Barcelona: BBC Plans iTunes Competitor for Multiple Platform Distribution

  • The BBC is reportedly planning a download-to-own service it hopes will compete with iTunes.
  • “But the producers, through their umbrella organisation pact, have so far declined to give their outright blessing, citing uncertainty over revenue share, exclusivity and the potential for cannibalising DVD sales,” reports paidContent. “They have asked for more detailed assurances.”
  • Project Barcelona plans to make more BBC content available on multiple platforms while promising producers a greater share per episode than the iTunes model.
  • Some independent producers reportedly do not want to provide exclusive rights to Barcelona. If the BBC eventually earns suppliers’ support, it will still require approval from the regulating BBC Trust.
  • “If approved, Barcelona could lay groundwork for a pay-for BBC in a post-analogue, post-linear world,” suggest the article. “But, so far, it concerns only the download-to-own market — a model that may yet diminish as streaming alternatives, which provide cloud-based access but not ownership, grow in popularity.”

Kickstarter: Digital Bolex D16 Shoots for Updating a Movie Camera Classic

  • Philip Bloom comments on a Kickstarter project for the Digital Bolex, a modern update to the motion picture camera first launched in 1927.
  • “Launched at SxSW this is one of most interesting camera concepts I have seen…a Digital Bolex, shooting 2K Raw with a 16mm equivalent sensor recording in DNG, TIFF or JPEG sequences AND with XLR inputs for recording audio,” Bloom writes.
  • Additional features include: 2048 x 1152 resolution (Super 16mm mode) and 1920 x 1080 pixels (16mm mode); frame rates up to 32fps at 2K, 60fps at 720p, 90fps at 480p; Kodak CCD sensor; 12 bit color depth (4:4:4); lens C-mount standard (optional: PL, EF, B4).
  • According to the project’s Kickstarter page, more than $287,000 has been raised thus far and 91/100 of the first Digital Bolex D16s sold in less than two days.
  • Bloom’s post includes a 26-minute audio interview with creators Joe Rubinstein and Elle Schneider.
  • Initial backers have an opportunity to get the camera for $2,500 (retail is expected to be about $3,300). The target release date is August. For you camera fans out there, this could be worth watching and/or backing.

Gowalla Closes its Doors Mere Months After Purchase by Facebook

  • Only three months after its acquisition by Facebook, location-based app Gowalla is closing its doors.
  • According to Gowalla’s landing page: “Thank you for going out with Gowalla. It was a pleasure to journey with you around the world. Download your check-ins, photos and lists here soon.”
  • “This leaves Foursquare to prove that its pivot will keep its location-based services relevant for users,” reports Digital Trends, adding that “Foursquare stands as the lone giant lumbering in location-based check-ins, despite the fact that the majority of its users aren’t in fact using Foursquare for checking-in.”
  • “There are a lot of people using Foursquare who aren’t checking in. People use the app to consume data. That’s a really important and interesting trend,” says Dennis Crowley, Foursquare’s CEO.
  • Digital Trends suggests the Gowalla purchase for $3 million in Facebook shares was a talent acquisition: “With plans to expand Facebook’s location-based API for statuses and updates detailing user’s visits on their Timelines, the majority of Gowalla’s team settled in Facebook’s Palo Alto, while the remainder stayed in Austin to work in Facebook’s Austin office.”

Panasonic Releases Ship Dates and Prices for Smart Viera HDTVs

  • The initial wave of Panasonic’s Smart Viera HDTVs unveiled at January’s CES are about to become available.
  • “Panasonic said models in the ST50, UT50, and XT50 plasma series and the E50, ET5, E5 and X5 LED series will be available this month. Also announced were ship dates on LED LCD TV models, a 47-inch (available this month) and 55-inch (available in April and May),” reports TWICE. “The 2012 LED LCD model line features 16 models this year, up from seven a year ago.”
  • The line features the cloud-based Viera Connect service that offers access to popular applications including Netflix, YouTube and Pandora. It also includes a fitness app that works with a separate Bluetooth-enabled armband.
  • The ET5 series will feature Panasonic’s first 3D TVs to make use of passive polarized 3D glasses.
  • Shipments of some models will begin this month, with others to follow in April and May. The article includes a list of MSRPs.

Toshiba Announces Availability of its ZL2 55-inch Glasses-Free 3D TV

  • Toshiba’s glasses-free 3D 55ZL2 will launch this week in the UK for about $11,000. At that price, it may not be the breakout model 3D supporters have been waiting for, but its glasses-free approach is a step in the right direction.
  • “With a 4K resolution and no need for glasses to view 3D content, could it be the savior of 3D at home?” asks Digital Trends.
  • The 55-inch TV features 3840 x 2160 resolution, 2D-to-3D conversion and upscaling of 1080p content “beyond Full HD.”
  • Digital Trends describes the lenticular display: “Combined with a camera which tracks viewer’s faces and a multi-core processor inside the set, different images are projected to the left and right eye, producing a 3D picture.”
  • Additional features of the ZL2 include: Wi-Fi and DLNA connectivity, USB recording, online video content and social networking features, mobile app, built-in subwoofer and four HDMI ports.

