Could Apple spend its $100 billion in cash to create a virtual cable operator to compete with Comcast and the like? Sure. But it would have a really hard time offering a competitively priced service and building a profitable business out of it. Read more »
DynamoDB, AWS’ latest effort to rock the technology establishment, has many implications for other players in the big data and cloud computing markets. A new GigaOM Pro research note examines just who is affected, and how. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The fourth quarter may have lacked a dominating big-event product announcement like Q3’s Facebook platform extension or Q2’s unveiling of Google+, but the NewNet world continued to buzz along. In the battle for mind share, everyone wanted to be a platform. Meanwhile, consumer and social technologies continued to gain momentum, and new vehicles for content and service discovery presented both challenges and opportunities for NewNet companies. And it is hard to ignore the overcrowded but growing world of daily deals. This quarterly report analyzes these trends and others, and it also provides a near-term outlook of trends, technologies and companies to watch in 2012. Companies mentioned in the report include Amazon, Facebook and Socialcast. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Anti-SOPA protesters are taking their cause to the streets on Wednesday, with protests scheduled in New York and San Francisco. We will cover the event in San Francisco, which will feature Ron Conway as a headline speaker, with a live video stream. Read more »
SNL reports that Google is bidding on T-Mobile. If the rumor were somehow true, then Google is suffering from hubris. Selling software, services and handsets is fundamentally a different business than selling connectivity. Google buying T-Mobile would be a bigger disaster than AOL-Time Warner. Read more »
While cable operators and networks continue to downplay the effect of cord cutting, in Deloitte’s State of the Media Democracy survey, the firm reports that 9 percent of respondents have already canceled their cable subscriptions, with another 11 percent saying they are considering doing so. Read more »
Netflix announced that members watched more than 2 billion hours of video on its streaming video service in the fourth quarter. That comes out to about 83 hours of video per account during the quarter, or an average of 54 minutes of Netflix video each day. Read more »
TV viewership is still on the rise, with the typical American watching five hours a day now, according to research by Nielsen. That hasn’t slowed the growth of online video: In fact, the amount of content streamed is accelerating, too. While it hasn’t yet made a ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
VidScale wants to make more efficient use of existing infrastructure, by introducing content delivery network and transparent caching technology into their networks. It’s been chosen by Avail-TVN, which is helping network operators to roll out TV Everywhere services and offer more streaming content to users. Read more »
How about this for localization: Hulu announced a number of new deals for Spanish-language content Tuesday morning, but it’s not about to embark on any Latin American expansion like Netflix. Instead, the site is now targeting Latinos in the U.S. with a dedicated site section. Read more »
Virtual MSOs might start appearing as soon as next year, according to BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield. But any streaming offering that emerges is unlikely to be priced less than $50, which means even if they do launch, the potential market is likely to be limited. Read more »
Frontier Communications is trying to find new ways to provide value to subscribers and is rolling out one of the most comprehensive video portals online. With TumTiki, Frontier is bringing together more than 700,000 video assets from a combination of traditional broadcast TV and online sources. Read more »
It will take more than a five-button remote control to efficiently navigate the new universe of video content now available. That means a new user interface for the video viewing experience is inevitable, and many companies are involved. Here are a few to watch. Read more »
In today’s new universe of video content, consumers need more than a five-button remote to effectively navigate the thousands of choices available. Fortunately, the same technology that has made it possible to create so many offerings can also provide the intelligence to help us find what we want to watch. Though it’s not clear which of the new approaches will win, services from Microsoft, Google, Apple, Roku and others are leading the way towards enormous rewards when it comes to the new era of TV interfaces. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Rovi, Technicolor and Hulu. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Last quarter we highlighted the fast maturation of the Platform-as-a-Service and big data spaces. Those two trends only picked up speed during the third quarter of 2011. Joining them on the cusp of IT greatness, though, are the OpenStack project and flash storage. The former gathered serious validation from big-name companies, while the latter saw less funding than last quarter but a significant number of product launches. Of course, the third quarter wasn’t all lollipops and rose petals. We saw new computing technologies and delivery models such as tablets wreak havoc on both HP and Cisco, and there are concerns (aren’t there always?) about how the Internet will handle our increased use of streaming video and cloud computing. Unfortunately for HP and Cisco, the latter problem might be an easier fix than the strategic woes facing them. Additional companies mentioned in this report include CloudBees, Rackspace, Engine Yard and Joyent. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The third quarter of 2011 was a busy one in the connected consumer segment. Netflix shot itself in both feet with its clumsy public handling of a price hike and spin-off of its DVD business this quarter — though the move may eventually pay off. Facebook, meanwhile, unveiled a major revamp of its news feed and user profile features, including the addition of real-time sharing of activity, while Amazon delievered its new $199, tablet-like Kindle Fire and posed perhaps the strongest challenge yet to the iPad’s overwhelming dominance of the tablet market. Finally, and despite the hopes of the cord cutters out there, the traditional pay-TV business remains as stubbornly undisrupted as ever. Companies mentioned in this report include Hulu, LivingSocial and Spotify. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Netflix backtracked on its plans to separate its DVD-by-mail business and re-brand it Qwikster. So far, Wall Street analysts have been largely supportive of the move, although Netflix stock is down modestly in mid-afternoon trading after opening higher this morning. Here’s some of the analysts’ feedback. Read more »
