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DreamWorks Releases Open VDB Software with Eye on Industry Standard

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December 4, 2012
  • DreamWorks Animation spent years developing specialized software, which it used heavily in “Rise of the Guardians,” a $145 million animated film released in November. Now, the studio is giving away its software for free in hopes that it will become a standard format.
  • “The software, known as Open VDB, allows animators to more easily create ‘volumetric’ effects, such as smoke and other amorphous materials,” the Wall Street Journal explains.
  • “DreamWorks executives didn’t say how much they spent developing the software,” notes the article. “They released it in hopes it would be adopted as an industry standard and integrated into commonly used software platforms. This would increase its utility for DreamWorks even if it gave competitors access to an element of the company’s tool kit, according to studio executives.”
  • In “Guardians,” childhood legends like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny fight for children’s innocence against a villainous boogeyman Pitch. The Sandman character “Sandy” expresses thoughts and emotions with swirls of sand. DreamWorks’ Open VDB software was used to create the complicated animations of shifting shapes for Sandy’s dreams, as well as the nightmares Pitch transforms them into.
  • “As technology at studios like DreamWorks grow increasingly sophisticated, ‘visual effects are becoming integral to the performance of a movie,’ said Lincoln Wallen, chief technology officer at DreamWorks.”
  • While giving away software is not unheard of in the entertainment industry, it is a first for DreamWorks, and the company only plans to do so selectively.
  • “There’s other stuff that we’ve developed in house that we’re like, ‘No, you’re not getting that,'” says David Prescott, the visual-effects supervisor for “Guardians.”

How Netflix is Using Big Data in Effort to Become the HBO of Streaming

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December 4, 2012
  • Netflix wants to be the first “real” network of the Internet by taking HBO’s original content strategy and applying it to the Web.
  • “Netflix doesn’t just want to compete head-to-head with the established television networks with exclusive content,” reports Wired. “It wants to do it by using something that traditional networks don’t have: Access to your viewing habits and preferences. It knows who watches what and it’s making huge bets that their algorithm will help it determine which shows will be hits.”
  • “We know what people watch on Netflix and we’re able with a high degree of confidence to understand how big a likely audience is for a given show based on people’s viewing habits,” says Jonathan Friedland, head of communications at Netflix.
  • The company reportedly paid more than $100 million for exclusive rights to the first two seasons of “House of Cards,” outbidding HBO and AMC.
  • “But Netflix’s pursuit of original and exclusive content is a bit different from HBO,” the article states. “Netflix doesn’t own the shows that will premiere on the service. Instead the company is licensing the the content for a set amount of time.” After two seasons, “House of Cards” could be bought up by other networks who outbid Netflix. And if the show flops, Netflix can’t simply stop after one season.
  • The streaming service still dominates Internet traffic, but is looking for ways to keep ahead. However, “…by delivering an entire season at once, the company would be putting all the power in the hands of viewers and could destroy ‘Event TV,'” Wired writes.
  • “It’s going to change the way people look at television,” Friedland says. “By putting all 13 episodes out on the same day giving everyone the opportunity to watch it at their own pace is going to be a major moment. We put the consumers in charge of their own experience. It’s going to be an interesting time.”

Taking on Cable: Netflix Plans to Launch More Original Programs Next Year

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December 4, 2012
  • After releasing its first original series in February (“Lilyhammer,” starring Steven Van Zandt), streaming provider Netflix is getting ready to launch at least five new original programs in 2013.
  • In addition to David Fincher’s political drama “House of Cards,” starring Kevin Spacey and debuting in February, Netflix plans to launch the supernatural monster-mystery “Hemlock Grove,” the comedy “Derek” starring Ricky Gervais, “Orange is the New Black,” set in a women’s prison, and new episodes of “Arrested Development.” A second season of “Lilyhammer” is also scheduled.
  • Analysts suggest original programming will be vital to Netflix as it goes up against cable TV for subscribers, a plan that is challenged by budget limitations.
  • “While Netflix already competes against premium cable for viewing hours and subscribers, the push into original programming highlights the comparison,” notes the Wall Street Journal. “In addition to a lower price tag — $7.99 a month, against the $15 to $20 that consumers pay for HBO — Netflix offers an option outside traditional cable packages.”
  • However, while HBO remains relatively stable, Netflix’s model is in flux, due primarily to the shrinking of its high-margin DVD-by-mail business.
  • CEO Reed Hastings has said the company hopes to achieve 60 to 90 million U.S. streaming subscribers (Netflix reported 25.1 million at the end of the third quarter).
  • “HBO, Showtime and Starz all have less than 30 million domestic subscribers for their flagship channels,” notes WSJ. “For Netflix to hit its lofty targets, and become a real alternative to HBO, its new investment needs to yield some seriously buzz-worthy shows.”

