Michael's Insight

Time Warner Cable developing Android tablet application

Time Warner Cable TV App in development for Android, should drop before the season's first 3-pointer [EngadgetHD]

Time Warner Cable has announced that an app for Android-powered tablets is being developed in addition to its popular iPad app.

According to the reports from Time Warner Cable, the app could be released as early as this month. The first iteration of the app will likely offer a detailed program guide, DVR management capabilities and remote control functionality, just like the iPad app does. Live TV streaming in the home will eventually be included as well, but likely will not be available until after Android's Ice Cream Sandwich update is released in 2012. 

The company plans to announce the release of the app on its blog.

 

 

Google reportedly working on adding television to fiber project

Google Ponders Pay-TV Business [Wall Street Journal]

Google's fiber broadband project in Kansas City may be more ambitious than originally advertised. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Google has plans to offer pay-TV and phone service through the fiber-to-the-home services being installed.

Google is reportedly working on content deals with major programmers like Disney, Time Warner, and Discovery.

Considering the ad-driven nature of Google's core search business, it's no surprise that they would be interested in television. Google is already involved in the TV space with its Google TV software, and the company is also selling cable TV advertising.  Google also dipped into the content-creation side by striking deals with celebrities and production companies for the creation of original content for roughly 100 new YouTube "channels." 

Still, Google has never been as ambitious as to propose providing its own TV service to customers. It's unclear whether this project will be limited to Kansas City or will expand elsewhere. Google plans for the Kansas City fiber project up and running by early 2012.

CBS turned down Apple television deal

CBS hints at Apple working on delivering ad-supported TV [Ars Technica] 

Rumors that Apple was angling to strike a deal with TV networks for a subscription, ad-supported TV service have been confirmed by CBS CEO Les Moonves on a recent earnings call.  

Currently Apple offers television shows and movies as an a la carte purchase on via Apple TV and iTunes. 

During the earnings call, Moonves mentioned Apple's proposals and went on to say that CBS ultimately turned down the opportunity because Apple wanted to split advertising revenue. CBS likes to be paid in advance for its content in deals made with online video services, instead of being paid based on a future revenue stream.

Amazon offering lending library for Kindle books

For Amazon Prime Readers, a Lending Library [New York Times]

With the new Amazon Kindle lineup set to be released in a couple weeks, Amazon has announced another service for its customers – the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

The service will allow any Kindle user who is also an Amazon Prime customer to rent one free e-book per month. The user is free to keep the book for as long as they like, but that book will disappear from their device if they elect to rent a new book the next month. 

Amazon Prime is the subscription service that provides discounted, quick shipping and video-streaming service.

Reluctance on the part of major publishers has led Amazon to slimmer offerings for the lending program. In fact, of the top 20 New York Times bestsellers, none are currently available in the Lending Library. While Amazon is having trouble getting all the publishers on board, the Lending Library still already offers more than 5,100 titles, including (according to Amazon) over 100 current and former NYT bestsellers. 

Google's iOS Gmail app pulled after complaints

Google Pulls Lousy Gmail iPhone App, Grovels For Forgiveness [SAI]

Almost immediately after launching its new Gmail app for iOS on Wednesday, Google saw the app ripped apart by user comments on Twitter, with reports of significant bugs in the app. Shortly after the flurry of complaints, Google pulled the app.

To its credit, Google admitted the flaws in the app and claimed they would fix the problem before reposting it. Google's apologetic tweet about the app mentioned bugs with the notifications. However, according to numerous tweets and other reports the bugs extended far beyond the notification center.

Many reports said that the Gmail app was simply a glorified version of the mobile web site with practically no means of customizing Gmail at all. For example, there was no way to access multiple accounts in a single inbox. 

Internet Explorer usage continues to drop

Internet Explorer Desertion Continues as Usage Drops Below 50 Percent [Gizmodo]

It's no secret that web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple's Safari have been making dents in the market formerly dominated by Microsoft's Internet Explorer. That trend doesn't appear to be slowing down as IE's market share has continued to drop and has now fallen below the 50 percent mark, according to Ocotober web browsing data from analytics firm Net Applications.

Internet Explorer still has the largest portion of the browser market by far.  With 49.59% of the market, IE has more than double the usage of the next highest browser – Firefox at 21.2%.  Chrome makes up 16.6% and is growing faster than Firefox, seemingly grabbing the majority of the desktop users abandoning IE.  Safari accounts for 8.72%, but has a dominant presence in the mobile browsing market.

