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Microsoft and NFL Team Up for Interactive Game Broadcasts

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May 22, 2013

Microsoft has announced a partnership with the NFL to develop technology that will make football games more interactive for Xbox Live subscribers. The deal, reportedly worth $400 million over the next five years, was announced yesterday during Microsoft’s unveiling of its next-generation Xbox One gaming console. It marks the latest digital step by the NFL to enhance its live game broadcasts. Continue reading Microsoft and NFL Team Up for Interactive Game Broadcasts

Rabbit Hops Into the Game with New Video Chat Program

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May 2, 2013

Startup company Rabbit has created a video chat program in which users can share music and videos in real-time while chatting with one another. Users can have multiple conversations with friends, that all appear in circular bubbles to enhance the feeling of being in the same space together. The new approach by Rabbit could possibly provide competition for other successful programs such as Skype, Apple’s FaceTime, and Google+ Hangouts. Continue reading Rabbit Hops Into the Game with New Video Chat Program

Volio Tests Virtual Video Conversations with Esquire Staff

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March 25, 2013

Companies such as Google and Apple have created voice-activated technologies that allow consumers to speak with their devices. Now, startup Volio is taking a similar approach with its “Talk To Esquire” app for the iPad and iPhone, in which videos have been pre-produced that allow users to “have a conversation” with the writers from Esquire. Volio’s founder envisions a new era of video interaction across multiple industries. Continue reading Volio Tests Virtual Video Conversations with Esquire Staff

CES 2013: Entertainment Trends Drive New Technologies

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January 4, 2013

With entertainment spending growing to $18.7 billion according to IHS Screen Digest, the entertainment industry is reaping the rewards of offering consumers more choice and options in how they consume content. TV Everywhere’s multi-channel, multi-device approach is finally complementing rather than cannibalizing. The year saw strong growth in Blu-ray discs. UltraViolet’s 7 million households and 8,500 titles now position the format to grow significantly in 2013. Video streaming or SVOD tripled in the first three quarters of the year to an estimated $1.7 billion. And studios continue to experiment with their windowing strategies for electronic sell-through. In this environment, the CE industry continues to respond and innovate. Continue reading CES 2013: Entertainment Trends Drive New Technologies

Mobile Video Calling Creates New Frontier as Technologies Improve

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December 11, 2012
  • “As the cameras and screens of smartphones and tablets improve, and as wireless networks offer higher bandwidth, more companies are getting into the business of enabling mobile video calls,” reports The New York Times, noting that the rise has been so quick that analysts have yet to compile numbers.
  • In 2011, Microsoft acquired video calling service Skype. Similarly, Apple developed its own FaceTime feature to sell the iPad and in September expanded the service beyond just Wi-Fi to cellular networks.
  • Google’s free video calling service Hangouts on its social network Google Plus allows up to ten people to video conference, and it features more than 200 apps. Just last week, Yahoo purchased its own video chat service OnTheAir. Tango Mobile is yet another video calling service, which has attracted 80 million active users and sees 200,000 join daily, according to CTO and co-founder Eric Setton.
  • Microsoft has incorporated Skype into its Windows 8 mobile phones, allowing people to receive calls even when the app isn’t running. Google is interested in “making money on the applications, but in learning more about them so it can sell more ads by getting people to use [Hangouts],” notes the article.
  • “Don’t expect video calling to improve productivity. Tango uses the same technology that enables video calls to sell games that people can play simultaneously,” the article states. “Google says some jokey applications on Hangouts, like a feature that can put a mustache over each caller, seem to encourage people to talk longer.”
  • “Tango’s average video call used to last six minutes, Mr. Setton said, but when the company started adding other applications to go with the videos, like games and designs that float over people, the average call length rose to 12 minutes.”

New Feature: Conference into Google+ Hangouts with Free Voice Calls

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December 6, 2011
  • Google may directly challenge Skype with a new feature that enables free voice calls to the U.S. and Canada within Google+ Hangouts.
  • “To activate the feature, simply start a Hangout, click the Invite button at the top, select ‘Phone,’ and enter a phone number. If the recipient picks up, they’ll be instantly connected,” reports TechCrunch. “The free offer is supposed to last through 2012.”
  • This allows people who don’t have a Google account or even a computer to join a G+ video chat. It also enables free 1-on-1 calls, much like Skype.
  • The service has the potential to be used for conference calls, in making group decisions or serve as a a draw simply for casual use.
  • Google hopes the free calls will attract people to Hangouts, which has been “a bit sparse due to the social network’s low current user count.”

