Nintendo’s Wii gaming console will be adding TV programming and movies to its entertainment line-up. Hulu and Nintendo have reached an agreement that will allow Wii owners to stream video content from Hulu Plus.
“Subscribers to the service for $7.99 a month will be able to access a wide array of current TV shows, library content, kids fare and classic movies,” reports Multichannel News. “For the first month of launch, users who download Hulu Plus for Wii and do not already have an existing Hulu Plus account will get a two-week free trial.”
“Wii is not only one of the most important entertainment devices in the living room, but one of the most heavily anticipated and requested platforms by users and subscribers,” said Pete Distad, VP of marketing and distribution at Hulu, adding that the Wii launch is part of a larger strategy to expand service availability. “Teaming up with Nintendo gives millions of households across the U.S. an immediate way to access some of their favorite current season shows on-demand in their living room through Hulu Plus.”
The subscription VOD deal also plans to offer Hulu Plus on the handheld 3DS device by the end of the year.
Hollywood movie promoters are finding success with social media — not just with Twitter and Facebook, but also through sites such as Instagram and We Heart It.
Many executives now receive regular briefings on the social buzz surrounding their films.
“If you have thousands of people talking about your movie, don’t you want to know what they’re saying? The leap people are starting to make is that social media is actually reflective of what audiences think about your movie,” says Ben Carlson, president of research firm Fizzioli.gy.
The Los Angeles Times cites the recent success of a socially-distributed video featuring actor Channing Tatum. “Tatum’s performance wasn’t from a movie, but a ‘Sweet Nothings’ video that marketers for his new film, ‘The Vow,’ posted on Facebook in advance of its opening last weekend. It worked: The romantic tear-jerker blew past expectations to open at No. 1 with $41.2 million in North American ticket sales.”
“With new software to help remove unwanted objects from your pictures, Scalado aims to make mobile photography and digital photo editing that much more advanced,” reports Digital Trends.
Scalado’s Remove is a new patented object-removal technology that records stationary objects in a scene and adds the ability to edit and re-edit elements on the fly.
“After the picture is taken, users can pick out moving objects in the frame that the program had deemed impermanent to the shot, such as passing cars, people or stray animals,” explains the post. “Then, with just a quick tap, those items are cleared from your photo as if they were never there.”
Remove software will be officially unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.
Sony is developing new power outlet tech that is capable of identifying users. The outlets have an IC chip built in and can authorize users by sending information over the power line.
Sony expects the technology to be used in cafes, restaurants, airports and other public places for “managing energy usage in large buildings, device theft prevention, and — yes — the potential for paid access to power,” reports The Verge.
The IC chip is based on Sony’s FeliCa standard that millions of people in Japan currently use for mobile payments. For users to access the power outlets, authentication information would be transmitted by a IC chip built in the plug or using an NFC-equipped device or card.
The Verge suggests “with the technology still in developmental stages, we imagine it’ll take a while to catch on. Docomo’s Qi-powered inductive charging solution Okudake Juuden is already rolling out across Japan, and while support is still limited, it has the distinct advantages (to consumers, at least) of being both wireless and free.”
However, according to Geek.com: “Ultimately, this power outlet is probably bad news for consumers. It affords an easy way for power to be charged for in public areas, and most companies focused on making a profit aren’t going to pass up an opportunity to generate more money from its customers.”
The Verge post includes a concept video from Sony.
In its latest annual mobile data traffic forecast, Cisco predicts an estimated 10 billion mobile connections by 2016.
The company expects the majority of these connections to come via cell phones, but also foresees a significant rise in tablets. The forecast does not include Wi-Fi-only models; Cisco will release Wi-Fi traffic in a separate forecast later this year.
“If the market does indeed swell to 5 billion cellular-connected tablets, that would represent a 25 percent jump over today’s global figure,” explains Engadget. “Moreover, Cisco estimates that by 2016 21 percent of those 5 billion tablet owners will be relying solely on mobile data to get their Internet fix.”
“All told, whatever the mix of smartphones and tablets, we’re going to be chugging down an insane amount of data: 10.8 exabytes per month, worldwide, or 130 exabytes annually,” indicates the post. “4G will account for only six percent of mobile connections by 2016, but is expected to generate 36 percent of mobile data traffic.”
IMAX has announced it will partner with Barco to co-develop new laser projection technology for IMAX theaters.
