By Vicki

October 29th, 2009

Facebook and the ugly face of change

Facebook and the ugly face of change

It’s that time again. No, I don’t mean the beginning of the holiday season (as marked by the pretty snowflakes that adorn my Starbucks cup and my Coke can). I mean the time for harsh backlash in response to the latest of Facebook’s changes, namely the addition of a dual-feed layout. The “Live Feed” features real time updates from each of a user’s friends, while the “News Feed” features updates solely from friends that Facebook determines to be the most interesting or most important at the time.

In the past, whenever the social media giant has made any changes to its layout or policy, it has been almost immediately shot down by very large numbers of its very vocal users. Does anyone recall the new layout in September 2008 that had millions of users calling for a boycott? How about the “Facebook owns you” debacle? History has shown that hours, minutes even, after any Facebook changes occur, groups such as “MEMBERS WANT THE OLD FACEBOOK BACK! and “I hate the new Facebook!” spring up all over the place. You think that after a string of poorly received alterations, Facebook would learn its lesson and stop making changes to its site, right? Or not.

Still, the speed at which these groups appear makes me wonder whether or not these new updates are given a real chance (not that Facebook owning all my content even deserved a chance in my opinion). Apparently there are others who think the same thing; find them at “I AUTOMATICALLY HATE THE NEW FACEBOOK HOME PAGE” I mean, wasn’t the “old” Facebook layout that people are now demanding rejected too when it first came out?

I understand why people are annoyed when things change (I’m still trying to figure out where the “events” link moved from the last redesign), but we all know that this will blow over before you know it. So please, if you hate Facebook’s changes so much that you feel you need to let everyone know in all capital letters (with multiple exclamation points), write a letter to Facebook directly instead of sending your buddies multiple invites to your “let’s bash Facebook” group. Your friends will thank you for it, trust me.

By Media Team

October 28th, 2009

All of the dominoes are falling into place for Windows 7

All of the dominoes are falling into place for Windows 7

Windows 7, fresh off many positive reviews, is looking like it will be the smash hit for Microsoft that Vista was supposed to be.

What better way to celebrate than with 7,000 dominoes?

By PromptBoston

October 26th, 2009

BBC Trust bounces UK VoD future

BBC Trust bounces UK VoD future

Digital execs within the BBC were left seething last week when their plans for a more open version of the iPlayer were thrown out by the BBC Trust. Perhaps they’re back at their desks today following a reflective weekend, devising new plans to make the ‘Open iPlayer’ a reality? Who knows.

I’ll admit it, I’m a total sucker for all things BBC and honestly believe my days would be a lot poorer without Auntie. I’m writing this blog post while I ‘Listen Again’ to Guy Garvey’s latest from 6Music. Tonight I will check out iPlayer to see whether Russell Howard’s debut on BBC3 and Ray Mears’ latest adventures were a success. £139.50 per year? Pah! I spend more than that on PayPal fees.

Such blind faith from UK citizens like myself, weaned on ‘Watch with Mother’ and now letting our own kids mainline CBeebies, is partly what has made the iPlayer so damn successful thus far. Sure it hogs Britain’s bandwidth, but it’s the BBC, so for some reason we seem to trust it implicitly, and install and stream iPlayer media without many of the qualms we might feel with software and content from more obviously commercial broadcasters.

The recent BBC proposal suggested pushing programming from other terrestrial networks through the Beeb’s online channel. Imagine, ‘Katie and Peter’ or ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ on the BBC! Blimey. But when the BBC Trust, an organisation set up to give the great British public a greater say in BBC decision making, rejected the plan last week, it admitted it “supported the principle of sharing the iPlayer more widely” but ultimately decided the deal wouldn’t represent value for licence-fee payers. Alternative proposals for the Open iPlayer will need to suggest a less complex marriage of public service and commercial programming.

This Open iPlayer concept would have promoted commercial licensing of iPlayer tech to third-party broadcasters alongside a publically funded video on demand (VoD) service hosting a wide range of content from any broadcasters signing up to the project. The VoD listings were the real powerplay behind the project, without acceptance of which any Open iPlayer proposal was always going to be left dead in the water. There are some obvious parallels to Project Kangaroo in these proceedings. Remember that? Back in 2007, Project Kangaroo was proposed as a VoD platform with a blend of BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 content. This would have been paid content and not publically funded, but would have offered a single platform for multi-broadcaster programming. The project was then blocked by the Competition Commission, put up for sale, bought by Arqiva for £8 million, and a launch was promised for, well, about nowish I think.

Ultimately, most observers believe that some level of integration is inevitable once the digital switchover is complete in 2012 and commercial realities bite even harder for ITV, Channel 4 and Five. So is the case for the Open iPlayer now closed? Will Operation Kangaroo really hop back into the fray? And where does this latest decision by the BBC Trust leave the UK VoD market as a whole?

By PromptBoston

October 22nd, 2009

FCC releases new draft of its eagerly anticipated net neutrality rules

FCC releases new draft of its eagerly anticipated net neutrality rules

For those of you who have been following the debate regarding net neutrality in America, the principle that networks (broadband and wireless alike) must be free from the meddling of ISPs, will know how serious FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has been about the issue. Today, the FCC issued a press release that outlined the draft of the proposed rules concerning net neutrality.

