9 Channels for Apple TV

With Apple TV adding channels at a steady rate, the majority of which are going to US customers. In UK we get a steady increase of international channels and few UK Broadcaster.

Here are 9 international channels that would be good to
make it onto Apple TV.

TED Talks

The presentations over on Ted are both informative and engaging, great to sit and watch at any time. As Ted film and own rights to their talks its easy to see them coming to Apple TV. Just look at popularity of the ios app, this is a real winner.

NASA- In-fact even ESA

Space is big business at the moment as well as a fascinating subject. With vast amount in the archive and the increasing TV schedule this would be a great addition.

UStream

A bit of a whildcard choice but UStream does have lots of live and archive content. A bit like Youtube but aimed at live streaming. Ustream has a good mixture of content from wildlife cameras to space. It includes live shows and messages from soldiers home. This could easily become a solid channel.

Amazon Prime

This might be far fetched as Amazon now have FireTV coming out but they are loosing out to Netflix by not being on the platform.
Plus if your using an Amazon Prime membership anyway why not get the benefits out of it.

Flixster (Ultraviolet)

I just want access to my Ultraviolet account. flixster  is established in the UK and would be a great addition. Though you can access other movies the fact a lot of studios support Ultraviolet (poor mans iCloud) it's a big thing that should be supported.

BBC Store

BBC have been working on the BBC Store in secret for some time but I think the end result will be something Apple could not only benefit from but also is a internationally recognised brand that could benefit both companies.

BFI Player

the BFI are defiantly worth adding to the mix as they are growing their restoration archive for the masses and this can only benefit apple to bring more films that may not make it into the iTunes library straight away due to licensing issues. It's also great to showcase the great work BFI does and the British film industry as a whole.

Warner Archie

The Warner archive is a great player that's currently only US bound but with help of Apple TV they really could expand it beyond its initial offering. Aimed at tapping into those lesser montinized titles in the Warner Brothers Archive,this brings the TV and film that would sit nicely in uk for our silver surfer generation.

All 4 (formally 4OD)

British Broadcaster Channel 4 may be one of the youngest Broadcasters in UK but it was one of the first into the streaming On Demand environment. So confident infant it had made all its archive of owned shows available to all.



Apple may take the plunge and add any of these to the roster of apps. Though I think US is their first target rather than the UK, so I think we shall see more of those added first.

Though UK is very eager and willing to cut the cord more than any other country so maybe Apple should try to launch products outside US first. Now that would cause a stir.

Tech to wish for in 2015

Its a new year and I'm really eager to blog more. I've got lots of posts planed for 2015 some I probably should have posted in 2014 but didn't quite get around to finishing.


So to kick of the year I thought's do some tech wishes for 2015. I'm not saying these will make it to the UK market, but some are in US market so next logical step is Europe.

and after all we are in the future......

First on my list is Disc to Digital, now this is slowly growing in US but essentially is a way to get your DVD's onto the ultraviolet platform and then have ability to play them. I'd like to see this so I can get my large DVD collection in the cloud and eventually into HD (cost permitting). I though can't see why it has to be a cost per disc  CD ripping was around for years and then came iTunes Match and Amazons Auto Rip both of which brought those digital files to the cloud at a reasonable cost.

Oh how nice it would be to free my shelf space of DVD's.

This leads me to my next wish.

Ultraviolet  movie access across itunes/google play, if my collection is in the cloud i'd like to have option of where to watch it from. As an Apple fan I love using my Apple TV to watch my TV collection but my ultraviolet collection is a pain to watch currently its all third party apps which don't let me watch on my television easily or in HD.

One App that has enabled this and I'm really hoping will come to UK is Disney Anywhere  not only can you sync your movies between iTunes and Google it brings the great Disney collection together and all in HD and with iTunes Extras (which for me brings best of DVD to digital).

So keeping with movie theme I'd like to see the release of a TV next year and no not a TV made by apple (though look forward to seeing what they come up with) but a TV built on YouView technology.  Having owned a box I can say currently it is a great connected television box. Like with everything there are still a lot they've just not got right but I think they may just be about to fix all that with future upgrades.

Also if TalkTalk buy Tesco's Blinkbox then we could finally see Ultraviolet get a proper platform on TV in UK. Which if falling in place could see Youview as a technology moving across the world.

Before I move on from TV there is going to be an explosion of programs from British producers flooding the worldwide market in 2015 and it will all start with the launch of BBC Store. The one stop shop to get BBC programming from last 50 years. It will also mean other platforms getting access to these programs for their platforms and more as BBC attempts to untangle ownership rights so that all programs ever broadcast on BBC are released on demand. This will obviously see programs broadcast but not owned by other UK Broadcasters profited from for first time in years.

I better wrap up this blog but I think 2015 will be the year of innovation and introduction. We already can see technology for hover-boards on their way. I think its developments from these kind of projects and scientific endeavours that we shall see the biggest change in our lives.

Think new dentistry techniques coming to the market. New health treatments, automated houses, big data used to benefit our lives, the list goes on. I don't even know what to expect or to take educated guesses with.

I want to talk about so much technology in 2015 because I think it will be known as the year that inspired a generation. The year man kind reached a new technological peak. So I hope that I actually have some time to write about things this year as 2015 is ours to explore. 

Itunes Cloud Purchases aren't all cracked up to be

As an avid media watcher I have begun to move my life away from the physical mediums to the digital. This has been for two reasons, the first I have no room in my flat, the second being future proof.

Now being an Apple fanboy I started getting a few video's via apples great 12 days of christmas. Then I brought an Apple TV and it changed my life, less and less I use my DVD player for TV shows and even Movies.

So to start with I replaced Video's for an SD download copy, I occasionally buy HD versions but just don't want to pay the extra money when I can get two films for the same price. So my collection has been building slowly occasionally I've invested in bundles, again great ways to get lots of films on the cheap.

They all play better than DVD's, though I do miss the extras of DVD's that AppleTv can't emulate.  That's fine though, as my collection is growing brilliantly and my VHS collection is slowly decreasing,  my flat space is increasing.

Now my computer is creaking under the amount of video's on my hard drive. I was going to get an expensive hard drive but I thought why bother when iCloud backs up these purchases. It means I could delete a large part of my library and only keep personal videos/DVD rips that apple don't back up (unfortunately). I could continue accessing them via Apple TV right?

Wrong as I was going  through some of the videos when I noticed some had disappeared. Speaking with Apple support they said the content owners can remove these at any time. After much discussion with apple and content owners. Turns out little that can be doen if they get removed you won't get them back.

So currently I discovered I have lost from the cloud: Bourne Identity (though this has returned), Bourne Supremacy, ICe Age 2: The Meltdown, ER Pilot episode. That's a lot of media to loose, so I'm now backing up and saving for that server.

Luckily for me I'd backed these up but iCloud has a long way to go before I can fully trust it with my Media and Data which is a shame as the concept is great but execution is mediocre.

Though I can't fully blame Apple I have to blame the Media Studio's, they are build on a very poor business model, the media rights are all over the place.

