TechRadar: All News Feeds

RIM finally releases Pearl 8220 'Kickstart'

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:09:00 GMT

Reports are surfacing of the new BlackBerry Kickstart, aka the Pearl 8220, being released in the US, which means a UK launch can't be too far behind.

Berryreporter appears to be living up to its name, by reporting the new BlackBerry flip phone, the first of its kind, has been released in the US, two days ahead of the commonly believed schedule.

Over the pond

T-Mobile USA will be handling the device over the pond, which, as we know, brings Wi-Fi, microSD storage, dual-light sensing displays and the good old SureType keyboard.

The UK's official launch date is still 'autumn', so if you're holding your breath you won't have too much longer to wait it seems (though it's unlikely to debut in the next eight minutes, so if you are holding your breath we'd suggest you exhale in case you die.)

LG's hidden secret: The Prada II

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:40:00 GMT

It's not often a handset will be dubbed as 'almost identical' to the original, but that's the way LG has projected its latest Prada phone, the catchily titled Prada II.

Essentially, it's a Viewty with a metallic QWERTY keyboard bolted to its behind, and a bit of cosmetic surgery to the front three buttons, switching to metallic options rather than 'commoner' plastic.

Fashionistas

Phones like this, such as the Armani II from Samsung as well, are not designed to be innovative technology leaders, but still appeal to a mass market that doesn't really care how many megapixels the camera has.

Still, LG has decided to be generous and whack a 5MP sensor in there, along with 7.2 HSDPA. A full HTML browser and Wi-Fi connectivity are a step up from the Viewty as well, but pale in comparison to the 8MP KC910 Renoir also recently announced from LG.

This handset will be coming later in Q4 this year for selected European markets, including the UK, for around £475.

Five AIs fail Turing Test

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:24:00 GMT

Five computers competing in a Turing test at the University of Reading used tricks and jokes in order to fool the judges – but ultimately failed to win a pass mark.

The Turing test, created by Alan Turing, posits that for an AI to be recognised as such it must fool a human in a conversation into thinking that they are talking to another human.

The University of Reading attracted six contestants – reduced to five after one could not be set up in time – and although the most successful entrant walked away with a cash prize – its 25 per cent success rate was not enough to get the Turing seal of approval.

Elbot

The winner was Elbot – created by Fred Roberts – winning the Loebner Artificial Intelligence Prize's bronze medal for an impressive showing in which it convinced three of the 12 judges that it was actually the human.

How did it manage this? Well is appears that an impressive opening gambit of joking about being a machine lured produced a fine double bluff.

"Hi. How's it going?" one judge began. "I feel terrible today," Elbot replied. "This morning I made a mistake and poured milk over my breakfast instead of oil, and it rusted before I could eat it."

Genius.

UK games devs face potential market failure

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:05:00 GMT

A new market report of the UK games development industry claims that the government needs to offer a 20 per cent tax credit to help developers avoid bankruptcy.

The Games Up campaign's Games Impact report will make for interesting reading in the Treasury, as it claims that UK games devs compete "on uneven international playing fields" due to the lucrative tax breaks available to their counterparts in Canada, France, Australia and the US.

"As a result, global companies are beginning to look at subsidised territories for their next partners or studios despite Britain's reputation as an industry-leading talent pool."

Games to follow film industry?

Games Up wants a 20 per cent production tax credit for UK games developers from the government, along the same lines as moneys made available to the UK film industry.

There are over 10,000 games developers currently working in the UK, with the industry in total employing 28,100 people and contributing over a billion pounds per annum to the UK's Gross Domestic Product and £420 million for the Exchequer in tax revenues.

The report adds that the UK's games industry "invests 14 per cent of its turnover in R&D, some of which spills over into other sectors; games developers are clustered around eight hubs in the UK, the effect of which is to enhance productivity within the industry; and the video games sector generates cultural spillovers, including strengthening the UK's brand image, its record for technological achievement and the promotion of tourism".

Shoe-friendly airport scanner launched

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:49:00 GMT

Trying to get past airport security these days is akin to taking part in the Krypton Factor.

First you have to empty your gadget-filled pockets into a plastic tray (iPod, phone, watch), then half-undress by taking off your belt – there's usually a very good reason why you are wearing a belt – and finally you have to surrender your shoes, and with them your dignity.

The need to de-shoe is now a thing of the past in Israel, however, thanks to a fancy new scanner that lets you leave your shoes on.

The step-on X-ray machine allows you to be scanned for weapons and the like fully clothed. The only people likely to take of their shoes are the dodgy looking ones, as the machine can't yet scan for bombs.

MagShoe

Called the MagShoe, the whole shoe-scanning process takes just two seconds and is positioned next to the walk-through scanners.

Unsurprisingly, the machine has cut down on waiting times. Nissim Ben-Ezra, security technologies manager for Israel's Airports Authority, said about the machine: "This innovation brings enormous logistical value as it significantly cuts down the discomfort and delays associated with standard shoe searches."

And the best bit about is that MagShoe costs just £3000. This is a small price to pay to cut down the smell of cheesy feet up and down airports in the UK in an instant.

Let's just hope Britain cottons on to these machines sooner rather than later.

In Depth: 20 Mac apps you can't live without

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:10:00 GMT

The selection of great free or inexpensive Mac programs on offer has never been better. You can now get amazing software designed by small or independent developers to cover practically anything you could ever want to do on your Mac.

Since the mass adoption of OS X, Apple has made it easier than ever for people to build their own applications, and as a result there's a flourishing community making everything from games and novelties through to office applications, web design software, video compression and iPod tools and much more.

Thanks to the developer tools provided by Apple, OS X shareware programs, unlike Windows versions, tend to be slick, well designed, stable and a pleasure to use so there's really never been a better time to be a Mac user on a budget.For every big, expensive program like Office or Photoshop, there's almost always a smaller alternative with a great feature set that costs a fraction of the price, or even costs nothing at all.

Read on to discover Mac Format magazine's 20 great Apple gems!

1. OpenOffice.org
Microsoft Office for the Mac is ironically regarded as being better than the Windows version, but it still costs more money than most can afford to pay. From the MacFormat disc this issue, you can download OpenOffice.org 2, and it's a remarkably accomplished program. The result of many years of open source development, it includes advanced word processing, spreadsheet, multimedia presentation, graphical planning and database applications. In short, everything that you get with Office, only for free. It is compatible with leading document format standards so exchanging files with people who are using Office won't be a problem.

2. VisualHub
iPods and iPhones both support video playback, but first you have to get your movies into the correct format. A cheaper and faster alternative to QuickTime Pro is VisualHub at $23 from www.techspansion. com. Not only will it crunch a movie to the right format much quicker than you expect, it will let you convert pretty much any video format into any other video format, complete with size and crop options. There are also handy presets for converting for specific devices. Even for video professionals, it's a very handy tool to have.

