Imagine your entire film archive stored on small cubes of glass or as DNA? Now imagine that it could potentially last for hundreds or even thousands of years, and for the lowest cost ever achieved before. It may sound like science fiction, but, at Microsoft, it’s already a reality in one of their R&D labs. This fascinating presentation by Austin Donnelly and Karin Strauss shows you the future of long-term, cold storage. Continue reading vETC 2018: How Would You Store a Zetta-Byte of Cold Data?

Tipatat Chennavasin, co-founder of the Venture Reality Fund, the largest VC fund focused on VR and AR, discussed the Current Immersive Media Landscape: Trends and Opportunities. As an investor, Chennavasin cares about sales — what consumers are actually buying. VR is looking for the killer app that will drive adoption. Forty-four VR titles have generated over $1 million in revenue, so the market is looking pretty good to him. “Beat Saber” is the first game to unlock the potential of VR, with over 500 million views on social media in addition to the game’s VR users. Continue reading vETC 2018: The Current Immersive Media Landscape: Trends and Opportunities

What happens when you represent attributes of content together with granular audience insights about these attributes, and performance metrics? You get granular insights on what’s driving the performance of your content. In this vETC presentation, Yves Bergquist presents a case study just completed on 21 television shows. Continue reading vETC 2018: Systems Media – An AI Case Study

The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC hosted its fourth annual virtual conference, “vETC 2018 | The Grand Convergence” June 27-28 at the Technicolor Experience Center in Los Angeles. This year’s program highlighted talks in the artificial intelligence, immersive experience and adaptive production sectors. Thought leaders from the entertainment and service industries presented an insider’s look into the emerging technologies disrupting everything from the creative process to business models and consumer behavior. Videos from the conference are going live for viewing on the ETCenterVideos YouTube channel and include presentations from Microsoft Azure, Technicolor, Equinix, Deluxe, Amazon Web Services, USC School of Cinematic Arts and Viterbi School of Engineering. Watch your daily eblast over the next few weeks for updates highlighting the vETC 2018 videos. Continue reading ETC@USC Posts vETC 2018 Videos on its YouTube Channel

Apple and Google will be the first video providers for Verizon’s superfast 5G wireless service, slated to launch later this year in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento, California. According to those familiar with Verizon’s plan, customers of the home broadband service will have the option to access live television via a free Apple TV box or a free subscription to the YouTube TV app. Verizon plans to introduce online services using 5G technology that matches or exceeds the speeds of landline offerings. Continue reading Verizon Announces 5G Wireless Deals With Apple and Google

In the wake of service outages and other problems, MoviePass has cut back the number of films that its subscribers can see monthly, from one per day to three per month. The company had upped the monthly subscription fee from $9.95 to $14.95, but that only drove customers away, deepening its financial woes. The limit of three movies per month is in lieu of the price hike. MoviePass chief executive Mitch Lowe said the new policy will take effect August 15 and will reduce the company’s “cash burn rate” by more than 60 percent. Continue reading MoviePass Settles on Plan: Three Movies Per Month at $9.95

The Entertainment Technology Center @ USC hosted its fourth annual virtual conference, “vETC 2018 | The Grand Convergence” June 27-28 at the Technicolor Experience Center in Los Angeles. This year’s program highlighted talks in the artificial intelligence, immersive experience and adaptive production sectors. Thought leaders from the entertainment and service industries presented an insider’s look into the emerging technologies disrupting everything from the creative process to business models and consumer behavior. Videos from the conference are going live for viewing on the ETCenterVideos YouTube channel and include presentations from Microsoft Azure, Technicolor, Equinix, Deluxe, Amazon Web Services, USC School of Cinematic Arts and Viterbi School of Engineering. Continue reading ETC@USC Posts vETC 2018 Videos on its YouTube Channel

Two Bit Circus is on track to open a “micro-amusement park” in a 40,000-square-foot space in downtown Los Angeles in September. Company chief executive Brent Bushnell and cofounder Eric Gradman said they plan to open more digital/physical arcades, potentially in shopping malls, in the future. The interactive playground has zones, “like an amusement park,” with a variety of different games in each one. The company, which was founded in 2012 and raised $15 million in 2017, will invite corporations to sponsor events there. Continue reading Two Bit Circus Brings Micro-Amusement Park to Los Angeles

OTOY, a Los Angeles-based visual effects software firm, launched RNDR to allow more people to create 3D computer generated images. The company, which created software used for productions such as “Westworld” and “The Avengers,” relied on cloud, blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies to create a way that people can create 3D imagery rendered by shared hardware hosted in the cloud, and then sold and/or traded via blockchain. Doing so, says chief executive Jules Urbach, reduces the cost, time and labor of creating such assets. Continue reading OTOY Rolls Out Blockchain-Based Rendering Platform RNDR

AT&T inked an exclusive partnership with Magic Leap to distribute its augmented reality glasses. Later this year, potential buyers will be able to try them out at stores in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Magic Leap, which promises a “more practical” AR experience, is reportedly debuting a Creator Edition version later this year. With the deal, AT&T, which is making an equity investment in the company, will offer wireless service and content, most likely from existing partners such as the NBA. Continue reading AT&T, Magic Leap Strike Exclusive Mobile Distribution Deal

After California state senator Scott Wiener introduced a bill in May to the state assembly to ensure net neutrality, a committee voted to remove protections, an action that some said would allow broadband suppliers to throttle applications. Now those protections are being reinstated. Assembly member Miguel Santiago who proposed the changes to the bill passed last month, and Wiener came to an agreement on a new version of the bill that will make it the strongest net neutrality protection in the United States. Continue reading New California Legislation Aims to Strengthen Net Neutrality

Amazon is expanding its package delivery business in an interesting way: it’s inviting interested parties to form small delivery companies of up to 100 drivers and to lease between 20 and 40 Amazon vans. In this way, Amazon can quickly expand its “last mile” delivery network into turf now dominated by FedEx and United Parcel Service. The company says it is merely responding to the need to handle an increasing number of orders on its platform; analysts estimate that more than $4 of every $10 spent online is on Amazon. Continue reading Amazon to Launch Small Delivery Companies for ‘Last Mile’

Within, a Los Angeles-based cinematic virtual reality startup, just unveiled a website that allows users to have a VR experience on any device, from a desktop PC or mobile phone to a dedicated VR headset. The company relies on WebVR technology that avoids the need to download additional software to be able to play VR experiences in supported browsers. Users without a VR headset can navigate the content via the web browser, and those with VR headsets use hand controllers and tracking tools. Continue reading Within Debuts WebVR-Enabled Site for Broad VR Distribution

During Microsoft’s E3 press conference yesterday in Los Angeles, Xbox head Phil Spencer announced that the company has acquired game studios Compulsion Games (Canada), Playground Games (United Kingdom), Ninja Theory (United Kingdom) and Undead Labs (Seattle). Microsoft is planning to expand its Xbox Game Pass service; building up its in-house game development should assist in that effort. Spencer also revealed that the company is developing a cloud-based game-streaming network that will work across Xbox, PCs and phones. Continue reading Microsoft Buys Four Game Studios to Ramp Up Development

BlockTune, a remix monetization app from Common Edits, was the big winner at Sunday’s Entertainment App Challenge held during the AT&T SHAPE conference at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles. BlockTune has both a simple and an advanced UI for sampling music and creating remixes that can be shared with others. The key feature that won over both the judges and the audience is BlockTune’s ability to track the use of samples on a moment-by-moment basis and determine what portion of ad revenue should go to the source artists and the person who created the remix while the music is streaming. Continue reading Monetizing Remixes Is Now Possible With the BlockTune App