DirecTV Customers Can Now Create Pandora Stations via HD DVRs

  • DirecTV and Pandora have announced an agreement that will allow the music service’s “stations” to play, without charge, on connected HD DVRs.
  • “Additionally, you’ll be able to search for artists, songs and browse through different genres, as well as set up jam stations to your liking,” reports Engadget.
  • DirecTV customers will be able to choose artists and musical genres through the menu of the 1080p guide, customizing Pandora stations.
  • According to the press release: “Customers will be asked to either create a new Pandora account online or to activate their existing Pandora account on their DirecTV HD DVR. Once activated, Pandora will allow customers to easily create and listen to personalized radio stations, as well as play Pandora over the video that they are watching.”

Symantec Analyzes What Data is Accessed from Lost Smartphones

  • Symantec designed a clever study to help determine what happens to private information after a smartphone is lost.
  • As part of the Honey Stick Project, researchers recently “lost” 50 smartphones in public areas of Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC and Ottowa, Canada.
  • Each phone was equipped with GPS tracking and a variety of generic “personal, neutral and corporate” apps. None of them were outfitted with passwords.
  • “While only 25 of the 50 smartphone finders made any attempt to contact the owner and return the device, the more shocking details of the study dive into how privacy is violated after the phone is lost,” reports Digital Trends. “Nearly 90 percent of the devices showed at least one attempt to access the apps within the personal category.”
  • “The social networking and email applications were accessed on 60 percent of the devices and the online banking application was accessed on more than 40 percent of the smartphones,” notes the article. “A file named ‘HR Salaries’ was accessed on over half of the phones and another file called ‘HR Cases’ was accessed on 40 percent of the sample group. A ‘Remote Admin’ application was accessed on nearly half of the smartphones and a corporate email application was opened up on 45 percent of the devices.”
  • Symantec recommends using a password or a “draw to unlock” pattern for security. The company suggests using security software “to remotely lock the device or wipe the data from the phone,” and for businesses, encourages formal policies regarding company-issued phones and increased employee education on data protection.

Resolutionary: Is the New iPad Display the Beginning of the End of Paper?

  • “Since tablets arrived a couple years ago, they have seemed the natural replacement for the printed page, whether it represented a computer document, a book or a magazine,” writes analyst Steve Wildstrom for Tech.pinions. “A tablet could be held like a book or magazine and its software often presented text as pages rather than streams of scrolling text. Their long battery life let you use them without thinking much about the need to recharge.”
  • What held up this potential shift has been the readability of displays. However, Wildstrom suggests Apple may now have the answer.
  • “The new iPad, whose display has to be seen to be appreciated, marks a dramatic change,” he writes. “For the first time, type looks as good on a screen as it does on paper. Photos pop in a way they never have before on a tablet, matching high quality printing on good paper.”
  • Earlier displays for tablets and phones, despite their advances, have been limiting — but the new iPad display may impact how we look at tablets.
  • “The super high-resolution introduced on the iPhone 4 looked spectacular, but had limited impact because the 3.5-inch display, and even the 5-inch high-res screens turning up on some Android phones, are too small for serious reading,” writes Wildstrom. “Bringing similar resolution to a screen the size of the iPad will change things in much more fundamental ways. The days of printing on paper may finally be numbered.”

Facebook Launches New Interest Lists, Hopes to Draw Advertising

  • As part of its ongoing efforts to attract more advertisers, Facebook rolled out Interest Lists the end of last week.
  • The new feature “mixes popular Facebook pages with social news aggregation,” reports Digital Trends. “Each curated list is specific to a particular topic such as technology, art, entertainment, causes, music or sports.”
  • Facebook users can subscribe to lists created by other users. The approach is similar to features such as Twitter lists and Google+ Circles.
  • “Advertisers will definitely enjoy the ability to curate content within lists, but Facebook users may become annoyed by an increased frequency of page updates that litter the main Facebook feed,” suggests the post. “Facebook users will have to be careful how many subscriptions they acquire in addition to carefully watching the amount of pages followed within each subscribed list.”

Will Amazon Join Netflix, Hulu and YouTube in Producing Original TV?

  • Amazon may have plans to become the latest online player to produce original programming.
  • Netflix, Hulu and YouTube have already set the stage for original content to be distributed via online streaming.
  • Amazon exec Joe Lewis recently described his title on LinkedIn as “Vice-President of Original Television” before changing it to “Vice-President, Production at Amazon Studios.”
  • The company has also reportedly advertised for executive positions for overseeing comedy and children’s series.
  • “The company has charted an aggressive course with its Kindle tablet devices and media services, from books to movies and TV. Its Prime membership service is already a passport to the company’s many services and could grow in the coming years. It isn’t hard to see how beneficial compelling original programming could be to Amazon’s ecosystem,” reports CNNMoney.

Comcast Says No to Netflix Partnership: Will Other Providers Also Decline?

