News Blog

In the wee hours of August 1, the moon and the sun will pass each other for a breathtaking full solar eclipse, but U.S. residents won't be able to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon because of their location on the planet.

San Francisco's Exploratorium science museum is broadcasting the eclipse to the masses, however, combining science and technology by streaming the eclipse on virtual world Second Life.

In the real world, a team from the Exploratorium science museum will be traveling to the Xinjiang Province in Northwestern China, close to the Mongolian border, to stream a Webcast of the eclipse. The museum is staying open all night to bring the Webcast to museum visitors, as well as its online viewers and members of Second Life.

Total solar eclipses happen usually only every 18 months or so, and the team must travel to China because the full eclipse is only visible on a narrow slice on the surface of Earth.

Second Life users can view the 45-minute Webcast, starting at 3:30 a.m. PDT August 1, on the virtual world's so-called Exploratorium Island. Avatars can also gather at the Pi Day Theater at the Sploland Sim, at the Science School Sim, and at the Spindrift Sim. The eclipse will be accompanied by video and commentary of Exploratorium and NASA scientists.

Starting July 1, Second Life members and their real-life makers can use Exploratorium Island to learn about solar eclipses, Chinese culture, and solar science.

The Exploratorium has previously paired with Second Life and NASA to deliver space news. In 2006, for instance, the team traveled to Turkey to broadcast the solar eclipse, and NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander team has created an avatar for the exploring robot in the virtual world.

Non-Second Life users can view the Webcast on the Exploratorium Web site, and the CNET News.com multimedia team will provide coverage of the event after viewing the live video in the Exploratorium.

Strugging record label EMI Group continues to turn to the technology sector for leadership as it attempts to navigate the Digital Age. The music label hired Cory Ondrejka, one of the founders of Linden Lab's virtual world, Second Life.

Ondrejka was named senior vice president of digital strategy, EMI said in a statement. The hiring comes two months after EMI hired Douglas Merrill, Google's former chief information officer.

Ondrejka left Linden Labs in December. Ondrejka helped design "big parts" of Second Life.

Massively.com published an internal e-mail from Philip Rossdale, CEO of Linden Lab, saying he and Ondrejka couldn't agree on how the company should be run and that it was Rossdale's decision that Ondrejka should leave.

Ondrejka on Monday said he left when it was time to go in "a different direction." In the half year since his departure from the company, he has been teaching at the University of Southern California. In talks with Merrill about music, the possibility of joining him sounded attractive.

What Ondrejka says he can bring to the music industry is an understanding of the "problems that intersect at technology, communications, social networking, and media."

But don't look for EMI to get into the virtual-world business. Ondrejka said he joined EMI for a totally different experience.

"I spent seven years at Second Life," Ondrejka said. "I designed part of the site, hired a lot of smart people who are still there...I don't want to go do that again. A big part of what makes (the EMI position) so exciting is that it presents a completely new set of challenges."

Demanding a better-than-average processor, a 1024x768 screen resolution, a boatload of RAM, and a strong video card just to take part, it's hard to believe that Second Life, the virtual world developed by Linden Lab (download for Windows and Mac), could ever survive on a mobile phone.

Yet on Tuesday, Vollee, a 3G streaming services provider, began offering the free, open beta version of Second Life for 40 Wi-Fi-enabled and 3G cell phones with more handset compatibility coming soon. That means you, iPhone.

In Second Life Mobile, users will be able to fly and teleport all over the virtual world, and chat when other friends are online.

Talk about porting Second Life to cell phones began in February, and a private beta program of Second Life Mobile appeared shortly after.

How does Vollee accomplish the gargantuan, scoffed-at task of hosting a huge, graphics-hungry PC game on such compact devices? They won't spill much, except to say that Second Life Mobile is a thin client downloaded to the high-end cell phone that communicates with the full, unmodified game that's hosted on Vollee's servers. All the adaptation happens on Vollee's end, with the mobile-friendly results streaming to each individual handset.

We haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but we will soon. Watch this space for our first take of gameplay.

A Republican congressman who has sponsored legislation banning access to social-networking Web sites in schools and libraries has found a new target of displeasure: Second Life.

Rep. Mark Kirk, who is seeking re-election this year, staged a press conference at a library in his suburban Chicago district on Tuesday to highlight what he called the "dangers" of the virtual world to children. Flanked by local officials, he also released a letter asking Federal Trade Commission Chairman William E. Kovacic to "take action to warn parents of the similar dangers and sexually explicit content found on Second Life."

