Our friends at Paladin Studios, who we worked with on Twinners in 2007-08, have just released their first iPhone game called Jimmy Pataya. Will we see it on the iPad next?

In this action-arcade title, players jump from an airplane to face an obstacle course called “The Grinder”. By tilting the iPhone side to side, players dodge objects at an increasingly fast pace. The goal is to get as far as possible and earn ample bragging rights!

Adrenaline

“We sat down a day before project start, to come up with a good theme. We went from word games to racers and puzzle games, but settled on a sky diving game,” stated Dylan Nagel, product manager for Jimmy Pataya. As it turned out, that theme was contested. “Next Monday, there were big differences in the way the team envisioned the project. Some wanted an extreme sports game, others were in favour of an anime-style colour matching title.”

The solution came when early game testers gave their opinions.

“At first, we went for sky diving with colour matching mechanics. It was fun, but we had to explain the game three times to our early testers. Not a good sign.”

So they killed it, and went for the skydiving mechanic alone.

Looking back, Dylan stated:

“The project start was very bumpy, but as soon as we chopped away the ambiguities around the theme and mechanics, the concept became clear and we started picking up speed as a team. We focused on the game’s adrenaline rush that comes with the sensation of falling down at terminal velocity. It wasn’t long after the cuts when we realized that the game retained its fun factor, and was easier to pick up. Our testers loved the prototypes, and we knew we were on the right track.”

New to the game

The concept of creating an iPhone game in two weeks came from necessity, says Derk de Geus, CEO of Paladin:

“Gaming on multiple devices is an important strategy for Paladin. We have experience with online distribution and the Facebook platform, but needed to increase our platform reach. Instead of diving head-first into a juggernaut project, this game is a test case to find the hidden gems and obstacles that accompany the iPhone platform.”

And why two weeks?

“We like a challenge, and wanted to keep it compact. If we would have scheduled a month, it would have been a much bigger game. More features. But not necessarily better.”

Blog

During the production of the game, the team kept a development diary. On the studio blog, they shared the progress and decisions they made with the world. It reads almost like a novel:

“When we decided that we would try to build an iPhone game in two weeks, we knew it would be tough. We knew it would involve doing a lot of technical research, creating a lot of designs and making a lot of tough decisions. Lukas already talked about a big cut we made, which resulted in a more focused game experience. Today we sat down to review our progress, painfully aware of the impending deadline in just two days.”

All’s well Friday afternoon, the team delivered the game to the App Store for submission, right on time. Derk: “We were all set to go, and pushed the button for upload. Then it said we still needed an App Store provisioning profile. Ouch. Fortunately, after 30 minutes we submitted the game successfully, and the app was approved a couple of days later. Overall, our experience with the iPhone has been pretty good. You can definitely expect new games from Paladin in the App Store soon.”
The game is available in the App Store for a discounted price of $0.99 (€0,79). After the initial launch sale, the game will be sold for $1.99 (€1,39).

About Paladin Studios

Founded in 2005, Paladin Studios is a Dutch game development company based in The Hague. They focus on social games and applied games. As captured in the motto “Life is Play”, they see potential games everywhere. The 7-headed development team consists of a talented bunch of programmers, designers and artists.

Links

Jimmy Pataya – http://www.jimmypataya.com

Press kit with screenshots – http://www.paladinstudios.com/resources/pataya_presskit.zip

Paladin Studios – http://www.paladinstudios.com
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/paladinstudios

Dylan Nagel – http://www.twitter.com/dylannagel
Derk de Geus – http://www.twitter.com/derkdegeus

For more information, please contact Dylan Nagel:
dylan@paladinstudios.com or via +31 71 513 2222.

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This article first appeared at Atlantic Free Press.

Ever since the New York Times launched word that Google TV will likely become a reality last week, the concept of convergent media has suddenly become a mass meme rather than a tech meme… and probably done more good for IPTV and the blossoming worlds of Social TV, tCommerce, TV Widgets, TV recommendation engines, TV Everywhere, TV 2.0, and opt-in TV advertising than any single event in this emerging landscape.

The TV deal between Google, Sony, Logitech and Intel which flooded the media zeitgeist last week was a perfect riposte to the other news that Facebook topped Google for the week ending March 13th with 7.07 per cent of all Internet traffic for that week, while Google.com got 7.03 per cent.

Sony looks set to rollout new Intel ‘chipped’ TV sets, while Google will make available set-top-boxes (STB)’s – and both will be powered by tiny keyboards built by Logitech. Makes perfect sense.

And what punter would not want an affordable Google Set Top Box (STB) with new cool Logitech remote that does stuff, so he can search his TV and do other cool things? Or just buy a new Sony LCD wall screen that does the same thing – sans the STB?

Interesting to see how it all plays against the Yahoo Connected TV – which already has its feed firmly entrenched in the space and has some cross over with their partners, including Sony and Intel. Most people still don’t even know about Yahoo TV, nor ever heard about. Including most developers I meet at the many events I attend each year in Europe. You can bet, with all the coverage last week, they know about the Google TV foray.

Probably the most exciting news for me is the fact that the New TV platform will be based on Android, and will remain Open Source. That means all code will be transparent, available and open to change and suggestions and managed by a core team… unlike the iPhone, Facebook and Yahoo Connected TV developer communities which offer a slice of code to allow developers to develop applications via Application Programming Interface (API)’s or Software Development Kit (SDK)’s. Bear in mind, any external or 3rd party development has to meet stringent standards for the TV market.

There are some rumours that the platform may have Chrome browser capabilities and even rumblings of a deal with Hulu in the future.

And the major global TV networks and media centers of power? Look for their already crumbling influence to be even more diminished. TV, which has been the mainstream media’s core tool to for swaying us to one or another of their movies, music stars, books, politicians, brands and whatever they get paid to make us like, will be in decline. And, to perhaps the chagrin of a few parties, the TV will continue to democratize and will follow the web with many to many rather than one to many. Publically owned broadcasters listed on the NYSE are in, what seems to be, a never-ending spiral of contraction, which is disastrous for shareholders.

Google is obviously more known for its search technology than their weaker portfolio of social media products (Wave, Orkut, and more recently Buzz in Gmail), and undoubtedly, most consumers that are now mulling over the idea of Google on their TV are enticed by the idea that perhaps it will become much easier to wade through the ever-increasing number of channels available … perhaps Google will offer a search engine like they do online? Or maybe even a better organizational structure – a directory of sorts?

