Monthly Archives: June 2011

Apple unveils its magazine and newspaper Newsstand.

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iOS 5 is the next version of Apple’s operating system for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches. At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference on the 6th June 2011 they announced new features and functions that would become available in this forthcoming release.
Apple explained there are over 200 new features, they then went on to highlight and demonstrate some of the most important, including:

The notification center – changing intrusive push messages and SMS notifications into a subtle alert that doesn’t interrupt your workflow.
iMessage – Apple’s answer to BlackBerry Messenger, an iOS to iOS instant messenger application that lets you continue conversations as you move from device to device.
Reminders – A ‘to-do’ or tasks application, allowing you to set tasks and reminders. Most impressively, the app allows you to anchor them to certain GPS positions, (for example, a reminder to “buy milk” when you walk into your local supermarket).
Some of the other features included native Twitter integration, immediate camera access from the lock screen, a vastly improved Safari browser… but most importantly, the Apple Newsstand.

In the keynote presentation, they explained how magazine readers would be able to locate and purchase their newspaper and magazines from a central newsstand, see new issues from outside the app and have them save offline when they become available.

What they didn’t explain was how publishers can make this possible and how this new functionality can be enabled.

Shortly after the Keynote, they released the Beta version of iOS 5 to developers (at around 23:30 GMT) the staff at Stonewash DD&AG were immediately on the case to learn more about the newsstand to understand how our clients and other publishers might be able to take advantage of the new features made available by Apple.

WHAT IS THE NEWSSTAND?

The newsstand is a central place, where iOS users can access their magazines and newspapers. Unlike iBooks, where book publishers supply “.epub” or similar documents, Newsstand publishers will have to create an iOS application (or adapt their existing app). Think of it like a cross between the shelf seen in the iBooks application and applications folders on the home screen.

To make use of the new features, publishers must invoke the newly added “Newsstand Kit framework”. From what we have been able to understand, some simple settings will help an iPhone or iPad recognise that the app as a magazine or newspaper that belongs in the Newsstand. At this point, instead of placing an icon on the home screen (as other applications currently do) the application will be installed in the Newsstand, the cover of the latest edition will be used as the large-format icon, instead of the small, square icons we currently see in use.

“The outcome is that users will be able to access the latest copy of the magazine at their convenience and in most cases the issue will appear on your reader’s device, saved offline, without them having to action anything manually.”

Making your magazine function efficiently on the Newsstand will require your application and your web servers to interact with one another. When a new edition is available your server will need to send a push message to your reader’s device. This message lets their device know that there is a new issue available and instructs the application to begin downloading the files immediately, these new issue alerts are limited to one per day.

The outcome is that users will be able to access the latest copy of the magazine at their convenience and in most cases the issue will appear on your reader’s device, saved offline, without them having to action anything manually.

The latest cover will already be visible from the device’s home screen and the Newsstand “shelf”. A counter and update message will help notify the user that there is a new issue ready.

HOW CAN THIS HELP YOUR MAGAZINE?

There are a number of potential benefits for publishers who may or may not already be publishing their titles to the iOS platform.

Effects of the news from the WWDC conference (immediate) and the imminent release of iOS 5 this autumn include:

Peaked interest in iOS devices and the app store. Along side every Apple release we have seen a peak in application downloads. The ‘buzz’ and amount of media coverage that surrounds any new Apple product reminds current users all over the world to explore the app store, as well as generates a spike in users that are new to the iOS platform.
Peaked interest in newspapers and magazines on the iPad. The story of “Apple versus publishers” has been well covered and in a number of cases, totally misunderstood. This move by Apple will undoubtedly receive coverage from mainstream media, prompting users to search the App Store and the newly formed newsstand for “Magazines & Newspapers”.
Effects of the Newsstand once available on iOS devices include:

Although it has always been possible (and very simple) to notify users of new editions using Apple’s push messaging system, the newsstand allows users to see the latest cover directly from their home screen.
If a new issue is available to a user (for example, if their subscription is active or (we assume) if the issue is free) it is now possible to download this edition onto the user’s device without them having to action or agree to the download. When the user wants to read the new issue, it will already be saved to their device and won’t be subject to the 200-700mb download (and associated waiting time) that we are seeing in some magazines currently being released.
The “Newsstand Store” is dedicated to magazines and newspapers; publishers won’t be fighting for screen real estate against games, utilities and other applications. The increased visibility should increase the number of downloads.
IS THIS GOOD NEWS FOR PUBLISHERS?