Kirk said he was appalled that Second Life has no age verification features built into its registration process, and he claimed that there are "countless locations" outside of the service's teen-designated area where virtual prostitution, drug deals, and "other wholly inappropriate activities" occur.

According to a Chicago Tribune report, Kirk recounted an aide's failed attempt to create an avatar on the site as a 10-year-old--and a subsequently successful attempt to log in as an 18-year-old.

"Sites like Second Life offer no protections to keep kids from virtual "rape rooms," brothels, and drug stores," Kirk said, according to a press release. "If sites like Second Life won't protect kids from obviously inappropriate content, the Congress will."

Second Life creator Linden Lab, for its part, released a statement, according to various local news reports, saying, "Members of the Second Life community, including Linden Lab staff, actively monitor against minors accessing the (adult portion of the) service." But Kirk said company officials have acknowledged that it's possible for teens to get into the adult portion of the service, and vice versa.

Kirk's comments were yet another attempt to drum up support for a bill, which he reintroduced last year, known as the Deleting Online Predators Act.

That proposal would require schools and libraries that receive federal subsidies through a program called E-rate to certify that they've put in place a "technology protection measure" on all of their computers that "protects against access to a commercial social-networking Web site or chat room, unless used for an educational purpose with adult supervision."

The definition of "commercial social-networking Web site," however, appears to be broad enough to sweep up blogging and online-journaling services, as well as any site that allows users to create public profiles, from Amazon.com to Slashdot to Yahoo.

The bill would also require the Federal Trade Commission to issue a "consumer alert" outlining the potential "danger" of such Web sites because they can be accessed by child predators.

Similar legislation passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives by a 410-15 vote in 2006 but died in the Senate.

Despite the overwhelmingly favorable vote two years ago, the bill is not without controversy. The American Library Association is staunchly opposed to the proposal, arguing that it ignores the value of interactive Web applications as a learning tool, could block helpful sites, and would inhibit librarians' ability to teach youngsters about how to use the Web safely.

After all, even police agencies--including the Arlington County Police Department outside of Washington, D.C., just this month--are launching MySpace.com profiles these days.

A patent filing by Apple is prompting speculation that the Mac and iPod maker could be getting ready to open up Apple stores in the virtual realm--perhaps in Second Life.

On Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple titled "Enhancing online shopping atmosphere," filed in September 2006. The PTO's action was first noted by the Mac news site MacNN.

Judging by the patent application, the company apparently is looking to do more than just spruce up its own Apple Online Store. Rather, it seems interested in creating a whole new experience for consumers looking to buy its products via the Web.

In dissecting the application, MacNN picked up on a number of clues that portend a commercial undertaking of the sort that have been popping up in the virtual world Second Life in recent years. And indeed, even a quick reading of the PTO document makes such an assumption quite plausible.

First this, from the Background of the Invention paragraph:

(O)ne drawback of online shopping is that the experience can feel sterile and isolating. Customers in such an environment may be less likely to have positive feelings about the online shopping experience, may be less inclined to engage in the online equivalent of window shopping (e.g., will not linger in front of a display), and may ultimately spend less money than their counterparts who shop in physical stores.

And then this, in Detailed Description, after Apple has titled a hypothetical visitor to the online store "Alice":

Other visitors to the site are represented by human shaped icons such as icon 118. Both Alice and one other visitor (118) are currently viewing the main page of the Acme website. They are represented by icons in entryway 120 accordingly. Other visitors are viewing other portions of the website.

People shopping at a site like Amazon.com, Zappos, or Store.apple.com don't get to see others while they're browsing and buying. On Second Life, by contrast, the core experience is all about seeing the avatars of other participants.

And Second Life is no stranger to commercial endeavors or the incursions of high-tech companies such as IBM. It's worth noting again, however, that the Apple patent application was submitted in 2006, during the first wave of corporate interest in what virtual worlds might offer to a profit-minded business.

So do take a deep breath before concluding that this is a done deal. As Wagner James Au says on the GigaOm site--while also noting that "when a Second Life user built an unofficial Apple Store last year, it generated tremendous buzz (as the 270K views of this YouTube video suggest.)":

So does this mean Steve Jobs is going to show off his avatar in a virtual Apple store at the next big Mac show? Possibly, but even with my pronounced Second Life bias, I'm more than a touch skeptical. Companies file all kinds of patents that go unused, as a way of preemptively staking out territory.