Searchable TV is why Google is currently testing its technology with Dish Networks… and probably why they will be the future of the Electronic Program Guide (EPG).

Some analysts are skeptical about Google’s latest plan to expand; noting their previous attempts to enter the TV, radio, and print advertising markets were all dismal failures.

However, I disagree. And here’s why.

Try out another scenario… one which no one else could do in this space. No one.

Google is currently allowing advertisers to use their innovative and very fresh Google TV advertising platform to launch TV ad spots in US cable markets.

Google TV Ads is an online marketplace that makes it easy for anyone to buy and measure national cable television advertising. Using the familiar Adwords interface, you can launch a television campaign in minutes

This means, in Google’s new ubiquitous, massive TV realm, I could simply buy time slots or even permanent space on for programs or channels in the future of Google TV.

Why two? Time slots for more linear TV experiences such as a classic 30 second spot, using an ‘old school’ non- elective, interruptive, advertising model.

Or.

I could buy elective (opt in and opt out) landscape around particular program for TV Widgets for shows or even entire channels. It might be a custom widget built in Android or could even be some kind of Chrome extension. It could be Contextual Advertising based on the show’s content, it could be Behavioral Targeting based on the viewer’s preferences and habits, it could be Location Based Advertising (LBA), based on the viewer’s lat and long via IP, or it could be Experience Marketing (full fledged TV experiences).

I think this is what Google has in mind. And I for one… think it’s going to work.

Richard Kastelein is the Winner of 2010 Deloitte Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions for Entrepreneurs in the Netherlands for his futurist views on Social TV and Media Convergence (Tech Visionary) and is a Guest Lecturer at Hanze University in Groningen, Netherlands. He’s a Canadian C-level strategist with start-ups on a number of continents and has strong skills in Social Media and Social TV Architecture and Analysis – Community building using Open Source technology. New Media publishing and on-demand technologies. Open Source Evangelist. Innovator. Creative. See more on Linkedin.

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Following the sheep is such a hit and miss proposal. Thinking out of the box… opening up one’s mind to the changing landscape of convergence in media is really the key to being a successful entrepreneur.

My interpretation of Disruptive Technology is… it’s technology that turns an old economic model on it’s head and creates a new revenue model and helps change the behaviour of consumers.

Here’s some talks that really had an impact for me.

Niklas Zennström

Skype founder and now-billionaire Niklas Zennström, stressed in his talk that companies that are willing to embrace and develop disruptive technologies are the ones who can really have an impact and succeed financially. He also talked about being so broke between the time Kazaa failed and Skype started that he was back to working out of his apartment. What a long way he has come in a very short time. Kazaa failed because they were too early and could not develop a viable business model around it. They came up with Skype after they started a platform for developers called Jolt – which was an application building space and someone came up with a early idea of VOIP technology and how it can be used – which led to the development of Skype. And we all know how much impact Skype has had, particularly due to the adoption of the product and service with mainstream US TV such as Oprah and Dr. Phil.

He added that building products and services in Europe is a brilliant place, due to the ability to test in smaller markets (Holland, Denmark etc.) first, then reach out to the rest of the continent.

Now Zennström, worth over a billion euro, has a venture fund at Atomico Ventures, where he helps startups with money and advice.

“Entreprenuership is not a job, it’s a lifestyle.’

– Niklas Zennström

The Lewes Pound

There was another talk by the founders of a complimentary currency called the Lewes Pound being used in the UK, which is, essentially, a voucher or token that can be traded locally as a complementary currency and used alongside pounds Sterling. This was part of the event where there was a strong look at alternative money and local exchange and trade systems that are cropping up around the globe. There was also talk about Transition Towns – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_Towns which focus on banding together to create a lower carbon footprint using various methods. Many of these use a local currency.

Money spent locally circulates within, and benefits the local economy. Money spent in national chains doesn’t. The Lewes Pound encourages demand for local goods and services. In turn this builds resilience to the rising costs of energy, transport and food. The Lewes Pound also benefits shoppers by creates stronger and more local shops, increasing a sense of pride in our community, decreasing CO2 emissions and increasing economic resilience. Furthermore, the Lewes Pound benefits local traders by increasing footfall and local business activity, encouraging people to buy local and increasing customer loyalty, highlighting the benefits of local shopping, bringing attention and attracting visitors to Lewesand minimising card-based transaction costs.

The Lewes Pounds is driven by three main considerations:

• Economic: According to the New Economics Foundation, money spent locally stays within the community and is re-used many times, multiplying wealth and building resilience in the local economy.
• Environmental: Supporting local businesses and goods reduces the need for transport and minimises our carbon footprint.
• Social: By spending money in local outlets we can strengthen the relationships between local shopkeepers and the community. It also supports people finding new ways to make a living initiatives

There is nothing new about the Lewes Pound. In fact, Lewes had its own currency between 1789 and 1895. Complementary currencies have existed since the beginning of civilisation, from the bead money of Papua New Guinea, which still exists, to the WIR, established between the World Wars and now used by 16% of Swiss businesses.

Such currencies are often created by local merchants, government and citizens during times of great economic change, inflation or unemployment; recent examples exist in Argentina and Japan. The town of Berkshire, Massachusetts, has issued over $1.5 million Berkshares into circulation since it started a couple of years ago and is accepted by 300 shops and being adopted by nearby towns.

PIXAR Studios – turned inside out.

Michael Johnson of Pixar – who is the guy who ‘defines’ and builds their corporate culture… Well he was way cool. He looked like ‘The Dude’ literally. But he was all about business and not bowling.

One of the great points he did raise, was his focus on creating a culture of ‘constructive criticism’. That means he helps people direct people in the right direction so they are not wasting time by hoarding a project for too long and not sharing it.

He also added this great quote by Jason Dreamer of Pixar.

“Pain is temporary, SUCK is forever.’

One other point I liked was the fact that management should try and play the role of ‘being the hero’ and that means being the people that help solve the problems, not create them.

Show up and ’save the day’ when you can.

Try and make the staff more VISIBLY better at their jobs.

Pixar’s policy of hiring is to start with the top and the bottom and then the middle will follow. They also do training during work hours… And sell off old gear and computers to staff for highly reduced prices.

