For there’s always a motive beyond keeping people entertained. For the Breaking Bad StorySync experience, the goal was to discourage DVRing your way through the episode broadcast. In the case of the Marvel’s The Avengers second screen iOS app, the goal seems to be driving Blu-ray and DVD sales.

I didn’t know the Avengers app existed until I opened the Blu-ray case, and even that was a fluke (like most people, I suspect, I tend to ignore the paper inserts tucked alongside shiny new Blu-rays or DVDs) — but in the long run, that fluke was most fortunate.

First off, this app is Hulk-sized: When I sat down to test out the app, I had to clear off several apps and a dozen podcasts to find a spare 435 MB on my iPhone. (I also tested it on iPad.) The home screen of the app, originally released this summer, emphasizes the Item 47 Comic-Con experience and dossier files on Avengers characters — you have to go one level deeper to get to the good stuff.

Through the magic of BD-Live and a shared wi-fi network, syncing my devices with the movie was almost instantaneous (for those whose Blu-ray players aren’t online, there are also audio and manual sync options). Once I hit play, the second-screen experience began flooding in: Photos, text and video from the film popping up on my devices fast.

By far the best feature of the app was the on-screen Pause button, which allowed you to stop the movie without reaching for your remote, followed close behind by the “Sync App to Movie/Sync Movie To App” buttons. That’s because the barrage of updates on the second screen was literally impossible to keep up with — and with few exceptions, it was all pretty compelling.

Trivia notes added extra insight about the production’s collaboration with NASA and director Joss Whedon’s decision to cast Mark Ruffalo. Still images included storyboard galleries and photos of the film’s extremely attractive cast, timed with their first on-the-big-screen appearances.

Between the two, the iPad version of the app was a whole lot prettier than the iPhone, thanks to the screen resolution — also, certain features performed better there.

And the video was especially great: Highlights include Tom Hiddleston goofing around during his wirework stunts and Scarlett Johansson’s stunt double practicing the fight choreography of Black Widow’s first scene.

All the clips loaded cleanly, and were soundless in case you hadn’t paused the film to watch them (though most of them were good enough to warrent my full attention). In short: That 435 MB was not ill-spent.

The only major bug I found came with the text-based updates, like actor bios or filmmaker notes: When the text fit into one screen, everything was fine:

But try though I might, I could not figure how to finish reading entries which were longer than the confines of the frame, on either the iPad or iPhone. I tried scrolling, swiping, zooming and even asking Siri — but no dice. If you know how to scroll the text in this app, please let me know — I’m very curious how some of these notes end.

Before you ask, it’s not the three boxes at the top of the text field (those are a design element), or that down arrow at the bottom right of the screen (that minimizes the timeline). Believe me, I tried.

I also couldn’t get certain links to load, such as links to comics — the app is not a bug-free experience in its current form. But what’s there is without a doubt great fun.

In fact, the only other caveat I’ll mention is this: I spent at least half an hour “watching” the first major scene of the movie — skipping back and forth through both the film and the app timeline, using the sync buttons to rewatch certain bits with a new perspective, or catch up with what I’d missed while looking at a device.

Seriously: It took 30 minutes for me to get to the opening titles, which appear 11 minutes into the movie. The Avengers were nowhere close to assembling before I had to go to bed. However, I’m looking forward to getting through the rest of the experience, slowly but surely.

You don’t need to purchase the film in any form to check out the second screen content — not only is the app free on iTunes, but there’s an “Explore on your own” option that lets you browse the timeline content without syncing. However, if you’re one of the fans who helped The Avengers set box office records this summer, you’ll enjoy having the experience as a viewing companion. I know I did.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Connected consumer third-quarter 2012
• Controversy, courtrooms and the cloud in Q1
• Connected Consumer 2011: What Not to Expect

Starting in June, all print editions of Marvel’s $3.99 superhero comics will contain redemption codes for a free digital version. The company has already experimented with bundling on some titles, and Marvel’s SVP sales David Gabriel said, “The positive reactions from both retailers and fans make it clear that including these codes with our books drives customers into comic stores on a repeated basis.”

In addition, a new “Infinite Comics” line provides digital-only tie-ins. First up is Avengers vs. X-Men #1 Infinite, a counterpart to Avengers Vs. X-Men #1. Both will be available April 4.

Marvel already releases its comics in digital formats, so what’s new here is the digital-only stories. Print issues of Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 contain a redemption code to get the Infinite tie-in free. The Infinite tie-in is bundled with the digital version of Avengers Vs. X-Men #1. It can be purchased alone for $0.99.

