Posts Tagged ‘TV’
Netflix, Stop Floundering Around and Making Things More Complicated
Netflix just divided in half: "Netflix" is now streaming only, while the DVD-by-mail service is now an entirely separate service called Qwikster
This is dumb.
The price hike Netflix underwent back in July aroused a sort of media-centric kerfuffle, despite the fact that the tech media, of all people, were surely aware that the ludicrously low prices Netflix was charging could not possibly stay so low if Netflix was to expand. (The same problem applies to music services like .) Aside from the day long eye-rolling about a raise in price, I doubted at the time that there would be any significant problem for Netflix down the road. Their service, especially compared to, say, cable TV, is insanely cheap, and I assumed people would grumble and then get used to it.
Apparently not, because this morning, Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, sent out an email to subscribers notifying them of a pretty significant change: Netflix will entirely separate the streaming and the DVD-by-mail services. And not like they were before: the DVD-by-mail service is getting a new name, a new site, and will show up on your monthly statement as a separate bill.
This move doesn't solve anything, doesn't alleviate the woes of any of the crazies who cancelled their subscription to Netflix (which, might we say again, is amazing, and an amazing deal) over a four-dollar price hike. It simply makes it more difficult to have both a streaming and DVD service--and as many of the content providers (TV conglomerates like Viacom, movie studios) are being very obstinate about licensing content for streaming, a lot of movies and TV are still only available on discs, so it's not crazy to want both services.
Why does Netflix want to separate its streaming from its DVD service so completely? It's not for the customer. The DVD-by-mail service is dying slowly, and Netflix has made a whole mess of changes, some obvious and some not, to encourage people to think "streaming," and not "red envelopes," when they think "Netflix." And that's fine, but this separate services thing seems like a lot more trouble than it's worth just for some clear-cut severance.
Before the change, if you wanted to play, say, The West Wing, which you probably do because it's amazing, you'd go to Netflix, search for "the west wing," and find that, oh no, it's not available for streaming, but you can rent it on DVD. Easy! Now, if you did the same thing, Netflix would tell you "this title is not available." Then you can go over to Qwikster and search, if you remember that you pay for two separate services. Oh, also, ratings and reviews (which are pretty important, especially for Netflix's recommendation algorithms) will also be entirely separate, even when the exact same title is available both for streaming and on disc.
This isn't the end of the world, and I don't want to make it a bigger deal than it is. But here's why this is annoying: it is totally unnecessary. Aside from some psychological benefit of separating the DVD and streaming services in the customer's mind more thoroughly, there is no benefit to doing this, and it definitely makes using these services in tandem less convenient. Hastings did toss in a legitimately nice upgrade: Qwikster will also rent video games for Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. That is great! Very exciting! But there's no reason that couldn't have been integrated with the streaming service as well.
Is this a reason to abandon Netflix? No. Of course not, don't be ridiculous, I don't know why you'd even ask that rhetorical question that you didn't even really ask. But come on, Netflix. Focus on getting more content and stop worrying so much about what the tech press (yeah, I know) writes. The one big benefit I see from this is that it'll be easier, in the future, to ignore what's going on with the DVD service as fewer and fewer people care about it--though I do wonder why this move is coming after the price hike and not before, and why it seems so oddly haphazard (Netflix didn't even bother to secure the @Qwikster Twitter handle, which is by a stoner with lousy grammar). Let's just hope this is the last shake-up, and we can all go back to streaming episodes of Roseanne instead of venturing outdoors.
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Stephen Colbert Shouts Out to PopSci, Is Scornful of French Robots
Peel’s iPhone app moves beyond TV discovery to universal remote control
The plucky startup , which recently to help you find things to watch on TV, is making a big step forward today by launching hardware that will turn its app into a powerful universal remote control.
Now not only will you be able to make sense of what’s on TV with Peel’s app, you’ll also be able to tune directly to a program from within the app.
But even with the addition of new hardware, Peel is still focused on TV discovery with its app. After downloading it from the iTunes Store, you simply need to provide the app with information on how you access TV. The app then begins to personalize your experience by having you order your favorite genres and sports, and it lets you delete items you’ll never watch.