With their roots in Apple, they also love beautiful UI’s on their systems… And backups by the minute are standard – their staff NEVER loses work basically ….

IDEO – Internal Social Media

This was interesting for me because I have touched this space – introducing enterprise social media to a startup of 40 staff… And it was really compelling to see how this company BUILT their own internal collective intelligence social media architecture. One cool thing, is they put screens in their lunch rooms that show status updates from their system. This was so people could check up on how staff were improving things, fixing blogs, adding intel etc.

IDEO has 500 employees that do about 500 projects a year, stretched across the globe. Each member has blog, tags, bio, and project pages. The rewards of their internal project were the following – adoption, culture enhancement, abilities developed and more motivation.

The five principals of internal social software.

1. Build pointers to people
2. Reward individual participation – career development, recognition
3. Demand intuitive interfaces
4. Take road more travelled – feed mail, subscriptions, widgets, status updates.
5. Iterate often and early
They also use an anonymous recommendation engine which allows staff to recommend or thumbs down without having to show who they are.

Microsoft NATAL

Microsoft divulged more details about Project Natal, the gesture-control system for the Xbox 360, which has no need of a physical controller. With Natal, gamers move around in front of a camera which captures their full body movements and translates them into game controls. It also has face and voice recognition technology. This is really about gestural navigation.

This also could make it’s way into social TV or TV 2.0. Changing channels by waving your hands around. Customized TV based on the systems’ recognition of who is sitting in front of the TV. Customised tCommerce widgets based on the viewers mood, personality or profile. They are building in artificial intelligence that is extraordinary which includes things like audio empathy, where it can tell your mood based on your voice and make suggestions based on that. And OCR scanning…. Where you can draw a picture or write a phrase and it scans and understands what you have done.

Yeah… It’s a few years away. But everything is moving fast. Faster. And faster.

Nicholas Negroponte

Founder – MIT Media Labs and ‘a laptop for every child‘ . He was probably the most interesting talker in terms of being an overall visionary.

In 1992, Negroponte became involved in the creation of Wired Magazine as the first investor. From 1993 to 1998, he contributed a monthly column to the magazine in which he reiterated a basic theme: “Move bits, not atoms.” Negroponte expanded many of the ideas from his Wired columns into a bestselling book Being Digital (1995), which made famous his forecasts on how the interactive world, the entertainment world and the information world would eventually merge

“Computing is not about computers, it’s about Life.”
- Nicholas Negroponte

“News is not dead, Paper is,” said Negroponte, at PICNIC 2009. “Soon every surface will be a display.”

Tomi Ahonen – Mobile Technology

http://www.tomiahonen.com/

He spoke at PICNIC on “The Next 4 Billion” and referred it to the number of mobile phones on this earth: 4 billion and claims that that number will double, and explained this with some of his theories (6 M, 10 C and the 7th mass media), supplemented with hard numbers.

What was most interesting about Tomi was his emphasis on the emerging markets in Africa and Asia – where usage is rising incredibly.

In fact, there are over 4 billion mobile phones in use worldwide. Compare that to a little over 1 billion internet users and we can really understand the scale of the market.
While everyone is on the iPhone and cutting edge mobile development circles, he wisely recommends developing on all platforms and thinking strongly about SMS and MMS as important markets to develop for.

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It’s only been a couple of weeks since the European Broadcasting Union demonstrated the potential of the HbbTV specification at IBC2009 in Amsterdam. But it won’t be long before Europeans start seeing the results – before Christmas according to some pundits. And once compatible devices are out in the market, they say the speed-to-market of applications developed for the platform will be incredibly short… as the industry looks to new models that embrace open API’s and SDK’s much like Apple has done with the iPhone and the Open Source movement online with enormous projects such as Sourceforge. With an HTML environment activated by a simple red button, in the same manner as a Web portal, the resulting content can be delivered over the IP stream.

How similar this will be to the UK’s Project Canvas initiative, announced in February 2009, remains to be seen – and it’s still not clear which platform will really rise to the top or if they will, in fact, reach compatibility at some point. But Project Canvas does bring together content from some of the UK’s biggest channels, including the BBC ITV, Channel 4 and Five. They are working on a more ambitious project to bring what is called catch-up TV and a variety of other programming and interactive services to television sets as soon as next year. But the move faces scrutiny as the BBC is a public broadcaster and particularly from Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV which is the leading player in the satellite TV in the UK. In a speech last month, Sky heir apparent, James Murdoch abolutely slammed the BBC as an”Orwellian” institution—a provider of “state-sponsored” news with “chilling ambitions”. There were whispers of an an even more hair-raising Microsoft and the Beeb hooking up at IBC, as the partnership was not ruled out the industry titans.

The great news is, for the web development community, HTML arriving on the TV scene will surely mean flocks of coders, designers and entreprenuers making a transition to the next stage in the evolution of TV 2.0 – which may very well provide the next tech bubble much needed in this recession.

And it looks to be levering as possibly not only an EU standard, but also a global one. Asian companies such as Korea’s Tru2way are already picking up on the new standard from the European ETSI and teaming up with global player Alticast. which offers HBBTV with PVR, a pluggable HTML Browser and Flash modules. And Korea’s Kaonmedia has hooked up with Founding member of the HBBTV initiative – ANT in their latest foray into the Asian Market. And Ant pitched a TV portal running a selection of HbbTV services based on the their Galio HbbTV Platform at IBC 2009.

During the IBC show in Amsterdam, Pleyo takes on Yahoo TV with its browser and widgets engine, which is compliant with W3C specifications and compatible with HbbTV (enabling access to interactive applications issued from broadcasting, Satellite or DTT, and broadband Internet networks), and a few other extensions for interactive TV based on the HbbTV standard. The Origyn Web Browser (OWB) is based on Apple’s Webkit and is more particularly designed for TV sets, TV decoders and other consumer electronic devices.

Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV or “HbbTV”, is THE major new pan-European initiative aimed at creating one standard for the broadcast and broadband delivery of entertainment to the end consumer through connected TVs and set-top boxes providing terrestrial TV players a platform to keep up with IPTV development in terms of Web and TV convergence.

HbbTV

Developed by industry leaders to effectively manage the rapidly increasing amount of available content targeted at today’s end consumer, Hybrid Broadband‐Broadcast Services is based on elements of existing standards and web technologies including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB and W3C.

