Amazon has released a promising Netflix challenger, bringing an Amazon Instant Video app to the iPad.
The app is available on iTunes for free — but as of now, there are no iPhone or iPod Touch versions.
“It has access to streaming Prime Instant Video for subscribers, as well as downloaded or streamed video on-demand,” Engadget reports. “Other key features include access to the Watchlist/queue, and automatic access to any shows subscribed to with a Season Pass the day after they air on TV.”
The post suggests that Amazon’s app could be bad news for Netflix: “The app runs smoothly, and while the video player itself gets just the bare bones iOS treatment, every other part of the app seems polished, including the Watchlist.”
“Add in the fact that you can watch things via subscription and seamlessly jump to fresher/premium content available for purchase or individual rental (with the notable caveat that you can’t actually browse the VOD content, or purchase or buy it from within the app itself) and there’s a serious competition going on,” notes Engadget.
Thanks to a $800,000 grant from the Knight Foundation, a new YouTube channel called “The I Files” will bring hard-hitting investigative journalism to the video aggregation site, adding to its professional content offerings.
YouTube is helping to launch the channel with the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). The channel will feature videos from local citizen journalists and content partners, like The New York Times and Al Jazeera, who will share revenue with the Knight Foundation.
“The YouTube project is part of the Knight Foundation’s push for philanthropically-funded local investigative journalism, which has been hit especially hard by the financial downturn of traditional media,” reports TechCrunch.
“Last year, the FCC released a report on the decline of journalists covering local politics, and speculated about the possible corruption and negligence going unnoticed. YouTube could potentially offset this problem with user-generated content and by incentivizing the CIR’s national partners, such as the BBC, with some added viewership,” notes the post.
The extent of YouTube’s long term commitment is unknown, but according to a company spokesperson, “we highlight all kinds of news content from time to time on the site, and often highlight new channels — so you can expect that in the first few weeks after launch we’ll look for opportunities on YouTube and social media to tell more people about it.”
Through its $400 million investment in the YouTube Original Channel Initiative, Google has launched premium content featuring stars such as Amy Poehler, Chris Hardwick, Tony Hawk and Madonna. And its attempt to become a digital content creator has paid off with advertisers paying up to $10 million for spots in the shows.
SourceFed is one premium channel that made it big, hitting 500,000 subscribers and 158 million views. But you won’t find any prominent celebrities on their YouTube posts.
“Despite the star power, so far, the top-performing shows have been created by people who initially built their audience on YouTube. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: These young Web celebs understand the online video space, and some of them have grown up there,” ReadWriteWeb explains. “It is only fitting, then, that the first premium content channel to hit a major milestone of success would be one created by a YouTube mega-personality.”
SourceFed was created by experienced YouTuber Philip Defranco. The channel’s producer attributes its success to two main factors: “easily consumable” short videos accessible on mobile devices and fan interaction that has developed a strong online community.
“Our viewers treat us like we’re their best friends,” producer James Haffner says. “We get to have fun every day, but at the same time, we inform people.”
Just two years ago, 24 percent of consumers used Google to begin researching potential online purchases, while 18 percent started with Amazon.
A new survey from Forrester Research shows the tables have turned. Today, Amazon sees 30 percent of online buyers researching on their network, doubling the number Google attracts.
Last year, Amazon accounted for 19 percent of all online sales in the U.S., amounting to $48 billion. The company has even larger growth internationally, with nearly half of its revenue coming from sales outside the U.S.
Although the site is known for books and other media such as music and video, non-media products have accounted for more than half of Amazon’s total revenue since 2010.
With its competitive pricing and popular price comparison app guiding shoppers directly to Amazon, “other online retailers may feel the need to establish a sales channel on the site, or risk losing out on exposure,” reports Mashable.
Amazon’s secret? Forrester identifies several key strategic differentiators: “a ‘rentless obsession’ with customer experience; a willingness to invest heavily in customer acquisition and retention through low prices and programs like Lending Library and Amazon Prime; its investment in technology, which is more than double the average retailer, as well as logistics; and a willingness to play ‘legal hardball,’ going after Apple for fixing prices of e-books and fighting against states’ attempts to levy taxes against the retailer,” the post states.
A new report from BI Intelligence suggests that mobile devices are playing an increasingly significant role in commerce, including multiple uses of phones by consumers for shopping and research.