We believe so. The fact that there are new functions and features in iOS 5 that are specifically designed to help make magazines and newspapers more functional, more attractive and easier to use show us that Apple have a genuine interest in making the iOS a useful platform for publishers.

Any apps previously released will continue to function in the same way as before, as far as we can see there are no negative changes or restrictions being put in place, just a suite of new features that benefit your applications.

HOW SOON SHOULD WE LOOK TO MAKE USE OF THESE NEW FEATURES?

As soon as possible, and for two main reasons.

Technology moves quickly, if you spent months and months deciding on whether you would like to make use of these new features, they may become outdated. Apple will undoubtedly continue to develop and improve their operating system and to avoid being behind the times you will need to move quickly.

Apple receives an unprecedented level of media exposure around product launches. iOS 5 – and the new iPhone that will almost certainly follow – will be no exception. A spike in traffic interest and activity in iOS applications has the ability to benefit your brand and its application.

We have worked with clients to help them launch applications and projects alongside the iPad, iPhone 4 and the iPad 2 and in all cases there was a noticeable spike in activity, downloads and revenue.

INTERESTING FACTS FROM THE KEYNOTE

There were some fascinating figures released by Apple in yesterday’s keynote speech. We have summarised them below:

Apple sold 25 million iPads in the first 14 months
Over 130 million books have been downloaded from the iBookstore
There are currently over 425,000 apps on the App Store
Over 90,000 of those apps have been specifically designed for the iPad
There have been over 14 billion app downloads from the App Store since it launched
Apple have paid over $2.5 billion dollars to app developers and publishers
Apple have over 225 million iTunes accounts, all with credit card information and 1-click purchasing enabled

Article from; www.stonewash.co
www.ddag.co.uk

Author Helen Croydon: 'All Relationships Are a Form of Prostitution'

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CAN’T BUY ME LOVE?

Bestselling author and journalist Helen Croydon has stirred controversy for claiming that all relationships are, in essence, a “form of prostitution”.

Croydon, a leading relationships commentator, says that behind every long-term relationship there is a quid pro quo arrangement that “needs to be satisfied” for a sexual partnership to work.

Prostitution, she argues, is only one extreme of a “sliding scale” of relationships, where the arrangement is based on the exchange of money for sex.

On the other end of the scale – marriage – the process of exchange-for-reward is still there, but money has been replaced with another currency, which the writer describes as “emotional capital”.

She is now calling for a “major re-evaluation” of relationships, pressing for a policy of “sexual honesty” that could, she claims, rid society of a harmful and repressive system of taboos.

She expressed her outspoken views in a column for The Erotic Review and interview with YouTube channel Joy TV about her critically-acclaimed book Sugar Daddy Diaries: When a Fantasy Became an Obsession, which hit the shelves earlier this year.

She said: “All relationships are an arrangement. There is no line between relationships and prostitution – they are all on a sliding scale.

“We all have – subconsciously or consciously – a goal in mind for a relationship. We give up a lot for a relationship in terms of time and freedoms and we wouldn’t do that unless it didn’t benefit us in some way.

“That something may be that we don’t want to be on our own. It may be that we want a child. It may be domestic practicality. There is no such thing as selfless romantic love.”

Croydon, a former ITN journalist, writes for UK national newspapers and women’s magazines, is a popular columnist for The Erotic Review and has appeared as a relationships commentator on several TV and radio shows, including Channel 5’s The Vanessa Show.

She hit the headlines in March this year following the serialisation of Sugar Daddy Diaries, a confessional memoir about her year-long exploration of cash-allowance based relationships.

Uninspired by naïve and needy guys her own age, Croydon joined dating site sugardaddie.com to seek out an older and more confident lover.

She was thrust into a world filled with Prada shopping trips, fine dining, first-class travel and fascinating, powerful men who desired the company of younger women without the usual strings attached.

