Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

OECD Report: In US Broadband Is Really Expensive

from GigaOM by Om Malik

OECD just released their telecommunications outlook report (PDF link), which is one monster of a document, that can take up an entire weekend. There will be a longer post sometime this weekend, but for now little nugget: US broadband in terms of prices is not exactly the cheapest, which is typically what you should expect when the market is a duoply.

Using the monthly subscriptions, the cheapest broadband plan, according to OECD is available in Sweden: $10.47 a month. US comes in fourth at about $15.93 a month, which is hardly a surprise given cheap DSL offers from Bell Operators. However, price per megabit per month is where US is woefully behind other countries. In Japan consumers pay 22 cents Mbps per month, which Americans pay $3.18, about 15 times that. US ranks #13 by prices.

The worst comparison is in the newest and shiniest broadband technology: Fiber. In Japan NTT residential connection (100 Mbps down/up) costs $49 a month. In US, Verizon FiOS (30 megabits down/5 megabits up) costs $191.20.

Advertisers disappointed with Facebook's CTR

BizReport : Social Marketing : July 16, 2007

More reports are circulating of disappointing click-through rates for advertising placed on Facebook. Should marketers persevere or concede that social networking sites aren’t yet the place for ads?

by Helen Leggatt

Earlier this year the Valleywag blog reported that media buyers saw Facebook as a “truly terrible target”. At that time they were experiencing click-through rates of just 0.04 percent. Around the same time, GigaOM’s Robert Young commented that, “Word on the street, Madison Avenue that is, is that advertisers who have experimented and bought ads on Facebook are universally disappointed with the results.”

It would appear that not much has changed in the intervening months. A recent entry on the Reach Students blog expresses disappointment at their recent Facebook flyer campaign for which, coincidently, they also only managed to achieve click-through rates of around 0.04 percent.

Lots of reasons have been put forward as to why the click-through rates are so low. Some believe that a high number of tech-savvy students on Facebook are using ad-blockers and some that the younger generation are good at ignoring commercial messages.

However, while Myspace and other community networks are all about content, Facebook is more of a communication tool, like IM or a closed forum for friends. On MySpace users spend time browsing through content on various webpages whereas Facebook users spend their time absorbed in dialogue. The difference in user behaviour could well account for the disparate click-through rates, as Myspace has a click-through rate of around 0.1 percent, according to Valleywag.

The “Secondary Liability” Theory on YouTube/iPhone

Augustine: this is why I have put Flickr on PictureSandbox on hold for now

from TechCrunch by Michael Arrington

CNET found someone to complain that the copyright on their content is being infringed by YouTube, and speculates that Apple may have liability too because they are showing YouTube videos on the iPhone.

While copyrighted material can certainly be found on YouTube, winning a case against them for copyright infringement is much harder than it looks. YouTube is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which, among other things, protects sites like YouTube from the actions of its users. Copyright holders are left with filing a notice with YouTube to pull their content down (which they will do), or trying to prove that YouTube moved outside of the safe harbor under the Act.

Viacom and other are trying to do exactly that, and are playing a $1 billion game of poker with Google, YouTube's parent company. But to add Apple to the mix, who simply show YouTube content but do not host it on their servers, adds a whole additional layer of legal complexity to the case. And it drags another war-ready litigation team to your front door. My guess is all of these hurdles will protect Apple, and we won't be seeing any litigation over their integration of YouTube into the iPhone any time soon.

The Latest Harry Potter Book Hits BitTorrent

from TechCrunch by Duncan Riley

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, the latest and last of the wildly popular Harry Potter books that is due to go on sale this weekend, has hit BitTorrent. Various torrents of the novel consist of photographed pages (as above) with reading quality that isn’t perfect, but for desperate fans readable enough. Whilst the validity of the hype surrounding Harry Potter may be subject to debate, what the leaking of the book does demonstrate is that the days of the mainstream media and publishers strictly controlling the dissemination of information has well and truly past; simply where there is a fan with a will, there is a way.

For educational purposes only, the Harry Potter book can be found by searching The Pirate Bay.

