Rob Wiesenthal, chief financial officer of Sony America and chief strategy officer of Sony Entertainment, says TVs will get access to video content through tablets which would enable, for example, Sony’s Video Unlimited subscribers to go to a friend’s house and “throw” a film to the TV set.
“If you think back five years, it was all about the boxes; Tivo, Slingbox, Roku,” he said. “I think consumers really had box exhaustion.” Apple’s AirPlay, for example, allows iPads and iPhones to wirelessly connect to TVs.
Sony is using the Digital Living Network Alliance standard to interoperate with different manufacturer’ devices without the need for a box.
“Other benefits include the lure of offering more targeted advertising through an IP-enabled tablet than has proved possible through set-top boxes, and the advantages of finding content on a tablet rather than by aiming a remote control at a TV 10 feet away,” reports Financial Times.
In order for this approach to work, however, home Wi-Fi networks will require the capacity to transfer large video files without interruptions and cable providers will need to be willing to make content available this way.
Pandora now claims more than 100 million registered users. CTO and EVP of Product Tom Conrad credits the success of his company’s Internet radio service with the decision to embrace both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android mobile operating system. Conrad spoke at this week’s GigaOM Mobilize conference.
However, Pandora had a rocky start regarding growth on mobile platforms until the iPhone came along to help turn things around. And at one point, Conrad had little interest in Android. Pandora shipped its app through the iTunes store and watched its user base explode from 13 million to what it is today.
“Conrad has also since made peace with Android, about which he had previously said that he needed the platform ‘like I need a hole in my head,’ referring to the confusing state of Android fragmentation. On Monday, Conrad didn’t want to go into the specifics of Android vs. iOS market share amongst Pandora users, but he called Android’s growth ‘nothing short of remarkable.'”
Now Pandora is embracing HTML5 as it looks to what’s next.
“The company launched a new HTML5-powered website last week, and Conrad said that using HTML5 helped to both dramatically increase the performance of the site as well as implement new social features,” reports GigaOM.
Conrad calls HTML5 a “key enabler for connected devices,” hoping that it will provide opportunities for Pandora on connected TVs and car dashboards.
Currently, 70 percent of Pandora’s listening occurs on mobile devices. “In the future, the majority of Pandora listening will happen in the car and on the connected device,” predicts Conrad.
Turner is working with Google TV to launch apps giving users who authenticate they are pay TV subscribers access to full-length episodes of TBS and TNT shows.
Turner is already doing this on the Web and through iPad and iPhone apps. The broadcaster confirmed it will offer the new apps, but did not say when they’d be available.
The next version of Google TV is expected in a few weeks. “The second iteration of the platform will be based on Android 3.1 (a.k.a. Honeycomb) and have access to the Android Market,” reports GigaOM. “Dedicated apps as well as authentication features could possibly convince other TV networks to embrace the platform as well, but it’s unclear how this would be received by consumers.”
Consumer interest in Google TV had been initially tepid but is showing some signs of improvement. Logitech, for example, was forced to drop the price of its Revue set-top box from $250 to $99 in July, but then the companion box to Google TV “made a brief appearance in Amazon’s list of the ten best-selling gadgets last month,” indicates the article.
Instagram, an iPhone-only photo app, has become a darling of the fashion world.
Started only 11 months ago, Instagram already has nine million users who take photos on their iPhone and apply effects from 15 filters. They can then share their photos in a stream.
Some professional photographers feel the app is “cheapening the art,” but the results can be quite striking and have already been used in magazines.
Kevin Systrom, chief executive and co-founder of Instagram, says the company is not yet profitable. However, the app is starting to draw attention outside the realm of amateur photo enthusiasts and social networkers.
“The top request Instagram gets from corporate users is for custom filters,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “Brands want to create filters specific to their own aesthetic, so that Instagram users can echo a brand’s look — seeing the world as designer Kate Spade does, or Vanity Fair magazine. Mr. Systrom says the company has had other priorities but hinted new filters are coming soon.”
Turner Broadcasting has begun airing a series of television commercials on TNT and TBS that lets viewers know they can watch TV episodes streamed online if they have a cable subscription.