3. VLC media player
There are lots of video codecs in use across the web, and since many originate from the world of Windows, QuickTime isn't always able to play them back properly, even with something like Perian installed. VLC Media Player is a free video player that has support for just about any video you're ever likely to come across. It's usually able to open and play back videos that no other application that's currently around can do. In addition, it has advanced network features for playing streams and will get you out of a fix when you're struggling to open movie files.

4. Cyberduck
Transferring files to and from web servers over FTP can be a little hit and miss using Finder. A great free solution is Cyberduck, which is a powerful but easy-to-use program that supports all leading file transfer standards and protocols and makes transferring files as easy as dragging and dropping. With support for Spotlight, Keychains and iDisk, it integrates perfectly with OS X and is the perfect companion for iWeb if you're using your own domain. You can even bookmark and store settings to manage multiple FTP accounts easily.

5. OnyX
There are many parts of OS X that you can normally only access using the command line. Unless, that is, you use OnyX, a free system cleaning and maintenance utility. It's able to perform important system maintenance and cleaning tasks like clearing out logs, caches and temporary files that build up over time, can become corrupted and can even slow down your Mac. It also gives you access to hidden OS X settings via the Parameters tab, including customising the appearance and behaviour of the Dock, Finder, Dashboard, Safari and Exposé amongst others.

6. iStat Pro
iStat Pro is a great free system monitoring widget for OS X, comprising nine sections which can be hidden or shown. It will display detailed information about your Mac's CPU, RAM, hard drives, network addresses and data transfer, battery, current uptime and the temperature inside various parts of the Mac. It does this by hooking into the many sensors that your Mac has but doesn't allow access to through Finder. It's a good way to keep an eye on your Mac's insides and troubleshoot any problems.

7. AppCleaner
Removing unwanted applications from your system is rarely quite as simple as dragging the app to the Trash. Programs tend to place library and support files in other places you may not know about. AppCleaner is able to find the small files deposited around the system by apps during their install and remove those at the same time as the main app. It's possible to protect some apps from being deleted so you can use it with confidence and stop your Mac becoming cluttered with unwanted support files.

8. Chocoflop
This curiously-named image and photo editor from www.chocoflop.com is an interesting alternative to Photoshop and iPhoto. Well designed, it is able to work with RAW files and export and import in many file formats. It also has tools to retouch images and paint on them, and dozens of filters, layer support and more. Unlike iPhoto it can work with rich text layers, and has a feature-set that is significantly more advanced.

9. AppFresh
Software Update handles OS X and Apple programs, but keeping track of updates for your many installed applications can be tiresome. Some have check for updates options but they all work separately from one another. AppFresh checks osx.iusethis. com to notify you of new versions of all your programs, widgets and preference panes. It lets you download them, too, though as it's currently in development you could simply use it as a notifier until it's thoroughly tested with all applications.

10. Adium X
iChat is a great instant messaging program but not compatible with all the many instant messaging account types in use around the world. Adium supports just about every protocol in existence and is available for multiple platforms, so however obscure someone's setup, you should be able to talk to them. It's also highly customisable so you can change its appearance in minute detail. With great features like tabbed chats and file transfer, it can manage multiple account types in a single window so you'll never miss an online chat again.

11. Carbon Copy Cloner
For those without Apple's Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner is a great free way to create byte-forbyte copies of your hard drives for backup and restore purposes.

12. MacLoc
MacLoc activates Leopard's Fast User Switching function, making it look like you have logged out when you leave your Mac, even though all apps and documents will still be active.

13. coconutWiFi
Use coconutWiFi for free to scan for wireless networks when out and about with your laptop, and see if they are password protected or open.

14. Dock Spaces
Use the fabulous Dock Spaces to store up to five different Dock configurations and switch between them from the menu bar.

15. Pingus
Pingus is a free clone of the ultra-addictive classic Lemmings game, available from the Apple website games section or from this issue's disc.

16. SnapNDrag
SnapNDrag is a simple but useful screenshot utility that lets you click and drag to take grabs and select different image formats as you do so.

17. NeoOffice
NeoOffice is a port of the excellent and free OpenOffice.org suite of office applications that runs natively on OS X and can exchange documents in Microsoft's Office format.

18. Hide Folders 2008
Use Hide Folders 2008 to conceal your files and folders from others to keep them private. If you do wish to share them, they can be made visible again by setting a password.

19. Skim
Skim is a free PDF reader and editor with advanced functions like the ability to annotate and edit PDFs and extract data with more flexibility than OS X's own Preview application.

20. YouControl: Tunes
This program sits in the menu bar and gives you quick access to all aspects of iTunes playback, including artwork without you having to leave your work.

First published in MacFormat, Issue 200

Microsoft in DHL rift

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:03:00 GMT

Microsoft is suing the US arm of courier service DHL after a vast quantity of its consoles were damaged.

In total 21,600 Xbox 360s were allegedly damaged, due to a train derailment in the US state of Texas. The train was carrying two containers filled with Microsoft stock.

In total, Microsoft is looking to recoup $2 million of damages because of the crash, citing that the consoles were subject to "impact damage, wetting, pilfering and shortage".

Negligent

The incident occurred last August, but it has taken over a year to land in the courts. This is because DHL is refusing to take the blame for the damages.

According to court papers, DHL "negligently breached its duties as a common carrier, handler, bailee, warehouseman, agent, or in other capabilities." The case continues.

Hackers account for just 1% of data loss

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:25:00 GMT

Hackers account for only a measly one per cent of companies lost data according to a survey in the United States – with negligence bar far and away the largest problem.

Although it is the ability of hackers to steal important data from companies that attracts the most media attention, a Compuware survey found that it was the smallest contributor to data loss.

In fact malice, including insider action (26%), accounted for only just over a quarter of the problem, with social engineering garnering another two per cent

Human error

Given the amount of civil servants who have hit the headlines for leaving laptops, discs and USB sticks on public transport or flogging old computers with the HDDs still crammed with important info, it was negligence that topped the survey.

An extraordinary 75 per cent of those surveyed pointed to human negligence as the biggest contributor to data loss.

So there you have it, why bother with all that hard work hacking into somebody's system when you could just wait for them to hand you the keys to the company database?

Nokia confirms N-series touchscreen phone

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:43:00 GMT

Nokia has sprung something of a, well, obvious statement by announcing that it will be bringing an N-series branded touchscreen phone in the coming months.

Devinder Kishore, director marketing, Nokia India, said: "We will have lot of touchscreen phones coming up,including an N-series device very soon."

Speculation about what the device might be has led to the inevitable belief the new phone will be the N97, with an 8MP camera truly making it the flagship device to bring Nokia into the touchscreen fight.

Losing appeal

But it's more likely that Nokia will look around the N85 mark, not wanting to cannibalise the N96 handset's appeal after releasing it so recently.

Word is the new handset will be launched in the latter part of Q4 2008, but given the delay on the 5800 XpressMusic until 2009 in developed markets, don't be surprised if nobody has heard anything by February.

CBS starts broadcasting on YouTube

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:42:00 GMT

CBS has become the latest US broadcaster to offer full length programmes over YouTube – but UK viewers will not be able to beat the crowds as the service is limited to over the pond.