The new technology is also called hybrid television because it uses over-the-air transmission as well as broadband connections and can do a lot. It’s terrestrial TV’s play at competing with rapidly emerging IPTV services which are more supple when it comes to Web/TV convergence.

What’s most brilliant about this technology, from the perspective of social media and other developers coming from the web is… it will open up possibilities of using open API’s and SDK’s which will allow independent developers to create customized applications. Imagine watching a sports program that ended with a page of links to similar, archived programs, or to the Web sites of online retailers selling tickets to the events.

HbbTV products and services provide the consumer with a seamless entertainment experience with the combined richness of broadcast and broadband. This entertainment experience will be delivered with the simplicity of one remote control, on one screen and with the ease of use of television that we are used to. Through the adoption of HbbTV, consumers will be able to access new services from entertainment providers such as broadcasters, online providers and CE manufactures – including catch-up TV, video on demand (VoD), interactive advertising, personalisation, voting, games and social networking as well as programme-related services such as digital text and EPGs.

So who else is tapping into HbbTV at the moment?

Within a few months, German viewers with specially equipped televisions will be able to watch public broadcasters’ Internet television services, which let users catch up on the shows of the previous week, whenever they choose, via their computers.

And the environment is less volatile in Germany, with the German-led hybrid TV project, which has support from several French broadcasters and a wide range of technology companies is seeking to create a set of hybrid TV standards for broadcasters and makers of TVs and set-top boxes. Broadcasters could then create and market their own hybrid services.

Luxembourg-based Inverto Digital Labs, which is now a supporting member of the new HbbTV standard, has stated that its retail high-definition hybrid set-top box platform Scena 6 will support it. They plan to enter the German market in Q1 2010 and will support a CE-HTML browser from French firm Pleyo, which is working together with Inverto to launch a rich selection of Web-based widgets on the box, such as news feeds, mailboxes, weather updates, Twitter, stocks and games. The platform will also offer a variety of hybrid applications such as ARD’s catch-up service for the ‘Tagesschau’ newscasts, access to ZDF’s ‘Mediathek’ library with hundreds of on-demand programmes, and access to RTL’s super-text service, which also combines streaming clips on-demand.

From the hardware side, Global company, STM Electronics, also recently announced they completed a Proof of Concept (POC) next-generation Set-Top Box (STB) solution at IBC 2009, capable of receiving interactive digital television services via broadcast or broadband Internet connections.

In the USA, there are only about 10 million Americans accessing Internet-delivered content on their TVs today, so who will be the one to bring it mainstream? Who knows… there seems to be no movement to a single standard and it looks like a race-off to see who will dominate the landscape.

Terrestrial, cable, satellite and IPTV providers are all innovating in a hurry to fend off web-based TV superstars such as Hulu before they proliferate. And Google with their Youtube seem to be nowhere in the picture, content to let others get in the early fray and perhaps step in later with a loud thump.

Yahoo Connected TV is a potential candidate and is driving hard and taking a hardware approach to widgetize TV via the next generation of TV’s themselves. It was only a month ago that Yahoo! and Intel announced the Widget Channel, the first in a series of initiatives that will bring what Yahoo! calls the “Cinematic Internet” even closer to living rooms across America. But there are plenty of questions which remain about how the service will operate and how successful it will be in reaching consumers.

However, the company managed to convince a number of consumer electronics heavyweights to include the widget service in their future products, announcing partnerships with companies including Samsung Electronics Co, LG Electronics Inc and Sony Corp. The service will be included in TVs being shipped in North America and to 10 countries in Europe.

And Verizon Communications has integrated special widget versions of Facebook and Twitter with its FiOS TV (fiberoptic) offering. The company has joined hands with social media innovators like Facebook Connect, Twitter, ESPN, Veoh, blip.tv, and Dailymotion to offer users a fresh Web experience. The services will allow FiOS TV subscribers to connect with others while they watch TV. They can also search and view a variety of online, personal PC-based videos on their television screens simultaneously.

Yahoo! TV Widgets – Interactive TV and Intel CE 3100 Demo

The behemoth in the USA will likely be Adobe’s new Open Screen Project… and they have teamed up with the likes of the BBC, Cisco, Comcast, HTC, Intel, LG Electronics, Marvell, Motorola, MTV Networks, NBC Universal, Nokia, OpenTV, Palm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Texas Instruments, The New York Times, Toshiba, and Verizon Wireless partnering to use the Flash and eventually the Air Platforms to provide rich interactive experiences across computers, devices, and consumer electronics.

However, getting in as a development partner is another story and snagging a piece of the action with the US$10 million Open Screen Project Fund is likely not to be easy. Having said that, there are some inspiring examples at the site. It’s certainly not an Open Source project by any means.

Richard Kastelein, a social media strategist and publisher, is CEO of new startup, Agora Media Group LLC, a new creative and innovation agency based in London, UK. He works with partner in the global travel industry and in emerging technology such as Social TV. Kastelein has been building online communities for over a decade and is an Open Source evangelist. He’s an adept team player – a publisher, writer, photographer, marketing director, web developer and graphic designer with more than 20 years experience in the development and operation of newspapers, magazines, web media and marketing of multinational, companies in international settings.

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by Richard G. Kastelein

If we all thought the Facebook and Twitter social media growth phenomena were extraordinary, wait until Social TV hits your screens.

And it’s not as far away as you think — not only with the logical IPTV market, but also terrestrial TV. I recently attended the International Broadcast Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, which bills itself as ’The content creation management delivery experience’. IBC2008 attracted 49,000+ visitors and 1,300+ exhibitors from more than 130 countries. This year is expected to be bigger. Last year, I was part of a team exhibiting at MIPTV in Cannes, and was expecting something a bit similar… but this was almost all about hardware and software and less about the actual formats and programs. However, this was not a disappointment. For embedded in the show there were some jewels… which have profoundly altered my view of Social Media, the future and the implication of reach that will touch billions not millions.

One diamond-in-the-rough was Israeli-based Orca Interactive (link), who was pitching their Social TV product, which was still in Proof of Concept (POC) and this was their first showing to the general public. Orca specializes in IPTV middleware and applications. But they are aggressively moving into social TV. I spoke to CTO Ofer Weintraub (Ph.D.) on their strategy and the nuts and bolts of the technology on offer.