Peel’s “Top Picks” section offers recommendations to you based on your preferences, and the app’s recommendation engine is updated as you ‘favorite’, share and hide shows. The company says that Peel is smart enough to determine what you like to watch at specific times of the day. The app also lets you see what TV shows, movies and sports are on the air, and it lets you search programming as well.
Peel’s universal remote control hardware consists of two parts: the Peel Cable that plugs into your router, and the Peel fruit, a citrusy looking device that sits within view of your entertainment system. Since hunting and pecking for buttons on a touchscreen isn’t ideal for TV watching, the company developed gesture methods for controlling aspects of your entertainment system like volume.
Peel says that the hardware can control thousands of models of TVs, DVD and Blu-ray players, cable and satellite boxes and more. It’s also compatible with web streaming devices like Roku’s set-top box, Apple TV and Google TV. The company hasn’t settled on a price for its universal remote hardware yet, so it’s letting would-be customers name their own price for device on its website.
The combination of a killer TV discovery engine with universal remote control capabilities makes Peel an app to keep an eye on. Google is currently trying its hand at TV discovery on Google TV, but it’s nowhere near as smart or attractive as Peel’s solution. I wouldn’t be surprised if Google ends up snapping up the company, as both its app discovery and remote technology would be a boon to Google TV.
Peel is based in Santa Clara, Calif., and has entered into first round funding with Redpoint Ventures. Harrison Metal has also invested in the company.
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Why Google needs the video digital-rights technology behind Netflix
Google announced yesterday that it’s , a video digital rights management company mostly known as the technology behind . Widevine gives video sites the tools to license, encrypt, and distribute videos to a variety of device platforms.
So why does Google suddenly need a credible DRM solution? It’s all about gaining the trust of the networks. Bear with me, and I’ll explain.
People have been saying for years that hordes of consumers would soon unplug their cable boxes and rely exclusively on streaming video. In the last few weeks we’ve seen signs that might actually happen. Cable subscriber numbers have dropped two quarters in a row, accentuating that last quarter’s first-ever drop in subscriber numbers was no fluke. And organizations like HBO have made the leap to online streaming and may that skip cable providers once the price is right, thereby maintaining their growth in response to cable’s TV’s demise.
As Hulu and Netflix have figured out, people are more than willing to pay an $8 monthly fee for access to good television content, and they’re even happier to not pay their cable companies $60-$100 per month. The networks were only getting $1 of that cable bill per subscriber, so they are now increasingly happy to cut the cable companies out and put more per subscriber in their pockets. From this context, it’s no surprise that in order to secure its valuable television and cable television programming like Bravo and USA Network.
In the midst of this accelerating transition to streaming television, Google has been struggling to promote its streaming products such as YouTube and Android/GoogleTV as preferred viewing platforms. There has not been much uptake after striking deals to stream content like older CBS shows on YouTube, and the soon after its launch.
Owning Widevine’s technology will enable Google to negotiate content deals from a position of trust, rather than as the owner of YouTube. It can tell networks, “Hey, it’s the same technology that Netflix is using, and you signed a deal with them!”
A “YouTube Plus” akin to Hulu Plus, with trusted DRM that offers network television and movies under a well-known brand will finally give Google a counterweight to the iPhone/AppleTV and iTunes hegemony. People say that YouTube isn’t a place for premium content, but the YouTube music-video spinoff Vevo, which has emerged as the “Hulu of music,” has proved them wrong.
Peter Yared is the vice president and general manager of Webtrend Apps, a platform used to engage customers on Facebook, iPhone and Android. He came to Webtrends via the acquisition of Transpond, a social and mobile marketing company he founded in 2007.
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Cox launches mobile phone service to combat AT&T, Verizon
Cox Communications, the third-largest cable provider in the US, announced today that it’s launching a mobile phone service that it will bundle with its cable and internet service, .
The cellular service is launching today in Orange County, California; Omaha, Nebraska; and Hampton Roads, Virginia. The company is hoping to take on phone companies like AT&T and Verizon who have been steadily encroaching on Cox’s TV market share.
Cox says the service will be “unbelievably fair” to consumers by giving money back for unused minutes, and the company will also bundle free TV, Internet, or landline phone service. The company will offer alerts to consumers as they approach their monthly minute limit, and will give 5 cents back for every unused minute (up to $20 a month).
