Michael's Insight

AT&T announces plans to slow data speeds for highest users of its mobile network

AT&T to Start Data Throttling, How Will It Affect Users? [Read Write Web]

AT&T announced late this week that beginning on October 1 it will dial down the speed of the heaviest data users on its mobile network. AT&T is defining the heaviest users as the top 5 percent of data consumers on its network, rather than giving a specific cap.

According to the phone company, the customers that will feel the crunch typically use more than 12 times the amount of data as the average customer. Customers that receive the speed downgrade are going to be given notices by AT&T that they have used the requisite amount of data to fall into the top 5 percent. The dialed-down speeds will last through the end of each customer's monthly billing cycle.

AT&T chalks up the move to a limited amount of mobile data bandwidth in the face of increasing demand on its network and its efforts to maintain service levels for all customers.

I think this policy is worse than setting clear caps, leaving it up to consumers to find out the hard way -- after the fact -- if they used so much bandwidth that they are being placed in the penalty box for a whole month.

Amazon Prime video adds titles from NBC

Amazon getting serious about competing with Netflix [GigaOM]

Earlier this year Amazon unveiled an unlimed streaming service for its customers with an Amazon Prime subscription. Amazon Prime provides free expedited shipping for an annual subscription, and the company's announcement added streaming video at no additional charge. But the offering was fairly slim in terms of the number of titles available.

Amazon has recently inked a deal with CBS that added 2,000 videos from the network to the Amazon Prime streaming service. This week Amazon announced a deal with NBC to add 1,000 videos from that network to the service.

Both moves signify Amazon's interest in creating a product with a title offering competitive with Netflix. These content additions pushed Amazon Prime from around 6,000 titles to more than 9,000.

IEEE adopts white space standard

White spaces standards are here. Next up: devices! [GigaOM]

The group responsible for the wi-fi standard, the Insititute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), published a new standard this week called 802.22TM-2011. But rather than a new variant of wi-fi, this new standard is set to pave the way for white space broadband.

The idea of white space broadband resulted from the transition of analog television broadcast signals to digital. That change provided for gaps in the broadcast television spectrum that could be utilized for other purposes. Last year the FCC adopted rules for the use of television white space for broadband. And now the IEEE has created a standard that electronics manufacturers can use to create devices that will be interoperable for white space broadband.

Because the frequencies in the television spectrum can travel long distances and through structures, the IEEE's white space standard has a theoretical maximum of transmitting 22 Mbps broadband up to 100 kilometers.

This technology requires the use of devices connected to a FCC-approved database of TV stations in order to prevent white space devices from interfering with TV broadcasts.

Nielsen surveys Netflix and Hulu viewing practices

Hulu vs. Netflix: What Device Are You Watching On? [Mashable]

Nielsen has taken a look at two of the top online streaming services - Hulu and Netflix - by polling over 12,000 users of both to see whether there are differences in how they use and the types of content users watch via each service.

Nielsen's results tend to confirm the wisdom behind Netflix's strategy to get their service on as many different devices as possible from streaming set-tops to broadband-connected TVs to gaming consoles. Half of all Netflix usage occurs on one of three gaming consoles - the Ninendo Wii, Sony's PS3 or the Microsoft's Xbox. In fact, the Wii accounted for 25 percent of all Netflix viewing alone. 

That compares to 89 percent of all Hulu viewing occuring via a computer. On that count 42 percent of Netflix viewing happens on a computer. Connected televisions only accounted for 6 percnet of Netflix and 2 percent of Hulu viewing according to Nielsen.

As far as the type of content viewed, Hulu's smaller movie catalog and current TV episodes results in a predictable ratio of 73 percent of users watching TV and only 9 percent viewing movies on the service. Netflix usage skews the other direction with 53 percent using the service for movies and 11 percent for television shows.

Pew study shows 71 percent use online video sharing sites

Report: We are a YouTube nation [GigaOM]

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released a report this week that indicates nearly three in four Americans use online video sharing sites like YouTube.

Pew surveyed over 2,200 Americans and asked them about their online video habits during April and May. Of the respondents, 71 percent said they use online video sharing sites and 28 percent indicated they use at least one of those sites on a daily basis. That compares to 66 percent and 23 percent respectively in Pew's 2010 survey on the subject.

Pew noted a significant difference between respondents that were parents versus those who were not. Fully 81 percent of parents use sites like YouTube while only 61 percent of non-parents indicated they did.