“This is truly social TV — there is nobody on the market with similar offerings,” said Weintraub. He added there is an SDK (Software Development Kit) available now for select partners, but they certainly would not rule out an open API in the future.

And there is tight integration at the database level with website Trustedopinion.com. I discussed the integration with TO founder and CEO Shahar Smirin — whose site topped a million users recently.

“It’s a natural fit,” said Smirin, who then went on to show his web product and how he’s built a viral invite and social ’consolidation’ framework focussed on opinion where one can pile everyone (all your friends, imported/invited) from most major social media sites and really focus on what your friends think about entertainment (mainly movies and theatre for now).

There is synergy between Orca and TO, but let’s now look at Orca. And why this marriage could take social media truly to the masses via IPTV.

One thing to note… Orca Interactive is owned by France Telecom and the 2008 M&A has positioned this duo to take Social TV to a mass global audience. The acquisition last year means that they are well positioned near the ear of one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators and proprietor of the multinational Orange brand. Orange has a base of almost 200 million customers in 30 countries.

There’s nothing overly extraordinary in the makeup of the product — it’s nothing that Internet social media buffs have not seen before. But for TV users, this is going to revolutionize the way they watch TV… from being a passive, solitary, experience into an active, community one.

Here below, you can see recommendations from your friends on a particular movie or program. You can see related VOD products. You can rate it yourself, you can recommend it to a friend, you can see further information and you can send it as a gift to another person (purchased shows are good for 48 hours).

Here you can see your friends’ profiles, chat with them, send them a gift, see their recommends or send them a message.

Here you can send a gift to one or more friends.

And remember, this will all be integrated with your monthly billing. There will be no need for pulling out a credit card and security issues, there will be no need for digging deep to remember your Paypal password. No, the bill arrives like any other or is likely debited from your bank account automatically these days.

One can also set their mood — and then recommendations will be laid out according to complex algorithms and data mining based on your friends and your own data and viewing habits.
As Facebook revolutionized the way advertisers can niche-target their online demographics, Social TV will profoundly change the ad agencies and marketing departments will offer their wares in the television realm. Neilson ratings seem vague, less targetable and will likely become obsolete in TV 2.0.

Equally as interesting, but taking a different tack, is another gem called NDS (link), partially owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which has a reach to over 107 million pay-TV subscribers worldwide. Their latest product, Social TV was also in POC stage and looks a lot more like ’widgetized’ TV rather than a singular network.

Their model is quite different, but also appealing and unique for a number of reasons. One being it lends itself more to an iPhone app store scenario, with plans for an open API, which positions it well for social media developers and long tail monetization of the social TV landscape. But monetization or not will be decided by the operators not NDS. It also has impeccable design with a beautiful interface.

Obtaining details was a bit sketchy due to their PR person being in meetings and there was, understandably, some hesitancy in getting anyone to go on the record.

However, one of the demo managers did talk to me about some interesting API integration potential with Flickr for instance. If you see something interesting on TV you can be simply one click away from viewing images of that place, object or person. Conceivably the same could be done with the Youtube API in the video space or even Lastfm for music for that matter.

Social networking is also alive and well on Verizon’s FiOS TV and new features are being added such as Facebook and Twitter Widgets.  The new Widget Bazaar applications marketplace is located within FiOS TV’s Interactive Media Guide.

Verizon has worked with social media innovators Facebook Connect, Twitter, ESPN, Veoh, blip.tv, and Dailymotion to create a converged Internet-to-television experience that lets FiOS TV subscribers connect with others while watching TV, plus search and view a variety of online, personal PC-based videos on their television screens. Verizon also plans an open development platform (SDK) to permit developers to write interactive FiOS TV applications that will be available through the Widget Bazaar.

Customers are saying they love the new “social TV” Widgets, but they want more.  They want to send Tweets, not just look at them.  They want to create their own unique Facebook status messages.

According to Shawn Strickland, vice president, marketing for Verizon Telecom, Verizon is working with some popular companies on the Web to create the foundation for a high-quality, engaging Internet-to-TV experience.

A recent report by The Nielsen Company found that there are 87 percent more online social media users now than in 2003, with 883 percent more time devoted to social media sites. Also, the number of American users frequenting online video destinations has also increased by 339 percent since 2003.

Subscribers can Tweet about the TV show they are watching or search and follow their friends’ Tweets. Viewers can also update their Facebook status with their own messages. All of this is simply done via the FiOS TV remote control and an onscreen keyboard.

A Belgian company called Zappware also launched social networking features for its “iView Core” services suite at IBC09. And they had a demo showing how the add-on allows the viewer to connect with friends and family to:

• see what they are watching on their TVs
• exchange favourite lists of TV programmes and VOD movies
• recommend TV programmes or VOD movies to one another
• send VOD movie gifts to their friends
• lock their TV screens onto one another and watch the same content

Koen Swings, CTO & Managing Partner Zappware:

“Social networking has been a buzz word in the past few years, in particular on the internet. With these extensions to our EPG, VOD and PVR products, we now extend social networking from the PC domain to the TV domain, because we are convinced that there is no better environment for sharing TV experiences than the TV itself. In a world, in which people are continuously seeking to connect and in which consumers are willing to embrace new technologies that allow them to connect better and more often, these social networking features on TV will be highly appreciated by viewers. Operators that include these features in their iDTV offering, will be able to offer their subscribers a cross-platform social networking experience, hence adding value to their triple or quadruple play offer and resulting in increased subscriber loyalty.”

So at the end of the day, this is a win, win, win for all — TV stations get better data on their viewers and offer convergence with web ideas and sites, viewers get interactive community-oriented, social television and can make interesting viewing choices based on mood and network of friends, web-based community and social media sites can make more headway into IPTV and broadcast TV, still the Tour de Force of media, and entrepreneurs and developers find a new medium to develop and monetize via new, open-source-philosophy-driven API and SDK environs.

Richard Kastelein, a social media strategist and publisher, is CEO of new startup, Agora Media Group LLC (link), a new creative and innovation agency based in London, UK. Kastelein has been building online communities for over a decade and is an Open Source evangelist. He’s an adept team player – a publisher, writer, photographer, marketing director, web developer and graphic designer with more than 20 years experience in the development and operation of newspapers, magazines, web media and marketing of multinational, companies in international settings.

