Acer has unveiled a portion of its Windows 8 line-up with two all-in-one PCs and a pair of monitors featuring 1080p touchscreen displays.
The company announced its 27-inch 7600U and 23-inch 5600U high-end desktop computers, both with 1080p displays that include a tilt mechanism for reclining at an 80-degree angle.
“They also boost a super-thin design that is no more than 1.4 inches thick,” reports Digital Trends. “A 10-point capacitive touch screen is available on select models.”
The 7600U will include a Core i5-3210M processor, 8GB of RAM, Nvidia GT 640M GPU and Blu-ray drive. The 5600U will have similar offerings, minus the discrete graphics solution and Blu-ray drive. Both include HDMI, USB 3.0, Bluetooth and 802.11 a/b/g/n.
“Pricing for the 5600U starts at $1,149 with a touchscreen or $999 without,” notes the post. “The premium 7600U starts at $1,899 and will only be available with a touchscreen.” The 5600U will be available for the Windows 8 launch, while the 7600U will debut in late November.
For those solely interested in a touchscreen display, Acer will release two displays with 1080p resolution and 10-point capacitive touch panel with IPS technology. Additional features include built-in speakers, USB 3.0 ports, VGA, DVI and HDMI.
“Pricing on the 23-inch T232HL starts at $499 while the 27-inch T272HL starts at $699,” explains the post. “These prices could prove very competitive if image quality is on par with other IPS monitors.”
When that “check engine” icon lights up on your dashboard, you know something’s wrong. But other than that, drivers rarely take note of the hundreds of sensors in their cars that monitor the car’s health.
“That’s starting to change. Since 2010, the USC School of Cinematic Arts and BMW have been working on Nigel, a Mini Cooper outfitted with 230 sensors that creates a log of everything that happens in the vehicle, letting users see it all via an iPhone and iPad app,” reports Fast Company.
“Now USC’s Center for Body Computing is getting in on the Nigel project, looking at how the car could be used to monitor driver health as well as vehicle health.”
Currently, Nigel will keep track of milestones such as the 500th time you use the right blinker or whether you’re a lead foot on the pedals.
Dr. Leslie Saxon is the chief of cardiovascular medicine at USC Keck School of Medicine and the executive director of the Center for Body Computing. She says the Center for Body Computing is reaching out to sensor companies as it begins working with Nigel.
“One day, she imagines, a car’s pollution sensors, heart-rate sensors (maybe integrated into the steering wheel), GPS, and oxygen content sensors could all work together to tell drivers if, say, a certain polluted area of the highway affects their health — or if their heart rate goes up every time they arrive home or at the office,” the article explains.
Ford’s Silicon Valley lab is also working on new ways to utilize sensors and data that emerges from vehicles. “It may not be long before this data becomes available in some form to everyone,” suggests Fast Company.
Sling Media has released two new devices that stream 1080p HD content to TVs, PCs, tablets and smartphones. The new devices are the first from the company in four years.
Both provide HD streaming. The $300 Slingbox 500 features HDMI connections and dual-band Wi-Fi, while the $180 350 model is more compact and has simplified the set-up process.
“The 500 adds a rough first go of a promising new feature called SlingProjector which makes it possible to stream content, such as photos, from your mobile devices or computers back to the TV,” reports CNN.
“The company is also updating the companion software, SlingPlayer, and temporarily dropping its price from $30 to $15 for iOS, Android and Windows Phone apps,” adds the article.
CNN notes one limitation: The TV can only be controlled by one person at a time, “so if you’re trying to stream ‘True Blood’ from a hotel in New York while your husband and kids are watching ‘SpongeBob’ at home in California, their channel will change.”
The social TV market and second screen viewing is poised for double-digit growth in the next five years, suggests a report by research firm MarketsandMarkets.
Social TV is expected to grow from $151.14 billion in 2012 to $256.44 billion by 2017.
“Broadcasters are developing and enriching social TV integration; they are targeting the tune-in customer, engagement and their loyalty to boost the rating and they are also discovering the social TV challenge,” notes the report.
Europe currently leads the charge in social TV revenue. The report calculates $55.48 billion will be taken in this year, growing to $77.74 billion in five years.
