Posts Tagged ‘MediaBeat’
My6sense looks to soften information overload for Android users
There’s a lot of information coming through the tubes of the Internet these days, like RSS feeds, Facebook updates and Twitter posts. Most of them aren’t worth reading for the everyday user. My6sense’s new Android app, launching today, hopes to cut through most of that chaff.
The phenomenon of information overload online has opened up wide a new market for applications to chop out content readers don’t find interesting. My6sense’s app uses an intuition engine to figure out what users are interested in reading and getting rid of the rest of the noise. Its information isn’t ordered chronologically but by relevance as determined by the engine.
The focus for My6sense is on links: The app automatically removes any status update that doesn’t provide some kind of new content. Of the 20,000 updates that someone typically sees each day, the only ones that pop up in the feed are updates that contain some kind of link.
The Android app now integrates the oft-maligned Google Buzz as well, in addition to the usual assortment of media feeds. My6sense is a graduate of DEMO Spring 2010 conference, the product-launch event coproduced by VentureBeat. It started its offerings with an iPhone app.
The Israeli company has raised $2.5 million to date.
Companies: Facebook, Google, My6sense, Twitter
Plex and LG bring TV to all your devices
Plex is media center software, from a startup of the same name, which integrates video content from local and online sources. Thus far, Plex has only been available for Mac OS X and iOS (for iPad, iPhone, iPod). But today LG announced that in 2011 it will integrate Plex into its range of Netcast-enabled HDTVs and Blu-ray devices, making Plex a video solution for mobile, PC and TV.
LG’s NetCast Entertainment Access System gives direct access to online video and audio content. Many of Plex’s current users attach a Mac Mini to their TV, but this is an expensive solution in comparison to having Plex built into the TV.
Using the same media software across multiple devices means users will be able to starting to watch a show on their iPhone and then picking up where they left off on their TV set. Plex also does some clever things like converting content from different codecs into the correct format for iOS when users try to access the content on, say an iPad. Plex’s iOS version launched a couple of days ago to a hyperbolic review on CrunchGear and a more measured one on PCWorld.
Plex started out as a hobby project for the company’s founders, who wanted to design the perfect video system for their own use, and it shares some history with Boxee, since both products were originally based on the same open source project, XBMC. Plex’s strategy differs from Boxee in that the company aims to get its software embedded into third-party entertainment products like TVs rather than making its own branded boxes.
Developers can create plugins using the Plex software development kit to add new content sources. The Plex user experience remains the same across all devices, regardless of the number or variety of plug-ins being used. It’s quite a lot of work for a company like LG to add support for a single content source like NetFlix to its web-connected TVs. Plex enables TV-makers to give viewers access to multiple (and extensible) content sources.
One of the problems with online video content is that many of the big content owners like HBO or NBC have their own PC and/or mobile applications, whereas most consumers would prefer a one-stop-shop where they can access all their favorite shows regardless of the source. There is also a big divide internationally. Services like Hulu and Netflix are only available in the US and have European equivalents like LoveFilm and SeeSaw so TV-makers have to integrate different content sources for different markets. Software like Plex might help with both of those issues.
Plex CEO Cayce Ullman declined to give me exact figures on user numbers but said that users are in the six figures. He did give me some data from a user survey of 3,000 Plex users (admittedly a year old) which shows that 54% used Plex daily and for more than 6 hours a week. 20% cut off or reduced their use of cable or satellite services because of Plex. Ullman also told me that Plex expects to announce partnerships with a couple of set-top vendors in the next few months. Plex was founded about 6 months ago in San Francisco, is privately funded and has 10 employees.
Getting noticed i
s a challenge for everyone building apps. Join us at DiscoveryBeat 2010, and hear secrets from top industry executives about how to profit in the new cross-platform app ecosystem. The conference takes place on October 18th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Go here for conference details, or to apply to the “Needle in the Haystack” business contest. Early-bird tickets are available until September 15.
Apple roundup: Steve’s big media push
So Apple made some news today. Specifically, chief executive Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco, where he showed off major upgrades to the company’s music and TV services.
As happens on anytime Apple holds a press event, there was a flood of coverage, both on VentureBeat and elsewhere. To help you sort through it all, here’s a roundup of all the Apple-related stories we published today. The list starts with the big product news, followed by videos and analysis.
