The Evo 4G LTE Android phone for Sprint finally cleared customs and became available in stores over the weekend. The HTC phone was meant to begin sales in the U.S. on May 18, but was stopped at customs due to patent disputes with Apple.
“The Evo 4G LTE is the successor to the incredibly popular Evo 4G, which was one of Sprint’s best-selling phones ever,” reports VentureBeat.
“The 4G LTE model ups the ante on its predecessor by running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and featuring a 4.7-inch LCD display, a 1.5-GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, and an 8-megapixel camera with HTC’s powerful ImageSense technology,” details the post.
The new phone runs on Sprint’s 4G LTE network, but unfortunately the network will not be operational until later this year. Until then, users must use Sprint’s 3G network.
According to Sprint, the 4G LTE network will initially be available in at least six major cities with coverage for 100 million Americans, to be followed by additional rollouts.
Shazam’s 200 million users tag 7 million songs per day, and the UK music discovery app now uses this data to predict what songs will become hits before they crack the charts.
Will Mills, Shazam’s director of music and content, explains how Shazam “can already see in advance which songs will be big, because their tagging pattern is quite peculiar. We can notice unusual behavior around a specific track — thousands of people thinking: ‘Wow, what the hell is this?’ and using Shazam to find out the answer. This usually starts weeks or even months ahead of the trend.”
The start-up has proven itself in the past by accurately predicting the success of artists such as Lana del Rey and Jessie J prior to going mainstream. “In fact, up to 85 percent of the songs that get to number one in Shazam’s charts go on to break into national top 10 charts, as well,” Mills adds.
Shazam has also proven valuable due to its ability to convert tags into purchases. Mills notes: “[checking out a song on Shazam] has a big impact on engagement. This is true of sales, with no less than 8 percent of our users going on to buy that song they have checked — but it also translates into other actions, such as checking when that band will go on tour and buying tickets.”
Ed Catmull, president of Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation studios, spoke at D10 last week. He discussed animation’s history, its current state, and what is yet to come.
Catmull notes that as technology advances, animators should use the technology to enhance stories, not to be the story. He says that “much of the technological push is to allow for new types of imagery to come into the screen to stimulate the creative process.”
“I think there should always be a next level,” said Catmull in response to a question suggesting that perhaps animation will reach a point where it cannot advance further.
Regarding future plans for Pixar and Disney, Catmull noted that “we never predicted the future, we just had our framework and our set of problems.” He says that where innovation begins is usually not where it ends up, and that his teams of innovators are working to make the next great look in animation, but he does not know where or what that will be.
Catmull admits that one of the most difficult challenges in recent years is that “the business model for filmmaking is changing.” While animation has not struggled as much as live action films due to its broad scope of viewership, Catmull says it is still a problem that haunts decisions due to constrained costs.
Check out a video of the full interview from the D10 stage on AllThingsD: “Catmull shares other words of wisdom on the art of melding technology and storytelling; the difficulties of running a hits-based business; and the thought process behind deciding when they produce a sequel.”
Walt Mossberg criticized Web advertising in a conversation with Google’s Susan Wojcicki and Sundar Pinchi at D10 yesterday.
Wojcicki, SVP of ads for the tech giant, explained that although Web advertisements deserve some criticism, Google effectively “seems to serve the right ads when people want them.”
“One of the things that really matters is the moment,” she said. “Ad information, and targeting to serve the right ad at right time, makes a difference.”
“From that moment, Google’s machine-learning smart ad systems — known internally as ‘Smartass,’ says Wojcicki — kick in, playing a key part in the system’s success at showing the most relevant ads, featured in the most prominent positions,” explains AllThingsD.
Google made $8.1 billion last quarter, most of which came from advertising.
Skype CEO Tony Bates spoke at D10 yesterday and discussed Skype’s $8.5 billion merger with Microsoft as well as the company’s hopes for the future.
He notes that Skype and Microsoft are working together to integrate Skype into Microsoft’s Kinect software. “I can’t talk about anything in the future,” Bates said, but did acknowledge something is in the works.
Bates also discussed Skype’s integration with Facebook, saying “when we talked to Facebook we share a lot of things, I think, in common about communications and sharing experiences.” He describes Skype’s Facebook integration as “a great match.”
Bates notes that smartphones are the fastest growing segment of Skype users, topping tablets and PCs.
“One thing he said won’t change is that he’ll still have the opportunity to build the service on non-Microsoft products, such as Android and iOS,” reports AllThingsD. “But he was clear about what he wasn’t open to — creating it so users could access Skype with people using different video-calling services.”