“An analysis by Deloitte estimates mobile will influence $158 billion of in-person retail sales this year,” reports Business Insider, noting how mobile users are increasingly comparing prices at brick-and-mortar retailers with e-commerce competitors. But that is just one way mobile is changing the way consumers shop.
The use of mobile devices to buy items directly has also risen. The mobile sales on Cyber Monday last year doubled the percentage of the previous year. Additionally, Forrester Research predicts mobile commerce will hit $10 billion this year, a sizable jump from $6 billion in 2010.
Mobile users are also frequently accessing email on their phones to get discounts and coupons as well as using their devices for in-store payments.
“NFC probably won’t be the solution that powers this change though, but new apps like Pay with Square and Apple’s Passbook are promising,” the post states.
There is one unique financial difference between a design patent and a utility patent and it’s one word: apportionment. In the case of Apple v. Samsung, that difference means $2 billion in damages.
“‘Apportionment’ basically means that the patentee only can recoup profits associated with the patented feature, not the entire profit from the sales of the accused product,” writes Christopher Carani, a patent attorney at intellectual property law firm McAndrews, Held & Malloy, Ltd.
Carani sent reporters an email explaining the key foundation to Apple’s $2.52 billion damages claims, with $2 billion-worth related to design patents.
“The no apportionment language (i.e. disgorgement of infringer’s ‘total profits’) was placed in the Patent Act in 1887 in response to a 1886 U.S. Supreme Court case regarding infringement of a design patent on a carpet design, whereby the Court said the design patentee was only entitled to 6 cents in damages — the portion of the damages attributable to the design,” Carani explains.
“In response to that holding, a holding that members of Congress felt was a miscarriage of justice, the 1887 Patent Act was enacted and provided a remedy for ‘total profit’ without apportionment for design patent infringement,” he adds.
According to Carani, the Court’s decision will likely have a major influence on cellphone design in the coming years. If Apple wins, new designs will flourish; “…despite Samsung’s cries, there are many different ways to design these devices. Young, creative and hungry industrial designers the world over will no doubt rise to the challenge of designing non-infringing devices.”
“However, if Samsung prevails,” Carani says, “we can expect the market (including Samsung and others) to coalesce around the minimalist design embodied in the iPhone, iPad and Galaxy devices for at least 2-3 years.”
“At root, the judges of the Federal Circuit appear confused about how computers work,” and, “it’s making a mess of patent law,” reports Ars Technica, explaining how the definition of “computer” has judges making conflicting decisions.
In order to receive patent protection, inventions cannot have “abstract ideas” or “mental processes.” However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit seems to be having a hard time drawing that line, according to the article.
The Court supported a patent protecting Alice Corporation’s idea of using a computer to do a specific kind of financial transaction. A few weeks later, Bancorp Services was denied its patent for “using a computer to manage a particular type of life insurance policy,” the article states.
The Court explained the discrepancy: “…the use of a computer in an otherwise patent-ineligible process for no more than its most basic function — making calculations or computations — fails to circumvent the prohibition against patenting abstract ideas and mental processes.”
“To salvage an otherwise patent-ineligible process, a computer must be integral to the claimed invention, facilitating the process in a way that a person making calculations or computations could not,” the court continued. “The computer required by some of Bancorp’s claims is employed only for its most basic function, the performance of repetitive calculations, and as such does not impose meaningful limits on the scope of those claims.”
In contrast, computer use was considered an integral part in the Alice Corp. invention, which was therefore upheld.
“This doesn’t make much sense,” Ars Technica argues. “Every computer application, no matter how sophisticated, consists of nothing more than ‘the performance of repetitive calculations.'”
Warner Bros. is targeting several unnamed users of Amazon.com’s resellers market, filing at least 16 separate lawsuits in California.
The complaints claim the defendants have been selling counterfeit DVDs ranging from “Harry Potter” films to various HBO original shows.
Amazon’s e-commerce platform, which enables third parties to sell products, is protected by the first sale doctrine. However, a 2010 9th Circuit Appeals Court decision set the precedent that the original vendor could limit resale by “crafting the terms of use for media content to define the purchase as a ‘license’ rather than a strict ‘sale,'” notes The Hollywood Reporter.
However, a source told THR that the lawsuits aren’t concerning issues of used merchandise.
“If Warner Bros. is suggesting that illegally downloaded or camcorded copies of shows and movies are being passed off as new or used items on Amazon, the lawsuits launched Monday suggest a different sort of problem,” the article states. “Namely, the lack of internal controls in the Amazon Marketplace to deal with such ‘counterfeits.’ Amazon has been known in the past to suspend the accounts of counterfeiters, so the litigation raises the question of why not this time.”
