Michael's Insight

Verizon and Redbox announce plans to create joint streaming/physical media video service

Verizon and Redbox team up to launch streaming and physical media service later this year [EngadgetHD]

Rumors of a merger or partnership between Coinstar – which owns the Redbox line of DVD/Blu-ray rental vending machines – and Verizon have had some light shed on them via a recent press release announcing that the two companies are joining to create a subscription service offering both physical and broadband streaming video content.

The joint venture, being called "Project Zoetrope," is designed to be a direct Netflix competitor by offering DVD and Blu-ray videos as wells streaming and downloadable content. Further details, such as pricing or packages that will be offered, are not yet known at this point, aside from the fact that the service is expected to be available for consumers in the second half of 2012.

It appears that the service will be available on non-Verizon devices and broadband providers.  Verizon does claim in the press release that it plans to "erase all technological boundaries."

Google announces Bouncer feature in effort to reduce Android malware

Google's Finally Cracking Down on Android Malware [Gizmodo]

A newly announced feature on the Android Market is aimed at eliminating malware from apps, an issue that's becoming more widespread on the mobile platform. The feature, named Bouncer, scans all of a user's apps and, without interfering with the user experience or with developers, finds any potential malware, spyware or trojans. 

Due to the open nature of the Android Market, where there is not a human review of submitted apps, it's good to see Google taking steps to eliminate the malware problem. 

In addition to detecting malware, Bouncer compares the actual functioning of an app compared to how the app should ideally be operating. It also checks out new developer accounts to ensure that they are not just old malware creators operating under new accounts.

According  to Google, Bouncer has been live for some time and the number of major malware attacks has dropped by 40%.

Facebook working to actually remove deleted photos

Over 3 years later, "deleted" Facebook photos are still online [Ars Technica]

Think those photos you deleted from your Facebook account are gone forever? No so, according to Ars Technica. While the photos may not show up on your profile's photo albums, they could still reside on Facebook's servers for as long as three years.

The tech blog checked into the issue in 2009, finding that "deleted" photos could still be accessed via a direct URL link to the photo. Facebook said at that time that it was working to remove backup copies of photos to prevent this phenomenon, but more than a year later the same photos were still available via their URL.

Now, three years after the original report, Ars Technica again checked to see whether the original deleted photos were still available via their URL and found that they were indeed. 

Facebook has responded that its content delivery network (CDN) has a malfunction that is keeping photos in backup. The social network is working to fix that problem so that photos that are deleted will not be available, even from a link, within 45 days after "deletion."

Chrome browser market share drops in January

Google Chrome Market Share Drops For First Time In Two Years [Tech Crunch] 

In January, Google knocked its own browser, Chrome, down in its search result rankings. Google took the action because an ad agency hired by Google paid bloggers to link to Chrome on their websites – a clear violation of Google's own policy.

As a result, Chrome has dropped in overall browser market share for the first time in two years. According to a report from Net Applications, in December Chrome occupied 19.11% of the browser market. In January, its share dropped to 18.94%.  

Before the demotion in Google's search result rankings, Chrome was the second result in a Google search for "browser." Google dropped it to the 50th result and is currently found on the 6th page of Google results for a "browser" search.

Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari also saw slight drops in market share in January. Firefox dropped from 21.83% in December to 20.88%, and Safari dropped from 4.97% to 4.90%. 

Those drops benefitted Internet Explorer. For January, IE had a bump in browser market share, which has been rare since the introduction of Chrome in 2008.

Pirate Bay founders to remain in prison after losing appeal

Supreme Court of Sweden Upholds Pirate Bay Prison Sentences [Wired]

Some of the world's most notorious Internet pirates are going to remain in prison.

After being convicted in 2009, the founders of The Pirate Bay challenged their sentences to Sweden's Supreme Court. The sentences issued were 8 months for Peter Sunde, 10 months for Fredrik Neij, 4 months for Carl Lundstrom, and one year for Gottfrid Svartholm, along with over $6.8 million in fines.