Ari Emanuel, co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor, spoke to an audience at the D10 conference about the importance of Google and other Silicon Valley tech companies helping Hollywood figure out a way to deal with online piracy.
“We need Northern California to figure out how to keep our intellectual property from being stolen,” he said.
Emanuel opposes the notion that TV viewers should have to pay only for what they want: “From subs to advertising, that’s $100 million into Hollywood. If we go a la carte, that drops to $40 million.”
He believes that “television business’s economics are better than it’s ever been” and shrugs off the idea that users will stop paying for content in what analysts describe as either “cord-cutting” or “cord-never.”
“I think when people get to a certain age, they pay,” he said. “Somebody’s got to pay for this, or you’re not going to get premium content, and I think that’s more valuable than ‘two dogs doing whatever they’re doing on a couch.'”
When discussing Google’s role in increased piracy on the Internet Emanuel notes that he does not want Google to censor search results, but thinks the company can do more to decrease piracy. He likens potential restrictions to pornography: “Look, Google can filter and does filter for child pornography. They do that already. So stealing is a bad thing, and child pornography is a bad thing.”
A new study from Tremor Video and Frank N. Magid Associates shows that customers watch 52 percent of smartphone videos from their homes, suggesting that smartphones are no longer used only to view short-form video on-the-go.
“In essence, we’ve discovered that the device doesn’t matter,” says Mike Vorhaus, president of Magid Advisors.
“According to the study, long-form video now accounts for nearly 40 percent of smartphone video viewing every week,” reports The Next Web. “Peak viewing hours between 5 and 11 pm also indicate that users are now using their mobile as they would use a TV.”
This trend suggests users may be using their smartphones in the same way many people use tablets — for second screen viewing while watching television.
According to the report, second screen viewing may actually go down in the future. This is not because tablet or smartphone use will decline, but because “8 percent of current mobile/connected TV viewers plan to cancel their pay TV service in the next year, and another 23 percent are seriously considering cancelling,” notes TNW.
“It’s important for video producers — whether online or on traditional TV — to look at new devices not as competition, but as new opportunities to engage viewers beyond current content and advertising offerings,” suggests Doron Wesly, Tremor Video’s head of market strategy.
Yahoo has introduced an open source platform that allows users to interact with Yahoo’s Connected TV using apps.
The goal of the platform is to hopefully spark development of new second screen experiences.
“To demonstrate the new platform, Yahoo launched a companion mobile app that lets you navigate Yahoo’s Connected TV apps from your Android phone using touch and gestures,” reports Lost Remote. “Much better than arrowing up/down/around with your remote control.”
Google TV also has second screen capabilities, and will be compatible with a new line of LG televisions to be released within the next month.
“All this adds up to the other challenge of connected TV apps: convincing developers that there’s enough scale to justify building them on these different platforms in the first place,” suggests Lost Remote. “Android may help even the field — and all eyes are on Apple — but in the meantime, we’ll look for innovative examples of second screen apps that tie to connected TVs.”
Sidecar is a new app that integrates messaging, real-time video, photo, location, and contact sharing to phone conversations.
“It achieves this through an intuitive and polished user interface plus a handful of standards such as SIP and XMPP,” reports Engadget. “Phone calls between Sidecar users are free anywhere in the world — the app even supports free Wi-Fi calling to any number in the U.S. or Canada.”
The free app has been in beta testing on Andoid devices for several weeks, but is now available for iOS on both the iPhone and iPod touch.
“We’ve been using the app on and off for a few days on several handsets, including a Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ and an iPhone 4S and it works exactly as described,” notes Engadget.
“There has been tremendous innovation in smartphones in every area except the basic phone call,” said Rob Glaser, chairman and co-founder of Sidecar. “Over 800 million people around the world have smartphones; the time is right to re-imagine what a phone call can be. That’s the mission of Sidecar.”
“This past week, Google completed its acquisition of the hardware maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, which could lead to the search giant making its own smartphone,” reports The New York Times. “But another software titan might be getting into the hardware game as well: Facebook.”
The article cites anonymous Facebook employees, engineers and individuals briefed on the company’s plans in suggesting that Facebook hopes to launch a phone by next year. This would be Facebook’s third effort to manufacture its own phone.
According to NYT: “The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said.”
