When soap operas “One Life to Live” and “All My Children” moved online, it wasn’t clear how fans would watch them. It turns out that most viewers are binge-watching — so the soaps’ production company is cutting back on the number of new episodes each week. Read more at paidContent »
iTunes’ increasingly good quarterly sales demonstrates how the long-rumored Apple video and “iRadio” subscription services the company has over the years tried to bring to fruition could become significant revenue sources. Read more »
The Financial Times is the latest publisher to strike a partnership with Flipboard. The deal is interesting because the FT recently left another third-party platform, iTunes. Read more at paidContent »
Two years after ABC canceled them, soap operas One Life to Live and All My Children are coming back to life online, with four new 30-minute episodes per week available on Hulu and iTunes. But soap fans who are not used to online viewing may not tune in. Read more at paidContent »
A decade after the launch of iTunes, Apple is still the king of digital music. But as attitudes about music ownership continue to shift, the software’s next 10 years will likely be more challenging than its last. Read more »
Tuesday morning’s outage is the second multi-hour problem Apple iCloud and online services users have experienced in the last two weeks. Read more »
More than a decade ago, Gracenote received some cryptic advice from Apple to buy more servers. What followed — the launch of iTunes and iPod — blew up Gracenote’s database to epic proportions and laid the groundwork for a metadata empire. Read more »
A report shows that music subscription service Spotify continues to grow at a rapid pace. The growth validates Spotify’s business model but is also inviting a growing cluster of rivals. Read more at paidContent »
An ode to the Delhi gang-rape victim, iTunes as a discovery service, what science stories to watch for in 2013, the rise of Snapchat, robots everywhere, manly origins of cheerleading, history of the GIF in video and web-UX trends of 2012. Read more »
The selection of these apps as best of the year demonstrate the growing sophistication of what developers are making for iPhone and iPad. A glance at the top paid apps also shows that games are somewhat loosening their grip on their “most popular” status. Read more »
The latest version of iTunes gets a bit of a makeover on its surface and under the covers to make it look more like the mobile version of iTunes that sits on your iPhone and allow tighter integration with iCloud. Read more »
Looking to give your friend the perfect birthday gift, or want an easy way to give your kids a gift card for the holidays? Facebook announces Monday that it will be integrating iTunes gift cards and content into its digital gifts platform. Read more »
Do you want to buy a gift card for the Apple Store or for iTunes? Or maybe an Amazon card would be better. It all depends on what the gift recipient is likely to buy. We break down your options. Read more »
Browser maker Opera launches a music service in to a Russian market that badly needs legal options, whilst iTunes Store’s debut is reportedly shelved. Read more at paidContent »
AC/DC had famously resisted Apple’s siren call for a long time, but is now selling all of its albums on iTunes. The band joins a list of other acts who only recently started selling digital tracks on iTunes, including Metallica, Kid Rock and the Beatles. Read more »
TV broadcasters and programmers must embrace a new set of video-delivery techniques to reach consumers today. Online delivery to so many types of consumer devices means that video programmers must produce multiple internet-streaming formats that use different types of security and different ways of inserting ads. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
iTunes will have to wait a little longer for the update to iTunes 11: Apple acknowledged Tuesday that it won’t be able to make the app available for download by the end of October. Maybe it’s trying to avoid another Maps debacle? Read more »
The purpose of the on-screen guide has shifted. By connecting the guide to content-recommendation engines and advertising platforms, service providers and connected-TV device manufacturers are using the EPG as an access point for understanding consumers and reaching out to them to own the living room. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
With the launch of Nook Video, Barnes & Noble will begin selling digital movies and TV episodes across devices. The company plans to release Nook Video apps, and the service will be available in the US and UK. Pricing and other details are unclear. Read more at paidContent »
Any subscription music service from Apple could fundamentally alter the entertainment business. But it may come only when iTunes’ current gas runs out, and we’re not quite there yet. Read more at paidContent »
Apple is updating its iTunes desktop software with a new UI that makes it look more like an iOS app. iTunes comes with wall-to-wall browsing, a new mini player, cloud integration and the ability for artists to share photos with fans. Read more »
