Microsoft is scheduled to make a big announcement on Monday. And the advance word is that it will be a tablet, competing with the Apple iPad and others. While historically, Microsoft has licensed it's software on other products, the plan may be for Microsoft to manufacture its own tablet. The question is, can Microsoft catch up to Apple or will this attempt be as unsuccessful as their Zune product, an iPod wannabee? So far the track record for Microsoft hasn't been good, but the mantra must be, never stop trying.
"The problem with this strategy in the tablet market is that Apple and Google have disrupted the business model. Google offers its software for free, and its hardware partners struggle to match Apple on the price and quality of the iPad." For Microsoft, the challenge must be to bring something new to the product line that competitors haven't done before and to make it better. I can imagine that one way to take a bite out of Apple would be to price its table noticeably lower than the iPad. Second would be to build in unique functionality that interacts seamlessly with its Xbox product. A second screen perhaps to make game playing even more immersive or controller elements from the tablet to the screen. Marketing their tablet to their Xbox loyalists could also help capture a significant share quickly, provided that a needed benefit is demonstrated.
So stay tuned for Microsoft's Monday announcement. The tablet space is getting more interesting, indeed.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Sirius And Liberty Wrestle For Control
The fight for ownership of SiriusXM continues to play out as Liberty Media tries to buy enough shares of the stock to claim ownership of the asset. Mel Karmazin, current CEO, has no interest in ceding control and is known for not liking to be less than lead dog in the fight.
"At the heart of the battle appears to be Mr. Karmazin's conviction that Liberty shouldn't get control of Sirius without paying for it." Which seems to mean that Karmazin is happy to depart if he gets his fair share. With options currently valued near $170 million, the higher Karmazin can get Liberty to pay for the stock, the more money he can earn. And while financial reward may not be Karmazin's only win, it sure can lessen the blow of losing control to Liberty.
But it isn't all about the money and for Karmazin, perhaps the question would be, what would the next act in his career look like. He may not want to start over again with another company and might hope that his work with Sirius can continue a while longer, provided that he can still maintain full control. But should Liberty ultimately take ownership, that might not be possible.
"At the heart of the battle appears to be Mr. Karmazin's conviction that Liberty shouldn't get control of Sirius without paying for it." Which seems to mean that Karmazin is happy to depart if he gets his fair share. With options currently valued near $170 million, the higher Karmazin can get Liberty to pay for the stock, the more money he can earn. And while financial reward may not be Karmazin's only win, it sure can lessen the blow of losing control to Liberty.
But it isn't all about the money and for Karmazin, perhaps the question would be, what would the next act in his career look like. He may not want to start over again with another company and might hope that his work with Sirius can continue a while longer, provided that he can still maintain full control. But should Liberty ultimately take ownership, that might not be possible.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Sign In With Facebook
It seems every time I open an app, I am given an option to sign in with email or sign in with Facebook. From TripAdvisor to foursquare to casual gaming sites, the option to use Facebook seems to overwhelm the page and choice. And while I am happy to have a single sight to aggregate all my sign ins, I frankly don't want to post everything I do. A vacation picture, yes; a blog, why not. But searches for vacation sights, and announcements of high scores seems just too much information that I wish to share. And frankly simply clutters the data landscape.
So when I do authorize Facebook, I feel the need to go the extra mile; turn off the postings, do not share, and do not reveal. But sometimes you feel the need to look in from the outside to see that you are sharing only what you wish and controlling the information that you want to reveal. It seems a tricky business and a fine line. It seems to be why I prefer when I can sign in with the email address, I do. Perhaps it leads to spam in my email account, but better than spam to my Facebook timeline.