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I was not the only blogger who did not like the guy. People often commented at Mashable that they were not going to read the publication anymore due to his drivel – which often leverage social media subjects to get across his lockstep, Bush bootlicking political spurts.

Mashable was not a place I wanted read partisan politics, so I left.

I could not find his name on the first few pages at Mashable, then found out he ‘left’ in December last year. Or was sacked by Cashmore more likely.

I made a few irate comments on some of his most pathetic articles and was not his biggest fan as you can see.

Why is the pinhead allowed to continue to scratch all over Mashable with his infantile political opines?
Does mentioning what is happening at Wikipedia merit publication here?
Someone should strap a canine Elizabethan Collar on Rizzn’s to protect him (and us) from his navel gazing, gnawing, cogitations on political matters.
I don’t come to Mashable to read wingnuts. In fact, I come here to read about Social Media.
As part of your international audience… I don’t really care to read about American politico at any rate, never mind when ejaculated by an imbecile whose leg humping attempts at polemic fall far short of the Mashable readership standards.
He can barely string two words together, never mind offer anything of real substance.
If you want to make this place political, then you might think about balancing your editorial – lest you become a de facto cousin of the moronic, littlegreenfootball fascistas and – then some lefty will haul off half the Mashable audience in revolt because you’ve become known as the Social Media’s version of Free Republic.

and

I am more than adept at my job – that’s why I can see you are abusing your position here to further your political agenda.
My political leanings are clear – and I keep them where they belong. They are not ‘Left’ either – I am more of a social anarchist than anything.
I publish a lot of ideas from both sides of the aisle at www.freepressgroup.eu – from a pool of 350 academics, journalists, bloggers and adept writers. So I am – in fact – in a very good position to judge your lame attempts at political analysis… which are nothing more than exercises in partisan propaganda.
Keep yours off Mashable thanks. I think you are trashing the site with the political drivel you write. Stick to what this topic. Social Media

Then there was this one:

When it comes to politics – you should keep your opinions to yourself whilst writing about social media… and don’t even bother to try and be objective. Because you fail miserably.

Let’s rip the not-very-subtle right wing agenda being dumped on Mashable by Rizzn.

First off, I am not surprised you had a ‘hard time’ with high school but am not surprised they let you in any educational institution beyond that.

Barack Obama = link provided by Rizzn points out his middle name is Hussein… and nothing more. Wow… and he’s been the subject of rumours of ‘varying veracity ‘ Rizzn-speak’ for most of them are true.

Rizzn is a prime example of the abuse of ‘speaking with authority’ – if only because he abuses his position at mashable to un-enlighten us with partisan politics embedded in a light coat of social media.

Linking to Michelle Malkin? On Mashable? Please… She adds absolutely nothing to genuine political discourse… Malkin has defended the forced internment of Japanese Americans (she had the audacity to write a book called “In Defense of Internment”) to justify harsher governmental policies today in the treatment of Arab and Muslim Americans. Using her as a source for anything is reprehensible on a Social Media site.

And you say that ‘people on both sides of the ideological aisle worked together to find the truth amidst the spin’ over the the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth? There’s not a chance on that issue. Please. I am sure you and your friends at www.littlegreenfootballs.com worked together on the three Right Wing issues you kindly linked us too…

“Microblogging isn’t a suitable format for complex ideas. “

Um. No kidding.

“Truth isn’t determined by popular vote”

Try reading The Wisdom of Crowds – by James Surowieck and rethink that statement. It’s the backbone of social media and probably the only clear argument or chance that social media has in terms of becoming a tool for mainstream news delivery. In fact, your statement sounds like it should come out of the mouth of a fascist.

“Fleeting thoughts are less authoritative than researched persuasive speech. “

Wow… now that’s completely enlightening… I expect that statement was a rather fleeting thought.

“We Need to Think About This Going Forward “

No. You need to stop writing about politics.

“…despite how impressive my intellect may appear.”

It’s not.

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Interview with Martijn Aslander

Martijn Aslander (male, 35 years old) is prominently an exponent of the feminine economy. In the way he works and lives, he shows a preview of the new economy to be. Aslander is ahead of his time, he defies all 20th century economy models. Avert from hierarchy, control, possession and job titles. The network is central. The importance of money as a dominant factor in economic trading is declining rapidly. The pleasure in the job is criterion Number One. Life hacking is his creed.

The one who hires Aslander as a consultant or speaker doesn’t get any rates or quotes. The client decides the value of his work afterwards. Payment in kind? No problem. Incidentally, the tax office will be tried for a whole new area of problems. He does not write a consultants report. “Pure waste, nobody will read it and paper does not make anyone move”. So says Aslander. Aslander faces up to all known customs, but he’s not just doing something. All his actions and thoughts are founded with modern–day visions and theories of hundreds of scientists and experts. Aslander is really a pragmatic and no nonsense intellectual. A feminine entrepreneur and pathfinder combined.

He has never had a job or a welfare check. He is elusive and hard to place. He certainly is no loafer, but seems to be very energetic and vibrant. What does Aslander actually do for a living? He agrees it can be very useful for projection and communication to summarize one’s profession in one or a few words. On his website (www.martijnaslander.nl) he describes himself in three words: Life Hacker, Connector, Resourcerer.

”I want to move things. Develop myself and others. The largest sum of my time I spend thinking and learning. The rest of my time I spend with others. I connect people”.

This is how Aslander clarifies his life fulfillment. The resourcerer Aslander, reads, learns, and thinks. The connector Aslander has a network of 6000 interesting and highly qualified people. He connects the right people together by means of projects at adhoc basis. The life hacker Aslander proficiently combines simple technological tools and efficient modern procedures, to a way of working in which one can do more in less time. Subsequently creating time to resource and connect.

Nice profession! But what does that roll? And how about the employment terms?

“For over six years I have lived of donations – that is how I used to call it– then I discovered that this could be the path to more wealth as supposed to the path of the day to day hired consultant. Wealth in de sense of added value to both parties, in which value should been seen in a broader perspective than just money. We live in an era in which access is the keyword. Jeremy Rifkin wrote a book about it – The age of access. The possession of goods is no longer important, but more so the core use of it… It’s not about possession, but about the access one can acquire to a certain lifestyle of like-minded people, Rifkin says. I think access is going to be more important than possession in the next decennia. The better your network is, the more access you will have.”

