It’s less than five hours until the start of of the new year. I thought that it would be prudent to blog my predictions for 2008 before the end of the year, and here are my predictions:
Social Media
Seesmic will be huge.
Twitter will open up a lot of new, unprecedented opportunities for marketers.
Video Blogging will become a normal form of communication like IM conversations.
FaceBook will become a tedious fad.
Follow Up! will gain a huge following.
Technology
AlienPants Ltd, will innovate in existing and new markets.
Apple will release a new iPhone with 3G and video capabilities.
Apple will continue to innovate and increase its market share.
Google will lead the way with eco-friendly technology.
Microsoft’s Zune will fail in Europe, that’s if it ever launches over here.
Gaming
EA will acquire Ubisoft.
Haze will fail miserably.
Massive Entertainment will have great success with new IP and World in Conflict on the Xbox 360.
Microsoft will release a new Xbox 360 with a built in HD-DVD player.
Microsoft will release the actual amount of subscribers using Xbox Live.
Xbox Live will work without any problems.
Other
The North American Union (NAU), which comprises of Canada, Mexico and the United States will gain momentum.
Gareth Williams will grow a couple of inches.
Adam McCann will actually launch a product on time.
I’ll sell a billion copies of The Book of Games Volume Two - I wish but I’m actually aiming to sell over a million by the end of the decade.
I’ll be wasted by midnight.
I’m in a great mood and I’m feeling really upbeat about 2008. I’ve got a good feeling that 2008 will be an amazing year.
Anyhoo, I’ve got to get ready to go out, have a great New Year.
Here are my New Years resolutions for 2008:
- Give up smoking.
- Give up candy so I don’t end up looking like Jabba the Hut once I’ve given up smoking.
- Cut down on alcohol.
- Save more of my UK based income.
- Design, research and look into building my own home.
We’re going down to the River Thames to watch the firework display for New Years Eve, it should be fun. I just hope it doesn’t rain.
Happy New Year folks!
I haven’t recorded any videos on Seesmic yet but I do plan to start Videoblogging with this service in the very near future.
If everything goes to plan, I’ll review the product on my blog and I’ll try and nab an interview with the owner of the company – if you have any questions about Seesmic, please post them in the comments box below.
Its Christmas Eve and a time to be festive. We’re about to pop the corks on the champagne and have a merry time. As its Christmas Eve I thought I’d list some of my most memorable moments of the year.
January: Finished decorating my house, hosted an Xbox House Party and travelling to Nova Scotia.
February: Travelling to Malmo, Sweden to meet with Massive Entertainment.
March: Working with Vivendi Games as a community manager for World in Conflict.
April: Travelled to Oslo, Norway and travelling to Hamer to attended The Gathering.
May: Providing a platform for a gaming team to excel in the world of E-Sports.
June: Attending CentraLAN 16 and Dreamhack.
July: Having fun in Nottingham and switching to Apple Mac.
August: Attending i31 as I turned 31.
September: Upgraded to HD.
October: Attending VideoGamesLive and upgraded to OS X Leopard.
November: Visiting the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit with my mother, and going to New York for Christmas shopping.
December: Connecting with business leaders in Silicon Valley.
OK, no more monitor/screen burn. I won’t be spending the Christmas holiday online so there won’t be any blog updates until Thursday.
Time for champagne, have a great Christmas.
Microsoft launched the Video Marketplace on the UK’s version of Xbox Live earlier this month. The service was rolled out with a number of movies. You can buy rent movies in either Standard Definition (SD) or High Definition (HD) for a two week window. You have just 24hours to watch the media but you can watch it as much as you like within the 24hour window.
The cost of the movies is comparable to services provided by BlockBusters and LoveFilm but obviously you get a lot longer than twenty-four hours to watch the media. I’d be inclined to use the service if I could keep the media longer than 24hours because there is no way I’d be able to watch a film again and again on the same day.
It would be good if the service had TV shows instead of music videos. If the Video marketplace showcased TV shows like Battlestar Galactica then I’d be using the service.
Pro-G, re-branded as Videogamer.com a few months ago with a new website design. The sites design hasn’t changed much and looks similar to the previous design with a few new features such as a content slider at the top of the page, larger advertising spaces and that’s about it.
I remember a few conversations with the owners prior to the re-brand, and those conversations related to a number of ‘new features’ - they mentioned that they would have member blogs, new forums, community tournaments etc etc etc but none of that stuff seems to have come to fruition.
It looks like the new site was rushed and they seem to have overlooked one of the most important aspects of the site i.e. the community section. If you have a look at the screen capture below, you can see the forum section still has references to the old brand which is odd considering the re-branding:
If they had fully tested the site before launching it then they would have spotted and rectified any obvious mistakes.
Battlestar Galactica Razor was aired earlier this week on Sky One and it was certainly worth the wait. Battlestar Galactica was one of the topics Cro and I covered over lunch the other day. Cro seems to think Major Kendra Shaw is one of the final five. I wasn’t 100% sure but after watching Razor again, I think Cro might be right.
I thought the two hour special was great, it was pretty cool seeing the old model toasters (Cylons) in action. Did you watch Battlestar Galactica Razor? If you did, what did you think of it?
I really enjoyed it and I’ll be buying the DVD when it’s released on Boxing Day.
Last night I received a text message from QIK, informing me that I could download the application to my N95. I downloaded the app and was able to stream live media from my mobile instantly to the internet. The service works with your mobiles data plan and Wi-Fi networks.
QIK is an awesome application. I recorded a short video while I was playing Call of Duty 4, and here is a video that I’ve just recorded – I’m watching Dog: The Bounty Hunter.
I was due to fly to Vancouver, Canada at the beginning of December and I was going to stay there until February 2008 but alas my plans changed at the last minute. My trip was mainly delayed due to an interview at Microsoft.
I’m pretty much stuck in the UK until the New Year. I’ll be spending Christmas with my family at my London home.
