Whatever...

And the gold medal for tech goes to…

By Claire Ayles

London has been a pretty special place to be this Summer (if you ignore the weather).  It kicked off with a bit of patriotic flag waving in honour of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and is drawing to a spectacular close at the moment, with the world’s second largest sporting event  (in terms of athlete numbers at least), the Paralympics.

In between, of course, we had the Olympics, which was the best ever.  That’s not just me (a proud Londoner and sports fan) speaking, even Australians said so, and that’s got to be hard to admit considering a) they pulled off Sydney 2000 and b) we’re British.

But it wasn’t just the sport that I found so utterly amazing, the technology behind the games was equally impressive.  Here are just some of my favourite Olympic tech facts.  Let me know if you have others.

• Contrary to popular belief, Usain Bolt did not win everything this Summer. His 200m winning performance may have bagged him yet another gold, but it only fuelled 80,000 tweets per minute.  Yes, only. When the Spice Girls donned their Louboutins and climbed on top of those cabs in the closing ceremony, Twitter went crazy, with 116,000 tweets per second about the world’s most famous girl band. 

• A mind boggling 150 million tweets were sent about the Games in total, it’s just a shame the trolls took most of the headlines.  For me, Twitter was invaluable and definitely the quickest way to find out who won what and who dropped the baton, although I did prematurely celebrate a Tom Daley Gold due to some duff Twitter information.

• The London 2012 official site became – for a while at least – the most visited sports site in the world, dealing at one point with almost 97,000 page views per second.  In all, 13.1 million unique visitors went to the website during the two weeks of the Games.

• The BBC revealed just how our viewing habits are changing, labeling London 2012 ‘the multi-platform’ games. 1.5 million people downloaded its smartphone app in the first week of the games alone and, in the same period, its website dealt with 29 million requests for online video content.  These requests peaked during the working week, with people presumably trying to get a sneaky glimpse of Wiggins et al whilst at their desks.

 

Monopoly increases 4G wait

By Mike King

No doubt most readers will have seen that the UK’s largest (and worst named) mobile operator, Everything Everywhere, has just been given the green light to roll out the UK’s first commercial 4G service anytime it likes after 11^th September 2012.  

Amusingly, Ofcom, which calls itself the competition authority for the UK communications industry, has given Everything Everywhere a monopoly on 4G services that will last until the other mobile operators can catch up and get access to the licences they need to operate in the required 4G frequency spectrum.   Everything Everywhere is ahead of the pack and able to deploy 4G straight away because it owns Orange and T-Mobile, giving it their respective frequency allocations (a big chunk of the available mobile spectrum in the UK). 

With Ofcom planning to release more spectrum by auctioning off the licences that the other operators need by the end of 2012 it will, realistically, be well into 2013 before Everything Everywhere sees any competition for its 4G services in the UK. 

Given the poor track record of mobile operators in delivering high speed data services over the past decade or so – constantly overpromising on performance levels, delivering poor network coverage, and making ridiculously high charges for those exceeding data limits – I wouldn’t be inclined to get too excited about 4G just yet.  Without competition I can’t see Everything Everywhere doing anything other than reverting to type by delivering an overpriced and poorly performing 4G service.

Then again, maybe things are changing.  The company is rumoured to have seen the light on its ridiculous name and is supposedly rebranding its 4G service as 4G Everywhere (there may be an issue with the Trade Description Act if they are not careful).  And, in the USA, T-Mobile has just launched an unlimited 4G service for just $20 per month.  Ah, but they have competitors there.   

Always trouble with cookies

By Christian Kleih

In the last few months there has been a lot of fuss around ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cookies in Germany: consumer advocates are alarmed, the advertising industry is warning of its demise, numerous ad hoc surveys have tried to get to the bottom of public perception (of course with ambiguous results…).  Consumers are highly frustrated – the new EU privacy policies are generating more questions than answers.

