Open source project Popcorn Time — considered by some to be the Netflix for pirated movies — has now spawned a simple new means of streaming movies to browsers. A site called Popcorn Time In Your Browser is offering an in-browser app that reportedly makes it easier to access pirated movie streams. According to TechCrunch, the app works similarly to the desktop version of Popcorn Time, “remotely streaming torrent files from YTS through Coinado.” By using the app, no torrent files are stored on the user’s machine. “Torrent streaming services like Popcorn Time have always existed in a legal gray area. On one hand, a viewer isn’t downloading the movie to his computer, yet is still watching something that clearly wasn’t paid for.”

Music streaming service Pandora announced this week that it has acquired Next Big Sound, a company that tracks how popular songs become online and via social networks. Next Big Sound has become a standard for measuring artist popularity through activity on Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube and other platforms. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. However, in similar data-tracking deals, Spotify paid about $55 million for the Echo Nest last year and Apple paid a reported $50 million in January for Next Big Sound competitor Semetric. Continue reading Pandora Purchases Music Data-Tracking Firm Next Big Sound

RealNetworks, maker of the streaming RealPlayer, popular in the 1990s, is attempting a comeback with a new photo-sharing app centered on families. “The RealTimes app lets users stitch photos and videos into montages that are stored on RealNetworks’s cloud service,” explains The New York Times. “The app, which is compatible with iPhones, Android devices, PCs and some TV streaming devices, is free for those who want to create clips that are no longer than 30 seconds; for people who want to make longer videos and use more cloud storage, Real offers paid subscription plans.” RealTimes will compete with popular apps such as Instagram and Flickr.

In the face of declining ratings and a shift in ad dollars to digital platforms, television networks are expanding their data and analytics capabilities. On Monday, leading broadcast and cable TV companies announced the formation of the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), a new trade organization that plans to promote research and data that highlights the impact of TV commercials to Madison Avenue. The VAB intends to provide marketers with insights and measurement tools that help gauge whether video ads drive consumer purchases. Continue reading Broadcast and Cable TV Join Forces to Form New Trade Group

According to Juniper Research, global subscriber numbers for streaming video services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video are expected to climb from 92.1 million in 2014 to 333.2 million by 2019. Juniper predicts that adoption will be driven by connected TVs, streaming devices like Google’s Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV Stick, as well as connected game consoles and set-top boxes. Newer streaming devices like affordable media sticks will continue to make watching OTT services easily accessible on living room screens. Continue reading Report Predicts Surge in Subscriber Numbers for OTT Services

Alibaba is facing a growing problem with counterfeit goods that has led to some top brands taking legal action. The Chinese e-commerce giant is debuting a solution in the form of unique tags similar to QR codes. The company is working with Israeli startup Visualead to introduce dotless visual codes, which can be used to scan products to prove their authenticity and then automatically destroyed so they cannot be used more than once. Customers will use Alibaba’s Taobao mobile app to scan the codes when they receive their orders. Continue reading Alibaba Tests Dotless Visual Codes to Fight Counterfeit Goods

Samsung is readying the termination of Samsung Wallet’s two-year run. “All of Samsung Wallet’s features will stop functioning by the end of June,” reports Tech Times. “The Samsung partner portal will be shuttered and the Samsung Wallet application programming interface will be unavailable.” As a replacement, the company is expected to introduce LoopPay this summer as the rebranded Samsung Pay. Samsung recently acquired payment service LoopPay for a reported $250 million. “As Apple pushes Apple Pay and Samsung preps Samsung Pay,” notes the article, “Google is cooking up a new API for Google Wallet. With that change, which will open the platform up to third parties, Google is gearing up Android Pay.”

Apple confirmed that it has purchased San Francisco-based GPS startup Coherent Navigation. While Apple declined to provide specific reasons for the purchase, it could be part of the company’s efforts to improve Apple Maps. Coherent Navigation built its reputation developing commercial navigation services with Boeing and satellite network operator Iridium, among others. The company’s high-precision navigation systems are accurate to within three to five meters. Coherent has also worked on autonomous navigation and robotics projects, notes The New York Times. Apple has acquired other location tech services in recent years, including Placebase, Locationary and Hopstop.

