Google continues to expand its movie rental service on YouTube and within Google Play, announcing a deal with MGM to make about 600 of the studio’s movies available.
This is in addition to Google’s deal with Paramount, announced just weeks ago, that brought about 500 movies to YouTube and Google Play.
“Google promises to add more MGM titles to its catalog ‘in the weeks ahead.’ It’s not clear if this deal just focuses on older movies, though, or if more recent MGM titles like ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ will also be included in the YouTube rental catalog,” reports TechCrunch.
Now Google has agreements with five major U.S. studios and more than 10 independent studios.
“Overall, this looks like a good addition to YouTube’s and Google Play’s catalog,” suggests the post. “Viewers, after all, rate streaming services based on the availability of the movies they want to see. As a newcomer in this market, Google still has some catching up to do, but it’s slowly becoming competitive.”
For owners of LG’s Cinema 3D Smart TVs, a new online video store is available — with all 3D content.
Called 3D World, the store offers users access to “a catalogue of entertainment, sports, documentary, kids and lifestyle programming that’ll swell as the company ties down more deals with providers,” reports Engadget.
“3D World is a critical part of LG’s long-term strategy which includes controlling more of the 3D ecosystem that Cinema 3D owners experience,” said Havis Kwon, president and CEO of LG Home Entertainment Company. “With the global roll-out of 3D World, LG is demonstrating its commitment to providing diverse, high quality 3D content.”
For those who have a 2011 model of the LG TV, it’s possible to download the 3D World app. For those with a 2012 model, the app will appear as part of a card system on the Home Dashboard.
Canon, Sony and RED may be getting all the attention regarding new camera announcements at this week’s ongoing NAB show in Las Vegas, but Blackmagic Design also has a new one to announce, and initial reports suggest it’s rather impressive.
“Priced at $2,995, where the company sees this as differing from the competition is its ability to capture film quality video on its 2.5K sensor and output it to CinemaDNG RAW, ProRes and DNxHD file formats,” reports Engadget. “That camera housing can take Canon or Zeiss lenses on the front, contains a built-in SSD within and has a capacitive touchscreen display for control and metadata entry.”
The camera also includes 13 stops of dynamic range, a built-in LCD, and color correction with DaVinci Resolve.
“Many current generation video cameras suffer from a ‘video look’ due to a limited contrast range, a maximum HD resolution sensor, poor quality optics and lenses, the use of heavy video compression for file recording and poor integration with NLE software metadata management,” suggests the company’s press release. “Blackmagic Cinema Camera has been designed to eliminate these problems so customers get a true feature film look, and at an affordable cost can shoot high end television commercials, episodic television programming and feature films.”
The global media technology industry is expected to grow to nearly $30 billion over the next three years, according to new research from the International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers (IABM) released at NAB.
“Europe is expected to take 40 percent of the global market pie, according to the fourth edition of IABM’s Global Market Valuation Report, followed by North America at 29 percent,” reports TVNewsCheck.
Services will remain the primary business driver, explained IABM’s Peter White during an NAB presentation Saturday.
“Research showed year-over-year sales growth of 3 percent, and the number of companies in profit growing to 71 percent, although year-over-year profit was down 7 percent,” according to the article.
Clyde Smith, SVP of new technologies for Fox Network’s engineering and operations, shared IABM’s optimistic outlook and enthusiasm regarding multi-platform content delivery.
“I see a change less driven by annual budget cycles and more driven by business opportunities and the opportunity to provide efficiency in operations,” Smith said at the presentation. “If you can improve the efficiency of the organization… you’ll get the funding for moving forward.”
Mobile DTV has a significant presence at this week’s NAB show in Las Vegas (April 14-19).
In addition to vendor booths touting mobile DTV solutions, demos are taking place at the Mobile DTV Pavilion (sponsored by the Open Mobile Video Coalition) and the ATSC Tech Zone, run by the Advanced Television Systems Committee.
“With more than 120 stations now on the air with mobile DTV signals and two new business groups ramping up for launch, now is the time to see the new products and services that will make mobile DTV an indispensable service,” said Vince Sadusky, president of the OMVC and CEO of LIN Media.
The Mobile Content Venture and the Mobile500 Alliance are the two groups referenced by Sadusky.
