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It’s only been available for one weekend but already 1 million new iPhone’s have been sold. And, although the queues were not as long as those of the original release, figures show that despite this, the sales of iPhones were much quicker this time round (it took 74 days to sell the first 1 million original iPhones).

So, what a great start for the iPhone 3G. Especially considering that the new iPhone owners have already downloaded 10 million iPhone applications - which is even more impressive when you consider that there were only around 500 applications available at launch. These figures once again reinforce the belief that users don’t see the iPhone as just another phone - it is another whole platform.

What do you think of the iPhone 3G and the available apps? Let us know…

New research by the IPA has shown that almost a third of people between the age of 15 to 25 have watched TV via the internet. And around 18% of people aged between 25 and 64 (a very broad ‘old people’ category or what?!) had too.

The IPA Touchpoints report surveyed over 5,000 people and also looked at mobile behaviour. It was found that 30% of 15 to 24 year olds watch video clips on their phones, with 13% of all mobile users doing so.

Jim Marshall, chairman of the IPA Media Futures Group, said, ” the young are still driving the take-up and use of digital media and new technology, however, the older age groups are also moving steadily towards greater adoption.” Personally, I would have thought that more than a third of 15 to 25 year olds would have watched TV online, but I suppose if this statistic was expressed as a number than a percentage it would seem greater.

Just as an extra update - overall broadband penetration now stands at 73% of all UK adults, with internet usage at an average of 45 minutes on weekdays and just over an hour at weekends.

A collaboration of artists and scientists have created robots which have been designed to love punk music, and show their appreciation of it through dance.

One of the creators, Professor McOwan, from Queen Mary University, said he built the machines because of his fascination with human-computer interaction. They made their dance debut at a 3 day event called Neurotic at the ICA.

The robots use neural networks which are a collection of computer processors that function in a similar way to a simple animal brain. They are popular in the field of artificial intelligence because of their ability to recognise patterns from a sensory input such as visual or auditory information. McOwan said that “the robot brain, for want of a better word, was played lots of punk, reggae, disco and classical and over a period of time the robot has learned to recognise and appreciate the patterns of sound in punk music.” The neural network understands the music in a similar way to a human brain, breaking down the sound into a series of frequency bands.

So during Neurotic, when the robots listened to the live music, in very basic terms, they matched the patterns of the music against the statistics from other types of music they has listened to before. And, if it was punk music, they would rock out…

See the robots in action at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7489030.stm

Really, really clever stuff, but is it just me or does anyone else think they could have programmed the robots to do something useful? I mean, I know it’s all in the name of research and development etc, but dancing robots don’t really have much use to anyone do they? Nevertheless, it looks like we might see more of these clever robots soon…and maybe some useful ones.

Read the full article on the creation of the robots at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7487645.stm

TokBox, the web-based video chat tool is bringing video chat to Facebook via their TokBox Facebook application. TokBox’s current app is just like any other chat facility, but their new functionality takes them into a new league - enabling users to have a video chat within their Facebook chat.

TokBox’s web-based platform is a Flash-enabled browser plugin. It makes the video chat process really easy to use - there are not downloads or any difficult setups - as long as you have a working webcam or computer microphone, you are ready to go…

You just need to install the TokBox plugin for Facebook (which is only supported for Firefox at the moment). Underneath each of your friends’ names there will be a link which will give you the option to start a video chat with them. Then you just need to tell the app that you allow access to the webcam, and you’re off. As with all TokBox video chat conversations, you’ll see your screen on the left, and the screen of your friend on the right (so it will look like below…)

TokBox also allows you hold multiple video chats at once, with each chat in its own window (like standards chats).

Bored with Twitter? Fed up with Twinkle? Step it up a level and stream video direct from your mobile phone to the web using Qik!

The core idea is that you download a small application onto your phone, sign up to qik.com and then simply stream whatever you fancy direct to the Internet. Videos can be watched live or at a later date via qik.com.

To make it happen you’ll need a pretty modern phone though. Windows Mobile and iPhone support has just been added to Symbian OS, covering many modern handsets, but still leaving many needing an upgrade (like myself).  Qik also advise that you get yourself an unlimited data plan.  I imagine this is a wise step.  Qik is probably the sort of app that would ruin someone on pay-as-you-go fairly swiftly.

Right now it all seems pretty fresh.  The website looks sparkly and web 2.0 enough, but the videos seem to show people dipping their toes into the service.  There are lots of short clips of people videoing their computers / desks / the ceiling etc..!

The functionality is all there, however, and well layered. There isn’t that feeling of being overwhelmed that you sometimes get when confronted with just too much functionality. Most of this is through the clever use of tabs and a well laid out, crisp design.

It has all the syndication features you’d expect from a descent app. You can access user’s video feeds via RSS.  You can even make Qik update your Twitter feed every time you post a video!