With HBO and CBS already experimenting with the popular video site, CBS are now content to offer classic shows like Star Trek and more modern fare like Ghost Whisperer online.

UK broadcasters have certainly been no slouch in this area, with a huge array of online content available – including the hugely popular BBC iPlayer, but those viewers hoping to skip the wait for new American series by watching them legally are out of luck.

Blocked

The YouTube channels currently filter by geographical location and block non-US visitors accessing the programmes – leaving people with a long wait or moral decision on whether to access the content illegally.

This is obviously because of the huge revenues generated by selling the programmes to foreign broadcasters.

However, the writing appears to be on the wall for lengthy waits for television series, with stations catching on to the fact that the longer they leave it, the more people seek alternative options.

Many UK broadcasters are now airing programmes on our televisions just days or weeks after they are first broadcast in the US, such as the new series of Heroes, which has less than a month's lag on our stateside friends.

ISPs could cut illegal downloads by 75%

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:15:00 GMT

A report on the music downloading habits of UK consumers has found that a warning issued by ISPs would be enough to stop three quarters of illegal downloaders.

The report surveyed 1500 consumers, and found that while illegal downloading is still rife, a large number are also going 'straight' and accessing their music from legitimate sites.

Around half now use paid-for download services, like iTunes, or visit as-funded sites.

Bite

"It is quite evident that an ISP-led strategy has bite, because illegal downloaders are fairly convinced that ISPs are currently monitoring their activities and are more likely to act against them than the courts," said Russell Hart, chief executive of Entertainment Media Research, which conducted the study.

The move is encouraging for the music industry, although most of the legal downloading activity comes from over-35s; the 13-17 age bracket is still the biggest culprit for music piracy.

These kids also laugh in the face of the law: around two thirds of them believed their internet habits were being monitored by the ISPs, but they just carried on downloading the Cheeky Girls' hits anyway (that is what kids listen to these days, right?)

Survey: gadgets in cars distract us

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:14:00 GMT

A survey has discovered that two thirds of us believe that car gadgets are distracting.

Motors.co.uk's amusing survey suggests that 30 per cent of people believe that a sat nav affects their concentration.

Even more people suggested that fiddling with the CD player, iPods and, believe it or not, steering wheel control buttons was distracting for them and other drivers.

"Many modern cars are filled with gadgets and gizmos and for many drivers are seen as not only confusing to use, but also a major cause of distraction for both themselves and other drivers," said marketing manager Katie Armitage.

Back to basics?

"On the back of these findings we are urging manufacturers to 'Go back to Basics' and to consider the safety of drivers and how they use the add-ons with the emphasis being placed on not losing concentration."

Of course, a second hand car dealer urging people to go back to simpler times may be accused of having a vested interest in steering people away from new-fangled gadget auto-nirvanas.

And if fiddling with steering wheel controls is confusing people, we can only imagine that motors.co.uk is urging a return to the times when cars didn't even have tape players – as we can't imagine that fiddling round in the glovebox for that omnipresent copy of Queen's greatest hits would help at all.

So you heard it here first – let's all go back to basics and put a man with a flag in front of the cars. Or even better let's just all go back to bikes.

Unless the bell proves too much of a distraction…

Third of UK TVs not ready for digital

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:55:00 GMT

Digital UK is warning that one third of the UK's 60 million TVs are not ready to receive a digital television signal ahead of the analogue switch off.

With the first large scale regional switch taking place on November 6, Digital UK, the body set up to oversee the region by region switch, believes not enough of us are ready.

Apparently 18 million televisions are still accessing the analogue signal with equipment that will no longer work when the television channels are moved wholly onto digital.

Patchy Freeview

Digital UK Chief Executive David Scott said: "While nearly nine out of ten homes have switched to digital on their main TV, it's no coincidence that many of the places lagging behind in the conversion of all sets are those where Freeview services are currently patchy."

The figures suggest that nearly 90 per cent of homes do have at least one of their household's televisions either receiving Freeview, Freesat, satellite broadcast, IPTV or cable – but a small percentage do not yet have any access to digital broadcasts, and many people's second sets are not yet converted.

Yorkshire, Anglia and STV are the main culprits – but with Digital UK still battling to educate people on how to convert their equipment, the time will come when some people will find Coronation Street is even less informative than normal.

Washington DC drops Microsoft for Google

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:23:00 GMT

Washington DC is the latest organisation to decide Microsoft Office isn't worth the cash, moving to Google's suite of cloud products.

Instead of Word, Excel and Outlook, 38,000 employees in the district will now be using Google Docs, Google Mail, Google Video for business and Google sites for intranets and the like.

Impressive uptake

The deal is estimated to be worth around $500,000 (£292,000) according to Bloomberg, and consolidates an impressive uptake for Google Apps, launched just over two years ago.

Google claims around 500,000 organisations currently use its Apps products in one form or another, with 3,000 being added each day.

However, Microsoft is still turning in decent user numbers for its Office Live Workspaces applications, but these require the Office suite to be of real use, thus negating the real benefit of cloud working.

Zuckerberg: Facebook to further enable sharing

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:33:00 GMT

A key part of Facebook's focus for the future is to keep pace with its users' increasing desire to share personal information, said Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the Future of Web Apps conference in London.

"When we first started, people were relatively less comfortable sharing a lot of information. Early on there were a lot of questions, like 'should I put my full name on Facebook?' and 'should I put my mobile phone number on Facebook?', and a lot of what got people over that hump were privacy controls so they were sharing that information with just the people they wanted," said Zuckerberg in an on-stage chat with conference host and organiser Ryan Carson.

"When there was only a little information that people could post, people would update their profile maybe once a month or every couple of months. Then we added things like photos and groups and the updates became more regular like once a week, once every couple of days, and now with status updates and all the different applications that people are using, the rate is increasing so much. Now most people probably update stuff on a daily basis."

Zuckerberg believes sharing is growing exponentially: "One of the things that we have thought about at Facebook - we don't have any conclusions on it yet - but an interesting historical analogy is Moore's Law." (The Law stated that the speed of processors would double every two years.) "And I wouldn't be surprised, although there's no definitive link yet, if something like that exists with the rate of sharing."

Facebook's recent redesign was in response to that idea, Zuckerberg revealed, and there's more to come in future versions of Facebook: "Part of the redesign that we did was to reorganise the display of things to support the growth in sharing, and more and more parts of the site will start to be reorganised in terms of that."

In Depth: Complete guide to Google Analytics

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:30:00 GMT

Things change so quickly on the web. When I started working at software firm Urchin in 1996, web analytics was a niche product, important to (and understood by) perhaps a handful of people at an organisation.

When Google bought Urchin in June 2005 and launched Google Analytics later that autumn, the industry was moving away from expensive, complex tools in favour of free, easy-to-use ones, and these are quickly becoming more capable than those of the previous generation.

Analytics has also expanded to encompass a larger tool set and conversion process. It includes offline data sources and multivariate testing solutions. Perhaps the largest shift is that virtually everyone is now aware of and able to afford a quality web analytics and multivariate testing platform.

