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Another week, another newsletter. And what a newsletter it is! This week, we take a look at a new streaming music service from Last.fm, the Readius mobile phone / digital reading device, and a fun little Wii study. We also examine some very science-fictiony contact lenses.

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Technology News

Last.fm to offer free music
By Duncan Heaney

Last.fm has just launched a free on-demand streaming music service. Arstechnica reports that users have access to millions of songs from all four major record labels, as well as a large number of independent artists. When a track is listened to, the artist or label is paid. Anyone can create an artist account - it doesn’t matter how well-known the artist is, if someone listens to their music, they get a little money.

There are limitations to the service, however. Each song can only be listened to three times. After the third listen, the site displays an advertisement for its upcoming subscription service, and provides users with links to other online outlets where they can buy the track.

Having tried it, we can confirm that the streaming does seem to work as advertised. It’s quick and the sound quality is good. Whether the service can handle the large number of people who may want to use it is up in the air at the moment, but currently it seems to be working.

The service, currently still a beta, is only available in the US, UK and Germany.

New Wii Study Uncovers Shocking Result. Oh wait, no it doesn’t.
By Duncan Heaney

Canadian students have conducted a small study to see if the Nintendo Wii stands up as a viable way to lose weight and the results are… predictable. Twenty-eight students from Dalhousie University defied the student stereotype by not only getting out of their beds, but also doing exercise. Willingly!

MSNBC reports that the students examined the impact of playing Wii Sports Boxing against a workout video and a walk in the park. Each activity was carried out for 30 minutes, and afterwards participants had their heart rates measured and reported how hard they thought they had worked out.

In a shock to absolutely no-one, it turned out that the dedicated exercise video was a more effective way to lose weight than the others. The Wii was the second most exerting exercise, and the leisurely walk came last. The students are considering publishing their results.

Although the Wii doesn’t make the grade as a cardiovascular workout now, Nintendo is hoping that it will with the release of Wii Fit.

Students and gamers engaging in exercise? It’s a brave new world all right.

US Media News

By Tarryn Morley

US

James O'Shea has resigned as editor of the Los Angeles Times, a role he has held since he joined the paper in November 2006. Previously, O’Shea was the managing editor of the Chicago Tribune. He is also the author of two books, The Daisy Chain and Dangerous Company.

Stephanie Mehta has replaced Robert Friedman as global editor at Fortune magazine. She was previously senior writer covering wireless, telecommunications and media for the magazine. Prior to joining Fortune in 2000, Mehta was assistant news editor at The Wall Street Journal.

Fast Company has announced it will be producing a new online video network called FastCompany.TV to highlight technology trends, provide interviews and reviews, and showcase lifestyle programming. The site will be available from March 3. Technology blogger Robert Scoble, who is also a columnist for Fast Company, will be running FastCompany.TV.

May Wong has resigned from her role as a technology industry writer for the Associated Press to spend more time with her family. Wong covered PDAs, portables and handheld devices for the news service. A replacement for her has not yet been named.

UK Media News

By Tarryn Morley

UK

Financial Times New York bureau chief David Wighton has been appointed business and City editor at The Times. Wighton has been with the FT since 1994 and has previously worked for the Daily Telegraph on its Questor financial comment column and as City editor.

Jeremy Hillman has replaced Daniel Dodd as editor of the Economics and Business Centre at BBC News, which brings together more than 160 business journalists across radio, TV, and online. Dodd is now head of Nations and Regions Interactive. In his new role, Hillman will be responsible for all daily business coverage for outlets including the Ten O'Clock News, Radio 4, Radio Five Live, News 24, BBC World and the BBC World Service. Previously, Hillman was editor of BBC World and at one point ran the BBC’s New York bureau.

The BBC unveiled a prototype of its new ultralocal BBC website at Coventry University. The prototype covers news, sport, travel and weather. Users will be able to customise their content and easily access other BBC content and external websites. If the BBC Trust approves the plan, 60 websites will be launched covering the BBC's regions in Britain and Northern Ireland.

