Facebook announced yesterday that its popular photo-sharing app Instagram now has 400 million monthly active users. More than 75 percent of Instagram users are outside the U.S. (with more than half of the most recent 100 million users living in Europe and Asia). “Facebook’s strategy of creating separate apps appears to be paying off,” suggests The Wall Street Journal. “The texting app WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired for $19 billion in 2014, recently reached 900 million monthly active users.” CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that Facebook’s standalone Messenger app had more than 700 million users.

Digital scrapbooking startup Pinterest has influenced numerous companies to reimagine the importance of photos over text. The San Francisco-based startup, which has been under the gun to justify its $11 billion valuation, announced last week that it has surpassed 100 million monthly active users. However, the number is “dwarfed by the user bases of some digital contemporaries it competes with for ad dollars,” notes The New York Times, citing Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook. “To live up to its $11 billion valuation, Pinterest must continue to expand its user base beyond 100 million, while proving that it can grow into a robust and viable business.”

As interest in virtual reality heats up across industries, a number of international media players — including Disney, Sky, Axel Springer, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, China Media Capital and Evolution Media Partners (backed by TPG and Creative Artists Agency) — are investing $65 million in Palo Alto-based VR startup Jaunt. The investment follows other high-profile moves in immersive tech: Google joined venture funds in investing $542 million in Magic Leap last year, and Oculus VR raised $75 million before Facebook picked up the company for $2 billion. Continue reading Investment from Media Firms Brings Jaunt’s Funding to $100M

According to Nielsen, live television viewing in the U.S. dropped during the second quarter, while the number of broadband-only homes and those with streaming video subscriptions increased. Multichannel News reports that U.S. households with pay TV subscriptions dropped by 1.2 million to 100.4 million during Q2 from the previous year, and broadband-only homes increased more than 50 percent to 3.3 million. Nielsen’s findings indicate that 45 percent of homes had SVOD in Q2, up from 38 percent in the same quarter last year. Homes with connected TVs represented an 18 percent share, up from 11 percent.

MSNBC launched its 24-hour streaming news channel Shift in December, and has since been programming a blend of live news content and original documentaries in a social environment. Its videos are now generating millions of views each month on Facebook. “Shift shows feature diverse topics, alternative formats, edgier talent and intelligent dialogue, around the culture and lifestyle topics that matter to our audience,” said Sam Go, editorial director for MSNBC.com, in an interview with The Drum. “There are so many other interesting stories to cover that don’t make it to the main broadcast, and we love that there’s a home for it on Shift.”

As hotels in the U.S. continue to offer faster Internet connections, an increasing number of guests are more inclined to stream video content via popular services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu than opt for in-house video-on-demand. As a result, hotels are beginning to experience a significant decline in VOD use. Some have recently cut their adult-themed VOD content, and may eventually do the same with other on-demand offerings. However, this may not be the end of video-on-demand in hotels if providers make their services more competitive. Continue reading Streaming Services Send Hotel Room VOD to Chopping Block

TV technology is getting closer to monitoring and analyzing our facial expressions in order to distinguish between boredom and enthusiasm to better understand our viewing tastes. Software from media startup Affectiva could usher in a new frontier in television viewing, one in which our devices watch our reactions and offer content suggestions or enable brands to provide more targeted ads. If consumers are willing to allow their emotional data to be gathered, movie and TV show recommendations from Netflix, for example, could become more relevant. Continue reading Facial Monitoring Software Could Impact Your TV Experience

Atlanta-based United Parcel Service recently rolled out 100 industrial 3D printers at its hub in Louisville, Kentucky. UPS is testing whether 3D printing centers could impact supply chains and its transportation business — or prove advantageous for a new local production and delivery market. The company is proceeding cautiously; it does not want to see 3D printing cause a similar disruption to how the Internet undercut overnight document deliveries. The project is being run by Atlanta startup CloudDDM with plans to add another 900 printers next year. Continue reading UPS and CloudDDM Experiment with New 3D Printing Service

One year after the disappointing release of its Fire smartphone, Amazon is introducing a line of low-cost devices including a new tablet and smart TV plug-ins. The Seattle-based company debuted seven new products yesterday that are slated for release by this year’s holiday season. Among the announcements: a 7-inch Fire tablet with front- and rear-facing cameras that will run for less than $50, an updated $100 Fire TV set-top box that now supports 4K, and a Fire TV stick with voice-activated wand that turns your TV into a cloud-based personal assistant. Continue reading Amazon Debuts New Tablets and TV Devices to Lure Shoppers

Disney researchers are working on the “Linux Light Bulb,” a protocol that flashes out data using visible light, which could eventually be used to enable the “Internet of Toys.” “The bulbs are designed to work with gadgets and toys that may not need a full Wi-Fi or wireless component and instead will read data from the environment,” explains TechCrunch. “The technology is called Visible Light Communication.” According to researcher Stefan Mangold, who created the technology, “Communication with light enables a true Internet of Things as consumer devices that are equipped with LEDs but not radio links could be transformed into interactive communication nodes.”

Chicago recently extended its 9 percent “amusement” tax — originally intended primarily for live shows and sporting events — to include an array of online services. Now, subscribers to streaming services such as Netflix, Xbox Live and Spotify are fighting back with a lawsuit that contends taxing such digital entertainment should be ruled illegal. The policy challenge in Chicago could prove significant to the larger media industry since its outcome could possibly shape how cities and states could tax parts of the Internet economy in the future. Continue reading Lawsuit Claims Streaming Tax on Digital Entertainment is Illegal

YouTube multichannel network Fullscreen plans to roll out a subscription video service that will feature original and licensed programming including series, documentaries and feature length movies. While pricing and other specifics have yet to be released, the SVOD service is expected to launch in the next few months. “We think there’s an underserved audience out there,” said Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos at Variety’s Entertainment & Technology Summit. “We want to create a premium video environment where the best work can be made by Fullscreen and other studios.” Continue reading Fullscreen Planning SVOD Service to Target Youth Audiences

Cablevision has agreed to an acquisition offer of about $17.7 billion by European telecom giant Altice, which recently struck a $9.1 billion deal for Suddenlink Communications. “The transaction would further realign an industry already in upheaval as cable and telecom companies seek greater scale and negotiating power with content providers,” suggests The New York Times. “But the takeover of Cablevision… could also draw significant concern from regulators, particularly as control of the telecom market shrinks to fewer and fewer players.” Charter Communications has agreed to purchase Time Warner Cable, and AT&T recently completed a $48.5 billion deal for DirecTV.

Sharp announced that it plans to offer an 85-inch Super Hi-Vision 8K display at the end of October for 16,000,000 yen (about $133,034). Designed for professional use, the LV-85001 is a monitor rather than a TV, but includes a tuner. “Coming in at 16 times the resolution of 1080p screens, the 7,680 x 4,320 pixel LCD panel uses Sharp’s IGZO technology,” notes Engadget. “To actually watch any 8K video, you’ll need to plug into all four of its HDMI inputs at once just to have enough bandwidth.” While the delivery of 8K video is likely a few years away, broadcasters can use Sharp’s new display to continue testing the technology.

Snapchat, the social service that bases its model on disappearing messages, updated its app this week to provide the option of making messages reappear. The update also includes new photo lenses and trophies for completing tasks. “Snapchat began letting U.S. users replay three messages for 99 cents, the first time the company has charged for any feature in the free program,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “With more than 100 million users logging on to Snapchat every day, those cents could begin to add up.” The move could also prove beneficial to Apple, since the company typically receives 30 percent of in-app purchases.