Digital Media News (week 26)
Date:
20 June 2012
Weekly bulletin collating public sector, industry and company news for creative industries by David Hartley.
Public sector
From NESTA
"According to UNCTAD, in 2010 the UK's share of creative goods exports to China was just 1.4 per cent, compared with a 4.8 per cent share in world creative goods exports. UK exports of creative goods to China totalled $140 million, lower than not only Japan ($900 million), the US ($800 million) and Singapore ($520 million), but also France ($224 million), Germany ($325 million) and Italy ($474 million)… This paper calls for more to be done to increase the level of exporting the UK’s creative industries to China."
From the Creative Industries KTN
"On 9th July, the Technology Strategy Board will launch a £4.5m competition for Cloud Computing… This second round of funding follows on from funded feasibility studies carried out in 2011 which identified three overarching issues that present a challenge to the adoption of Cloud Computing: Interoperability, Resilience of Data and Identity Assurance. The second round of investment is designed to reach out both to SMEs directly". there is a launch event on June 26th in London."
Local industry news
From allmediascotland
"The broadcaster, STV, has created a new position of 'director of digital products' and filled it with a former chief executive with a background in mobile technology. As part of its increasingly digital profile - including a range of hyper-local news websites - STV has taken on Michael McTernan as director of digital products, describing him, in a statement, as having "extensive experience of the development and implementation of platforms to deliver digital content, particularly within the mobile sector."
From Develop
"Channel 4 is contributing a £25,000 award to a select team of successful developers at game creation Dare to be Digital. As well as a cash prize, the media firm will also offer mentoring support for a single team… The contest will take place from today and across the next nine weeks at the University of Abertay. The three winning teams will be announced at the Dare ProtoPlay computer games festival between August 10th and 12th"
From The Telegraph
"From today, people with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and NatWest mobile banking app can take money from an ATM by making a request on their mobile phone. They will receive a six digit pin number after making the request, which can be entered at a cash machine for the money to be released. The scheme aims to help people who may have lost or forgotten their card or those who might want to leave their wallet at home."
From the Scottish Sun
"A mum who suffered horrific bullying as a child has invented a smartphone app which could help protect kids from torment. Wanita Burnett (from Aberdeen) claims the FeelSecure app will give parents peace of mind and keep children safe from online bullies, sex predators and even physical attack. The app, available to download from tomorrow, is fitted with an alarm and a GPS tracker to pinpoint a child’s location in seconds"
Fromscottishgames.net
"Just in time for Euro 2012, here’s Quizball – the football quiz game where you can lead your country to European glory! Answer questions to score goals – get a question wrong and you’ll concede, though. Win the match to get to the next round, and ultimately to win the tournament!"
General industry
From Tech Crunch
"Apple’s App Store has always been a behemoth. It was the first of its kind. Still, the growth for this platform is astounding, with Tim Cook today reporting 30 billion downloads from the App Store since its inception. Even more incredible, the platform has paid out over $5 billion to its developers. “It’s becoming an economy in and of itself,” said Cook."
From The Guardian
"Android device activations are now running at more than 900,000 per day, according to the latest tweet from Rubin. Based on previously given figures (850,000 activations per day, and 300m devices activated, from the Google Mobile blog in February) that suggests that there have been a total of 390m Android devices activated in total."
From Mashable
"Removing a step or two between advertising and purchasing, TiVo on Tuesday announced it has teamed with PayPal so users can easily buy products they see in TV ads. The deal means that advertisers can now add a new dimension to their 30-second TV spots and interactive TiVo ad placements. Users who like an advertised product can do so with a few clicks of their remote after they set up their accounts."
From the BBC
"The online market now accounts for a quarter of all spending on games but Sony's next console, the Playstation 4 will still have an optical drive. Spencer Kelly reports on how close we might be to a time when games come solely from the cloud meaning an end to discs or cartridges."
Reports
From Tech Crunch
"Global spend on entertainment and media services, according to a new Global Media and Entertainment Outlook report out from PwC, will reach $2.1 trillion by 2016, from $1.6 trillion in 2011. But the continuing change to digital over physical distribution will mean that growth will come at a slower pace than in previous years — and at a rate slower than that of overall GDP, 5.7 percent versus 6.6 percent. PwC says digital spend will generate 67 percent of E&M spending growth in the next five years."
FromThe Next Web
"According to eMarketer, iPad use will nearly double this year, with an increase of 90 percent to 53.2 million users in the US by the end of 2012, as new buyers emerge and existing users replace older models. As you’d expect, annual growth rates are actually decreasing – and are projected to continue dropping – as the absolute numbers get bigger and competition heats up. By 2015, eMarketer says there will be almost 91 million iPad users in the United States, or nearly a third of its total population."
From The Telegraph
"One in four smartphone owners used a tablet between February and April this year, an increase of 14 per cent over last year. "Once consumers get their hands on their first tablet, they are using them for any number of media habits," said Mark Donovan, Senior Vice President of Mobile at market research firm comScore. The research showed that video is especially popular on tablets, with 10 per cent of owners watching video every day on their device, compared with just three per cent of smartphone owners. More than one in four tablet owner paid to access video."
From Tech Crunch
"The Association of American Publishers released a report today that shows that ebooks have beaten hardcover revenues for the first time. Ebook revenues topped out at $282.3 million YTD while hardcovers hit $229.6. Almost exactly a year ago the tables were turned with ebooks hitting $220 million and hardcovers brushing past $335 million."
Events
From Scottish Development International
"Join Scottish Development International (SDI) at IBC – the leading global tradeshow for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of broadcasting media and entertainment."
The event takes place in Amsterdam from the 6th to the 11th September.
Compiled by David Hartley