Posts for 'Devices'

Video management platform provider Ooyala is introducing several new features today to make online and mobile video more accessible and pervasive across devices. The new features include Hook (a mobile video playback app for Android), XTV Connect (to bridge mobile video to any connected TV) and Ooyala Discovery Guide (to create live/VOD program guides). Below I describe each in more detail and explain their respective importance.

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A reminder that on Tuesday, April 2nd, Brightcove Chairman & CEO Jeremy Allaire and I are going to present a complimentary video webinar, "Sizing Up the Apple TV Opportunity."

There have been infinite rumors about the idea of Apple launching its own television or "television-like" device (beyond the current Apple TV). In the webinar, Jeremy and I are going to delve into the details of why Apple might launch this type of product, what features and benefits it might actually have, how it would differentiate from competitors' products, how it might affect the ecosystem, and what challenges Apple would face trying to make it successful.

Though we both believe an Apple TV device could be a game-changer, the webinar will be "hype-free" and focused on the logic of this product. We have no particular agenda other than to try shedding some light on this topic. For anyone in the ecosystem who would be impacted by an Apple television/device, it promises to be an engaging, worthwhile session.

Complimentary registration here

Follow the discussion and submit questions via Twitter at #SizingUpAppleTV

It wasn't that long ago when the back-end delivery systems for traditional pay-TV services and those for over-the-top video services were quite distinct. Ditto for the in-home set-top devices that viewers use to receive these disparate video services. But as pay-TV operators continue to standardize on IP, the cloud becomes ever more pervasive and devices more powerful, those distinctions are melting away.

The latest example comes this morning from the UK, where thePlatform, a U.S.-based Comcast subsidiary, has announced that its mpx video management system is now powering key elements of BT's actual TV services, BT Vision and YouView from BT. According to thePlatform, mpx is supporting BT's video workflow, coordinating playback data with recommendations engines and enforcing video rights for subscribers. mpx has been integrated with BT's existing systems for content delivery, set-top boxes and user experience.

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I'm delighted to announce that Brightcove Chairman & CEO Jeremy Allaire and I are going to present a complimentary video webinar, "Sizing Up the Apple TV Opportunity," on Tuesday, April 2nd at 1:30pm ET.

The prospect of Apple launching its own television or "television-like" device (beyond the current Apple TV) has been one of the hottest rumors in the video industry. But while there has been lots of hype around it, there's been little strategic discussion of why Apple might launch this type of product, what features and benefits it might actually have, how it would differentiate from competitors' products, how it might affect the ecosystem, or what challenges Apple would face trying to make it successful. Our one-hour webinar will focus on exactly these types of questions.

Jeremy and I have both written extensively about the prospects for an Apple television/device and (examples here, here, here) and we believe that like so many previous Apple products, if the device is properly conceived, it could well represent a game-changer with profound industry impact. That said, the webinar will be a "hype-free" zone where we'll rationally delve into the details, while also providing ample time for Q&A. There are no agendas at work; Jeremy and I merely thought it would be timely to try shedding some light on this topic. For anyone in the ecosystem who would be impacted by an Apple television/device, it promises to be an engaging, worthwhile session.

Complimentary registration here

Follow the discussion and submit questions via Twitter at #SizingUpAppleTV

With over 700 content partners in its channel store, Roku has built out the most extensive set of content choices of any of the over-the-top devices.

And in a recent interview at NATPE, Scott Rosenberg, Roku's VP, Business Development, Content and Services, explains that's because the company has "very deliberately operated with a pro-content provider strategy" and prides itself on being easy to work with, allowing content providers to use the same standard technologies they use on the web and offering favorable economics. Scott contrasts this with the approach other OTT devices have taken.

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I'm pleased to present the 169th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. First up today, we review the latest video industry litigation, Cablevision vs. Viacom. We mostly agree that major industry change is unlikely to occur due to the litigation, but rather, over time, the expense of pay-TV and appeal of OTT alternatives will drive changes in consumer choices, which in turn is what will change the pay-TV industry's dynamics.

Speaking of changing dynamics, it's no secret that live TV viewing is under huge pressure as viewers turn to on-demand choices and DVR usage. To help reverse things, Colin discusses an interesting new initiative announced this week by Fox and Watchwith. Fox will be syndicating its FOX NOW "sync-to-broadcast" second screen companion content via Watchwith to numerous network partners such as Shazam, Viggle, ConnecTV and NextGuide, helping drive higher usage and monetization. As Colin wrote earlier this week, it's a clever way of proliferating FOX NOW content and improving the live experience.

Listen in to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (19 minutes, 21 seconds)

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The VideoNuze podcast is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Note: I'm pleased to post the latest from Stewart Schley, VideoNuze's newest contributor.

Survey: Under 2% of Pay-TV Subscribers Are Using Their Providers' Tablet Video Apps

by Stewart Schley

Digitalsmiths’ Q1 2013 Video Discovery Trends Report is out, and one of the key findings is that less than 2% of pay-TV subscribers use their providers' tablet video apps. The online survey of 1,800-plus adults shows how far the pay-TV industry has to go before their tablet video apps influence TV watching.