Social TV startups are drawing investments from established media and tech companies. Additionally, the market is seeing increased connections between broadcasters and social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
“Social is truly emerging as a coalition of television and social media, wherein newer formats are being developed to enhance viewer engagement and encourage paid transactions,” adds the report. “Many media and tech companies such as Hearst, Time Warner, BSkyB, and Google are backing several social TV startups, with huge investments.”
Social video platform Spreecast has announced a deal with Viacom that allows for the production of online video chats that let viewers interact with on-air hosts of Viacom-owned VH1 and Logo shows.
Spreecast founder Jeff Fluhr talked with Billboard.biz about ways the company hopes to monetize its service with new features.
“Fluhr says the features are likely to include letting webcasters charge admissions fees for exclusive events, with Spreecast taking a commission,” notes the article. “It’s also contemplating offering a premium tier of the service with more bells and whistles for video producers. And the company is talking with brand marketers about advertising on the site.”
Spreecast launched in November 2011 and has gained some traction with celebrities using the service to conduct live and interactive video chats with fans. Britney Spears, Anderson Cooper and Reese Witherspoon are among those who have used the service.
“The company raised $7 million in Series A financing in September from Meakem Becker Venture Capital, GGV Capital, MentorTech Ventures and others,” explains the article. “That’s in addition to earlier seed investments from heavy-hitters such as Gordon Crawford, a media and technology investor at Capital Research Global Investors, Edward W. Scott, Jr., co-founder of BEA Systems, and Frank Biondi, former Viacom CEO.”
Spreecast is one of a collection of emerging online video ventures attempting to interactively connect celebrities with fans. Others include Ustream, StageIt and Shindig. “But Spreecast’s most direct rival is Google, whose Hangout feature for the company’s Google+ social network offers a similar service,” suggests Billboard.biz.
Oscar-nominated film director David Fincher is using Kickstarter to fund his newest film project. He’s been working with VFX house Blur Studio to develop a comic book adaptation of “The Goon.”
“After becoming frustrated with their search for backing, Fincher and team have decided to take to the crowd funding website to ask for money to develop their animated take on the film,” reports Slate.
“They’re not asking for the millions it would take to fund the whole project, but they are asking for $400,000 to develop what animators call a ‘story reel’ to help sell the feature film.”
“Mobsters. Zombies. Killer robots. Demon priests. Sound like your typical animated film? Didn’t think so… now let’s get it made!” reads the Kickstarter page, which indicates $127,079 has already been raised.
The team jokes about producing an adaptation that is “loud, violent, and offensive to your grandma” — an approach that Slate suggests has been the problem in raising traditional funding.
Those who pledge money will receive “goodie-bag-style” souvenirs, including original art, t-shirts and/or access to the film’s production blog.
“Fincher isn’t the first high-profile filmmaker to turn to Kickstarter,” notes the article. “Back in July, writer-director Charlie Kaufman turned to Kickstarter to fund his animated debut ‘Anomalisa,’ raising a record-breaking $400,000 toward an original $200,000 goal.”
Microsoft is taking another stab at digital music with a new service that runs on Windows-powered PCs, tablets and the Xbox game console. The Xbox Music service will offer unlimited streaming of about 18 million songs in the U.S. (30 million globally), although Microsoft could limit usage in the future.
“The service is part of a broad set of bets Microsoft is making this fall to help regain ground it has lost to competitors, especially Apple and Google,” reports The New York Times.
“In addition to Windows 8, a major new version of its flagship operating system that will start shipping October 26, the company is close to releasing a new version of its Windows Phone operating system for mobile phones and its first Microsoft-designed computer, a tablet device called Surface.”
As part of this wider initiative, Microsoft will package Xbox Music software with Windows 8 — which could raise “antitrust concerns about Microsoft’s use of Windows to gain toeholds in new markets,” notes the article.
Xbox Music incorporates elements of other services such as iTunes, Spotify and Pandora. There are radio stations built around similar-sounding music, an option to purchase songs and another option to listen free from a computer, but with audio and visual advertisements.
“Like Spotify, Xbox Music offers a $10-a-month ad-free service that includes many other features, like the ability to listen to music on smartphones and the Xbox 360 game console,” explains NYT.
Also launching in late October “is Microsoft’s Smartglass app that lets you move music from Windows computers, tablets and phones to the Xbox 360 to see on the TV and hear on a home stereo,” adds USA Today in a related report. “The tablet then offers a second screen experience with artist information, art, photos, lyrics and related artists. Microsoft plans to develop music apps for iOS and Android devices, too.”
