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 at GigaOM Pro »
The first season of House of Cards is full of intrigue and plot twists — but the drama it’s created for the television industry is almost as compelling. Read more at paidContent »
Facebook is looking at almost all options to address the storage needs of its myriad applications that all have different requirements around performance, scalability and efficiency. Flash can be too fast and hard drives to slow, but Facebook wants something just right. Read more »
If you saw The Avengers more than once in the theater, and still ended up buying the film on Blu-ray or DVD this week, then you are exactly for whom Marvel designed this deliciously nerdy two-screen app experience. Read more »
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002. Read more »
Has the long-moribund home entertainment sector finally started to turn the corner? Significant growth from subscription streaming and Blu-ray rentals and sales give the industry its second up quarter out of the last three, according to studio-funded research firm the Digital Entertainment Group. Read more at paidContent »
While its longtime DVD-rental rival, Netflix has signaled its eventual retreat from the disc business, kiosk operator Redbox seems more than happy to take on any physical-media customers Netflix wants to cut loose. Read more at paidContent »
In the first quarter of 2012 all eyes were on the screen, both big and small. Apple’s new Retina display pushed video streaming, and broadcast-TV streaming service Aereo’s launch was quickly followed with litigation. These events and more are discussed in a new quarterly report. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The Netflix streaming app is now available on over 800 different devices, which is nearly double the number of devices that the app was on only six months ago. Yet for all that growth, Netflix is suddenly looking vulnerable in mobile video as new competitors with ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Samsung has rolled out a new line of Blu-ray players that support Ultraviolet, thus joining the ranks of entertainment brands that support t… Read more at paidContent »
Turnstiles have been slowing at domestic theaters for much of the past decade, with only a brief respite in 2006 and a short-lived spike in attendance in 2009 due to the release of Avatar, the highest-grossing film of all time. Ticket-price inflation and the introduction of ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Hollywood is finally starting to make good on its promise to allow consumers to buy a movie once and watch it anywhere. But in my latest piece on GigaOM Pro, I argue that UltraViolet does little to combat a visible shift in consumer behavior. Read more »
The Pirate Bay announced Wednesday morning that it is now in the business of offering 3-D movies, destroying the hopes of Hollywood that 3-D would be something of an automatic piracy deterrent. With prices for 3-D TVs declining, the phenomenon is poised to become more popular. Read more »
Google rocked the mobile world on Monday, August 15, with the news that it will buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, marking a 63-percent premium for the handset manufacturer. It’s a move that ushers Google into the exclusive club of companies that control both the hardware and software elements of their smartphone offerings, and it will enable Google to design handsets that are more closely integrated with Android. However, the deal doesn’t come without its risks, and it remains to be seen just how it will affect other handset makers, competition from Microsoft and the crucial patent issues currently surrounding Google. Companies mentioned in this report include Apple, Research In Motion and Samsung. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
H.264 remains the dominant force in online video, as the video codec now accounts for more than two-thirds of online video, according to a blog post by MeFeedia. Meanwhile, Google’s WebM format has yet to gain any significant traction after being released a year ago. Read more »
It may have taken consumers a while to warm up to Blu-ray, but now they’re buying both players and discs. Lower prices may be part of the reason for that trend, but many consumers cite Netflix as the primary reason to buy a Blu-ray player. Read more »
With the Blu-ray release of Unstoppable, 20th Century Fox is unveiling a new feature that will allow owners of the Blu-ray disc to copy the movie to their Android mobile devices. But will the feature actually make people want to own physical movies again? Read more »
Despite lack of official support, you can use Blu-ray on the Mac. It just takes a few more steps than on a Windows machine, and only comes with a lot of help from third-party software. But it can be done. Here’s how. Read more »
It’s important to dispel potential myths and market misunderstandings when it comes to consumer electronic devices and trends. For 2011, that includes paid video chat, Apple dominating the living room and the misinformed belief that Google will rule the e-book space. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
There’s no perfect solution yet to watching all the content you want on your TV, but for me, the PS3 has become invaluable. When you look at all the features gaming consoles offer on top of basic set-top services, it makes the extra money worthwhile. Read more »