Forced to Reduce Overhead, New York Times Seeks Manager Buyouts

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December 4, 2012
  • In an effort to reduce overhead in an evolving and challenging advertising environment, The New York Times announced yesterday that it would offer buyout packages to certain newsroom employees.
  • “While the primary goal of the buyout program is to trim managers and other nonunion employees from its books, the company is offering employees represented by the Newspaper Guild the chance to volunteer for buyout packages as well,” explains The New York Times in an article about its own plans.
  • Jill Abramson, executive editor of the paper, explained in a letter to the staff that she was looking for 30 managers who are not union members to opt for buyout packages.
  • “She stressed that the paper had been reducing as many newsroom expenses as possible, like leases on foreign and national bureaus,” notes the article, adding that recent hiring has restored the newsroom to its 2003 size — about 1,150 employees.
  • “There is no getting around the hard news that the size of the newsroom staff must be reduced,” Abramson explained in the letter. “I hope the needed savings can be achieved through voluntary buyouts but if not, I will be forced to go to layoffs among the excluded staff,” she added.
  • “The newspaper industry as a whole is confronting a drastic falloff in advertising revenue,” notes the article. “Print advertising at The New York Times Company’s newspapers, which include The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The International Herald Tribune, shrank 10.9 percent, according to the latest earnings report. Digital advertising across the company fell 2.2 percent.”

Murdoch Shutters The Daily: Will Failure Impact Tablet-Based Publishing?

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December 4, 2012
  • The Daily, an iPad-only newspaper, claimed to be a “fresh take on the news you need to know,” providing content specifically designed for touchscreens. But Rupert Murdoch’s experiment in tablet journalism, which cost half a million dollars per week to operate, will stop publishing this month, potentially signaling trouble for tablet-centric publishing.
  • “As failures go, this one is pretty spectacular,” suggests ReadWrite. “News Corporation worked closely with Steve Jobs himself to get the world’s first iPad-only newspaper off the ground, having invested $130 million by the time it launched in February of last year.”
  • “The world’s second largest media conglomerate teamed up with the most valuable tech company on the planet to launch a product that attempted to reimagine news for the digital age. And it flopped.”
  • The publication’s demise was in part caused by the iPad-only focus. With limited Web presence and a strict paywall, attracting subscribers proved difficult. Also, Apple is something of a profit drain with a 30 percent cut from publishers’ subscription sales.
  • The format itself is also challenging. “Tablet-based magazines and newspapers might have more gee-whiz bells and whistles than print, but the Web can still be a faster, less clunky medium for publishing,” the article states. “Indeed, research suggests that readers prefer their tablets’ Web browsers to the meaty, slow-to-update and even more slow-to-evolve native apps that publishers have been eagerly developing since Steve Jobs first held up the iPad on stage in 2010.”
  • “Traditional publishers, many of whom looked to the iPad as their digital savior when it launched, have had mixed results,” the article explains, noting there are, however, other companies that are still experimenting with tablets, albeit on a smaller scale.

New York Appeals Court Seems Skeptical About Aereo Television Service

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December 4, 2012

A federal appeals court panel is skeptical whether streaming service Aereo has the right to retransmit broadcast television content without permission, but has yet to issue a decision. Three judges of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared ready to reverse July’s lower court decision that reluctantly gave Aereo approval.

ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are among the networks appealing the lower court judge’s decision that cited a Cablevision DVR case to allow Aereo to operate.

“Cablevision was a storage service, not a retransmission service,” says Bruce Keller, the networks’ attorney. “Aereo is a retransmission service by its own design. Without a license, it violates copyrights.” Paul Smith, another lawyer for the broadcasters, told the panel that the startup was trying to turn the Cablevision case “into a complete carte blanche where people can violate copyrights.”

Meanwhile, Aereo insists that it is complying with copyright laws and provides a legal, alternate platform for free TV broadcasts. Attorney R. David Hosp argued that Aereo lets customers “rent remotely located antennas to access content they could receive for free by installing the same equipment at home,” notes the Wall Street Journal.