I believe the Movie/TV industry need an PRS like the music industry does, to allow them to release videos quickly and globally. Too many rights over territories means a film can be brought in US but not in UK as the rights holders can't release it.  It means things can be released from archive quicker and piracy is lessened as people more likely download what they can't get.

It's time for Apple and the Content owners sit around a table together and push towards iTunes Match for Video. UltraViolet is the Movies Studio answer but Apple have a more reliable system. I want to go to my online locker to get my backup not pay for a expensive backup server.
 

Disney TV shows

As Disney have strengthened their brand with the Disney vault, limiting the release of their classic films then putting them in the vault and increasing sales when VHS/DVD is released. This will prob change as we move more to digital files and digital vaults.

   

Disney is and always will be part of our childhood. Most people remember that they created some of the most iconic children's filmstrip have ever known. They have always tried to cash in on these with merchandise, theme parks and straight to video film sequels.

Most sequels were just rehashed versions of the main movie some were much better extensions of the series, Aladdin: King of Thieves comes to mind.


Disney have been on a bit of a spending spree on our child hood over past few years. They brought Pixar, then Marvel, Muppet's and most recently LucasFilm for the Star Wars Franchise.

They haven't just brought these childhood memories and put them in Disney vault they've taken the franchise and nurtured it. Making the franchise profitable in new ways and bringing the original mediums back to us in new ways. Marvel lets you buy all the original comics in digital form or subscribe to them all in Netflix way.

But whilst this is great I have one question In my mind.

Why don't disney release their TV cartoon series?
Disney have made some great short form cartoons that are part of our childhood. Most of which tied in with great films.

Aladdin, Timone and Pumba, Leilo and Stitch.

Some that had a loose base with characters or franchises.

Mighty ducks, Tailspin, duck tails, Chip 'n' Dale rescue rangers.

And finally there were original cartoons that stick in mind for their own right.
Wuzzles, Gummybears,Recess.

So with this wealth of children's television sat in Disney's vault it's only a matter of time before it should be released on to purchase in digital for or to watch on Netflix.

So Disney why not capitalise on our childhood one last time.

Has iOS 5 sorted the clocks.

The clocks change tonight in the UK and we get an extra hour in bed, but will iOS 5 solve the dreaded clock issue we've seen in the past. I'm about to find out as I go to bed my alarms have been set for work tomorrow and I'm hopping to gain my hour in bed not loose it. So it's good night and I'll update you tomorrow.

Updated: Well the clocks changed and so did my iPhone. It looks like at least for the UK the Apple bug has been squashed. Lets hope that it doesn't come back when they change again.

Mobile Blogging with Siri

Decided today to give blogging a try with the new Siri application on the iPhone. I had an iPhone before and I downloaded the blogger application but this was the first time I was actually going and dictate what I wanted to say.

The news Siri application has been rather good there's a few bugs and it does struggle with my accent but that's more to do with how I speak than the application itself. What I have found is when I've got more info on my phone it struggles between what I want to know and what information I have. In my fact for instance I asked earlier when Mark's birthday was but fortunately I have five marks in my phonebook so Siri said which one do you want.

This means that I need to be more specific with my questions and means my accent gets in the way as mentioned earlier. The big thing I find my is when dictating this into blogger it doesn't take my punctuation into account it just keeps on writing so I do have to actually go back and edit.

All in all I'm very happy with siri and the blogger application together. This actual blog post has take me just a few moments to get out where's normally I'd be hammering away keyboard just trying to get out the post

iTunes store needs a redesign: 10 changes I want to see

Following on from my article iTunes needs a redesign: 10 changes I want to see, I wanted to look deeper at the actual iTunes store. Now being an avid user of iTunes and iTunes there are many things I want to see changed within the store, I thought I'd try to narrow it down to 10 things that I want to see.

1. Completed my Series/Show

As a person who has brought the odd episode from iTunes I often want to complete a season. I hear this is being rolled out in the US to complete a series much as I would an album but I'd like to see this taken a lot further. I'd like to get discounts for buying the next series of a show. 

2. Pricing of TV & Film

I can buy the complete DVD boxset of The Sopranos for around £50 on iTunes it would cost me £150. I can also get most old movies for £3 on DVD cheapest I can get them is £3.99 but in most cases £6.99. There are cases I can buy cheaper than DVD but I dont want to replace my DVD collection at that price I'd prefer to import my DVD's like I do with CD's. Though I have to admit I still have a large VHS collection I'm replacing with iTunes purchases. 

3. HD

HD is a big thing that needs addressing. Firstly I tend to buy SD versions of shows as the extra price of HD is ridiculous. They can range from £2 to £15 for a TV Series and £2 to £4 for a film that to me is the cost of an album or another show. At the moment these are only 720 HD not 1080. I'd like to see HD as standard price and the ability to upgrade all my shows available in HD for a small fee, like the 20p a track for music. In addition all movies should have the ability to sell at HD so why aren't they, its SD for some and both for others they should all be sold at HD. 

4. Rental

When I was young I used to regularly rent from local video stores. £1 a night rental was normal and I'd rent two or three things at a time. Then prices rose and it was £4/5 a night I could buy the move for £10 watch it twice and make my money back hence the reason I still own 200 VHS tapes I've not replaced. Today I could stream unlimited rentals to my TV for £6 a month so why does apple insist on rentals being  so 2.49 SD and 3.49 at HD. I prefer their 99p SD  or even £1.99 HD rentals. I think if they want rentals that aren't subscription based they need to drop them to 99p for SD/HD, especially when I can buy a DVD for £3. 

5. Previews

I can preview a song before buying it but when it comes to movies and TV shows apple are falling a little flat. A movie has a preview trailer option, great but alot of the time its not the theatrical or out on video trailer. I tend to get a scene from the movie and not a good one at that. I want to see the theatrical trailers not a scene from the film. As for TV i'd like to see the promo trailers or the sneak peak as a preview not given away as a freebie that leads me to my next point...

6. Free Episodes

I'm really happy apple give away a free single of the week and even more happy we get gifts during christmas period. I am however disappointed with it compared to US store where customers enjoy regular free music videos and TV episodes. In UK you may get the occasional free episode but in most cases it is a free trailer, promo or scene. I'd prefer a free pilot episode of a show then I'd probably buy the rest of the series. 

7. Movie Bundles

Ok this is kind of the same as point one but I felt it needed highlighting. Occasionally we can get movie bundles nothing like the US again but we can buy 2 and some cases 4 films that are sequels or special offers these are great and I just wish that this feature would spread further. I want to buy several films and their sequels but do I really want to buy them individually or do I want the option to buy a bundle or even having purchased the first movie get the sequel at a special price. 

8. Brought

A very simple thing but one I think should be taken from Mac App Store. When you have purchased something it says installed when you are looking around the App Store and spot something you've purchased. I think this simple feature would be great for seeing what you own and what you don't within iTunes.