Getting started

You can sign up for Google Analytics at google.com/analytics. From there, you can create a new, free account. If you advertise on Google's AdWords system, you can also sign up for Analytics from within your AdWords account. Google Analytics has been closely integrated into your AdWords account under the new Analytics tab: click the tab and follow the instructions to start tracking AdWords campaign data and ROI information.

The Tracking Instructions page that appears contains the tracking code that you'll need to paste into each page of your site. Before doing so, you might want to complete a couple more steps to make sure Google Analytics collects the most relevant data for your site. You can configure your profile by clicking Edit in the Website Profile table.

Set the default (or index) page of your site. This will allow Google Analytics to reconcile log entries for www.example.com and www.example.com/index.html, for instance. These are in fact the same page, but are reported as two distinct pages until the Default Page setting has been configured.

Does your site use dynamic session or user identifiers? You can tell Google Analytics to ignore these variables and not count them as unique pages. Enter any query parameters you wish to be excluded, separated with commas.

To enable ecommerce reporting and the Ecommerce Analysis report set, select Yes. If your website is designed to drive visitors to a particular page, such as a purchase or email sign-up page, you can track the number of successful conversions using 'goals' and 'funnels' in Google Analytics. A goal is a website page a visitor reaches once they have made a purchase or completed another desired action, such as a registration or download. A funnel represents the path that you expect visitors to take in order to reach their goal.

Defining these pages enables you to see how frequently visitors abandon goals (and where they go instead) and the value of the goal. Each profile can have up to four goals, with a defined funnel for each. You can begin defining goals and funnels by selecting a profile and clicking Edit from the Analytics Settings page.

Hearts and minds

Google Analytics is not only a way to learn about customer behaviour, it can reveal something that's even more important: customer intent. Analytics data provides a peek into the hearts and minds of your customers and their needs and wants.

How did your visitors arrive at your site? For those who came through a search-engine query, a list of search terms will tell you what they were seeking. For example, shoe shoppers may be looking for Nikes but not Uggs; Clarks but not Donna Karan. You may therefore discover that part of your site is on target for visitors' needs, while the other half isn't. Similarly, Google Analytics can give you a list of 'referring URLs', websites that send you traffic. You can infer, for instance, that visitors coming from happycoupons.co.uk will have a different goal (making savings) than those coming from a manufacturer's retail link page (finding out about product features).

What are visitors looking for? Your checkout page tells you only where you've succeeded – not where you've missed an opportunity. Consider Best Buy's experience stocking a portable refrigerator to chill beer in the US. At first, they stocked it only during the Super Bowl. But search keywords reports revealed that shoppers still looked for the product code well into the baseball season – yet they couldn't find anything on the site.

Other key data that goes beyond conversions is the 'cart abandonment' rate: the percentage of customers who put items in the cart but leave your site before checking out. This crucial metric of your site's ability to close sales may indicate that something's amiss with your checkout process.

Where are your visitors landing, bouncing, and viewing? It's often assumed user experience begins on the homepage, and this misconception drives many an ecommerce site to waste hours of design work in the wrong place. Search engines dig deeper into ecommerce sites, bringing visitors to not just 'electronics', but also televisions, MP3 players or sat navs. Analytics data will tell you where your real 'homepages' reside, so you can focus your design work there. Curious? Just take a look at the 'Top Landing Pages' or 'Top Entry Pages' report in your Web Analytics tool.

Conversely, analytics will tell you which landing pages have the highest bounce rate – ie on which did people land, look around and quickly leave? This data tells you which of your pages are letting your customers down, and can also help with your redesign, since you can infer intent through the list of keywords and referring sites.

Web analytics can also show you the top viewed pages: information that's often overlooked. While you may consider yourself in the business of selling products, most of your hits could represent people reading customer reviews. Or perhaps you're selling 10 lines of products, but two of them show especially high traffic. Knowing what interests your customers will help you design a site that better meets expectations.

Analytics can help you understand what drives performance up or down. Earning $15,000 in the last 24 hours is good; knowing what drove that surge is even better. Ecommerce tracking shows the number of orders placed, the value of those orders, and more, by hour, day, week and month. By segmenting your data over different time lines, you can see both seasonal trends and more subtle buying habits that could otherwise go unnoticed.

Putting this information into practice takes not just creativity, but also a willingness to experiment. This spirit of adventure comes through on some of the most successful retail sites. Crutchfield (crutchfield.com) has taken the unorthodox approach of putting its checkout cart on the left side of the screen. Is that a good idea? Analytics reports have confirmed that it is – at least for them. Wal-Mart commonly puts products on its website that are unavailable in its stores. When those zebra- patterned bed sheets prove they have a following, the company understands the demographics enough to place them in targeted store locations.

Recent changes

Earlier this year we redesigned the Google Analytics site. The goal was to make it easier to discover information relationships via navigation and visualisations. We created a customisable dashboard and introduced sparklines. We developed new graphing tools and a new type of date slider, which make it easy to see spikes and dips in traffic as you set date ranges. And one of the most popular new features is one of the simplest: the ability to email reports and schedule these emails so that information can be easily shared with key stakeholders in your organisation.

New visualisations have been among the most popular features. You can now view many reports by hour or day and graph data by day, week or month. And we've made it easier to compare visits to conversions. You can also graph two metrics against each other over time so, for example, you can compare the number of visitors and the bounce rate for a certain week, or see if visitors who come to a site through AdWords spend more or less time on your site than visitors overall.

We've also added a new ga.js tracking code. This pagetag allows for more flexibility and customisation. It's just as easy to install as the old code, but enables more seasoned users to track ecommerce transactions in a more readable way and make use of advanced tracking features. We've also added a Google Analytics codesite (code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/) to help you take advantage of documented customisations that have been made to the tracking code.

If you have content behind a security firewall, an intranet or an internal network that prevents you from using Google Analytics, you may also want to consider Urchin software. You can configure it to fit your own requirements and process/reprocess log files as frequently as you wish. Urchin is also great for intranets, since it allows the analysis of firewall-protected content, such as corporate intranets, without any outside internet connection. You can even track your site with Urchin and Google Analytics combined.

One of the coolest things we've recently added is industry benchmarking. Still in beta, it enables you to see how your site's data compares to others'. For example, if you have a travel website and you get a spike in traffic on Mondays, you may want to know whether other travel sites get that same spike. We don't share individual data with competitors, but bucket data into industry verticals and then anonymise and aggregate it.

Finally, Website Optimizer is a free tool that complements the functionality of Google Analytics to hone your site further. You can create different versions of your web pages, and Google then splits your traffic automatically, so your visitors tell you which version they like best. Things you might consider changing include images (bigger, smaller, colour, black and white, with models, no models); headlines (questions, shorter ones, emphasising different points); calls to action (different button designs and copy) and layouts (three columns, two columns, one long scrolling column).

