Control At Your Fingertips

Cynopsis pointed something out to me today that really looked cool. They pointed me to a site called i.tv and a video embedded below.



This company has built an app for the iPhone that simplifies the process of finding the shows you want, recording through Tivo, and finding Netflix films to download. "The iTV app turns the iPhone into a full-featured control center for all your entertainment needs: check TV and movie times, purchase movie tickets, manage your Netflix queue, watch YouTube videos, and now control your Tivo HD remotely. The interface is elegant, visual and easy to figure out. iTV is releasing the remote control framework to third party developers, hoping to get other set-top manufacturers interested."

To me, the biggest minus with cable is the cable box. Shouldn't cable operators be embracing this kind of convergent technology and truly making the cable box a happy experience. To me, it works more like a Model T. Perhaps I can trade in my cable box under the "cash for clunkers" and get something that is more useful. Tivo and Netflix are enabling TV sets to work better. And companies are building more useful Apps for them, but not for the cable industry. It's time for a change.

Is You Tube Leaving Its Comfort Zone?

You Tube, the home for user generated videos and clips from network shows, is looking to compete in the pay movie space. While it's revenue has been primarily from ad support, the appeal of a second revenue stream is hard to beat. Still, can You Tube compete with Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and others in this transactional and subscription space.

You Tube's parent, Google, tried to be in this space prior to purchasing You Tube. "Google has charged for video rentals and downloads in the past through Google Video. But less than a year after acquiring YouTube in October 2006, it stopped offering the paid video service." Is the timing right to get back into the game; I think not. I don't believe the You Tube consumer would accept a premium model. They use the service to upload and share videos and You Tube is the place to find viral, much talked about, clips. Others, like Netflix, have been building relationships with Tivo and Sony to enable these online movies for pay to be watched on the bigger screen. And can You Tube really differentiate its titles from what the others are offering to recapture market share. Movies may also be seen as a commodity; the only way to enter is with a deeply discounted pricing model. Hollywood may not be interested in that marketing approach.

Kindle Friendlier to Environment Than Print Books

From the Book of Obvious, E-books are better for the environment than printed books. "The e-reader savings eclipse attempts by the publishing industry to reduce its damage to the environment through cleaner manufacturing processes and more recycling programs, the San Francisco-based research and consulting firm said in a report." If your not cutting down trees and processing them into books, it is frankly obvious that digital devices are more environmentally friendly than traditional printed media. Please tell me something I don't now.

Still, I doubt people are converting to e-readers for their environmental benefits. I see that more a a by-product. The reason is one of convenience of purchase, lighter load to "carry' multiple books, and even the me-too behavior that comes with electronic devices. Improving the environment is a good thing; this article simply states the obvious.

Shouldn't an HD Commercial Touting HD Service Be Filmed in HD

I am a recent purchaser of a Hi Def TV set so I have to admit that I am thrilled to watch anything in HD. And I have become much more particular about what channels I watch, so that my 1000 channels has dropped to about 20. So as I was watching this morning on an HD channel, a commercial came on from a cable TV provider (I won't say who) touting its number of HD channels over its competitor(s). More HD channels, not duplicates, best, most...all the adjectives! But here is the kicker. The commercial, touting its HD claims, was in standard definition. How odd. Customers without HD would never notice, so I guess they are selling a future benefit when (or if) these customers join the HD revolution. But to customers like me, with an HD set, and most likely also interested in feeding our appetite with more HD choices, the commercial seems to suggest that the company that it represents really doesn't have a credible message to sell. Selling more HD channels, better HD programs, but not really. I say fire your ad agency and production company, they really blew this one.

