Movie Editor Develops Frame-Based Editing App for iPad

Film editor Dan Lebental, motivated by the desire to interact more directly with media, has designed an editing app called TouchEdit that he describes as a “21st century version of the Moviola.” Lebental was intrigued by the similarity of using the iPad’s touchscreen with how editors would formerly “touch film.” His app intends to bring back that simplicity while integrating the latest in mobile technology and cloud-based services. Continue reading Movie Editor Develops Frame-Based Editing App for iPad

Technology Inches Closer to Enabling Holographic 3D World

Holographic technology may be inching closer to mainstream adoption. Mashable offers an interesting look at the history and evolution of the technology, including its roots as a classic parlor trick (called “Pepper’s Ghost”) — an illusion involving a well-angled mirror to project a reflection — along with contemporary uses seen at Coachella, the London Olympics and this year’s Super Bowl. Continue reading Technology Inches Closer to Enabling Holographic 3D World

Nielsen to Redefine TV Ratings by Measuring New Platforms

Ratings company Nielsen announced this week it will expand its definition of television with a new comprehensive plan to measure video viewing across multiple platforms including broadband, Xbox and iPads. The decision to reach beyond traditional television viewing comes from the What Nielsen Measures Committee, a group comprised of members representing TV and cable networks, local TV stations, ad agencies and several big brand advertisers. Continue reading Nielsen to Redefine TV Ratings by Measuring New Platforms

Nielsen Global Media Report: Mobile Tablet Use on the Rise

With new technologies, a growing number of connected devices and the evolution of media distribution, it’s more common than ever for people to consume media across different screens, whether at home, at work or out and about. Nielsen conducted a Global Survey of Multi-Screen Media Usage to find out how consumers are dealing with the fragmented media environment — and learned that 80 percent watch online video at home. Continue reading Nielsen Global Media Report: Mobile Tablet Use on the Rise

New Nickelodeon App is TV Everywhere Capable and More

After two years of research, asking 9- and 10-year-olds what kind of content they want to watch on an iPad, the results are in: they don’t want to watch very much actual TV. So instead of simply making its programming available on the iPad, Nickelodeon designed its new app as a noisy, colorful collection of animated clips, music videos and more, including actual full-length episodes. Continue reading New Nickelodeon App is TV Everywhere Capable and More

New Sony PlayStation to Allow for Streaming Games Online

More than 10 years ago, Sony executive Ken Kutaragi predicted that one day videogame consoles would become one with a network that linked players together, thus eliminating the physical console and allowing gaming to require only a display and controller. Now, Sony is preparing to reveal its newest PlayStation, on which gamers will be able to stream games via the Internet — one step closer to Kutaragi’s vision. Continue reading New Sony PlayStation to Allow for Streaming Games Online

Remote Controlled iPad Stand for Teleconferencing and More

The Double, a remote-controlled robot stand from Sunnyvale-based Double Robotics, was on display at the recent Macworld show in San Francisco. Available in the spring for $2,000, the device is essentially an iPad stand with two wheels at the bottom that offers users remote visual access and the opportunity to interact with others without being on-site. Continue reading Remote Controlled iPad Stand for Teleconferencing and More

Smartphone Users Consume More Mobile Data than Tablet Users

For the first time, smartphone users consistently consume more mobile data than those using tablets, according to mobile analysis provider Arieso. Of those users, iPhone 5 owners are the “hungriest,” calling for up to 50 percent more data than the iPhone 4S user and four times as much as the iPhone 3G user. In an interesting statistic, Arieso reveals that 40 percent of all data is consumed by just 1 percent of mobile users. Continue reading Smartphone Users Consume More Mobile Data than Tablet Users

Digital Magazine Prices Surpass Cost of Print Subscriptions

In what may indicate a shift in print to digital pricing patterns, Cosmopolitan readers will now have to pay $19.99 for a digital subscription to the magazine on iPads. The cost of a year’s subscription for the print edition is just $10. In both the book and newspaper industries, print versions are usually still more expensive than digital ones. Continue reading Digital Magazine Prices Surpass Cost of Print Subscriptions

CES 2013: iPad Meets Pressure Sensitive Jot Touch Stylus

Adonit introduced the new Jot Touch, a pressure sensitive stylus that uses Bluetooth 4.0 to add pressure sensitivity to enabled programs on iPads. The battery lasts up to one month with normal use and two shortcut buttons let you adjust tools quickly. Palm rejection makes it easy to concentrate on the image and not worry about where your hands are placed. Continue reading CES 2013: iPad Meets Pressure Sensitive Jot Touch Stylus