“Aereo has grown from 100 users to more than 3,500 in the last year and has expanded from Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad to devices including Windows computers,” reports WSJ. “It lets customers capture broadcasts from 29 local channels with subscriptions starting at $8 a month.”

Federal Judge Dismisses Sambreel Antitrust Case in Favor of Facebook

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December 4, 2012
  • A federal judge has sided with Facebook against an adware company that attempted to use the site for its own purposes, ruling that the social network has the right to exclude users if they install a program designed to change the look of the site and swap ad offerings.
  • “In a ruling issued Thursday [November 29] in San Diego, U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo dismissed an antitrust complaint filed by Sambreel, a controversial advertising company that offers products with names like PageRage that let users tweak the look of their Facebook page,” reports GigaOM.
  • “The companies got in a bitter fight earlier this year after Facebook ‘gated’ users who had downloaded the Sambreel products — meaning the users had to remove PageRage software before they could log on to the social network,” notes the post.
  • In response, Sambreel launched an aggressive legal and PR campaign, accusing Facebook of violating antitrust laws.
  • However, according to Judge Bencivengo: “There is no fundamental right to use Facebook; users may only obtain a Facebook account upon agreement that they will comply with Facebook’s terms, which is unquestionably permissible under the antitrust laws. It follows, therefore, that Facebook is within its rights to require that its users disable certain products before using its website.”
  • “The ruling comes at a time of uncertainty over the degree to which large companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter can control their products,” notes GigaOM. “On one hand, these are private companies that provide a free service — meaning they should be able to do what they like. On the other hand, they have become like public utilities that people depend on for their communications and on which third party companies make their livelihood.”

Tourism Study Shows Consumers Relying on Social for Travel Decisions

By
December 3, 2012
  • According to a study on travel and tourism commissioned by Text 100, young travelers are increasingly turning to social media for destination recommendations.
  • The study, conducted by market researcher Redshift Research, surveyed 4,600 consumers from 13 countries and learned that 87 percent of those younger than 34 years of age actively use Facebook to solicit advice before booking their travel.
  • More than half of the survey respondents also reported using Pinterest, Twitter and other platforms for inspiration regarding potential travel.
  • “A consumer is not necessarily making a travel decision based on what a corporation, airline or destination says,” explains Text 100 CEO Aedhmar Hynes. “Your greatest ambassador is someone who has had that experience already.”
  • “The survey also found that 43 percent of respondents rely on travel blogger reviews to make decisions about trip activities and purchases,” reports PRWeek. “While on vacation, 68 percent use their mobile devices to stay in touch with friends and family, which means travel brands must react quickly to consumer concerns.”

Staples and Mcor Partner to Bring 3D Printing Systems to Copy Centers

By
December 3, 2012
  • Currently, 3D printing is far from mainstream adoption, but a new partnership between retailer Staples and Mcor, the maker of the IRIS color 3D printing system, could make the technology more available to consumers.
  • The Staples Printing Division will roll out 3D printing first in Belgium and the Netherlands during Q1 2013 and then “quickly” expand to other countries, the company said. Fabbaloo suggests that the printers will likely only be located at central print shops initially, but eventually every Staples print center will have the equipment.
  • “Those with printable 3D models can merely upload them to Staples’ website, where they will be transformed into full color 3D objects with Mcor’s new IRIS paper-based 3D printers,” the post explains. “Printed models will be sent to your local Staples or directly to your address.”
  • “One issue facing Staples will be the influx of customers attempting to 3D print models that are in fact, unprintable,” the post continues. “Staples and Mcor should develop some process or filter that ensures the success rate of printing is high, otherwise the service could be in jeopardy.”
  • The Mcor IRIS device is based on paper printing and as Staples is a paper company, “it’s a totally natural fit,” the post suggests.
  • “The implications of this move are truly enormous, as it will go a very long way to opening up 3D printing for all. Staples is a massive brand with an astonishing capacity for advertising compared to any 3D printing company,” Fabbaloo writes. “Many more people will know about 3D printing as a result of this deal.”

