7YK Blog

I think we need to see a consolidation of content and advertising.

Everyone’s competing with each other because they don’t know how to give up their individual voice. What happens is we get a clamor for top Techmeme billing.

Instead, I’d like to see more federations of blogs, where content producers work hand in hand to protect the turf of the others while helping to funnel content opportunities to the best source for coverage within that federation. In the advertising arena, five sites at 150k pageviews each can’t get direct-sale advertising by themselves, but as a 750k pageview federation, the tide turns.

We need more consolidation. It’s survival of the fittest.

Alltel Wireless, America’s largest network, and Txtstation announced they will be working together as part of an ongoing effort to provide unique promotions to fans at select Alltel sponsored sports properties. As the Official Wireless Partner of FansSM, Alltel will leverage Txtstation’s capabilities and implement a real time text messaging feature at five sponsored properties. Additional properties are currently under consideration and may be added to the campaign at a later date.

The text feature, titled the ‘Alltel Fan Poll’ will pose a compelling question to fans inside the stadium and ask them to weigh-in with their opinions. At each home game, fans will be able to interact with the video board by sending a text message from their wireless phone to 88222. Within seconds, votes will appear live on the screen, causing percentages to change and providing a fun and entertaining experience for all.

“Txtstation has delivered a customized in-game feature that lives true to our brand positioning and meets our activation goals,” said Samira Zebian, Director of Marketing Sponsorships for Alltel Wireless. “We look forward to launching the Alltel Fan Poll this season to give fans an easy and fun way to vote on hot topics directly from their wireless phone”.

“Alltel Wireless is a perfect fit for Txtstation. They understand the passion of fans and they understand how our real time solutions can help activate their brand in a meaningful manner. Our capabilities have proven to increase participation, aid in database collection, and create a one-to-one dialogue with fans,” said Michael Falato, Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Txtstation.

The “Alltel Fan Poll” will debut later this summer as the football season begins.

Opera Software and Meridian group have announced their joining to pre-install Opera Mini on Meridian Mobile’s new Fly E310 mobile phone. Meridian Mobile’s Fly mobile handset is currently available in the UK, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Russia, and all with pre-installed Opera Mini browser, states a Slashpone report.

Meridian Group and Opera Software joined forces back in April 07 to deliver Opera Mini on most all mobile phone handsets.

Member of the Board of Directors for Meridian Group, Andrew Collinge had this to say: “We aim to provide our customers the best services available. When it comes to offering our customers a fast, secure and cost-efficient Internet service on a mobile phone, the popular Opera Mini browser offers the user an outstanding experience. Accessing the Web could not be easier, as Opera Mini brings the Web to our customers in local languages.”

When the concept for the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup was devised, it was a given that the series would produce razor-close racing in new Mustang FR500S units. The real challenge was how to deliver a unique, cutting-edge approach for the launch and promotion of a new racing entity in today’s crowded market place.

Taking some of the new series’ attributes to heart, Ford Racing and Miller Motorsports Park began discussions with Dublin, Ohio-based Barbasol Shaving Cream about a retail-oriented, shelf-level promotion that would incorporate Barbasol’s famed red and white barber pole can and create awareness and an identity for the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge.

The resulting partnership between the iconic American brands of Ford Mustang and Barbasol Shaving Cream emblazoned 2 million cans of Barbasol Original Shave Cream for summer distribution with an image of the Mustang FR500S, the Ford Racing logo and the Mustang Challenge series logo and schedule.

Each can of Barbasol provides about three months worth of shaving cream, delivering a Ford Mustang Challenge-branded promotional message to each customer conservatively 100 times during its use. Overall, the program’s product promotion should generate more than 200 million impressions.

That news has some people worked into a lather.

“The Ford Mustang Challenge Barbasol can promotion provides a non-traditional opportunity to reach both the passionate and casual race fan with information about the Miller Cup on a daily basis,” said Lynda Randall Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup Series Director.

“As a series in its first season, it is important for us to spread the word about the Mustang Challenge,” she added. “This program provides a medium for us to repeatedly reach our target demographic and to educate them on an ongoing basis about our series. This is just one example of the distinctive opportunities we are pursuing to promote the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup.”