Warner Bros. is seeking damages and attorney costs (Amazon is not a named defendant) and that “the defendants be restrained from offering unauthorized copies of their works for sale as well as marketing, advertising and promoting such copies,” explains THR.
Following its initial victory in federal court in mid-July, Aereo has announced changes to its financial model that could further enrage TV broadcasters who continue to battle the company on claims of copyright infringement.
“TV streaming start-up Aereo has unveiled a more flexible pricing structure that includes a $1 day pass, $8 and $12 monthly passes, and an $80 annual plan,” reports VentureBeat.
“Aereo lets New York City residents view live streams from major TV broadcast networks (including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox) on a variety of Internet-connected devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and desktops,” explains the post. “There’s also a DVR in the mix that allows users to record up to 40 hours of content that can be streamed later. Ultimately, it’s a great solution for cord-cutters that still want to enjoy local content.”
In addition to updating its original $12/month subscription, the company is offering “Aereo Try for Free,” an introductory trial that allows NYC residents to watch one continuous hour of TV everyday without paying.
“We know that one size does not fit all, that’s why we’ve designed our new pricing structure to work for a wide variety of lifestyles,” explains Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia. “Whether you want a day pass to watch the ‘big game’ on your mobile device or an annual membership that provides you with 40 hours of DVR storage, we have a plan that works for you.”
Aereo is currently available only to TV viewers in NYC, but the company has plans to expand. “We’re going to really start marketing,” said backer Barry Diller last month following the court decision. “Within a year and a half, certainly by 2013, we’ll be in most major markets.”
Amazon customers can now store 250 songs for free with the new update for Cloud Player, Amazon’s challenge to Apple’s iTunes Match.
“The update includes a new feature that scans folders containing music on your computer and automatically matches up that music to songs within Amazon’s catalog,” reports Digital Trends. “It doesn’t matter if the music was ripped from a compact disc or purchased through another competing service.”
“After matching up the music, customers will be able to access the music within Cloud Player. Similar to Apple’s iTunes Match, the music will be upgraded to 256 Kbps quality despite the original bit rate of each song,” explains the post.
Also new is the inclusion of all the past music purchases on a specific Amazon account, allowing users to access music from any browser and mobile device. Amazon is also offering its Premium package that allows storage of 250,000 songs for $24.99 per year.
“In addition, all songs purchased on Amazon don’t count towards the 250 or 250,000 limit,” notes Digital Trends. “Beyond the Cloud Player features, Amazon is also splitting up Cloud Player from the Cloud Drive product. Any Amazon user can get 5GB of file storage for free with Cloud Drive, but can pay for premium plans up to $500 a year for 1TB of online data storage.”
In a related article by Ars Technica, Amazon is changing its stance on the need for music licenses. With the Cloud Player’s initial launch over a year ago, the company viewed the service as a media management application that did not require licenses.
But this week in a press release, Amazon announced licensing agreements “with Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and more than 150 independent distributors, aggregators and music publishers.”
Microsoft’s Windows 8 is officially completed and ready for its “release to manufacturing,” according to the company.
Consumers will still wait until the public release on October 26, but developers with Microsoft’s MSDN subscription or a TechNet subscription will have access as early as August 15. The following day, businesses with Software Assurance, a volume license deal, can also get the new OS.
“Microsoft also said that, as of today, software developers can now offer paid apps via the operating system’s new ‘Windows Store.’ Until now, only free programs were allowed in the marketplace,” reports AllThingsD.
An attempt to make a cohesive operating system for both desktops and tablets, “Windows 8 represents Microsoft’s biggest-ever overhaul to its flagship product,” the article states. “The new Windows works on both traditional PC chips as well as on the kinds of ARM processors used for cell phones (though that version is called Windows RT). Microsoft is also shaking up how programs are written and delivered.”
As previously reported, Microsoft’s Surface tablet is also scheduled for public availability on October 26.
Although Yahoo and Google’s Gmail dominate in the U.S., Microsoft’s Hotmail is still the leading Web email service across the world, according to comScore.
This week, Microsoft is updating the email service, giving it a new name and adding new features that rival the other popular U.S. services.
AllThingsD writer Katherine Boehret has been using the pre-release version of the new Outlook.com — renamed to align with all of Microsoft’s email offerings — and reports encouraging results.