Microsoft $899 Surface Pro Tablet Beefs Up Functionality and Features

By
December 3, 2012
  • Apple has been criticized for its premium pricing on its iPad tablets (the latest 64GB version costs $699), especially in light of cheaper competitors that have entered the market.
  • But consumers have been willing to pay that price for the rich user experience and sleek hardware. With the new Surface Pro offering from Microsoft, the question arises: Are Windows fans as willing to spend big bucks?
  • A more powerful version of the Surface RT tablet, the Windows 8 Surface Pro tablet costs $899 for 64GB, and that’s without a keyboard, Wired reports.
  • “Unlike the Surface with Windows RT, which runs on ARM-based chips and only serves up a stripped-down version of Windows, the Surface Pro runs a full-fledged version of Windows 8 Pro on an Intel Core i5 chip. One of the biggest differences: The Surface Pro will run existing Windows 7 applications,” explains Wired in a related article. “In addition to the Core i5 processor, Microsoft announced that the Surface Pro will have a 1920×1080 resolution, a full-size USB 3.0 port, and Mini DisplayPort for external display support.”
  • The tablet comes with a stylus and enables on-device note taking. It aims to be both a PC and tablet, but it’s uncertain if customers will justify spending more.
  • “Fuller-featured Windows 8 convertible/hybrid tablet-laptops like Lenovo’s new Yoga 13, start at $1,099. So it seems Microsoft is not really going after the iPad directly, but instead pushing a new, yet undefined category of device,” Wired writer Mike Barton states. “But the price has kept me looking at the $199 Google Nexus 7 tablet.”
  • “Compared with iPad and its rich app ecosystem, is the Surface Pro dead on arrival given its price?” asks Barton. “Will this new device category take off? Do consumers and business want a full Windows device in a tablet form — and will they pay a premium for it?”

Connecting Fans: Music Industry No Longer Just About Recorded Music

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December 3, 2012
  • Music industry experts are skeptical of startups in light of the “prohibitively expensive” costs of licensing music from record labels, writes GigaOM contributor Matthew Hawn. But “they’ve forgotten that the music industry isn’t — and never has been — just about recorded music,” Hawn writes, noting that many companies have promising opportunities in other parts of the music world.
  • Rather that “whining about the high cost of licensing music,” some companies have switched their focus to live music, offering fans intimate access to artists.
  • “And fans are willing to pay for these experiences, in stark contrast to the smaller segment who are willing to [pay] for downloads or subscription music services,” Hawn writes, noting that these offerings are also hard to pirate.
  • Another open door is music discovery, promoting musicians that are otherwise lost in obscurity. “The old channels of videos and radio are still there, but the Internet exploded everything and diffused attention. In many ways it’s harder than ever for artists and fans to connect,” the post states.
  • Some startups aim to connect listeners and musicians financially, allowing fans to pay their favorite bands directly. Others are looking to create a simpler music ecosystem or leverage mobile’s capabilities.
  • “The opportunities to expand [mobile technology] to other music-centric features like with ticketing, new music discovery, fan/artist interactions are all fantastic,” suggests Hawn. “Location and hyper-local services around music are also untapped.”
  • “Startups create the most value when they carve out new business models and transform the way we used to do things. They are less valuable (and thus less viable) when [they’re] just wringing the last drop of money out of old models. The truly great ones transform industries and build new opportunities, growing the market for everyone.”

At Long Last: The Reviews Are In for Anticipated iTunes 11 Release

By
December 3, 2012
  • Apple has released the newest version of its iTunes service, one month after the originally planned rollout. The company’s iTunes 11 is the biggest update to Apple’s media software since it debuted in 2001 as a simple music jukebox.
  • The service is now more integrated with Apple’s iCloud storage service and iTunes Store to make it more convenient for users to locate and access content on a variety of devices.
  • According to John Paczkowski writing for AllThingsD, “an iOS-inspired user interface… more elegantly incorporates the many elements that have been grafted and patchworked onto it over the years.”
  • “It’s far too early to say, as there are plenty of other tweaks and additions to play with here, but overall iTunes 11 looks like a pretty slick remodel of software that had been generally overburdened with unnecessary complexity,” notes Paczkowski. “It seems clear that Apple design guru Jony Ive played a prominent role in recasting the software.”
  • In a related review from Wired, Christina Bonnington writes: “For the most part, the new iTunes feels like the old iTunes. The experience is much faster though and has a decidedly more modern, streamlined user interface featuring flashy, colorful graphics.”
  • “Apple has trimmed a lot of fat, but with so much information to present and sort through, navigation can still feel a bit convoluted, especially compared to minimalist services like Rdio,” Bonnington writes.
  • “The one thing that would make iTunes killer in my book is if it adopted a simple cloud-based subscription service like Rdio and Spotify — along with those services’ equally simple interface,” she concludes.