The campaign is designed to educate consumers about the concept of TV Everywhere.
“Consumers have bought tens of millions of iPhones and iPads,” explains Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks. “Our vision is that TV Everywhere kind of becomes the consumer-enabling technology that allows them to unlock the potential of those devices.”
An instructional video is also posted on YouTube that goes into detail about how to download the app and login (for example, viewers should be aware that they will need to have their cable bill account number available during the process).
It is interesting to note that Nielsen is crediting the viewing in its ratings if the show is watched within three days of airing.
Sprint Nextel will reportedly offer unlimited data service plans for the new iPhone 5, expected to debut next month. This would be attractive to big data users and mark a major difference from rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Sprint has been struggling with its bigger rivals and hopes that adding the iPhone to its lineup will lure new customers. “It’s a competitive disadvantage if your two larger competitors have the iPhone and you don’t,” says Matthew Thornton, an analyst at Avian Securities. “Getting the iPhone closes that gap.”
Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, already offers unlimited voice and data for RIM’s BlackBerry and HTC’s Evo customers at $99.99/month.
According to Bloomberg: “Apple’s iPhone has proved to be a valuable recruitment tool for rivals: Of the 5.6 million smartphones AT&T sold in the second quarter, the device accounted for 3.6 million. A quarter of the subscribers who bought the iPhone were new to AT&T, the company said.”
Kinetik has made social discovery easier with its free iPhone app that helps users weed through the massive collection of available apps. It is designed to streamline the search for relevant iPhone apps based on users’ selected apps and other users’ feedback of apps.
“Just load up Kinetik, choose an app that you have downloaded and then you can leave a comment about the app, then share it to Twitter and Facebook,” reports The Next Web. “As you add friends via your social networks and inside of the app itself, you can see recommendations that your friends have made too. There’s even an online profile for each user, where you can see the apps that they’ve shared, commented on and the like. You’ll also see apps that are trending on Kinetik.”
Kinetik will compete with similar offerings such as AppShopper and AppsFire, but TNW likes its chances: “I’ve tried loads of different ways to find new apps. I can tell you that Kinetik is one of the best ways I’ve found yet. I’ve had the chance to play with it for the past couple of weeks while it was in beta and it’s slick, useful and really quite fun.”
Miso’s iPhone application has paired up with DirecTV receivers over Wi-Fi to provide users an experience beyond TV show checkins.
The application automatically shows users what is playing, allows them to share what they’re watching and rate it, chat with other viewers, and answer questions about the show.
Miso co-founder Somray Niyogi says, “Now that we know what you’re watching, we can explore what synchronization could really mean. To us, it’s about value — this may come in the form of simplicity of sharing, delivering you complementary content, getting answers to questions you might have while watching TV or a combination of all of the above.”
Miso has more than 225,000 users and competes with GetGlue and Yahoo-owned IntoNow. Earlier this year, the startup began beta tests of an Android app to work with programming on Boxee.
Palo Alto-based Flipboard plans to add film and TV to its social media magazine platform. Flipboard is currently available only on the iPad, but an iPhone version is expected to launch in a few weeks.
Reuters reports that the company “hopes to cut deals with studios to carry movies and episodes of TV shows, getting into territory staked out by Netflix, Hulu and Facebook.”
Mike McCue, chairman and chief executive of Flipboard, explained he will begin the video project at the end of this year and also hopes to sell electronic books.
Flipboard’s service takes a cut of the revenue from advertising. “We’re trying to create the largest company possible,” said Danny Rimer, general partner at Index Ventures, a Flipboard investor. Reuters points out: “Rimer believes display advertising revenue’s migration online is ‘a very big opportunity.'”
In his Wall Street Journal “All Things D” Personal Technology column this week, Walt Mossberg reviews three set-top boxes: the $100 Roku 2 XS, the $99 second-generation Apple TV and the $199 Boxee Box from D-Link.
“The intent of the three products I tested is to do what a computer can, but in a simpler, cheaper and more TV-like manner,” he writes, “with easy setup, clear onscreen menus and small, simple remotes.”
