Until now, Viber has been a mobile-only play that sits somewhere in between Skype and WhatsApp. Now it’s on the desktop too, and the different platform versions are very tightly integrated indeed. Read more »
Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt is watching the Aereo legal battle with interest. If the upstart prevails, Britt may try a similar tactic himself. Read more »
Mobile operators have treated Skype as a threat for years. Now they’re going to profit off it by allowing customers to buy Skype Credit directly through their phone bill or pre-paid allowance and taking a cut. Read more »
A new deal means Netflix will be able to replenish its content library with past seasons from eight shows, including the West Wing. Meanwhile, many other content goodies will stay out of its reach. 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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Rebtel, which calls itself the biggest mobile VoIP company after Skype, is expanding its emphasis on mobile with the launch of its first iPad app. The company is looking to ride the growth of tablets and get even more people on to its cost calling service. 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 »
“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 »
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 »
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 »
At MWC executives of two prominent operators said the industry has significant challenges in the form of over the top providers commoditizing their revenue streams without those companies putting any significant investment of their own into the network. Here’s what operators should do. Read more »
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 »
With the rollout of its massive Xbox Live update, Microsoft has made a strong bid for the pole position in the digital living room. And with dozens of new programming partners also included with the update, the company now offers perhaps the most comprehensive, versatile and ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Sonic.net could soon be one of the first ISPs to introduce a TV service delivered over its broadband service. With the filing of a video franchise application with California’s Public Utilities Commission, Sonic is on its way to creating its own streaming video service. Read more »
After a year in which over-the-top video services grabbed most of the media’s attention, some of the online video headlines shifted back to traditional pay-TV providers in the first quarter of 2011. Device manufacturers rolled out new offerings, while cable-TV providers moved to expand their in-home footprint beyond the TV itself. But over-the-top continued to encroach, with Roku adding its first linear channels to the Roku store and Netflix acquiring exclusive rights to high-profile original series House of Cards. Finally, traditional web powers like Google, Yahoo and Apple made moves to reassert their presence in the living room after their early stumbles. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Comcast, Cablevision, Viacom and VUDU. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
When Microsoft announced that ESPN would make live and on-demand video available through its Xbox Live service, the news had strong implications for mass adoption of cable services being delivered ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