The first is “a joint-venture of 12 major broadcast groups” that has “announced alliances with consumer electronics manufacturers to bring new mobile DTV-capable devices to market and to develop external devices that will allow existing iPads and smartphones to receive live broadcast signals,” reports Broadcasting & Cable. The Mobile500 is comprised of “50 member companies that hold licenses to 437 TV stations.” At NAB, the alliance is showcasing “its solution that offers live TV, DVR type functionality for recording live TV, on demand programming, social media integration, closed captioning and interactive advertising.”
“A new range of Mobile DTV receivers will be bringing mobile viewing innovations to viewers across the country, making local news, weather, sports, entertainment and emergency alerts immediately available to people no matter where they are located,” added Sadusky.
Oracle and Google are meeting in a San Francisco federal court this week to begin an intellectual property case that could have wide-ranging implications for software development.
“At issue is Java, the software platform Oracle became owner of when it acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010,” reports AllThingsD. “And the witness list will be interesting: Both Google CEO Larry Page and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison are expected to take the witness stand during the trial; as will former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz and Andy Rubin, the Google senior vice president who runs its Android and mobile operations.”
Oracle claims that Google illegally used elements of the Java programming code to build the Android OS.
Google claims the lines of code cannot be copyrighted because it would be the same as copyrighting a technique used to perform a task.
“This is a new and controversial legal argument that has software developers watching the trial closely,” suggests AllThingsD. “Google has argued that APIs shouldn’t be subject to copyright protection, because they’re more akin to tools and techniques that programmers use to build software.”
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings lashed out against cable provider Comcast via his Facebook page on Sunday. The subject: Net neutrality and data caps.
Hastings accused Comcast of offering preferential treatment to its own content with its Xbox 360 Xfinity app.
“As he explained on his Facebook page, his complaint is that when Comcast subscribers watch Netflix, Hulu, or HBO Go on their Xbox consoles, it counts against their monthly data limits,” reports CNET. “However, subscribers who use Xfinity don’t have their limits dinged, suggesting that Comcast is giving its service preferential treatment to keep subscribers on the service rather than straying over to Netflix.”
Hastings claims that Comcast’s policy of exempting the app from data caps while enforcing the policy for rival providers violates the spirit of Net neutrality.
“Comcast no longer following Net neutrality principles. Comcast should apply caps equally, or not at all,” he wrote via Facebook. “The same device, the same IP address, the same Wi-Fi, the same Internet connection, but totally different cap treatment. In what way is this neutral?”
In the two years it’s been up and running, streaming music service Spotify has accumulated $96 million in losses. However, CEO and founder Daniel Ek says the company is focusing on sales to turn that around.
“We know we are making money on each new user we get, whether it’s a free user or paying. Therefore, all user growth [is] positive for us,” Ek said, adding that he expects to see $800 million in revenue this year.
The big hits for the company came in expanding its reach to new markets, which requires extensive capital investment in local music rights.
Although Ek said the company is now in a position to operate without additional capital, Spotify could be accepting investments amounting to $4 billion.
“We utilize the principle that if an investor can add strategic value and the valuation is good, we are interested,” he said.
After a failed attempt with Facebook Deals, the social network is planning to take another stab at the social shopping market, which is currently dominated by Groupon and Livingsocial.
Through Facebook Offers, local businesses will be able to reach out to their customers by providing freebies and promotions directly in their news feed.
“The offers are free to create, though Facebook says that each will only reach a limited number of people. This is obviously a way for the social network to maintain interest in its regular ads, though it’s an interesting strategy that could see more smaller businesses investing in wider advertising campaigns,” The Verge reports.
The service is not yet available on a wide scale. “Facebook rolled out Offers in beta to a handful of clients in the U.S. after announcing it at fMC in February,” announced the social network. “Facebook is continuing to roll out the beta to a limited amount of businesses in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Turkey, but it’s not a global roll out. It’s not yet available to additional U.S. businesses.”
BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield offers some speculation on Apple’s rumored TV offering, suggesting the tech giant should not aim to completely reinvent television, but instead work with DirecTV or DISH to launch a product with access to live TV feeds.
“Apple’s only solution to the problem would be to either take an existing service and completely reinvent its UI, or create a whole new offering to compete with Comcast & Co,” GigaOM reports.
Steve Jobs had reportedly approached networks to discuss a-la-carte type programing, but the networks turned him down in fear of losing their lucrative deals by unbundling.
“The company could try again, Greenfield argues, but this time offer to carry the whole bundle — and even charge customers more, not less, if it succeeded at making the bundle look sexier. Think integrating an iCloud DVR, piping live TV to your iPad, and so forth,” the article states.
