Japanese printing company Shunkosha provides rectangular plastic handles for customers to hold on Subway cars, and the latest innovation from the company integrates interactive smartphone advertisements into the handles.
“Strappy is a rectangular plastic covering that attaches to the straps hanging from subway car ceilings,” reports The Verge. “Within this covering is a reader that supports the FeliCa NFC standard — the same contactless system behind Pasmo, Tokyo’s rechargeable subway cards.”
Customers on the subway can place their smartphones on top of blue boxes connected to the handles. The smartphones will connect to a browser “directed to a URL with ads, coupons, or other marketing materials,” explains the post.
The innovation comes soon after the announcement that NTT DoCoMo, Softbank, and KDDI have begun building antennas within Japanese subway tunnels.
The product is now in a trial phase which will conclude by the end of June.
Google has implemented a new warning system that alerts users when Google believes the user is the target of a state-sponsored attack.
“When we have specific intelligence — either directly from users or from our own monitoring efforts — we show clear warning signs and put in place extra roadblocks to thwart these bad actors,” explains Eric Grosse, vice president of security engineering for Google.
Google does not reveal how they know that the attacks are state-sponsored. “We can’t go into the details without giving away information that would be helpful to these bad actors,” notes Grosse, “but our detailed analysis — as well as victim reports — strongly suggest the involvement of states or groups that are state-sponsored.”
Receiving notification does not necessarily mean your account has been hijacked. “It just means that we believe you may be a target, of phishing or malware for example, and that you should take immediate steps to secure your account,” Grosse adds.
Wired reports: “No word on whether Google will still notify users if it has reason to believe the state doing the spying is the U.S.”
Google acquired mobile productivity software suite Quickoffice this week in an undisclosed deal intended to bolster Google’s transition from computers to mobile devices.
Quickoffice is “most popularly known for its Android and iOS document-editing applications,” reports AllThingsD. Users often use the software to edit Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents from mobile devices.
“Quickoffice has an established track record of enabling seamless interoperability with popular file formats, and we’ll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our Apps product suite,” wrote Alan Warren, Google’s engineering director, in a company blog post.
“Quickoffice has a strong base of users, and we look forward to supporting them while we work on an even more seamless, intuitive and integrated experience,” he added.
Facebook has launched its previously announced mobile App Center in which users can read reviews, receive suggestions, and buy apps in one centralized location.
According to yesterday’s official Facebook statement: “The App Center is launching tonight with more than 600 social apps, including Nike+ GPS, Ubisoft Ghost Recon Commander, Stitcher Radio, Draw Something, and Pinterest.”
The announcement also notes that only high quality apps will appear in the store based on user ratings and usage statistics.
“Each person will have a personalized experience in the App Center, with recommendations based on the apps they and their friends use, whether that be games or fashion, food, fitness, travel, or other lifestyle apps,” explains the statement.
Facebook provided some interesting statistics in its statement, including: 1) “More than 230 million people play games on Facebook every month;” 2) “More than 130 games on Facebook have more than 1 million monthly active users;” 3) “Facebook drove people to the Apple App Store 83 million times in May;” and 4) “As of May, seven of the top 10 grossing iOS apps and six of the top 10 Android apps have integrated with Facebook.”
Fans of HBO staged a recent Twitter campaign called “Take My Money, HBO!” aimed at getting the network to allow for Web-only subscriptions to its HBO GO service. Currently, only those who subscribe to the cable network via traditional providers have access to the Web content.
On Wednesday, HBO sent a Twitter response that “reaffirmed HBO’s belief that it’s better off with its existing cable and satellite partners than it would be on its own, despite growing pressure from Internet-based alternatives,” reports The New York Times.
HBO is resisting making the Web content available separate from its cable subscription because of its “lucrative relationships” with satellite providers like Comcast and DirecTV. “Selling subscriptions to HBO on the Internet would almost certainly undermine those relationships,” notes the article.
“What would happen if HBO no longer had the pay TV industry’s marketing team propping it up all the time? The results would be disastrous, and there’s no way that HBO could make up in online volume the number of subscribers it would lose from cable,” notes TechCrunch in a related report. “Which is why, even though some users would actually pay more for access to HBO GO without all the other cable channels, you won’t see it show up as a standalone service anytime soon.”
Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren spoke before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, arguing that Internet radio is subjected to unfair royalty fees.
When Westergren spoke before the committee last year, he explained that Pandora feeds 50 percent of revenues back to artists in performance fees, while Sirius Satellite Radio only pays 7 percent.
Westergren describes this as an unfair playing field and notes that Congress should “approach radio royalties in a technology neutral manner.”