Fresh from securing $3 million in funding, Qik seems to be securing it’s status as the market leader in live video streaming direct from mobile phones.  It will be interesting to see how the service grows and blossoms as it moves beyond the early-adopter phase.

PS: Benn can I have an iPhone please so I can play with Qik?

Occasionally, and I mean very occasionally, I put myself through the hell of a London Tube in summertime. This is an experience that I thoroughly recommend against. So whilst I have always maintained that there is a great business opportunity for deodorant and cool water vendors - most people squashed against me tend to be the sweatiest and smelliest on the carriage - I rarely take on any other advertising.

The other day at Piccadilly Circus though I saw a new installation being trialled. A projection display with changing advertising - that also cuts out 30 seconds before the train arrives.

Pretty nifty, eh? Yeah, it’s OK but without sound and animation it looks like one of those crap screensavers. And sure enough, with a bit of development, it will be pretty cool in the future - although we done a better digital installation project for Puma with their brand design agency GBH. But this is not the best tube ad.  That honour (or ‘honor’ for our American readers) is reserved for the station one-stop north on the Bakerloo line: Oxford Circus. I thought this was so great I actually got off the tube to take a photo to show the power of ‘negative space’.

In a world saturated with advertising, sometimes it’s nice to view the same environments ’sans-ads’. Just imagine these same blank sheet spreads with a simple red chocolate bar image, small and in the centre, with those three little words… ‘Take a break’. I’d buy a KitKat that instant - as long as the deodorant and cool water vendor had some in stock.

What do you think about a break from advertising every now and then? Or any other great ads (or technology) you have seen?

Part of the big overhaul coming to Facebook is going to see a wealth of new functionality. Some of this is already trickling through - you may have noticed the very basic chat function on there.

Now you can also have your music added to your message signatures so everyone can see what you are listening too - and even click through to listen themselves. It’s a nice interaction with FoxyTunes - which is one of the best Firefox extensions ever. Not tested if it ties in with Last FM. I love it when technology starts to ‘connect the dots’ like this as it enriches dialog between consumers and makes a richer environment for digital marketing at large.

- Loving the tune? Facebook message with song signature

While on the subject of Firefox, why not help them set a new world record for most software downloads in a day. At the time of writing this, there are still 11 hours to go and currently the UK is third in the world, just behind Canada and way off the US (of course). Interestingly, the UK has delivered more downloads than Russia, Brazil and China!

- Firefox download day world record attempt

Firefox’s true aim is to step up from number two to number one in the browser market, but their current 10-15% of market share is dwarfed by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer at 80-85%. Slowly people are seeing the light and making the switch but Microsoft’s monopoly deal with PC manufacturers means that a huge percentage of users still us the browser that came with their PC. Which sucks for us digital marketing people as Internet Explorer, particularly IE7 is a pile of horse sh*t and requires additional resources to deliver the same display as Firefox.

We have just delivered a customised version of our new ChatBox application for Sony Ericsson, which enabled their Head of Region CEEMEA and over 400 employees across 104 countries to hold a 60 minute live chat session over the internet and mobile phones.

The chat session had a high engagement rate with Sony Ericsson’s key staff and we delivered a transcript of the entire chat session to Sony Ericsson’s PR agency Brando, for internal PR use.

ChatBox is our unique online ‘chat’ platform which enables brands to hold live, interactive and moderated chats with their employees, consumers or anyone they want to talk to! To request information on ChatBox or find out what ChatBox can do for your brand, contact Benn or Laura.

Microsoft have developed a new technology that can rapidly extract forensic data from laptops, phones, cameras and other electronical devices. Great for helping border control agents in identifying incriminating material - and hopefully preventing the need for them and other law enforcement agencies to seize innocent computers!

The technology is called COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor), and is software built into a USB drive.  Although it’s only just coming to light, it has been in use since last June, having been distributed to 350 different law enforcement agencies. Microsoft have said that they developed the device after an attack of conscience, and not as a way of making even more money.

For more details on how it works, visit http://mashable.com/2008/04/29/microsoft-cofe/

A great article over at Venture Beat talking about Adobe’s plans to develop an Open Standards Flash Player for use across all digital media channels. This is a great development as by dropping certain license fees it ensures greater take up, which makes it easier to deliver brand experiences coherently across media channels. Shame there is still no news of a decent Flash player on the iPhone but I guess we can live in hope.

“Just in case you think Adobe’s Flash Player (which powers YouTube and an enormous number of other sites) isn’t ubiquitous enough, Adobe is pushing for even greater adoption from developers and designers. Through an initiative the company is calling the Open Screen Project, Adobe will lift a number of restrictions on Flash in the hopes creating even greater usage, especially on web-enabled devices.”

Read the full article here.