Business News Holding

Tag: content-providers

  • FootageBank Launches HD Content Service For Mobiles


    FootageBank HD has launched a new royalty-free division offering high def content for online and mobile platforms.

    Called footagehead.com, the service provides web accessible HD content for use in PodCasts and webisodes.

    Paula Lumbard, founder and president of FootageBank HD, said the new service had more than 10,000 new clips with more coming weekly.

    "Early on, we recognized the value of HD footage, which allowed FootageBank HD to prepare for the high demand," she said.

    "With an eye on the future, we anticipate the same need for programming and tools to create content for PodCasts, webisodes or anything in the mobile media space."

    The LA-based HD footage specialists shot most of the content with Panasonic P2 and Sony XD cameras within the last year.

    All the clips are offered in their native codecs, without compression.

    The HD 16 X 9 widescreen format is immediately downloadable and royalty free.

    footagehead.com is offering the clips at one price point.

    "It is our intention to be the leader in serving the growing demand for downloadable 16 x 9 content in digital files created with the new mobile HD camcorders," states Lumbard.

    "We are seeing growth in this market around the world, and expect demand to continue as the consumers of media more and more turn to their mobile ‘third screens’ for their entertainment."

  • Mobiles To Receive Unprecedented US Election Coverage


    Whatever the outcome of the Obama-McCain contest, the unprecedented level of mobile US election coverage is expected to do much to introduce mainstream consumers to mobile content.

    Media companies and mobile operators have teamed up to offer extensive coverage of the US presidential election results direct to mobile phones.

    The hope is that huge numbers of people unfamiliar to the world of mobile content will continue using it long after election day.

    News, analysis and results will be available across a wide range of operating platforms.

    For Microsoft Windows Mobile-enabled phones, NewsGator Technologies is providing content from WashingtonPost.com and Newsweek to wireless users via its free Campaign Tracker app.

    iPhone users can receive a mobile version of online magazine Slate.com’s Election Scorecard thanks to its partnership with Seattle’s Chimp Software, which is offering a downloadable version of its interactive polling application for the Apple handsets.

    Google is offering an array of elections-based mobile offerings, including a mobile election site with links to election-related news, mobile YouTube channels from both John McCain and Barack Obama and links to search results for both candidates that eliminate the need to type in names for every search.

  • Netflix "Watch Instantly" Comes To Macs


    Online movie rental giant Netflix is finally offering Mac users its instant watching service.

    Windows users have been able to watch movies and TV episodes instantly since early 2007.

    The upgraded service will initially only work on Macs with Intel chips – but the Los Gatos, California-based online DVD rental pioneer said that was around 70 per cent of their Mac subscribers.

    It requires Microsoft’s Silverlight software and Mac users will have to download a Silverlight player to access Netflix’s extensive streaming library.

    The deployment is the first step in an anticipated roll-out of the new platform to all Netflix subscribers by the end of the year.

    It is expected that Netflix members who watch content instantly on their computers will enjoy a faster, easier connection and a more robust viewing experience with Silverlight.

    Among the viewing enhancements with the new player is a breakthrough in timeline navigation that vastly improves the use of fast-forwarding and rewinding.

    The new Netflix player takes advantage of PlayReady DRM, which is built into Silverlight, for the playback of protected content on both Windows-based PCs and on Macs.

    That had not been possible with previous generation technologies.

  • First US Cities Get Tru2way Digital Cable Service


    Consumers in Chicago and Denver will be the first in the US to experience Comcast’s video-on-demand without a set-top box.

    Panasonic and Comcast today unveiled a tru2way digital cable service for the two cities with additional cities expected to go live in the coming months.

    To coincide with the platform launch, Panasonic’s new tru2way VIERA HDTVs will be available in certain retails stores in Chicago and Denver.

    The Panasonic HDTVs are built with tru2way technology inside, enabling consumers to access two-way digital cable programming, such as video-on-demand, without a cable operator-supplied set-top box.

    Mark Hess, Comcast’s senior vice president of Video Product Development, said tru2way technology was a gateway for customers to experience the next generation of interactive television.

    "This common platform also will let us develop an exciting array of interactive services and applications that we can deliver on our advanced fiber network to a variety of consumer electronics devices," he said.

    Panasonic had announced at the May 2008 Cable Show that the first tru2way HDTVs would be available for consumer purchase at retail by fall 2008.

    Dr Paul Liao, Chief Technology Officer, Panasonic Corporation of North America, said the arrival of the first tru2way HDTVs at retail, combined with Comcast’s activation of its first tru2way head ends, were among the most significant milestones in the cable industry.

  • Windows Mobile Not Coming To The iPhone

    Suggestions that a Norweigan developer produced software that allowed Windows Mobile to be run on the iPhone look like being a hoax.

    A demonstration shown by iphonefreakz.com of an application that gave users a choice of OS when the iPhone is booted up was part of a viral marketing campaign.

    It was claimed that the application worked much like Bootcamp and would be released in January.

    Seems like that isn’t about to happen – at least not from this particular Nordic hoaxer.

  • Will Iron Man and Dark Knight, Finally, Ignite Blu-ray?


    Iron Man is quickly becoming the highest selling Blu-ray disc yet, with an estimated 20 per cent of all discs of the super-hero movie sold last week being on the high-def format.

    Sales of Blu-ray versions of the blockbuster reportedly represented as much as 50 per cent of total Iron Man disc sales for some online stores.

    Although Paramount Home Entertainment has made no official statement on the sales figures, the movie is expected to exceed one million units sold.

