts divididos em duas categorias: os amadores, 72 ao todo, e os institucionais, pertencentes a rádios, televisões e jornais - eram 53  até ontem. Os podcasters nacionais dedicam-se  quase exclusivamente a três temas: humor, tecnologia e música».

fonte: «O admirável mundo novo in Portugal», Publico, Luis Leal Miranda pag 51, 1/7/06

WiMax cresce nos EUA

«(...) News surfaced last week detailing a possible Sprint 4G WiMax network, and wireless ISP Clearwire recently received a $900 million cash infusion from Intel and Motorola to build out its own WiMax infrastructure. Clearwire is the second largest owner of WiMax-capable spectrum, behind only Sprint.

The latest developments come amid a flurry of activity from content providers and device manufacturers. Intel is already developing chipsets that will allow users to hook seamlessly into both WiFi and WiMax, and that will allow content applications to benefit from a new crop of "always connected" users. Already, some early-movers are emerging. Manhattan-based MusicGremlin has unveiled a WiFi-enabled MP3 player, and Microsoft is rumored to be developing a similar media player coupled with an iTunes-like service. What's more, the build-out of new wireless internet "pipes" may support Professor Christopher Yoo's "network diversity" theory, which holds that potential entrants in the ISP field are encouraged to invest in new broadband infrastructure so long as they can "differentiate" their services through content partnerships and services that appeal to consumers. Already, wireless carriers such as Sprint and Verizon have invested in networks to deploy their own mobile players and music stores—creating distinguishable and unique service offerings.»

fonte: Digital music News, «Big Players Continue to Push WiMax Infrastructure», 7/7/06

(mais um a dizer) O futuro da rádio está na net

«(...) Media futurist Gerd Leonhard, while addressing delegates at the RadioAsia2006 conference in Singapore last week, said that audience growth now lies in interactive services and broadcasters had to be quick to capitalise on this phenomenon.

He said technological advancements allowed users to create and even send their own content through the Internet, which has become more of a social medium and a cheap and effective means for them to find new music and content.

Mr Leonhard emphasised this point by saying that in just a few years, podcasting had outgrown the number of radio stations globally, as there were currently only some 30,000 radio stations in the world as compared with about 47,500 radio station podcasts.

“The people formerly known as listeners are getting involved and even co-creating content. They once were just receivers. Now, they are senders. They can now interact with you and make their own contributions,” he said.

Mr Leonhard also warned radio broadcasters if they did not provide on-demand content that can be recorded and stored by users, they risked losing 50 percent of their market share. (...)»

fonte: «Media futurist: Radio broadcasters must go digital and interactive, Unesco website, 30-06-2006

As potencialidades da rádio através do telemóvel

«Judging from the amount of press radio trades give the topic of listening to radio on cell phones, the radio industry seems to ignore the potential of how popular this could become. Yet, if industry titans misjudge the oncoming train called cell phone radio, like they did that of satellite radio, they may find themselves being hit upside the head with another blunt reality: It's not a question of "if" listening to radio on a cell phone will become common, only "when."

RRadio Network's continuing survey of online radio listeners is showing what could be another thorn in the radio industry's side; the concept of paying to listen to radio on a cell phone is gaining ground. When this hits mainstream status, there's a very good chance that the stations offered (on cell phones) will originate more from online than terrestrial.

In March 2005, Audio Graphics released data from 2038 listeners answering the question "If Internet radio were available on your cellular telephone, for a reasonable fee, would you pay to listen?" At the time only 27.9% answered "yes."

Our current survey, although only partially completed, is indicating that the public is far more receptive to the concept of paying to listen to radio on a cell phone. Of those answering the same question this time around, 35.4% say "yes," they would pay to listen to radio on their cell phone if it were offered for a reasonable fee.

(...) Youth and cell phones are inseparable. Is there anyone in the radio industry that doesn't see where this is a problem? (...)»

fonte: «Radio Industry Quandary: Cell Phone Radio», Audiographics, 5/7/06

Um iPod que recebe rádio satélite?

«It's been widely discussed that Apple and Sirius met to discuss a potential satellite radio-enabled iPod, and that nothing substantial came of that meeting. Steve Jobs doesn't add anything to the iPod that's not bulletproof, and portability hasn't been satellite radio's strong suit so far. But now that Sirius has reduced the size of its satellite receiver chips, Jobs could change his mind.

Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin recently showed off a digital audio player with a built-in satellite receiver at a conference last week, as Richard Menta recently pointed out. Could the satellite MP3 player player Karmazin says will be available by the end of the summer be a satellite iPod? Regardless of who makes it, an MP3 player with satellite reception could be pretty attractive, assuming users' needs are keep near the top of the priority list. (...).
Users could specify the sort of music they want to hear, either specifically or in general, on a computer or on the device itself. The satellite MP3 players would act as TiVos, scouring channels for requested songs and saving them to memory. Requests might even be sent back to Sirius in order to create ten or so democratically-created radio stations, increasing the likelihood that requested content gets played.»

fonte: «How the Satellite iPod Might Act», Wired, 5/7/06

«HD Radio: An Emerging World Standard?»

«Around the globe, a different set of dynamics were in play. Privatization of electronic media, relatively new in many nations, built momentum. While governments and consortiums hashed out new band and channel plans for DAB networks, entrepreneurs built conventional FM outlets in unprecedented numbers. And with the exception of the UK, many DAB systems found slow growth in terms of receiver penetration, even in the relatively affluent nations of northern Europe.

So here we are. Profitable privately owned analog broadcast groups are examining their options for an economical and expedient way to make the digital transition on their own. No new national networks required, and backward compatibility with an embedded base of receivers assured. HD Radio, even with its limitations, is indeed getting a global second look.»

fonte: «HD Radio: An Emerging World Standard?» radio magazine, 5/7/06

A vez dos sites de música especializada (só na web)

«A new survey from media company hear 2.0 says that Internet radio listeners prefer to listen to specialized sites such as Live365 or LAUNCHcast on Yahoo! Music, as opposed to their local station's Web streams. According to their results, 40 percent of Americans who listen to Internet radio use those sites, with an even higher percentage of 12-34 year-olds preferring them.

Overall, 40 percent of Internet radio listeners surveyed have tuned in to a specialty site, with 26 percent saying they listen to their local stations on the Web and 22 percent reporting their listen to out-of-market stations' streams. (...)

fonte: «Study Finds Listeners Prefer Specialized Internet Radio Sites», FMQB, 29/6/06

Deixem de chamar rádio, por favor

«One key theme of the event, starting with Ralph Guild's introductory comments and reinforced heavily by the media buyers' panel, is that the product category should no longer be called "radio" but rather "audio information and entertainment."

This new category definition, of course, includes both satellite-delivered and Internet-delivered  radio. Along with AM, FM, and HD delivery, it's all going to be competing for the same ears and same advertising dollars.

Prospects for growth in "traditional" radio were not seen as promising by anyone (except perhaps in the statements of the radio group heads). BearStearns's Victor Miller observed that radio audience has declined 10% over the past six years and that revenues in current dollars have declined in four of the past five years (with the one "up" year looking good only because it was compared against the comps of 9/11).

For example, many speakers saw opportunities ripe for the taking in the world of digitally-delivered radio. CBS Radio CFO Walter Berger noted  that delivering programming to office workers at their PCs via the Internet offered the opportunity for "incredible value creation."»

fonte: «Net radio holds best opportunities for broadcast groups, panels say», RAIN, 5/7/06

HD na Suiça (onde o FM tem problemas de propagação)

«Broadcast Electronics has announced the purchase of a BE HD Radio system by Swiss station 88 Radio Sunshine. BE says the purchase marks the first HD Radio system sold into Europe, and successfully concludes several months of HD Radio testing in mountainous Switzerland where FMs are spaced 100 kHz apart on the dial»
fonte: «HD Invades Europe As BE Announces First HD Radio Sold On The Continent», Radio Ink, 5/7/06

É o futuro, sem dúvida!

«The BBC wants to allow audiences to create personal radio stations from its content, its director general has said.  The planned service, provisionally called MyBBCRadio, was revealed by Mark Thompson at the Radio Festival in Cambridge. It aims to give audiences more control by combining existing services such as podcasts and the BBC Radio Player. It will be part of the BBC's iPlayer, a free service which will also offer seven days of BBC TV on demand. Thompson said MyBBCRadio would use peer-to-peer technology to provide "thousands, ultimately millions, of individual radio services created by audiences themselves". The BBC hoped to share these ideas with the commercial sector, he added.

