Advertising powerhouses Omnicom Group of the U.S. and Publicus Groupe SA of France announced a merger on Sunday that aims to fend off the growing competition from Silicon Valley tech companies including Google and Facebook. The new Publicis Omnicom Group will have combined revenue of nearly $23 billion. The Wall Street Journal describes the merger as “a $35.1 billion cross-border linkup that shows how Big Data is making Madison Avenue look more like Wall Street.” Continue reading Advertising Giants Merge in Effort to Fend Off Silicon Valley

During yesterday’s breakfast event unveiling Google’s new Nexus 7 tablet, the company also announced the $35 Chromecast, a small thumbnail device that connects to televisions via HDMI and enables users to send content via Wi-Fi from phones, tablets or PCs to the TV screen. Chromecast comes with three months of free Netflix and offers more functionality than Apple TV’s AirPlay. “On paper at least, it’s the best device Google has ever announced,” suggests Wired. Continue reading Is New Google Chromecast All About the Future of Pay TV?

Google unveiled a new thinner version of its Nexus 7 tablet yesterday, this one also made by ASUS, featuring a 1920 x 1200 screen and pixel density of 323 ppi. The CPU has moved up to a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm S4 Pro paired with an Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM. The 7-inch tablet also features the updated Jelly Bean 4.3 operating system. The new Android OS offers support for multiple users with restricted profiles and Bluetooth LE for pairing with wireless accessories. Continue reading Google Unveils Thinner Nexus 7 Tablet with Hi-Res Screen

Technology leveraging unused TV spectrum is being positioned for commercialization, three years after approval by the FCC. This technology can be used to provide wireless broadband Internet in rural areas in the U.S. and in developing countries. In the U.S., there are at least 40 experimental installations operating, in addition to others in Singapore, Vietnam and African countries. These programs involve Google, Microsoft and local telecom companies. Continue reading Unused TV Spectrum Provides Broadband for Rural America

While an official Google event is scheduled for today that may or may not include tablet news, a new Nexus 7 is rumored to be offered at Best Buy beginning July 30th. The leaked Best Buy flyer reveals updated hardware, with a 1920 x 1200 high definition display, 16GB of storage, and a price of $229. If true, Google will offer a seven-inch HD tablet ahead of Apple. The current iPad mini does not have a high-definition screen and has a starting retail price tag of $329. Continue reading New Nexus 7 with Android 4.3 to Be Available by Next Week

About 25 percent of North American consumer Internet traffic is served by Google, more than that of Facebook, Netflix and Instagram combined, an increase from 6 percent three years ago. Estimates are that the majority of Google’s traffic is from YouTube — the rest involving searches, analytics, and advertising. To deal with the increase in Internet traffic, the company has data centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and has other distribution strategies. Continue reading Google Serves Quarter of Internet Traffic in North America

Dish Network recently opened its Hopper API to third-party developers. In doing so, the company provides non-Dish apps with direct access to Hopper in order to create new features and controls. These can expand its functionality, such as allowing tablets to serve as a remote control. This is in contrast to Dish only permitting official releases such as Dish Explorer and Dish Social. The company hopes this will help change the customer experience. Continue reading Dish Network Unlocks Hopper DVR to Third-Party Developers

Machinima is the latest Internet company to attempt to launch an online TV video service. The company is looking to develop and license content, and operate as an over-the-top video subscription service, bypassing traditional pay TV providers. In 2012, Google led a round of investment with $35 million. Machinima is attempting to raise additional funds, and has recently started talks with studios for producing original content. Continue reading Machinima Moves Closer to Becoming Online Pay TV Service

Microsoft announced missing financial forecasts on Thursday, putting the blame on the decline of the PC market. The company also acknowledged disappointing sales of its tablet computer, the Surface RT. Mobile devices are affecting PC sales as more consumers are buying tablets instead of PCs for movie watching and basic computing. Microsoft is still gaining slowly in sales to business customers, and has hopes for cloud services. Continue reading Microsoft Impacted by Shift to Mobile and Declining PC Sales

Google Glass has the potential to change the way video entertainment is created, distributed and viewed. But there are concerns about the potential violation of personal privacy. To some, the benefits outweigh the concerns in that Glass can deliver exciting new ways to create and consume films, documentaries, TV programming and video games. However, many businesses are ready to ban the device, such as movie theaters, bars and hospitals.  Continue reading Google Glass to Impact Video Entertainment, Privacy Issues

JPEGmini is a photo optimization app and service that offers advanced compression capabilities for standard JPEG images. Developed by ICVT, an Israeli media technology company, JPEGmini will decrease an image file’s size without affecting its quality. It is cross platform and fully compatible with current JPEG standards. JPEGmini is an addition to other JPEG optimizers such as JPEG2000 and Google’s WebP, which are not yet fully adopted. Continue reading JPEGmini Shrinks Image Sizes, But Maintains Their Quality

Social network Foursquare has started rolling out full-page post check-in ads in its mobile apps. The ads are presented to users immediately after they check in at certain locations, typically offering a relevant suggestion or coupon. The Diageo-owned Captain Morgan rum brand is one of the first on board. For example, users who check in at certain bars or restaurants will be served an ad suggesting they order a “Captain and cola” or “Captain mojito.” Continue reading Foursquare Leverages Check-Ins for Full-Page Mobile Ads

Frost & Sullivan’s newly released report on the size of the Consumer Video Devices Market suggests that sales numbers indicate Apple owned 56 percent of the streaming devices market in 2012, with Roku close behind at 21 percent. TiVo has the next largest base of users. And while Google remains committed to competing in this space, devices based on the Google TV platform have experienced little commercial success so far. Continue reading Apple TV Claims More Than Half of Streaming Devices Market

Google is reportedly joining the growing number of technology companies looking to launch online versions of pay TV. According to sources familiar with the matter, Google has been talking with media companies about licensing content for a new streaming Internet TV service. We reported earlier that Intel and Sony are working on similar projects. Apple has also been pitching television licensing deals to media firms in recent years. Continue reading Google Approaches Media Companies with Streaming TV Pitch

Most major automakers are developing more automated driving systems. Some of the features, such as cruise control that adjusts to the speeds of surrounding cars, blind spot radar and other collision avoidance systems, are already available. The push to deliver automated cars reflects the differences of automakers and Silicon Valley tech companies. Established car companies typically take a more incremental tactic than Silicon Valley, taking into account decades of manufacturing experience. Continue reading Google Drives Past Auto Manufacturers in Vehicle Automation