Marvel also announced an augmented reality app that lets users scan print copies of select Marvel comics to view digital extras.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Survey: How apps can solve photo management
• Smart TV forecast: gigabit Wi-Fi in the living room
• Best practices in optimizing content for social engagement

But despite plans to show off devices and sets next week in Las Vegas, don’t expect sales of new Google TV hardware from Sony or new partners Samsung and LG (SEO: 066570) anytime soon. The best estimate I can get from a knowledgeable so far is “first half of the year.” Vizio, announced last year at CES as a partner, will show some Google TV-powered sets for the first time. (More details in a Google TV blog post.)

While Sony is returning for more, Logitech, which made the poorly received Revue set-top, isn’t in the mix this time. Intel (NSDQ: INTC) is also out. Instead, Google TV will rely on chips from Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) and MediaTek for some new devices, while LG will use its own L9 chipset.

LG’s plans for Android-based Google TV, detailed on the company’s UK blog, include a U.S. launch this year, with UK scheduled for 2013. The sets will blend Google TV with LG’s own technology, including Cinema 3D, Smart TV and a qwerty-keyboard remote.

This time around, Google TV has to deliver on all fronts, especially to meet Chairman Eric Schmidt’s boast that it will ship on the majority of TV sets by mid-2012 and, more important, to actually be used by consumers. The software update was a significant improvement but it must be matched by hardware that is as easy to use and can be sold at price points that make sense beyond early adopters. Google TV 1.0 was more hype than action; Google TV 2.0 needs marketing that moves beyond hype and action that backs it up.

I had the chance to talk about the shortcomings of Google TV 1.0 and the new efforts with Mario Queiroz, VP of product development for Google, at our paidContent Entertainment conference in November. The video of that interview is embedded below:

(Disclosure: separately, Google TV was a sponsor of paidContent Entertainment. I also have used review units.)

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Controversy, courtrooms and the cloud in Q1
• 5 Connected Consumer Companies to Watch in 2011
• 5 Connected Consumer Companies That Ruled 2010

The cannibal that wasn’t

Why only Wednesdays? Because that’s the day new comics are released. When digital comics were just getting started, that meant relatively little; publishers often held back digital releases, and in fact many only released titles from deep in their back catalogs at first. The reason for their reticence was that they felt digital editions would significantly cut into print book sales.

That hasn’t happened, according to comiXology. Instead, in September both print and digital comic sales reached record heights. September is also when DC decided to relaunch 52 of its titles at issue #1 (a move it dubbed the “New 52″), and make each of them available on the same day in print and digitally, via both the Comics app and its own branded comiXology-powered DC app.

Are digital and print comic buyers the same?

The reason digital comics haven’t negatively affected print comic sales could be that the two types of media appeal to entirely different consumer groups. Using the iPad as a delivery method opens up comics to new audiences, including basically anyone who owns an iPad and has even a basic familiarity with or interest in the costumed heroes whose mugs are now everywhere thanks to Hollywood, video games and TV shows.

Traditional comic book shops, on the other hand, cater to a much more narrowly focused audience. Comic books stores are destination establishments, for the most part, not places that people with only a vague sense of what they sell happen to stumble into. Row upon row of poly-bagged issues in filing boxes can also be an intimidating site for people new to the medium. Collectors and fans who enjoy the community element of the comic book shop will keep their pull lists, even in the face of the rise of digital, and fans introduced via the iPad and other devices could even make the leap to the shop once they embrace the culture.

Same day is the real superhero

I asked comiXology CEO David Steinberger about the app’s success, and how tied it was to DC’s New 52. Steinberger replied that in fact, the 3.0 release of Comics started the avalanche, but “the New 52 and other same day as print releases from other publishers, like Marvel and Image Comics, do great as well.” Marvel hasn’t been nearly as quick to embrace same day digital releases, but Steinberger points out that that could change, since the publishers who embrace that model are doing especially well on the Comics platform.

Another driver of sales could be Hollywood’s love affair with comic book properties. Captain America and Thor both charmed audiences this past summer, and The Avengers is coming next spring, with a stellar ensemble cast and a powerful hype machine behind it. It makes sense that comics, digital and otherwise, would enjoy some halo benefits from that attention.

What about subscriptions?

I’ve also argued that subscriptions are the next frontier for digital comics. Steinberger says that he thinks “subscriptions will be a very interesting model” for digital comics, but that currently, the available options aren’t really a natural fit for comics. “What is out there right now on different devices (Apple’s Newsstand, for instance) don’t work for comics, because they charge you monthly,” Steinberger said. “So you put the consumer in danger of being charged without product, or you make the consumer lag behind true same-day-as-print and they don’t get the newest material.”

