Category: Top stories
Denon launches SMART S-52 DAB wi-fi table radio
Denon has mixed its audio expertise with all the functionality you could ask for to produce the SMART S-52 DAB wi-fi table radio. This new addition to Denon's SMART System family packs in a DAB/FM radio, a CD player, a…
Nokia Music Store launching this Thursday
That’s right, Nokia’s wannabe iTunes-killer is set to go live this Thursday morning (7am GMT to be precise). It was revealed at a launch event for the Nokia Music Store tonight in London, where the company was offering hands-on demos.
20 trends defining virtual worlds in 2007
So, I spent two days soaking up presentations, viewing demos and talking to people at the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe conference in London last week. I’d label myself as an interested participant – I’m enthusiastic about the potential of virtual worlds – but nowhere near as steeped in their culture as most of the other attendees.
With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of 20 trends and ideas that I picked up at the conference, which seem to be the most important and/or interesting ones affecting the development of virtual worlds right now. They’re entirely subjective, of course, but I think they’re all valid points. See what you think…
1. Shedloads of virtual worlds will be launched in 2008. Although the conference saw a lot of discussion about Second Life, Habbo Hotel, Club Penguin and other existing virtual worlds, there’s clearly more where they came from. There’s a number of virtual worlds in closed beta, or still effectively technological demos, but they all seem to be targeting next year for launch.
OS X Leopard First Day Review
After having played around with Apple's latest operating system for the past twelve hours or so, here are my initial thoughts on Leopard (10.5). Bear in mind that I haven't tested everything extensively (some things I haven't set up at…
VWFE: Spotlight on five hot new virtual worlds
This is one of the sessions at the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe that I’ve most been looking forward to: five new virtual worlds pitching their wares, or at least introducing themselves. It should be a glimpse at the next generation of virtual worlds, and a chance to see where all this is heading.
So, we start with…
1. HiPiHi (link)
It’s pronounced High-Pee-High by the way, and has been tagged as ‘the Chinese Second Life’, being based in Beijing. “Previously, there’s been no virtual world that’s really catered for the Chinese market and targeted their language barriers,” says presenter Bjorn Lee. “Our vision is to create a virtual world and virtual economy.”
MySpace announces MySpace Games casual gaming service
MySpace has revealed its next big push: into casual online games. The social network is launching MySpace Games early next year, in partnership with gaming firm Oberon Media.
It’ll let you play hundreds of web games, including multiplayer titles, while also sharing them via your MySpace profile. The games will all be free of charge, and will tie into MySpace, for example letting you play against your friends. In-game chat will also feature heavily. MySpace and Oberon are promising “further community initiatives” in early 2008 too.
More free music downloads: this time from The Verve and the Charlatans
Those big bands can’t stop giving music away, now they’ve got the bug. We already knew that The Charlatans were planning to give their new album away with UK radio station XFM, but they’re kicking off with their new single ‘You Cross My Path’, which is available as a 256kbps MP3 download here.
Meanwhile, the freshly reformed Verve are also at it, teaming up with NME.com to give away, ahem, a 14-minute jam from their first session back in the recording studio.
Virtual Worlds Week: Five companies who SHOULD launch virtual worlds
The metaverse is an increasingly crowded place, given the number of startups keen to take a slice of Second Life’s hype and revenues. We’ll be profiling some of the main rivals later this week, as well as taking a look at the hot young guns showing their worlds off at the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe conference.
But what about companies who should be launching their own virtual worlds, but haven’t yet? I’ve had a think, and come up with five firms for whom it’d make sense to go virtual. Starting with…
LG rolls out world's smallest Plasma TV, the 32PC5RV *tumbleweed*
You can tell it’s the world’s smallest Plasma telly, that was the largest photo of it we could find on the intertubes – actual life-size dimensions. FACT.
Ok, that’s as factual as Chuck Norris facts, but you get the drift. The 32PC5RV measures 32-inches, as you’d guess from the model name, and of all the places in the world to launch a new TV, they…
Korea/Japan Week: NTT DoCoMo's vision of the 4G future is… fishy
There’s nothing like a spot of futuregazing to bring out the awestruck geek in me, and NTT DoCoMo didn’t disappoint during a visit to their showroom this morning. The Japanese operator has a promotional video showing what 4G handsets might look like when they come out around 2010.
