Michael's Insight

Netflix announces steep price increases

Netflix Hikes Price of DVD-Plus-Streaming Service Up To 60% [Multichannel News]

Due to increases in Netflix's "underlying cost" the price of the DVD-plus-streaming services will increasing by as much as 60 percent the company announced this week.

Previous Netflix plans that included both the streaming and DVD services were bundled at a single price. Now, Netflix is unbundling the two plans. Customers that want both will have to pay for both a DVD and streaming plan, at a total cost increase of up to 60 percent more than they were paying before.

The move indicates that while Netflix's streaming business tends to make the news more frequently, its DVD business isn't necessarily fading away.

These changes take effect immediately for new Netflix customers and September 1st for existing customers.

Philadelphia papers to sell and deliver content on Android tablets

Philly Papers to Sell Android Tablets [Adweek] 

In the ongoing battle to stay relevant, many newspapers have been looking for new and interesting ways to get their content onto tablet devices and e-readers. Two newspapers in Philadelphia are adopting a bold strategy in an attempt to stave off losses in their printed product.

The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News (both owned by the Philadelphia Media Network) are unveiling a new plan to sell Android tablet devices to its customers. The devices will sell with discounted versions of the papers' electronic content already built in, and the home screens will have icons directing users to digital versions of the papers and the Philly.com website. 

By delivering content digitally, both papers will be able to keep track of the articles and subjects that subscribers are interested in reading.

Full details and pricing of this program have not been released. Currently, online versions of the newspapers run for $2.99 per week.

iOS users download an average of 83 apps

iOS users buy more apps and pay more for them [GigaOM]

The iPad and iPad 2 have provided a significant boost to Apple's already booming App Store. iOS users each downloaded 51 apps in 2010, but in 2011 iOS users have already downloaded an average of 83 apps – a 61 percent increase.

Apple's 2010 app numbers had not grown significantly when compared to 2009. In fact, there was only about a 4 percent growth in apps downloaded in 2010. 

Perhaps more importantly (for Apple and iOS developers), users are paying about 14% more for apps than they did in 2010.  In 2010, app purchases actually fell 18 percent from 2009. Overall, the App Store has reached 15 billion downloads and has paid developers roughly $2.5 billion. At the same time, the average app price actually grew from $1.29 to $1.44. 

Even with this growth, app sales only make up about 1 percent of Apple's overall revenue.  Still, the app store effects Apple's bottom line in more ways than app revenue, mainly by providing more reasons for consumers to join the iOS ecosytem by buying an iPad or iPhone.

HDMI licensing organization issues recall on Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cables

HDMI group reportedly putting a stop to Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapters [Engadget HD]

Users interested in connecting a laptop with a Mini DisplayPort to their HDTV via a HDMI cable lost one option for doing so last week. HDMI Org, the group that licenses the HDMI specification, has determined that companies selling cables with one Mini DisplayPort male end and one HDMI male end don't conform to the HDMI spec. 

Those rules require HDMI cables to have two male HDMI ends. As a result, HDMI is requiring resellers of cables incompatible with the rules to pull those cables from their shelves.

Apple and Toshiba are two laptop manufacturers that use the Mini DisplayPort on their laptops. Users that want to connect one of these laptops to an HDTV do have an option, however. HDMI Org says that adapters that have a male Mini DisplayPort end with a female HDMI end that can be connected to a standard HDMI cable meet their standard. Users can connect the two together between a laptop and HDTV.

Google+ goes overboard on notification emails

Google+ is multiplying some notification e-mails [CNET News]

Ooops. Google's introduction of its social networking project, called Google+, has gotten off to a rough start for users in a closed test. Over the weekend, many users of Google+ received several duplicate copies of email notifications from Google that a friend connected to them on the social networking service. Some users receved as many as 40 copies of the same email.

What happened? According to Google, it was simply a case of a hard drive that wasn't large enough. The hard drive on the server responsible for notifications for Google+ filled up over the weekend. When that happened, it lost track of whether it had sent required notifications. Since it didn't know which ones it had already sent, it kept sending them until someone at Google rectified the problem.