Pew's report release coincided with the release of data from Allot Communications that indicated YouTube accounts for 22 percent of all mobile data usage, confirming the growing popularity of the site and other online video portals.

Fox to change release window for shows on Hulu

Fox restricts online streams of new TV shows to 'authenticated' pay TV subscribers [Engadget HD]

Fox television programming is set to undergo some changes this fall on popular streaming site Hulu.com. The network announced this week that it is changing the window that its shows will be available on Hulu from the day after they air on television to eight days after airing with two exceptions.

Users that are Hulu Plus paying subscribers will still have the option of watching Fox shows the day after their television premiere. And subscribers to some cable or satellite television services will have the option to authenticate their subscriber status to watch shows the day after airing.

Hulu also has programming from ABC and NBC which aren't changing their release windows at this point.

This isn't the first time Fox has changed its programming availability for some users of Hulu. During a retransmission consent dispute with cable provider Cablevision last year, Fox made its programming on Hulu inaccessible to Cablevision broadband customers temporarily. An outcry from Cablevision customers and Washington policymakers prompted Fox to quickly restore access to its programming on Hulu.

Study reveals online video not a significant driver for ending cable TV subscription

Cord cutters not replacing cable TV with online video [NewTeeVee]

Leichtman Research Group has released the results of a survey that indicates most households in the U.S. that cancel their cable or satellite subscription aren't replacing it with online video. The firm's data indicates that 8 percent of households have a broadband connection but not cable or satellite while 70 percent of households have both. 

Comparing the percentage of households in those two groups that watch online video reveals that there isn't a significant difference between the two.

Of households without cable TV but that have a broadband connection, only 19 percent watch online video daily and 55 percent watch it weekly. That compares to 17 percent of cable TV plus broadband households that watch online video daily and 48 percent weekly.

So, there's not much of a difference in the online viewing habits based on LRG's research. And of those 8 percent of broadband-only homes, just 5 percent of those indicate that they ended their cable TV subscription because they could get the content they wanted online. That amounts to only fourth-tenths of one percent of all households in the survey.

Wal-Mart moves Vudu streaming to WalMart.com

Wal-Mart takes another crack at challenging Netflix [CNET News]

The nation's largest retailer has jumped into the online streaming market via its own web site.

Wal-Mart, which acquired the Vudu streaming video service in 2010, has launched movie rentals and purchases on the WalMart.com web site using the technology it aquired during the Vudu transaction. 

Unlike Netflix, Wal-Mart's service will offer titles on an a-la-carte basis rather than via a subscription.

This news comes on the heels of two pieces of bad news for Netflix - customer outcry regarding a significant price increase resulting from the company's decision to unbundle streaming and DVD-by-mail and a less than expected increase in subscriber numbers in its latest quarterly results.

Wal-Mart's placement of Vudu on it's site is expe

Netflix set to expand beyond U.S.

Netflix expanding to Spain, UK next year [NewTeeVee]

Lately Netflix has been working to ensure its streaming service is available on pretty much any device with a screen. It's also been working to expand its content lineup and announced a steep price increase that unbundled streaming and DVD-by-mail services.

Now Netflix is set to expand to a few overseas markets. Earlier this month Netflix announced a plan to expand to 43 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean later this year. Now Netflix is looking to launch its service in both the U.K. And Spain by 2012. 

Expanding to Spain makes sense because Netflix is preparing to have a Spanish-language service in place by next year for its Latin America and Caribbean communities. Also, there are very few competitors in the streaming video market standing in Netflix's way in Spain.

The U.K. has a little more in the way of competition for Netflix. The Amazon-owned Lovefilm is a very popular streaming service in the U.K. and many other European countries. The U.K. also has a number of TV service providers that offer streaming services.

Roku releases second generation of streaming set-tops

Roku adds gaming to streaming media with sub-$100 Roku 2 [Ars Technica]

Roku recently released its second generation of devices and added some new features to help it keep up and perhaps even best the competition. 

The Roku 2 is sold in HD (720p), XD (1080p), and XS versions.  The XS includes the ability to play games through the device using the bluetooth-connected, motion-sensor remote (think Wiimote). Already Roku has the popular game Angry Birds installed on the device.

The Roku 2 has a new look as well. The design is very similar to that of the latest incarnation of Apple TV, but the Roku 2 is actually smaller and uses less power than Apple's device.

When Apple released the Apple TV 2 last year it mentioned opening up the platform for developers to create games and other apps for the device. However, to this date no SDK has been offered to developers from Apple.