The Supreme Court handed down its decision on Wednesday and upheld the full sentencing.  

The Pirate Bay founders, and their attorneys, felt very strongly that they were not guilty of the charges being brought over the pirated material that was shared through the site because the specific protected material was never stored on The Pirate Bay's servers. Instead, The Pirate Bay, through the use of BitTorrent, allowed users to share the content on a user-to-user basis.

Sunde went so far to say that he was "a pawn on the morally right side." He further said that he was proud of what he did and wouldn't have changed his involvement. 

The judge did not buy the argument and on Wednesday the Supreme Court of Sweden declared that they weren't buying it either.

Google TV software getting an update

Sony Google TV gets update this week, brings speedier Chrome and 3D Blu-ray support [Engadget]

This week Google unveiled an update to its Google TV product, which included an upgrade to Android Honeycomb 3.2, which the product is based on.

The update offers some notable improvements to the product. Many of the upgrades are aimed at increasing the abilities of Google TV-specific apps. For instance, Google TV devices will now support hardware acceleration and HTTP Live Streaming. There is also an enhancement of how Google TV identifies TV channels, making it easier for designers to include that information in their apps. 

Other improvements include speed enhancements for the Chrome browser in Google TV and 3D Blu-ray support for all Google TV Sony devices and TVs.

As for the Ice Cream Sandwich update, rumors suggest it could be released by the end of the year, and there could be smaller updates in the meantime focused on updating apps.

 

Boxee ending PC client application

Boxee officially pulls the plug on PC client [GigaOM]

Late in 2011, Boxee announced it was shifting all of its focus to the Boxee Box television peripherial and planned to shut down its computer based applications. That announcement is set to be enacted on Tuesday as Boxee plans to remove all copies of the Boxee app for PC, Mac, and Linux from its servers.

Boxee believes "the future of TV will be driven by devices such as the Boxee Box, Connected TVs / Blu-Rays and 2nd screen devices such as tablets and smartphones," according to the company's VP of Marketing, Andrew Kippen. Any future PC video-viewing will be done on laptops directly through browsers, as opposed to software on a home-theater PC, says Kippen.

This move has already drawn plenty of backlash from early Boxee adopters, but the focus on the consumer electronics market instead of PCs something Boxee had to do to keep up with the video streaming competition, like Apple TV and Google TV.

SlingPlayer now available for the Kindle Fire

SlingPlayer App Comes to Kindle Fire, Expanding the Tablet's Video Offerings [Wired]

Users looking for more video to watch on a new Kindle Fire can now watch all the content currently get on their home TV on your Kindle Fire thanks to a new SlingPlayer app.

Just like the apps for other tablets and smartphones, the Kindle Fire SlingPlayer app interacts with a Slingbox attached to your home TV setup.  The app gives a user full control and access to all TV content, through the Kindle Fire as long as there is access to Wi-Fi.

Although Kindle Fire reviews have run the full gamut of positive and negative, one consistently praised feature has been video playback. Apps from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vimeo, and Amazon Instant Video have previously been made available on the Amazon App Store.

Google privacy update attracts concerns from Congress

House lawmakers request briefing on Google privacy policy changes [The Hill]

Google recently made some fairly significant changes to its privacy policy. This update involves consolidating all of a user's data across the various Google services into a single document.

This consolidation will allow Google to easily share privacy data for a specific user among its various sites and services – Google search, Google+, YouTube, etc. The consolidated data will also allow Google to direct advertisements on one Google service based on content viewed through a different Google service. 

Google is selling these changes as a way to tailor overall experiences – search, advertisements, content, etc. – to specific users.