Apple announces all-new designs for its iPod music players — In what seemed like a tacit admission that its iconic iPod, famed for its simplicity and standout design, had strayed off course, Apple released all-new designs for its entire lineup of music players.
Apple announces iOS 4.1 with bug fixes, HDR photos, Game Center — previews iOS 4.2 — Jobs also announced the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS 4.1. The new OS will include bug fixes for many iOS 4 issues, as well as some new features including high-dynamic range (HDR) photos, Game Center, high-definition video uploads over Wi-Fi, and TV-show rentals.
Apple launches Ping, a social network for music — Apple revealed a number of upgrades to its music and media service, iTunes. Most importantly, it’s giving iTunes a social layer.
Steve Jobs shows off $99 version of Apple TV with Netflix streaming — And for his “one more thing,” Jobs showed off a new version of Apple TV. The device plays movies on your TV and is one fourth the size of the original version, and it can stream movies from the Netflix movie service.
Apple TV revamp underwhelms Forrester analyst — When it comes to the new Apple TV, analyst James McQuivey doesn’t sound impressed.
A video demo of the new Apple TV shows a simple and elegant interface — Here’s our video of the new Apple TV’s user interface.
Mobile developer Smule: Ping sounds great — what about app suggestions? — It’s no surprise that Ge Wang, cofounder and chief technology officer of music app-maker Smule, sounds excited about Ping. But Wang said he sees greater potential in what Apple might do with Ping in the future.
Apple TV is the one you date, Google TV is the one you marry — VentureBeat’s Devindra Hardawar said he’s disappointed with Apple TV: Instead of being a revolutionary upgrade, the new device is just a smaller and cheaper iteration on what Apple has done before.
Apple’s iTunes-only Ping socializes your music with elements of Facebook (video demo) — Here’s a video demo of Ping in action.
Why Apple’s Ping is about cutting out the social middleman — What’s exciting about Ping? It’s a social network based around content and consumption, not status and comments.
And here’s our photo gallery of Apple’s visual feast today. Lastly, here’s a link to a video of Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, singing one of his piano solo songs at the close of the event.
Getting noticed i
s a challenge for everyone building apps. Join us at DiscoveryBeat 2010, and hear secrets from top industry executives about how to profit in the new cross-platform app ecosystem. The conference takes place on October 18th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Go here for conference details, or to apply to the “Needle in the Haystack” business contest. Early-bird tickets are available until September 15.
Companies: Apple, Google, Smule
People: Ge Wang, James McQuivey, Steve Jobs
Apple launches Ping, a social network for music
Apple today announced a number of upgrades to its music and media service, iTunes. Most notably, it’s giving iTunes a social layer. Chief executive Steve Jobs showed off a service called Ping, which he described as Facebook or Twitter for music.
Jobs described this as Apple’s attempt to solve the problem of “discovery” — how to find the content you want among everything in iTunes. Basically, users can follow other users or musicians, seeing what they’ve downloaded, music that they like, updates on other social networks, and concerts that they’re giving (if they’re a musician) or attending (if they’re a friend).
Like any good social network, your information can be as public or as private as you want, Jobs said. For example you could create a “circle of friends,” and just share purchases and recommendations within that group.
Presumably, this is built with some of the technology from Lala, the social music service that Apple acquired. However, it’s not the “cloud” music service that bloggers had predicted Apple would build with Lala, allowing users to stream music from online.
Ping is part of iTunes 10, the new version of the service, which is going live for 160 million iTunes users today. And Ping will be viewable on both your computer and on your iPhone and iPod Touch.
In discussing the new iTunes, Jobs shared some new statistics about the service. People have downloaded 11.7 billion songs from iTunes, 450 million TV episodes, 100 million books, and 35 million books, he said.
Jobs also shared a new logo for iTunes. Since digital music sales are set to outpace CD sales next spring, the CD logo seemed outdated, he said.
By the way, Apple’s new model for music discovery seems like it might make sense for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch applications too. The difficulty of sorting through Apple’s 250,000 apps is a constant complaint, so it might make sense to just add app purchases and recommendations to the network.
Getting noticed is a challenge for everyone building apps. Join us at DiscoveryBeat 2010, and hear secrets from top industry executives about how to profit in the new cross-platform app ecosystem. The conference takes place on October 18th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Go here for conference details, or to apply to the “Needle in the Haystack” business contest. Early-bird tickets are available until September 15.