Video Chat Gets Software Update that Adds Skype-to-Facebook Calls

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November 21, 2011
  • Skype has released new versions for Mac and Windows that features the ability to connect to social networker Facebook.
  • “After installing Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac or Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows, users can click the Facebook icon on the left side of the screen and authorize Skype to access Facebook data through the Facebook Connect button,” reports Digital Trends.
  • Facebook Connect includes text and video chat functionality. “When a call is placed through the Skype software, the user on Facebook can accept the call and a video chat window pops-up on the Facebook screen,” explains the post. “Ideally, this will eventually allow Facebook users to place calls to anyone running an active version of Skype rather than being logged into Facebook at the time.”
  • Microsoft, which recently acquired Skype for $8.5 billion, is expected to integrate the Windows Phone platform with Skype and possibly include Skype in its upcoming social network called “Soci.”
  • Soci is expected to include a video chatting “party” feature for friends.

Now Cooler than Skype: What Happened to the Microsoft Kinect?

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November 21, 2011
  • The Microsoft Kinect 3D camera was a hot seller last holiday season, but now it seems that the buzz has subsided.
  • According to PC Magazine writer John C. Dvorak, the Kinect is in phase 10 of an 11-phase process that most high-tech products go through…
  • Phases 1-3: A hot product generates rumors, there’s a pre-announcement to either downplay or exaggerate the product, followed by media speculation, which is drawn out until the product arrives.
  • Phases 4-6: The product is rolled out and a shipping date is set, followed by shipment of the first batch ship and afterwards, a shortage announcement.
  • Phases 7-9: The black market, described by Dvorak as “a short-term black market for the device emerges, sometimes arranged by the company itself,” followed by the product’s complete release and then a PR effort to sustain interest.
  • Phase 10: New uses. “Out-of-the-blue, new uses are ascribed to the device if possible. These supposed new uses should have been planned from the beginning.”
  • And finally, Phase 11: an analysis determined by long-term public reception of product, leading to three options: do it all over, make routine minor adjustments/improvements, or let it sell until it runs out and call it quits after that.
  • “The Kinect is now in phase ten and new uses are being ascribed, mainly 3D telecommunications,” writes Dvorak. “You can spot the hand of the PR folks involved by the repetitious and redundant messages seen in far too many of the stories. In this case, it’s that 3D Kinect is ‘now cooler than Skype.'”

Will New Hybrid VoIP Service Help Cut Your Phone Bill In Half?

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November 3, 2011
  • Republic Wireless is a new hybrid cellular voice and VoIP service launching November 8. It will offer unlimited voice, SMS and data service over Wi-Fi, and will switch back automatically to regular cellular connections depending on location.
  • The new service will be offered through Bandwith.com, a North Carolina-based company that has been involved with Skype, Google Voice, Twilio and others.
  • “The company’s extensive VoIP infrastructure handles much of the heavy lifting for these services, and it also offers some of its own products, like Phonebooth, a premium VoIP service for businesses,” reports TechCrunch.
  • Other carriers are reportedly in talks, but Sprint is the first on board to serve as the “fallback” cellular network.
  • According to GigaOM, the $19 per month service will require a special Android handset and “includes unlimited voice and text messaging. It also includes unlimited data without any bandwidth caps.”

Is Skype Co-Founder Gunning for Netflix with Subscription Vdio?

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October 19, 2011
  • Janus Friis, co-founder of KaZaA, Skype, Joost and Rdio (with partner Niklas Zennstrom) is working on a new online video subscription service that will be available soon in the UK.
  • According to GigaOM, Friis has been “assembling an A-team of media and Web technology experts to launch a site that seems destined to replicate the model behind their music subscription site Rdio in the video space.” Offices have been set up in Santa Monica and Europe.
  • From the follow-up Q&A: Vdio (Vee-dee-o) is in closed beta for the UK and is privately funded, while the assembled team’s experience comes from companies such as Netflix, Microsoft, TV Guide and Napster.
  • A spokesperson for Zennstrom’s VC company Atomico confirmed that Zennstrom is not involved in the project.

Google+ Social Network Now Open to Public: Just Follow the Blue Arrow

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September 21, 2011
  • Google+ opened to the public this week, two days prior to the annual F8 developer’s conference of rival Facebook.
  • “Google+ lets people share comments, articles, photos and videos with various ‘circles’ of friends or contacts, or they can share content publicly with any user who wants to view their posts,” reports The Wall Street Journal.
  • Vic Gundotra, a Google senior vice president, explained via a post on the company’s blog that Google+ is still in its infancy, but that the latest features bring the total number of improvements to 100 since the site’s launch three months ago.
  • In addition to the ability to search for information on topics, see related posts from other Google+ users and relevant content from the Web, Android users with front-facing cameras on their mobile devices can now have a multi-person “hangout” (as compared to Apple’s Facetime which supports only two for face-to-face video chats).
  • According to the article: “Google+ lets as many as 10 people communicate simultaneously in a video ‘hangout.’ On Tuesday, Google said people can broadcast a ‘hangout’ to the public, similar to how Google’s YouTube video site lets some partners broadcast a live event.”
  • Focusing on video may give Google an advantage over Facebook. “Google+, which launched in late June and which up till now had only been open by invitation to users, is also putting a heavier emphasis on video, one of its main technology advantages over Facebook,” reports WSJ. “Facebook, which has more than 750 million active monthly users, recently inked a deal with Skype SA to allow its users to communicate with each other through their computer’s built-in video cameras.”
  • For those who may be interested in registering for Google+, simply follow the blue arrow prominently featured on the Google.com page.