Paper does not move people

“The network phenomenon is nothing new – it’s always been there. But there is a huge difference between the old masculine network and the network Aslander and Rifkin aim for. The old network was about acquiring access to power and formal decision making. Hierarchy was the keyword. What is your current profession? This would be the most important question in the masculine network. And then second, what do you make? Renowned is the known “Old Boys Network”. At the golf course, jobs are being divvied up and business passes on. The decisions are being made in the corridors. In the masculine network there is scraping, licking, scheming and elbowing. (Source, how do I become a rat. Joop Schrijvers). The Old Boys Network is about cronyism, jobs and assignments being passed on. In the feminine network it’s about knowledge, talents and skills. And then secondly, “how nice are you?” Formal powers and material wealth are of secondary value in the feminine network.”

The network of Martijn Aslander numbers some 6000 high potentials. Isn’t that a goldmine for headhunters?

“Not really. Most of them aren’t waiting for the kind of jobs headhunters usually have to offer. It only occasionally happens someone in my network is looking for a steady job. Mostly it would be something temporary, a steady income to finance another project they are working on.”

Living off donations, the first word that comes to mind is poverty. Bums, homeless people and street buskers… they live off donations as well. Language influences our thinking as does the acceptance of new lines of thought.

“Yes I have discovered that too. I have become an artist with words over the years. I have learned to ask things in such a way so to actually get it. The word donation never really worked for me. Sanne Roemen gave me the idea to use the term, “Validation Afterwards”. This sounds a lot better. This way of working has a broader acceptance and is more fitting in the traditional economy. Validation afterwards is now just an alternative remuneration for the traditional hourly bill.”

But there are two parties involved, the supplier and the consumer. Can the consumer deal with this on a psychological level? I remember I once paid a waiter – when I was in a rowdy mood – with a 100 guilder bill, to pay a 60 guilder check and asked him to take the tip he deemed reasonable. This somehow only resulted in anger and aggression.

“Inside the head of the consumer will be a war with his inner sociologist and economist. The sociologist wants to pay a just and honest reward. But the economist almost automatically thinks – the less I pay the more I will keep for myself. It’s my job to mediate in that argument by helping the client with the validation afterwards. That can be by asking questions, to benchmark the issue to the traditional model. What is it worth to you? What is your budget? What do you think you want to spend? But better yet – by opening up the reward altogether. What else do you have to offer me beside money? I once advised a chain of cinemas and they let me go to the movies for a full year. That to me is a more beautiful and more practical reward. When I would have been given money, I would have spent it on movie tickets anyway. It is even more interesting for the ordering client, because it will save them money this way.”

“By gaining experience I am getting better at helping clients with validation afterwards. When I am being asked to lecture I will ask how many people there will be present and for how much time I will need to speak. If for example, there will be 200 people and I am asked to speak for two hours, I will say; “Okay, a movie in the cinema lasts two hours as well, how much would it cost to see a movie with 200 people? And if my lecture is much better than a great movie, how much would that be worth?”

“The masculine network asks – what are you, what do have? The feminine network asks – what can you do, what do you know?

What kind of fiscal consequences do “payments in kind” have?

“Fundamentally, that would just be income, but it would be an enormous future challenge for the tax–office. What would be my income if I get paid out in books, which I will pass on to others after I have read them? And what if my tax assessment comes out higher than my income in money, and I have no real assets either? The idea was to collect taxes but what if it eventually needs to be spent on my monthly bills? This is Interesting stuff.”

The big question is of course – How does this reward system work in reality? Can you make a living?

“The pleasure in what I do and my development are my priority. I only do things I like. Apart from that, I need to live, earn my daily bread. I really like giving lectures. I do this about eighty times a year. I talk about the new economy, creation of value, marketing 2.0, complementary economy structures, networking, life hacking and how to create a better world, due to new insides in social and information capital.” When I do ten lectures, I will receive nothing four times, once I will receive €3000 and a few times €500. On average this is a nice amount of money.”

All the times you worked really hard and earned nothing, aren’t you feeling sore about that?

“No, think about the temple story of Jesus. A poor lady put a nickel in the jar and Jesus said, “…this nickel is worth more than all those other pieces of gold, because it was her last nickel.”

“I’ll give my knowledge away but afterwards I have the same amount of knowledge”

“What is work? I have worked hard but I have always done what I liked. Time is money people say, but that is not always true. It’s an old economic law, in which people would sell their time to do what they didn’t really like. I give my knowledge away without losing any. The zero-sum theory does not apply anymore. Sharing knowledge is an expansion of knowledge, you get feedback and people will contradict you. This food for thought will sharpen your knowledge. Sharing your network will make you gain something, sharing your knowledge will make you gain something too, sooner or later. When I speak to a room full of students, I will surely run into some of them later in life, consequently delivering me value or merits.”

What is the advantage of the way you work?

“It forces me to think better about the added value that is being delivered, to the giver as well as the taker. This will lead to better choices, to more pleasure in your work, to more luck and higher earnings. The essence is to stay awake. You can always be afraid you don’t deliver enough added values. But you can also see that as a signal for maybe not being in the right place, being better off doing a different line of work, or having the wrong customers.”

All this considered, you use the kind of model pensioners and retired entrepreneurs are using. They are economically active, earn some money left and right, but in an informal way. They have enough financial security to be able to allow themselves this. What they do at age fifty you are doing at age thirty. Isn’t this the working model for the elite? People need security don’t they? According to Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs, people need food and water first and a roof over their heads before they start thinking about more illustrious things. Without a steady income they will run into trouble.

“That is all very relative. They are not getting themselves in real trouble, but their status will decline. In the Netherlands everyone has food and a roof, with the exception of alcohol and drug addicts. For the one who is afraid to give up his or her status, my advice is to try it for six months, one day a month. Say you earn 2000 euro a month, not even a hundred euro a working day. Do what you really like and are good at – one day a month, and discover what you are really worth. In most cases you will earn a lot more than that 100 euro a day.”

You frequently write about paradigms. What roll do paradigms play in the economic organization of society, within business models in particular?