Mossberg endorses the Apple TV for those who use iTunes or who own an iPad or iPhone. Apple’s AirPlay allows you to wirelessly stream content to your TV. For others, he likes the simplicity and price point of Roku, which also has a game function. Mossberg suggests Boxee is a bit too complicated and rough around the edges, but might be a good choice for techies.
Bottom line: “To watch Internet video easily on a TV, either Roku or Apple TV is the best choice for average consumers.”
As part of its partnership with the Original iPhone Film Festival, Red Giant Software has dropped the cost of its $2.99 “Movie Looks HD” app for a limited time.
According to Hand Held Hollywood, the app will be available for free via Apple’s App Store from August 23-September 1.
Movie Looks HD is a universal app capable of adding a professional finish to iPhone footage, providing services such as color correction using multi-layer color grading.
“If you haven’t tried Movie Looks HD yet, it’s an awesome universal app, capable of adding a professional, film-like finish to your iPhone footage,” reports HHH. “If you’re familiar with Red Giant’s line of ‘Magic Bullet’ plug-ins, then you already know what I’m talking about.”
The Original iPhone Film Festival asks aspiring filmmakers to shoot, edit and upload films with an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad 2 (the submission deadline is September 30). According to the festival’s site: “We’ve recruited a panel of experienced industry professionals from the worlds of advertising, film and television to watch what you come up with. They will pick their favorites and we’ll give away some cool prizes.”
Google’s third-generation Nexus Prime smartphone will reportedly arrive in October running the Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” OS (in time to compete with Apple’s rumored iPhone 5 release).
The device is expected to feature a 720p Super AMOLED HD display, a 4G LTE radio and front/rear-facing cameras, powered by a 1.5GHz processor.
The display will reportedly include a 4.5-inch panel with a PenTile layout.
According to Digital Trends: “Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) is said to be not just a simple update from the current version of Android. Instead, ICS is intended to be a multi-device OS, which created a unified user experience across Android tablets, phones and Google TV. This could help solve some of the fragmentation problems that Google has with Android, and is one of the primary weak points in its battle with Apple’s seamless iOS.”
The Wall Street Journal reports that “Apple is advising software developers to stop using a feature in software for its iPhones and iPads that has been linked to privacy concerns, a move that would also take away a widely used tool for tracking users and their behavior.”
Developers have been using a unique identifier for each device (known as UDID or Unique Device Identifier) to gather personal data about users, but the company has requested that developers not use the UDID with a new version of the operating system expected in coming weeks.
“The company set no specific deadline for the change,” reports WSJ. “But it stated on a website for developers that the feature ‘has been superseded and may become unsupported in the future.'”
Although privacy advocates reportedly embrace the change, it could potentially create “widespread repercussions for apps, advertising networks, social game networks, analytics firms and others because it removes a way for them to easily offer their services.”
Developers say that alternative solutions are being discussed privately (due to non-disclosure agreements with Apple).
GLMPS (pronounced “glimpse”), a new iPhone app, hopes to stand out from the growing collection of available image-sharing apps by creating a new type of media that combines stills and video.
Digital Trends describes the basic premise: “When you take a picture with your smartphone through the app, GLMPS captures a photo as well as a short, 5-second video clip of what took place just before the picture was taken. When viewing the GLMPS file, the video plays first, and is then shrunken down and superimposed as a thumbnail over the photo. The video then plays on repeat, much like a GIF file.”
All images are automatically stored to the iPhone’s camera roll. Users can then share the images through the free app, or post GLMPS files to social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
Vonage has launched a new app that allows users to make international VoIP calls and pay via iTunes.
The new app — dubbed Time to Call — works on iOS devices including the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
If the calls are limited to 15 minutes or less, there is no need for a Vonage account.
“Using Time to Call, 15-minute calls to 100 countries range from $0.99 to $1.99,” reports Digital Trends, “although fees for the remaining 90 countries Vonage can reach can be as high as $9.99 for that same 15 minutes — taxes apply to all calls.”
“Not only does this service offer tremendous value for international callers dialing from their home countries, it also provides a great solution for international travelers who want to avoid the bill shock associated with international calls and roaming charges when they call back home,” explained Vonage CEO Marc Lefar in a statement.