Targeting the Magic Jack Crowd: New Skype Adapter Works with any Home Phone

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September 2, 2011
  • Skype has announced the Freetalk Connect-Me home phone adapter that serves as a conduit between a broadband Internet connection and an ordinary telephone.
  • “It appears that Skype is aggressively going after the Magic Jack demographic and attempting to teach your grandmother how to Skype,” comments Digital Trends. “A new adapter transforms that aging landline phone into an Internet gizmo.”
  • The $40 Freetalk Connect-Me features a simple design of an Ethernet port and two ports for phone lines (allowing users to keep a landline and switch between the two services), and stores up to 100 numbers for speed dialing.
  • “While a user can make free Skype-to-Skype calls, they will have to purchase a plan in order to call landlines from the Skype handset,” indicates the Digital Trends post. “While the initial $39.99 adapter comes with 60 minutes of free landline calling, an more expensive $59.99 model comes with 12 months of landline calls as well as 200 minutes of international calls.”
  • Skype has also announced a new $70 Skype-ready cordless phone from General Electric and the rollout of a rebranded version of Skype Access that provides low cost Wi-Fi access for business travelers.

Why is Skype Spending So Much on the GroupMe Acquisition?

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August 23, 2011
  • Skype, which is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft, is purchasing GroupMe, a year-old startup with 20 employees known for its popular cross-platform messaging system that works between smartphones.
  • Skype will reportedly pay $85 million for the company, which GigaOM suggests raises the question: “Why is Skype spending so much money on a relatively small company with a relatively small user base when compared to Skype?”
  • While Skype is a partner with Facebook, it has to be concerned that competition in voice and video communication is becoming intense with Facebook Messenger, Google Huddle and Apple iMessage. (GroupMe adds group messaging.)
  • Skype will still need to decide if it is a product for consumers or a collaboration tool for corporations.
  • ETCentric staffer Dennis Kuba raises another interesting question: “Is voice and video communications becoming commoditized?”

Marc Andreessen Believes Software Is Eating the World (A Good Thing)

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August 22, 2011
  • “In an upbeat and highly insightful essay on technology and innovation, pioneer Marc Andreessen outlines the ‘dramatic and broad technological shift in which software companies are poised to take over large swathes of the economy…'” comments ETCentric staffer Bob Lambert with this submission.
  • Andreessen notes HP’s announcement that it is “exploring jettisoning its struggling PC business in favor of investing more heavily in software” and Google’s plans to “buy up the cellphone handset maker Motorola Mobility” as recent surprises in the tech world, yet also examples of what makes the pioneer “optimistic about the future growth of the American and world economies.”
  • Andreessen suggests that Apple and Google are undervalued and we should avoid using the term “bubble” when analyzing the value of technologies. He writes: “…too much of the debate is still around financial valuation, as opposed to the underlying intrinsic value of the best of Silicon Valley’s new companies.”
  • “Over the next 10 years, I expect many more industries to be disrupted by software, with new world-beating Silicon Valley companies doing the disruption in more cases than not,” Andreessen adds.
  • Andreessen’s essay offers a compelling take on the direction of the tech industry, its place in world economies and some of the challenges that lie ahead. He notes interesting examples including Amazon, Netflix, Pixar, Pandora, Skype and others.
  • “Instead of constantly questioning their valuations, let’s seek to understand how the new generation of technology companies are doing what they do, what the broader consequences are for businesses and the economy and what we can collectively do to expand the number of innovative new software companies created in the U.S. and around the world,” he concludes. “That’s the big opportunity. I know where I’m putting my money.”

Comcast Subscribers Will Be Able to Video Chat via Skype

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June 16, 2011
  • Comcast announced it is teaming with Skype to provide its broadband subscribers video calling on their TVs.
  • Details of the service are still being worked out. Testing is expected to begin in the next few months.
  • An Xfinity broadband service subscription will be required (subscribers will also have access to Skype calls through the Comcast Xfinity Mobile app).
  • The service will be enabled via an adapter box and a “high-quality” video camera provided by Comcast (a number of Internet-enabled TVs from Panasonic and Samsung already offer Skype but the set-up requires compatible cameras, that typically cost between $130 and $170).
  • According to Comcast, customers will be able to receive Skype calls or send and receive IMs while watching television.

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