So when I do authorize Facebook, I feel the need to go the extra mile; turn off the postings, do not share, and do not reveal. But sometimes you feel the need to look in from the outside to see that you are sharing only what you wish and controlling the information that you want to reveal. It seems a tricky business and a fine line. It seems to be why I prefer when I can sign in with the email address, I do. Perhaps it leads to spam in my email account, but better than spam to my Facebook timeline.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Cord Shaving or Cord Trimming, It's About Reducing Costs
For a couple years, I've been talking about cord shaving, reducing the subscription fee to cable programming by downsizing. Today's Paid Content article gives it a different name, cord trimming, but it means the same thing. Whatever the name, the quest is the same, " if I’m watching my shows on my Xbox 360 and iPad most of the time, why am I paying for whole-home HD DVR service?" As bills for cable, broadband, and telephone rise, consumers are fighting back.
The easiest may be to drop the wired phone. If your wireless phone is always on and with you, why a house number. Second, as the author has found, drop the level of service or negotiate with your provider on the threat of switching providers. Last, take less premium movie services; let Netflix or iTunes provide you with the movies and shows you want to watch. They may be last season, but they still entertain.
We may not be able to full cut the cord on cable programming, but we can find the ways to shave or trim our bills by actively seeking these types of savings.
The easiest may be to drop the wired phone. If your wireless phone is always on and with you, why a house number. Second, as the author has found, drop the level of service or negotiate with your provider on the threat of switching providers. Last, take less premium movie services; let Netflix or iTunes provide you with the movies and shows you want to watch. They may be last season, but they still entertain.
We may not be able to full cut the cord on cable programming, but we can find the ways to shave or trim our bills by actively seeking these types of savings.
Cable Companies Accused of Antitrust
Are cable companies practicing monopolistic behavior, driving pricing up while limiting smaller programmers and new video platforms from growing? Today's Wall Street Journal article has the Justice Department looking deeper into these practices. From talk of lack of net neutrality to pricing, it is reasonable to suspect that such behavior is in fact necessary to maintain the dominance over the customer in an industry that is rapidly seeking new means for distributing content and managing bandwidth.
The cable companies built these digital highways initially for a proprietary video platform; technological changes have enabled content to be consumed on this same highway. The cable companies want these highways to be a toll road; consumers want free travel. Cable companies want to control what you view and from whom, consumers like the a la carte choice and free to view model. And so you have conflict.
Today, that means the Justice Department digging deeper into cable practices including contract requirements that may limit where a programmer can exhibit or how much, and pricing requirements that guarantee they get the same deal as other big distributors. As the largest distributor, Comcast has the largest target on its back. Along with this current probe, Comcast is facing additional lawsuits. "The suit accuses Comcast of violating sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act by gobbling up competitors, then overbilling consumers for services." Now this particular lawsuit appears to have been in the courts since 2003. The wheels of justice may move so slow that technological change may find a solution before the courts do.
The cable companies built these digital highways initially for a proprietary video platform; technological changes have enabled content to be consumed on this same highway. The cable companies want these highways to be a toll road; consumers want free travel. Cable companies want to control what you view and from whom, consumers like the a la carte choice and free to view model. And so you have conflict.
Today, that means the Justice Department digging deeper into cable practices including contract requirements that may limit where a programmer can exhibit or how much, and pricing requirements that guarantee they get the same deal as other big distributors. As the largest distributor, Comcast has the largest target on its back. Along with this current probe, Comcast is facing additional lawsuits. "The suit accuses Comcast of violating sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act by gobbling up competitors, then overbilling consumers for services." Now this particular lawsuit appears to have been in the courts since 2003. The wheels of justice may move so slow that technological change may find a solution before the courts do.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
T-Commerce Taking More Shape
See something on your TV screen, click and buy with your remote. Like the couch on the Mad Men set, click and buy from Crate & Barrel. It seems that the idea of adding another revenue model off the TV set is taking form and Pay Pal is working hard to build partnerships to facilitate the sale. Two separate announcements, one with Comcast and another with TiVo, each working with PayPal "to explore enabling new forms of payment on TV". Exciting stuff.
Will consumers embrace this new method of shopping and purchasing? "According to a PayPal survey conducted in October 2011, 49% of TV subscribers show an interest in purchasing goods and services linked to the content they're watching on TV, either directly from their television through their remote control, or on a smartphone or tablet." For me personally, I would be much more inclined to make that purchase off my tablet and reluctant to use my remote. Half the time, I am unsure where the remote is hiding while the iPad is next to me. I also foresee the tablet becoming the ultimate remote offering second screen capability to what is on the big TV.
