Mobile
FLO TV Launches Watchman Mobile TV Viewing Device
Qualcomm’sFLO TV is launching the properly-named-but-it’s-kind-of-a-boring-moniker FLO TV Personal Television device for those who want to watch television on the go. But do consumers want to carry around another device and pay another subscription to watch TV wherever they are?
The FLO TV Personal Television plays live and time-shifted video content over FLO’s multicast network, and promises no buffering or downloading to watch your shows. The 3.5-inch touch screen allows users to surf through channels with the swipe of a finger.
FLO TV does have a decent lineup of channels including Comedy Central, ESPN, MSNBC and MTV. But the Personal Television will cost $250 and requires an $8.99 per month subscription fee.
Tweet About TV With frog’s tvChatter iPhone App
frog design, the design firm with 40 years of experience advising clients on how best to create their consumer electronics and services, from Windows XP to Roku to TV Guide’s new web site, recently began making a few products of its own. Among the first is a social TV iPhone app called tvChatter, meant to be used alongside watching programs live or simultaneously with friends.
The free application will come out with frog client NBC as a launch partner as soon as Apple approves it (probably in the next week or so). It brings in a stream of Twitter updates that are deemed relevant to about 30 prime-time shows from various networks. When users give their Twitter credentials, they can tweet directly to a stream and follow along with either their friends or everyone else in the world watching the same show and tweeting about it.
Schedule Your TiVo From Your BlackBerry
Our fellow GigaOMers at jkOnTheRun note this morning that the free TiVo app for BlackBerries is out today.
BlackBerry, meet TiVo. TiVo, say “Hi” to BlackBerry. OK, now that you two are acquainted, let’s remotely get some television recorded, ‘k? Yes, the TiVo for BlackBerry software is ready for downloading from the BlackBerry App World. With the app, you can search for programming by keyword, actor, tile or category and set single episode or full season recordings right from the handset. There’s a definite TiVo “look and feel” to the interface, so there’s no major learning curve involved. We wouldn’t want it to be challenging to set up our precious recordings, now would we? ;)
We’ve mused on what the remote control of the future will look like, and one clear option is for it to just be our phones. Being able to record from afar with a device that’s already in your pocket is a huge plus.
Vid-Biz: Ratings, PSP, WGAE
Fall Season Start Not That Great; despite the rosy stories about strong debuts, NBC, ABC and the CW’s ratings are down. (TV by the Numbers)
Get Some Sony Movies on the Go; new feature on select Blu-ray discs will allow users to transfer movies from PS3 to their PSPs. (Video Business)
WGA East Signs New Digital Media Signatories; Dinosaur Diorama (The Burg) among the 11 new web creators that are now WGAE members, part of an active digital media push being made by the guild. (WGA East)
YouTubers Launch Record Label; DFTBA Records to focus on releasing music from up and coming YouTube musicians. (YouTube Blog)
Big Ten Signs thePlatform for Online Video; the cable sports network will use the Comcast sub’s video platform to offer live and on-demand game coverage from the Big Ten Conference. (Broadcasting & Cable)
WPP Case Against SpotRunner Dismissed; WPP’s securities fraud and breach of contract case against the TV ad firm was based on the selling of SpotRunner shares; WPP plans to appeal. (paidContent)
EyeTV Releases iPhone App; lets users access live and recorded content from Macs. (Zatz Not Funny!)
Be an iReporter With CNN’s iPhone App
When I first heard of the concept of a 24-hour TV news station, I scoffed. “Who would want to watch that?” Of course, I was going into the fourth grade and at summer camp, so my lack of foresight can probably be forgiven. Something I definitely would have thought was cool then was the ability to watch live video from a 24-hour news station on my mobile phone, let alone shoot and contribute video with that phone.
CNN today launched its iPhone app, which provides news updates and allows users to watch live video of breaking news and highlights from the network (though, as paidContent reports, it doesn’t offer live-streaming of the channel’s own programming).
Additionally, it taps into the video recording power of the device, allowing users to shoot and upload video to CNN’s iReport citizen journalism site, as well as view other iReport stories.
