During its press event ahead of the Tokyo Game Show, Sony announced that it has renamed its Project Morpheus virtual reality headset as PlayStation VR. Sony’s device will compete with the likes of Facebook’s Oculus Rift, Valve-HTC’s Vive headset, and others expected to hit the market in the near future. “The company didn’t say exactly when PlayStation VR would ship, but it said that it would demo a bunch of titles in the Japanese market,” reports VentureBeat. “The hardware will be available to try on the show floor of the TGS, which draws tens of thousands of fans.”

Sony has reportedly been in preliminary talks with companies regarding its Crackle video-streaming service and the possibility of offering skinny bundles of video channels. “The result could be a dramatic expansion of distribution for the advertising-supported service now largely available through Internet-connected TV sets, gaming consoles and other online devices,” suggests TheStreet. Dish Network’s Sling TV and Verizon FiOS are among the services that already offer special packages with a limited numbers of channels. According to comScore, Crackle has 27 million unique users per month.

Analysts seem to agree that the most promising aspect of the recently unveiled fourth-generation Apple TV is its App Store. A wave of compelling apps could easily generate more interest in the device. Plex, for example, which works with Chromecast and Fire TV as a tool for organizing personal media libraries, and has long been sought after by Apple TV users, is planning an app for the new Apple TV. Plex co-founder Scott Olechowski has confirmed plans for a new app as the team awaits the tvOS developer beta. Meanwhile, a tvOS version of the cross-platform VLC media player is also being planned. Continue reading Plex and VLC Streaming Media Apps Are Coming to Apple TV

High-end fashion retailer Burberry announced yesterday that it has launched a channel on the Apple Music streaming service, featuring songs and videos from Burberry’s work with British recording artists through its Burberry Acoustic program. “The deal is the first collaboration between the two companies since Apple in 2013 hired away Angela Ahrendts, then Burberry’s chief executive, to become senior vice president of retail and online stores,” reports The New York Times. Apple is also partnering with luxury retailer Hermès on special editions of the Apple Watch.

Motion Picture Domain Registry has launched a new online domain — .film — exclusive to the movie industry, with the intent to combat cyber-squatting and online piracy. “The new domain, which will only be allotted to a film’s official site, is intended to help prevent third-party copy cats and help improve online search rankings for legitimate sites,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Big Talk Productions, Highland Film Group, Nu Image/Millennium Films, Paris Film and the Film Distributors’ Association are among the first to register film domain names with the go.film site.

Ars Technica reports that the Department of Justice and the FBI seized the domain of Sharebeast.com on Friday in another victory in the ongoing war against illegal file-sharing. Sharebeast, which represented the largest U.S.-based file-sharing service — and was one of the top sites for pirated music and TV files in the UK — included related domains such as albumjams and mp3pet.com. “This is a huge win for the music community and legitimate music services,” said RIAA chair and CEO Cary Sherman. “Sharebeast operated with flagrant disregard for the rights of artists and labels while undermining the legal marketplace.”

In the wake of pay TV subscriber losses and a falloff in content stocks, industry news has recently focused on the impact of the Internet, mobile apps and streaming services on traditional television. Disney chief operating officer Tom Staggs, who most analysts believe will be the successor to CEO Bob Iger, defended the future of ESPN and the programming bundle at an industry conference in Beverly Hills on Thursday. Staggs also suggested that Wall Street had overreacted to recent changes in the business and should not be so quick to dismiss the current model. Continue reading Disney COO Defends the Programming Bundle as TV Evolves

Facebook announced that it will allow journalists to use the social network’s Mentions app, which was originally designed as a VIP service to help celebrities — including actors, musicians and professional athletes — manage their social profiles. Now, any journalist or public figure verified by Facebook will have access to the app; an expanded list of trending topics, headlines and summaries; and the ability to monitor social chatter and conduct Q&A sessions from their mobile phones. Poynter.org suggests that the “update to Mentions means that more journalists may decide to use Facebook as another avenue for reporting and engagement, thereby solidifying the social network’s place as an arbiter of news.”