Online success

The personalised radio scheme is expected to build on the success of the BBC's online radio services. In March, the corporation said people had listened to 20 million hours of BBC content online, using everything from live streams to downloaded programmes. The most requested shows include BBC Radio 4's long-running soap opera The Archers, and Chris Moyles' BBC Radio 1 breakfast show. In May, audiences downloaded 4.5 million BBC podcasts. In his speech, Mr Thompson said the corporations' governors would decide on whether podcasting would become a permanent service later this year. The decision will be based, in part, on a study of how the BBC's podcasts affect the commercial sector (...)»

fonte: «BBC to offer 'personalised' radio», Tuesday, 4 July 2006, 12:57 GMT 13:57 UK (via Pontomedia)

No carro, perante a concorrência

As novas tecnologias digitais estão a fazer com que a relação homem-auto-rádio, uma relação com quarenta anos e sem traições (os CD foram apenas pequenas aventuras...*), esteja ameaçada.

Há cada vez mais formas de disputar a atenção que, até agora, era dada apenas e só ao auto-rádio.

O telemóvel começou por ameaçar, mas enquanto foi apenas para fazer chamadas significou apenas uma ocupação do tempo - ou seja, para questões ludicas ou informativas, o autoradio não tinha concorrencia. Mas o telemovel já tem musica (em downloads ou via internet) e a musica já chega por outros meios que não o rádio ou o CD (por exemplo, atraves de leitores digitais de audio). E sem publicidade.

Ou seja, a disputa pela atenção (tempo disponível) no interior do carro é feita de duas formas: pelo aparecimento de novas situações que nos prendem (como o GPS ou as conversas ao telemóvel), pela concorrencia na parte informativa/lúdica (aqui não é posisvel ignorar os leitores de DVD ou os ecrãs de televisão, no painel frontal

A rádio saberá tirar partido das tecnologias para não perder protagonismo no interior do carro? (o digital, o satélite, a webradio?)

 

* só alguém muito disciplinado (ou muito melomano) consegue fazer uma gestão dos CD no carro, renovando-os. Mas, sobretudo na musica pop, ouvir um CD nem sempre é uma opção válida, por ser monotona (duas musicas «boas» num CD...); além do mais quem é que se dá ao trabalho de gravar CD com «música variada»? No entanto, há cada vez mais sistemas que oferecem  discos rtígidos com, por exemplo 30 GB, o que permite gravar os CD preferidos na memória... do carro e constituir uma oferta muito significativa e concorrencial com a rádio

ficheiros com qualidade DVD nos telemoveis

Já aqui falei do HSDPA, que segundo li numa publireportagem sobre a Samsung (na Connect nº 90) vai vai proporcionar, já em 2007, 14,4 megabits por segundo. A Samsung introduziu a tecnologia na Europa no final de 2005, tendo apresentado o primeiro equipamentoi (com velocidade capazes de atingir o 3,6 Mbps), uma tecnologia que oferece taxas de transmissão mais elevadas, downloads de ficheiros de muisca e videos com qualidade DVD.

Em Portugal, o HSDPA entrou gradualmente. Actualmente, nas zonas de maior densidade, os débitos atingem (apenas) os 1,8 Mbps

«França aprova lei que obriga iTunes...»

«O Senado francês votou favoravelmente uma proposta do Governo que vai forçar os vários distribuidores de música online por download a partilhar entre si os seus sistemas de protecção de copyright, que já havia sido aprovada pelo Parlamento em Março. A Apple, Sony e Microsoft poderão, assim, ser obrigadas a adaptar os seus ficheiros a um modelo "universal", compatível com qualquer leitor de ficheiros digitais. O texto final desta lei deixa espaço para os artistas assinarem separadamente acordos com as diferentes lojas distribuidoras, permitindo-lhes restringir o acesso à sua música aos sistemas em que a quiserem ter para venda ao público.

Segundo defensores deste texto, a lei foi criada não só para deter a pirataria, como para garantir que o explosivamente crescente mercado da música por download não ficasse dominado por uma única companhia. Esta lei promoverá a criação de uma autoridade independente que decidirá em que casos se verifica a "inoperabilidade" entre sistemas que forçará as autoridades a agir. O texto acrescenta ainda novas molduras penais contra actos de pirataria, nomeadamente a aplicação de multas de milhares de euros e penas de prisão.»

fonte: «França aprova lei que obriga i Tunes a partilhar sistemas de codificação», Nuno Galopim, 2/7/06

A rádio do Bloco de Esquerda

«A rádio online, assume-se como um projecto áudio em formato podcast. Apresenta programas pré-gravados que são colocados na Internet pelos membros do bloco ou qualquer pessoa que queira associar-se a este projecto, abrindo a participação e a produção aos utilizadores.

