Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 release date October
The COO of Microsoft, Kevin Turner, has let slip that Windows Phone 7 handsets are set to ship in Europe this October, with the US getting its share in November.
The remarks were made on video (which Engadget has nabbed) at a recent conference, with Turner being rather candid about the mistakes Microsoft has made in the mobile space.
In his speech Turner explained: "[It] has been tough – this is a lowlight. For me, the company, it's tough. But, you know what, in the October, November timeframe – October likely across Europe, November in the US – we are back in the game."
Ch-ch-changes
"This game is not over," added Turner. "There's 200 [million] smartphones right now being sold. When you think about what is going to happen in the next three to five years, there will be 400 to 450 million sold. More than double the number.
"The opportunity we have is to really make change."
Talking about what to expect from Windows Phone 7, Turner noted: "When you look at this phone and see some of the UI, it is not like any phone you have seen from Microsoft.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I think that is a good thing."
The first Windows Phone 7 handset was outed last week and is set to be called the Samsung Cetus.
 |  |
Read More ...
MSI FX600 laptop unveiled
MSI has unveiled it latest laptop, with the MSI FX600 aimed at 'those who demand style, functionality and power from a notebook'.The MSI FX600 uses Intel Core i3 and i5 procesors, and boasts THX surround sound and the company's Cinema Pro technology.
"Enjoy watching movies in all their glory with MSI's Cinema Pro technology for optimal sound and video setup," explains MSI's release.
Hotkey
"With just a touch of the Cinema Pro hotkey, the machine instantly kicks into film mode delivering richer colours to maximize your cinematic experience," it continues.
"MSI have partnered with world leaders in sound design technology to bring professional theatre-grade THX smart TruStudio PC sound to the F series.
"With four top-end internal speakers for undistorted sound, regardless of music type or frequency band."
MSI is making a big deal of the styling, describing the laptop as 'wrapped in a chic yet durable jet black chassis.'
Specs appeal
Specs-wise, the MSI FX600 starts with a Intel Core i3-330M 2.13GHz processor, offers 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 15.6-inch 1366x768 screen and 500GB of storage.
You can upgrade to a Blu-ray drive and Core i5 should you desire a little more entertainment power.
The FX600 will be available to buy from Argos with a UK release date of August and will cost from £599.99.
| |
Read More ...
Sky Sports package pricings compared
With Sky Sports popping up on multiple different platforms, consumers face a difficult choice with a multitude of options and confusing pricing. BT Vision, Virgin Media, Top Up TV and, of course, Sky, will all be screening Sky Sports 1 and 2 in time for the forthcoming Premiership season, but working out the best value is a difficult task.
However, What Satellite is hoping to come to the rescue by producing a price comparison that should help inform people and help them to make up their mind.
Insanely complicated
"The packages and special offers for Sky Sports across the different providers are insanely complicated, so we've tried to boil them down to the core pricing that everyone has to pay in the long run," said editor Alex Lane.
"Consumers need to watch out for extra costs like phone lines, broadband, set-top boxes and installation that don't get mentioned in the headline prices of the advertising campaigns."
Of course, even WotSat's guide can't tell you the entire story; if you want HD for instance then you can only get it on Virgin Media and Sky, and BSkyB has more than two sports channels.
You can find WotSat's guide and a little more explanation about the methodology on the WotSat blog.
| |
Read More ...
Denon updates receiver range for a 3D world
Denon has a announced the arrival of its DHT-1311XP AV receiver system, offering 5-channel sound and has been optimised for 3D.Packed to the rafters with audiovisual niceties, the 1311XP has four HDMI 1.4 inputs (the tech that gives the receiver a 3D slant) and one HDMI 1.4 output.
Also included in the setup is a 5.1 speaker system which includes two-way front and centre speakers, two full-range surround speakers and a 100W 8-inch subwoofer.
Audio bully
As well as being 3D capable, the receiver has iPod connections, including a dock, which will take the information from your iPod and display is on the dock's screen.
Audio-wise, the system is compatible with pretty much all the major audio formats including Dolby TrueHD and DTSHD Master Audio.
The Denon DHT-1311XP UK release date is September, with the setup costing £449.99.
| |
Read More ...
LG decides to rename Wink to Cookie
LG has decided that the Wink Series, which we brought you news of this morning, should actually be called the Cookie Series in the UK.Despite issuing a press release to a global audience, which also had information on European launch dates for the Wink Series, LG has issued a different alert for the UK.