But what is this all about? The HTTP cookie is almost as old as the World Wide Web itself. In simple terms, a cookie is a piece of HTTP code which is sent from a web server to the browser, or is generated on a computer and saved there permanently. From this point the cookie saves a variety of information: visited pages, user names, keywords etc.  This data is primarily used to improve the web browsing experience, but it contains information that many web users won’t want shared.  In addition, third party trackers use cookies to track web sessions to send out personalised advertising.

This of course implies that all websites which a user visits can potentially be tracked, evaluated and personalised. This is causing concern among internet users who want to be able to opt out. There are also significant legal considerations for how this data is used in Europe. Data which is captured by cookies can only include certain pieces of personal information. Also, the data has to be made anonymous and it is not allowed to be associated with real names or complete IP addresses.

Returning to the initial question: What is the cookie debate all about? It’s about two extremes: total liberalisation versus total restriction. There is a lively and fruitful debate between these two poles.

What is difficult to understand is why there is such a fuss at all.  In the ‘offline’ retail world, our behaviour has been observed and tracked for some time with methods such as store cards and vouchers.  What, really, is the big problem in the use of these methods online?

Up, up and away: keeping the Olympic spirit alive

By Lisa Talbott

Regular readers of this blog will know that we’re currently raising money for the NSPCC by participating in the Gold Challenge, where we must complete 2012km via Olympic Sport.  Still high on the buzz of the London Games we thought we would do something a bit different as part of our challenge, so decided to walk over the top of the O2 (yes, walking is an Olympic sport).

On arrival we were greeted by a health and safety video and given a waiver to sign, at which point I realised this would be no stroll in the park.  We were then taken to another room to get kitted up in a nice onesie (who doesn’t love a onesie?), a harness and climbing shoes if needed (which in hindsight I really should have worn). 

Because this is the Summer and we’re in London, as soon as we went outside it started to rain.  Although it was a short shower it managed to make what we were about to walk on very slippery – think wet bouncy castle.   As the first sector was quite steep, it took all my effort not to slide back down the side of the O2, taking out all of the people behind me. It wasn’t far short of a scene from It’s a Knock Out! 

After 20 humorous minutes we eventually made it up the 60 metre walk to the summit, ably assisted by the Up and Over App, which provides information about the climb along with information on the sites you can see.  We were also given a name clip with a chip in it, which marked our progress and recorded the whole experience.  When we arrived at the end we were sent a text message complete with video clip.

Although we haven’t got a gold medal around our necks, the experience was amazing and we would all highly recommend it to anyone.  Thankfully no @JohnsonKingPR members were harmed during this task – @BexySurtees, @FloraHaslam, @JacsBooker, @linzichallis and I are all safe and sound, and ready for the next challenge.

If you would like to sponsor us and help raise money for the NSPCC, please go here.  Any donation is greatly appreciated.  

And the Gold medal is awarded to... the BBC

By Jacqueline Booker

Olympics fever has most definitely gripped the nation – if the JK office, and of course all those headlines, are anything to go by.  And whilst I was concerned, and frankly dreading, the onslaught of tourists on our already crippled London transport network, I have to say that I too have been taken over by Team GB-itis.

After all, what’s not to love? All those gold medals, the fantastic Olympic Park, the sudden swelling of national pride - it’s quite simply been marvellous.  And that’s not even mentioning the incredible technology running in the background to make all this possible. From Visa’s contactless payments, to the technology behind our cycling team’s success,from the ticketing website to the BBC’s endless Olympics coverage – London 2012 can safely be declared a technical success (well, maybe aside from the website which has been a source of much personal pain).

Indeed, if you were to compare this to 1948, when the Olympics was last held in London, the games are quite unrecognisable.  We’ve already highlighted the fact that this is the first social Olympics, but what about the fact that this is our first multiscreen Olympics?

