Apple’s App Store has hit the 1.5 billion download mark just a few days after celebrating its first anniversary.
iTunes now has more than 65,000 apps available in 77 countries, with over 100,000 developers registered with the iPhone Developer Program. Steve Jobs, who appears to be back at work, said in a press release: "With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up."
There was no indication from Apple on what percentage of the downloaded apps were free and what percentage were paid for.
Apple has now shipped over 40 million iPhones and iPod touches.
There are already more digital delivery devices connected to HDTVs in US homes than Blu-ray players, thanks largely to the Xbox 360 and the likes of TiVo, Roku, AppleTV and Vudu.
Yet despite the numerical supremacy of players capable of streaming HD content, digital downloads are not expected to be a serious competitor to the Blu-ray format anytime soon.
Why not? Well most consumers don’t have fast enough broadband connections to stream HD video. And the amount of content available is limited.
Even without these factors, most companies say HD streams can’t yet match the quality of Blu-ray.
Despite this, Vudu, Apple iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand have all added high-def titles in the last six months.
They will be joined shortly by Microsoft, via the Xbox 360, and Roxio CinemaNow in a major high-def push.
But because of broadband limitations, most companies in the space are positioning HD downloads as a complement to Blu-ray.
Their rationale for this is covered in detail by Jennifer Netherby at Video Business, who quotes a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report predicting that digital sales won’t come near that of Blu-ray in the next five years.
She goes on to explain that many digital services are planning to deliver them through Blu-ray players in an attempt to expand their reach into the home.
Sonic and Netflix already have deals with LG Electronics to offer their services on BD players coming this fall.
Vudu’s director of content acquisitions Rob Holmes acknowledges that HD streaming and Blu-ray can co-exist.
"We certainly don’t see ourselves as competing with Blu-ray," he told Video Business.
Some comfort for Blu-ray then, but it is surely just a breathing space?
Boxee is extending its media center access to Windows and will shortly change its "alpha" status to "beta".
The open source media site has also announced four major new app partnerships that will be available to everyone downloading its software.
While Boxee has been available for Linux computers and Macs, it was only possible to get it for Windows as an invite-only alpha.
Despite this it has gained enthusiastic following for its support of almost any major file type and Internet apps.
Boxee has promised to keep the three platforms in sync as the service undergoes updates and upgrades.
With around 120 apps in the Boxee App Box, users can now chose from the likes of MLB.tv, Current, Digg, and Tumblr.
Among the new partnerships announced at its App Developer Challenge in San Francisco, the Major League Baseball one is the most interesting.
The MLB arrangement marks Boxee’s first live streaming deal. MLB.tv Premium subs can now stream games through Boxee’s system in full HD from anywhere in the country on their TV.
I-MOVIX has announced a new contract with CANAL+ France to use its ultra slow motion SprintCam solution for sports broadcasting.
The SprintCam Live V2.1 and SprintCam V3 HD offer broadcast integration and have the ability to work at 500 fps under restricted lighting conditions.
The V3 – the first broadcast-integrated, native HD, ultra-slow-motion solution offering with instant replay – was launched in March.
It produces slow-motion output equivalent to 20 to 40 times slower than normal speed.
Coralie Piton, head of sports production at CANAL+ France, said the collaboration between I-MOVIX and CANAL+ France is not new.
Both partner teams have worked together on several occasions this year, including football matches between Olympique de Marseille and Girondins de Bordeaux, Real Madrid and Liverpool, Paris Saint Germain and Olympique de Marseille and more recently, Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais.
Depending on the stadium, with only a little bit more than 700 LUX, CANAL+ was able to make the most of the SprintCam system unique capacity from 500 to 5,000 frames per second.
"The I-MOVIX technology matches our expectations in terms of innovation and stunning images," said Piton.
LG is introducing the first HDTVs capable of streaming Netflix movies without the need for an external device such as game console or set-top box.
The online movie rental service will be available in North America on LG’s new 47-inch LCD HDTV LH50 and 50-inch plasma HDTV PS80.
The Full HD 1080p HDTVs have Netflix instant streaming software embedded directly in the sets.
While movie choices are automatically displayed on the TV screen and can be viewed instantly through the HDTV, Netflix members have to first add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues, via the Netflix Web site.
Earlier collaboration between LG and Netflix resulted in the first Network Blu-ray Disc Player to offer consumers the ability to instantly watch thousands of movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix.
Peter Reiner, senior vice president, marketing and strategy at LG USA said there were 2.5 million North American households looking to purchase a networked TV.
He said incorporating broadband connectivity into its new HDTVs became a natural progression of the partnership with Netflix.
"Both LG and Netflix are committed to offering consumers easy access to entertainment on demand and LG’s newest HDTVs make it easier than ever to access thousands of movies and TV shows instantly," he said.
MobiTV has added two million new subscribers in less than six months, taking its total to more than seven million.
The company says that better viewing experiences, advances in technology and higher awareness are all helping boost adoption levels.
Charlie Nooney, chairman and CEO of MobiTV, described the figures as a milestone for its live mobile television and video-on-demand service, which he said now streams billions of minutes a year.
"We are clearly seeing an increase in mobile television consumption," he said.
"We are about to hit the tipping point for mobile media, one that will move it from a novelty to the mainstream."
