Multiple sources suggest that Peter Chernin, former president and chief operating officer of News Corp., has formally bid around $500 million for Hulu through his Chernin Group holding company, reports Reuters. Chernin helped launch the online video streaming service in 2007, which is currently controlled by Disney and News Corp. (co-owner Comcast relinquished corporate control as a concession when purchasing NBCUniversal). Continue reading Insiders Say Peter Chernin Bidding $500 Million for Hulu

While 4K Ultra High Definition TV has yet to make it into the living room, the industry is moving forward with new cameras, evolving standards and early television production. Sony Pictures Television, for example, is producing select pilots with digital cinema cameras, while 3Net is forging ahead with its Total D strategy that includes producing versions of programs in both 2D and 3D at multiple resolutions. Initial tests for broadcasting sports in 4K are just around the corner. Continue reading NAB 2013: TV Industry Moves Toward 4K Ultra HD Format

California Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) has introduced AB 1291, an update to California law that intends to broaden the definition of personal data and make information more accessible to consumers. The “Right to Know Act” would force businesses to inform customers what data is being used and where it is being shared on the Web. The bill comes after increased lobbying efforts from privacy groups. Continue reading Proposed Bill Gives Consumers Access to Personal Data Info

The latest draft of proposed changes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act could technically make it so anyone under age 18 caught browsing the news online could face jail time. According to the changes, any violation of a site’s Terms of Service would be considered a criminal act, thus any person under an age restriction would be committing a crime. These changes are on a fast track to Congress, to appear in time for its “cyber week” in mid April. Continue reading Changes Necessary for the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?

First announced at last year’s NAB, cloud-based production service Adobe Anywhere is scheduled to launch in May and will be on display at next week’s NAB (booth SL3910) in Las Vegas. The toolset enables collaboration for creative professionals using Adobe Premiere, After Effects and logging tool Prelude. It uses Adobe’s Mercury streaming engine, a server that streams relevant video frames and scales quality based on available bandwidth. Continue reading NAB 2013: Cloud-Based Production with Adobe Anywhere

According to the Wall Street Journal, there is no doubt that the smartphone is the current, dominant computing device. Just consider the numbers: Nearly 700 million smartphones were shipped worldwide last year, according to Strategy Analytics. That’s nearly twice as many PC shipments. And it was only a few years ago that PCs were atop that statistic. Now people are using smartphones for a wide variety of functions. Continue reading Tech Giants Battle to Control Evolving Mobile Experience

Sony announced it has entered the cloud-based services market with the launch of a new set of tools intended to help creative professionals such as production studios, filmmakers, producers, broadcasters and marketing teams work with various media applications online. The Ci scalable cloud platform features a “fast and secure” collection of tools for collecting, producing, sharing and archiving high-quality media content. Continue reading NAB 2013: Sony Announces New Scalable Cloud Platform

Apple’s HDTV, which has reportedly been in development for years, is expected to finally debut later this year. While meeting with supply chain sources in China and Taiwan, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White has gathered information from unnamed sources that suggest Apple will launch its iTV in the second half of 2013. White says innovative new features of the HDTV could make it a game-changer. Continue reading New Report Indicates Apple Will Launch HDTV This Year

Sites like Pandora and Spotify have made a significant impact on the music industry with their free streaming music services. Now, these sites may be influencing how well artists do in regards to their album sales. Justin Timberlake, for example, released his new album “The 20/20 Experience” to Spotify, which resulted in 980,000 copies being sold within the first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Continue reading Why Buy Albums When You Can Get the Songs for Free?

While fans celebrated opening day, marking the start of another baseball season, MLB executives were having a celebration of their own as the official Major League Baseball app “At Bat” was accessed 6 million times on opening day alone. This number is more than twice the amount of users that accessed the same app on opening day last year, and significantly higher than other apps that the league has launched for baseball fans. Continue reading MLB Hits a Home Run with Mobile App on Opening Day

In addition to using the major social networks to create personal profiles, build networks of friends and other connections, share photos, videos and music, many tech-savvy young people are turning to smartphone-based messaging apps for these functions. Popular apps such as Kik, Whatsapp, KakaoTalk, LINE and WeChat are growing in popularity throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Continue reading Will Mobile Messaging Apps Replace Our Social Networks?

As an April Fool’s Day joke, Google posted information about a new service called Google Nose, which supposedly provides consumers with olfactory experiences through their computers. While it may have been a joke, it’s not that far from potential reality. In fact, last December IBM revealed that technologies in development related to human senses were on the cusp of reality and could one day soon reach widespread adoption. Continue reading Google Nose May Have Been a Joke, But the Tech is Not

In advance of next week’s NAB show, Dell announced its Dell Precision Performance Optimizer (DPPO), a free download solution that simplifies, automates and optimizes Dell Precision workstation settings to maximize application performance. DPPO addresses the variations in processing requirements between different software and configures optimal settings for professional systems, manages system resources and tracks performance for future analysis. Continue reading NAB 2013: Dell Launches Automated Workstation Software

Aereo, the Internet service startup backed by Barry Diller that streams TV stations without compensation, has won another battle with broadcasters. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York yesterday upheld a ruling in favor of Aereo, which could set the stage for a full-blown trial. Broadcasters sued the startup last year claiming the service violates copyright law, but a district court judge denied the request for a preliminary injunction. Monday’s 2-1 decision affirms the lower court ruling. Continue reading Aereo Wins Again: Federal Appeals Court Upholds Ruling

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is the most pirated show on television. How does the cable network feel about that? Not bad, actually. The show’s second season recently experienced record-setting DVD sales for the network, even as it was 2012’s most illegally downloaded show. According to HBO programming president Michael Lombardo, this is viewed as a positive, especially since it doesn’t seem to adversely affect sales. Continue reading Game of Thrones: Most Pirated Show Remains Lucrative