Entertainment industry reps gathered at the second annual DOE Network Association (DNA) Conference earlier this month at USC.
The DOE industry includes business interests involving theme parks, education and edutainment, retail and mall advertising and enhancement, exergaming and more.
“Many of the attendees are involved in pressing the limits of digital technology and physical design to greatly expand the storytelling and engagement possibilities of out-of-home venues,” reports Phil Lelyveld for ETC@USC (the event was covered as part of the ETC’s service to its membership).
Consultant Randy White of White Hutchinson Leisure explained that 60 percent of arcade dollars have shifted to home entertainment in the last five years.
“Americans go to the movies on average four times per year. But they eat out approximately 167 times per year,” Phil writes. “Dining is a highly social experience. The top 20 percent of income households account for 48 percent of out-of-home spending.”
White suggests that arcades retool facilities to “attract this upscale market with restaurants, Wi-Fi-equipped lounges, and games that allow for more group social and competitive activities.”
Kevin Williams, organizer of the DNA conference, discussed the industry’s need to better embrace technology.
“There is no reason, he argued, why devices could not recognize players when they return to a facility, coordinate communications as they interact with devices throughout the facility, and — if they opt-in — connect them with people who have similar interests and skill levels anywhere on the planet,” notes the post.
“The DOE industry can compete with rapidly improving home and personal entertainment options by offering attractive, safe locations to socialize, access high-end specialized devices, and have location-specific blended physical and virtual experiences.”
Japanese phone maker NTT Docomo is hoping consumers will be interested in its Grip UI technology, which offers functionality through squeezing and pinching phones.
“Consumers have gotten used to pinching and swiping,” reports Fortune. “Soon phone makers may be adding bending, folding and squeezing to their repertoire.”
The primary goal of Grip UI is to create a mobile phone that is easier to control with one hand, freeing up the user’s other hand for carrying a briefcase, for example, or holding on to a pole in the subway.
NTT Docomo’s Android-powered handset has 270 sensors in the phone’s body that enables users to execute operations by squeezing the bezel.
“It is the latest in a range of emerging technology haptic gadgets — and even bendable phones — that promise commercialization soon and that exploit our innate love of manipulating tactile, responsive objects,” explains the article.
“Pressure sensitivity is a very interesting direction for phones so this is great technology,” says Ivan Poupyrev, haptics researcher at Disney’s labs in Pittsburgh.
Flexible objects and haptic interfaces could eventually lead to innovative products such as thin bendable media cards, interactive maps, mini photo albums, advanced OLED screens and various malleable electronic devices.
GoPro recently launched its new Hero 3 action cam lineup — three HD cameras that are 30 percent smaller and 25 percent lighter than the previous models.
The rugged new cameras, designed for extreme sports and outdoor enthusiasts, feature built-in Wi-Fi, boosted frame rates and 4K resolution (for one model).
“The latest cameras aren’t just your average next-gen improvements over the predecessors, either: GoPro has added a slew of new features that completely evolve the Hero,” reports Digital Trends.
The 1080p lineup comes in three different models: the $200 5MP white edition, $300 11MP silver edition and $400 12MP black edition (which also shoots at 60 fps). All three models include built-in Wi-Fi.
The black edition is capable of shooting 4K resolution when the frame rate is dropped to 12 fps.
“The question you have to ask, of course, is whether that’s useful at all,” notes Digital Trends. “Shooting at this resolution means, in addition to a low frame rate (hello, choppy video), your camera is creating massive files.”
JVC has announced its LED edge-lit 55-inch smart TV. Bundled with 4 pairs of passive 3D glasses, the new model will run $1,300 when it becomes available in January.
“When JVC merged with its subsidiaries to form JVC Kenwood Corps, many assumed — and the company’s public statements indicated — that it would be narrowing its focus, directing its attention towards home and car audio, and effectively ceding the TV market to its competitors,” notes Digital Trends.
“It has certainly spun a 180 by announcing its new 55-inch JLE55SP4000 XinemaView 3D HDTV. Further confounding industry analysts is the fact that the TV is just the initial entry in an entire line, which the company is calling BlackSapphire.”
Specifications include built-in Wi-Fi, a QWERTY keyboard, 1080p full HD and 120Hz refresh rate, built-in woofer and 45 watts of output power.
The set features USB, HDMI, component and composite inputs and comes pre-loaded with Netflix, Vudu, YouTube and Pandora.
“The TV has onboard 802.11n wireless and boasts a number of apps including, uniquely, the Slingbox Player,” reports CNET in its review. “This is the first TV that enables users to serve content from a Slingbox in another room, or anywhere in the world.”
LG recently held a launch event to debut its first Ultra HD television. The company says the 4K smart 3D TV will be offered for $19,999.
