Cloud-based storage and cross-device syncing of media content are two of the most competitive areas in consumer IT. Apple, Google and Amazon see cloud-based media services both as a way to increase attachment to their platforms and a means to extend and amplify their broader strategic goals. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
New entrants are pushing alternative business models in the music industry. Though this evolution will take time, the overall industry should return to growth within the five-year forecast horizon, as digital music spending, driven by subscriptions, will average double-digit yearly growth to total $4.1 billion in 2015. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
KaZaA, Napster, LimeWire & Co. all have been sued out of existence in the U.S., but Spain’s Blubster and Piolet music swapping apps prevailed in court today. Pablo Soto, who developed both file sharing applications, can’t be held liable for copyright infringement, a local court found. Read more »
Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
How do you convince people that the future of music is all about access, and not ownership? LimeWire thought it had a solution to this problem with its never-launched Grapevine music subscription service. What did Grapevine have to offer? Take a look for yourself. Read more »
It’s been close to a year since LimeWire was forced to shut down its file sharing platform. LimeWire’s website has since been reduced to a single splash page – but it’s still attracting more than a million people a month looking for free music every month. Read more »
A New York court found LimeWire guilty of copyright infringement. Among the evidence used to convict LimeWire were Google Adsense ads that touted LimeWire as a replacement for Napster as well as testimony from the company’s former COO. Read more »
The legal war against file sharing has failed, and more and more, entertainment industry insiders are seeking alternatives to lawsuits and legal threats, realizing it’s time to finally work with, instead of against, peer-to-peer (P2P) network operators and their users. A variety of tools — from ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Ten years ago this week, online music pioneer Justin Frankel released a little application dubbed Gnutella that enabled file sharing through a distributed P2P network. Frankel, whose also wrote the then hugely-popular Winamp MP3 player software, supposedly named the client after his favorite hazelnut cream spread. Read more »
Web-connected TV: A Distant Dream for App Makers; app developers are staying away from Yahoo’s Connected TV and similar platforms because environment is too restricted, fragmented. (Business Week) A Detailed Look at VUDU’s Streaming Technology, and What It Means to Walmart; optimized encoding and flexible UI […] Read more »