Roku currently has a wider variety of content than most similar devices with roughly 300 channels of content, including Netflix, Amazon OnDemand, and HuluPlus, as well as sports subscription packages.

Netflix now available on Nintendo 3DS

Netflix released for Nintendo 3DS today, we go hands on [Ars Technica] 

Recently, Nintendo upgraded its software for its 3DS handheld device to allow for Netflix streaming capabilities.

The addition of this feature means Netflix continues to spread itself among just about every broadband connected device and Nintendo adds a significant feature for its users.

For 2D viewing, Netflix on the 3DS  does not have the highest resolution screen – only 800 x 240 on the device's top screen.

What's interesting about this move is that Nintendo has announced that soon there will be a separate library of content that users can watch using the 3DS's glasses-free 3D capability. In fact, there are already a few trailers for upcoming games that users can watch in 3D on the device.

Amazon Instant Video to feature CBS shows

Amazon Prime Instant Video is adding CBS TV shows, including all of Star Trek [Engadget HD]

Amazon has made a content deal to increase titles for its Prime Instant Video service. Amazon and CBS have agreed to offer complete seasons of 18 CBS shows, including the entire original Star Trek series, on Amazon's streaming service.

A similar deal was made between CBS and Netflix earlier this year. CBS has tended to be less obliging when it comes to offering its content to streaming video providers. They continue to be the lone broadcaster not offering content on Hulu. 

This deal increases Amazon Prime's total offerings to over 6,000 TV shows and movies. This is still far behind Netflix's Watch Instantly library, though Amazon Prime does offer shipping benefits for Amazon.com in addition to streaming video.

RIM reportedly working on streaming video set-top

Research In Motion Is Working On An Apple TV Clone [Silicon Alley Insider]

There may be a new entrant into the steaming media set-top box market – Research In Motion. 

The company behind BlackBerry is reportedly working on a device named the BlackBerry Cyclone that will connect to a user's TV and stream video from YouTube, Netflix, and other video sources.

Considering the numerous other devices that have been available for some time now, it's worth wondering whether the market is already too saturated by the Rokus, GoogleTVs, and Apple TVs of the world for RIM to make many waves.

The BlackBerry Cyclone looks very similar to Apple TV, and is expected to be released in the fall of 2011.

Online video watching has grown 16 percent from one year ago

Time Spent Watching Online Video Climbed 16% In June: ComScore [Multichannel News] 

June marked another month of growth for online video, according to ComScore's monthly reports.

In the month of June 16.8 hours of online video was watched by the average U.S. Internet user. Last June that number was 14.5 hours, meaning that the average jumped 16% from 2010 to 2011.

This June, 178 million people in the U.S. watched online video and had a record total of 6.26 billion viewing sessions. The average viewing session was 5.4 minutes, 30 seconds longer than in June 2010. 

Google video sites (YouTube) retained its stronghold on the top spot with 149.3 million unique viewers and 2.3 billion videos viewed. Next in line were music site Vevo (63 million uniques), Yahoo! (52.7 million), Microsoft (50.7 million), Viacom Digital (49.5 million), and Facebook (47.7 million). 

Hulu, despite finishing in ninth place in number of viewers (26.7 million), had the highest frequency of advertisements viewed. The average Hulu viewer watched an average of 38.8 ads in June, which is more than triple the next highest video site.

FBI round up 14 suspected members of Anonymous hacking group

Federal Authorities Arrest 14 Members of Anonymous [New York Times]

Following a long string of hacking attacks, the FBI has been engaged in an investigation of the hacking group Anonymous. Anonymous has claimed responsibility for hacks against credit card providers MasterCard and Visa among others.

The latest development in this investigation was a raid of homes in eight states and the District of Columbia that resulted in the arrests of 16 suspected hackers - 14 believed to be associated with Anonymous. The FBI also seized several computers during the raids. 

Each of the people arrested in the raid was charged with multiple counts of conspiracy and intentional damage to a protected computer. While the names of those arrested haven't yet been released by authorities, it's likely that a significant part of the Anonymous group won't be nameless much longer.

 

Sales revenue for tablets and smartphones expected to surpass televisions in 2011

Tablets, smartphones outshine TVs in US revenue [Rapid TV News]

The Consumer Electronics Association is reporting that revenue for 2011 will reach a record $190 billion.

