I’m more of a Twitpic man myself. All my Twitpic pictures are of random things I saw such as a cool old train on Sunday or a weird seal chilling in a harbour. The URL which links to my pictures is of course a Twitpic one. But now, what about the millions of other people who upload photos or send links via YouTube to their Twitter. Because twitter allows a maximum of 140 characters per tweet you must make everything count.
Now, Bitly (or bit.ly as you may see it in tweets) is teaming up with Yfrog to provide an image uploading service on twitter. Bitly were given their first big break when their URL was officially built into twitter, replacing the well-known TinyURL. The new image service which will allow users to upload images via the Bitly website and automatically sync it with their twitter is due to be live by the end of the month.
Bitly is certainly getting big now with other companies such as Google (Google Reader) and Typepad now using the shortened URLs as standard. CBS is also using the service on its website.
So, from now on expect to see a lot more Bitly URLs on Twitter.
We’ve all been sitting in the office, relaxing at home or on the bus and decided to check the old e-mails. Low and behold there’s one from your old buddy Jeff with a link to a YouTube video. What the hell, it’s not like your busy or anything. So you decide to give it a try. It turns out to be one of these one hit wonders that have their fifteen minutes of fame before being forgotten about and dissolved into the abyss.
Well now YouTube is going to form advertising partnerships with the makers of the videos. For example, David Devore filmed his son all loopy after been given sedative by the dentist. The video got over 28 Million views with the creator getting over $10,000 in ad revenue – that’s not exactly chump change for what you thought would be a funny video for friends and family to enjoy.
I think that this is actually a cool idea. It will keep people posting on YouTube and it may inspire creativity. But for the most part it’s an internet giant giving some of its haul back. YouTube didn’t really have to do this – they were perfectly comfortable where they were being the internets largest video provider. Maybe they’re softening the blow for a huge bombshell?!
The first ever augmented reality app has appeared in the Apple App store for the iPhone. I know – what the hell is Augmented Reality or AR as it’s often called? Basically, it’s a layer of digital information displayed over real information.
The app is called ‘Metro Paris Subway’ and what it does is use the iPhone’s GPS, compass and camera all together to give you information about your surroundings when in the city. Basically, you point your camera at a certain location and details of local shops, restaurants and tourist locations will pop up as you can see in the screenshot. It gives you direction and distance also.
This kind of technology wasn’t expected until Apple released an updated version of the iPhone OS in a few months.
It’s cool and everything, but for some reason I can’t see it catching on in this form. People like their GPS and it suits them fine. As soon as the novelty wears off they will retreat back to GPS. You don’t need AR to tell you where to go – GPS does a better job at twice the speed with half the effort. However, if you do get this app (which bear in mind will only work in Paris) then don’t worry about discarding it after purchase as it costs a reasonable 99c – I was expecting it to cost $30!
When Bing and Yahoo! decided recently that they would work together in an effort to stage an offensive against the internet giant that is Google, I though competition between the two had come to an untimely end. I was wrong.
As it happens, although the two search engines will work together to defeat Google they will still compete for glory. Perhaps we will see a kind of WW2 cooperation just like the bitter Allies united to defeat the Nazis…not that Google is a Nazi.
A senior vice president of Yahoo! said “We are Yahoo and that will continue…We collaborate on the back-end but we are competitors on the front-end,”
I guess this makes sense. I mean, what were we all expecting? Yahoo! and Bing to come together like two lost lovers? Nonsense. This is a recession and both companies will by going full steam ahead to stay afloat. They will share advertising revenue with both search engines using the Bing ad model. The deal is due to come into affect next year and will last for ten years. By the end of that time will Google have been defeated? And will Yahoo! be left needing Bing more than Bing needs Yahoo?
I’m all for protecting children online. There are a lot of unsuitable content, and indeed sick people out there. But I say most of that work should be placed the hands of companies who make content filtering software like Norton and of course the parents. It most certainly should not be the job of the search engines to censor results – in my opinion.
