Media News
Google Music lets you backup your entire library
One of the only disadvantages of Google’s new Google Music service is that, until now, your music has essentially been locked within the cloud — with the exception of any tracks you purchased through the Android Market.
Today, however, Google has rolled out a new version of its Google Music Manager that gives its U.S. users the ability to download a backup of all the songs stored within the service. The feature addition will probably … Continue Reading
Warner Bros. now adding restrictions to your Netflix DVD queue
Giant media company Warner Brothers might be taking further steps to ensure that its updated distribution strategy for newly released DVD movies has the maximum effect — regardless of how petty the company may seem as a result.
Earlier this month, Warner Brothers decided to delay all new DVD movie releases from becoming available through video rental services, like Blockbuster and Netflix. This means the rental services must wait 56 days after a new Warner … Continue Reading
Spotify hits 3M paid subscribers, a good sign for streaming music
The debate over whether streaming music is good for artists and labels rages on, but the debate over whether the concept is catching with consumers might be at least be decided. Popular streaming music service Spotify now has 3 million users worldwide, the company revealed today.
Spotify is built on a “freemium” business model where users can listen to ad-supported music for free but after 6 months, the amount of free music drops to just … Continue Reading
Megaupload customers who lost their files banding together to sue FBI
When Megaupload was shut down a week ago by the Department of Justice and FBI for allegedly profiting from copyright infringement, many of the service’s users complained that they lost personal, non-infringing files. Now those users are banding together to sue the government.
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and several other Megaupload employees were named in a 72-page indictment issued last week by the Department of Justice. The indictment against Megaupload alleges it is connected to … Continue Reading
Revision3 does cable TV network numbers — viewership hits 800M in 2011
With the influx of smart TVs, set-top boxes, and connect-mobile devices, many people are discovering a new world of independently produced web video content. And for Internet TV network Revision3, this trend has translated into record growth that puts it on par with some cable TV networks.
If you’ve ever perused the free content channels available on pretty much any internet-connected video device, it’s very likely that you’ve seen Revision3′s familiar logo. The network is … Continue Reading
Intel buys RealNetworks patents for $120M
Intel has purchased 190 patents and 170 patent applications from RealNetworks for $120 million.
The patents include technology invented to create next-generation video codecs, which encode or decode video so that it can be sent over networks efficiently. It’s one more example of a giant company “armoring up” to deal with potential patent wars in the future.
As part of the deal, Intel will acquire RealNetworks’ foundational streaming media patents, expanding Intel’s diverse portfolio of … Continue Reading
Why it’s stupid for Netflix to focus on competition at home
With increases in revenue and higher than expected subscriber growth, video rental service Netflix is once again the darling investment among Wall Street analysts (for the most part). However, not all the comments from Wednesday’s fourth quarter earnings results were positive.
Netflix warned of increasing competition against its domestic streaming service, while celebrating its shrinking DVD-by-mail business — two subjects analysts spend far too much time obsessing over. The biggest threat Netflix faces overall has … Continue Reading
Netflix backpedals on video game rental plans
Netflix is no longer planning to offer a video game disc rental-by-mail service to complement its DVD-by-mail and streaming video subscription service, the company revealed Wednesday during its fourth quarter earnings call.
The video game rental service was originally announced in September 2011 as part of Netflix’s effort to spin off its DVD rental business into a separate company called Qwikster. The service, which many Netflix subscribers had long-begged for, would have offered game disc … Continue Reading
State of the Union proves “Spilled Milk” is something to tweet about
When it comes to significant events that are shared across the country (and sometimes the world), Twitter is getting increasingly good at making sense of the real-time data collected from tweets. Take for example last night’s State of the Union address, which racked up 766,681 tweets during the full 95-minute event.
Twitter has previously reported moments of unusually high activity, such as pop singer Beyonce’s pregnancy announcement during MTV Video Music Awards, a tense U.S. … Continue Reading
How Graphicly is paving the way for self-published digital comic books
While technology has certainly made it easier for people to self-publish comic books or graphic novels, the same isn’t true when it comes to digital distribution — or getting self-published “indie” comic books into multiple online stores so people can buy them.
The lack of affordable distribution options for self-published comic books makes it difficult for creators to turn their work into a business. But with over 300,000 self-published creators expected to begin selling their … Continue Reading
Audiobooks.com lets you fill your ears for $25 per month
For those who prefer to read with their ears, Audiobooks.com is offering unlimited streaming of audio books for a flat monthly fee.