Major League Baseball: A Dollar A Game

Wish you could watch a certain out of market baseball game, but not interested in going to a bar or buying a full season pass. Perhaps you've pseudo-watched on the web, as stats and action was announced on a diamond mock-up. Well, it seems that now you can buy just one game at a time for just a buck. What a deal. "Bob Bowman, CEO of Major League Baseball Advanced Media–pro baseball’s standalone digital media company–tells me iPhone and iPod touch users will soon be able to buy individual games. The feature will be added to the company’s existing MLB.com app and will roll out as soon as Apple (AAPL) finishes approving the update, which Bowman expects to happen within the next few days." Now this sounds pretty user friendly. So when can I buy the same game on my big screen TV for the same price. Most people won't realize they could have bought the season when they finally count the games they bought. It sounds like a great revenue enhancing idea.

Tivo Suing More Operators That Use DVRs

Suing Dish for it's DVR isn't enough for Tivo; add AT&T and Verizon to the list. "TiVo's complaints, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, claim that the telephone companies infringed upon its Multimedia Time Warping System, its System for Time Shifting Multimedia Content Streams, and its Automatic Playback Overshoot Correction System when they deployed their own DVRs." So why are the cable companies not being sued. Are their DVRs made up differently. Certainly they wouldn't sue Comcast as a distribution deal is in place, but what about the others? As the Dish lawsuit has been going on for years, these should take just as long.

More Competition for Kindle

Add another entrant into what is getting to be a more crowded space, the electronic book. Working with the Barnes and Noble e-site, Irex Technologies will be releasing its version of an e-book reader later this year. Unlike the Kindle, Irex's product "will sport an 8.1-inch touch screen and 3G wireless connectivity. The device's touch screen will be controlled with a stylus instead of a user's fingers." So now you have Irex, Kindle, Sony, and Plastic Logic, not to mention the iPhone. Will Apple come up with another product for this space too? It spells better news for Barnes and Noble who is making their store user-friendly for multiple readers and accessible to a large library of content. The real fight may not be in the reader but between Barnes and Noble and Amazon at the e-store itself.

Yahoo Radio May Not Have to Pay Royalty Fees

If the music is free to broadcast radio, why shouldn't be free to webcast radio. That may simply be the crux of the argument. And the courts have agreed. "A federal appeals court in New York ruled that a Yahoo Inc Internet radio service is not required to pay fees to copyright holders of songs it plays, a defeat for Sony Corp's BMG Music."With more broadcast radio stations simulcasting their programs over the web, it may have had implications to them as well. Ultimately it provides the same idea of convergence to radio that TV has been dealing with. The consumer wants radio; they simply want it on the device of their choosing and not limited to a radio box. Perhaps too, it can lead to more opportunity for the music publisher. With songs heard on an interactive medium, purchase behavior can be impacted instantly, enabling the consumer to move from listening to purchase in a click. Obviously, the big issue is digital rights management, but music publishers shouldn't cut off their nose to spite their face. The opportunity exists to turn the web into another growth opportunity for them as well.

Verizon Fios Pushing Convergence

First there was the triple play - wired phone, cable, and internet, now there is the quad play with the addition of wireless. And while it is nice to have one bill for all four products, it's even nicer when they work together. Well Verizon seems to agree. In one example, "Integrating the cellphone with TV, such as turning a BlackBerry into a remote control, is an advantage the competition can't easily replicate." Remote programming of the DVR is another. Accessing cable programming from your home onto your blackberry or other mobile device would be the ultimate convergence opportunity. "The New York telecommunications company lags AT&T Inc. (T), which has a headstart integrating its U-Verse TV service with the Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone. The two companies' TV services, however, don't compete. Verizon also unveiled a slight upgrade to its FiOS TV service, including a recommendation engine for on-demand video, targeted advertisements based on geography, portals for HBO and Showtime, and more widgets such as a football program that displays statistics alongside a game. The changes will be rolled out next month."

Convergence of all the devices seamlessly so that they all communicate effortlessly with each other seems to be the ultimate competitive game-changer. For example, place your cell phone on a device and have it automatically forward its calls to your hard wire phone. Or watch your favorite shows away from home by accessing your cable box through your PC. The ideas for convergence are endless and the providers that catch on quickly may benefit with market share.