For these companies, working with PayPal seems a nice first step. I am more intrigued by what Apple has planned for iOS 6 with Passbook. As a virtual wallet, it could become the way to purchase goods off the TV set, too. For the consumer, I wonder how many virtual wallets we will be willing to manage. How interesting the timing of these two announcements. Online purchasing is taking another leap forward.
Will consumers embrace this new method of shopping and purchasing? "According to a PayPal survey conducted in October 2011, 49% of TV subscribers show an interest in purchasing goods and services linked to the content they're watching on TV, either directly from their television through their remote control, or on a smartphone or tablet." For me personally, I would be much more inclined to make that purchase off my tablet and reluctant to use my remote. Half the time, I am unsure where the remote is hiding while the iPad is next to me. I also foresee the tablet becoming the ultimate remote offering second screen capability to what is on the big TV.
For these companies, working with PayPal seems a nice first step. I am more intrigued by what Apple has planned for iOS 6 with Passbook. As a virtual wallet, it could become the way to purchase goods off the TV set, too. For the consumer, I wonder how many virtual wallets we will be willing to manage. How interesting the timing of these two announcements. Online purchasing is taking another leap forward.
Smart TVs Being Shipped But Are They Being Used
TV manufacturers are shipping their newest TV sets with internet capabilities. These "smart TVs" are becoming the norm of the features of an HDTV set. "Worldwide, nearly 20% of all TVs shipped worldwide in Q1 were smart TVs, with the highest penetration in Japan with 36% followed by China at 30% and Western Europe at 29%." In North America, it accounts for 18%. But just because a TV has these features, are they being fully utilized?
In our house, we are connecting to the web through other boxes attached to the TV. In fact, for my son, his Xbox is the platform for that connection. But his and our viewing habits are not limited to the big screen TV. We are watching internet programming through our iPad and iPod devices. In fact, for personalized viewing, these mobile devices are more ideal.
As more consumers see the variety, ease, and value of taking video through their smart TV, demand and viewership will increase, cord cutting will be greater, and a la carte choice will become the means for watching individual shows on demand. At the end of the day, web content will be ubiquitous, across every device in the home, on demand, and easy to view.
In our house, we are connecting to the web through other boxes attached to the TV. In fact, for my son, his Xbox is the platform for that connection. But his and our viewing habits are not limited to the big screen TV. We are watching internet programming through our iPad and iPod devices. In fact, for personalized viewing, these mobile devices are more ideal.
As more consumers see the variety, ease, and value of taking video through their smart TV, demand and viewership will increase, cord cutting will be greater, and a la carte choice will become the means for watching individual shows on demand. At the end of the day, web content will be ubiquitous, across every device in the home, on demand, and easy to view.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Passwords Are Problematic
With the latest news that LinkedIn's security was compromised and customer passwords were obtained, we were again reminded to use different passwords for different sites, to make them a complicated assortment of letters, numbers, and symbols, change them often, oh and yes, remember them all. And yet how many of us do this? Worse, the ones we do use, we sometimes forget the password, log in name, or both. And so despite the security breaches, most of us use one or two or at most three for most of our accounts. Compromised at one site, obtained for all.
We need a better solution to passwords. With new touch screens and front facing cameras, other choices may be around the corner. From face or fingerprint recognition to voice, we need a different way to access our accounts and personal information in a way that cannot be used without us being present. Are these new methods better; hopefully, so. It is clear that as banks and financial institutions also find that their client passwords are also stolen, that other means of verification are necessary.
Passwords don't work because we have a hard time remembering all the different passwords that we create, for work, home, email, bank, subscription services, etc. The password system is compromised the moment we hand write the codes on our laptop, desk, notes app and other places. It is worse when the institution that uses the password gets itself hacked and shares those passwords across the web. So the race is on to find the next model of account verification online. Hurry, we need it now.
