Comedian Ricky Gervais has negotiated a deal to create new original content for his own channel on YouTube. The deal is a co-production of Derek Productions and Channel Flip, which currently runs approximately 140 YouTube channels. Gervais has expressed excitement about creating the new content and plans to resurrect popular character David Brent form the BBC mockumentary “The Office.” Continue reading Ricky Gervais Produces New Content for YouTube Channel

A crowdsourced fundraising campaign to produce a film version of the popular 2004-2007 TV detective show “Veronica Mars” has set a new record for the fastest growing Kickstarter campaign, reaching the $1 million mark in just over four hours. In fact, the entire funding goal of $2 million was achieved in less than 10 hours (at press time, the project’s Kickstarter page listed a total of $3,306,914 from 50,094 backers). Continue reading Veronica Mars Project Sets New Record for Crowdfunding

AMC introduced its new streaming movie service Yeah! this week at South by Southwest. The online streaming service features supplementary content for iconic movies such as “Superman,” “Reservoir Dogs,” “Clerks” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Content is comprised of bonus materials including interviews with directors, interactive polls, film facts and quizzes. According to AMC, there are 400-500 new pieces of content per film. Continue reading AMC Launches Streaming Movie Site with Bonus Features

Acclaimed film director Ridley Scott has partnered with video entertainment network Machinima to produce 12 short science fiction films. Scott will serve as executive producer, while directors will be tapped from his commercial production company RSA. Martin Scorsese, Sam Mendes, Kathryn Bigelow and Neill Blomkamp are on the list of possible directors. Gaming and streaming site Machinima reaches 262 million unique viewers. Continue reading Ridley Scott Teams with Machinima to Produce Sci-Fi Shorts

Google announced that Andy Rubin, who has overseen the Android mobile operating system since 2004, will step down from his position. The announcement is the latest development in Google’s broad master plan for mobile. In Rubin’s place will be Sundar Pichai, the current head of Google’s Chrome Web browser and Chrome OS project, suggesting a future union between Android and Chrome. Continue reading Google Reveals Mobile Strategy with Android Restructuring

After a two-year investigation into whether or not Google’s Street View violates privacy protections, law enforcement officials have again told the company it is time to shape up. Google acknowledged breaches this week and said no longer will there be a scenario in which a midlevel engineer launches a program to secretly gather data from possibly millions of unencrypted global Wi-Fi networks, unbeknownst to his bosses. Continue reading Coalition of 38 States Draws Up Security Steps for Google

President Obama met with a group of 13 corporate executives at the White House on Wednesday to discuss growing cybersecurity concerns and to enlist support for his proposed legislation to combat the threat of computer warfare and corporate espionage. Among the chief execs were Rex W. Tillerson of Exxon Mobil, Randall L. Stephenson of AT&T, Brian T. Moynihan of Bank of America and Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase. Continue reading Obama Seeks Corporate Support for Cybersecurity Initiative

Twitter is leveraging last year’s acquisition of music discovery service We Are Hunted to build a standalone music app. Twitter Music could be released on iOS as early as the end of this month, suggest insiders. The service will reportedly recommend artists and songs based on the accounts a user follows on Twitter. The music will be streamed to the app via SoundCloud. Continue reading Twitter Expected to Soon Launch Standalone Music App

The chief of the military’s new Cyber Command spoke to Congress on Tuesday, explaining that he is establishing 13 teams of programmers and computer experts that could potentially carry out offensive cyberattacks on foreign nations if the U.S. were hit with a major attack on its networks. This marks the first time the Obama administration publicly admitted to developing such a strategy. Continue reading Cyber Command Outlines Strategy for Protecting Networks

NBCUniversal executive VP Lauren Zalaznick spoke at South by Southwest on Tuesday about big picture issues the television industry faces in meeting the evolving tastes and needs of today’s wired consumers. During the Q&A with former CEO of CBS Interactive Quincy Smith, Zalaznick spoke about TV Everywhere authentication services and the second-screen — two digital areas currently in her strategy sights. Continue reading NBCU Exec Discusses TV Everywhere and Second Screens

With the launch of Vevo TV — a 24-hour live stream of curated programming — Vevo has taken an additional step toward becoming a full-fledged music television network. The new channel uses MTV-like VJs and is available on the Web and mobile devices, as well as via Roku boxes and Xbox 360 gaming consoles. Looking ahead, the company hopes to take Vevo TV to cable distributors and have it compete with the likes of MTV and VH1. Continue reading Vevo TV Streaming Music Platform is All About Devices

At South by Southwest this week, BitTorrent officially launched the open beta for its BitTorrent Live streaming service, which allows anyone with a camera to stream live video to an unlimited number of viewers. Those broadcasting can either stream with a webcam or use an app such as Flash Media Encoder to stream their content. Users will need to download the BitTorrent Live plugin to view others’ streams. Continue reading BitTorrent Launches Live P2P Streaming Service at SXSW

YouTube competitor Vimeo launched its Vimeo on Demand service this week at South by Southwest. Vimeo on Demand is an open self-distribution service allowing members to charge those who view their posted videos. The company plans to let members choose their own prices for their videos. The creators will get 90 percent of the profits while Vimeo takes in the other 10 percent. Continue reading Vimeo On Demand Allows Creators to Charge and Set Rules

DISH’s Hopper with Sling has finally arrived — and is worth the wait, according to a product review this week from Wired. This is the second generation Hopper and shows a lot of improvement over the debut from a few years ago. Most notably, it includes the Sling place-shifting service that enables users to load TV shows and DVR recordings to any compatible device like an iPad or laptop. Continue reading DISH Hopper with Sling Outperforms Genie from DirecTV

The Mobile Symphony Orchestra in Alabama introduced its “tweet seats” late last year during a performance of Beethoven’s Eroica symphony. The seats are located in the back row of the auditorium and are made available to those who wish to text or tweet during the performance. This type of move is representative of many arts organizations’ attempts to encourage audiences to engage technologically with performances. Continue reading Tweet Seats and Other Attempts at Audience Engagement