Of the roughly one-third of respondents who said they have tablets, 60% said they haven’t downloaded their pay-TV provider’s app, and another 14% aren’t aware such an app even is available. Of the 26% of tablet owners who have downloaded pay-TV provider's apps, only 18% said they actually use them. That means for every 100 pay-TV subscribers, under 2% of them ever fire up their provider's video app.

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Note: Today I'm pleased to welcome VideoNuze's latest contributor, Stewart Schley. Stewart has been writing about media and telecommunications subjects for more than 20 years for publishers including CED magazine, Multichannel News, Paul Kagan Associates and One Touch Intelligence.

Ooyala 2012 Video Index: Tablet-Based Viewing Times Continue to Rise


by Stewart Schley

Video’s leap to tablets continues to impress, and not just when it comes to short-form content. Ooyala’s new Global Video Index 2012 illuminates a rising role for tablets in playing long-form content. Ooyala's data shows that in Q4 '12, 63% of total viewing time on tablets was for videos longer than 10 minutes, up from 46% in Q1 '12.  Nearly one-third of time spent watching videos on tablets in Q4 ’12 was for those an hour or longer.


The numbers suggest users are becoming increasingly comfortable watching full-length TV shows, movies and other long-form content on tablets, a finding that has implications for television networks and other content providers that want to extend their viewership to the small screen. Among playback devices Ooyala tracks, only connected TVs and game consoles had a higher percentage of long-form video viewing (81.7%) in Q4. PCs clocked in at 57%, and smartphones at 43.6%.

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Beachfront Media has announced that its Beachfront Builder video application development platform now supports connected TVs from LG and Samsung, along with connected TV devices such as Roku and most Google TV products. In addition to these devices, apps built using Beachfront Builder also run natively in iOS devices, Android phones/tablets, HTML5/Web and Windows 8. Beachfront apps also include analytics and monetization in the form of video pre-rolls.

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I'm pleased to present the 163rd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon. Before getting into today's topic, Colin shares exciting news that he has set up a new firm, nScreenMedia. Congrats to Colin!

This week we dive deeper into Smart TVs, focusing on the challenges they face, and what incremental improvements came out of CES (which Colin also wrote about earlier this week).

While we both agree that fragmentation and relatively low volumes are holding back app development, Colin sees the solution as a unified "app framework," while I believe what's really required is the equivalent of an underlying common operating system for Smart TVs. This OS would not only create baseline consistency among them, but would also be interoperable with other devices like smartphones and tablets. This is crucial for viewers to seamlessly move back and forth between all their devices.

Since I think the likelihood of something like this emerging any time soon is relatively low, I believe that the circumstances are ripe for Apple to extend its iOS to the living room by launching a full scale television (and an upgraded appliance as well). I wrote about this in detail earlier this week in "Post-CES, the Stage is Now Set for an Apple Television."

Click here to listen to the podcast (19 minutes, 30 seconds)

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The VideoNuze podcast is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Broadcast TV networks continue to find themselves in the middle of a ton of innovation, as clever entrepreneurs look for ways to help viewers discover and consume their content. The latest entry in this space is a startup called Fredio ("FREE-d-oh") which announced its launch at CES. Fredio enables viewing on smart TVs of freely available TV programs that are posted online.

The proposition is relatively simple: all broadcast TV networks, and some cable TV networks (for certain shows), have been putting their episodes online for years now. But if you want to watch them you're typically limited to viewing on your computer, tablet or smartphone. If you want to watch on your smart TV, you're out of luck because no apps exist, with the exception of Hulu Plus, which requires a subscription

Fredio aims to change that by creating a free app for smart TVs that crawls the web for free TV shows. The app then categorizes them by network, allowing quick search and personalization through a straightforward UI (limited online demo here). You'll also be able to search Fredio online or on its tablet/smartphone app, select shows there and have them ready to play on your smart TV. When a show is selected, Fredio simply calls the network's web site to initiate the stream.

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Unless you've been living under a rock for the last year or two, you've no doubt had your fill of stories about the elusive Apple television set - not the existing puck-like Apple TV device, but the actual full screen monitor. At the risk of adding to the topic's cacophony, today I'd like to articulate why, with CES now behind us, I believe Apple has a massive opportunity and that a television is 100% inevitable - with the only question being the specific timing of its introduction.

Apple's television opportunity is not simply to one-up the competition's stable of Smart TVs, but to re-imagine the entire TV experience as an integral part of our lives. Simply put, Apple's task is to leverage all of the foundational pieces that already exist - high-speed broadband delivery, Wi-Fi, HDTV, its robust app store/developer network, and the massive installed base of touch screen iPads and iPhones - and then to create an unparalleled experience layer that allows users to do things heretofore unimaginable.

