Michael's Insight

Motorola Mobility invests in online video startup

Motorola Mobility Invests In Online-Video Management Firm Ooyala [Multichannel News]

Ooyala, an online video management startup, has a new batch of investors including recent Google acquisition Motorola Mobility. So far, the company has raised about $42 million since 2007.

Ooyala provides products and services that allow its customers to deliver online video. It's customer list includes several big name corporations including Bloomberg, Dell, ESPN, Whole Foods, Telegraph Media, and Yahoo Japan. According to Ooyala's reports, it has over 1,000 total customers that deliver more than 1 billion streams to more than 100 million users each month.

One example of the products and services Ooyala provides is their Ooyala Everywhere product that enables its customers' videos to be delivered across multiple platforms including connected televisions and mobile devices.

Motorola Mobility was recently acquired by Google, though that deal is still awaiting regulatory approval. Obviously with Motorola's involvement in video - both online and traditional television - the deal could have major benefits for Google own online video products and services.

Netflix expands Android device compatibility

Netflix suddenly works on most Android devices [CNET News]

The latest update to the Netflix app on the Android Market allows Netflix streaming on all devices running Android Froyo (version 2.2) or Gingerbread (version 2.3).

Previous to this version, Netflix was only releasing streaming capability to specific Android devices due to the widespread fragmentation of different device-specific versions of the OS. At the time of launch (May of this year), only 5 Android devices had the ability to stream Netflix content. A later release included 9 devices and a later still release included as many as 24 different Android devices.

Now the only devices that do not allow for Netflix stream are those that are still running version 2.1 of Android, and tablets running the Honeycomb (3.0) version of Android. 

Adobe Pass now covers 90% of television providers' market for TV Everywhere

Adobe: 'TV Everywhere' Log-In Service Covers 90% Of U.S. Pay TV Market [Multichannel News]

Adobe Pass is a TV Everywhere service announced in March of this year that provides authentication for cable television customers to online video content.

Since its release, Adobe Pass has been widely adopted across the cable industry with companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Cablevision, Charter, and Suddenlink using the authentication service for their TV Everywhere applications. Programmers including Fox Networks, Turner and CNN, Hulu, MTV, Scripps Networks, and AMC are also using Adobe Pass.

Adobe demonstrated Adobe Pass at this week's IBC in Amsterdam and announced that roughly 90% of the current cable and satellite television market is covered by Adobe Pass. Adobe also previewed several feature improvements for the service including improvide iOS device delivery for content owners.

Adobe Pass allows users to access this content over a variety of Internet connected devices, and can be distributed in a variety of formats including Flash, HTML 5, and Silverlight.

ESPN's NFL deal questioned

Dish Network may boot ESPN over higher rights fees [New York Post]

According to the New York Post, Dish Network is in the midst of negotiating a carriage renewal deal with ESPN, and the negotiations could be turning south.

ESPN recently renewed its deal with the NFL to air Monday Night Football. The renewal gives ESPN eight more years of carrying the program for $15.2 billion - a reported 73% increase over its last deal. The increase in the price tag means it is likely that cable and satellite customers will receive big increases in their bill to pay for ESPN's increased programming costs.

The Post reports that Dish Network is contemplating requiring that ESPN allow them to place the network on a higher, optional tier, instead of on the basic tier.  Such a plan would give customers the option to buy ESPN and other sports networks, or not to, thus avoiding paying for something they don't want.

Should be interesting.  The most highly-rated cable networks usually refuse to permit distributors to give customers that option.  This could be developing into the battle that a-la-carte proponents have been waiting for.  Most distributors agree that certain types of programming, such as sports, have been getting so expensive that it's simply unfair to force all customers to pay for it. 

I've written about this subject many times.  If you've been reading Michael's Insight for a long time, you may remember that I have changed my view of a-la-carte, or at the very least, about content-based groupings of channels or optional tiers. 

Why?  Because we simply can't keep passing along huge increases for programming to consumers who are not given any choice other than to pay for channels they don't watch or drop their service altogether. 

ESPN has been making several big programming rights deals lately, solidifying deals to carry Wimbledon tennis, PAC-12 football and BCS football.  That's great for ESPN.  And their coverage of sports is usually so terrific that I'd also contend that it's great for sports fans. 

The question is, is it good for people who don't watch sports? 