A página dedicada à rádio online inclui já alguns podcasts, nomeadamente um magazine de informação com a duração de 60 minutos, para escutar «as notícias que os grandes média ignoraram ou desvalorizaram; (...) a voz dos movimentos sociais, dos temas mais incómodos. (...) debates e opiniões que trazem as ideias fortes».»

fonte: Net FM; http://netfm.blogspot.com/2006/07/esquerda-tecnolgica-o-novo-portal-do_03.html

O satélite e a penetração nos automóveis

«Honda Sells One Millionth Vehicle with XM Satellite Radio Factory-Installed»

 

O tal formato que é uma espécie de iPod...

«“Nearly three years after the debut of Adult Hits, most radio stations that have adopted radio’s newest format are still showing audience gains over what their previous programming delivered.” That’s the word from Arbitron and Edison Media Research.  “At least of half of Adult Hits stations have also defied the conventional wisdom that the audience for any oldies-based format has nowhere to go but down after any initial peak in audience.”  The study is called “Adult Hits 2006: Keeping Track Of Jack, Bob and Pals” and looked at 38 stations that have been with the format for at least three quarterly Arbitron ratings reports, including one that switched to the format in late 2003. “In terms of station performance since embracing the Adult Hits format, 15 were up among 25-54 year olds in the winter ’06 ratings, 22 were down and one was flat,” Arbitron stated. “Of the 38 stations examined, 36 were measured against their previous format (two were launched on brand new frequencies). Of those 36, 28 had higher ratings among 25-54s in winter ’06 than in that station’s last book before changing format.”  Of the 38 stations examined, at least half have rebounded from at least one decline in audience during a quarterly survey period, a number “that is only likely to increase as stations stay with the format during additional Arbitron surveys.” More than 80 percent of listeners to Adult Hits stations are adults, age 25–54. Only three stations – Bonneville's KPKX (the Peak) Phoenix and WARH (the Arch) St. Louis and Citadel’s KBBD (Bob FM) Spokane, Wash. – were ranked number one in average quarter hour ratings for adults, age 25-54, during the Winter 2006. An Edison exeuctive said in the announcement, “This study suggests that well-programmed, well-executed Adult Hits stations can be durable.”»

«Gremlin ameaça domínio do iPod»

Este é o título de um texto do Wall Street Journal, republicado no suplemento económico do JN de hoje.

O texto reproduz este artigo de Walter S. Mossberg e Katherine Boehret, que anuncia um novo sistema, capaz de disputar com o iPod o mercado da música digital (embora tenha uma série de limitações, identificadas no texto):

«How do you dislodge Apple's mighty iPod music player, and its popular iTunes music service, from their total dominance in the digital-music market? Numerous hardware companies and music services -- most backed by Apple's historic rival, Microsoft -- have tried, and failed, with all sorts of approaches. Some contenders were cheaper. Others had built-in features the iPod lacked, like FM radios. Some had more capacity, or greater battery life. Others relied on monthly subscriptions instead of per-song fees. But the public has mainly yawned, and none of these approaches has gained any traction. On Wednesday, a small New York City company called MusicGremlin Inc. rolled out a fresh approach to denting the iPod hegemony: the wireless music player. Its new $299 Gremlin portable player has built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking, so it can download songs from an accompanying subscription service directly, without requiring the use of a personal computer. Not only that, but Gremlin users can wirelessly exchange entire songs right from their players, legally, as long as both the sender and receiver are subscribers to the MusicGremlin Direct service, which costs $14.99 a month. This process, called "beaming," allows you to share songs with your Gremlin-toting pals, no matter where they are, without ever using a computer or a CD burner. You can even peer into other users' Gremlins to see what they're playing and what they've downloaded, and pluck any song you like from their devices, if they give you permission.»

fonte: «Mossberg Solution: A Gremlin challenges the iPod», June 14, 2006, Wall Street Journal