Recently, a search engine launched in Russia. It’s called, Gougle (ring any bells?). It filters our bad content such as porn and graphic or violent videos. But then it goes a step further and takes a leaf out of China’s book.
Gougle won’t let you access some of the accounts of horrible events in history such as genocide or evil people like Hitler. While I can see their thinking, I think they are making a huge mistake. If you hide history, what will future generations learn from?
The Apple App Store is a place where you get pristine apps that are clean of any SPAM or Malware. A great place in my opinion. However, in order to keep this clean environment Apple have built up a wall made out of trained reviewers who scrutinize apps for any violation of policy before they are allowed to go live. Facebook developer Joe Hewitt said on his blog that he wants Apple to remove the screening process to make the App store more accessible to developers.
There is currently a 14 day waiting period for apps so they can be reviewed by Apple. However, this is annoying Facebook as they believe Apple are using this time to block their app from the market. Here is what Hewt said in his blog, almost criticizing the iPhone along with Apple:
Oh, but you say that iPhone apps are different, because they run native code and can do scary things that web pages can’t? Again, you’re wrong, because iPhone apps are sandboxed and have scarcely any more privileges than a web app. About the only scary thing they can do outside the sandbox is access your address book, but Apple can easily fix that by requiring they ask permission first, just like they must do to track your location.
Whether or not Apple chooses to listen is up to them. Tearing down the wall could lead to an influx of Spammers, leaving it up could further delay apps or even put off developers as alternatives become increasingly available.
If you use YouTube or just happen to have a pulse then you’ve probably heard of Fred (pictured). This is a popular mini-show on YouTube which features a troubled teenager named Fred talking about his teenage life and all the perils of it. For ages, the show held the No. 1 spot on Youtube. This was based on the amount of subscribers to the show which currently stands at 1.36 Million.
Now, Fred has been knocked down from number one after Nigahiga climbed to the top with over 1.9 million subscribers.
YouTube loves these miniseries as they are easy to monetize and to strike up deals with. Another popular miniseries that was on YouTube in the past was ‘Ask a Ninja’. This show again brought in tonnes of advertising revenue for YouTube and drove those who didn’t subscribe to the podcast to their website.
This recent change in the longstanding leader boards shows that the competition for online-only entertainment is heating up and may well begin to rival TV over the next few years.
The iPhone is the most recognisable smart phone in the world. Its popularity meant that it was the first phone that really was built for apps. There are now literally thousands of companies churning out hundreds of thousands of apps for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Many people have hundreds of apps on their iPhone for every task imaginable such as splitting up the cost of a bill, getting your horoscope or booking flights. But organising them can be an issue which can result in you messing up your app pages.
Now, a new program called ‘Movement’ has been released for Mac computers which allows you to sync all of your apps with your computer and rearrange them on a big screen with easy to use tools. Then, just transfer the info back to your iPhone and all of your apps will be just how you like them such as in alphabetical order, popularity or in different sections depending on what they’re for.
I think this is a cool piece of kit for anyone with an iPhone or an iPod Touch. There is a catch for users however, their device must be jail broken to allow the sync to take place.
For a few months, I’ve been feeling that all the current PS3 games didn’t get me all that excited to actually go out there and buy them as soon as they are released. Metal Gear 4, GTA IV, FIFA 09 and just a couple more are my favorites and, in different ways, I think they represent just the edge that Play Station has over other similar consoles.
This list represents, in my perception, which are the games that are the most expected yet to come for Play Station 3:
Number 5 – FIFA 10
FIFA 09 made an incredible revolution among sports games in PS3, functionality, features, online gaming, realism were the main aspects that made FIFA 09 the best soccer game released for PS3 (and I think the best in any console).
Among the new features that will be included are: Virtual Pro (use your player with your own photo and see how the games adapts the photo with new face recognition software); new online types of games; several improvements in game play (new type of tactics can be implemented, defensive urgency, more physical play, 360 dribbles, etc etc).