Number 2 distributor, DirecTV, also seems to hope these new and expensive content deals will drive cable and satellite distributors to push even harder for the right to offer high cost programming like sports on a special tier or a-la-carte.

We shall see.

NBC providing access to full episodes on iPad

The NBC iPad App Finally Supports Streaming For Full Episodes [Silicon Alley Insider]

For over a year, ABC and CBS have offered full streaming of their television episodes on their respective iPad apps. NBC had not followed the ABC/CBS lead, offering only clips of NBC shows. All three networks offered full episodes via their network web sites, but as the iPad does not support Flash content, viewers need a network app to view the shows.

Now NBC is finally joining other broadcasters, announcing it will begin offer full episodes of just about all of its programs on its iPad app. All of the content that is currently available at NBC.com will now be available on the iPad app.

President of NBC Universal Vivi Zigler said that the reason for the delay is that NBC has been taking time to fully understand the "business model mechanism" of the iPad. 

Google purchases restaurant guide company Zagat

Google Buys Zagat – Restaurant Ratings To Bolster Yelp Killer And Groupon Killer [Silicon Alley Insider]

Google has continued its breathtaking acquisition spree by picking up the well-established restaurant rating and review company, Zagat.

Some observers believe this purchase will spell trouble for companies like Yelp (restaurant reviews) and Groupon (restaurant deals) – both of which Google attempted to acquire in the past. With the offers to purchase not being accepted, it seems Google has simply decided to create similar products of its own with the Zagat acquisition.

Google already includes some user reviews and ratings in its Search, Map and Places results, but the Zagat ratings should only increase their ability to compete with sites like Yelp.

Google Offers was designed to compete directly with Groupon and similar sites by offering daily group discounts. Google may incorporate some portion of Zagat's rating into that product as well.

Viewsonic cancels Boxee software inclusion in television sets

Exclusive: Viewsonic pulls the plug on Boxee TV [NewTeeVee]

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, ViewSonic unveiled a 46" television that included online video guide software from Boxee. The set was reportedly going to be released in the second quarter of this year. Reports now indicate, however, that the project has been abandoned.

To this point, Boxee has been limited to its D-Link streaming box devices and was hoping to use the ViewSonic TV platform to help enter the Smart TV market.

ViewSonic has cited the high price tag on the hardware needed to run Boxee's media center solution as one reason the project was dropped. The hardware that ViewSonic would have used in the TVs is the same that's used in the Boxee Box and the Google TV Logitech Revue device.

ViewSonic also stated that a low consumer acceptance of Smart TVs led to its decision as well. A statement from ViewSonic stated that the Smart TV market had not performed as well as early forecasts had anticipated and that the market had slowed considerably due to the overall slowing of the economy.

Research firm projects Android app downloads to surpass iOS downloads

Android to overtake Apple in app downloads [CNET News]

Apple popularized the mobile app business with its innovative App Store for iOS, but its distinction of having more downloads than Google's Android Market is about to be eclipsed. According to research firm Ovum, Android is set to notch 8.1 billion app downloads this year compared to the Apple's App Store's 6 billion. 

For several years since the release of Android, Apple has used the relative size of its apps catalog to differentiate the iPhone and iPad from Android.

Ovum's report indicates that both platforms have experienced significant growth in the past year. Android had only 1.4 billion apps downloaded in 2010 compared to Apple's 2.7 billion. Total app downloads for both mobile platforms has grown 144 percent year-over-year.

Apple can take home a consolation prize. It's paid apps are projected to be worth $2.86 billion annually by 2016 while Android will only have $1.5 billion in paid app sales.

Questions raised about Netflix stream limitations

Update: Netflix Users Not Restricted to Single Stream [Broadband Reports]

Earlier this week several reports began popping up stating that Netflix had begun enforcing a policy whereby users would only be allowed to view one stream at a time in each household.

Rumors of this policy date back to April when it was evident that Netflix was looking for new ways to increase revenues per household. By adopting a single-stream policy, Netflix could benefit from having individual accounts instead of household accounts.

In fact, Netflix has even stated in the past that some users could only stream to one device at a time. However, no users reported this limitation until this weekend when multiple users stated they noticed that they couldn't stream more than one video within the home.

Netflix issued a statement refuting these claims, asserting that no Netflix customer is limited to fewer than two streams at a time. Netflix alleged that some users had incorrectly been told differently and Netflix was working to correct the misunderstanding.