So, ignore what we told you this morning - the Wink, the Wink Style and the Wink 3G will now be cunningly named the Cookie (not to be confused with the other Cookie), the Cookie Style and Cookie 3G.
Generation Z - we still have no idea what this is
They will still have the same bog-standard specs, including the 'fun cartoon user interface' for 'Generation Z'.
But there's a little snippet of news for the UK we didn't get this morning: the UK release date is now September, although we still don't have the crucial UK pricing yet.
So, forget winking in the UK - apparently we're much more responsive to the idea of owning a cookie as a phone.
| |
Read More ...
Microsoft Windows 7 steams past Vista
The day has arrived when Windows 7 is finally being used on more computers that Microsoft' Vista operating system, a mere ten months after Windows 7 was released to the public last October. Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system currently has 14.46 per cent of global market share, overtaking Microsoft's previous operating system Vista, which currently has 14.34 per cent according to the latest figures from Net Applications.
XP leads by country mile
However, Windows XP still leads the way, by a country mile, with over 61.97 per cent of the global market share of PC operating systems.
Microsoft's nine-year-old operating system has dominated the PC experience for most over the last decade, with Vista never managing to top more than 20 per cent of the global market for PC operating systems.
XP has proven to be persistently acceptable to the vast majority of users over the last decade, with many clearly choosing to pass Vista by.
In other OS news, Apple's Mac OS X holds around five per cent of the global market, while Linux holds around one per cent of the market and Apple's iOS for iPhone and iPad has grown over the last month to hold 0.7 per cent of the global market.
| |
Read More ...
In Depth: 8 features the next version of Spotify needs
Before Spotify came along we had to listen to the same 15-song loop on 6 Music all day, or actually buy our own music.Now we listen to what we like, when we like. But the service could be better. Much better.
The last big Spotify update added social features, favourites and better music recommendation. You can bet that there are similar radical upgrades to come.
Here's what we want to see in the next version of Spotify. Tell us what new features you're hoping for in the comments.
1. An advanced search page
Spotify's search box accepts boolean search terms, but you have to do a bit of research to find out what they are. Why not give us access to all those hidden search extras in a Google-style 'Advanced Search' page, with drop down menus. It would make finding tunes by year, genre and artist so much easier.
2. Better Bookmarking
In the last Spotify update, Stars were introduced - a one-click method for bookmarking individual tracks. We want a similar, one-click way to create a playlist from an album.
At the moment you have to right-click on an album title, navigate to 'Save to', choose 'New Playlist' from the bottom of a long menu and then click again. Power users will know you can also drag a title to the 'New Playlist' link in the sidebar - but it's not intuitive. Here's an idea: change the Star link in album listings to a 'Create Playlist' link. One click and you'll be done.
3. Folders for playlists
If you've been using Spotify for a while, you'll probably have a long, long list of playlists. Please, Spotify folks, give us a way to organise them. A simple folder function would be perfect. Give us the ability to create folders, name them and stuff them with appropriate playlists. It would give us the freedom to arrange our playlists by artist, genre or any other categorisation we can come up with.
4. Tabs
If you're anything like us, you listen to one track as you're searching for new ones. It'd be more spiffing than Lord Spiffy of Spiffington to have the current track in one tab while finding new tunes in another. Strip back the UI and Spotify is, basically, just a web browser - so, tabs make lots of sense.
5. Playlist search
One of of our favourite Spotify related services is ShareMyPlaylists. It reminds us of swapping mix tapes and CDs with our mates back in the day. Spotify people, you've missed a trick there. We'd love to able to post public playlists to a central catalogue and search other people's playlists from within Spotify. The current social profiles don't quite cut it...
EASY SHARING: Spotify already plugs ShareMyPlaylists on its blog... Could a partnership be struck so we can search playlists from within the client?
6. Selective collaboration
Playlists have two editing states. They're either world writable or can only be edited by their author; they're collaborative or they're not. The problem with collaborative playlists is that anyone - from erudite tune aficionados to cloth eared trolls - can add tracks to them. Our solution? A feature that enables you to add selected friends to a playlist. They can edit, no one else can. Problem solved.
7. Minimised mode
What do WinAmp, VLC and Windows Media Player all have in common? They can all be run in minimised modes that reduce the interface down to a simple set of playback controls. With Spotify, though, it's a full window or nothing. We know it can be done. Just look at third party plug-in FoxyTunes.
8. The Beatles
Yeah, we know that's a bit optimistic. The only digital platform you can currently download the Fab Four's tunes on is Beatles Rock Band. Bleurgh. But Spotify has several other big omissions from its catalogue. True behemoths like Oasis, Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Pink Floyd. All of them are missing. For Spotify to become a true alternative to the disappearing paradigm of owning your own music, it has to patch up those gaps.