In 2008, non-profit think tank The Seasteading Institute received financial backing from venture capitalist Peter Thiel to build a manmade island nation in ocean waters that would allow inventors to work free of government interference. Due to excessive cost and obstacles involved with open ocean engineering, the concept has yet to be realized. Earlier this year Thiel said, “I’m not exactly sure that I’m going to succeed in building a libertarian utopia any time soon.” However, the project is not dead and the group is now looking “for cost-reducing solutions within the territorial waters of a host nation.” Wired takes a compelling look at Silicon Valley’s quest for a protected space for innovation.

As Internet browsing via mobile devices continues to become the norm, tech companies are scrambling to add new functionality to the scaled-down mobile versions of their sites. In the coming weeks, Google plans to introduce buy buttons to its mobile search-result pages. The buttons will direct users to other Google product pages where purchases can be made (products will be sold by retailers). The move is seen by many as an effort by Google to create an online marketplace to take on leaders such as Amazon and eBay. Continue reading Google Buy Buttons Could Offer Alternative to Amazon and eBay

While weather kept many consumers away from brick-and-mortar stores last quarter, purchases made via e-commerce sites increased 3.5 percent from the previous quarter, according to seasonally-adjusted figures from the Commerce Department. The numbers point to a record $80 billion worth of purchases. “Meanwhile, total retail sales declined 1.5 percent, the first quarterly drop in almost three years,” reports Bloomberg. “On a year-over-year basis, online purchases soared a whopping 14.5 percent, compared with a 1.6 percent increase for total sales.” According to one Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, apparel stores generate the largest percentage of their sales from online orders.

Paris-based Kering SA filed a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan against Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Kering owns some of the best-known luxury brands, including Balenciaga, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. The lawsuit is another challenge to Alibaba’s contention that it combats sales of counterfeit goods on its platforms. Kering argues that the Chinese e-commerce giant and associated companies “knowingly encourage, assist, and profit from the sale of counterfeits on their online platforms.” The Wall Street Journal reports, “Among the lawsuit’s allegations are that Alibaba permits and encourages ‘numerous counterfeiters’ to operate on its various platforms even when the merchants openly state that they are selling fake goods.”

Etsy’s stock price recently took a hit after an analyst report suggested that “as many as two million items on the service — equal to 5 percent in total — may either be counterfeit or constitute trademark infringement,” reports Wired. The online marketplace for vintage and handmade goods is facing a significant setback to its reputation, as Etsy’s forums are filling with concerns regarding illegal products. According to the Wedbush report, “Counterfeit candidates include items infringing on Louis Vuitton, Chaneland Michael Kors, as well as a wide range of Disney and NFL brands. Sample of high risk listings indicates some violations may be 20x more likely on Etsy than eBay and even more likely than Alibaba’s Aliexpress.”

A recently uncovered document indicates Dish Network is looking for a chief marketing officer to steer the company into the competitive wireless industry. The move suggests that the satellite TV provider, which also acquired nearly half of the spectrum licenses offered in a government auction this year, would “become the only provider to offer wireless voice, video and data services,” notes Yahoo Finance. According to the document, the new CMO “will be an integral part of the team that changes entertainment forever as Dish enters the wireless business and becomes the only provider that can offer wireless voice, video and data.”

Latest reports suggest that Apple’s anticipated Beats-based streaming music service will be called “Apple Music” and will feature social networking integration for artists. According to those briefed on feature plans, Apple Music will enable musicians to maintain pages within the service to post content such as photos, videos, sample tracks and concert info. Performers will also be able to cross-promote by sharing content from other artists. Additionally, users will be able to like and comment on the artists’ posts. Continue reading New Apple Music Service to Feature Ping-Like Social Features