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.
Socialcam, currently the most popular app on Facebook, has been sold to Autodesk for $60 million. The acquisition is intended to help Autodesk move into cloud-based content creation.
Autodesk is “a firm known best for designing professional software for architects and designers,” reports The Verge.
The post suggests the deal is a good fit for Autodesk, a company with “lots of revenue from its business clients, but is eager to expand its user base to the average consumer and evolve from the desktop to mobile.”
After initial rapid growth, Socialcam has slowed and so has its revenue. The app, which acts like an Instagram for video, could benefit from this infusion from Autodesk.
“Socialcam is still the number one app on Facebook, but has seen its monthly active user base shrink from a peak of around 80 million to about 54 million over the last month,” notes The Verge.
The key now will be getting Socialcam’s many young users to try out some of the company’s pay services in 3D modeling, photo editing, painting and drawing.
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.”
In an effort to provide the television advertising industry “Internet-level measurement and accountability,” DVR pioneer TiVo has agreed to purchase TRA for about $20 million.
TRA tracks what TV viewers watch and buy by matching “TV exposures from 1.5 million TV homes with specific purchase transactions,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. TiVo was already an investor in the company.
“The acquisition is expected to create a powerful combination of insights that will offer the TV advertising industry Internet-level measurement and accountability accelerating TiVo’s position in the billion dollar television analytics business,” said TiVo in a statement on Tuesday.
“TV has long been the best medium for advertisers to influence what consumers buy,” notes TiVo CEO Tom Rogers. “TRA has proven its platform can determine the effectiveness of TV advertising by connecting the exposure of ads to actual purchases, helping advertisers identify the right audience and get the most out of their ad dollars.”
TRA’s current TV clients include CBS, A&E and ION Media. The deal is expected to close this month.
New data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project indicates that “more than half of the adult cellphone owners in the U.S. now use their phones while watching TV,” reports TechCrunch.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that viewers are using their smartphones to post on Twitter or elsewhere about the show they’re watching. For 38 percent of those surveyed, it’s more about entertaining themselves during commercial breaks.
“Quite a few of these ‘connected viewers’ also use their phones to fact check something they heard on TV (22 percent) and marketers will be happy to hear that 35 percent of smartphone owners use their phones to visit sites that were mentioned on TV,” writes TechCrunch.
Not surprisingly, younger viewers are leading the trend, with 73 percent of those 18-24 using their phones while watching television (only 9 percent of those 65 and older do the same).
“There are some social aspects to how people use their phones while watching TV, too,” notes the post. “About a quarter of the respondents said they texted somebody who was watching the same program in the last 30 days, for example, and 11 percent of cell owners said they posted comments about a program online.”
As part of its ongoing TV Everywhere initiative, Comcast has struck a deal with Scripps Networks that will add programming from HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country.
The process of rolling out TV Everywhere has been slower than expected, notes TechCrunch, due to wariness about how it will make networks money.
“Up until recently, there’s been little interest in moving stuff online, because shows that appeared online and on mobile apps generally didn’t bring in as much money in ad revenue as the networks could expect from broadcast TV,” notes the post.
However, there is no doubt that viewers are starting to watch programming on new platforms “and content providers need to be there to capture those audiences.”
Scripps has also acquired video start-up RealGravity to help with online distribution.
“In addition to Scripps TV Everywhere content, which will soon become available on Comcast digital platforms, the cable network also got rights to Scripps video-on-demand programming, which will take advantage of Comcast’s new interactive advertising capabilities,” explains TechCrunch.
“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.”
Increasing numbers of cost-conscious American families are avoiding 3D screenings due to rising prices and decreasing excitement around the technology.
More than 85 percent of revenue for “Avatar” came from 3D tickets, and 56 percent of revenue for “Toy Story 3” came from 3D. But newly released “Brave” only received 32 percent of revenue from 3D sales.
