ITV

Tag: iPod

  • HBO partners Apple to launch standalone streaming service

    HBO partners Apple to launch standalone streaming service

    MUMBAI: Home Box Office will launch its standalone premium streaming service called HBO Now in April, bringing the new product to audiences in time for the fifth season of Game of Thrones. HBO has joined hands with Apple, wherein for the first time an HBO subscription will be made available directly to Apple customers through HBO Now.

     

    HBO Now provides instant access to HBO’s programming. Watch every episode of every season of the best series programming, more of the biggest and latest Hollywood hit movies, original HBO Films, groundbreaking documentaries, sports, and comedy and music specials.

     

    Apple will give viewers the ability to enjoy HBO programming via HBO Now. Upon launch, customers can subscribe using the HBO Now app on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch or directly on Apple TV for instant access. Users can purchase HBO Now directly in-app for $14.99 a month. Upon registering, subscribers will also be able to watch at HBONow.com. HBO will offer a 30 day introductory free trial period to new HBO Now customers who sign up through Apple in April.

     

    HBO continues to be in discussions with its existing network of distributors and new digital partners to offer HBO Now. At launch, HBO Now will be available on iOS devices and on PCs.

     

    “HBO Now is the next phase of innovation at HBO. With this new partnership, a natural evolution for the network, we have access to millions of Apple customers who are used to getting their favorite apps immediately. Now, they can do the same with an HBO subscription,” said HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler.

     

    “HBO Now offers a new generation of HBO fans many of the best TV programs in the world without a cable or satellite subscription. Now, with the same simplicity as buying an app, customers can subscribe to HBO Now and instantly start viewing their favorite HBO programs as they air—this is huge,” added Apple senior vice president of Internet software and services Eddy Cue.

     

    Similar to HBO Go, HBO Now will offer more than 2,000 titles online. This includes series like Game of Thrones, True Detective, Silicon Valley, Girls, Veep andThe Leftovers, as well as classics like The Sopranos, Sex and the City, True Blood, The Wire and Deadwood. 

     

    Upcoming original programs like Westworld, the drama series starring Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris and Evan Rachel Wood; The Brink, the dark comedy series starring Jack Black and Tim Robbins; the new season of the Emmy-winning True Detective, with Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams; and HBO Films’ Bessie, starring Queen Latifah, will become available on HBO Now as they air on HBO.

     

    In addition, HBO Now will showcase Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, named “best of 2014” on many critics’ lists; Vice, the Emmy-winning, cutting-edge news magazine series hosted by Shane Smith; HBO Sports documentaries, series and World Championship Boxing events; and documentary programming like Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst and the Oscar winning, Citizenfour.

  • TiVo enables viewing of recordings outside home

    TiVo enables viewing of recordings outside home

    MUMBAI: TiVo is enabling a feature that lets people watch recorded movies and shows while they’re away from home.

    The feature comes with higher-end models of TiVo’s Roamio digital video recorders, but wasn’t working when the devices launched in August.

    TiVo faces more competition than it did when its first DVRs came out in 1999. Among other things, cable and satellite TV companies are improving their own DVR offerings, while devices such as Roku, Apple TV and Google’s Chromecast seek to simplify internet streaming on TV.

    TiVo touts its DVRs as gadgets that offer both streaming services and recorded shows on the same device. The ability to watch recorded shows remotely helps TiVo differentiate its machines from generic cable company DVRs.

    TiVo said that starting Thursday, users will be able to download a free app for iPhones, iPads and iPod touch devices.

    With it, people can stream shows from their DVRs while on a wi-fi network away from home, such as at a hotel or coffee shop. Over cellular connections, people must download the show first. It’s possible to start watching before the download is completed, but there’s a delay of several minutes. Instant streaming over 4G LTE cellular networks is coming in 2014.

    Support for Android devices is also coming next year.

    The new feature is available with the $400 Roamio Plus and the $600 Roamio Pro. Owners of the basic, $200 Roamio model and older TiVos will need a separate TiVo stream unit, which costs about $130. Out-of-home streaming through the separate device won’t start until November.

  • Nick launches its first global mobile app

    Nick launches its first global mobile app

    MUMBAI: Kids broadcaster Nickelodeon has launched its first worldwide mobile app Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rooftop Run in more than 150 countries and eight languages.

    Available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices, the app features 3D characters and environments based on the CG-animated series.

    This is a runner ninja combat game, where players run, jump and fight their way across the rooftops of New York in an attempt to save the city from the invading Kraang and ultimate destruction.

    The app will be translated into eight languages, English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish (Latin America) and Spanish (Spain).

  • Disney Junior expands digital offerings in the US

    Disney Junior expands digital offerings in the US

    MUMBAI: Disney Junior is boosting its presence on the digital front in the US. The Disney Junior Appisodes app for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch has been announced following the ‘Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally Appisode‘.