According to the press release: “The new IMAX digital laser projector will present greater brightness and clarity, a wider color gamut and deeper blacks, and consume less power and last longer than existing digital technology. This state-of-the-art solution, which will implement the patents IMAX exclusively licensed from Eastman Kodak Co. last year, will allow IMAX’s entire global theater network to show the highest-quality digital content available.”
Under the 7-year agreement, the companies plan to develop next-generation laser projection tech “based on IMAX intellectual property in image quality, Barco’s unique laser innovations and the Kodak digital laser patents, which IMAX will sub-license to Barco.”
IMAX and Barco expect to deliver a market solution in the second half of 2012 while also working to “manage the transition from Xenon-based to high-performance, laser-based projectors, which are expected to be deployed in 2013,” explains the release.
A new study from media research firm Nielsen suggests that only 44 percent of U.S. households have none of the current gaming consoles that have been on the market for over five years.
The data indicates that 56 percent of households currently own an Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Nintendo Wii.
“According to Nielsen, overall gaming activity increased by 7 percent, a number that also included smartphone and tablet games,” reports SlashGear. “That is what the company sees as a potential major trend for 2012. It also expects cross-platform connectivity between different devices to explode this year. And its last prediction for the future — in-game monetization will be a big trend.”
Additionally, Nielsen reports that 39 percent of homes have an iOS device, “and close to 50 percent of children aged 6-12 own a Nintendo DS portable,” reports GameSpot.
However, not all platforms have experienced a surge. The survey suggests that time spent on the Wii was down 22 percent over the past year.
U.S. wireless carriers are reportedly struggling with the cost of offering iPhones to their customers.
Sprint Nextel, for example, began selling the Apple phone during the recent quarter and saw a net loss of $1.3 billion, a major factor of which was the cost of purchasing 1.8 million iPhones.
“Companies like Sprint purchase the iPhone from Apple Inc., then resell it to their customers at steep discounts — essentially swallowing the difference,” reports the Los Angeles Times. “Carriers hope to make an eventual profit from users’ monthly subscription fees, but Sprint, AT&T and Verizon have found that big profits from the popular phone are hard to come by.”
AT&T “found that its profit margins were being squeezed by subsidizing the cost of the device,” explains the article. AT&T told investors last year that profits would recover, but by late January, the company experienced a drop in stock “largely because it was selling so many iPhones to customers.”
“We continue to believe the iPhone will bring significant value to Sprint over the long term, and early results are in line with or better than our business case assumptions,” said Daniel R. Hesse, Sprint’s chief exec.
Samsung is readying its Galaxy Tab 2, a 7-inch tablet that will be the company’s first to run Google’s Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).
“Available in both 3G and Wi-Fi varieties, this redux doesn’t mark a huge departure from its predecessor, packing a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 1024 x 600 LCD,” reports Engadget. “The big changes, however, come in the software department, with the Galaxy Tab 2 shipping with Android 4.0 straight out of the box.”
New features include a Video Hub, which offers over 1,000 film titles for purchase or rental; S Suggest, a new service that offers recommendations on apps; AllShare Play, which allows users to play or stream content on their Galaxy Tab from PCs or other smart devices and compatible third-party services; and built-in voice calling that can be used for Google+ Hangouts.
Pricing has yet to be announced. Shipments are scheduled to begin in the UK in March.
The Engadget post includes a 5-minute video of the keynote announcement for the new Galaxy Tab.
An updated app for Google TV will offer an improved user experience, but behind the scenes YouTube is changing the way it deals with its content owners in an effort to go cross-platform.
“YouTube is now insisting on the ability to play all videos from content ‘partners’ — video owners that share ad revenue with the site — on all platforms, including mobile phones and connected TVs,” reports AllThingsD.
According to the Google TV blog, the new app “works faster with smoother navigation” and includes features such as Discover, for browsing channels; new channel pages, for navigating playlists and subscribing to channels; increased social interaction and quicker access to related videos. Good news for users, but what about the providers?
The changes to the content partners agreement does not affect those working with the new “channels” program, and may not impact big media companies.
However, AllThings D suggests, “there is still a group of video-makers who have millions of subscribers and have generated hundreds of millions of video views, and YouTube’s change will affect them.”
“But it’s certainly good for consumers,” the article adds. “There’s a logic behind media companies’ efforts to distinguish a PC screen from an iPhone screen, or a tablet screen from a TV screen. But only if you’re in charge of making biz dev deals for a media company. If you watch video, a screen is a screen is a screen.”
