DirecTV and Viacom reached a new long-term carriage agreement on Friday to restore Viacom-owned channels to subscribers of the satellite TV provider.
As previously reported, the channels (including MTV, Comedy Central, BET and Nickelodeon) had been unavailable to DirecTV’s 20 million customers since July 10.
“Financial and other terms weren’t disclosed, but sources said the deal will run for seven years,” notes The Hollywood Reporter. “DirecTV will carry all 26 Viacom channels, or 17 when excluding HD feeds, but said it is not required to carry Epix, the premium TV joint venture of Viacom, Lionsgate and MGM.”
“In addition to the channels’ return, DirecTV customers will also gain the ability to see Viacom programming on tablets, laptops, handhelds and other personal devices via the DirecTV Everywhere platform,” according to the satellite TV company.
“The attention surrounding this unnecessary and ill-advised blackout by Viacom has accomplished one key thing: It serves notice to all media companies that bullying TV providers and their customers with blackouts won’t get them a better deal,” said Derek Chang, executive vp of content strategy and development for DirecTV. “It’s high time programmers ended these anti-consumer blackouts once and for all and prove our industry is about enabling people to connect to their favorite programs rather than denying them access.”
Sony has announced its new Walkman F800 music player, an Android-powered challenger to Apple’s iPod touch.
“Announced alongside several more basic Walkman music players, the F800 takes some of the Xperia smartphone range’s style, throws out the phone functionality, and concentrates on audio prowess instead,” reports Digital Trends.
The F800 features a 3.5-inch screen, Tegra 2 dual-core processor, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a pre-installed maps app, and direct access to the Google Play Store. It supports a variety of audio and video codecs including MP3, WMA, HE-AAC, PCM, MPEG4, AVC, WMV and FLAC.
“Sony has packed in its S-Master MX Digital amplifier, Clear Audio technology and the little device has an X-Loud speaker system too,” notes the post.
The new player uses Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which should give it an edge over Samsung’s Galaxy Player 3.6 that still uses Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
“On the whole, that’s a decent and somewhat original set of features for a Walkman player,” reports CNET in a related post. “Yet, at $269 (or $299, depending on the memory size) the F800 doesn’t have enough on paper to entice anyone with an existing music player to make the switch. The promised battery life (20 hours of audio playback and 4.5 hours for video) is just average, and with just 16GB and 32GB version available, Sony didn’t push the boundaries of capacity.”
Sony also unveiled the E470 player, targeting a more cost-conscious market. The E470 is Sony’s slimmest Walkman to date, and will run $79 for the 4GB model, $89 for 8GB, and $109 for the 16GB version.
DreamWorks Animation launched a new mobile app for the iPhone and iPad this week. “Ptch” is an app from the first start-up launched through DWA.
The app “allows users to easily create and share personalized multimedia compositions called ‘ptches,’ using videos, photos, and music from their own mobile devices and social feeds,” reports Forbes.
“With the ability to use media assets from Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Tumblr, Twitter, and Viddy, the platform allows you to easily move pictures and video snippets around into frames that combine into one-minute video creations,” explains the article.
Users can produce the videos with fonts, colors, graphics and music (up to 100 hit songs included in the app) to tell a story in video form. And if producers would like to share the assets that comprise their videos, other users can use them to remix new videos.
“We talk about this as what we’re calling ‘living media,’” says Ed Leonard, CEO of Ptch and former CTO of Dreamworks. “What we’re thinking about is five years from now, everything is going to be living media. You see something you like, quickly change it a bit, and share it. It’s the idea of reshaping things.”
The article includes a 2-minute promotional video and links to samples of ptches made by early users.
Exent has partnered with Verizon Wireless to bring its social gaming application GameTanium to Verizon Android devices.
GameTanium offers unlimited access to 150 mobile games for $5.99 per month per device. The offerings include 100 smartphone games and 50 tablet games.
“The GameTanium app can be downloaded from Verizon Apps on 30 Android smartphones and two Android Tablets, including Motorola’s Droid Razr, HTC’s Droid Incredible 4G LTE, and Motorola’s Droid Xyboard 8.2,” reports Digital Trends.
Similar social gaming services exist, such as Apple’s Game Center and Amazon’s GameCircle for Kindle devices, but GameTanium serves as more of a curation service.