    Now the broadcaster has said that the Disney Junior Appisodes app is the first TV appisode app for kids that combine viewing and interaction with the TV characters and stories they love. It can be found now in the App Store at: appstore.com/disneyjuniorappisodes.

    Developed by Disney/ABC Television Group‘s Digital Media team, the new app offers true interactive viewing, allowing fans 2-7 to touch, tap, swipe, tilt, shake and talk their way through various fun-filled activities embedded into episodes of some of their favorite Disney Junior shows.

    The all-new “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse – Mickey and Donald Have a Farm Appisode” and the “Jake and the Never Land Pirates Appisode,” which features “Hide the Hideout” and “Captain Hook‘s Hooks,” are available for $4.99. A free download of the original “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally Appisode” is included. In the coming months, episodes of shows ‘Doc Mc Stuffins,‘‘Sofia the First‘and more ‘Jake and the Never Land Pirates‘will also be available for download as appisodes.

    Disney Channels Worldwide VP digital media Lauren DeVillier said, “The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse appisode has been successful because it‘s a natural extension of what kids are already doing in their daily lives. Over 70 per cent of households with kids have app-enabled devices in their homes. Touching, tapping and swiping are second nature to them.

    “We are allowing kids to move the narrative of their favourite show forward by interacting with the characters, giving them the opportunity to take an active role in the story. Being able to do that with one of their favorite TV shows is really exciting for them. And from a content perspective, it gives our shows a whole new life on another platform.”

  • PBS launches preschool second screen app for WordWorld

    PBS launches preschool second screen app for WordWorld

    MUMBAI: WordWorld, the three-time Emmy award-winning educational television series broadcast on the US PBS Kids, is launching a second screen integration for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch with a new early learning app: Fun with WordFriends, rapidtvnews.com reports.

    The new WordWorld app features interactive games that help young children learn to recognise letters and form words to provide the fundamental building blocks for learning to read.

    Utilising the same foundations established by the Department of Education-funded study which demonstrated that the WordWorld television programme improves children‘s literacy skills, the WordWorld: Fun with WordFriends app is the first in a series of interactive WordWorld learning tools for preschoolers.
    The app allows preschoolers to build words that come to life as the objects they represent.

    "Millions of parents worldwide know and trust WordWorld as an early learning platform for young children. Working with PBS, we‘re leveraging our award-winning content to develop fun and exciting early learning applications in the digital space," said WordWorld Director of Interactive Content Eric Kriegstein.

  • Amazon’s instant video app for iPhone & iPod

    Amazon’s instant video app for iPhone & iPod

    MUMBAI: Online retail major Amazon.com has introduced the Amazon Instant Video App, enabling customers to stream or download Amazon Instant Video movies and TV episodes from their video library directly on their iPhone or iPod touch.

    The app also makes more than 30,000 titles from Prime Instant Video available to Prime members such as TV shows like ‘American Horror Story‘, ‘Downton Abbey‘ and ‘Fringe‘, as well as movies such as ‘Hugo‘, ‘Thor‘ and ‘Goodfellas‘, to stream instantly on their iPhone or iPod touch at no additional cost.

    Amazon announced the Amazon Instant Video app for iPad earlier this year. With this launch, Amazon Instant Video is now available across iOS mobile devices.

    Amazon.com VP for video Anthony Bay said, "Our customers tell us they want the convenience of being able to watch all of their movies and TV episodes, wherever they are. Today we‘re excited to extend our ‘buy once, enjoy everywhere‘ approach to iPhone and iPod touch users, giving customers the chance to enjoy more than 140,000 titles from Amazon Instant Video and more than 30,000 titles from Prime Instant Video anytime, anywhere."

    To watch movies or TV episodes from Amazon Instant Video on iPhone and iPod touch, customers can simply search for the content they‘ve already rented or purchased from Amazon Instant Video-including the latest hit movies like The Dark Knight Rises, Brave and The Amazing Spiderman and the latest episodes from TV series like The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy and The Vampire Diaries.

    The Amazon Instant Video App for iPhone and iPod touch offers features including:

    " "Your Watchlist" feature that lets customers make a list of all the movies and TV episodes they want to watch in the future, regardless of whether they own the video or not, making it easy to keep track of specific videos for later viewing.

    " "Your Video Library" feature that gives iPhone and iPod touch customers access to purchases and rentals from Amazon Instant Video on the web.

  • BSky reaches two million DVR boxes

    BSky reaches two million DVR boxes

    MUMBAI: UK pay TV service provider BSkyB says that the total number of Sky+ boxes installed in customers’ homes in the UK has broken through two million for the first time.

    The milestone was reached after the number of Sky+ boxes grew by more than 50 per cent in 2006, putting Sky on track to pass its target of 25 per cent Sky+ penetration well in advance of the original schedule of 2010.

