I have been living without any of the major commercial channels for more than 3 months. The aerial signal quality had deteriorated over several weeks until all I could see was ABC and some SBS (on good days). I was actually too lazy to find out whether it was my Digital Video Recorder (DVR) acting up or the actual antenna or the slightly damaged coaxial cable (as it turned out, it was the antenna).

Now during my forced abstinence from commercial TV I developed a habit of tuning into the fantastic ABC iView service quite a lot. And watched lots of YouTube on the iTouch. Which in turn ate up my download cap (cannot wait for the day when a real flatrate gets finally offered here in AU).
All in all still a very good experience and as iView is getting better all the time, I can only recommend tuning in. Channel 9 and 7 will be following suit and other DVR options are coming into existence. You don’t necessarily have to bend your antenna the wrong way to start watching what you want, when you want it.

Additional info: A study mentioned on Media Guardian claims Video-On-Demand will hardly affect linear TV advertising revenue. I cannot judge the validity of the study, though do see the point that time-shifted viewing (through DVRs such as iQ) slows the growth rate of VOD. As an early adopter I might sometimes overestimate how much the mainstream changes their ways of watching good old TV. It still has a lot to do with how hard ware is set up and used in people’s home.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s iView service is today available for the PlayStation 3, accessed directly from the XMB’s new TV menu after logging in to the PlayStation Network.

The ABC iView XMB icon is just a web shortcut, which opens the PS3’s browser and launches the fullscreen Flash application. The service, which was recently revamped, used to run terribly through the PS3 browser, but now runs smoothly, just as well as it would on a PC. Streaming from iView does not consume download quota for users of iiNet, Internode, Westnet, and a number of other ISPs.

iView is essentially the Australian equivalent of the BBC’s iPlayer, which is available on the PS3 and Wii. Similarly, the Australian deal is non-exclusive, meaning the service could spread to other devices.

ABC iView

Beautiful prototype idea.  Click here to view.

I’ve long been envious of the UK for already having PlayTV on the PS3 system. A PVR device for your Playstation, It has dual HD-tuners, is compatible with the freeview 7 day EPG and can stream wirelessly to your PSP!

The ability to pause, record and save live tv to hard drive is a great thing for those emergency toilet and snack breaks during your favourite show. Although it is recommended if you plan on saving shows to your hard drive you upgrade to at least a 500gb unit. Its going to cost $169 and should be at all good gaming retailers on Nov 26.

Coming with this is an Australian exclusive, access to ABC iView from your playstation. This is a service which allows you to download/stream any show that has already aired.

[from gamespot]

Sandwiched between some of the biggest shows of the year, the premiere of ABC’s new current affairs program Hungry Beast last night went almost unnoticed. But for those that did manage to pry their eyes away from the Hey Hey reunion were witness to a very fresh take on news. But did they actually tell us something we didn’t know?

Produced by Andrew Denton’s Zapruder’s Other Films, the idea of Hungry Beast has been sitting in the wings for quite a while now. In 2008 calls were put out across Australia for fresh talent in reporting, writing, editing, graphic design and a whole range of other areas with the prerequisite of being able to tell Australia something we don’t know.  In theory, the idea is great. Once you get past the Jules Lunds and Shelley Crafts and other too-tanned Nine personalities, the talent pool on Aussie TV is pretty slim. HB aims to bring a new generation of personalities to our screens. Helmed by Denton who has such a good track record on ABC and including up-and-comers like Dan Ilic (creator of that wonderful Freeview parody) and Marc Fennell (the movie guy from triple j), I was awaiting for this show with baited breath.

And I wasn’t disappointed. Sure, it was only the first episode, and much needs to be tweaked- but it was a damn good start.

The show itself is a slightly different take on news and current affairs. Yeah, we’ve heard all about ‘new news’- The chaser did it hilariously, Newstopia was gold (even if no-one watched it). Even the 7pm Project is attempting it. But it was the unknown personalities, the unkempt set and the delicate mix between comedy and serious issues that sets HB apart from the rest.

