Independent filmmakers that face competition from big budget Hollywood productions are increasingly turning to video-on-demand to augment — and in some cases, to exceed — theater revenues and reach a larger audience.
For example, the indie comedy “Bachelorette” recently earned a paltry $418,000 in theaters, but $5.5 million in VOD rentals. Other VOD hits include “Arbitrage” with Richard Gere and last year’s “Margin Call.”
According to some estimates, the number of movies that will simultaneously be released in theaters and VOD will grow 30 percent in 2012. The number had already doubled from 2009 to 2011.
“It has become harder to generate revenue from independent movies [in theaters] and VOD is our next best option,” says Kevin Iwashina, managing partner of film production and sales company Preferred Content. “This is how we’re putting a Band-Aid on our business.”
“Many filmmakers remain skeptical that VOD can bring them the same prestige, not to mention profits, as the big screen, where quality movies have always premiered,” notes the Los Angeles Times.
There is a perception by some that movies made for on-demand distribution are not of the same quality as theatrical releases. Also, most filmmakers do not intend for their movies to be viewed on a small screen.
“There are definitely still people who resist and say the only kind of deal they will do is a traditional release,” suggests Jason Janego, co-president of the Weinstein Co. unit Radius-TWC, that specializes in multi-platform releases. “We hope more people will become open-minded and realize the potential.”
It is no secret that the current presidential campaigns are leaning on social media more so than any other time in history. However, in addition to the obvious choices of Facebook and Twitter, the Obama and Romney campaigns are posting quirky clips to Tumblr and other sites in the hope of attracting younger voters.
“They are taking to fields of online battle that might seem obscure to the non-Internet-obsessed — sharing song playlists on Spotify, adding frosted pumpkin bread recipes to Pinterest and posting the candidates’ moments at home with the children on Instagram,” notes The New York Times.
The efforts are designed to reach younger voters who do not necessarily read the newspaper or watch TV, but spend much of their media time on the social Web. In the case of Tumblr, the interaction typically involves remixed photos, looping animated GIFs and funny videos.
“To remind Tumblr users about the first presidential debate… Obama’s team used an obscure clip of Lindsay Lohan saying ‘It’s October 3’ in the comedy ‘Mean Girls,'” explains the article. “And on Twitter, Mitt Romney’s bodyguard posted a picture of the candidate’s family playing Jenga before the debate.”
“The more people who interact with Mitt, the more likely he is to win,” suggests Zachary Moffatt, digital director for the Romney campaign. “Social extends and amplifies that.”
“It’s about authentic, two-way communication,” says Adam Fetcher, deputy press secretary for the Obama campaign. “Social media is a natural extension of our massive grass-roots organization.”
Conversely, unintentional gaffes or well-intended posts or pictures can lead to a negative impact with social media.
After Obama told a crowd “You didn’t build that” while discussing infrastructure, the Romney campaign uploaded photos of hot dog vendors and others with signs that played on the slogan: “I built this.” And Twitter and Tumblr were flooded with parodies of the empty chair used by Clint Eastwood during the Republican convention.
In an attempt to “confront the compressed audio inferiority that MP3s offer,” musician Neil Young is releasing a line of portable Pono players next year, a music-download service that could rival iTunes and a digital-to-analog conversion designed to “present songs as they first sound during studio recording sessions,” reports Rolling Stone.
Young hopes that the high-resolution music service will help unite the recording industry with cloud storage “to save the sound of music.”
“It’s not like some vague thing that you need dogs’ ears to hear. It’s a drastic difference,” musician Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) says of analog vs. digital music recordings. “MP3s suck. It’s just a shadow of the music.”
The bassist recently tested out Pono and has since expressed support for the venture.
The “Big Three” record labels — Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music — have reportedly expressed interest. Even before WMG partnered with the Pono project last year, the label converted its 8,000-title library to high resolution, 192kHz/24-bit sound. UMG and Sony have not yet reported any partnerships with Pono, but have been approached.
“This has to be an industry-wide solution. This is not about competing — this is about us being proactive,” says Craig Kallman, chairman and chief executive of Atlantic Records. “This is all about purely the opportunity to bring the technology to the table.”
Some have raised some doubt about the venture, however, noting that consumers may not want to repurchase songs just to get the upgraded quality.
The bipartisan Internet Radio Fairness Act aims to change Internet radio royalty laws. Currently, some digital radio services, like Sirius XM, pay 80 percent lower royalties than others, like Pandora. The law seeks to change this discrepancy.
