Chatroulette, MediaCityUK, Kinect: Nicol's picks for 2011
In his final piece today, guest editor Rob Nicol looks forward to 2011 and highlights some stories that he expects to develop over the next 12 months, including the opening of MediaCityUK.
You might have gathered from my introduction that in 2011 sharing is going to become ever more prevalent. In a recent piece PHD Global compiled it revealed some staggering facts about sharing; 3,087images are uploaded each minute on Flickr, 30million consumer reviews of hotels can be found on Tripadvisor.com, 20hours of video uploaded to YouTube each minute and $30million spent on virtual gifts this past holiday season in the US. Sharing is the new giving.
In the world of gaming, Kinect has been selling at a breakneck pace, with 2.5 million sensors sold within its first 25 days on the market. This means that UK consumers have been purchasing the Kinect twice as quickly as the iPad (which hit the 2 million mark two months after its release). Kinect’s creators Microsoft have no choice but to share with hackers already developing a whole range of applications for the device since it launched. 2011 will be another major leap forward into the mainstream for both gaming, the battle between the consoles and the potential that this type of connectivity will release.
2011 not only sees the beginning of several BBC departments, Radio Five Live, Children’s and Sport move to MediaCityUK but I for one am also really excited by the news that ITV will be taking spacwe and sharing the studios. As the region's biggest producer of original content, it’s another powerful event in the young life of MediaCityUK that, we hope, will further enhance the Northwest’s creative standing on a national and global scale.
Can I have Chatroulette finally becoming truly mainstream - a true ‘sharing’ pioneer!