AT&T has unveiled a data sharing plan that is essentially identical to Verizon’s Share Everything.
Mobile Share provides tiered plans that allow customers to share data across up to ten devices. As with Verizon’s Share Everything, all Mobile Share plans come with unlimited messages and voice.
Prices vary slightly between Verizon and AT&T. The price distinctions are because AT&T offers different smartphone surcharges based on the amount of data purchased.
AT&T charges $15 per gigabyte in overage — the same charge as Verizon’s Share Everything.
“Individual plans are a key differentiator between the nation’s two biggest carriers: the introduction of Mobile Share has no effect on the availability of AT&T’s existing offerings, which means new customers won’t be forced into a data sharing arrangement if they don’t want it. Verizon, meanwhile, has phased out its entire postpaid portfolio outside of Share Everything,” reports The Verge.
Mobile Share is scheduled to launch in late August.
Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 will feature in-cell touch display technology to reduce thickness, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The emphasis on keeping the iPhone thin suggests Apple does in fact plan to increase the phone’s screen size, as has been rumored for months.
Current iPhone models use a layered structure of LCD, capacitive sensors and glass. But Sharp and Japan Display are making LCD displays that feature built-in touch technology.
This technology will allow Apple to eliminate layers in the phone and keep the device sleek and thin. It will also allow the company to simplify the supply chain and potentially reduce costs by no longer acquiring touch panels and LCD panels from different suppliers.
“The technology integrates touch sensors into the LCD, making it unnecessary to have a separate touch-screen layer,” explains WSJ. “The absence of the layer, usually about half-a-millimeter thick, not only makes the whole screen thinner, but improves the quality of displayed images, said DisplaySearch analyst Hiroshi Hayase.”
The in-cell touch display technology should be crucial to Apple regarding its ongoing competition with Samsung in the smartphone market. Samsung has been touting its organic light-emitting displays as a distinction from other phones. The company’s “Galaxy S III comes with a 4.8-inch OLED screen and is thinner than the current iPhone,” notes WSJ.
The new iPhone is expected to be available sometime this fall.
Nokia will cut the price of its Lumia 900 to $49.99 when subscribers agree to a two-year contract from AT&T, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The Lumia 900 was initially offered for $99 with a two-year agreement when it hit the market in April.
“This move is a normal strategy that is put in place during the life cycle of most phones,” explains Nokia spokesman Doug Dawson. It “allows a broader consumer base to buy this flagship device at a more accessible price.” He noted that Samsung’s Galaxy S II also experienced a price drop during a similar time frame.
Nokia hopes the price cut will bolster falling sales. Last month, Microsoft announced the next generation Windows 8 operating system, and also revealed the Lumia 900 will not receive an update to the system.
“If the phone wasn’t selling well before that bit of news dropped, it’s likely selling much worse now,” comments Mashable.
The Lumia 900 rode positive reviews to early success, but Nokia has struggled since the initial burst. The company plans to lay off 10,000 workers by the end of 2013 and close factories in Finland, Germany and Canada.
Microsoft has unveiled an overhaul of its popular Office software and a new version of its cloud-based suite, Office 365. Users will now have the option of performing work through a browser, rather than installing software on their PCs.
Many of the features are tied to online collaboration and integration with touchscreen-friendly Windows 8.
“Your modern Office thinks cloud first. That’s what it means to have Office as a service,” explained CEO Steve Ballmer at a Microsoft event in San Francisco this week.
The company explains that Office will automatically save and store files on its online storage service SkyDrive, enabling users to synch across multiple mobile devices and PCs.
Initial SkyDrive storage will range from 7-20 gigabytes, depending on whether users opt for the subscription service (7 comes standard for new customers, 20 available with sub). Customers can use Office on up to five PCs or mobile devices.
“The launch is the latest sign of a cultural shift at Microsoft, as Web-based software and mobile devices undermine the strategic importance of PCs and programs installed on them,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Rival Google Inc., in particular, has increased pressure on the company with free, Web-based offerings such as Google Docs and Gmail. Apple Inc.’s iPad is also drawing more consumers away from PCs.”