Digital Trends is impressed with the Olympus OM-D E-M5, the company’s latest micro four thirds camera.
“Probably the most surprising thing about the E-M5 was its size and weight,” indicates the review. “We have had a lot of experience with the PEN series, particularly the E-P3. The E-P3 was — until now — the most sophisticated of Olympus’ MFT cameras, and upped the ante with a considerable amount of features, as well as a larger, heavier build.”
The reviewer was surprised by the amount of features packed into a body this size: “…it increased the sensor’s effective pixel number, added an EVF, and kept the OLED screen, adding a tilt mechanism. We expected this thing to be a lot bigger and bulkier and were happy to see that it’s not.”
The post cites the responsive EVF, “functional yet vintage” design, viewfinder and centered weight as attractive features, but points out that critics may have something to say about the sensor size.
Digital Trends reports a new Kickstarter record for the highest amount of funding generated for a single project.
As of last Thursday, ElevationLab’s Elevation iPhone Dock had attracted $971,000 from investors. The project was originally seeking $75,000.
“If you haven’t seen it already, the Elevation Dock is an iPhone dock made from a single piece of aluminum, and is happy to accept iPhones in-or-out of a case, plus offer little resistance when you need to remove your phone from it,” explains the post. “There’s an option to add a Line Out to connect the dock to an audio system, and a chance to buy a limited run of different colored models.”
According to Digital Trends, innovative Apple-related products regularly attract the highest levels of funding on Kickstarter.
The post also suggests that simplicity and a focus on convenience has driven the device’s early interest. “The Elevation Dock is seeing success because it doesn’t offer something only a few people want, but something everyone wants — life to be a bit easier.
Kickstarting a new era of connected cars, auto manufacturers are adding larger touchscreen displays to vehicle dashboards and providing more software applications.
“Undaunted by fear of safety regulations, auto makers are piling new technologies into their vehicles: everything from 17-inch dashboard screens to services that check Facebook and buy movie tickets,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
GM is launching an 8-inch display this spring, for example, designed to assist drivers with playing music, providing navigation guidance and going through online applications with touch, steering wheel or voice controls.
“Ford Motor Co. already allows drivers to receive Twitter feeds and stream online music through its Sync technology,” adds WSJ. “New Mercedes-Benz cars this spring will tap into Facebook and perform Google searches.”
“There is more to come, too,” suggest the article. “Software to import iPhone and Android applications is around the corner.”
Auto makers say the hands-free steering wheel and voice control features of the systems are safe, but not all regulators agree. The Transportation Department is developing a set of electronics guidelines for manufacturers and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is expected to release a report later this year that will examine whether these technologies are a distraction.
A new study by researchers from Wellesley College and the University of Missouri, “Reel Piracy: The Effect of Online Film Piracy on International Box Office Sales,” suggests that there is minimal (if any) loss of U.S. box office sales due to BitTorrent pirating.
However, international piracy is another issue, due largely to the lack of legal options.
“More importantly, the report revealed that movie studios hold the power to curb piracy by decreasing international box office release windows,” reports Digital Trends.
The study highlights three key problems for movie studios: 1) “There is a shortage of international theaters;” 2) “The complexity of organizing promotional appearances for the film’s actors adds to the delay;” and 3) “Action and science fiction genres exhibit the highest supply of online pirated movies.”
“Consumers in the U.S. who would choose between the box office and piracy choose the box office (and the remaining U.S. pirates had valuations lower than the ticket price) but that international consumers who would consider both options choose piracy due to a lack of legal availability,” suggest the researchers. “If piracy displaced box office sales in the U.S., we would have expected the slope of the returns profile to shift more significantly as BitTorrent became more widely adopted.”
John Paczkowski reports on AllThingsD that Apple will launch the next version of its iPad in the coming weeks.
“Sources say the company has chosen the first week in March to debut the successor to the iPad 2, and will do so at one of its trademark special events,” he writes. “The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple’s preferred location for big announcements like these.”
If the release date follows Apple tradition, the iPad 3 should be available about a week after the event.
Paczkowski expects the new version will be, “similar in form factor to the iPad 2, but running a much faster chip, sporting an improved graphics processing unit, and featuring a 2048×1536 Retina Display — or something close to it.”