Test a few big changes, not several small ones. A good rule of thumb is one page variation for every 100 conversions. So if you get 300 conversions per month, test up to three variations, including your current page. Run your test for at least two weeks. Don't jump to conclusions: make sure the data has an opportunity to normalise.

Make testing an ongoing process. Once you find a winner, keep trying to beat it. Remember that not finding a winner can be helpful, too, since you learn what doesn't work and you protect yourself from making changes that could have permanently harmed your site's performance.

First published in .Net Magazine, Issue 181

Now read 101 tips, tricks and hacks to help you search smarter with Google

In Depth: The future of mobile internet devices

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Mobile internet access has come of age. No more squinting at the tiny screen on your smartphone. No more flat batteries on your laptop.

With the mobile internet device (MID), you can enjoy an always-on connection, long battery life and a decent-sized screen, all in a package that will fit in your pocket. However, are the processors currently used in smartphones or the x86 chips that power laptops capable of providing all this, or will the MID require a totally new processor?

Intel, VIA and ARM are already promoting their wares in a new round of processor wars. So if you're in the market for a MID, should you be looking for that 'Intel Inside' sticker – or does the competition have a trick or two up its sleeve?

What is a MID?

What do we mean by the term MID, and how does it differ from the smartphone, the laptop and other in-between devices – such as the UMPC (ultra-mobile PC)? PC Plus magazine asked the main suppliers of MID processors to define the platform.

According to Pankaj Kedia, Intel's Director of Global Ecosystem Programs for MIDs, "Mobile internet devices represent a category of truly mobile consumer devices that enable the best internet experience in your pocket and allow users to communicate, entertain, access information and be productive. The MID category is comprised of mobile devices with a display size no larger than six inches and a simplified user interface. There are expected to be over 100 million units in the range over the next three to five years."

Timothy Brown, International Marketing Manager for VIA Technologies, offered more in the way of technical detail. "For VIA, a MID is a five-inch form factor or less device that runs on an x86 architecture platform providing the capability of a full internet and computing experience to users. That includes the full Windows Vista, XP and Linux operating systems, the massive body of software developed for those operating systems and the ability to connect and interact with the internet anywhere at any time."

However, Bob Morris, ARM's Director of Mobile Computing, had different views – almost to the point of not recognising the MID as a unique platform in its own right. "Intel coined the term MID. ARM would prefer to call it mobile internet (MI) since there is not one device but many." Morris suggested that within the next five years internet connectivity will become an essential element of a wide range of mobile devices including portable media players (PMPs), personal navigation devices (PNDs), and smartphones.

To make the point, he showed us an illustration that explained how each of these types of device had migrated to the mobile internet arena. In the area of PMPs, the Apple iPod was shown migrating to the iPod Touch with the addition of Wi-Fi; with PNDs, the forthcoming Garmin NuviPhone was shown as the Nuvi Navigator (a sat nav device) with the addition of a 3.5G mobile phone and browser; and in the realm of smartphones, the Samsung Instinct has been augmented with EV-DO technology (or 3G broadband).

The Intel Atom

Although other companies may be developing processors that could form the basis of a MID, to date only three companies have nailed their colours to the mast. We asked these three companies – Intel, VIA and ARM – to tell us about the processors they're promoting for the up-and-coming MID platform. As it's the processor that's had the lion's share of the media coverage, we'll start by looking at Intel's offering.

Intel announced the Atom processor family (formerly codenamed Silverthorn) at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai in April, and subsequently rolled out five variants. The Atom processor is Intel's smallest – and, it claims, the world's fastest – chip to consume less than three Watts of power. Ranging from 800MHz to 1.86GHz, the chips are quoted as consuming between 160mW and 220mW on average and from 80mW to 100mW while idling.

The Atom processor is based on the Intel Atom micro-architecture, which was designed to achieve high effi ciency in terms of performanceper- Watt while maintaining full compatibility with the Core 2 Duo instruction set and architectural features such as HyperThreading, Virtualization technology and Intel Digital Media Boost (SSE3). It's currently based on the 45nm high-k process, but it will shrink to 32nm in 2009. Low power consumption is achieved using a range of power management techniques.

Competition from VIA and ARM

According to Brown, VIA's current products aimed at the MID market are based on the C7-M ULV processor. The VIA C7-M ULV provides x86 support via an in-order execution architecture and is offered in clockspeeds of 1.0GHz, 1.2GHz and 1.5GHz. VIA claims that this provides enough processing power to run devices based on full operating systems such as Windows Vista, XP or a mainstream Linux distribution. Like the Intel Atom, high performance-per-Watt is stressed, with power consumption figures ranging from 3.5W to 7.5W.

However, while Intel quotes average power consumption figures (which take into account the fact that the processor will often be idling), figures for the C7-M LV look much higher. This is because they relate to operational power. In reality, the two families are closer together than the figures alone suggest, although comparisons of average power will have to wait for the launch of the MID platform in numbers, when a comparison of performance-per-Watt will be much easier to establish.

Interestingly, there was no mention of a Nano derivative, despite previous indications from a senior VIA spokesperson that it would be used in this context. If and when a sufficiently low-powered version of the processor does become available, it shows every sign of being the first MID processor to feature potentially more efficient out-of-order execution.

Today, it's ARM's V6 architecture devices – such as the ARM11 – that power the Nokia N810, iPod Touch, and smartphones like the iPhone, all of which ARM consider to be MIDs. The architecture will continue to be used in new products of this type. However, for mini-notebooks and platforms closer to what most people think of as MIDs, processors with ARM's next generation V7 architecture, which includes the Cortex-A8, are being promoted.

The main difference between the ARM11 and Cortex-A8 is performance – ARM's figures show the Cortex-A8 achieving about twice the amount of work for the same clockspeed. This has an obvious benefit in terms of the all-important performance-per-Watt. ARM says that the Cortex-A8 range will start showing up in third-party products later this year. ARM claims that the Cortex-A8 has similar clock-for-clock performance as Intel's Atom, and that in addition to Windows Mobile, it can run the full desktop Linux operating system.

It's said to scale in speed from 600MHz to greater than 1GHz and offers a number of architectural features perhaps unfamiliar to those who are more used to looking at Intel data sheets. This includes Neon technology for multimedia and signal processing, Jazelle RCT (Real-time Compilation Target) technology for efficient support of both ahead-of-time and just-in-time compilation of Java and other bytecode languages, and Thumb-2 technology for enhanced code density and performance.

ARM claims that this new processor can meet the performance requirements of mobile devices with a power budget of less than 300mW. As in the case of Intel's figures, this is an estimated in-use average rather than a peak power consumption figure. Where the Cortex A8 differs from both the Atom and VIA's C7-M ULV, however, is its lack of x86 support.

It's important to note that ARM's product is quite different from those offered by Intel or VIA. Whereas these latter two companies are selling chips – that is, pieces of silicon – ARM is licensing processor cores that their silicon partners, which include TI, Qualcomm, Samsung, Nvidia, Freescale, Marvell and Broadcom, integrate into a SoC (System-on-Chip) that is then sold to MID manufacturers.

