Digital Distribution

The Amazon Fire TV Shows Streaming Media Devices Are At A Crossroads

For nearly a year, the tech industry has been abuzz with rumors and speculation that Amazon would enter the rapidly growing media streaming device market; challenging category incumbents Apple, Google, and Roku who accounted for 88 percent of category revenue during the 12 months ending February. Wednesday, Amazon did just that, announcing their Amazon Fire TV to much fanfare.

Generation Me: Disrupting the Living Room

I recently participated in a panel debate at the NPD DisplaySearch US FPD conference on the future of the smartphone and tablet, considering which, if either was more likely to drive greater market disruption moving forward. My inclination was to back the sure thing: the smartphone has already disrupted so many surrounding technologies and I see no reason why it will slow down any time soon.

WWE Smacks Down Cable And Goes Over-The-Top

For you wrestling fans out there, keep tuning into the Syfy channel for SmackDown and USA Network for Monday Night Raw; and be prepared for the all new over-the-top (OTT) WWE streaming network, coming to a connected device near you on February 24. Gone are the days of gathering enough friends together to fit the bill for the big pay-per-view (PPV) event. Wrestling fans will be able to access monthly PPV events, a lineup of original shows and historical programming from WWE's library, all for $9.99 a month. For those who have experienced the ritual of a WWE event, this is a changing of the guard. It’s a transition from the tradition of ordering PPV events through a cable provider to the ability to stream them on a connected TV.

How Do You Watch TV?

Network broadcasts, cable TV, DVR, on-demand, mobile apps, or apps on your TV? Who needs so many ways to watch TV? Me. Looking at recent viewing behaviors in our home many of these served a purpose, but there is a clear migration towards apps on the TV.

Droid Does Miracast, What’s That?

This week Verizon and Motorola introduced their new family of Droid phones – the Mini, Ultra, and Maxx. This generation of Droid phones includes the kind of spec upgrades expected in a high-end smartphones. For the most part, all phones in the series have the same hardware such as 2GB of RAM and a 10 mega-pixel camera. Notably different, though, is the 4.3-inch screen in the Mini, the thin form factor of the Ultra (which excludes the wireless charging to reduce the thickness), and the mammoth 3,500 mAh, 48-hour battery in the Maxx.

Netflix in the “House,” Especially Among Tablet Users

In-line with the company’s “data-held-closely-to-the-vest” culture, Netflix did not offer much visibility into smartphone and tablet usage during its first quarter earnings call. However, we know that Netflix usage, particularly on tablet platforms, is significant and growing. Netflix is not only far and away the most popular subscription video app, and second only to YouTube, it also leads in overall in engagement (time spent) on tablets, with usage approaching nearly one-third of total video-viewing time during the month of March, according to Connected Intelligence’s SmartMeter...

Dish Bids for Sprint: Shotgun wedding made in heaven?

Dish shook up the wireless market today with an offer to buy Sprint, arguing that the deal it has put on the table is worth 13% more than the current Softbank offer. But beyond the size of the deal, Dish has a compelling argument in terms of the synergies of both companies. Dish has spectrum waiting to be used – something that Sprint could clearly benefit from – as well as a large customer base in the U.S. market. By contrast, as we noted when Softbank made its initial bid for Sprint, there are fewer obvious benefits of a Sprint/Softbank deal. But more importantly, this is the first case of a Pay TV operator buying into mobile telecom, rather than a telecom company moving into Pay TV, a case of “man bites dog” compared to the more usual outcome.

425 Million Connected Devices – So, What Are Consumers Doing With Them?

We can now watch HBOGO on three TVs in our home. Last night we saw they started promoting its availability on Airplay. As an early adopter, my first thought was, I want an Apple TV too. But there is no need as all three TVs we own provide HBOGO, and each through a different type of device. Apple TV does, however, offer screen mirroring which none of the other connected devices in our homeprovide, and that is bound to be useful – right?

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