The tablet market, in just the second year after the iPad's introduction, has grown to $14 billion in revenue derived from the 26.5 million units expected to shipped. Smartphones also are expected to see significant growth of 45% to $23 billion in revenue.

Televisions, on the other hand, are expected to have less impressive numbers in 2011. While connected TVs are expected to grow (10.4 million expected to ship), overall TV set revenue is expected to reach only $18 billion. With 88% of all U.S. households already having at least one digital TV, slowed growth is not unexpected compared to the exploding tablet market. 

The growth in mobile electronics is good news for mobile video. Roughly 2/3rds of smartphone users and over 85% of tablet users have watched video on their device. 

Overall, the consumer electronics industry is expected to see growth of 5.6%. That more than double the overall U.S. GDP growth (2.4%), and CEA says the growth should continue into 2012, reach $197 billion.

Google+ extension integrates Facebook and Twitter

Chrome extension adds your Facebook, Twitter streams into Google+ [ZDNet]

If you're one of the more than 10 million users on Google's new social network, Google+, you may have been wondering how you could use the new service to keep up with existing accounts on Facebook and Twitter. If you're a user of Google's Chrome browser, there's an extension that will merge Twitter and Facebook feeds into the Google+ stream.

A computer programmer named Zane Claes created an extension for the Chrome browser that integrates the three social networks into Google+. Users of the extension can also import pictures from Facebook into the new social network as well as cross posting status updates from Google+ to Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook has blocked two other Chrome extensions that integrated some portion of Facebook with Google+.

Nearly half of smartphone consumers want an iOS device

Smartphone Poll: 46% Want iOS vs 32% Android [Broadband Reports]

While Google's Android mobile operating system may have passed Apple's iOS in total device sales, it's still not the top preference among those interested in purchasing a smartphone according to reserarch conducted by ChangeWave Research. The firm recently released a survey of 4,163 consumers that revealed 46 percent of those interested in purchasing a smartphone in the next 3 months wished to buy an iPhone.

Only 32 percent of those polled expressed a preference for an Android device and just 4 percent said they wanted a RIM device, the company that manufactures BlackBerry smartphones.

ChangeWave indicates that consumers with one of these devices also expressed different levels of satisfaction with 70 percent of iPhone users indicating satisfaction compared to 50 percent for Android.

CNN launching live streaming service

CNN puts live news behind a pay wall [GigaOM]

CNN has launched a new streaming service that will allow viewers to watch the channel live online. The channel's stream of 24/7 news will be available to some cable television customers that have entered into an agreement with Time Warner - which owns CNN - for authentication to the new service.

CNN's streaming service offers full-HD video and is available via the channel's iPad and iPhone apps as well. Viewers can watch short-form clips from CNN in addition to live streaming the channel. Viewers can also pause and rewind content as well as pausing on one device and resuming the stream on another device.

CNN is using Adobe's Pass authentication for the streaming service, which will continue to be open for major live events.

Amazon launching textbook rental service

Amazon Tries Taking the Kindle To School, Again, With Textbook Rentals [All Things D]

College students may soon be turning to Amazon's Kindle for their textbooks, with news that the company is launching a e-textbook rental service. For a significant savings over traditional textbooks, Amazon will offer "thousands" of textbook titles for rent and download on their Kindle e-book reader. These textbooks would also be downloadable on the Kindle software that runs on iOS, Android, Mac and PC.

The service would allow students to rent the books for a period between 30 and 365 days. Publishers John Wiley & Sons, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis are working with Amazon for the offerings.

Students can save their notes and highlights from the rented textbooks, which will be available to them after a textbook's rental period expires.  

Amazon set to release tablet

Amazon to Battle Apple iPad With Tablet [The Wall Street Journal]

Competition between Apple and Amazon has heated up over the past few years in markets including e-books, music, and mobile apps (Apple even filed a trademark lawsuit over the use of "App Store" by Amazon, which was recently dismissed). That competition may get even more heated now that Amazon appears ready to launch a tablet device by this October. 

Amazon's Kindle has already provided real competition to the iPad, but not enough to dent iPad's booming sales. Through the end of this past March, Apple had sold 19.5 million iPads since its initial release. No other competitors have come close to loosening Apple's grip on the market.

With that said, Amazon does have quite a few tools at its disposal that could make its tablet a challenger. One would assume that many of Amazon's products – Kindle books, videos, and its music cloud service – would be included. Further, Amazon has access to thousands of on demand movies and TV shows through its Amazon Prime service. Incorporating that feature into the tablet could significantly boost the value to Prime customers. 