    The company says that the rapid growth of Sky+ highlights increasing demand from customers for the ability to take control over their television viewing. With two million active boxes, almost five million viewers are using Sky+ to record without video tape, pause and rewind live TV, and record all episodes of a favourite series at the touch of a button.

    To give customers even more choice and control, Sky plans to introduce a number of new enhancements to Sky+ in 2007 that will revolutionise the TV experience even further. These innovations will include the ability to use the internet to set a recording on your Sky+ box even when you are away from home. Customers will simply log on to www.sky.com to programme their box remotely.

    Also in 2007, Sky will introduce a new enhancement giving Sky+ customers the chance to enjoy a selection of the week’s best programmes on-demand. The service will be available to more than one million Sky+ and Sky HD customers from launch, making use of additional recording capacity on the hard drive of more recent boxes.

    Sky CFO Jeremy Darroch said, “Sky+ has changed the way millions of people watch TV. In its own way, Sky+ has as dramatic an effect on the experience of TV as the iPod has with music. There’s no going back once you’ve experienced the ability to take control over the TV schedules and we’re planning new innovations in 2007 to make Sky+ even better.

    “Passing the milestone of 2 million Sky+ boxes keeps us on track to break through our target of 25 per cent penetration well ahead of schedule. The rapid growth of Sky+ shows strong customer demand for additional services and gives us great confidence as our multi-product strategy moves forward this year.”

    Viewing behaviour in Sky+ homes

    To coincide with the milestone of two million boxes, Sky has published new research findings highlighting how Sky+ is changing the TV viewing habits of families around the country. The data, garnered from the Sky View research panel, provides an accurate measurement of how customers are using Sky+ to record – or ‘time-shift’ – television programmes.

    Drama is the genre of programming most frequently recorded by Sky+ customers, accounting for 39.3 per cent of all time-shifted viewing. Other popular genres are documentaries (14.9 per cent), entertainment (13 per cent) and movies (9.5 per cent). In contrast, some genres of content remain at their most popular when consumed live. News and weather account for just 0.6% of time-shifted viewing by Sky+ viewers, while current affairs programmes account for 1.2%. (Source: Sky View)

    These trends are reflected in the ranking of channels whose programming is subject to most time-shifting by Sky+ viewers:

    With the ability to record two programmes simultaneously, Sky+ resolves scheduling clashes and allows customers to record peak-time shows to watch at a more convenient time.

    Sky View research shows that, in Sky+ households, time-shifting accounts for 22 per cent of all viewing of programmes originally scheduled between 9 pm and 10 pm and 17 per cent of all viewing of programmes scheduled between 10 pm and 11 pm.

  • Apple integrates the iPod in US automobiles

    Apple integrates the iPod in US automobiles

    MUMBAI: Apple has teamed up with Ford, General Motors and Mazda in the US to deliver seamless iPod integration across the majority of their brands and models.

    This makes it easy for iPod users to enjoy and control their iPod’s high-quality sound through their car’s stereo system. With the addition of these models, more than 70 per cent of 2007-model US automobiles will offer iPod integration.

    Apple VP worldwide iPod product marketing Greg Joswiak says, “We are delighted that Ford, General Motors and Mazda will support iPod connectivity in nearly all of their new models. Now more than 70 percent of 2007-model US automobiles will offer iPod integration, with General Motors alone making it available on all 56 of its models, representing millions of cars and trucks.”

    Ford and General Motors will feature iPod integration in the majority of their 2007 models in the US beginning later this year, while Mazda’s entire global 2007 lineup of cars and SUVs will offer iPod connectivity. iPod offerings for Ford, General Motors and Mazda provide drivers with outstanding sound quality while charging the iPod, while conveniently storing the iPod in the glove compartment. Seamless iPod integration also allows drivers to use their car’s multifunction controls to select their music using artist, album, playlist or shuffle songs, as well as to easily skip between tracks and playlists.

    Apple says that the iPod and iTunes are leading the digital music revolution, providing the best way to listen to music on the go, at home and in the car.

  • WahIndia to unveil Bollywood social networking site by August

    WahIndia to unveil Bollywood social networking site by August

    MUMBAI: WahIndia, online media and social networking company, has announced that by the end of August 2006, it will launch the first social network focused on Bollywood and Indian entertainment for a global audience.

    The company claims to have received an undisclosed amount of investment from prominent angel investors. The US based company further plans to establish an office in Mumbai during next quarter to accelerate user growth in India, informs an offcial release.

    WahIndia founder & CEO Sunil Thakur said, “WahIndia is already one of the most popular destinations for Bollywood fans around the world and with the integration of a Bollywood-focused social network, we will further deepen relationship with our user community.”