The new version “includes dozens of smart features that simplify the otherwise-exasperating process of managing your email inbox,” she writes. “Examples include optional one-click scheduled cleanups of mail that delete all but the last message you got from someone; a safe, built-in way to unsubscribe from newsletters; and easy methods for creating email sorting rules for new and old messages. I cut the number of emails in my inbox in half after the first day of using Outlook.com.”
The update is also bringing social to email, incorporating profile photos and status updates from various social networks.
As a challenge to other email services, Outlook.com can import contacts from other services and receive emails from other accounts.
Although Microsoft has been somewhat eclipsed by Apple in recent years, this summer has been full of new announcements including its new Surface tablet, the Windows 8 fall launch and upcoming Office 2013.
The social network that once seemed unstoppable has seen major challenges with its IPO and stock prices after its first earnings report. But, according to Fortune, Facebook’s biggest problem doesn’t have to do with investors or ads. It has to do with maintaining its 901 million active users.
“Social network users can be extremely fickle,” the article states. “They might love the service one minute and run away another,” as evidenced by failed sites such as Friendster, Myspace and Google’s Buzz.
Facebook acknowledged this threat in its S-1 Registration Statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “There is no guarantee that we will not experience a similar erosion of our active user base or engagement levels,” the company wrote.
Gartner analyst Brian Blau recently described the social space as “a hit-driven industry,” one in which missteps or lack of innovation can cause a rapid downward spiral.
“The issue for Facebook and all other social networks is that they have yet to land in the rarified position of ‘necessary,'” suggests Fortune.
“Google has become a necessary resource for finding Web sites. Facebook is just a place to hang out and communicate with friends and family. And despite Facebook’s best efforts to deliver games, applications, and extend its reach beyond its own domain, it hasn’t done anything yet that would totally safeguard it from possible obsolescence,” concludes the article.
Some companies are now trading out their traditional focus groups for social media, using popular social networks for consumer research.
“While consumers may think of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare as places to post musings and interact with friends, companies like Walmart and Samuel Adams are turning them into extensions of market research departments,” reports The New York Times. “And companies are just beginning to figure out how to use the enormous amount of information available.”
Currently, Frito-Lay is using a Facebook app for customers to suggest new flavors and vote on their preferences. Walmart used Twitter chatter to determine whether to keep in-store stock of lollipop-shape cake makers. Samuel Adams used Facebook to create a crowdsourced beer.
“The social media approach also attracts younger customers. People who sign up for focus groups or consumer panels are generally not young fad followers, but Facebook users often are, so adding social media to the mix lets Frito-Lay get a wide range of consumer feedback,” notes NYT.
“Companies using data from social media said the ability to see what consumers do, want and are talking about on such a big scale, without consumers necessarily knowing the companies are listening in, was unprecedented,” the article states.
“This is like the biggest focus group someone could ever imagine,’ suggests Mark LaRow, SVP for products at software company MicroStrategy.
GigaOM writer Dave Greenbaum takes a look at Google Fiber in action, noting some drawbacks to the otherwise impressive, high-speed network.
To start, he downloaded various files to test the speed over the wired connection and Wi-Fi. “These tests show one of the limitations of Google’s Fiber network, other services. Since Google Fiber is providing virtually unheard of speeds for their subscribers, companies like Apple and I suspect Hulu, Netflix and Amazon will need to keep up,” he explains.
“I downloaded a few (legal) torrents and while it’s hard to compare torrents at any given moment, a popular file downloaded at extremely high speeds,” he notes. “Subscribers will pay for high-speed Internet but may not notice the difference when compared with friends with top-tier broadband.”
“Another limitation may be the fact that Google appears to be using a gigabit PON based on a screen shot of an interface to the Network box. If this is the case, speed could be reduced by other users,” Greenbaum writes.
Other concerns include: lack of popular cable channels, outstanding contracts with other providers, the lack of a landline IP, compatibility issues with Google’s Network Box (the required router for Fiber), and finally privacy (will Google be spying on users’ Internet use?).
All in all, the service is still promising. “I’m delighted they have bucked the trend against slow speeds and obnoxious bandwidth caps,” Greenbaum concludes. “I realize that in order to control the experience, you’ll have to use their hardware but Google has everything to gain by making their system as configurable as possible. As the service becomes more popular, content systems will be forced to upgrade their networks to keep up, although that means that bandwidth could slow down for some customers in theory.”