“The LG 84LM9600 has a native screen resolution of 3840 x 2160, four times the resolution of a typical 1080p television,” reports Digital Trends. “The 84-inch LED Ultra HD panel also includes LG’s proprietary ‘Resolution Upscaler Plus’ technology to up-convert 1080p content to the Ultra HD resolution.”
For gaming, the TV allows two people to compete in a multiplayer game without the need for split screen. “Using glasses that are sold separately, the television is simultaneously displaying two video feeds and each pair of glasses is designed to pick up a specific feed,” explains the post.
LG’s Ultra HD set will ship bundled with six pairs of flicker-free 3D glasses. The TV also includes a 2D-to-3D conversion feature.
“While the massive panel is just 1.57-inches thick, the television is over 150 pounds in weight plus another 25 pounds for the stand,” writes Digital Trends.
The set features built-in Wi-Fi, LG’s gesture system with Magic Remote, four HDMI inputs, three USB 2.0 inputs, and a 10-speaker system rated at 50 watts.
“The television ties into LG’s Smart TV ecosystem, so consumers will have access to plenty of applications like Netflix, Facebook, Vudu, Skype and Hulu Plus,” adds the post.
LG says the sales price in stores may eventually be closer to $16,999. The only comparable Ultra HD TV to be offered this year is Sony’s 84-inch model, which lists on the Sony site at $24,999.
Local TV stations have collected $1.15 billion in political ad spending as of the end of September, reports analysts at Wells Fargo.
When considering network and national ads, the total increases to $1.33 billion. The total for September alone in local ads was $304.6 million.
“Of the $1.15 billion spent through September 30 at the local-station level, 42.2 percent was on presidential campaigns; 36.9 percent for congressional; 17.7 percent on ballot issues; and 3.2 percent ‘driven by’ presidential and senatorial advertising,” details TV Technology.
The top markets with the most exposure as a percentage of market revenue include Butte-Bozeman, Montana; Great Falls, Montana; Sioux City, Iowa; Davenport, Iowa and Glendive, Montana.
“Sinclair, Gray Television, LIN TV and NBC-owned stations have the most exposure in hot political markets,” notes the post.
The top markets in terms of absolute dollars include Washington, D.C.; Cleveland, Ohio; Las Vegas, Nevada; Tampa, Florida and Orlando, Florida.
“NBC, News Corp., CBS and Sinclair have the most exposure in these larger markets,” explains TV Technology.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences held its 64th Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards last week in Hollywood.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) both received Engineering Emmys.
“A first for the 92-year-old ASC, its Emmy was awarded for its ‘ASC Color Decision List,’ a development of the society’s technology committee that is used to communicate consistent color information from a shoot through postproduction — enabling cinematographers to create and maintain an artistic look,” writes Carolyn Giardina for The Hollywood Reporter.
“AMPAS was recognized for the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES), a standards-based color management architecture designed for the production, mastering and long-term archiving of motion picture and television (non-live broadcast) content.”
Additionally, Kodak was honored with the Philo T. Farnsworth Award for the company’s contributions to the television industry. Richard Green, founder and former president and CEO of Cable Television Laboratories, was given the Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award.
“During the ceremony, the participants also paid tribute to last year’s Charles F. Jenkins Award winner, industry visionary Bob Lambert, who passed away last month,” writes Giardina. “Lambert had been unable to attend the 2011 ceremony, and a clip from his recorded acceptance was played in his memory.”
Filmmaker and inventor Douglas Trumbull likes to make films that are an immersive experience, and hopes to use larger, brighter screens as well as 3D and high frame rates to improve the cinematic experience.
“Most people rightly think movies are a storytelling medium, but for me it is an experience-creating medium,” he said during a SMPTE keynote this week in Hollywood. “I’m very passionate about the idea of creating movies that are powerfully immersive.”
“Trumbull — who developed the Showscan system that incorporated 65mm film at 60 frames per second — admitted to ‘tremendous disappointment’ when years ago his large format system didn’t get off the ground,” writes Carolyn Giardina for The Hollywood Reporter.
However, he argues that the current troubled state of the film industry calls for innovation. “For movies to survive as a business, we have to make it better. It is just not good enough when the multiplex is [also available in one’s] pocket,” he said.
“You can’t globally apply one frame rate to all movies,” Trumbull added, emphasizing the need for the right tool for each project. “24 frames per second looks great for dramatic performances. [Higher frame rates might be applied] to giant screens, hyper-reality, [viewer] participation in the movie.”
“Trumbull is aiming to provide an aesthetic choice by developing a system that effectively allows filmmakers to embed high frame rates such as 48 or 60 fps into a standard 24 fps movie,” writes Giardina. “He refers to this system as Showscan Digital.”