Croydon freely admits that she accepted gifts from her online dates and says that though initially concerned by the morality of such relationships, she quickly came to see them as more straightforward, honest and psychologically healthy than ‘conventional’ romances.

She told the interviewer for YouTube channel Joy TV: “In the sugar daddy type relationships that I had, the man is saying ‘I don’t have the time or emotional ability to invest in you but I still like you, and I still want to keep continuity with you, so to compensate for what I can’t give emotionally, I will give in material rewards’.

“People invest emotional capital into their partner. It’s things like being on the end of the phone in the middle of the night when something goes wrong, or giving up your Saturday. In the case of a transactional cash-for-sex relationship you replace emotional capital for money.

“There is nothing wrong with admitting that there is a pragmatic motivation behind our relationship. Relationship psychologists site evidence that in most relationships there are practical motivations that drive it.”

Croydon adds that relationships are “far less likely” to fail if partners identified the key benefits from the outset.

The claims look set to draw a sharp response from members of the public, both for and against.

Married Helen Baxter, a housewife from Greenwich, London, said Croydon’s comments were “a step too far”.

The mum-of-two, 34, added: “Like a lot of women, I am married with children. This doesn’t mean I’m out for what I can get from my husband, or vice versa – it’s about love, plain and simple.”

Young professional Jenny Williams, 25, however, supported Croydon. She said: “It’s about time someone had the nerve to say what most men and women are secretly thinking. Love is a fluffy term meant to hide the truth that we are, at heart, selfish. That’s no bad thing – it’s human nature.”

Sugar Daddy Diaries: When a Fantasy Became an Obsession

Kate Middleton Hacked

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The Duchess of Cambridge has been named as one of the celebrities who have had their bank account and phone hacked by a tabloid.

Kate Middleton’s phone and bank account was hacked in 2005 by a private detective, Jonathan Rees. Rees was hired by the Mirror Group and the New of the World.

According to the Telegraph, the Duchess of Cambridge’s phone was tapped between 2005 and 2006 when she was Prince William’s girlfriend. Police sources told the Daily Mail “Kate Middleton appears to have been in a league of her own in terms of the amount of hacking attempts made on her mobile phone. She was routinely targeted dozens of times a day and on some occasions this figure would reach three figures.”

Tom Watson MP named Mr Rees’ yesterday in the House Of Commons and called for the Metropolitan police to delve deeper with their investigation into Mr Rees’ work as a private investigator.

Channel 4 Presenters Champion Current Affairs

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Channel 4 today announces a move to bring together the best of its journalism across the channel by involving the Channel 4 News presenting team in its flagship current and foreign affairs strands.

Whilst maintaining their presence on Channel 4 News, Jon Snow and Krishnan Guru-Murthy will join the highly-respected reporting line-up for Dispatches and Unreported World; going out into the field to report on the issues that matter most to them.

Channel 4’s Head of News & Current Affairs Dorothy Byrne, says: “Channel 4 News presenters are some of the best journalists in this country. They have never just sat in studios reading autocues – this new way of working will enable them to go out in Britain and across the world to investigate and highlight the stories which they really care about, holding those in power to account. This is part of our joined-up approach in maximising our heavyweight journalists across both our news and current affairs output. ”

Jon Snow will be more embedded into the Channel 4’s current affairs team, giving him the journalistic freedom to delve deeper and investigate issues that he is passionate about – such as human rights. As previously announced, Jon will present Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields (tx: Channel 4, Tuesday 14th June 2011 at 11.05pm) an investigation into the civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the secessionist rebels, the Tamil Tigers, featuring devastating new video evidence of war crimes.

Snow will also present a number of Dispatches a year beginning with Landlords From Hell (tx: Channel 4, Monday 4th July at 8pm) – an exposé of rent racketeers who exploit those who can’t afford to buy their own homes as well as those who live and work illegally in the UK.

Jon Snow says: “Dispatches is a jewel in the crown of Channel 4 and has unearthed some revelatory stories and provoked important debate. It’s great to be doing more of these programmes and really getting under the skin of issues like human rights, international affairs and housing issues at home and abroad. There’s such affinity between the News and the rest of the Current Affairs family – and this will just cement that bond. I can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Matt Frei is set to join Channel 4 News and the presenting line-up. As well as his core role of Washington Correspondent, he will also present the News throughout the year and take on a number of Dispatches programmes.