MISSING: Want to download Fab Four music? Then The Beatles Rock Band from EA Games is the only current way to do it legally
| |
Read More ...
Microsoft delight as IE market share increases
Microsoft has reacted with delight to the latest browser share figures from Net Applications, with Internet Explorer displaying a small growth whilst rivals fell away. Net Applications' market share figure suggested that all versions of IE made a gain in the market of 0.42 per cent, with Firefox losing nearly one per cent and Chrome experiencing a tiny fall of 0.08 per cent.
In truth the movement is small, but will be hugely encouraging to Microsoft, especially ahead of the release of IE9, which could well represent the company's most competitive browser for years.
IE8 growth
"Most interesting is the fact that Internet Explorer 8 continues to be the fastest growing browser with a 0.98% increase worldwide in July – and now represents more than 30% of browser usage worldwide," blogged Microosft's IE chief Ryan Gavin
"In the US, Internet Explorer 8 picked up share for the third month in a row.
"Ultimately, we know customers have a choice when it comes to the browser they use, and that choice has a lot to do with the good work that developers and our partners do to build a better web with Internet Explorer."
| |
Read More ...
Orange: Android 2.2 HTC Desire update four weeks away
Orange has announced it will be bringing the HTC Desire update in a similar timeframe to network rivals, but has given a more definitive date.While other networks are quoting 'several weeks' before the HTC Desire Android 2.2 update goes live, the fruity network is stating it could be happening at the end of this month:
"We are working with HTC to bring the 2.2 Android update to Desire customers as soon as we can. This process normally takes about four weeks."
Veiny networks
In the same vein as Vodafone, Orange will be testing the update with its network-specific handsets to make sure it doesn't break the phone's core functionality.
HTC Desire owners who bought their handsets unlocked can access the update already by simply heading into the setting menu and checking for an update - Android 2.2 should begin downloading from there.
| |
Read More ...
Android Market boasts 100,000 app submissions
The Android Market has hit the lofty heights of 100,000 app submissions, a figure which has doubled in just three months.The Android app Market may not be known for its rigorous testing procedures that Apple puts its apps through, but hitting 100,000 apps submitted is an impressive feat for a service that is a month past its first birthday.
App-reciation
There is a caveat: at this precise moment there are around 85,000 apps on the market with 15,000 or so taken off after being submitted.
These figures are from AndroLib, a site which has been following the machinations of the Market since its inception.
At this rate, the Android Market could feasibly catch up with the iPhone App Store. But it's not about quantity but quality – and this is where Apple is still winning.
| |
Read More ...
iPhone 4 finally jailbroken for all
iPhone 4 users bored of being hemmed in by Apple's official version of the device can now rejoice as the unofficial jailbreak has been announced.The iPhone Dev Team, behind a number of the jailbreaks for various Apple firmware, have come up trumps again, offering a solution that works through the Safari browser.
Simply head on over to the JailBreakMe website on your iPhone (or iPod touch or iPad) and start the process to getting non-Apple approved software on your device or opening it up for use on other networks.
Updates
The iPhone Dev Team seems to have been working hard on making sure this release lands correctly, as early issues regarding server crashes and FaceTime not working have already been resolved.
Although Apple is against users jailbreaking its devices, it seems that the process is legal in the US, meaning it's likely to be accepted around the world as well - so if you want to jailbreak your iPhone 4 to use legitimately acquired software, then the signs look good.
| |
Read More ...
Office for Mac 2011 given UK release date and price
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 has been given an official UK release date and pricngs, with the software suite costing from £89.99 when it arrives globally at the end of October. With Office 2010 perfoming well, Microsoft's Mac version is now close to release, and will be available in time for Christmas (so you can put your wish list in an Excel spreadsheet Apple fans).
There will be two versions released, Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 and Office for Mac Home and Business 2011, and Microsoft has announced that people who buy Office 2008 for Mac from today can upgrade when it arrives for no extra cost.
Tools to create
"We develop Office for Mac to give you the tools to create great looking and compatible documents – with options to pick the right edition for your Mac needs," said Neil Thompson, general manager entertainment & devices division UK & Ireland.
"More than ever before, Office 2011 brings the familiar productivity tools and features of Microsoft Office to a suite of applications that work great on the Mac."
Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac and Messenger for Mac, and will retail starting at £89.99
- It will be available in two editions: a single install for £89.99 and a Family Pack for £109.99 with three installs for families with more than one Mac in their household. The Home and Student edition provides the core productivity applications that Mac users want and needs
- It also will be available in two editions: a single install for £189.99 and a Multi-Pack for £239.99 with two installs for a user with two machines.
| |
Read More ...
Review: Corsair Force F100 100GB
At any moment in the history of the solid state drives, there's always been an "it" SSD controller chipset – a controller that turns heads and generally dominates the news.Now there's a new pretender to the Barefoot's OEM controller crown. A new outfit known as Sandforce is popping up in drives all over the e-shop, including Corsair's latest performance SSD, the 100GB Force F100.
A long road to perfection
First came the JMicron, famous for all the wrong reasons, then Intel shook the industry with a new controller majoring on maximum I/O ops and random performance.
Indilinx followed with the Barefoot controller that was competitive on both price and performance.
The Barefoot found its way into a whole raft of drives from the best-known SSD makers. For those building SSDs from off-the-shelf components rather than engineering the whole thing from scratch, Indilinx's Barefoot was the automatic choice.
New firmware
First impressions of the swanky new Sandforce SF-1200 series controller are very good indeed. The key difference with the Sandforce is the way it handles data writes.
Put simply, it does its damnedest to not to do them. Call it lossless compression or reducing data duplication, the effect is the same: fewer writes to the NAND Flash memory cells.
If our benchmarks are anything to go by, all you need to worry about is this single fact: it works. Whether it's sequential read and write performance, 4k random throughput or real-world app performance, the Force F100 is near the top of the lists.
Still, that's just as well given a price-to-capacity ratio that's a bit whiffy.
Related Links
| |
Read More ...
ITV set to launch paid-for additional HD channels?
Rumours are rife that ITV will launch into the paid-for TV sector, offering high definition and, according to some reports, a male-oriented new channel.ITV's chief executive Adam Crozier is believed to be ready to unveil the bold new plans at the same time as the company's half-yearly results.
The move would see high-def versions of ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 available only on an exclusive pay-TV basis, with Sky and Virgin Media obviously touted as potential bidders for the service.
Hello, Dave?
And an additional Dave-alike male TV channel is also on the cards, although with Top Gear and Fifth Gear already signed up and on endless repeat it will be fascinating to see what exactly the channel will carry.
It is also likely that ITV will have big plans for the ITV Player catch up service and VOD, ahead of the launch of Project Canvas and the steady rise of connected television services.
Crozier is, of course best known, for his time with the Post Office and the FA. Perhaps his plans for ITV will be more fruitful. Perhaps.
| |
Read More ...
Review: Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB
Along with the two Sandforce-based drives from OCZ and Corsair, Crucial's latest SSD, the RealSSD C300 128GB, falls into what we'd call the fourth generation SSD category. Benefiting from all the lessons learned during the dodgy early days of SSD engineering, it's literally the latest technology.
The fact that Crucial still managed to cock things up early on with the RealSSD C300 just goes to show how difficult it is to knock up a decent solid state drive. First there were issues with the drive's TRIM support. When Crucial released a firmware to fix that, some users had problems with the update tool.
Anyway, a new update tool has been released and the C300 seems to be back on track.
Marking it out from the competition is the new Marvell controller. One of the most obvious benefits is support for SATA-III and therefore 6Gb/s I/O. At least, it would be if motherboard support for SATA-III were more widespread.
As it is, we suspect few will be able to cash in on the C300's maximum sequential read performance of 355MB/s.
Need for speed
The C300's 284MB/s showing in the sequential read test is indeed I/O limited. Our Intel test motherboard only supports SATA-II.
As for write performance, in 128GB form the C300 is nothing special, clocking 145MB/s. Its bigger 256GB brother breaches the 200MB/s barrier.
However, as far as the synthetics go, it's 4k random performance that shows off the C300 best. On average, it's the quickest drive here.
Shame, then, that its application performance isn't quite as world beating.
Related Links
| |
Read More ...
LG Wink: new teen-friendly touchscreen phones
LG has announced its new budget range of touchscreen phones: the LG Wink Series, complete with teen-friendly stylings.The new line-up consists of three new handsets: the Wink, Wink Style and Wink 3G, and are "all suitable for younger users or first-time touchphone users".
Basically this means a set of phones with more basic features and a presumably budget price tag to go along with it, in a bid to take on Samsung's Genio range of low-price handsets.
The LG Wink is the lowest of the group, with a 2.4-inch display and compact stylings, with a "fun style" that slips easily in the pocket.
