For years, Google’s YouTube has been the most visited online destination for free music. And while other companies such as Pandora and Spotify have opted for a pay model to provide consumers with unlimited, uninterrupted music content, YouTube remained out of the subscription streaming business — until now. Last week, YouTube unveiled YouTube Music Key, a music streaming service that offers higher quality, access anywhere, ad-free music for $10 per month. Continue reading YouTube Music Key: A New Player in Subscription Streaming

Rhode Island-based Hasbro, manufacturer of popular toys including G.I. Joe, Mr. Potato Head, My Little Pony and Transformers, is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation. Hasbro would pay a mix of cash and stock according to current terms of the proposed deal. DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is said to be looking for more than $30 a share for the sale. The news comes shortly after Japanese telecom SoftBank was reported to be a prospective buyer. Continue reading Toymaker Hasbro in Talks to Purchase DreamWorks Animation

According to reviewer Tim Moynihan writing for Wired, Google’s $99 Nexus Player, a new streaming box running Android TV, offers “the closest a platform has come to a usable form of the Web on your TV — the parts of the Web curated by Google, at least.” The Nexus Player provides a seamless way to navigate the Internet on your television with features such as voice command, YouTube streaming and the ability to cast practically anything from the Internet to your TV screen.  Continue reading Review: Google Nexus Player Should Appeal to Cord Cutters

Ellen DeGeneres is launching Ellentube, a website and app that will screen exclusive content from her popular daytime television program. The TV personality already runs one of the largest YouTube channels focused on television content. Now, along with executive producers Mary Connelly, Ed Glavin and Andy Lassner, DeGeneres has created Ellentube for interactive use. Fans will be able to upload videos, the best of which will be deemed suitable for a showcase on her daily program. Continue reading Ellen DeGeneres Goes Interactive with Ellentube App and Site

According to a recent Piper Jaffray study, contrary to popular belief, teenagers have yet to abandon the MP3 as the traditional way to listen to music. Given a sample of about 7,200 teens, Piper Jaffray concluded that nearly 42 percent preferred an MP3 player to Pandora, local radio, CDs, Sirius XM and other streaming services. This data however, omits key trends, including the use of Spotify and YouTube, and may not be the best interpretation of how teenagers listen to music today. Continue reading New Study: The Mystery Behind the Way Teens Listen to Music

Marriott International is making an effort to to attract a younger generation of travelers by providing new entertainment. The company has added YouTuber Jack Harries, Snapchatter Casey Neistat, and “Ghost Whisperer” producers Ian Sander and Kim Moses to its list of content creators. The newly launched Marriott Content Studio has debuted a Web series titled “Marriott Rewards’ Year of Surprises” with a monthly celebrity host, along with a co-production deal with tech startup Naritiv. Continue reading Marriott Turns to New Media to Draw Today’s Young Travelers

YouTube has unveiled the “YouTube WatchMe for Android” project, which provides app developers with the ability to integrate live streaming into their Android apps. The open source project is available on GitHub, but so far, the project only offers a reference app where a user simply presses a button in the app to start and stop broadcasting. Eventually, YouTube plans to develop a toolkit that will help developers include a broadcasting capability for their own apps. Continue reading YouTube WatchMe Project Brings Live Broadcasting to Apps

During yesterday’s Code/Mobile conference in Half Moon Bay, California, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said that the online video platform is currently exploring options regarding new subscription services. While specifics were not offered, Wojcicki told Peter Kafka and Liz Gannes of Re/code during the onstage interview that an ad-free service was being considered. Consumers “will either choose ads, or pay a fee, which is an interesting model,” said Wojcicki. “We’re thinking about how to give users options.” Continue reading YouTube CEO Discusses the Possibility of Video Subscriptions

With social media, fans have the opportunity to play an important role in the creative process of producing TV shows and YouTube series. At Variety’s Entertainment and Technology Summit earlier this week, the executive producers of the TV shows “Arrow” and “Awkward,” along with the duo behind the online video series “Smosh,” discussed the way they balance taking input from fans while sticking to their own artistic vision, casting decisions, plot twists and more. Continue reading Social Media Provides Helpful Feedback for Show Producers

HBO announced yesterday that it plans to launch a standalone Internet streaming service in the U.S. next year that would not require a traditional TV subscription. The move is part of the cable network’s strategy to reach out to cord cutters, and underscores its growing rivalry with Netflix. The two companies are battling for a new generation of viewers who prefer watching their TV shows and movies via Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube rather than subscribing to cable or satellite television. Continue reading HBO to Take On Netflix with New Streaming Service in 2015

During his keynote address at international television market MIPCOM on Monday, Maker Studios CEO Ynon Kreiz suggested that the future of TV would be short-form content. Kreiz believes that linear television is over for the 12-to-24-year-olds of the millennial generation, a valuable group to the advertising industry. He said that Maker Studios is ideally positioned to leverage this demographic with its user-generated, short-form video content since two-thirds of its 550 million users are millennials. Continue reading MIPCOM: Maker Studios CEO Discusses Shift to Short Videos

German company Zeiss, known for its optics tech and premium camera lenses, is developing the VR One, a headset that uses a smartphone’s display, accelerometer, and gyroscope to give users a virtual reality experience. It is similar to Samsung’s Gear VR for the Galaxy Note 4 except the VR One is $100 cheaper and is an open project so that developers can help design the product. Currently, the VR One is compatible with the iPhone 6 and the Galaxy S5, but more phone tray options are coming soon. Continue reading Zeiss Builds a $100 VR Headset That Works with Your Phone

YouTube personalities are venturing into the world of books as publishers continue to seek the next popular authors. These content creators explain that they do not make much from YouTube, which takes 45 percent of advertising revenue, and see publishing as a new market to earn income. For instance, U.K. video blogger Alfie Deyes released “The Pointless Book” in Britain last month, and it rapidly became a bestseller. Meanwhile, others are looking into television shows, radio gigs, and even movie deals. Continue reading YouTube Personalities Try Out New Markets, Including Books

After Yahoo purchased Tumblr for $1.1 billion in 2013, CEO and founder David Karp was promised that the site would remain an independent property. Tumblr would use Yahoo’s advertising technology while Yahoo would use Tumblr’s publishing tools. Now, Yahoo executives see Tumblr as their version of YouTube. Tumblr would solve YouTube content creators’ complaints that they do not make enough money, and the poached YouTube stars would set up their new channels on Tumblr.  Continue reading Yahoo Now Envisions Tumblr as Its Own Version of YouTube

Google’s Niantic Labs has just released the first phase of its ambitious new project to create a fictional universe through a series of interconnected novels, movies, and alternate-reality games. The first novel, “Endgame: The Calling” and the alternate reality game made their debut this week. During the first phase of the launch, what happens in the game will affect the story of the upcoming books. The mobile game that accompanies the story will be launched next year. Continue reading The Makers of ‘Ingress’ Create Another Alternate Reality Game