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Distribution in the Digital Age: Is the TV Industry Vulnerable to Apple?

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March 9, 2012
  • Consultant and columnist Tim Bajarin addresses the evolution of on-demand television distribution and the Internet as a disruptive business model.
  • In a world of digital media, Bajarin suggests the networks “are now realizing that while they ruled the roost in the world of broadcast television, they are just another channel among thousands of channels that consumers can choose from for viewing video content.”
  • “But what they don’t seem to get is that in this world of digital, they will need new distribution partners and that they will not have as much control over them as in the past,” he adds. “And I also don’t think they really understand the idea that people want to have access to that content anytime, anywhere and on any device they own.”
  • Bajarin also suggests that Apple may be on the cusp of causing additional disruption.
  • “Apple is going to become one of the most powerful video distribution networks by nature of their existing customer base and one that is added to continually,” he writes. “I know the networks would like to keep control of their distribution, but in the world of digital, those days are gone.”
  • “The sooner the networks understand this and see things like Apple’s new distribution vehicle as a critical way to get their content to the masses quickly, the sooner they can adapt to and fine tune a new business models to take advantage of this new era of on demand, anytime, anywhere and on any device video content world.”

Former Microsoft Exec Says We Have Entered a Post-PC World

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March 9, 2012
  • Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s former chief software architect, says we are in a post-PC world where the PC is no longer central, but co-exists with other devices.
  • According to Reuters: “The PC, which was Microsoft’s foundation and still determines the company’s financial performance, has been nudged aside by powerful phones and tablets running Apple Inc and Google Inc software, the former Microsoft executive said.”
  • Microsoft, which dominated the PC era, has developed Windows 8 that will operate on ARM-powered tablets and hopefully put the company back on the cutting edge — or the “doom and gloom” scenario for Microsoft will be if people switch to portable, non-Windows devices.
  • “It’s a world of phones and pads and devices of all kinds, and our interests in general purpose computing — or desktop computing — starts to wane and people start doing the same things and more in other scenarios,” said Ozzie.

American Express and Twitter Partner to Turn Tweets into Coupons

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March 9, 2012
  • American Express is partnering with Twitter on a program that syncs with credit cards for automatic merchant discounts and coupons.
  • “The service is similar to one that American Express has with Facebook, letting consumers use their favorite social network to take advantage of special offers,” reports GigaOM.
  • Amex customers who sync their cards to their Twitter accounts can use a special hashtag to redeem coupons. “Users don’t have to actually clip a coupon or print anything out to take advantage of the service. They just have to send a tweet and the discount is stored for them,” explains the article.
  • Best Buy, McDonald’s, H&M, Whole Foods and TicketMaster are among the early participants.
  • The GigaOM post includes a video demo.

NBC and YouTube to Make History by Streaming London Olympics

By
March 9, 2012
  • NBC has teamed up with YouTube as its “official on-demand partner” for the 2012 Olympics.
  • Some 11,000 athletes from 205 countries are scheduled to compete over 17 days at the Summer Olympic Games in London.
  • “All events will be streamed live on Google’s backbone (likely via NBC.com) with replays of web-exclusive events, all the TV broadcasts and ‘behind the scenes’ footage all available at your whim,” reports Engadget.
  • According to the press release: “We plan to deliver the most extensive 2012 Olympics content to viewers, including — for the first time ever — ALL events streamed live. That’s right, you’ll be able to watch up to 3,000 hours of live streaming covering all 302 Gold Medals and every event in between.”
  • “Live streams will be available across our mobile platforms, providing an extraordinary 360-degree coverage of The Games,” adds the release.

Insiders Suggest Sprint Planning to End Deal with Falcone’s LightSquared

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March 8, 2012
  • Sprint had an agreement with LightSquared to build and operate its national wireless network for 11 years. In return, LightSquared agreed to pay Sprint $9 billion and another $4.5 billion in service credits.
  • However, according to two sources familiar with the project, Sprint could be quitting the partnership as billionaire Philip Falcone’s LightSquared gets hung up with the FCC.
  • Concerned over interference with global-positioning systems, the FCC said it would block LightSquared’s wireless venture. While the company looks for a resolution, Sprint’s activities have been on hold.
  • Sprint received an advanced payment of $310 million for start up costs and it will keep about $236 million if the partnership falls through.

Partnership Exclusive: Will Netflix be Offered as an On-Demand Option?

