Links on New Media Technology

General Sources of Information for ALL TOPICS

BBC News
     Search for wide range of news articles, especially under Technology and Click "The BBC's flagship technology lifestyle TV programme"
Media Guardian
     Search for wide range of news articles on media. You may need to register: email address: pphilpot@ednet.harlow-college.ac.uk; password: media – or register yourself (free).
+ Technology Guardian
Also good for New Media Technology issues
Wikipedia
     Online, open source encyclopedia – use with care, but good with new technologies (benefits of cybercommunism, yes?)
P2pnet.net
     “The original digital media and p2p news site” – p2p=filesharing
Wired News
     US-based new media magazine
Screen Digest: Global Media Intelligence
     UK media research company with a surprising amount of information available free
ZD Net UK
     New media technology news & information site aimed at business. US-based version is silicon.com
NMK: New Media Knowledge is a very useful site set up for industry and workers, with good accessible news stories on new media technology matters.
The BBC's Commissioning pages
     give useful information on various age groups' differing use not just of television but of a wider range of media
Future Media page of C21 Media:
     "an international publishing company specialising in worldwide television, media, and associated business information" - basically a set of newsfeeds from other sites (ie links to news articles on new media technology topics)
To hell in a handset
Convergence: "Watches are on the way out. The days of the diary are numbered. And cameras could be next. The world is becoming a poorer place, says Stuart Jeffries - thanks to the mobile phone"

Downloads and Digital Rights (Music + Film)

BBC News
     Very useful is Click Online
eg Sound future for music on mobiles
     David Reid declares music phones are emerging as the quality players in mobile entertainment. (Many other stories in Technology section of BBC News + discussion on site of BBC’s own practice).
'Old' music's digital comeback
     Spencer Kelly explains the Long Tail
Electric Frontier Foundation
     US-based organisation defending users’ freedoms
Motion Picture Association of America - Antipiracy
     Hollywood’s defence against you downloading pirate films
Washingtonpost.com
     Search for wide range of news articles on media in online version of leading US paper. You may need to register: email address: pphilpot@ednet.harlow-college.ac.uk; password: mediamedia – or register yourself (free).
The Buzz on the Beats
     touches on the controversies over Digital Rights Management
Umair Haque's Bubblegeneration
The New Economics of Music: File-Sharing and Double Moral Hazard: Part 1: Why the Music Industry is (Really) Broken
     Detailed account from blog on "the strategy and economics of innovation"
Cinemas Online
The downfall of the movie industry or the inevitable turn of the digital age?
     Commentators from UK cinema industry discuss the issues (they're against it)
Campaign for Digital Rights
     European-based organisation campaigning against restrictive DRM
Open Rights Group
     British-based organisation campaigning against restrictive DRM, site organised like a blog with postings and links, eg
Despite lawsuits, digital music downloads grow
     Newspage summarising the industry issues on music downloads

Digital Photography

Photos Leave Home
     Blog on personal photography and the web
What is "Digital Photography?"
     Simple account of digital photography on University website, with links
Photo Imaging Skills Issues
     Training body for audiovisual industries (SkillsetM) reporting on issues to do with digital photography, skills and employment
Future of Digital Photography
     photoessay on BBC News
Christmas goes digital for many
     BBC News article giving (expert) use of digital photography in people’s lives
Flickr
     Leading photosharing website - explore what's being done!

Digital Cinema

– see also material under Downloads and Digital Rights (Music + Film)
BFI: British Film Institute
Digital Test Bed
     The Digital Test Bed at the National Film Theatre is the main UK and European facility for exploring the digital distribution and exhibition of film
The End of Celluloid: Film futures in the digital age
     Website of Matt Hanson, The End of Celluloid: Film Futures in the Digital Age (Rotovision, 2004) – interviews and additional textual material from book (in library!) on developments in digital imaging techniques
Stage4: UK art/technology ezine + independent webcaster
Is Digital the Future of Cinema?
     Yes, it claims
Digital Cinema: A Slow Revolution
     Digital cinema offers a high-quality image, unaffected by repeated showings. So why can’t you see it at your local multiplex? On the Institute of Electrical Engineers website.
Screen Digest: Global Media Intelligence
     Search for the many reports on digital cinema. Look for fee pdf samples from larger reports, eg Broadband Digital Movies: European market assessment and forecasts, prophesying digital markets for films
UK pioneers digital film network
     perhaps over-positive BBC news story

CGI

Spectacular Realism in Digital Cinema
     This article from an academic website gives a clear account of some basic principles and uses for CGI.
Cinema and Technology

     Also from an aademic website, this introduction to a course starts with a run through of some of the principles involved.
computer-generated imagerypage on answers.com
     is useful, with a set of links attached.
Story vs CGIforum on an informative site Britmovie
     Pick up on the debates among film-makers - who are often very split over the creative value of CGI. Other forum threads carry this on, like Miniatures vs. C.G.I.?

Personal Video Recorder

PVR page
     on informitv.com, site dedicated to information on TV developments has some very useful news stories & information.
Virgin Media rebrands its personal video recorder…
     indicates how PVR technology is now part of the total offer from a home media service provider.
Brave New World
     one of the most useful pages on the TV-Anytime Forum Website, set up by an organisation of manufacturers and others to ensure common standards. This article spells out the magic promise of PVR as "TV anytime".
PVR - the next DVD?
     slightly dated research paper on PVRs, which spells out some of the user problems - "The bewildered consumer". Are consumers still bewildered?

Computer Gaming and New Media

Games-based learning
     A set of linka, not all necessarily that user-friendly (from an e-learning site aimed at teachers & developers)- that indicates how gaming is becoming another multi-use aspect of new media
Wii bring you the news
     columnist/blogger on Daily Telegraph website commenting on the Nintendo Wii as news source
The Games Industry: Changing Times, Reaching New Audiences
     detailed paper from an industry conference (2005) on the future of the games industry

Interactive Television

The Interactive Television Dictionary & Business Index
     Large and authoritative US site all about Interactive television (ITV in America). Includes guides, definitions & even little tests
Interactive Television Alliance
     US trade association. Site has clear information & a little history of Interactive Television
White Dot: the international campaign against television
A Guide to Interactive TV
     A thorough attack on Interactive TV from a US & UK-based organisation that campaigns against TV

Mobile Phones & Media

Japan Media Review – internet and wireless sections
     “Japan is held to be a generation ahead of Europe & America in mobile phone use – see how their use is different
Opera Telecom
     “Company selling services for broadcasting and streaming video on mobiles. Try their case studies.

Digital and Internet Radio

(+ some material on audio downloads)
BBC Digital Radio
     Explanation & guide from main digital radio broadcaster
Digital Radio Development Bureau
     UK trade organisation – try also link to consumer site for a simpler sell
DAB Digital Radio
     Clear account of DAB on UK site aimed at general public – with clear explanations
Podcasts bring DIY radio to the web
     Good account of podcasting on BBC News, with useful links attached