Some members of congress aren't sure that it's as simple as Google has made it out to be. House Reps. Bono Mack (R-Cal.) and G.K. Butterfield (D.-N.C.) requested a briefing on the new policies in a letter written to Larry Page, Google's CEO. While these Representatives have lauded the "shorter, simpler, streamlined policy," they have concerns over how user data will be collected, stored, and secured. They are also concerned with the lack of an opt-out in the new policies.

Google has responded by saying that the new policies do not collect any new data and that users would still be able to control their privacy settings. The company also expressed its understanding about concerns and expressed an eagerness to clarify any "misconceptions about our privacy policies."  

Sounds like Google is finally coming to understand it can't act like a startup by ignoring Washington, DC when it has grown to the gargantuan that it has become.

 

Mozilla launches Firefox 10

Firefox 10 now available for download [The Verge]

Mozilla is continuing its trend of quick releases it announced nine months ago. Since that time updates have been quickly rolled out bringing Mozilla from version 4 all the way to version 10, which was released on Tuesday.

Google has since adopted the quick release cycle as well and only waited 19 days between Chrome 17 beta and Chrome 18 dev.The latest version of Firefox does include an "Extended Support Release" for those who don't like to update their browser every few weeks (expect for security fixes and other necessary updates).

Other features of Firefox 10 include API for full web apps, anti-aliasing for WebGL, and a Forward button that only pops up when it has a function. That's not much, but considering its only been a few weeks since Firefox 9 you probably couldn't expect much more.

Firefox and Chrome have been fighting for the second place in the browser market (behind declining Internet Explorer). Recently Chrome overtook Firefox to take hold of that second slot, which Firefox held for many years.

 

Wi-Fi Alliance concerned about branding of white space broadband

Wi-Fi Alliance: There's nothing "Super" about white spaces broadband [GigaOM]

Last Thursday the first white space wireless broadband network went live in North Carolina. White space wireless broadband is transmitted over small sections of unused portions of the broadcast television spectrum.

Some press accounts have characterized white space broadband as "Super Wi-Fi," but the Wi-Fi Alliance, the industry consortium behind the Wi-Fi brand, says referring to white space broadband as "Super Wi-Fi" misleads consumers.

When broadcast TV went digital a few years ago, some of the spectrum formerly used by analog broadcasts became available to be put to other uses. The FCC created rules that provided for use of this spectrum in unlicensed broadband applications, similar to the rules that paved the way for Wi-Fi. 

Given the similarity, some members of the industry press have begun referring to white space broadband as "Super Wi-Fi" due its propogation characteristics which will allow it to be transmitted over a much wider area than Wi-Fi.

While the name might cause some confusion, there are many more substantial hurdles for white space broadband to overcome for the technology to be adopted in other areas. For instance, multiple bills are currently before Congress imposing restrictions and regulations on those wishing to use this space for unlicensed broadband. Also, there could be substantial costs for building out this type of network, particularly if there isn't a high adoption rate. In fact, due to this adoption rate issue, white space broadband is largely seen as an option for expanding broadband to rural areas, rather than a one-size-fits-all broadband solution.

 

Webmail providers to combine efforts to reduce phishing emails

Webmail providers team up to reduce 'phishing' emails [The Verge] 

The Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) initiative is aimed at stopping phishing emails from making their way into users' inboxes. 

Phishing emails attempt to trick users into performing an action like clicking on a link that installs malware onto their computer.

DMARC is launching this week and has support from many major tech companies, including – perhaps most importantly – major web-based email providers Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, and AOL. Other companies on board with the initiative include Facebook, LinkedIn, and PayPal. PayPal already works with Google and Yahoo! to block unwanted emails – as many as 200,000 per day. DMARC will likely make these kinds of efforts even more successful, particularly if all webmail providers back its efforts. 

Webmail users will not have to take any action to get the benefits of DMARC. Instead, it will be up to webmail providers to implement the policies of DMARC. 

Cablevision developing TV app for computer screen

Cablevision trailing live TV app for Windows and Mac with select customers [The Verge]

Cablevision is in the trial stages of a new desktop app for both Windows PCs and Macs that will allow for live streaming of video content.

