The StanbyME Go from LG Electronics USA is a 27-inch portable smart touchscreen and LCD TV housed in a suitcase that runs for up to three hours on a full charge. Featuring four built-in speakers, screen mirroring (with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, iOS and Android) and voice controls, LG is touting its new mobile device as an “all-in-one entertainment option.” The 1080p display swivels, tilts and rotates in landscape or portrait orientation, and even includes a table mode for playing games. Priced at $1,000, it accommodates a full range of streaming apps courtesy of LG webOS. Continue reading StanbyME Go: LG Debuts a Portable, Multi-Purpose LCD TV

Linear TV viewership fell below 50 percent for the first time in July, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge, which tracks total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption via television. Among total TV viewership, broadcast and cable accrued record low shares of 20 percent and 29.6 percent, respectively, representing a linear television total of 49.6 percent. Combined, it still topped TV set streaming viewership, at 38.7 percent, a 2.9 percent increase from June and that month’s streaming record-high share. YouTube (not including YouTube TV) was again the top streamer with a 9.2 percent TV share, up 5.6 percent versus June. Continue reading Linear TV Viewership Dips Below 50 Percent for the First Time

Netflix continues to expand its game ecosystem. The company released a TV game controller for iOS devices earlier this month and has just begun beta testing its game streaming on TVs in Canada and the UK, with plans to begin tests for computer play in the coming weeks. Participating in the tests are partner devices including Amazon Fire TV Streaming Media Players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, Nvidia Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and Walmart Onn, with plans for more manufacturers to be added on an ongoing basis. Continue reading Netflix Beta Tests Its Game Streaming on TVs and Computers

The National Football League is raising the price of its streaming service, NFL+, now in year two, as live streams of the NFL Network and NFL RedZone cable channels are becoming part of the package. Cost of the premium plan will be $14.99 a month (or $99.99 per year), up 50 percent from $9.99, with the bundled NFL Network and its exclusive regular-season games, and fan-favorite RedZone, which carries live action from all Sunday afternoon games. A subscription to NFL+ with only the NFL Network added will increase 40 percent to $6.99 per month (or $49.99 per year), from $4.99. The changes will coincide with the start of the new season on September 10. Continue reading NFL+ Boosts Prices as It Bundles with NFL Network, RedZone

Chinese tech firm Rokid released is first AR glasses in 2017, and is now making available an attachment called Rokid Station that brings an immersive 215-inch Android TV virtual screen experience to its new Rokid Max augmented reality eyewear. The Rokid Max glasses list for $439, but bundled with the Rokid Station the price is $529 (via preorder). The Rokid Max glasses feature micro OLED screens that can project what appears to be a 215-inch screen positioned about 10 feet from the user, creating the illusion of an immersive viewing experience. Continue reading Rokid Debuts Portable Android TV Device for Its AR Glasses

Spotify is rolling out its new Confidence software development product in private beta. Based on its learnings from more than 10 years of experience experimenting at scale, the company says Confidence aims to make it simple for teams to set up, run and analyze their own user tests so they can quickly perfect and productize ideas. “Whether it’s automatically coordinating simultaneous A/B tests or orchestrating the rollout of an AI recommendation system across mobile, desktop, and web, the platform we built scales experimentation best practices and capabilities,” Spotify explains, adding that it plans to make the technology available soon to all companies. Continue reading Spotify’s Confidence Development Platform Is in Private Beta

Content hubs are gaining traction with streaming platforms as a search and discovery tool, according to a new study by Horowitz Research, which notes eight in 10 consumers indicating they watch content from a collection or hub occasionally. Multicultural audiences are turning to using hub resources in significant numbers, with African American streamers engaging at the 80 percent rate, and Asian viewers at 65 percent. The number trends higher — at 77 percent — among less acculturated Asian streamers. Among Latinx streamers, nearly 59 percent say they’ve turned to Latinx content collections, with less acculturated doing so at higher rates (78 percent). Continue reading Study: Streaming Viewers Are Interested in Hubs for Discovery