We need a better solution to passwords. With new touch screens and front facing cameras, other choices may be around the corner. From face or fingerprint recognition to voice, we need a different way to access our accounts and personal information in a way that cannot be used without us being present. Are these new methods better; hopefully, so. It is clear that as banks and financial institutions also find that their client passwords are also stolen, that other means of verification are necessary.
Passwords don't work because we have a hard time remembering all the different passwords that we create, for work, home, email, bank, subscription services, etc. The password system is compromised the moment we hand write the codes on our laptop, desk, notes app and other places. It is worse when the institution that uses the password gets itself hacked and shares those passwords across the web. So the race is on to find the next model of account verification online. Hurry, we need it now.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Charlie Ergan Speaks
It's worth checking out the article on Charlie Ergan in today's Wall Street Journal. There has been quite a bit of press recently on his company, Dish Network. From his latest DVR that completely hops over ads to his fight with AMC Networks and their former parent company Cablevision over Voom, Charlie doesn't seem to mind a battle.
Although the article speaks only about his Auto Hop service, he clearly has opinions on the future of TV and advertising. "With the new service, Mr. Ergen aims to force the networks to develop 'more meaningful' ads, using, for example, demographic targeting of viewers." But how can networks show more "meaningful ads" if ads are immediately skipped over. What does Charlie really want?
Perhaps his real point is that the networks are offering the same content with less ads on other platforms, like Hulu. Viewers, like his children, are bypassing cable subscriptions for the web. "Mr. Ergen, 59 years old, says four of his five children have stopped paying for a TV subscription, and the fifth is living home." Viewing habits are changing whether Dish is skipping ads or not. His ploy may be to find ways to get networks to lower their costs to him so he can lower his costs to subscribers and win them back. At the end of the day, he certainly has gotten the attention of the network executives.
So what is Ergan's next move? He is also holding on to wireless spectrum with an opportunity to build out a competing service. The costs to build are enormous and Ergan may want to consider a partnership with an existing mobile carrier. AT&T couldn't do a deal with T-Mobile. Perhaps Charlie can. The future is two way wireless of voice, video, and data and Charlie Ergan seems intent to compete with a cost effective model.
As to the networks, the Auto Hop feature is already out of the box. You can't turn back technology. Tivo and the DVR was the first step; consumers want to skip commercials. As Ergan intimated in the interview, a new creative approach is needed. Less breaks and more innovative and targeted ads could help. Viewers are changing habits and it is time to take notice.
Although the article speaks only about his Auto Hop service, he clearly has opinions on the future of TV and advertising. "With the new service, Mr. Ergen aims to force the networks to develop 'more meaningful' ads, using, for example, demographic targeting of viewers." But how can networks show more "meaningful ads" if ads are immediately skipped over. What does Charlie really want?
Perhaps his real point is that the networks are offering the same content with less ads on other platforms, like Hulu. Viewers, like his children, are bypassing cable subscriptions for the web. "Mr. Ergen, 59 years old, says four of his five children have stopped paying for a TV subscription, and the fifth is living home." Viewing habits are changing whether Dish is skipping ads or not. His ploy may be to find ways to get networks to lower their costs to him so he can lower his costs to subscribers and win them back. At the end of the day, he certainly has gotten the attention of the network executives.
So what is Ergan's next move? He is also holding on to wireless spectrum with an opportunity to build out a competing service. The costs to build are enormous and Ergan may want to consider a partnership with an existing mobile carrier. AT&T couldn't do a deal with T-Mobile. Perhaps Charlie can. The future is two way wireless of voice, video, and data and Charlie Ergan seems intent to compete with a cost effective model.
As to the networks, the Auto Hop feature is already out of the box. You can't turn back technology. Tivo and the DVR was the first step; consumers want to skip commercials. As Ergan intimated in the interview, a new creative approach is needed. Less breaks and more innovative and targeted ads could help. Viewers are changing habits and it is time to take notice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
