Thoughts from the Shelf

With news that the battle for a standard high definition format is over, for the first time since 2000 when both Sony and Toshiba began experimenting with blue lasers and optical discs, we are have an industry standard format.

The emergence of the high definition battle in 2000 was primarily down to technological advancements in blue lasers. With a shorter wavelength than red lasers which are used in standard DVD, less space is needed to record each bit of data with blue lasers, therefore enabling more information to be stored onto a DVD size disc.

As a result this extra space made high definition recording commercially viable, and such a standard format was required. This gave birth to both HD DVD and Blu-ray, with both formats engaging in an eight year battle to become the industry standard high definition format.

Backed by two of the worlds leading electronics manufacturers, each format had its advantages as discussed previously on The Shelf in numerous technology posts, but throughout the duration of the stand off there has no doubt been only one looser, the consumer.

The Format War
In 2000 Sony first unveiled its Blu-ray technology followed by the developed of Ultra Density Optical (UDO), a blue laser optical disc format that was proposed to replace magneto-optical discs.

In 2002 Toshiba then released its own high definition offering in HD DVD, resulting in two different high definition formats, resembling the video format war of VHS and Betamax.

In 2003 Sony released its first Blu-ray disc recorder in Japan, although this initial offering lacked support for pre-recorded movies making this an expensive first step to next generation video.

In 2004 Toshiba followed suit with the launch of its first HD DVD player which came inclusive of backwards compatibility to DVD, but by this time Mitsubishi, Dell and Hewlett-Packard had all already thrown their support behind Sony’s format.

Also in 2004 Sony announced plans to include its Blu-ray DVD player in its upcoming PS3, whilst Disney also publicly backed the format. At this time Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO and New Line Cinema had all announced support for HD DVD.

In 2005 Sony then saw its support from Hewlett-Packard regress as the firm retracts exclusivity agreements and decided to back both formats. As talks of a joint single format inevitably got nowhere, consumers grow increasingly frustrated with the two rival formats.

Growing increasingly frustrated Paramount then later followed Hewlett-Packard in pledging support to both formats giving consumers the choice.

In 2006 Microsoft entered the frame announcing that a HD DVD add on drive would be released for the Xbox to compete with Sony’s built in Blu-ray player in the PS3, whilst and another exclusive Blu-ray agreement was altered when LG also started manufacturing a HD DVD drive.

At this point both players are commercially available; HD DVD in the form of the HD-XA1 and Sony’s Blu-ray PS3 games console is also launched.

In an effort to end the format war in 2007 LG release a duel player whilst Warner Bros releases a prototype disc which holds both HD DVD and Blu-ray layers compatible with each player.

Later that year both Paramount and DreamWorks grant exclusivity to HD DVD, whilst Sony says it will use Blu-ray Discs in all high-def video recorders in Japan.

In November 2007 Toshiba then drops the price of its HD DVD player under the magic $200 mark, as at the same time Sony begins selling a lower cost version of the PlayStation 3.

In 2008 the long running battle to find an industry standard format concluded. In January Warner Bros. announced that it will stop offering its movies on HD DVD amidst news that Blu-ray sales are out performing those of its rival.

Later that month Toshiba reduced the cost of its HD DVD players to $150 followed two weeks later by NetFlix and BestBuy announcing they will phase out HD DVD, and four days later by Walmart making the same announcement.

On February 19th Toshiba formally announced that it will phase out production of HD DVD players and recorders by the end of March 2008, surrendering the field in a long running battle with Sony’s Blu-ray.

So why was the eventual winner Blu-ray?
With all the weight of major Hollywood studios behind it Blu-ray did seal the majority of releases in its format by 2008, whether exclusive of not, but with the increasing debate about DRM software many believe it was the presence of a digital lock on movies called BD+, a far more sophisticated and resilient digital rights management system than that offered by HD DVD that secured studio backing.

“The adoption of BD+ as part of the Blu-ray disc specification was a key factor in our decision to publish on the format.” “This added layer of content protection gives Blu-ray yet another distinct competitive advantage.” Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment executive Mike Dunn

Both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats used an anti-copying system called AACS, which has already been cracked; but Blu-ray employs BD+ as an extra layer of protection. BD+ is optional, not all Blu-ray discs use it, and has not yet been compromised, despite claims to the contrary.

Many also believe that the death of Blu-ray was more of a suicide than a death, and on Tuesday it was a Blu-ray bigwig who was the latest person to lay such a claim.

Not down to technical standards or studio support, it is claimed that Toshiba’s decision to offer sale price on HD DVD hardware in November 2007 sealed the formats fate.