Four in five U.S. homes now have a smart TV, accounting for three in five TV sets, according to the fifth annual Hub Entertainment Research “Evolution of the TV Set” survey, which found streaming is growing commensurate with penetration of the intelligent displays. About 64 percent of viewers use their smart TVs to stream video, while roughly half use the connected devices to stream music or other audio content, the study found. The 74 percent of households that own at least one smart TV is up from 61 percent in 2020. Additionally, Horowitz Research found that consumers are increasingly turning to curated collections and hubs for content discovery. Continue reading Study: Smart TVs Are Now in 74 Percent of American Homes

Alphabet posted a strong second quarter, with Google Cloud revenue climbing 28 percent year-over-year, to $8.03 billion, and overall revenue gaining 7 percent, to $74.6 billion, exceeding analyst expectations, as did the $18 billion in net income. Google Search ad sales grew by nearly 5 percent, to $42.6 billion, while ad sales from Google’s YouTube streaming platform rose almost 4 percent, to $7.7 billion. YouTube had in recent quarters sustained revenue declines, attributed to increased competition from TikTok and others, but was finally able to reverse the downward trend. Continue reading Search Stays Strong and YouTube Rebounds in Alphabet Q2

Have the striking Hollywood writers and actors opened a void that the creator economy is able to fill? Already in demand, top influencers are now being courted by producers and studios hungry for content to fill depleted pipelines. Meanwhile, striking actors and writers are taking their ideas to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Twitch, where they can forge a direct relationship with viewers — albeit not one that will result in direct-deposit paychecks. As the definitions of “talent” and “content” continue to blur, the Hollywood landscape could be in for a seismic shift. Continue reading Could Strikes Upend Institutional Hollywood Power Structure?

Netflix is updating its mobile user interface to consolidate watch activity in one place. Rolling out for iOS now and Android in August, My Netflix is the new hub for watchlists, downloads and views in progress. The “one stop shop” also collects My List items, notifications, trailers and other content with which users have interacted, including TV shows or movies that have been validated with a subscriber’s thumbs-up. My Netflix replaces the Downloads section globally, and the streamer says the more users interact with it the more customized it will become. Continue reading UI Update ‘My Netflix’ Aims to Streamline Mobile Experience

Streaming accounted for 37.7 percent of overall U.S. TV usage in June, a record share for the digital format. Cable TV accounted for 30.6 percent and broadcast 20.8 percent, according to Nielsen’s monthly snapshot The Gauge. TV viewing was up 2.2 percent in June, the first monthly increase since January. The uptick was principally attributed to young viewers and the summer break. Notably, TV consumption among the 2-11 and 12-17 age groups was up 16.3 percent and 24.1 percent, respectively, compared with May. Alternative viewing options — including streaming and video gaming — accounted for 90 percent among those groups. Continue reading Nielsen: June Marks a New All-Time Record for TV Streaming

Facebook has updated its video features in a bid to be more competitive with popular social video platforms TikTok and YouTube. Improvements from editing to discovery and the ability to upload videos in HDR roll out this week along with some new branding: the “Watch” tab has been renamed “Video,” unifying the streaming experience in one location. Editing tools for Reels are porting over to the main Feed channel, which means users can post and view short- and long-form video content as well as live videos in one place. The company is also making it easier to engage with recommended Instagram Reels directly on Facebook. Continue reading Facebook Updates Video Features and Renames Watch Tab

As expected, Spotify unveiled its first premium subscription rate hike in 12 years after mounting pressure from the music industry and musicians — and as competing services hiked their rates. A premium Spotify streaming subscription in the U.S. will now cost $10.99 per month, a $1 increase. Now the largest paid music service in the world, with about 210 million subscribers, Spotify is also raising rates in some 50 additional markets, including Canada, parts of Europe and Asia, South America and Australasia. Existing customers are getting one month’s notice before the new rates kick in. Continue reading Spotify Announces Anticipated Price Hikes for Subscriptions

Netflix is marshalling resources around its ad-supported Standard plan, pulling the plug on ad-free Basic in an effort to drive more eyeballs to the service’s sponsored tier. The $9.99 per month Basic plan is no longer available “for new or rejoining members” in the U.S. and UK and was dropped in Canada last month. Existing Basic subs can continue the plan until they decide to change tiers or cancel. Standard with Ads has since its November launch accrued more than 5 million subs, according to Netflix, which says 25 percent of new sign-ups have chosen that package. Continue reading Netflix Shutters Cheapest Streaming Plan Without Advertising