Hulu co-owners Comcast, Disney and News Corp. have acquired Providence Equity Partners’ 10 percent share in the joint venture video site for a reported $200 million. The deal has been six months in the making.
If the reported sale price is accurate, Hulu would be valued at about $2 billion.
“With the official exit of Providence Equity, there is wide speculation over the future of Hulu, its existing licensing agreements, and its ability to maintain exclusivity over premium content,” reports MediaPost.
The sale also raises speculation that CEO Jason Kilar may cash out his shares (worth almost $100 million) and exit the company, as first reported by Variety over the summer.
“Thanks to Kilar’s vision and leadership, the service has grown from a single website serving up last night’s episode of ‘The Simpsons’ to a service featuring content from more than 400 partners as well as original series from filmmakers Richard Linklater, Morgan Spurlock, and Kevin Smith,” notes Fast Company in a related article. “Revenue soared 60 percent last year, to $420 million, and is on pace to exceed $600 million this year.”
Hulu Plus has more than 2 million paying subscribers (at $7.99/month) who can view the Hulu library on mobile phones, game consoles, tablets and Apple TV.
A report from Pandora says the Internet radio service will pay more than 2,000 artists over $10,000 during the next year. More than 800 artists will earn more than $50,000 — and very popular artists like Lil Wayne and Drake will earn about $3 million.
Pandora founder Tim Westergren claims Pandora accounts for 6.53 percent of radio listening in the U.S. He argues that if this number were higher, artists would receive much more money from royalties.
He also says his fight to lower royalty fees is not anti-artist, but rather an argument for Pandora to invest more in its development. This would allow Pandora to offer a better product and gain more customers. So although royalties would be lower, the scale would help to ultimately pay artists more.
When asked about Spotify’s impact on Pandora, Westergren remained defiant: “The only thing that’s worrying me is the royalty situation in Washington.”
According to recently published statistics, Spotify’s “revenue grew 151 percent to $244.5 million from 2010 to 2011, [yet] its net losses went up 60 percent to roughly $59 million,” reports TechCrunch.
As Myspace hopes to become relevant again in the crowded Internet ecosystem, CEO Tim Vanderhook recognized the site needed a new design.
“You couldn’t just put a new coat of paint on this thing,” he explains. “You really had to build everything from scratch, you had to rethink what the brand was actually going to stand for, and then you had to give people a totally different experience.”
While Facebook crushed Myspace in the social media realm, nothing really ever took over Myspace’s position as a place to cultivate young musical artists.
The new Myspace features a horizontal screen to accommodate the widescreen laptops and TV’s that are more prevalent in today’s technological landscape. The redesign focuses primarily on creating a “social network for the creative community,” reports Fast Company.
Another interesting development is the inclusion of “a smart, multivariable search function that pulls in all the results across artists, albums, and users,” explains the article.
The site also places importance on playlists and mixes, and will include a drag-and-drop tool for making the lists, according to a promotional video tweeted by Myspace co-owner Justin Timberlake.
Ultimately, Myspace hopes to become a “platform where finding music, playing music, and sharing music are all seamless, coherent parts of the greater experience,” notes Fast Company.
Traditional American newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post have been exploring new ways to produce valuable video content that does not simply emulate television.
The presidential election has provided each with valuable opportunities to experiment with new video techniques.
WSJ has bolstered its video content by using a filterable reverse chronological stream of videos called WorldStream. The application allows reporters to submit videos quickly, and allows for instant editing. This eliminates the time consuming process of calling editors and describing video.
The paper says there is no optimal length for video content. Tablet users prefer longer videos usually, but mobile users prefer short, quick sound bites. This means video producers must cater to both interests.
The New York Times produced more than 20 hours of video surrounding the political conventions, but said the largest challenge was to create unique content in such a saturated market. The paper also experimented with new ways to show viewers that the videos existed, such as tweaking the design and presentation to encourage video clicks.
The Washington Post used Google+ Hangouts as a way to reach users in an attempt to promote a “more casual, living room-style” for its videos.
The video departments for these newspapers are not as large as big cable companies and do not have similar production budgets, so they have to get creative to be successful in video content.
Producer Harvey Weinstein gave the keynote speech during the BFI London Film Festival, during which “the movie mogul pulled no punches when it came to the threat posed to moviemakers by piracy, particularly Internet piracy,” writes The Hollywood Reporter.