However, the fight for net neutrality is still far from over, especially considering some of the ambiguous language in the release concerning the exemptions to the six core rules that ISPs will have to abide by. According to the release, ISPs will be exempt from the rules and be allowed to “engage in reasonable network management.” While some of the definitions of “reasonable” are straightforward (i.e. blocking unlawful content such as child pornography, unlawful transfers of copyrighted material and harmful traffic such as spam and malware), their notion of “other reasonable network management practices” is rather hazy.

They also have yet to clearly define who these rules will apply to “specialized” and “managed” networks. That being said, this is still a huge step for proponents of Net Neutrality and will help shape the debate to come. The reception of the article seems to have been met with positive praise, even from groups who have been opponents to Net Neutrality from the beginning.

By Media Team

October 21st, 2009

Apple keeps growing

Apple keeps growing

Apple announced this week that it netted $1.67 billion dollars for its net income over the third quarter, beating analyst estimates and sending the value of its shares sky high. Even in a down economy, Apple has been uncommonly resilient. In the past year, its share price has more than doubled, as companies around it have fallen.

Especially given the fact that Apple’s products tend to be at the highest price points on the market, it is surprising that its sales have continually increased. The reason that Apple is in such good financial shape hinges a lot on the smartphone market. It is estimated that the smartphone market will grow from 184.2 million units right now to 235.6 million units in 2010. Apple has already been fueling its growth in the mobile space, having its market share almost double in the past year. The App Store has been a major factor as well and has also been on the rise, with Apple receiving constant revenue from the users of its iPhones.

Apple keeps growing and as Forbes’ article stated, roughly one-third of its business is in growth mode, from its iPhones and iPods to services that utilize them. It just announced redesigned Macs and mouses to go with them as well. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the long-rumored tablet seems to be getting closer to release from the online chatter around it. With new products and tremendous room for growth in its current offerings, Apple seems poised to continue its growth throughout 2010.

By Media Team

October 12th, 2009

Prompt Boston and THE QUEST for Innovation

Prompt Boston and THE QUEST for Innovation

Boston Prompties took to the streets of downtown Boston on Friday last week to participate in THE QUEST for Innovation. The mobile scavenger hunt had us running from landmark to landmark on clues delivered to the team by our mobile phones through the misty weather that settled through our fair city for the majority of the event.

Despite rainy conditions, the competition continued on with more than 100 teams participating on behalf of businesses and organizations throughout the Greater Boston area. Once each team was established, a captain was named and each team member received instructions on how to get synced up on their mobile phones to receive clues and send answers for the challenge.

Donations and proceeds raised from THE QUEST are set to be used to help nonprofit organizations and local universities whose programs focus on promoting entrepreneurship throughout the area. The winning team won the opportunity to designate 15% of the proceeds to their charity of choice – very cool!

Check out our team photo next to a larger-than-life Mayor Kevin White, the Boston mayor who worked toward the revitalization of downtown Boston, and the man responsible for the re-opening of Quincy Market in 1976.

By PromptLondon

October 6th, 2009

Website of the Week Extra

Website of the Week Extra

Every week in the Prompt Newsletter, we highlight a website of the week. These are sites we believe are worth a visit. Maybe they have something interesting to say, maybe they’re an example of good design – or maybe they’re just fun to waste time on.

It’s one of the most popular elements of the newsletter, so I thought it would be fun to highlight a few sites that we didn’t have space to include over the last few weeks.

First up is Red vs Blue. This animation series is one of the earliest examples of machinima (machine cinema). Machinima are films build and ‘acted’ using the graphics and effects of an existing video game. Using Halo as its foundation, Red vs Blue focuses on a civil war between two armies. As the series progresses, the characters develop and it turns into a great little sitcom. It’s also one of the few machinima to be granted a DVD release. Be aware, some of the language is a little blue at times, especially in the earlier episodes.

Waterlife is a beautifully designed site, that promotes a Canadian film of the same name. The film presents the story of the ‘last great supply of fresh drinking water on earth’. There’s some wonderful Flash animation on display here, and with the tranquil Brian Eno song playing in the background, navigating the site becomes strangely hypnotic.

Another site worth visiting is The Awesomer. This blog exists to highlight ‘awesome stuff.’ Whether it’s T-shirts, gadgets, cars or toys – if it’s quirky or cool, this site presents it to readers. Every entry is short and easy to dip into if you have a free moment. If you’re looking for a quick fix of the latest gadgets, or you’re just feeling materialistic, this is a great place to go.

For more websites worth visiting, subscribe to the Prompt Newsletter. A weekly digest of the week’s important and quirky tech and media news, we work hard to ensure it’s always a great read. Click here to receive it.

By Media Team

October 3rd, 2009

Pirate Bay sinking on Google

Pirate Bay sinking on Google

Continuing our Google-themed week in honor of its anniversary, the site removed the Pirate Bay from its search results today. The popular site for finding BitTorrent files has been unindexed (de-indexed?) by Google, including its homepage and seven other pages. This was the result of a complaint by the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). As a result of the complaint, Google chose to take the site off its listings. Bing, on the other hand, continues to list it, either because Microsoft hasn’t received the same request or has chosen to keep its search results free from the threat of litigation.

The Register quoted the notice that appears: “In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 8 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at ChillingEffects.org.”

Today, not being in search results on Google is almost a death sentence. However, the Pirate Bay has a fanatical user base that won’t stop using them. Even if Google doesn’t bring them back, I would expect their traffic to decrease a decent amount but they still will be serving torrents and making organizations like RIAA and MPAA worry.