Cablevision was one of the first cable providers to add the iPad as another home cable viewing screen when it released its iPad app last Spring. Now the new Optimum App for Laptop will give computer users the ability to watch TV on something other than their home TV set.

Early viewings of the app have led to positive reviews for both the user interface and picture quality.

Cablevision customers that have both iO TV (their digital TV offering) and the Optimum Online broadband product will be able to access all the content they would be able to view via TV on their laptops.

Tablet viewing of Netflix now outpaces PC viewing

Netflix tops 800+ devices, tablets overtake PC viewing [GigaOM]

Netflix has been putting an emphasis on app development for mobile devices and connected TVs. Now there are over 800 different devices that have the ability to stream Netflix movies, and Netflix representatives say that number is constantly growing.

Roughly six months ago, there were only about 450 different devices with Netflix. Game consoles have always been a strong category for Netflix and there doesn't appear to be any slowing of that trend. Reports even show that the PS3 contributed over 30 percent of all Netflix traffic on its own.

One category that appears to be playing a significant role in the jump in Netflix-capable devices is tablets. In fact, CEO Reed Hastings stated that more Netflix viewing is taking place on tablets now than on PCs – a category which used to make up about 20% of all traffic.

The Smart TV category is also growing quickly for Netflix, and connected TV devices like Apple TV have been "really successful," according to Hastings.

MegaUpload shutdown resulted in web traffic drop

Follow the traffic: What MegaUpload's downfall did to the web [GigaOM]

On January 19, the FBI raided the offices of the file sharing site MegaUpload, arresting four officers including the CEO. The company behind the site is being indicted for criminal copyright infringement and racketeering. Prior to the raid, MegaUpload was notorious for being a source for pirated television shows and movies.

As part of the FBI raid, the site was shut down. GigaOM turned to a few companies that monitor Internet traffic loads to get a glimpse of the effect the MegaUpload shutdown. Arbor Networks saw significant drops in traffic in Europe immediately following the MegaUpload shutdown (roughly 2 p.m. Eastern), and fairly significant, although less drastic, drops in the U.S.

Sandvine also shared data that suggested MegaUpload had become one of the more popular content sharing sites on the web. According to Sandvine, just under 1 percent of all web traffic in the U.S. was from MegaUpload. This was far and away the highest percentage among "storage and back-up services." Second on the list was 4Shared, which provided only .08% of all traffic.

DSL continues decline in customers

The continued decline of DSL [GigaOM] 

In the early years of broadband Internet, DSL service from companies like Verizon and AT&T were competitive options to cable broadband. However, lately both of those companies have posted significant losses in their number of DSL customers.

During the fourth quarter of 2011, Verizon lost 103,000 total DSL lines and AT&T lost 636,000 lines. In fact, AT&T lost over 1.5 million DSL customers during the last three quarters of 2011.

What's the reason for the mass migration from DSL? The main reason is because cable providers offer a far superior broadband product to the former DSL customers. Just this week, Time Warner Cable announced that during the same period that Ma Bell lost over 600,000 DSL customers, 130,000 customers signed up for cable broaband with TWC. While other cable providers have yet to announce results for the previous quarter, expect similar defections from DSL to cable broadband.

Apple takes lead in smartphone marketshare

BOOM: Apple Passes Android To Take The Market Share Lead In The US, Says Kantar [SAI] 

New research from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech says that the lead Android once enjoyed over Apple in the smartphone market is gone. The latest report shows Apple now has 44.9% of the market, while Android is holding on to 44.8%. 

Lead by the launch of the iPhone 4S last fall, Apple's market share has nearly doubled over the past year. Google's Android had moved into a dominant market position.

There's no doubt that much of the reason the iPhone lagged so far behind Android in the past was because it was strictly available from one provider. Now, of course, the iPhone is available on the three largest mobile providers in the U.S . With the mobile network playing field leveled, Android's lead has been dwindling and now is gone completely.