“I guess what sealed Toshiba’s fate was its $99 pricing on Black Friday [in the US]. That pricing must have discouraged every manufacturer from entering the HD DVD player market.” - Masayuki Kozuka, a planner for Panasonic’s

“I believe Chinese manufacturers’ entry to the US market was [the] HD DVD supporters’ last hope. Given the market price at $99, however, it became impossible for any other manufacturer but Toshiba to enter the market.” - Masayuki Kozuka, a planner for Panasonic’s

What ever claims are made about Blu-rays triumph the reason for its success is no doubt a culmination of a few of them. Blu-ray does have enhanced DRM management, has tackled interactivity issues where HD DVD was initially superior, and Toshiba no doubt did devalue there own product in trying to get market share, where as Sony created an established customer base with the inclusion of Blu-ray in its PS3 consoles.

One thing is for sure however, those who rushed out and bought a HD DVD player for nearly £450 when first released will be undoubtedly disappointed about Toshiba’s pull-out.

I read an article today which demonstrated the latest development in gaming technology, a device which allows gamers to interact with virtual worlds using only their thoughts and emotions. The technology is called a neuro-headset and interprets the interaction of neutrons in the brain, and is due to go on sale in the latter part of 2008.

In the past year gamers have already seen the Nintendo Wii expand the market for gamers with the introduction of a motion control interface, but the neuro-headset is an even bigger leap forward, the prospect of which is sure to get gamers foaming in anticipation of its release.

Designed by Emotive, the neuro-headset is able to identify over 30 different emotions, expressions and actions.

“It picks up electrical activity from the brain and sends wireless signals to a computer” said Emotiv’s president Tan Le.

In this technology Emotiv has successfully created a brain computer interface, a technology with the capability of reading electrical impulses and translating them into commands that a computer game can interpret.

Beyond the gaming industry and the idea of controlling characters in virtual environments through only brain activity, many are excited about the wide range of applications a technology such as this could have.

Brain computer interface based technology will no doubt play an important component in the future 3D internet as well as the future of virtual communication, and as the technology develops it may well be possible to shape music and atmosphere around the emotions of the individual users across a platform of different media.

With limited news released, The Shelf will be sure to follow this story up as it unfolds.

Launching an online music download store has been a popular online money maker with the rise of portable mp3 players, and with that, online retailer Pay.com is the latest company to announce that it has launched such a service, but this time with a difference – its downloads are DRM free.

Providing music tracks without digital right management copy protection will allow customers of PlayDigital to download tracks and albums onto most mp3 devices. Tracks with DRM are restricted to what players that they can be played on, and can even be restricted to a set amount of plays.

Amazon has released a similar service in the US offering DRM free music to its customers. Amazon did have plans to launch in the UK, but PlayDigital is now the first DRM free music download service to enter the UK market.

With the launch of PlayDigital, Jersey based Play.com is challenging the dominance of Apples iTunes service in the UK with Apple selling tracks with DRM included. Tracks bought without DRM from PlayDigital will not only be cheaper but can be played on more mp3 devices including Apple iPods.

The DRM free songs that are to be offered initially are made up from records from the catalogues of EMI, with expansion planned throughout the services first six months pending major deals with other record labels enabling PlayDigital to sell their DRM free music tracks.

Top 100 tracks will be available for 65p as opposed to 79p on iTunes, with albums available from £4.95.

Plans of a joint pilot project between mobile operators Orange and T-Mobile have been announced that will provide a multi-channel TV service to mobile users in the west London area in late 2008.

The pilot service will be broadcast using NextWave Wireless UMTS MBMS based TDtv solution, meaning a mobile handset with TDtv technology will be required. Equipped handsets will be able to receive up to 24 channels of high resolution TV as well as 10 digital radio stations.

The pilot scheme will demonstrate how the cost of providing high quality mass market mobile TV and multimedia broadcast services can be significantly when mobile operators share widely-available unpaired 3G spectrum and a standards-based TDtv broadcast network.

Such unpaired 3G spectrums are available in over 50 other countries, and so will demonstrate an innovative model that can be easily replicated. It also hopes to prove there is a demand from mobile customers for such services.

The channels that are expected to be included in the line up are thought to include the most popular broadcast channels in the UK.

Orange and T-Mobile are two of the operators that currently have mobile TV offerings in the UK, but that is currently restricted to low resolution streamed content.

“The results from the technical trial of TDtv in Bristol last year were extremely encouraging, and this joint pilot of the service in London is an excellent opportunity for us to properly explore the great potential available to our customers from the technology,” said Orange’s product and innovation director, Paul Jevons, on Tuesday.

