Twitter is reportedly considering building its own video-hosting technology. This would allow Twitter users to upload video directly rather than using hosting services such as yFrog, TwitVid and Vodpod.
The company recently made a similar switch involving images. “Until recently, Twitter also delegated photo hosting to third-party services; Twitter moved that hosting in-house with the most recent app updates,” writes AllThingsD.
“This doesn’t mean Twitter expects users to start using its homegrown solution for the bulk of the videos people share of the service,” notes the article. “It still expects most people to post clips using links from sites like YouTube, Hulu and Vimeo.”
The switch could help Twitter refine its consistency and user experience in addition to offering more control while making tweets richer and more media-friendly.
The potential video initiative is not a done deal; however, a follow-up post from AllThingsD reports that Twitter has acquired New York-based, video-sharing startup Vine — in a deal that may or may not keep the three-man company as a standalone service.
The company, which has yet to launch publicly, specializes in very short video clips. According to its landing page, Vine is “the best way to capture and share video on your iPhone.”
“Vine allows for punctuated recording,” explains AllThingsD. “Grab a few quick snips of video, and Vine auto-generates a longer cut stitched from those shots. It’s a novel idea, and hones in on the sweet spot of our ever-dwindling attention spans.”
A new report from TVB, the non-profit trade association of the U.S. commercial broadcast television industry, shows that cable’s original series summer releases were not watched as much as reruns on broadcast television networks.
“In a comparison of the Top 50 summer cable originals versus summer repeats on broadcast TV, repeat programming on broadcast television occupied the majority of the Top 100-ranked programs,” reports TV Technology. “Cable originals landed one position in the Top 100 and 32 in the Top 500.”
“Among its findings, the report indicates that the time-shifted portion of broadcast television’s same-day Top 20 fall premieres outpaced the total audience, both live and same day, of the majority of cable’s highest-rated original summer programming,” the article continues. “This indicates a reversal of the last several years’ trend in 2012.”
Advertising-supported cable saw year-over-year decreases in primetime daypart from both the summer and regular season of 2011/12. Also, cable’s major programmers with returning series had declines in performance.
“Understanding where viewership happens is a critical consideration toward determining the success or failure of an overall marketing plan, and that viewership is definitively and materially biased toward broadcast television,” says TVB president and CEO Steve Lanzano.
The same week hackers attacked six major U.S. banks, “CSI” creator Anthony E. Zuiker debuted his nine-part cybercrime Web series “Cybergeddon” with the hope of scoring 20 million hits — an ambitious goal for a Web series.
“Cybergeddon” is the most expensive Web series ever, costing $6 million. To cover costs, many Web series have partnered with corporations, as was popular in the early days of television.
Zuiker’s cybercrime series is available in 10 different languages across 25 countries. But there remains questions over whether “Cybergeddon” will be a hit. The most viral videos online are more often funny or strange (think “Charlie bit my finger”), not corporate-backed Web series.
Zuiker says Web series change the traditional content production process by cutting budgets and time frames.
“He sees Cybergeddon as a challenge to film studios to venture outside the theater, saying that storytelling in the digital age should be ‘built to the device,'” writes Slate. “In five years, he predicts, movie theaters will be like cigar bars, ‘a luxury most people won’t be able to afford,’ and he might be right.”
The new Boxee TV set-top box — successor to the Boxee Box, originally released in 2010 — reportedly features DVR support, live TV broadcasting capability and Web apps.
The Verge has obtained photos of the new Boxee TV: “The new hardware (also manufactured by D-Link) sheds Boxee Box’s angled black cube in favor of a form factor that resembles competing products from Apple, Roku, and others.”
“Whereas the current Boxee Box requires a separately-sold dongle to watch live television, the new box carries a TV tuner (complete with coax input) right inside its matte black casing — an external antenna is also said to be included,” notes the post.
“It’s here that Boxee seems to be launching a full-scale assault against the traditional cable model, imploring users to ‘watch more free TV’ and ‘stop spending money on stuff you don’t watch’ on the device’s packaging.”