Over the past few years we’ve seen the way in which we consume content dramatically alter.  Long gone are the days of setting your VCR to record your favourite programme.  Now you simply watch the content on the go, or on catch-up tv, or even text your SkyBox to tell it to record it for you.  The Olympics has been no different and indeed the BBC has been laying the groundwork over the past couple of years to ensure that their IT infrastructure is ready to make this first Digital Olympics a success.

With 24 live HD TV channels on the go broadcasting every single second of Olympic action, the BBC has the games covered. It has increased its capacity to ensure that it can cope with a spike in traffic to its website, and it has the appropriate bandwidth to support the increased volume of content being transmitted over numerous devices.  And it hasn’t disappointed. 

So for those of us who haven’t been as lucky as Claire Ayles and been to pretty much every Olympic event going, paint a big fat Union Jack on your cheek, sit yourself down on a sofa ready to cheer on the great Team GB for a final weekend of Olympics’ coverage, and thank your lucky stars for the BBC and all its wonderful content.  

Olympics Twitter: medal hope or false start?

By Flora Haslam

Well done London. We’ve done it – the first week of the Olympics has passed without major incident. International news reports tell us that the general consensus is positive, and yet the views of traditional media seem to have been bypassed by the constant updates we’re getting via social media sites.

Yes Twitter was around during the Beijing games, but on nothing like the scale of today.  And this time round it’s Twitter that has hosted most of the controversy.

On the first evening, one MP landed himself in trouble with an ill-advised tweet, just one of 9.66 million mentions of the opening ceremony made on Twitter between 8pm in the UK to the end of the delayed US broadcast, which started more than three hours later.  

Guy Adams, a US-based correspondent for The Independent, had his Twitter account suspended for several days after he was one of many who criticised NBC's handling of the games, while too much tweeting was later blamed for poor coverage of the road race.

Loads of athletes have been keeping fans up to date via their personal Twitter feeds, but it was Tom Daley who hit the headlines when a 17-year-old troll was arrested for threatening the swimmer.

While several feeds have commented on the number of empty seats at some events, one man who wrote a computer program to check the official Olympics ticket site identifying when tickets for events were released and sharing that information via Twitter apparently helped hundreds buy tickets to watch the games, until his feed was closed down.

The IOC tells us its had no regrets about embracing social media and there are sure to be more faux pas over the coming week, but at least we’ll all be able to share them immediately.

 

The Social Olympics - how do you want to be remembered?

By Kasia Murphy

As the archives are trawled to give us a visual insight into how the technology behind the Games has changed beyond recognition, it’s worth remembering that the performances of today’s athletes will not only be watched and cheered by legions of fans, but also chronicled so that future generations can appreciate their accomplishments.

With more than 2,000 verified Olympians signed up and active on Twitter alone, social media will undoubtedly redefine how these Games are recorded and how the public engages with the international event. The 2012 Olympic Games will be characterised by a most viewed, a top shared, a hazy Instragrammed image retagged, a top retweet, a live comment feed and a most liked statistic.

However, with fans flocking in their droves to gain a 140 character glimpse of a given athlete’s state of mind, there is no room for careless actions. Even in the hours before the opening ceremony we saw how inappropriate use of digital media has made headlines.

Take Paraskevi ‘Voula’ Papachristou, who made (unfortunate) history as being the first athlete to be expelled from the Games over a tweet (albeit a racist one). In a decision made as almost as quickly as it takes to type 140 characters, the Hellenic Delegations Administration Board described her comments as going ‘against to the values ​​and ideals of Olympism’ and suspended the triple-jumper from participating in this year’s Games. The IOC has even issued guidelines to participating athletes on using the new technologies to connect with fans and supporters in real-time to avoid such embarrassments.

As Sir Clive Woodward said to TeamGB on the subject of social media - 'how do you want to be remembered?' 

Olympian technology

Whether you’re crazily excited about the non-stop sports or just furious about an even more painful commute, the London 2012 Olympics are finally here!  The athletes, the organisers, the media and the audiences will be geared up for a spectacular event, powered by some pretty amazing technology.  Indeed, as technology and sport continue to grow intertwined, Uniblue has come up with the infographic below, which looks at how technology has added to the Olympics over the years.

