Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: BD Live, Blu-ray Disc, Entertainment Weekly, Fantasia 2000, New York Times, Seven Dwarfs, TiVo, Wall Street Journal
TECHNOLOGY
TiVo users will be able to automatically record television broadcasts recommended by Entertainment Weekly magazine as the result of a deal that could help differentiate TiVo from its DVR competition and create a more direct connection between the magazine and its audience, reports The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal (8/27) , Reuters (8/27)
One time-honored way to boost hardware sales is by improving the software, and Disney is trying to do just that for Blu-ray players by releasing five classic animated movies with added interactive and social-networking features. Disney will market Blu-ray versions of “Pinocchio,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Fantasia,” “Fantasia 2000” and “Beauty and the Beast” over the next two years, with the discs featuring BD Live technology, which connects the Blu-ray player with the Internet. The New York Times (8/26)
Artison, a maker of high-end speakers, has added in-wall products to its Masterpiece, Portrait and Sketch designer models that feature the company’s space-saving DualMono Center Channel system, the company said. Prices range from $1,350 for the Sketch pair to $2,800 for a pair of the Masterpiece In-Wall LCR. ElectronicHouse.com (8/26)
The global market for home-based broadband networks will surpass 200 million by the end of this year and will reach 500 million by 2010, according to a new study from research firm In-Stat. That trend is expected to be good news for companies that manufacture home-network equipment such as broadband modems, routers and residential gateway gear. Cartt News Service (8/26)
Feeling more confident, consumers expect to spend more on technology over the next year, according to a pair of surveys from the CEA and CNET released Tuesday. The CEA-CNET Index of Consumer Expectations, which measures consumer expectations about the economy, and the CEA-CNET Index of Consumer Technology Expectations, a similar model linked to technology spending, both rose in August. American City Business Journals/Nashville, Tenn. (8/26) , CNET (8/26)
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Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: Big Ten Network, Cable television, Dish Network, ESPN, ESPNU, Southeastern Conference, Television, Time Warner Cable
Medical comedy series “Scrubs” will join the regular weekday prime-time lineup of TV Land next Tuesday; but before that can happen, it will run in a marathon — a seven-hour programming stunt that begins on the network Monday at 4 p.m. Eastern time. Multichannel News (8/25)
Is there an overlap between readers of Wired and viewers of Dexter, the Showtime series about a serial killer? An upcoming ad campaign for the show will feature Dexter (aka actor Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under fame) gracing the cover of a magazine that looks exactly like Wired, which is owned by Conde Nast. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/dexter-ad-rips-off-wired 8/26)
Personally, being that I am a Wired reader and a Dexter fan, this ad would cause me to stop dead in my tracks in awe. And that hacker pun is pretty damn witty. . .
The high-definition version of ESPNU goes live Thursday with a college football matchup featuring Vanderbilt and Miami of Ohio. In its first year with HD technology, the college-sports network will use the 720p high-def format in more than 200 events covering a wide range of sports. Broadcasting & Cable (8/25)
ESPN and the Southeastern Conference college athletics association have made final the terms of a 15-year, multiplatform rights deal that, according to this report, is valued at about $2.25 billion. The agreement is said to include TV outlets such as ESPN, ESPNU and ABC as well as digital properties ESPN360 and ESPN Mobile. Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter (8/26)
Following a similar deal with Comcast, the Big Ten Network has inked a new carriage agreement with Time Warner Cable that is expected to take effect before the league kicks off its 2008-09 season. The accord includes standard and high-definition versions of the channel as well as video on demand. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) (8/26) , TVWeek.com (8/25)
Satellite provider Dish Network has announced that it is now transmitting its standard and high-def content via the enhanced MPEG-4 format in 21 markets. The company said the initiative encompassed all programming running through its MPEG-4 HD and HD DVR receivers. Cartt News Service (8/25) , OneTRAK (8/25)
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Filed under: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA | Tags: Amazon.com, Barack Obama, Candidate, Declassified School Survival Guide, John McCain, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Nickelodeon, United States
ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA
FX, one of cable’s the most acclaimed producers of original programming on the web, is finally bringing full length episodes of its shows to its web site, reports B&C, including Hulu hit It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and new biker drama Sons of Anarchy. (Cynopsis 8/26)
Shelfari, a social network for bibliophiles, has been acquired by Amazon for an undisclosed amount. Amazon has been a longtime supporter of the Seattle based startup, having invested $1 million in the site in February 2007. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/25/amazon-aquires-shelfari-moves-to-corner-social-book-space 8/25)