“Exent draws upon its vast gaming experience to curate and catalog the best mobile games while working closely with our operator partners to ensure the catalog is consistent with their audience profile,” explains Exent CEO Zvi Levgoren.
GameTanium features parental ratings, customer reviews, screenshots and a helpful FAQ. Exent also offers weekday customer support via email, SMS or phone.
“For those of you avid mobile gamers on Verizon Android devices, this service will be right up your alley,” suggests the post. “For Android device owners under non-Verizon carriers, we think it’s just a matter of time before GameTanium makes its way to your service provider.”
Samsung’s 75-inch ES9000 LED Smart TV was recently unveiled for the Korean market and will be making its way to the U.S. in August.
For those with $9,999 to spend on a television, this 3D-capable, LED-backlit set is reportedly one to behold. It is currently on display in New York City as part of the Samsung-sponsored SpaceFest at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
“The 75-incher’s bezel measures just 0.31 inches, and the frame sports a rose-gold finish,” reports Engadget. “There’s also a built-in Web camera that retracts when not in use, and the TV comes with four pairs of 3D glasses.”
“The ES9000 includes the complete suite of Samsung Smart TV features — Smart Interaction, Smart Content and Smart Evolution — that were introduced earlier this year,” notes the press release.
“Smart Interaction enables users to control and interact with their TVs in a more intuitive way through voice, gesture and face recognition controls,” according to the company. “Smart Content makes available a broad range of premium and signature content that can be shared across multiple devices.”
Additional features include Sound Share for wirelessly connecting audio via Bluetooth, a dual-core processor that provides speed for accessing apps or browsing the Web, and the highest contrast ratio on a Samsung Smart TV to date.
Microsoft has unveiled an overhaul of its popular Office software and a new version of its cloud-based suite, Office 365. Users will now have the option of performing work through a browser, rather than installing software on their PCs.
Many of the features are tied to online collaboration and integration with touchscreen-friendly Windows 8.
“Your modern Office thinks cloud first. That’s what it means to have Office as a service,” explained CEO Steve Ballmer at a Microsoft event in San Francisco this week.
The company explains that Office will automatically save and store files on its online storage service SkyDrive, enabling users to synch across multiple mobile devices and PCs.
Initial SkyDrive storage will range from 7-20 gigabytes, depending on whether users opt for the subscription service (7 comes standard for new customers, 20 available with sub). Customers can use Office on up to five PCs or mobile devices.
“The launch is the latest sign of a cultural shift at Microsoft, as Web-based software and mobile devices undermine the strategic importance of PCs and programs installed on them,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Rival Google Inc., in particular, has increased pressure on the company with free, Web-based offerings such as Google Docs and Gmail. Apple Inc.’s iPad is also drawing more consumers away from PCs.”
Purchase or subscription pricing has not been announced. The trial version of Office 2013 is available starting Monday.
Barnes & Noble has announced Nook for Web, a service that “gives readers access to books in any of the major browsers without requiring a Nook account, though you’ll need one to make purchases or save books in your library,” according to The Verge.
Both Amazon and Google already offer Web-based e-book access, so in a sense Barnes & Noble is playing catch up.
With Nook for Web, users can access free sample books or read a chapter from any e-book prior to purchase. Additional related information is available while reading the books, and recommendations can be personalized in the Shop window.
“Customize the reading experience using the intuitive navigation bar,” explains the press release. “Choose between 8 fonts and 8 font sizes and a single or double page layout. Simply collapse the navigation bar once preferences are selected to reveal a clean, easy-to-read page.”
Nook for Web also allows users to review and comment on books “via Twitter, Facebook or e-mail without even leaving the book,” notes the release.
Barnes & Noble has not worked out tablet compatibility with the service, but that may be coming soon.
Users are more satisfied with Google+ than with Facebook, according to new numbers released from the American Customer Satisfaction Index this week.
“Facebook is the Web’s most popular site with hundreds of millions of users, but people still don’t like it,” suggests CNET. “Now Google+, which has been dubbed by some as a ghost town, is gaining some traction with a higher customer satisfaction rating.”
Facebook’s frequent interface changes (such as Timeline) and privacy concerns were cited as problems for users who rated it the lowest among all social media sites, with a score of 61 out of 100 (its score last year was 66).