“They have played very big role… predominantly because of the internet. There has been a huge shift in society. Everyone can get to that knowledge straight away now. In the past, a manager would get his new insights from a management book. Then, he would have to wait for two years to get the Dutch translation of the American version. The knowledge would be old by definition. Now he can already read the new ideas on the author’s weblog. You can read the book before it has even been published. That is a head start of about four years to gain that knowledge. It’s available to everyone and it’s coupled with a paradigm shift. In the old economic model, you were successful when you kept your knowledge to yourself. In the new network model you can only be successful when you share your knowledge. You need to be able to offer the network something.”

“We are already living in the network society, so there are new paradigm rules. When you are not conscious of this you will make the mistakes. Seth Godin strikingly describes as the “Meatball Sundae”. Many different toppings on a sundae will taste great, but don’t try to put the same toppings on a meatball. Companies and organizations usually do just that. They will place new ideas on old models. But that does not work very well. “It’s not just the marketing and the technology that is changing, but the entire organization,” says Godin. If you want to see new values, you have to look at it in a different way – not through the eyes of the old paradigms.”

“Predominantly… because of the internet an enormous shift has taken place in society. Everybody can get to knowledge”.

Accessibility to knowledge in the network economy – is that the only paradigm shift?

“No, the recent economy is still designed as if we were still working with our hands. This is how the paradigm –time for money – has come to exist. John takes a bolt and gives it to Pete… who in turn, will screw it in. This is a very handy method when everybody is available at the same time. We pay by the hour, and so we will check the hours delivered. But only a small part of the workforce actually works with their hands. So why pay by the hour or per piece? Why not give compensation towards an impact or contribution? And why not let people work in their most productive hours? There are many people who perform better at night, but are forced to work in the office from 9 to 5. And why should they even be going to the office?”

Um… because there are still many manual workers who will need to be managed?

“Yes, supervision and control right? the practice of hierarchy. But is it really necessary? Give them some boundary conditions and watch them every now and then. Maybe that will be enough. In the fifties those manual workers did their work too, but without all those managers.”

The modern manager should preferably manage his own time. Life hacking offers tools for that. You are one of the founders of lifehacking.nl and the life hacking academy. What the hack is life hacking?

“This is the smart cultivation of the possibilities of our times. Life Hacking is about working smarter. Do more in less time. Isn’t that what Balkenende wants for us? Life Hacking gives you insight in how working with your head works best. You can learn this in just a few hours and save three to four working weeks a year… handy ways to track information filter it and organize it, to share your own expertise more effectively and to gain knowledge from other experts. There are so many technical tools for that. But there are also other methods, tricks and insights. RSS is a wonderful tool if you look into it. I’m following 700 relevant weblogs on a daily basis in only thirty minutes time. I manage 1000 micro tasks, when I have the time and energy. Hard work without the hurry. Life Hacking is the art of being effectively lazy, to postpone professionally. I don’t have to read my cc’ed email because it’s cc, so not really for me personally. I will stick it un-opened in the corresponding project’s file. I will only start reading it when I’m working on the actual project. Most jobs have specific tasks and generic tasks. The art of it is to save a whole batch of those generic tasks and automate them. The author Timothy Ferris is taking it one step further, he likes to see all generic tasks farmed out and he promotes the four hour work week.”

A life hacker who is living of donations… how does this come to exist? What were you like as a child? Have there been any turning points in your life that have stimulated you?

“I studied law for a few years, but had no time for it. I’ve been a little entrepreneur from grade one. I lived next to the “Hunebedden”. A lot of tourists used to come and see them on Sundays. At one crossroad in the village 50 percent of the cars would slow down to check their whereabouts. I would stand there, six years of age, with my little kid’s bike and so they would ask me where to go. I would say, “…that’s hard to explain sir, but if you follow me, I’ll take you there”. I would come home with a big bag of Guilders and Rijksdaalders (FL 2,50). At the age of 15, things even turned for the better. As a scout I used to patrol the woods. You know… cross the river on a raft, that sort of thing. I thought – I can ask for a tenner a person as a survival instructor. And if I had a 100 people at the time, such as a company excursion, I would earn 1000 guilders on a Wednesday afternoon. In the vicinity of my secondary school there was merely an SRV wagon (supermarket bus) selling scooped ice cream… useless if 1200 pupils are having their break at the same time. I called the wholesaler and asked if he could sell me packaged ice cream.”

“At the age of 30 I did an enormous project: The building of the biggest hunebed in the world.”

“I rented freezers in the houses around the school and would sell 200 magnums in twenty minutes. Later I would organize school parties, because I had discovered that lots of parents would not allow their kids to go to the disco, but would allow them to go to a school party. So I would rent all discos in the vicinity and call it a school party. In no time I had eighty people working for me, and we would serve 16 schools. But it does go wrong too. By the age of 27, I lost a few hundred thousand. I had built up a company, but was then undressed professionally. You can choose to do one or the other, you can cry and distrust everyone, or you think – “Good, I’ve learned from that.” At the age of 30, I did an enormous project – The building of the biggest Hunebed in the world. With a few hundred volunteers and 14,000 helping spectators. It lasted 16 days and had a million guilders in subsidies and sponsorships. It took two and a half years in preparation time. And when that project was completed successfully, I asked myself; “What do I still want to do on this planet?” And the answer was; “To develop myself as a person, as broad as possible.” To share knowledge with nice people, do great projects with nice people and have the world to gain from that.”

That sounds pretty soft. Or does that sound feminine? Are feminine people better equipped for the new economy?

“I see a lot more male females and also more feminine males. Androgyny types are to be seen as an evolutionary enhancement. The successful men in the new economy are almost all quite soft natured men. But truly – I am still a pathfinder… work together, don’t be too selfish, be helpful and strive for a better world, with respect for other people and the environment.

And what about the money? Didn’t entrepreneurs want to be rich in the old days?

“Well, you can strive for more and more money, profit and income, but when you have all that, then what? More and more, people don’t see the importance of having all that money.”

And what would that mean for the actual importance of money as a payment or medium of exchange?

“It’s already declining. People have three kinds of expenses – basic needs, operational expenses and prestige goods. For the basic needs, money is a very handy payment. It’s very efficient to pay bread with a euro. But for operational expenses, like wages, you don’t necessarily need money. That can be done differently, more economic, exchange more in a network model. Prestige goods will slowly lose their attraction, so less money will be needed for that. So add that.”

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