The at-track promotional component created the ‘Barbasol Closest Shave Award’ for the Ford Mustang Challenge competitors, and Miller Motorsports Park launched an online contest through millercup.com for a lucky fan to win a VIP weekend at the track for the series’ finale at Miller Motorsports Park in September.

View more Ford news here.

So what is the deal with GPU and with Apple’s push to bring OpenCL to their Mac OS X “Snow Leopard” revision? Well the answer is it’s all about processing power and speed. You can only get so much from a trad CPU even sporting 2 or 4 cores, however there are in excess of 100 microprocessor cores inside a GPU.

According to a report on guardian.co.uk, the thing is data needs to be served up fast enough to keep up with the speedy GPU processors high speed data crunching, and that hasn’t been standardised as yet, and this is where Apple’s OpenCL tech comes into play.

I know, you are thinking what has this to do with mobile space right? Well as the iPhone uses Mac OS and uses the same underpinnings as Mac OS X, any updates to that codename should be made available to the iPhone as well.

So with GPU processors boasting a huge ten times better power efficiency it will certainly make sense to grab hold of that embedded mobile GPU processor sitting in the iPhone. In other words we are likely to see GPU based processing hit the iPhone sometime in the future, all that’s needed is for Apple to figure out how to port OpenCL into the iPhone’s Mac OS.

Ford continues to make great strides toward achieving its goal of best-in-class quality. The following ten examples show some of the successes already achieved along the way.

1. Now shoulder-to-shoulder with industry leaders in initial quality - The quality of Ford brand vehicles soared to the top of the charts equaling that of Toyota and Honda, according to the second quarter 2008 U.S. Global Quality Research System (GQRS) study conducted by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. The study showed Ford brand improved 6.5 percent versus last year with a combined average of 1343 things-gone-wrong (TGW) per 1,000 vehicles during the first three months of ownership. This performance is statistically equivalent at the 95% confidence level to the TGW levels of Honda and Toyota.

2. Virtual technology expertise worth sharing - For nearly a decade, Ford has been using its industry-leading digital ergonomics research to help line operators do their jobs efficiently and issue-free. Led by a world-renowned ergonomics expert, the team optimizes every movement so employees can build car after car and avoid fatigue and injury. This upfront virtual technology greatly reduces issues at launch and relates directly to quality. The company shares its findings on how to reduce repetitive stress and other injuries with the other American automakers and University of Michigan researchers.

3. Best-in-class paint performance - According to GQRS studies, Ford is tied in first place for fewer chips and scratches and more long-term durability. Its three-part wet application process not only provides better long-term resistance to chips and scratches than water-borne paint, it reduces the plant shop’s CO2 emissions by 15 percent. An eco-friendly anti-corrosion system helps prevent rust while cutting paint shop water use nearly in half and reducing the production of sludge by 90 percent. Also, Ford is the first automaker to implement a technology called High-Gloss Mold-in-Color. The 2008 Ford Super Duty’s wheel lip molding is injection-molded with the high-gloss metallic color built right in - no primer or paint required. This increases long-term appearance and durability, as well as being more environmentally friendly than priming and painting those parts.

4. Chart-topping electrical functions - Thanks in part to stringent electronics testing during the predelivery process, Ford topped the charts in GQRS studies for electrical functions such as the radios. Hundreds of end-of-line evaluations take place and are tracked through Ford’s Quality Leadership System (QLS), which gives anyone in the plant the ability to flag a vehicle as having an open concern and keeps that vehicle from leaving the plant until it’s been fixed.

5. Quality testing goes green - As the 52-year-old high-speed test track at Ford’s Michigan Proving Grounds undergoes its $13 million reconstruction, it’s reusing almost every bit of existing material, preventing 130,000 tons of debris from going to local landfills. The track is critical to Ford’s quality assurance process, as it’s used for a wide range of vehicle testing.