Mobility requirements

So, what should we be looking for in a processor designed to power a MID? In a sense, it's a bit early to come up with a proper answer, since MIDs have yet to appear in any number and the platform will undoubtedly evolve in the early days as it becomes established in the marketplace. Even so, we took the opportunity to ask the three protagonists what they considered to be the key requirements of a MID processor.

According to Intel, a MID processor needs to be powerful, compatible and frugal in its power consumption. Performance is required to provide the user with an Internet experience in its entirety which, according to Kedia, is "rich, dynamic, immediate, interactive, increasingly user-generated and fast."

To achieve this, the processor must be fully compatible with Internet technologies, including support for the wide range of codecs such as Adobe Flash, plug-ins such as JavaScript, media players and web technologies such as AJAX and XML. Kedia also stressed dramatically low power consumption, a small form factor and a long battery life. Atom processors, it was unsurprisingly suggested, strike a good balance across these three broad requirements.

VIA also saw a need for balance between the processor's power consumption and its ability to provide enough raw performance for a satisfying user experience. For Brown, however, the Internet experience is only the start. VIA also anticipates a requirement for a high standard of media playback and, in the case of business users, the ability to use the standard office applications familiar from the desktop PC environment.

Predictably enough, ARM also cited performance and power consumption as the key features. Performance should enable Internet access, multimedia applications including 3D graphics and HD playback and productivity solutions, while the level of power consumption should permit a full day of use. Ideally, power-use in standby should allow for a battery life measured in days rather than hours.

Laptop meets smartphone

In many ways, a MID could be thought of as occupying the middle ground between a laptop and a smartphone. So it's perhaps not surprising that two of the main suppliers of processors for MIDs have interests in traditional markets at these two extremes. So which approach is likely to be more relevant to the newly-emerging platform – Intel's PC-centric background or ARM's low-power mobile emphasis? We asked each manufacturer to say why they believed their traditional market is better suited to providing successful MID processors.

Intel addressed the question by reiterating the view that performance and compatibility are essential. "We believe that shrinking the x86 processor to reduce power and size while maintaining high performance and software compatibility is the optimal way to bring the Internet to pocketable devices," said Kedia. Intel's design and architecture, 45nm process and pioneering work in power management were all quoted as key strengths in this respect.

Interestingly, Morris didn't altogether agree with our analysis that ARM would consider its own background in low-power portable devices as more suited to addressing the needs of a MID. "ARM thinks companies coming from both markets will be able to define and develop products," he said.

As evidence for this stance, he indicated that ARM is finding that the major OEMs are not so hung-up as they once were over the particular processor in a device, but care more about whether the platform provides a good mobile Internet experience. "An x86 processor is not required for computing tasks," he said. "This is enabling companies to think beyond one or two partners, which bodes well for ARM because our mobile partners can expand their business while new ARM partners from the laptop market are set free to develop cool new products and technology."

VIA's Brown was not convinced that experience from the mobile phone (ARM processor camp) and PC (x86 processor camp) markets alone would necessarily provide the expertise to produce successful MIDs. He characterised the situation as the ARM camp needing to scale up in terms of raw performance and software application development, and the x86 camp needing to scale down in terms of power consumption and an improvement in the software interface for small devices. He was bullish about VIA's chances of squaring this circle and getting the balance right. "At VIA," he said, "we can see very clearly our path to scaling down the power draw, as that has been our expertise and main focus of our x86 processing business over the last eight years."

The x86 compatibility issue

In the realm of PCs, support for the x86 architecture is considered essential. What about MIDs? Will this established processor family remain dominant, or does a new platform demand a new architecture? We asked each of the manufacturers why, if at all, they thought x86 support was imperative. As you can imagine, views were divided.

Intel's Kedia stated quite categorically that "for mobile Internet devices to run the internet as we know and love it today, x86 is essential. Intel Atom processors, which are Core 2 Duo-compatible and fully x86-compliant, deliver the performance and compatibility to run the internet in its entirety." His second argument related to compatibility. "The Internet has been written on the x86 PC for the x86 PC since 1994," he claimed. "Today, over five billion websites are optimised to run in this environment. An x86 PC supports a myriad of codecs, plugins, extensions, media players and latest web technologies. And these technologies and standards continue to evolve as the innovation on the Internet continues."

While there's a great deal of truth in this assertion, it's pertinent to point out that users of non-Windows operating systems such as Linux, Unix variants and Mac OS X – which use both x86 and non-x86 processors – all enjoy good levels of web support, which suggests that there's nothing that makes the x86 architecture particularly suited to web applications. More relevant perhaps is the commercial decision to support a platform. History suggests that software houses will back a platform if it gains a significant foothold in the market, whatever its technological capabilities.

As another supplier of x86 chips, VIA's Timothy Brown was equally predictable in his response, suggesting that raw performance and software compatibility demanded the use of x86 architecture.

Morris had a radically different take on the question. "Support for x86 is essential only if you want to run Windows XP or Vista", he said. "It's clear that the web is not hardware architecture dependent. With Adobe's Open Screen Project and Microsoft's Silverlight (a cross-browser, crossplatform, and cross-device plug-in for delivering media and interactive applications to the web), ARM is well on the way to closing the gap with the PC by mid 2009. The iPhone has shown what a good browsing solution can do for the mobile internet."

MID product releases

Bearing the relevant arguments in mind, where does the industry stand today? Which MID manufacturers have chosen to go with each of the semiconductor manufacturers?

Intel announced its first-generation low-power platform (formerly codenamed Menlow) for mobile Internet devices in April this year. Since then, a few customers have launched devices based on this, and others are expected to do so through the rest of the 2008. Intel have disclosed a long list of signed-up system manufacturers, such as Aigo, Asus, BenQ, Clarion, Digifriends, Fujitsu, Gigabyte, Hanbit, KJS, Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sophia Systems, Tabletkoisk, USI, WiBrain and Yuk Yung.

According to VIA, the most famous MID to use a VIA processor is the OQO e2 – although some people might refer to that as a UMPC rather than a MID. In its various configurations it runs Windows Vista Ultimate or Premium and Windows XP Professional and Tablet Edition. It's said to be a full PC in every way and includes Wi-Fi, 2G and 3G connectivity. Other MID devices are being developed around VIA's ultra mobile processor platforms, but have not yet been announced.

With ARM's somewhat broader definition of the term MID, the company claims the Nokia N810 (especially the WiMax edition that is at present only available in the US) and the Apple iPod Touch as two high volume MIDs using their processor cores. Morris went on to suggest that the Nokia Maemo operating system is the 'father' of Moblin (an Intel-supported project for developing open-source software for MIDs using Linux) because a large percentage of it is based on the same code.

With an eye to the future, we asked each company how MID processors will develop in the short term, what trends are likely to emerge and what, if any, relevant upcoming products have been announced. Intel cited an uncertainty of how the Internet will evolve as a justification for being somewhat vague about plans in this area beyond the next couple of years.