Purchase or subscription pricing has not been announced. The trial version of Office 2013 is available starting Monday.
Barnes & Noble has announced Nook for Web, a service that “gives readers access to books in any of the major browsers without requiring a Nook account, though you’ll need one to make purchases or save books in your library,” according to The Verge.
Both Amazon and Google already offer Web-based e-book access, so in a sense Barnes & Noble is playing catch up.
With Nook for Web, users can access free sample books or read a chapter from any e-book prior to purchase. Additional related information is available while reading the books, and recommendations can be personalized in the Shop window.
“Customize the reading experience using the intuitive navigation bar,” explains the press release. “Choose between 8 fonts and 8 font sizes and a single or double page layout. Simply collapse the navigation bar once preferences are selected to reveal a clean, easy-to-read page.”
Nook for Web also allows users to review and comment on books “via Twitter, Facebook or e-mail without even leaving the book,” notes the release.
Barnes & Noble has not worked out tablet compatibility with the service, but that may be coming soon.
Users are more satisfied with Google+ than with Facebook, according to new numbers released from the American Customer Satisfaction Index this week.
“Facebook is the Web’s most popular site with hundreds of millions of users, but people still don’t like it,” suggests CNET. “Now Google+, which has been dubbed by some as a ghost town, is gaining some traction with a higher customer satisfaction rating.”
Facebook’s frequent interface changes (such as Timeline) and privacy concerns were cited as problems for users who rated it the lowest among all social media sites, with a score of 61 out of 100 (its score last year was 66).
Google+ topped all social sites with a 78 rating, placing it on the same level of customer satisfaction as Wikipedia and just above YouTube and Pinterest.
“According to the report, Google+ does well because it doesn’t have traditional advertising, has more focus on privacy, and provides a better mobile experience,” adds the post.
However, Google+ has much fewer users and Facebook’s daily traffic has been bouncing back after its recent decline.
“Still, it’s got to hurt Mark Zuckerberg’s ego a bit to see another low rating, considering that company’s mantra is about making users happy over advertisers,” comments CNET.
Socialcam, currently the most popular app on Facebook, has been sold to Autodesk for $60 million. The acquisition is intended to help Autodesk move into cloud-based content creation.
Autodesk is “a firm known best for designing professional software for architects and designers,” reports The Verge.
The post suggests the deal is a good fit for Autodesk, a company with “lots of revenue from its business clients, but is eager to expand its user base to the average consumer and evolve from the desktop to mobile.”
After initial rapid growth, Socialcam has slowed and so has its revenue. The app, which acts like an Instagram for video, could benefit from this infusion from Autodesk.
“Socialcam is still the number one app on Facebook, but has seen its monthly active user base shrink from a peak of around 80 million to about 54 million over the last month,” notes The Verge.
The key now will be getting Socialcam’s many young users to try out some of the company’s pay services in 3D modeling, photo editing, painting and drawing.
Doug Morris, Vevo founder and current chief exec of Sony Music Entertainment, says he will pull Vevo’s music videos from Google’s YouTube if he can’t get a better deal when their contract expires at the end of the year.
“That’s a serious threat given that Vevo — which features videos of Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Rihanna and about 11,000 other artists — is YouTube’s most popular channel, according to ComScore Inc. In May, Vevo’s videos generated 617.8 million views on the site, which Google acquired in 2006 for $1.65 billion,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
The article cites Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon as companies that would be interested in taking Vevo’s business from YouTube.
“YouTube has been good partners. They’re just extracting too much money for the enterprise to work properly,” explains Morris. “The videos are expensive to produce. And there are many mouths to feed on our end. You have to pay the artist, the record companies, the publishers.”
“For its major video contributors, YouTube keeps 30 to 50 percent of the net advertising revenue, after a 10 percent sales commission is paid,” notes the article. “Morris would not specify Vevo’s cut with YouTube.”