Apple and Samsung Tighten Control of U.S. Smartphone Market

Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the U.S. smartphone market, according to a new report from Tavis McCourt, technology analyst for financial services firm Raymond James. While iPhone retention remains roughly 86 percent, Samsung is consolidating the Android space domestically as it has already successfully achieved in much of the European market. Continue reading Apple and Samsung Tighten Control of U.S. Smartphone Market

CES 2013: Entertainment Trends Drive New Technologies

With entertainment spending growing to $18.7 billion according to IHS Screen Digest, the entertainment industry is reaping the rewards of offering consumers more choice and options in how they consume content. TV Everywhere’s multi-channel, multi-device approach is finally complementing rather than cannibalizing. The year saw strong growth in Blu-ray discs. UltraViolet’s 7 million households and 8,500 titles now position the format to grow significantly in 2013. Video streaming or SVOD tripled in the first three quarters of the year to an estimated $1.7 billion. And studios continue to experiment with their windowing strategies for electronic sell-through. In this environment, the CE industry continues to respond and innovate. Continue reading CES 2013: Entertainment Trends Drive New Technologies

Consumer Study Points to iPhones and iPads for Holiday Wishlists

  • According to data from research firm Parks Associates, consumers have Apple devices on their holiday wishlists this year.
  • Parks reports that 53 percent of prospective smartphone purchasers plan to buy an iPhone for the holidays, compared with 33 percent who indicated the same in the third quarter and 24 percent one year ago.
  • “And when it comes to tablets, most of those surveyed said they’d prefer an iPad,” reports AllThingsD. “Following the iPad at 44 percent was Kindle Fire, with 24 percent of consumers expressing interest in Amazon’s touchscreen tablet.”
  • “Twenty-one percent of those surveyed said they’d go with the Microsoft Surface tablet — down from the 45 percent who just a few months ago said they wanted the Surface — and the Google Nexus tablet came in last at 12 percent.”
  • Additionally, Parks notes, “When presented with the iPad mini as a tablet alternative, many of those planning on purchasing other tablet brands opt for the iPad mini.” And among those planning on buying an iPad, 40 percent said they would opt for an iPad mini.
  • The smartphone portion of the Parks survey focused on brands only, not individual models, so it is not clear which version (and price point) of iPhone is enticing consumers.

TV of Tomorrow: Will the iPad Prove to Be the Future of Television?

During the TV of Tomorrow conference in New York, industry executives discussed how tablets, particularly the iPad, could be the future of television. Tablets and iPads have turned into the second screen for television viewing, and served as the focus of many of the talks at the conference. The second screen trend is both promising and troubling for television execs, as it presents new opportunities while also taking eyes away from advertisements.

People spend 22 minutes on second screens during a traditional 30-minute show, and 38 minutes during a 60-minute show, according to TVPlus co-founder Randy Shiozaki.

Dijit CEO Jeremy Toeman points out that second screen viewing works best for reality shows and other light entertainment. The technology does not work as well for more engaging dramas. Some challenges with second screen viewing involve the different technologies on the market, and the assorted apps for the various tablets.

Some executives maintain that while second screen viewing is exciting, television content is still the most important aspect of the television experience. “What’s been left out of the multiscreen conversation is the first screen, and that will come full circle,” said Lawrence Brickman, VP of smart TV app developer Accedo.

“But if Apple can leverage the incredible amount of energy the TV industry has already invested in the iPad, it may not matter if anyone else can do it better — Apple’s platform will hit scale across multiple screens before the industry even knows it’s happening,” suggests The Verge.

Mobile Trends: Should Laptop Makers Shift Their Focus to Tablets?

  • Tablets are set to outsell laptops by 2015, according to a new report from IDC, underscoring the necessity for PC makers to focus on designing attractive slates.
  • “This forecast further emphasizes the massive shift toward mobile, which has been underway for several years: Smartphones began outselling PCs last year and will easily continue to do so as consumers and enterprises do more computing on the go,” reports GigaOM.
  • “Many PC makers were either late to the mobile device game, or not part of it at all, and have watched sales dollars filter to those making smartphones at first, and now tablets,” the article continues.
  • While the IDC report suggests that laptops won’t entirely go away — just as desktop PCs have remained — GigaOM suggests the model of computing that relied heavily on these PCs is changing, and IDC’s predictions could be “too conservative.”
  • The report also notes the decline in unit revenue for mobile devices, compared with the revenue of desktops or laptops. “That means computer makers will have to make up the difference in volume and the best chance to do that is by seizing momentum early, much as Apple did with its iPad,” the article states.
  • “Additionally, tablet hardware is improving quickly, and perhaps more importantly, so are the applications that run on tablets,” GigaOM continues. “Activities that once sounded absurd on a tablet just two or three years ago are now possible on an iPad, Android slate or Windows RT device. Instead of looking back at ‘old-school computing,’ laptop makers should be looking ahead at potential software and cloud services that tablets will benefit from.”