9. Content
We all know content is king and as Apple plough more and more music into the store there are still some missing. As they add new TV shows there are a wealth of shows we can't get. I can't get new shows like Dexter (US store can) and there are hundreds of old shows that should be released. Not to mention films and books. There needs to be a bigger push in content and filling the gaps of those missing in store, which brings me to my next and final point.

10. iCloud/iTunes Match mark 2
iCloud is a brilliant step in the the right direction and though I'm yet to sign up to iTunes Match I'm looking forward to the freedom the service will give me. I'm just looking for the next step in its evolution. iCloud needs to start providing purchased support for Movies if it does this I'd watch them straight from my AppleTV and probably buy HD Movies. I want iTunes Match to move towards books and videos, scanning my library and giving my access to books I may have downloaded other places as well as letting me move my DVD collection onto my idevices. All this would benefit Apple as it would help them fill in their missing media by discoving what people own and want. They could merge my match info with my purchased giving me better genius results. The ability to complete albums to the deluxe version. Genrally allow me to see things I've purchased from apple and not letting me spend money on new content.

Apple is always improving its products so we may see some of these in the future we may not but its good fun to guess. 

iTunes needs a redesign: 10 changes I want to see

As a avid Apple fan and a large consumer of media, I live my life in iTunes.  Lately though I've been thinking that iTunes and for that matter, the iTunes Store need some improvements.  The more I've thought about it the more I think its time for the biggest re-design iTunes has seen in a while.


Why now? the answer is simply the release of 10.7 (lion), this release will see the end nearing for Leopard support and the introduction of some really useful features.

In this article I'm going to look at the program rather than the store.


1. 64bit Coca code
The first thing I see coming to a redesign is a total re-write of code, as were seeing with a lot of applications to bring full 64bit and using a number of OS technologies. This straight away would give a new look and feel but iTunes needs more. Rumors are the next version of iTunes is 64 bit but it won't have that wow factor it deserves.

We can assume that with Lion, iTunes would become a full screen app, taking abilities that Front Row (no longer supported in 10.7) used to give us.

2. iTunes LP and iTunes Extra

Better support for iTunes LP and iTunes Extra as these really haven't seen any development and I can't really view them on my Apple TV as they were introduced. I'd love to see content available on DVD available to my iTunes Library.

3. Ping & Genius integration
Ping & Genius recommendations need a better integrated as the more I look at that side bar the more I think it just doesn't work. I love genius for mixes and playlists but the recommendations seem bolted on as does ping, which just doesn't seem social enough for me. I use a site called SongKick that I think would benefit from a tie up with Ping and native iTunes integration. Lets be honest Ping defiantly does need to grow with Facebook and even MySpace integration. It needs to encompass all the mediums in iTunes not just music. It also needs to bring more of the 'GetGlue' approach of sharing what you watching or reading.

4. Tagging, Artwork and metadata
As our music collection grows so does the amount of metadata iTunes needs to be able to use this data better. The search function if great but I feel the tags need to develop. There are plenty of applications that update and correct dodgy artwork and tags but its more than that. Lyrics can be imported, sub genres holidays for example wont all be Christmas songs. I think its time iTunes had functionality to update tags but its also time for a new tagging standard to include more information for music or videos e.g. Director.

5. Smart playing
I love putting my on shuffle or playing a genius mix but you can guarantee in the middle of July it will play a Christmas song. By the same account I can go from Marylin Manson to B*Witched which as good as they both are they're very contrasting in taste. The one thing that annoys me is when I have 12,000 songs I cant choose to play songs that iTunes have never played before. You can guarantee there is one song you've only played once or not at all and I find it frustrating there isn't a smart way of doing that.

iTunes isn't just about Music though and that's where I think the biggest changes need to be.

6. Radio Stations
The way Radio Stations are handled are so anti-apple it does make you play your music, which is probably the thinking as apple don't make money thorough the radio. Here in the UK, radio is still a passion and the most social way to discover music you struggle to find someone who doesn't listen to the radio.  If apple revolutionized its handling of radio by looking at how the UK market handles it, I think we would all benefit.  Ping becoming a central feature, would allow for the more social music aspect especially if the radio stations were pinging the songs they were playing so you could then purchase them. Many Digital Radios here in the UK already allow music purchases or music information that means we can quickly purchase that catcy song.

7. Podcasts
Podcasts Like radio could do with being handled better they could do with a does of Ping, bringing more social aspect to finding and downloading Podcasts. Podcasts were invented because of Apple so i think the love should still be shown towards them.

8. TV & Films
The way iTunes handles video is good but I feel it needs improvement. TV shows are not handled in the best way. Unlike the other mediums TV shows are lots of episodes over several seasons but are all the same show. It's essentially taking a book and putting each page (episode) into a chapter (season) but never putting them together as a book (show). This would make my library so much better to navigate as I'm always looking for the show before either the season or the episode.

I know films with sequels could be dealt with the same way large franchises like the Bond films could ever really see the benefit but I still think it would benefit the user.

9. Music Videos

Music videos however I think need to be handled in a similar way to TV & Films in that they should be found easier. I have to search long and hard to find music videos. They can still live within music icon but sometimes I just want to see my music videos so a drop down would benefit me.

10. eBooks
iBooks could also do with the ability to open our ebooks, even if it is with another application like preview. I just find it frustrating that I want to open a book to check its the right one before i transfer it to my ios device.

Will any of this happen, maybe some of it over time. People keep asking for an iTunes server for the home and we may see that or a version of it some day but its more likely we would see iCloud develop a better iTunes server substitute before that. If we saw that iTunes would definatly begin to look and act a lot different than I've mentioned here.

One thing that's almost a certainty, that when there is a new iTunes, it'll turn up in the App Store.

UK copyright law digital makeover -benifit or curse

UK copyright law is about to get a digital makeover as number of reforms have been put forward by The Hargreaves Report.

The report requested by British Prime minister David Cameron looks at reforming many of the UK's copyright laws that are outdated in the Internet age.

The report doesn't do recommend anything particularly  groundbreaking or as radical as some people asked for. What it does do is brink the UK more in line with Europe, US and the Internet age. Though in some instances it doesn't go as far as the US as the rest of Europe would need to come into line first.

The report goes through several things but there are two pieces of change that I think will change the digital landscape in a significant way but more for the consumer than possibly the industry.

First is what is known as the legalization of format shifting for personal use. We all do this, its when copy a CD to our computer to put on our MP3 Players. So for all the years the UK has been doing this its been technically illegally.

The change though makes an interesting new loop whole that allows you to copy your DVD's legally to your computer too. Now this has always been a fuzzy area of law as the movie industry fight losing money in the way the music industry did. I have to say though the Music industry is now stronger creatively for the digital downloads and part of the benifit has been the ability to continue growing music collections rather than re-purchasing. I deliberately look out for DVD's with a digital download included but very few have this in UK but Blue-ray does. I'd be happy to bay £1 to get a digital version of my DVD but I wouldn't want to re-buy my full 100 plus DVD's at £7-15 each, if i did I'd never buy new films again. So the change in law would benifit the consumer but what about the industry, only time will tell.