In the latest step to curb music piracy in the UK, the government is considering plans to cut internet access to users who continually download copyrighted music and films illegally.

A Green Paper, part of a draft consultation due for release next week, has suggested that should the plans go ahead, internet service providers would be required to take action against customers who accessed pirated material.

Within the proposed plans it has been suggested that users who regularly break copyright laws will face a ‘three strike’ policy, which after prior warning would result in the termination of their broadband contract with the internet service provider.

Having previously been explored on The Shelf, music piracy has been of growing concern for music and film companies that claim illegal downloads cost them millions of pounds in lost revenues. In previous attempts to combat the problem file sharing legislation was proposed back in October 07 to up the pressure on internet service providers. This it seem is a step to clamp down on the individual users infringing on copyright laws too.

It has been suggested that with such legislation, internet service providers that did not enforce the proposed rules would face prosecution, and customer details made available to courts to ensure civil proceedings could take place.

It seems that this draft, although targeting end users who illegally download, does add further pressure on ISP to come to an agreement with the entertainment industry on ways to control illegal file sharing.

Although talks are ongoing so far they have failed to secure any commitments on the policing illegal activity. With a voluntary scheme only in its early stages it seems the government is growing impatient and is once again willing to increase the pressure on both parties with the threat of legislation.

It seems though for now a voluntary policy scheme is the preferred option for both parties at the table, and whether any legislation proposals make it further than draft stages will no doubt depend on whether there are any developments here in the near future.

Last week news broke that Microsoft had made a bid to buy rival search marketing company Yahoo for a figure of $44.6bn in a deal that would be made up of both cash and shares. When made, the offer was 62% above Yahoo’s closing market share price on Thursday.

The offer was made to Yahoo in the form of a letter to the board days after revenue forecasts had been cut and the company had committed $300m to try and revive its core business in 2008.

The offer to buy Yahoo came at a time when there is increasing belief that Microsoft’s existing business model is becoming more unfeasible in the internet age. The take over offer could therefore indicate a radical shift in how Microsoft perceives the internet and its own future within it.

With Google releasing a range of free online software alternatives for much of Microsoft’s offerings over the last year, the search market leader is certainly challenging the enterprise business model that software giant Microsoft in built upon.

Currently Microsoft makes the majority of its money by selling license fees to its impressive software packages installed on PCs and servers. With Google’s services available freely over the internet this immediately threatens the foundations the business is built upon.

Although there was much talk of counter bids and legal challenges from Google should the deal be accepted, many will rest easier in the Google camp with news that Yahoo has rejected at least the initial offer for its holdings.

With this take over bid Microsoft is undoubtedly after what it sees as the gems in Yahoo’s online advertising empire, a sector that Microsoft has thus far struggled to move into with any great success. Yahoo also has a range of online applications that could bolster Microsoft’s existing Windows Live online services for both businesses and consumers. It seems now Microsoft will have to come up with a better offer to in order to acquire those assets, meaning a steady re-evaluation of how valuable those assets are, and how important they actually are in Microsoft’s changing business model.

Yahoo said of the original offer that it “substantially undervalues” the company and was not in shareholders’ interests.

Originally worth $31 a share, the Wall Street Journal was quoted as saying that Yahoo’s board would be unwilling to accept any offer shy of $40 a share. That price is a 109% premium on the share price on the day of the original offer, and a price Yahoo has not traded at for over two years.

Although the original has now been rejected - worth $41.8b at time of rejection– the table was left open for further negotiations so watch this space as Microsoft could well sweeten its offer.
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I recently got my long awaited PS3 console, and after two weeks of vigorous playing I thought I would write a post detailing my initial impressions, and whether the PS3 has lived up to the hype that surrounded the its launch, and whether I thought the Xbox 360 would have been a better choice in hindsight.

I am somewhat in an ideal position to write such a review as up until the arrival of my PS3 console I had regular access to its main competitor, the Xbox360. Due to this every opinion has been based upon a comparison of the two next generation games consoles.

To start with I will confess that I have always sided with Sony over Microsoft’s offering, and the Playstaion console has been my preference over the years and as such I have both the PS1 and PS2 consoles that are older brothers of the PS3. Because of this I have always found that I have had a physiological barrier that has prevented me from completely accepting the Xbox consoles, and as such I have never fully embraced them as any gamer probability should have.

That said once I gave the Xbox 360 a chance I was seriously impressed. Playing Fifa 2008 (as a popular game across both consoles that I was already familiar with), I was surprised with how similar the joy pad controls were on each of the two consoles. Looking somewhat foreign initially, the joy pad of the Xbox was both easy to adapt to and prevented the frustrating initiation period often common with other consoles.

