Ubiquitous Wikipedia

Semapedia combines the physical annotation technology of Semacode with the availability of high quality information using Wikipedia. Semapedia aims to provide free relevant ad-hoc high quality information to mobile users in the real world.

Using Semacode Nodes, real-world objects such as a museum, a statue or anything that exists in the real-world and which happens to have a Wikipedia.org article will be tagged with the relevant Wikipedia article URL. A passer-by can use their Smartphone and 'click' (take a picture and decode the URL) on the Semacode Node in order to obtain the relevant Wikipedia article on the subject that they are standing in front of. The Semacode Node is created and attached by either the owner of the subject or someone else who thinks passers-by should be able to learn more on the subject using this technology.

Vodafone links up with Sky to offer TV on move

Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone network, has launched the most ambitious foray yet into mobile television, unveiling a tie-up with Sky to offer many of its channels to UK users.

It hopes that as television sets in our living rooms get larger, the reverse will happen outside the home at Christmas with the mass adoption of moving pictures on tiny screens.

Having gambled billions on building a third generation phone network, allowing video, music and internet style services on the move, Vodafone hopes to persuade its customers to tune into news, sport and entertainment on the bus, on the train and during other idle moments.

TiVo now supports video iPod

TVHarmony.com has released a new version of its AutoPilot software that supports converting TiVo-recorded shows into a format that's compatible with the new video iPod. It also works with Palm devices that can view video.

Old Video on iTunes

Article here about old TV programmes being released in a form compatible for iPod Video.

Google's Plans for ITV - here we go...

A job ad on Google's Web site that seeks a product manager for "GoogleTV" may provide some clues on the search engine giant's plans to enter the interactive TV space: "In this role," the ad reads, "you will provide leadership on product vision and execution of projects that enable using Google's search and advertising technologies to enhance users' television viewing experience.

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YouTube

A new folksonomy website that seems to be catching on is YouTube, a service similar to Flickr, except that it is for sharing and hosting short video clips instead of photos. Like Flickr, its core functionality is implemented in Flash. Videos can be tagged, searched, discussed, etc through a social network. YouTube has developer APIs, RSS feeds, and the ability to embed videos directly into other web pages.

H2G2 here?

Antenna Audio, a heritage and tourism interpretation company has recently licensed a location-based media platform and associated linux portable media device from a company called Node to enable them to deliver location-based media to tourist attractions.

Update: Daily Telegraph story about it here.

Rejected TV Pilot Thrives on P2P

Warner Bros. Entertainment recently rejected the pilot of a show called Global Frequency. However due to a leak on BitTorrent the pilot episode has reached thousands of viewers who are clamouring for more, and has given the show a new lease on life.

What's more interesting is what the show's creator learned. From the article: "It changes the way I'll do my next project," said John Rogers. He said that if he owned the full rights, "I would put my pilot out on the internet in a heartbeat. Want five more? Come buy the boxed set."