At a press event in New York yesterday, Nokia unveiled its new Windows Phone 8 device, the Lumia 920.
“With a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU (the same one that drives the current U.S. supremos, the HTC One X and Galaxy S III), a ‘better than HD’ 1,280 x 768 LCD display, PureView imaging (albeit with only eight megapixels), NFC capabilities, 2,000mAh battery with wireless charging and a next-gen Redmond-baked OS, this handset’s a big-break proposition for the flailing Finnish company; an attempt to up the ante and compete on even ground,” reports Engadget.
Pricing and release details are expected by Q4. The post includes a full hands-on review, slideshow of images and 5-minute video report.
In a related story from CNET, Nokia is bringing all kinds of music — from the New York Philharmonic to Lady Gaga — to U.S. Lumia owners for free through its new Nokia Music app.
Music experts created over 150 different playlists for the app. “Users can also scour a collection of millions of songs to generate their own playlists based on their favorite music and artists. And though the service is designed for streaming, Lumia owners can listen to music offline via their special playlists,” CNET reports.
Lumia users can use the free app to download and play tracks from Nokia’s MP3 store, which offers over 15 million songs. The app’s Gig Finder notes the user’s location to find local concerts and shows; users can even buy tickets and get directions to events.
Amazon has announced a multiyear licensing deal with Epix that will provide popular films from Paramount and Lionsgate through Amazon’s streaming service.
“Epix is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., so a deal with Epix amounts to a basket of entertainment from all the studios,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
The move is expected to help Amazon compete with the likes of Netflix, which recently ended its exclusive deal with Epix.
“We are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the Prime Instant Video library for our customers. We have now more than doubled this selection of movies and TV episodes to over 25,000 titles in just under a year,” said Bill Carr, VP of video and music at Amazon.
“That is still a far cry from the roughly 50,000 shows and movies Netflix is estimated to have, and the more than 58,400 videos Hulu offers its subscribers,” notes the article.
Tribeca Film released a new documentary this weekend in New York and Seattle. Directed by Chris Kenneally and narrated by Keanu Reeves, “Side by Side” examines the impact of digital technology on today’s moviemaking.
“For a film geek this movie is absolute heaven, a dream symposium in which directors, cinematographers, editors and a few actors gather to opine on the details of their craft,” writes A. O. Scott in his New York Times review. “It is worth a year of film school and at least 1,000 hours of DVD bonus commentary.”
Scott suggests the film is not merely “pro-digital propaganda,” but features a balance of tech enthusiasts and skeptics, while “the discourse tilts toward triumphalism.”
“Not only do you get to sit at the feet of Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Christopher Nolan and other heroes of modern cinema,” he writes. “You also get to check out the latest high-definition cameras from Panavision, Arriflex, Canon and Red.”
Scott notes the importance of discovery, experimentation and invention as part of filmmaking’s history and how crucial it has been for filmmakers to adapt to big changes over time including “the arrival of sound, of color, of wide-screen, of television.”
The film addresses both sides of arguments involving digital utopianism, instantly available dailies, and advances in editing and color timing.
Scott’s only criticism: “Kenneally might have paid more attention to the world beyond Hollywood, and also to the impact of digital technology on lower-budget, independent filmmaking and on restoration, but within the parameters it defines, this film does an excellent job of presenting complex material in an enlightening and exciting manner.”
“What it cannot do is provide the last word on the digital revolution in movies, since the revolution is in its early stages,” concludes Scott. “For now the mix of agnosticism and optimism — of respect for the old and enthusiasm for the new — seems reasonable. But we will have to wait for the sequel to know for sure.”
“Google has decided to pull the plug on Google TV Ads, its five-year attempt to convert the cable and broadcast TV industry into selling its available ad inventory on an online ad exchange,” reports Business Insider.
The announcement arrives amidst rumors that Google is considering a sale of its Motorola Mobility set-top box unit.
Google TV is not affected, and the company continues its Google Fiber efforts, which delivers high-speed Internet access (and possibly pay TV) to early users in Kansas City.