According to The Verge‘s anonymous source, Boxee has included DVR functionality that will allow users to watch content across multiple devices, possible via its own companion app.
The new hardware also takes into consideration personal media libraries by including network streaming abilities.
However, Boxee TV may not be quite ready for prime time. “Our source says the software routinely crashes several times a day and that Boxee plans numerous updates down the line to refine the user experience before any public unveiling,” concludes the post.
Netflix has essentially been the only online streaming video service and has therefore been able to make favorable content licensing deals. Now Amazon has come into the fray — making generous deals with content creators, which could put pressure on Netflix to ante up.
Amazon struck a deal with Epix that adds 3,000 movies to its Prime Instant Video service. Recently, it was learned that Amazon agreed to a pay-for-performance provision, demonstrating the online retailer’s willingness to spend big in this area.
“According to an executive directly involved in the deal, Amazon agreed to an earn-out provision payable to Epix over time if the number of subscribers to Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service rises above a certain threshold,” reports Reuters. “That comes in addition to a fixed upfront fee, the basis for most subscription video-on-demand deals up to this point.”
“This could be considered online video deals 2.0,” says Goldman Sachs media analyst Drew Borst. “After doing 1.0 deals mostly with Netflix and a few with Amazon, it dawned on the media companies that they may want to get a piece of any future growth too.”
DVD sales were previously a significant market for Amazon but demand has since dropped off, giving the company more reason to build out its streaming service to compensate. Pairing its video service with its Prime shipping program allows Amazon to subsidize the content deals with physical sales.
Netflix has a much larger user base than Amazon and pays around twice as much on content licensing — about two billion a year. However, Amazon pays more than Netflix on a per-subscriber basis.
Nearly one year after its U.S. launch, the UltraViolet digital locker system is getting a boost in the UK from BBC Worldwide.
“The BBC’s commercial wing is releasing four Blu-ray/DVD titles that are UltraViolet-enabled and is partnering with Warner-owned Flixster to allow users to redeem their copies,” reports Engadget.
The first four titles will be: “Doctor Who Series 7 Part One,” “Rollercoaster,” a new “Top Gear” special and “Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild.”
“We’re thrilled to be announcing our first UV-enabled DVDs and embrace this new era for home video — the UltraViolet era,” comments Claude London of BBC Worldwide Consumer Products. “We hope UV will empower consumers to build digital entertainment libraries and continue to enjoy BBC Worldwide releases either at home or on the move.”
UltraViolet was already live in the UK and will soon be introduced to Canada, Ireland and Australia.
“We’ll see how users like the signup process with its multiple logins, but a quick check of previous Blu-ray releases didn’t show any iTunes or Windows Media digital copies at all so at least they’ll appreciate the option,” suggests Engadget.
Cloud-based movie locker system UltraViolet has yet to significantly gain traction with consumers.
“The reasons are varied: UV-compatible movies have trickled out; the number of UV-compatible sites and devices are few,” reports CNET.
“A much-heralded relationship between UV and Walmart, which agreed to store movies in customers’ UV lockers provided they haul their DVD or Blu-ray discs and pay as much as $5 a disc, was a non-starter for many,” adds the post.
However, early adopters are now ramping up initiatives involving UV-enabled films.
Paramount Pictures, Barnes & Noble and 20th Century Fox have expanded their UV libraries through rights deals and service launches to target consumers looking for low-cost alternatives to DVDs and early access to new releases.
Paramount has signed a deal with Flixster, B&N launched Nook Video, and last month Fox announced it will offer Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” online three weeks before it’s available via disc or VOD.
“Let’s hope the other studios follow Fox’s lead,” comments CNET. “Consumers want earlier access to new releases, they want lower prices, and they don’t want them tied to DVDs.”
By year’s end, the nation’s major Internet service providers will put in place a six-strikes plan called the “Copyright Alert System.”
It’s “backed by the Obama administration and pushed by Hollywood and the major record labels to disrupt and possibly terminate Internet access for online copyright scofflaws,” reports Wired.