“According to the account that Westergren gave me, the criteria for setting royalty rates in broadcast, satellite, and Internet radio were all determined at different times,” reports TechCrunch. “So when Pandora is making the case for lower loyalty rates, even the arguments that it can use are limited. For example, he says even though Pandora is ‘a massive driver of sales’ for iTunes and Amazon… it’s not allowed to offer that data as evidence. Satellite radio companies, on the other hand, can.”
Westergren does not expect immediate results, but does note that since most “members on the Hill use Pandora or some form of Internet radio” he remains optimistic about their desire to protect the brand in the future.
Online video ad services provider BrightRoll conducts an annual survey of advertisers to gauge interest, trends, and budget planning regarding online video for the upcoming 12 months.
Recent results indicate 64 percent of those surveyed “said they believe that online video advertising is equally or more effective than the ads that show up on TV,” reports TechCrunch.
They likely think so, BrightRoll explains, because numbers indicate that 70 percent of Internet users watch online video, “meaning that there’s no longer a question of scale when it comes to buying online.”
Even so, many advertisers still want clearer results in order to justify increased ad spending for online video (70 percent of those surveyed said they needed to see clearer success metrics).
“It’s got some advertisers thinking that they should start measuring online streams in the same way they measure TV, with these things called gross ratings points,” notes the post. “About 18 percent are interested in more research on using GRPs for online video, even though only 5 percent say it’s the most important metric today.”
Charlie Ergen, Dish Network CEO, says the new Auto Hop feature that allows viewers to skip past commercials is “competitively necessary” due to the wide availability of cheap and free Internet video.
Broadcasters are making their programming available on the Internet through their own websites and other services like Hulu. This wide availability threatens the pay TV ecosystem.
Ergen would like to force the networks to develop “more meaningful” ads that people would want to see.
With his professional gambler background, Ergen sees his business as a big card game implying that he is well versed in bluffing with the networks to win his hand.
“If the ad is skipped, the consumer likes it, but it’s not necessarily good for me and it’s not necessarily good for the broadcaster because I’m in the same ecosystem as him,” Ergen said. “So we have to figure out how the broadcaster benefits, we benefit and the consumer continues to feel like he gets a fair deal. So maybe [the consumer] pays a little bit less for ‘retrans,’ his bill doesn’t go up by double digits every year… That’s an interesting conversation to have.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted a series of focus groups that suggest Americans are playing video games more than watching movies and TV shows on game consoles, computers and smartphones.
“In a study called ‘The Evolution of Video Gaming and Content Consumption,’ survey respondents indicated they play video games on a console for 3.7 hours a week, play on a computer 3.2 hours, on a smartphone 2.7 hours and on a tablet 1 hour,” details The Hollywood Reporter.
Those same survey respondents stream movies and TV shows on a computer for 2.3 hours a week, on a console 2.2 hours a week and on a smartphone and/or tablet for just 0.6 hours a week.
According to the study, 70 percent of those who play video games on consoles like the PlayStation or Xbox use their console for nongaming activities for at least one hour a week and for up to seven hours a week.
For some, the console is a replacement for cable. “I got rid of cable a few years ago,” one respondent said. “I had Netflix with just the disc, and then I switched over to only streaming. Between that and Hulu, it’s like there’s more than enough TV that I want to watch on it and it’s $15 a month for both of those, compared to $70 or something for cable.”
Mozilla launched a new version of Firefox on Tuesday that features a number of speed improvements and layout upgrades.
Firefox 13 includes new shortcut icons that offer direct access to downloads, add-ons, bookmarks and history, syncing across devices, and more.
Additionally, the “Restore Previous Session” icon opens previous tabs used the last time Firefox was open.
“Similar to Google Chrome, Mozilla plans to use the Start Page as a gateway to enter the Apps Market in order to help users find new extensions to install. The Start Page can be pinned as an App Tab in order to allow users quick access to the shortcuts,” reports Digital Trends. “Also similar to Google Chrome, Mozilla has added support for nine thumbnails that display recently viewed sites when opening up a new tab.”
Those interested in downloading the new version can do so via the Mozilla site “or simply wait until the browser updates the software automatically over the next week,” notes the post.
Broadcast service provider NHK recently demonstrated a 33-megapixel Super Hi-Vision-format camera at the NHK Open House event in Tokyo.
The company claims the camera can shoot 7580 x 4320 video at 120 frames per second (that’s about four billion pixels per second).
NHK opted to boost the frame rate from 60 to 120fps once it was determined that moving objects appeared too blurry on Super Hi-Vision wall-size displays. The company also created a new analog-to-digital converter to address the video’s higher bitrate.