According to new figures released by Moffett Nathanson Research, the growth of online ads will have a significant impact on traditional television and other media. Analyst Michael Nathanson predicts that ad spending on TV will decrease by 3 percent annually through 2020. He also forecasts that online advertising, led by tech giants Google and Facebook, will increase annually by 12 percent over the next five years and exceed spending for TV ads by 2017. The forecast comes as cable TV ratings are down 9 percent and 566,000 cable and satellite subscribers canceled their service during Q2. Continue reading Research Points to Internet Impacting TV Ratings, Ad Revenue

Shortly after Apple CEO Tim Cook called for bringing more apps to the TV screen, a new report from Flurry notes that consumers spend more time using mobile apps than watching traditional television. “The average U.S. consumer is now spending 198 minutes per day inside apps compared to 168 minutes on TV,” TechCrunch reports. While time spent in apps is on an upswing, time with TV has not changed from Q2 2014 to Q2 2015. The report also examined consumer demand — and willingness to pay — for accessing media content in apps. Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, Spotify and Pandora are among those performing well in this area.

California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed California Senate Bill 142, proposed legislation that would require drone users to obtain permission to fly their unmanned aerial systems less than 350 feet over private property. “Drone technology certainly raises novel issues that merit careful examination,” wrote Brown. “This bill, however, while well-intentioned, could expose the occasional hobbyist and the FAA-approved commercial user alike to burdensome litigation and new causes of action.” Tech groups opposed the bill and the CEA applauded the Governor’s decision. Continue reading Governor Brown Vetoes Legislation Restricting Use of Drones

In addition to the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus and next-gen Apple TV set-top box with an emphasis on apps, gaming and shopping, Apple unveiled several compelling new products and updates at its San Francisco event, including a $100 stylus called Apple Pencil, a new iPad Pro with optional keyboard that will likely play to business users, improvements to the Apple Watch (including apps such as Facebook Messenger and AirStrip), and more. For the new iPhones, Apple has notably packed the back-facing iSight cameras with 12 megapixels, a larger sensor designed to reduce image artifacts, and the ability to shoot 4K video. Continue reading Apple Introduces New iPhones, Apple TV, iPad Pro and More

Facebook’s Instagram, which now has 300 million users, is launching self-service ad buying in worldwide markets around the world, starting with more than 30 new countries. Notably, ads will now include video spots up to 30 seconds. Instagram has been slow to sell ads in fear of alienating users. In 2013, it debuted a feature for editing and uploading 15-second videos, a duration that has remained the limit for video ads. “In addition to video ads up to 30 seconds, Instagram also introduced landscape (horizontal) photo and video ads for ‘a more cinematic feel’ and delivery and optimization tools to manage campaigns across Facebook and Instagram,” reports Variety.

Hotel chain Marriott is testing its “VRoom Service” with partner Samsung at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square and the London Marriott Hotel Park Lane. The service provides hotel guests with a Samsung Gear VR headset for 24 hours, and three “VR Postcards” commissioned by Marriott. “Those videos, shot in 360-degree 3D, each follow real travelers on a different journeys, taking viewers to Chile’s Andes mountains, an ice-cream shop in Rwanda and Beijing’s bustling streets,” notes Variety. The VR Postcards, created with Framestore’s Virtual Reality Studio, will also “be available via the Samsung Milk VR video service, accessible via the Samsung Gear VR headset developed with Facebook’s Oculus VR division.”

Disney is expanding support for its cloud-based digital movie service on more platforms with the debut of new apps for Amazon Fire tablets, Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, and Microsoft Xbox 360. Apps for Android TV and Roku are expected in a few days. The Disney Movies Anywhere collection currently features more than 450 digital movies from Disney, Marvel and Pixar in addition to Star Wars and short form content. Its new app is now available to Amazon and Microsoft customers, the result of new partnerships between the studio and both companies. Continue reading Disney Movies Anywhere Service Goes Wide on New Platforms