By
March 8, 2012
  • Netflix is reportedly in discussions with cable companies to consider adding the service as a cable TV on-demand option, reports Reuters.
  • Partnering with cable TV providers rather than competing with them via cord cutting would represent a key move for Netflix.
  • CEO Reed Hastings has pointed out that cable TV providers are looking for a competitor to HBO.
  • “At least one cable company could end up experimenting with offering Netflix by the end of the year, even though the company would have to modify its content licensing deals, which currently typically don’t allow Netflix to bring programming to cable set-top boxes,” adds The Hollywood Reporter.
  • A deal like this, with pay TV distributors, could help Netflix with survival as it struggles somewhat, “but would force the company to reduce its terminal revenue opportunity by sharing average revenue per user with [distributors],” explains analyst Tony Wible of Janney Montgomery Scott.

Infographic Highlights Emerging Trends and Outlook for Mobile Commerce

By
March 8, 2012
  • Online retailer CultureLabel offers a compelling infographic that illustrates the mobile commerce industry outlook, noting in particular the massive growth of smartphone adoption.
  • According to the statistics, 87 percent of the world’s population currently has mobile phones, while smartphone sales have risen 63.1 percent from 2010.
  • About a third of cell phone users spend 27 minutes on communication (Skype, telephone, SMS) and over half of consumers spend 40 minutes per day on the Web.
  • Social networking accounted for an impressive 50 percent of all page views last year.
  • CultureLabel notes that 71 percent of mobile searches occur as follow-up to advertisements from TV, online or print ads — and 90 percent of searches result in action such as a purchase or store visit.
  • Mobile commerce is estimated to see a 99 fold increase in six years (from 2009 to 2015). By 2015, mobile Web surfing is expected to overtake desktop Web use.

Will New Samsung Galaxy Pocket Compete with the Nokia Lumia?

By
March 8, 2012
  • Listed at $140, the new Galaxy Pocket from Samsung could be sold for as little as $20 or $30 with a two year contract.
  • It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, has an 832 MHz processor, 2-megapixel rear camera and 320 x 240 resolution for its 2.8-inch display.
  • The Pocket is likely a response to Nokia’s less expensive Lumia brand that runs Windows Phone OS.
  • “For the Galaxy Pocket to truly compete with that, it would need a bit more power under the hood,” TG Daily writes, “although if it does manage to strike a free-phone deal with a major carrier in the U.S., it could be a significant growth opportunity not only for Samsung but for the entire Android platform as a whole.”

Positive Reviews for New iPad: Are We Heading Toward a Post-PC Revolution?

By
March 8, 2012
  • “It’s sort of funny that the only major thing those in the rumor business got wrong was the name of the new iPad,” reports TechCrunch. “It’s not the previously presumed ‘iPad 3,’ nor is it the ‘iPad HD.’ It’s just the iPad. And that’s what it will be from now on.”
  • During yesterday’s Apple event, CEO Tim Cook emphasized the “Post-PC Revolution,” noting that Apple has sold 315 iOS devices.
  • Last quarter, Apple sold 15.4 million iPads. This was more than any PC manufacturer sold of their entire PC line worldwide: HP — 15.1 million PCs, Lenovo — 13 million, Dell — 11.9 million, Acer — 9.8 million.
  • TechCrunch offers a positive review of the company’s new tablet. The new iPad’s display “makes everything look like a printed photograph.” It seems fast. The 4G LTE will be faster than many broadband connections. The camera is “much, much, much, much, much better.” And iPhoto will be fun to use.
  • “You’re going to see a lot more of this type of innovation,” Tim Cook said. “We’re just getting started.”
  • In a related first impressions post: “When I pulled up a nice, high resolution photograph on the iPad 3rd-gen, I genuinely could not tell the difference between what I was seeing onscreen, and a nice, beautifully shot, well-printed, glossy photograph. It was seriously to that level,” comments Ryan Block, co-founder of gdgt.

Apple Unveils New iPad Featuring Retina Display, A5X CPU and 4G LTE

By
March 8, 2012
  • Apple introduced the third generation of its iPad yesterday.
  • The new 9.7-inch Retina display boasts 3.1 million pixels and improved color saturation. The tablet is outfitted with an A5X processor and quad-core graphics chip.
  • Similar to the new camera in the iPhone 4S, the new iPad has a 5-megapixel iSight camera capable of shooting 1080p video.
  • Available for LTE, the new software also enables the iPad to be used as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot.
  • Although Siri isn’t fully integrated, a new voice-dictation feature is included, allowing consumers to speak instead of type.
  • “The new iPad will be available March 16th, starting at $499 for the 16GB WiFi model and scaling up to $829 for the 64GB version with 4G,” reports Engadget.