In the autumn Krishnan Guru-Murthy will take up an ambassador role at Unreported World – the UK’s longest-running foreign affairs series which reports from some of the most neglected and toughest places on the planet.

As well as presenting several Unreported Worlds a year, Krishnan will provide seamless links directly from Channel 4 News into the programme. He will also engage with his significant social media following to provoke discussion and debate the issues examined in the programme. This will take the form of live chats on Twitter and regular blogging.

Krishnan Guru Murthy says: “Unreported World consistently shines light on stories that are missed by the mainstream. It finds unheard voices, challenges dominant perspectives on the world and is an essential part of what Channel 4 is for. I look forward to joining the team and discussing the issues and films with our viewers. Now that Unreported World and Channel 4 News can be watched online around the world that is a truly exciting global conversation.”

Increasing the social media engagement with Dispatches and UW, viewers will also be able to suggest story ideas and comment on stories via the programme websites, Facebook pages, or directly with Jon and Krishnan via Twitter. Snowmail – Channel 4 News’ informal free evening news update – will include issues investigated by Dispatches and Unreported World.

Last month Channel 4 News announced that Cathy Newman will join Jon and Krishnan as the third regular presenter. It is expected that she will also present some Dispatches in due course.

Rise of Cyberchondria; NHS Launches Online Healthchecker

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Frost has noticed an upturn in the rise of cyberchondria, people across the UK are googling their aches and pains. Any smart person knows that googling you health problems will never help, the result you get is always death! The NHS has put together an online health checker which shows a more realistic solution to your problem.

MOT YOUR HEALTH ONLINE TODAY

Is my diet affecting my health? Am I drinking too much? Am I active enough? Getting personalised health information, whether to address specific concerns or just see how you are faring, can be tricky. But from today, it will be much easier to check how healthy you are using a free, revamped tool on the NHS Choices website.

The LifeCheck (www.nhs.uk/lifecheck) tool asks you a small number of questions about your age and lifestyle which generates an individual health profile, and health tips tailored to your specific needs. You’ll then be able to set achievable goals to improve your health and wellbeing, and get to relevant, reliable advice and information on the NHS website.

Designed for all ages from newborns to grandparents, the user-friendly tool now combines an upgraded and extended version of three existing tools Baby LifeCheck (5-8 months), Teen LifeCheck (12-15 years) and Mid-LifeCheck (over 40s).

Moma Your Muffin Top

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MOMA, The Breakfast Of Champions, Bids To Help Britain Banish The Muffin Top This Summer
Join The Breakfast Revolution!

MOMA, the breakfast pioneers, are on a mission to help the nation slim down for a scorching summer. Join the MOMA breakfast challenge and start the morning with a proper mouthful, which will keep you going until lunch.

MOMA knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It increases your metabolic rate, kicks your body into gear in the morning and tells it what to expect throughout the rest of the day.

Join MOMA’s Breakfast Revolution at its Station Booths where you can take the MOMA YOUR MUFFIN TOP challenge. There will be the chance to opt for a weekly weigh in and collect stamps on your loyalty card to mark your commitment starting from 14th June and you get a free MOMA at the end of the two weeks with a full loyalty card.

According to the British Dietetic Association “It has been shown that people who eat breakfast have more balanced diets than those who skip this meal, are less likely to be overweight, lose weight more successfully and have reduced risk of certain diseases”.

MOMA’s Oatie Breakfast is packed full of wholegrain jumbo Oats which produce slow-releasing energy to keep you full until lunch. MOMA mixes their oats with probiotic yogurt, to aid digestion, real fruit, to provide vitamins, and finally agave nectar that helps to sweeten it. This winning combination is low GI, low fat and each breakfast pot has under 330 calories – giving your muffin top a headstart on the road to recovery every morning. The MOMA Oatie Breakfast range includes Blueberry, Wild Berry and Strawberry & Banana

Mrs Doyle’s brew up change in Westminster at Tea Time for Change.