Despite the report, users continue to report that they are encountering this limitation and they are uploading pictures like the one posted here as evidence that the new policy remains in effect.

What gives?

Microsoft inks deal for Twitter search results in Bing

Unlike Google, Bing Will Still Stick Twitter Into Your Search Results [Silicon Alley Insider]

Microsoft's Bing and Twitter have renewed their agreement to have tweets included in Bing's search results. The two companies even informally announced the deal over Twitter through a brief, casual interaction between the companies' main Twitter accounts.

In the exchange, Twitter mentions how Bing and MSN include tweets in search results. Google, of course, is noticeably absent from the tweet. Google used to include tweets in its search results, but recently decided not to renew likely because of the resources being put behind its own social network, Google+.

Twitter and Bing commenced their agreement back in October of 2009. The deal has not been announced outside the Twitter conversation, but it appears an agreement will be formally signed before the October deadline.

Sprint follows DOJ on AT&T/T-Mobile merger lawsuit

Sprint sues to stop AT&T, T-Mobile merger [The Hill]

Less than a week after the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T, Sprint has brought a suit of its own alleging that the acquisition is "brazenly anti-competitive."

Sprint alleges that if the deal were to go through, AT&T and Verizon would together own 90% of the mobile market. Sprint would be a distant third option in that scenario. Sprint believes that giving this much power over the mobile market to AT&T would result in an ability to increase rates, restrict access to certain handsets, and negatively impact any competition.

Interestingly, Sprint had been in talks to purchase T-Mobile before AT&T stepped in and there are still rumors that Sprint might bid on T-Mobile if the AT&T deal fell through. However, many reports indicate that Sprint simply does not have the money for a purchase of that size.

Similar to the DOJ's claims, Sprint alleges that this deal is an attempt by AT&T to eliminate an innovative, low-price competitor, which would effectively clear the road for AT&T's dominantion in the mobile market.

Google incorrectly listing many local businesses as "closed"

Closed, Says Google, but Shops' Signs Say Open [New York Times] 

Many business owners are finding out that a Google Places or Google Maps search of their surrounding area is not listing their business in the search results. The reason they aren't showing up is that Google apparently believes these businesses are closed. 

Google Places takes a user's location data and tells the user what businesses are around the location, using data gathered from Google Maps. When you locate a business on Google Places the contact information, reviews, pictures, and other information is listed. There is also the option to "Report a Problem," which includes telling Google that the business has been permanently closed. If enough people report the business as closed, Google removes it from its Google Maps data.

It appears that many competitive businesses are "closing" their rivals on Google Maps by using this "Report a Problem" feature. Dozens of posts have been added to Google Forums asking for help removing the "permanently closed" tag from the Google Maps listing.

Google has stated they are aware of the problem and will be instituting changes that should help this improper reporting in the coming days.

 

Samsung bring YouTube 3D content

Samsung's Smart TV update will feature YouTube 3D videos [EngadgetHD]

With many 3D-capable TVs entering the market, lack of 3D content has become a growing issue. Samsung is hoping to help solve that issue by adding YouTube's 3D video content to its Smart TV lineup.

LG also has added YouTube's 3D content to its HDTV's, and Samsung is expected to add the content to its entire lineup (not just Smart TV series) later this year.

It's been two years since YouTube launched its 3D capabilities. Over that time they have built up a large library of 3D content – both professionally made and user-generated.

The wide adoption of YouTube 3D could significantly help the 3D movement by allowing people to film their own 3D footage, upload to YouTube, and then easily watch on their television. It may not be the perfect cure for all of the potential hurdles 3DTV faces, but making content more readily available is likely to help.

However, personal experience be told -- I'm totally underwhelmed by my 3D expeience at home.  My new Samsung Smart TV has fabulous pictures and sound but the quality of 3D content varies greatly and we all find it a bit too cumbersome to be wearing the glasses in order to watch.

Bottom line, IMHO -- 3D has a long way to go before it becomes mainstream.

 

LIN Media pulls signals from Mediacom customers

LIN Stations Go Dark For Mediacom Subs [Multichannel News]

Here we go again.  Mediacom customers are the latest victims of a dispute invoving outrageously high demands for over-the-air broadcast programming, as LIN Media has pulled its programming off Mediacom's systems due to the lack of a renewal agreement over the retransmission fees. LIN owns 32 broadcast sations in 17 U.S. markets.