In terms of game play too the Xbox was superb, and rigged up on a HD TV the graphics truly did look next generation. What amazed me was the difference in response to the joy pad controls, making the game so much more responsive than similar titles on the PS2 and the older Xbox.

The big disappointment for me was the online gaming facility of the Xbox3 360, a major reason I wanted to get a next generation console in the first place. Although great when in play, the Xbox delivers online playing capability through its Xbox live service which requires a fee of £5 a month or £40 a year. A sneaky hidden cost I thought and one which left a sour taste.

The Playstaion’s online gaming facility on the other hand is a free offering, providing game and system updates, downloads and internet access much the same as the Xbox 360 but without any additional fee.

The other drawback was that the Xbox 360 was also in need of a HD DVD player plug in costing £100 in order to play next generation movies, whilst the PS3 comes with a built in Blu-ray player, which more importantly is updatable. The built in next generation DVD player is a must for me, as realistically games consoles are treated increasingly like a hub for home entertainment systems, and any next generation console should be equipped for that.

Having purchased the 40GB version in order to stretch the games budget further I did however find myself without the backwards compatibility of the 60GB PS3 model. This at first disappointed me, but after a fortnight of gaming I realised how often you actually play older games on new generation consoles. The answer was almost never. In fact after buying the PS2 in never played a PS1 games on it, so if Sony needs to take this technology out to bring the retail price of the 40GB console down then that is a sacrifice I am willing to make. I still have the PS2 so can always open that back up if I get the any sudden nostalgic cravings in the future.

With everything taken into account the PS3 was impressive, and I think surpasses the Xbox 360 with the provision of free online gaming and built in Blu-ray player. A very good console and will be a market leader for several years at least.

PS3 9/10
Xbox 360 7/10

Just to give a quick update to fellow bloggers hosting wordpress blog software, an urgent security update has been released for blogs that have registration enabled.

The security update patches a vunerability in the XML-RPC implementation which though specially crafted requests users can gain editorial rights on posts across the blog.

Wordpress 2.3.3 has now been released without the aforementioned vulnerability, and also provides fixes for a number of other bugs. If users want to keep their older version of wordpress they can download the only the fixed version of xmlrpc.php from wordpress which will remove the flaw.

According to an article published on the BBC this week the first steps are being taking in an effort to overhaul the internets core addressing system. These initial steps include update to the master address books for the internet, where they are now prepared in a new format known as IP version 6. The intention is that this will end the shortage of addresses that sites can be given with the pool of unallocated addresses predicted to expire in 2011.

The problem lies with the numerical addressing system the internet currently uses. If a user uses word to find what they are looking for online and therefore types in ‘The Shelf ‘ to the address bar, computers will use a numerical equivalent that is stored in the nets master address books load the requested site

Currently the majority of internet addresses are written in a format specified by version 4 of the internet protocol called IPv4. From the 4/02/08 root servers of the internet will have a small number of records added to them that are written in IPv6.

The result will mean that any computers using IPv6 will be able to find each other without involving any IPv4 technology.

Ipv4 was the fourth version of internet protocol but was the first one to be widely used. With 4,294,967,296 possible addresses available it is which is 20 years old and is now down to the last 14% capacity of unallocated addresses. IPv6 relieves this problem presenting potentially unlimited number of addresses.

Technical Comparison
Ipv4 uses a 32 bit addressing system and has four different class types, the class types are A, B, C, and D. An example of Ipv4 is 207. 142. 131. 235.

One of the main upgrades in IPv6 is in the number of addresses available for networked devices. For example, each mobile phone or other kind of electronic device can have its own IPv6 address. IPv6 allows 3.4×10^38 addresses. This is mainly due to the number of bits in each protocol.

With the six nation 2008 about to lick off I started thinking about the surprise success of the English national rugby union team reaching last years world cup finals in France last year, and wondered what are chances of winning actually are.

Many are tipping the first game to actually decide this year’s tournament with Wales visiting Twickenham tomorrow. The fact remains though that this years is the most open Six Nations for years. No more can the once English juggernaut or the in-transition French claim to be overwhelming favourites with the recent emergence of both Wales and Ireland.

Odds:
To show how tight the tournament is Coral is offering best prices on France and England at 7-4 France and 9-4 England. France have won the past two titles but both have been on points difference from Ireland, who are priced at 11-2

Either way the tournament is always great to watch, especially for someone like myself who doesn’t follow rugby week in week out.

There is a couple online rugby games on the official six nations site that are also well worth a visit to kill the time between matches.