The new model proposes that Internet royalty rates be measured similarly to those for other forms of radio. Some estimate that if the law passes, Pandora’s stock could rise from its current $11 to over $28.
“Even terrestrial broadcasters support the measure,” notes Slate. “Powerhouses like Clear Channel stream their stations over the Internet these days, so pay higher fees to musicians and other copyright holders for distribution over the Web than over the airwaves.”
But the bill’s passing is not a foregone conclusion, and Slate cautions that entertainers and their powerful lobbyists will fight the legislation.
“MusicFirst, a coalition of labels and artists, also wants to level the playing field, but by raising royalty rates for other services, not shrinking them for the likes of Pandora,” explains the post. “Nevertheless, with a plan now on the congressional playlist, there’s greater option value to Pandora’s income streaming.”
Ania Ahlborn’s “Seed” was originally self-published, yet rose to the top spot on Amazon’s horror book rankings after being picked up by 47North, Amazon’s in-house science fiction, fantasy, and horror imprint. Now Amazon is adapting the book for film.
“‘Seed’ is the story of teen boy, who sees an unspeakable horror — an evil of some kind — on a rural road [and] flees his home,” explains The Hollywood Reporter. “Years later, after starting a new life, Jack, the boy-turned-grown-man, encounters the evil again when his wife and two daughters are caught in — but survive — a terrible car crash. Now Jack must stop it before it kills him and takes over his youngest daughter.”
Amazon Studios, the original content arm of the online retailer, started in November 2011 and has since put 21 movie scripts and seven episodic series in development.
Noting the book’s success in Amazon’s rankings, “…we already have a sense of the mainstream attraction of the story and are excited to keep the project in-house for movie development,” says Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios.
“Amazon Studios recently ran a fan book trailer contest for ‘Seed,’ awarding $3,000 to the winning trailer ‘Grinning Demons,'” the article states.
Last year, 3.4 million ultraslim PCs were shipped worldwide. Despite the slow adoption, NPD DisplaySearch predicts that number to dramatically increase to 65 million by 2015 (one-quarter of all mobile PC shipments).
The expected growth of devices including ultrabooks, Apple’s MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with retina display will be sparked by reduced prices and the devices’ similar feel to tablets.
NPD DisplaySearch also predicts that tablet shipments will exceed notebooks by 2016.
“Tablet PCs have offered consumers what they have been requesting from the notebook market for years, instant-on activation, long battery life, and sleeker designs,” notes Richard Shim, senior analyst with NPD DisplaySearch. “These attributes are the basis for enabling greater and easier accessibility to content and services.”
“Ultraslim PCs are the notebook market’s response to tablets and aim to balance performance and convenience,” he says.
Roku and 3M have announced their Streaming Projector — a new Wi-Fi mini projector capable of 60 lumens, that features 800 x 480 pixel resolution and can expand to a 120-inch screen.
“Measuring 7.8 x 7 x 4.5 inches and weighing just a little under 1.5 pounds, the mini-Streaming Projector runs on the Roku Streaming Stick, which contains all your entertainment apps such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, ‘Angry Birds’ and more,” reports Digital Trends.
“You can also access the Channel Store to add more streams, such as CNBC — which will display the live channel as well as stock tickers and news headlines,” adds the post.
A separate $20 remote may appeal to those seeking an intuitive controller with built-in motion sensor (for example, those who want to play “Angry Birds” by projector). And the Streaming Stick is removable for those who want to connect HDMI ports from an Xbox or laptop.
The $300 wireless Streaming Projector has a rechargeable battery and built-in stereo system. It will ship on October 22.
“The entire device is essentially the Roku 2 XS, the company’s top-of-the-line media center, now with a built-in projector capacity,” notes the post.
AT&T announced its plans to carry the Samsung Galaxy Camera, which is expected to be the first combination of point-and-shoot camera and smartphone.
“The Samsung Galaxy Camera is becoming a hotly anticipated item, thanks to its recently announced Dropbox compatibility and next-gen, ultra-connected focus,” reports Digital Trends.
“AT&T announced it will be supporting the 4G (HSPA+, most likely) camera, which will have run Jelly Bean and have access to the full catalog of Google Play apps,” explains the post.
The Galaxy Cam features a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor, 1GHz processor, 21x optical zoom and 4.77-inch HD touch display. Expected to launch within the next few weeks, pricing has yet to be announced.