The LG Wink Style adds a larger screen to proceedings, with a variety of colour options and accents on the front button panel.
Bunch of winkers
And to complete the spec-less press release, the LG Wink 3G offers a faster connection speed, along with the same colourful range that confirms that companies still think the easiest way to get kids using their handsets is to bump up the colour range.
Each phone will have a microSD card slot, FM radio and 3.5mm headphone jack, as well as the obligatory links to social networking sites and instant messaging, with threaded conversations too.
The user interface has been given a "fun, cartoon-styled user interface" to appeal to said audience, but we don't know anything else about the specs.
Presumably there will be minimal on-board storage and resistive screens in play, as well as no Wi-Fi to improve connection speed on the non-3G versions.
We're also still waiting to see UK pricing for the Wink Series, which has been given a UK release date of mid-August - a budget price tag is clearly necessary to appeal to the "Generation Z" market LG is going for.
Whatever that is.
| |
Read More ...
Twitter surpasses 20 billion tweets, rolls out new follow feature
Twitter users have clocked up an impressive 20 billion tweets since its creation in 2006, once again proving the on-going popularity of the micro-blogging site.A graphic designer from Tokyo (@GGGGGGo_lets_Go) lays claim to the 20 billionth tweet, which translates as: "So that means the barrage might come back later all at once."
We've no idea what this means, but because it's got the URL suffix '20000000000' it's now famous.
Follow through
In other Twitter news, the site has rolled out new features which should make it easier to find new people on the site to follow.
Taking a leaf out of Facebook's, er, book there is now a 'suggestions for you' feature that shows a list of people you might be interested in following.
The feature is algorithm based and is meant to be catered to the types of people you already follow.
In our quick tests it does seem to lean heavily on celebrities, rather than 'real' people but we are sure it will improve in time. This can be found in the Find People section of the site – although it doesn't seemed to be rolled out for all as of yet.
| |
Read More ...
Review: Patriot Torqx 128GB SSD
For the history of the SSD condensed into a single drive, look no further than Patriot's Torqx 128GB. It's been around for the better part of a year and, like the broader SSD category, it's been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs.
At launch, we had high hopes for the Torqx thanks to its Indilinx Barefoot controller. Various claims were made regarding the power of the Barefoot's ARM based CPU. Sure enough, the Torqx cranked out some seriously impressive sequential read and write numbers.
With further testing, however, something awful happened. After our traditional fill-'er-up, delete and format test, the Torqx was laggier than an extremely laggy thing in custard. Just navigating the desktop was a chore punctuated with frequent freezes.
But that was then. Several firmware updates have since been released, including one that brought support for the TRIM command in Windows 7. We're also big fans of Indilinx's drive cleaner utility.
In theory, the TRIM command is supposed to keep things tidy on the fly by forcing SSDs to fully delete unused data cells rather than merely marking them as available. But there's something reassuring about doing a manual clean-up that delivers an instantly measurable improvement in performance.
New firmware
The important thing is that the stuttering and lag is long gone. What's more, we know that's not just the case for box-fresh Torqx drives.
Our test drive is the very same one that suffered from pretty catastrophic stuttering with older firmwares. With the latest firmware, all seems well.
Related Links
| |
Read More ...
RIM to launch 'BlackPad' in November?
Research in Motion is rumoured to finally be launching a tablet to rival the Apple iPad this coming November.Bloomberg News reported the launch date, citing two people close to RIM's plans. There have been rumours of a BlackBerry tablet PC doing the rounds for some time.
The Ontario-based RIM has also recently registered Blackpad.com as a domain name, sparking rumours that this is also going to be the name of the tablet device.
BlackPad vs iPad?
According to a WHOIS lookup on a domain, RIM purchased BlackPad.com only a few days ago.
This is of course no actual confirmation that 'BlackPad' is going to be the final name for RIM's tablet device, though it is certainly evidence that the company wants to protect the name.
TechRadar has contacted RIM's UK office for further comment and clarification on this latest news.
So far, we've been served with the requisite 'no comment' but stay tuned for updates, because it's clear that something is bubbling just under the surface on this one.
| |
Read More ...
Review: Corsair P128 128GB SSD
With the snazzy new Force F100 drive and its zippy Sandforce controller slotting in as Corsair's new performance SSD in the 100GB-ish segment, is the end nigh for the 128GB P128? Probably – but until it disappears, the P128 has plenty to offer. For starters, it's conspicuously better value than its in-house cousin and not simply in terms of capacity. Yes, with the £286 P128 you're getting 119GB of formatted space compared to 93GB for £320 with the F100.