Google proposing Internet protocol changes to improve speed

Google hopes to speed up the web with SPDY and TCP proposals [The Verge]

There are a number of things that can cause your Internet connection to run a little slower than you'd like. One potential drag on your speed is the protocol that forms the basis of all transmissions on the Internet.

The current protocols used in handling web traffic are quite old (at least by technology standards) and in many ways haven't kept up with advances in other aspects of the web. Although these protocols don't result in much more than very tiny delays, Google is looking to advance two new protocols to make web surfing just a little faster.

The first protocol proposal from Google is called SPDY (pronounced speedy). SDPY works with Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and allows for multiple requests through a single connection. SDPY is already built into Google Chrome and will be in the next version of Mozilla Firefox (version 11), but Google is hoping that the HTTP Working Group charged with developing HTTP 2.0 will also include SDPY in its final product.

Google's second proposal is an enhancement to TCP or Transmission Control Protocol. The TCP proposal isn't as far along as SDPY and aims at a more fundamental protocol action. Google believes TCP can be sped up by reducing the number of "round trips" necessary for a data request. The proposal lists several tweaks to TCP to help reduce latency.

Apple sees 350,000 textbooks downloaded in first three days after announcement

350,000 Textbooks Downloaded From Apple's iBooks in Three Days [All Things D]

Last week Apple began offering textbooks through the iBooks Store. Three days later some 350,000 textbooks had been downloaded according to Apple.

It should be noted that it's not clear how many of these downloads were of E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth, which was offered for free so that users could see firsthand how textbooks looked on the iPad.

In perhaps more important news, iBooks Author, the developer tool for creating iBooks textbooks, was downloaded roughly 90,000 times in that same three-day period, meaning more and more offerings could be popping up in the iBooks Store.

Tablet and e-reader ownership nearly double in December

Thanks To Santa, Tablets And E-Readers Are (Almost) Everywhere [Tech Crunch]

It was apparent early on that tablet and e-reader manufacturers had a strong holiday season. Now the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project is putting some numbers behind the devices sales. 

Telephone surveys were taken through mid-December and January and the results show that ownership of both tablets and e-readers nearly doubled in the course of one month. In December of 2011, 10 percent of US adults owned tablet devices and 10 percent owned e-readers. The comparison survey conducted in January of 2012 showed that the percentages for each category jumped to roughly 19 percent.  

For the most part tablets and e-readers have grown at the same rate with the percentage of ownership differing on average only about 1 to 2 percent each month. Both stayed relatively stagnant throughout the Fall of 2011 before spiking in January.

Time Warner Cable releases iPhone app

Time Warner Cable Brings Live TV To iPhone [Multichannel News]

Time Warner Cable has begun streaming its content to another wireless device – the iPhone.

A new app on the Apple iTunes Store allows iPhone users to watch live TV from roughly 200 channels on their devices over their home wireless networks. Time Warner Cable is hoping to have an Android version of the app that works with Android 4.0 ready to launch later this year.

Time Warner Cable's iPad app was released in March of 2011 and was met with resistance from many programmers – none more so than Viacom, which sued the cable provider within the first month of the app's release. The legal action is on hold but the two companies have still not reached an agreement and Viacom's content is currently not available on either the iPad or iPhone apps.

Much like the iPad app, the iPhone app includes a detailed, interactive guide, set-top remote control features, and DVR management – in addition to the live streaming.

For a full list of available programming, head over to TWC's "Untangled" blog.

 

Apple announces digital textbook publishing for the iPad

Apple's iBook 2 Textbooks Arrive Today for $15 [Gizmodo]

Apple's iBooks 2 app went live on Friday with a new feature aimed at reinventing educational textbooks. Textbooks designed for the iPad are now available at the iBooks store. While there are already thousands of apps in the App Store that put the iPad's potential to use for educational purposes, Apple's going a step further to eliminate the need for a backpack to carry numerous heavy textbooks.