The article suggests Facebook is motivated by its recent decision to go public, and that “as a newly public company, it must find new sources of revenue.” However, critics note the difficulty in mixing software and hardware knowledge as one reason Facebook’s phone aspirations may fail.
If Facebook’s phone plans fall apart, it could consider using some of the $16 billion it raised during its recent IPO to acquire an established smartphone maker such as Research in Motion or HTC.
Facebook’s phone is speculated to challenge Google in the market of lower-priced smartphones rather than taking on Apple. Since both Google and Facebook specialize in acquiring advertising revenue, they can subsidize their phones’ costs by displaying ads on the smartphone screens.
Geek.com reports that Facebook may consider using some of its $16 billion IPO earnings to acquire companies, with Opera representing a potential target.
Opera is an attractive prospect because it already owns 4th Screen Advertising and Mobile Theory. Facebook could capitalize on these mobile advertising resources, as Mobile Theory brings in billions of ad impressions per month and 4th Screen counts sites including MTV and IMDb as clients.
Opera’s Turbo system, which compresses Web pages, could allow Facebook to “serve up a faster, more efficient mobile experience to users,” notes the post.
Additionally, Opera could be used by the social network to gather analytics about millions of Web users, even if they do not log on to Facebook.com. This would allow them to better tailor their advertising.
“Data and advertising income for Facebook and a potentially massive boost to Opera’s user base. Sounds like a win-win situation, at least from a business standpoint,” comments Geek.com.
A new study from online advertising network Chitika reports that 20 percent of Web traffic in the United States and Canada comes through smartphones and tablets.
The study suggests that mobile usage is highest in the evening. “That’s when people leave their computers for a bit and pretend to have a real life, while nonetheless staring at their phones or sitting on the couch watching TV and simultaneously pawing an iPad,” according to Ina Fried of AllThingsD.
Apple dominates the tablet market, and the iPad generates 95 percent of tablet traffic. iPhones are also successful, generating 72 percent of smartphone traffic, while 26 percent comes from Android devices.
“Windows Phone now accounts for a third as much traffic as BlackBerry devices,” notes the article. “Undoubtedly its market share is far less than that, but its more powerful browser and larger screen likely make it more conducive to Web surfing.”
The Chitika numbers also indicate that more than 85 percent of traffic comes from Windows machines, while Macs only account for slightly more than 13 percent.
Google is expected to release its long-awaited Asus manufactured 7-inch tablet in June, with the initial 600,000 units hitting shelves by July.
Although details have yet to be officially released, speculation suggests the device will run on Android 4.0 with a quad-core chip, reports CNET.
According to a report from DigiTimes, it’s predicted that around two million units will be produced in 2012.
“If Google’s 7-inch tablet materializes and a rumored tablet 7.85-inch ‘iPad Mini’ from Apple also surfaces, that would add to a growing collection of smaller tablets from first-tier suppliers,” notes CNET.
Google and Apple could both be headed into the small tablet market currently dominated by Amazon and Samsung with the Kindle Fire and the Galaxy Tab 2.
Amazon announced this week that it will expand its video offerings with the new “Never Before on DVD” store that features on-demand content.
“Amazon says that 2,000 titles are available, and some of that same content should also be available to stream on Amazon’s Instant Video service,” reports The Verge. “Most of the content appears to be not-so-popular TV series and some classic movies, but we’re sure that you could find some gems hidden in there.”
Amazon has also struck a deal with Paramount Pictures to offer hundreds of movies on its Prime Instant Video service (which costs $79 a year).
“The agreement is good for the next three years, though the window for when new movies will become available on the service looks like it will be fairly long, if the titles Amazon has namechecked are any indication,” notes the post.
Amazon says it now has an estimated 17,000 titles available for its customers.
The Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Computational Intelligence has begun research intended to develop technology that will not only mimic the human brain, but will be able to use information to learn about its user.
“Machine learning is such a huge opportunity,” says Justin Rattner, Intel’s chief technology officer. “Despite their name, smartphones are rather dumb devices. My smartphone doesn’t know anything more about me than when I got it.”
Rattner leads the Intel research in conjunction with the Technion in Haifa and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, “aimed at enabling new applications, such as small, wearable computers that can enhance daily life,” reports Reuters.
“All of these devices will come to know us as individuals, will very much tailor themselves to us,” says Rattner, who suggests that the devices, which continually record actions of the user, are expected to be available by 2014 or 2015.
“Within five years all of the human senses will be in computers and in 10 years we will have more transistors in one chip than neurons in the human brain,” adds Moody Eden, president of Intel Israel.