Microsoft UK head of gaming and entertainment Stephen McGill isn’t a fan of the Blu-ray format. The exec believes that “Blu-ray is going to be passed by,” meaning he agrees with both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates on physical media potentially becoming obsolete. Read more »
This week, we learned that the HDCP copy protection scheme is now essentially broken. HDCP’s failure is just one of many examples of copy protection technology not living up to its promises of security. Read on for five of the most glorious examples of DRM FAIL. Read more »
Owners of Samsung’s Blu-ray players have been unable to play dozens of Blu-ray titles from Warner and Universal due to copy protection gone awry. Some have been struggling with these issues for months, and Samsung’s customer suport told one caller a fix could take a year. Read more »
Consumers can now rent Blu-ray discs at more than 13,000 Redbox kiosks around the country. They’ll have to pay a premium to watch their rentals in high-def, however; Blu-ray discs cost $1.50 a pop, as opposed to the $1 per night that Redbox is famous for. Read more »
Steve thinks that with a Time Capsule or an online backup system paired with YouTube for sharing video and iTunes at the center of it all with media consumption, the industry has made Blu-ray obsolete before it even makes it to Mac machines and I agree. Read more »
Apple could skip Blu-ray discs altogether and head straight to streaming video online, if we believe two reports that have popped up over the past few days. Considering Apple’s history of picking winning technologies, that could signal bad news for Blu-ray’s future. Read more »
Redbox will soon get into the Blu-ray rental market, according to company president Mitch Lowe. Speaking at an industry trade show, he said Redbox would use its existing footprint to rent higher-value Blu-ray discs at a premium to its $1 a night DVD rentals. Read more »
Given its history, Sony’s early involvement with Google TV can only be seen as a major departure for the company. Not only does it suggest a new willingness to work collaboratively with other technology providers, it marks a rare embrace by Sony of a technology platform ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The Federal Communications Commission handed the major Hollywood studios a significant victory last week, granting their long-pending petition to allow use of selectable output controls (SOC) on cable and satellite set-top boxes to prevent copying of early-release video-on-demand movies. The studios’ push for the new early ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
After posting record box office sales in the U.S. and worldwide, James Cameron’s Avatar can add another record to its trophy case after being tops in first-week Blu-ray disc sales. According to sales data from Nielsen, the sci-fi action flick sold more Blu-ray discs in its […] Read more »
The developers of the open source h.264 codec x264 have just released an update that makes it possible to burn Blu-ray discs on regular DVD-9 or even DVD-5 DVD-Rs. x264 uses advanced compression to fit Blu-ray movies on much cheaper DVD-Rs “with a reasonable level of […] Read more »
Dr. Horrible is back for more. For more of its fans love and spare change, that is, as the web’s favorite musical is gearing of for a Blu-ray release next month. The disc will feature a bunch of extras, including the previously released Commentary! The Musical, […] Read more »
I clearly remember the moment I knew I would never buy another physical CD and would buy all my music online. Since then, I’ve been waiting for the moment when I would know that I could buy all my movies online. In November, Apple announced that […] Read more »
The Boxee Box isn’t even on the shelves yet, but Boxee is already working on plans to bring its software platform to other devices as well. Boxee’s vice president of marketing Andrew Kippen sat down with me a few days ago to talk strategy, and he […] Read more »
The simple if unsatisfying answer to the question of when to buy a new Mac is when you need one. There’s nothing a Mac bought a year ago can’t do today, and nothing a Mac bought today won’t be able to do a year from now, […] Read more »
News Corp. Shaking Up TV Execs; details are still being finalized, but Peter Rice is expected to assume greater control over the entertainment assets, and David Hill will gain greater power on the sports side. (Broadcasting & Cable) Is Wal-Mart Ready to Try Web TV Again, […] Read more »
One of the big trends emerging from this year’s CES is that Blu-ray is starting to become more than just a better-looking replacement for DVDs. DivX announced its new DivX TV platform yesterday that will bring Internet content straight to Blu-ray devices, including the upcoming LG […] Read more »
DirecTV to Launch a 3-D Channel; the satellite TV provider plans to launch the first U.S. 3-D HDTV channel early next year. (HD Guru) It will also deliver more than 200 HD channels with the launch of its latest satellite. (Multichannel News) Netflix’s Video Streaming Will […] Read more »
YouTube Renegotiates Another Music Contract; video site renewed its deal with Dutch royalty collector Buma/Stemra, allowing it to show professionally-produced music videos and homemade videos with music included, as well as videos embedded off-site. (paidContent) Comcast Signs Burke to Five-Year Deal; Stephen Burke, the No. 2 […] Read more »
Our subscription research service GigaOM Pro just published its list of Connected Consumer winners and losers for 2009, and while some choices may be obvious, there are actually a few surprises on the list. For instance, Hulu is listed as a winner and a loser, due […] Read more »