Digital Trends describes the Samsung Smart camera line as “a pleasant surprise” in regards to Wi-Fi connectivity. “Manufacturers have struggled with implementing this feature in an easy-to-use, simple way for users, but it’s something that Samsung has done incredibly well. And we only expect this to be an even more fluid experience with the Galaxy Cam.”
The device “stands a decent shot at cornering the consumer camera market: Wi-Fi enabled point-and-shoots are a hot commodity, and strapping a Galaxy S3 to one only sweetens that deal,” suggests the post. “It’s cutting edge, especially for an industry that’s been remarkably slow to adopt and adapt to mobile technology.”
It was just a decade ago that digital image sensors replaced film, rocking the world of photography. But that was only the beginning of many new changes.
CNET reports that during the Photokina show, “it was clear a second wave of change is sweeping through the industry. Cameras produced during the first digital photography revolution looked and worked very similarly to their film precursors, but now designers have begun liberating them from the old constraints.”
The article suggests that three major developments are pushing new changes: “a new class of interchangeable-lens cameras, the arrival of smartphones with wireless networking, and the sudden enthusiasm for full-frame sensors for high-end customers.”
CNET writes of the camera’s broadening ecosystem, which includes new lens mounts and mirrorless cameras in addition to “stacks of technology that can include processors, operating systems, app stores, online services, social graphs, and user accounts with accompanying credit card numbers.”
The article features details regarding an “explosion” of mirrorless offerings from Sony, Canon, Fujifilm, Samsung, Pentax and others.
“The result is a new phase of experimentation that’s refreshing but risky,” the article suggests. “Photographers get a wealth of new choices, but they’re betting on camera systems that might not survive as today’s experimentation settles down into tomorrow’s winners and losers.”
“For ordinary people, the biggest change in photography is the arrival of smartphones with respectable if not stellar cameras,” notes the article. “Because people always carry their phones, those cameras are the ones increasingly used to document people’s lives photographically.”
After the Kinect for Xbox took off for enhanced gaming, many have imagined other uses for the motion-recognition technology. But when it comes to personal computing, the Kinect cannot quickly and accurately detect hand and finger movement. 3Gear wants to change this.
The San Francisco startup has created a gesture interface that can track finger movements using two 3D cameras positioned above the user on either side.
“3Gear’s system uses two depth cameras (the same type used with Kinect) that capture 30 frames per second. The position of a user’s hands and fingers are matched to a database of 30,000 potential hand and finger configurations,” which takes only 33 milliseconds, explains Technology Review.
3Gear has made the technology available to developers for free until November 30.
“The hope is that developers will create useful applications that will expand the reach of 3Gear’s hand-tracking algorithms,” notes the article. “Eventually, says Robert Wang, who co-founded the company, 3Gear’s technology could be used by engineers to craft 3D objects, by gamers who want precision play, by surgeons who need to manipulate 3D data during operations, and by anyone who wants a computer to do her bidding with a wave of the finger.”
Interest in gesture-recognition has increased, but in personal computing the technology must compete with the familiar keyboard and mouse.
“One problem with gestural interfaces — as well as touch-screen desktop displays — is that they can be uncomfortable to use,” the article states. “They sometimes lead to an ache dubbed ‘gorilla arm.’ As a result, Wang says, 3Gear focused on making its gesture interface practical and comfortable.”
According to numbers from Twitter, the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney was the most tweeted about political event in U.S. history. Twitter logged 10.3 million tweets about the debate with more than 250,000 mentioning Big Bird (in response to Romney’s PBS comments).
Although Twitter has only been around since 2006, “in that short time Twitter and other social media platforms have fundamentally changed the political landscape,” writes BBC News.
“Anytime you get more people engaged and fired up about politics and the vote they have a right to make, that’s a great thing,” says Clay Schossow, co-founder of New Media Campaigns, a Web design & development firm in North Carolina.
“People are telling [journalists] what stories they want to see,” Schossow adds, noting that trending Twitter themes impact the next day’s news.
But being so engaged in Twitter during a debate or other event could cause some to miss out on key moments, notes Patrick Ruffini, president of Engage, LLC, a Washington, DC political media firm. “I find myself missing big lines,” he points out. “I’m engrossed in Twitter and engrossed in my own personal consumption of the debate itself as opposed to what’s said on screen.”