A family of four could have to pay as much as $65 in some American theaters to see a 3D movie such as “Ice Age: Continental Drift.” If the family chose to see the movie in 2D, the price would drop 25 to 40 percent, depending on the theater.
The number of 3D movie releases rose about 75 percent between 2010 and 2011, but 3D revenues dropped by $400 million.
“For the moment, it appears that the movie industry is relying on extreme fans of comic book films and action movies to prop up 3D ticket sales in the United States,” notes Digital Trends.
While American 3D sales decline, sales around the world have increased. Successful 3D ticket sales in China, Brazil, and Russia will continue to encourage studios to produce 3D movies, even if American audiences opt for the less expensive 2D versions.
Global Industry Analysts has published a comprehensive research report titled “3D TVs: A Global Strategic Business Report” that suggests 3D TV is experiencing a healthy worldwide upswing.
“The global market for 3D TVs is projected to exceed 200 million units by 2018, primarily driven by increased consumer interest, falling prices of 3D TVs, and the introduction of 3D standards,” according to the press release.
“Other growth drivers include soaring demand for digital media entertainment, growing penetration of high-bandwidth broadband services among households, and rapid proliferation of Internet enabled devices such as smart TVs, smartphones and tablet PCs.”
The press release also cites enhancements such as direct-lit LED backlights and ultra-slim form factors, more user-friendly 3D glasses, and a wider range of television size selections as factors that will continue to generate consumer interest.
“Improvement in Quality of Service, reduction of deployment times, introduction of innovative service packages and competitive pricing will be critical for 3D TV to gain mass market adoption,” notes the release.
The Wall Street Journal conducted a 21-day evaluation “to find out what it’s like to live with an actual 3D TV and all of the attendant content, from movies and videogames on disc to dedicated cable channels.”
WSJ used a 46-inch Sony LED HX850 Internet TV ($1,900), two of Sony’s new, ultra-lightweight Titanium Active 3D Glasses ($100 each), and the PlayStation 3 and a standard digital cable box for content.
During week one, the writer watched basketball on ESPN 3D. “I can tell this is basketball, but it’s displaying as a demented picture-in-picture, with two duplicate versions of the same frame squashed onto the screen, side-by-side,” notes the review.
The viewer must manually switch to TV mode to view 3D. Once changed, “the depth achieved here is nifty, yet disorienting. Players hover forward, but the surface of the court doesn’t compute. It’s a flat, 2D plane, a backdrop against which these odd shapes are sliding.”
During the second week, the writer tried 3D Blu-ray: “The 3D flicker that I’ve spent a week trying, and failing, to get used to…is gone. I didn’t even have to select the appropriate 3D mode. The TV automatically adjusted to the correct setting. More importantly, the film has compositions meant to be shown in stereo because it was shot with 3D camera rigs.”
However, it’s not the most comfortable user experience. “3D TV comes with a price. You can’t lie down. Tilt your head even a few degrees, and that crisp image flattens and blurs. Sit to one side of the screen and objects double at their edges, taking on ghostly auras,” according to WSJ.
“When my three weeks are up, I realize that, other than gaming, I’ve given up on 3D,” notes the review. “Why bother, when this TV displays 2D programming so well?”
The article concludes by describing 3D TV as a “fragile technology that still feels experimental. With careful calibration and content selection, it can be fantastic and otherworldly. To the casual viewer, though, it’s more likely to be unpredictable. Maybe glasses-free approaches will eventually reinvent 3D as an effortless standard.”
Research presented on Monday from the Interactive Advertising Bureau indicates that mobile advertisements that appear on touchscreen devices such as tablets and smartphones show signs of having some of the highest levels of engagement amongst all social ads.
The report represents interviews with 552 smartphone owners and 563 tablet owners and covers “topics like what media they are consuming when they are viewing and responding to ads, where they are, what time of day it is, what ads work the best, and what users do after they see the ads,” details TechCrunch.
One highlight of the report is that “size matters.” Advertisements on the larger tablet screens fare better than those on the smaller smartphone touchscreen.