While the Nintendo Wii has garnered attention from consumers and media alike for its innovative motion-based controls, Linden Lab is experimenting with a new way to interact with its Second Life virtual world with nothing more than a Webcam. Codenamed Segalen, the technology makes use of 3D Webcams, such as the ones from 3DVsystems, to track user's body gestures to let them navigate and edit within the environment.

In a YouTube video (embedded below), Second Life creator Mitch Kapor and Kapor Enterprises Inc. employee Philippe Bossut demonstrate the basics of moving around the 3D virtual world without the use of a keyboard or mouse--the traditional interface for most games. They mention that they took some cues from the way people use the Segway personal transport device to map out people's gestures and posture into a 3D world. The technology can also track facial gestures and match them onscreen in real time.

On Bossut's blog he notes that the project has only been in "real" development for a little more than three weeks. Second Life users looking to get their hands on it will have to wait, however, the 3D cameras in use for the project are still not readily available to consumers.

Similar efforts to use Webcams for gaming include the XBOX 360 and its Live Vision camera as well as the Playstation's EyeToy series, although neither had the 3D hardware capability that will give Kapor's Handsfree 3D its extra dimension of spacial control.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is doing his part to take away the stigma of being a geek.

In a fireside chat in the virtual world Second Life, Newsom responded to a question from Philip Rosedale, CEO of Second Life publisher Linden Lab, about virtual worlds not just attracting geeks.

The mayor laughed and offered a wonderful response: "Why are you so sensitive about geeks? It's all good," Newsom said. "We're all geeks."

BOSTON--Is a fashion and tech industry partnership the equivalent of mixing plaids with stripes, or is this a case of black and white being the perfect match?

After all, there are not many tech events where you need an Italian translator on hand.

Members from both groups eagerly met Tuesday to discuss their mating potential at a place they could both feel comfortable--the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston. The event was hosted by Moda e Technologia, an Italian nonprofit organization that promotes fashion and tech exchange. Big names present included Linden Labs, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Mara, and Italian filmmaker Giacomo Faenza who showed his online short Gadget Men.

A fashion-technology partnership is an obvious benefit for both industries. Venues like Second Life or My Virtual Model could serve as a place for the fashion industry to promote brands and virtually develop the worlds they attempt to create through their clothing lines. Fashion jumping into the world of Web 2.0, virtual worlds, and tech-related products could in turn draw in mainstream shoppers who might not have otherwise bothered before with that kind of tech.

But the event itself revealed fundamental differences, with one crowd easily slipping into presentations with their laptops and the others needing a little tech support when their turn came.

Dolce & Gabbana is known for having already jumped headfirst into technology with digital media promotions, cell phones, ring tones, and wallpaper. They are one of the fashion companies that do seem to get that they can use the Internet and its new tools to both enhance brand image and create new streams of revenue. But even their own digital marketing guy said it could be hard to convince companies to understand the importance of creating things like a virtual presence and products for avatars. Dennis Valle, director of media interaction at Dolce & Gabbana, said that the move to digital is a big jump that will require teaching a whole industry a new vocabulary and explanation of context.

People in the fashion industry normally do their advertising through their fabric and their market research by talking to people out in the world when they travel, he said.

"Advergame, edutainment, advertorial, and docudrama are new terms that will become part of companies' everyday use...Sensorial marketing, a way to understand consumers' actions, thoughts, and intentions, could translate into a new way to meet their needs," Valle said.

After giving a forthright and informative presentation on My Virtual Model, an avatar creation site that incorporates brand name clothes, Louise Guay, the company's president and founder, was met with a question that showed not everyone in her audience had started with her from the same place.

So how much do people pay to use this avatar person, asked one audience member? She raised her eyebrows in delightful surprise once Guay explained that it was not the user who paid, but the company promoting the brand.

John Lester, director of business development and academic programs at Linden Labs, explained Second Life's business model by comparing its in-world users to people browsing the Internet for free and its islands or presences as hosted Web sites.

Lester, on the other hand, was not as savvy when it came to fashion. He proudly explained the user-friendly way in which people can incorporate clothing and body parts into their Second Life avatars with a runway worthy slide show and real-time presentation of fashion forward avatars in Second Life. But when he pointed out that friends can even duplicate outfits so they can wear the same thing, he was met with a few snickers and giggles from the audience.

He did, however, manage to hit the important points.

"Whatever you do in Second Life you retain all of the intellectual property rights...Our community is more gender-balanced...our user base has a median age of 35, and it's very international with 70 percent of users outside the U.S.," he said.