    Bollywood films find wide audiences in many parts of the world, particularly in North America and Europe, with a growing demand in the Middle East and select Latin American countries. By empowering a user-built entertainment network, WahIndia will be able to provide a distribution channel to earn revenue from downloads of films, music, mobile ringtones, wallpaper and other premium digital content, adds the release.

    Founded in 2003, WahIndia is the producer and distributor of video content specifically developed for small screens such as PCs, laptops and mobile devices. The company distributes its in-house produced content through several partners and channels, including Sify, IndiaTimes, Akimbo and iPod Podcasts. WahIndia also offers legal download of films such as Bollywood blockbusters Andaz Apna Apna, Loafer, Parvarish and independent films like Oscar-nominated Little Terrorist.

  • Podcasting in the US gaining momentum

    Podcasting in the US gaining momentum

    MUMBAI: More than six per cent of American adultsor about nine million web users, have downloaded podcasts in the past month, according to The Economics of Podcasting, a report released by Nielsen Analytics.

    In a first quarter 2006 study, conducted by Nielsen Analytics at Nielsen Entertainment Television testing facilities in Las Vegas, more than 1700 participants were surveyed on their podcasting usage. About six per cent of
    respondents described themselves as regular podcast downloaders — more than 75 per cent of whom were male. The findings show that a significant percentage, approximately 38%, of active podcast downloaders say they are
    listening to radio less often.

    Nielsen Analytics GM, senior VP Larry Gerbrandt says, “The incredible popularity of podcasting is the latest demonstration of consumers’ willingness to take control of their media experiences. While essentially still in nascent form, podcasts offer free audio and video content that is inexpensive to create, easy to access and on a portable platform that has already reached mass distribution. This
    exciting new medium has only just begun to stretch its legs.”

    The Economics of Podcasting is the latest in a series of reports from Nielsen Analytics on the “uber-media consumers” who lead the media industry in terms of trends and technology.

    Key findings include

    * The most successful podcasts are garnering as many as two million downloads a month, enabling them to attract mainstream advertising. An example — Dixie Paper Company now sponsors the Mommycast Podcast Series starring Gretchen Vogelzang and Paige Heninger.

    * Overall, 60 per cent of respondents surveyed said they ‘always’ fast forward past commercials in their podcasts. Women were more likely to fast forward than men, with 67% saying they always fast forward.

    * Given the ability to skip commercials, advertisers are already devising more effective means to reach consumers, such as embedding their messages within the program content or having podcast hosts endorse their products and services.

    * The survey found that the average length of the podcasts being listened to was 44 minutes. This may change with the growing popularity of video podcasts, which generally tend to be shorter.

    * 72 per cent of respondents who regularly download podcasts say that they download an average of one to three podcasts per week. About 10 per cent of all podcast downloaders could be characterized as “heavy users”, downloading eight or more podcasts a week.

    The Business of Podcasting

    Among key findings of The Economics of Podcasting are that podcasts differ from other forms of online media delivery, such as conventional streaming and downloading. Like their largely text-based counterparts —
    blogs — podcasts are being adapted by a broad range of businesses and organizations.
    Among the various users:

    * Cable and broadcast networks are converting episodes of some of their linear programs into cost-effective, short audio and video podcasts to serve as previews and promotions.

    * Movie studios are exploring the potential of podcasting to market films and DVDs, such as a recent podcast promoting Paramount’s Nacho Libre that features its star, Jack Black.

    * Financial service firms, such as McDonald Investments and The Motley Fool, offer free podcasts on a variety of finance-related subjects.

    * The online travel agency, Orbitz, offers audio descriptions of travel destinations as a marketing tool.

    * With laptops and portable media players as ubiquitous on college campuses as textbooks, professors are making their lectures and class
    notes available as podcasts.

    Measuring Podcast Usage
    The findings of this study also point to the importance of measuring podcast usage, so advertisers and the media industry will have a
    comprehensive picture of who is using this innovative digital multimedia content.

    Gerbrandt adds, “For podcasting to reach its full potential, we will have to find the best ways to keep track of its audiences. That means
    developing accurate and comprehensive metrics that will allow podcast producers, distributors and advertisers to answer questions like: ‘Who are we reaching?’ ‘With what kinds of content?’ ‘When and how often?’”

    To that end, Nielsen Media Research, as part of its recently announced Anywhere Anytime Media Measurement (A2M2) initiative, is launching several projects that will explore how best to collect and measure podcasting data.

    The first project, to be launched this fall, will measure a panel of 400 iPod users by utilizing a software application that can be downloaded onto a PC and interface with iTunes software.

    Each time an iPod is connected to a computer to sync with iTunes, Nielsen will record all
    content accessed, and will provide detailed usage information. Starting in the second half of 2007, Nielsen also will begin testing
    its “Solo Meters” for portable media devices. The new meters will track audio and video usage on mobile platforms, whether users connect via BlueTooth(R) technology or a wired headset.