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I'm pleased to present the 162nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon, who is back from spending several days at CES. Though Colin concedes he didn't see anything that really "blew his socks off," he does share specific reactions to what he saw in second screen apps, UltraViolet, home gateways, Ultra High-Definition TVs, Google TV and incremental improvements in Smart TVs.

One thing that did get Colin jazzed was Near Field Communications (NFC), which allows devices to talk to each other, simply by touching. Colin describes it as "magic" and was quite impressed.

We then shift topics to discuss Aereo, which earlier this week announced a new $38 million financing and plans to expand to 22 metro areas in 2013. As I wrote, I think that as Aereo's awareness increases this year, it's going to challenge pay-TV because it effectively eliminates the broadcast TV reception element of pay-TV's value proposition. By "hollowing-out" this important feature, Aereo will cause many pay-TV subscribers to question whether they really need/value the myriad cable networks they don't really watch. Given pay-TV's escalating cost and Aereo as an alternative, many people could begin to scale back.


Click here to listen to the podcast (22 minutes, 31 seconds)

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The VideoNuze podcast is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Video ad tech provider YuMe has introduced a new ad unit for connected TVs dubbed "Click to Ngage." Simon Hayhurst, SVP of Product Management at YuMe, told me yesterday that the new ad unit is meant to give advertisers a way to extend their creativity beyond typical 30-second pre-rolls into more of an immersive "mini-site" type of format.

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You gotta love Roku. In the insanely competitive world of consumer devices - where the big boys like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Sony and others have enormous retail, financial and existing customer base advantages - little Roku just keeps on cranking out inexpensive, yet solid products, meaningful partnerships and scads of content deals, establishing itself as a leader in the connected TV space.

The latest evidence of Roku's momentum are two announcements at CES today; first, that it has signed up another 6 "Roku Ready" TV manufactures as partners whose models can accept the company's "Streaming Stick" device and second, that it has signed new video channel partners Blockbuster on Demand, Dailymotion, DISHWorld, Flingo, Fox Now, PBS, PBS Kids, Syfy and VEVO. All of these channels bring to 700 the number of video and audio choices in the Roku Channel Store, a breadth that easily rivals - though is clearly distinct from - today's pay-TV services.

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I'm pleased to present the 161st edition of the weekly VideoNuze podcast, and first of 2013, with my partner Colin Dixon. Today we pick up on my post from yesterday, "For Tomorrow's TVs, User Experience is More Important Than Screen Size and Resolution," in which I asserted that despite TV manufacturers' new push toward "Ultra High-Definition," what consumers really seek are Smart TVs with user experiences that seamlessly integrate with their other devices and video services.

Colin, who will be attending CES, shares more details on what he's hearing Samsung, LG and Sony will be introducing at the show. In general, we agree that as yet, nothing seems particularly ground-breaking or compelling, but we'll see if we're surprised.

In fact, the sub-optimal user experiences of today's Smart TVs - plus other factors - leads me to believe there's a big opportunity for Apple, which we explore as well. At the risk of contributing to the hype around Apple launching a TV, I'm convinced they'll enter this market in a big way.

Click here to listen to the podcast (20 minutes, 11 seconds)

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The VideoNuze podcast is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

In the lead-up to next week's CES, there has already been a lot of attention focused on "Ultra High-Definition" TVs, the industry's latest move toward ever-bigger TVs with ever-higher resolution. That's understandable given TV manufacturers' desire to extend the core appeal of HDTVs. But important as these attributes are, TV manufacturers should recognize that going forward, it's actually user experience that will be the critical differentiator.

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Welcome to 2013! If you were mostly checked out over the past 1-2 weeks (or were only paying attention to the fiscal cliff roller coaster), you didn't miss a whole lot in the video world. However, there were 5 items that caught my attention which I briefly describe below:

See the 5 items

I'm pleased to present the 160th edition of the VideoNuze-TDG podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon, senior analyst at The Diffusion Group. This will be our 45th podcast of 2012, and last one for the year.

Following on last week's podcast in which we counted down the top 10 online video stories of 2012, this week we look ahead to the top 4 trends we expect in 2013. We also do a quick "around the horn" on 7 topics that are also of interest.

Click here to listen to the podcast (27 minutes, 25 seconds)

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The VideoNuze-TDG podcast is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Comcast has announced that Xfinity TV subscribers who use the Xfinity TV Player app on their Android and iOS mobile devices can now download certain TV shows and movies, so they can watch when they're not connected to a broadband network. The download option closely mirrors TiVo's recently announced "Stream" device, which also allows downloading.

As I wrote in my review of TiVo Stream, I think the offline viewing use case is a killer app. Despite the proliferation of 4G services, the reality is there are still plenty of times when connectivity is sub-par or non-existent, particularly in transit situations (e.g. airplanes, cars, trains, etc.). Further, the elimination of unlimited data plans by wireless carriers makes streaming long-form content prohibitively expensive. As a result, the download option is very attractive, especially for travelers.

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