Paramount Pictures and Microsoft launched an app this week that enables Xbox Live Gold members to stream movies through their gaming console.
The app acts as a “go between” according to CNET, as it requires users to purchase or rent movies through Paramount’s website before it can be streamed to the Xbox 360. Users must also have Paramount and UltraViolet accounts in order to stream the content.
Earlier this year, Paramount began offering digital movies from its website via UltraViolet. The new joint app will provide a simple means of getting those movies onto TV sets.
“Last month, Amazon Prime service made a deal with Paramount for access to its movies. And just a week later, Amazon Instant Video partnered with Xbox introducing another app that lets subscribers play movies from Amazon’s Instant Video service,” notes the post. “This comes as Xbox 360 already has apps for HBO Go, Comcast, Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, and ESPN.”
A new study from PricewaterhouseCoopers projects that movie ticket sales will experience a 20 percent increase over a five-year period ending in 2016.
However, the study also anticipates that continuing revenue decreases in the home entertainment sector will impact the North American film business.
According to the Los Angeles Times, PwC “predicts an acceleration over the next five years of trends with which Hollywood has recently been grappling. Those include growing digital revenue that can’t keep pace with falling DVD sales and rentals, and faster growth of movie-related revenue in Latin America and Asia than in the rest of the world.”
The study expects an average annual increase in box office of 3.7 percent, while the home video market will likely see a drop from $22 billion in revenue last year to $21.1 billion in 2016.
“Revenue from discs is expected to plunge from $15.8 billion last year to $10.2 billion in 2016, and a 77 percent jump in digital sales and rentals over the same span won’t be enough to make up the difference,” notes the article.
Blu-ray disc growth has not been as robust as originally anticipated, and in terms of the digital economy consumer interest is trending toward rentals rather than purchases. “Consumers are indicating they like the rental model, and the [profit] margins are very different under that scenario,” said Matt Lieberman, director of entertainment media and communications practice for PwC.
Noticeably absent this week from Apple’s WWDC was an announcement regarding its long-rumored television offering. However, Peter Kafka suggests that an outline for Apple’s TV plans are emerging in plain sight.
“It’s possible that Tim Cook really will come out with a big, shiny, integrated TV set,” writes Kafka for AllThingsD. “But regardless, he appears to be building the ‘real’ Apple TV right in front of us. The key here is to focus not on the hardware but on the software, the content, and the way users will get to access all of that stuff.”
Since March, Apple TV users have been able to access the Netflix service through their iTunes accounts. This integration may serve as a template for future deals to provide additional content.
This week in San Francisco, Apple unveiled AirPlay mirroring via the Mountain Lion OS that allows users to send content from a Mac directly to the TV using the Apple TV box, what Kafka describes as “another important piece of the puzzle.”
Although not yet promoted as such, AirPlay mirroring may open new possibilities for sending whatever is on your Safari browser (from multiple devices) directly to your TV, potentially leading to “a new breed of dual-screen Apple TV + AirPlay apps.”
“It’s already happening: From MLB, which allows you to use your iPad as a second screen for HD baseball game broadcasts, to games that render on the TV while using your phone or tablet as a controller, to many of Apple’s own native apps like iPhoto and Keynote which present rich interactive interfaces on the iPad while rendering media onto the TV,” says Brightcove CEO Jeremy Allaire.
Canon has announced its EOS Rebel T4i, the next iteration of the company’s T3i DSLR. According to Digital Trends, Canon has outfitted the T4i “with some stunning new video capture capabilities as well as a barrier-breaking feature, the touchscreen display.”
Highlights of the new camera include a 3-inch, 1.04 million dot resolution LCD touchscreen; 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor; ISO 100-12800 (expandable to 25600); 9-point all cross-type AF system; and high-speed continuous shooting up to 5fps.
We’ve seen touchscreens featured on point-and-shoot cameras and mirrorless Micro Four Thirds systems, but this is the first DSLR to include the technology (this could potentially open the door to mobile OS integration, enabling quality cameras to interact more directly with apps).
“The electronic-static touch-panel is the most advanced that Canon has released to date with multi-touch capabilities allowing photographers to use familiar gestures such as ‘pinch-to-zoom’ and ‘swiping’ to scroll between pictures,” the company said in its press release.
The Rebel T4i will launch the end of June starting at $850 (body only).
