Friday, place-shifting TV technology company Sling Media announced a deal to stream NFL games to DirecTV customers. The move away from consumer hardware and software and into business to business services came as a surprise. Even more surprising is Sling’s Monday evening announcement. The company announced it will sell itself to DirecTV competitor Echostar (operating of Dish Network) for approximately $380m.
Is someone at Sony throwing darts and hoping something will stick? It’s starting to look that way with the PS3. From the beginning the company’s sent mixed messages and the practice is continuing.
When Sony first began selling PlayStation 3 consoles in November 2006 they chose to offer two models. A $100 price difference and 40GB’s of hard drive capacity separated the two. It was a decision that left consumers scratching their heads instead of opening their wallets.
By April, when Sony corrected its mistake and discontinued the smaller model, it had been outsold by its sibling 10:1.
YouTube’s on the iPhone. Now MySpace will be too, at least indirectly. As of today, MySpace, and soon most of its siblings at Fox Interactive Media, will be available in a specially formatted mobile offering formatted specifically for cellular use.
Unlike MySpace’s existing subscription based service which is offered on AT&T and Helio wireless services, the new mobile MySpace launching today will be free and ad supported. It will work on all U.S. carriers and any phone that has the ability to surf the Internet. Popular MySpace functionality, like the ability to send and receive messages and friend requests, or update blogs, or search for friends will all be supported.
Fox Interactive is taking its mobile initiative seriously. John Smelzer, a senior vice president at Fox Interactive believes "Accessing the Internet from your mobile phone will soon be as common as text messaging and voice calling."
Download a movie from any download service and chances are, you can’t burn it onto a DVD, at least one that will play on any machine (e.g. your home DVD player). It’s a matter of copyright protection. Store bought DVDs are encrypted with what is essentially a digital padlock called a Content Scrambling System (CSS). Your home DVD player was manufactured with the keys. Your computer, similarly equipped to unlocking the file when it comes to playing a movie, doesn’t have the tools to make a lock of its own. That may soon change.
Thursday, the DVD Copyright Control Association (DVDCCA), a trade association that oversees these issues, agreed for the first time to begin licensing the encryption technology to consumer device makers. Click to Read More
The 2007 Tokyo Game Show would have been a idyllic podium for Sony to make some positive PS3 announcements. Despite the hot gaming industry, they’ve been getting handedly beaten in monthly sales by Nintendo and even Microsoft. They could use some good press. Instead, a few bright spots notwithstanding, it was largely another missed opportunity and more bad news. Sony said Thursday they were delaying the launch of their virtual world meets Xbox Live clone (aka their own virtual community for PS3 users).
The Home community was scheduled for a fall launch; due in time to help support the holiday sales push. It’s now expected early 2008. Click to Read More
So far, web music company Slacker has been living up to its name. Launched in March to high fanfare, and resurfacing again in June with the close of a $40m financing, not much has been heard from them since. That may soon change.
The company founded by three former CEO’s has been ambitiously trying to marry three musical delivery channels into a single product. Part 1 is a Internet radio station that features personalized music streaming similar Pandora or Last.fm (bought by CBS). Part 2 is a desktop music management application that marries the personalized radio services with a customer’s own music files – kind of like taking iTunes and giving it radio functionality. Part 3, which was scheduled for a summer a release that has not happened, is a small portable player (like an iPod) that will sync with the software to update music wirelessly via WiFi. The player also promises the unique ability to download new tracks via satellite through an accessory car kit. This satellite feature, which is able to work around the Sirius/XM monopoly by using proprietary technology to move data on unused commercial satellite signals, is truly unique.
Signaling investors continued bullishness about mobile entertainment, two new companies have secured middle rounds of financing: mobile gamer Vollee and mobile video provider Quickplay Media. The specifics:
Vollee
Founded 18 months ago, Vollee is developing game distribution technology that allows them to adapt, host and stream PC and Console games for play on mobile phones and portables over 3G Networks. Based in Israel, and running with a staff of near 50, the company previously closed a $4m Series A round in March from Benchmark and Blue Run Ventures (BRV). BRV Partner Yossi Hasson is also a co-founder of the company.