Companies: Apple
People: Steve Jobs
Writer Neal Stephenson unveils his digital novel The Mongoliad
Author Neal Stephenson has been credited for inspiring today’s virtual world startups with his novel Snow Crash. Now he’s launching a startup himself: Subutai, where he is co-founder and chairman.
The company, based in Seattle and San Francisco, has developed what it calls the PULP platform for creating digital novels. The core of the experience is still a text novel, but authors can add additional material like background articles, images, music, and video. There are also social features that allow readers to create their own profiles, earn badges for activity on the site or in the application, and interact with other readers.
Stephenson said in an interview that this material is an extension of what many science fiction and fantasy novels already offer.
“I can remember reading Dune for the first time, and I started by reading the glossary,” he said. “Any book that had that kind of extra stuff in it was always hugely fascinating to me.”
Subutai is launching its inaugural product today, a serialized story called The Mongoliad about the Mongol invasion of Europe. The company promises to release a new chapter a week. Readers can pay $5.99 for a six-month subscription fee or $9.99 for a year.
Co-founder and President Jeremy Bornstein said the company is experimenting with a new model for publishing books. The traditional model of paying for content may not hold up when the content “be canned and sent around to your friends for free,” he said, but people will hopefully still to pay for content if “the experience is so much more rich, so much more involving.”
Stephenson isn’t writing the book alone. There’s a team led by a writer Mark Teppo; it also includes Greg Bear, author of Blood Music and other science fiction novels. Stephenson compared the experience to writing a TV show, and not just because it’s a team of writers. The Mongoliad will have an ending, but there’s room for sequels and other stories set in the world, so it’s kind of like season one of a show.
Bornstein first showed off The Mongoliad back in May. The first chapter should be available on The Mongoliad website now. There’s also an iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch application going through Apple’s approval process, and an Android app in the works. Subutai is self-funded.
Companies: Subutai
People: Greg Bear, Jeremy Bornstein, Neal Stephenson
Institutional Venture Partners aims for big exits with $750M fund
Institutional Venture Partners, a Menlo Park, Calif. firm whose portfolio includes hot startups like Twitter, Zynga, and Ngmoco, announced today that it has raised a new $750 million fund.
With the money, General Partner Todd Chaffee said IVP will continue to invest in three sectors, which are all experiencing big upheavals — communications and wireless, enterprise IT, and digital media. IVP is a later-stage firm, so it looks for companies that are already successful and growing fast, with revenues of more than $10 million a year.
IVP’s exits in the past few years include the initial public offerings of ArcSight, comScore, and Synchronoss, as well as the $500 million acquisition of Danger by Microsoft and the $1 billion acquisition of MySQL by Sun. The firm invested in 63 companies over the past decade, and only had to write-off three of them, Chaffee said.
When I asked if he’s worried about the lukewarm exit market, particularly for IPOs, Chaffee said: “Not much. When the IPO market is open and flourishes, it has a tendency to drive returns and liquidity. When it’s closed, it actually increases our investment opportunities, because these companies need capital.”
This is IVP’s thirteenth and largest fund. It last raised $600 million in 2007.
[image: Flickr/Jeff Belmont]
Companies: Institutional Venture Partners
People: Todd Chaffee
How lucrative are iPhone ads? MobilityWare made $300K in June
There has been some debate about whether developers can make serious cash from the advertising in their iPhone applications. In fact, Steve Jobs suggested that Apple created its iAd program as a way to address the lack of lucrative, high-quality ad programs.
However, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad developer MobilityWare said it’s doing just fine with startup Greystripe’s mobile ad network. Specifically, the company said that in June, it made $298,308 across its 17 applications, including Word Warp, Solitaire, and Blackjack.
I’m guessing that’s on the high side for both companies, especially Greystripe (why highlight it otherwise?), but it’s still a sign that with enough hits, advertising can bring in real revenue. If MobilityWare can make that much every month, it would make around $3.6 million this year. That’s comparable, for example, to what popular app developer Smule made from its paid apps in 2009.
Speaking of iAds, Greystripe recently piggybacked on reports that some advertisers are unhappy with the slow iAd creation process by promising a five-day turnaround for rich media ads, compared to the eight to 10 weeks reported with Apple.
Greystripe has raised $17.6 million in four rounds of funding, most recently $2 million from Peacock Equity. It currently serves ads in more than 2,500 applications.
[image via Flickr/stopnlook]
Companies: Apple, Greystripe, MobilityWare