About 25 percent of North American consumer Internet traffic is served by Google, more than that of Facebook, Netflix and Instagram combined, an increase from 6 percent three years ago. Estimates are that the majority of Google’s traffic is from YouTube — the rest involving searches, analytics, and advertising. To deal with the increase in Internet traffic, the company has data centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and has other distribution strategies. Continue reading Google Serves Quarter of Internet Traffic in North America

Microsoft announced missing financial forecasts on Thursday, putting the blame on the decline of the PC market. The company also acknowledged disappointing sales of its tablet computer, the Surface RT. Mobile devices are affecting PC sales as more consumers are buying tablets instead of PCs for movie watching and basic computing. Microsoft is still gaining slowly in sales to business customers, and has hopes for cloud services. Continue reading Microsoft Impacted by Shift to Mobile and Declining PC Sales

Television networks are creating companion apps for their successful shows, social TV startups are developing chats and check-ins for second screen experiences, and others are pushing for new ideas to redesign today’s programming guide. But the second screen trend has thus far been based on the premise that the TV screen in the living room is the center of most consumers’ entertainment. Some are suggesting that this viewpoint is no longer accurate and, in fact, may not have been true in the past. Continue reading Second Screen Apps: Has TV Become the Second Screen?

The experience of watching most online videos has so far been as passive as watching TV. However, several startups are developing new ways of creating interactive videos. These videos give the viewer the ability to select questions for an interview, change the course of a music video, or engage socially with video content. Some also provide content creators with a range of tools to embed websites and layer other content straight into the video. Continue reading Watching Online Video Becoming an Interactive Experience

Research firm AppNation forecasts a dramatic increase in the overall app economy in the U.S. over the next four years. The AppNation report predicts that the combined value of paid apps, app-enabled purchases of goods and services, and in-app advertising will double to $151 billion by 2017. While smartphones and tablets largely drive today’s app economy, innovations with smart TVs and connected cars are expected to help drive future app commerce. Continue reading Report: App Economy Expected to Double in Value by 2017

Frost & Sullivan’s newly released report on the size of the Consumer Video Devices Market suggests that sales numbers indicate Apple owned 56 percent of the streaming devices market in 2012, with Roku close behind at 21 percent. TiVo has the next largest base of users. And while Google remains committed to competing in this space, devices based on the Google TV platform have experienced little commercial success so far. Continue reading Apple TV Claims More Than Half of Streaming Devices Market

Chipmaker Intel has acquired the gesture recognition startup Omek Interactive for close to $50 million. The Israeli startup develops software and related technology for creating gesture recognition interfaces based on information provided by 3D cameras. Omek’s gesture recognition and body tracking software is being used in devices such as TVs, set-top boxes, game consoles, tablets, PCs, smartphones, interactive signs, and medical and fitness devices. Continue reading Intel Acquires Gesture Recognition Startup Omek Interactive

The free IMDb app, currently available as iOS and Android versions, now offers U.S. users the ability to purchase movie tickets. The update follows similar offerings from other apps such as Fandango and Apple’s Siri. Users can also tap on the “Search via Amazon Mobile” button in the iPhone or iPad app to learn more about purchasing movies and TV shows on DVD or Blu-ray (requires that the Amazon Mobile app is installed). Continue reading New IMDb App Update Includes Ability to Buy Movie Tickets

As consumers buy less personal computers and more tablets and mobile devices, China’s Lenovo has overtaken HP, becoming the largest seller of PCs. On Wednesday, research firms Gartner and IDC estimated that worldwide PC shipments have fallen 11 percent in Q2 2013. The two firms say that sales have decreased for the past five quarters, the industry’s longest decline. But they have hope that new PC hardware will provide some recovery. Continue reading Lenovo Becomes the Top PC Seller as Industry Sales Decline

Apple’s App Store launched in 2008 for iPhone users to find and download apps. It has provided consumers with a great opportunity to personalize their mobile device experience, while launching a new economy where individual developers and larger companies can promote and sell their apps and services. The App Store has changed how software is purchased and distributed — and as a result, has led to a defining transition in personal computing. Continue reading App Store Has Revolutionized the Mobile Device Experience

A federal judge in Manhattan ruled yesterday that Apple colluded with five U.S. publishers in 2010 to drive up the prices of e-books. The decision threatens to limit Apple’s options when negotiating future content deals and potentially exposes the company to additional investigation of its other business practices. The decision to go to trial was considered a significant risk for Apple since the publishers, after denying any wrongdoing, had already settled similar charges. Continue reading Federal Judge Rules that Apple Colluded on E-Book Pricing

Microsoft announced this week that it will shutter its MSN TV (formerly WebTV) service on September 30. The pioneering interactive TV service began in 1996 as one of the first set-top boxes to offer Internet access. WebTV was acquired by Microsoft for $425 million in 1997. According to Brad Hill, WebTV’s former national media spokesperson leading up to the product’s launch, “it isn’t modern Web-connected TVs that finally killed WebTV (MSN TV) — it’s the mobile revolution that did it.” Continue reading Microsoft to Shut Down Interactive MSN TV Service this Year

Amazon has been quietly testing what it hopes will be an improved means of viewing Flash video content on mobile devices. For the past six months, some Kindle Fire users have been provided with an “experimental streaming viewer” option when they attempt to access video clips on sites including CBS.com, Fox.com and NBC.com. The Silk browser for Kindle Fire enables the streaming by splitting the workload between the mobile devices and Amazon cloud servers. Continue reading Mobile: Amazon Turns to the Cloud for Streaming Flash Video

Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox browser, recently announced the debut of the first smartphones powered by the Web-based Firefox OS. These modest smartphones are targeting first time buyers and consumers looking for less expensive alternatives to iPhones and Android phones. Firefox OS may not compete on the same level with Apple and Google, but it does present an opportunity for new Web-based devices that can offer many features. Continue reading New Firefox OS Looks to Power More Affordable Smartphones

Google plans to extend Android’s reach beyond smartphones and tablets. Android-powered video game consoles and smartwatches will compete with other technology companies, specifically Apple, which is expected to release its own game console and wristwatch according to people familiar with the development. Android is being made ready to run on a variety of CE products, from laptop computers and wearable devices to household appliances. Continue reading Google Bringing Android to Video Game Consoles and More