Despite maintaining a large share of the market, IE is losing ground fast. It lost roughly 2% of its market share over a one-month period.

 

 

IntoNow app provides additional information about TV shows

Share your TV habits with Yahoo's IntoNow app, now on the iPad [CNET News]

A new app in Apple's App Store recognizes the TV program you're watching and provides all kinds of information about the program. IntoNow, recently acquired by Yahoo has been described as the Shazam app for TV viewing. Shazam is the app that can detect the song being played and provide information about the song, artist, album, etc.

Before the Yahoo acquisition, IntoNow simply let users share program information on Facebook and Twitter. Now, however, IntoNow can not only tell what program is being viewed, but listens to the program and provides related information based on what's being discussed on the program.

For example, if a viewer were watching a basketball game, IntoNow would show information about the teams playing, including stats updated in real time. While watching a news program, IntoNow listens to the specific stories being discussed and provide related news articles from various online sources. For a sitcom, IntoNow might display twitter feeds of the shows creators or other relevant information.

IntoNow can detect the program being viewed in four to twelve seconds and uses close caption feeds and other data to continue to monitor the content.

Zediva movie rental service shut down and fined

Zediva Gets Shut Down…Permanently [Broadband Reports]

Several months ago I wrote a post about a new "video rental" service had begun offering a unique means of providing video content to its customers. Zediva would play an actual DVD at their facility when a customer rented the video online and stream the DVD playback to the renter. It's essentially a means of giving the user full access to the DVD remotely, via broadband.

While it was a novel attempt to end run the complicated restrictions that major studios put on their content, those studios weren't impressed with Zediva's business plan.  

Lawsuits quickly followed from the studios, and the service was ordered to be taken down temporarily while the case was being decided. This week Zediva has been shut down and it's being reported that a settlement was reached whereby Zediva will pay fines of roughly $1.8 million and agree to drop the countersuits that were filed.

Federal agency yanks broadband stimulus grant

NTIA Pulls Plug on $80M Louisiana Broadband Grant [Multichannel News]

The plan was to deploy 900 plus miles of fiber across Louisiana to serve some of the poorest areas of the state with broadband services. Funding was promised in the form of an $80 million grant from the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) as a part of the federal broadband stimulus. 

Now, after numerous delays and reports of inadequate planning, the NTIA is pulling all of the funds and canceling the project. Overall, the BTOP program has promised billions of dollars in similar broadband deployment efforts across the country, and the failures in Louisiana shed some light on some of the problems with implementation of the initiative.

An NTIA administrator said that the Louisiana project "promised great benefits to unserved and underserved areas of the state." However, as the project proceeded the initial goals were unable to be met, putting the project significantly behind schedule. At that point, Louisiana proposed significant changes to the proposal without the details and scheduling that would inspire confidence in the program's future.

The funds that have been recouped will now be returned to the U.S. Treasury.

Google adding transparency to ad targeting

Now You Can See Why a Google Ad Targeted You [Gizmodo]

Search giant Google is set to give users a closer look at how its ad targeting technology works and giving users the option to block annoying ads. The company allows advertisers to bid for specific search keywords, with winning bidders' ads appearing when users search for those keywords. Now, expect to see a link entitled "Why this ad?" alongside ads on Google's sites that, when clicked, goes to a page that explains how search and surfing behavior caused that particular ad to be served up.

Google has been under scrutiny from policy makers and regulators for some of its business practices, some relating to its advertising and search technology. This move is likely desinged to give the company's critics more transparency into the technology behind its products.

Along with the added transparency, Google is adding an option for users to block targeted ads that a user finds unhelpful or annoying.

Sony reorganizing TV division in effort to stem losses

Sony to divide TV division into three-headed monster, looks to bounce back [EngadgetHD]

There was a time when no one could touch Sony's TVs for quality.  In recent years, the company's TV division has fallen far behind many of its competitors, with losses in the division stretching for seven years running and expected to occur again this year. 

Fresh off a weak quarterly earnings report that further illustrated the gap between Sony and its top competitors, Sony is looking to change things in a hurry.  This week, Sony will implement a new restructuring effort that will divide its TV business into three departments – one for LCD TVs, one for outsourcing, and another for next-generation televisions. 

Sony has a brand reputation as a manufacturer of high-end TVs, but with many customers opting for less expensive sets from value-minded competitors, it has caused the company to lose ground that it is now working to make up.