Filed under: MISC
Breaking News
New iPods/iPhone are unleashed by the Apple masterminds.
And here are the highlights:
iPod Touch
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iPod goes touch with an 8GB and 16GB model starting at $299.
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Touch screen cool.
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Capacity, not so much.
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Even cooler still, this little iPod is Wi-Fi enabled allowing users to purchase music on the iTunes store directly from an iPod. [sigh] How long I’ve been waiting for this moment!
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Starbucks music store offerings. Within range of a Starbucks store, an extra button appears on screen offering users access to songs recently played in that location along with music that Starbucks is promoting through the iTunes store. Rollout planned initially in 600 stores in NYC and Seattle.
Video Walkthrough of the iPod Touch
iPhone (the new edition)
- Price Drop. Old edition came in the 4GB and 8GB varieties at $499 and $599 respectively. New version is 8GB only available at $399. $100 cheaper for 4GB more capacity? Yes, I think so.
- To quote a good friend on this, this price drop “leaves all of us early adopters out to be mocked”.
- 4GB model extinction. Still available on the site but no longer in stores. This model now only costs $299 online.
- Custom Ringtone availability. A new version of iTunes is available later tonight allowing previously purchased iTunes music to be converted to ringtones for an additional $.99. WAY HOTT.
- Starbucks music store offerings. Within range of a Starbucks store, an extra button appears on screen offering users access to songs recently played in that location along with music that Starbucks is promoting through the iTunes store. Rollout planned initially in 600 stores in NYC and Seattle.
iPod Nano (the new edition)
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Shorter and fatter than the one you remember.
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Video capabilities.
iPod Classic
- Bigger. Now available in 80GB and 160GB models for $249 and $349 respectively. Just for reference 160 GB = 40,000 songs. Whoa.
iPod Shuffle
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New colors
For more in depth coverage, visit Gizmodo at http://www.gizmodo.com/.
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE
BROADCAST/CABLE
Time Warner chief Dick Parsons delivers an “outstanding performance” for his shareholders “without a stupendous pay package,” according to a study of CEOs. Parson’s pay in 2006 was $18.3 million, while Time Warner’s return was 26%, “significantly more than the S&P 500′s return.” (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3Ej3w.QG5HI 9/5)
(Below) All episodes of this new series are also available on HBO on Demand a week before the linear airing. The first episode is now available to watch on HBO on Demand before the Sunday premiere.
HBO on Sunday will debut “Tell Me You Love Me,” a hard-hitting drama about three couples struggling to regain some level of intimacy in their relationships. The show, which contains graphic sex scenes, is being described by at least one critic as HBO’s most important offering since “The Sopranos.” (Yahoo!/Associated Press 9/4)
FX will unveil season five of nip/tuck on October 30 at 10p. nip/tuck’s 14 episodes will be populated this season by a number of guest stars, including Oliver Platt, Lauren Hutton, Portia de Rossi, Tia Carrere and John Schneider. Additionally, Rose O’Donnell will reprise her season four role of lottery winner Dawn Budge and Leslie Grossman returns in her season one role as Bliss Berger. The series was created and is executive produced by Ryan Murphy and it is produced by The Shephard-Robin Company in association with Warner Bros. Television Productions Inc.
