New investor Foundation Capital led the round bringing with on board Twitter veteran Anamitra Banerji. Kik is evolving from a texting clone to an HTML5 app platform, which has helped drive big growth in recent months. Read more »
Orange’s Skype-and-WhatsApp rival is gaining functionality and reach for users around the world, with particular benefits for customers of certain Orange carriers. Read more »
Many long-standing legal rules of engagement between publishers and consumers tilted the playing field in unexpected ways in the first quarter. The period also saw a major expansion in the amount and quality of original productions for web-based video platforms and a major move by chipmaker Intel to stake a claim in the digital living room. Read more »
The beta release of Viber for BlackBerry 2.4 is the first to include Skype-rivalling VoIP functionality. However, this only applies to older versions of the BlackBerry platform, not the freshly-launched BB10. Read more »
Why would Google be interested in WhatsApp when it already has a bevy of peer-to-peer messaging and communications apps at its disposal? For the same reason Facebook bought Instagram. Read more »
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 »
Verizon just turned tablets and PCs into fully functioning SMS clients. It’s new Verizon Messaging service virtualizes its texting and MMS capabilities on the iPad, Android tablets and multiple web browsers. Read more »
Skype never dominated the mobile space the way it has dominated the PC, opening the door for numerous OTT communications rivals. TextMe believes it has combined the best features of Skype, WhatsApp and Pinger into a single mobile app. Read more »
Tu Go extends essential functionality to Wi-Fi-connected devices, making the service you’re already paying for more relevant and easier to use. It may be the first time a telco has created a genuinely sensible OTT app. Read more »
Open Garden needs scale, TextMe needs a means for its customers to reach the Internet. These two might just be a match made in heaven. Read more »
Many of the biggest stories in the connected consumer space occurred mostly offstage in 2012, from Apple’s new media services to policymakers in Washington. Overall, the past 12 months have laid important groundwork for significant advances in the connected consumer space. The year 2013 should be eventful. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Everyone may be focused on the forthcoming T-Mobile iPhone, but T-Mo revealed a strategy Thursday that will have far greater implications for the mobile industry. By eliminating subsidies it’s changing the way phones and services are sold and altering the consumer’s relationship to the carrier. Read more »
In five months, PC messaging startup MightyText has quintupled its user base to 1.2 million, and it’s now ready to expand to its Android-to-PC SMS synchronization service to new tablets. Read more »
Consumers are gravitating to an ever expanding array of OTT services – much to the chagrin of telecom operators. Andreas Bernström, CEO of Rebtel, argues that not partnering up means missing out on big revenues and the control of their market. Read more »
The third quarter saw many parts of the traditional media business in flux. Other developments included the rollout of new device-based content ecosystems, red flags and red ink for traditional consumer electronics makers, and a resurgence of consumer purchases of movies. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
TeliaSonera’s revenues and subscriber base aren’t budging, but the Nordic carrier claims its costs are skyrocketing. In an effort to realign its business with new mobile data realities, the carrier said it will lay off 7 percent of its workforce over two years. Read more »
A data plan to charge consumers extra for Skype, Google Talk or other VoIP calls has been squashed by TeliaSonera; sort of. Instead of the planned 6 Euro fee for 5 to 10 hours of VoIP calls, the operator is simply raising rates for all. Read more »
Despite the dust up over FaceTime, not all carriers see blocking or restricting over-the-top communications services as their option. VoIP player Sidecar thinks carriers will try and match the features of OTT apps, while T-Mobile says it actively encourage the use of competing IP communications services. Read more »
The gloves are off between Netflix and HBO – in Northern Europe, anyway: HBO revealed plans for an HBO Nordic offering that can be accessed on the Internet without a TV subscription two weeks after Netflix announced its expansion to Northern Europe. Read more »
MetroPCS became the first US carrier to take the leap to voice-over-LTE, combining its voice, messaging and Internet services onto a single IP network. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have VoLTE plans of their own but they don’t necessarily have the same motivations for getting there. Read more »
Discussions about the cloud now involve more than just the IT department. New developments in hardware architectures, more-energy-efficient data centers, regulatory concerns and simplifying analytics are all discussions currently circling through the industry. Here’s what to consider when thinking about your business in the cloud. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
MightyText has taken the beta wraps off of its over-the-top messaging service, which extends an Android phone’s SMS capabilities to PCs and tablets. Using the same phone number, a MightyText user can send and receive text messages from a PC or tablet browser. Read more »
Anecdotal evidence suggests over-the-top video is a booming trend. But it takes technical skill, state-of-the-art broadband connections and the willingness to shell out money for both bandwidth and content subscriptions to fully integrate OTT into a household, much less consider trying to use it to cord cut. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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 »
“Operators treat partners like vendors.” That quote comes form Google director of global android partnerships John Lagerling, who said it at a Dublin conference where it was captured by Light Reading. It’s a telling statement — one that sums up a big problem facing the wireless industry. Read more »
Sony has big plans for a competitive home video service to compete with programming offers from the cable and satellite companies – or maybe I should say ‘had’. Those plans are on hold until regulators decide if Comcast can keep prioritize its content over everyone else’s. Read more »
Your Facebook or LinkedIn account doesn’t have a phone number, but one day it might if Tyntec has anything to say about it. The German company wants to build a virtual mobile phone into any Web 2.0 service, bridging the gap between over-the-top apps and mobile. Read more »
This year’s CES was the biggest in the show’s 44-year history. It boasted 15 miles of exhibit hall aisles, 3,100 booths and 153,000 attendees. It is easy to be jaded by the endlessly repetitive products, but the thousands of innovations point toward a future of connectivity. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Call it the year of lessons learned, if not quite bubbles burst. In 2011, several trends in the connected consumer space that appeared inexorable at the start of the year seemed disorganized by the end. What does that mean for the next 12 months? From cloud-based media storage to daily deals to the fight for the digital living room, 2012 will be a year of consolidation and integration. Both entrepreneurs and investors will figure out that many once-promising standalone business models need to be grounded on more solid, integrated platforms to create real value. Companies mentioned in this report include Hulu, LivingSocial, Netflix and Zynga. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Porn stars are coming to Boxee, thanks to a new app from FyreTV. The X-rated VOD content provider is embracing Boxee and other over-the-top video platforms after previous efforts to rent a dedicated streaming device for adult videos to end users failed to take off. Read more »
Should you buy an Internet-enabled TV? Before you get all app-happy on the big screen, read this cautionary tale of a so-called smart TV from Vizio crashing, crashing and crashing some more. Read more »
Total subscription dollars for video go down in an OTT world. And while every household in the U.S. cutting the cord is an unlikely scenario, the increased popularity of services like Netflix on Demand and Hulu Plus is real. How, then, does the world of video ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Cable and satellite operators are no longer the only game in town. True, PayTV operators still enjoy a privileged position in most homes, a consumer lock fortified by a network of proprietary set-top boxes, longstanding service relationships and “bundled” cost hooks. But this dominance is already being contested by a new wave of video creators, aggregators and distributors using the Internet to bypass incumbent PayTV control points and deliver video programming “over the top” of incumbents’ set-top boxes and enable the delivery of web video directly to consumers.
This report examines the evolving world of over-the-top (OTT) video in both open and closed delivery networks. It covers trends in OTT, current plans of the PayTV providers, the rise of virtual operators, current consumer attitudes surrounding OTT and several of the platforms that will enable delivery. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