Netflix came under a lot of heat when it announced plans to separating its DVD service and re-brand it Qwikster. But after nearly unanimous disapproval, the company has decided to shelve those plans, and will keep DVD-by-mail a part of the Netflix brand and website. Read more »
The hosts of Diggnation are finally getting off the couch at the end of the year — but what moments were their favorite over the course of the show’s seven-year run? We asked David Prager, Alex Albrecht and Jim Louderback that question. And we found videos! Read more »
Hulu has worked hard to improve the amount of choice in advertising available to its viewers, and now it’s taking that innovation one step further. Its new Ad Swap product will give its users even more control in deciding which ads they want to see. Read more »
Yahoo and ABC have struck a partnership that combines ABC News’ content with the reach of Yahoo News for a total potential viewership of 100 million users. The alliance will include the debut of GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo and new online programming, including live interviews. Read more »
Twitvid has raised a Series B of $6.5 million and plans to use the money to hire more people and build out its infrastructure. The company has managed to stick around while others gave up. But can it compete with a likely video play from Twitter? Read more »
With people spending more time than ever online, it makes sense for advertisers to go where the eyeballs are. But the Internet has largely lagged when it comes to garnering big ad dollars. New data shows that online ads are finally moving into the big leagues. Read more »
Apple is highlighting the growth of TV content available on iOS devices with a new App Store section called “TV Time.” Apps featured in TV Time include streaming content delivery apps, as well as software to help you share, find and learn more about TV content. Read more »
Netflix has angered many of its users by raising its prices and splitting up its DVD-by-mail and streaming businesses. But co-founder Marc Randolph thinks the separation and re-branding of the DVD business as Qwikster is “one of the smartest, most disciplined and bravest moves [he's] ever seen.” Read more »
For all the head-scratching and chin-pulling over Netflix’s decision to separate its DVD and streaming businesses, one important aspect of the move has gone largely overlooked: the effective separation of its movie and TV content businesses, which splits the company along content lines. While that may ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Documentary master and father of his own iPhoto slideshow effect Ken Burns’ latest effort will debut first on the iPad and iPhone, starting Sept. 23. PBS will make the first episode of Prohibition available first through its iOS apps, over a week prior to TV broadcast. Read more »
The latest mobile video sharing app, called Klip, aims to separate itself from the crowd with high-speed adaptive bit-rate technology enabling users to scroll through videos and a new tagging system that lets them set categories to keep track of when new videos are uploaded. Read more »
Cloud video editing startup Magisto is coming to market with a new service that will take raw video files and make them worth sharing with friends and posting on Facebook. The company is also announcing $5.5 million in financing from Horizons Ventures and Magma Venture Partners. Read more »
Netflix announced that its DVD-by-mail operations would soon be rebranded “Qwikster,” and that the service would be separated from the streaming service that it’s been pushing for the last several years. But doing so raises questions about the future viability of a standalone DVD-by-mail operation. Read more »
Cablevision is the latest cable company to see a future in broadband rather than TV. Rutledge said at an investor conference yesterday that streaming services from companies like Netflix and Hulu could help defray the ever-rising content costs that cable companies are forced to pay. Read more »
Apple’s presence in the aircraft that crisscross our skies is doing well, thanks to the iPad. It is not only being used by airline staff at United to replace paper manuals and charts but is also being tested by Qantas to replace existing in-flight entertainment options. Read more »
Netflix shares have fallen 15 percent after the company issued new guidance on domestic subscriber numbers. The company originally expected 25 million users by the end of the quarter but lowered that number by 1 million after a price hike that went into effect this month. Read more »
Brainchild of New York–based filmmaker Kirby Ferguson, the Everything is a Remix web series builds on the premise that original ideas and thoughts are extremely hard. And because of those reasons, some of the greatest creations are derivative works or remixes of original thoughts. Read more »
Fanhattan has integrated with social networks, which will not only provide more interesting content for users to watch but will also allow them to share their interests with friends. Users can now get recommendations from their social graph, including movies and TV shows their friends like. Read more »
Adobe announced its new Flash Media Server 4.5 late Thursday afternoon, and it’s an iteration that Apple device owners should be very happy about. For the first time, Flash Media Server 4.5 enables same source video delivery to both Apple devices and Adobe Flash-compatible destinations. Read more »
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 »
Netflix is coming to Brazil and other Latin American countries this week, where it will be competing with thousands of street vendors peddling unlicensed DVDs. Can the service beat piracy, or will it be too expensive for the average consumer in Brazil and beyond? Read more »
Dish Network could soon take on Netflix in the subscription streaming space, with a new service offered through Blockbuster. The service is expected to roll out next month, as Dish seeks to take advantage of Netflix’s recent price hike and steal angry customers away. Read more »
Despite its role as a major selling point of the revamped Apple TV last fall, Apple confirmed Friday that it has done away with TV show rentals for iTunes and Apple TV. The company said the decision was based on lack of interest from customers. Read more »