(via Torrent Freak)

iLike’s Wonderful Facebook Problem

from TechCrunch by Michael Arrington

I had a chance to visit music social network iLike's Seattle offices yesterday to meet with co-founder Hadi Partovi. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the office was a flat panel display showing key real time stats for the company - see image to the right. I took a picture as Partovi looked on nervously. These stats haven't previously been publicly disclosed, but he agreed that I could publish them.

iLike launched last October. In the nine months since they've gathered 3.5 million users (the orange stats in the picture), up from half a million in February. Not bad. But what's really impressive is the fact that in less than two months nearly 5 million more people have signed up for the service on Facebook, where it is the third most popular third party application.

The difference will only become greater - 2,800 Facebook users are joining every hour, whereas the main site only gets 652 new users/hour.

Much of the popularity of the iLike Facebook application is driven by something called the iLike Music Challenge, where users try to guess songs or artist names based on listening to a 30 second snippet from a song. Users get points for correct answers (and more points for fast answers), and compete with their friends. It's highly addictive and viral - Partovi says the average user session last a whopping 80 songs. Since points are public, I can see that a lot of my Facebook friends are totally addicted to this. See the screen shot below, and click for a larger view.

Two Sets Of Users

But iLike has a bit of a problem, because it has two distinct sets of users using two different products. There isn't much overlap between the two groups, he says, because the Facebook application isn't promoted on the iLike website.

The company is currently dedicating resources to merge the user groups and make the functionality between the products identical (or at least more similar). They'll start by comparing cookies to find cross-users. If cookies from both products are on a user's browser, they'll ask if they have accounts at both and optionally merge them.

While they're in the process of doing that, they continue to support the two products separately. All new beta features are released on both platforms, so its just the legacy stuff that needs to move. The most important features are the data gathered from the iTunes plugin - users want to show playlists and the music they are listening to on Facebook. All of that is coming soon, the company says.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Introducing Earth2Tech, our latest blog

from GigaOM by Om Malik

Apparently like everyone else, we are going green!

We are launching our latest blog - Earth2Tech, a site devoted to the business of clean technologies, its innovations and everything else. While there are many sites that help consumers live “greener,” we are focusing our energies on the business of clean and green.

One part clean tech startup coverage – (a quick look at clean tech venture numbers shows the growing ranks of startups in hot areas like solar and biofuels); One part reviews of tech giant’s eco-initiatives (is Google’s carbon neutral initiative more marketing or responsible plan?); One part a resource page for entrepreneurs and Valley types looking for green tech [tools, rules, tips] – LBS meets ethanol?

This new blog has been a team effort. Katie came up with the concept, Liz with the name and rest of us well contributed in some way or the other. The site is being edited by Katie Fehrenbacher and working with her is Adena DeMonte, who starts today as a staff writer. She comes from Red Herring and is the newest member of GigaTeam.

The site has been designed by Rare Edge Design dynamic duo, Eric Willis and Nicole Wopperer. Incidentally, I met Nicole on iminlikewithyou and rest that say is green! Hopefully you will visit the new site, and send us your feedback. You can add it to your RSS reader by clicking here.

Friday, July 13, 2007

PayPal Mobile Checkout Lets You Pay While On the Go

from MobileCrunch by Peter Suciu

As a frequent traveler, and eBay addict I've been faced with a small problem. I can watch the auctions for those rare vintage maps, international DVDs and other "junk" that fills my apartment from my mobile phone. I can even place bids for the items. But paying for the stuff was a pain. And many sellers have strange, and even demanding rules on how quickly they want to be paid. If I'm home I'm using checking out 30 seconds after an item ends, but when I'm on the road I'm panicking to get to a PC.

But the auction gods have answered my prayers! PayPal announced this week the launch of Mobile Checkout, a service that will allow users in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada to buy items securely using the mobile Web! PayPal Mobile works like the traditional payment and you can use a credit card or direct transfer from a bank to pay for auctions or other items. I suppose you could even pay back that $10 you owe your buddy, as you now have no excuse for not having the cash in your wallet!