“The craziest thing is that this camera uses a 1.5-inch CMOS sensor that’s actually smaller than what’s found on conventional Ultra-High Definition sensors,” reports PCWorld. “It sounds like an impressive piece of tech, if a little gratuitous at this stage, given current HDTVs top out at 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution.”
“This 1.5-inch CMOS sensor is smaller and uses less power when compared to conventional Ultra High Definition sensors, and it is also the world’s first to support the full specifications of the Ultra High Definition standard,” notes DigInfo in its video report included in the post.
At the E3 Expo in Los Angeles this week, Nintendo unveiled its new Wii U console and Wii U Gamepad. According to Nintendo: “at its core, Wii U changes gaming, how you interact with your gaming friends, and it changes the way you enjoy your TV.”
Nintendo’s Reggie Fils Aime announced during the keynote that new partners will provide content to the Wii U, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, and YouTube.
The Gamepad features a pressure-sensitive touchscreen and directional pad. It will also include an NFC reader/writer and a gyroscope/accelerometer, as noted earlier by ETCentric. The new controller enables viewing of multiple screens — on the TV and the Wii U Gamepad.
This two-screen group play gaming experience could be the prototype for a new in-theater gaming and socializing experience. It could also create a new category of “third location” places in competition with Starbucks and other coffee shops.
“The company is also introducing MiiVerse, which Nintendo refers to as a Main Street for gamers,” reports TechCrunch. “Each of your friends will be displayed there in avatar form, and you’ll be able to share screen images, send text messages, and display your recent scores within the bubble hovering above your Mii.”
The Wii U is expected for a holiday release. No pricing information was provided.
HBO continues to add more devices and platforms that support its HBO GO service. The latest to get the app is the Amazon Kindle Fire.
Now owners of the Fire who pay for the traditional HBO cable service also have access to the content digitally. The free HBO GO app allows users to access all of the network’s original programming, along with licensed movies.
“For HBO, the latest app release is just part of a larger strategy of getting on as many devices as possible, enabling subscribers HBO GO from tablets and mobile devices, as well as on streaming boxes and connected TVs, and last but not least, on PCs through their Web browsers,” reports TechCrunch.
“By doing so, HBO hopes to give viewers a reason to keep paying for the cable network on top of their basic cable subscriptions.”
Boxee has launched Cloudee, its new cloud storage solution. The company is currently offering the service as a free beta app for the iPhone.
Cloudee allows users to privately share videos without posting them on YouTube or other sites.
“For a while now, it’s been painful to get our personal videos to the TV screen — our Road Trips, Boxee Meetups, family videos with our kids,” explains Avner Ronen, founder and CEO of Boxee. “Some of these videos were on our phones, others on our laptop or network storage, and the ones we really wanted to see were always taken by our friends.”
“Already a de facto leader in the cloud computing space, Apple offers a similar service through its iCloud photostream service, which the company is expected to relaunch shortly,” reports MediaPost. “As with Apple customers, however, Cloudee is not insisting that its users sync their devices to gain access across multiple platforms.”
Boxee plans to launch a future paid version of its cloud service featuring unlimited video storage. Subscribers will have access to their video content via a Boxee Box or any browser.
Just two months following the release of its new Excite tablets, Toshiba has unveiled its summer lineup of ultrabooks, featuring three new devices.
Expected to hit shelves by June/July for under $1,000 is the updated Portege Z935 and the new low-cost Satellite U845. However, it’s Toshiba’s super widescreen Satellite U845W drawing the initial buzz.
Set for a July 15 release at $1,000 and up, the U845W runs the latest Intel Core processors and touts a 500GB hard drive, up to 8GB of RAM, a 1792 x 768 display, and a 32GB or 256GB solid-state drive.
“Instead of a standard widescreen, Toshiba has built this guy with an extremely widescreen, with a full 21:9 aspect ratio; the world’s first laptop with a screen wide enough to fully display a fully widescreen film,” reports Digital Trends. “We found watching movie trailers and other video to be quite enjoyable on the 14.4-inch super widescreen, which has large speakers on either side, which provide louder sound than I’ve ever heard from a laptop.”
The Satellite U845W includes an Ethernet port, SD card slot, HDMI port and three USB 3.0 ports.
“Toshiba is also positioning this as a multitasker’s dream laptop,” notes the post. “New software lets you easily create Window layouts and snap windows into new formations and grids. We’re not sure why Windows doesn’t already have these features, but we like them.”
Japanese printing company Shunkosha provides rectangular plastic handles for customers to hold on Subway cars, and the latest innovation from the company integrates interactive smartphone advertisements into the handles.