The second intriguing part of the Hargreaves Report is the proposal of a formation of a Digital Copyright Exchange to act as a "one-stop shop" to make it easier to get clearance for the use of copyrighted content. This is a big change it'll allow more of the back catalog of media onto television and internet. Like the MCPRS pays artists and performers for their work the Digital Copyright Exchange will do the same for those pieces of work where the owners can't be found straight away.

I look forward  to seeing what develops form this report and I think the UK and eventually hopefully the world will become better for it.

Why can't Apple get a clock right?

With the clocks about to change again I thought I'd look at a problem every Apple user has an issue with, the clocks.

As a user of a lot of different Mac products, I find one problem amongst all of them.

When the clocks change in my time zone my alarms don't follow.  This goes for scheduled tasks as well. Eventually once the whole world has changed their clocks the majority of these problems fix but not all.

So I ask why can't Apple get clocks right?

I think the answer lies in its global ambition, as clocks around the world don't follow British Summer Times changes of Greenwich Mean Times Apple struggles to find a middle ground. But is that the real reason I don't know.

Personally I think they need to get their act together and find a solution quickly, I can't keep my changing scheduled tasks in Apple Remote Desktop or wake up late for work.

So here and now I ask Apple the simple task of getting their clocks right.

Music Social Media - The beginning of MySpace takeover.

In August 2003 a revolution was born on the internet, the real start of 'Social Networking' as Myspace was born. We all used to use Myspace until we fell out of love and moved to Facebook. I myself even still have an active Myspace account and over the last few months have found myself logging into it again and this week NewsCorp (owner of Myspace) started the work to sell off the flagging social network.

My personal love of Myspace was lost by its lack of development, we all moan and hate our favorite sites changing but if they don't we find ourselves moving away to more revolutionary sites. Which was the case with MySpace, as people started tagging friends in photos on Facebook, Myspace lost out.

MySpace has always been good for creative people with its Music section or Filmmaker section. This though is seeing more and more rivals against it, and less and less change to the site. Though it seems that is changing as slowly Myspace is bringing some new features and concentrating more on Music.

Apple recently launched iTunes Ping to bring a social aspect to buying and listening to Music. People have complained of its lack of Facebook integration but I ask what about Myspace. It seems some of Myspaces best features are migrating to Facebook and Myspace is now developing a closer affiliation with the 'Social Networking King'. 

NewsCorp has already said it is looking for either a merger or a sale of MySpace. I see both happening, if Facebook and Myspace merge users and Apple taking a financial stake to bring its Music Social Media functionality to the site, we could se a new revolution with MySpace.

I think MySpace could go even further and tap into the fan market in a way that saw thousands of Bootlegs sold in the 60's. Myspace is trying but I honestly think that it needs to embrace music in and entertainment from a fans point of view, something I believe Apple is trying to do with Ping.

If Myspace developed artist pages that are populated by content from fans as well as artists, it would improve on the traffic for advertisers. We could see interviews and performances from TV and Concert appearances posted from video channels. We could even see  some of these bootleg recordings posted, which could see these rare recordings re-mastered and released by record companies. You never know some unknown tracks could be found with posthumous releases as we have seen with Micheal Jackson. It could just see new exciting ways of exploring music that we would later buy from iTunes.

People could post memories of concerts (the biggest music payday currently) with fans tagging concert photos or videos. This would show tours over time and location as the fans bring back the memories for others. There could be chance meetings with artists, stories shared making it a real fan genrated appreciation of artisits.

Of course these can always lead to sales, with links to merchandise, downloads, adverts around posted video content. You can see this becoming a real money maker for these companies but also give fans a proper fan site for the 21st century. I'd rather explore musical tastes with friends and fans rather than go to a artists website that never gets updated.

This idea could go a step further and be extended to Films, Artwork, TV shows, and all the people involved. Add integration to sites such as IMDB and you can start to see endless possibilities. If Apple were to take Ping to the same level as Get Glue, you'll soon find your exploring more and more entertainment.

I for one love the idea of going to my next concert and posting pictures, reviews or even just sharing other peoples memories of the concerts I couldn't make. I love the idea of watching a TV show and recommending it to friends. I remember getting friends into '24', ten years later and my fondest memories are based around watching or talking about that show. In fact watching series chronicles a particular time in my life.

So I look forward to the next twelve months of MySpace, I really want to see it merge with Facebook in an original way. If this happens I believe we shall see Apple investing in MySpace and its vision for iTunes Ping taking leaps forward.

Final Cut Studio - Where Next?

It's been over a year since the last update to Final Cut Studio, and rumors have been flying around for months the update could be January. I personally think its more likely to be a summer release given the current twenty-four month cycle of the software and the release of new operating system Lion. Though there are changes to this cycle on occasion and the release of Lion could affect a cycle change.

What I thought I'd look at is what we could or should expect from a new release.

Final Cut Pro
The heart of the studio, Final Cut Pro is the industry standard edit program that is beginning to loose it's share to other systems such as Adobe's Premier Pro. Final Cut has been very popular but the code is written in several languages as apple has bolted on features to the original. Rumor is this is where the majority of work will have to take place. The software will need to be re-written entirely in Cocoa, this is a lot of work to keep the same functionality Final Cut users are used to, this though should make it a even stronger and more reliable product. The main benefit of this is the 64bit support many editors want and is already available in Adobe Premier.  It will also give the application a  fresh new look and feel.

One of the most requested features is native support of camera codecs, as more tape-less cameras come to the market, so do more format specific codecs. Its more than overdue that Apple provide these codecs as native way for Final Cut to edit. I personally think that if they can use Camera Raw for Photo editing its the same concept for video. I think in the long run it will allow less problems due to multiple conversions.

Once that's all been dealt with there may be little time to actually build new features, but I think that Final Cut needs to build this release as more than a interface refresh. Considering how little went into the last release.

It should defiantly look at supporting stereoscope editing (editing 3D movies) as this is becoming increasingly popular the need for the right tools is only going to grow so Final Cut should be the first at the table.

I'd like to see some additions to 'Scratch Disks', as someone who deals with tape-less filming amongst multiple users I find the need to set my scratch disks to a local external hard drive for editing but at the same time a duplicate to be sent to the shared storage. This is a big thing duplicating media in an age where tape is being used less and less, you find people get more paranoid about loosing data. Dual copying of media is a must for any professional.

Further to this and I've mentioned it in previous blogs, I'd like to see more integration with Final Cut Server as I can see this benefiting the shared storage environments and the idea of edit in place editing that most larger post houses are looking at.


All this is under the hood stuff, you expect final cut to do anyway. So what about the bells and whistles.
I think for that we need to look at other applications made by Apple. As with anything Apple does, if the consumer app does it well, the pro apps will do it better. So I see more integration with pro apps such as Aperture and Logic. I see features from the other final cut applications shared more, as some of the advanced abilities are made available in a limited way within Final Cut. I'm always looking for a way to blur out peoples faces or non broadcastable material such as adverts or car number plates. I want to able to do this in final cut in as few buttons clicks as possible but find motion having the better tools.