For $25 a month, you can stream audio books onto any computer or mobile device through the Audiobooks.com HTML5 web app, which works on most major browsers. Since the books are stored on Audiobooks.com’s servers, you can pause in the middle of a chapter on one gadget and pick up exactly where you … Continue Reading
Movie backed by Irish tech investors is nominated for an Oscar
Are you an early-stage, technology investor? Is there a certain lack of glamour and red carpets in your life? Then follow in the footsteps of early-stage tech investors Lough Shore Investments who partly funded a short film called “The Shore”, which has just been nominated for an Oscar.
“The Shore” is directed by screenwriter and director Terry George who was previously Oscar-nominated for his screenplays for “In the Name of the Father” and “Hotel Rwanda“.… Continue Reading
Apple smashes Q1 estimates with $13B profit; record iPhone, iPad, Mac sales
After disappointing Wall Street last quarter, Apple has made a massive comeback reporting record net profit of $13.06 billion on revenue of $46.33 billion for the first quarter.
Analysts have been speculating since December that this would be a blowout quarter for Apple. Meanwhile, Wall Street expected earnings of $10.07 per share on revenues of $38.76 billion, according to Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster. Simply put, Apple blew pretty much every estimate out of the water.… Continue Reading
Augmented reality takes pop-up books to the next level (interview)
Augmented reality, combining real world views and digital information, is not particularly new, but it is still considered in its infancy. The technology has been used in a variety of ways, from GPS systems to fitness apps, though entertainment seems to be the most popular.
GamesBeat had a chance to sit down with Scott Jochim, president of Digital Tech Frontier and Popar Toys, to discuss his company’s line of augmented reality children’s books, which are … Continue Reading
Boxee rolls out 1.5 software update with Live TV support
Boxee is rolling out some major updates to its connected television platform today, including a new software update to support the company’s Live TV stick product, which goes on sale today.
The Boxee Box is a streaming set-top box featuring Boxee’s open-source media software, which transforms televisions into internet connected media centers. The company announced back in November it would be launching Live TV stick, a $49 addon that acts a high-powered HD antenna to … Continue Reading
Vimeo begins rolling out silky smooth redesign with huge videos
Prominent video sharing site Vimeo has begun rolling out a striking redesign that emphasizes clean aesthetics and larger videos that promote immersion, the company revealed today.
With the goal of providing a better video viewing experience no matter where you are, the redesign goes hand in hand with the recent launch of Android and Windows Phone apps and soon-to-launch iOS apps. No matter where you go, the service aims to “put video first,” a phrase … Continue Reading
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales: MPAA chairman Christopher Dodd should be fired
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales had fighting words for Motion Picture Association of America chairman Christopher Dodd, calling the former Senator and current lobbyist out on his recent threats and pronouncing that the MPAA should fire its chief.
“Candidly, those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake,” Dodd said to Fox News recently. … Continue Reading
Parse.ly launches predictive analytics dashboard for publishers
Online publishing is about to get a lot smoother for publishers. Whether that’s a good thing for readers is another question, however.
New York-based startup Parse.ly is releasing its flagship product, Dash, into general availability Tuesday. It’s meant to help publishers and media companies optimize their content and grow their readership by giving them better insights into what people are reading, how they get there (social media or search), and what topics are trending.
The … Continue Reading
15 file-sharing sites like Megaupload that the Feds may target next
As more details come to light in the much-publicized Megaupload case, other file-sharing sites around the web are shutting their doors in fear that they could be targeted next by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Over the weekend, popular Megaupload alternatives FileSonic and FileServe completely turned off the ability to share files with other people. And another well-trafficked site, Uploaded.to, has blocked all U.S.-based IP addresses in fear of getting in serious trouble with the … Continue Reading
Yes, ITV really did use video game footage during an IRA propaganda piece
ITV, one of the United Kingdom’s major commercial television networks, has been found guilty of deceptively using video game footage during what it claimed to be an IRA (Irish Republican Army) propaganda video in September, 2011. The final ruling comes from Ofcom, which for us Yanks is the equivalent of the FCC, the same people who call foul whenever there’s a wardrobe malfunction on US television.
The clip was labeled “IRA film in 1988″ during … Continue Reading
