tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10013990335820622242024-02-19T07:41:57.423-08:00Digital Media - Project and Product ManagementProject and Product Management Issues and resources arising from the multitude of Digital Media technologies, platforms and applications now in use.Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-35124088981480760192009-07-02T14:03:00.000-07:002009-07-02T14:05:35.660-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_IUk-TP9GzudoyHELdM8esBtsI6bgtmvq56rzFf6FV06BatPqsAwirD1UJnA9tRqoEV-YrPjRE4ttuj1ssT8b8WDG-LrnuJFXJWdtWGslggPtzOpBY7pN4mpK3ugvUJbblDK1A4oaa5z/s1600-h/blackbuckBMP.bmp"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_IUk-TP9GzudoyHELdM8esBtsI6bgtmvq56rzFf6FV06BatPqsAwirD1UJnA9tRqoEV-YrPjRE4ttuj1ssT8b8WDG-LrnuJFXJWdtWGslggPtzOpBY7pN4mpK3ugvUJbblDK1A4oaa5z/s400/blackbuckBMP.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353971867643167954" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiUkaD9fiCgPQcUBhw2WZ3BFIJesG2fkatD4CBPfL09rehNzdX-mrTaOSlTpUzrkUTVRZ5AFUnP6EW-rewCiDKmavO7XUbWhzNSRFTZsEzXiID2TPdRbpAGw5mbhQtJop1Ql1SErr8bnf/s1600-h/KoreanBabeBMP.bmp"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 352px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEiUkaD9fiCgPQcUBhw2WZ3BFIJesG2fkatD4CBPfL09rehNzdX-mrTaOSlTpUzrkUTVRZ5AFUnP6EW-rewCiDKmavO7XUbWhzNSRFTZsEzXiID2TPdRbpAGw5mbhQtJop1Ql1SErr8bnf/s400/KoreanBabeBMP.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353971674744197634" border="0" /></a><br />test image bmpTom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-18646120615060530352009-01-07T14:24:00.000-08:002009-01-07T14:32:17.714-08:00DRM ToolsThere are a number of tools on the market which can be used to provide DRM capabilities to content. Typically these tools will provide flexibility in the following areas:-<br /><br /><ul><li>Licensing capabilities and options - purchase vs. rental</li><li>License expiry frameworks</li><li>Subscription frameworks</li><li>Multiple hardware platform support</li></ul><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/drm/default.mspx">Windows Digital Rights Manager</a> provides a Rights management SDK which can be used to fine-tune the level of rights management used in your application.Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-71469174769600140622009-01-07T10:58:00.001-08:002009-01-07T14:39:39.682-08:00The thorny issue of Digital Rights Management (DRM)Digital Rights Management (DRM) is one of the thorniest issues in the the Digital Media world. Views on the subject range from the libertarian perspective that all digital content represents knowledge and should therefore be "free"; to the stance of the major media giants, who claim that digital media represents intellectual property that should be copyrighted in the same way that print media is copyrighted; and enforced accordingly (in all honesty, a much more realistic approach).<br /><br />Follow this link for an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management">Overview of Digital Rights Management</a>.<br /><br />Some level of DRM is usually necessary to deter piracy, even if it is impossible to completely eliminate unauthorized duplication of content. The trick is to get the level of content accessibility just right. Too little, your content will be easily duplicated and distributed on the black market. Too much, and you may alienate the legitimate users by imposing too many restrictions.<br /><br />For example, the Electronic Frontier foundation contends that DRM does little to deter content piracy, but often does prevent legitimate content users from making backups, or transferring their content from one format to another. Read <a href="http://www.eff.org/issues/drm">their article on the subject here.</a><br /><br />A more extreme position is taken by <a href="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/">DefectiveByDesign.org </a>which describes itself as "a broad-based anti-DRM campaign that is targeting Big Media, unhelpful manufacturers and DRM distributors". Their goal appears to be no less than the complete elimination of all DRM restrictions' in effect the position that all digital content should be "free", despite the effort that went into the creation of that content.Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-54871645840527175682009-01-07T10:49:00.000-08:002009-01-07T10:53:20.484-08:00Basics of Digital Asset Management (DAM)This link provides a good overview of the <a href="http://www.cmswatch.com/Feature/124-DAM-vs.-DM">Basics of Digital Asset Management</a>; and explains the differences (such as they subjectively exist) with Enterprise Content Management (ECM); Entertainment Media Asset Management (EMAM); Marketing Content Management (MCM) etc. The list goes on.......Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-42677830434256125842009-01-07T10:20:00.000-08:002009-01-07T10:28:52.875-08:00Comparison of Mobile Development platformsFound this useful <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_development">comparison of mobile development platforms </a>on Wikipedia. It covers the main ones such as J2ME, BREW, Symbian, PalmOS etc. but also the (relatively) new kids on the block such as Android and iPhone.<br /><br />As well as the comparing the capabilities and strengths of each platform; it also compares their existing deployment patterns and technology dependencies e.g. although BREW is now also supported on GSM/GPRS networks; its penetration has been minimal and it is still used predominantly by CDMA carriers in the US and South Korea.Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-79905354142206770622009-01-07T10:03:00.000-08:002009-01-07T10:17:32.896-08:00JavaFX 1.0 scripting language releasedSun Microsystems has released version 1.0 of the <a href="http://javafx.com/">JavaFX scripting language</a>, which provides video playback capability through native Java codecs for the first time; thus providing Sun with a serious entry to the Rich Internet Application (RIA) space.<br /><br />Although third-to-market after Microsoft's <a href="http://silverlight.net/">Silverlight 2.0 </a>and <a href="http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flex/">Adobe Flex</a>; and supported so far only on Windows and MacOS, (Linux and Solaris support will be available in the first half of this year); it should be able to take advantage of the large base of Java developers out there who have not yet explored the other platforms; and has some cool features, such as being able to move content between browser-based and desktop apps.<br /><br />Support for JavaFX mobile applications will be launched at the <a href="http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/">Mobile World Congress</a> in Barcelona in February.Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-2562458180324070352009-01-07T09:58:00.000-08:002009-01-07T10:02:37.194-08:00IBM Rational Composer uses visual metaphors for requirements definitionIBM have released <a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/software/rational/announce/rrc/">Rational Requirements Composer</a>, a Jazz-based requirements definition tool set; intended to complement the Rational RequisitePro requirements manager.<br /><br />Using the <a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/software/rational/jazz/">Jazz collaboration platform</a> will allow all stakeholders to get a clearer view of the initial requirements formulation process right from the outset of the project; and utilize the chatting/tagging capabilities to speed up the process.<br /><br />What could potentially make this tool especially useful for the digital media world is the advertised ability to capture storyboards, user-interface sketches and rich text - a boon to the more visually-oriented perspective that many in the digital media world find easier to work with.<br /><br />"...This collaborative toolset provides the ability to visually capture requirements information as process sketches, storyboards, user-interface sketches, and rich text to better articulate and communicate the context of your requirements. Requirements context is further enhanced through shared glossaries, comment threads, and rich-text editors that facilitate collaboration and communication so teams anywhere in the world can provide inputs, get clarity, and achieve consensus quickly around developing business-driven architectures, code, test plans, and ultimately solutions."Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-76200400534779325402008-12-03T18:20:00.000-08:002008-12-03T18:29:07.533-08:00Taking a Cue from the MillennialsThe heaviest users of mobile technologies are the Generation-Y's and the Millennials, with the latter group often being the more sophisticated users of the products; more likely to utilize the advanced data and messaging features and utilize them in ways unforseen by the original product marketers.<br /><br />When looking for market feedback on these features, this is the group that should be listened to, even if the uses are more socially-oriented than towards business or commercial applications. If you are trying to market content via these features; consider using your kids as an informal focus group to determine feedback on usability; what they like/don't like; what additional features they would like to see that would enhance the experience.<br /><br />I would of course suggest using appropriate content for the duration of the focus group!Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-61849973381164083682008-12-03T16:53:00.001-08:002008-12-03T17:40:47.188-08:00USC's Marshall School to offer courses in Digital Media ManagementThe <a href="http://marshall.usc.edu/">Marshall School of Business</a> at the University of Southern California is running a program on "Digital Media and Technology Management" during January-March 2009.<br /><br /><p><span>This four-session program provided by the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Really Useful Information, Inc. (RUI) focuses on four major components of creating and implementing a successful digital strategy:</span></p> <ul type="circle"><li><span>Digital media & technology - the process of monetization</span></li><li><span>Streaming media - how to use it effectively</span></li><li><span>Distribution platforms - which work best and why</span></li><li><span>Branding & integrated marketing: getting more for your branding and marketing dollars</span></li></ul> <p><span>USC Marshall School of Business Professor, Steve Shepard, and RUI entertainment industry experts will deliver the program at the USC campus in Los Angeles.</span></p><p><span>Further Details available at:</span></p><p><a href="http://www.marshall.usc.edu/assets/070/15109.pdf"><span>http://www.marshall.usc.edu/assets/070/15109.pdf</span></a></p><p><span><br /></span></p>Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-79466258857565489772007-04-01T14:35:00.000-07:002008-12-03T16:41:53.536-08:00Starting your own Mobile network - what are the risks ?<p>The fastest growing channel for content is undoubtedly mobile; but the question can be how to get past the gatekeepers of these channels – i.e. the cellular service providers or carrier networks- without paying too much; and making too many compromises on what you can and can not deliver; and get your content and marketing message into everyone’s hand ?