Nick Alt, founder and CEO of Clear Media, has introduced what could potentially become “the Instagram of Animated GIFs,” reports Wired. “Animated GIFs are making a comeback, and Echograph, a new iPad app, is taking them to the next level.”
“You shoot a video, select a five-second clip, and choose one still as the main frame. Next, use your finger to erase part of the image. That portion of the frozen image is replaced by video playing on an endless loop,” explains the post. “The result? Hybrid images that keep your eye guessing.”
With the $2.99 iPad app, “photographers can instantly download a shot from a high-definition camera, make an Echograph, and if it doesn’t work, immediately reshoot it,” notes Wired. “Why shouldn’t users be able to ‘test right on the fly, not come back to the studio to import and process footage,’ Alt says. ‘Instead of being a bunch of developers back at the shop, we’re trying to solve our own problems.'”
The Echograph site also features a $29.99 CF+USB Kit for importing stills and video to all models of the iPad (not required for use of the Echograph app). “Perfect for importing raw Compact Flash card media into the iPad,” notes the product description. “Works with h.264 video, RAW and JPG.”
The post includes a quick video demo and several interesting animated images created with Echograph.
Gaikai’s cloud gaming platform — which enables gaming on multiple devices — will soon be integrated with Samsung TV sets. The platform is already used on Facebook and LG TVs.
“Called Samsung Cloud Gaming (SCG), it’ll be available via the Smart Hub on Samsung 7000 series and up Smart TVs in the U.S. this summer,” reports Engadget. “The technology powering SCG is the same as what’s behind LG’s service, but Sammy’s customized the UI to suit its sensibilities.”
The alliance has been in development for nine months. “Samsung’s buying dedicated bandwidth from Gaikai’s 24 data centers on a per-device basis, with Gaikai handling overflow traffic while it builds out its network to meet increased demand as needed,” notes the post.
According to the press release, Samsung will soon begin accepting signups for the beta of SCG for its Smart TVs.
Engadget has included a 3-minute video demo featuring games being played on a Samsung TV.
At Monday’s WWDC event, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a new MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6, a Google Maps replacement, Facetime without Wi-Fi and more. However, it was a new mirroring feature that caught the attention of many.
“A potentially disruptive feature of the upgraded OS X enables Mac users to mirror their laptop’s display on their TV sets with one click, via Apple TV and AirPlay,” notes Lost Remote. “Until now, porting video to your TV set outside iTunes required running a cable from your laptop to your TV. But now, if you’re watching a clip on Hulu or a TV website (or playing a game, editing a document, etc.), just click and watch it on the big screen.”
“That alone may be worth the $99 for Apple TV, which becomes a wireless receiver, to boot,” adds the post.
“If you have an Apple TV, you’re going to love Apple’s new AirPlay Mirroring, which allows you to mirror what’s on your Mac in a 1080p stream to your Apple TV, allowing everybody to look at what you’re working on,” reports 9to5 Mac in a related post. “This feature is perfect for meetings, getting rid of the need for expensive projectors.”
SlashGear adds: “…the introduction of Game Center on OS X Mountain Lion also means that games can be streamed or mirrored. With AirPlay and Game Center now integrated into the Mac, users can play against other Mac users or even iPhone and iPad users.”
The new Mountain Lion OS X will be available in July.
Apple’s new iOS will be available this fall, with a focus on convenience and accessibility. Much more than a simple operating system update, iOS 6 brings some 200 new features to touch-based mobile computing. Wired takes a look at the top 10 key improvements.
Digital assistant Siri has additional functionality in areas such as real-time sports information, dining (including integration with Yelp and OpenTable), and movies (through a partnership with Rotten Tomatoes).
Users can post comments, photos, maps, and more to Facebook across the iOS ecosystem. “For instance, you can like apps on the App Store, as well as movies, music, and TV shows in iTunes,” notes Wired. “You can also post photos from Camera Roll, share a map from the Maps app, or share a webpage from Safari.”
Apple’s Maps replaces Google Maps and will include turn-by-turn navigation, traffic information and 3D photographic rendering with Flyover.
The Do Not Disturb feature holds messages, alerts, texts and phone calls. However, users can make exceptions for important individuals or emergency situations.
Safari can cache webpages to enable offline reading and offers “smart app banners” for mobile versions of websites. Shared Photo Streams allow users to share photos across iOS and Mac devices (including Apple TV) using iCloud.