He is currently in the process of planning a movie to be shot at 120 fps using virtual sets.
The iPad mini does not have a Retina display and its A5 processor is a generation old, but the convenience of the new device’s size holds promise for increased mobile game play.
“We see a bunch of things that are good for gamers here,” explains Doug Scott, VP of marketing and revenue at DeNA’s Ngmoco game division. “It’s backward compatible with iPad software. And any time that Apple jumps into a market, it legitimizes it and brings a lot of attention to that device type. There will be a rising tide for mini tablets, and that will drive awareness for gamers who might not have considered a tablet.”
“It will use the same graphics and design as the iPad, this makes it easy for small developers have one app launch across many different devices, which give them access to more users without needing to do extra work or market to a different store,” says Rob Carroll, director of publishing at Tapjoy.
“The larger screen size allows for more detailed games over the phone size,” adds Carroll. “Better looking, richer experiences are good for developers, it allows them to create more immersive game experiences. The smaller size should bring in new users that weren’t comfortable with the larger tablet size, expanding the tablet market and giving developers more reach.”
On the other end, Jesse Divnich, VP of insights and analysis at EEDAR, suggests the device may cause fragmentation. “One of the many — and there are many — reasons why developers lead on the iOS devices, is that there is at least a good understanding that 60 percent of actively used iPhone’s are 2 years or newer.”
“My primary issue is that if the tablet market, much like the PC and laptop market, goes down this road of having both low-end to high-end processing power, it will be difficult to determine market sizes, and developers may be forced to program to the lowest common denominator.”
Other game developers suggest it will encourage Android to up its 3D capabilities. One exec says the mini could help double the size of the iPad gaming market in the next year.
According to Chartboost, the iPad currently accounts for 27 percent of iOS traffic, while the iPhone accounts for 56 percent. However, “the average number of daily game play sessions is 10 percent higher for iPad users than iPhone users,” notes the post. Apple’s Game Center currently has 160 million users.
Microsoft officially unveiled its new Windows 8 operating system and Surface tablet to the public on Thursday.
During the New York City event, the company demonstrated the tile-based touch system on a collection of desktops, laptops and tablets from OEM partners.
“While Microsoft executives highlighted the differences between Windows 8 and Windows RT, a distinction in desperate need of clarification for consumers, the event unveiled no surprises or high-profile app announcements,” reports PCWorld. “‘More to come’ was an oft-repeated phrase.”
Users of Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $40.
The Surface tablet is available starting at $500 for the 32GB version. It will initially come with Windows RT, a stripped down version of Windows 8 that uses ARM processors and runs apps specifically designed for the new Windows UI. The company says versions of Surface that run on Windows 8 will be available at a later date.
“While much ado was made over how easy it is to navigate apps on Windows 8 machines, either using a touchscreen or trackpad, there were no new app announcements,” notes the post. “The online Windows Store, which is now open, is notably bereft of big-name apps like YouTube and Twitter.”
However, the store touts big numbers overall. When Apple’s App Store debuted in 2008 it had some 500 apps. Android Market (now Google Play) had about 2,300 apps a few months following its launch the same year. Earlier this week, the Windows Store opened with 7,873 apps available worldwide (88 percent of which are free).
Netflix has lowered its U.S. subscriber forecast for this year by more than a third. The company lowered its April prediction of 7 million new subscribers for 2012 down to 4.73-5.43 million.
The news knocked its share price down 16.3 percent in after-hours trading on Tuesday.
“Netflix has said that incremental domestic streaming subscribers are almost pure profit because its content costs are fixed,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
“But even taking the high end of Netflix’s new subscriber-guidance range, there will now be a shortfall of 1.57 million,” explains the article. “So multiplying that number by the roughly $96 those customers would have paid in a year ($7.99 a month) means gains to operating profit would be shaved by around $150 million.”
Netflix saw some international expansion with nearly two million new subscribers and says it lost fewer DVD customers than it had in the previous quarter. However, any loss in DVD subscribers is a significant problem in the minds of analysts.
“Those subscribers are four times more valuable than streaming subscribers in terms of their contribution to overall profit,” writes WSJ. “Netflix remains a grim picture for investors.”
Digital downloads, subscription streaming and video on demand grew from $1.3 billion in 2007 to $5.5 billion this year.
According to new research from Mintel, these digital formats will grow even faster over the next five years, resulting in a tenfold increase over 2007-2017.
DVDs are still alive in movie rentals. Mintel notes that nearly one-third of online consumers rented discs in the past 30 days.
“We’re not going to see DVDs disappear in the next five years. There will still be people who have DVD players and will still have DVDs within five years,” predicts Mintel analyst Billy Hulkower. “Unless you’re buying a DVD to buy a DVD, you could just buy the digital movie.”