24 percent of its customers said they would switch to its mobile service in May, the company said.
Cox will use Sprint’s 3G network initially, but the company is also working on a network of its own, according to the company’s vice president of wireless, Stephen Bye. The company will offer wireless service only in areas where it operates — it has no plans to become a national carrier. Its monthly contracts will start at $39.99, and the company will offer free calling to other Cox cellphones and landlines.
Cox will offer an array of Android handsets initially, including the HTC Desire, Motorola Milestone and LG Axis. The company will expand its offering based on customer demand, according to Bye. The company will sell the phones at its Cox Solutions Stores.
The news makes Cox the first cable company to pursue a wireless service offering, as well as the first to offer a “quadruple play” of services (wireless, TV, internet, and landline phone). Cox and other cable companies have a long history of joint ventures to enter the wireless business — often with Sprint as their partner — but none seem to have taken off as planned.
I can certainly imagine Cox customers being tempted by wireless plans bundled with other Cox services. But building its own network seems foolish when the company can easily lease service from major carriers. The company may eventually save some money by building its own network, but there’s no guarantee it will be able to recoup its costs.
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Verizon names Lowell McAdam COO in preparation for CEO spot
Verizon today in preparation for CEO Ivan Seidenberg’s retirement. The company named Lowell McAdam (pictured to the right alongside Google CEO Eric Schmidt), current president and CEO of Verizon Wireless, as Verizon’s new president and COO.
The move puts McAdam in charge of operations for Verizon Wireless, Verizon Telecom and Business, and Verizon Services Operations.
The company also named Francis Shammo, president of Verizon Telecom and Business, as executive vice president and CFO of Verizon. Verizon Wireless COO and executive vice president Daniel Mead will succeed McAdam as CEO of the wireless division. Finally, John Stratton, currently CMO for Verizon Wireless, will replace Mead as wireless COO.
McAdam was named CEO of Verizon Wireless in 2007 and is largely credited with the carrier’s recent success as a premier provider of Android phones. Perhaps most importantly, he made the carrier desirable among consumers even though it lacked Apple’s iPhone. He also served as COO for Verizon Wireless since 2000.
Given his success in the wireless division, McAdam seems like a good choice to steer Verizon. In particular, he could help Verizon to better sell innovative services, like its “FiOS” fiber television and internet offerings, which could stand to find a bigger audience among consumers and businesses.
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Belgacom invests $2 million in video recommendation service Jinni
, which has 870,000 digital TV customers in Belgium, will invest $2 million EU in video recommendation service Jinni as part of a strategic partnership.
We Jinni when the company was named as one of Google’s partners for Google TV. Jinni claims to already have two tier-one cable operators in the U.S. as customers (the company cannot yet name them) but Belgacom is the company’s first European customer. Belgacom wants to make its TV services available on PC, set-top box and mobile and Jinni is part of its attempt to provide a more personalised experience to its subscribers.
Jinni’s web site, which gets around 1 million unique visitors a month, provides recommendations for online content and lets you search for movies and TV shows based on mood terms like “witty urban comedy” or plot elements like “unlikely couple” or “ambition” rather than simply genre or title. Jinni presents search results and recommendations visually and provides links to sites like Amazon, Netflix and iTunes (or, for European users, LOVEFilm), where you can buy or rent the content. The catalog currently contains around 30,000 titles.
At the heart of Jinni is a similar to Pandora’s music genome that categorizes video content using 2,200 different parameters or “genes” covering mood, style, setting, atmosphere, etc. The site uses a combination of natural language processing and sentiment analysis to derive the genes from reviews and other information available online about a particular movie. The recommendation system learns your “movie personality” based on ratings you give to search results and expects to give high-quality recommendations after 10-20 ratings.
Belgacom also of $4 million in in3Depth Systems, the holding company controlling , which produces gesture-controlled interfaces. This implies that Belgacom is planning to deploy a gesture-controlled set-top box as well as Jinni’s recommendations, which combined with the 3-screen capabilities (PC, TV and mobile) could make for a very innovative hybrid TV service.
Jinni is based in Tel Aviv, was established in 2008, has 20 employees and total funding of $3.1M from the and
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