Digital Media News (week 10)
Date:
04 March 2013
Our round up of the week's biggest digital media news in Scotland and beyond
Public sector
From Scottish Development International
"A group of 21 innovative Scottish companies is attending the world’s largest trade event for mobile and wireless technology in Barcelona this week, with the support of Scottish Development International (SDI). The GSMA Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona provides the opportunity for companies to showcase their new mobile technology innovations to an expected 70,000 global visitors, and alongside 1500 exhibitors."
From the Scottish Government
"This independent report provides an assessment of: what world-class looks like elsewhere, the characteristics of those countries and regions that have or are delivering world-class digital infrastructure; and what lessons could be learned and applied to Scotland in order for it to be world-class."
Local industry news
From the Scotsman
"Scotland’s video game developers are in a “great position” as the industry prepares for the launch later this year of Sony’s latest console, according to trade body Tiga… Gordon McLean, technical director of Dundee-based Beartrap Games, said: “the PS4’s
architecture is closer to a PC, so it’ll be easier to get stuck in there quite quickly.” Paul McGee, managing director at fellow Dundee company Secret Lunch, said he was aiming to speak to Sony representatives at next month’s Game Developers Conference to show off the firm’s new title Shu."
From the Herald
"Sophia George, co-founder of Swallowtail Games, is the latest product of Scotland's renowned games industry, which has achieved global success with titles such as Lemmings, Crackdown and Grand Theft Auto… She is hoping her success will inspire other girls and young women to study computer game technology and enter the traditionally male-dominated industry, which is worth £30 million to Scotland's economy each year."
From the BBC
"Hearts fans are being given the chance to jump the pie queue - by placing orders through their smartphones. The club has developed a mobile app that allows supporters to place orders and have food and drink delivered to their seat. It said its Tynecastle stadium would be the first in the UK to provide such as service… The new app has been developed along with catering partner Saltire Hospitality and (Edinburgh based) mobile technology company QikServe."
From the Drum
"Asda supermarkets have joined forces with augmented reality (AR) experience provider Zappar to create an AR enabled in-store Easter Egg Hunt guided by the Easter Bunny himself. Taking place on Saturday 23 March between 10am and 6pm, specially designed Easter Egg POS will be hidden around almost 400 Asda stores."
From the Drum
"Yomego has appointed Neil Major, former social strategy lead at Wunderman as its strategy director… Steve Richards, MD at Yomego, said of Major: “He’s worked at some of the biggest agencies in the business, and with an impressive roll call of clients. His strategic thinking really impressed, and he’s a great asset to the agency as we continue to grow in both Glasgow and London."
From allmediascotland
"An Edinburgh design agency has once again been recognised in a worldwide competition celebrating the best newspaper design. Palmer Watson’s re-design of Danish daily newspaper, Politken, has been named one of five world’s best-designed newspapers at the annual Society for Newspaper Design competition, in Syracuse, USA. This is the sixth time the duo has received the award, their previous wins being with The Scotsman (1995, 1996 and 1997), The Herald (2003) and Politiken (2007). The pair’s portfolio also includes international heavyweights, Le Monde and El Pais."
General industry
From paidcontent:UK
"Financial Times digital subscriptions overtook print subscriptions for the first time in 2012. The FT now has “almost 316,000″ digital subscribers, compared to about 286,000 print subs, and “mobile devices now account for 30% of FT.com traffic and 15% of new subscriptions… At Penguin, ebooks accounted for 17 percent of global book revenues, up from 12 percent in 2011, and “almost 30 percent” in the U.S., compared to 20 percent in 2011."
From the Brazil Business
"According to a research made by the consultancy PwC, the gaming market in Brazil had a turnover of BRL 840 million in 2011 and can reach up to BRL 4 billion in 2016, a growth of 7.6% per year… The boom is quite recent and has several reasons: the falling prices of consoles and games, translation of games to Portuguese and the complicated situation of the world market, which passes through financial crisis and saturation, while in Brazil, people are buying like never before."
Reports
From the Next Web
"Music sales grew last year for the first time since 1999, the Financial Times reports. According to trade association IFPI, which compiled industry figures for 2012, this slight increase in recorded music revenues was driven by digital downloads and subscription service fees. These digital sales represented a third of 2012 global music revenues, worth $16.5 billion. With a 9 percent year-on-year growth, they made up for the 5 percent decline in physical record sales, resulting in a 0.3 percent overall increase."
From GSMA
"The wide-ranging study offers critical insights into the health of the mobile communications industry and details the global enablers needed to spur further investment and growth in the sector. With the number of mobile subscribers standing at 3.2 billion people, nearly half of the world’s population now uses mobile communications 1. It is expected that a further 700 million subscribers will be added by 2017 and the 4 billion-subscriber milestone will be reached in 2018."
From Mashable
"Mobile phones are found all around the world — ubiquitous even in emerging markets such as China and India — but how you use the device depends greatly on where you live. In a new report entitled "The Mobile Consumer: A Global Snapshot," research company Nielsen looked at consumer behavior, device preference and usage in 10 different countries, including the U.S., UK, Australia, China, India and South Korea."
From Wired
"The report, titled “Global Video Index: 2012 Year in Review,” was released by Ooyala, a California-based company that specializes in online video and online video analytics. It found that the amount of video watched on tablet devices and mobile phones in 2012 increased by 100 percent over the previous year, and also that advertisers are taking notice of the shift to online video viewership, with U.S. ad spending on streaming video content climbing 46 percent to reach $2.93 billion last year alone."
Events
From gamesindustry.biz
"This free event provides you with the opportunity to: Meet a number of Scotland’s top games development studios one to one. With the likes of Codeplay, Ninja Kiwi, One Thumb Mobile and Tag Games already signed up to exhibit GiS 2013 is shaping up to be one of the biggest yet!". The event takes place on Saturday the 9th March in Dundee.
And finally ...
From the Scotsman
"Loretto School in Musselburgh, East Lothian, believes it is the first school in the UK to launch an iPhone and Android app. The new smartphone app allows parents, staff and pupils to keep up to date with the school’s activities, timetables and news. It includes school calendars, a news feed and the option to tailor the app’s contents to a child’s extra-curricular activities."