The biggest features though will come from iMove, I think the majority of their new features will make its way into some of the Final Cut pro suite. Personally I think Face detection will be good for metadata or for blurring out faces.  One step effects would be welcome to most editors especially if there are some extra parameters for them to tweak.

I think the share function will grow with the ability to create custom compressor droplets that will publish to youtube from with in Final Cut, meaning video producers can automate more of their process. We may even see integration with Vimeo, which is becoming the favorite video site for filmmakers to post on if they want to be taken seriously.

One feature i really want to see is the ability to bring master templates in with audio. There are some I've created in Motion that when I'm using in Final Cut require the audio as well as video.  Having to add the audio separate seems pointless when I've used it to create the graphics in the first place.

All in all I think the next Final Cut Pro could be the best but I have a feeling Apple will again hold back on major features in a bid to get the under the bonnet stuff working correct.


Motion
Motion is a program I have love, hate relationship with but its becoming increasingly powerful with each release and I think the next one may see the biggest changes.
Again iMovie features should be making it into Motion. I think the news and sport templates will make it across with the focus on providing real time graphics. Real time graphic support would bring a lot more power to the already bulging application but I think Motion will look to take on traditional news graphic systems with some new tools.

I also think iMovies unique way of creating trailer credits will filter across and extend to creating end credits. I think we will start seeing this auto filling from meta data available more often. Taking a long task of creating credits into a few easy steps.

If Apple were to make Final Cut Pro cope with 3D surely Motion would see stereoscope graphic capability.

I do think though that we will see many of Shakes capabilities filter into Motion. We could see better integration with CGI programs to embed 3D objects or environments. Who knows maybe Shake will become part of Final Cut Studio or at least a major part of Motions capabilities.

Soundtrack Pro
Sound track has a lot of work to do, its a wonderful program when it works. That's the problem it's not the most stable program in the suite, in fact I find freeware like Audacity more stable. Which is a real shame for a program with such potential.

So first thing I want to see in the next version is better stability, I want to have to try and break the program not see it quit of it's own accord.

Again I think we'll see some of iMovies new audio features being used as well as Logic and Garage Band bringing features to the table.

My biggest wish is for Soundtrack to get 64bit compatibility and really take on Adobe Audition as an audio editing program. I'm a big fan of Audition and love the fact there is a Mac version coming soon. Having tested the beta version of Adobe's software it seems to be beating Soundtrack Pro as an audio editor.

I'm a person who takes my videos and quiet often have to edit an audio only version for radio, Soundtrack pro would go a long way if it could export Wav files and give me the flexibility and reliability I get from Audition.

Apple take my advise pull your finger out and produce a program that fulfills the same level of functionality as Audition, then push it to match pro tools as your currently not able to match freeware  like Audacity in its current state.

Color
As someone who's only ever briefly used color all I can mainly say is it seems to have some stability issues, that desperately need addressing. On another note there are features I feel are missing or restricted that need to be expanded on.

At the end of the day you need to be a colorist to fully appreciate color and though I enjoy dabbling in the program, I am not a colorist and don't see me having the skill to do so. However I can see the benefits of the program and that Apple will bring some amazing features and development in the future.

Compressor
The most important asset in the suite, as it becomes a fully fledged outputting suite for digital production. Compressor defiantly needs to move to 64 bit support as well as the ability to support 3D conversion/output.

There are more features I want to see though, as mentioned earlier I want to be able to set me publishing output such as YouTube in compressor so that it becomes a simple share option in Final Cut Pro. I want to be able to publish to Vimeo. Audio conversion I think needs better support in compressor with publishing for not only podcast producer but for websites (HTML5) and to audio hosting sites such as ONM Voice or Mix Cloud. I dearly miss Visual Hub and Audio Hub for file conversion and feel Compressor just needs to meet this amazing program.

I love the fact I can add water marks to my video during compression but I want to take this a step forward and bring in a feature mostly found when printing to tape. That is the idea of slates or bumpers. As I export videos sometimes you want to put bars, slates or countdowns at the beginning as its going into a tape-less playout system. In my case videos I produce always need to be top and tailed with a short video bumper, this is normally a short motion video of the companies logo. Now I'm fine doing that in Final Cut but most of the time its a hassle to add to something just for a web output.

I think compressor is soon to become more important, as we move away from physical media into the digital world. We've already seen Apple introduce iTunes LP and iTunes Extra but there isn't a program that helps create that. Maybe this is what we shall see in future versions of compressor.

DVD Studio Pro
Lets be honest, DVD Studio Pro hasn't been updated in years and it probably won't be this time. With dwindling sales of DVD and no advancement in the technology the program is just waiting to die. I hear people shouting what about Blue-ray. Why its true that Apple could create more support for Blue-ray, in this version it's doubtful. Blue-ray has only been taken up as well as it has due to PS3 and the gaming market. I do see the advantage of having a disk that holds so much content and in my opinion its more to archive your material on a physical format rather than for watching it.

Apple feels the same way as they are pushing digital downloads, for me Blue-ray is the modern day Mini-Disk. A great technology but it came a little too late as digital downloads are already available. I feel we shall see a lot of the features reserved for DVD going to compressor for digital download creation. The only other option is for the whole program to get a radical overhaul and become a a one stop shop for creating menu based content for DVD, Blue-ray and digital media. Though again I doubt Apple would even waist the time unless they wanted to do a similar thing for a future version of iLife.

Anything Else
With Final Cut Studio Apple always try to bring something new, this normally means buying some existing technology and repacking it. The last time they did that they brought Color into the suite, which is now two versions ago. I think that the next thing will follow in Adobe's foot steps and copy Adobe On Location. This application is all about transferring your footage on location and meta-data. Now I think Apple will just start with the meta-data side seen as a lot of the functionality and future I've mentioned has meta-data underlining. I honestly see Apple using an iPad app to access and update meta-data on location and sync with files via something like Final Cut Server.

I doubt Apple would ever go down the script writing route unless they acquired a program like Final Draft. I think for now Apple would rather work with the company to create better integration.

As I've mentioned the big things for the next update is 64 bit and stereoscope support. This is Final Cut Studios big chance to fight critics and Adobe's closing market dominance. I guess we will have to wait and see what is the next big step for this Pro Apps Suite.

Is Apple going to cut loose Final Cut Server?

I recently wrote an article on 'Whats wrong with Final Cut Server' in the hope the great apple techs came across it and took some of my points on board for the next version.

Then disaster struck, the internet was awash with concerning rumors on the next OSX code named Lion. Little to nothing is known about this operating system until its release in summer 2011. That hasn't stopped Apple confirming that Flash will no longer be supported within the operating system. A positive in many peoples eyes, including Adobe who have complained about apples slowness to release flash security updates.

My concerns have come from two very separate rumors but ultimately ones that have a major impact on Final Cut Servers future.

First is Lion will also not include Java support, it's been confirmed that version 6 (the current version) will continue to be supported but version 7 will not  be distributed as part of Lion instead it will have to be downloaded. This is very odd considering Final cut server is actually built on Java.