Available on more than 350 handsets across 20 carrier networks, including Sprint, AT&T and Alltel in the US, MobiTV launched in November, 2003.
Nooney attributes the latest subscriber spike to intense interest in first-of-its kind, interactive mobile content, personified by its "tournament pass" application that brought March Madness to the iPhone in partnership with CBS Sports this spring.
Capturing top-seller status in the iTunes store, he said the application underscored the increased consumer appeal of innovative mobile television entertainment.
In a separate announcement, MobiTV said it has been shortlisted for an award in the best TV & video category at the 2009 Meffys Mobile Entertainment awards.
The prestigious Meffys awards hosted by the Mobile Entertainment Forum, focuses on a wide range of different categories that provide a cross section of the latest trends and innovations in mobile media and entertainment.
MobiTV is among the list of finalists in the TV & video category which also includes the BBC’s iPlayer service.
The awards coincide with the Mobile Entertainment Forum’s official annual conference, Mobile Entertainment Market.
The winners will be announced at a special gala dinner that will take place in London, on June 23.
Germany’s two largest independent cable operators, Tele Columbus and PrimaCom, have selected NDS’ DVR solution XTV to launch the country’s first cable HD DVR service across their networks.
The two operators serve some 3.5 million cable-connected households and operate a large number of independent networks.
They had previously deployed UK-based NDS’ VideoGuard content protection and its MediaHighway middleware. Markus Schmid, CEO of Tele Columbus and PrimaCom, said they had decided to also select NDS’ XTV DVR technology as the logical complement.
He said this maximised the capability of their infrastructure and service options for subscribers.
The technology infrastructure will also allow Tele Columbus and PrimaCom to launch new integrated service enhancements across all existing and future devices.
This could include Video on Demand (VOD) or push VOD.
Nokia has officially opened the doors to the Ovi Store application site – but its answer to Apple’s app store immediately ran into problems.
High traffic "spikes" – which would surely have been expected, right? – meant users experienced slow downloading and page upload times.
Effort were immediately made to rectify this by adding additional servers, according to Eric John, head up product marketing for the Ovi Store.
But it meant Nokia didn’t get the smooth launch it would have hoped for.
The Ovi Store is the fourth major mobile app software store to open, and the third since Apple launched iTunes in July 2008, following the Android Market and BlackBerry App World.
Some analysts suggest the market can only sustain five such ventures.
Nokia said the applications and services storefront will target an estimated 50 million Nokia device owners, across more than 50 Nokia devices, including the forthcoming flagship phone the Nokia N97.
Users will have the ability to download mobile applications – starting with an initial offerering of over 20,000 – including games, videos and podcasts.
The mobile client is available in English, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish and supports operator billing in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Globally, credit card billing is available through the mobile application and the mobile website.
AT&T plans to make Ovi Store available to its customers in the United States later this year. Additional countries, languages, devices and features will be added throughout the year.
We’d be interested in hearing your experience with Ovi – good or bad?
Time Warner Cable is dropping two HDNet channels, claiming their programming has "limited appeal".
The move is effective from May 31 with the channels to be replaced by other high definition options.
Mark Cuban, owner of HDNet and the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team, wouldn’t comment "on ongoing negotiations" but refuted the claim that HDNet’s programming lacked appeal.
However, Time Warner Cable’s head of PR, Robyn Watson, said: "There’s a limited appeal for the programming.
"In a world with more than 100 HD channels, being in HD is not enough.
"We are adding other channels in HD to give our customers more choice."
HDNet remains widely distributed on US cable, and DTH satellite.
It brings viewers 20 hours of HD programming weekly, including its flagship news programming Dan Rather Reports and HD World Report.
The market for ambient DVDs may still be in its early days – but if HD Coolvision’s offering is anything to go by it could take off very quickly.
The LA-based start-up has released The Moon, a DVD of high-def footage of this celestial wonder intended to be displayed as video artwork on flat-panel HDTVs.
Filmed using high-end HD cameras by a professional cinematographer the stunning images are accompanied by an original music score (see Silvery White MOON video after the break).
Bruno Bonugli, owner and managing partner of HD Coolvision, told hdtv.biz-news that the idea behind ambient DVDs is to allow consumers to use their HDTVs to display video imagery and set the tone in a room.
He said the concept was still relatively unheard of, despite the fact that many households now had flat-panel TVs.
Recent research showed that more than 39 million US households have an HDTV set – and the figure keeps rising.
"The biggest thing is that people still do not know what ambient DVDs are," he said.
"I have many friends with big, flat-panel TVs who have never heard of them. That’s one of the hurdles we have to overcome."
The Moon is HD Coolvision’s first ambient DVD. Among the options on the disc are "orange moon" rising shots, "distant moon" shots and a "white moon" moving across the screen in real time and slowed down versions.
Another feature is moon facts that can be displayed on screen.
Bonugli and his business partner, Dan Gorski, both Columbia College film graduates, said they have plans for future ambient DVDs.
After choosing the moon as the subject Bonugli said they asked a friend who was a professional cinematographer to do the filming in HD for the DVD.
"We researched the market and found that nobody really had a live view of the moon," he said.
The pair are confident that the ambient DVD market will take off in a big way.
"We have competitors out there who are putting a lot into promoting their products," said Bonugli. "They see something in this new market too."
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