“We’ve made the hard decision to close our TV Ads product over the next few months and move the team to other areas at Google,” explains Shishir Mehrotra, VP of product, YouTube/video. “We’ll be doubling down on video solutions for our clients (like YouTube, AdWords for Video, and ad serving tools for Web video publishers). We also see opportunities to help users access Web content on their TV screens, through products like Google TV.”
“The death of Google TV Ads is a huge victory for the broadcast and cable networks, who are fighting an epic war against the Web, which threatens to turn traditional TV viewing into the newspaper business of the 21st Century,” suggests the article.
“Google TV Ads was the third major attempt to start an online electronic exchange for TV ads, all of which have been rendered extinct by cable and network TV’s refusal to allow any programming inventory to be sold on them.”
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is among the ten celebrities who will be competing in Canon’s Project Imaginat10n initiative — a fresh new take on the short film competition.
The directors (including Jamie Foxx, James Murphy and Eva Longoria) will gain inspiration from fan submitted photos. Photo categories include “setting, time, character, mood, backstory, relationship, goal, obstacle, the unknown and an unannounced 10th theme,” reports Wired.
The celebrities will work with director Ron Howard and will be partnered with professional production teams.
“The concept behind Project Imaginat10n showcases the power still images can have on narrative storytelling, but more importantly, it demonstrates there are no limits with creativity, and sources of inspiration can come from anyone or anything,” Howard explained in a statement. “I’m thrilled to work with this talented group of new directors… to help them on this creative journey.”
Stone worked as an artist before founding Twitter, and hopes his combination of talents will help him succeed in the competition.
“When you’re building software that millions of people use at the same time, you really have to be prepared in advance,” he explains. “I still think of myself as an artist and maybe the way that I express myself now is by creating platforms for millions of others to express themselves… This project allows me to get right in to the more traditional definition of the word.”
Twitter has been tracking presidential campaign-related tweets for months. The microblogger is using the data for its Twitter Political Index (“Twindex” for short).
“What is the Twindex? Simply put, it’s a day-by-day guide to the online conversation and sentiment surrounding Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and other key players in the 2012 presidential election,” notes Mashable.
The Index scans tweets for mention of the candidates and creates a sentiment score relative to all tweets. It is the result of a partnership between Twitter, Topsy, USA Today, The Mellman Group and North Star Opinion Research.
Adam Sharp, head of Twitter’s government, news and social innovation team, provides a 6-minute Twindex video tour on the Mashable post.
“We’re very careful to point out this is not designed to replace polling. In fact, we believe it strengthens it,” explains Sharp in the video. “The same way that radar and satellite didn’t replace thermometers and barometers, but joined them to give a more complete picture of the forecast. We believe the Twindex can do the same for traditional polling.”
Facebook and Fox Sports will offer integrated social engagement with broadcast events via “Social Sidelines.”
It started this past weekend with Saturday’s coverage of the Hawaii-USC football game and has plans to expand into MLB, NBA and NFL games.
“The partnership will in part use chatter on Facebook to track which teams are sparking the most buzz and gauge fan sentiment,” reports Mashable.
“Fox will provide updates on the ten most buzzed-about teams of each week of the season, tap Facebook users to crowd-source answers to relevant questions and run regular fan-of-the-week contests,” notes the post. “All of those integrations will then be featured at times on Fox channels.”
“College football is the perfect environment, with the right demographics, for integrating game telecasts and social media,” according to Fox Sports Media Group exec Chris Hannan. “Our partnership with Facebook creates unique content for fans to engage with all week, especially on game-day across our entire family of networks.”
TP Vision, a joint venture of Philips and TPV, is adding cloud services to its line of Internet-connected TVs through a new cloud platform from IBM. The announcement was made during the recent IFA consumer electronics event in Berlin.
The IBM cloud service will be made available to millions of television viewers in 30 European countries, Brazil and Argentina.
“As the Internet and smart devices continue to infiltrate home entertainment, today’s consumer electronics manufacturers are looking to deliver new interactive entertainment services,” said Bruce Anderson, GM of IBM’s global electronics industry.
“Televisions are about to become the next open application platform, similar to the application platforms on mobile devices,” he added. “Organizations are turning to the IBM cloud as the channel for their innovation.”
Separately, IBM is also joining forces with Vodafone to offer “smarter home” services for home appliances.
It’s been five years since Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduced the very first Kindle device in New York City.