    Until now, Blu-ray versions of popular movies, including I Am Legend, represented about 9 per cent of sales in the format.

    Iron Man’s success undoubtedly owes something to its appeal to comic book, special effects and videogame fans, all who are more likely to have PlayStation 3 consoles, which play back Blu-ray discs.

    But, after what can only be described as a sluggish start, could it also suggest that the format is finally reaching a level of acceptance that will tip it over into the mainstream?

    With the release of the Dark Knight – including a BD-Live version – still to come, the year the format war was decided may actually end on a high note for Blu-ray.

  • Free-to-air Is Key To Mobile TV


    People are reluctant to pay for mobile TV, favoring instead free-to-view broadcasts, according to research.

    More than 330m mobile users worldwide will own broadcast TV-enabled handsets by 2013.

    The market for mobile TV is expected to expand rapidly over the next few years, spurred on by the smartphone which is driving improvements in screen quality, microchips and antennas.

    Yet a report from Juniper Research says that less than 14 per cent will opt for mobile pay TV services.

    Although mobile broadcast TV will generate global annual end-user revenues of USD $2.7 billion by 2013, this level is markedly lower than previously forecast.

    In terms of end-user revenues, the US will be the largest single market for mobile broadcast TV services in 2013, followed by South Korea and China.

    Dr Windsor Holden, the report’s author, said the increasing availability of mobile handsets capable of receiving free-to-air analogue and digital terrestrial TV signals would adversely impact the prospects for dedicated mobile broadcast TV networks.

    "The development of terrestrial TV-capable receivers with comparatively low power consumption, and the availability of these receivers in mass market handsets, throws into question the business case for the deployment of a dedicated network in many markets."

    The report notes that operator decisions to offer DVB-T handsets in Germany has effectively closed the door for DVB-H in Germany.

    It also argues that the strong take-up of analogue TV handsets in China – and of one-seg handsets in Japan – indicates that free-to-air services will continue to predominate.

    However, Holden believes that this trend in turn has created a further opportunity for streamed TV services.

    "There will always be a market for some form of premium TV service on the mobile handset, and with broadcast TV in many markets likely to consist simply of the free-to-air terrestrial signals, the gap in the market is likely to be filled by streamed video-on-demand services over the 3G network," he said.

  • iTunes "Closure" Threat Passes as Royalties Unchanged


    Whether Apple would have carried out it’s threat to close down its iTunes Store rather than operate at a loss will never be known.

    Apple had raised the possibility of shutting iTunes if the US Copyright Royalty Board decided to increase the royalty fees paid to publishers and songwriters.

    But the CRB opted to keep rates the same for digital music stores late last week, so removing any need for Apple to make good its closure threat.

    The three-member CRB kept the royalty rate at 9.1 cents, and mandated a 24-cent rate for ringtones.

    The board has never before established mechanical rates for digital files.

    With that little problem behind them Apple can now focus on other threats to iTunes’ dominance of the music download scene – like the launch of Nokia’s Comes With Music program.

  • VUDU Offers HD Rentals That Rival Blu-ray


    VUDU has launched a new video format that rivals Blu-ray.

    Called HDX, it delivers full 1080p at 24 fps to screens 40 inches and up via web distribution using VUDU’s TruFilm compression technology.

    Just to put the icing on the cake, the company says it won’t be charging extra for HDX titles.

    While VUDU made no reference to Blu-ray in making its announcement, comments from Mark Jung, CEO of VUDU, can be taken as a challenge to the HD disc format.

    He said HDX raised the bar on picture quality for HD movies delivered on-demand, over the air, satellite or Internet and across the entire video landscape.

    “Accelerating consumer adoption of large screen HDTVs has fueled strong demand for the kind of viewing experience and picture quality only HDX can deliver,” he said.

    In August, the BDA reacted swiftly to the DISH Network’s claims that its “full” HDTV 1080p/25Hz image matched Blu-ray quality.

    But David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics, suggested satellite providers are competing primarily with cable and IPTV companies, and not with the Blu-ray Disc format itself.

    Delivery times are the big snag to HDX with most broadband connections taking 3-4 hours per title.

    But as there are currently only 65 movies available in the HDX format, it’s maybe just as well.

    While the HDX films are only for rental it is hoped that a purchase option will be offered in the future.

  • Copyright Ruling To Close iTunes?


    The future of Apple’s iTunes music store could be decided today if the Copyright Royalty Board backs a proposal to raise royalties.

    At least that’s what iTunes’ vice president, Eddy Cue, told the CRB.

    He has warned that Apple would close iTunes if the board agrees to the increased rates proposed by the National Music Publishers’ Association.

    The NMPA wants to raise the royalties paid to its members on songs purchased from digital music stores like iTunes.

    The NMPA wants to levy a 66 per cent increase – raising the charge from nine cents a track to 15 cents.

    Apple, the US’s largest music retailer, postures that it would rather shut iTunes than pay the higher rate.

    “If the [iTunes music store] was forced to absorb any increase in the … royalty rate, the result would be to significantly increase the likelihood of the store operating at a financial loss–which is no alternative at all,” Cue wrote in a statement submitted to the CRB last year.

    “Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it is in this business to make money, and most likely would not continue to operate [the iTunes music store] if it were no longer possible to do so profitably.”

    With revenues estimated at USD $1.9 billion in revenue last year there would seem to be some slack for absorbing the 6-cents-a-track royalty increase.

    Or maybe they could just pass it on to consumers and blame the NMPA!