Nevertheless, Kedia committed to continue to deliver high performance and low power while maintaining full software and internet compatibility, whatever that might mean in practice. In the mid-term, though, a second platform, codenamed Moorestown and based on Intel Atom processors, is scheduled for release by 2010. The first Atom processors reduced peak power by a factor of 10 compared to the first UMPC platforms, and Moorestown is expected to reduce idle power by a similar amount.

VIA's Brown stressed low-level features, such as more advanced manufacturing processes, decreased package sizes, lower power consumption and even more features integrated onto smaller platforms. As an example he mentioned the 75mm by 45mm VIA mobile-ITX prototype demonstrated in June 2007, which also includes a mobile phone module. He thought it probable that such developments would result in x86- based MIDs with smartphone features during 2009.

ARM's Morris painted a picture of the future that centred on two areas – processors and graphics. In the realm of processors, Morris indicated that a number of ARM11 products (of which the Cortex-A8 is the first member) will enter the market within the next 12 months. He predicted net performance gains of four to five times the speed of currently available products, resulting from a doubling of the clock and processor efficiencies.

Morris' mention of graphics was somewhat surprising, since our questions had all related to processor technology. However, ARM's vision of the future sees a marriage of the processor and GPU. Indeed, ARM partners are already developing application processors for the MID market with high-performance 3D and video engines for improved response times and HD video. For more information on this, see the 'CPU Meets GPU' box.

Unlike the market for PC processors, which in recent years has been a two-horse race (albeit with one horse a tad lame), the processor wars that are looming in the MID arena show signs of having three healthy players. And with AMD and Nvidia entering the frame with the novel new approach of combing CPU and GPU on the one chip, the battlefield could become even more complicated. Will one architecture dominate? Or, as ARM's Morris suggests, is there room for a number of different approaches? Whatever the result, there are undoubtedly some interesting times ahead.

In Depth: 18 essential free productivity boosting apps

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

Credit crunch making your office system look lean? There's no need to fret when there are perfectly good productivity tools available for free.

Here's our pick of the free productivity-boosting programs every Windows user should own.

1.Thunderbird 2

Based on Mozilla code, what Firefox does for web browsing, Thunderbird does for email. Including advanced features like message tagging, saved searches and Gmail integration, you can use it for POP, IMAP and webmail accounts.

2. OpenOffice.org

Not one productivity tool but a whole suite of them. OpenOffice boasts word processing, drawing, spreadsheet, presentation and database apps in one handy package. Microsoft Office compatibility makes it easy to switch.

3. PrimoPDF

Adobe's Portable Document Format is ideal for delivering content across different platforms. PrimoPDF makes it free to create industry standard PDFs from over 300 file types. Installed as a printer driver, you can output from almost any program.

4. Inkscape

A graphics package that's ideal for creating clipart, charts and posters, Inkscape that will cost you nothing. With vector drawing tools on a par with professional programs, it outputs files in the open source SVG format.

5. Sunbird

Most free email tools are missing the calendar and scheduling features of Microsoft Outlook. Sunbird fills that gap, with a robust, open source application that uses a SQL based storage mechanism for security and strength.

6. NotePad++

The Notepad that comes free with Windows has nothing on this word crunching supertool. With it's tabbed interface, saved workspace states, syntax highlighting, auto-completion and text processing features NotePad++ is ideal for everyday use or even coding.

7. GIMPShop

A longtime Linux favourite, The GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) sought to emulate the main features of bitmap editing tool Photoshop for free. This remix makes The GIMP's interface look and behave more like Photoshop too.

8. XnView

Windows built in image viewer balks at some formats, but not XnView. It imports around 400 different file types an exports about 50. If that wasn't enough, you can also make simple edits, like cropping and resizing or create slideshows.

9. TurboLister

eBay listings are made easy with TurboLister. Combining design and database tools, the package connects to your eBay account to give you template based control over the auctions you place online.

10. Diagram Designer

Diagram Designer helps you create flow charts, circuit boards and graphs. In other words, it does a similar job to Microsoft Visio, but for free.

11. Trillian

Replace all your instant messaging clients with Trillian. It connects to Yahoo, Windows Live, ICQ, AIM and Internet Relay chat. There's even built in support for sending SMS messages via a gateway.

12. 7-Zip

Windows XP and Vista can open ZIP files, but can't read RAR, LZH, ARJ or any of the other additional formats 7-Zip is familiar with. You can even browse disk images in ISO format.

13. DeBrief 2.3

If you're the kind of person who scribbles on envelopes, bus tickets and any other scrap then DeBrief is for you. This note-taking application helps you organise your lists, ideas and thoughts.

14. AceMoney Lite

Financial management tools are rarely free, so it's gratifying to find one that's so good at its job. Track your spending, pay bills on time, manage debts and household budgets with AceMoney Lite.

15. Jarte

Built on the same engine as Windows WordPad, Jarte adds features that make it into a useful word processor. Spell checking, word count and support for Microsoft DOC formats make it a must.

16. TimeTo

More than just a calendar application or "to-do" list, TimeTo enables you to manage your commitments hour by hour, day by day.

17. Picasa 3

Google's photo sharing and management tool beats most others feature for feature. Picasa 3 lets you quickly import pics direct from your camera, fix them with the built-in filters and organise them in albums.

18. Ashampoo Burning Studio Free 6

Available only at download.com, this is an earlier edition of a commercial program featuring CD, DVD and Blu-ray burning capabilities. Great for music compilations and data back-ups.

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Weird Tech: In-body eels give electrifying possibilities

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:31:00 GMT

Artificial electric eel cells could be implanted in the human body to generate power for medical implants and other small devices. That's according to new research by American scientists, which suggests it's possible to build artificial cells replicating the electrical behaviour of electric eel cells.

Not only that, the researchers claim, but the artificial cells could deliver a higher performance than the real ones – by more than 40 per cent.

According to NIST engineer David LaVan and Yale University scientist Jian Xu, small, stacked layers of artificial cells could be capable of producing continuous power output of about 300 microwatts – enough to drive small implant devices.

Touch-sensitive tables

In other news, dining went digital in London this week, with restaurant and bar Inamo launching a new interactive service that projects colourful menus onto touch-senstive tabletops. As well as general browsing, patrons can preview the food, order interactively, change the ambience of their individual table – and even book cabs.

Back to the Future

Talking of futuristic, if you're in the market for a new vehicle, beware. A man who was fined in 2003 for selling "'fraudulent unregistered stock'" on the internet was been spotted selling a "flying saucer" on eBay on Tuesday.

If a flying car is, indeed, what you're after, may we point you towards Terrafugia's Transition instead. Set to go on sale next year, the $194,000 vehicle is more "roadable aircraft" than car.

With four wheels, Formula One–style suspension, and a pair of 10-foot-wide wings (that fold up while it's on land), it's been described as "a single-engine, rear-propeller airplane that just happens to be street-legal".