“On Thursday, September 6, Bezos will again speak to the media, this time in Santa Monica, California, and the stakes will again be sky high,” reports Businessweek.
Last year, Amazon expanded the franchise with its launch of the $199 Kindle Fire, which made an initial commercial splash.
“But the Kindle Fire was also something of a critical disappointment, with its chunky weight, bland industrial design, and lack of basic features like a camera and volume controls,” suggests the article. “For the first time, many customers bought a device from Amazon and felt they didn’t get much value from it.”
The tablet landscape is getting rougher with this summer’s launch of the Nexus 7 from Google and the new iPad Mini expected this fall.
“If tablets are to be an important gateway to music, movies, e-books, and games — media products that make up half of Amazon’s overall business — Bezos is going to have to build a much deeper moat,” suggests Businessweek.
Since the event is being held in Los Angeles, we might hear news regarding Amazon’s video ambitions, perhaps from its L.A.-based content creation arm, Amazon Studios. We might also receive news regarding the long-rumored Amazon phone, an Amazon set-top box or a move away from Google’s Android to run the Kindle Fire, suggests the article.
The struggle for seasonal and small mom-and-pop theaters to survive may become more challenging as the industry completes its transition to digital.
“20th Century Fox promises to phase out film by the end of next year, and the others are expected to follow,” reports The New York Times.
John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, notes that 30,000 screens have been converted to Digital Cinema, while 10,000 remain in different stages of transition.
For a small cinema, the $75,000 cost of a digital projector can exceed an entire year’s profits, making it difficult to convince banks to provide a loan.
Some independent exhibitors are taking donations from patrons for upgrades, considering a retro approach to keep 35mm film alive, or closing their doors. Others are waiting on possible state grants and considering whether to sign a joint financing agreement.
“Devised through negotiations between the national theater owners group and the major studios, these Virtual Print Fee agreements entail per-movie payments from distributors for running their movies,” explains NYT. “For distributors, these givebacks are more affordable than striking film prints, and for theaters that qualify (because of limited grosses, many seasonal ones don’t), these payments can help pay off bank loans or leases.”
However, the agreements include constraints such as what films can be shown and how often.
BuzzFeed’s latest Social Intelligence Report describes Reddit as “a monster for traffic referrals,” while arguing that Pinterest may be little more than a “social gimmick.”
“In July, Reddit set a new page views record, topping 3.1 billion for the month,” reports Adweek. “Yet even more impressive is the jump that publishers in the BuzzFeed Network saw in Reddit referrals, which increased by 64 percent from June to July.”
“The report also shows that StumbleUpon, the long-reigning king of traffic referrals to the network, continues to fall, which suggests that Reddit’s socially sharable content may be taking users away from the browsing platform.”
About 114,000 referrals came from Pinterest, according to the report, significantly below the service’s 400,000-referral peak in April.
“Things aren’t all gloomy for Pinterest though,” notes Adweek. “The site has seen a 200 percent increase in referral traffic throughout its first full year of public operation.”
The article suggests that online publishers and advertisers should note the referral trends as a crucial shift: “By a large margin, the success of content from sites like Reddit to generate referral traffic stems from how well it resonates on an emotional level with an audience.”
“The trend of publishers creating engaging content that understands and connects in a meaningful way with an audience may be a reaction to the previous, more robotic era of search-optimized content, but it has proven results to draw viewers as denizens of the Web exhibit a growing dependence on social networks,” concludes the post.
The development team at search engine Bing has created a new feature that allows users to browse friends’ Facebook photo albums and search for specific images via keywords.
“Called the Friends’ Photo feature, any Facebook user can visit www.bing.com/friendsphotos and log into Facebook in order to enable access to photo albums,” reports Digital Trends. “The most recent photos posted by your friends will appear in a large thumbnail format on the screen similar to the layout of Pinterest.”
“Each photo can be clicked to open up a version at a larger resolution,” notes the post. “In addition, comments about the photo are loaded on the right side of the page. The user has the ability to add a comment, like or share the photo as well as open up the photo on Facebook.”
While the real advantage to this functionality on Bing is the search bar, it is worth noting that a successful search via keywords is reliant upon effective tagging and adequate descriptions.