Apple didn’t want to compete with Amazon on ebook prices. But it is already showing that it is more than willing to do so. And if customers are drawn to Apple’s new low prices on ebooks, it’s possible to envision the company’s ebook market share rising. Read more at paidContent »
A fuss about Bruce Willis and iTunes reminded people that our kids can’t inherit our digital media because we don’t own it in the first place. Here are some practical ways around that. Read more »
Whether you spell it “theatre” or “theater,” any fan of classic or contemporary theatrical works ought to check out the full-length productions available through VOD site Digital Theatre. Though, while the pricing is equivalent to iTunes, the user experience is not. Read more »
After months with a sub-par user experience, the Google Play store is gaining needed improvements. Application updates comprised of just changed code now helps limit mobile broadband use while gift cards and wishlists are coming soon, per the latest version of Google Play. Read more »
Thanks to Apple’s AirPlay, it’s easier than ever to stream content over Wi-Fi between Apple devices. And Android devices too thanks to Android HiFi, a free mobile app that lets you listen to your iTunes library wirelessly on an Android phone or tablet. 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 »
Those who purchase Fox movies like Prometheus on iTunes can now re-download their films on iCloud, thanks to a deal the studio carved with its pay TV partner, HBO, that relaxes digital restrictions of movies while they’re in the pay TV window. Read more at paidContent »
Social TV is any application, website or software that allows viewers to interact with television programming and share that interaction with others. Startups in this space hope to combine ubiquitous second-screen technology with well-established audience behavior to drive new value around shows. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Canada’s Supreme Court this morning further defined the balance between music owners’ right to be paid and the public’s right to use music in ways that don’t trigger copyright infringement. The Court also likened the internet to a “technological taxi” for online content. Read more at paidContent »
A newly-launched startup called Foundd is taking the algorithmic approach, while its Berlin neighbour Tweek.tv is going for the social angle. But why has no winner emerged in this space already? Read more »
Google now activates one million Android devices per day and has 400 million devices in the wild, but its media store efforts have lagged. Google Play now has more digital content types, so here’s a look at how it compares to iTunes and Amazon’s digital store. Read more »
Apple is reportedly going to integrate iTunes with iCloud, which makes sense: iCloud is said to be a core strategy. But it’s clear that Apple doesn’t really have a choice. It has to move iTunes into the cloud to more fully embrace its post-PC worldview. Read more »
On Wednesday Apple made a push to expand its content business in Asia. iTunes is now available for buying music and videos in 12 new countries, and its Apple TV set-top box is now for sale in four new countries in the region. Read more »
Once a Google Android exclusive, Amazon released an iOS version of its Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch devices. The free software provides streaming and download access to audio files on Amazon servers either purchased from Amazon’s music store or later uploaded by customers. Read more »
The adoption of tablets, social media and new interfaces and the changing nature of the TV itself mean the digital living room will continue on its path of rapid change, thanks to new ways of creating, viewing, bundling, distributing and selling content. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Samsung has launched Music Hub on its new Galaxy S III in five countries. The service is touted as the “first completely integrated, all-in-one mobile music service” but it’s not exactly new. Samsung’s Music Hub debuted in 2010 and the company keeps trying to improve it. Read more »
FT.com Managing Director Rob Grimshaw made no secret of his distaste for Apple’s in-app subscription terms at padContent 2012. iOS apps don’t work for publishers, he told the audience, and the Financial Times’ decision to leave the iTunes store was a success. Read more at paidContent »
In this busy new world of multiple social networks and recommendations tools, the discovery process itself is being disrupted by innovation and by the changing ways in which consumers now interact online. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Player FM. wants to make it easier to consume podcasts across different devices: The web-based curation and playback platform was launched by former Googler Michael Mahemoff just a few days ago, but Mahemoff is already thinking about bringing new ad formats and micropayments to podcasts. Read more »