Greenfield suggests partnering with DirecTV or DISH to take advantage of their national reach, and “once those guys rake in the big money, the cable boys will come to their senses and eagerly partner with Apple as well,” the article suggests.
D-Link has launched its new $48 MovieNite video streaming player. The streaming-only player is designed for aspiring cord-cutters, as an affordable alternative to Roku set-top boxes.
MovieNite is being offered exclusively through Walmart with a $5.99 free movie credit from VUDU.
The player features 1080p video and access to services including VUDU, Netflix, Pandora and YouTube. D-Link has also released iPhone and Android apps for controlling the player.
“The closest match to video playback specs in Roku’s lineup of products is the $79.99 Roku 2 XD, but Roku players offer access to wider variety of services such as Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, HBO GO and several sports subscriptions packages,” reports Digital Trends.
Since Walmart owns VUDU, it seems unlikely that the player will expand its offerings to include competitors such as Amazon Instant Video.
“If the user also owns mydlink-enabled network cameras, the feeds from those cameras can be viewed through the MovieNite player as well,” adds the post. “For instance, a user could pause a movie playing on Netflix to launch the mydlink application and view an outdoor camera feed when someone knocks on the front door.”
At its pre-NAB event, Sony showed its NEX-FS700 cinema camera, a new 2K camera capable of shooting 4K with a firmware upgrade expected to ship sometime this year.
The 4K-ready camera comes with a Sony E-mount for interchangeable lenses and can record at 960fps.
“There’s also a trio of ND filters on board — 1/64ND, 1/16ND and 1/4ND — along with some impressive slow-motion capabilities, ranging from 120 to 240 frames-per-second in 1080p, going all the way up to 960fps if you’re willing to sacrifice full-HD resolution,” reports Engadget.
“The body itself looks very similar to its predecessor, the NEX-FS100, and is lightweight enough for comfortable handheld shooting,” according to the post.
The NEX-FS700 will be available in June and cost under $10,000.
The report includes a 1-minute video from Las Vegas with Sony senior VP Alec Shapiro.
At Canon’s pre-NAB event in Las Vegas, the company debuted its first EOS camera developed primarily as a video camera rather than a still camera that also shoots video.
The camera will shoot 4096 x 2160 24fps Motion JPEG. Recording modes include 8-bit, 4:2:2, 24fps capture to a CF card — or 8-bit, 4:2:2 clips in an uncompressed format over HDMI. It also includes a headphone jack for audio monitoring.
“Like the 1D series bodies that bear similar monikers and appearances, including the yet-to-ship EOS- 1D X, the C model is a very capable still shooter, offering the same core functionality of the $6,800 X. It also brings 4K capture to the table, however, prompting Canon to price the camera far above its less-abled counterpart,” reports Engadget.
“At $15,000, we don’t expect to see red C logos popping up in many a photojournalist’s gear bag, but for deep-pocketed professionals with a need to capture 4K clips, this may be a worthwhile acquisition,” suggests the report.
Dolby and Philips are proposing a new 3D HD format dubbed “Dolby 3D,” which will be demoed this week at NAB in Las Vegas.
The format is “aimed at delivering full HD 3D content to enabled devices, including glasses-free displays,” writes Carolyn Giardina for The Hollywood Reporter.
“We believe that Dolby 3D can help drive the adoption of 3D — creating a comfortable, customizable, truly enjoyable glasses-free 3D viewing experience while enhancing 3D display performance,” said Dolby’s Ramzi Haidamus, executive vice president, sales and marketing.
“The Dolby 3D format would effectively be used for encoding/decoding, transmission and rendering to 3D-ready displays and mobile devices. Dolby and Philips have started to engage standards bodies and have an eye toward licensing the technology,” writes Giardina.
Upgrading from the bulky head-up display (HUD) equipment currently used by the U.S. military, the Pentagon has ordered contact lenses that provide an augmented reality display system with expanded field of vision.
“The system, called iOptik and developed by Innovega, allows the wearer to focus on a HUD at the same time as the surrounding environment by projecting an image onto different sections of the lens,” reports The Verge. “HUD information goes through to the center of the pupil, and light from the wearer’s peripheral vision is filtered out to avoid interference.”
Innovega CEO Steve Willey said eventually the lenses could be used for consumer applications like 3D movies, gaming or augmented reality like Google’s recently-released Project Glass.
The post features a 3-minute video interview with Innovega CTO Randall Sprague.