Mail updates include pull-to-refresh for new messages, VIP notifications, and access to password-protected Microsoft Office documents. A new iOS app called Passport centralizes access to tickets, boarding passes, and coupon apps. “Such apps include Fandango (for movie tickets), Starbucks (for your Starbucks card), and United Airlines (for boarding passes),” explains the article.
And the final feature to be highlighted: Guided Access provides fullscreen single-app mode for children and institutions like museums and schools.
Digital Trends offers its picks of the best products featured at E3.
Best of Show was awarded to “Dishonored” from Arkane Studios: “The steampunk world was meticulously crafted to allow a variety of approaches, and the gameplay options were varied and complex enough to allow you a huge amount of freedom in the way you played. Any game that allows you to string things together and come up with new attacks that even the developers hadn’t thought of is a success.”
The Best Nintendo Exclusive went to “Pikmin 3” for the Wii U; Best Sony Exclusive was awarded to “The Last of Us” (makers of the “Uncharted” series); and, not surprisingly, “Halo 4” earned Best Xbox 360 Exclusive, Best FPS and Best Multiplayer.
“When Bungie left the ‘Halo’ franchise in the hands of 343, people wondered what to expect,” notes the post. “They wondered if the new studio could live up to the staggeringly heavy burden of taking charge of one of the most iconic franchises in gaming history. Not only does it look like they can match the previous ‘Halo’ games, there is a very good chance they will blow the rest away.”
Additional winners include Best Action Game: “Assassin’s Creed 3,” Best Digital Download: “Quantum Conundrum,” Best MMO: “Planetside 2,” Best RPG: “South Park: The Stick of Truth,” and Best Sports Game: “NBA 2K13.”
The Best Sleeper of E3 was awarded to “Beyond: Two Souls”: “Developer Quantic Dreams has been known for taking risks and creating games that play with the conventions of gaming. This game is just astounding. The facial animation is arguably the best ever to grace a game, and with the main character being created by Academy Award Nominee Ellen Page, this game promises to be an exhibit in the ‘games as art’ discussion.”
Check out the Digital Trends post for a full breakdown of the winners and each category’s runners up.
Asus unveiled the 18-inch Transformer AiO tablet at Computex last week. For many, the device may seem heavy and awkward next to popular tablets such as the 9.7-inch iPad.
“However, it also showcases what an ideal Windows 8 product might look like, and this product has an interesting twist: In tablet mode, it acts as an Android tablet,” notes Rob Enderle for Digital Trends. “Now, getting Windows and Android to play nice is likely a losing game, but what if this product instead ran Windows 8 and Windows RT (the ARM version of Windows 8)? Then it actually could be very interesting.”
“The Asus Transformer AiO is designed to boot two operating systems, and appears to shift from Windows 8 to Android when you pick up the display and turn it into a tablet,” adds Enderle. “If you were to replace Android with Windows RT, it would then switch from Windows 8 x86 to Windows RT, giving you a dedicated tablet experience in tablet mode and a PC experience when it is in its docking platform.”
Enderle also comments that the screen size may not be such a bad idea, since it falls between current tablet and desktop PCs — and may open up new possibilities for the use of tablets, especially if Asus considered replacing Android with Windows RT.
“Like most of you, I doubt this will happen,” he writes. “But were it to have the right backing, the right software, and the right user experience, bigger could be better. Asus, which is a rapidly rising star, could surprise the market.”
Food and beverage operator OTG plans to include 7,000 new iPads at airports over the next 18 months. The company has been testing the service at LaGuardia Airport by offering use of 300 iPads to its diners.
The planned roll-out includes dining locations at LaGuardia, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and Toronto Pearson International Airport.
“Using OTG’s custom browser, diners will be able to use the iPads to order meals through a visual menu, surf the Web, check their Facebook and Twitter accounts, get up-to-date flight information and play games,” reports Digital Trends. “Security is assured by simply hitting the home button, at which moment any personal information and browsing history will be wiped from the tablet.”
“We believe this to be the largest deployment of consumer-facing iPads in the world, and for us, it’s just the beginning,” explains OTG chief exec Rick Blatstein. “We’re marrying culinary excellence at the airport with new media. In addition to the content we are already offering, we see this as a significant opportunity for broader deployment of digital content from movies to news to games.”
In related news, Scoot Pte has replaced two tons of its bulky in-flight entertainment systems with iPads in an effort to save fuel. “The tablets helped the carrier cut 7 percent off the weight of planes obtained from parent Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA) even after a 40 percent increase in seating,” reports Bloomberg.