The show opened with a chaser-style segment that proved just how incompetent news sources are in Australia. The HB team created a fictional research institute, and released a phony press release detailing which Australian cities are the ‘most gullible’. You’ve probably heard about it. The story was run on numerous online sites, in newspapers, and even on the 7pm Project…none of which ever checked to see that the ‘Levitt Institute’ was nothing more than a derelict old building. This is why I don’t watch news.

Filmed sketches and interstitials between stories also proved to be both amusing and informing. The Today Tonight-esque segment about a devious neighbourhood cat highlighted the sheer ridiculousness of some current affairs stories perfectly.

It wasn’t all fun and games though. An interview with the mother and wife of deceased Australian soldier Brett Till proved that they could go the hard yards in serious current affairs as well.

Like any good show aimed at young people should, the show is backed up by a commendable website, facebook and twitter presence. Viewers are able to submit and upload their own news stories and videos, with the chance to get it shown on the show.

Certainly, there were some misses amongst the hits. A sketch telling us to ‘F**k Pandas’ fell a bit flat. Some of the presenters felt a little awkward in what is probably their first time on national telly. But, that’s what gives HB it’s charm. It’s not polished. It’s not packaged by a crazed network executive who only cares about ratings. Give it time, and I’m sure we’ll all find out plenty more we don’t know.

Hungry Beast airs Wednesdays 9pm on ABC1, repeats Thursdays 9pm on ABC2, and can be viewed anytime through iView on ABC’s website.

This was a recent 4 Corners program. A friend had posted the link on Twitter. It has to be seen to be believed. It is a long program and beware of nudity that the ABC through webcast is not completely fuzzed out.

This sport is putting the sport and Australian women in crisis. Countless circumstances of sexual assault, harassment and the deepest misogyny. This program should be watched by everybody who visits this blog.

http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/370129

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes indeed. Another indication of how the national broadcaster and Internode both rock.

(BTW, I believe iiNet also has unmetered ABC access – but I don’t have iiNet, so this is something I’ve been anxiously waiting for.)

Dan Phil is your classic ABC silent warrior. You can’t make change in the ABC if you go in there with your hands on your holster looking for cowbows: best to make changes quietly and then let the respect roll in and he’s certainly done that since he spoke at the inaugural Portable Symposium in 2006.

Last year they launched a podcast service for a few of their properties and had positive feedback from both viewers and also the executive team there.

A large part of the ABC rethink is about user involvement. He’s using the term “Me TV” to broadly define the changes that are going on in the realm of digital and UGC. He references the Gruen Transfer, a show that profiles interesting advertising campaigns in Australia, and its provision of a mash-up tool for users to create their own advertisements. They’ve had over 2 million page impressions and 10,000 advertisements created for the platform.

Good Game is a television show that premiered on ABC2 last year. It’s a show about gaming and has a large following so they set up an initiative where the audience could create and submit a project for a game through their online platform. Using a Threadless.com style model of community engagement. The final game that’s being developed is called “Office Wars”.

The third area, which I think is the most interesting, is iView, which offers six channels of content, mainly around “catch-up” content. It provides full screen, high definition content and I think it’s streamed through Vividas. Users can also set up their own playlists and control their own “channel” based on what they want (it also includes digital book-marking, send-a-friend functionality and a few others). Catch-up television is one of those things you see and think “this is so obvious” however it’s great that it’s here and no other providers in Australia are doing it yet.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has launched it’s fantastic new iView service, unfortunately for all my readers not in Australia it is only accessible from Australia or through an Australian proxy. The only requirement is a broadband connection with a consistent 1.1MBps > speed and the Adobe Flash Player version 9 >. Works fine for me on OpenSolaris and the ABC are touting compatibility with Windows, Mac and Linux. If only the BBC were this switched on

And of course the screenshot (There is full screen available but a screenshot of that is rather pointless):

Lateline in Firefox on OpenSolaris through ABC's iView

How much do I love my ISP iiNet? This much.

They have included ABC iView—a high-definition streaming player ala-BBC iPlayer—into their Freezone, which means the download/stream won’t count into their user’s metered quota.

free Doctor Who, w00t!