 

 

An augmented Roman reality?

By Lindsey Challis

Two weeks ago , with my suitcase packed full of sightseeing appropriate clothing, my hand luggage full of guide books and my new prescription sunglasses firmly placed on my head (essential for high-up views over the city), I was eagerly awaiting my first trip to Rome.

While the holiday more than lived up to my expectations, there was one element that proved frustrating – books.  Although I do have a Kindle that could have easily  held my guide book, for me nothing beats grappling through pages of monuments, ruins and churches to identify the mound of rocks that sit in front of you, or stumbling upon a less well known, but truly amazing church.  So, having resigned myself to a large bag, I proceeded to get back ache lugging around a Top Ten Tips guide, a full sized guide book and a Restoration Rome book (complete with cellophane overlays).

After a whole week of juggling books and possibly damaging the curvature of my spine in the pursuit of knowledge, I realised that there must be a way to make digital guides as exciting and useful as printed versions, in fact, there must be a way to make them better.  Perhaps the answer is augmented reality?

Prior to going away, I hadn’t really understood the value of augmented reality, and thought it a bit gimmicky in the early stages of development, but now I’m beginning to see its value.

Imagine, walking around with your very own Mary Beard deciphering the symbolism and explaining the reasons behind that great big arch or unusually large tombstone.  Or for people like me, who didn’t learn Latin in school, a live translation of the inscription at the head of the Pantheon.  Some attractions are already creating app versions of their audio guides, of which I am a massive fan, but what if it’s just a plaque at the side of the road I want to understand, or a gargoyle on the front of a church?  Essentially I want to be able to look at the ruins of the Colosseum, raise my phone, and be able to understand and see it as it was in AD 72.

As a fully fledged history geek, I of course would fully embrace any history orientated applications, but even I didn’t think to look for an augmented reality app before my trip.  My suggestion is that businesses, local authorities, travel guides and museums should be working together to create and promote apps which use augmented reality to bring a city to life.  Whether it be to direct them to a much acclaimed restaurant, decipher a hidden inscription or advise on where to buy tickets to enter the Vatican (harder than you might think) – having everything all in one place, in varying levels of detail, would make businesses more successful, and in my opinion, holidays more interesting!

Now all we need is lower data roaming costs...

If you know of any good augmented reality apps tweet me @linzichallis!  

 

Back off Branson - London Underground WiFi: It’s not for me

By Mike Marquiss

When I first heard Virgin Media were to roll out WiFi on the London Underground it was a revelation, the idea of visiting youtube on the tube, naming and shaming people online who refused to give up their seats to pregnant, elderly or disabled people – I was practically giddy.

Having calmed down and revised the situation, I now think we should hold off on the idea for a couple of months. Quite frankly sport has gotten in the way.

I came to this decision a week or so ago when I was returning home from work to watch the England vs France match on Sky+, praying that no one should ruin the result before myself and several of my commuting friends had the chance to watch the game. Sitting on the Northern line with my headphones on and music blasting (unlike the unfortunate but committed England fan opposite who spent the entire journey with his hands over his ears) I felt optimistic of achieving my goal. With full internet connectivity available on the underground this would have been an impossible endeavour, head-in-hands twitter users would have given the game away completely.

Indeed, real England fans want to get their disappointment fix in the manner they’ve become accustomed, huddled on the floor by the sofa, crying into an empty packet of Doritos. We don’t want the terrible news spoiled by some chump at Euston Station who lets the entire carriage know that #Gutted is trending.

I love the digital media age in which we live, but it’s just not the right time for this development. Let’s wait for the Euros to finish, perhaps Wimbledon too, and of course let’s not forget the Olympics this year. I implore you Virgin Media, install it another time, go ahead and ruin darts, I’m not bothered about darts.