Digital Times

The world’s first consumer 3D camcorder

Stephen — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:56:57 +0000

Panasonic says it has produced the world’s first consumer 3D camcorder, the HDC-SDT750, which allows 3D images to be recorded at home. Incorporating Panasonic broadcast technology, the 3MOS camcorder lets users create their own 3D movies, something only professional image producers were previously able to do. Combined with a VIERA 3DTV and Blu-ray DiscTM player/recorder, the SDT750 makes it possible to record and 3D movies.

THE SCIENCE BIT
The user needs to attach the 3D conversion lens that comes with the SDT750 to record 3D images. In natural vision, people see slightly different images with their right and left eyes, this difference is called visual disparity. The brain uses visual disparity to perceive spatial depth and the appearance of solidity. This visual disparity is artificially produced for 3D images so that the brain will interpret it as depth and solid-appearing objects.
The SDT750 comes with a 3D conversion lens that records right-eye and left-eye images simultaneously through its two lenses. The right and left images (each with 960 x 1080 pixels) that enter through the lenses are recorded using the side-by-side method. By connecting the SDT750 to a TV that is capable of side-by-side method 3D playback, vividly colorful 3D images can be viewed at home.

First IAB Ireland report says online ad spend worth nearly €100 million

Stephen — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:10:08 +0000

The first IAB Ireland online ad spend study has been published. Online ad spend in Ireland was €97.2 million in 2009. The report was put together by IAB and PwC with a view to establishing how much Irish advertisers spent online in 2009.
The report suggests digital ad spend in Ireland is now 10% of the total ad spend (the total Irish 2009 ad spend suggested by PwC was €940 million). This means digital advertising is now worth more than outdoor, consumer magazines, and cinema.
“Online’s strong performance in this, our benchmark study, provides great confidence for the future growth of our medium,” says Suzanne McElligott, chief executive IAB Ireland (pictured).
As a bench mark study, the report only looks at three key digital media formats: search (which accounts for 46.2%), classified (27.2%) and display (26.6%).
“We estimate that our study accounts for 90% of online ad spend,” says McElligott, “At least 90% if not 95%,” confirmed Bartley O’Connor, consultant with PwC (pictured left).
29 of Ireland’s leading online publishers participated in the study, including – Boards.ie, Donedeal.ie, entertainment.ie, Google, Independent Digital, Microsoft Advertising, MyHome.ie, The Irish Times, Ticketmaster Ireland, eircom, Daft Media, RTE, TCH, Ireland.com, and Yahoo!
Sales houses and ad networks also participated and all data was provided to PwC on a confidential basis. Google did not reveal its earnings from Irish advertisers. Instead PwC, “created an independent estimate of Google’s revenue from Irish advertisers, by extrapolating from spend data provided directly by a representative sample of Google clients”.
As search accounts for 46% of online ad spend one may assume that the bulk of this (say 40%) is spent with Google. Therefore, it is a fair estimate to suggest approximately €38 million is spent by Irish advertisers with Google each year.
75% of the study’s participants predict growth or strong growth for online ad spend in 2010.

Campaign – an online treasure hunt from Globrix.ie

Edward — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:58:50 +0000

Globrix.ie, the digital property search engine from the Irish Independent, has launched an online treasure hunt as part of a marketing drive.
The digital campaign invites ‘hunters’ to track down six ‘iconic Irish properties’.
Each time a hunter finds one of the properties they are entered into a draw for €1,000. If a person finds two properties they will be entered twice, however, if they find all six properties they will be entered into the hat six times.
There are clues to help people track down the six properties. For example, the clue for the Anglo Irish Bank HQ reads like this: ‘Pre-loved, corporate HQ centrally located on Dublin’s St. Stephen’s Green. One previous owner. Priced to sell. All offers accepted’.
http://content.globrix.ie/globrix6/ has more details.

‘Free your film’ competition announced

Stephen — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:37:24 +0000

Actor Sarah Bolger officially launched the ‘Free your Film’ mobile video competition on behalf of the Darklight Festival and Sony Ericsson. The competition aims to find three aspiring film makers in Ireland, and help them make a short film each. The competition finalists will receive a €3,000 budget, a Sony Ericsson VivazTM HD video/camera phone and production support to make their short film. The finished shorts will be premiered on the opening night of the Darklight Festival, 28 October 2010.
In order to enter, film makers must submit a video show reel and a one page treatment/outline of their idea for a film which will be shot using the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. The judging criteria include:
1)      Originality and imaginativeness of the concept
2)      Feasibility of film outline’s production, given time and funding restrictions
3)      Quality/originality of entrant’s show reel
4)      Best use of mobility and size of the Vivaz handset
Nicky Gogan, Director, Darklight Festival said, “This competition will be of interest to anyone looking for a break – from amateurs and students to working film makers – as it provides funding to produce a short film, an experienced production team to facilitate production and new, easy to use technology.”
Russell Keating, marketing manager, Sony Ericsson Ireland said, “The HD video features of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz created a great opportunity to bring the latest mobile technology to film makers so they can use their creativity to create a piece of work from wherever they are, and share it immediately on their social networks. The Darklight Festival has an important role in promoting and supporting Irish film and we look forward to seeing the creativity of the talent the competition attracts.”
Entries will close on Monday, 23rd August 2010 and the three finalists will be announced a week later on Monday, 30th August. The three finalists will be given the month of September to shoot their film which must be submitted for editing by Friday, 1st October 2010.

