CHICAGO--One of the predictions in the lead-up to this weekend's Second Life Community Convention here has focused on the potential for lots of talk about organization.
There are plenty of critics who claim, however erroneously, that Second Life is a mess both structurally and technologically. And Linden Lab's decentralized and laissez-faire approach to the largely user-created virtual world, it could be argued, has allowed its identity to be shaped by its most prominent and press-worthy residents--who are, on occasion, blowing up buildings, stealing identities, and barraging lectures with oversized flying man-parts.
We won't really know until tonight at the earliest (more likely tomorrow) if there is indeed focused discussion about an evolution toward more order for Second Life. But one announcement timed in conjunction with the convention has hinted toward a "yes": the launch of the Virtual World Radio Network, which aims to be a hub for Second Life news and financial information as well as cultural programming. A live stream is available both in-world--the VWRN is giving free virtual radios to interested residents--as well as over the Web.
"The need for a truly professional, state-of-the-art media operation in Second Life has become apparent by the sheer number of unconnected blogs, podcasts, and other random bits of information in SL," a VWRN press release said.
Sounds like they have order on the brain.
The VWRN is not an official Linden Lab creation, but it's a positive sign to see that residents of Second Life are also catching onto some of the tactics that could help the virtual world move into maturity.
You have music, and you have a personal music player. You likely haven't purchased either from Philips, but the Dutch electronics maker wants to be the relay guy that passes music from your device to a home or office audio system.
The Philips BTM630. Click for a gallery of the other products shown off Thursday.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)The best example of Philips doing that is the BTM630, a Bluetooth-enabled desktop audio system with a lot going on. An iPod dock/charger is embedded in the top, along with an SD card slot and a USB port. The slot-loading CD drive on the front can be used--besides playing music--to rip audio files that can then be transferred to a USB drive using just the Philips system and no PC.
Any device equipped with stereo Bluetooth, like a cell phone, can play music from the phone over the BTM630. An LCD on the unit's face will show the song playing, so if someone calls mid-song, the system pauses the tunes, displays the caller's number and will allow hands-free Bluetooth calling right over the audio system itself. It's officially available in September for $199.
The iPod Remote is a lot less hardware for the same price, but it also takes up much less space. The dock plugs directly into any audio system or television and doesn't do anything fancy really. But the remote does--it's a regular universal remote, but on the top is an LCD screen that shows the iPod menu and can be navigated via the remote itself. It's also $199 and ships in September.
For more Philips audio products, click on the gallery.
Dell said it would be doing some interesting things this year, and lo, it has: the company announced Monday it will purchase Zing Systems, maker of streaming audio technology.
Zing currently licenses its technology to SanDisk, for the Sansa Connect, and Sirius, for its Stiletto 100 product. Privately held Zing Systems is based in Mountain View, Calif., and all 120 of its employees are expected to be retained by Dell, said David Frink, a spokesman for Dell. Other details of the transaction were not released.
(Credit:
Zing Systems)
After almost 20 years of very few acquisitions, Dell's latest streak of buying three companies in a matter of weeks--SilverBack Technologies, ASAP Software, and now this--probably qualifies as a shopping spree. But Dell says it's all part of the plan laid out earlier when it announced it would be expanding its retail offerings.
"We're looking at companies that can expand our capability to provide great product experiences," said Frink. "We think this is a company that can provide a great technology and entertainment experience."
Though it axed its own Dell-branded MP3 player earlier this year, Dell currently sells several different brands of portable media devices, including the Sansa Connect, as well as devices from Creative Technology, Samsung Electronics, Sony, Microsoft and Archos.
- prev
- 1
- next