A week before NBC’s “Today” show adds a fourth hour, rival “Good Morning America” is expanding to three — although few television viewers will notice. ABC is producing the third hour of “GMA” for ABC News Now, a subscription-only service for broadband and mobile customers. (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070904/tv_gma_third_hour.html 9/4)
Nickelodeon’s new comedy for teens, “iCarly,” will offer young viewers the chance to submit homemade videos that could be included in the show, a first for a scripted series. The program’s central character is an eighth-grader who stars in a Webcast that will be featured on the show. (http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-09-03-icarly_N.htm 9/5)
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV is developing a new Personal TV Channel system video-recorder application, which is capable of learning users’ viewing tastes and creating personalized channels. “You just create a channel and select a program. The system monitors your zapping habits and automatically refines your channel,” said Jeroen Cappendijk, business development manager of Philips’ Personal TV Channel product. (Yahoo!/PC World/IDG News Service 9/4)
After the FCC refused to grant Comcast waivers for three set-top boxes, an executive said the cable company would appeal the case in federal court. After the FCC’s ruling on Motorola’s DCT-700, Scientific-Atlanta’s Explorer-940 and Pace Micro’s Chicago boxes, executive vice president David L. Cohen said “it is our intention to pursue promptly judicial review of this decision.” (Multichannel News 9/4)
Comcast during the next six months will begin testing do-it-yourself installation kits for phone service in Philadelphia, Denver and Boston; tests are under way in San Francisco. The company, currently with about 3 million phone customers, has the potential to save up to $300 per installation, RBC Capital Markets analyst Jonathan Atkin said. (Bloomberg 9/4)
Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
NBC Universal has found a digital distribution outlet more to its liking. NBCU reached a wide-ranging distribution agreement with Amazon.com to make a variety of broadcast shows, cable shows and movies available for purchase on its Unbox platform including several packaging options and incentive plans. NBC has been dabbling with Unbox for the past year, but the new agreement allows Amazon to offer full seasons of hits including 30 Rock, The Office, Heroes and the 3 Law & Order incarnations at volume discounts, with new episodes to be added the day after they premiere this fall. The pilots of new shows Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman and Life will also be available for free from September 10, then for $1.99 per episode following their premieres. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=avvnTZoJpaik 9/4)
NBC Universal, which decided last week to pull its shows from Apple’s iTunes, is seen as only the first media company considering hardball tactics as deadlines approach to renew contracts with the service. Television programs could disappear from iTunes altogether, say media analysts. (http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUSN0437196820070905 9/5)
(Below) How I do love a good video download service show down. Being that Sony is offering this service as tied to popular devices like the PS3, PSP, and the Bravia HD TV’s, this should make things very interesting. Of course, this depends on the simplicity of the interface and most importantly the price points.
After throwing in the towel on the music download business, Sony is gearing up to challenge Apple and Microsoft with a new video download service tied to the PlayStation 3, the PSP handheld and its line of Bravia HD TV’s. Although the article provides few details, Sony’s differentiator appears to be the ability to offer shows and movies in HD. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118885177843416106.html 9/4)
Yahoo acquired online ad network BlueLithium for $300 million in cash. BlueLithium specializes in targeting based on users’ interests, custom segmentation and extending frequency against a marketer’s targeted audience.
Universal Music Group is accusing Veoh Networks, the Internet video-site operator backed by former Disney boss Michael Eisner, of infringing its copyrights. Veoh and its financial backers — which include Time Warner — must be “held financially responsible,” says Universal. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aoI_7BwsoBnM 9/4)
You’ve heard of movies and TV series getting a little marketing push in the virtual world Second Life, but here is the reverse. HBO has picked up a documentary completely shot and produced in the online site Second Life. The 35-minute doc, My Second Life: The Video Diaries of Molotov Alva follows the avatar director/producer Alva (aka director Douglas Gayeton) as he travels the Second Life world in search of its creator, and comes across many a colorful character on his way. The doc will be scheduled to air in 2008. (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0444783420070904 9/4)
Investors sent Yahoo shares up more than 5% Tuesday after Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck said the Internet giant “remains an attractive acquisition candidate for either traditional media companies seeking to deepen their exposure to the Internet or from tech companies like Microsoft.” (http://www.nypost.com/seven/09052007/business/takeover_talk_lifts_yahoo__by_.htm 9/5)
ESPN360.com completed a relaunch featuring an entirely new look and updated user interface enabling broadband users to view up to 10 simultaneous events at once. The next generation player features DVR-like controls and improved video quality delivering 640 x 360 images displayed in either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios. ESPN is hoping the new features and a revamped line up of more than 2,000 live sporting events in the next 12 months (including NBA, NASCAR, College Football and College Basketball) will convince more broadband providers to carry the service. So far AT&T, Verizon, Charter and Mediacom are the only major carriers paying ESPN for the privilege of offering it to their subscribers, giving about 17 million homes access.