Last March, Google began inviting a select number of publishers within its AdSense network to test a new hosted advertisement management tool called Google Ad Manager. The search company has now announced
that the tool is out of beta and available to all publishers with AdSense accounts. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/google-fully-releases-its-hosted-ad-management-system 8/26)
Who is doing a better job of getting his message across on the Web: John McCain or Barack Obama? Conventional wisdom says that it is Obama, whose performance on the Web has been strong since the beginning. And conventional wisdom is still correct when it comes to blogs and social networks. But a new study by Attributor that is being released today shows that McCain is actually leading on mainstream news sites and catching up on blogs, especially as he and his supporters have been increasing their attacks on Obama. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/study-blogs-love-obama-news-sites-love-mccain-but-mccain-is-catching-up-by-going-negative 8/26)
In a first for a Viacom-owned basic-cable network, Nickelodeon has signed a deal with Amazon.com that will allow the online retailer to duplicate and deliver a large selection of the network’s content through a DVD-on-demand platform. The agreement, announced Monday, includes hits such asDrake & Joshp; Josh,” “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” and “Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius.” Broadcasting & Cable (8/25)
MTV Networks’ mtvU has formed a partnership with online-search firm Zvents to create a new fraternity of Web sites spotlighting events and other happenings at 25 colleges and universities. Steven Friedman, general manager of mtvU, said the sites, which launch today, would be “encyclopedic” in their coverage and also would have robust potential for national and local advertisers. Mediaweek (8/26)
The RIAA shut down Muxtape but that doesn’t mean its memory won’t linger on the hearts of those who must share their love of the Hold Steady with the world. Enter OpenTape, an open source package that essentially recreates the Muxtape experience on a personal level. You simply download the application, unpack it on your web server, and then upload songs. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/muxtape-reborn-unofficially-as-opentape 8/26)
Building on the strategic partnership formed in March between Microsoft and Move Networks, the ubiquitous software giant will make an undisclosed investment in Web TV provider Move Networks. The fruits of the companies’ work together thus far are being showcased at this week’s Democratic National Convention, where Democrats are streaming coverage on their site using the duo’s technology. CNET (8/25)
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Filed under: WIRELESS | Tags: Flixster, Germany, iPhone, iTunes, Mobile phone, Smartphone, T-Mobile, Windows Mobile
Images from around the web are showing the HTC Dream AKA the T-Mobile G1 in all its bendy, screen-sliding glory. This Sidekick-like phone has a pop up screen, full QWERTY keyboard, and none of the buckets of suck that characterize Windows Mobile phones. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/its-official-the-g1-from-t-mobile-is-the-first-android-phone 8/26)
Despite a weak battery and questions about how fast it connects to 3G networks, some time in the next week more than 6 million iPhone 3Gs will be in people’s hands around the world. What that means is that the second generation device has outsold the original iPhone just seven weeks after going on sale. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/iphone-3gs-now-outnumber-first-generation-iphones 8/26)
Movie focused social network Flixster acquired a popular iPhone application called Movies.app (iTunes link) last week, and has re-released the application this evening. As far as we know, this is the first acquisition of an iPhone app. The price isn’t being disclosed. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/college-sophomore-sells-his-iphone-app-to-flixster 8/26)
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Filed under: GAMING | Tags: Business, EA, Electronic Arts, SEC, SEC filing, Take-Two Interactive, taketwo, Video game
Negotiations surrounding Electronic Arts‘ possibly acquiring Take-Two Interactive have gone behind closed doors. Citing a confidentiality agreement, the two video game manufacturers said in an SEC filing that they would hold their tongues publicly while a possible deal was being hammered out privately. Reuters (8/25)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Blu-ray Disc, Microsoft, Panasonic, Personal computer, Secure Digital card, us, VHS, Wall Street Journal
TECHNOLOGY
More rumors about the new Kindle are emerging, which Techcrunch first wrote about on July 15. The first device will have a similar sized screen as the existing model but will have a much enhanced form factor. The second will be a large screen device aimed at students and will come later. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/08/26/if-amazon-really-wants-to-get-serious-about-the-kindle 8/26)
Some PC makers are trying to improve speed and reduce glitches from Microsoft’s Vista operating system by either adding their own productivity tools to PCs or replacing installed software with their own programs — all with Microsoft’s encouragement. Companies such Dell and HP believe that placing their proprietary software on top of Microsoft’s wares will lend their PCs a unique selling point and improve user experience. The Wall Street Journal (8/26)
The Dell Dock floats on the desktop and organizes programs into pockets of quick-start icons.