In fact, barring Kingston's bargain basement SSDNow V+, this is one of the cheapest 128GB drives.
But you're also getting a drive that delivers fantastic real-world performance. It's at or near the top of the table for all three of our application tests – file decompression, app installation and game level loading.
Heal thyself
What's more, thanks to its Samsung controller chipset, the drive not only supports the TRIM command, but also benefits from self-healing technology claimed to restore it to full performance if left idle for long enough. How well such self-healing algorithms really work is hard to quantify, but we reckon the answer must be fairly well.
After all, we've put this very P128 drive through its paces on several occasions. It isn't a brand new sample sourced for this test.
Put it all together and you have our outright winner when it comes to the crucial combination of application performance, pricing and capacity.
Our doubts are few, but involve the question of ongoing support for an older drive and mediocre performance in synthetic tests of random read and write performance.
Related Links
| |
Read More ...
Vodafone pushing for HTC Desire Android 2.2 update
Vodafone has confirmed it is working on the Android 2.2 update for the HTC Desire, and will get the new firmware to its customers as soon as possible.The new Android 2.2 update, or Froyo, was launched for the HTC Desire over the weekend, but only for unlocked phones not bought from a network.
This has obviously caused users who went through traditional methods to get their handset to question when they'll be given the same treatment too.
Working hard
TechRadar contacted Vodafone to find out how long its customers would have to wait, and got this response:
"We are working with HTC and Google to push the new 2.2 Android firmware out to Vodafone HTC Desire customers as soon as possible.
"We'll update customers when we have a confirmed release date."
The operators are obliged to check any new firmware updates are compatible with their network, as otherwise core functionality, such as calling and texting, could feasibly be impaired.
However, given the new Android 2.2 update promises a real upgrade in functionality to the HTC Desire, users are understandably anxious to get the upgrade as soon as possible.
| |
Read More ...
ChinaJoy 2010 aims to be the Eastern E3
The 2010 China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference (otherwise known as 'ChinaJoy'), taking place in Shanghai over the weekend, is China's biggest videogame trade exhibition, with over 200 exhibitors and an estimated 150,000 visitors.ChinaJoy doesn't get the acres of coverage that western events such as E3 and GamesCom receive, primarily because it's obviously not targeting western gamers and consumers.
But what it does have is scantily-clad booth babes. And, much to the chagrin of both the Chinese government and western feminists, lots of them!
Sex sells games
Reports from ChinaJoy in Shanghai note that the most visible aspect of the show are the hundreds of miniskirted models promoting various hardware and software brands.
One online security company was spotted employing 40 models in bikini shorts handing out small boxes in the style of condoms, containing locks to promote their product.
This is despite recent Chinese Government bans on online gaming companies from using sex to sell their wares.
"The most eye-catching part of the exhibition is the show girls," said Feng Gong, senior director for CBS-owned internet portal Zol.com.cn, who's company is sponsoring this year's Miss ChinaJoy pageant.
"The pretty girls and products complement each other and the combination is just perfect," Feng added.
Shanda Games' Marketing Director Jay Jiang said: "I've been to shows in Japan and Korea before, they don't have as many show girls.
"For foreign companies, it's more about exhibiting products. Often a senior executive will make a product presentation, but we invite players onstage to compete with the show girls."
20-year-old model Zhang Meng, told AFP: "Normal photos are fine. But I've met some very strange visitors and it's uncomfortable.
"Some will ask for a particular pose, some ask me to touch them. Some are just perverts - they rush to the stage and harass us."
| |
Read More ...
Gulf states banning the use of BlackBerries
Two Gulf states have announced plans to ban some functions of BlackBerries, claiming that the use of the smartphones present a security risk in the region.The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is to block key functions of BlackBerries, stopping users from sending emails, accessing the internet and sending each other instant messages on their devices.
Both Saudi Arabia and UAE have cited 'security concerns', with the UAE ban set to start this coming October and the Saudi Arabia ban starting later in August.
A power play from the authorities
Abdulrahman Mazi, a board member of state-controlled Saudi Telecom, said the move is intended to pressure Research in Motion (RIM), to release users' communications data "when needed".
There are around 500,000 BlackBerry users in the UAE, and around 400,000 in Saudi Arabia. RIM has yet to comment on the move to ban key Blackberry functions in the region.
"Many here see this as little more than a power play from the UAE authorities - an attempt to force RIM to handover the security codes or face losing a lucrative market," said BBC Middle East business reporter Ben Thompson.
| |
Read More ...