Users caught in the middle of the email deluge from Google+ were able to disable and re-enable email notifications which also remedied the issue.

Security experts unsure about Google Chrome OS Flash implementation

Chrome OS' Unique Approach to Security Leave Even Experts Unsure [AllThingsD]

Security research firms are digging into Google's Chrome OS to see how secure it will be for future users. Chrome OS is designed to allow all system applications to run remotely via the Internet. The only issue with that approach is that users will have to rely on Google to ensure their system is secure.

Google has claimed that Chrome is air-tight from a security perspective, but Kaspersky Labs has found that Google is using an old version of Adobe Flash in Chrome OS, which could have security implications due to older versions of Flash having security flaws.

Chrome OS is a vastly different approach to an operating system, but with that approach comes a new approach to security. Instead of users deciding which software to install or update on their system, Chrome OS only rus software within the Chrome browser. This means Google is responsible for updates and add-ons, and not the user.

The shift of burden from the user to Google for security has plenty of potentially positive implications, but it means that Google is going to have to keep up – and update software like Flash.

Panasonic opens broadband-connected TVs to app developers

Panasonic's Viera Connect developer portal opens to eager TV app creators [Engadget] 

Panasonic's broadband-connected TVs run their Viera Connect operating system. Since Viera Connect's release, Panasonic has successfully landed providers of online video, including Hulu and MLB TV.

Viera Connect is designed to provide full PC capability as well as numerous TV apps. On Thursday Panasonic officially opened up its developer platform for Viera Connect. The software development kit has actually been around since the beginning of the year, but this latest release will allow any app developer to create for Viera Connect without the need for additional hardware. 

Panasonic is creating an easier path for developers to create useful apps for its TVs. The developer platform will not be completely open, as Panasonic will still have the final say as to which apps ultimately make their way to the screen.

By 2016, Over 51% of Households Will Have DVR

Report: DVR Households to Hit 51.3% in 2016 [Broadcasting and Cable]

Research firm MagnaGlobal recently issued its On-Demand Quarterly report which projects that by 2016 DVR households in the U.S. are expected to reach 63.1 million, which is 51.3% of all TV households.

That's a substantial increase from the 2011 first quarter number. At that time 40.5 million homes (34.7%) have one.

Magna's report also looked into video on demand services, and projected that 71 million and 57.7% of TV households will have on demand services by 2016, which is an increase from 53.3 million and 45.6% after first quarter 2011. This number includes Netflix and other online video services.

As for projections of so-called "Internet TV", Magna believes that 87,000 households will be online-video-only, meaning they will not subscribe to conventional video packages, by the end of this year and that number will grow to 8.4 million by 2016.  High-capacity cable networks will enable this consumer option for TV reception.

Facebook announces integration with Skype video chat

Facebook Launches Skype Video Calls, Group Messaging, Hits 750 Million Users [Fast Company]

On Wednesday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced Skype video chat integration into the social networking site as well as a new group text chat feature.

The video calls feature allows any user to easily connect with his or her Facebook friends via Skype-powered video chat. While on Facebook, a user can see which friends are available for a call, and with a simple click can call a friend and launch a video chat window.

Skype's video chat service and a similar video chat feature through Gmail have been available for some time (and Google+'s Hangout feature offers video calling for more than two users at a time). Still, Facebook contends that the stripped down nature of its video calling service and the integration into Facebook set its video calling service apart.

Facebook also launched Group Chat which allows users to chat with groups of friends instantly over the social network.

 

Research firm predicts 500 million broadband-connected TVs by 2015

More Than 500 Million Connected Tvs Worldwide By 2015: Forecast [Multichannel News]

Research firm DisplaySearch has released updated projections for broadband connected televisions, saying that a staggering 138 million broadband connected sets will be shipped out in 2015, bringing the total shipped to that point to over the half-billion mark. 

These projections mark a steady and substantial increase over the coming years, with only 60 million expected to be shipped in 2011. Over a quarter of all TVs shipped this year are expected to have Internet connectivity. By 2015, that number is projected to increase to about 47% of all Tvs.