Apple has struck deals with major textbook publishers McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and has provided a free textbook publishing program for other third-party publishers to add their content to iBooks.

Apple doesn't want iBooks textbooks to simply be digital copies of printed books. Publishers can incorporate interactive images, 3D graphics, and videos into their digital textbooks.

Comcast connected cable box shows up for FCC review

Comcast's connected cable box making a run at the FCC? [EngadgetHD]

Comcast hasn't kept its broadband connected set-top box project a secret, but the latest developments show that the cable provider is taking some more aggressive steps toward making its connected box a reality. The box will integrate Comcast's video product with its broadband.

The FCC web site for review of new electronic devices now has a user guide, labels and a diagram of Comcast's boxes, signifying that Comcast is already working toward FCC approval of the connected box.

Reports of Comcast's test programs for the device referred to a box named "Xcalibur," but the boxes shown in the FCC filings have been manufactured by Pace and have been labeled "Parker" boxes. They contain the regular inputs of all set-top boxes with an added SD Card Slot and eSATA port. The diagrammed unit has an Ethernet port but no Wi-Fi connectivity.

Average online video viewer watched 23 hours in December

Average Online Video Usage Hits 23 Hours in December [Multichannel News]

ComScore's December figures are out and online video viewing has continued to grow.

In December, 43.5 billion videos were viewed online by roughly 182 million U.S. viewers. In terms of time spent watching videos, comScore found that the average American watched 23.2 hours worth of online video during the month of December. 

Of the all U.S. Internet users, 85 percent claimed to have watched online video. The majority of online video watching is still short form, however, as the average video watched in December lasted only 5.8 minutes.

The continued strength of short videos means YouTube held onto its massive lead in the online video market. The Google-owned video site had 157.2 million unique viewers, while the second highest site, VEVO, had only 53.7 million uniques. Yahoo! sites were third (53.3 million) followed by Viacom (45.8 million) and Facebook (42 million).

In terms of advertising, 7.1 billion online video ads were viewed in the month, accounting for 14.1% of all videos viewed. Hulu topped the ad impression chart with about 1.5 billion ads. Over 3 billion minutes were spent watching online ads in the U.S

Google fiber project runs into delays over pole placement

Google Fiber work in KCK is delayed by dispute over how its wires are hung [The Kansas City Star] 

Last spring, Google announced that Kansas City would be the home of its new project to deliver broadband to residents through fiber-to-the-home.

At the time of the announcement, statements from Google led many to believe that the area's utility poles were ready for Google's fiber to be attached. The poles were said to have plenty of room for the fiber, and the governing authority for the poles on the Kansas side of Kansas City – the Unified Government of Wyandotte County – owned both the poles and the board of public utilities, which would seem to make it easier for Google to come to town and attach to the poles.

The utility pole situation in Kansas City, however, appears to be less ideal than once believed. Google has encountered issues regarding where and how to attach its fiber to the poles in Kansas City. There is also a dispute over the cost for installing the fiber and the fees for continued use of the poles. Engineers and attorneys have been trying to resolve the issue ever since Google announced.

Welcome to the cable/broadband business, Google!  Now you're getting a small taste of just how complicated our business can be.

The dispute basically boils down to two choices for Google. Either it can pay the fee that telcos and cable providers pay to attach lower on the pole, or attach higher on the pole where electrical wires are attached. There would be no fee in that scenario, based on a special subsidy given by local government, but Google would face the much more uncertain cost of the serious safety concerns for technicians and customers that would result from attaching fiber so close to electrical wires -- a practice that is prohibited by most telecom providers for obvious reasons.

Due to the dispute, it appears that Google's fiber project will be delayed.

This is a great example of how careless a company like Google can be by creating such hoopla without the benefit of a full understanding of the complications and implications of what they propose to do.  A little study may have been in order here.