Amazon’s video store continues to expand to more platforms in an attempt to compete with giants like Hulu and Netflix.
On Tuesday, it launched on the Xbox 360. It also launched on the PS3 in April. Both platforms now include “access to Amazon’s video on-demand and Prime all-you-can-eat subscription based streaming,” reports Engadget.
“Unique to the Xbox 360 app is support for the console’s Kinect peripheral and its ability to recognize control by gesture or voice, plus a brand new feature for Amazon — a queue,” explains the post. “The Watchlist (for now only available on the Xbox 360, Kindle Fire and via the Web) lets customers preselect programming they’re interested in for easy access on the devices later, just like Netflix’s implementation, however Amazon’s VOD store means access to newer and higher profile content is just a click away.”
“Our integration with Kinect for Xbox 360 lets customers play and search for videos with the wave of a hand or the sound of their voice, and our Whispersync technology allows customers to seamlessly switch between watching on their Kindle Fire and their Xbox 360 console, without losing their place,” explains Anthony Bay, Amazon.com vice president for video.
According to the press release, Prime Instant Video customers have access to 17,000 movies and TV shows.
MMO developer Trion Worlds is developing a massively multiplayer game called “Defiance” whose plot and storyline will influence a TV show based on the game that will run concurrently on the Syfy network.
“We started the project in a more traditional ‘games-and-Hollywood’ way. They’re sending us scripts, asking ‘does this work’ — and it didn’t work,” Nick Beliaeff, head of development at Trion Worlds, told Ars Technica.
“They’re about characters and all that stuff, and for us… we care, but that’s not what we start with,” he said. “What’s the art, what’s the technology, what’s the gameplay style? Once we realized that, we took a step back and educated each other — here’s how you make a game, here’s how you make a show, this is what we need to do first, this is what they need to do first.”
The game (to be available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360) will have been in development some five years when the show launches in April 2013.
“It remains to be seen whether Trion and Syfy can pull off this ambitious integration in a meaningful way,” notes the article. “Still, it’s nice to see someone trying to thread the cross-media licensing needle with something a little more substantial than characters and setting cribbed from an established film or TV universe.”
Isreal-based TV services provider NDS, which Cisco purchased for $5 billion in March, recently came to San Francisco to share its vision of television five years in the future, reports GigaOM.
According to a related Wired article: “NDS, a company that develops DRM security and DVR technology for pay-TV providers like Cox and DirecTV, has developed a proof-of-concept called Surfaces that shows how television could become the center of a much more compelling, immersive living room experience.”
“The prototype jettisons the single, static screen that’s been a hardware mainstay since the golden age of television. In its place is a slick, highly customized room-sized desktop that hosts not only a traditional widescreen TV image, but also windows for a plethora of digital accoutrements,” explains Wired. “It could be exactly what the TV industry needs to stay relevant.”
Rather than one large screen, NDS envisions a modular approach using smaller 6- to 8-inch squares that can be configured into a matrix to fit any size you desire. These squares would be designed to work together and could support multiple inputs simultaneously.
Besides video content, for example, the display might also be used to display art, calendars, clocks, a Twitter feed, home automation, and more. Using e-ink would allow you to use the display for long periods without consuming large amounts of power.
“NDS showed how Surfaces could be used to get the most from 4K video displays — displays with horizontal resolutions in excess of 4,000 pixels,” notes Wired. “Currently, 4K seems a bit ludicrous, even on a 90-inch display. But when you’re displaying full-screen video on an entire wall, those extra pixels definitely prove useful.”
Nuance Communications announced it has licensed Rovi’s extensive entertainment database with plans to incorporate it into Dragon TV.
“Dragon TV is Nuance’s voice and language understanding platform for set-top boxes and connected TV devices,” explains the press release.
The collaboration will enable cable TV and connected CE device users to access Rovi-indexed content using voice commands.
According to the release: “The result is the ability to simply speak to change the channel, and browse, bookmark and search for content on both live and On Demand TV programming.”
Examples include: “Find comedies with Adam Sandler,” “Show me information on ‘The Big Bang Theory,'” and “Who plays Chuck on ‘Gossip Girl?'”
“Consumers want easy to use and simple ways for discovering entertainment that doesn’t require a remote control with as many keys as a keyboard. Voice brings this capability,” said Corey Ferengul, EVP of product management and strategy at Rovi.
LG announced it plans to launch a 5-inch LCD screen that will feature 1080p resolution and 440ppi pixel density.
The new screen, which LG claims will be the first to offer full HD on a smartphone, is slated for release later this year.