Release Date: October 20, 2009.
Number 4 – Assassin’s Creed 2
It just stays in N° 4 because the first game released in 2007 was not actually all that I expected. It was not bad, don’t get me wrong, I just didn’t enjoy the missions in this games: all the same. Ubisoft seems that received most of the feedback and adds more excitement in this 2nd part.
The main story will be placed in Venice in the XV century and seems that will contain over 16 type of different missions. New weapons and movements, you will be able to swim and throw people to the water, new places to hide, etc etc.
Release Date: November 17, 2009.
Number 3 – Batman Arkham Asylum
This story starts with Batman that just has captured The Joker, and takes him to Arkham Asylum to acts as his prison. But of course, things go bad and The Joker gets loose and frees other members of the asylum.
To capture him back, Batman will use tons of gadgets and also the “detective mode” to get rid of all the bad guys. You will find awesome battle scenes with great video and motion, including “take down” options to use with your enemies, you will also get improvements in your weapons by gaining experience points.
Release Date: August 25, 2009.
Number 2 – Castlevania The Lord of the Shadows
The Castlevania saga makes an extraordinary comeback with the Lord of the Shadows. Great artistic pictures and looks like a more incredible game play. Here’s the trailer, enjoy:
(Yes, the game narrator is Patrick Stewart, X-Men’s Xavier)
Release Date: TBA 2010
Number 1 – God of War III
Soon as I completed God of War II and watching the game box with the message “God of War III for Play Station 3 – Coming Soon” I knew that the PS3 will be mine and all of my expectations will be on this game.
As for PS2, God of War will be a must for all PS3 gamers. The new features will include: bigger areas and scenarios, more brutal combats, intricate puzzles to solve, new weapons, using a new lighting technology inside the game play (simulates a human retina behavior with brightness and darkness), PS3 exclusive game.
Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and Facebook are some of the internets biggest names. All of them have huge online presence with millions of hits every single day. Their names have become so well known that even elderly people who have never sat at a computer know what they are. Ever think about their electricity bills?
Me neither, until I came across a report by MIT which states that they are easily spending $30 million per annum on electricity. This is to keep their servers up and running. First they have to power the servers. Then comes the technology that runs them and all the cooling and networking systems in between. A tall task with an even taller bill.
This report suggests a way in which these companies could save on their electricity bills.
It doesn’t offer a green solution of cutting back, rather it suggests that they constantly change which servers power their machines on a daily, even hourly basis.
So for example, the cost of electricity could rise in the US for any given reason so they shift the workload to servers in Belgium where the electricity is cheaper on that particular day.
While this would be a costly investment to begin with, it should pay off. After all, the total energy usage by the internet’s servers is set to go up four times within the next decade. Time for the big lads to make a big decision I think.
I’m more of a Twitpic man myself. All my Twitpic pictures are of random things I saw such as a cool old train on Sunday or a weird seal chilling in a harbour. The URL which links to my pictures is of course a Twitpic one. But now, what about the millions of other people who upload photos or send links via YouTube to their Twitter. Because twitter allows a maximum of 140 characters per tweet you must make everything count.
We’ve all been sitting in the office, relaxing at home or on the bus and decided to check the old e-mails. Low and behold there’s one from your old buddy Jeff with a link to a YouTube video. What the hell, it’s not like your busy or anything. So you decide to give it a try. It turns out to be one of these one hit wonders that have their fifteen minutes of fame before being forgotten about and dissolved into the abyss.
The first ever augmented reality app has appeared in the
When Bing and Yahoo! 
I’m all for 
The Apple App Store is a place where you get pristine apps that are clean of any SPAM or Malware. A great place in my opinion. However, in order to keep this clean environment Apple have built up a wall made out of trained reviewers who scrutinize apps for any violation of policy before they are allowed to go live. 
The