In Depth: Online advertising for website owners explained
You've put endless hours into making your site as beautiful and engaging as possible. Now it's payback time – you want some hard-earned cash in return for your efforts. The obvious route is through online ads, but which format to choose? Selecting the right one is key to maximising that all-important revenue for your site. Let's take a quick look at the main formats on offer to you:
Pay per click: These ads are text-based and are suitable for search-style pages on your own site. They're designed to be alternate suggestions to whatever search results you're also displaying. To make money, you need to make the ads relevant. The visitor is on your page because of the context, so make sure the ads fit in with that.
Text links: Text links can be placed anywhere within the content of your website and usually link to a relevant advertiser's website, or they sometimes roll over the text to display an ad that overlays to show a bit more content from the advertiser. Sometimes called 'contextual links'.
Online display: The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) list of the standard sizes of online display ads splits them into two broad types: in-page and over-the-page.
In-page ads include hard-working formats such as the humble banner, the leaderboard or large banner, the skyscraper, the wide skyscraper, and the MPU or rectangle.
Over-the-page ads include the expandable ad (starts as an in-page ad and expands in one direction when your mouse rolls over it), the overlay (floats in front of the content) and the transition (a large ad in between two pages of your site). Some of these, such as Barclaycard's Water Slide game, have interactivity built in.
NEW FORMATS: The IAB's Kieron Matthews recommends two new standard formats launched this year: half-page ads and bellybands. He also points to an increase in ads that function more like mini-websites, so visitors never need to leave your page
Good examples of this trend include Betfair.powerads.no-ip.biz and www.powershiftdemo.no-ip.biz/customers/eln_news_demo/BannerMain.html.
As well as IAB-approved formats, plenty of sites also add in their own sizes or formats. For example, Yahoo Mail sells a 'Monster ad', which is 425x600 pixels and sits on the 'sent email' page where there's plenty of space.
POP-UPS: One format that's bitten the bullet is the much-loathed pop-up ad. The IAB recommends advertisers and website owners do not use them
Takeovers: This involves the advertiser paying a premium to 'take over' your home page for a day, as O2 recently did on MSN.
Video advertising: Video ads are becoming more and more popular. Often the video is displayed within the standard ad format, such as an MPU. Advertisers like video because they can repurpose or add to the TV ads they've already made.
"Video advertising is gaining momentum," says Nicolle Pangis, VP of product management at 247 Real Media. "With the digital marketing industry moving so fast, publishers need to think ahead about where the market is moving to ensure they are ready to adapt."
Mobile advertising: In 2009, mobile advertising was £37.6m, having grown 32.3 per cent from 2008. Smartphones have a 23 per cent penetration in the UK, but it's safe to say that 77 per cent of those trying to access a site with an older mobile will have a bad experience, cautions Kieron Matthews.
"Optimising your site for mobile is essential and relatively cheap. This is especially the case when accessing sites via an iPhone, which will not play Flash-enabled ads."
"Placing ads on an optimised mobile version of your website is very simple, but can be extremely effective," adds Russell Buckley, vice president of global alliances for AdMob and global chairman emeritus of the Mobile Marketing Association. "Mobile applications can also help you to monetise your content further, as they can be sold or funded through mobile advertising."
iAds: In April, Apple officially unveiled its new mobile advertising platform, iAds – the "seventh pillar" of the new iPhone OS 4.0. The new platform will be built directly into the iPhone OS interface.
"The reach of apps is huge, so embedding ads will only extend reach," says Matthews. "The same rules will apply to online display ads, though. And remember, most current online ads are in Flash, so this could be an executional challenge."
So which is the best format to choose? It depends greatly on what is being advertised. For example, a skyscraper can be suitable for some messages but not those that feature more than a few words, which don't translate well to a vertical format.
Data from AdRelevance suggest that MPUs are the most popular ads with advertisers, as they're usually easier to design and get more standout on a web page.
According to Tim Evans, global product manager for AdSense at Google: "The 300x250 ad unit performs well. Advertisers like this format; it's noticeable." It's good to pay attention to what type of ads are popular with advertisers – but what is more important is which ads work well with YOUR website.
Your site is unique: it has its own design and layout with its own features and quirks. Some ad formats will integrate well into your pages, but steer clear of those that may reduce the quality of your website. The ads should fall into the layout nicely. They shouldn't stand out like a sore thumb; nor should they be too subtle. You want your visitors to pay attention to them (especially if you're getting paid on performance, which we'll expand on later), but you also want the visitor to enjoy your website and your content.