“Specifically designed for smart devices, LG’s screen uses AH-IPS technology — that’s Advanced High Performance In-Plane Switching — allowing a wide viewing angle, fast response times and a realistic color palette,” reports Digital Trends. “The resolution is 1920 x 1080, which is more commonly found on HDTVs and high definition monitors, and the 5-inch panel will have a 16:9 ratio.”
The 440ppi pixel density should be an attention-grabber as well. When Apple introduced its Retina Display for the iPhone 4, it touted 330ppi.
Although LG has yet to announce any devices to feature the new screen, the post suggests the potential of Samsung’s Galaxy Note and the next generation of LG’s Optimus Vu.
Sidecar is a new app that integrates messaging, real-time video, photo, location, and contact sharing to phone conversations.
“It achieves this through an intuitive and polished user interface plus a handful of standards such as SIP and XMPP,” reports Engadget. “Phone calls between Sidecar users are free anywhere in the world — the app even supports free Wi-Fi calling to any number in the U.S. or Canada.”
The free app has been in beta testing on Andoid devices for several weeks, but is now available for iOS on both the iPhone and iPod touch.
“We’ve been using the app on and off for a few days on several handsets, including a Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ and an iPhone 4S and it works exactly as described,” notes Engadget.
“There has been tremendous innovation in smartphones in every area except the basic phone call,” said Rob Glaser, chairman and co-founder of Sidecar. “Over 800 million people around the world have smartphones; the time is right to re-imagine what a phone call can be. That’s the mission of Sidecar.”
After only six months, Yahoo announced that it has officially shuttered Livestand, its news aggregating app for the iPad.
“While we received great feedback on Livestand’s design and it earned a 4-star rating in the App Store, we committed ourselves to continuously measure and scrutinize what’s working and what isn’t,” explains the Yahoo blog.
“What that basically means is that Livestand must not have been getting enough downloads, holding the interest of users, or competing with competitors like Flipboard well enough,” reports Digital Trends. “The company points to Yahoo Axis as an example of the new direction it’s headed in. Axis is a visual ‘search browser’ — a plug-in for desktop browsers like Chrome and a standalone iOS app.”
Yahoo expects future apps from Livestand, despite its cancellation. “The company claims it is ‘pivoting to a mobile-products-first development model,’ which will produce more mobile products like Axis,” explains the post. “Innovating in mobile is now one of, ‘if not THE biggest,’ priority for Yahoo.”
“This past week, Google completed its acquisition of the hardware maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, which could lead to the search giant making its own smartphone,” reports The New York Times. “But another software titan might be getting into the hardware game as well: Facebook.”
The article cites anonymous Facebook employees, engineers and individuals briefed on the company’s plans in suggesting that Facebook hopes to launch a phone by next year. This would be Facebook’s third effort to manufacture its own phone.
According to NYT: “The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said.”
The article suggests Facebook is motivated by its recent decision to go public, and that “as a newly public company, it must find new sources of revenue.” However, critics note the difficulty in mixing software and hardware knowledge as one reason Facebook’s phone aspirations may fail.
If Facebook’s phone plans fall apart, it could consider using some of the $16 billion it raised during its recent IPO to acquire an established smartphone maker such as Research in Motion or HTC.
Facebook’s phone is speculated to challenge Google in the market of lower-priced smartphones rather than taking on Apple. Since both Google and Facebook specialize in acquiring advertising revenue, they can subsidize their phones’ costs by displaying ads on the smartphone screens.
Geek.com reports that Facebook may consider using some of its $16 billion IPO earnings to acquire companies, with Opera representing a potential target.
Opera is an attractive prospect because it already owns 4th Screen Advertising and Mobile Theory. Facebook could capitalize on these mobile advertising resources, as Mobile Theory brings in billions of ad impressions per month and 4th Screen counts sites including MTV and IMDb as clients.
Opera’s Turbo system, which compresses Web pages, could allow Facebook to “serve up a faster, more efficient mobile experience to users,” notes the post.
Additionally, Opera could be used by the social network to gather analytics about millions of Web users, even if they do not log on to Facebook.com. This would allow them to better tailor their advertising.
“Data and advertising income for Facebook and a potentially massive boost to Opera’s user base. Sounds like a win-win situation, at least from a business standpoint,” comments Geek.com.
According to comScore, Instagram’s traffic increased by an impressive 78 percent between March and April.
Digital Trends credits the release of a new Android app and the $1 billion acquisition by Facebook.
The question remains: What are Facebook’s plans for Instagram, especially following the announcement of competitor Facebook Camera?
“It’s entirely plausible that while Facebook is slowly developing its mobile experience for users with new Facebook branded apps and increasing its brand presence on mobile phones, the company is slowly preparing for its first horizontal integration via the rumored Facebook phone,” notes Digital Trends.