Ultra fast broadband coming to a sewer near you
By Lance Concannon

The BBC reports on a plan to deliver ultra-fast 100Mbps internet connections to UK homes via fibre-optic cables laid in the underground sewer network. There are worries that the UK broadband network is falling behind the more advanced projects in other parts of the developed world, with the fastest services currently on offer running at around 8Mbps.

H2O, the company which will be responsible for rolling out the initial trial, says that using the sewer network for the cables means that expensive and time consuming road-works can be avoided, allowing a two kilometre area of cable to be laid within four hours compared to the usual six to twelve months. The firm also claims that the plan would allow an average town of 75,000 inhabitants to be connected for 20-30% of the cost of conventional cabling schemes. The initial trial is scheduled to go ahead in September, in Dundee, Bournemouth or Northampton.

Readius to take on Kindle and iPhone by the summer
By Dave Wilby

It’s been over two years since we saw the first images of Polymer Vision's Readius, a uniquely designed mobile phone with a five-inch fold out screen that makes an ideal blog reader, news feeder, digital book, audio player and messaging device. Just when we’d forgotten all about it in the face of competition from Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPhone, we notice a launch window reported in Reuters – Summer 2008. Like the much maligned Kindle, the Readius features an ‘electronic paper’ screen which displays black and white text and images with a printed look and feel.

The 3G-enabled device looks set to be sold both through electronics retailers and mobile phone providers. Users simply set up feeds, casts, and messaging accounts which then push content on connection. Karl McGoldrick, chief executive of the venture capital-funded Polymer Vision, a firm in which Philips still has a 25 per cent stake, said the company chose this approach because it was simpler in a mobile environment. "I see these devices with 50 buttons on them. We have eight,” he said.

Can’t believe your own eyes? Don’t then.
By Dave Wilby

Researchers at the University of Washington believe they may have taken the first step toward creating a form of bionic vision - a contact lens that incorporates an imprinted electronic circuit and lights. Check out these images! The developers told News.com that the flexible lens had already been worn by rabbits for up to 20 minutes with no adverse effects and could potentially create a surface enabling web browsing in midair, an in-vision HUD for drivers or a truly immersive virtual world gaming experience.

Don't expect to get bionic eyes from your optician just yet though, despite the fact Babak Parviz, the professor of electronic engineering that is leading the research, is optimistic that a version with a basic display just a few pixels wide should happen "fairly quickly."

Play my funky music, Wi-Fi!
By Dave Wilby

Computer scientists at UCLA have developed a natty gadget that takes the guesswork out of creating popular DJ sets. The Wi-Fi Smart Party system polls musical preferences from media devices worn on the dance floor before generating playlists to please everyone. Software takes a poll of guests’ music files and works out the most popular genre. It can even borrow and play tracks from each device. The technology was revealed at the Consumer Communications and Networking Conference in Las Vegas last week.

Inventor Kevin Eustice did concede to the New Scientist that mischievous types could subvert the system for their own amusement: "There are in fact a number of things you could do that are not so friendly," he said. "Instead of storing a playlist you like for the ballot, you could vote against the musical interests of others by storing tracks you know they don't like." Mmm, and you and your friends could go to a jazz night with iPods crammed with Cradle of Filth, for example. Lots of fun to be had, he’s right!

Website of the week
By Sean McManus

Wear your music

Live Earth showed how conscious musicians are of the need to recycle, but what do they do with their old guitar strings? Well, some now donate them to be made into bracelets. Jewellery made from Keith Richards’ or Roger Waters’ broken strings will set you back $500, but it’s all for charidee. This is a great idea to create and market unique music memorabilia. It deserves a better website design, though.

We hope you find the Prompt Communications newsletter an interesting read. For any feedback on our newsletter, or to discuss how we can help you with your technology PR, marketing, social media/blogging initiatives, copywriting or surveys, please contact us using the details below. We are always delighted to hear from you.