DisplaySearch also expects the number of TVs that have built-in  wi-fi capability, allowing content to be delivered directly to the devices in the home, to increase substantially by 2015. By then, over 98 million TVs will have wi-fi built in.

Google video rental app hits Android market and is later removed

Google Videos coming to Android phones any day now? [NewTeeVee]

Earlier this year, Google announced its new video rental service through YouTube, named Google Videos. When it was launched in May as a web service, Google indicated that the service would be making its way to Android devices within a few weeks.

Since that time, the service was made available for the Motorola Xoom tablet, but talk of a wider roll out to other Android has not materialized.

This past weekend, several Android users noticed that a Google Videos app popped up on the Android market. Apparently a few users were able to download the app, however, it was quickly removed from the market by Google.

It's likely that Google could be having trouble getting the necessary DRM for the service, something that other streaming video services, like Netflix, have struggled with when bringing their services to Android.

Hulu runs into security breach with Facebook Connect implementation

For Hulu, Facebook Connect becomes a security headache [CNET News]

Facebook provides an API for third-party sites that wish to implement users' Facebook login credentials on their site for authentication called Facebook Connect. Hulu attempted to implement Facebook Connect on its site late last week, but ran into a security problem that allowed some Hulu users to access accounts of other Hulu users.

The problem resulted from a programming error, and when it was discovered, Hulu pulled the Facebook Connect code from its site.

Hulu was attempting to encourage Facebook users to share details about the shows they watch on Hulu with their Facebook friends before the security setback. Hulu indicates that that the breach did not expose affected users passwords or credit card information.

Google suspends real-time search results

Google Doesn't Need Twitter Anymore, So It Just Let Their Deal Expire [Silicon Alley Insider]

This past weekend, Google ended its real-time search feature, which allowed users to search updates from all users on Twitter. The reason the feature ended was because Google's agreement with Twitter to have special API access to updates from all Twitter users expired. 

Google struck the deal with Twitter in 2009 for access after Microsoft revealed a feature similar to real-time search on its Bing search engine.

Last week, Google announced a trial run of its new Google+ social network, which raises the question if Google decided to let its Twitter agreement run out in favor of using Google+ as its social graph rather than simply using content from Twitter. Or perhaps it wants to use Google+ as leverage to strike a better bargain with Twitter.

For its part, Google says that it plans to relaunch its real-time results in the future.

Amazon ends affiliate program in California after online sales tax passes

Amazon kills affiliate program in California over sales tax battle [GigaOM]

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill into law that imposes state sales tax on all online transactions made within the state. Similar bills have been passed in a number of other states, despite of the efforts of online retailers to prevent their passage.

Each time a state passes an online sales tax bill, Amazon, the Internet's largest retailer, has terminated its associate programs in the state. Amazon Associates are third-party affiliate marketers for Amazon in each state that agree to sell products on Amazon and receive commissions for Amazon referrals and linking their websites to Amazon. 

Amazon has warned states considering levying sales tax for online sales that it would end its affiliate programs, and so far Amazon has made good on that warning.

California had well over 10,000 Amazon affiliates, and in a recent letter Amazon stated that all contracts with those affiliates were terminated as of June 29, 2011. As other states look to an online sales tax to fill in budget deficits, expect this issue to be raised again.

BlinQ connects television viewing to friends

BlinQ Is A Social Channel Guide For Your TV [TechCrunch] 

It's not the first time an app has attempted to combine social networking and television, but BlinQ is looking to separate itself from similar apps by integrating more deeply with home TV guides and remotes. 

BlinQ is a new app (currently only for iOS) developed by Ryz Media. It examines your local TV lineup and organizes the programs by popularity based on input from others in your area. 

The BlinQ app takes Ryz Media's previous development, the "My TV Remote," to the next level. If you download the free app and then purchase the infra-red functionality for $9.99 (via an in-app purchase), a "Q" device will be shipped directly to you, free of charge. The "Q" device attaches to the headphone jack in your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and allows you to use your device as a remote control.

BlinQ also allows you to receive updates from your friends about what they are watching and post messages and updates of your own. You can even invite friends to watch the show you're watching.