News and Events - October 2001
Mon 29th Oct, 2001
Big pictures
Narrowband doesn't mean small pictures. Judge for yourself.
Fri 26th Oct, 2001
Codec viewpoint from Streaming Media Europe 2001
Last year the show's emphasis was on MPEG video over broadband - MPEG is used in television at 2.5Mbit/s. Since then, broadband has borne the brunt of the carnage in the telecoms sector. An article reflecting the mood of the time stated "[For MPEG4] the speed of 64kbit/s is the lowest possible rate for video communication, representing 10 to 15 frames/s for a resolution of 176x144 pixels". The same figures were quoted this year - too high for narrowband services such as modems and 2.5G mobile telecoms which will dominate the market for the foreseeable future. Forbidden Technologies provides video solutions over these narrowband links with large pictures (376x280 pixels) and high frame rates (25 frames/s).
Thu 25th Oct, 2001
Windows XP launch
Today Microsoft launched Windows XP, as reported on CNN. For a European perspective on this, see The Register. Whilst Windows XP does not necessarily come with Java preinstalled, major OEMs that we have spoken to intend to ship Java as standard. If you happen to have a version without Java preinstalled then Microsoft have kindly provided an automatic upgrade when you first visit any Java enabled site, as follows: one, two, three.
Tue 23rd Oct, 2001
Subtitle option added
As part of our ongoing product development, we have added a subtitle option. Our latest video demonstrates this feature, which allows our technology to address an international market.
Fri 19th Oct, 2001
Mobile Internet articles
The FT reports that, despite the French government cutting its 3G licence fee from €4.95bn to €619m earlier this week, in the UK the National Audit Office says that the £22.5bn raised from the operators should not damage the industry. For the enthusiastic, The Economist has published an interesting survey of mobile internet. While it's not possible to summarise an entire survey in one quote, this caught our eye: "Why mobile is different - For a start, people are used to paying for it".
Thu 18th Oct, 2001
Streaming Media Europe 2001 update
Stephen Streater, Chief Executive, has been invited to speak at the Streaming Media Europe 2001 session on "Techniques for Recording and Pre-Production of Streaming Content". Our guidelines for shooting Internet video are illustrated on our website. This session is in addition to the that previously reported on "Encoding (in depth): Encoding Techniques; Codecs and Architectures".
Wed 17th Oct, 2001
Bloomberg Television interview
Forbidden's Chief Executive, Stephen Streater, will be interviewed on Bloomberg Television this afternoon at 3.30pm.
Tue 16th Oct, 2001
Streaming Media Europe 2001
Forbidden's Chief Executive, Stephen Streater, will be a speaker at the Streaming Media Europe 2001 session on "Encoding (in depth): Encoding Techniques; Codecs and Architectures". Forbidden Technologies develops its own codecs, the first version which is demonstrated here and supports high resolution (376x280), high framerate (25fps) and Java playback (without the need to install a plug-in) over existing narrowband links (such as modems and 2.5G telecoms). During the session, Stephen will provide an insight into current and future codec developments.
Fri 12th Oct, 2001
Article following Frankfurt book fair
Jemma George, at citywire.co.uk reports on reactions to our recent demonstrations at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Thu 11th Oct, 2001
Posting of Interim Results
Our Interim Results for the six months ended 30th June 2001 have been printed and are now being sent to registered shareholders.
Wed 10th Oct, 2001
Microsoft adopts ARM platform
According to today's Electronics Weekly, "Microsoft has delivered a massive boost to ARM's ambitions in the mobile computing market...". As announced in our Chairman's statement, Forbidden is already working on a native ARM version of our codec and so will be well placed to move to this new platform if we choose to.
Tue 9th Oct, 2001
Microsoft antitrust investigation
Mario Monti, Competition Commissioner for the European Union (EU), is aware of Forbidden Technologies' interest in the EU's antitrust investigation of Microsoft. Recent correspondence from the European Commission directs interested parties to their press release. Following an extensive investigation, the Commission alleges that Microsoft is illegally tying Media Player with its dominant Windows operating system. Mario Monti stated "The Commission also wants to see undistorted competition in the market for media players. These products will not only revolutionise the way people listen to music or watch videos but will also play an important role with a view to making Internet content and electronic commerce more attractive. The Commission is determined to ensure that the Internet remains a competitive marketplace to the benefit of innovation and consumers alike."
Mon 8th Oct, 2001
Frankfurt book fair
Greg Hirst, our Business Development Director, will be at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. If you are at the book fair and are interested in talking to him, then please email him on sales@forbidden.co.uk.
Fri 5th Oct, 2001
Recent news
Atlantic Telecom, a broadband supplier to small and medium sized businesses in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands is reported by Reuters to have called in administrators after talks on selling the company or restructuring its debt had failed. Forbidden Technologies' solutions do not require broadband.
Thu 4th Oct, 2001
Enterprise Investment Scheme
Our Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) forms have arrived from the Inland Revenue and will be sent to qualifying shareholders from our flotation shortly.
Tue 2nd Oct, 2001
Press comment on broadband and 3G
In the FT, Richard Waters writes "The news late on Friday that Excite had filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the country's bankruptcy code effectively ends hopes for an independent consumer broadband sector in the US". As our recent Chairman's statement shows, video over the Internet is not dependent on broadband. There was also an interesting interview in yesterday's FT with Keiji Tachikawa, President of NTT DoCoMo about their 3G launch.
Mon 1st Oct, 2001
Video compression upgrade
Today's 8% upgrade to the compression rate of our recent Chairman's statement is the latest in a line of improvements to our Mark 1 codec. It brings the video and audio combined to below even the ancient 28.8 kbps modem standard. This allows ample room for the slideshow, making a total of 30 kbps. Our original target of enabling talking heads videos over 56 kbps modems has now been achieved.
