Five interesting stories: BBC Trust review of BBC Online and BBC Red Button

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Have your say on the service review of BBC Online and BBC Red Button at the BBC Trust's website

It's been a while since the last round up on the blog, but some things are too important not to bring to your attention:

1. BBC Trust service review: BBC Online and BBC Red Button

The BBC Trust has launched a public consultation as part of its' review of BBC Online and BBC Red Button.

There's a "commentary" written by Suzanna Taverne the trustee who is steering the review. Quote:

"How, for instance, can BBC Online News best serve audiences in the age of Twitter? How can BBC Online help connect audiences around its best drama or factual programmes? What creative or editorial opportunities does the BBC's presence on a range of screens offer journalists or programme makers?"

BBC News also has the story. The consultation runs until 23rd January next year and you can send your response through the BBC Trust's website.

For those who like to wander down memory lane, here's two round ups of reaction to the last review way back in 2008, one curated by Jem Stone, the other by me.

2. BBC News: responsive design on mobiles

Steve Herrmann explains some updates to BBC News mobile site on the Editors blog. The sites were built using "responsive design". Steve also responds to some comments:

"Jesse Moore - HTC: We know there are some devices that are incorrectly classified by our systems, often due to the fact that some devices have different identifiers dependent on the mobile network they are on. In any case we will certainly be doing everything we can to correct errors and ensure the redirection behaves as it should. In the meantime, please use the "Mobile Site" link at the foot of the page should you wish to use the mobile site - the selection will be remembered as long as cookies are not cleared. At this time the redirect only applies to the BBC Homepage and the News site."

EConsultancy has an in depth look at the new site:

"The video content looks great, but it does take a while to load using 3G. Also, you have to click the play button twice - once to load the content and once to start the video - which is a bit of a pain as it isn't made obvious."

3. Media Player Updates for Android

Both Techwatch and Geeky Gadgets report some updates to the BBC Media Player for Android phones.

Chris Yanda's blog post about the Media Player is still open for your comments.

4. Research and Development: Invisibility Cloak!

Over on the BBC R&D blog Rosie Campell tells of her visit to Teen Tech Coventry:

"As always, our 'invisibility cloak' was an instant hit. With gradual prompting, most students were able to piece together how it worked - combining their knowledge of blue/green screens with the fact that the camera was surrounded by blue LEDs and the fact that there was something special about the cloak material - it is retroreflective cloth."

Rosie incidentally is one of the BBC Future Media ambassadors.

5. Goodbye Ceefax

Ceefax has been switched off.

Gizmag is among those saying goodbye:

"The passing of Ceefax is also the passing of an age when being able to see headlines of breaking stories and getting the weather forecast on demand was like something out of the future. We now live in a world where the latest information on anything from world events to showbiz trivia is no further away than a smartphone..."

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Goodbye Ceefax

Nick Reynolds is Public Accountability Executive, BBC Online