What's more, Second Life already has a thriving fashion scene including lighting effects, night clubs, dancing, and even its own Vogue equivalent. He showed Second Style, a virtual magazine whose publisher makes money by selling ad space to retailers of not just avatar clothes, but body parts like noses, lips, and hair. During one phenomenon, Second Life avatars even carried around chickens as an accessory.

Now that's something you don't see on the runway.

Way back in the dark ages--before cell phones, reality TV, or social networks--there was big iron. In those archaic times, computers were actually used for computing, as opposed to watching porn or idiotic video clips. The computing giants of the day included IBM, Digital Equipment, Unisys (the marriage of Sperry and Burroughs), Data General, and Wang Laboratories.

The transition to personal computing and networking changed all that. IBM and Unisys survived by refocusing on services. The others didn't fair so well. Markets change. Companies that change with them survive. Those that anticipate change do better still. Those that resist change or change too slowly go the way of the dinosaur.

So, in the '90s, Cisco Systems, Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems became the new system powerhouses. IBM was still very much in the game. And of course there was Microsoft and Intel, owners of much of the PC's intellectual property.

In recent years, we've seen personal communications and consumer electronics overtake computers to grab the high-tech limelight. Cool devices like TiVo, PlayStation, BlackBerry, Treo, Razr, iPod, Slingbox, and iPhone have taken center stage.

Waiting in the wings are robotics, nanotechnology, and virtual reality--technologies with the potential to really change the way we live, down the road.

So why the history lesson? Because, it helps me set the stage for what's next. We're clearly in the midst of another big transition. As an industry, we've been talking about convergence for so long the word has become almost meaningless. Nevertheless, convergence--whatever that means--is upon us.

The big question on my mind is this: which companies will be the new power brokers of the post-computing era of digital convergence?

First, let's look at today's market leaders. We've already discussed computing; now add consumer electronics, mobile-handset technology, video gaming, Internet software, and various odds and ends. That gives us a laundry list of companies that looks something like this:

Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Compaq, Dell, eBay, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Microsoft, Motorola, Nintendo, Nokia, Palm, Qualcomm, Research In Motion, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Sony, Sun, Texas Instruments, Yahoo.

Now we determine the key criteria for leadership in the new digital age. Here's my stab at that:

Intellectual capital. That includes a broad range of technologies and design expertise, plus the ability to integrate those diverse technologies into innovative platforms.

Breakthrough marketing. That includes powerful brand loyalty and recognition, coupled with innovative promotion and market development for groundbreaking products and services.

Content delivery. This is about the ability to develop creative relationships with leading media content companies, and deliver that content through a spectrum of consumer channels, worldwide.

Then we take all those companies, their market leadership positions, their capabilities with respect to the three criteria, add some intangibles, and voila, we have our answer. In my opinion, these five companies are best positioned to be the giants of the post-computing era of digital convergence:

Sony
Sony has a leadership position in more markets than any other company. It also meets all three criteria, despite an inspirational drought as of late. The entertainment business and an early lead in robotics certainly don't hurt, either. Sony is in the best position of the five.

Apple
Not so apparent from the data, but Apple has several leadership products and a demonstrated ability to create new markets and category killers. The company that Jobs built also meets all three criteria and nobody can claim better marketing. Apple's on a roll, what more can I say.

Samsung
This company has come a long way and now boasts a powerful brand and leadership in several key categories. Samsung also meets two key criteria and is working on the last one. The Korean giant is certainly firing on all cylinders as it continues on its blistering trajectory.

Microsoft
While Microsoft has been struggling for a foothold in convergence products, the game is far from over. With a powerful brand, a huge installed base, $40 billion in cash, leadership in several key markets, and moderate strength in all three criteria, I wouldn't rule out the software giant.

Google
Here's where intangibles come into play. Although the company has never developed or marketed a product per se, it has the brand, the channel, and the cash-generating machine to make a serious go of it. It all depends on where Google, the youngest and the long shot of the five, goes from here and how well it executes.

Of course, there is a big caveat to all this. The leaders of tomorrow may not even exist today. Back in the days of big iron, nobody could have predicted that you'd be reading this post on a Web site with your eyes glued to a flat-panel display on your networked PC.

If history repeats itself, there's a high probability that a new market, category, or product will set the consumer world on fire. If digital convergence ends up in the virtual reality domain, for example, then the next Sony might develop in Second Life. Stranger things have happened.

The point, of course, is that your start-up may challenge Sony, Apple or Samsung for the title of 800-pound gorilla of digital convergence.