Steinberger isn’t promising anything in terms of digital comics subscriptions, but it will be interesting to see if publishers and storefronts like Comics can come up with a solution that provides them some of the benefits like those magazine companies such as Condé Nast are seeing from Newsstand.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Mobile Q2: Smartphone growth surges; iPad’s rule continues
• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• Why the iPad is Right for the Enterprise

The DC storefront in ComiXology's Comics app for iPad.

DC Comics recently began selling digital versions of its new comics on the same day that print editions show up in local comic book shops. It’s a move that coincides with, and helps promote their “New 52,” a complete re-launch of all of their monthly titles beginning at issue #1, but its effects are already being felt beyond even just its own stable of properties.

Beating out books

Last week, three of the top five most popular iPad apps in the Books category were comics apps. Comics by ComiXology came in second overall to Al Gore’s Our Choice, followed by the official Marvel and DC apps at numbers three and four respectively. Note that ComiXology’s tech powers both the Marvel and DC apps, and its own app offers titles from both publishers, as well as a number of others including IDW and Image comics.

But the successes for digital comics on the iPad don’t end there. Comics by ComiXology also became the second highest grossing iPad app — all categories included — as of Wednesday night this week (it’s still at number three at the time of writing). ComiXology CEO David Steinberger directly attributes part of the reason behind his app’s good fortune to DC’s decision to go digital:

[W]hen you look at our success as one of the top grossing iPad Apps and then take in the news about DC Comics going back to print on almost all of The New 52 comics, you can see that digital distribution is growing both the print and digital comic book market. DC’s daring move going digital the same day as print with all their print publications this month in combination with the great buying and reading experience our App provides is a tide that lifts all boats.

A page from Grant Morrison's Action Comics #1, part of DC's "New 52."

It sure does look like the changed approach to digital comics is lifting all boats. Consider that Marvel beat DC itself in terms of gross last week and continues to ride high at number 18 overall among iPad apps, despite having yet to offer its own blanket approach to same-day digital. It is headed in the right direction, however, as it announced in July at San Diego Comic-Con 2011 that it would be rolling out simultaneous digital and print releases gradually for all X-Men and Spider-Man titles. Image is likewise testing same-day releases through ComiXology with at least a few titles.

Same-day digital definitely delivers

Same-day digital appears to be the magic ingredient that was missing from the iPad comic mix. If you’ve ever tried reading comics on the iPad, you know that it’s an almost-perfect delivery method. The screen size and resolution are both good enough that you should be able to view full single-page layouts without zooming or squinting, you can carry an entire library on a single device, and you don’t have to worry about dog-earing the corners. Seriously, though, for all but devoted collectors, it’s a nearly ideal alternative to paper, and digital editions are also often cheaper.

One drawback to digital is load times, but you can view content as it downloads, one-page at a time.

Regardless of what you think of DC’s decision to relaunch its entire line (I’m not that impressed by what I’ve seen so far, with the exception of Grant Morrison’s Action Comics #1), you can’t deny that the bold decision to make everything available digitally on the same day will help push the industry forward. Marvel will likely have to speed up its rollout of day and date iPad releases now that DC is seeing big dividends in terms of gross revenue, and partners like ComiXology will be pushing them to follow suit, because, again, doing so would “lift all boats.”

One more key ingredient missing

There’s still one piece missing for digital delivery, however, and I wrote about it back in May: subscriptions. Comics should be leaving behind the idea that they can still become valuable collector’s items, and same-day digital is one step towards that. But making titles available digitally on a subscription basis is the next, and possible the more important step.

If I could buy an Uncanny X-Men auto-renewing subscription through my iPad, I’d probably never turn it off, whereas I’ll only pick up a print or digital copy maybe three or four times a year these days, at best. An automatic digital pull list of an iPad owner’s favorite titles is bound to be a hit with fans who enjoy comics for the sake of their content, and not for what they might be worth on eBay in 20 years time (hint: it’s nothing).

DC is already talking about introducing value-add elements to digital comics, sort of like DVD special features, but if Netflix has taught us anything, it’s that the only special feature most media consumers care about is reasonable subscription-pricing that delivers just the good stuff. An all you can eat publisher-wide subscription for digital comics would be amazing, but I’d settle for per-issue monthly or yearly pricing. Let’s hope comics don’t take as long to warm up to that idea as they did to same-day digital.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Forecast: Tablet App Sales To Hit $8B by 2015
• Survey: How apps can solve photo management
• Where the next-generation console fits in today’s video game market

The official Marvel Comics iPad app.