“According to Bing, the Friends’ Photo feature doesn’t work with Facebook users that have blocked photos from being accessed by third-party applications,” explains the post. “Facebook users can edit this setting by visiting the Privacy Settings page and clicking on ‘Edit Settings’ in the ‘Ads, Apps and Websites’ row.”
Nokia has scheduled a September 5th launch event to debut its new Windows Phone 8 devices. For those who can’t wait, a set of photos has been leaked that are rumored to be the new phones.
“Reportedly named the Lumia 820 and the Lumia 920 with PureView, photos of the latest Nokia phones have appeared on a random Twitter account called evleaks,” reports Digital Trends. “Possibly a stunt by Nokia’s own PR team or the work of a rather sneaky individual, the photos showcase a pair of gorgeous new smartphones.”
If the photos are accurate, the two Lumia devices will feature “the boldly colored, polycarbonate design of Nokia’s original Windows Phone 7.5 offerings,” a 4.3-inch screen for the 820 and 4.5-inch screen for the 920, PureView camera technology and Carl Zeiss optical lenses.
“We’re really hoping these leaks turn out to be the real thing,” notes Digital Trends. “An LTE-equipped smartphone sporting PureView technology is exactly what Windows Phone needs right now, a device to compete with other flagships. Add Nokia’s brand recognition, useful applications, and sharp design and Windows Phone 8 may just be able to take its place beside iOS and Android.”
In a related report from Reuters, “Samsung Electronics became the first handset maker to announce a smartphone using Microsoft’s latest mobile software, making its surprise, hurried announcement just days before the highly anticipated launch of Nokia’s version.”
Samsung’s brief announcement at Berlin’s IFA show regarding the new ATIV S Windows phone — with a 4.8-inch display, 8-megapixel rear camera and Corning Gorilla glass — “comes amid expectations that smartphone makers may turn increasingly to Windows devices after a U.S. jury decided many of Samsung’s Google Android-based phones infringed Apple Inc. patents,” suggests Reuters.
LG, Philips and Toshiba are among the manufacturers working together on a common system for Internet-connected TVs.
At the IFA show in Berlin, manufacturers addressed “banding together to develop a common system that allows users to listen to music, watch videos and play games via the Internet on TV sets,” reports Bloomberg.
The companies are concerned about Apple and Google, which have made product forays into the online TV market. Additionally, Apple is rumored to be readying a new TV product.
“Apple and Google’s rise in the smartphone market has pushed Nokia and Research In Motion Ltd. to the brink,” notes Bloomberg. “Now, television makers are scrambling to make sure the same won’t happen to them.”
Meanwhile, Sony is betting on its 84-inch LCD TV that will feature 4K horizontal resolution, due in stores later this year.
“While current high-definition TVs have screens with 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels, the new TV has a screen with 3,840 pixels by 2,160 pixels,” reports Computerworld in a related article.
Since there will be a wait for native 4K content, Sony’s new set features an upscaler that will convert existing high-def images to 4K resolution through a software algorithm.
Canon has announced a release date for its flagship C500 and unveiled a new addition to its EOS digital cinema camera collection.
The new EOS C100 features 1,920 x 1,080 AVCHD, a Super 35mm 16:9 CMOS sensor, an ISO range of 320 to 20,000 and an EF mount system. The C100 is expected to ship in November for $7,999.
“Other features of interest include a push auto iris function, one-shot auto focus, a multi-angle 3.5-inch LCD and a locking HDMI output,” reports Engadget.
The previously reported C500 — Canon’s $30,000 4K camera — is slated for an October debut. The two cameras join the Cinema EOS lineup, which includes the EOS C300 (intended for mainstream HD production) and the EOS-1D C 4K Digital SLR.
“Canon also took the opportunity to offer up two new cinema lenses: the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L S/SP wide-angle and the CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L S/SP telephoto,” notes the post.
“We developed the Cinema EOS C500 digital cinema camera to deliver the benefits of full 4K motion capture to Hollywood’s premier filmmakers, while the C100 is designed for economical productions that need sophisticated HD capabilities and optical lens diversity,” explained Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group.
At a press event in New York yesterday, Nokia unveiled its new Windows Phone 8 device, the Lumia 920.