[Via GPShopper News]

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Upload Large Files to YouSendIt from Desktop, Can Resume Uploads

from Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal

Sharing large files on the internet just got more convenient. Popular file sharing service YouSendIt now comes with a desktop uploader software that will allow you to upload large files from the desktop without using the web browser.

upload yousendit files

What's exciting about the new YouSendIt software is that it can resume uploads - you know the frustration when you are uploading a 100 MB file from the web uploader when suddenly the internet connection breaks or the browser crashes for some reason.

With the new YouSendIt uploader, that problem may be a thing of the past as it will resume file upload from the exact point where it broke earlier. Once the file is successfully uploaded and sent to the intended recipients, you get an email confirmation automatically.

For free YouSendIt accounts, the download link will expire in 7 days and the file will be available for 100 number of downloads. The max file size that you can upload is 100 MB while the limit is 2 GB for paid accounts.

YouSendit earlier released an Outlook add-in to help you email large file attachments directly from Microsoft Outlook.

YouSendIt Standalone App [Windows only]

Olympus developing completely wireless head-mounted displays

from Engadget by Nilay Patel

Olympus is planning on taking head-mounted displays out of the "giant nerd" category and into the "scary dystopian future" realm with a new project to develop a completely wireless system that can also double as eyeglasses. While most other HMDs we've seen feature a cable snaking across your body to an external power pack, Olympus has expanded on its previous efforts (pictured) and is already prototyping a 3-ounce unit with an internal power source powering two side-mounted 110,000-pixel displays that project email onto the lenses. Olympus is optimistically hoping to bring the tech to market in 2012 -- looks like wannabe Terminators are going to be lugging those battery packs around for a while yet.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Inflatable dummy company sues rival for patent violations

from Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow: A company that patented the idea of using inflatable dummies for crowd-scenes in movies is suing another company that does the same thing. The defendant has a successful business, the plaintiff does not, so he is seeking to drive the successful competitor out of business.

It's such a misery that the US Patent and Trademark office continues to abdicate its responsibility to the American public, granting virtually every patent application filed before it. Using dummies for crowd scenes fails the "non-obvious" test that every patent is supposed to be subjected to, in spades.

Every entrepreneur I know is pressured to file "defensive patents" for the most basic, simple things, but no one can tell me how these are supposed to work. If the second guy also had a patent on inflatable dummies, he'd still have to bankrupt himself in court proving his patent was good and the other guy's was bad. The plaintiff doesn't care -- he's going out of business as it is, he can lose it in court or in the market. And once he goes under, his patents will be bought by patent trolls, companies that make nothing but lawsuits, and they will sue any successful inflatable dummy business for everything they have.

The only defense against patent abuse is to reform the patent office. For starters, let's change the way they're funded: right now, they pay their bills with the fees they get from patent applications. That means that the more patents there are, the more money they make. Is it any wonder that they've crapflooded the country with bogus government monopolies over the simplest things in the world?

Now the two startups in the market are squaring off in court. Crowd in a Box (crowdinabox.com), which holds patents issued in 2004 and 2005 for the use of inflatable humanoid figures in background scenes, is suing Inflatable Crowd for patent violation.
Joe Biggins, owner of Inflatable Crowd (inflatablecrowd.com), declines to comment on the suit but says he came up with the dummy idea independently in 2002, while working on the crew of Seabiscuit. Since then Biggins, 35, has become the market leader, placing his inflatables in more than 50 feature films, while Crowd in a Box has five (plus five TV shows and 22 commercials).
"He seems to have better connections in Hollywood than we do," admits Crowd in a Box co-owner Mark Woolpert, 58, who anticipates a court date in November. Top of page

Link (Thanks, Ross!)

California to get world's largest solar farm

from Engadget by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Cleantech America, a San Francisco based developer, has launched a project to build the world's largest solar farm, giving this Spanish solar tower a run for its money, as well as insulting the work of countless Tesco engineers and their puny, insignificant solar roof. When completed in 2011, the 80-megawatt spread of solar panels will cover roughly 640 acres and be 17 times the size of the largest US solar farm in existence. The project, which will generate enough power for nearly 21,000 homes, will be sold to the Kings River Conservation District, a public agency that purchases power for 12 cities and two counties in California's Central Valley. The company hopes that a solar farm of this size will be an industry-wide tipping point for energy providers, and will drive the cost of solar energy downward. Meanwhile, Tesco and Spain will be plotting their sublime revenge.

