18/02/2008 by swordfish.

Movie studio Paramount Pictures is making its catalogue of movies on Microsoft’s Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store available to European users of the service.

The move continues a trend of major movie studios experimenting with download based delivery of films. The Paramount deal means that all Xbox 360 owners connected to Xbox Live in Ireland, the UK, France and Germany can download-to-rent high definition and standard definition Paramount movies such as Transformers and A Mighty Heart.

Source: Electric News

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11/01/2008 by swordfish.

The BBC’s iPlayer website saw a 14-fold increase in traffic during the festive period.

From 8 December, 2007 to 5 January, 2008 visits to the site rocketed following its full marketing launch on Christmas Day, according to web traffic monitoring company Hitwise.

During the week ending 5 January, the site was the 80th most-visited website in the UK and peaked at number 62 on New Year’s Day.

Since its launch, iPlayer has attracted criticism as the download version was only available on Microsoft’s Windows XP.

A streaming version of iPlayer was launched for Windows, Macs and Linux in December.

Source: ZDNet

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07/01/2008 by swordfish.

Media company NBC Universal is to team up with Microsoft to offer online content for the 2008 Olympics.

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20/11/2007 by swordfish.

Research carried out by analysis firm Point Topic has come to the conclusion that the current downward trend in net broadband line additions in the UK is not just a blip, but indicative of a trend for the future.

The middle two quarters of 2007 saw the lowest numbers of broadband line additions in the UK (about 330,000 and 550,000 respectively) since 2003. This represents less than half the growth achieved in the previous two quarters. The third quarter of the year has seen a slight improvement, with a net addition of nearly 600,000 lines.

Point Topic points to the shrinking pool of dial-up users who have yet to convert to broadband, as well as perceived problems with broadband set up and connection speeds, as primary reasons for the slowdown. The company does predict steady growth in the medium- to long-term due to current broadband subscribers continuing to use the service as they grow older, leading to a reduction in the overall number of non-user households.

The researchers also say that approximately 4 percent of households currently not connected to broadband will sign up each year. In the business market, which is expected to have lower barriers to take-up than the consumer sector, it is predicted that about 6.5 percent of the remaining business premises without broadband will get connected each year.

Meanwhile, prospects for broadband access in Ireland have improved in the past few months, with the resolution of the local loop unbundling (LLU) controversy in May paving the way for a wider choice of consumer offerings with faster access speeds.

Source: Yahoo News

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16/11/2007 by swordfish.

The United Nations body charged with coordinating global broadcast frequencies said on Friday it has agreed to free up more space to meet growing demand from mobile and broadband services.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) agreed on a new treaty setting out a spectrum of frequencies to be used by international mobile services, which it said should help bridge the “digital divide” between rich and poor countries.

Under the treaty, various parts of the broadcasting spectrum will be allocated specifically to mobile communications, including the 698-862 Megaherz (MHz) band in the Americas and major Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea. The 790-862 MHz band will be allocated to the same services in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and other Asia-Pacific countries, the ITU said in a statement.

The overlap will allow mobile operators to use fewer base stations to transmit their signals.

The new guidelines give industry and individual countries the flexibility to decide their own priorities and make best use of new technologies, the ITU said.

The UN’s trade and development agency last year said broadband should be considered a utility as important as water or electricity, such is its importance to economic progress in poorer countries.

Source: Yahoo News

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24/10/2007 by swordfish.

The Post Office is to launch a national broadband service, using its 14,000 stores around the country to attract mostly older customers who have not yet taken up the service.

Broadband provision has become increasingly competitive and the Post Office said it would target people who wanted to pay in cash at its stores and customers between 50 and 65-years-old who are going online for the first time.

The service will launch on Monday, October 29, and the group said it hoped to sign up to 600,000 telecoms customers by April 2008 and 1.2 million by April 2010.

The Post Office, which is part of Royal Mail group, said it would offer speeds of up to 8 megabits per second through its five-year wholesale deal with BT which will provide the network and other support.

Source: Yahoo News

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