“When asked if they engage with ads more than once a week — that is, click on an ad for more information — 47 percent of tablet users responded yes, compared to 25 percent of smartphone users,” notes TechCrunch.
Ads are also more successful on a tablet because of its more common functionality: users are more likely to consume longer-form media on a tablet than a smartphone, which is more often used for short bursts of information.
Smartphones outperformed tablets regarding mobile ad content only in the “on the go” category.
NBC’s promised complementary mobile apps for its London summer Olympics coverage have arrived.
“Available for Android phones and tablets as well as the iPhone and iPad, they’re built on Adobe technology to deliver the information and live streaming video, as well as handle the TV Everywhere authentication with the cable providers that’s necessary to view all of the content,” reports Engadget.
The NBC Olympics Live Companion is designed to operate as a second screen for users to find out stats and information while watching Olympics coverage.
The other app, called NBC Olympics Live Extra, “delivers video of every event streaming live to users wherever they are. It supports multiple camera angles, social features like the Facebook tie-ins NBC announced yesterday and users can even switch between the two apps at will,” details the post.
In a related story, Facebook and NBCUniversal have agreed to a cross-platform partnership tied to the Olympics that will integrate branded content across TV and Web platforms.
While Olympics-themed extras will be available on Facebook and NBCOlympics.com, the deal will also include airtime for the social network.
“Facebook is sending a production team to London that will mine digital discussions pertaining to the Olympics for a ‘talk meter,’ which will provide an on-air window to what viewers are saying about the games, and other segments including a polling feature,” reports Variety.
The Facebook-NBC announcement was made days after that of a similar collaboration between Facebook and CNN for coverage of the presidential election.
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.
AOL is in the process of building data centers “about the size of French door refrigerators,” according to GigaOM.
Mike Manos, AOL Services CTO, wrote of the initiative — part of a project code-named “Nibiru” — in a recent blog post.
“If they work as planned, AOL will be able to deploy new services and infrastructure when and where needed with little more than an electrical outlet required,” reports GigaOM.
“Our primary ‘Nibiru’ goal was to develop and deliver a data center environment without the need of a physical building,” writes Manos. “The environment needed to require as minimal amount of physical ‘touch’ as possible and allow us the ultimate flexibility in terms of how we delivered capacity for our products and services.”
According to Manos, these mini-data centers offer multiple benefits, including:
“It redefines software architecture for greater resiliency.”
“It allows us an incredibly flexible platform for driving and addressing privacy laws, regulatory oversight, and other such concerns allowing us to respond rapidly.”
“Gives us the ability to drive Edge Computing delivery to potentially bypass CDNs for certain content.”
“Gives us the capability to drive ‘Community-in-a-box’ whereby we can quickly launch new products in markets, quickly expand existing footprints like Patch in a low cost, but still hyper-local platform, allow the Huffington Post a platform to rapidly partner and enter new markets with minimal cost turn ups.”
President Obama signed an executive order titled “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions” in an effort to increase government control over the Internet during natural disasters and security emergencies.
“The Federal Government must have the ability to communicate at all times and under all circumstances to carry out its most critical and time sensitive missions,” explains the order.
“Survivable, resilient, enduring, and effective communications, both domestic and international, are essential to enable the executive branch to communicate within itself and with: the legislative and judicial branches; state, local, territorial, and tribal governments; private sector entities; and the public, allies, and other nations.”
“Such communications must be possible under all circumstances to ensure national security, effectively manage emergencies, and improve national resilience,” states the order.
Critics of the bill are especially concerned with Section 5.2, which outlines how telecommunications and the Internet are controlled — and can be interpreted as a plan to provide the government with an “on/off” switch for the Internet.
“Presidential powers over the Internet and telecommunications were laid out in a U.S. Senate bill in 2009, which proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet,” reports CNET. “But that legislation was not included in the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 earlier this year.”