The tablet is reportedly will have a 9-inch screen, and will run Google's Android operating system. Interestingly, the tablet does not have a camera (the iPad 2 has both front and rear-facing cameras).

Polls indicate Netflix users consider canceling service due to price increase

Netflix Poll Results: 41% Say They're Canceling [Silicon Alley Insider]

After the recent announcement that Netflix was hiking the price of its services, its users began voicing their frustrations.

Silicon Alley Insider decided to poll its readers and try to determine the actual effect the price hike announcement was having. While it was a very informal method of sampling, and users' attitudes after the announcement often don't correlate to actual action, but 41% of the 1327 readers who responded claimed they would cancel their Netflix subscription because of the new pricing plans. 

The next highest group (35%) claimed that they would simply opt for the streaming-only option for $7.99 per month. The other four plans being offered by Netflix that include DVD only or streaming and DVD (with either 1 or 2 DVDs at a time) only added up to 28% total.

It's not likely Netflix will lose 41% of its customer base because of the increase, but this does provide a glimpse of how the announcement is going over with Netflix customers. Geekwire conducted a similar survey and also found a considerable percentage (33%) of customers claiming that they'll cancel.

Study reveals significant overbuilding in broadband stimulus

Study argues rural broadband stimulus wasn't effective [The Hill] 

Seven billion dollars of the 2009 Recovery Act was dedicated to the deployment of broadband for unserved areas. Since allocating these funds many policymakers have raised the question whether the program was effective in reaching its goals. 

A recent report from Navigant Economics reveals evidence that the broadband stimulus was not a cost-effective program and too often simply created a government funded overbuild in areas where private companies had already built broadband networks. 

Navigant analyzed a sampling of the broadband stimulus programs and found that the Rural Utilities Service funded broadband build outs to areas where 85% of the homes were already served by cable, DSL, or fixed wireless broadband. If wireless broadband is included, Navigant found that $231 million was spent to bring service to a mere 452 households that were unserved. 

The government program did not include wireless broadband in its figures, which Navigant cites as  a mistake, especially considering that many wireless speeds exceed the benchmark speeds established by the government for broadband.

Pew study reveals 28 percent of smartphone users rely on them for Internet connection

28% of US smartphone owners use them as primary 'Net connection [Ars Technica] 

Smartphones are used by a little more than a third of all US adults. A new report from the Pew Internet Project says that 28 percent of these users rely on their smartphone as their primary connection to the Internet.

The report from Pew surveyed 2,277 adults and found that 83 percent owned a cell phone, and 35 percent owned a smartphone. The demographics of smartphone owners? Most had a college degree (some would argue you need one to use some smartphones) and high household income. Also, most smartphone users were under the age of 45.

The most notable finding in the report was the fairly significant number of respondents who claimed that they used their smartphone to access the Internet more than any other device or computer. A total of 28 percent of smartphone owners - 10 percent of all cell phone owners and 8 percent of all adults - claimed to turn to smartphones more frequently than anything other device for getting online. 

The demographic group that is most likely to rely on smartphones for Internet access is under 30 years-old and has relatively low income and education levels. This group tends to rely solely on their smartphones instead of traditional broadband Internet.

Questions raised about Facebook video-calling app in wake of announcement

Did Facebook hijack a developer's app for its own purposes? [GigaOM]

Is this a sequel to the movie?

Last week Facebook made a splash with its video-calling app powered by Skype. In the wake of the big news was a claim that the URL for the app originally belonged to a company called Samuday Web Technologies. 

Samuday claims that it had the "facebook.com/videocalling" URL first for its video-calling Facebook app, but that Facebook deleted Samuday's app to make way for its own video-calling service. The company, run by Nimit Kumar, previously released an app named uniRow that brought video-calling to Facebook. Several thousand Facebook users had installed Samuday's video-calling app.

Kumar claims that on April 7, Facebook deleted the uniRow app without offering any warning or reasoning. The company claims that it reached out to Facebook for clarity on why the app was removed, but only received a vague letter about violation of Facebook's policies. Samuday didn't push the issue at the time because they deal with other products and services, and didn't believe it was worth the effort.

After Facebook's launch last week, however Kumar is re-evaluating his options. Kumar stated that Samuday is discussing the possibility of legal action and has met with his attorneys.

For it's part, Facebook hasn't commented on the issue yet.