Gadget therapy

Here's one for everyone at work who went out last night: the iSleep concept. A soft pillow that attaches to your laptop, it fills with warm air when you close the lid, playing soothing music for 10 minutes before sounding a gentle alarm to wake you up. So simple, and yet so effective; catching a few zees under the desk could one day be a thing of the past…

If you do happen to spot a colleague catching said zees (we've all done it…), it might be nice to give them a little nudge with a Mechamo Crab & Halloween Hack. A creepy crab robot with the head of a Cabbage Patch Kid doll, it should do just the trick.

And finally…

Trigger-happy police in Wales have been criticised for tasering a runaway sheep, it was reported earlier this week. Horrified motorists watched in disbelief as a police officer blasted the ram – which was holding up traffic – to clear the dual carriageway.

The sheep was later returned (still alive) to a near-by field. The RSPCA has said it will investigate the incident.

In Depth: Interview: 'This Week in Tech' podcaster Leo Laporte

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:00:00 GMT

No broadcast journalist has embraced new media as much as podcast guru Leo Laporte. Although he's still got one foot in traditional broadcasting (he hosts syndicated show The Tech Guy on US satellite radio), he's managed to build up a small empire of podcasts, or netcasts as he prefers to call them, since the launch of the original TWiT (short for This Week in Tech) in 2005. It's no coincidence that he's often called the hardest working man in podcasting.

Leo laughs at the use of the word 'empire' to describe the 14 hugely popular shows he hosts on the TWiT Netcast Network. "I guess it's an empire," he says, "a very small empire, but I serve at the pleasure of the community. I can never say it's mine. It's not mine, It's ours."

So, when Leo launched his latest project, a live video stream called TWiT Live, the community was already there. The show, which currently goes out five days a week, very quickly reached 3.6 million viewers a month – not bad considering 4.6 million people download the TWiT netcasts every month. Whatever Leo touches online seems to turn to gold. He's got more than 50,000 followers on Twitter – only Kevin Rose and Barack Obama have more.

"It's funny – I've said for a long time that I wouldn't ever do video because audio is easier for people and it's cheaper for us to produce," Leo explains. "You couldn't do live streaming before. Until a couple of years ago, when companies like Stickam came along, it wasn't technically feasible. But there's something about live that's really fun, so when it became technically and economically possible, people kept asking me for it and I finally said I'd do it. I started doing it on the radio show – a cheap, crappy version – but people wanted more and more. There seems to be this demand – I'm actually surprised more people aren't doing live streaming. My eyes have been fully opened here. I think streaming video is the next big thing and I'm very excited about it."

Production values

Initially, TWiT Live will show how Leo produces his podcasts from his cottage in Petaluma, California, but most of the shows won't go to video. The longer term plan is to add content in between.

The live show will include interviews, conference coverage and breaking news stories like the recent 24 Hours of iPhone event, which tracked the launch of the iPhone 3G around the world and attracted 271,733 viewers in total. Eventually, Leo wants to produce 40 hours of really interesting content a week.

"It's always struck me that live is ultimately what the internet should be because what's different from broadcasting television and internet television is that it's interactive, it's fully two-way. You're not really fully interactive unless you're live, so we take live questions in all the podcasts now. We want to do more and more of that live topical coverage. Ultimately, I see this becoming kind of a populist CNN for geeks. So if there's a big breaking tech news story, you immediately turn it on and know that we'll be there talking about it and have experts on. You'll get the story as it develops."

When Leo announced his plan to use Stickam (www.stickam.com), many people were surprised. After all, the most prominent live streamer on the web, Chris Pirillo, is on Ustream (www.ustream.tv). "In the first year I did both Ustream and Stickam informally, without any relationship with either of them," Leo explains.

"I also used Justin.tv, BitGravity and Yahoo Live. I tried all the services and they all did really good jobs with it. They're all doing essentially the same technology, so it really came down to which company was going to give me the things I needed. Stickam is really helpful with programming. They've given me a special 16:9 window and have gone the extra mile. They're giving me a lot of bandwidth – we're able to handle 10,000 people without a problem. I think we're a really good team because Stickam is really interested in figuring out what needs to be done to make this work and develop this platform."

Bandwidth issues – especially for Leo's show, which is sent out on 16:9 high definition resolution – are still critical. Usage is pretty steep and consistent, even when only 2,000 people are watching at the same time. Stickam put TWiT Live on a dedicated server cluster, which ensures it can scale to more viewers without slowdowns.

Once past the technical problems, the main challenge that's left is finding the content. This has never been a problem for Leo, who's got more ideas than time and resources. "The audience is pretty tolerant," he says. "They seem to understand that it's an informal broadcast that's not CNN and they kind of like that, I think. I don't have too much trouble filling the time and they seem to be patient when, for instance, I have to get up and go to the bathroom. We don't have commercial breaks and so they just have to sit and wait while I do that."

In fact, the community is active whether the cameras are on or off. When the show is over and the chatroom is open, thousands of people stay all night long to talk to each other. "The programming is the anchor for the community. As a programmer you're really providing the core, the reason for getting together, but ultimately what makes it work is the people. They become part of a community and so the chatroom is critical to the whole thing. It's very important to have a chatroom attached to the video, so that people who casually wander by know immediately, 'Here's the community and here's how you can be part of it.' It really changes the experience of watching TV when you're watching it with other people in a community."

Although Leo's on the other side of the camera, he still sees himself as part of the community. "I'm staying on air as long as I can every day because ideally I'd like this to be 24 hours, which means I have to get more hosts. It's hard to turn the cameras off because it's so much finished with TWiT at 4.30pm I was still talking to people for another two hours. I'm part of the community too, and just as people find it hard to leave the chatroom, I find it tough to leave the community and get on with my regular life."

Ad sharing

Originally, Leo didn't want to include any advertising on TWiT. He wanted it to be a direct medium supported by the people who listen to it, but that turned out to be too idealistic and few people were donating. It was enough to support the network initially, but to grow it to the size it is today, Leo had to strike ad sharing deals (as happened with Stickam).

Now TWiT is a proper corporation with four employees, including an accountant and a book keeper, and Leo expects to gross a very respectable $1 million this year. However, he says he still makes his living with radio show The Tech Guy and ploughs all the money he'd be making back into TWiT to develop it.

In the future, Leo would like to add a gaming, a mobile phone and an audio book podcast, but right now the resources aren't there. The focus is on beefing up TWiT Live. Only recently, Leo installed a Tricaster Studio (newtek.com/tricaster), which means he can switch between up to six cameras and several computer screens to show the Skype callers. "That's the advantage of being the sole proprietor, the guy in charge," Leo laughs.

"You get to do what you want. Internet broadcasting gives you complete and utter control. I have to say it's very intoxicating, it's very addictive. Once you have control over what you're doing and the audience you reach, you don't ever want to do it any other way. The mistakes you make are all your own, and I made more than my share, but I get to do what I want and that's the fun part of the creative process."

And so, at 51, Leo Laporte doesn't show any signs of slowing down. In fact, it's difficult to imagine the web without him. He is both the voice and the face of internet broadcasting.

Originally published in .Net Magazine, Issue 181