6. Earning third-party accolades - In May, two separate research firms confirmed that Ford continues to make great strides in quality. San Diego-based researcher Strategic Vision put Ford neck-and-neck with Toyota for total quality, and ahead of everyone else. The firm said the two automakers were tied for topping the most segments on its Total Quality Index with three vehicles each. Winning Ford vehicles are Ford Edge, Ford Mustang Convertible and Ford F-250/350, which was also a segment winner in 2007. Meanwhile, noted automotive consulting firm AutoPacific released the results of its 2008 model year vehicle satisfaction research, putting Ford on top or tied for first in six Vehicle Satisfaction Award categories. Vehicles earning accolades were Ford Taurus, Mercury Milan, Lincoln Mark LT, Ford Explorer Sport Trac, Ford Explorer and Ford Edge.

7. Ford Flex boasts ultra-quiet ride - Ford Motor Company’s wind noise went from second-worst in the industry in 2003 to best in the bunch for 2007 based on TGW according to GQRS results. The all-new 2009 Ford Flex is no exception. In Ford’s wind tunnel tests, it delivered a quieter ride than competitors including the Acura MDX, Toyota Highlander and GMC Acadia, good news for customers who equate quietness with quality.

8. J.D. Power says Ford Focus is most improved - The 2008 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study by J.D. Power and Associates showed that Focus gained 88 index points over last year. The Ford Escape also earned a spot among the top 10 most improved vehicles in the industry. In addition, five Ford Motor Company vehicles received second- or third-place honors in their segments: Ford Explorer Sport Trac, Mazda CX7, Mazda CX9, Ford Focus and Lincoln Navigator.

9. Long-term durability improves - Ford brand improved at a rate of 3 percent versus the industry average of 1 percent according to the 2008 GQRS three-years-in-service report. The survey looked at 2005 model year vehicles (compared to 2004 model year in 2007). The top non-luxury brands were Toyota, Mercury, Honda and Ford, with a gap of only 0.6 problems per vehicle difference from Toyota to Ford. For the fifth year in a row, Mercury did better than Honda in this durability study.

10. Ford brand makes significant quality gains - According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Initial Quality Study, Ford vehicles increased in quality at a faster rate than the industry average. Continuing its five-year upward trend, Ford brand improved by eight points over last year’s study, bettering the industry’s seven-point improvement. Ford Motor Company vehicles received 10 honors, including three with the highest rankings in their respective segments: Lincoln Navigator, Mazda MX5 Miata and Ford E-Series.

Read the latest Ford news.

There is a new Catalyst driver for Radeon graphics cards and if you are wondering how it will perform under Microsoft Windows XP and Vista, then you need to check out Tweak Towns 12 page review and test.

The ATI Catalyst 8.7 analysis under XP and Vista goes into depth to find out the real performance and in their final thoughts Tweak Town said, “While the new drivers don’t offer massive performance gains or anything like that, there are a number of nice little bumps on offer here today.

With the fixes implemented in the driver, they’re a good upgrade for most users. People who will be particular happy, however, are mid-range HD 3650 users who want an extra few FPS here and there.

There’s no doubt that the AMD guys are extremely busy at the moment with the HD 4800 series of cards, but with the X2 just around the corner, hopefully it begins to calm down a little bit and the team can get stuck into the drivers and try and get us some more performance from the new cards”.

Read the 12 page review and test.

An announcement has come from Openmoko that an agreement with Canada based Koolu will mean Koolu will distribute the Freerunner Open Source mobile phone in all the Americas, the EU and the UK with plans allotted to expand globally.

Koolu is known for its innovations in easy to use services like Skype and Google Apps will distribute the Freerunner to developers firstly then to consumers as Google Apps go mobile.

Koolu has also created a unique program within the mobile industry which offers the Neo FreeRunner in a referral program for Google Apps across the globe.

Jim Despathy, president of Koolu says: “Koolu will surround the phone with services and applications to lower the entry point to Internet and telephony access. The phone will reach new markets that are presently not being addressed by traditional phones and phone companies but at the same time bring these phone companies clients they previously could not reach.”

The Openmoko Neo FreeRunner mobile phone is available direct from Openmoko.com for $399.00. Thanks to Intomobile for this information.