However, Morris is quick to point out what he believes drives viewers: “If Justin Bieber and Adele are somewhere else, that will be where people will go. If you don’t have the content, no one will come.”
In an effort to provide the television advertising industry “Internet-level measurement and accountability,” DVR pioneer TiVo has agreed to purchase TRA for about $20 million.
TRA tracks what TV viewers watch and buy by matching “TV exposures from 1.5 million TV homes with specific purchase transactions,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. TiVo was already an investor in the company.
“The acquisition is expected to create a powerful combination of insights that will offer the TV advertising industry Internet-level measurement and accountability accelerating TiVo’s position in the billion dollar television analytics business,” said TiVo in a statement on Tuesday.
“TV has long been the best medium for advertisers to influence what consumers buy,” notes TiVo CEO Tom Rogers. “TRA has proven its platform can determine the effectiveness of TV advertising by connecting the exposure of ads to actual purchases, helping advertisers identify the right audience and get the most out of their ad dollars.”
TRA’s current TV clients include CBS, A&E and ION Media. The deal is expected to close this month.
New data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project indicates that “more than half of the adult cellphone owners in the U.S. now use their phones while watching TV,” reports TechCrunch.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that viewers are using their smartphones to post on Twitter or elsewhere about the show they’re watching. For 38 percent of those surveyed, it’s more about entertaining themselves during commercial breaks.
“Quite a few of these ‘connected viewers’ also use their phones to fact check something they heard on TV (22 percent) and marketers will be happy to hear that 35 percent of smartphone owners use their phones to visit sites that were mentioned on TV,” writes TechCrunch.
Not surprisingly, younger viewers are leading the trend, with 73 percent of those 18-24 using their phones while watching television (only 9 percent of those 65 and older do the same).
“There are some social aspects to how people use their phones while watching TV, too,” notes the post. “About a quarter of the respondents said they texted somebody who was watching the same program in the last 30 days, for example, and 11 percent of cell owners said they posted comments about a program online.”
As part of its ongoing TV Everywhere initiative, Comcast has struck a deal with Scripps Networks that will add programming from HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country.
The process of rolling out TV Everywhere has been slower than expected, notes TechCrunch, due to wariness about how it will make networks money.
“Up until recently, there’s been little interest in moving stuff online, because shows that appeared online and on mobile apps generally didn’t bring in as much money in ad revenue as the networks could expect from broadcast TV,” notes the post.
However, there is no doubt that viewers are starting to watch programming on new platforms “and content providers need to be there to capture those audiences.”
Scripps has also acquired video start-up RealGravity to help with online distribution.
“In addition to Scripps TV Everywhere content, which will soon become available on Comcast digital platforms, the cable network also got rights to Scripps video-on-demand programming, which will take advantage of Comcast’s new interactive advertising capabilities,” explains TechCrunch.
“The pay TV industry is divided over how best to implement TV Everywhere, an initiative to let subscribers watch content online from PCs, phones or tablets,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
TV Everywhere was unveiled by Comcast and Time Warner in 2009 to offer programming via multiple platforms in hopes that viewers would keep their cable subscriptions and not switch to over-the-top services such as Netflix, Hulu and Roku.
However, the approach has failed to gain traction, and in practice has not been a seamless experience for consumers.
“It’s simply a mess — a complete and utter failure,” says BTIG media analyst Rich Greenfield.
One stumbling block has been deals that are impacting terms and conditions of other contracts. Another problem has been the confusion that results for consumers when they have to register at multiple locations to view content.
“We’re trying to figure out, can you have a single access point?” explains Mike Hopkins, president of distribution for Fox Networks. “It’s technically complicated but not impossible.”
The article describes HBO Go as one success story. Launched in 2010, the cable channel aggressively promoted the online service and now has some 5 million subscribers.