In other words, I can watch dozens of high-quality back ABC shows on my PC, which include my favourites Doctor Who, The Gruen Transfer and The Hollowmen. Without consuming my already too paltry quota. The player provides 6 channels streaming weekly shows, news, documentaries, arts, cartoons and ABC Shop previews each.

…as ABC iView. Visit it at http://www.abc.net.au/iview/. You’d probably need a decent broadband connection, and lots of bandwidth to waste.

I just got the email about it today, inviting all ABC Playback testers to use ABC iView, the “renamed” version of the same thing with some extra features.

In my opinion, the service is great. If only other networks would do the same thing and not hide their content for viewing only on the TV. Truly Australian

Update: O.M.G. iiNet internet subscribers rejoice: ABC iView is on iiNet’s media lounge. And guess what that means? FREE quota, so you won’t ever run out of quota from viewing ABC iView programs, which when I checked included Dr Who… Don’t believe it? Look for yourself. Here and here. This confirms it’s in freezone.

The “iView” concept model of the Apple’s iMac references the 1950’s CINERAMA wrap around movie theatre screens. The designer decided to use a curved screen instead of the normal straight was since it allowed for better orientation to the natural curvature of the human eye.

KanYes Blog….

Voici le nouveau iMac
Désolé mais ce n’est pas vrai… il ne s’agit pour l’instant que d’un magnifique concept du designer Nuno Teixera qui à imaginé le prochain produit de la célèbre marque à la pomme: Apple

Après le MacBook Air très fin c’est aussi la fin (pas mal tournée cette phrase non ?) des écran plats…
Nuno Teixera propose un écran panoramique incurvé parfaitement adaptée au champ de vision humain et le tout dans un respect total du design Mac

Un concept d’écran tout nouveau qui intègre même un second écran LCD à l’arrière… Dingue non ?
Ce nouveau bijoux est équipée de deux webcam, une devant et une derrière…logique !

Source: Blog Déco

Et pour calculer votre addiction aux produits Apple: How Addicted to Apple Are You ?

Versiunea beta a programului Expression Media 2 a fost făcută publică şi poate fi downloadată de către cei interesaţi să o testeze. Programul Expression Media e succesorul popularului iView MediaPro, preluat de Microsoft în 2006.

]]> http://adelife.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/high-tech-imac-iview/ Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:12:48 +0000 adelife http://adelife.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/high-tech-imac-iview/

Quand je rêve de l’ordinateur parfait,” oui je sais moi aussi ça m’arrive de rêvé d’ordinateur) j’imagine un tas de gadgets et de high-tech, un écran tactile, une connectivité intégrée 3G, un projecteur à cristaux liquides, un apareille photos et webcam 5M pixels et j’en passe, jusqu’à se que je tombe sur cette merveille, tôt les mots qualificatifs, adverbes, adjective et je ne sais quoi d’autre ne suffisent pas a exprimé mon émerveillement devant le “iView”.

Dessiné par Nuno Teixeira,” le iView” dispose d’un écran courbe géant (pour une meilleure orientation de la courbure naturelle de l’œil humain) et une seconde construite en écran LCD à l’arrière, , Nuno également inclus deux webcams (recto et verso) .

Quoi dire, a part que j’en veux un comme ça, dommage qu’il ne soit qu’au stade de concept.

Designer Nuno Teixeira has come up with the iView concept that features a wrap-around display complete with a secondary LCD built right into the back – making it suitable for students as well as those involved in the graphic design field. Why not go for broke in the concept by throwing in a couple more webcams? I’m willing to wager my family jewels that this concept won’t be materialized anytime soon, as the final retail price would be way too exorbitant for anyone.

(Via Ubergizmo.)

Designer Nuno Teixeira has come up with the iView concept that features a wrap-around display complete with a secondary LCD built right into the back – making it suitable for students as well as those involved in the graphic design field. Why not go for broke in the concept by throwing in a couple more webcams? I’m willing to wager my family jewels that this concept won’t be materialized anytime soon, as the final retail price would be way too exorbitant for anyone.

(Via Ubergizmo.)