“After Facebook has comfortably developed and grown its core suite of Facebook mobile applications, while at the same time maintaining acquisitions including Instagram, we could expect these apps to be ported over to the Facebook phone, and displayed as Facebook’s native applications,” adds the post. “Thanks to Instagram that could mean the potential for 50 million Facebook phone owners.”
A new study from online advertising network Chitika reports that 20 percent of Web traffic in the United States and Canada comes through smartphones and tablets.
The study suggests that mobile usage is highest in the evening. “That’s when people leave their computers for a bit and pretend to have a real life, while nonetheless staring at their phones or sitting on the couch watching TV and simultaneously pawing an iPad,” according to Ina Fried of AllThingsD.
Apple dominates the tablet market, and the iPad generates 95 percent of tablet traffic. iPhones are also successful, generating 72 percent of smartphone traffic, while 26 percent comes from Android devices.
“Windows Phone now accounts for a third as much traffic as BlackBerry devices,” notes the article. “Undoubtedly its market share is far less than that, but its more powerful browser and larger screen likely make it more conducive to Web surfing.”
The Chitika numbers also indicate that more than 85 percent of traffic comes from Windows machines, while Macs only account for slightly more than 13 percent.
Computers pre-installed with Windows 8 will be available sometime this fall. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says that the software will be running on half a billion computers worldwide.
“That’s quite a lofty goal. Microsoft sold around 240 million copies of Windows 7 in its first year of availability,” reports Geek.com. “Is doubling up on that number realistic considering that Windows 7 was the fastest-selling OS ever?”
Microsoft hopes that its new Windows 8 will flourish on its new tablet devices.
“But if Microsoft can convince a decent number of users to upgrade to Windows 8, drive solid 2012 holiday sales, get around 80 percent of new desktops and laptops running it (as they did with Windows 7), and grab a good chunk of the 180-plus million tablets expected to sell in 2013, then 500 million devices might not be as far fetched as it first sounds,” explains the post.
People spent 10 percent less time watching YouTube videos last quarter while spending 52 percent more time watching videos from mobile video apps, according to mobile advertising and analytics platform provider Flurry.
These numbers demonstrate people are spending less time watching online video and more time creating and sharing their own content. Social video apps such as Viddy and SocialCam make it easy to capture and upload video to share with friends and the world.
This represents a generational shift away from websites and PCs towards mobile devices that may eventually lead to “the downfall of companies as powerful as Google and Facebook,” suggests Eric Jackson, founder and managing member of Ironfire Capital.
“While older companies struggle to reinvent their legacies, Viddy, SocialCam and other startups remain focused on the technology people are quickly moving to today — in this case, mobile devices,” reports ReadWriteWeb. “This razor-sharp focus has led to Viddy and SocialCam amassing more than 60 million users. Meanwhile, the previous generation is reaching for the oxygen mask to try to keep up.”
“Watching spectacularly bad TV shows for the sheer pleasure of mocking them with your friends is not new — remember ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ mocking bad movies? — but the advent of social media may have turned it into a sport for a small group of TV viewers,” reports Lost Remote.
“Now there’s a term for it, ‘hate watching’ and the occasional #hatewatching hashtag, to boot,” notes the post.
The term was popularized in a New Yorker column by Emily Nussbaum, titled “Hate-watching Smash.”
While “hate watching” is easier than ever because of social media, it’s certainly not new. For example, weekly emails dating back to the early 1990s dissected shows such as “Melrose Place.”
“Negative social buzz may not be a good thing, but ‘hate watching’ is an entertaining activity — driven by short Twitter wit — and by extension it could drive a little viewership on its own under the umbrella, ‘all publicity is good publicity,'” suggests the post.
Speaking at the paidContent 2012 conference in New York last week, Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures said the battle between content owners and tech firms could be avoided if media companies would adapt to digital distribution in order to keep the revenue flowing.
“I think those (traditional media) industries will survive and thrive, they just need to move from a fairly monopolistic distribution system to a wide open distribution system,” he said.
Wilson cited innovations such as radio, the VCR, and iTunes as historical examples of technologies that provided new revenue, while he suggests that music subscription services will also be successful.
“In a perfect world, Wilson said he’d like to see a system similar to a DNS registry in which content owners would register their content and make it available with rules in exchange for copyright enforcement,” reports paidContent. “That’s the fair compensation for society already enforcing the rights of copyright holders, he said.”
Has Wilson invested in companies that would make content registries a viable business approach?
Amazon’s video store continues to expand to more platforms in an attempt to compete with giants like Hulu and Netflix.