The world’s first personal, social magazine

Stephen — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:27:38 +0000

This is a good idea. The Flipboard claims to be the world’s first ‘personalised social magazine’. It has been launched as an app for the iPad and essentially it offers users a packaged collection of all the news, features, videos and images circulating within their social networks.
It was developed by a former senior iPhone engineer called Mike McCue. The idea behind the app is to make it much easier for users to discover, view and share social media content. Users can also create sections around topics they are interested in. McCue calls it the world’s first ’social magazine’.

Death knell for email marketing?

Edward — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:30:09 +0000

We don’t have much of a sweet tooth around here, but news of Ben and Jerry’s decision to drop email marketing in favour of social media has got the taste buds working. This is the first major brand to act on the long-held assumption that email is “for old people”. Boston College stopped issuing email accounts to students way back in November 2008. The medium is now over forty years old and people are elsewhere.

Ben and Jerry will now concentrate on Twitter and Facebook to develop a relationship with customers, but it will send one email per year to its database. That is an amazing about face, some would contend kick in the face, for a long trusted marketing channel. It is also premature for many companies to even consider. However, we shall watch this space with interest.

Fancy nominating a digital ad campaign?

Edward — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:19:15 +0000

The digital arm of The Independent runs a quarterly competition to reward the best campaigns on its network. Voting is closing on the 23rd of July and there are prizes up for grabs for the campaigns in question. The site is looking to reward innovative online marketing through peer voting (that’s you). If you are interested in casting your ballet the finalists for Q2 are:

Go to http://bit.ly/ailiwc to have a look at the campaigns of the finalists and to let them know your preference.

O2 announces data plans for the iPad

Stephen — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:28:27 +0000

O2 announced it will offer dedicated data plans for iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G in Ireland. The iPad data tariffs will be available without a minimum term contract and include free access to Bitbuzz Wi-Fi hotspots in Ireland. The O2 micro SIM pack for iPad will contain full set up and registration details and customers will be able to check data usage, top up their account and purchase a new broadband pass for their iPad using O2’s My Account service.
The 3G Data Plans for iPad Wi-Fi + 3G are: 500MB will cost €3.97 a day (24 hours) and the 5GB data plan will cost €19.90 for 30 days. Data plans do not require a minimum term contract. All tariffs include free access to Bitbuzz Wi-Fi hotspots. Once customers register their micro SIM, they’ll also get a day of free broadband access.

Touchable holograms – wow!

Digital Times — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:46:07 +0000

There’s not much you can say about this new technology except “Wow”! Touchable holograms? Technology that adds the sensation of touch to a hologram. The commercial possibilities for this technology are endless but the augmented reality and computer gaming industries immediately spring to mind.

RTÉ.ie remains Ireland’s No. 1 website

Stephen — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:14:20 +0000

RTÉ.ie is Ireland’s most visited website, according to the latest ABCe results (May 2010). The latest audited figures reveal that unique browsers of RTÉ.ie have grown by 57% year-on-year, increasing from 2,581,443 to 4,052,723 unique browsers per month during the 12 months to May 2010. Page impressions have increased by 33% during the same period, growing to 75,607,413 per month from 56,944,362 in May 2009.
Downloads have increased by 58% from 692,398 to 1,096,217 per month and streams on RTÉ.ie have also grown during the May 2009 – May 2010 period, by 15% from 3,901,328 to 4,473,909 per month.
Enhancements to the RTÉ.ie site content and the increasing use of the RTÉ Player (launched in 2009) have all contributed to the increase in unique browsers over the last 12 months.
The site’s overseas audience which has increased from 1,062,006 to 1,293,581 per month during the 12 month period. Among the leading factors behind this increase are RTÉ News Now (live and looped news service) and the International RTÉ Player which launched in January. Growth has been particularly strong in the USA and Canada.
Commenting on the latest ABCe figures, Múirne Laffan, executive director, RTÉ Publishing said, “It is really encouraging for us to see continued strong growth in the number of unique browsers visiting RTÉ.ie. We are particularly pleased by the strong growth in streams and downloads. Innovation and product development is our focus and enhancements to RTE.ie are planned to deliver more audience growth.”