Either way, you may find this development interesting, it’s been brought to you by MSN and put together by Silverlight specialists Shoothill. It shows the Big Brother eye and you can deep zoom into it to see pictures of the houses and housemates over the ten year run of the show.

“Silverlight technology is ideal for showcasing things like Big Brother, as it allows us to display a large amount of content in a compelling and interactive way,” said Shoothill’s Marketing Manager, Lara Page.

Go take a look now at MSN Big Brother Deep Zoom.

Keeping A Close Eye On Big Brother is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

The discussion was reflecting on the state of the British game developer industry – in particular the scope for the small developer. As a small developer there is no doubt that online casual gaming poses an opportunity for the struggling independent small developer in what is becoming an increasingly crowded market place. Add to this the viability of application market places in mobile areas such as the iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile, and WebOS and the opportunities only increase.

As a small independent developer I know only too well there are no get rick quick schemes here as the rewards versus effort are often small – often bolstered by advertising or sponsorship deals. But, innovative games can still stand out from the crowd and it is good to see the British game developer industry recognising the potential for the small independent developer.

• You can see the video of Charles Cecil at the NESTA web page “Raise the Game”.
• Learn more about the “Raise the Game” program at Raise the game.
• Read the BBC Article at British games: Small is beautiful?

Supporting the independent game developer is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

Device Profile, SDK Available for Download May 30

DIGITAL HOLLYWOOD SPRING, SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 4, 2009 – Syabas, a leading provider of over-the-top (OTT) settop software and hardware and makers of the award-winning Popcorn Hour, today announced the company is accepting applications for a new software development kit (SDK) and OTT settop device profile that incorporates the ability to develop and deploy applications to the company’s app store portal. Demonstrating their Rich Objects Based Interactive Graphics (ROBIG) and development platform that builds on the tradition of the Media Service Portal API’s that developers have used successfully to date, the SDK, device profile and updated application store will enable developers to create compelling high definition interactive applications and content. The applications and content may then be given away or sold on the Popcorn Hour Media Service Portal that will release later this year. Syabas is accepting a limited number of applications starting today and will contact selected individuals prior to the SDK’s official release on May 30. Developers can sign up for the program at http://www.thedavidbox.com.

“By continuing to open our platform to third party developers, and—now with the introduction of the additional ROBIG API’s—we expect to see the growth in a variety of compelling user-generated applications that will ultimately draw new end users to the Popcorn Hour platform,”  said Syabas’ COO, Alex Limberis.

PhotoBento (www.photobento.com) is the first outside company to announce support for the David Box Development Kit and Framework. PhotoBento enables users to quickly and easily upload and share high-resolution, full screen slideshows with friends and family. The PhotoBento application will be demonstrated at Syabas’ Popcorn Hour booth (# 6) at Digital Hollywood. Syabas will also be demonstrating YouTube and other applications the company developed using the ROBIG API’s on the David Box Development Kit and Framework.

The Popcorn Hour is the World’s first open platform networked entertainment device to stream digital content from the Internet or its internal hard drive to your HDTV and home stereo. Unlike competing Internet settop boxes that support a limited number of Internet audio and video file types, the Popcorn Hour supports more than 30 formats, including MPEG 1, 2, 4, AVI, Xvid and H.264. The new David Box developer platform will be available to selected developers shortly after the release of the SDK.

About Syabas
Syabas, headquartered in Fremont, California and with facilities in China and Malaysia, is a leading software developer for inexpensive wired/wireless digital home entertainment products. Syabas products enable users to access content such as high- and standard-definition video, music, photos and services, such as YouTube, Veoh, Vuze and DLTV, over a local network and the Internet.

Syabas Announces the “David Box” is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology

If so, Level Up 2009 could be right up your street.

Level Up 2009, Intel® Visual Adrenaline Game Demo Challenge, is a competition running world wide for professional, aspiring and student game developers. The competition opened for registration on March 23, 2009.

A number of prizes are on offer including a high end gaming desktop, game developer software package including Adobe* Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, Autodesk* Maya Complete 2009, and Cakewalk* SONAR 8 Producer. Many other prizes are available.

There are three categories for entry: Best Threaded Game, Best Game-On-the-Go, Best Game Optimized for Intel® Graphics. Closing date for entry is July 1, 2009.

You can read more about the competition on the Intel website.

You can also check out the competition terms and conditions.

Are You Ready To Level Up 2009 ? is a post from: eggnchips.com - cracking good technology