Ping

I watched a live stream of the apple conference last night and was fully expecting, as was the rest of the tech world, the updates to the ipod range and apple tv. What I was not expecting was Ping, Apple's own music social media platform. I have read plenty of reviews and so far, the response has been pretty underwhelming but will pass judgement once I have had the chance to have a play.

In terms of what this means for the other social media platforms such as MySpace, Last.fm and Spotify, it's pretty big. These other services are often used in conjunction with iTunes and Apple have surprised everyone by taking on this market. I use last.fm to track what I am listening to and to also see what my friends are listening to. The ability to do this within iTunes is certainly an interesting proposition and I cannot wait to try it out!

The Wilderness Down Town

Wow.

That was the only thing going through my mind as I watched this sensational new music video by Arcade Fire. You really have to watch it for yourself to truly appreciate how spectacular the whole experience is. I know I sound like I am gushing but it simply has to be watched here.

The video was created in partnership with Google and is part of the Chrome Experiments project. This aims to showcase the latest browser based experiments using open standards such as HTML5, Canvas and SVG.

The user watching the video actually becomes part of the story after entering in their childhood address. Google maps and Street View is then used as part of the story and you can see where you once lived and this evolves through the video as trees grow and birds fly across the screen. The various tools used are explained here.

This video is a fantastic use of new and emerging technology and has created a truly engaging experience for the user. You feel like a part of the video and contribute through your address and then writing a message to the younger you. There are additional features to increase its reach such as sharing your video and sending your postcard "downtown." Explained on the website, this means it could end up as part of the visuals for the next Arcade Fire tour or be sent to another user.

This really is a game changer in terms of music videos and expect to see a lot more like this in the future!