Economy passengers will be charged a rental fee of $17 U.S. to rent iPads loaded with movies, TV shows, music, and games. Business class passengers will have free use of iPads.
Twitter has made some significant improvements to its Facebook integration including support for business pages, images, and links to hashtags and usernames.
“We have fixed many issues with the Twitter for Facebook integration, including the ability to post to Facebook Pages, and added some new features,” a Twitter spokesperson explained to The Next Web. “The updated Twitter for Facebook integration now includes additional rich media experiences related to the first photo, URL, @mention or #hashtag in the cross-posted Tweet.”
Those who have already linked their accounts will need to update the connection via their Twitter profile settings page.
“The resulting integration is pretty impressive. When a tweet includes a photo, for example, the corresponding Facebook status update includes a thumbnail and link to click through to view the full photo, and other images from the user, on Twitter,” notes TNW.
The post suggests that the integration may be significant in that it is likely to send many of Facebook’s 900 million users to Twitter. Additionally, it could leave Google+ in the cold: “The Google API requires services to reciprocate the data share and, since Facebook does not, a disconnect between two of the world’s most influential sites — which know more about Internet users than almost any others — has developed.”
A new study from online measurement company comScore debunks the notion that Facebook ads are ineffective.
According to comScore, the recent Reuters survey that says 80 percent of users do not purchase products based on Facebook advertisements is inaccurate because “people generally don’t like to believe that advertising actually has an effect on their behavior.”
“ComScore, meanwhile, says it can measure both online behavior and offline purchases, and can connect the two,” notes AllThingsD, adding the disclaimer that Facebook is a comScore client (the two produced a study last summer analyzing how brands use the social network).
Additionally, while Reuters suggests that Facebook users are using the site less than they were six months ago, comScore counters that “time spent per user is actually up a few percent in that period.”
“ComScore says that Facebook ‘earned media’ ads — the kind that Facebook users distribute on their own, via ‘Likes’ and ‘Shares’ — do help sell stuff,” explains the article. “In their words, the ads have a ‘statistically significant positive lift on people’s purchasing of a brand.'”
Netflix recently announced that it will provide its video streaming services through the company’s own content delivery network (CDN). The network of in-house servers currently handle 5 percent of Netflix streaming traffic.
“Called Open Connect, the service will help Netflix cut the umbilical cord to commercial CDN providers like Limelight and Level 3 and will bring it closer to the cable and telco ISPs ultimately responsible for delivering its movies and TV shows,” reports GigaOM.
Open Connect will offer ISPs the option of connecting directly to Netflix or caching content on their own servers. The company hopes to coax ISPs to use its CDN by waiving Internet exchange fees and sharing open source designs for server hardware and software.
“The world’s other major Internet video provider, YouTube, has long had its own content delivery network,” explains the Netflix blog. “Given our size and growth, it now makes economic sense for Netflix to have one as well. We’ll continue to work with our commercial CDN partners for the next few years, but eventually most of our data will be served by Open Connect.”
GigaOM notes that some ISPs have their own CDNs and charge content providers to cache content, while others “actually earn a paycheck from commercial CDN providers to host content servers on their networks. With the Open Connect, those revenue streams would go away. But if ISPs were to take Open Connect into their networks they could save considerably on network transport costs by moving the source of Netflix’s enormous traffic flow closer to their customers.”
Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks Animation, believes 3D movies will eventually prosper and impact the way stories are told, despite a recent downturn of the format’s popularity in the U.S.
“Slowly but surely, it is regaining the regard it was first held in. Internationally, it continues to explode,” he said in an interview with The New York Times.
Katzenberg cites a better sensory experience as the technology’s driving force. “It amplifies all of the feelings,” he noted. “There is better engagement and involvement with all of the characters.”
The cost of 3D remains a challenge — and in the wake of “Avatar,” consumers experienced a flood of disappointing 3D films. “There was some crummy stuff put out there for a while,” Katzenberg said. “People only like it when it’s really good.”
“While he didn’t name any movies, many of the about 125 3D movies released in modern times have been panned,” notes NYT. Production costs and bad scripts are not the only issues. Katzenberg suggests new editing techniques need to be employed.
Noting that 3D glasses are an additional hindrance for some moviegoers, he predicted: “When science delivers, it will be ubiquitous.”