Google+ topped all social sites with a 78 rating, placing it on the same level of customer satisfaction as Wikipedia and just above YouTube and Pinterest.
“According to the report, Google+ does well because it doesn’t have traditional advertising, has more focus on privacy, and provides a better mobile experience,” adds the post.
However, Google+ has much fewer users and Facebook’s daily traffic has been bouncing back after its recent decline.
“Still, it’s got to hurt Mark Zuckerberg’s ego a bit to see another low rating, considering that company’s mantra is about making users happy over advertisers,” comments CNET.
Doug Morris, Vevo founder and current chief exec of Sony Music Entertainment, says he will pull Vevo’s music videos from Google’s YouTube if he can’t get a better deal when their contract expires at the end of the year.
“That’s a serious threat given that Vevo — which features videos of Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and about 11,000 other artists — is YouTube’s most popular channel, according to ComScore Inc. In May, Vevo’s videos generated 617.8 million views on the site, which Google acquired in 2006 for $1.65 billion,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
The article cites Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon as companies that would be interested in taking Vevo’s business from YouTube.
“YouTube has been good partners. They’re just extracting too much money for the enterprise to work properly,” explains Morris. “The videos are expensive to produce. And there are many mouths to feed on our end. You have to pay the artist, the record companies, the publishers.”
“For its major video contributors, YouTube keeps 30 to 50 percent of the net advertising revenue, after a 10 percent sales commission is paid,” notes the article. “Morris would not specify Vevo’s cut with YouTube.”
However, Morris is quick to point out what he believes drives viewers: “If Justin Bieber and Adele are somewhere else, that will be where people will go. If you don’t have the content, no one will come.”
“The pay TV industry is divided over how best to implement TV Everywhere, an initiative to let subscribers watch content online from PCs, phones or tablets,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
TV Everywhere was unveiled by Comcast and Time Warner in 2009 to offer programming via multiple platforms in hopes that viewers would keep their cable subscriptions and not switch to over-the-top services such as Netflix, Hulu and Roku.
However, the approach has failed to gain traction, and in practice has not been a seamless experience for consumers.
“It’s simply a mess — a complete and utter failure,” says BTIG media analyst Rich Greenfield.
One stumbling block has been deals that are impacting terms and conditions of other contracts. Another problem has been the confusion that results for consumers when they have to register at multiple locations to view content.
“We’re trying to figure out, can you have a single access point?” explains Mike Hopkins, president of distribution for Fox Networks. “It’s technically complicated but not impossible.”
The article describes HBO Go as one success story. Launched in 2010, the cable channel aggressively promoted the online service and now has some 5 million subscribers.
“We’re following consumer behavior,” says HBO co-President Eric Kessler. “This is about setting us up for the future and the next generation of HBO subscribers that is learning to watch on other devices.”
Cloud storage company Bitcasa hopes to provide consumers “infinite storage” for their devices for a mere $10 per month. The Mountain View, California-based start-up recently attracted $7 million in its first round of funding.
Bitcasa is exciting “because unlike players like Dropbox, Box, SugarSync, or Google Drive, its storage solution goes beyond syncing files across machines,” reports VentureBeat. “The company’s app does not take up any room on your hard drive, which is extremely helpful if you have a MacBook Air, Ultrabook, or a small SSD drive for storage.”
Data is stored on Bitcasa’s servers for easy access. Although the app does not offer some of the same sharing and integration tools as its competitors, it “seems incredibly appealing for individuals who want a better backup solution than an external hard drive,” suggests the post.
Users can try the service for free during the beta period, expected to last a few months, after which interested parties can continue with the $10/month “infinite storage” option.
The post includes a one-minute video demo from Bitcasa.
According to The Dyle Mobile TV Data Report recently released by the Mobile Content Venture, 68 percent of U.S. adults recently surveyed said they would watch more programs if live mobile digital TV were available.
“As people upgrade to smartphones and tablets, live TV is a must-have service,” explained the Mobile Content Venture in a statement. “Whether you are a wireless carrier or a cable/satellite operator, it seems clear that enabling the ‘living room experience’ on the go can be a smart business opportunity.”
Survey respondents said they would most likely access live mobile DTV during downtime while waiting, for entertainment while traveling, for entertaining children in the car, as an additional television at home, for being connected at sporting events and while working out at the gym.