Horror and comedy often come together on the show floor at Comic-Con International, just never like this. Microsoft Corp. today announced that a set of original short film pilots will be coming to Xbox LIVE this fall, free to all members around the world.

The unique concept of masters of horror taking on comedy, conceived by filmmaker James Gunn (“Slither,” “Dawn of the Dead”) and producer Peter Safran (“Scary Movie,” “Meet the Spartans,” “Disaster Movie”), will see some of the world’s greatest horror directors bring their comedic visions to life. Microsoft is teaming up with Safran Digital Group to produce these exclusive shorts.

Beginning this fall, the short film pilots will be available worldwide on Xbox LIVE from influential horror directors James Wan (“Saw,” “Death Sentence”), David Slade (“30 Days of Night,” “Hard Candy”), James Gunn, Lucky McKee (“May,” “The Woods”), Andrew Douglas (“The Amityville Horror”) and Marcus Nispel (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Friday the 13th”). All of the pilots will be free either for download or streaming on Xbox LIVE. The new short film pilots available on Xbox LIVE this fall include the following:

• “Doggie Heaven (Woof!)” — The creative team behind the smash hit “Saw” films, James Wan (“Saw,” “Death Sentence”) and Leigh Whannell, tell the story of a young man who is having a dog of a day. He’s just been shot dead, but his real problems are only just beginning because of a clerical error that has sent him to the wrong heaven.

• “Humanzee!” — James Gunn (“Slither,” “Dawn of the Dead”) directs and stars in a sitcom about his human-chimp hybrid son, the Humanzee (played by Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, from “Gilmore Girls”). It’s a delightful mix of “South Park,” “Wonder Showzen” and “Small Wonder.”

• “MEATDOG: What’s Fer’ Dinner” — Director David Slade (“30 Days of Night,” “Hard Candy”) presents MEATDOG, an animated mutt made up of cold cuts. MEATDOG is pitted against a church of evil occult pigs while being pursued by a carnivorous rabbit and a slobbering hound. It’s dogicide when everyone wants MEATDOG on their menu.

• “Blue Like You” —From director Lucky McKee (“May,” “The Woods”), “Blue Like You” follows the antics of old friends Patrick and Cyndy as they get to know their mysterious and extraordinary new friend Blue, a beautiful young woman who doesn’t seem to understand how the simplest of things work.

• “The Miracle of Phil” — From director Andrew Douglas (“The Amityville Horror”), “The Miracle of Phil” shows that the best relationships are full of screaming, shouting and cursing, but when Phil gets knocked up, Chris is the one who feels screwed.

• “Adrenaline Slam” — Director Marcus Nispel (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Friday the 13th”) brings “ADRENALINE SLAM,” a high-octane hybrid of hidden camera reality and Hollywood fantasy that exposes ordinary people to extraordinary events.

In addition, Microsoft has sought pilots from emerging online talent John Clisham:

• “Assorted Nightmares: The Janitor” — From online director John Clisham and starring Jenna Dewan (“Step Up”), somewhere in the darkness just beyond “Tales From the Crypt” and a little south of “The Twilight Zone,” is “Assorted Nightmares,” a modern-day horror anthology show. The first episode pays homage to the 1980s horror-slasher genre, as things at school for Jennifer don’t turn out as expected.

“We’re excited to launch the Xbox original content with these world-class directors, who are all tremendously talented and at the cutting edge of their craft,” Safran said. “Their youthful and innovative approach is the perfect combination for this unique digital venture with Xbox 360, and we expect to see some very creative, horrifying and hilarious shorts as these masters of horror present their comedic vision. We can’t wait to give fans at Comic-Con a taste of what’s to come.”

Microsoft will also be “Bringing Comic-Con Home” on Xbox LIVE from Wednesday, July 23, to Sunday, July 27, so anyone can get a behind-the-scenes look at all of the action. The Xbox 360 team will be covering every inch of the show floor with daily coverage on Inside Xbox and Xbox.com, as well as MSN and Zune Marketplace. The Xbox 360 team is joining forces with Warner Bros. to provide sneak peeks of all the panels and videos shown at the event, along with interviews with talent for movies and TV shows, including the upcoming feature films from Warner Bros. Pictures “Watchmen” and “Terminator Salvation,” as well as “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Fringe,” “Chuck,” “Supernatural,” “Lost Boys: The Tribe” and much more. Xbox LIVE members will also be among the first to see the following:

Warner Premiere’s Motion Comics’ “Batman: Mad Love” draws on a massive amount of source material to bring a visually engaging experience to life, through the use of subtle movements, voice-overs, sweeping music scores and stunning comic book artwork.