Magazine apps appear to be enjoying quite the bump thanks to the introduction of in-app subscriptions to select titles. Wired, for example, is the fifth top grossing app on the iPad App Store right now. It’s a model that seems to be bearing fruit, at least in the short-term, and one that comic book publishers should be watching closely.

Comic books are very well suited to the iPad. In fact, when I first bought an iPad, reading comics via apps like the aptly-named Comics, and the Marvel- and DC-branded offerings was something I did often. But with individual titles costing between $1 and $3 for about five to 10 minutes of enjoyment, it quickly became a habit too costly to keep up. And those prices are considerably cheaper than the ones you’ll find for print editions in comic book shops.

I’m not the only one who isn’t impressed by the value proposition offered by comic publishers. According to comics blog ICv2, comic book sales in 2010 were down 4.64 percent year-over-year. And early reports from this year are seeing drops, too: Newsarama reports that comic book sales were down 23 percent in January 2011 compared to the same period in 2010, and 24.45 percent compared to the month prior.

The trouble facing the comic book industry may not be getting the same coverage as the decline in print news and magazine readership, and Marvel and DC especially are making money at the box office and on merchandising that softens readership decline. But ultimately fewer readers is bad for business, even if that business has shifted from its origins.

The iPad is a great venue for comics. The screen’s resolution is good enough that full pages can be read by most without zooming, and the tablet form factor is much more conducive to reading comic books than is the notebook or desktop computer screen. And users are still responding positively to iPad comics apps, despite the current pricing structure. The Comics app I mentioned earlier is ranked 20th in the U.S. top grossing charts, and the Marvel Comics app is number 33. Even DC Comics is still in the top 100 — at number 60 — at the time of this article.

I asked independent comic creator Stephen Lindsay (who’s responsible for the awesome Jesus Hates Zombies series, among others) what the impact of digital subscriptions might be for the comics industry. Lindsay explained that “the comic industry really has three sets of consumer[s]: those inside the industry who buy comics to support one another, the casual reader, and the collector.” He said collectors don’t care about in-app subscriptions because “they always have, and always will, want the printed book” because the “ownership of it means something” [emphasis in the original]. However, casual readers are “much more ripe for adopting digital” thanks to the lower cost and therefore lower risk of buying on the iPad, according to Lindsay.

Lindsay says that especially for small-time creators, digital is especially good at “expand[ing] readership and reach[ing] the widest audience possible.” For example, Lindsay notes that “the first Jesus Hates Zombies app has had over 100,000 downloads in the Android marketplace,” which far outpaces its performance in print. Because of that, and because, as he says, “those in the industry who are supporting the industry itself will typically try anything if it’s going to further the cause,” in-app subscriptions stand a good chance of catching on with creators once the floodgates are open.

Subscriptions aren’t unusual in the comic book world. Generally speaking, they offer a discount of about half-off the cover price for individual issues. With print, that means that 12 issues a year that would normally cost about $50 end up being around $25. In-app subscriptions that offer a similar percentage discount with new content (same-day releases are rare for iPad comics) would likely net a significant uptake in readership rates.

Offering comics on low-cost subscription plans makes even more sense if you think that the primary focus of major publishers has shifted to Hollywood and other media like television and video games. Comic books are the ground upon which those franchises are built, and getting them in front of more readers will only lead to bigger audiences for cross-media products.

Comic books and iPads are made for each other. But in-app subscriptions would make that fairytale romance even better for all parties involved.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Connected world: the consumer technology revolution
• Survey: How apps can solve photo management
• How consumer media will change in 2013

Icera is a nine-year-old semiconductor company that makes a baseband chip with the ability to listen to many different frequencies and technological standards in one small package. That means it can work on 2G, 3G and 4G networks that use different protocols — such as HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE — all on the same chip. The Icera chip is also programmable, making it far more flexible than one hardwired for a variety of protocols. Integrating radio technologies in future Nvidia SOC (system on a chip) hardware could lead to lower power consumption for mobile devices.

Nvidia isn’t just banking on wireless computing, it’s banking on the kind of fast device design cycles that vendors such as Apple, with its typical annual refresh, have ushered into the market. With a programmable radio, Nvidia can change-up the radio for customer’s demands at a much faster rate. Nvidia also plans to keep Icera’s other customers happy by integrating Icera’s processor with whatever other application processor of the customer’s choosing. This puts Nvidia in the baseband business and if Nvidia wants to pursue it, could result in Icera gaining some real market traction, given its relatively small balance sheet has limited the company to this point.