AT&T Launches MMS for the iPhone
All eyes are on AT&T today, as the company has started rolling out multimedia messaging service (MMS) for the iPhone. Stacey at GigaOM pondered this morning whether AT&T’s network will be able to handle the crush of iPhoners sending videos and pictures to one another, and over at TheAppleBlog comes word that people aren’t just hoping for an AT&T fail, but are actively organizing to try and make it happen so that Apple ends its exclusive deal with the telco.
Have any NewTeeVeers tried the iPhone MMS? Let us know how it went in the comments. To activate the service you need to update your iPhone in iTunes (full instructions at TheAppleBlog).
MLB’s At Bat App Downloaded More Than 400,000 Times
MLB.com’s mobile strategy is adding to — not cannibalizing — the league’s traditional web business, according to President and CEO Bob Bowman. Speaking at the Apps for Brands conference in New York yesterday, Bowman shared some stats about MLB’s At Bat app and announced a new feature coming to the service in time for the playoffs (hat tip to Ad Age).
Bowman said that the $9.99 At Bapp app, which allows users to stream live games to their iPhone, has been downloaded more than 400,000 times, and MLB’s free app has been downloaded more than 350,000 times.
Broadcast From Your Backpack With New Livestream Device
The most aptly named live-streaming company in the business, Livestream, is taking the wraps off its new Livepack — an all-in-one, backpack-sized device that enables live, mobile, HD-quality broadcasts.
The ruggedized device requires no laptop and comes with a touchscreen and six integrated 3G/EVDO modems from AT&T, Verizon and Sprint that are bound together in a way to provide the highest possible available bit rate. Livestream CEO and co-founder Max Haot told us by phone that in a good coverage area users can get a solid 700kbps connection (it can go up to 1Mbps), in poor coverage areas, the six modems working together can provide a 300-400kbps.
Vuclip Raises $6M for Mobile Video Search
Vuclip announced today that it has raised a $6 million Series B round of funding led by Jafco Ventures, with existing investor New Enterprise Associates returning. This brings the total amount the company has raised to a little more than $14 million.
Liz did an excellent explainer last year on what Vuclip does, but in a nutshell, the company lets mobile phone users search for and playback video. Vuclip does the transcoding on the fly and on the back-end so all the user needs is a phone with a browser, a native media player and data plan.
Craig Gatarz, Vuclip’s chief administrative officer, told us by phone that the service is getting 4 million unique users a month and delivering a million videos a day to 3,000 different handsets in 150 different countries (the bulk of Vuclip’s traffic comes from India, China and the U.S.).
Vuclip offers both a consumer-facing service with an ad-split revenue model as well as a white-label “powered by” service for the enterprise. The company can stitch a pre-roll to a piece of content on the fly, allowing publishers to target using geography or some other criteria.
The company plans to use its new funding to build out its sales and marketing teams and add to its technology platform.
Based in Milpitas, California, Vuclip currently has 40 employees across the Bay Area, China and India. Competitors in the mobile video space include Skyfire and mSpot.
i.TV 2.0 Gets Remote Control But Still Lacks Content
i.TV is back with a new-and-improved version of its iPhone app. While version 2 of this free TV app adds some key features, such as virtual remote controls and iTunes integration, it still doesn’t address the quibbles I had with the earlier version. Namely, finding and watching full episodes of your favorite TV shows remains a challenge.
Like the earlier versions, i.TV 2.0 offers a TV programming guide, customized for your cable provider and area, plus info about current movies. You can browse or search for shows, set reminders for upcoming shows, schedule recordings on your networked TiVo DVR, find local movie listings, update your Netflix queue, and watch a (very meager) selection of full TV episodes via YouTube. It also lets you find showings of current movies and helps you buy tickets.
Once you find a certain TV show or movie and click on it, you’re presented with some basic info about it, plus two options: Details or Watch. Details lets you see photo galleries, credits, reviews, and more information about the title you’ve selected. Watch presents you with the options available for actually watching the show or movie via downloads, Netflix, streams, or upcoming showings.
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