philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

YouTube co-founder calls for global access to TV online

He said online players such as YouTube were likely to become more aggressive in their pursuit of rights for live sports and events, putting further pressure on national free to air broadcasters and pay TV channels. “I definitely think we are in a global consumer environment now,” Mr Hurley said.

Mr Hurley no longer runs YouTube, but remains a consultant to the company after Google acquired it for $US1.65 billion in late 2006. The company, perhaps more than any other, forced television networks to reconsider their global business models due to the amount of content being shared.

In recent times YouTube has been making a move on sports broadcasting rights, which in many ways have been the lifeblood of pay TV stations. It has taken rights to an array of minor sports around the world, including some ­Australian basketball matches.

Read the full story here: http://www.afr.com/p/technology/youtube_co_founder_calls_for_global_sFVUIKr17luhpnJYBwCOLM?curator=MediaREDEF

Age of Digital Under-load

[Philip Lelyveld comment; this is essentially a story on the need for better filters.]

Each of us can't make sense of the unfiltered information that is pointed at our screens. And information under-load increasingly means that we're losing out on the big ideas, important news, and critical data that we need to stay connected and informed.

Read the full story here; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-rosenbaum/welcome-to-the-era-of-inf_b_3701029.html?curator=MediaREDEF&utm_hp_ref=technology

The End of the Age of Digital Innocence

The single biggest impact of the files leaked by Edward Snowden’s lies in the dismantling of the Age of Digital Innocence. It’s about time to bring the rhetoric of struggle and the theory of power into the digital realm, and to talk about technology as a site of contestation. Because the misbelief that a revolutionary technology will necessarily usher in an age of progress only serves those who exert the greatest control. The future they envision will most certainly be transformative but not necessarily desirable.

Read the full editorial here: http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/martin-eiermann--3/7252-technology-as-power?curator=MediaREDEF

‘I’d tap that Glass’: James Deen releases first Google Glass porno

[Philip Lelyveld comment; there is a long story in today's (8/4/13) LA Times about The Canyons, an ultra low budget legitimate movie staring James Deen and Lindsey Lohan written by Brett Easton Ellis.]

Given that Glass has been in the wild for some time, we're extremely doubtful this is the first X-rated video made with it. It is, however, the first professionally-made one we're aware of, especially with breakout star Deen involved. The glasses themselves were apparently obtained from Motherboard's Arikia Millikan, who attended the shooting, and adult app company MiKandi — whose first attempt at working with Glass was abruptly stymied when Google pulled its "Tits and Glass" app after only a few hours.

... as the scene progressed, Glass itself started to heat up. That's not innuendo. That's what happens when you record for too long.

Here is the link to the censored version of the trailer; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxt24JoLlPE

Read the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/23/4549416/id-tap-that-glass-james-deen-releases-first-google-glass-porno

Up in smoke: Most listeners don’t want pot ads on radio.

When forced to choose, a majority of parents identify the number one place where it should be permissible to advertise marijuana as “nowhere.”    People seemed most comfortable with marijuana ads on the web, but even then four out of five of those surveyed still thought pot ads should be off-limits.

“What is especially notable is the extremely high level of support for a wide array of strict marijuana regulations to protect children after legalization,” says Scott Kotchko, a pollster at Whitman Insight Strategies which fielded the survey.

See the full story here: http://www.insideradio.com/Article.asp?id=2676905&spid=32060#.Uflu6xb6LiO

This is what the sorry state of Android fragmentation looks like (in charts)

[Philip Lelyveld comment: if nothing else, this graphic works really well to communicate the point.]

The latest data is in, and Android fragmentation is worse than ever.

So says app maker OpenSignal, which has spelled out in dizzying detail just how many different Android devices are being used today.

Via its eponymous app, OpenSignal helps users find the best Wi-Fi networks and cell signals for their devices. After looking at the 682,000 Android devices that downloaded the app this year, OpenSignal found that 11,868 them were completely distinct. That’s a big increase over last year, when the company saw only 3,997 distinct devices.
Read the full story here: http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/30/android-fragmention-2013/

Rethinking How We Watch TV

Intel's plans include a server farm to record every piece of programming aired—local, national and international—and store it for at least three days in the "cloud." With an Intel-designed set-top box, people won't have to own DVRs or even plan to record programs.

Intel is just one entry in the computer industry's growing land grab for the living room, one likely to bring voice activation, restyled remotes, new on-screen interfaces and other major changes in the way people interact with TVs.

Negotiations with media companies for content rights could delay new services and limit some features, though Intel vows to enter some markets by the end of the year.

Yet there is a growing consensus that underlying technologies are evolving to the point that major changes in the TV experience are all but inevitable, whether delivered by new entrants or incumbents.

"I've never seen as much innovation in television as there is right now," says Ulf Ewaldsson, chief technology officer at Swedish telecom-equipment giant Ericsson, which plans to step up its own TV efforts.

Intel is testing its technology with 2,500 Intel employees in California, Oregon and Arizona.

See the full story here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324170004578636181260905830.html?mod=rss_media_marketing

Google Glass Heading to Film School Class

The tech giant has revealed to The Hollywood Reporterits plans for the Glass Collective, a partnership with film schools including USC, CalArts, RISD, UCLA and AFI, which will each be loaned three sets of Google Glasses for the fall semester. The goal is to get curious students to check them out, become comfortable with their voice-activated interface and built-in video cameras.

"We got Google Glass just before the opening of the new Interactive Media Building on June 12," says USC School of Cinematic Arts dean Elizabeth Daley. "That's when George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and Don Mattrick, the president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, told us about how not all entertainment, but certainly some entertainment, is going to become more immersive. And Glass is quite wonderful because you get that immersive experience without elaborate headsets."

Read the full story here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/google-glass-heading-film-school-595151

UHDTV google searches

[Philip Lelyveld comment: I guess a whole lot of media executives saw reports from CES and had to look it up.  If the public was interested, it wouldn't have come crashing down again.]

From a Digdia market research report; 4K / Ultra HD Ecosystem.  Learn more at www.digdia.com

If Facebook Can Profit from Your Data, Why Can’t You?

Reputation.com says it’s ready to unveil a place where people can offer personal information to marketers in return for discounts and other perks. ...

Green cites the date that a person’s car lease expires as an example of a piece of personal data with an established value that people control themselves. “There’ll only be one car company that knows that,” he says. “But companies will pay hundreds of dollars, if you are seriously going to buy a car, to incent you to do that.”

...

Green says that he intends to develop infrastructure so people can selectively share data with another company, perhaps in return for discounts or other benefits. Similar to how a person might use a Facebook or Google account to log into a website, he might use a Personal account to connect with a company. He could then control exactly what data that company could access, and for how long. An early iteration of this idea can be seen on the website Car and Driver, where its already possible to log in with a Personal account. Doing so leads to a permissions screen where the site requests access to details including the make, model, and year of a person’s vehicle. “[Data] marketplaces are going to be incredibly valuable, but we’re focused on portability,” says Green.

See the full story here: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/517356/if-facebook-can-profit-from-your-data-why-cant-you/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130730