Social Gaming: Facebook and Zynga Change Agreement, Draw Concerns

By
December 3, 2012
  • Facebook and social-gaming company Zynga have renegotiated the terms of their 2010 agreement.
  • “In a bid to become less reliant on Facebook, Zynga disclosed in a filing on Thursday that it has amended the terms of its relationship with the world’s largest social network so that it can now host its Web games outside of Facebook’s platform,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
  • “The new agreement also leaves the door open for Facebook to produce its own games and become a direct competitor to Zynga,” notes the article.
  • Under the new deal, Zynga will not be required to show Facebook ads on its game pages or to use Facebook credits for in-game payments. The game maker “can now seek other partners and offer games on its own portal, Zynga.com, without linking users to the Facebook platform.”
  • The news quickly led to a 12 percent plunge in Zynga’s stock to $2.30 in after-hours trading, while Facebook’s stock was relatively flat. Since its IPO in December 2011, Zynga’s shares have declined 74 percent, notes Businessweek in a related report.
  • Both companies quickly responded with statements explaining that the spirit of the partnership remains intact. “Our amended agreement with Facebook continues our long and successful partnership while also allowing us the flexibility to ensure the universal availability of our products and services,” stated Zynga chief revenue officer Barry Cottle.
  • “Zynga last year derived more than 90 percent of its revenue from Facebook. Meanwhile, Zynga made up about 12 percent of Facebook’s sales in 2011,” notes WSJ. “More recently, as Facebook’s gaming environment has grown more competitive, Zynga has struggled. In its most recently reported quarter, San Francisco-based Zynga posted a $52.7 million loss.”

Data Analytics and Hollywood Marketing: Social Sentiment Impacting Film

By
December 3, 2012
  • Analytics tools that translate social media chatter into data have become more accurate and are quickly spreading through Hollywood marketing.
  • At “The Power of Crowds: Social Sentiment and the Future of Film” panel hosted by USC Annenberg and IBM, industry experts highlighted the necessity of understanding data analytics, but said making movies won’t just become a product of research.
  • According to David Barnes, director of emerging technologies at IBM software group, “the analytics explosion will soon see marketing execs spending more on information technology than most chief information officers,” Variety writes.
  • Although data literacy will become increasingly important, it shouldn’t require specialized knowledge. “If you need a scientist to look at your data for you, your tools suck,” says Barnes.
  • A study from IBM found that only two-thirds of chief marketing officers are engaged in their departments’ social campaigns, even though reaching fans through social media channels has become a strong focus.
  • The panel mostly discussed analytics’ use in evaluating box office performance, but also noted the predictive potential.
  • “Still on the fringes of data analytics are story-development tools, such as algorithms that read scripts in search of positives and negatives for both marketability and box office potential,” explains the article. “But the panel was unanimous… that no matter how sophisticated the data gets, filmmakers needn’t worry that their projects will be subject to groupthink.”
  • “You will never see us make a movie based on a series of questions posed in a research environment — never, ever, ever,” says Rob Friedman, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-chair.

Private Beta Tests Reveal Pricing and Launch Details of Redbox Instant

By
December 3, 2012
  • GigaOM has unveiled several exclusive details about the soon-to-launch Redbox Instant by Verizon, the “Netflix competitor with the complicated name.”
  • “The service will charge consumers as little as $6 per month, launch with apps for Android, iOS and Xbox 360 and open up as early as December 17,” explains the post.
  • The online video joint venture is currently being tested in private beta, and its exhaustive help section reportedly reveals interesting details and screenshots.
  • Assuming that the service doesn’t make any significant adjustments based on the testing, subscriptions will start at $6 per month, offering unlimited access to the service’s video catalog, which is expected to be smaller than the current Netflix collection.
  • “An $8 a month membership adds four Redbox credits to the streaming package that can be redeemed for Redbox DVD rentals,” notes the post. “Users will be able to reserve their DVDs from the Instant website and mobile apps. Credits won’t roll-over but expire at the end of each month.”
  • According to GigaOM, “Redbox Instant also offers VOD rentals and sales of newer titles, which can be downloaded to some devices for offline access. Rentals and sales start at $0.99, and offer access to titles like ‘The Lorax,’ which will presumably cost a bit more than that.”
  • Redbox Instant will use Silverlight for online streaming and will be available initially on Android and iOS devices, Xbox 360 and select Samsung TVs and Blu-ray players.

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