Perhaps most telling, 61 percent of respondents said they would be “somewhat or very likely” to switch their service providers in order to receive mobile TV.
“The Mobile Content Venture is a joint venture consisting of 12 major broadcast groups, Fox, Ion Television and NBC that plan to launch the Dyle mobile TV service this year,” notes Broadcasting & Cable.
A new 15-month study, conducted by the Pew Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, shows that Internet users are increasingly accessing YouTube for news.
First-person, citizen-made videos depicting major events such as natural disasters and political upheaval are helping to drive the trend.
“The data reveal that a complex, symbiotic relationship has developed between citizens and news organizations on YouTube, a relationship that comes close to the continuous journalistic ‘dialogue’ many observers predicted would become the new journalism online,” writes Pew in the report.
“Citizens are creating their own videos about news and posting them,” the report continues. “They are also actively sharing news videos produced by journalism professionals. And news organizations are taking advantage of citizen content and incorporating it into their journalism. Consumers, in turn, seem to be embracing the interplay in what they watch and share, creating a new kind of television news.”
Additional key findings include: “Unedited video is becoming an increasingly popular way to view events, with such video making up 42 percent of the news watched on YouTube” and “Short videos —about two minutes in length —are the most popular, but they are not the only clips that do well. Thirty three percent of videos analyzed were between two and five minutes. And 18 percent were five minutes long or greater.”
Yahoo announced that Marissa Mayer has been appointed as the company’s new president and CEO, effective today.
Mayer was employee #20 at Google (the company’s first female engineer) and most recently served as VP of Local, Maps and Location Services. At Yahoo, she replaces interim CEO Ross Levinsohn.
“The appointment of Ms. Mayer is consider a coup for Yahoo, which has struggled in recent years to attract top talent in its battle with competitors,” reports The New York Times. “One of the few public faces of Google, Ms. Mayer, 37, has been responsible for the look and feel of some of the search company’s most popular products.”
According to the press release, Mayer helped launch more than 100 features and products at Google “including image, book and product search, toolbar, iGoogle, Google News, and Gmail — creating much of the ‘look and feel’ of the Google user experience.”
She has degrees in Symbolic Systems and Computer Science, and holds several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
“I am honored and delighted to lead Yahoo!, one of the Internet’s premier destinations for more than 700 million users,” said Mayer. “I look forward to working with the company’s dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalized experiences to users and advertisers all around the world.”
“As she hashes out Yahoo’s strategy, Ms. Mayer said she wanted to focus on the Internet company’s strong franchises, including e-mail, finance and sports,” notes NYT. “She also hopes to do more with its video broadband and its mobile businesses, tapping into its significant base of users.”
Digital Trends takes a stab at breaking down the details of Verizon Wireless’s Share Everything Plan, unveiled late last month.
The post offers a side-by-side comparison of the old and new plans, detailing price structures and how it works.
“The biggest difference between the Share Everything Plan and the tiered package plans is the focus on data,” notes the post. “Gone are the days of picking the amount of minutes, texts, and data available in a plan. Verizon customers will now be given the ability to talk and text as much as they want (unlimited) no matter the plan.”
“This benefit comes at the cost of paying premiums for data plans — priced on a tiered system of its own — which will be shared by every device that is included on the plan,” adds the post. “Basically, it’s out with the old tiers and in with the new, with the real kicker being elimination of unlimited data.”
In a related commentary posted on CNET, Verizon has filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals (Verizon vs. FCC) that suggests the cable company may explore editing Internet access based on what Verizon decides is a “priority,” since broadband providers can exercise First Amendment “editorial discretion.”
The move could undermine the FCC’s Net Neutrality standards. The FCC’s policy maintains “that neither Verizon nor any other Internet provider can block or slow access to online content, including if they disagree with its message or are being paid by a third party to favor some alternative,” writes Violet Blue in the commentary.
“Whether or not Verizon will actually try to deny or edit access remains to be seen,” concludes Blue. “But Verizon is certainly fighting to be able to ‘edit’ Web access and make its own best interests — whatever those are — a priority.”
DirecTV and Viacom reached a new long-term carriage agreement on Friday to restore Viacom-owned channels to subscribers of the satellite TV provider.
