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Introducing the Future of Mobile TV

This could be the big end-around to the wireless companies...

Introducing the Future of Mobile TV As Korean companies bring new technologies to the U.S., broadcasters are investigating simpler, cheaper ways to put shows on portable devices

Want to check out Friday Night Lights during your commute home? How about Boston Legal? Good luck. Despite all the talk of watching live television on your mobile phone or other portable device, the idea is more promise than reality these days. What you can get, if you can get anything, is short, prerecorded video clips or a handful of channels that your all-powerful wireless carrier has chosen for you.

All of that may be about to change. Two companies from Korea, land of the wireless future, are bringing technology to the U.S. that will allow television stations to bypass wireless carriers altogether and deliver programs directly to mobile phones. The latest development on this front came on Apr. 3 when LG Electronics, in partnership with Harris Corp. (HRS), unveiled new, inexpensive technology that allows stations to zip local news and other video content to phones, portable video players, and in-car entertainment systems within a 45-mile radius. [MORE]

News Corp., NBC pull together to challenge YouTube - Los Angeles Times

Link: News Corp., NBC pull together to challenge YouTube - Los Angeles Times.

Several media giants are teaming up to challenge Google Inc. and its YouTube video-sharing service, seeking to blunt their incursion into the entertainment business.

News Corp. and NBC Universal plan to announce as soon as today that they are creating an online video site stocked with TV shows and movies, plus clips that users can modify and share with friends, according to people close to the negotiations.

The Last Days of Internet Radio?

Yikes!  This is the first I've hear of this...

Link: The Last Days of Internet Radio?.

The Last Days of Internet Radio? A decision by the Copyright Royalty Board to raise royalty fees could put some small online radio stations out of business.  Kurt Hanson runs a Chicago-based online radio station that streams more than 300 channels of classical, jazz, oldies, and other music genres aimed at adults. The station, AccuRadio, lures more than 1 million visitors a month—not bad for a startup that's only been around since 2002. If a Mar. 5 decision by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) takes effect, AccuRadio may not be around much longer. [MORE]

Wired News: Music Vets Prep Next-Gen Player

Link: Wired News: Music Vets Prep Next-Gen Player.

Music Vets Prep Next-Gen Player Page 1 of 1 See Also Can Surround Sound Save MP3? Note to Sony: Skip iPod Knockoff Inside Look at Birth of the IPod The Music Store in Your Pocket By Eliot Van Buskirk| Also by this reporter 02:00 AM Feb, 12, 2007 Three digital music veterans have launched a stealth startup and are close to unveiling both a new portable media player and what they're calling an "internet radio ecosystem," Wired News has learned. [MORE]

Amazon Partners With Tivo; Steals Walmart’s Thunder

Link: Amazon Partners With Tivo; Steals Walmart’s Thunder.

Amazon Partners With Tivo; Steals Walmart’s Thunder Steve Poland 12 comments »On the same day that Walmart launched a competing movie download service and then fell flat on their face over simple browser compatibility issues, Amazon announced an incredibly cool, long rumored new partnership with Tivo. After several months of rumors, Amazon and TiVo have partnered to make Amazon Unbox content available from user PCs to their broadband-connected TiVo units.

Wal-Mart and Studios in Film Deal - New York Times

Link: Wal-Mart and Studios in Film Deal - New York Times.

Wal-Mart and Studios in Film Deal Sign In to E-Mail or Save This Print Reprints Share Digg Facebook Newsvine Permalink By MICHAEL BARBARO Published: February 6, 2007 Stores">Wal-Mart Stores may have lost the online DVD rental battle, but it has no plans to lose the higher-stakes video downloading war.

TiVo's StopWatch to offer up precise viewer statistics - Engadget

Link: TiVo's StopWatch to offer up precise viewer statistics - Engadget.

TiVo's StopWatch to offer up precise viewer statistics Posted Feb 1st 2007 10:35AM by Darren Murph Filed under: Home Entertainment TiVo's transformation from a ad-skipper's best friend to an ad agency's biggest asset is nearly complete, as the firm's StopWatch system is aimed to provide "second-by-second" viewing data which Nielsen has refused to offer thus far. While the company went public about its intentions to become an ad-friendly platform awhile back, it looks like the time has come for its voyeuristic service to go live, as it begins marketing a system to carefully watch its 4.5 million or so customers whiz through commercials and schedule season recordings. This indeed marks the "first time a syndicated ratings service has detailed live and time-shifted viewing data on a second-by-second basis," which advertisers should absolutely drool over. Notably, Starcom has already signed on as TiVo's first taker, and with the amount of critical data now available to media agencies, we hardly believe it'll be the last. So the next time you crank up your TiVo and cruise on by every single costly commercial on your favorite recorded drama, take comfort in the fact that Big Brother is taking notes on a moment-by-moment basis.

Creators of Kazaa unveil Web TV service - Los Angeles Times

Link: Creators of Kazaa unveil Web TV service - Los Angeles Times.

Creators of Kazaa unveil Web TV service By Dawn C. Chmielewski, Times Staff Writer January 17, 2007 Online click to enlargeThe duo behind the blockbuster Internet applications Skype and Kazaa think they have the secret to online video: Make it more like TV.

Netflix, I Was Just Kidding About Breaking Up With You

Link: Netflix, I Was Just Kidding About Breaking Up With You.

Netflix, I Was Just Kidding About Breaking Up With You Michael Arrington 66 comments »Last month I wrote a post called “Why I Am Breaking Up With Netflix” that outlined the reasons I was switching to BlockBuster’s Total Access after years as a loyal Netflix customer. BlockBuster’s new offering, which basically turns every mailed movie into a coupon for a free movie at any BlockBuster outlet, has been a huge success. BlockBuster now has 2.2 million members, adding 700,000 over the last two and a half months. In the arms race between the two companies, BlockBuster launched something Netflix has no answer to - intelligent integration between the website and BlockBuster’s thousands of retail outlets. But now Netflix has fired back with a really excellent new service that could swing momentum back in their direction. This morning, a select number of Netflix’s 6 million subscribers will have access to a new Watch Now product that will stream television shows and movies to a Windows PC. The remaining members will be given access over the next six months. About 1,000 movies and tv shows will initially be available (including some hits - NBC’s “The Office” is included, for example). [MORE]

TiVo "Program Placement Ads"

Link: Engadget.

TiVo Program Placement adds post-roll ad option to recordings Posted Nov 28th 2006 2:23PM by Evan Blass Filed under: Home Entertainment In a move that satisfies its never ending quests to both develop new revenue streams as well as assist advertisers in counteracting the commercial-skipping culture that it helped create, TiVo has unveiled a new initiative that will tack targeted ads onto the end of subscribers' recorded programs. [MORE]