“I think we [as an industry] are being done a massive disservice by these companies,” Weinstein said of large companies like YouTube and others, “citing the fact that users can access nine clips of the movie ‘Chicago’ on YouTube and end up watching the whole thing for free,” reports THR.
“We need to rally filmmakers, content providers and musicians around the world,” Weinstein added, noting that those who work on movies are losing potential broadcast fees to video-sharing sites.
He applauded France for its efforts. “If an Internet company steals content, they shut it down,” Weinstein explained. “And let me tell you, Apple France, Yahoo France or Google France, none of them have gone out of business.”
Weinstein also spoke of the threat of consolidation among conglomerate-run U.S. networks.
“He warned of a time in the not-too-distant future whereby the 500-channel world we think offers diversity and choice actually is run by six companies,” explains the article.
Microsoft’s much reported “Do Not Track” (DNT) plan for its forthcoming Internet Explorer 10 “will likely be ignored by the advertisers it is designed to curtail, an ad lobby group confirmed,” writes Business Insider.
A statement from the Digital Advertising Alliance, which represents some 5,000 major advertisers, said: “The DAA does not require companies to honor DNT signals fixed by the browser manufacturers.”
“The trade associations that lead the DAA do not believe that Microsoft’s IE10 browser settings are an appropriate standard for providing consumer choice,” explains the statement. “Machine-driven do not track does not represent user choice; it represents browser-manufacturer choice.”
“The DAA said that The Council of Better Business Bureaus had also promised not to sanction any company that ignored DNT,” reports Business Insider. “The statement is the second overt sign that Microsoft’s DNT signal will be widely ignored on the Web and that users who leave it on will be tracked against their will.”
The board of directors for the Association of National Advertisers described Microsoft’s actions as a “deliberate abuse of open standards” in a letter to CEO Steve Ballmer earlier this month.
Microsoft’s impending releases of its Surface tablet and the Windows 8 operating system suggest a fundamental shift in the company’s structure. While Microsoft traditionally worked with hardware partners, its new focus on the Surface tablet signals a renewed sense of autonomy.
“This is a significant shift,” writes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in this year’s letter to company shareholders. “It impacts how we run the company, how we develop new experiences, and how we take products to market for both consumers and businesses.”
Ballmer stresses the fact that while Microsoft has positioned itself as a premium hardware company, it will still continue to work with partners on CE devices such as PCs, tablets and phones.
Microsoft will focus on building devices for specific needs. Ballmer highlights the Xbox and the Surface as Microsoft-made items that address specific needs in the market. Ballmer explains that Microsoft plans to “‘establish one platform’ around Windows across the PC, tablet, phone, server, and cloud,” reports The Verge.
“While Ballmer doesn’t say whether Microsoft is looking to expand Surface hardware beyond the tablet, it’s a safe assumption that if the brand is successful then it will continue to fuel additional devices in future,” notes the post.
“It truly is a new era at Microsoft,” says Ballmer. “We see an unprecedented amount of opportunity for both this year and the long term… I couldn’t be more excited and optimistic.”
Microsoft may be redefining itself as a hardware company with the release of its Surface tablet, but Fast Company suggests this could be a risky move, as “Windows has long been Microsoft’s bread and butter.”
Surface could complicate this, as it pits Microsoft directly against its partners in many other areas; the companies that buy Windows for their PCs will now compete in the competitive tablet market against their partner Microsoft.
And just as Microsoft is re-imagining itself as a company, the newest Windows also pushes boundaries of innovation. The new system uses grids of tiles that essentially bring the tablet experience to both mobile devices and PCs.
“Microsoft has united around a set of design principles that it dubbed Metro, a slick, intuitive, and playful visual language that is seeping into the company’s product portfolio, from Office to Bing to Windows Phone to Xbox, creating a common platform for hardware of all types,” explains Fast Company.
Windows 8 provides a stripped-down interface to emphasize what Microsoft calls an “authentically digital” experience. “It’s not about adornments,” says Sam Moreau, director of user experience for Windows. “It’s about typography, color, motion. That’s the pixel.”
“Windows 8 could also transform the nature of the software giant’s competition with home-run king Apple, potentially reversing a string of embarrassing defeats, especially in the mobile market,” notes the article. “Even more improbably, Microsoft is building this comeback attempt not on its traditional strength — engineering — but on, of all things, design.”