Yamaha’s new Blu-ray device mixes an array of colors, multimedia features and interactivity via content from an SD card, the company announced. The BD-S2900, which lists at $1,200, is designed to complement a fully functioning A/V receiver with 12-bit Deep Color that delivers 4,096 shades of each of the three primary colors. CEPro.com (8/25)
Panasonic’s new Blu-ray player has all of the latest high-tech connections with a twist: The DMR-BR630V also lets users convert their old VHS tapes into the HD format. The unit, which is due to hit Japan on Oct. 1, includes a 320GB hard drive, Panasonic’s Viera link technology and the ability to write BDRs at six times speed. No U.S. release date has been revealed. Gizmodo (8/25) , ElectronicHouse.com (8/25)
Broadcom is purchasing the digital-TV business from AMD in a deal valued at $192.8 million. Broadcom says the purchase will help it better serve the full range of this market, from low to high end. Los Angeles Times (8/26) , The Wall Street Journal (8/26)
HP is expected to close its massive deal today to acquire Electronic Data Systems, a strategic move that will make HP the country’s second-biggest information-technology services group behind IBM. The deal also is expected to test the strategic know-how of HP CEO Mark Hurd, whose job it will be to integrate the two companies. Financial Times (8/26) , The Wall Street Journal (8/26)
Filed under: BROADCAST/CABLE | Tags: 1996 Summer Olympics, Elle, Grand Slam, NBC Universal, Stylista, Summer Olympic Games, Tennis Channel, U.S. Open
With 16 days of its 17-day Summer Olympics run in the books, it’s looking as if NBC Universal is going to set a few records of its own. According to NBCU’s analysis of Nielsen data, its cable and broadcast platforms attracted 211 million viewers during that time period, 2 million more than the previous pace-setter, the 1996 Atlanta Games. Financial Times (8/24) , The Hollywood Reporter (8/24)
The 2008 U.S. Open tennis tournament begins today on USA, but that hasn’t stopped the Tennis Channel from planning for a year from now, when it will kick off its coverage of the Grand Slam event. The network, which will split 2009 U.S. Open coverage with ESPN and CBS, has even been busy signing up advertisers for the year-from-now tourney, including Longines, GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson. Adweek (8/25)
The CW’s series debut of Stylista is now slated for October 22 at 9p, a week earlier than originally planned. This series will follow eleven fashion assistants working for Elle’s Fashion News Director, Anne Slowey as they battle to be the best. After weekly eliminations, the final winner will receive a one-year stint on Elle magazine’s editorial staff, a paid lease on a Manhattan apartment and a clothing allowance at H&M all valued at $100,000. (Cynopsis 8/25)
BET’s season two finale of Baldwin Hills on August 19 at 10p averaged 1.6 million total viewers. (Cynopsis 8/25)
Gamers chomping at the bit to get their hands on Will Wright’s latest sim masterpiece Spore may want to check out How to Build a Better Being on National Geographic Channel tomorrow night at 10 p ET/PT. The documentary offers insight into the genetic engineering research that went into Spore, which enables players to design life forms utilizing a menu of creator tools. The Spore Galactic Edition, which includes a DVD of the documentary, is due out for PC and Mac on Sept. 7. (Cynopsis 8/25)
Travel Channel Media picked up the exclusive U.S. cable rights to reality series The Amazing Race from CBS Television Distribution. The deal, with terms not disclosed, includes the most recent seasons of the show: 12 and 13 (now in production) plus Season 14 (based on production considerations). Episodes from Season 12 will air on the Travel Channel each Wednesday at 8p starting September 3. (Cynopsis 8/25)
Looking to establish its credentials in the reality-programming arena, Lifetime has ordered six episodes of a competition series about makeup artists. The show, to be titled “Blush: The Search for America’s Greatest Makeup Artist,” is expected to premiere in November and will serve as a companion to Lifetime’s newly acquired “Project Runway,” which moves to the network this fall. Variety (8/24)
Fox Cable Networks has signed a new carriage deal with Comcast to present the high-definition versions of the FX and Speed channels. The networks will be shown in the 720p format and will be rolled out on HD basic tiers across Comcast’s systems by the end of next year. Multichannel News (8/24)
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