Roku sells five million players in the U.S.
Roku has sold five million players in the U.S. since unveiling the first Roku streaming player five years ago. A good chunk of its customers use their Roku more than traditional TV. Read more »
RemotePlay launches iOS app for cross-platform media sharing
photo: Tsahi Levent-Levi
Sharing documents, photos and videos between iOS and Android devices just got easier, thanks to the new iOS version of RemotePlay. Read more »
Drones on parade, and a few fun facts about 4K
I took a brief tour of the National Association of Broadcasters convention show floor today. Here’s what I saw and learned. Read more »
Why Qualcomm thinks LTE-broadcast will work where FLO TV failed
Qualcomm’s big MediaFLO flop hasn’t dissuaded it from pursuing mobile TV. It’s championing a new technology called LTE-broadcast that purportedly solves FLO’s many problems. Read more »
Boxee rebrands new device as Cloud DVR, tones down cord cutting rhetoric
Boxee TV is dead, long live Boxee Cloud DVR: Boxee’s recently-launched consumer electronics device has been rebranded, and the company introduced a free service tier. Read more »
Study sees takeoff in automated ad buying for video — but will prices hold up?
Programmatic buying for online video ads — which lets brands buy select audiences in real time — is growing rapidly. The spread of this buying technique may coincide with a drop in prices but the two phenomena are not necessarily connected. Read more at paidContent »
Microsoft hopes to sell its Mediaroom IPTV platform to Ericsson
The rumored deal will become a reality later this year, assuming there are no regulatory problems. It would give Ericsson a market share of over 25 percent in IPTV and multi-screen systems and services. Read more »
Where to watch the 2013 Masters Tournament live online
The Masters Tournament is the first big golf championship of the season – and key events are being streamed live online. Read more »
Takeaways from The Raven, and other online shorts that went Hollywood
Short films released online have become an increasingly common way for filmmakers to break into the studio system — the latest example being an upcoming action film produced by Mark Wahlberg. Read more at paidContent »
Intel inside & out: trademark filings point towards Intel Media plans
Intel registered a trademark for Intel inside and out last week, which seems to be connected to its TV plans – and which turns out to be virtually identical to another mark registered in secrecy last year. Read more »
Four years in the making, Vdio finally opens up to Rdio subscribers in the US and UK
Rdio launched its video service Vdio to the public Tuesday night, offering movies and TV shows for rent and for sale. It’s not a subscription service, but it’s closely tied to Rdio’s music subscriptions. Read more »
Angry Birds, fat pigs and the future of television
Rovio’s Angry Birds Toons may very well be the first-ever mobile video show that reaches an audience of millions – but that doesn’t mean that startups are having it any easier. Read more at paidContent »
Warner launches streaming service: like Netflix, without the new stuff
Would you pay $10 a month to rewatch Gilligan’s Island? Warner Bros. thinks some people will, and launched a video service to do so. Read more at paidContent »
Netflix job offers hint at further international expansion: are India, Europe or Korea next?
photo: kcp4911
Netflix won’t expand to another international market until the end of this or early next year, but the company is already looking for help to translate its site – giving us some interesting clues. Read more at paidContent »
The genie is out of the bottle: Aereo’s court victory and what it means for the TV business
A major appeals court ruling says that Aereo — which lets users watch and record live TV to mobile devices — doesn’t violate copyright law. The decision is the biggest blow yet to the existing TV business. Read more »
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken & Co. start streaming on Netflix
Fans of edgy animated fare just got a few more reasons to binge as Netflix has started to add cult classics from Adult Swim and Cartoon Network to its catalog. Read more at paidContent »
Cord cutter alert: Aereo in talks with Dish and AT&T to expand TV-on-the-go
photo: Aereo
Aereo is exploring partnerships with internet service providers and pay-TV companies to expand its reach. The company is disrupting conventional TV models by offering a service that lets consumers watch TV on the go for $1 a day. Read more at paidContent »
Get ready for MixBit: YouTube co-founder teases new video site
YouTube may not really be shutting down, but that didn’t stop its cofounder Chad Hurley from announcing a new site. Read more »
My Drunk Kitchen sobers up as Hannah Hart gets ready to hit the road
Thanks to a successful Indiegogo campaign, Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen will be touring around the nation — while also trying to redefine her brand beyond “the girl who drinks and cooks.” Read more at paidContent »
Content for cord cutters is going to get harder to find, industry executive predicts
photo: Shutterstock user Vlue