Tyler Perry, the producer of the sitcom “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” is launching his own broadband video channel is a partnership with the William Morris Agency. Several other single artist broadband channels featuring William Morris talent are said to be in the works. (http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003634868 9/5)
WCSN announced a deal with FOXSports.com to provide Olympic-style and World Championship event video content to sports fans on MSN.FOXSports.com and within the MSN Video platform. WCSN will launch a branded channel users can link to from FoxSports.com’s “More” category, with additional content appearing in the “Olympic Sports” section. Coverage will include interviews and behind-the-scenes looks at the Beijing Olympics as well as streaming of cycling, gymnastics and alpine skiing events.
Entertainment ‘zine site OK-Magazine.com relaunched with new exclusive content including continuously updated breaking news, celebrity updates, photo galleries, videos, reviews, blogs and numerous interactive features.
In my mind, and I’m not just saying this because I am one, bloggers like Perez Hilton and Trent from Pinkisthenewblog have excelled at providing celebrity news and photographs because they rely on the mass market for information. At this point, the celebrity magazines like OK! And US Weekly just seem left behind in getting entertainment news to the public.
Video advertising company VideoEgg raised an additional $15 million in funding according to TechCrunch, led by Focus Ventures with existing investors WPP, Maveron and August Capital also contributing. The company has raised more than $32 million since its founding in 2005. VideoEgg recently struck a deal with Facebook to sell ads directly into applications developed for the social networking site.
CBS Corp.’s collegiate sports site CSTV.com reported a unique user base of 1.2 million as of College Football kickoff Saturday on Sept 1st, a 27% year-to-year increase. The overall CSTV network, which includes 215 official collegiate websites, recorded 8.2 million page views last Saturday.
The McClatchy Co. is retaining its 14.4% stake in online jobs site Careerbuilder.com amid declining classified revenues at its newspapers. Gannett and Tribune each maintain a 40.8% stake in the site.
Peer-to-peer downloading still dominates internet traffic according to the preliminary results of a survey conducted by Germany-based ipouque, accounting for somewhere between 50-90% of the bits delivered on the world wide web. BitTorrent leads all P2P providers serving 50-75% of the global streams. A survey of BitTorrent shared files in October of last year found audio music to be the most popular genre (accounting for 22.3% of all downloads), followed by movies (21.24%), adult video (15.04%) and TV series (11.25%).
Filed under: WIRELESS
WIRELESS
Palm has decided to terminate its plans for its much-talked-about Foleo, only days before the smartphone companion was to begin shipping. Palm officials have opted instead to renew their focus on a single-product platform. “Our own evaluation and early market feedback were telling us that we still have a number of improvements to make Foleo a world-class product, and we cannot afford to make those improvements on a platform that is not central to our core focus,” CEO Ed Colligan wrote. (InfoWorld/IDG News Service 9/4)
Microsoft officials are not ruling out the possibility of a “Zune” phone, which may provide competition to Apple’s iPhone. “It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think at some point there might [be] some integrated thing,” Microsoft’s Mindy Mount said. (Los Angeles Times/Reuters 9/5)
Mobile content publisher Airborne Entertainment and digital distribution company Iris Distribution struck a partnership to offer mobile subscribers a line up of digital music tracks, wallpapers and music videos. The content is sourced from several independent labels featuring artists including Kid Koala, Amon Tobin and Bad Brains.
Hachette’s Elle magazine is partnering with Yahoo to create a mobile site dedicated to Fashion Week. The new site will be accessible through Yahoo oneSearch, Elle Mobile and text. Elle’s coverage will include runway reviews, fashion blogs and photo diaries from young designers. (http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-sectors/media-publishing/42306.html 9/5)
Research firm Integrated Media Measurement is rolling out a new tool that allows marketers to track the effectiveness of their ad messages through people’s cell phones. The new technology enables companies to monitor all audio advertising panelists encounter and follow their purchasing decisions after hearing those messages. (Technology Review 9/5)