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Hundreds of people from across the UK are heading to Westminster to hit back at aid sceptics and urge their MPs not to abandon the world’s poorest people. The mass lobby of politicians, called TEA TIME FOR CHANGE will bring people face to face with their MPs to discuss international development over a cup of tea and ask the government to make the vital changes needed to end global poverty.

Secretary of State for International Development ANDREW MITCHELL, Shadow Secretary HARRIET HARMAN and over 130 other MPs have agreed to meet their constituents over a cup of tea and talk about tackling global poverty with people who care passionately about these issues. www.actionaid.org.uk/tea_time_for_change

ActionAid’s Head of Campaigns, Jenny Ricks, spokesperson for Tea Time for Change said: “Supporters of international development will be using Tea Time for Change to share a cup of tea with their MPs. They’ll be pushing for the changes needed to stop more than a billion people going to bed hungry each night, 1,400 women dying in pregnancy and child birth every day and 72 million children missing out on the chance to go to school.”

To join the event on Thursday June 9, go to www.teatimeforchange.org.uk

Hottest Cheerleaders, Jason Segel and Hayley Atwell {Film News}

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This month in Total Film’s ‘All American’ issue…

Captain America’s Hayley Atwell: “I had a bullet shell fired off my head” – Plus red, white and blue pictures, exclusive to Total Film!

When Total Film met Captain America’s leading lady Hayley Atwell to discuss playing English freedom fighter Peggy Carter, she admitted there were some shaky moments during filming.

“I had a bullet shell fired off my head when I stepped too close to [Red Skull sidekick] Richard Armitage’s gun, which was a bit dumb,” she grimaces.

Atwell also reveals how she was put through her paces with a gruelling training regime.

“Various types of detox, hard running, endless lunges… I threw up after the first day!”

The hard work certainly paid off though and Atwell proudly confesses that she performs all her own stunts in the film.

“In fact when [the stuntwoman] comes on I’m like, ‘I’m really sorry, but can you go away, otherwise it feels like a waste, all this training just to look good in a uniform!”.

Captain America: The First Avenger opens on 29 July.

“READ THE FULL STORY IN TOTAL FILM – OUT NOW” (9TH JULY)

Jason Segel: “I like talking to strangers” – Forgetting Sarah Marshall star talks about staying grounded in Hollywood

Speaking to Total Film on set of his latest self-penned movie Five-Year Engagement, Jason Segel confesses that he likes talking to strangers at random LA bars.

“I’m definitely a watcher, yeah. I do like to observe people when they’re drinking because that’s when they’re at their most honest.”

Segel explains that he thinks it’s important as a writer to experience normal life, brushing off suggestion that he’s a bit of a heartthrob; the ‘thinking woman’s crumpet’.

“I guess some people like the goofy guy! I don’t think of myself like that,” he says bashfully. “I’ve tried hard not to let my life change, if that makes sense. I just bop around, doing the same stuff I usually do. I go to the pub a lot and am still friends with friends from high school. More than anything, it’s really important as a writer, because if you stop experiencing normal life you really feel it in the scripts”.

Total Film’s top cheerleader crowned!

To celebrate all things American, Total Film have picked their favourite movie cheerleaders with American Beauty’s Angela Hayes (played by Mena Suvari) coming out on top of the cheer pyramid.

Other cheerleaders to feature in the top 10 were Megan Fox’s Jennifer Check in Jennifer’s Body and Bring It On’s Torrance Shipman played by Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actress, Kirsten Dunst.

The list in full:

Angela Hayes played by Mena Suvari

American Beauty (1999)

Kelly Van Ryan played by Denise Richards

Wild Things (1998)

Buffy Summers played by Kristy Swanson

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

Jennifer Check played by Megan Fox

Jennifer’s Body (2009)

Diane Weston played by Marley Shelton

Sugar & Spice (2001)

Torrance Shipman played by Kirsten Dunst

Bring It On (2000)

Max Fischer played by Jason Schwartzman

Rushmore (1998)

Lee Montgomery played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Death Proof (2007)

Edit Stall played by Maria Bello

A History of Violence (2005)

Granny voiced by June Foray

Space Jam (1996)