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Speaking of sitting on your ass all day and playing games, the BBC are reporting that UK Gamers spent over £1.5billion on titles in 2007, roughly the GDP of Tahiti. That’s an increase of 25% on the previous year and there’s still the holiday sales rush to be counted. Given the fact that in the UK each game costs around the £40 mark (yes - you guys in the USA have it easy), we are talking of somthing in the order of 37million games or 3 million a month or 101,000 a day. I think about 20% of that is attributable to my son who claims he needs to try the games so that he can generate content for his gaming blog!

Well that’s my lot for 2007. Back on-line in January. happy hols!!

Original story

So the little fat bloke with the red outfit, black boots and a white beard has done it again. Not only is he on schedule for his Christmas deliveries, he has managed to deliver an early pressie for PS3 owners.

This holiday’s hottest gift, the Sony PlayStation3, has become even hotter with new technology from MP3tunes that turns the gaming device into a home stereo system. Developed by Ade Rutter for MP3tunes, owners of the PS3 can now wirelessly stream their personal music collections from their own MP3tunes Music Locker using the console’s controller. Music stored in MP3tunes Music Lockers can also be played on Windows Mobile devices, the Logitech Squeezebox, Chumby and more, thanks to MP3tunes’ open API (Application Programming Interface).

“My vision for MP3tunes is that a person’s digital music collection will play not just through any web browser but through all their devices,” commented Michael Robertson, CEO of MP3tunes. “To help reach our goal, we sponsored a $10,000 contest, challenging the best developers to help us get people’s music to every device and service. Full streaming of the Music Locker through the Sony PlayStation3 is just the first of many exciting announcements MP3tunes will be making about how we will deliver our users’ music to every popular device they own.” For more details and set-up instructions for the PS3 and other devices, visit http://www.mp3tunes.com/contest. To sign-up for a free MP3tunes Music Locker visit http://www.mp3tunes.com/signup.

Original story

eSport - you’re joking right? Virtual sport?? Well that’s what XLeague TV is all about - sitting on your backside and playing online games. If Darwin was correct then future generations will develop a consoles in place of their left hand and a backside shaped like a sofa. If the creationists are correct then this could be some kind of ironic retribution by Himself (or Herself - just edging my bets!).

So forget about meteors hitting the earth, terrorism, global warming, nuclear holocaust or bird flu. We are destined to be wiped out either by heart disease through lack of exercise or through starvation because we are too darned lazy to get up off our sofa shaped rears.

As if death by eSport is not tempting enough, MavTV is set to provide some pretty interesting programming to XLeague. I can feel my arteries hardening as I type.

Male-lifestyle channel MavTV is taking its content and possibly its name across the Pond.

Denver-based MavTV is joining forces with United Kingdom-based Portland Media’ eSports channel, XLeagueTV.

Under the agreement terms of which were not disclosed, MavTV will supply “a substantial amount of the content it holds rights for” to XLeague.TV, said Steve Smith, MavTV president. Targeting men 18 to 54, MavTV fare includes sports and athletics analysis, plus shows about gaming, comedy, women and relationships, health and fitness, finance, gadgets. The network, which has some almost 6 million U.S. subscribers through carriage pacts with Cablevision Systems Corp., Charter Communications and Verizon’s FiOS TV, also shows films.

The addition of MavTV’s programming will help XLeague.TV, which currently counts some 8.2 million subscribers via its position on channel 279 on BSkyB, evolve into a more male-oriented gaming and entertainment channel in the UK.

Smith said a decision will likely be made in January relative to a new name for the service, which should reflect the MavTV brand in some capacity.

XLeague.TV offers a comprehensive range of services to its members including leagues and tournaments, customizable user profiles, match scheduling and club and team creation. By competing on XLeague, gamers get the opportunity to be invited to the studio to play on TV.

www.xleague.tv, www.mavtv.com

Original story

Sorry about the title - I couldn’t resist it. So what is Kindo? Don’t scream now. Don’t close the browser, stay calm. It’s a kind of family tree site. There I’ve said it. Not too bad was it? But before you give me a list of all the other family tree sites, take a look. Kindo isn’t about finding your medeival ancestors - it’s about your family, the people that matter to you most right now and encouraging you to stay in touch.

The concept behind the site is that you build a family tree using some pretty snazzy online software. As you add a member, you can invite them via email to join the tree and add to it. Given that many families are now spread across the world, they offer 8 languages: English, Swedish, French, German, Spanish, italian, Polish and Afrikaans. i think this reflects the make-up of the management team but in any case could be handy.

Kindo is funded by the management team and a few Angel Investors, the names of which they would not tell me. No idea why , its not like I would tell anyone and its certainly not like they have anything to be embarrased by. After all its not a porn site making bucket loads of money.

So on the plus side the site looks and feels darn good. Its visually attractive and easy to use so should not put anyone off. The question is how will they make money? Answers on a postcard …

www.kindo.com

Yet another doomed social music sharing site. Yawn. Doomed to fail because:

1. It competes with a thousand others and is easily replicated.
2. It cannot differentiate itself.
3. It competes for an audience who for a $1 has no brand loyalty.

Still, ten out of ten for enthusiasm. Ezmo, a free online social music network, today announced ‘social search’ - allowing its community members to explore Ezmo’s entire music library to find like-minded music enthusiasts and their play lists.

www.ezmo.com

Full release .. [Read more]