</p><p><br /><br />If you have the financial resources, one solution could be to start your own network - as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). You brand, market, and supply content for the service, and then buy the transmission capability from one of the established service providers, who are frequently happy to sell any unused capacity they have. After all, many of them have significant debts to pay off after paying handsomely for 3G transmission licenses over the past few years; an investment which has still to show any appreciable return.<br /><br />Not only that, the cellular service provider industry is likely over the next decade to experience the effects of the VoIP revolution, which has already severely impacted the traditional fixed-line service market. As high-capacity WiMax hotspots start to proliferate, they will potentially give individual subscribers a choice in how they want each individual call to be handled - e.g. over inexpensive WiMax in urban areas, and using cellular service providers only when WiMax is not available. To an MVNO, this shift will be largely irrelevant, and likely be beneficial.<br /><br /><br />Possible risks that may impact an MVNO include-<br /><br />1. Quality of Service (QoS):- If you don’t own the infrastructure, how can you guarantee the availability and quality of your service? One of your carrier networks could make a configuration change that could inadvertently disable availability of some aspect of your service.<br />2. Restrictions on the content you can offer due to licensing conflicts with the carrier networks’ own consumer offerings.<br />3. Restrictions on the content you can offer due to technical limitations of the underlying carrier networks. You can’t deliver content that your carrier network is physically unable to transmit. Even using multiple carriers with different service delivery capabilities may lead to patchy service delivery across your entire service footprint, leading to frustrated marketing teams, not to mention subscribers.<br />4. Billing - How to integrate billing information from a number of different carriers? Depending on the method used by the carrier network of delivering some content – especially enhanced content – the billing methods and tariffs may be very different. Your end subscriber doesn’t want to (or need to) know this, but you have to resolve these issues.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />How to mitigate these risks –<br />1. Make heavy use of SLAs, and keep in constant contact with the carrier network to ensure that there are no upcoming surprises; that the carrier network is aware of your upcoming plans for upcoming service rollouts; and that they see a business benefit of upgrading their systems to handle the extra/enhanced traffic, if that is what is required.<br />2. The carrier networks may object to you hosting the same or directly competitive content; and include restrictive clauses in the service contracts. At the contract negotiation stage, ensure that your content is presented as complementary rather than competitive; and that the carrier sees a sound business case in hosting it. In some cases, it may be possible to license some of your content to the carrier’s own consumer product offering, perhaps benefiting both.<br />3. Although one of the main benefits of being an MVNO is not having to invest in the purchase & deployment of radio transmission & switching infrastructure that may become obsolete frighteningly quickly; it may make sense to host some critical pieces of infrastructure in –house, especially those which are necessary for the value-added services that differentiate you from your competitors. These would include HLR (Home Location Registers), SMS and MMS service centers, mobile email and instant messaging servers. Ideally, you only want to depend on the carrier networks to handle the basic mobile switching, locationing and radio transmission .<br />4. You will have to handle billing for your subscribers anyway; As with the VAS equipment above, it may make sense to have as much control over Billing and OSS (Operations Support Systems) as possible – i.e. installing your own infrastructure. Ensure you know how the carrier networks handle and charge for carrying enhanced services, such as multimedia content, video, email and inter-network roaming; to avoid getting a nasty surprise when their invoices arrive.</p>Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-6400598310635116792007-03-12T05:15:00.001-07:002008-12-03T16:40:09.143-08:00Outsourcing Digital Media projectsOnce you have actually created your content, the processes involved to actually deliver it over the various channels are very amenable to an outsourcing approach.<br /><br />Format changes - changing content from Cellphone video, to High Definition Video, for Podcast, to streaming media etc. can all be done by an outsourcing vendor.<br /><br />Other services which are available outsourced-<br />Metatagging of video for searching based on keywords and phrases<br />Archiving of older video/audio content<br /><br />Digital Media / content delivery projects tend to have short timeframes - hence it is always better to deal with a company in the same timezone, if not in the same country.<br /><br />As with any outsourcing project, ensure there are guarantees in places for the warranty on the items delivered, that Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are in place; and that the contracting company has the resources and competencies to do the work.Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-32850342406825832322007-03-12T05:14:00.001-07:002008-12-06T11:25:19.636-08:00Tool Watch - Useful tools for new media projectsTom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-34505529891649524272007-03-12T05:13:00.000-07:002008-12-03T16:40:28.305-08:00Estimation guidelines for Digital Media ProjectsTom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-9230028049887402722007-03-12T04:59:00.000-07:002008-12-03T16:39:15.365-08:00EverywhereTV- Only the small and the big need applyLittle more than ten years ago, TV sets were all pretty similar in size - 22-inch screens, give or take a few inches. These days, TV either comes in 40-inch or 4-inch screens; with little demand for anything in between.<br /><br />How to you plan to deliver content which must appear in High-Definition format on the larger screen, and simultaneously must be delivered to a cellphone or mobile device screen, at a speed that doesn't annoy viewers?<br /><br />What content is more suitable for the small screen (and we do mean small, these days) versus what is more likely to be consumed on the plasma-screen hanging on everyone's walls?Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-1251416924549551302007-03-12T04:58:00.001-07:002008-12-03T18:04:46.206-08:00Managing Social Media projectsSocial media has been the big trend of the past few years on the web - sites such as myspace, facebook, flickr and youtube have appeared out of nowhere to become internet phenomenons, though they could be considered as the logical extension of the newgroups, forums and blogs that have been in existence on the internet for years.<br /><br />When developing a social media project, there are several risks to consider -<br /><br />Possible copyright infringement in posted material<br />Posting of inappropriate content<br />Posting of irrelevant content<br />Legal challenges arising from any of the above<br /><br />Adequate storage capacity and bandwidth for websites which have seen explosive growthTom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-91313107431345940042007-03-12T04:57:00.000-07:002007-03-12T06:38:51.304-07:00Agile Management Techniques & Digital Media projectsAgile Project management Techniques have been developed to address some of the drawbacks of tradiotional project amangement methods which did not adapt well to manging the fast timeframes and ferquent specification changes common in software engineering and IT projects.<br /><br /><br />Consequently, these techniques lend themeselves particlularly well to projects involving digital media content creation and delivery; where similar problems of fast turnaround and frequent spec. changes are commonplace.Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-7676729816733415272007-03-12T04:47:00.000-07:002007-03-12T04:57:32.700-07:00The Rising bar(s) of expectationsFor a project manager, setting realistic expectations is one of the most important parts of the job to keep clients happy. For the IT projects pof the past, conetnt and information delivery was limited to fixed terminals, often in locations where an access charge could be levied for access to the physical location - libraries, internet cafes etc.<br /><br />However now that the wireless age is here to stay, the expectation is that the content and information will be available wherever the coverage bars indicate a network is in range.<br />True, you still have to pay a subscription to access a service, but overlapping service areas create the ability for information and content providers to compete directly.Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001399033582062224.post-28138954825449186822007-03-07T01:19:00.000-08:002007-03-12T04:47:26.910-07:00Getting ready for IPv6 - more web addresses, anyone?The Internet is soon going to run out of IP addresses - those strings of numbers so difficult to remember that we have to think up catchy web addresses and URLs to help us navigate the web. Way back in the 1970s, it seemed that the 4.3 billion addresses provided by the IPv4 protocol would be enough for all time. Yeah right - due to the proliferation of cellphones, iPods, TV boxes, routers and other gizmos, they're expected to sell out sometime shortly after 2012.<br /><br />Widely used techniques which as subnetting, CIDR and network address translation allows large organizations to use duplicate addresses within their own networks, but the increasing scarcity of addresses and complexity of network configuration required will inevitably lead to the widespread adoption of IPv6 -which provides 4.3billion addresses each - that is, per person, on the planet. Should be enough for the forseeable future, but we've heard that before.<br /><br />(In case you're wondering, IPv5 was an experimental version of the Internet protocol that never saw public usage).<br /><br />Any project manager developing Internet-connected products needs to consider the following -<br /><br />- Support for IPv4 and IPv6 addresses<br />- Support for IPv6 address format - Eight groups of four digits vs. four groups of four for IPv4<br />- Support for multiple IPv6 addresses per device<br />- Domain name Representations using quad-A (AAAA) records<br /><br />Also, the sheer number of addresses available means that they can get embedded into items previously unconsidered as being "net-worthy" - remote controls, cars, carkeys, bikes, jackets, lawnmowers......<br /><br />The larger packet size in IPv6 will allow for faster downloads - but the application will have to know that in advance. Knowing what is and what isn't IPv6-capable will become increasingly important.Tom McGrealhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06321848448071451287noreply@blogger.com0