Casio Exilim EX-S880, EX-Z77 boast YouTube capture mode

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Look out YouTube fanatics, your next digital camera has arrived. Casio's latest pair of Exilims don't deviate much from their predecessors, but a recent agreement with YouTube has enabled the duo to boast a "unique YouTube capture mode," as well as bundle in software "to provide ideal settings for recording, storing, and uploading video." The 8.1-megapixel Exilim Card EX-S880 ($299.99) touts a 2.8-inch monitor, SD / SDHC support, and comes in black or red motifs, while the 7.2-megapixel Exilim Zoom EX-Z77 ($229.99) trims down with a 2.6-inch LCD but arrives in four varying colors. Both cameras' YouTube capture mode records in 640 x 480 H.264, and provides "two step" access to get your clips from the flash card to the web. Look for the video-savvy pair to land in retail outlets next month.

Gallery: Casio Exilim EX-S880, EX-Z77 boast YouTube capture mode

SoonR Talk workaround enables VoIP on your iPhone

from Engadget by Darren Murph

For those only interested in fielding VoIP calls on an iPhone, we're pretty sure Cisco could hook you up, but if you've been wondering how to utilize Skype on your Apple iPhone, this here workaround spills the beans. Admittedly, this method is far from seamless, but by installing the famed SoonR Talk application on your home PC and logging into the AJAX-enabled SoonR website on your handset, a new way of calling instantly emerges. As with other handsets that support AJAX interfaces, you can reportedly view and call Skype buddies through your iPhone, but you should be aware that SkypeOut credits will be used due to the PSTN leg needed to dial your mobile. Inelegant as it may be, VoIP has now invaded the (non-Cisco) iPhone.

Musipen DAP concept breaks from convention

from Engadget by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Portable Audio

Designer Chris Williams has hatched a concept for an DAP called the Musipen which seriously breaks from the common, rectangular conventions of typical audio players (although, it doesn't go as far as we'd like). The most interesting component of the glowstick-esque design is its UI, which utilizes the tubular shape for navigation through menus, allowing for each end to act as a kind of scroll-wheel. While the design is just a concept right now, it does suggest some interesting possibilities for a market which is currently over-saturated with sameness. Check the gallery for all the futuristic goodness.

Gallery: Musipen DAP concept breaks from convention

Good vibes power tiny generator

Tiny generator, Steve Beeby

Here the generator, in the centre of the chip, powers an accelerometer

A tiny generator powered by natural vibrations could soon be helping keep heart pacemakers working.

Created by scientists at the University of Southampton, UK, the generator has been developed to power devices where replacing batteries is very difficult.

The device is expected initially to be used to power wireless sensors on equipment in manufacturing plants.

The generator's creators say their technology is up to 10 times more efficient than similar devices.

Power packed

The tiny device, which is less than one cubic centimetre in size, uses vibrations in the world around it to make magnets on a cantilever at the heart of the device wobble to generate power.

Although the generator produces only microwatts this was more than enough to power sensors attached to machines in manufacturing plants, said Dr Steve Beeby, the Southampton researcher who led the development of the device.

"The big advantage of wireless sensor systems is that by removing wires and batteries, there is the potential for embedding sensors in previously inaccessible locations," he said.

Using the tiny generator also made it possible to use larger numbers of sensors because there was no longer the need to visit them to replace or recharge batteries, Dr Beeby added.

The generator was developed to sit inside air compressors but, said Dr Beeby, it could find a future role in self-powered medical implants such as pacemakers.

In a pacemaker, the beating of the human heart would be strong enough to keep the magnets inside the device wobbling.

It could also be used to power sensors attached to road and rail bridges to monitor the health of such structures.

Work on the project was funded by the EU as part of the 14.3m euros (£9.67m) Vibration Energy Scavenging (Vibes) project that is looking at how to use environmental vibrations to generate power.

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