Mediacom released a statement saying that the "huge increase" in fees that LIN has demanded is unacceptable and Mediacom refuses to cave-in to the high demands and the price increases likely to result for its consumers.

The Mediacom/LIN dispute is just another example of the broken retransmission consent process. Huge increases in fees are being demanded by broadcasters, forcing cable operators (and ultimately their customers) either to agree to pay them whatever they demand or lose the channel.  Retransmission consent was born out of cable legislation designed to protect local broadcasting tweny years ago, even though the broadcaster is given public spectrum to distribute their signals for free.  As demonstrated in so many of these very public battles, if the broadcaster's steep demands aren't met by a cable provider, the broadcaster often pulls the signal, leaving customers in the dark.

The FCC is currently conducting an inquiry into the issue, which could result in changes in the retransmission consent rules. While there are many options available to the FCC in making changes - including binding arbitration when negotiations fail - ultimately the Commission should make changes that best serve customers -- not broadcasters and not cable operators. Hopefully these changes will be made soon, before another group of customers loses their broadcast programming to a dispute.

PC Magazine names Insight as America's fifth fastest ISP

The Fastest ISPs in the Nation [PC Magazine]

PC Magazine has completed a study and compiled a list of the 15 fastest ISPs in the U.S. Using Speedtest.net results from a number of users, the magazine looked at downstream and upstream speeds and created a speed index to rank the ISPs. 

The top three spots in the index ranking for broadband speed all went to cable providers - Cox Communications, Comcast Cable, and Charter Communications – all three with an average download speed over 18 Mbps and an average overall PC Magazine weighted speed over 15 Mbps.

Verizon took fourth place with the combined speeds of Verizon's FiOS fiber product with its DSL product. 

I'm pleased to report that Insight was next in line - the fifth fastest ISP in the country - with an adjusted speed of 12.70 Mbps and 15.43 Mbps downstream.

Because of our planned merger with Time Warner Cable (Road Runner), the article made special mention of how remarkably close Insight and Time Warner Cable rated.  TWC scored 12.46 Mbps adjusted and 15.24 Mbps downstream. 

DOJ files suit on AT&T/T-Mobile merger

DOJ files to block AT&T, T-Mobile merger [The Hill]

AT&T's $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile hit a significant roadblock on Wednesday when the U.S. Department of Justice filed to block the acquisition.

The suit was filed based on anti-trust concerns the DOJ has over the merger of the two large mobile carriers. The DOJ is worried that the merger could result in much higher prices, fewer options, and lower quality services for customers. 

The acquisition of T-Mobile would make AT&T the largest mobile provider in the U.S. and would result in 80 percent of the mobile market being controlled by the two largest providers - AT&T and Verizon. T-Mobile, on the other hand, has been a "aggressive competitor" in the eyes of the DOJ and has created the exact competition the DOJ is looking for by offering low-cost cellular plans. Their low-cost offering were clearly a major factor in the filing of the suit. The DOJ clearly doesn't like the idea of AT&T gobbling up smaller mobile competitors who compete by offering lower prices. 

The case will now be heard by a federal court, where AT&T will challenge the DOJ's claims. The DOJ actually has the burden of proving that AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile would, in fact, have the affect of anti-competition in the mobile market. 

The merger is also currently being reviewed by the FCC, and while FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski didn't commit to any affirmative action against the merger, he did echo some of the sentiments of the DOJ in a recent statement. 

 

Android continues to gain market share against iOS

Android Gains More Market Share Versus iPhone, RIM Is In A Tailspin [Silicon Alley Insider]

One year ago, RIM was hanging on to the top spot of comScore's quarterly mobile operating system market share report, followed by Apple's iOS and Google's Android in third. Over the past year things have changed quite a bit.

Now, Android is king and RIM has spiraled to the bottom.

The latest quarterly report from Comscore shows that the lead Android recently gained over Apple's iOS has not only been maintained, but has actually grown. iOS remains strong, but Android has increased its market share, which now stands roughly 15 percentage points higher than the share of iOS.

RIM has steadily declined for the past year. In April, RIM was down to 25% of the market and now stands at only 21.7%.

With the Wall Street Journal report that points to Sprint getting the iPhone 5 when it is released this October it's likely to help Apple slow Google's continuing growth with Android.