NPD Report Indicates Number of Music Buyers Increased in 2011

By
March 7, 2012
  • Music sales were up 14 percent for 2011 over the previous year, while the number of music buyers also increased 2 percent.
  • NPD reports 78 million Americans purchased music in 2011, marking the second consecutive year that the number has increased.
  • The report indicates that CD sales continue to decline, but some 45 million music fans opted for digital downloads via iTunes and Amazon, up 14 percent from 2010.
  • “Given that it’s easier than ever to listen to free music, legally, via streaming options like Pandora and Spotify, the fact that paid downloads are up is a little counterintuitive,” notes AllThingsD. “But that’s always been part of the streaming music service pitch to the big labels: Let us give away your stuff, and we’ll help increase demand — just like radio used to do.”

Will Adult Entertainment Virtual Convention Serve as Model for Future Events?

By
March 7, 2012
  • The adult entertainment industry recently debuted its first ever convention held entirely in a virtual environment.
  • The Adult Entertainment Virtual Convention (AEVC) “brought a worldwide audience of industry professionals, fans and business owners together; and featured seminars, speaker panels, business-to-business networking along with exhibitors showcasing their products via virtual booths. The convention also tickled fan curiosity with adult star meet-and-greets and live cam sessions,” according to a press release posted via SFGate.
  • “It was topped off with an exciting Virtual Awards Show that bestowed winners in various categories of both real and virtual realms,” adds the release.
  • The event may serve as a model for similar approaches from other industries.
  • “The acceptance for the concept of an all-virtual convention was marked by the 8,000 recorded attendees, all of whom logged in online to pass through the virtual doors over the span of the three-day event,” notes the release. “The adult entertainment industry has always been a pioneer of technology, so it may not be long before we see other kinds of businesses experimenting with conventions on a virtual platform.”

Jumptap Data Suggests Kindle Fire Jumps to One-Third of Tablet Traffic

By
March 7, 2012
  • Mobile ad provider Jumptap found that the Kindle Fire accounted for 33 percent of tablet traffic in January, rising from 20 percent in December and only 4 percent at its launch in November.
  • The Kindle Fire has cut into the iPad’s traffic, which dropped to 48 percent in January from 65 percent in November. However, with the new iPad launch likely, it is expected that iOS will see a boost in traffic.
  • The study also found that overall tablet traffic has increased about 50 percent monthly since November, when the Kindle Fire launched.
  • “Jumptap derives its MobileSTAT data by tracking the advertising that appears on its mobile network, which reaches 95 million users in the U.S. and 21,000 apps and websites,” reports GigaOM. “The ad network also found that Android and iOS represent 91 percent of the mobile OS market, with Android enjoying 58.8 percent of mobile market share while iOS follows with 32.2 percent.”

Survey Suggests iPad 3 to be Purchased by One-Third of Mobile Users

By
March 7, 2012
  • With Apple expected to announce its much-anticipated iPad 3 today, a survey of mobile users reports that 29 percent plan to purchase the new tablet.
  • According to independent mobile ad network inMobi, of that number, 54 percent have never purchased a tablet before.
  • Nearly two-thirds of those wanting an iPad 3 said they would also consider an older device at a cheaper price, and almost half of the entire group reported no interest in a non-iPad tablet.
  • Initial rumors indicate the iPad 3 “will be slightly thicker and will include a higher-resolution Retina Display, better cameras, and the inclusion of LTE 4G chips,” reports VentureBeat. “Other rumors suggest that the unit will offer a new quad-core A6 processor to replace the iPad 2′s dual-core A5 chip, which will make processing high-end games and apps much smoother.”
  • The three most sought after features specified by survey respondents: “faster processor speed, better battery life, and higher-quality screen.”

Forrester Report: iPad Controls Tablet Market Share Over Android Rivals

By
March 7, 2012
  • Apple holds 73 percent of the tablet market with the second largest competitor, HP, only claiming 6 percent of the market. Third place goes to Samsung with 5 percent, followed by Motorola and Acer with 4 percent and 3 percent shares, respectively.
  • Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps wrote that Android tablets have been priced near iPads, but have inconsistent branding. Amazon and Nook have at least expanded upon the platform, building features on top of Android.
  • “Tablets are about services,” Epps told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. “That is where Amazon has succeeded where others have failed.”
  • Epps also says the tablet market is growing much faster than anyone expected.
  • “About one-third of the U.S. adult population will own a tablet by 2016, as more people bring them to their workplaces, according to Forrester,” Bloomberg reports. “The majority of tablets used for work are paid for by the employee, the research company also said.”

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