The plan involves AT&T, Cablevision Systems, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon. After four offenses by costumers, the plan calls for these companies to reduce Internet speeds and/or redirect a subscriber’s service to an ‘educational’ landing page about copyright infringement.
“The Internet companies may eliminate service altogether for repeat file-sharing offenders, although the plan does not directly call for such drastic action,” notes the article.
On the first offense, offenders will receive an e-mail alert from their ISP noting possible misuse. The second offense will result in an “educational message” about the legalities of online file sharing.
“On the third and fourth infractions, the subscriber will likely receive a pop-up notice ‘asking the subscriber to acknowledge receipt of the alert,’” writes Wired.
And after the fourth, as noted above, ‘mitigation measures’ may commence.
Somrat Niyogi, CEO of Miso, writes via TechCrunch that “Twitter currently dominates live TV because it enables these ‘come-in come-out’ experiences that are light, delightful and informative. But ultimately, Twitter is also dominating because of the mistakes we are making in the social TV industry.”
Niyogi believes the fundamental issue is in the industry’s approach to consumers. “Right now, second screen apps are saying, ‘Here are other ways you can use your smartphone while you watch TV!’ But is anybody really asking, ‘What do people really want to do when they watch TV?'”
“Companies should pick a single value prop and deliver it really well. This is why Instagram has 100 million users and no second screen app has climbed to 1 million users organically,” writes Niyogi.
“Let me emphasize this again: the key is to do one thing and do it right. As Matt Cohler wrote recently, there are winners in the mobile space and patterns are emerging: ‘Great mobile apps act like push-button remote controls for real life,’” he writes.
Niyogi highlights successful ‘single purpose apps’ like Instagram, Yelp and Pulse.
He ends his article with this question: “Now, I encourage everyone to ask themselves: is there a habitual, single thought experience that people want to use everyday that I can deliver in a magical, simple way?”
His answer? “I believe there is. But, only time will tell and there is more work that needs to be done. Most of all, I believe that TV and the experiences around it will only continue to get better and better… as long as we get on the right track.”
London company Showcaster is about to release a live video show called #Yappfactor, which will air during this fall’s “The X Factor” (UK).
The show won’t air on broadcast TV but instead inside the Zeebox social TV sidekick application.
Zeebox just added Viacom as a U.S. investor and promotional partner in addition to Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.
“‘The X Factor’ stream will see comedian and radio host Jake Yapp offer ‘tongue-in-cheek’ observations to UK Zeebox users’ sofas while they watch the show on the TV in front of them,” according to paidContent.
The article writes of the possible pitfalls of dual video streams: “Although many viewers have become used to reading and participating in text-based discussion and to Googling for information relevant to the shows they are watching, the introduction of parallel video in addition to the principal live broadcast could prove overwhelming and disruptive, not least to fellow viewers in the same room — like a friend interrupting every song with an annoying sofa commentary.”
“#Yappfactor is a purely editorial exercise for us. It is nothing more than commentary from an independent comedian — an extension of the alternative Twitter commentary we’re already been running,” says Zeebox product and content development chief Simon Miller.
Adobe, Google, HP, Microsoft and other tech heavyweights have joined together to form the “definitive resource” for all open Web technologies, called WebPlatform.
The resource will provide developers with a “single source of all the latest, quality and relevant information about HTML5, CSS3, WebGL, SVG and other Web standards,” reports Parity News. It will also offer tips on Web development and related technologies.
“We are an open community of developers building resources for a better Web, regardless of brand, browser or platform,” explains the WebPlatform homepage.
All documentation on the site will be listed under creative commons licensing, “with the initial contribution coming from the member companies while subsequent code snippets, examples, and documentation is expected from visitors,” writes Parity News.
On its own blog, Google makes note that “Web Platform Docs is a community-driven site that aims to become the comprehensive and authoritative source for Web developer documentation.”
On November 8, Rovio and Lucasfilm Ltd. will release “Angry Birds Star Wars” for iOS, Android, Amazon Kindle Fire, Mac, PC, Windows Phone and Windows 8.