The second announcement is the fact the Xserve will no longer be produced and there is no replacement planed. Now final cut server does work on Mac mini's and Mac pro's but I find for the scale of most education facilities (one of the reasons apple produce Final cut server) need more power as they have to contend with hundreds of users who need large amounts of storage.

I'm left wondering is Final Cut Server getting a major overhaul, maybe based through web pages or better Final Cut pro integration or is Apple about to pull the plug on this software before it fulfills its potential.

What's Wrong with Final Cut Server

It's been over a year since Apple released version 1.5 of Final Cut Server and I have to admit I like many are disappointed with the Apple Product. Apple themselves are wondering where they are going wrong and I though I'd take a moment to look at why.

First of all I think we should look at the fact the training book has only just been released and in fact my copy only arrived this morning. The old course was informative but not on par with other Pro Apps courses. I'm hoping the new training will start to rectify this but I have a feeling the program itself is where the problems lie.

Apple did not build Final Cut Server from scratch it was based on Proximity's artbox package. This means from the start it is very unApple. That is fine but when you start using it you start finding the problems. Yes its price point is great and it does meet some of my needs but the truth is there are products like CatDV that do the same thing better though with a larger price tag.

First thing I'd say is the problem of set up, everything takes too long to set up correctly. Its great it meets so many needs but there are no basic work flows to start you off. I need to see how it works before I can imagine how I want it to work for me. There are so few real world examples of Final Cut Server in use, it makes me wonder if it's used at all.

Set up is also awkward there are two places to setup, on the server or through the client application. I'll be honest I spent weeks trying both until I struck gold and got the thing working, this will turn away most users of apple products.

My biggest problem with Final Cut Server is it's integration with Final Cut Pro, it does it really badly. You have the client application but no integrated function in FCP. I can't share my final sequence with my FCS system. In turn I can't access video files within FCP and bring them into my project, I have to leave the program for the FCS app.

If I send assets or projects to other programs in Final Cut Studio, such as Motion it's done on that computer, I cant send it to Motion via Final Cut Server. My graphics editor is not going to be working on my computer, he will be on his the other side of the room.

This programs not all bad, when I get it working. Things do what their supposed to. I can create video archives of all my assets, though I can't look at proxy's for anything but video and audio. I can however put practically anything into it. I'm just waiting to be able to view any file.

I can set my own search parameters and meta data set, again these could be a lot better improved but do an ok job currently.

The big thing I can't see working well is how multiple editors can work on the same project. Either by checking in and out a project, or by working on it simultaneously on an Xsan.  The truth is this is partly down to your operation but more to do with FCP integration again.

I think lots of the output and management functions found in FCP need to also migrate to FCS so to take full advantage of it's potential and abilities found in the FCS app need to be integrated into FCP.

I like Final Cut Server, don't get me wrong its a powerful and handy tool. The problem is it doesn't work as well with Final Cut Pro as it should. I expect it to develop and grow very quickly over the next few years if it's to survive. I'd also like to see its potential integrated with news management systems. In the end FCS will hopefully bring ways of getting footage direct from the field into it's system, this could see future iPads with SD card slots and FCS apps in the app store.

What ever happens Final Cut Server is just at the start. The future could be amazing, only if Apple throw more weight behind its development.

Ustream and Facetime

I've been pondering this for a few weeks now. FaceTime is a potentially a great open standard but only if it's taken up by enough devices and companies.

We all know that eventually all Apple iToys will will support a version of FaceTime so we expect the iPod and iPad to get access within the next twelve months. We'd also hope iChat will get a update so that the Mac community are automatically FaceTime users.

We'd hope companies like Skype will take this new format on board bringing their reach further. I however have a different idea in the form of Ustream.

For those of you who don't know about Ustream its essentially a live video broadcast website. It broadcast live events, a lot of red carpets or conferences whilst also recording them for playback later. This isn't the important part I think the reason for Ustream being set up is.

Founded by John Ham, Brad Hunstable, and Dr. Gyula Feher, these men had a simple goal. To enable their friend in the Army, posted overseas to communicate with their families at home. Especially when time was limited in a war zone these soldiers could communicate to all their family.

I see the use of Ustream and FaceTime together doing what they both set out to do. That is bringing families together through video chats.

Wave Bye to Google Wave

Google Wave was announced in May 2009 as an email today. Their theory was email was about thirty years old, it hadn't changed much in that time but the digital world around it had. So the thought was what would email look like if it was invented today, the answer was Google Wave, a realtime instant messaging meets email known as waves. By the beginning of August 2010 Google decided it was time to pull the plug on this experiment.

Where did it all go wrong.

In first instance Email is the center of all our lives and is better in my opinion than Fax and even email hasn't killed off that. Second if email was invented toady it wouldn't be Google Wave in its current form, it would be Google Wave developed further down the line. Thirdly, email should be developed not a new technology so why wasn't email on steroids developed.

I'm a big fan of Google Wave, I use it for a number of different tasks and I'd even started moving a lot of long term planning conversations with colleagues to it. I was finding more and more ways to use it for my work.

What I found the biggest problem with Wave though, was the fact it didn't have a subject box, even an optional one. If I send an email it always has a subject box. It's the way I sort my message and search for them and I so wanted that in wave.

Though the extensions in Wave brought great expansion to its use, many of them didn't work as described. What I found though is many of the extensions I wanted available native in wave's. I wanted things like import and export documents. Countdowns to open and close wave discussions. Audio and video conversations that were recorded live then the recordings embedded like Ustream does for later review. Drawing boards, embedding waves in each other and externally, and even password protect part of waves. There could have been type what you say functionality or visual representations of links.

All of these functions would have made Google Wave what it was supposed to be and further more are already available technology, either used by Google or being developed by them.

Google became so much more towards the end, there were types of Wave such as meetings, brainstorming, to do lists, plus more. Each bringing a clear vision of what Google Wave could do and for someone who used it, I can say it did it better than most, but not perfect and not what we'd expect from Google.That was a big problem for me.

Wave began to show widgets that allowed for conversations or mini wave like forums to be attached to websites and was tested to a live Ustream Broadcast. This really began to show off the potential of the system and if Wave wasn't closing I'd have been trying that.

So what was its biggest problems, the answer. Scale. The scale of the project was big but also required to be small at the same time. Google were the only provider of Wave, meaning you had to be a Google member with a Gmail account that limits the amount of people willing to replace many email like tasks with wave. This stopped many people who would probably experiment or benefit using waves but not signup.

Second is the smallness of Wave, it's big and bulky but it works. I'd use it on a phone but it's too big. I'd use it on a tablet for work but only for task lists, brain storming basically the business functionality. I'd use it on my computer for meetings.  That's the problem I couldn't use an aspect of it on one device or the whole Wave technology on something small like a phone, and belive me I've tried. The project just needed to be scaled like email has been across devices. 

So I will wave goodbye to Google Wave, it was amazing and I hope its technologies do end up in my future email clients but as a straight replacement for my email I'm sorry the world just wants it to develop email not be replace it.