The deal is an echo of Intel’s decision to buy Infineon’s wireless business for $1.4 billion last year, as well as a vote for the Qualcomm way of doing things, which basically offers device makers an integrated application processor with a radio on the same chip. Other leaders in the application processor market, such as Samsung, also have their own radios, with Samsung investing in developing its own LTE chips a few years ago. Other vendors in the radio world have beefed up their application processor efforts, with firms such as Broadcom and Marvell both pushing hard on the “brains” aspect of their chip businesses. This leaves me wondering where a vendor such as Texas Instruments fits in, given that TI got out of the wireless baseband business to focus on application processors.

Regardless of where individual chip firms shake out here, the deal is a clear indication that connectivity (and cellular connectivity at that) has become a must-have feature in computing today. Nvidia’s confidence in its ability to break into this market also shows how vastly different the mobile ecosystem could be, when compared to the staid Wintel architecture that dominated the PC era.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• The big theme of MWC: How to live in a connected world
• Who and what to watch in the new era of the living room
• Tablet market to hit over 377 million units by 2016

An indie series written by Brian Godleski and directed by Pat Clark, Avengers Assemble!‘s relatively slick opening sequence precedes a decidedly low-fi series: A bunch of costumed heroes, gathered around a conference table, hash out the bureaucracy behind saving the world, with a somewhat topical focus; episodes have covered the BP oil spill, immigration issues and health care. The best comparison might be The Office — but with men in tights, no talking to the camera and a lot less embarrassment.

(For the record, yep, Roger Ebert scooped us on this one. Well-played, Ebert. Well-played.)

The Avengers, for you non-comic-book nerds who also haven’t been following the development of Joss Whedon’s next movie, are the ultimate team-up of superheroes from the Marvel universe, including Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America and Thor.

However, while Marvel’s recent film adaptations have done a lot to bring classic characters into the mainstream, Clark and Godleski’s approach is centered more on the comic book mythology. This means that some of the references are highly obscure, but also that there are almost as many female characters as male.

Avengers Assemble! isn’t on the level of a professional production, but the sound work is decent and the handheld cinematography makes the otherwise static action feel dynamic. And although the costumes are a bit amateurish and some of the accent work isn’t perfect, the cast has solid chemistry and a lot of the one-line jokes work really well, especially as they draw on the characters’ pre-established backstory. Wolverine, for example, isn’t worried about his health care coverage — not because of his super-human healing ability, but because he’s Canadian.

The creators are very clear about the fact that they’re playing with characters that belong to a mega-corporation. Hopefully, that’s enough to keep Marvel’s lawyers from shutting things down — especially since, for a parody, there’s an awful lot of love for the source material here.

Related GigaOm Pro Content (subscription required):

• By The Numbers: Budget Analysis of a Web Series
• Should You Super-Syndicate Your Web Series?
• A Guide To Online Video Monetization Options

• Ubuntu One integration — Much like Dropbox and other online storage or sync solutions, Ubuntu One offers a place to stash your data. Every Ubuntu user gets a free 2GB account and the service is natively integrated within the Ubuntu file system, making it pretty seamless.
• Improved 3G connectivity — I’ll have to try this to better understand what exactly has been improved, but this is key for mobile folks.
• New Software Center — One-stop shopping for software is always nice, especially when there’s a button for Free Software as well. This takes the place of Add/Remove in the Applications menu.
• New Kernel Mode Setting — By default on Intel hardware, this “reduces boot-time flickering and dramatically speeds up suspend/resume.”

Has anyone installed this — or the new Netbook Remix Edition — and been wowed by any other new features?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Cloud computing infrastructure: 2012 and beyond
• Bluetooth to Feel Blue as Personal Area Network Battles Loom
• Cloud computing’s impact on chip and hardware design

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, now does whatever Disney says he can.

Disney announced today that it is acquiring superhero factory Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock. The move gives the mouse house ownership of more than 5,000 Marvel characters including Spider-Man, Iron Man and Batroc the Leaper. (All right, that last one was just for the nerds and probably won’t be getting his own half hour on the Disney Channel anytime soon.)

Marvel doesn’t have much in the way of NewTeeVee-related efforts other than its motion comics, though those could find a new audience and life with the inclusion of Mickey Mouse and his friends. Marvel isn’t shy about online video, as it runs old cartoons, TV shows and some original video content on its site and syndicated through partners like Hulu (which is partly owned by Disney). When I’ve previously spoken with Ira Rubenstein, Marvel’s executive vice president, global digital media group, he’s indicated his interest in generating enough content to establish Marvel’s own IPTV channel. Having Disney onboard certainly won’t hurt those efforts.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Connected consumer third-quarter 2012
• Why HBO’s TV Everywhere Economics Don’t Make Sense
• A 2011 Connected Consumer Forecast