Some analysts are concerned that the real-time nature of social media will have a negative, perhaps reactionary impact on news coverage and shaping the post-debate narrative. Brendan Nyhan, a professor of government at Dartmouth College, turns off Twitter during the debate and recommends that journalists do the same.
“More and more people are turning to Twitter to discuss their political views, and don’t show any indication of turning back,” suggests BBC News. “Twitter users — and the American electorate — will learn to adapt accordingly.”
Nielsen reports that television viewership for Wednesday evening’s presidential debate jumped 28 percent to 67.2 million, compared with the first debate of the 2008 election.
Broadcast networks dominated, with ABC drawing 11.25 million viewers, NBC 11.07 million and CBS 10.58 million.
On cable, Fox News was the leader with 10.42 million viewers (its highest-rated presidential debate ever). CNN was second with 6.05 million total viewers and MSNBC was third with 4.71 million.
In a related story from AllThingsD, online video streaming also attracted viewers: “This year, you definitely didn’t need an old-fangled television to watch the debates, with online offerings ranging from simple videos to live fact-checking and commentary.”
YouTube’s politics channel carried an array of content from multiple sources and had “millions of live streamed views of the debates, and one of the highest number of concurrent streams ever for a YouTube live stream,” according to a company spokesperson.
Ustream reports 3.5 million views of debate and debate-related videos, while CNN says their debate videos were started about 5 million times with 1.2 million global users viewing live. Streaming was also available from AOL, Hulu, Aereo and others.
Logitech announced it will launch its Harmony Touch remote this month in the U.S. and Europe. Clearly influenced by smartphone design, the device features a 2.4-inch color touchscreen with channel icons.
Instead of surfing through existing channel guides, users simply tap the icon of their desired network to change the channel — and in similar fashion to mobile screens, functions are controlled by swiping, scrolling and tapping.
The screen holds up to 50 channel icons and can display nine at a time. The icons can be positioned based on most watched channels.
Alternate activities can be controlled by the remote as well, such as switching from cable programming to setting up for video game access.
“Consumers that also own the Logitech TV Cam HD will find a Skype function on the Harmony Touch which can be used to place and accept calls, mute the volume during the call or control the camera’s zoom and angle,” notes Digital Trends.
“The Logitech Harmony Touch is compatible with more than 225,000 home-entertainment devices and more than 5,000 brands, and it can control as many as 15 devices,” notes the press release.
The $250 remote is currently available on the Logitech site and will be offered by retailers including Amazon and Best Buy later this month.
University of Edinburgh researchers have developed a wireless networking system capable of transmitting 130 megabits per second using light waves.
The researchers call their project “Li-Fi” and use “LEDs to transmit data to photo-sensor receivers by making changes in the intensity of light that researchers claim are so fast they are imperceptible to the human eye,” reports Ars Technica.
The goal of the system is to use existing light sources to transfer data. This would greatly impact the mobile industry, where the technology could be integrated into the phone’s camera. This would allow for fast download speeds using natural light sources.
Li-Fi has advantages “including its broader potential spectrum for transmissions — over 10,000 times more spectrum than radio — allowing for thousands of signal channels in the same space, as well as its greater transmission speed as a result,” notes the article.
The system also has the advantage of only working within a particular line of sight. This would allow for secure networking within a closed room environment.
The post includes a 13-minute TED video featuring a Li-Fi demo from Harald Haas, University of Edinburgh’s professor of mobile communications.
Traditional e-reader E Ink models were great for reading in sunlight, and for nostalgic readers who preferred the book-like look of the text, but were ineffective for reading in bed because they lacked their own light source.
But Barnes & Noble changed this with its Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, which allows readers to read an E Ink tablet in dark settings.
Now Amazon has countered with the Kindle Paperwhite, a self-lit E Ink e-reader that reportedly has more even lighting than the Nook.
The Simple Touch with GlowLight’s largest drawback was that the lighting system created hotspots, where some text was unevenly lit. The Kindle Paperwhite has hotspots, but only at the bottom of the screen where its bulbs sit. The rest of the screen is lit evenly through a fiber optic cable.
Overall, the Kindle provides a more comfortable reading experience, but the Nook may provide better value.
The Nook comes with a wall charger, whereas Kindle owners must either pay $10 for a charger or just charge the device from a USB port. Also, the Kindle displays advertisements on its screen saver and on the bottom of the home screen, while the Nook never displays advertisements.
