GigaOM recently sat down with ngmoco CEO and co-founder Neil Young to talk about the future of gaming and mobile apps. While he loves Apple’s platform, he’s not so keen on its own efforts to connect its gaming user community through Game Center. Read more »
Microsoft is reportedly in talks to bring more TV content to its Xbox Live service. One option on the table is to directly license cable networks like HBO and Showtime, another is to compete with Comcast & Co. on their home turf by selling cable-like subscription bundles. Read more »
TV apps will soon be “everywhere,” according to attendees of a recent GigaOM Bunker event examining the future of the TV market. But how that market will develop, and which TV platforms will win out, is yet to be ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The television business is on the cusp of the biggest technological upheaval since the introduction of cable TV. The addition of Internet connectivity to living room devices will enable new functionality around programming services, program discovery, social networking, ad targeting and measurement — aspects of the TV viewing experience that have remained largely unchanged for decades. These trends have the potential to become the foundation for new economic models around how viewers pay for video service and how program creation is financed. In this report, we examine the leading contenders’ strategic positioning, relative strengths and weaknesses, and provide the early line on their odds of success. Companies mentioned include Google, Apple, Boxee, Roku, Vudu, Samsung, Microsoft and Sony. To see a full list of companies and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Many signs suggest Sony will soon launch a Playstation Portable Phone. It’s a move that invites comparison to Microsoft’s plan of integrating Xbox Live with Windows Phone 7, a far more software-centric method of attack than Sony’s hardware-focused strategy. Which has a better shot at ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Microsoft is making a play to get its users watching more video through its Xbox 360 game console, and could soon pose a clear threat to cable operators. Unlike big cable, it’s gaining subscribers who are eager to watch video services available through the service. Read more »
Microsoft announced a press event next week to launch Windows Phone 7, the highly anticipated platform to help Microsoft regain prominence in the smartphone market. Here’s a run-down on what you can expect from the new devices, who will carry them and what they can do. Read more »
The hype surrounding Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 is due largely to the platform’s tight integration with Xbox Live and its focus on gaming. But Microsoft could further alienate its dwindling base of enterprise users in pursuit of this niche market of unknown gamers. Read more »
Microsoft has seen its Xbox Live subscription gaming service grow pretty dramatically, with the service topping $1 billion in revenues. Perhaps more importantly, the majority of that revenue didn’t come through subscriptions, but from the sale of movies, TV shows and other content on the service. Read more »
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 »
Microsoft made a lot of potential cord-cutters very happy yesterday when it announced a deal with ESPN to make 3,500 live sporting events available through Xbox Live. But those users should probably hold off before canceling their service and read the fine print first. Read more »
Hulu’s long-awaited subscription service might be rolled out as a video service on Xbox Live, which, if true, would be the first time Hulu actually agreed to allow its TV and film content to be made available on the television, rather than just through PCs. Read more »
Google unveiled Google TV at its I/O conference on May 20, promising to revolutionize the TV ecosystem by giving people “the power to experience what they love on TV and on the web on a single screen,” while turning the living room “into a new platform for innovation.”
It’s a promise made by others (including no-less formidable innovators such as Microsoft and Apple) but never delivered on. Much has changed since Microsoft failed with Web TV, however, and even since Apple introduced (and has since largely ignored) its Apple TV. The amount of premium video content available on the Internet has grown exponentially, while faster broadband connections have made delivering high-quality video over IP networks feasible. In this research note, we look at why the time is ripe for Google’s offering to succeed, what it si, and its potential impacts on the TV ecosystem, including users, hardware providers, app stores, content providers, distributors, and competitors (including Apple, Microsoft, and independent IP video platforms). Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Microsoft‘s Xbox 360 game console already has a huge install base, a wide variety of content and engaged users. And now, according to an article in the New York Times, Microsoft is in talks with Disney to bring some live video content from ESPN to the […] Read more »
As the year winds to a close, GigaOM Pro’s crack team of contributors takes a look back at what went right, what went wrong, and for whom in the world of the NewNet. ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