"The key to successfully monetising your website is to effectively sell your white space for as much as possible, without reducing your customer experience," says Alison Guise, general manager for Commission Junction Europe and UK managing director of Mediaplex. "If the advertising is too intrusive this will cut down your traffic which will, in turn, cut down on the amount you can sell your space for."
It's a balance that is unique to every site and so can be difficult to get right. Consequently, Tim Evans advises "an interactive approach, experimenting with different ad units and layout, with a good content-to-ad ratio, to make sure the visitor has a good experience". It's also worth reading the IAB's research on what visitors think of, and how they react to, different format.
How to place ads
So how do you as a site owner go about placing ads on your site? There are three main options:
1. Talk to the advertisers directly. This involves setting up an ad sales team and building relationships with advertisers and their agencies. Only the larger websites would ever usually do this, as you're building a team from scratch and paying the salaries of ad sales specialists.
2. You're represented by an ad sales house. Ad sales houses represent a number of the larger websites and act as an easy buying destination for the online media planner/buyer (the person at the advertiser or agency that buys the advertising). The main sales houses include Unanimis and regional companies such as Media-Link and Agenda Media.
The ad rep at the sales house speaks to a number of ad agencies, building relationships and making sure that the websites they represent are pushed forward whenever the media planner has a suitable ad campaign to place. The benefits are that you don't have to pay any salaries, you only pay commission and can choose ad sales houses that already have good relationships and experience. However, this is really only for the larger websites out there.
3. You sign up with a network. This is the most popular option for the majority of websites. Networks have really increased in both size and stature in the past few years and are now a staple of any online media planner/buyer's repertoire of buying points.
Buying through a network brings new ad targeting options and an easy one-stop-shop place to purchase the advertising placements.
There are three types of network that you can deal with: Google AdSense (see box, below left, for details); ad networks (sometimes known as online display networks); and affiliate networks.
Ad networks
Advertisers choose ad networks because they have great targeting capabilities and their ads will get a high reach – the networks reach a high percentage of the UK online population, due to their size.
Ad networks enable advertisers to target on a 'behavioural' basis (eg "I want to target women that are interested in expensive clothes") or on a 'demographic' basis (eg "women aged 25 to 55").
Within an ad network, you as a website owner would be known as a 'publisher'. You go into a pool of sites within the network and place whatever ad formats suit your particular website (eg a skyscraper or an MPU). That's when the ad network's technology kicks into action, displaying the appropriate advertising onto your website.
Each network has its own technology to serve and optimise the ads on your website to get the best return. These systems quickly learn which types of ads work best on your website and then give you more of those.
"Very few websites will be able to sell their inventory as well as a network," says Guise. "A network will have access to multiple advertisers in a way that would be simply too time-consuming to replicate on a single-site basis.
"Quite often larger sites will have an in-house sales team to sell the easier content and then give the rest to an ad network to sell on their behalf. A network will also have the technology to measure and track your advertising spend and ensure that you get paid."
How the pricing and revenue for you works depends on the network and on your website. For example, with 24/7 Real Media, "pricing depends on multiple factors including content, audience and volumes," says Pangis. "We work with clients on an individual basis to determine revenue relationships for our media network".
When choosing an ad network, research carefully. Look at a few different networks to get a feel for the marketing. Some ad networks can be US-focused, so if your website visitor profile is very UK-based, make sure that that you stick to those networks that have a big UK presence.
Affiliate networks
Within an affiliate network, you as a site owner are known as an 'affiliate' or 'reseller'. You promote products and services in exchange for a commission on leads or sales.
You display the advertiser's display ads, text links or product links on your site, in email campaigns or in search listings. You're then paid a commission by the advertiser when a visitor takes a specific action such as filling out a form, subscribing to a service (a lead) or making a purchase (a sale).
The lines between ad and affiliate networks often blur. Most networks have both a 'media network' side and an 'affiliate network' side. Website owners can sometimes be part of both, but advertisers usually think of them separately.
They tend to use ad networks for fixed length campaigns, where their objectives might be to increase brand awareness or to stimulate a response (eg a sign-up or a sale) and they use affiliate networks for longer-term campaigns that are only response based, as a deal is agreed for them to only pay when the desired action is taken by the website visitor.
Try out different combinations of Google AdSense, ad networks and affiliate networks. Try to test them all before choosing the right solution for you and your website. In other words, experiment, experiment, experiment!
| |
Read More ...
1 comment:
sap ps online training classes in uae
Post a Comment