Nokia & Tim Kring/Heroes partner on ‘Code named TEVA’ | is this part of Conspiracy for Good?

Ovi Store update – new partners, Heroes and project ‘Code named TEVA’

By Mike on 01 April 2009

SAN FRANCISCO, USA – Nokia has signed a deal with sci-fi sage and the creator of Heroes, Tim Kring, to launch his latest project ‘Code named TEVA’ via Nokia’s Ovi Store this summer. As you’d expect from the man behind the twist-laden TV show, many details on the content are being kept firmly under lock and key. Yet we do have some fascinating first info to divulge (including the ‘Code named TEVA’ logo – pictured), plus more details on new partners joining the Ovi Store fold, ready for when its doors officially swing open in early May. Read on to find our more.

What we do know is that Tim Kring’s upcoming project ‘Code named TEVA’ is being dubbed a ‘multi platform narrative’, and promises to deliver an innovative new strain of mobile entertainment – you’ll be able to engage with the action both individually and as a group. Stretching the intrigue even further, project ‘Code named TEVA’ will debut on the Ovi Store when the first phase of the concept goes live this summer, rolling out regionally, and will then evolve by curiously stretching its tendrils to other mediums.

It’s interesting to hear Tim Kring’s thinking on this new partnership with Nokia through the Ovi Store:

“The ability to extend storytelling past traditional audiences and reach millions of Nokia consumers through the Ovi Store is very exciting. Mobile has reached a state of maturity where it is now a creative platform to tell, share and consume multi platform content and I intend to take full advantage of the infinite possiblities using technology and narrative.”

Alongside news of Heroes creator, Tim Kring, debuting his project ‘Code named TEVA’ on the Ovi Store, Nokia has ushered in yet more partners to the Ovi Store. Following word at Mobile World Congress (MWC) of brands including EA, Facebook, Fox Mobile, Glu, MySpace and Qik all signing up to Ovi Store, Nokia has today unveiled a new bunch of top content providers such as The Associated Press, Netflix, Paramount Pictures and Shazam.

As ever, please let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Micropayment-Enabling Dynamo Player Gets Beta Version Going-hosts pay per view films

Created by former Political Lunch producers Rob Millis and Will Coghlin, Dynamo allows users to set their own prices (from $0.99 to $11.99) and length of access period (from six hours to seven days) for their content. The service has an upfront 70/30 revenue-sharing ratio that gives its users the vast majority of the fee paid, and the videos are also embeddable, allowing Dynamo users to distribute their content widely.

BBC iPlayer adds Twitter and Facebook to socialise TV

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The BBC’s video on demand service, iPlayer is introducing social networking features which should further boost the uptale of Twitter and Facebook in the UK – as if they needed any boosting. The new iPlayer Beta is set to go live officially at the end of June.

Twitter, Facebook and Windows Live Messenger will be linked to a user’s “BBC ID” which they get when they register on BBC.co.uk. Users will be able to share what they’re watching over social networks (queue lots of “Watching Britains Got Talent” updates) while Windows Messenger will show in real-time how many minutes a user is in to a program on iPlayer and allow them to sync viewing with friends and chat about the show in realtime. The features will also work for BBC radio stations.

Quite why the BBC went for Messenger is so far unexplained. It does have a lage UK uptake. But it’s worth noting that tech supremo Eric Huggers is an ex-Microsoft executive.

iPlayer will also now have customisable modules which can be moved around by the user, similar to Google’s iGoogle page. A new recommendation system will suggesting programs based on viewing habits, Tivo-like and will even suggest content from rival channels like ITV Player, 4OD, Clic, SeeSaw and Demand Five. No Sky as yet, who are considering their options.

UPDATE: It appears that iPlayer sucks in your whole social graph on Twitter without giving you much options.

New York City – Pictory - archiving your pics

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“The best city in the world.”

I’ll admit it — I’ve rolled my eyes in reaction to New Yorkers implying, or sometimes just directly stating, their city’s superiority over mine. But I think I was missing the point: Bravado is part of the package with this first class city.

New York encourages superlative work in nearly every medium. Bagel and pizza eaters say there’s something in the water, scientists theorize that Manhattan would have been the best national park in the country, and Pictory contributor Carla Drago suggested that the city’s strict grid is a component of its creative success. Surely a little confidence doesn’t hurt either.

This lucky thirteenth showcase, published on the six month anniversary of Pictory’s launch, seems an occasion to celebrate the concept of showing off. I’m proud to have NYC designer Nicholas Felton of Feltron Annual Report fame as my guest designer, and Josh Haner of the New York Times Lens Blog as my guest curator. But at the end of the day, the submissions — the beautiful, authentic, sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heart-stopping photo stories I’ve received from Pictory members over the last six months — are truly humbling.