The TV industry knows that broadband changes its business, but it can’t adapt quickly. That’s why the CEO of Conviva expects cord cutters to suffer higher fees and less content in the short term. Read more »
Charter to antenna maker: don’t tell our customers about cord cutting
Charter rejected an ad that tells people how to get over-the-air TV without paying for cable. Maybe cord cutting is a threat, after all? Read more »
Quietly, Opera is working on becoming a Smart TV powerhouse
Apple TV, Roku and… Opera? The Norway-based browser maker isn’t exactly famous for smart TV innovation. But the company is already powering millions of devices. Read more »
Ericsson is angling for Microsoft’s Mediaroom IPTV package, report claims
A Bloomberg report claims Microsoft wants to focus more on IPTV delivery through the Xbox platform. Ericsson already provides other IPTV services to hundreds of telcos, so Mediaroom may be a good fit for its portfolio. Read more »
Boxee TV gets DLNA, 3-D streaming and more
Boxee TV devices can finally play videos stored on a network attached storage drive, and even receive Airplay-like streams from a mobile device, thanks to a new firmware update. Read more »
Anime video service Crunchyroll reaches 200,000 paying subscribers
Anime site Crunchyroll doubled its paying subscriber base in just a few months. Now it’s looking to offer its members more than just videos. Read more at paidContent »
Is there a better way to upgrade the internet? BitTorrent’s CEO says there is
photo: Shutterstock / Aaron Kohr
Could distributed computing hold the future for scaling out the internet and meeting our increasing demands for broadband? The CEO of BitTorrent argues it does have a place in next generation architectures. Read more »
Blip to publishers: we’re going to monetize your videos, whether you like it or not
Video site Blip is looking to increase the ad load on the content it’s hosting by making advertising mandatory. The changes are going in effect early next month. Read more at paidContent »
Smart TV forecast: gigabit Wi-Fi in the living room
The smart TV market will grow from 67 million units shipped in 2012 to 134 million shipped in 2015. As it expands, a simultaneous transition to higher-speed Wi-Fi connections based on a new standard — 802.11ac — will translate to fast growth for the new wireless technology in the TV space. Read more »
Everyplay wants you to share videos of your mobile game wins
Everyplay instantly records your iPhone gameplay, and makes replay clips available for sharing online. The service promises developers new ways to find an audience for their games. Read more »
M-Go signs up Lionsgate, gets Mad Men, Hunger Games and Twilight
Pay-as-you-go online video service M-Go has inked a deal with Lionsgate that will allow M-Go customers to access episodes of Mad Men and other fare from the studio. Read more at paidContent »
Little-known Viewster scores big with free movies and TV shows
Watch out, Crackle: Zurich-based VOD startup Viewster is starting to rack up more views than some of its established U.S. competitors. Read more at paidContent »
Let the video SEO madness begin: Google Trends adds YouTube data
photo: PSY
Google Trends just added YouTube search data to its search term database. Many video publishers could use the tool to look for video titles. Read more »
Redbox Instant app arrives on Xbox Live
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is getting yet another video service with the launch of a Redbox Instant app. This marks the first time Redbox Instant is available on a game console. Read more »
Hulu Plus rolls out new UI on Apple TV
Hulu’s Apple TV app has been given a major facelift to better highlight new content. The relaunch could set off a revamp of the service across various CE devices. Read more »
Five companies that want to break up your cable bundle
photo: HarshPatel;Photographer
Want to get rid of your big and expensive cable bundle? So does your cable company. And in that quest, it is joined by some unlikely frenemies. Read more at paidContent »
Leo Laporte’s TWiT takes on YouTube hits with new show
TWiT’s Leo Laporte teamed up with YouTuber Lamarr Wilson for a new show called This Week In YouTube. The show is another sign of how far TWiT has come. Read more at paidContent »
March Madness: where to watch the 2013 NCAA Tournament live online
March Madness is once again streaming each and every game live online. However, this time around, viewing live streams will require a cable subscription – unless the game airs on CBS. Confused? Then check out our guide. Read more »
Ricky Gervais brings his British Office character back to life on YouTube
Ricky Gervais, creator of British hit “The Office,” is bringing David Brent back to life on his new YouTube channel. Read more at paidContent »
NowThis News, the video app from former HuffPo execs, launches on Android
photo: NowThis News
NowThis News, the video news app from former HuffPo execs Ken Lerer and Eric Hippeau, just launched on Android. Read more at paidContent »
Redbox Instant launches publicly, CEO calls original content talk premature
Redbox Instant is available to all after a closed beta test that netted the company tens of thousands of paying customers. CEO Shawn Strickland told us that his company won’t do original content any time soon. Read more »
