Boxee, the streaming media company that had attempted to recreate itself from an HTPC software specialist to a set-top box provider, has reportedly been acquired. The news, currently at rumor status but tipped to be officially announced sometime next week according to VentureBeat, is apparently the culmination of several months of Boxee searching for a
If you planned on getting your fair share of your favorite television show courtesy of the folks at Time Warner this upcoming entertainment season, you’d better guess again. According to sources speaking with Bloomberg – the anonymous type – Time Warner is offering incentives to media companies to keep their content away from the web.
Netflix finally intends to add multiple user accounts to a single subscription, ending the days of your kids’ favorite shows skewing your action movie recommendations. The system is expected to launch sometime this summer, Netflix VP of Product Innovation Todd Yellin told Yahoo News, and will split users off into different profiles so as to
Apple will live-stream the WWDC 2013 opening keynote, it’s been confirmed, with the Apple TV getting a special feed from the San Francisco developer conference kicking off today. A new app for the Apple STB has been added overnight, “Apple Events”, which when opened promises the full keynote stream from 10am Pacific today. Updated after the
Apple has reportedly inked a deal with Sony Music that will bring the label’s content to the much-rumored “iRadio” streaming service, insiders claim, paving the way for an official launch at Monday’s WWDC 2013 keynote. Sony Music had been a hold-out in discussions, but has now settled on an agreement with Apple, a source with
Samsung is rumored to be negotiating a $20m music-centric deal with rapper Jay-Z, in what’s tipped to be a new streaming promotion for the Korean company’s phones and tablets. The “eight-figure deal” as the New York Post‘s source describes it hasn’t been fully detailed, but the link with mobile music seems a given. “You can
The Apple TV, may be easy and affordable, but it’s not much use if you want to run third-party services; until now, systems like Plex have required an older, jailbroken box if you want them to run. That’s all changed with PlexConnect, a new homegrown hack by the company which puts Plex in Full HD
Amazon has sealed a deal with Viacom, bringing a clutch of new shows – including Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! – to Prime Instant Video, and potentially dropping Netflix in even hotter water with angry parents. The deal, which will see Amazon add Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTC, and Comedy Central shows to its
Apple is racing to finalize internet radio deals that will allow it to launch a new service at its WWDC 2013 keynote on June 10, sources claim, with “iRadio” agreements reportedly settled with Warner Music Group and partially with UMG. The Warner deal – which will supposedly see Apple pay 10-percent of its ad revenue to the music publisher, around twice the amount Pandora coughs up – was settled over the weekend, according to both the WSJ and NYTimes, though Sony is supposedly remaining difficult.
So far, Apple is believed to have agreed deals on recorded music rights and music publishing rights with Warner Music Group, while a similar deal with Universal Music Group has only so far been to cover recorded rights. Talks with Sony Music Entertainment and Sony/ATV are ongoing, the insiders claim, with negotiations “far apart” according to the WSJ.
Hanging in the balance is Apple’s take on the streaming music segment, colloquially known as “iRadio”, and challenging services like Spotify and Pandora. The streaming media platform would offer some degree of control over track selection, though the exact mechanism is unclear at this stage, and is expected to be offered to users free of charge; Apple would intersperse adverts provided by its own iAds service to monetize the streaming.
However, first the company needs to negotiate a deal on the rights to actually use the publisher’s tracks, agreements which are separate from the existing contracts Apple has for iTunes downloads. That has long been believed to be a stumbling block, with content owners concerned that they may end up marginalizing their own role in the industry if they give Apple the rights.
They’re also stinging from previous agreements inked with Pandora, which are now said to be considered too generous to the streaming service. Pandora pays approximately 4-percent of its revenue to publishers, which now want more than twice that amount from Apple.
In Apple’s favor is the potential to tie streaming listening in with track downloads, given the existing iTunes store functionality. However, that’s unlikely to happen until Apple gets all of the big names locked in. “Apple is unlikely to launch the product without striking these deals” the WSJ concludes.
We’ll know more at WWDC 2013, where Apple is also expected to unveil the new version of iOS, iOS 7, together with taking the wraps off of a fresh line-up of MacBook notebooks. SlashGear will be liveblogging the opening keynote on June 10.
Apple chasing “iRadio” streaming deals for WWDC reveal insiders claim is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The company that’s bringing Fan TV to the market is not a new one. It’s not necessarily an old one, either: still considered a “startup” as they released their “Fanhattan” app back in 2011, they’ve since moved this streaming video environment to the web and now – surprise – to the television as well. While the machine itself does not yet have a price point or a release date as such, co-founder of Fanhattan Gilles BianRosa spoke up this afternoon: they mean to take over.
The device known as Fan TV, developed and manufactured by Fanhattan, builds on the success of the web and iOS-based Fanhattan collections of video sources. Inside users will also find live TV, on-demand TV, a “cloud-based DVR”, and streaming services galore. Then there’s the remote.
While the rest of the world – for the most part – still works with keyboards and multiple physical buttons to control any display, Fan TV uses a single palm-resting touchpad. Designed to work without having to see anything but the display it’s controlling, this pad is also designed with its physical aesthetic in mind – it looks like an upside-down version of the Fan TV main unit.
This system works with multiple services, and will work with more by the time it launches. Though the actual device has not yet been tied to any services, but having a peek at those connected with the iOS and Web Fanhattan user interfaces should give some rather healthy clues. It’s expected that RedBox Instant, Netflix, and Hulu Plus will continue to be partners with the effort when this device launches – whenever that ends up being.
BONUS: Fan TV works with Kabletown! According to Fan TV: “Yes, we know Kabletown isn’t real, but we love Liz Lemon. Product images represent the vision of where we’re headed and are not indicative of final partnerships.”
Fan TV aims for set-top future with all-touch interface is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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