“We’re following consumer behavior,” says HBO co-President Eric Kessler. “This is about setting us up for the future and the next generation of HBO subscribers that is learning to watch on other devices.”
Increasing numbers of cost-conscious American families are avoiding 3D screenings due to rising prices and decreasing excitement around the technology.
More than 85 percent of revenue for “Avatar” came from 3D tickets, and 56 percent of revenue for “Toy Story 3” came from 3D. But newly released “Brave” only received 32 percent of revenue from 3D sales.
A family of four could have to pay as much as $65 in some American theaters to see a 3D movie such as “Ice Age: Continental Drift.” If the family chose to see the movie in 2D, the price would drop 25 to 40 percent, depending on the theater.
The number of 3D movie releases rose about 75 percent between 2010 and 2011, but 3D revenues dropped by $400 million.
“For the moment, it appears that the movie industry is relying on extreme fans of comic book films and action movies to prop up 3D ticket sales in the United States,” notes Digital Trends.
While American 3D sales decline, sales around the world have increased. Successful 3D ticket sales in China, Brazil, and Russia will continue to encourage studios to produce 3D movies, even if American audiences opt for the less expensive 2D versions.
Global Industry Analysts has published a comprehensive research report titled “3D TVs: A Global Strategic Business Report” that suggests 3D TV is experiencing a healthy worldwide upswing.
“The global market for 3D TVs is projected to exceed 200 million units by 2018, primarily driven by increased consumer interest, falling prices of 3D TVs, and the introduction of 3D standards,” according to the press release.
“Other growth drivers include soaring demand for digital media entertainment, growing penetration of high-bandwidth broadband services among households, and rapid proliferation of Internet enabled devices such as smart TVs, smartphones and tablet PCs.”
The press release also cites enhancements such as direct-lit LED backlights and ultra-slim form factors, more user-friendly 3D glasses, and a wider range of television size selections as factors that will continue to generate consumer interest.
“Improvement in Quality of Service, reduction of deployment times, introduction of innovative service packages and competitive pricing will be critical for 3D TV to gain mass market adoption,” notes the release.
The Wall Street Journal conducted a 21-day evaluation “to find out what it’s like to live with an actual 3D TV and all of the attendant content, from movies and videogames on disc to dedicated cable channels.”
WSJ used a 46-inch Sony LED HX850 Internet TV ($1,900), two of Sony’s new, ultra-lightweight Titanium Active 3D Glasses ($100 each), and the PlayStation 3 and a standard digital cable box for content.
During week one, the writer watched basketball on ESPN 3D. “I can tell this is basketball, but it’s displaying as a demented picture-in-picture, with two duplicate versions of the same frame squashed onto the screen, side-by-side,” notes the review.
The viewer must manually switch to TV mode to view 3D. Once changed, “the depth achieved here is nifty, yet disorienting. Players hover forward, but the surface of the court doesn’t compute. It’s a flat, 2D plane, a backdrop against which these odd shapes are sliding.”
During the second week, the writer tried 3D Blu-ray: “The 3D flicker that I’ve spent a week trying, and failing, to get used to…is gone. I didn’t even have to select the appropriate 3D mode. The TV automatically adjusted to the correct setting. More importantly, the film has compositions meant to be shown in stereo because it was shot with 3D camera rigs.”
However, it’s not the most comfortable user experience. “3D TV comes with a price. You can’t lie down. Tilt your head even a few degrees, and that crisp image flattens and blurs. Sit to one side of the screen and objects double at their edges, taking on ghostly auras,” according to WSJ.
“When my three weeks are up, I realize that, other than gaming, I’ve given up on 3D,” notes the review. “Why bother, when this TV displays 2D programming so well?”
The article concludes by describing 3D TV as a “fragile technology that still feels experimental. With careful calibration and content selection, it can be fantastic and otherworldly. To the casual viewer, though, it’s more likely to be unpredictable. Maybe glasses-free approaches will eventually reinvent 3D as an effortless standard.”