The exclusive branded consoles for “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Watchmen” and DC Comics, and the upcoming “Gears of War” comic book-inspired console, with all the limited-edition consoles being given away at Comic-Con.

New gamer pictures and themes from DC Comics, available only on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

“Bringing Comic-Con Home” will also give people an exclusive look at two Xbox 360 panels at the show:

In the “Xbox 360 ‘Gears of War’ Showcase” panel, Cliff Bleszinski, design director at Epic Games Inc., will be joined by comic writer Joshua Ortega and novelist Karen Traviss to discuss upcoming installments to the “Gears of War” universe, including a look at the holiday blockbuster game “Gears of War 2” for Xbox 360. The panel will be held on Saturday, July 26.

In the “Horror Meets Comedy Xbox Original Short Film Pilots” panel Friday, July 25, the audience will see a sneak preview of what is coming this fall, and will hear from all the directors on their creative vision for the shorts.

Xbox LIVE members will also get an online backstage pass to the famous Comic-Con masquerade ball, where the person with the best Xbox-themed costume will win an amazing “Halo” prize package, including a Master Chief costume and a “Halo” console. Further information is available at xbox.com/comiccon08.

Read the latest news about Xbox Live

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) announced today a first-of-a-kind research project to help doctors detect subtle changes in the condition of critically ill premature babies.

The project will see a group of internationally recognized researchers, led by Dr. Carolyn McGregor, a UOIT associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Health Informatics, use advanced stream computing software developed by IBM Research to work toward greatly enhancing the decision-making capabilities of doctors. The software ingests a constant stream of biomedical data, such as heart rate and respiration, along with environmental data gathered from advanced sensors and more traditional monitoring equipment on and around the babies.

The researchers will also use the software to apply findings from Dr. McGregor’s body of research to help make “sense” of the data and, in near-real-time, feed back the resulting analysis to health-care professionals so they can predict potential changes in an infant’s condition with greater accuracy and intervene more quickly.

Physicians in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and two other international hospitals are participating in the study.

Monitoring “preemies” as a patient group is especially important as certain life-threatening conditions such as infection can be detected up to 24 hours in advance by observing changes in physiological data streams.

The type of information that will come out of the research project is not available today. Currently, physicians monitoring preemies rely on a paper-based process that involves manually looking at the readings from various monitors and getting feedback from the nurses providing care.

“This research has the potential to reatly impact neonatal care through reduced mortality and morbidity rates and overall health-care costs,” said Dr. McGregor. “By merging our research and technology, we are able to collect more detailed patient data in a systematic manner, do online health analysis and decision support, and get advanced early warning of emerging patterns that could predict a medical event.”

When fully developed, IBM’s software will be capable of processing the 512 readings per second generated by some of these medical devices, and UOIT researchers will further test and develop its ability to analyze these vast quantities of data in real time.

Initially researchers will use NICU medical devices in UOIT’s state-of-the-art Health Informatics Laboratory to test IBM’s software using simulated patient mirroring data. Then the software will be tested using de-identified actual patient data. The de-identified data is recorded in a way that enables researchers to alter some variables, play it back and run simulations for further study.

IBM awarded Dr. McGregor access to the prototype software patented by researchers at its T.J. Watson research facility in New York under its First-of-a-Kind program, which is designed to accelerate the delivery of innovative technologies to the market and link IBM’s research work to real world problems.

“Right now, there is an enormous amount of critical data produced by machines monitoring patients,” said Don Aldridge, business executive for IBM research and life science. “That creates a challenge. The ability to quickly analyze that data and make informed decisions will help improve the overall quality of health care.”

View more news about IBM.