Apple Apps I want to see on iOS

I am a big Apple fan and I am fast falling into the hardcore category, I work on a mac, I own a mac, I have an iPhone, an iPod. I spend most of my time working on apple products or software and I'm trying to save for an iPad as I want one to ease my working day.

This got me thinking of the Apps available on the iOS and what I'd like to see in future.

So I looked at what's currently available:

Mobile Me Related apps - iDisk, Find My iPhone, Gallery
iWorks Related - Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Keynote remote
iLife Related - iMovie
Remote (iTunes controller), iBooks

That's not to mention Mail, iTunes, App Store, Notes, Photos, Calculatore, Contacts that are built in iOS but also appear on my Mac.

So what could we see appear in the future, that i personally would like Apple to make.

I think that we will start with iLife applications, obviously iMovie has made the transfer and iPhoto is represented as Photos but what else.

First I think that the new release of iLife that's rumored to have a mystery application, will see an iOS flavor, whether that's something on the iOS already on Mac or a app release iwe will have to wait and see. I'm expecting an encoding/sharing software like compressor for creating iTunes content such as videos or audio maybe even iTunes LP's.

Next I'd expect iWeb to make an appearance in the apps store. This web building tool is for blogging, podcasting, updating my website so I'd expect to be able to blog on the road with the iPad or podcast on the iPhone and it sync with my Mac version especially if I'm publishing to Mobile me.

Garage Band is the program I think would be the most interesting to turn into a series of apps. It's so big but has three distinct sections I'd love to see as separate apps.

First is the most recent addition of 'Learn to Play" I can see this being a very advanced app, where it's a store for downloading lessons like the artist lessons already available, but extends the range of instruments and artists available, i'd also think it appropriate to provide sheet music via this store. Really breaking away the learning at the computer and opening up even more creativity.

Second, is the podcasting capabilities of Garageband and how that integrates with Podcast Producer another Mac program.  This could become an amazingly useful app that could integrate with the iWeb app and social networks to bring something quite unique.

Thirdly the heart of Garage band is to create music so an app to allow music notation or basic music creation would be beatifically to any musician who finds the creative juice take hold.

These apps would complement what I currently use on my computer and bring my creativity with me always. For me though there are still things missing and these are found by more advanced users of Apple products.

ARD or Apple Remote Desktop is an application for administering computers among other tasks. Many of the features available in ARD are available in apps already but I'd like to have access to my ARD on an iPad when I'm away from my computer because that's always when I need access to ARD's functions.

Pro Apps - These applications are for the advanced photographers, filmmakers and musicians now I'm sure every application has some features that would be ideal for the iOS, for me though it falls into Final Cut Server. Though the program needs lots of work as a whole, what it does well I'd like to have access to as an app. Such as using the client app on my mac to look through files, play video and add meta-data to be able to do this on the move would be great. My ultimate wish would be to use my iOS device to send the data via a Final Cut Server App to my server, whether that's just the meta data notes or the actual files, all of it would befit the filmmaker. This I think will have to wait for the technology to catch up.

So by looks of it there are still potential for a lot of programs to become apps in the future its only our imaginations that can stop us.

Privacy - Is non sharing costing us money

I've been thinking of this for some time but news headlines over the past few month has really got me thinking. Is non sharing of private information actually causing more issues and costing us more money than we would like.

First thing that got me thinking was Facebook's recent upgrades to share information from other websites with my friends. I've noticed other sites including more social integration too. I'm starting to see the benefits of sharing these things, though there are a few pitfalls of your information being totally public but then it is already fairly public.

The second was the recent coalition government in the UK announcing the axe of a number of databases due to their cost and the main fact being its duplicate information to other databases.

I then received this email as a joke at how bureaucratic things are:

Dear  Sirs,                                                             
                                                                           
          I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this.  How is it that Sky Television has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a bleeding satellite dish from them back in 1977, and yet, the Government is still asking me where I was bloody born and on what date.                                                   
                                                                           
  For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand?  My birth date you have on my pension book, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years. It is on my National Health card, my driving license, my car insurance, on the last eight damn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms.                                                           
                                                                           
    Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Mary Anne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be abso-fucking-lutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die!!!!!!                                                               
   I apologise, I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough of  this bullshit!  You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my fucking address !!!!                                                                                                                                                              
      What is going on?  Do you have a gang of Neanderthal arseholes workin' there?  Look at my damn  picture.  Do I look  like Bin Laden?  I don't want to  dig up Yasser Arafat, for shit sakes.  I just want to go and  park my arse on some sandy beach somewhere. And would someone please tell me, why  would you give a shit whether I plan on visiting a farm in the  next 15 days?  If  I ever got the urge to do something weird  to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, you'd be the last fucking people I'd want to tell!                                                           
                                                                           
  Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the poxy city to get another fucking copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of  £30.  Would it be so complicated  to have all the services in the same  spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day??  Nooooooooooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe makes sense.  You'd  rather have us  running all over the fuckin' place like chickens with our heads cut off, then have to find some arsehole to confirm that it's  really me on the damn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! (bureaucratic fuckin' morons)  Hey, do you know why we couldn't smile if we wanted to? Because we're totally pissed off!       
                                                                           
  Signed                                                                   
                                                                           
  An Irate Citizen.                                                       
                                                                            

P.S. Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it's me?  Well, my family has  been in this country since 1776 ......... I have served in the military for something over 30 years and have had full security  clearances over 25 of those years enabling me to undertake highly secretive missions all over the world. .........  However, I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN PAKISTAN !     
                               

This letter got me thinking to when I recently moved house and how many different databases I had to change my address in just to get bills, letters and how much that actually cost my already stretched bank balance. 

Why do we have to duplicate so much information, why cant they be kept on a central database and information released at our request to relevant companies, government departments. The main details I always have to fill out for any form even a job application are as follows:

1. Name
2. Date of Birth
3. Address
4. Phone numbers - home, work, mobile
5. Email address
6. Work information
7. Next of Kin
8. Security question - normally mothers maiden name, first school or first pet.          

Now if I was to steal an identity those are the information I'd need, so there goes your privacy concerns, Pandora's box is already open. Only other info I'm ever asked for are National Insurance, passport number, driving license and NHS number which lets be fair could all be the same number as there is no need for them to be separate other than different databases to duplicating the above information.  

So just think how much money each of these so called databases costs. One database I found googling, cost £225 million the proposed government ID cards would have cost £4 billion to kick off. All of these could be condensed. Id rather change my details in one database saving me time and money rather than waist as I did moving house  then spending weeks changing my details.  I'd also prefer having one ID card that's my National Insurance, passport, driving license, NHS number and donor card the five separate cards/books cost more money and waists more resources than one ID card being updated every few years.       

So the proof is our information is everywhere and it does cost a lot of money having separate databases and cards. I do agree my core info shouldn't be publicly advertised to outside friends and family. Even some of that should just be known to me but at the end of the day the information is out there and its costing me more money I could be spending or saving that would help boost the UK economy.
                                            

Selling to the Enemy

The other day virgin announced it had finally sold its main channel portfolio to Sky, this included Virgin 1, Challenge, all Living and Bravo channels. Now considering the public spats between Sky and Virgin you'd think that this is rare indeed. Truth is Virgin has been trying to sell it's channel portfolio since it became Virgin Media. Sky was always in the frame, there were others but sky was always the only candidate to buy these channels.