“From the deserts of Tatooine to the depths of the Death Star — the game and merchandise will feature the ‘Angry Birds’ characters starring as the iconic heroes of the beloved saga like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca,” writes The Hollywood Reporter. “The Bad Piggies, who just got their own game last month, will be transformed by the Dark Side and turn into Darth Vader and other bad guys.”
For “Angry Birds” fans still looking for Halloween costumes, you’re in luck. “Beginning October 28, merchandise ranging from Halloween costumes and apparel to action figures and collectible plush toys will be available at select retailers, just in time for the holiday shopping season,” notes the article.
“Both ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Angry Birds’ share the instant and irresistible appeal of hands-on fun,” says Colum Slevin, VP and head of studio operations for Lucasfilm. “People seem to instinctively know what to do when handed a lightsaber or a bird in a slingshot, so this is a natural combination.”
In the coming weeks, the companies will release video shorts to promote the game.
Best Buy’s Geek Squad is expanding to offer its tech-support service on eBay while also running a pilot program at 28 Target stores in Denver and one in Minneapolis.
The 24/7 Geek Squad support offered on eBay includes service plans that cost $30 for three months and $50 for six months.
Expanding the Geek Squad, the struggling electronics chain’s best-known brand, “fits with their strategy to deliver a connected experience to consumers,” explains NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker. “They’re trying to make Geek Squad a ubiquitous, stand-alone brand that stands for great help around your technical problems.”
Customer service is a major strategy in Best Buy’s plans to revive sales and better compete with rivals such as Amazon.
“Best Buy boosted U.S. revenue from services 6 percent in the quarter ended August 4 as comparable-store sales sank 3.2 percent, the eighth decline in the past nine quarters,” reports Bloomberg.
The company also plans to close 50 big-box stores and open smaller shops that offer primarily mobile phones, e-readers and tablets. Best Buy has experienced strong sales in those categories while TV and PC purchases have declined.
“Geek Squad was founded 18 years ago by Robert Stephens, who rode around Minneapolis on his bicycle, helping people with technology problems,” notes Bloomberg. “He sold the company to Best Buy in 2002, when he had 65 agents. He still serves as a consultant to the retailer.”
LG Electronics will announce a Google Nexus smartphone at the end of October with a modified version of the South Korean phone maker’s Optimus G handset.
The new phone is expected to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 1,280 x 768 HD IPS display and an 8-megapixel camera. The companies have yet to name the device.
“A Nexus phone could do wonders for LG’s reputation, particularly in the U.S., where the company has struggled to make a name for itself with its smartphones,” reports CNET. “The Nexus devices are used to showcase the latest version of Android, in this case Android 4.2, and often generate buzz in the Android community for the device and handset manufacturer.”
LG may not be the only company to launch a Nexus phone as multiple handset manufacturers will reportedly also have the opportunity.
Samsung built the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus smartphones, Asus helped with the Nexus 7 tablet and HTC built the original Nexus One.
“The move could be a way to give some of the other handset players a leg up and earlier access to the latest iteration of Android. While Samsung has been tremendously successful with its Galaxy franchise, and its flagship Galaxy S3 in particular, the rest of the Android pack hasn’t fared as well,” suggests CNET.
Acer’s new Iconia W700 Windows 8-powered tablet — featuring an Intel Core processor — will sell for $799 when it goes on sale the end of this month.
The W700 will feature an 11.6-inch screen with 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution. The tablet is a mere 0.5-inches thick and weighs only 1.04 kilograms. Acer sees it as a replacement device for traditional laptops.
The tablet is expected to compete with the new Microsoft Surface, which will feature an Intel Core processor and Windows 8 Pro. Asustek is also expected to launch a Windows 8 tablet with a Core processor.
In related tablet news, Reuters reports that Sony has recalled its Xperia tablet one month after its launch due to potential water damage that can be caused by gaps between the screen and the case. The Android tablet was originally touted as being water resistant.
“So far [Sony] has shipped around 100,000 of the devices,” notes the post. “The company said it will fix any of the tablets sold and expects the cost of the recall to have no significant impact on earnings.”
