Consumer content

MobiTV expanding beyond mobile video market

Video-content provider MobiTV is expanding beyond its familiar mobile market to reach the living room and office.

The company, which offers live and on-demand TV shows for mobile phones, is branching out into Internet-connected TVs, set-top boxes, and personal computers. The goal is to offer a TV-anywhere type of service in which subscribers can catch live news and sports as well as on-demand TV shows no matter where they are.

Beyond providing TV on different devices, the new service will sync and converge content. So baseball fans could watch a game on their smartphones, pause it, and then pick up … Read more

Disney taps Yahoo exec to bolster Web efforts

Jimmy Pitaro, who is leaving his job running the powerful media properties at Yahoo, has taken a job as co-president of Disney Interactive Media Group, with John Pleasants.

Pleasants was CEO of Playdom, the online game company that Disney acquired for $763 million in late July.

The appointment of the pair, both of whom will report to Disney President and CEO Robert A. Iger, is a big move by the entertainment giant.

And it looks like another large-scale attempt to clarify and bolster its Web strategy, which has had a long and often rocky history and is the first major … Read more

Roku XDS versus Apple TV: Round one

The great Internet TV battle royale of 2010 is officially underway, with new boxes from Roku and Apple TV leading the charge. On paper, it's a very even-handed match-up: both are miniscule $99 streaming-media boxes that promise to offer an expanded slate of TV shows, movies, and music for consumers. Other matching features: both offer Netflix streaming, dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi and Ethernet networking, and HDMI output. So, which is worth your hard-earned Benjamin Franklin?

Unfortunately, it's not a cut-and-dry situation. Both units scored an identical 3.5 stars on our CNET rating scale. But if you look at the sub-ratings (design, features, performance), you'll see that each box has a relative strength and weakness. Right now, it shakes out as follows:… Read more

Nokia's Ovi Store hits 2.3 million daily downloads

After almost a year and a half, Nokia's Ovi Store has built up enough momentum to hit 2.3 million daily downloads, the company announced today.

With the number of active Nokia phone customers at 140 million around the world, 200,000 users are now signing up at the Ovi Store on a daily basis, Nokia noted.

Among the developers and publishers who create the mobile apps, 70 of them have gone past 1 million downloads. It's a list that includes Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Indiagames, PepsiCo, HeroCraft, and Offscreen Technologies. HeroCraft's Farm Frenzy game has enjoyed more … Read more

Logitech unveiling Google TV product on Oct. 6

It looks as if Logitech will beat Sony across the Google TV finish line.

Sony recently trumpeted an October 12 event in New York City, at which the company will be revealing its Google TV-powered Internet TV. But now Logitech has scheduled its own Google TV event in Manhattan event six days earlier.

The invitation (see photo) promises that "Google TV will be a new experience that combines TV, the entire Web, and apps--as well as a way to search across them all." The press conference will be led by Logitech's Executive VP of Products, Junien Labrousse. … Read more

Is this the end for loud commercials?

You're sitting there at home watching your favorite team toy with your emotions.

Suddenly, an extremely loud voice assaults your ears: "You know what your 2:30 in the afternoon feels like...right?"

At least that is the one commercial, peddling some fine caffeinated product called 5-Hour Energy, that, to my mind and ears, is louder than James Earl Jones shouting at a man who has just stolen his trousers in a cave.

There is no excuse for this excess racket. There even exist gizmos that help mitigate viewers' pain. Thankfully, it seems that sense might finally … Read more

Facebook Photos get high resolution, bulk tagging

Facebook today announced some notable upgrades to its photo-sharing product: the ability to share high-resolution photos, "tag" people in bulk, and browse photos in a more streamlined fashion that doesn't load individual pages each time a new photo is viewed. The announcement was made by Facebook Photos product manager Sam Odio, and the new features will be rolling out over the next month, starting with a small test group on Thursday night.

Previously, much of Facebook Photos had been "a clumsy experience," Odio explained, with image sizes limited to a relatively small 720-pixel resolution, tagging … Read more

Time Warner: Apple TV would 'jeopardize' shows

Don't expect Time Warner content on the Apple TV anytime soon.

Speaking at the Royal Television Conference in London this week, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said that 99-cent rentals of his company's television shows makes no sense as far as the bottom line goes.

"How can you justify renting your first-run TV shows individually for 99 cents an episode," Bewkes said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He added that doing so could "jeopardize the sale of the same shows as a series to branded networks that pay hundreds of millions of dollars and make … Read more

More top execs to depart Yahoo

The executive turmoil at the very top of Yahoo continues, with the company poised to announce the resignations of three top execs, including U.S. head Hilary Schneider, according to sources close to the situation.

The other execs also leaving, which Yahoo is planning on revealing Friday: U.S. Audience head David Ko and, as BoomTown previously reported, VP of Media Jimmy Pitaro.

Sources close to the situation said that Schneider, who presides over media and advertising sales at Yahoo, has wanted to leave the company for a while, but was convinced to stay on by CEO Carol Bartz.

Schneider … Read more