The entertainment world just got a little bit more conglomerated: The FCC has settled on the conditions needed for it to approve the long-debated joint venture between NBC Universal and Comcast today. Those conditions signal that the FCC fully recognizes the importance of online video.
Apple is finally bringing AirPlay to home movies shot on the iPhone or iPod touch in iOS 4.3. I’d like to have some actual videos to show friends and family using the feature. A couple of new apps promise to make those videos more visually interesting.
WealthTV announced that its live video feed will soon be available to Roku users for $2.99 a month. While the announcement is a big win for Roku, it also underscores the need for independent cable networks to seek alternative methods of distribution beyond just cable TV.
Netflix is moving ahead with plans to ween users off its DVD-by-mail service, announcing it would do away with the “Add to DVD Queue” feature on streaming devices. But an overwhelmingly negative response could mean that Netflix has underestimated the importance of DVD to its users.
Here’s one more thing you can do when you don’t have cable: Meet fellow cord cutters at our inaugural Cord Cutters meetup, coming to San Francisco on 01/25. So come on by, say hello and exchange some war stories from a life without the cable box.
This week, Dynamo Player creators Will Coghlin and Rob Millis, who quit the series Political Lunch to develop the micropayment player, discuss the problems with “free,” tell a funny joke about MySpace and discuss how they’re planning to take the Dynamo Player forward.
YouTube’s first test of live video last year showed low viewer counts and low-quality, jittery streams. But not to be deterred, it is rolling out a new beta test of YouTube Live, with Revision3’s DiggNation serving as the first big stress test of the service.
German rights holders have turned litigation against file sharers into a money machine that just keeps on giving. P2P activists estimate estimates that Germany’s BitTorrent users faced more than half a million lawsuits in 2010. Some people even got sued multiple times for the same file.
Want to catch a glimpse at what Hollywood’s stars are wearing this award season? Then tune in for the Golden Globes red carpet spectacle, which will once again be streamed live online. Live streams are also available via dedicated apps for the iPad and iPhone.
Redbox parent Coinstar missed its quarterly revenue projections by a wide margin, blaming weak titles and its 28-day rental window. But it is also suffering due to competition from online services. After all, why go to a kiosk when you can rent from home?