Now the problem has always been the value of these channels, Sky didn't see much value to them and Virgin did. Hence the period when Sky pulled all its channels from Virgin over the price to show channels on respective platforms. This forced Virgin to regain its channels values. Living was already good but Virgin pushed its value that little bit more. They dropped teen channel Trouble, this in respect was the cheapest move but I'm a firm believer that the audience was there but the channel was stuck in the nineties.  Virgin then built the Virgin 1 brand which in a stroke of genius did 'Living on Virgin 1' this showcased the best of the Living format on a free platform. On top they made some smart purchases for the channel and created a good channel. They then began to turn their attention to Bravo and have pushed that to a new level. This was all backed up by the extra income from the challenge channels.

Now I'm a person who feels sad these channels are leaving Virgin and going to Sky as, Virgin were providing fresh programming. I wanted to see what they would do next, would they look at the Bravo 2 channel, would Trouble make a return, maybe Virgin 1 would have 'Bravo on Virgin 1'.

What next, well Sky have some decisions to make on the way the channels would run in their business. I have a few suggestions.

• Re-jig all Sky's programming across the new channels, Supernatural and 24 would fit perfect on Bravo.
• Living could benefit from Sky's funding to bring more glamor, not that it needs it.
• Bravo 2 could be made more female orientated, with shows like House and Supernatural. 
• Make Living 2 more male orientated with glamor and fashion shows aimed at men.
• Challenge is another income for Sky and Sky will make it more interactive, integrating it with Sky player.
• Virgin 1, will be re-named and should become a showcase channel. I suggest Sky Showcase so it can run 'Living on Sky Showcase' bringing more people to the sky pay channels via the Freeview platform.

So where does this sale leave virgin. Answer is in good place to build itself as a provider but also at risk if ever Sky pulls channels from the platform again.  Virgin still own half of UKTV, though this is being lined up to sell to Channel 4, they also own Film-flex their film on demand system.

Virgin though have to step up their game to be a provider against Sky and the growing IPTV market.

• They need to offer more HD content and a lot of it in their basic package.
• Video on demand needs improving and taking to the next level, a system they launched so well is now dying from lack of upgrades.
• Multi-room and a online offering needed. People have more than one TV and the business should reflect this.
• The program guide needs updating, their system is old clunky, unreliable and has many services that are so stuck in the nineties I'm surprised if anyone still uses them. They need a major and regular overhaul of how their system works. 
• Competitive on demand pricing. People won't hire a film for £4 is you can buy it for £3 or subscribe to several for £7 a month. They won't hire a TV series for more than it costs to buy.

I wish both companies luck but do point out that more channels are only as good as their new content. In today's market, consumers want new formats as quick as they are released globally and they one older content available on demand.

Rotting Apples - an the multimedia hardware giant turn around it's rotting apples?

Apple - computer genius, music maestro, communication artist and now publication facilitator. Apple is all these things, and more. The once struggling company has taken its time and effort to build not only a successful brand but also a variety of products made for the IT generation.

What makes apple so popular is its ability to innovate but still have a reliability and stability to it's products. That's not all, they create a buzz around their products and an education on how to use them, as they innovate the basic functions that were outrageous to begin with become normal.

With the launch of the iPad and the fact it's sold two million of them, I turned myself to the less innovative products. The ones that have been starting to rot with time.

The World Wide Developers conference may be the place for these rotting apples to get a new lease of life. Apple's chance to update the lines and innovate products to mass appeal or to let them rot away.

So what are these products and what are my predictions:


iPhone - It's a year since the iPhone had any hardware upgrade and recent leaks show that an all new 4th generation iPhone should be on it's way. There may be a few surprises but my betting is we wont see 4G technology or secure meemory card technology to enable apps to take advantage of existing products such as Visa's Pay Wave or London tube's Oyster card for at least another year.


iTunes - With the recent release of iBooks on the iPad and promises it will join the iPhone in the summer, that can only means iTunes will get access to this little bookstore and the ability to read books on your computer. Also there are talks of iTunes getting streaming capability, but this is apple they will have some other surprises and upgrades, my money is on Genius and Home Sharing.


Apple TV- Known as Apple's hobby this year is the make or break for the device that could be so much but delivers so little. So betting is Apple will be showcasing some updated hardware and hopefully a fully fledged software upgrade that takes the things they do so well in their other products. So I expect to see video streaming, video/audio app integration and a new improved Home Sharing.


iLife - The media application suite that ships with Mac's hasn't been updated since iLife'09 so maybe there will be an announcement of a 2011 version with some new feature. Faces and Places improvements no doubt top of the list but maybe some app versions for the iPad and iPhone. I would love to see garage bands Artists lessons as an app or an ability to edit podcasts on the move.


iWorks - Again not updated since the iWork'09 but since then iWorks.com has been updating slowly, the iPad version has been released. So surely the Mac version will get some updates to improve stability between these and some new features itself. I think iWorks.com may come out of beta or some major changes will appear.

Mobile me - This hasn't had a major upgrade since it's launch but it has had a number of major tweaks and recently a new version of mail in Beta. My bet is a few more announcements on mobile me, especially if there is a new iPhone and iTunes finally brings its streaming capabilities. Maybe we shall see more integration of iTunes and iWorks.com.


ARD 4 - Apple Remote Desktop hasn't had a good update in years, some may ask what the big deal. Well the answer is simple, Business. Business needs to keep updating their computers and help IT control from a distance, ARD allows this to happen and more on Apple computers. What I'm predicting are some major changes and some surprising ones. First up is Boot Camp support, apple have no control over rebooting a boot camped machine or even installing Boot Camped images over a network and with more and more companies going for this set up, there is a cry for this control. iPhone & iPad support, with the OS4 bringing a raft of business enterprise features, why cant we see these being distributed and controlled from ARD. I myself would like to see the Find my iPhone feature from Mobile Me brought to ARD.


Publication software - This is more a prediction than any hard evidence but all the same there is a gap in the market and Apple could fill it.  When the iPad launched the publishing world, particularly print said it could save its industry. Now it's still early day but it does have that potential and you can see those trying to make it work, but that's where it stops. Apple needs to bring a Pro App software for print publications. I think apple will be looking at something revolutionary that will receive news stories or assignments, integrate with Final Cut Serve to bring video, audio and pictures to attach to stories. Give them the ability to write stories and create ePub magazines/papers and publish to the web with just a few clicks. It wouldn't surprise me if we saw iAd integration in the output and that there was an iPad app for the journalists to send stories in. I also think Apple would create this so that lots of social media could be taken advantage of and that news hubs could be created so local newspapers could supply national newspapers or UK and US editions of magazines could share stories and articles.

I think I'll wait and see what Steve Jobs says in his speech at the World Wide Developers Conference on June 9th.