Streaming services including Netflix and Amazon Instant Video are gaining in popularity. Mintel notes that one-quarter of respondents used online streaming over the past 30 days and 22 percent used video on demand.
“Once you start using a digital store for your purchasing, it’s sort of addictive to have that one-click access to content,” Hulkower says. “People are acclimated to immediate access to content. There’s a movie you want to see, you click a button and it’s there.”
Apple announced a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display yesterday, expanding its high-end family of notebooks.
“At a time when PC sales are plateauing and profit margins for many manufacturers are shrinking in a race to build cheaper netbooks (such as Samsung’s $250, Web-only Chromebook), Apple is asserting its leadership position to build the state of the art in notebooks,” comments Apple Insider.
The new Retina display touts more than four million pixels. The company says the 13-inch MacBook Pro is the “second highest resolution notebook ever,” behind its 15-inch cousin.
“The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display has nearly 2 million more pixels than an HDTV,” notes the article. “The 15-inch model has over 3 million more.” The Retina display is now available in the two MacBook Pro models and the iPad.
More pixels to push means additional graphics processing, rewritten software, and changes to the operating system and third party apps. This translates to more cost.
“The result is an expensive system,” writes Apple Insider. “The cheapest 13-inch model starts at $1,699, compared to basic PC notebooks selling for $600 to $800, and 13-inch netbooks selling for as little as $250.”
Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Pro has opted for solid state flash storage to increase booting and file copying speeds. Also featured: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 processors, 8GB of 1600 MHz memory, dual Thunderbolt ports, HDMI video out and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M graphics processor.
According to the press release, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is currently available through the Apple Online Store and its retail locations.
As anticipated, Apple unveiled a smaller version of its popular iPad at a product launch event in San Jose yesterday. The new iPad mini starts at $329 and features a screen about a third smaller than the original iPad.
“But Apple’s smaller tablet is priced well above Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire HD and Google Inc.’s Nexus 7 — two tablets which are similar in size and some specs,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Those devices cost $199 or $249 depending on the amount of memory.”
The screen of the iPad mini measures 7.9-inches diagonally. The tablet, designed to fit comfortably in one hand, weighs about half as much as the original iPad.
“A dual-core Apple A5 processor powers the iPad mini, and the device sports fast 4G LTE speeds like the most recent iPads,” reports VentureBeat in a related post. “It features the same 1,024 by 768 screen resolution as the iPad 2, but given its smaller screen that resolution will look much sharper on the iPad mini.”
Apple is offering more variety in an effort to maintain dominance in the tablet wars. “Rivals are releasing a flood of tablets and phones powered by Google’s Android operating system and other software,” notes WSJ. And Microsoft is expected to release its Surface tablet running Windows 8 on Friday.
“Others have tried to make tablets smaller than the iPad and they have failed miserably,” says Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior VP for worldwide marketing.
“He gave a side-by-side product comparison between the iPad mini and Google’s Nexus 7, and claimed that the mini offers two-thirds more space to surf the Web when turned on its side,” explains the article. “A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.”
Versions of Apple’s new iPad mini, along with the company’s fourth-generation iPad, will be available the first week of November.
Apple made more product announcements than expected at yesterday’s event at the California Theater in San Jose.
“Between hardware and software, Apple announced at least six new products… seven if you include Apple Fusion Drive, and a whopping 23 new products if you include different models and build configurations,” reports VentureBeat.
The company unveiled new iBooks software, a 13-inch Retina display MacBook Pro (two build configurations), a Mac mini (three configurations), at least two sizes of iMacs, the fourth generation iPad (six main models), Apple Fusion Drive and the much-anticipated iPad mini (six models).
The new $500-$830 full-sized iPad features an A6X processor (which Apple claims will double CPU and graphics power), support for more wireless carriers (including Sprint), faster Wi-Fi and an HD camera on front for video calls.
Apple’s Fusion Drive, available in the latest iMac and Mac mini, is a hybrid hard drive that blends solid state storage with traditional hard drive tech. It will come with a 128GB SD and the option of a 1TB or 3TB HDD.
CEO Tim Cook notes that iOS 6 has hundreds of new features and, in the month since its release, has been downloaded to more than 200 million devices.
Apple by the numbers: The company sold its 100 millionth iPad a few weeks ago, the iPhone 5 has shattered records with 5 million units already sold and App Store customers have downloaded more than 35 billion apps.
“Meanwhile, users of Apple’s Mac and iOS devices have combined to share 125 million documents in the cloud; they’ve also shared more than 60 million photos using the new shared photo streams service,” reports Macworld in a related article. “And iMessage users are now exchanging 28,000 messages per second.”
