MediaCorp RAWclipx Beta Launch

Finally, MediaCorp RAWclipx moved into public Beta testing on podcast.sg. RAWclipx is a new online service to showcase never-before-seen videos of Singapore celebrities like Fiona Xie and Joanne Peh. RAWclipx is powered by ASP.NET 2.0, SQL Server 2005 database and Silverlight 1.1 for rich media streaming experience. RAWclipx is utilizing the User Generated Content (UGC) platform which is the same as the one being used in several other MediaCorp TV microsites such as SuperMummy, BeatBox 2007, Campus Yummy Hunt, SuperBand, The Showdown and so on. RAWclipx is developed by the web team in MediaCorp Pte Ltd (formerly known as MediaCorp Technologies). With just only 2 front-end developers, 2 back-end CMS developers and a web designer, it took them just less than 2 months to turn the idea to a real service. Congrats and good job to my fellow co-workers there. I am really proud of the team there.

This site unique feature is those videos can be downloaded to mobile devices. This site provide three different video download formats. Furthermore, this service allow members of the public to upload their videos. For your information, MediaCorp will upload up to 15 new videos on this site every week.

Here is an excerpt from the official media release issued by MediaCorp Corporate Communications:

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at Caldecott Broadcast Centre? Where do you go for downloads of cool clips, or to upload your own to share with other Singaporeans?

Well, look no further than RAWclipx on podcast.sg which will be launched on July 28th to feature a smorgasbord of video offerings.

RAWclipx on podcast.sg will feature juicy off-air content, backed by MediaCorp’s immense star and media power.

Here’s a sampling of offerings:
i. Photo shoot images from MediaCorp’s wide variety of magazines
ii. Your favourite radio DJs in their studios and celebrity interviews
iii. Out-takes from your favourite TV shows
iv. Newscasters and reporters off camera
v. Unreleased footage of exclusive events such as the FHM Girl Next Door party

“We will have our own paparazzi; a spycam roving reporter sussing out what happens in between takes; what the stars wear and don’t wear; what they do; all the saucy details never before seen or heard,” said Timothy Goh, Vice President New Media Business and Customer Relationship Management.

The content will be refreshed every week and it promises surprises and the unexpected. But that is not all. Everyone can be part of the action and upload their “Aha” moments onto RAWclipx on podcast.sg.

"We embrace user generated content and want as many people as possible to upload and share...your fun, wacky moments... your singing debut...your school concert; upload and be part of this new exciting community” added Timothy Goh.

RAWclipx on podcast.sg will be different from most other UGC sites in that it allows for easy downloads onto mobile devices. It also offers RSS feeds and enables the public to comment on, and forward the clips. more.

In my own opinion, this is going to change the game in Singapore media scene forever. Forget about the Odex case. Check out why by referring to an analysis done by HubPages "Downloading unedited RAW videos in Singapore".

Xcerion Internet OS/3 (XIOS/3)

This is one of the possible model of web based desktop/OS derived from cloud/utility computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) concepts.

Xcerion called it the world's next free operating system! The video is a demo of new revolutionary collaborative Internet operating system that is delivered as a free service over Internet, capable of synchronizing data between different clients and building real applications in a web browser that works on- and offline. Using XIOS/3 applications can be built in XML in weeks instead of years compared to traditional desktop technologies. Limited beta program started on 30th September 2007. Cool marketplace for finding and publishing applications will follow as well as many applications. See http://xcerion.com for more information and signing up for a beta account. Xcerion slogan is "Software should be free".

This is really cool technology which I think it could be the next big thing in the market.

Leadership through Innovation & People - An executive conversation with Steve Ballmer

How can your company unlock the potential and power of human imagination for greater success? On May 23 2007, Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft was in Singapore to address this timely topic of leadership through innovation and people at the IDA Distinguished InfoComm Speaker Series.

During the event, Mr. Ballmer shared his insights on how Singapore can compete in a digital economy and retain talents, as well as create a foundation for innovation to drive long term success. View the video coverage of the event below.

Adobe, Yahoo test running ads inside PDF documents

Adobe and Yahoo said they will offer a service to let publishers run advertisements inside Adobe's popular document reading software format. Ads for Adobe PDF Powered by Yahoo, as the new service is known, presents publishers with an alternative to conventional subscriptions, which, if widely adopted, could open up a new model based on free, ad-supported publishing.

The service allows publishers to generate revenue by including text-based ads linked to the specific content of an Adobe PDF page. The advertisements can only run in a side panel separated from the publication's actual content.

The service is set to begin public testing, the two companies said on Wednesday. An earlier private test included technology and professional publishers IDG InfoWorld, Wired, Pearson's Pearson Education unit, Meredith Corp and Reed Elsevier NV. The free service requires no special software and is open to United States publishers of English language content, initially.

Publishers who join Yahoo's online advertising network get access to the Internet company's extensive network of advertisers based on the subject matter of their content.

Advertisers gain a distribution channel that can reach highly specific audiences based on their reading interests while allowing them to track how specific ads perform. The approach is akin to how Web-based, pay-per-click ads now work.

From an advertiser point of view this looks like an extension of our existing marketplace. For consumers, the text-based ads are discreetly displayed in a panel adjacent to the published content with no moving or flashing elements so that they do not distract the reader as some Web advertising is known to do. Each time the PDF content is viewed, targeted ads are dynamically matched by Yahoo to the content of the document.

The publisher receives anonymised reports about which ads ran alongside which published content.

In terms of relevance to advertisers, such ads could rank above conventional Web-page banner ads in terms of targeting capacity, but somewhere short of highly specific keyword-based Web ads.

Publishers who register for the service simply need to upload their Adobe PDF-ready materials so that they can be ad-enabled. The content owner then distributes the PDF in any of a variety of ways, including over e-mail or via the Web.

World Internet Summit

The world's Biggest Internet Business Event is Back to Malaysia - 10-12 Nov 2007 at Wisma MCA, Kuala Lumpur (http://my.srpl.net/wis/wis2007.htm). I can't join this year as I am still in Singapore. Let's see whether my bro will grab this opportunity so that I can view the recordings instead. ;-) Our affliate guy, Ewen Chia also 1 of the panelist. This gotta be damn kewl!

Facebook Gaining Popularity in Asia

I get to know about Facebook while poking around the web for health care 2.0 ideas. That was early this year. That time, Facebook & mySpace is damn popular to the westerners especially Americans & Europeans. Then, finally around Aug this year, I find some time to actually test out Facebook platform capabilities from the developer & business stand point of view. And today, I notice the Facebook disease spreaded to Asia as I received more & more invitations from my existing contacts. From this, I could say that the Asians are not far left behind in the web 2 oh wave or in a simpler term, the next generation of websites centered around consumers.

Looking Into User-Generated Content Model

Today marks the beginning for me to look seriously into the User-Generated Content Model for the upcoming business model I am putting in to work for a website. IMO, this is one of the area in Web 2.0 (or may be Web 3.0) we can't left without. There are several key questions I am still finding the answer for it. I will post an update to this post with the questions and answers once I found the answers to all of the questions.