FrequencyCast Review of 2012 - Part 3
The final part of our look back at 2012. This is the first page of our transcript from Show 83, where we look at everything we covered in a busy tech year.
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 83 (31 mins) |
This is part 3 of our transcript of Show 83:
Continues from 2012 Review - Part 2
Kelly:
So in September, it was an exciting month for all Apple lovers, as the iOS 6, iPhone 5 and iPad Mini were all announced.
Pete:
And of course, the iOS 6 update excited lots of people by taking away Google Maps, and replacing it with Apple Maps, that doesn't do anywhere near as good a job, so a little bit of a backward step there for Apple. We also announced, in our September show, the end of UK Nova, which was a file-sharing site much loved by people looking to get old British TV shows, and we also got into trouble, didn't we, Kelly?
Kelly:
We did.
Pete:
Yes - it was with this little device here. Just remind us, please.
Kelly:
Yes, well you say "we" got in trouble - you actually got in trouble. It was the heartrate monitor.
Pete:
I got into trouble about that. I was apparently "objectifying women" by getting you to try the Garmin heartrate monitor. That takes us on to October, where it was the end, the end of an era - what finished?
Kelly:
It was the end of analogue TV, Ceefax and Video Plus.
Pete:
And do you miss them?
Kelly:
No!
Pete:
Fair enough!
Kelly:
I tell you - no, I do actually miss Ceefax, for the simple reason that a lot of my elderly relatives ring me and panic if I'm on a flight, because they can no longer check.
Pete:
We also had the launch of something that your elderly relatives won't understand either - 4G. EE has launched that - the merger of T-Mobile and Orange, and that's available in eleven cities, if you've got a lot of money to spend. You're not on 4G yet, I'm guessing?
Kelly:
No, absolutely not. Do you reckon BlackBerry will ever catch up, to be able to be on 4G?
Pete:
Not at the moment. They're having a bad time - their results came out a couple of weeks ago, and all is not well in the BlackBerry camp, by the sound of it. Are you tempted to upgrade yet?
Kelly:
We'll see - give me a little while.
Pete:
Yeah, you're hedging, aren't you, now? You're hedging your bets there.
Kelly:
I am hedging my bets!
Pete:
Also, in the October show, we trekked boldly to London's ExCel for a convention.
Fans:
My name is Marsha, and I'm from Croatia name is Stadia, and I'm also from Croatia.
Pete:
Wow, and you've travelled here just for the Star Trek exhibition today?
Marsha:
Well actually, yes. We are staying here for a few more days in London, but primarily we are here for this Star Trek convention, yeah.
Pete:
Excellent, and who are you looking to meet today? - anyone in particular?
Marsha:
William Shatner - he's so sexy!
John:
I'm from Forbidden Planet. We've got a store in central London you may know, and several up and down the country. Dressing up has just become an enormously fashionable thing to do over, about the last five years. "Don't dream it - be it", as they said in Rocky Horror.
Pete:
I was lucky enough to catch up with Ronald D Moore, who's a very well-known screenwriter and producer, for the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
Ronald:
There were just times when I found myself writing dialogue between Geordi and Picard about some engineering problem, and it was mostly about the rhythm of the conversation, and you would just write "tech" in the script for tech, and then the science consultant would tell you want to put in for that place: "Captain, the tech is teching, and if we don't stop the tech within 15 minutes, the warp engines will tech!" "Well, Mr La Forge, call in auxiliary power, and transfer the tech to the techno cells." "No, Captain - that won't work!" "Wait, I have a theory!", says Data; "If we tech the tech and just, in the next five seconds, we might have a chance to finally tech our tech!" ... and you're just like, oh my God - how do I get out of this scene.
Pete:
And that takes us on to November, when BT announced they were going to be launching an extra eleven channels to their BT Vision and YouView service, and also Sky bought out a revamped iOS app, that lets you take control of your Sky Plus box.
Kelly:
And we were also at the Gadget Show Live.
Pete:
... taking us to December, where we have to say our favourite gadget of the year:
Kelly:
Bubblescope.
Pete:
Now, we did like that, didn't we? - that's the 360 degree camera.
Kelly:
We do, we love this very much.
Pete:
And anything else happen in December that was terribly poignant?
Kelly:
It was the end of the world.
Pete:
Yeah - what are we still doing here?
Kelly:
I don't know. We haven't left the bunker, though.
Pete:
Do you think they're still out there?
Kelly:
I don't know - shall we venture?
Pete:
So if you did miss the end of the world in December, don't worry - it will be repeated in a couple of weeks' time - stay tuned; thank you very much. So what about the next twelve months?
Kelly:
Well, we've got the 10" Nokia Windows tablet coming up.
Pete:
Yeah, that's going to be an interesting one. Tablet devices are very much the flavour of the day.
Kelly:
4G and Freeview disruption.
Pete:
Yep, as we covered earlier - people are going to lose their telly this year.
Kelly:
Well, this should be one for me: the BlackBerry 10 OS is being launched in January.
Pete:
Yep, an upgrade to the BlackBerry operating system. My top tips for this coming year, we're bound to see two new Apple products: the iPhone 6, with hopefully maps that work and 4G that works; and probably an iPad 5 - I would be prepared to lay money on that one.
Kelly:
Yeah, I'd agree with you, and also though, an Amazon phone is being launched in the summer.
Pete:
Actually, I quite like the idea of an Amazon-powered phone - that'll be quite an interesting one.
Kelly:
I do. I'm quite excited about this, actually.
Pete:
We're also likely to see a dozen or so local TV stations join the UK TV line up, which will be rather interesting.
Kelly:
That will be very exciting. There will also be a £60 Google Nexus tablet available by March 2013.
Pete:
So the rumour has it - in the US, they're going to be $99, so we're hoping that that will convert to about £60 or £70 in the UK.
Kelly:
I think that would tempt me. While I do have my iPad, it's not particularly necessary, but it makes it more affordable for a lot of people, so I think laptops may be going soon.
Pete:
And I guess my other prediction for the year is, we're going to see a lot more from smart TVs, and especially the integration with social media, so the idea that you're watching a telly programme, and it will start tweeting ratings, and what you're watching, and sharing what you're actually watching. So would you agree that social media and TV might well link together this year?
Kelly:
I think it's looking quite likely. It'll be quite interesting to see actually, if programmes get recommissioned based on how well they actually do on social media from now on.
Pete:
Good point - I actually wonder if that might make a difference. And there is, of course, the 4seven channel on Freeview, where people do select their most favourite Channel 4 programme, and get those repeated. So we might see TV planners making more use of social media, to see what's hot and what's not.
We're going to venture outside the bunker, and see what's going on in the world, and catch up in a year from now, and see how right or wrong we were - what do you think?
Kelly:
It sounds good to me.
Pete:
Well, for transcripts, for longer versions of some of the things we've featured in today's show, and links to all of the products and services that we've mentioned on this and previous shows, go to our show notes. It's the show notes section at:
Kelly:
www.frequencycast.co.uk.
Listen to, or download, FrequencyCast Show 83 (31 mins) |
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