  • As Netflix looks to compete with HBO by teaming up with a cable provider, it has already hit its first snag.
  • Comcast, the largest U.S. cable provider, said it has “no interest” in partnering with Netflix, reports The Verge. The company already has its own VOD service, Xfinity and recently launched Streampix, which enables access on the Web and mobile devices.
  • Netflix reportedly plans to seek competitive alternatives with Comcast’s rivals Time Warner, Cox or Bright House.
  • “Reuters first reported on Wednesday that Netflix had reached out to major cable companies to discuss joining forces. But without Comcast, the reach of those partnerships would be limited,” suggests The New York Times.
  • Additionally, streaming services are emerging from a number of companies. Comcast’s Streampix offers 75,000 television shows and movies to its its 22.3 million Xfinity subscribers. And according to The New York Times: “Dish Network and Blockbuster have a Web streaming service in the works. Verizon, the parent company of the Verizon FiOS fiberoptic network, has teamed up with Redbox on a Web streaming joint venture.”

Samsung Unveils Smart Touch Remote, Keyboard and LED Smart TV

  • At a media event in New York City this week, Samsung announced its new Smart Touch remote control, a universal Bluetooth keyboard for interaction with Smart TVs, and a new LED TV.
  • “Joe Stinziano, Senior VP of Samsung Electronics took the stage, to announce the ES8000 with Smart Interaction (a combination of voice control, facial recognition, and gesture controls). It has that thin bezel and a U-shaped stand, just as we heard it would back at CES,” reports TechCrunch.
  • “The camera on the ES8000 LED lets you swipe through apps with your hand, and all you have to do is close your hand to click,” adds the post.
  • “The camera also has a built-in microphone, so you can change the channel and perform other commands without even lifting a hand. That means you could be Skyping from the couch on a big screen. It’ll also come equipped with a Bluetooth IR Blaster.”

Infographic Provides Numbers Regarding Day in the Life of the Internet

  • Mashable notes that “only about one-third of the world’s population is connected” to the Internet, but that “the amount of data we generate and consume is likely to blow your hair back.”
  • The post features a compelling infographic courtesy of MBAonline.com, which details one day of Internet use, to startling results.
  • “Would you believe that 294 billion emails are sent? That 2 million blog posts are written? That 864,000 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube alone? How am I supposed to watch all of that when I’m only on season one of Downton Abbey?” Mashable asks.
  • Additional stats of interest: 172 million people visit Facebook (while 4.7 billion minutes are spent on the social network), 22 million hours of video are viewed on Netflix, 18.7 million hours of music are streamed on Pandora — and iPhone sales exceed the number of babies born.

Cable Execs Discuss the Need for Multiscreen Viewing and Social Presence

  • “Where once was a television landscape dominated by two clear competitors with leaders in broadcast and cable, there is now is a crowded field populated by numerous other players such as Netflix, YouTube and Hulu which have begun creating their own original content,” reports Broadcasting & Cable. “Added to that space — and complicating matters — is the increasing importance of a strong, branded digital presence.”
  • These topics and more were discussed by cable executives at the Hollywood Radio & Television Society’s Cable Programming Summit in Beverly Hills.
  • Multiscreen viewing has become an objective for cable programmers. “While the cable executives agree that great content is the catalyst for a great social presence, expanding the brand to multiple platforms has become a necessary step for all players,” notes the article.
  • Original content drives online social interaction both before the show launches and during the run of the show.
  • AMC’s “The Talking Dead,” for example, was the after-show online access to “The Walking Dead” cast and crew on Twitter. TNT is running a Facebook Timeline of “Dallas.”
  • “I don’t think there’s ever a point you can sit back and say…that the platforms have established themselves and we know what we’re doing. The constant theme that we’ve all learned [is that] we all need to evolve or die,” explained Carmi Zlotnik, Starz managing director. “It’s a fascinating period, where the creativity and what we do in shows is evolving at the same time as the platforms that they’re placed on changes as well.”

Distribution in the Digital Age: Is the TV Industry Vulnerable to Apple?

  • Consultant and columnist Tim Bajarin addresses the evolution of on-demand television distribution and the Internet as a disruptive business model.
  • In a world of digital media, Bajarin suggests the networks “are now realizing that while they ruled the roost in the world of broadcast television, they are just another channel among thousands of channels that consumers can choose from for viewing video content.”
  • “But what they don’t seem to get is that in this world of digital, they will need new distribution partners and that they will not have as much control over them as in the past,” he adds. “And I also don’t think they really understand the idea that people want to have access to that content anytime, anywhere and on any device they own.”
  • Bajarin also suggests that Apple may be on the cusp of causing additional disruption.
  • “Apple is going to become one of the most powerful video distribution networks by nature of their existing customer base and one that is added to continually,” he writes. “I know the networks would like to keep control of their distribution, but in the world of digital, those days are gone.”
  • “The sooner the networks understand this and see things like Apple’s new distribution vehicle as a critical way to get their content to the masses quickly, the sooner they can adapt to and fine tune a new business models to take advantage of this new era of on demand, anytime, anywhere and on any device video content world.”